Chance Lost (18 page)

Chapter 33

Dakota stared at his phone in disbelief before putting it back to his ear. Hell, he still didn’t believe all he was hearing from the person on the other end of the call. He needed to sit down to listen after the first minute of the conversation. If what was being said was true, then his life just changed for the better. Now all he had to do was figure out how to fix the problem before it was too late. He ran once, he wouldn’t do it again. It didn’t matter what his reasons were at the time; he was a different person now. He was a better man. He had years of street smarts and life experiences on his side this time. He would make it right somehow.

Dakota said his goodbyes and hung up. He needed to find this girl and fast. There were things to take care of, but he wasn’t one for leaving a job undone, no matter how crazy his employer was. He shifted and stepped out of the cave to sniff the air. His black wolf form kept him hidden in the shadows and it was needed today. The sky was void of clouds and the air was clean and crisp from the small shower that rolled through the night before. The sun burned off the last of the mountain mists and if he wasn’t careful he might be seen.

The girl’s scent was everywhere on the land near the construction. They didn’t clear-cut the trees and he was thankful. He could get closer than normal to the humans working on the site. He got a good whiff of a male wolf shifter too; in fact, his scent was very strong near the digging. Alpha males had their own scent and this one was exuding an Alpha scent that seemed strangely familiar. Dakota knew this because he was also an Alpha.
Was he here working with the humans?
Dakota backed away from the area carefully. Last thing he needed was trouble. He was close and he could feel it all the way to his bones. His instincts were telling him to stay here. She would come back and he would be waiting.

* * * *

Trey spotted the black wolf just before he pulled back into the tree line
. So the tracker is still here.
He didn’t expect to see him, positive he would have left by now. He wondered if they were both on the right track waiting for Chance to show up here. He was still worried he wouldn’t be able to get to her before the tracker did. The construction was progressing much faster now since the digging was completed. They poured all the concrete for the lower floors and added the steel infrastructure for it. The towers were completed, along with the mill down at the stream. He was now working on digging the cable ditches, which was taking longer than expected due to terrain and tree roots.

Trey had been sleeping in his vehicle offsite, but gave that up and moved it onto the property in a secluded area of woods near the entrance. There was still no sign of the pack, but it didn’t mean they weren’t there or watching. He wasn’t getting much sleep these days. Between working and staying up at night looking for pack members, he was snatching four hours a day at most. He was starting to get paranoid, which was affecting his decision making.

One slipup and he was caught. The nightmares were not helping either. He kept dreaming snatches of the night his parents were killed. He was too young at the time to remember much, but bits and pieces would come in his sleep. It was mostly the screaming he remembered, and when they came, he would jolt awake, shivering with fear.

Trey knew he was a survivor of a terrible tragedy and he was bound and determined to find a way to avert another with his old pack. He saw what was happening and feared they would pay the price for Craven’s doings. Get his female and save the pack was the mantra keeping him straight or at least he hoped it was. He wasn’t so sure any more. He had way too much time on his hands to think while running the backhoe. Things were coming to a head sooner than later and he could feel it. Just like the tracker though, he would have to wait.

With his workday over, Trey struggled to get to his car. He felt like he was going to pass out from the lack of sleep. He seemed to be hallucinating, hearing voices in his head or was he? Through sleep deprived eyes, Trey glanced around warily. He saw the shifter but it was too late. He felt something sting the back of his neck as he started to shift. Then everything went black.

* * * *

Craven was ecstatic for the first time in weeks. Ryder had found and brought him Trey. He’d lost weight and looked like shit, but he was alive. Seeing everything starting to come to fruition after all this time was a major head rush. He told his new Beta to carry him to the basement and together they manacled him to the wall.

Craven made sure Ryder knew he had done well by shackling him, facing the wall, next to Trey. He whipped the man from head to toe, and he was still begging for more. He took advantage of the man being restrained and had his way with him for the next hour. Yes, life was good.

Later that evening, Craven patiently waited for Trey to come to his senses. He wanted to make sure he knew why he was there and what was going to happen. Then he would tranquilize him again and keep him under until Dakota brought in the bitch. He saw Trey finally stir and stood up from the chair he was relaxing in.

In a soft voice laced with venom, he called to him, “Wake up, Trey. It’s time find out what happens to traitorous wolves in my pack.”

Craven laughed as Trey raised his head in confusion. He was chained to the wall with his hands stretched apart and manacled above his head. There was just enough slack for his feet to touch the floor, but that was all. He wouldn’t be able to lie down or move from the spot he was in. There were spikes in the cuffs, and they were embedded in Trey’s wrists to prevent shifting.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing Craven?” Trey started to shift and stopped when he realized he was trapped with the cuffs.

I am enjoying this way too much, but it is so worth it to see his face
. Craven laughed again at the thoughts racing through his mind. “You’re here to watch your precious bitch get her rewards for attacking me. What’s the face for, Trey? Did you seriously think I didn’t know what you were doing? All those things I promised to do to her? You’ll now have a front row seat. I will strip her, beat her, and fuck her while you watch and I’ll keep doing it until I break her. Get my drift, traitor?”

