“Something’s wrong,” I said for the millionth time. “He’s been gone too long.” I put the poker cards down on the coffee table and stood. My hip and leg still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but the worry coursing through my veins outmatched any physical pain right now.
“Natasha, he’s fine. You need to stay off your leg until tomorrow,” Mariah said, but her eyes were darting back and forth between me and her mate.
“Why do you keep looking at him?” I snapped.
“Natasha,” Max warned with a gentle tone. He’d been pacing across the kitchen for the past hour. He knew something was wrong too.
“What?” I shouted. “It’s one in the morning and Rhys isn’t back yet. He hasn’t called. His phone goes directly to voicemail. And I just know…” I choked on the sobs hanging out in the back of my throat. “I know something’s wrong.”
There was a noise from the bed in the corner where Micah had fallen asleep several hours ago. Fawn jumped to her feet and went over to comfort her stepson. She whispered something to him as I continued to hold down the nagging fear that I might lose Rhys forever. Mariah stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. I wanted to nudge it away but knew that might be something I’d regret.
“The drive to Fairbanks takes a bit of time. If he and Sutton had a lot to talk about, he could be on his way home now.”
I shook my head. “No. It’s not right. I can feel it.”
Mariah glanced at Donovan who’d been standing by the window near the door for quite some time now. He pulled out his phone and called someone. A few moments later, he hung up with a sigh and ignored the fact that everyone in the room was watching him.
“What?” he finally asked.
“Who did you call? Rhys?” I hated the way my voice shook right now.
“No. I called Sutton.”
“You know her?” Mariah asked.
“Only by name. But your father gave me her number a while ago.”
Mariah sighed and continued to squeeze my shoulder. “And?”
“And her phone seems to be turned off, too.”
“Okay, that’s it.” I hobbled to the kitchen table where I left my purse and scooped up my things. “I need to go find him.” And while I had no car, I hoped one of these assholes would step up and offer to drive or lend me their vehicle.
“We should wait here,” Donovan said calmly, and with a hint of command lacing his words. “We should wait until we hear from him—”
“Bullshit!” I screamed. Micah sat up in the bed and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Everyone else stared at me, waiting for what I was about to say that would probably piss them all off. “If one of you were missing, you know he’d go after you without a moment of hesitation. I don’t understand what we’re waiting for—”
“I see lights,” Max said, looking out the window. He turned to face me. “Someone’s coming down the road.”
Unable to feel completely relieved, I did blow out a breath of hot air and pushed past Donovan to get out the front door. I didn’t care if he was my new alpha. He was being a dick and I’d deal with his punishment when Rhys was back at Eagle Creek safe and sound.
Everyone followed me out, waiting to see if Rhys and his truck were bouncing happily down our secluded lane. “It sounds like a truck,” Mariah said hopefully.
“I don’t feel him,” I whispered, but Donovan had heard and he stepped in front of me. I let him, because this was his territory after all. Plus, he might need to stop me from killing whoever was trespassing here tonight.
We watched in silence as the truck, a bright white supped up one, gunned it around the bend and came flying straight for us. “What the hell,” Max grumbled, joining Donovan and making a border between the truck and the rest of the camp.
As the beast of a vehicle skidded to a stop and a cloud of dust kicked up around us, I smelled that Rhys wasn’t with them. We all did. And when a man the size of Max jumped out of the truck and headed our way, everyone started to growl.
“Is this Eagle Creek?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
I recognized the voice but couldn’t place it at first. “What are you doing here?” I yelled.
His eyes snapped to mine and in an instant my knees weakened. I knew this man. He was one of Cade’s. He was the pack enforcer and I’d never liked him.
“There you are, little Natasha,” he teased. “Looks like I’ve come to the right place.”
“What have you done with Rhys?” I asked Kevin.
“Who are you?” Donovan’s towering frame and even scarier voice made the asshole wolf take a step back.
Kevin raised a hand and gave all of us a sinister smile. “Whoa there, kitty cat. You can’t kill the messenger or you’ll never find out what happened to your precious Rhys.” He reached for his back pocket, but Max and Donovan jumped forward as he moved. They almost knocked him to the ground when they ripped his phone out of his hands.
“Hey, assholes. If something happens to me, your wolf is dead.” Kevin turned his gaze toward me. “And you’ll be next. Half a million dollars is a lot of money to walk away from.” When Kevin, with his stupid shaved head and even uglier tattoos running up his arms, winked, I almost lost it.
Stumbling up to him, I channeled my inner Rhys…and punched him in the face. Donovan and Max held him upright, but Kevin simply laughed and cocked his head to the side. “Consider that strike one,” he threatened.
“Where’s Rhys?” I pushed out through gritted teeth. My wolf was right there. Right there ready to rip his throat out as soon as he told us.
Kevin yanked on his arms, trying to get them back under his control. When the boys didn’t budge, he sighed. “I need my phone, assholes.”
“What for?” Donovan growled. Kevin swiveled his head to the left and blew the lion a kiss. Donovan slapped him in the back of head, making Kevin cough. “What. For?” Donovan repeated slowly.
“It’s the ransom note,” he smirked. “If you want to know how to get Rhys back, give me my fucking phone.”
