I managed to sit woodenly on the edge of the bed, then steeled myself to pull off my shirt, praying that would be all the distraction needed to get in a good, incapacitating blow. But I wasn't the only one who was nervous. Noah locked and double-checked the door, then moved to the window. He peered out, not pulling the blind, just squinting into the darkness as if expecting Tesler or Eddie to pop up like drunken guests on his wedding night.
And while he was engrossed in the view, with his back to me, I crept up behind him. Too late, I noticed my reflection in the window glass. He wheeled, his hands going up as they had in the woods, unsure whether to fight back or just ward me off.
At the last second, he went for option three--get the hell out of the way. I managed to catch his shirt collar as he dove past me. I whipped him off his feet again. Unlike in the woods, I couldn't throw him aside--the Tesler brothers would hear the crash and know it wasn't just rough sex... at least, not after only two minutes in the bedroom.
So I threw Noah facedown on the bed. As I pressed his face into the pillow, he kicked and flailed. I gritted my teeth against the blows, grabbed a discarded shirt and made a gag of it, tying the sleeves behind his head.
He relaxed then, realizing I'd been trying to silence him... but not permanently. When I grabbed a belt, though, and yanked his hands behind his back, he wrenched hard, and the sudden movement freed one of his hands. A well-placed jab to my throat freed the other.
I dove after him, but he danced back, moving not toward the door, but to the window. Still gagged, he gestured at it emphatically.
Was someone out there? Was that what had caught his attention earlier? Tesler spying on us? Or--my heart leapt--Clay?
I still grabbed Noah by the collar, but only to keep a hold on him as I peered out, trying to see what he'd seen. He yanked down the gag but said nothing, just shook his head, eyes rolling at the dense woman who couldn't understand his wild gestures.
He pointed at the window, then at me. The window. Me.
Telling me... to escape?
I couldn't risk talking--the Teslers might overhear, so I pantomimed opening the window and climbing out, and he nodded. Then he pointed at himself and the window, gesturing that this was an escape plan for two.
So he hadn't been after sex at all. What Noah wanted, it seemed, was the same thing I had--a chance to run away. But that begged one question. Why? He could have made a run for it back in the forest.
It was a trap. It had to be.
But to what end? Thwart my escape to impress Tesler? He'd only mock and punish Noah for letting me almost get away in the first place. There had to be a motive, but I wasn't getting it--and the longer I pondered, the faster my chance slipped away. Get out and deal with him later.
I eased open the window. The screen was already off. I crawled out, sucking in a gasp as my stockinged feet hit the snow. Ignoring the cold, I dashed behind the nearest bushes. Then I watched as Noah came out. As he ran toward me, I tensed, ready to throw the first punch.
"Coats and boots are around the side," he whispered. "I snuck them out when Eddie sent me on patrol."
He pointed. When I took a step in that direction, he caught my arm and I spun, fists going up. He fell back, releasing me.
"No, I just--You're going to take me with you, right? I saved you, so now you'll take me along."
I looked into his eye for some sign of a trick, but saw only panic.
"Please," he said. "I had nothing to do with--" His voice caught. "With Dennis. I didn't even know they'd--I thought--" He swallowed. "I thought I was protecting him, but--" He swallowed. "After they killed him, they told me Joseph was next if I didn't--Only they were telling Joseph the same thing."
"They said they'd kill your dad if you ran off, while telling him they'd kill you." Easier than actually holding him hostage, especially when they were shorthanded. A kid with Noah's problems wouldn't be quick to figure out the scam... or a good solution.
He nodded. "When I found you in the river, I thought we could take off together. Only--"
"Only they showed up, so this was the backup plan. All right. We'll get out of here and I'll take you to your dad."
He shook his head. "No. I want you to take me back to the Pack. That's what he--" Grief filled his eyes. He blinked it back. "That's what Dennis wanted. He kept trying to talk me into it, but I wouldn't listen, wouldn't even let him ask you guys. If I had--if I'd made him come with me..."
"I'll take you back to the Pack. Now, let's get--"
"Looking for these?"
Tesler stepped into the moonlight, holding two coats and pairs of boots. He tossed them into the snow.
