Tortured Embrace Read online

  Adam glared at him mutely before addressing them all. “We’re changing the rotation tonight. Nick, Alex, after you’ve rested, follow along the I-55 North. We’ve been looking at too many secluded areas. Hit every town you can in human form till you reach the city then turn back.”

  Nick nodded seriously, ever the devoted Fighter. Although they’d never say it to his face, Nick was the most standup guy they knew. Sitting next to Alex, they were as alike as night and day. The differences between the two were astounding. Nick was blonde and all angelic-like, and Alex…well…he looked like the devil reincarnate with black hair and eyes and full mustache and beard.

  Adam turned to his cousin. “Ramo, I know you just got back from Indiana, so rest up and you can go at it again in the morning.” He hesitated then turned to Jason. “I know you want to, but I can go it alone right now and you…”

  “Don’t start this shit again…” Jason interrupted.

  “J, you just got back from Missouri. Take it…” Adam stopped at the look Jason gave him. “Fine, head southwest. Go slow, but I expect you back by midnight, got it?”

  Jason just nodded, having no intention to come back so soon. He’d just tell his alpha he was following a lead. Serena had been gone way too long. There was no way he was slacking now.

  “I’ll continue to make calls to the east of us from here. Any questions?”

  There was a collective murmur of no then Adam knocked his knuckles on the table and turned to go.

  Jason grabbed his keys and phone from the windowsill and took a glance outside. His eyes fell on the front porch, and he paused, transported back to the time he’d watched Serena, as he stood in this very spot seven years ago. It was a bit brighter outside than it had been that night, but he could still picture exactly what she looked like at that moment, the moment his life had changed for good.

  It had been cool for a May evening and all twelve Fighters, including the Chicago crew were joined together for a meeting. Once all topics were covered, they busted out the beers and started a few games of poker. Always the observer, Jason sat on the windowsill ready to smack Nick upside the head for anteing up with a shitty full house.

  The Fighters had two games going, one with five players, and another with six. Tyson tossed two blue chips in the middle of the table. “Hey Adam, saw your sister today. When did she get back?”

  There were mumbles of congratulations and genuine surprise that their alpha’s sister, who they all doted upon, was back in Wilmington.

  Adam grimaced. “She got back three days ago.”

  “Why the face?” Viola from Chicago asked, listening in on the conversation from the other game.

  Adam answered with a look of disgust as he sorted through his hand. “Brought some guy with her to help move her things back in.”

  Jason stiffened by the window, an unusual feeling in his gut. He hadn’t seen Serena in three years. Every time she’d come home to visit he’d been busy working or out of town. He guessed the funny sensation he had was due to the idea the young girl he watched grow up might have a boyfriend. Just felt weird.

  “We could have handled it,” Ramo said.

  “I know, but you know how she is…doesn’t want to impose…Anyway, he took her out to dinner tonight.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Should we take care of him, boss?”

  “Fuck…”

  “I have my M4 in the trunk…”

  As the male Fighters joked, or not joked, about all the things they could do to the guy Serena was out with, a weird sensation continued to build inside him. He shook it off, annoyed. Taking a swig of his beer, he turned his neck, cracking the tendons to loosen him up.

  “Well, she looked good,” Tyson said then raised a calming hand at the look Adam gave him. “Relax, I’m just saying I can tell she hit her peak, and that’s great, right? Shows she had a normal transition and she’s healthy.”

  “Wow, she stopped aging already? That’s great.” Nick said. “How old was she?”

  Adam looked a bit calmer now they were talking about Serena’s health. “She stopped last year at twenty-three.”

  “Nice,” a few of them said. Werewolves usually stopped aging in their mid twenties. Those who continued to age a bit longer usually suffered some traumatic event. It was good to know Adam and Serena’s rough upbringing hadn’t had a lasting effect on her.

  The sound of a car driving up in front of the house drew Jason’s attention outside. They immediately knew who it was, smelling Serena’s distinct scent even from the dining room.

  “This could be fun…” one of them said, playfully.

