“You okay, big brother?” Parker asks as Keelan rests his head on Parker’s shoulder.
“No,” is all he says. Yeah, none of us are going to be okay until we find Thea and that bastard is gone for good.
A few minutes later Liam is wobbling in, looking no better than the rest of us. We bring him up to speed and he looks as distraught as I feel. I don’t know what to do or how to help. It’s the silence in the bond getting to me the most. I know it must mean she’s unconscious, Liam confirmed that much. All the what ifs are plaguing my mind. We all remain in the small sitting room until Ren and Eli return, both carrying a limp Duke between them.
“She wasn’t there. Took photos for evidence and found this next to the dog.” Ren holds up a clear bag with some kind of tranquilizer dart.
“Looks like he dragged her away based on the imprints in the snow. I followed them until I reached where he likely had some kind of ATV waiting based on the tire treads,” Ren continues, more to Harrison than any of us.
“Get that, Riv?” Harrison says to the phone left behind on the side table.
“Yeah, checking any rental places for ATVs as well as remote houses available for rent. He couldn’t go too far with her unconscious, so I’ll check the surrounding towns,” Riveranswers. “Parker, can you tackle the cameras and see if there’s any leads or answers on what he did?”
Parker sits up a little straighter and looks a little clearer now that he’s been given something to do. I wish I had a skill that was useful here. Parker is up and leaving, likely heading towards the room we set up the security monitors/system in. Jake ends up on the phone with Logan for a while, explaining what happened. Harrison chimes in every now and then when Jake needs to pause, I’m assuming to help keep his rage in check. He wasn’t the one I would’ve thought in the pack would end up in a rage first. I’m glad Harrison and Keelan were able to snap him out of it.
After Ren and Eli returned and told us what they found, Taz ended up leaving for a bit, visibly upset. Thea had mentioned how they had gotten close these past few weeks.
Micah has been uncharacteristically quiet most of the time, of course. I’m an idiot because he isn’t able to feel her like the rest of us. It’s a good and bad thing right now. At least we know she’s alive but there’s an emptiness, an absence, in the bond that’s not usually there. Micah doesn’t have any reassurance. He’s likely going out of his mind. We have to find her andquick.
34
THEA
My head is pounding. I feel it before I even open my eyes. My eyes don’t feel much better. They feel so heavy. I try assessing my body as best I can in this condition. It feels like I’m lying down on something soft—a bed or couch maybe? I don’t hear anything around me. I strain my ears. It’s completely quiet. The moments before being knocked out replay in my mind, and I feel a tear escape and trail down my cheek. Duke, please let him be okay.
I need to figure a way out of this. There’s no time to just lie here. It still feels like a fight to open my eyes. The room is lit but dim with just a lamp beside the bed illuminating it. It looks like a cabin of some sort with the wood paneling and beams along the ceiling. It’s a struggle to move my body. It feels so heavy, just like my eyes. My whole being feels groggy. I can’t feel the bonds. Whatever he gave me must have temporarily suppressed them.
It takes me a while to fully sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I can feel the effects slowly fading the longer I’m awake. I still don’t hear anything, no movements from the other room. Nothing. It’s putting me on edge more not knowing where he is.
Standing shakily, I slowly move around the room, leaning on the various furniture as I go, from the bed and nightstand beside it to the dresser opposite the foot of the bed next to the door, which I assume leads to the rest of the cabin. Going left past the dresser, I find an open door to an attached bathroom. Next to the bathroom door is a closet. As quickly as I can, I check it to be sure. No one’s there and there’s nothing useful I can use to escape. I’ve basically done a loop of the room and ended up on the other side of the bed. There’s more space here between the bed and closet, a large picture window in between them. It’s still somewhat light out but it looks like the sun might be setting in another hour or so. There’s nothing out there but bare trees and snow, more snow here than we had at the house.
Where am I?