“You touch one hair on her, and
I will kill you
, Craven. I’ll make you wish for death before I end you.”

“Those are idle threats coming from a man with no way of escape, don’t you think? Maybe I will share her with the rest of the pack too. Hmmm… now that’s something to think seriously about. I don’t imagine there’s a man in this pack who’d turn down a naked and restrained woman, do you?”

Craven laughed again as he watched Trey struggle to free himself.

“Careful Trey, you don’t want another permanent injury do you?”

Trey let out a string of useless curses and Craven tired of the game. He hit him with another tranq dart so he could leave to hatch more plans for his revenge.

* * * *

Jack woke up feeling much better than the day before. There was nothing like friends, food, and beer to set things right again. He mourned the loss of his bar, The Den, but the insurance would take care of it. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to rebuild it in the same place though. He liked the area Chance was building on and considered finding a spot nearby to build instead. Out in the country was always better than the city in his book. Better clientele was a major selling point. He also knew most of his employees would have no problem making the move with him. He spent the morning calling all of them so they could stop worrying. He also set it up with the bank to make sure they all received pay while the bar was in limbo.

Jack used his afternoon to restart training with Sylas and Chance. Sylas made sure he gave her a booster bite before hand and she matched Sylas blow for blow after. It did his soul good to see her becoming his equal. He would never say it to the man, but Sylas needed this for far too long. Even though they weren’t related, Jack thought of him as a brother.

Jack met Sylas at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and fought together again in the War Between the States, both times as medics. It was during the latter Sylas saved his ass the first time. Sylas shielded him from a cannon blast by pulling them both out of harm’s way just before the cannon ball struck. The second was when he kept him sane after the loss of his wife and cub in Montana.

Since he wasn’t in the greatest shape since his capture, he watched them spar and pointed out things he thought needed improving. He also volunteered to cook meals for the day and he worked on the bait strategy while they trained. He wasn’t going to allow anything to go wrong this time.

The way he worked it out, the best place to do this was on her property. The terrain was perfect to set traps and now that her road was in, they could drive into the property and effectively close down the entrance with a downed tree. If they were to get to her first, they would have to carry her out and that alone should allow enough time to catch up to them and retrieve her.

The hard part would be to draw the Alpha out. Jack brainstormed some ideas but he would have to run them by Sylas and Chance first. He still had the standby crew waiting in the wings. He’d made sure as soon as he woke up this morning.

Jack used a SAT phone Chance had with her. Having no trace on the phone meant no one tracking back to where they were. He also timed Chance’s eyes this time, and it lasted eight and a half hours. By his calculations, if Sylas boosted her three times a day, in two or three more days, she should be finished with the change.

Sylas told him they needed to move again by day’s end, so Jack took the list Chance made and picked a campground in northern Alabama. It was near Cloudland Canyon State Park and would make a good spot to start the return to her property. It would be all back roads from there and less chance of being discovered until they were ready. It was the quiet before the storm keeping Jack on edge. Something was not right. It was too quiet and going too well for his comfort.

When their training finished and had sated their hunger, Chance begged off strategizing in favor of a shower and sleep. Jack knew she was letting the men have some needed talk time. They really needed to talk about this without her present and Jack made sure he let her know his appreciation with a quick hug as she left the room.

“You have a special gem in that one, Sy. Best not let anything happen to her, or this old cat will have to pull out the claws. Catch my drift?”

“I caught your drift a long time ago and trust me when I say, I will go down first before I let anyone hurt her. She finally told me about her childhood, Jack. It wasn’t pretty. I know you’ve seen her flinch at loud noises. Trust me when I say she had good reason. I’ve never wanted to kill a human before, but the abusive pricks she lived with as a child, deserve very painful deaths.”

“I feel you, Bro. She’s still a tough cookie. I sure as hell don’t want to be on her bad side. I like my boys hanging healthy and I mean to keep ‘em that way. I’ll drive us to the next camp if you want to take advantage of your not-so-empty bed back there. But I suggest you get some sleep, because tomorrow we need to teach your wildcat the intricacies of shifting. I know she can’t shift yet, but I’m thinking we need to give her pre-instructions to ward off the worst case scenario.”

“You’re getting the heebeegeebees too, I see. Something isn’t kosher in shifter land. This has been too easy and it’s making my hackles rise. My cat hasn’t stopped pacing for 2 days now and I’m not sleeping. Waiting for the ax to fall makes my balls itch. Just glad you’re here, Jack. I feel better knowing I have my back covered. I’ll chat ya in the AM, Bro. Keep it locked and batten down the window covers before you crash. Oh, and thanks again for being alive, Jack.”

Jack waited until Sylas crawled in with his lady before cranking up the house on wheels. The next few days were going to be hell. Jack was going to make sure they all made it through in one piece, come hell or high water.