Prayers By Night (Faoladh Series Book 2), page 13
“Aren’t wolves normally skittish?”
“These aren’t normal wolves,” she said, and the enormity of it hit her. They weren’t normal wolves – the familiar scent was her own, it was werewolf stink – a part of her had known that and she ignored it. “Fuck. Just stay close to me, I’ll get us out.”
“Werewolves? Are you saying it’s other werewolves?” Emerson’s voice shook, no longer hushed and higher in pitch. “But…”
“I don’t know. I don’t know, just stay behind me.” Harper snarled again as the shadows shifted and the bulky, hairy figure of a fellow werewolf materialized from behind a thick bush. “Hey, we don’t want any trouble. We’ll head right back to town and leave you alone. Sorry for interrupting.”
That didn’t sit well. She had to bite back another growl, fury making her hands shake. Not a single part of her wanted to walk away without a fight. The fuckers showed up in her territory, hers, and threatened her and Emerson. They were challenging her in her own damn home. Plus, she had no idea who or what they just killed.
Down girl. Her body trembled in protest, but she did her best to ignore it. Now’s not the time for being temperamental and finishing a fight. Control yourself. Get away, get help. Regroup. You don’t know how many there are, and Emerson could get hurt.
“I don’t want a fight,” she lied through her teeth. Teeth that were rapidly popping out into a full set of wolf teeth. She wouldn’t be able to talk much longer if she couldn’t get herself to settle down.
Something heavy and… squishy… hit the tree nearest Harper and collapsed into the bushes at the base.
Emerson yelped and grabbed on to Harper’s wrist. She couldn’t see in the dark.
Harper could.
Her stomach went ice cold as she took in the body in the bushes.
Blalock. It was Blalock. Naked, coated in blood, mud, and grime. His throat had been ripped out and his cheek laid open. The white of bone shined even in the dark. He stared back at Harper with blank, dead eyes, face frozen in an agonized grimace.
Acid crawled up her throat. She sucked in a breath, and another, while the shakes in her body grew in intensity until she vibrated with sickness and an overwhelming anger.
Blalock was a werewolf.
She didn’t have time to process that.
“You mother fuckers,” she said and growled, no longer able nor wanting to hold back. She clenched her fists and welcomed the heat rolling over her body. She welcomed the boiling rage. She would need it when she went to war.
“What’s happening?” Emerson asked.
“They killed Blalock.” She curled her lip and swung around to hide Emerson from the body and put their backs to a tree. Emerson squeaked when her body hit the sturdy trunk. “Get ready to run when I say.”
“I can’t outrun a werewolf.”
“No,” Harper said, keeping her eyes trained on the one wolf she could see. They weren’t coming any closer. Gold eyes blinked back at her, and that would have been a heady trip, seeing another werewolf after so many years, but she didn’t have time for that either. “I’ll keep them away from you.”
“Such a brave Alpha,” a male voice said from their other side.
She didn’t dare take her eyes off the immediate threat of the wolf, could only allow herself a glance toward the human-shaped figure. Out of reach.
Three werewolves, at least.
She pushed against Emerson as the other wolf padded around to stand next to Blalock’s body. That one was smaller and she took some satisfaction in seeing a bite mark in their shoulder. Blalock got at least one good bite in.
The little one, mostly brown in color, bared and licked their bloody teeth.
She’d never been so angry. Her body felt cold. Even facing down Holt in a life-or-death situation, she hadn’t felt this way. In that clearing she was filled with ferocious purpose, ready to rip him apart to save Emerson. Now, looking at Blalock, tossed aside like he was nothing, and feeling Emerson shake against her as the wolves closed in … her fingers were numb, her whole body was numb.
She raised her chin, clenched her fists, and prepared for a bloodbath. Her muscles tensed enough to snap.
A rifle fired from the position of the human-formed werewolf. The one Harper assumed to be the leader of the pack. She had time to flinch before the sharp sting of a dart hit the side of her neck. Pain erupted, a fire sliding into her veins and traveling up to her jaw, her ear, down her arm and across her chest. She slapped her hand against the burn, curled her fingers around the cylindrical object and yanked it free.
