Gabrielle Demonico (26 page)

It was the last thing she remembered.

When she came to groggily, all she could see was blackness. Within seconds, she realized that she’d been blindfolded and gagged. Her hands and feet bound to the chair she sat in.

“
She’s awake.” A deep voice grumbled.

“
Good.” Another replied.

The back of her head pounded in pain. “
Wh - whrrr ann I? Wha iiii goiiin nnn?

“
Pipe down bitch…” still a third voice said.

She shook her head slowly in an attempt to reorient herself. Without much awareness of the command she
’d just been given she replied, “Oooo rrrr uuu?”

A moment later she felt a rush of wind against her body and yet another voice said, “
Keep quiet lady. We’re not going to say it again.”

Four.
There’s four of them.
She counted in her head.

Her grogginess bega
n to give way to fear. What in the hell was happening? For the time being, she decided to do as she was told.

After all, no harm had come to her yet.

Yet.

After a few minutes of silence, the men began talking amongst themselves. She could still feel a lar
ge presence in front of her.

Finally, the first voice she
’d heard said, “Remove the blindfold.”

An immense hand reached around the back of her skull and quickly untied the blindfold from her head. As the darkness evaporated she squinted. She blinked severa
l times in a row to try and get a handle on her surroundings. As her awareness returned, she saw that she was surrounded by four very large men who all bore striking similarities to Daryn and Theo.

The man closest to her brandished a knife, held it to her
throat and then turned back to the seated man who appeared to be in charge. He nodded, stood up and said, “Alright, we have some questions we need answered and only you can give them to us.”

She looked at him through eyes as large as moons.

He continued and said, “So, my associate here is going to remove the gag from your mouth. But, if you scream or even so much as cough loudly, he will slit your throat from ear to ear. Nod your head if you understand.”

The blade felt like ice against her exposed neck. Ter
ror gripped at her. She looked at the man giving orders and slowly nodded in the affirmative.

“
Good. Okay, take it off.” He said as he motioned to the blade wielder. Seconds later, the gag fell away to the floor. The man who’d given the order walked towards Jessi until he stood about a foot away.

“
Where are they?”

“
Who?” She asked.

The man nodded towards the other holding knife. The blade pressed into her flesh.

The man in charge said, “I’m not going to ask a second time. Now you can either tell me where they are or we’ll
kill you
and find them ourselves. It’s your choice.”

Jessi
’s natural instincts were to shift and deal with them herself but the hotel was out of her territory and so she was incapable of it. But no matter what, she was determined to not betray them in any way.

She swallowed hard and said, “
Look, I don’t know. That is the truth. You are just going to have to kill me.”

The man crossed his arms and said, “
Okay.”

In a split sec
ond, Jessi felt the steel pierce her flesh and then her world went dark. But just before she slipped into unconsciousness, the hotel room door burst open. As she fell into blackness, her vision was filled with images of enormous beasts, fur and blood.

***

“Jessi… Jessi… Fuck!” Theo’s voice boomed.

She could feel him lightly tapping her cheeks in an attempt to revive her. She didn
’t know if she was dreaming or awake.

“
Daryn, she’s moving!” Theo’s said.

“
Thank goodness.” Daryn replied.

“
Sweetheart, are you okay?” Theo said as he cradled her neck and upper back in his hands.

She could feel that she was lying down - shaken but alive.

“What? What happened?” she asked.

“
We will explain everything. Are you sure you are alright?” Theo asked.

“
Yes, I think so.” She said. But then, almost as quickly as she said it, she lost consciousness once more.

When she next awoke, her head was less burdened by pain. She propped herself up on her elbows and craned her neck around. She could see that she was still in the hotel room.
But it was in a shambles and nearby lie the bodies of two men - either unconscious or dead - she couldn’t tell which. Honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She turned her head to the left to see Daryn and Theo sitting on the bed across from her.

“
Are you okay, Jessi?” Daryn asked nervously.

She nodded and said, “
Yes, I think so. What in the world happened here?”

The brothers looked at one another and shook their heads. Their expressions communicated deep disappointment, bordering on shame. After a few m
oments of disconcerting silence, Daryn said, “Jessi, it was our pack…”

“
What do you mean?” she asked shaking her head.

“
Fuck!” Theo shouted as he got up from the bed and kicked one of the bodies on the floor. It was now obvious that the motionless men hadn’t survived.

Jessi suddenly felt afraid,
very afraid
. She’d never felt
real fear
before in her life. She imagined that there was nothing that these men could not handle (and maybe she was right) but something had occurred that they hadn’t expected. Daryn grimaced and exhaled. It seemed as if the breath pained his soul.

“
First of all Jessi, let me tell you how sorry Theo and I are for what happened to you. We knew that this was a possibility but honestly, we thought we’d covered our tracks.”

“
I don’t understand. Who are those men on the floor and where are the other two.” She asked.

“
Who
they are is of no importance. They were once our brothers but now, they are nothing to us.”

She shook her head in confusion.

“Jessi, they were sent by the pack leader - to hunt us down. I told you about them once before in the car the other night. They are the
crait seekers
. It is their job to track down members that stray from the pack for any reason. They were dispatched here to kill us. Instead, they found you.”

