Reluctantly Lycan (14 page)

“I think it was because I’m the least threatening or aggressive female in the pack.” She managed a short l
augh before immediately frowning as if any sort of joy was unacceptable now.

Marala
lifted up the plastic slowly, examining the dress. It was a simple gown. Silky with a sheer covering and a few flowers for embellishment. Life had made Mara a tough woman, but tears came to her eyes at seeing the gift. It was like receiving a present from the grave. A blessing. Hope.

“Thank you,
Josie. You’ve honored me and the pack by keeping this safe.”

The petite woman bowed her head in service. “The honor was mine.”

After a quick, hopefully inconspicuously clearing of her throat, Mara covered the dress with the plastic once more. “Well, you know where to find me. I will visit again.”

“My door is always open to you.” She extended her arm, palm open.

Taken aback at first by the gesture of respect common among the females, Mara froze. Then she remembered her manners and placed her palm against the woman’s briefly. Palm to paw, heart to heart.

Now that daylight had arrived, Taylor could observe his surroundings clearly. Or lack thereof. He was in a hole. He’d known that much. Unfortunately, the pit was far deeper and the walls offered no means to climb out. The boy rested curled up in the corner with only dirty jeans on. No shirt. He was thin.

“Hey, kid.” Taylor said. “I mean, Mason. What do you do when you need to… go?”

“Like to the bathroom?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

“Umm, he lowers a bucket sometimes. It’ll be more inconvenient now that you’re down here, too. Though, he won’t feed us enough that we’ll have to do much more than pee.” The boy’s face turned red. Taylor couldn’t tell if it was from anger or humiliation. Probably a bit of both.

“Great.
Nothing like having to ask permission to take a shit.” He kicked the dirt wall. A curse followed. It was as hard as rock.

Mason chuckled a little, his hand in a fist over his mouth. “I think that’s the least of our concerns.”

“Okay, we have plenty of time together here. While I try to figure out how to escape, explain to me everything you know about werewolves or lycans. Whatever you are.”

For hours, Mason told stories about
his people’s history, how things worked in the present, heroic lycans and pack leaders, and answered Taylor’s questions to the best of his ability.

Taylor tested the entire pit for weaknesses or a place to get a grip and climb out. He tried digging a diagonal tunnel. At first, the approach worked. In a short time, he
’d managed a golf ball size hole. Then he hit rock. A dead end.

“Here,” an altered voice called out.
A basket that looked like one people would take on a picnic date was lowered down. Inside, there was a meager amount of food. Bread and water. The prison weight loss diet. Guaranteed to shed pounds in a matter of hours. Free to captives of all ages.

Taylor rose to his feet when the
strange voice drifted down and the masked man peered into the pit. “Let us go, you bastard. One on one, me and you. I’ll take you out. Wait. Forget that, you can keep me. Just let the boy go.” His own words surprised him. He’d never been particularly self-sacrificing.

“Do either of you need to use the bucket? Say so now or hold it.”

Mason nodded without speaking and the bucket was lowered. It was secured by a thick wire, not a rope Taylor could untie and keep for a digging tool. Defeated once more.

The man sat on the edge of the pit as
the prisoners ate what little food they had. Both captives faced away when they went about their personal business. Even the kidnapper moved from view. Then, the bucket was lifted, followed by the empty basket.

Taylor tried his best to catch a glimpse, see some mannerism to alert him to which wolf was the culprit. He knew it had to be one of them. No one else would have been able to carry him out into the middle of the woods without one of the others catching up. Even
though Taylor was lean, he had heavy muscle. Besides, he was tall.

Then, a flicker of reflection caught his eye coming from the man’s hand. He wore a ring.
A simple golden wedding band.

“Be glad I placed that tarp to keep the rain from flooding the hole.” He said before walking away.

Neither Taylor or Mason knew when their next meal would be. The bread and water had only made them both hungrier.

“Mason, do you know which wolf wears a ring on his left hand?
One that’s married?”

This had Mason on his feet. “He wasn’t wearing gloves? A ring… but that’s impossible.”

Taylor’s eyes changed to angry little slits, but he also grinned when the boy told him which wolf was married as well as bonded. “Now that we know who it is, we have to figure out a way to leave warning should we not survive.”

Mason
looked nervous, but agreed. “Let’s carve it into the wall. I don’t care if my fingers bleed. He needs to be caught before he hurts someone else.”

“You’re a brave kid.” Taylor patted him on the back
and corrected himself. “A brave man.”

The young wolf smiled proudly
, walked up to the wall, and began the carving the first letter of the traitor’s name.

“Mara!” Brynn called out, running to catch up.

“Hi,
Brynn.” She smiled.

“Hey, I was on my way to work, but I wanted to check on Taylor.” The girl blushed. It knocked the smile right off Mara’s face.

“Taylor is….” Marala tried to find a delicate way to break it to the girl who obviously had a case of crush at first sight.

Brynn
held her breath. “They killed him?”

“God, no!”
Mara’s loud tone caused Brynn to jump back. “Sorry, no, but he’s missing like Mason.”

“This can’t be happening.”

“Sit down for a minute.” Mara took the girl’s arm and led her over to the porch, making her take a seat on the steps.

“Is this my fault?”
She asked.

“How would this possibly be your fault?”

Brynn winced up at Mara and bit on her thumbnail nervously. “I had a crush on Mason and then I kind of liked Taylor, now they’re both gone.”