The world swam and she stumbled and fell to her knees. Her gut twisted on itself. She gagged and tried to turn her wobbly head to at least spit at the asshole who shot her.
Emerson’s panicked scream cut off abruptly.
Harper managed to turn her head and saw the leader had come closer. Close enough to shove the barrel of his rifle under Emerson’s chin. He grinned down at Harper, filthy and smug. She lunged for him, awkward, dizzy, and uncoordinated. Her knees buckled before she even got into range. She got kicked in the face for her trouble, hard enough to roll her farther away from Emerson, left alone against a tree. Again.
“Be quiet, human,” the leader said.
Harper forced her eyes open and grabbed a handful of the earth, trying to drag her body back to Emerson. She could feel it, the inevitable slide into the oblivion of unconsciousness approaching. The fiery sensation continued its journey through her body, torching every nerve. Her throat spasmed around every dry swallow, but she growled and bared her teeth anyway. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
“There’s that fiery Alpha spirit, but why don’t you go to sleep now? You can posture all you want later.” He tsked at her and then turned his attention back to Emerson. The rifle slipped down and pushed aside the collar of Emerson’s vest to expose her throat. “Do you smell that, boys? Looks like they’re bonded, and recently from the stink.”
Harper dug her nails into the ground, determined to get up and punch his fucking face into a fucking crater.
He grinned down at her. “A female Alpha, bonded to a human female? I think I’ve got a promotion headed my way.”
Emerson’s wide, wet eyes locked on Harper.
“We’re taking ‘em both. Switch over, Otto, you take the human.”
I’m sorry, Harper thought at Emerson, hoping she understood, hoping she wouldn’t hate her. I’m so sorry, I can’t fight it.
She was powerless to resist the hellish drug racing through her system.
“Emerson – Emerson I’m sorry,” she slurred, and passed out.
Chapter 11
Emerson
The massive hand clamped over her mouth kept her from screaming loud enough to attract any help. She tried anyway. A very muscular arm around her middle lifted her partially off the ground, the tips of her toes just caressing the earth. She tried kicking backwards at the tender bits, squirming, but nothing worked. Her assailant carried her around like a weary parent trying to escape the grocery store with a tantrum-throwing toddler.
Her first reaction to the shock of being attacked, again, had been for every muscle in her body to mutiny and lock up as they tended to do whenever she was confronted with a terrifying situation outside her control. She fit firmly into the freeze category of fight, flight, or freeze. Knowing that information about herself wasn’t much comfort, but at least she’d been exposed enough to such situations that her brain learned how to deal with it. Not well, but well enough to avoid catatonic shock.
After watching Harper lose consciousness rational thought rebooted, as did the very strong desire to kick men in the balls. While half her brain power was devoted to wailing about how she was hopeless and going to die, the other half tried to work things out.
Her body moved without much input from her brain, caught up in chaotic panic mode, desperately fighting for survival. She let that go and concentrated internally on seeking a rational thought process that would keep her alive.
Oh god, I’m going to die. We’re going to die! Or be sold as sex slaves, or both. Probably both! Why did you watch that Liam Neeson movie with Harper? Panic cried inside her head.
No. No, Grady, Grady and AJ, they’ll come after us. They’ll find us. You just have to delay, slow these guys down long enough for help to arrive, said rationality. People will look for you and Harper. You are Emerson Austen Grey, and you will be missed. Your parents have money to pay ransom. Stay calm, stay smart. Work it out. Don’t forget that Harper is basically a tank, a very angry tank.
I want my father! Panic wailed.
In front of her the other two kidnappers were dragging Harper through the mud by her arms. She remained unconscious, head lolling, body limp – she wouldn’t be saving the day this time or any time soon.
Werewolves, they’re werewolves. Not the usual scum of the Earth. She and her werewolf girlfriend were being abducted by other werewolves. Grady and AJ – my parents, can’t help with this. They’d be slaughtered. Like Blalock.
