Tortured Embrace Read online

  He nodded. “It’s a long story. I’ll let your brother tell you, but you can trust Eva.”

  Sitting up straighter, Serena rubbed her injured thigh, amazed she didn’t feel a thing and remembered the woman Evangeline holding her leg and belly right before she passed out.

  Jason asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, totally perplexed. “I feel a little weak, but other than that, I feel really good. It’s odd. The things they did…I’ve been in this constant…” She stopped at the shudders beneath her.

  Jason shook the bed as his body vibrated, his expression tensing as he stared. Serena brought her hands to his chest. His thick pectorals rippled beneath her palms. “Easy, Jason.”

  Hanging his head, he struggled with himself, taking deep shaky breaths.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t tell…”

  “No.” His eyes shot to hers. “I need to know everything. I’m sorry. It won’t…it won’t happen again.” Pausing, he stared at her hands on his chest for a moment, then took her wrists and brought them down on her lap.

  She frowned. Why did he still hold back? Didn’t he realize she needed him more now than ever?

  “The reason you’re not in any pain is because Evangeline healed you. I wouldn’t mention it to your brother, but she said it was all right to tell you.” He licked his lips. “Eva is also a gifted witch, but again, I’ll let Adam fill you in.”

  Serena froze, her eyes wide.

  Jason shook his head. “Eva only realized she was a witch a couple weeks ago. Please, go on.”

  Taking a deep breath, she said, “They took all my clothes and kept us in separate cells.” She hugged herself, hesitating, remembering how cold she’d been for so long. All of a sudden, saying the words out loud was too frightening. The horrible things they did to them would send Jason over the edge. Her chest rose up and down in quick succession. “I’m not sure I can talk about this right now.”

  His eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

  They remained silent for quite awhile. Serena released her arms and sat staring at her hands in her lap, wondering when she’d have the courage to tell Jason and her brother all the gory details.

  “You should get some rest,” he whispered.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” she said, woefully.

  He exhaled a long breath. “I’ll be right here.”

  Jason stood as she slipped under the covers again.

  “Serena…” He paused and she knew he was dying for more information. “We don’t want to pressure you, but eventually you’ll need to tell us what happened. Anything you can tell us will help find who did this to you.”

  Resting on her side, she said, “I won’t be able to tell you where they are, but you should know something.”

  He waited.

  Swallowing hard, she forced herself to tell him, a tear slipping down her cheek. “It wasn’t a witch who…I…I was carrying a wolf’s baby.”

  A blast of anger and remorse shot through the room. Serena cringed at the onslaught his emotions were giving off.

  “What?” Jason growled, looming over her. “How?”

  Serena shut her eyes. Perhaps it was best to talk to someone else, a professional maybe or her brother’s mate, someone who wasn’t going to fly off the handle when she described the things they did to her in that god-awful place. Evangeline could let the Fighters know, but Serena felt Jason should hear about the baby from her own lips. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she owed him this. “Could you not look at me when I say this?” she asked, peeking up at him nervously.

  His hazel eyes pierced hers for a moment then he walked mechanically to the window, placing both hands on the sill. “Tell me,” he demanded, frighteningly.

  Sniffing, she said, “We had to go through a few moon heats without a mate, not like I ever had one, but obviously we didn’t have pills either.” Serena stared at his broad back, the muscles straining against his shirt.

  Jason turned his head slightly to the side, his jaw twitched over his shoulder. “We? Do you mean Benjamin Michaels?”

  Her voice shook as she spoke. “Yes. We were taken at the same time.”

  Jason’s grip on the sill tightened, and she heard the sound of wood stretching. Pressing his forehead to the glass, she heard his deep inhales and exhales, his back expanding with every breath he took.

  The tears were relentless now. She hated hurting him this way. “I’m sorry. I thought you should know.”

  He didn’t move as the anguish poured out of him. The silence nearly killed her. Then Jason’s voice uttered low, “Are you…do you…love this guy?”

