Prayers By Night (Faoladh Series Book 2), page 14
The polite, well-trained side of her wanted to say ‘thank you’ automatically. She bit it back and raised her trembling hands for him. He tied her wrists together, tight enough for her to know he didn’t trust her. Then he shoved her ankles together and tied them as well.
She stared at him as she took the crumpled bag and stuffed it under her shirt, keeping it in place with her bound hands and hoping they would hide it well enough.
He nodded at her. “Stay.”
“Otto, quit messing around with that girl and help us. Jesus, are you falling in love with her over there?” Sam snarled and huffed as he lifted Harper’s upper body.
“Yeah. She’s Alpha bonded and way too young for you,” Red joked, picking up Harper’s legs.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, pup.”
Between the three of them they loaded Harper onto the truck and Otto jumped inside as well. Emerson heard a metallic snap and more growling and shuffling.
“Christ, it’s like a zoo. Shut up, or I’ll zap every single one of you back into oblivion,” Sam said and slapped his hand against the side of the truck. “I’ve got to make a phone call and I don’t need you bitching in the background.”
The growling immediately ceased.
Sam moved off to the far side of the road, cell phone already at his ear.
“Your turn.” Red came at her with a glint in his eye. “Your chariot awaits, madame.”
Otto leaped out of the truck and grabbed Red by the back of his neck. “I caught her. I’ll handle her. Go start the truck.”
“So territorial,” Red said. He blew a kiss at her before moving away. “Later, hottie.”
Emerson dug deep for some bravery and only managed to raise her chin as Otto gripped her elbows and put her back on her feet. He didn’t say anything as he moved her over to the truck and paused long enough for her to get a good look.
Inside the back there sat rows of men, in various states of squalor and dress, shackled with their hands over their heads to the side of the truck. On the very end was Harper, head hanging chin to chest, dirty black hair hiding her face.
Across from Harper an extremely fit man with a scraggly beard and long blond hair stared at her from the gloom with a pair of piercing blue eyes. “A human?”
“None of your business,” Otto said with a harsh snap in his tone. He picked Emerson up again and hefted her into the truck, then pointed a long, gnarled finger at her nose. “You. Stay away from the others. Keep your Alpha calm when she comes around. You cause trouble and I’ll see it on the monitor and I’ll electrocute the shit out of your Alpha. Got it?”
The maw of despair clenched down on her already abused throat. She tried to swallow but found she no spit remained in the desert of her mouth. Her stomach bottomed out and she swayed, dizzy, lost and trapped in a nightmare.
It was really happening. Again. Worse than last time. At least when Holt took her, she had some hope.
Here there was none.
Otto sighed. He looked at Harper and then back at Emerson with his eyebrows scrunched together in a frown. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. I hope you and your Alpha survive.”
With that he backed away, pulled down the door, and left Emerson in a dimly lighted hellscape.
She wheezed for air and choked as she scooted against Harper’s side. The truck vibrated unpleasantly beneath her, and the interior quickly became humid, smelly, and warm from the bodies there.
“Harper,” she said around a whimper. “Harper?”
Scooting closer still, half behind Harper’s body, she tugged and struggled until she had Harper mostly in her lap, taking some of the strain off Harper’s shoulders. She shivered, despite the muggy warmth, and hid her face against her back. “I would like you to wake up now.”
The vibration beneath her gained intensity and her stomach lurched anew as the truck moved and bumped down the access road.
“Please wake up.”
“She’ll be out for a while,” a deep voice spoke from across the space. “The sleep’s good. The high would be too, but maybe on a beach and not in a truck.”
Emerson peeked and the blue-eyed werewolf stared at her again, but this time he smiled.
“My name’s Griffin,” he said and shook his hair from his face. “What’s yours?”
She clamped her lips together and laid her face against Harper’s back, focusing on the soothing slight motion of Harper breathing.
