Chapter Six
It was well after noon with Jackson woke back up again. Natalie was still sleeping peacefully next to him, and he gently smoothed the hair out of her face. The past few days had been a whirlwind for him.
Seeing her trapped between the wall and the bear had knocked at least ten years off his life. Never before had Jackson felt so scared, so angry, and so desperate in his entire life.
Paul was powerful. Strong. And as much as Jackson hated to admit it, it was obvious that Paul was stronger than him. But he knew without a doubt that Jackson would have laid down his life last night if it meant that Natalie would be protected.
It was a startling revelation, but this morning has sealed the deal. Natalie belonged to him. And now that he knew that, he would stop at nothing to keep her safe.
Her curvy body was pliant and warm next to his, and as much as he wanted to lean down and kiss her, her knew he had to figure out how Paul had gotten on the reservation.
Not to mention that Micah would be back soon.
He eased himself gently out of the bed. She turned in her sleep, trying to find his warmth, and he covered her with a blanket. After stroking her hair for a minute, she fell back asleep.
He hoped her dreams were peaceful.
Frowning, he realized that he didn’t have any clothes in her room. He wrapped a towel around his naked body and prayed that no one would see him as he made a mad dash to the elevators.
Brent was, of course, already in the elevator when the doors opened. He held out his arm, and Jackson was relieved to see a pair of pants and a shirt. “I was on my way to get you,” Brent explained.
“How did you know where I was?” Jackson asked as he quickly pulled the clothes on.
“I review the security footage every morning after a shift. I saw the new bear breaking into the building. And I saw you go in after it. You weren’t in your room, so I figured you were either dead in Natalie’s room or you spent the morning there.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Good to see you shed a few tears for my possible death.”
Brent smiled. “It takes more than a psychotic shifter to kill you, my friend.”
“How did he get on the reservation? The gates lock automatically just before the dusk of a full moon.”
His friend pulled his iPad from his bag and opened it up. A video was already queued on the screen. When he pressed play, Jackson’s eyes widened. “He was already in the territory.”
Brent nodded. “I suppose our security is much like his. He slipped in undetected during the day somehow and hid until night fell. When we all shifted in the woods, he attacked. I’m in the process of reviewing the footage of the perimeter now, but I don’t see how he got in to begin with.” His eyes grew uneasy. “I also don’t have any footage of him leaving.”
Jackson’s head shot up. “Are you serious?”
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s still here. It could simply mean that he’s found an access point that’s not on camera. I’m about to walk the perimeter now. I’d like to have a full report for Micah when he returns this evening.”
“I’ll join you, but I want some men posted at both the entrance to the condo and on Natalie’s floor. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Can he shift outside the full moon?”
Jackson swallowed hard. “Probably. He was almost human when he finally broke in. If he can contain his wolf during the full moon like that, he can probably call it at will.”
“That’s pretty powerful,” Brent commented in a neutral voice. “Even you can’t do that.”
“I know,” Jackson snapped. “But there are hundreds of us and one of him. So if he’s here, he’s desperate. It’s more than a simple stolen object or an obsession with Natalie. There’s something I’m missing.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Brent said confidently. “We’ll protect her.”
Jackson looked at him. “I’m glad you’re coming around.”
“She’s your mate,” he said simply. “And that means we can trust her.”
***
Jackson was gone when Natalie woke up, but she could feel his energy linger. He hadn’t left ashamed or regretful. She smiled and snuggled further under the covers. She loved that she could feel him even though he wasn’t around.
After a few moments of languishing in the leftover warmth, she finally pulled herself out of bed. She couldn’t keep relying on Jackson to save her. She needed to be proactive. If Paul was willing to attack her on another pack’s territory, then he was more desperate than she thought.
What in the world was he here for?
She hopped in the shower, let the steam relax her, and when she was done, she wiped the mirror down. Her cheeks were flushed with heat, but her eyes held determination.
She wasn’t going to let Paul ruin this for her.
Running a towel through her hair and slipping her clothes on, Natalie began to prowl the condo. After a few minutes, she took her purse and dumped it out. Maybe she really did have something that Paul wanted.
But all she had was the usual. Her wallet. Her keys. A few items of make-up, some lotion, a couple of pens, and a tampon. There was nothing valuable in the purse. Hell, the purse itself wasn’t even valuable.