  “No,” she said, immediately. “I didn’t want this.”

  “What do you mean?” His voice was torn as he spoke through his teeth. “You mentioned separate cells. How did this happen?”

  “We were kept separated. I only saw Ben when they brought us up to perform their spells until… this male witch thought it would be fun to watch us,” she said, scornfully. “During the last moon heat, he brought Ben to my cell and I just couldn’t…we couldn’t…”

  “Stop!”

  Serena wiped her eyes on the sheets, listening to his heavy pants. “Jason, please. Tell me what you’re thinking?”

  There was a long pause before he spoke, the silence between them frightening her to her very core. “I know what the moon heat can do, but you wouldn’t have done that with him under other circumstances, right?”

  “Of course not. I never saw him that way. He was my boss.”

  “Exactly. It may not have been rape, but it was still against your will.”

  “Jason…”

  He cut her off, his voice completely detached from his body. “You said you never had a heat mate. What do you mean?”

  She bit down hard. When was all the hurt going to end?

  “Serena…” he called.

  “I…I’d never been with a man.”

  Hissing loudly, Jason’s hands came up to grab the back of his head. “Jesus Christ!” he wailed, his voice cracking miserably.

  There was nothing more she could say. If he reacted this way now, God knows what he’d do, if she told him everything.

  “Can I turn around? I need to…I just need to see you,” he said desperately.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Jason turned to face her, his jaws locked.

  Holding out a hand to him, she said, “Please come here.”

  He came to her, kneeling back beside the bed and gripped her hand, holding her knuckles to his lips. “You’ll never know how deeply sorry I am this happened.” Closing his eyes tight, he continued. “I made you a promise and I broke it. It will never happen again.”

  She smiled weakly at the memory of a seven-year old girl making a werewolf swear to protect her.

  With taut features, he spoke in a low, tense voice. “I’m going to kill the bastard witch who put you in this position and your boss for good measure.”

  Her heart leapt. “No, Jason!”

  He met her gaze. “Why not?”

  Tears sprung to her eyes again. “Because Ben is dead. He died saving me.”

  ****

  Cassandra stared off into the distance from her balcony, fuming over what transpired down below. She’d lost a valuable tool. There was enough blood to create a few more of her pets, but they would need a hell of a lot more.

  “You sent for me, mistress?” Leonardo’s quivering voice asked from behind her.

  Vengeance surged through her as she turned to face the idiot witch who let her precious wolf escape. His face was bloodied and bruised. Standing barefoot in only jeans in the middle of her room, he looked like he wanted nothing more than to bolt out the door. “Oh my. You do not look well, my Leonardo. Do you need medical attention?”

  Caught off guard by her concerned tone, he said, “Uh, no. I’ll be fine.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Mistress…I tried…”

  Cassandra held up her hand. “Speak only when I’ve addressed a q
uestion to you.”

  The anger raging inside her was at the boiling point. What was she going to do without her little wolf? They could plan a better abduction, but it wasn’t going to be so easy this time. And strangely, she didn’t want any other wolf, but Serena. Greed for the little dog’s blood infuriated her, and her eyes blazed.

  She watched Leo’s reaction as her irises turned red. Very few witches could do this, and it pleased her he was so frightened.

  “You will help me come up with a plan. My Nightwalkers are growing, but there aren’t nearly enough. If you do not come up with a feasible plan within a few days, I will feed you to them. Is that understood?”

  Eyes round, he said, “Yes, mistress.”

  Cassandra stepped closer. “You must be punished for your actions, Leo. I cannot abide such incompetence in my convenio.” His quick breaths told her he was getting excited. In the past, her sisters would have their fun with Leonardo, but this time he was in for a surprise. She wiggled her forefinger in the air. “No, no. I said punish. You will not enjoy it.” Circling him, she said. “Undress, please.”

  Leonardo did as he was told, tossing his jeans aside. The moron actually had an erection.

  “Place your hands on the foot of the bed.”