“I regret the coincidence, but it’s not your fault. I’m sure you have lots of crushes.”

“I hope you’re right. Did you like a lot of guys?”

Mara blinked. “No, but I was
an exception. Kaden was my world from my earliest memories.”

“Right, I forgot.
Stupid of me.”

“Maybe work will take your mind off all this. Trust in the men. They’ll find
them.” Marala shifted a bit. Today was full of her giving advice. Ironic since she barely knew what she was doing herself.

“Yeah.
Thanks. I have a lot on my mind with my own bonding ceremony in a couple of months. Wish I didn’t have to do it.”

“Then don’t.”

The teenager scoffed. “My brothers’ insist. It’s my…” She held up her fingers and made quotation marks with them, “duty.”

“Hmm. This is a modern time. You’re not going to be forced into the role.” Mara thought for a moment. “When things settle down, I’ll talk to your brothers. I’ll be alpha female by then and I’m sure I can convince
Kaden to help me out.”

Brynn
jumped to her feet and hugged Mara. All this affection was uncomfortable. She didn’t normal let people in her bubble.

“Thank you, thank you,
thank you! You’re the best pack mother in the world!”

“We’ll see about that. Don’t say anything for now.”

“Cross my heart!” Her mood sank again as suddenly as it had lifted. “Finding Taylor and Mason is priority.” She gave a nod to affirm it. “Going to work. See you later.”

“Bye.” Mara lifted her hand and waved.

From behind Mara came a growl, not the wolf type, but the pissed off lover kind.
Kaden had asked her to remain indoors and where did he find her? Standing outside in front of his house. Unprotected!

“Did you forget already that you said you’d stay inside? Are you so fickle?” He
crossed his arms.

“Don’t be like that. I am going to stay inside, but I needed to go speak to
Josie. It….” She sighed, apparently unsure how to continue.

“Seemed like the right thing to do?” He finished.

“Yes.”

As quickly as his anger had boiled up, it melted away. “I understand, but I need you safe so I can find
the lost ones. I can’t be worrying about you when I’m out there.”

“You’re right. Any luck?”

“Some.” He didn’t continue.

“Care to elaborate? I need to be included.” She said.

Kaden glanced around then tilted his head toward the house. “Inside. Too many ears out here.”

Mara led the way,
Kaden close behind. When the door was closed and locked, he rested a hand on her hip and pulled her into a long kiss. His lips lingered, as if the couple had been apart for ages and not hours. Then again, he had lost her for what felt like forever.

She smiled sweetly. “I missed you, too.”

“What did you do to my house?” He looked around and ran his finger over the furniture. Not a speck of dust. The place hadn’t been clean in forever.

Mara headed into the bedroom. She returne
d empty handed, leaving the item she had been carrying behind. “It’s called sweeping, dusting, and mopping. I’ll have to explain how they work sometime.”

“Funny.” He surveyed the job further, surprised and unsure if he liked it. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. It is
our
home now, right?”

Kade’s
hard expression changed and he nodded, smiling. “Yes, she-wolf.”

“So, tell me what you found out.”
She leaned against the wall.

He handed her a wallet, watching as she examined the contents.

“This is Taylor’s.” She stated.

“Found it near the road that leads down to the city.”

“You think he returned to New York?”

Kaden
debated on how much to tell Marala. But, she was his mate and for a true bonding wolves needed trust. “Someone wants us to think he did.”

“What now?”

“We watch and we hunt. The bastard doing this will slip up eventually.”

“And he’ll be
killed.” Mara said without doubt.

Marala really wanted a shot of any kind of alcohol she could get her hands on and a cigarette or ten. Unfortunately for her, Jak had made her promise to get rid of them and Kaden had poured what was left of the whiskey down the drain when he’d found her passed out in his recliner a couple of weeks earlier.

Things were getting tense. No more evidence or clues about the disappearance had surfaced. Each night the
couple stared up at the sliver of moon growing larger and larger every evening until it was nearly a full pie. No matter how many times she and Kaden had sex… in the clearing, up against trees, or in the cool waters of the river… they couldn’t screw away the angst that the long anticipated bonding brought.

And the
night was upon them. The days had dragged by until this moment and now everything was happening too fast. Mara sighed, running her hands over the delicate white dress. Not her usual style, but she sure felt beautiful for once.

Mara
la had let her hair flow freely down her back and over her shoulders. Only a small strand was braided in the side. The wolf paw necklace was where it stayed now, around her neck with the pendant near her heart. The sound of people talking drew her to a nearby window.

Outside, pack members were bearing gifts. She assumed they were leaving the offerings of blessing on the porch. From her angle, she couldn’t see. Their voices were animated and excited. The gestures warmed her heart. Within a pack, you were never alone in the world.

Why did I think leaving was the right answer?
She asked herself, but then thought about everything she’d gone through, from the loss of her parents to Kaden’s infidelity, and she couldn’t blame herself too much.

Kade
knocked on the bedroom door a short time later. He had a busy night ahead of him. First the bonding with her and then pack leader business. That meant fighting. New scars. Danger.

She opened the door for him.
He was dressed in a black robe the same color as his hair, the same as his eyes, and the same as his wolf. Her breath caught in her throat and for a split second she was afraid of the beastly man. One mistake and he could snap her like a twig. But, she knew he’d die before harming her when he smiled down at her. A brutal, aggressive man like shouldn’t have such a heartwarming smile. It was almost too amazing.

Kaden
touched her cheek before stepping inside. “You ready?”