Chapter Twelve
She had no way to process how much time had passed since they’d been captured. Long enough that her legs had gone to sleep and she’d developed a sore tailbone and awful pain in her neck. The pressure headache from crying didn’t help.
Dry it up, Emerson, you can cry all you want when you’re safe. Think. I know it hurts, but you have to.
Her eyes adjusted to dim light coming from the single yellow bulb near the cab of the truck. Not that being able to see her surroundings calmed her in the slightest. There were enough nightmare quality images around her to keep her awake for the rest of her possibly short life.
The other captives, if awake, ignored her. They stared into space with lost looks, muttered and growled, but seemed to have given up on any real struggle. They certainly weren’t interested in visiting with her, or even sparing her a thought.
Except for the one who introduced himself as Griffin. He wasn’t letting her work through her shock by herself.
Or he was a super chatty breed of werewolf with bad social skills and an inability to ‘read the room’.
He was also horrible for her headache, and his chatter wasn’t helping her come up with escape plans.
“Where are you from?” he asked, making yet another attempt to converse with her. A dopey smile remained on his face, one she thought wasn’t his usual countenance – he really didn’t look like the sort to be cheery, dopey, or friendly. No doubt the mysterious patch on all the werewolves’ chests was to blame. “I don’t know where we are anymore. I was in Coeur d’Alene when they got me. That’s in Idaho. I didn’t eat potatoes, but the deer were good.”
She hugged Harper closer with her tied up hands and squirmed, wincing at the pins-and-needles in her legs. Perhaps trying to support Harper’s weight there was a poor idea, but the extra suffering would be worth keeping Harper more comfortable.
Harper let out a wheezing groan and her head lifted an inch before she slumped back into Emerson unconscious again.
Emerson didn’t want to resort to shaking her. There’d been enough trauma, and the word ‘drugged’ stayed ever present in her mind. She suspected Harper would wake up confused and startling her could lead to a violent outburst resulting in more pain.
No, best to attempt to wake her gently and hope for the best.
Maybe I should entertain the idea of making an ally? She glanced over at Griffin. Though… after those mistakes with Holt, and maybe a few others who we’re not going to think about, maybe it’s not a good idea. I don’t have the best track record. Griffin’s not some regular guy, he’s a werewolf.
“I don’t bite, you know,” he said, as though reading her thoughts, and briefly bared his teeth. “Well, I do, actually, but I can’t right now and I wouldn’t bite you. You’re human, and you’ve got an Alpha that’d kick my ass. Plus, I’m high, and you shouldn’t bite people when you aren’t sober.”
Okay. I think he’s relatively safe. Here goes nothing.
“Or at all, one would think,” Emerson croaked out. She cleared her throat and regretted it. The immediate sting in her vocal cords made her eyes water. That only made her headache worse. “My name is Emerson, by the way.”
“That’s a cool name.” He shuffled around some more and ducked his head. “Sorry, this isn’t a nice way to meet someone. I’m sure I look scary.”
“Everything’s scary right now,” she said. “We’ve been abducted.”
“True.” He shrugged. “So where were you when they took you?”
“Fincher, Montana.”
“I hear Montana is nice,” he said. “What’s your Alpha’s name?”
“Harper.” She bit her lip and squeezed Harper again. “Why do you call her Alpha?”
He cocked his head. “Because I didn’t know her name and she’s an Alpha? Didn’t want to be disrespectful.”
Alpha, dominant wolf in a pack. The leader. They think Harper’s an Alpha. She filed that tidbit away to unpack later. It could be an advantage. “How could you tell she’s an Alpha? Are you an Alpha?”
“Me? No. I can tell because of the smell,” he said and raised his head to take a noisy sniff. “No mistaking that. Very clear, dominant scent on both of you. You don’t know about that?”
“It’s never come up before.” She sighed and knocked her head against Harper’s ribs. “Do you know why they took us?”
