Bill put Annie into bed in his small yet comfortable cabin. Getting her up into the loft hadn’t been an easy task. She had a bit too much to drink and was a tad loopy. After the meeting at Darryl’s they had gone out for drinks to unwind. “Did you see that kid with all the tattoos and piercings outside of that bar?”
“Yes dear, I did.” She had spotted the boy, he’d been sleeping on a bench. Homeless. She had slipped a twenty dollar bill in the kid’s back pack.
“I wonder how the job hunt is working out for him,” she murmured groggily.
“I’m sure it’s a struggle.” Bill laughed. He didn’t mind tattoos but the kid had been covered in them and that could be a problem for some people. Most of the younger generation round these parts worked on their father’s farms. But lots of people were struggling to get by. Many came through their little town looking for work, but there wasn’t much to be found. He’d love to do something to help these displaced kids out, but for now he had bigger things to worry about. And number one on his list of priorities was keeping the woman soundly asleep in his bed safe.
Bill went downstairs and made a quick call to Annie’s neighbor in Florida. She was watching Buddy for them and they hadn’t had a chance to call and check in yet.
When the call was done, he put a couple of extra logs onto the fire. It would be chilly and so he decided to go back outside to the shed and grab more kindling. Though it was toasty in the cabin now, if the fire went out during the night it would get cold. The evenings, even in the summer, could get below 40°.
As he rounded the corner a familiar scent struck his nostrils. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He began to shift and whirled around into the direction of the wind. But it was too late. Something hit him on the back of the head and he crumpled to the ground from the strength of the blow.
Everything went black.
* * *
When Annie awoke, she was startled to not recognize her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was climbing the stairs to the loft and Bill tucking her into bed. Through half lidded eyes, she saw in the far corner of the room two people sitting. Heard them talking in soft whispers. “Drink this, baby,” the female said. “It’ll help you with those allergies of yours.
She saw the man lift a cup to his mouth and drink. “You always take such good care of me, Danielle.”
Shit, it was Danielle. How had she gotten here? She glanced around the room for a way to escape but they were sitting near the door and that seemed to be the only exit. There was only a small high window on the other side of the shack, but she would not be able to get to it or get out of it. The only way out was the front door.
She scanned the room once more without moving her head. She didn’t want to alert them that she was awake. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a candle flicker behind the duo on a shelf. She saw the paraphernalia used to grind up herbs and other drugs. There was a pestle and mortar. One of the foreclosures she had shown recently had been broken into by some local vagabonds. She recognized the materials from the police report that had been filled out. So that was how she was controlling Dwayne. She was drugging him.
A feral growl got her attention. The woman who had been sitting in the corner must have noticed her movement. Or maybe her breathing had changed. Gerri had told her wolves had excellent hearing and smell. Danielle got up from her chair and crossed the room over to where Annie lie on a filthy mattress on the floor.
And it was definitely, Danielle. Annie recognized her from the police image of the passenger in the vehicle that had hit her. Also, Bill had shown her other pictures so that she could be on the lookout for her.
Her dark hair was as black as a raven’s wing. It fell across her face as she leaned over Annie. Her smile was not a smile at all. It was wild and menacing.
“So the blonde bombshell finally wakes up,” she sneered at Annie. Annie pushed herself back, scooted across the mattress, and put her back against the wall.
Danielle only laughed at her actions. “What a joke you are. This is the woman Bill picks,” she scoffed, including Dwayne in her comment. His answer was a nonchalant grunt as he continued to sip the concoction Danielle had handed him.
“Where am I?” Annie asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
“You don’t have to worry about where we are. You won’t be going anywhere. Ever. And no one knows about this place so you can forget about being rescued.”
“What are you going to do with her?” another voice asked. It was the man from the corner. He set down his glass and got up from the chair. As he came out of the shadows, Annie recognized him from photographs too. It was Bill’s old friend and the pack leader’s son, though he looked gaunt. His eyes were glazed over and looked haunted too. Annie recognized the signs. He was clearly taking something, but she didn’t know what.
“I’m going to kill her. It’s the only way.” The smile that spread across her face was pure evil. “But I want to play with her first. Scar that lovely face of hers.”
The man got closer and peered down at Annie. “But you said you just wanted to scare her?” The man was clearly confused.
Annie pounced on Dwayne’s doubt. “Scare me?” she questioned. “She wants to kill me so that Bill will join your little Ménage.”
Danielle’s black eyes narrowed and began to glow in the gloomy room. “It’s not a Ménage, you stupid slut. It’s called a triad, but you wouldn’t know that being mortal and all.”
Annie saw the long sharp blade in her hand. She began to wave it around. Toying with Annie.
“We can’t just kill her.” The man eyed the long blade in Danielle’s hand, but his voice was raspy and unsure.
“I most certainly can. It’s the only way, my love.” She reached a hand up and patted Dwayne softly on the cheek. “I’m doing this for us. The three of us are meant to be together.”
“The three of us,” Dwayne repeated lamely as if he had heard her say it a thousand times.
“Belong together! You are a lying bitch, Danielle, and everybody knows it now!” Annie screamed.