Emerson had to save them. Somehow.
It was up to her to try.
The goon carting her huffed against her ear, readjusted his grip, and dug his nails into her. All that movement bunched her shirt and vest up to below her breasts, exposing her stomach to the cold and the unpleasant pinch and drag of his nails.
He gave her a shake and heat speared through her torso followed by her skin tearing.
Rationality went quiet and panic fell away, defeated by the arrival of her dear friend, anger. A burst of energy rushed through her. She took a breath and renewed her struggle with violent fervor, kicking, thrashing, and even trying to headbutt the man holding her.
I may not be able to win this fight, but I will at least make it less than a fairytale kidnapping!
“Fucking shit,” he said and squeezed her tighter. “Really?”
She kicked both legs out and yanked at his arms, scratching hard. This is so undignified! Release me! She yelled into the hand over her mouth. I will claw your eyes out!
She bit down on her hand-gag. Bit down until her tongue recoiled at the taste of blood. Take that you Neanderthal!
It gained her nothing besides a sharp hiss of air from her captor and the bite of his nails into her side. “Knock it off, human, or you’ll regret being awake.”
She had one other trick up her sleeve. A childish trick, perhaps, but considering they were handling her like a fussy child it seemed appropriate. She let go of the rigidity, the fight in her limbs, and went as limp as Harper. Her weight shifted into her hips and now noodle-like legs. She gave in to the pull of gravity, thought heavy thoughts, and screamed as loud as she could into the fleshy, bleeding palm.
The old standby worked as it always had, even against a werewolf. Her feet hit the forest floor and her captor snarled as he fumbled her sudden increase in weight.
Ha!
“Otto, what are you doing back there? Too old to keep hold of a human?”
Her victory was short-lived. Otto tightened his grip to the point where she thought her jaw might fracture. Fresh tears burned her aching eyes. She tensed again and the hand at her waist left to reappear around her throat and squeeze there instead.
“Go ahead, I’ll deal with her,” Mr. Otto said.
“Oooh, you’re going to make a deal?” the smaller of the kidnappers asked. He tripped backwards, jostling Harper, but grinned anyway. “So ferocious.”
“Shut up and watch where you’re going,” the other one said. The leader if Emerson had to guess. He was the least sloppy and the loudest. “We’re almost there.”
They continued, tripping and swearing through the darkness and underbrush, taking Harper farther and farther away from Emerson.
No! No, don’t separate us. Don’t take her away!
“Please,” she said against the pressure collapsing her trachea. Her skin felt too tight on her bones and the magical line connecting her to Harper pulled her forward, more and more insistent that she follow.
“I’m going to take my hand away,” Otto said with a kind of calm in his tone that made Emerson shiver. “If you scream, I’ll break your jaw. I don’t have any orders to bring back humans, and I certainly don’t have to bring you back in one piece or in pristine condition. Nod if you understand.”
She nodded.
He let go of her and quickly spun her around to grab her by the shoulders. “You’re going in the truck with your Alpha. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, but we both have to deal with it. Deal with it better or I’ll stop being gentle.”
“Why?” she asked, staring up at his weathered face. The unkempt beard and wild, greasy hair did not speak of civility. This wasn’t the kind of man she could negotiate with, but he was talking to her. That was something. “Why are you doing this?”
His glare softened, so much that he seemed for a moment like he could have been a kind older gentleman in a different life. “It’s what I’m good at. I’m a hunter, you are prey. Those are the breaks, kid. I don’t like hurting humans, and I’d like to leave you conscious in the truck. Maybe that’s crueler though.”
“You’re abducting us,” she said and tasted her own tears when she licked her lips. “You’re already cruel.”
“Maybe so.” He shrugged. “Listen, you can’t run from me, I’ll catch you. You can’t yell for help, I’ll kill anyone who comes out here, in front of you, and it will be your fault. Nobody is going to save you. If you’ll come with me, quietly, obediently, then I’ll take care of you and you can stay awake to help your Alpha when the drugs wear off. Deal?”
