Trapped With the Alpha (Balfour Shifters Book 1) (27 page)

Shrugging off my fear, I ignore my instincts to flee. Making my decision, I walk toward her. “Thank you.”

Brody

EVERY TIME
things seem to be going good with Izzy, something messes it up. It seems like everything and everyone is against us. If it isn’t my past screwing things up, it’s my fear of the future. I know all the things she saw is torturing Izzy, but the thought of losing her again is all my mind can think of. There is no way I could deal with that loneliness again. The fear of being without her has me wanting to keep her by my side every moment, and her memories have her wanting space. Fate is obviously having fun screwing with us. Fate caused us to cross paths in the first place, yet that same fate is now attempting to tear us apart.

Sitting down at my desk, I run my fingers through my hair and mumble to myself, “Shit, how the hell am I gonna fix this?”

“I don’t think that question was meant for me,” Caleb says, walking into my office and taking a seat across from me before throwing a smirk my way.

I shake my head, leaning back in my seat. “Seriously, Caleb, I just don’t know what to do anymore. I swear every time Izzy and I are working things out, something else happens.”

“Your woman is pissed, huh?” he asks with a chuckle. 

I slam my fist down on the desk, anger coursing through me. “There’s nothing funny about this shit, brother. She’s my mate, and I feel her pulling further away from me every day. We were finally having a good day, and now she’s pissed about that woman getting into the lodge. How the hell did that happen? We should be celebrating the fact that we have finally found our way back to each other, planning the future and things like that, but instead, we do nothing but fight and fuck.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and releases a sigh. “As much as I like the fucking part, I understand how hard the other shit must be on both of you.”

“How the hell did the woman get into the lodge?” I ask again, losing my patience.

“That bitch spent the night with one of the boys. She snuck out of his room and was headed toward you when I caught her.”

A growl leaves my throat, my wolf as angry as I am. “Has she been removed?”

“Oh, yeah,” Caleb says with a nod. “I also took care of the man she was with. He will be spending an extra two hours a day, for the next month, training. He’s not allowed at The Den, either, until I give him permission, and that will be a while. The bastard will likely have one serious case of blue balls before I allow him back in there.”

Before I can reply and let him know that I don’t think the punishment was enough, Aiden and Finn walk into the room. Aiden comes straight to me, placing a book on my desk. “Sorry to interrupt, but you’re gonna wanna see this. Look what I found.”

I look down to the opened book and see what looks like a rhyme. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a spell,” Aiden states matter of fact before nodding at Finn.

Finn walks to the desk and sits on the corner of it. “I was going through Dad’s things and found this. It’s his father’s journal. Even though Grandfather wanted everyone to put the past behind them, and your father seemed to feel the same way, I guess my dad didn’t agree and refused to let go of some things.”

“Uncle Hamish spent most of his life studying witches. He wanted to know as much about the McGregor witch as possible,” Aiden adds, stepping away from the desk.

Elise comes in a minute later, carrying a basket. “I’ve contacted every witch I know. Many knew the McGregor witch, and all were scared of her power.” 

I read through the curse, but I still don’t understand why Aiden and Finn are showing me this. “What the hell does the spell do?” I huff, making my irritation known.

“With the help of Elise, we can use it to vanquish the witch,” Aiden explains, tapping the book. “If we can find her, that is, we’ll be able to kill her. Once and for all, all of this curse bullshit will finally be over.”

“How are we supposed to find her?” I ask, hoping like hell he has an answer.

Elise starts pulling items out of the basket, forming a circle on the floor with candles. Finally, she holds up a tarnished gold necklace. “According to the journals Aiden found, Blain gave the witch’s daughter this necklace the day they were mated. I’m hoping the connection to her daughter will allow me to track the witch.”

I’m about to respond when my phone rings. Pulling it from my pocket, I see Knox’s name flash across the screen. Bringing to my ear, I answer, “Hey.”

“Izzy’s gone,” he shouts out into the phone, gasping for air. 

Jumping up, I send my chair crashing to the floor. “What the hell do you mean, Izzy’s gone?”

“I don’t know, man,” he says between breaths. “She was here one minute, and the next, she had disappeared. I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find her. I tracked her scent out the back door, but once it hit the street, it disappeared.”

My heart starts to pound in my chest. Fear and anger are snaking their way through my body, causing me to tremble from head to toe. “Why in the ever loving fuck weren’t you watching her?”

“I was, Brody. I swear to you, I was. I only turned my head for a second,” he growls out, his inner beast easily heard in his voice. 

Suddenly, my thoughts drag me back to the past. My eyes jerk around the room, looking for anything out of place. Is my woman here, watching me? Is she imprisoned again? Is this happening all over again, only this time, I remember her? The thought that she could have been taken from me once again causes me to drop to me knees, the pain coursing throughout my body immeasurable. 

“Fuck!” I scream, looking to the stunned faces of my brothers and cousin. “Izzy’s gone. The witch has her again.”

“No, Brody, just slow down a second. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the witch,” Knox says, finally calming down enough to attempt to talk some sense into me. “I think she snuck out of the store on her own.”