  Once Leonardo gripped the bed frame, she conjured up ropes, which wound his wrists, and he stiffened. Her eyes were on the silky skin of his backside as she placed a spreader bar at his ankles to keep his legs from moving then gathered her leather flogger.

  With fear in his eyes, she watched Leo struggle as Ken and Gary slipped inside. “What the…Cassandra, please…” Leo pleaded, his terrified gaze going from her flogger to the two men coming forward.

  “Quiet! Continue to struggle, and I’ll bring my pets to work on you as well.” Raising her arm back, she made the first strike.

  Chapter Seven

  “They’re called Nightwalkers. Serena says they’re shaped like a jackal.” Jason stood near the door next to Evangeline as she addressed Adam and the rest of the Fighters. The Chicago crew had come down for the meeting and all eleven of them listened as she relayed what Serena described. He was right. It was easier for Serena to talk to Evangeline than Jason or Adam. Neither one of them could control the growls now as Eva retold everything. They could all read Adam’s mate very well, though, and she was leaving quite a bit out.

  “Cassandra is building an army of these creatures to overthrow the wolf population. She kills the jackals first, then they’re reborn from an incantation her convenio chants. According to Serena, the witches performed the same spell several times.” Eva visually gulped before going on. “They’d use her blood along with other items to create them, which was why Ben and Serena were taken. Cassandra needs a were’s blood to complete the spell. She also overheard Cassandra mention Tyson. She believes Tyson’s blood was used to create the first of her Nightwalkers.”

  There were several hisses at this news. They’d lost one of their Fighters a few months ago, and believing a vampire had killed him, they’d retaliated. It was obvious now it was set up to look that way. While Cassandra worked on her creatures, she had stirred up trouble between the vampires and werewolves. Hell, just a couple months ago they’d battled with the King’s Coven in a warehouse. This witch bitch was on a mission.

  “How would they take her blood?” Adam asked, his voice tight. He sat with the rest of the guys at the end of the dining room table, his face pale.

  All the men in the room seethed as they honed in on Evangeline’s fear. Jason’s arms were crossed in front of him in a fierce grip, attempting to contain the wolf inside.

  Evangeline placed her hand on her thigh. “Cassandra would take the blood from here…with a blade.”

  Several pack members hissed. Adam put his head in his hands, while Jason shook mightily.

  “How often would they take her blood?” Adam asked low, looking down at the table.

  Jason noticed Evangeline’s hesitation. She glanced nervously at him before answering quietly. “Serena thinks it was about every other day,”

  Jason shut his eyes, unimaginable rage coursing through him. Why, God? Why? It should have been me. Why didn’t they just take me? He’d take a million cuts all over his body for Serena. It should have been him.

  The room, which had been filled with low curses, was completely silent now. He opened his eyes to find everyone looking at him. His overpowering blast of pain and anger had washed all over the Fighters. The female Weres stared wide-eyed. Someone uttered under his breath, “Fuck!”

  Danny Amato, a Chicago cop, spoke up. “We’re all glad she’s safe and back home.” He looked to Evangeline. “How is she?”

  She gave him a small smile. “She’s doing very well. All healed.” Eva looked nervously at the top of Adam’s head. “Once she regains her strength she’ll be up and about. I left her with a big meal just now.”

  Danny nodded, glancing around at the rest of his crew. The guy definitely had alpha in him, but he would rather be a part of a pack than lead it. Adam put him in charge of the other five though. Since the twins were born, it was getting harder and harder to get up to the city.

  The cop’s job was easy. Make sure the boys were on rotation and keep shit running smooth. Danny was now making schedules for himself, Anthony Rourke, James Taylor, Viola Walters, Cameron O’Connell and Danny’s sister, Samantha Amato.

  “Why get involved now? They’ve left us alone for centuries. It doesn’t make any sense,” Viola Walters put in.

  Nick said, “We outnumber them, I think. We breed like crazy. They might be afraid we’ll turn on them eventually so they’re beating us to the punch.”

