Chapter Ten
Ethan signed the portrait and handed it to the little girl with the dark brown pigtails and the missing tooth. “One pink ranger for the lady.” All day something had been bothering him, but he couldn’t help but smile at the girl. With her dark brown eyes and smooth straight hair, she reminded him of Addison. A cute, six or seven year old Addison. Would they have a little girl like that?
“Daddy, look at me, I’m a ranger!” The little girl jumped up and down, her joy radiating to her entire family as they crowded into the front window of the ice cream store with Ethan, his easel, and a single chair.
A matching huge smile on his face, her father handed Ethan two twenties. He went to make change.
“No, keep it. She’s been obsessed with these superheroes for six months. This is the best thing we’ve done all vacation.”
“Thanks.” He pocketed the cash. As the family went back to their table the little girl’s voice squeaked with excitement as she talked to her parents.
Kids. He’d never considered it, but now…
He was amazed at how his world had opened up in such a short amount of time. He’d barely been thinking of making it through next week, let alone next year, and now here he was thinking of getting married and having a family. And yet, something was bothering him. It wasn’t Addison’s doubts, this thing between them was strong. It might take time, but she’d see it too. No, it was something else. Something that gnawed at him, something important, like he’d forgotten to turn off the stove, or left a match burning.
Ethan stuffed his pad of paper into his backpack. He still had that gnawing sensation that something wasn’t right, but his stomach had been growling since noon and it was past one now. “Hey, Mike, I’m heading to the deli and getting lunch. Want anything?”
“Could you pick me up a ham and Swiss on rye, and some chips? It’s crazy busy today and with Allie gone, I’m short-handed.”
“No problem.” He headed to the back and shut the door of the tiny room that served as both break room and storage space, closing out the noisy chatter of the shop. Leaning against the hard surface, he let the sheer power of the change in his life rock through him. He’d marked the most beautiful woman in the world. And they had a future.
Well, they would.
Once he told her that he’d made arrangements with Mike to stay for the rest of the ski-season and sketch on the weekends in the ice cream parlor. Even better than that, Mike said he’d help him figure out how to sell on-line, that way he could get more money. Mike was full of ideas and since he owned his own business, he understood lots of things that Ethan had no idea about. But one thing Mike had said, if he worked hard, he was talented enough, he could make some money.
Ethan wasn’t sure if it would be enough or if he’d have to take on a real job. If it had been just him, living on the road with Sven’s gang, it would have been more than enough, but the two of them? And what about a family?
He’d survived on next to nothing, but he’d be damned if his kids would.
But none of his doubts or fears mattered. What mattered was he now had a purpose and come hell or high water, he was going to serve that purpose and prove to Addison that he had what it took. And then, he’d give her the bite and they would be mated forever.
As he headed outside the back door and down the sidewalk toward Main Street and the deli he took out his phone and checked for messages, hoping to see something from Addison. A strange number had left two messages. Heart thumping in anticipation of hearing his mate, he pushed play.
“Hey, traitor, guess what. Payback’s a bitch, and so is your girl. We’ve got her. If you want her, you’d better be here soon or we’ll cut her throat.” There was a whistle in the background and some cat calls. “We’re already into the good stuff, and man, she sure is sweet. Owww!”
The last echo of Sven’s triumphant howl rang in Ethan’s ears. Even in the cold of the wintry afternoon, he began to sweat.
Frantically, he pushed play on the second message.
“Oh, yeah. I guess I have to tell you where she’s at. Here’s the address. Now don’t be late. And Ethan, man, don’t even think about calling the cops, or your new buddies in the fucking pack, or there may not be anything left of your bitch for you to clean up.” The silence at the end of the message was deafening.
Ethan stopped walking. Blood pulsed in his head, thumping so hard the sounds of the crowded main street of Snowflake faded away. The message was clear—Sven wanted revenge on Ethan and he’d take it out of Addison, one piece at a time.
He turned around and ran back to Mike’s shop. Pushing open the glass door he ran through the ice cream parlor, past surprised customers, and an even more surprised Mike. He spared seconds to tell the man who had given him a second chance. “Something’s come up. Emergency.” And then he raced to the back and out the door to the parking lot where his bike waited.
His hands shook and it took him way too long to put the address in his GPS. Finally, he revved the bike and tore out of the parking lot, only slowing down when he spotted officer Ben in his squad car at the entrance to town. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over, but the snail crawl of twenty-five miles per hour with Ben’s eyes burning a hole in the back of his jacket, was torture.
Once he was out of Ben’s sight, he took the curves way too fast, his heart pounding the message that he was already too late. The drive took ten minutes less than his GPS had suggested. When he saw the turn he pulled off early and parked in front of a chained up access road a half mile from the address. He knew this was a trap. If he didn’t handle this the right way, both he and Addison would be dead.
Ethan walked the bike around the side of the metal posts and along the access road, into the woods, hiding it from the main road. He’d just set the kickstand when he caught a scent—the burn of cigarettes, the heavier smell of wood smoke, and very faintly, a trace of Addison.
He growled. His vision went red and his wolf pushed at his skin. He knew it was inevitable, he was going to shift anyway, might as well go in as the wolf.