“To let people hunt us, or maybe for fights.” He shook his head out of his face and huffed. “They didn’t tell us, but I’m a Nomad, so I’m nobody. She’s an Alpha though. Much harder to catch and dangerous to keep. They must work for someone important.”
“Is hunting werewolves or werewolf fighting common?”
“It’s illegal now, but underground stuff exists – at least my parents always warned us about it. Keep us safe with the pack, inside the territory. I did hear other rumors while I was traveling, like rich people taking wolves for entertainment or even slaves.” He wiggled around some more. “Hey, would you scratch my cheek? It’s itchy.”
“No,” she said and winced. “Sorry. Can you tell me anything else about what’s happening?”
“If I tell you, will you scratch my beard?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s too close to the teeth and a chat in the back of a truck while being abducted might make us friendly, but you haven’t earned that much trust.”
“Okay, fair. Mean, but fair.” He whined and pulled at his shackles. “Can we keep distracting each other? How about I tell you a thing and then you tell me a thing?”
“Quid pro quo?” She bumped Harper and re-arranged her, placing Harper fully on her lap. Her tired legs protested even more, and the pins-and-needles took up residence in her derriere. She shrugged it off and peeked around Harper to face Griffin.
“Yeah, that thing,” Griffin agreed with a serious nod. “I’m going to regret this when the drug wears off, probably. I feel like I’m talking too much, but I can’t stop.”
“How about that, do you know anything about the drug?” She’d already considered removing the patch from Harper’s chest. Otto’s warning lingered though, and she assumed the thick metal collar around Harper’s neck would be the shocking instrument he mentioned. “It wears off?”
“Kind of?” He tried to angle his head to see his own chest. “It’s really strong at first. I kept seeing things, like weird shit that wasn’t there. It makes it hard to focus and I feel really spacy. I’ve got no filter.”
“I noticed,” she said, not unkindly. Harper didn’t have much of a ‘filter’ to begin with, so she could deal with that. The hallucinations could prove problematic, depending on what Harper’s mind conjured.
“My turn.” Griffin sniffed at the air again, eyes closed. When he opened them they glowed gold.
She managed not to flinch. Barely.
“You smell like her. The Alpha bond is fresh,” he said. His eyes faded back to their intense hue of blue, shining even in the gloom. “That’s a big step for a human. Were you scared?”
Okay, no. He is not asking about my sex life. Let’s just set a boundary right now.
“I know there’s a cultural difference here, but I’m not comfortable talking to a stranger about that facet of my personal –”
The truck bucked underneath them, rattled, and the wolves all groaned at the jostling.
It was enough to pitch Harper back into the land of consciousness in dramatic Harper fashion. Her slack muscles tightened against Emerson’s body, her back bowed, and she howled.
Emerson snapped her head out of the way of Harper’s fit pitching, and right into the side panel of the truck. Pain zipped from the place of impact straight through her brain to between her eyes. She struggled to keep her bound hands on Harper’s thrashing form. “Harper! Harper, stop!”
“She’s gonna get it if she keeps that up,” Griffin warned over Harper’s furious howling. “You should move away or they’ll get you too.”
Every cell within her protested, but she had enough brain power to recognize the validity of his words. If they electrocuted Harper, and she was touching her… she didn’t know what a werewolf strength setting on a shock collar would be, but she did figure it would hurt.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a gasp and pushed herself away. “Please calm down, Loup, or they’ll hurt you.”
Harper turned to look at her with gold eyes and teeth bared. She snapped and pulled at her shackles until the metal groaned.
“It’s Emerson, Harper, look at me. Calm down.” She knew the moment Harper recognized her. The snarl bunching her nose relented and her upper lip began to lower. “I know you’re scared and confused. I’m scared too, but we have to stay calm.”
“Don’t tell her you’re scared,” Griffin said with a hissing wince. “Bad, bad idea.”