“How do you know that? That doesn’t even make sense, man. Why the hell would she do that?” I ask. Even though my mind and heart are screaming that he’s wrong, a small part of me hopes he is telling the truth. 

He lets out another growl, his anger coming through the phone. “It’s just a feeling. She wanted to get away from me.”

“Why?” I ask, even though I already know that answer. 

He lets out a frustrated breath before answering. “I think she needed some time on her own.  Brody, she was damn near in tears the whole time we drove to the store.”

Before I can say anything back, my phone beeps, and I see Duncan’s name flash across the screen. I’m about to ignore him, when Elise shouts, “Answer it.”

I look at her and see that her eyes are closed. She is standing in the center of the circle, swaying back and forth. “Answer it. Answer it.”

“Get to the lodge now,” I order Knox before switching over to Duncan. “What?”

“Alpha, I’m not sure if I should be calling you,” he starts, then goes on to tell me about taking Izzy to Old Man Jenkin’s house. By the time he’s done, my phone is across the floor in a million different pieces. 

I look back to Elise and demand, “Is she with the witch?”

Her entire body shudders before she opens her eyes. “Yes. We need to get to her, but first, we need to talk to Blair.”

“What?” I ask, forcing myself to stand still.

Dragging in a deep breath, Elise says, “We need to see if Izzy told her anything.”

As much as I want to run out the door and get to Izzy, I’ve known Elise long enough to realize listening to her is smart. Turning to look at Finn, I bark out an order. “Get Blair over here. Now!”

“She’s already here. She’s upstairs doing laundry,” Finn replies, jumping off my desk and walking toward the door.

Finn is shouting her name before I even stop talking. A second later, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs fill my ears. Blair rushes into the room, her eyes locked on Finn as she stops abruptly in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

“Izzy’s gone.” He quickly fills her in. 

With each word, I can sense the fear coming off her. Her eyes jerk to me then back to Finn. “You’re wrong. She’s not with the witch.”

Her words sound strangled, and even though I’m not her mate, I know she’s not telling us everything. “Blair, I need to know where Izzy’s at. You aren’t in trouble, but we need you to tell us anything you know. Any information is absolutely necessary right now.”

She refuses to meet my eyes as she answers in a whispered voice. “I was just trying to help.”

Finn’s body goes stiff as he steps in front of her, obviously on alert. Lowering his face to hers, he grabs her shoulders and gives her a solid shake before growling out, “Blair, if you know something, you have to tell us. We don’t have time to play this game.”

She jumps back, eyes darting between her mate and me. As soon as she realizes that she is cornered, she stammers out, “She had to do it. She didn’t want to, Brody, but she had to. She couldn’t live like this anymore.”

“Do what?” I growl out, taking a step towards her.

She shakes her head back and forth frantically. “I can’t tell you. I promised I would keep her secret.”

I let out a threatening howl and slowly begin to prowl toward her. “What did she have to do so bad that she willingly ran away from me, from her pack?”

Before I can reach her, Finn grabs her arms and pulls her into his body so that they are chest to chest. “You are my mate, and I love you, but if you don’t tell us what you know, I swear, I will beat your ass. It is my job to protect you, Blair, but I cannot protect you unless I know what the fuck is going on. This is your Alpha’s mate. He will do whatever he has to do, to get her back, even if that means killing us both. Tell us what you know right this second.”

She starts to shake as tears fill her eyes. “She went to get help. She wanted to forget her memories from the time she was imprisoned.”

Before I can ask her another question, Knox’s truck pulls up in the drive. Looking around, Elise nods and says, “We have to go to her now.”

Izzy

WAKING UP
, I attempt to open my eyes, but a pain shoots through my skull, pulling a moan from deep within me. Slamming them back shut with a groan, I pray the pain goes away. The pounding in my head is absolutely unbearable, and the light surrounding me only makes it worse. 

Reaching up to rub my throbbing temple, I try to remember what the hell happened. It takes only a moment before everything comes rushing back to me. I did this to myself, placed myself into this woman’s hands. I have to use all of my inner strength to resist releasing the sob desperately trying to escape from me.

I force myself to relax, and try to think back to what happened when I arrived at the witch’s house. Immediately, flashes from earlier begin to flitter through my mind. It only took a few minutes in her presence for me to know that something was horribly wrong. If I’m honest with myself, I knew she was evil the minute I looked into her eyes. 

The second she slammed the door shut behind me, I instantly regretted the decision I made to come and see her. She stalked toward me then, with a look of utter hatred radiating throughout her pitch black eyes that instantly caused me to take a step back. Her hand came to my chest, resting right above my heart, freezing me in my tracks. 

Her touch caused my world to start spinning, and my stomach began to churn. My vision went dark, and I started to lose consciousness. The last thing I heard before going out was her whispered words. “I knew you would come to me eventually. I never doubted that you would be too weak to be able to handle what you were forced to witness.”

Pain jars me from my thoughts, and I immediately wince at the throbbing in my head and the ringing in my ears. Slowly cracking my eyes open, I glance from side to side in an attempt to take in my surroundings. It only takes me a second to conclude that I am being held in a basement or some kind of underground cellar. The walls and floor are all cement, and the smell of mildew is heavy in the air.