  “Can she describe anything else about where she was being held?” Alex asked.

  Evangeline shrugged. “Like I said, she was confined to her cell in a rundown basement. Said there were a few rooms like hers around her and stairs that would lead to a long hallway. The doors on either side were kept closed. They’d take Serena into a large ballroom where they performed the spells.” She paused. “Oh, and she remembers the ceiling in the ballroom bore a fresco?”

  “A what?” Ramo asked.

  “Several paintings. She remembers a cherub, but that’s all.”

  Cameron O’Connell spoke up. “Well, we’ve been fighting vampires, no offence…” he said to Evangeline, “…for centuries. We can take a piece-of-shit jackal.”

  Adam sat back in his chair, looking completely worn out. His eyes listless on the table, he said, “Their bite is poisonous to Weres.”

  The room went silent till someone asked, “How do you know?”

  “I just know.” Adam didn’t dare meet Jason or Evangeline’s eyes. “One bite and we’re dead.” Very few people knew of Eva’s healing capabilities. Adam couldn’t tell the rest of his pack his mate had saved his life when he’d been bitten back in August.

  “Jesus,” Samantha Amato sighed. “How many of these Nightwalkers has she made?”

  Evangeline shook her head. “Serena could only speculate. She’s guessing there are about fifty where she was being held, but who knows about other convenios. They may be teaming up. If she really is trying to eliminate all werewolves, she’ll need a lot of help. Who knows…”

  “Witches pulled this shit before and now look at us.” Ramo put in, waving his hand in the air as if it were no big deal. Werewolves had originated several centuries back when the wolf curse was a witch’s spell of choice. Eventually, the newly turned werewolves turned on the witches and began breeding like mad during the moon heat.

  Adam sighed unsteadily. “All right. That’s enough to go on for now. Each of us has to warn the other packs. We’ll divide it up by regions.”

  “What? That’s a lot of fucking packs,” Ramo said.

  “We’re on rocky terms with some. What do we do about those?” James Taylor asked.

  “I don’t care. Just get a message to their headquarters. Let them know they are using were blood to create the Nightwalkers, and they are a thre
at to our race.”

  “Vampires too.”

  Every head swung to the doorway of the dining room. Serena stood, small and fragile, wrapped in Evangeline’s purple robe, a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  Jason raced to her side, gripping her arm gently for support. “Why are you out of bed?”

  Serena craned her neck to look up at him and smiled warmly. “I wanted to walk.” Her hair was much longer now, falling all around her in soft waves. For a moment he stared, completely mesmerized by her.

  Stepping closer, she wound an arm around his waist and leaned her side into him.

  Jason stiffened. They were both on display in front of the Fighters and Evangeline. He could feel Adam’s watchful gaze as he approached his sister. They’d had their reunion earlier in the morning before she’d spilled all to Evangeline, so he simply held her chin between his fingers examining her closely.

  “You got some color back, Rena. How do you feel?” Adam let go and stared hard. He was happy his sister looked better, but the way she held Jason was making him uncomfortable. His alpha was trying to contain the reproach itching to burst out.

  So help him, but Jason couldn’t let her go, even if his boss commanded it. Last night was the first time she’d ever touched him, and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. And now she held him again, and he was all too aware of her arm at his back, her small hand lightly gripping his side. Her touch was exhilarating, igniting his heart rate. He’d never felt so warm in his life.

  “Much better, Ad.” Then she tilted her head around him to look at Adam’s mate.

  Evangeline’s eyes were wide. “What do you mean…vampires too?”

  Serena said, “I’m sorry. I should have mentioned this, especially for your sake.” She looked nervously at Adam. “Their main goal is to wipe out our population, but they hate vampires just as much as they hate us. I’m afraid they’re targeting you too.”

  In a blink of an eye, Evangeline was at the doorway in one of her vampire flashes. She stopped abruptly with a look of confusion on her face.

  Adam’s voice murmured low and cool, “Where are you going, Eva?”