"I-I wanted to do it outside," Noah said.
"In stocking feet?"
"I-I thought we'd Change and, you know, do it as wolves."
"Quit while you're ahead, kid. So what happened? Let me guess, you fell in love at first poke and decided to run off together? No, for that you'd need to be all grown up. You don't want a girlfriend. You want a mommy, someone who will rescue you from the big, nasty wolves and take you back to the Pack. Am I close?"
"Only because you overheard us," I said.
He ignored me, gaze still on Noah. "You think they're going to take you, boy? Sure, blondie here might feel sorry for you. But the minute her hubby lays eyes on you will be the last minute you lay eyes on anything... if you're lucky. Do you know what Clayton Danvers does to mutts?" He pantomimed a chainsaw pull. "Bye-bye body parts."
As he talked, I took stock of my surroundings. No convenient stones to whip at his head. No convenient cliff to throw him off. No convenient jagged tree stump to impale him on. Damn. I was going to have to do this the hard way.
While he yapped, I sidled closer. He didn't seem to notice--bullying Noah was so much more fun.
I was about to take another step when Eddie came around the side of the house. That Tesler noticed.
"I've got it," Tesler said. "Go back inside."
"Let me grab the kid," Eddie said. "You can deal with--"
"I said, I've got it." Tesler's voice lowered to a growl.
His ego had taken a beating earlier. Now he was going to redeem it by proving he could handle a woman and a kid without his brother's help. And if that's what he wanted, I wasn't about to argue. Eddie hesitated, then retreated. I listened for the door, but didn't hear it. He hadn't gone back inside. Damn.
"So what sob story did the kid tell you?" Tesler asked with only a flickering glance my way. "How we killed his granddaddy and he had nothing to do with it?"
"I didn't," Noah said, lip curling in a snarl.
"Sure you did. You led us right to the cabin."
"You followed me!"
"No, I do believe you followed us first." Again, Tesler glanced my way, but fleetingly, as if he couldn't quite make full eye contact yet. "Did he tell you that? He found us in Anchorage. Gotta hand it to the kid--he's got balls. Too bad he lacks brains. Takes after his granddaddy."
Noah rushed at Tesler. I grabbed his shirt and hauled him back, murmuring, "That's what he wants."
"Oh, come on. He just wants to shut me up before I tell you why he came to us. Why he gave us all kinds of intel on the local wildlife--drug dealers, gun-runners, smugglers. A choirboy he ain't, no matter how sweet he might look."
I eased away from Noah, circling Tesler, who kept his gaze on his target.
Noah's chin lifted. "I wanted money, so I sold them information, but only about that stuff. I would never have led them to Dennis. They followed me and I tried to fight--"
"You're a little thug," Tesler said. "Hick town white trash who thinks he's cool because he's grown fangs and claws. But when things get ugly, he wants his mommy... or the nearest substitute."
I charged Tesler. He braced for a blow, but instead I launched myself at him, hitting him hard, knocking him off his feet. I flipped him onto his stomach before he landed, then crushed his face into the snowy ground, stifling any cries that would bring his brother running.
&n
bsp; As Tesler struggled, I waved for Noah to go. When he didn't, I snarled a silent "Run!" Still he hesitated. I smacked Tesler into the ground, then surreptitiously pinned him with my knee, and released him, making it look as if I'd knocked him unconscious. I gestured for Noah to go, that I was right behind him. He took off, motioning for me to grab the extra coat and boots as he took his.
Noah was barely out of sight before Tesler threw me off. We fought. I might have had a chance, if Eddie hadn't heard and come ripping around the corner. Some of the fight went out of me then.
As hard as I tried to ignore Eddie, I knew that the minute his brother was in serious danger, he'd leap in, and I couldn't take them both. Realizing that was like pinching off the adrenaline pump that had kept me going. Every bruise from our earlier fight flared, every joint screamed, my head throbbed and the exhaustion of fighting my way back from hypothermia seeped into every muscle of my body.
Finally, Tesler had me pinned by the throat. I found my strength again, wildly fighting as his hand crushed my windpipe. I gasped and gurgled, then blacked out. When I recovered, he'd eased off, but was looming over me, his expression warning I had only to twitch and he'd choke me again.