  Adam sighed. “She’d kill me if we interrupted. Let’s leave them alone.” His eyes swung to Jason, though. “J, watch him.”

  Standing, Jason just nodded, his eyes fixed on the blue Accord parked out front. He didn’t know why, but he was anxious to see her again. It had been so long. He found himself wondering about the places she’d been. Did she enjoy herself? Was she careful?

  Why the fuck were they still sitting in the car?

  Just as Jason’s hair began to rise, the passenger door opened, and Serena stepped out. Letting out a small breath of relief, a warm feeling washed over him as he watched her shut the car door, her dark jeans hugging her legs. Her hair was a little longer, just past her shoulder blades in layers that cascaded onto the short, brown leather jacket she wore.

  It fit tight around her small frame, giving her a more urban look than he was used to her wearing. She looked all grown up, and he felt guilty as hell for staring at her for so long, but he couldn’t look away.

  He heard a second door slam and watched as a little pompous blond came around the car, step onto the curb next to Serena, and put his arm around her shoulder.

  Alarm bells started ringing in his ears. Why the hell was he getting so heated up?

  “What’s happening?” he heard Ramo ask, leaning his chair back to try to look out the window.

  Jason cleared his throat. “Walking her to the door.”

  “Aw shit,” Adam moaned, then insisted, “Put up the music, please. I don’t want to hear this.”

  Someone raised the volume, but it didn’t drown out the resonating sound Jason heard. He stood stock still, watching the guy’s every move. When they reached the top of the porch, they turned to look at each other and Jason had a clear, uninterrupted view of Serena’s face. She was just as he’d remembered, but with subtle differences. Her face had lost all the roundness of her youth and she wore a little makeup. There was a glow about her now, a sense of confidence that had not been there before. This time, his hair stood on end for the things her face was doing to him. It was as though he was seeing her for the first time. Serena was a woman now, and unbelievably beautiful.

  Vaguely, he noticed everyone behind him in the dining room had become silent, but they could have been screaming at him and he wouldn’t have noticed, couldn’t have torn his gaze from her face.

  Serena smiled, her warm eyes sparkling at something the blond said and making Jason’s heart constrict.

  Wow!

  At the far end of a tunnel, he heard someone call out his name, but he ignored it, fixated on the beauty outside.

  Then the blond fucker went in for the kill…right on her sweet mouth.

  Explosions lit off inside him. The bottle in Jason’s hand shattered to a million pieces, but he ignored the shards of glass digging into his skin. The urge to murder was so overpowering, he felt as though he would combust on the spot. The beast inside him snarled and before he knew it, his vision altered and he began to shake.

  “What the…” someone said.

  “Easy, J.” Ramo came up beside him, peering out the window. He turned to Adam. “The guy’s walking back to his car. It’s fine.”

  Rooted to the spot, Jason waited for the thunderbolts to stop raging inside him. Jesus, the kiss had lasted all of two seconds. But in those awful moments, all he could think of was he, Jason, kissing her instead. He wante
d to scream, She’s mine, at the top of his lungs. He wanted to rip the fucker apart.

  Jason turned to face the others, completely stunned, and found them all staring hard, a look of panic in their eyes.

  Oh shit! They knew.

  Everyone in the room had felt what he was going through. They sensed his desire for her, the jealousy, the… realization. The pitiful and anxious looks he was getting was like a neon sign.

  His eyes, back to normal now, met his alpha’s glare.

  Adam’s face was livid as he got up from his seat, slow and menacing. Snarling, he said to Jason, “Outside. Now.”

  Chapter Four

  Serena awoke to an odd echoing sound. Sitting up, she felt the clammy walls tilt in on her and crawled quickly to the nearest bowl, retching what little was in her stomach. Reaching for the water bowl, she rinsed her mouth and spat it out on the floor.

  The time of day was lost on her as well as the exact date on the calendar. At this point, she could only guess. She had been taken on July 27th, a Tuesday and since then she had endured three full moons.