She gazed at the pile on her floor and sighed. What was making Paul come after like this?
She picked up one of the pens and smiled. It was one of those pens that held six different colors. She played with the colored clicks and pulled the blue one down.
Nothing happened.
Slightly disappointed, she pulled the little red button down.
Still, nothing happened.
“Of course the only cool thing I have would be broken,” she mumbled. She unscrewed the bottom and top portion and froze.
Instead of holding ink, it held a flash dive.
“Son of a bitch,” she breathed. This must have been what Paul was after. She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She didn’t have a computer, but she was sure that Jackson would. And it was time to find out what was really going on here.
She took the elevator to Brent’s condo first, but no one answered the door. Frowning, she went up one more story. Jackson wasn’t in either.
They must have been out checking the territory. She hurried down the hall and snagged the elevator before it went down. Scrambling out of the condo, her mind was racing.
What on earth was Paul hiding?
She never felt his energy or his hatred. By the time he stepped out of the shadows, it was too late.
She felt the sharp edge of the knife bite into her back. “Don’t say a word,” he growled behind her.
Her breath escaped her lungs, and she struggled not to scream, He forced her down the sidewalk. “We’re going to walk right out of here, and then we’re going to have a talk,” he hissed.
She glanced back. At one time, she’d found Paul incredibly sexy. His dark hair and intense eyes had seduced her, but now he looked like a mess. It was clear that he hadn’t slept in awhile, and everything about him was unkempt and wild. “I found the pen. I didn’t know that it wasn’t a pen, Paul. I don’t know what’s on it. You can take it and leave,” she muttered.
“Liar,” he snarled. “I should have known you were going to ruin this for me. I just wanted a taste of you, and now you’re fucking with everything.”
She shivered. What the hell was he talking about? “The alpha of this pack is going to be here soon. And Jackson and Brent are going to find us. Just take the pen and go,” she urged him.
“Nice try. Everyone is asleep, and even if they are looking for me, we’ll be long gone before they find us. Now quit dragging your feet and move!”
Paul wasn’t wrong. They didn’t pass a single person as she stumbled slowly along the woods. Before too long, they were coming up on the row of businesses.
And every single one of them was closed.
Paul dragged her to the convenience store and picked the lock. Her mouth dropped. It looked so easy for him. How long has he been doing this?
He pulled her through the door and threw her on the floor. She hit the tile hard and gasped with pain. Growling, he grabbed one of the stacks and knocked it on the floor.
There was a hole in the wall.
“This is how you’ve been going in and out?” she muttered. “You tunneled into a store?”
“It was already here. I just found it. Your Jackson has a serious security breach on his hands. Crawl in.”
She shuddered. “No thank you.”
“Crawl the fuck in,” he howled and kicked at her. She rolled over quickly. Seeing her chance, she chucked the pen across the store. He roared in anger and dove after it. She scrambled to her feet and ran out of the store.
“Help,” she screamed. “Someone, help me!”
Two figured emerged from the street. Jackson and Paul. Natalie raced to them, but she wasn’t fast enough. Paul grabbed her hair and pulled her painfully back against him. She felt the knife bite into her throat. “Not so fast,” he murmured.
Jackson and Brent froze. “Let her go,” Jackson said hoarsely. “Take whatever it is you came here for and let her go.”
“Oh, I am here for her,” he muttered. “I need her.”
“Why?” Jackson and Brent slowly separated, and Paul’s arms tightened around her.
“Stop,” he hissed. “No one moves.”
“No,” Natalie moaned as she felt the muscles in Paul’s arm shift. “Please don’t.”
“I should have done this much earlier, but I needed to know what you were first,” he growled.
“What do you mean? What am I?”
“A witch.” She felt his teeth sink into her neck, and she screamed. Jackson and Brent both launched themselves at her, but it was too late. Paul had already shifted and marked her.
The pain was immense. She screamed and fell to the floor as she felt his saliva seep into her bones. Already, she could see the two men attempting to shift, but Paul was too strong. As her vision blurred, she realized that he had Jackson pinned to the ground. Paul raised the knife, and Natalie reacted.
Holding out her hand, she pushed as much energy as possible towards them. Paul slammed into the wall. And then darkness took her.