I lashed out, trying to jab his eye, unable to reach, his hands tightening around my throat again, smiling, elated for the excuse. As I fought, that little-girl voice screamed for me to stop. I couldn't. I blacked out again. When I came to, I saw flashes of my family--no serene last portrait, but their anger, their confusion.
Was I going to die to avoid being raped? Did I think that was somehow noble, defiant? No, it would mean letting Tesler win in a far worse way--proving that he'd found the thing that scared me more than any other.
I stopped struggling. But as hard as that voice screamed, I wouldn't retreat into my safe place. I wouldn't look away. Travis Tesler might have won the battle for physical domination, but that was all he was getting. I promised myself that any satisfaction he gained from the next few minutes would be short lived. He would die for this. And I would be the one to kill him.
He grabbed my breasts. Grabbed, rubbed, squeezed until it hurt. I wouldn't look away. When he ground his hips against mine... there was nothing to grind. He was limp. He forced my hand down and made me rub him. Nothing happened.
"It's too cold," Eddie said. "Get her inside."
Tesler ignored him. He ground against me, pawed me, hurt me. I kept staring at him, and that was all it took.
He smacked my face. Once, twice. My nose bled into the snow, but still I turned back to him and met his gaze.
"Come on, Travis," Eddie said. "It's fucking freezing out here. Get her inside and you can--"
"Shut up."
He hit me again. Consciousness threatened another holiday, but I blinked it back and kept staring.
Eddie stepped toward us, hands out as if to pull his brother off me. Tesler swung at him, catching him in the thigh, making his leg buckle.
"I said back off," Tesler snarled.
"Or what? You'll choke me, too? Christ, Travis. It's a girl. Just a fucking girl. She's not worth this."
Tesler paused, then slowly nodded. "You're right. She's not." He turned to me, lip curled, teeth bared. "You think you're too good for me, bitch? You think I'm the worst thing that can happen to you? My brother's right. You've taken up too much of my time already. Eddie? Grab me some rope."
STAKED
I FOUGHT AGAIN, but it was too late. Even with the specter of a lynching dangling before me, I didn't have what it took to escape. I cursed my weakness. I hated myself for not finding some hidden well of strength. But I just didn't have anything left.
As I quickly discovered, lynching wasn't what he had in mind. He bound my ankles, then tied my wrists behind my back, as Eddie held me still. Once I was secured, Tesler ordered Eddie back inside. Eddie went--I was no danger to his brother now, and that was all that mattered.
Tesler started pulling me by the long end of the rope. He dragged me over every buried limb and rock, through every bush. Very satisfying, I'm sure, but he wasn't in the best of shape himself, and apparently my stifled yelps weren't worth the effort of dragging me over and through obstacles. So he threw me over his shoulder, and settled for verbal bullying.
"Do you know what's out here?" he said. "Something a lot worse than me. You've been running around these woods, you and your hubby. Have you seen our beast? I bet you have. It's curious, always sniffing around. It doesn't give us any trouble though. Know why? Because I figured out what it likes. The same thing I do."
"The missing girls," I whispered before I could stop myself.
"You saw the posters? Bet you figured I was responsible, didn't you?"
"You were."
"Just for taking them up on their offer. No one made them have a drink with me. No one forced them into my truck. They came along willingly. But as you may have guessed, I don't much like willing women."
"Where are they?"
"Here and there. Bits of them anyway. When I was done, I left them for our beast friend. You know how some werewolves have a reputation for eating after fucking? Well, they've got nothing on this bastard. I swear he was chowing down before he finished. Should have heard those girls scream."
I gritted my teeth and tried to block his words, to visualize something else. I managed to miss whatever he said next, then he dumped me onto the ground, jarring me back to the present.
I tried to stand up, but I could only twist and writhe. He grabbed the rope dangling from my hands and dragged me to a tree. I fought harder then, but it was no good. Even if I managed to get a limb free, he'd only truss me up again. So I waited as he tied the rope to the tree.
Then he stepped back and smiled. "Scared now?"