I still have the clothes I was wearing on, except my jacket, shoes, and socks. I didn’t see them in the closet either. With so much snow and how cold it is, just running out the door and hoping for the best is out of the question. I need to make a plan. Wherever we are, he has to have a car nearby. I need to find the keys and get to it. Not having shoes won’t matter if the car is near the house. If we’re miles from another person and I don’t know where I am, trying to hike my way out isn’t smart. Ifit’sthe only option, I’ll do it but it’s a last resort. The guys will find me. I know they will. I’ll fight as hard as I can until I can escape or they come.
I’m so lost in my head staring out this window I didn’t notice he entered the room until I see a slightly faded reflection of him in the glass. I can’t help the jump I make as a reaction. His hands come down on my shoulders and his touch feels like ants crawling all over me, my body rejecting it completely.
“Hey, it’s just me. You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to interrupt,” he says with a slight laugh as he turns me to face him.
I get a proper look at him now that fear and panic aren’t overwhelming me like before, seeing that he’s a typical handsome alpha. His short dark brown hair is perfectly styled and his blue eyes that look almost gray are staring at me. I can’t help it but seeing how happy he looks riles up my anger. He killed Connor, he’s amonster. He shouldn’t get to walk through life unassumingly. I hate my height right now, because I loathe that he’s physically looking down at me.
Maybe that’s too much but it bothers me. I never much cared about my height after my teen years; it is what it is. But I wish his face was closer to mine so I could hit it as hard as I could. I suddenly regret not having Max or Connor show me any kind of fighting or self-defense.
His hand moves down to the lower part of my back and he begins to “guide” me out of the bedroom. I was right that it’s a cabin, a small cozy one. The living room is to the right of where we exited and the kitchen to the left. Almost opposite the bedroom door looks to be the front door to the cabin and off the kitchen is a back door. That must be on the other side of the bedroom’s attached bathroom. It’s all an open layout with the kitchen being set up in a ‘U’ shape. The other side of the cabinets and counter is a small round wooden table with four chairs. The table is already set up with two places and dishes of cooked food. He leads me to one of the chairs and sits me down in it like a doll.
My best way to buy time is to go along with his insanity as well as I can while trying to find car keys, a weapon, something to enable my escape.
“I hope you’re hungry, I made your favorites,” he says with a bright smile as he sits down at the chair to the left of me. That chair puts him closest to the front door; he’d easily block any attempt at running. Especially since I have the table in front of me and the cabinets behind me. It’d be a clumsy and inefficient way to the door. The back door could be an option but with noshoes and no further information, running now would only dash any of his false beliefs he has in “our love.”Gag.
“I actually don’t feel so great from whatever that stuff was,” I say as politely as I can muster. His smile drops and his eyes tighten as they seem to focus more intently on me. After a while, he seems to relax and begins putting food on my plate before serving himself.
“That’s okay, eat what you can. You’ll need your strength for tomorrow. By then the effects you’re feeling should be completely gone,” he says nonchalantly. My stomach drops at his words. What is he planning tomorrow? He might just tell me if I ask. I won’t know if I don’t try.
Moving some of the food around on my plate to look busy, I ask, “And what is happening tomorrow?”
His eyes light up and the smile that forms is disturbing, like in the woods earlier. “We’re finally going to bond and be together completely,” he says, as if those words aren’t fueling a tidal wave of panic through me. I can’t even think of a response before he continues, “It’s long overdue for us and needed before I take care of that pesky pack that took advantage of you.”
It takes everything in my being to keep some semblance of composure. That panic from before now is pure fear for my mates. Gods, I can’t lose anyone else. My hand is shaking as I reach for the glass of water. Get ahold of yourself, Thea.I can’t succumb to fear and panic. If I do, he wins. I promised Connor we wouldn’t let him win and I will keep that promise, no matter what. If I have to fight my instincts and reactions along the way, I will. I’ll keep that promise and protect my mates.
