I could feel my eyes getting wider in horror. I knew – hell,everyoneknew – that Cal was a monster, but to use me as a prostitute while he slowly starved me to death? What kind of demented savage would do such a thing?
"Oh, don't worry," Cal's lips drew back in a feral grin. "We'll give you a couple of days to heal up before your first client." He smirked. "After all, we wouldn't want anyone to think you were being mistreated and call the authorities."
He rose and turned to walk away, pausing to call over his shoulder, "Feel better soon!
Colt
A horn blaring behind me brought my attention back to the green traffic light that had been glowing cherry red seconds before.
"Hold your fucking horses," I grumbled aloud, tossing the thick stack of papers I'd been glancing over onto the passenger seat of my truck and hitting the gas. "I'm going."
It had only been two days before that the private investigator I'd hired – a rogue Alpha who went by Kade and came recommended by Rafe – had tracked my so-called mate, Chloe, to a town called Beckett in western Massachusetts. I'd hit the road within hours, but not before I'd been sucked into a meeting with Rafael, the Blood Valley pack Alpha, and my twin brother, Clint, who led our pack. That meeting had added a stop to my itinerary.
In addition to being an old friend, Rafe was a lead investigator with the Council of Packs, Security division – COPSD for short – and somewhere through the years, Clint and I had become unofficial deputies of sorts. Which was how I'd ended up volunteering to do some under-the-radar recon on an Omega House just over three and half hours away from the quiet town where Kade had told me I would find Chloe, and if she knew what was good for her, my missing daughter, Juno.
My trip east had barely begun when the first obstacle hit.
At the edge of our territory, a man jumping up and down caught my eye. An idling sedan was parked haphazardly on the shoulder of the road, but there weren't any other vehicles in sight.
I pulled in behind his sedan and rolled down my window to ask what was wrong.
"You're Colt, right?" he squeaked.
I nodded and he thrust a bundle of papers at me, screaming over his shoulder, "You've been served!" Then he jumped into the car and sped away.
I tore open the manila envelope and quickly scanned the top.
Petition for Dissolution of Mating Relations Agreement
Well, fuck.
Chloe must have somehow gotten wind that I'd located her again. Although, if she was filing legal paperwork, it might mean there was some hope she wasn't going to rabbit this time and I would still have the opportunity to talk to her. And regain custody of Juno.
I flipped the page and snarled.
Temporary Restraining Order
Clearly listed as the primary location I was ordered to avoid was the address on the neatly folded half-sheet of paper tucked into the hip pocket on my Wranglers.
Son of a bitch.
Laying the papers flat on the console, I shot a picture of each page and texted them off in a rapid string to Haldrian Christof, Esquire, our pack attorney.
Will review ASAP,Drey's response was immediate.
No real rush,I sent back.On my way to Massachusetts 4 recon.
The thumbs-up emoticon that came back assure me that we were on the same page.
I hesitated for a minute and then forwarded the entire message chain to Clint. After all, Juno is a member of the Coruscation pack, and that made her his responsibility as well as mine.
I waited, fully anticipating hisWTF response. I wasn't disappointed, and when it came, I pulled back onto the road and headed on down the highway.
The fifteen-hour drive from our pack territory in the Appalachian Mountains to the Omega house gave me plenty of time to stew over Chloe's abandonment. After all, filing divorce papers made it pretty clear she hadn't been taken against her will. Not that I'd ever really thought that was the case.
When my navigation screen flashed an alert that I would arrive atFoxy's Den: Entertainment for the Discriminating Alphain another ten minutes, I sighed.
Pulling into the pot-hole riddled asphalt lot, I began to mentally run through the information from the briefing.
