Avenger(41)

“Thank God,” Bentley said before I hung up the phone. I ran to the garage door and punched the button to open the gate. I waited outside, snow melting on my heated bare skin.

The car raced up the driveway and came to a screeching halt in front of me. Christian all but fell out of the car and I raced to her side to keep her from falling. Her skin was abnormally pale and her eyes flitted around, as if expecting someone to jump out at us.

“What is it, Christian?” I asked, trying to peer around her to see Sophie.

“I’m so sorry, Caeden,” she sobbed. “He came up behind me and—and—” she sobbed. “Everything went dark and when I woke up, she was gone.”

“Who was gone?” I growled, needing to hear her say it.

“Sophie. She’s gone, Caeden. He has her. Travis has her.” Her tears splashed onto my skin.

I sank to the ground, Christian falling with me. A sound that wasn’t even remotely human escaped my throat.

Sophie.

He has Sophie.

He has my she-wolf.

My wife.

My baby.

My life.

Travis had it all now.

I took deep breaths, my vision blurring. My nails began to lengthen and my neck stretched. I hadn’t had an uncontrolled shift since I was sixteen, but right now, I was really close to losing it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nolan emerge from the open garage door.

“She’s gone. She’s gone. She’s gone,” I repeated over and over again. Even when my teeth started to lengthen, I kept saying it.

I fought the shift as much as I could, but it became too much, and my wolf skin burst free.

I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and stomped on it repeatedly.

I tilted my head back and howled at the sky above me.

Every single pack member—even the elders—would be unable to resist the call of their Alpha. I might not have trusted the elders right now, but I needed to see them. I needed to look them in the eye and watch for a reaction. I needed to find out where Sophie was, and I was sure one of them—either Cody, Charlotte’s grandpa, or Baxter, Bentley’s grandpa—knew where she was. I didn’t care if they were our elders or my friends’ grandparents, I’d rip them apart and watch the life drain from their eyes if I believed for even one second that they were responsible for Sophie being taken…and not just that, but everything that had happened since my dad was murdered. I wasn’t going to sit back and be passive. I would start a war if that’s what it took to get my she-wolf back. She was worth everything, and if they didn’t understand that, then they better watch their backs.





Fifteen.

Sophie

I had passed out again. But now I was wide awake, staring at a plain white ceiling, with my hands strapped tightly to the headboard of the bed I was lying in. The room wasn’t anything special. The walls were beige and the furniture was white. There was a window, but it was covered with curtains so I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night. I wondered how much time had passed since I’d been taken. Hours? Days?

I yanked my arms forward, rattling the chains wrapped around my wrists. I was literally tied up like I was some kind of animal.

My body was tired and so I knew I didn’t stand a chance of escape. I was trapped.

I rattled the chains again, letting out a scream.

How had this happened?

I was terrified as I scrolled through the different reasons why Travis would be keeping me here. Wherever here was. I wasn’t really scared for myself though. No, all my worries for my baby.

The door eased open and I pulled harder against the chains, like I could break them with sheer willpower alone. Travis stuck his head through the doorway and smiled when he saw that I was awake. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as envisioned him shoving a knife through my heart or cutting me into little bitty pieces to feed to his mutants.

“I’m happy to see you’re awake.” His voice was oddly pleasant. I was used to an angry and crazy Travis…not one that was so calm. I think I preferred psychotic Travis to this one. There was something creepy about how…peaceful he acted. He paraded about the room, continuing to talk. He acted as if this was an every day occurrence, like I lived here, and wasn’t chained to a bed like an animal.

I watched his lips move as he spoke, but it was like my ears had stopped working because I didn’t hear a thing he said. I was oddly detached, waiting for the moment when he would strike and my life—and my child’s—would end. I knew in my heart that my death was inevitable, and so I wished he’d just do it instead of dragging it out.

He continued to walk the length of the room and finally stopped beside me. He reached out, and I flinched, unable to control my reaction. He made a hushing sound, like I was a frightened animal he was trying to console. What the heck? This was getting weirder and weirder. Maybe I was dreaming…no, this was far to real to be a dream.