Chapter Twelve
After showing the photo of the woman, Camilla, around the town, they’d finally gotten lucky. One of the owners of the grocery had been able to give them a bit of help. Baron and Fitz had told him a flat-out lie, one he’d believed though. One that had Camilla as the well-to-do wife who’d run off with her lover. Her husband needed proof she was living with said lover so he could ensure she never got a dime of his money during the divorce.
From then on, the grocer had been most accommodating. He hadn’t really been able to be specific, but he’d given them the general area they’d need to go to. The man had been very helpful indeed. Because, right there before them, was the woman in question.
Putting the phone to his ear, Fitz shared a triumphant look with Baron. “Alpha,” he said quietly. “We found her. She’s with the team still. Yes, sir, we can. Understood, Alpha.” He hung up and tucked the phone away. “We need to create a diversion so she will come to us, draw her away from the men. The alpha does not want us to engage with them. Just get the woman and leave.”
Baron seemed to think on that a moment before nodding. “A wounded animal, she’s the type that would want to soothe it.” At Fitz’s, nod Baron let out a whimper, carefully modulated to only reach her and not the men.
They watched as she tipped her head, a frown on her face. “Again,” Fitz said quietly. Baron let out another whimper and a soft, but sharp yip of pain. The woman turned to look in their direction, but indecision reigned on her face. She looked to the team before looking to the woods again, chewing her lower lip.
“Once more,” Fitz encouraged. Baron let out another whimper, then another with a small yip. It seemed to do the trick. She started toward their location. “Grab her,” he ordered Baron. “I’ll keep an eye on the team. Be ready to run as soon as you have her. Knock her unconscious, but don’t harm her too badly or the alpha will have both our heads.”
“Understood,” Baron told him.
****
Camilla heard something behind her. She paused in putting on her sunscreen and tilted her head to the side. She moved into the small copse of bushes and trees. She didn’t say anything, simply walked and listened, keeping her eye out for what sounded like a small dog needing help.
A soft whimper came from her left, with the sound of a bit of scrambling. A yip of pain sounded was followed by more whimpering. It was close, and whatever it was sounded so small and weak.
Camilla looked over her shoulder and saw that the men were at work. She hesitated, but the second whimper from the animal had her stepping out of the sight of the working men and crooning to the animal. She knew that she was in their sights still and in hearing distance, plus she was on the Farm and it was protected so she was safe and knew it. “Here, puppy,” she whispered into the thick bushes. “Come on, let Aunty Camilla have a look at you.”
A thick arm wound around her waist and a hand slapped over her mouth. “Scream and I kill you, and every one of those men. Nod if you understand me, Camilla.” The voice, deep and rough, more growl than not, wasn’t entirely human.
Feared coursed through her body. She nodded. Her brain scurried to try to figure out what the hell to do, how to get free.
The man hefted her up off the ground with a flex of muscle and moved them deeper into the woods. He went maybe a couple of dozen yards before dropping her on her feet. As she stumbled, he whipped her around, a hand on her throat as he slammed her into a tree. “My alpha has been looking forward to meeting you, Camilla. What the alpha wants, the alpha gets,” he said. Then a huge fist came flying at her face.
Camilla ducked just at the right moment. She heard the crack of the tree he hit and felt when he released her. She didn’t wait: Camilla let loose a scream and slammed her boot heel hard onto the top of the man’s foot. She didn’t know who hurt most—her or the man.
She saw an opening, however, and threw an elbow to his chest and tried to run. Another scream tore from her throat as she did so.
A low, vicious snarl came from behind her before she was tackled to the ground. All the air rushed from her lungs. Just as suddenly as she’d hit the ground, she was flipped to her back and the man had his hand on her throat again. This time he squeezed hard. Too hard.
Camilla’s vision began to swim. She saw stars, literally. She clawed at his throat, desperate for air and kicking wildly. She landed a blow to his balls and winced when claws came out and dug into her throat.
She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. Her heart clenched in her chest and felt as if it had literally stopped beating. She had never felt so much emotional pain in her life as she had when she’d realized she was being taken from the men she loved more than life itself.
In the back of her mind, she saw Mikhail and Gareth and mourned the loss of them, because in that moment she knew she was going to die. She couldn’t breathe and in the moment before she knew she would pass out, Camilla could have sworn she heard her men. She was swimming on the edges of consciousness and heard everything that the men said but didn’t react to it. Thankfully, she remained awake, but her body refused to move. Terror lived and breathed inside of her as she had no control over her body, and all she could do was see in blurred vision she had right now, smell the putrid scents that surrounded her, and worse yet hear the plans that they had for her.
“Damn it, Baron,” another voice said. A pinch in her arm had her body going loose right quick, about the same time the large man with the claws was pulled off her. “The alpha wants her alive. You were supposed to keep it quiet. Shit, grab her. We need to go, now.”
“She’s a fucking bitch. She kicked me in the balls.” Camilla was just happy she had gotten that cheap shot off. At least if she was going to die someone would remember her and wince every now and again.
“The alpha will rip your balls off and feed them to you if she’s damaged too much. Grab her, now!”
With a grunt, the one who’d tried to kill her loomed close. “You think you’re lucky to still be breathing. Wait until the alpha’s finished with you. You’ll regret not being nicer to me when the pack gets a turn with you, bitch.” She was hauled up and thrown over a shoulder, just like a sack of potatoes. The air whooshed out of her lungs in a painful spasm when she was thrown carelessly over the man’s shoulder and she sobbed a silent sob, her vocal cords robbed of their ability to make a sound.
Camilla’s vision swam and she had a headache the size of Montana. Once more, she begged in her own mind. She screamed for her uncle in hopes that maybe he would hear her mentally, as the men hadn’t heard her when she’d screamed not fifty feet from them. Useless tears trekked down her face, tears of pain and horror. Tears of loss because she had lost what was most important to her, the men she loved.
“Faster,” the other one said. “Fucking hell, the team’s coming this way. Damn it all to hell and back, Baron. They weren’t supposed to know she was gone until later. Faster, you idiot.”
“She fucking kicked me in the nuts, I can’t go any faster, you dick. If you want faster, you carry her. She’s fucking heavy for a human,” the one hauling her around growled.
“Quit your bitching. You’re worse than the females when they’re in their moods.”