Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(5)

Jace closed his eyes against the swell of grief. He'd orphaned a child?  He'd fucking orphaned a child? For a moment, he couldn't breathe. His  lungs seemed to close down on him, sucking the life from him. Swearing,  he fought for control. He couldn't succumb to the vacuum threatening to  consume him. Dying would be the easy way out. He had to stand here. He  had to face it. He had to fix it. He gritted his jaw and turned back  toward Abby, refusing to allow himself to hide from her. "He'll need  money. I'll set up a fund for him. He'll be set for life financially.  I-"

She held up her hand to silence him, and he immediately stopped, cold  fingers of dread clamping around his spine. She wasn't finished. It got  worse. "What?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "What else?"

"Grigori kidnapped him."

Horror sucker-punched Jace in the gut. "Grigori took the boy?" A cold  sweat broke out on his palms. Grigori was a psychotic, serial killer who  had forced his entire pack to kill on command. He was a ruthless,  deadly psychopath with no remorse or value for life. He was the one  who'd invented a song that could force a shifter into wolf form and turn  him into a merciless killer. "How?"

"Seth was in the apartment with my sister, and when she went out the  fire escape to run from you, Grigori came in the front door and  kidnapped him."

"Jesus." His legs gave out and he sank to his knees, unable to hold himself up.

"Jace." Abby knelt in front of him, putting her hand on his shoulder.  "He used you to get her out of the way so he could take Seth. It was  always about Seth, not you or Melissa." She hesitated, then offered a  platitude that he knew she didn't believe. "It's not your fault."

"Not my fault? Fuck that. Fuck that." Her sympathy pissed him off. No  one should be feeling sorry for him. He should be held accountable for  what he'd done. No alpha should have been susceptible to being forced to  shift and kill a woman. He was completely responsible for his actions.  "Why did he want the child?" Anger surged through Jace, and fear, a  deep-seated terror for that child. Gone was the anguish and depression,  replaced by a fierce, desperate protectiveness toward the boy he didn't  even know. But he knew what Grigori was capable of, and the thought of  an innocent child in Grigori's claws was horrifying.

Her lips tightened, and he knew she wasn't going to answer him. She was hiding something.

"Did you get him back yet?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

"No." She met his gaze. "They've vanished. I've talked to some private  investigators. They either can't find him, or they refused to take the  case. Everyone is afraid of Grigori. I need your help, Jace. You're my  only chance."

He surged to his feet, pacing away from her, his mind spinning as he  raced through the possibilities. "What can I do?" He'd searched for  Grigori too, but he hadn't found a trace. None of them had. The shifter  had vanished completely, along with his pack.

Desperation flickered across her face. "Maybe you can track Seth. If we  go back to my sister's apartment, you might be able to connect with him.  Grigori can hide his presence easily, but Seth is too young. You're a  powerful shifter, Jace. If anyone can track him, you can." She grabbed  his arm, her fingers so small and delicate around his wrist. "Can you  track him, Jace? Can you find him before it's too late?"

Jace knew Grigori would force the boy to kill innocents. If a wolf  acquired a taste for hunting before he learned to control the wolf, it  would turn him into a monster that could never be saved.... Son of a  bitch. Was that what this was about? He looked at Abby. "Is Seth a  shifter? Is that why Grigori wanted him? To turn him into another one of  his deadly soldiers?"

For a long moment, Abby didn't respond. Then she nodded. "Yes."

He could see in her eyes that she wasn't telling him the entire truth,  but it was enough. The boy was one of Jace's kind, and that meant he was  under his protection. The fact that he owed the kid's family a debt he  could never repay was an added incentive. He would save that damn kid,  no matter what the cost to himself. "I'll find him and bring him here  when I locate him."

He started to turn away, but she grabbed his arm. "Jace."

He looked over at her. "What?"

"I'm going with you."

He went cold, ice cold, as his reality came slamming back at him. He  grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back against the house, trapping  her against the wet wood. "Don't you get it, Abby? I fucking murdered  your sister. Grigori took that song and he turned me into a monster.  It's still in my head, and at any second, I could lose the battle and  kill you. There's no fucking chance that I'm going to take the risk of  turning on you. You don't get to come."                       
       
           



       

She lifted her chin. "You need me."

"Why?"

She hesitated, then answered, her gaze flicking away from his for a  split second before she answered. "I know Grigori better than you do. If  you find him, I can help."

Her words stopped him. He studied her more carefully. She looked  unsophisticated and outdoorsy in her jeans and sweatshirt. She looked  like a woman who wouldn't mind hanging out with wolves, but at the same  time, there was a fragility to her that would have made her a target  among a group of predators. "How do you know him?"

She looked away again. "It doesn't matter-"

"Fuck that." He clasped her jaw and turned her head so she was looking  at him. He chose his words carefully. "Grigori is a psychopath. He uses  mind control to force wolves to shift and murder. He cares about nothing  other than power and carnage. He would kill his own children if it  benefitted him. Going after him is a doomed mission unless I do it  right. So, tell me what you know. How do you know him?"

He felt her summon her strength, and then she looked right at him, her gaze steady. "Because I'm his daughter."





Chapter 3





Jace's entire body went cold, and he jerked his hands back from her, as  if she'd burned him. "You're his daughter?" Grigori was the psychopath  who had twisted Jace's mind until he'd murdered an innocent woman. He  was a predator who had left scores of victims in his wake across several  continents. A beast so vile that he contaminated everyone he touched.  How could he possibly be the father of this woman standing before him?

But Abby nodded in affirmation, her eyes watching him warily. "Yes."

Jesus. His mind raced, trying to put all the pieces together into a  model that made sense. "Was Melissa his daughter, too? And your mom?  His … mate?"

At her nod, he swore under his breath. What kind of situation had he  walked into? "If Melissa was his daughter, why did he have me kill her?"  He knew Grigori was vile, but what monster orchestrated the brutal  murder of his own child? Jace couldn't even fathom that. His instinct to  protect ran so deeply through him that he would give his life to save  anyone in his circle, and his own child would be even more precious than  that.

"My mom met him when she was fifteen," Abby explained. "She was young  and in a tough situation. She was incredibly beautiful, however, and he  decided he wanted her. He offered her sanctuary and attention,  overwhelming her with all the things she wanted and needed. He never let  her see what he really was, until she was so under his spell that she  was blind to his depravity."

The pain that flashed across her face made pain twist through his gut.  "You grew up in his pack?" At her nod, anger tore through him, a dark,  possessive fury. "What did he do to you?"

She lifted her chin defiantly, and he saw the flash of anger in her  eyes, a refusal to submit to the memories of Grigori. "He kidnapped my  sister's son."

Jace knew she had deliberately avoided answering the question he'd  asked, which was to find out what Grigori had done to Abby growing up.  Was she hiding from her past, or simply trying to focus attention on the  one thing that could still be changed. "Abby-"

She caught his arm, her fingers tight around his wrist. "We have to get him back, Jace."

Jace. The way Abby said his name was like warm rain pouring over him,  cleansing the filth from him. She said his name as if he were her  salvation, not a monster, not a murderer, not a killer. Something inside  him turned over in response to the way she was looking at him, like she  saw only the man he'd tried to be, and not the one he'd actually  become.

But hell, how could he get involved in this situation? He was a danger  to her, and she was a danger to him. He braced his hands on top of his  head, watching her, trying to process everything he'd just learned. Her  nose was upturned and dainty, but her jaw was jutting out in a  determined angle, and her hands were balled into fists by her side.