No. She paused and bit her bottom lip before she could voice that thought. Think about it. Think, Emerson. Compliance now, violence later. If they take her away you may never find her again. You need Harper awake and lucid to enact an escape. You need to be awake and aware of things to plan that escape.
It was a foul thing, agreeing to be kidnapped.
She saw no alternative, so nodded again.
“Good girl. Now I’m going to turn you around and guide you to the truck. Be quiet.”
I’m going to throw up, does that count as being noisy? Her body hurt from the crown of her head to her manicured toenails, and the adrenaline made her sick and shaky. He twisted her around, kept his bruising grip on her shoulders, and shoved her into motion.
What are we going to do?
She tried to think as she marched to her doom, but her brain gave up and seemed far more interested in other things. Like the heavy silence broken up only by the sounds of their feet, squishing in the mud, snapping branches. Her own ragged breathing was abnormally loud, gulps of air attempting to keep up with the pounding of her heart. The cold of the air nipped at the tight skin of her face, burned her nose and throat. She could feel the tear tracks as fresh tears slipped down.
None of that was helpful. Unless feeling like she might shatter at any second could be their saving grace.
Eventually the dense forest thinned and she found herself on the side of a dirt road, looking at a beat-up moving truck. Inside the open back she heard growling and low mumbling, interspersed with the occasional bark of a ‘shut up’ from the leader directed at what Emerson gathered to be other captives.
Other captive werewolves.
And there was Harper, splayed out in the dirt with her shirt ripped open from neck to waist. They had removed her shoes and socks, and piled Harper’s small amount of jewelry on them.
Emerson moved toward the little pile, absurdly focused and angry to see Harper’s mother’s ring there, treated without care. Otto pressed down on her shoulders.
“Stay still.”
“Please,” Emerson whispered and braved a glance back at him. She was breaking his rules already, but… “The ring, that was her mother’s.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded his head down. “Sit down, hands behind your back. Do not move.”
She more fell than sat, but obeyed, sniffling to herself and doing everything she could to keep from hyperventilating. Harper needs you. Focus.
“Nice of you to join us,” the smaller werewolf said with his cheeky grin. “Did you have a nice chat?”
“Shut up, Red,” Otto grumbled as he walked toward the cab of the truck. “Try not to screw up the staples this time.”
“It only happened once.”
“Once is enough,” the leader said. “Actually, let me do the staples, we can’t afford a fuck up with an Alpha.”
Staples? Her eyes widened when she caught on to the staple gun in Red’s hands. The leader, wearing thick rubber gloves, placed a small patch on the middle of Harper’s chest, and then a strip of gauze over that.
She jerked and gasped with every click that followed. They stapled the edges of the gauze into her flesh.
What are they doing to her? What is that? She covered her trembling lips to keep from yelling at them to stop, demanding answers, or screaming until her lungs gave out.
“There, happy, Sam? It’s perfect?”
“Whatever, you didn’t do it so of course it is. Let’s get her in the truck. What the hell is Otto doing?” Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. “You’re both useless, you know that?”
“I’m right here. What? Too used to supervising to know how to do actual work anymore?” Otto walked around them and scooped up Harper’s jewelry into a grease-marked fast-food bag. He picked up one shoe and flung it with impressive force back into the forest, then tossed the other to the opposite side of the road. “Or are you afraid of your prized Alpha waking up early and eating your face off?”
“She’s not going to wake up any time soon with the fentanyl in her system. Maybe I’d just like to get out of here quickly.”
“Well by all means, great leader, hurry up then.” Otto sneered at Sam until he huffed and looked away. “That’s what I thought.”
“Just tie the girl up, since you’re in charge of her.”
Red snickered. “Aw, he got himself a pet.”
Otto knocked into Red, pushing him onto the ground. He retrieved two lengths of rope from the back of the truck and then dropped the wadded-up paper bag into Emerson’s lap as he knelt in front of her. “Be quiet about it, put the shit in your pocket later and remember that I did a nice thing for you. I expect you to behave in return. Hold out your wrists.”
