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“Let’s find your dad and ask him a few questions.” Acksel cracked his knuckles, and the males around him readied to leave. Adam was grateful for his pack’s help.
“Thank you,” he said, emotion welling inside him.
Acksel shook his head. “Thank me when she’s safe. This is what the pack does. Rank doesn’t matter when lives are on the line.”
Vehicles appeared in front of the house as Adam dialed his grandmother’s number. He hadn’t spoken to her in years. After his dad had run down to their pack to escape the bookies, Adam had declined to continue being a part of their family. They had always given into his dad’s whims and bailed him out when he was in trouble. He wasn’t sure why he thought they’d help him, but it was worth a try for Dani’s sake.
“Grandma, it’s Adam. I need your help.”
* * *
Dani kicked at the gate to the stall. It rattled on its hinges but didn’t open. She kicked again and again, until her hoof broke one of the slats and her skin scraped on the jagged pieces. She winced, extracting her foot and scenting blood. Hours had passed since she’d woken. Whatever drugs had been in her system had taken ages to leave. She wasn’t sure where she was or how long she’d been gone, but she could see sunlight around the edges of the barn door.
The other stalls were empty, except for one reindeer who met Dani’s gaze and subtly shook its head. She didn’t know if the reindeer was a shifter or if she’d imagined the head-shake, but real or imagined, she decided to take its advice and settle down.
The barn doors opened and two men strode in. One of them carried a harness.
“What’s this?” the first one asked, bending over and picking up the broken slat. He gave her a dark look, and she recognized his voice as belonging to the man who’d kicked her when she was paralyzed. “Feeling feisty, bitch? Maybe you need another dose of drugs.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” the scarred man said, hefting the harness over the wall of the stall and dropping it to the straw. He reached over the wall and grabbed the collar around her neck, jerking her forward. The metal spikes dug into her flesh, and she screamed, the sound coming out like a bellow. “The collar is electric. If you leave the barn, you’ll be shocked so badly your skin will burn and it will knock you out.” He pulled her forward roughly until his lips were by her ears. “You will do as I say or you will suffer. The buyers don’t want you harmed, but I’ll do what I have to do to get you to them.”
He released her with a shove, and she stumbled back a few steps. “You’re not going to give us anymore problems, are you?” the other man asked as he put his hand on the gate.
She shook her head and lowered it. She’d have to think of something else. If the collar was a shock collar, than maybe she could find a way to disable it. Her mind spun with possibilities as the gate opened, just far enough for the man to enter, and swung shut with a clang behind him. He buckled the harness on her, strapping it tightly around her torso until she made a pained sound. He chuckled, slapped her on the rump and said, “Be nice and I’ll give you a carrot.”
“Is that what you call your dick now?” the scarred one asked as he let the other man out of the stall.
“Fuck you.”
“We’ll be back in ten minutes to put you in the truck. Try anything funny and we’ll find out how loud reindeer can scream when they’re being tortured,” the scarred man said. Dani had no doubt from the hard look in his eyes that he knew exactly what reindeer sounded like when they were hurt, because he’d done it before and would do it again.
The harness was uncomfortably tight. Dani rubbed against the wall of her stall, trying to dislodge the buckle, but it didn’t budge. She tried to grab the collar with her teeth, but it was too far up her throat for her to even touch the edge of it. The ten minutes slipped by quickly, and at the end of them the back of the barn opened, two huge doors swinging outward. A beeping noise sounded as a horse trailer backed up into the barn and stopped. Seven men came into the barn from the front doors. Two had cattle prods, and moved to stand at either end of the barn where the doors were. One moved to the stall with the reindeer who had shaken its head at Dani, and pulled it out, leading it to the trailer.
Richard Cruz stopped in front of Dani’s stall. His eyes were bloodshot, and the whiskey and body odor scent of him was almost enough to make her throw up. He was holding one shoulder as if it was injured.
He sniffed. “If your mate had given me money when I asked, you wouldn’t be here. This isn’t my fault, it’s his.”
Dani lunged, snapping her teeth at Richard and nearly taking his nose off. He stumbled back with a shout, falling to the ground and scrambling away as the others laughed at him.
“She’s crazy,” Richard said, climbing slowly to his feet.
“They all are at first. She’ll settle down,” the scarred one said. “If she doesn’t, there are drugs that will settle her down just fine.”
Another man moved in front of Dani and hooked a lead onto her bridle. He opened the gate and gave a hard tug on the lead, and she followed him out of the stall, toward the trailer. As she was led to the trailer, she watched as the other reindeer, wearing a collar similar to Dani’s, was pushed up a ramp into it.
Dani inhaled quietly, sorting through the scents around her and picking up a sweet burst of peppermint that told her the other reindeer was a shifter. The reindeer was small like her, so she figured she must be a female or a young male. She’d seen pictures of bucks, and they were normally quite big. Dani wanted to cry. She’d finally met another reindeer, and it was because they were both being kept prisoner.
The lights went out suddenly, plunging the barn into complete darkness. The men shouted, and there was a rush of wind as people moved around her. The man holding her lead made a pained sound, followed by a thud. Dani scented the air and found the smell of peppermint was much stronger now.
Screams and shouts surrounded her. Dani kept perfectly still, afraid to move in case she got in the way. The peppermint scent had to mean more reindeer. But how had they found her?
She stood frozen for what felt like an eternity until the lights came on. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brightness and found herself in the company of a dozen males, all wearing black. They were huge, tall and broad, wearing tactical gear with weapons strapped to their bodies.
In front of her, a large male stood in the trailer and carefully undid the collar around the reindeer’s neck, speaking softly. He met Dani’s gaze, his eyes glistening with tears.
“I think she’s one of us,” a male said as he came to stand in front of Dani. “The collar’s like Tesli’s.”
“Get it the fuck off her,” the male said gruffly as he threw the collar away and the reindeer began to shift. He removed his vest and shirt, covering the shifting woman.
