“Where am I?” she demanded, hating how weak her voice sounded.
The man smirked. “Aw, sweetheart. You think I’m dumb enough to answer that?” Wren yanked hard against the restraints around her wrists, and the metal cage rattled loudly.
The man laughed. “That’s adorable.” Panic threatened to overwhelm her again. No, she couldn’t panic. Buck’s voice echoed through her head suddenly, telling her how smart she was. Ghost’s followed right after, calling her a pretty thing and saying that she was tougher than she looked. Emotion burned unexpectedly behind her eyes.
God. Buck and Ghost—the memory of sitting between them on the bed hours earlier hit so hard it hurt. Buck touching her hand carefully like she mattered, and Ghost looking at her with all that teasing affection, hiding something deeper underneath. They were going to come for her. The certainty settled inside her immediately. Not because they had to, but because they would want to.
The man stood slowly and approached the cage. “You know,” he mused, “we expected you to be harder to grab.”
Wren glared at him. “Go to hell.”
He barked out a laugh. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Her stomach twisted. “You’ve been watching me.”
“For weeks now,” he said. Ice flooded her veins instantly. The man crouched in front of the cage. “You ask too many questions,Doctor Callahan.” His grin widened cruelly. “Then you started mapping routes.”
Wren’s pulse hammered harder. “The wolves,” she whispered.
“Smart girl,” he praised. Horror crashed through her. All those missing collars, the strange movement patterns, and the GPS paths that stopped making sense—it had never been random.
“You used them,” she breathed.
“We needed something nobody pays attention to.” He shrugged. “Conservation types don’t notice trucks moving through storm corridors if they’re busy crying over dead wolves.”
Wren felt physically sick. “How many women have you taken?” she whispered.
His expression sharpened slightly. “Enough.” Tears burned behind her eyes. Oh God. This was bigger than poaching—way bigger.
The man studied her quietly for a second before smirking again. “You know who really ruined everything, though?” Wren said nothing. “You.” He grabbed the cage bars suddenly hard enough to make her jump. “You should’ve stopped digging.” Fear shot through her, but anger came faster.
“You’re trafficking women through protected land,” she spat. “You think I was supposed to ignore that?” The man’s expression darkened instantly, and then he smiled. Somehow, that felt worse.
“That fire’s exactly why the boss wants you alive,” he said.
Wren’s stomach dropped. “Boss?”
The man laughed softly. “You really think this operation stops with the Black Vultures?” Cold dread crawled down her spine, and she suddenly realized that there was more. There were more people, more money, and more power behind this than she’d realized.
The warehouse door suddenly slammed open somewhere behind him. Heavy footsteps echoed across concrete floors, and the man straightened immediately. Wren saw who walked in, and her blood turned to ice.
“Eli,” she whispered. He was the prospect Buck had exiled a few days back. He looked rougher now. Meaner with tattoos crawling up his neck, while snow melted across his kutte, but it was definitely him.
Eli’s eyes landed on her instantly, and he smiled. “Well, there she is.” Wren’s pulse exploded because she recognized him now, too. He’d been at the compound, watching her with Buck and Ghost. He was watching all of them.
Eli stopped in front of the cage slowly. “You know,” he murmured, “Buck’s gonna tear this whole province apart looking for you.” Something possessive flickered in his expression. “But I gotta admit—” Eli crouched slowly in front of her. “I kinda wanted to see what made both of them lose their damn minds.” Wren’s fear sharpened instantly because he knew that she wanted them both. Her stomach twisted hard. Eli reached through the bars suddenly and grabbed her chin painfully.
“You got any idea what you did to them?” he asked softly. “Ghost hasn’t cared about anything in years.” His mouth curled bitterly. “And Buck?” He laughed once. “That man was practically made of ice before you.”
Wren jerked away from his grip. “Don’t touch me.” Eli’s eyes darkened, and then he smiled again.
“You know what the funny part is?” he asked quietly. “They’re still too late.” Fear crawled colder through her veins.
“What does that mean?” she asked, not sure that she wanted to know.
Eli stood slowly. “It means by tomorrow night,” he said, “those routes are ours permanently.” His gaze swept over her carefully. “And if Buck wants you back?” A terrifying smilespread across his face. “He’s gonna have to choose between saving you—” Eli paused, “or saving his club.
Buck was coming for her. Wren knew it with terrifying certainty, and while that thought should’ve comforted her, it didn’t. Instead, it scared her almost as much as the men holding her captive. Because Eli was right—Buck would burn everything down trying to get her back. And Ghost would stand beside him, smiling while the world burned. The realization sat heavily in her chest long after Eli disappeared deeper into the warehouse with the other men.