  Resting her back against the cool wall, she languidly tried to figure out how long she’d slept. Would they be bringing the morning meal soon or was it dinnertime?

  Slipping into the endless void that was now her world, she wished she had some sort of hope, a positive focus. Staring numbly at the tattered ground, she had no exact thought in her mind. There was only a vague sense she should be praying for something, fighting for…

  Waves of nausea assaulted her again and she grabbed for the soiled bowl, the sounds of her heaves echoing in the dilapidated room. Tears filled her eyes from the onslaught. My God. In her dazed state, she’d nearly forgotten about the baby. It was so easy to let the emptiness claim her since it was all she’d endured for so long.

  Taking what was left of the water, she rinsed her mouth out again and drank the rest, afraid of getting too dehydrated.

  She heard the weird echo again and for some reason it made the hair at her nape stand. Hazily, Serena got slowly to her feet, wincing at the pain in her leg. The cut had closed, but there was still a dark pink scar along the front of her thigh. Trying to determine if the side she’d licked hours ago looked different, the odd echo reached her ears again. It was much louder this time and vaguely familiar. What was it?

  Angling her head back, Serena sniffed the air. Smelling the witch, Leonardo, she tensed. His scent came from the other end where Ben was being held.

  She’d memorized the sound of the upstairs cellar door opening, the footsteps of each male witch, the familiar creaking of Ben’s heavy cell door, but this sound was different.

  Stepping to the glass on the door, she angled her head to try and catch a glimpse of something and felt… anger. Ben was….angry. She read his fury as if it were her own. Never having felt this from her boss before, it scared her. What was happening?

  The creak of Ben’s door opening echoed in the distance and a moment later she heard a distinct thud and the blessed familiar sound of a were’s low growl as Ben’s anger boiled over.

  Heart racing beneath her bare, cool chest, Serena strained her neck to see what was happening. With trembling hands holding her steady against the door, she began to shake with anticipation.

  He did it! He did it! Ben had managed to turn. The beautiful sound of her species was like a beacon, filling her with hope, something she hadn’t felt in God knew how long.

  Just then, Leonardo’s face came into view through the glass and she pushed back from the door, knocking one of the bowls with her bare foot as she staggered to the far wall.

  Oh no! Did he hurt Ben? Where was he?

  Panting, she watched as the door to her prison was unlocked, and in came Leonardo, Ben’s massive clawed hand wrapped tightly around his neck.

  Joy like she never knew before filled her as she ran forward. She held the door open as Ben bent low to enter her cell behind the witch. In his wolf man form, he was close to seven feet tall. He had to angle in sideways to fit his wide shoulders through the doorway.

  Lifting the struggling Leonardo off the ground, Ben hauled his arm back, and with a fierce thrust smashed his face into the wall. The witch’s head pounded on the stone with a horrific thud, and he crumpled to the floor. Dead or not, Serena didn’t care. She whispered, “Ben, let’s go.” For a moment, she thought her boss wanted to continue beating the witch senseless, but they could be discovered at any moment.

  Nodding, he left the room with her, closing the door behind him. He motioned for Serena to turn the key in the lock. When the witch was shut in the cell, they turned to follow the opposite path the witches usually took them through. There had to be an exit out. That water flowed somewhere.

  They walked along the stream in the dark, Ben’s eyes as their guide. She had good vision, but in his wolf form, he could see perfectly in the dark. After several minutes, they reached a dead end. There were a couple more vacant rooms on either side of the wide passage, and the stream disappeared through a small arch-like opening. Ben stepped close and bent down, sniffing noisily in the small tunnel. Turning back to her, Serena sensed his relief and smiled, her skin stretching across her cheeks, a foreign feeling, as she hadn’t performed the simple act in months.

  They were free.

  The stream led outside. Cassandra must have assumed her serum and the sturdy doors would hold because she couldn’t hear or sense anyone else standing guard.