He stripped off his clothes, tucking them safely into his saddle bag, and let the shift roll over him.
Once in wolf form, everything was sharper. Colors became faint, some disappearing into the not-quite black-and-white world of the wolf. The smell of the men was stronger and he picked out Sven and Bart, and some of the others. But strangely enough Addison’s scent didn’t get stronger. He whined and snuck through the trees until he saw a large old wooden barn with a rusty corrugated roof and peeling white paint. In front by the snow-filled metal trough, one lone rogue stood with a rifle, smoking a cigarette and scanning the area.
He sniffed. He didn’t know this man. That meant Sven had gathered reinforcements. He’d guess at least three or four inside, maybe more? If they knew he was coming, why didn’t they have more of a welcome? One guy with a gun wasn’t going to be much of a defense, not to his wolf.
Forcing himself to move slowly, he jogged around the perimeter. Addison’s scent was driving the wolf crazy. He wanted to run in and kill everyone, but the human inside knew better. Their mate would make it if he was smart, and running in teeth bared wasn’t smart. He was nearly to the spot opposite the back door when he smelled it, something strange had him wrinkling his nose and he growled. He didn’t recognize the chemical, almost bitter odor. But under it was the unmistakable scent of Addison. He slowed, walking carefully to the scent. A piece of bright blue fabric poked out from under a log. It had to be Addison’s shirt.
He couldn’t stop the intense reaction of his wolf. He moved forward and pawed the material, digging for clues. The scent rose up, engulfing him. The shirt was soaked in something nasty, that stung his nose and had his eyes tearing. He pawed at his nose, trying to get the burn out of his nostrils, but it was too late. His vision blurring, he staggered sideways, and fell to the ground. He panted, struggling to get air into his lungs that were saturated with the stuff.
He couldn’t move, couldn’t run, as Frank and Eddy came whooping and hollering out of the building.
“Lookee! We got ‘em Frank.” Eddy’s beady dark eyes gleamed.
“We sure did. Now help me tie him up.” Frank dropped to his knees in the snow and using some climbing rope the men he’d been living with for the past few months bound his wrists and ankles and tied him to a two-by-four. They each took an end and stood up.
“Fuck he’s heavy.”
“Quit whining. Come on, let’s go. They’re waiting for us.” Frank led the way and they carried him out of the woods and to the back of the barn. The door swung open and they carried him inside.
The interior of the barn was simple. Two rows of stalls, one on either side, with big doors on either end. The floor was dirt and stank of old manure and straw, with a faint underlay of horse. In the center they’d started a campfire, the smoke swirling through the room before rising to escape out of the open skylights above that let in the bright afternoon light. He tried to see if Addison was here, but her scent was even weaker here.
They inserted the ends of the pole into sturdy wooden saddle racks close to the fire, the heat too warm on his left side.
“We got him, boss.” Eddy rubbed his hands, a wide shit-eating grin showing his teeth.
“Hey, I’m the one who thought of this.” Frank pushed the smaller man to the side. “I got him. Eddy helped,” he added grudgingly.
“Well who’d have thunk it.” Sven spit on the floor, narrowly missing Ethan’s snout. “I thought you were smarter than this, Blaywolf, but it turns out you’re dumber than I thought.”
Ethan snarled, finally able to do something. Whatever they’d given him hadn’t lasted long, already his vision was clearing.
“Told you.” Bart picked up a stick from a pile and shoved it into Ethan’s gut. Ethan grunted with the pain, but there was nothing he could do and from the grin on Bart’s face, he knew it. “I know how those fucking mated wolves think, they always follow their dicks. He thought he could circle around and grab the bitch right from under our noses, but that chloroform on his woman’s shirt, that sure did him in.”
“So, boys, what should we do with the traitor?” Sven asked.
“Aren’t we going to brand ‘em, like you said?” Eddy’s voice went high with excitement and Ethan’s stomach clenched.
He twisted his head and strained to see. Sure enough, there were branding irons heating up in the fire, their metal ends taking on a glowing red edge.
“Settle down, Eddy.” At Sven’s glare Eddy backed off, giving Ethan a vicious kick on the way. “Yes, we’re gonna brand him. And maybe after that, we’ll tie him to one of the trucks and drag him through the snow to cool his hide off.” Sven leaned in close to Ethan’s face, so close that the stink of the wad of chew balled up in his lower lip wafted over Ethan and he choked. “But those are just the fun things, boy. It’s when we really get to work that you’re gonna start screaming.”
Fire! With an animal’s instinctive fear his wolf panicked, twisting and turning in an effort to get away. The gang’s laughter echoed in his head. But under the beast’s fear Ethan struggled with something else.
Before they’d attacked the women, Ethan would have sworn Sven and his gang were mostly harmless petty crooks, but now? He could see the joy in their eyes as they bickered over the hot irons and Bart once again shoved his stick into Ethan’s gut. They were getting off on the violence, like a fox tearing into all the chickens in the hen house, but only eating one. They wanted to torture him. They were having fun torturing him.
He’d failed and he’d die here. He knew it by the look in Sven’s eye. But the real question was—where was Addison and what had they done to her?
Despite the heat of the fire burning too close to his side, his blood ran cold with fear.