Mark of the Wolf (16 page)

An abduction. He should have known. He had
been stupid to let her run around outside by herself, especially
since Kane already knew he was in town. Didn't the girl have any
instinct at all? She should have known not to go so far.... He
leaned close to the street, sniffing out the area where the car had
pulled over to the side of the road, where the man had jumped out
and attacked her. There was no blood, which was a small comfort,
but it meant nothing. He knew what the wolves would do to her once
they got her alone... it would be terrible. And it would all be his
fault for dragging her into this mess.

“
Oh Maddy,” he murmured, turning back
to his car, his keys already in hand. He had memorized the SUV's
scent; now to follow it to its destination. “Hold on, I'm
coming.”

* * *

Maddy returned to consciousness slowly,
drowsy and dizzy and utterly confused. Where was she? What had
happened? She tried to open her eyes and look around, but
everything was black... it took her a moment to realize she was
blindfolded. But why? She thought back, trying to remember what she
had been doing... her head throbbed. Isak's house, that's right.
And someone had been there... a woman, a beautiful woman, who had
said such cruel things....

It all came flooding back to her in a sudden
flash. Running out of the house, walking through the rain, so upset
that she wanted to scream... but someone had attacked her. Someone
had grabbed her from behind, and then....

A sudden laugh met her ears, and she realized
that there were voices in the background. “Looks like someone's
awake,” said a low, slimy voice.

She shuddered, wondering if she should
pretend to still be asleep, but quickly decided it would be
useless. Fear bit deep into her, making her lips tremble. She
shifted, blind, trying to learn her surroundings... she was sitting
upright, tied to a chair. Her back hurt and her legs were sore and
cramped. She grimaced.

“
Who are you?” she demanded, deciding
to take the more forward approach. She had been dealing with
abductors and crooks for days now; she wondered which group had
finally gotten her. The enemy wolf pack, or more thugs from the
loan shark? She was cold, terrified, alone... but she would not
show them fear. That much she had control over.

“
Shut up,” a voice responded. She
thought it sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. “Little
bitch... now that you're awake, we're going to show you a thing or
two.”

The
voice was cold and leering, and she bit down on her lip, telling
herself to be strong. She couldn't control her imagination, however
– a thousand scenes flashed before her eyes, all of them ending
with her body being thrown out with the trash. Just like her
stepfather had always wanted. At least now she could make him
proud.

But what about Gareth? Sudden pain struck
her, and she tried not to cry. She had left without saying
anything... and he would never find her. How could he? She had been
stolen in the middle of the night, taken with nothing left behind.
Hopefully he would return to Yvonne and be happy with her...
hopefully this lifemate stuff really was just gibberish. For some
reason that thought was even more painful than the thought of dying
a gory, bloody death.

“
You're pathetic,” she growled,
tightening her jaw. “I don't care what you say – you can't scare
me!” If she was going to die, she would do it bravely. Her life so
far had been nothing but hell... somehow this ending made
sense.

The voice was closer now. Prickles ran over
her skin as she sensed a body hover over her. “Oh, you're not
scared?” the voice hissed, and suddenly she felt something sharp
pressing into the back of her hand, cutting into the flesh. She
gasped. “Well, we can fix that.”

Someone reached around and grabbed the back
of her blindfold, ripping it off of her head. A squeak of surprise
escaped her lips and she sat back, breathing hard, blinking in the
sudden harsh light. She looked around, trembling from shock, taking
in her surroundings.

It appeared that she was in some sort of a
garage, or maybe a basement. The floor was cement and there were
boxes of junk piled up in all the corners, a naked lightbulb
hanging from a chain in the ceiling. And in front of her, towering
over her, brandishing a wickedly curved knife in one hand....

It was the brown-haired wolf from before, the
one she had never thought she would see again. She tried to think
of his name – what had it been? Jesse? He smiled coldly, holding up
the knife. “I see you remember us.”