The snarling came back full force. Harper screamed up at the ceiling and kicked around until her feet settled onto the floor. The muscles in her legs bunched, tensing against the thin fabric of her sweatpants. She yanked and yanked against her shackles, then used her legs and strained forward, right at Griffin.
“I warned you,” Otto’s voice cracked over the speaker in the corner of the truck.
“Harper!”
Too late.
The hair on her arms stood to attention. She heard a crackle and then tiny blue lightning danced to life around Harper’s neck. Her growling turned to a high-pitched squeal. She thrashed again, not under her own control, body heaving back and forth for the longest seconds of Emerson’s life.
When it was over, Harper slumped, panting and whining but otherwise still.
Emerson pressed her fisted hands to her belly to keep from hurrying back over, not wanting to startle Harper and cause another outburst.
The speaker crackled to life again. “Keep her quiet and still, human. We’re watching.”
Oppressive silence returned, broken up by Harper’s shallow panting.
“What a douche,” Griffin commented after several stretched seconds.
“Harper,” Emerson said and risked scooting an inch closer. “Are you okay?”
What a stupid question. Would you be okay after getting electrocuted while also being drugged and kidnapped? No, you would not.
Harper raised her head in fits and starts. She slowly turned her familiar gold eyes over at Emerson. “Wha-?”
A chill slipped under Emerson’s skin. She saw no recognition in Harper’s expression.
“It’s Emerson,” she said, struggling against yet another urge to cry. It had been a struggle before to gain Harper’s trust. They didn’t have time in this pressure-cooker situation to go through all of that again. “Harper, love, you know me.”
“Might take her a bit,” Griffin said. “Maybe she’s seeing other stuff.”
Harper’s attention snapped to him. She curled her lip and growled.
Griffin turned his head, averted his eyes, and tried to make himself smaller.
Were circumstances different Emerson might have found it funny to watch such a large man – a fellow werewolf – shying away from Harper. It seemed so absurd, but she was also worried that if she started laughing it would turn into crying and only stop once she’d lost all her remaining sanity.
She slid closer to Harper, near enough to reach out and touch. “Harper, look at me.”
It worked. Harper stopped snarling and tilted her head.
Now what? Emerson smiled and eased her hand across the remaining gap to touch her fingers to Harper’s leg. “I’m sorry, I know that hurt. You have to stay calm, okay? I don’t want them to hurt you anymore.”
“’Merson?” Harper gurgled. She shook her head. “…’Merson?”
“Yeah, love, ‘Merson. We were taken. Do you remember?”
Harper squinted and sniffed the air. She shuddered and jerked against her restraints. “Out.”
“She’s stuck,” Griffin said, quietly. “Primary instinct is driving.”
“You,” Harper said, rumbling another growl.
“That’s Griffin.” Emerson stroked her hands down Harper’s leg to regain her attention. “He’s not a threat. They captured him too. He’s been helpful.”
Harper grumbled but slouched with a huff.
“Can I help her out of this… mode?” Emerson asked.
“Usually wears off,” Griffin said. “Your scent will help. Alpha bonds are really powerful.”
Harper watched her intently, but without malice, face screwed up in a puzzled expression. The same face she made when Emerson tried to teach her French.
“I don’t know what…” is it the tether? The werewolf magic? Emerson blinked free the tears in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. It will help?”
“Pretty sure,” Griffin said with another dopey smile. “I’m not an Alpha, but I know bonding is super strong. She won’t hurt you.”
I don’t think so either, but I’m not sure I should be trusting you this much. For Harper though. She bit her lip and inched over, keeping her eyes on Harper’s body language for any sign of problem. “Harper, I’m going to – is it okay if I come closer?”
Harper strained forward, already sniffing. “’Merson.”
“See, it’s already working, she’s focusing more.”
Emerson hesitated and glanced at Griffin. She might not know anything about werewolf culture and the bonding thing he was talking about – but she knew enough to feel like she was about to share something very intimate. “Could you look away, please?”