“
Yes, I remember now. But, why would they want to kill you?”

“
Because of our desire to seek our truemate…” Theo said.

She sat up a bit more and said in a loud voice, “
So this entire time… Your lives have been in danger and you didn’t tell me? The only thing you told me was that they were looking for you - not that they wanted you dead!”

Daryn replied, “
Jessi… Please, try and stay calm. Listen, we couldn’t. We were not certain about our feelings and if we were not, how could you have been?”

Jessi was angry. Sh
e knew that she was falling hard for them and the fact that they’d kept such a secret from her was difficult to stomach. But, her mind was still swimming in confusion - there was so much that just wasn’t clear…

“
Where are the others? The other two men?” she asked.

“
We spared their lives. It is not by choice that the
crait seekers
do these things. They are bound by oath and blood. But, we had to send a mesaage to the pack. By killing these two and sparing the others we have said all that there is to say - for now.

Theo added to Daryn
’s statement and said, “The pack will think twice before dispatching
crait seekers
once again.”

“
Think twice? You mean, it could happen again?” she questioned.

Daryn answered, “
Jessi. I am done with half-truths. Yes, it could happen again. Neither Theo nor I can ever promise that it will not. For now though, it is done.”

Theo
’s emotions had settled somewhat and he once again took a seat next to his brother on the bed. He looked at Jessi and said, “Jessi, I am sorry for my outburst but when I saw that the hotel door had been broken open - well, I feared for the worst. The
crait seekers
can be ruthless. After all, that is their pledge.”

She stayed silent for a moment and then said, “
I understand. Please, both of you, I am not angry. I am truly grateful to you for rescuing me. But, now that is behind us please promise me that there will no longer be any secrets between us. Not now, not ever.”

“
We swear on it my sweet.” Daryn pledged. He then turned to Theo and said, “We need to get her out of here.”

“
Agreed.” Theo replied.

Several minutes later Daryn ushered Jessi out of the room and into the passenger
’s seat of her car. Theo followed them out to the vehicle and after getting her seated, Daryn turned to his brother and said, “Are you sure you can handle all of that in there alone?”

He placed his hand on his Daryn
’s shoulder and said, “Yes, brother.”

“
Alright. We will see you later this evening.” Daryn replied.

“
Yes.” Theo said.

As Jessi sat in the front seat, exhaustion set in once
again and she could feel herself drift away.

***

When she next awoke, she was in her bed alone. The doorway to her room was open and she could see the flicker from the television. To her surprise she felt much better.

“
Hello?” she called out.

Within moments Daryn appeared in the doorway followed closely by Bella.

“We wanted to let you sleep. How are you feeling?” he asked as he walked in and stood at the foot of her bed. Bella moved around towards Jessi’s right side and poked her wet nose up to touch her bare arm.

“
Bella! No!” she giggled. “I’m feeling much better. Where is Theo?”

“
He’s on the way. Are you hungry?”

“
Yes. Starving!” she said.

“
Okay, well, Theo is bringing some pizza with him. Can I get you anything else in the meantime?”

“
A hug?” she said quietly.

He smiled softly and moved around towards her. Seconds later, she was swallowed in the reassuring safety of his embrace.

“Mmmm… feels good.” She purred.

As they hugged, the front door opened.

“Hello?” Theo called out.

“
In here!” Jessi replied.

Theo appeared in the doorway with their dinner in his hand. “
Well, it looks like someone is awake.” He said cheerfully.

“
Yeah.” She replied.

“
Let me go set this down and I’ll be right back.” He said.

As he turned to head back to the kitchen, Jessi r
ested her head on her pillow. As she did, Daryn stroked her temple gently. Seconds later, Theo reappeared, walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. Bella, drawn by the lure of pepperoni, trotted out to investigate.

“
Bella…
” Jessi warned.

Theo smile
d and said, “I put it up on top of the fridge. If anything, it will keep her nose occupied for the time being.”

Jessi smiled and said, “
I thought we were eating dinner.”

“
Soon…” Daryn replied. The brothers then looked at each other silently. Theo nodded, got up and closed the door to her bedroom. He turned and headed back towards the bed and took his place next to Jessi again.

Daryn then said, “
Jessi… Theo and I can no longer wait to forge our bond. What happened earlier today reminded us of how fragile and precious it is.”

“
What do you mean? No longer wait?” she asked.

Without speaking, Theo brushed Jessi
’s hair away from her eyes. He pulled it behind her ear and then immediately descended upon her mouth. Their mouths remained locked for several seconds until he finally pulled away. But no sooner had Theo stopped than Daryn immediately took his place and took her with equal vigor.

And then, before she
’d even realized it, she was alternating kisses amongst them. With scarcely enough time to breathe between exchanges, it was becoming clear to Jessi exactly what Daryn had meant. Deftly, the brothers slipped off what little clothing she had and then almost as smoothly, removed their own as well.

And so it was upon her, that moment that she
’d wondered about but never quite thought would become a reality. Yet, it was. Amidst a sea of muscles and tongues, the young bear now realized that she would learn what it meant -
to be shared.