She glanced behind him, seeing the blond man
standing in a corner along with another man she didn't recognize.
Fear suddenly rose in her chest and choked her.

Maddy glanced down at her hand where blood
was streaming from the cut.

“
Our Alpha has decided that you're
more trouble than you're worth,” Jesse grinned. “But we're going to
have some fun with you first.” The men behind him leered in
agreement. Maddy's heart began to race, the reality of the
situation hitting her. She was done being brave. She wanted to
scream.

“
Quick, gag her!” the blond grunted,
throwing his partner a dirty rag. “Then get her pants off. Let's
finish with this.”

“
Shall we untie her?” the unidentified
wolf said. “I like it when they struggle.”

The blond hesitated. “Well... alright, but I
don't want to get stuck cleaning up the mess this time....”

Jesse moved in with the rag, and Maddy lost
all nerve – kicking the chair back desperately, she tried to scoot
away from him, to escape in any way possible despite her hands
being tied down.

“
Get away from me!” she screamed, and
kept screaming, shouting wordlessly at the top of her lungs,
anything to make noise. “Help!” she yelled, so loud that her throat
hurt. “
Aaah!
” Maybe if she made enough noise, someone would come help
her, or at least call the cops.. She could only hope. Jesse dove
clumsily after her, trying to stick the rag in her mouth, but she
snapped at his hand in an attempt to bite it.

“
Fuck you! Get the fuck off of me!”
she continued to yell, trying to kick him with her feet, scooting
the chair back until she hit a wall. She was writhing and twisting
against the chair, trying to work her hands loose from the arm
rests so she could fight back. Jesse kept diving for her mouth and
pulling back, cussing, the men laughing behind him.

“
Come on, dumbass, she's just a little
cunt!” the blond shouted. “What are you, scared?”

“
Shut up, man!” Jesse growled, darting
a glare over his shoulder, then turning back to her. “Now hold
still, you bitch.”

“
You touch me and I'll kill you!” she
shrieked, knowing it was an empty threat. She was helpless.
“Asshole, get the fuck away!”

“
That's it, come 'ere!” Jesse yelled
and launched himself at her, grabbing her firmly by the neck and
ramming the rag into her mouth, trying to jam it down her throat.
Maddy gagged and choked, tears streaming from her eyes – her body
trembled from fear and rage but she was helpless to do anything,
unless....

Acting purely on instinct, she slammed her
foot into the side of his leg where she hoped his knife wound would
be.

“
Fuck you!” she screamed around the
rag. Jesse crumpled to the ground in pain, cursing and grabbing his
leg, writhing on the floor. The two wolves behind him were doubled
up laughing, howling in a lupine way.

“
Nice job, Jesse!” one barked,
practically in tears. “Way to show who's boss!”

“
Yeah, what's wrong?” the blond
laughed. “Too human for you to handle?”

“
Shut up!” Jesse roared. “Dumb cunt,
I'm going to slice you in half!”

The victory was short lived. Maddy couldn't
scream anymore around the gag and she felt tears squeezing out of
her eyes. All hope was lost. She couldn't scream, she couldn't
fight, and now she had really pissed him off. She was done for.

She closed her eyes, praying for it to be
quick. She imagined she could already feel the knife sliding over
her skin....

“
Hey... quiet!” the blond wolf said
suddenly, cocking his head to one side. “Guys, shut up! Do you hear
that?”

“
What, Luke?” said the unknown wolf.
“It was your neighbor's car.”

“
No, I heard something upstairs...
dammit Jesse, shut up!” Luke stepped forward and grabbed the
writhing man from the ground, hauling him bodily to his feet. He
pushed a heavy, dark object into Jesse's hand, and Maddy could see
it was a gun. She grew cold. “I heard something. Go check it
out!”

“
Dammit, go check yourself,” Jesse
growled, though he had already taken the gun and was limping to a
stairwell that Maddy hadn't noticed earlier. A basement. “You're so
fucking paranoid.”