Mariah bent over and picked up the phone that had fallen in the scuffle. She held it out to Kevin but didn’t let go as he unlocked it and pulled up a video. “Show her,” he spat toward me.
Mariah complied and slanted the phone in my direction. On the screen was a face I hated and one that brought back a rush of dreadful memories. Cade looked so much like his twin brother that I nearly fell over from the shock of seeing a ghost.
“Hello, little Natasha,” Cade teased. The video was shot in some kind of large building, maybe a warehouse. It shook as the person filming walked in a circle around Cade like some fucking cinematic student trying to earn extra points. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your vacation in Eagle Creek, because it is now time to face your punishment.”
“Natasha! Don’t—”
I grabbed the phone out of Mariah’s hand. “Was that Rhys?”
The camera steadied again and my question was answered. Cade had a hold of Rhys’ hair, yanking his neck back and showing me the beat up and bloodied face of my mate. “Shut up,” Cade growled. Then he looked directly into the camera again. “Here’s the deal, little Natasha. You give yourself up to save this pitiful alpha.” Cade laughed and then punched Rhys across the face so hard, I heard his nose break.
Mariah covered her mouth. “Oh my god.”
Donovan and Max pulled Kevin’s arms behind his back until he howled in pain. But my attention was drawn to the video ransom note.
“You killed my brother, Natasha. Deeds like that don’t go unpunished,” Cade snarled. His brown hair looked matted and dirty, the dark circles under his eyes telling me he wasn’t well. “1650 State Street in Fairbanks. Be here before sunrise or he,” Cade pushed Rhys’ face into the view of the camera, “dies.”
The phone went black and I tried to force that horrible, gut-wrenching, sinking feeling back down my throat. The wolf rose to the surface, my eyes changing and my voice edging closer and closer to an animal’s as I stalked toward Kevin. “You won’t get away with this,” I snarled. Slashing him across the face with my nails, I grabbed his shirt and yanked him down to eye level. “I will kill you and your fucking alpha.”
“Natasha,” Donovan whispered, although he also didn’t seem to be stopping me from hurting this little piss head wolf doing Cade’s dirty deeds.
“If I don’t make it back in two hours, Cade will kill Rhys,” Kevin said. “You have about thirty seconds to let me go so I won’t be late.”
Max let out a growl and shoved Kevin back toward his stupid truck. “Get the fuck out of here.”
By now, the rest of the Eagle Creek shifters had gathered in a circle blocking Kevin in. He looked around and laughed. “Let me go or he dies, little Natasha.”
“Stop calling me that,” I spat, which only made him laugh again.
“Go!” Donovan commanded. “Leave now before I change my mind.”
Kevin looked appropriately scared but tried his best to hide it. “Can I have my phone back?”
“Get out!” The power in Donovan’s voice forced my knees to buckle. Many shifters around me had fallen to the ground and lowered their heads. They looked pained at the forced command and I hated that this was all was my fault.
Kevin stumbled as he reached for his truck. He turned, like he wanted to say something else, but one look at Donovan and he scrambled inside. A few seconds later he was peeling out of the camp and flying down the dirt lane like his life depended on it.
Holding Kevin’s phone in my hand reminded me of the ransom video Cade sent. How dare he hurt Rhys? Rhys didn’t deserve to be pulled into my mess. None of these shifters did. Yet, as I looked around and saw them waiting for Donovan to say something, I worried that it was way too late for that.
“No!” I screamed into the air. Throwing the phone toward the retreating tail lights, I fell to the ground with a sense of loss so great, I didn’t know how my body simply didn’t break into two.
“What do we do?” Max asked Donovan.
The alpha lion began to pace, just like he had in the house. “You and I take her there.”
“What?” I asked, looking up at him.
“You want to go to him, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, I’m offering you a ride. And muscle.”
“Donovan,” Mariah asked. “Are you sure?”
“Rhys would do it for us.”
It was all he said but it was enough. Every single shifter standing in the darkness behind me nodded in agreement. Tears fell from my eyes, so amazed and so proud of Rhys for building this crooked little family of his. I loved him even more than I did a few hours ago. These shifters would do anything for my mate, and that spoke louder than any words could ever convey.
“We need to go,” Max said. “I’ll drive.” He jogged to Fawn and Micah and wrapped them in his arms as they headed toward their cabin.
“Please bring him home,” Mariah whispered. “Both of you,” she said to me.
I grabbed her outstretched hand and allowed her to help me off the ground. Mary stepped forward with two men and another woman standing close behind her.
“You’re in charge,” Donovan told her. “Watch the woods. I don’t trust that they’re all gone.”
She nodded and jerked her chin to the side. The four lynx shifters spread out into different directions and disappeared into the forest.
“Stay inside, Mariah. I don’t want to risk anything happening to our child.”
The way Donovan rested his hand against Mariah’s stomach and rubbed the side of her face like a cat, made me ache for Rhys even more. I must have made some kind of noise because the two of them looked over at me and gave me a weary smile.
“We’re going to get him back, Natasha. I promise you that.”
I could only nod.
Sure, we would get Rhys back, but at what cost?