That made Danielle laugh. “What are you talking about, um, screaming about? You really shouldn’t waste your breath either, as we are miles away from everything.”
Annie saw Dwayne was confused, so she continued hoping just a tad of what she had to say made it through to his brain. “You are doing this for yourself. Not for Bill or Dwayne. But for the power of being the mate of the leader of the pack. And you’re trying to finish what you started in Florida when you crashed into my car.” Annie was also trying to stall for time. Filling in the blanks for Dwayne might not work, and counting on him snapping out of whatever delusions Danielle had fed him wasn’t her only motive. She was hoping Bill had discovered her absence, or one of the other wolves the pack leader had sent out to search for his son and Danielle would find her.
“What are you talking about?” the man asked, his eyes clearing slightly.
“Didn’t your girlfriend tell you she tried to run me down in Florida? Tried to kill me.”
“No. She didn’t do that. I was with her the whole time, and we just followed you around a couple of times. She didn’t do anything to you w hile we were down there. I was with her, except . . .” he paused, clearly remembering something. He looked at Danielle and she laughed.
“She must’ve given you something like she did just now over there in the corner. But she most certainly did try to kill me and we have photographs to prove it. Bill has them on his phone. He showed the pictures to your father.”
Again Dwayne looked from Danielle and back to Annie. He wanted Danielle to be happy and she had made it clear that only a triad with him and Bill would do that. And he knew that she had been giving him medicine, help with his severe allergies, but drugs? He couldn’t believe his mate would do that to him. Manipulate him in that way. He turned on Annie and snarling asked, “Then why didn’t you go to the police? I don’t believe you. Danielle loves me and Bill. We will be great together.” His words started out strong, but weakened towards the end. Something was sinking in.
Annie knew she had struck a nerve. She looked Dwayne directly into his faded blue eyes before speaking. “Great together? You’re a joke right now. We had a meeting with the pack tonight, we showed them our proof, and they are hunting her as we speak. She’s been sentenced to death by your father.”
“You lying, bitch!” screamed Danielle as she climbed onto the mattress waving the knife directly in Annie’s face. Annie pressed her face to the wall and covered it with her hands, kicked her feet to stop Danielle’s progress.
Luckily, Dwayne stopped her. “Let me go, Dwayne, she has to die. We can clear this up with your father. Just let me kill her.” The knife swung toward Annie, a mere inch from her face.
“No!” came the strangled voice from the now open doorway. A cold blast of arctic air came into the room. It was Bill, and his eyes were ablaze with fury. In just a few seconds he transformed into his dire wolf for the first time before Annie. And though she was terrified, she thought he was the most beautiful creature on earth. Even with his jaws wide open and his teeth bared.
Both Dwayne and Danielle shifted into their wolf forms. Bill charged at Danielle and went right for her throat. Dwayne grabbed a hold of one of Bill’s hind legs and tried to pull him off of Danielle. Annie watched as Bill’s head flayed from side to side until blood began to seep on Danielle’s fur and arcs of the fluid sprayed Annie. Bill was ripping out her throat and her moans of pain gurgled as blood began to fill her lungs.
Several other wolves charged into the small cabin, filling it. They pulled Dwayne off of Bill while he finished the job of ending Danielle’s sorry excuse for life.
Dwayne transformed back into his human form and begin to wail at the loss of his mate. He held her crumpled body in his arms. One by one, the other wolves began to transform into their human forms and stand erect. They were all naked until one of the wolves removed a bag slung around his neck and passed out long pants and long blousy shifts for the women.
The horrific scene that played out before her had ended. But the brutality of it had marked Annie. She knew she would have nightmares about it for a long time to come.
When Bill transformed back into his human form, he saw the look of horror on Annie’s face. He reached for her, but she pulled back. And that action spoke volumes to him. His mate, his love, was disgusted with him. He couldn’t blame her for her reaction to what she had just witnessed though it broke his heart.
Theodora went to her son and helped him to stand. “Son, you need to come with me.”
Seeing her, Dwayne reluctantly let Danielle go, and allowed her to lead him out of the cabin. But before he left he took one look back, and one look at Bill. “I’m so sorry, Bill. I honestly didn’t know.”
Bill gave his former friend a look of disgust. His attention needed to be on Annie. She was in shock. “Get help,” he told him. That was the best he could do.
Bill’s mother, Kathy, stepped forward next. She had been part of the search party. “Let me take her to my house, Bill.”
“But what if she . . .” Bill couldn’t finish the sentence.
“None of that. She’ll come around, my love. And though she may have not have said the words yet, she loves you. She’s just in shock right now.”
Bill nodded, despair washing over him like a cold shower, and watched as his mother crawled over to Annie on the filthy mattress. He let out a sigh of relief when Annie took his mother’s hand and allowed her to lead her out. He’d let his mother take care of her tonight. For now, he would go back to the lake house and let the pack leader know what had happened in the cabin and face his judgment. The orders had been to bring Danielle back for questioning, and that obviously wasn’t going to happen.
He gave Danielle’s inert body one last glance. It was what she deserved. No more. No less. It was a decision he would never regret.