“
Shut up and do your job,” Luke
barked. Jesse started up the stairs, leaning heavily on the
railing, glaring at her over the top of it.

“
I'm coming back for you,” he promised
her, an evil glint in his eye. “Just you wait... you're going to
regret that. Dearly.”

Maddy didn't doubt it – the hatred in his
gaze was palpable. When she looked back to Luke, she saw that he
and the other man had approached her chair and were standing close
by, murmuring to themselves. She felt anxious and cold, her hands
clammy and sweaty, her stomach tied into knots to the point that it
hurt. She wanted to throw up. She knew what would happen next – she
had grown up around thugs, after all. First they would take her
clothes... when they were done with her body, they would kill
her... after Jesse's promise, she doubted it would be quick.

She didn't dare hope that someone was
actually upstairs. The situation left no room for that.

“
Well, missy,” Luke said. Now he was
the one wielding the knife. “Looks like it's just us three now. If
you stay calm and cooperate, we'll make it as painless as
possible....”

She glared, wishing she could spit in his
face. Her legs were still free, but something told her he wouldn't
be so easily fought off. He turned to the man next to him. “You
take her legs while I work on her pants.”

The man nodded. Now that he was closer, Maddy
could see that he was tall and broad, far more muscular than the
other two. She tried to swallow, but the dirty cloth clogged her
throat. She gagged instead.

The man dove for her legs unexpectedly. She
tried to kick at him, to fight back, but he easily caught her by
the ankles and overpowered her, holding her like steel. She moaned,
whimpering deep in her throat, terrified as Luke worked his way in
between them and began undoing her pants, struggling with the
zipper. His hands were trembling, his eyes dilated in excitement –
it made her want to puke.

Finally he started to slip her pants down her
legs, and she writhed sharply to one side, desperate to destabilize
the chair. Another sharp yank and the chair tipped to one side
dangerously.

“
Hold her!” Luke yelled, but too late
– the chair clattered over on one side and Maddy hit the ground
hard, pain lashing through her from the twisted position.
“Goddammit, I said hold her–”

Bam! Bam!

The roar of gunshots shook the air. Maddy
heard the sound of shattering glass. A second later there was a
solid thump on the floor above them, one that was undoubtedly a
body. She felt her heart jump even as she was doused in cold panic.
Someone was dead – but who?

Everything became surreal after that. Luke
and the other wolf stood still, staring at each other in disbelief
A moment later the door burst open above them. Maddy couldn't see
who it was coming down the stairs, but she could see the expression
on Luke's face, and it told her all she needed to know.

“
Gareth, I'm down here!” she screamed,
spitting out the rag, loosened in the new position.
“Help!”

From her position on the floor, she couldn't
see her rescuer enter the room, but somehow she felt his presence.
Somehow she knew it was Gareth. She wanted to scream, to cry, to
yell his name over and over. He had come for her. She was safe.

Luke slowly stood up, his skin turning pale
as snow.

“
You want me?” Gareth's voice carried
to her from the staircase. “You got me.”

* * * *

Gareth took the gun and emptied the shells
out, one by one, letting them clink against the cement floor. For
each wasted bullet, the wolves' faces grew paler. Perhaps a lesser
wolf would have shot the two then and there, but he wanted the
satisfaction of hearing their bones snap between his teeth. He had
already taken care of the miserable runt upstairs... now to take
out the rest of the bastards who had touched his lifemate. Maddy's
fear filled the basement like a thick smoke, permeating the air,
gathering in the corners behind the boxes of junk. Her scent was so
dense and thick that it made the wolf come alive inside of him,
fighting and screaming for release. He could tell by the other
werewolves' yellow eyes that they were already Changing. He would
need to beat them to it, fight them off before they could get to
Maddy. Perhaps she had managed to fend off two humans, but two wild
beasts?