I said nothing. Did nothing. Just stood there and stared at him. He lifted a hand to cuff me, then pulled back, pasting on that smile again.
"Oh, you're scared. And you'll be a helluva lot more scared when you see what's coming for you." He surveyed me. "You know what we really need? A video camera. Now that would be a home movie to pass along, make every mutt on the continent forget those faded photos of your hubby's work. Maybe I'll send them as a package deal. See what happens when you piss off Clayton Danvers? Well, here's what happens when you piss off Travis Tesler." He strolled over and lowered his face to mine--as close as he could get and stay out of biting range. "Mine would be much more popular viewing, don't you think? The Pack Beta's mate raped and eaten by a wild beast. Werewolf snuff at its finest. Hell, forget cementing my reputation. I'll sell copies and make a fortune."
When I didn't react, he pulled his gaze away and backed off, then cocked his head, as if thinking. "You know, I'm sure I saw a video camera in the cabin. I'll go grab that. Don't start without me, okay?"
I watched him saunter away. And I was left alone... in the Alaskan wilderness, dressed only in a shirt, jeans and socks, tied to a tree and reeking of blood. That's when the panic began to seep in.
I pushed it back and concentrated on getting free. I didn't have a hope in hell of breaking the rope or the tree--both were too sturdy even for werewolf strength. As for undoing the knot, a smart captor--one with some experience at this--knows how to tie his victim's hands so she can't undo them. Tesler had bound my wrists with the backs of my hands together, meaning I couldn't get to the knots. Even if I could, my fingers were too numb to work properly.
I peered into the night. It was as dark and still as ever. When the panic flared again, I berated myself for it. Whatever Tesler had done with the girls, it hadn't been this. That much I knew. Animals have different sexual wiring than us, and while some humans may have an unhealthy interest in them, they don't return it.
Yes, if I died out here, there were plenty of things that would eat my corpse and scatter the parts, and I suspected that was exactly what had happened to those girls. Tesler killed them, then let something--maybe even our mystery beast--do the rest.
If he'd really staked me out to be raped and eaten alive, he'd have stayed to
watch. No, he expected to saunter back in a half-hour and find me huddled against the tree, gibbering with terror, begging him to rescue me. Instead, he'd come back and find empty ropes.
I tried rubbing the rope against the tree, but the bark was too smooth. So I whistled as loudly as I could, hoping Noah was close by. Of course, he wasn't. Long gone, I was sure.
For the second time in one night, I'd sacrificed myself to let a Stillwell escape, and though I felt better about doing it for Noah, I was still kicking myself. Yet as foolish as it seemed right now, this was what it meant to be Alpha--the kind Jeremy was and the kind I expected myself to be. It meant being willing to sacrifice yourself for Pack brothers who'd jump in to do the same for you first. Unfortunately, that last part didn't apply with Joey and Noah. So I was on my own.
I still had one trick up my sleeve--my biggest and best.
I took one long look around the forest, assuring myself I was indeed alone. Then I pressed closer to the tree, slackening the rope. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Changing. To do that, though, I had to shift my focus to my body. That's when I realized how cold I was. I couldn't feel my hands, couldn't feel my feet, my ears, my nose, my chin. The wind whistled through my thin shirt and pants and I shivered until I couldn't do anything except shiver, my teeth chattering, their clicking filling the silence.
A low whimper bubbled up from my gut. It was so cold, so damned cold. Frostbite was setting in, and if I didn't get warm soon, if I couldn't at least thaw my fingers under my armpits ...
Then Change, damn it. Stop whining and Change.
I stumbled on my bound, stockinged feet, trying to inch behind the tree out of the wind, but the rope didn't have enough slack, and an eight-inch-wide trunk was a piss-poor windbreak.
I focused on Changing, but it wouldn't come. I couldn't even relax. It was too cold, too goddamn cold.
And what if I Changed and couldn't get free? Were my wrists bigger than my forelegs? What if I cut off my circulation, the ropes digging through fur and skin?
Stop thinking and Change. If the rope is too tight, you can gnaw through it.
I concentrated, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get started. I was battered, bruised and exhausted. I desperately needed to Change, and that very pressure made it impossible to relax enough to launch the process.