  Ben reached out his arm, and she placed her hand in his. He helped her into the shallow stream, the cool water making her skin tingle. She crouched to look through the narrow tunnel that would lead them outside. “Ben, you’re going to have to phase back. You won’t fit.” Her voice was a strained, scratchy whisper from screaming and vomiting. The sound of it was weird to her ears. She hadn’t spoken much in so long.

  In the far distance they could hear the cellar door opening at the top of the stairs. They both whipped their heads around, staring hard into the darkness they’d just come from.

  “Ben, quick!” Serena whispered frantically.

  Whirling around, Ben placed a hand on her head, pushing her down. She fell to her knees in the water, rocks digging into her shins. Serena felt his clawed hand shove at her, pushing her into the tunnel.

  On her hands and knees, she made it inside, moving as quickly as she could. Twisting oddly, she looked back as her boss began to shift to human. He would be right behind her soon enough.

  Resounding footsteps pounded in her ears as she made her way through, crawling on the jagged rocks. Someone was getting close. She wished Ben would hurry.

  In her panic, she hardly felt the pain in her body, barely registered the numbness in her leg. She was running on pure adrenaline.

  Up ahead, she saw the glowing light of a distant lamppost. The instant they were out, they could run like mad. There was no way a mere witch could outrun them. Hell, Ben could phase again and carry her. They’d be long gone in no time.

  Several shots rang out, reverberating in the stone around her, stinging her ears. She jumped, a scream caught in her throat. Scrambling out of the tunnel onto dirt ground, she turned, shaking uncontrollably to find Ben.

  They missed. He had to be in the tunnel already.

  “Got him. Get him out of the way so we can get the girl,” a man called out.

  A dreadful pain stabbed through her heart as the witch’s words echoed toward her. Wild shudders overcame her and for the first time in months, she felt the welcome aches of her body contorting, morphing into what she was born to be. As her eyes shifted, her vision became clearer.

  At the far end of the tunnel, she saw Ben’s lifeless form laying half inside the tunnel and half out, sprawled on his stomach. She homed in on his face, and her heart plummeted. Taking his last few gasps, his desperate eyes met hers.

  Go! He mouthed.

  Fighting the need to collapse in tears, Serena nodded and took off.

  Whirling in the first direction impulse led her, Serena hu
nched over and four-footed into a field of grass. Terror ran through every fiber of her being as she ran into the night. Her vision, while much sharper, shimmered blurrily as tears of grief and fear filled her eyes.

  Suddenly, she met a strange resistance in the air, as if she’d hit an invisible wall of Jell-O. She felt her crouched body sucked into some sort of barrier, then pushed out like a cork, as if she’d been squeezed out of a bottle. It didn’t matter, though. The peculiar feeling was gone and she could run through clear air again.

  Sprinting as fast as her wolf legs could take her, she ran for her life, her freedom. She didn’t know what direction she went in, and she didn’t care. As long as she put a great distance between herself and that god-awful place, she would be safe.

  A blinding pain threatened to overwhelm her, but she maintained, determined to survive. She would not let Ben down, knowing the blinding ache she felt was for him.

  Oh God, she couldn’t think of him right now. If she did, she would surely collapse. She focused on getting herself home. Paws hitting the ground with pounding force, Serena pressed on, even though her limbs threatened to crack with every thrashing step she took.

  She had no idea how long she ran. Minutes…hours…time was not a concept she understood anymore. Home. She had to get home. The need to see Jason, to look upon his face pushed her on. If she could find her way to Wilmington, or a familiar town near her home, she could call out to her pack. They would hear her and come in an instant. But she wouldn’t dare howl now. They might be following her. She had no idea if witches could track, but she couldn’t risk her captors discovering her location.

  Hope and despair were only the few emotions raging inside her. The prospect of being tracked down by the witches or miraculously managing to make it home was making her heart pound in her ears.

  As much as she wanted to continue her chant to the unborn baby growing inside her, she couldn’t do it. There was no way to know if she or they would make it out of danger. She had no idea where the hell they were. God. The panic, the fear of the unknown was the most terrifying feeling she’d ever experienced.