Taken By The Alpha(17)

“He’d kill me himself if he knew I was talking to you.”

“There aren’t any of his men near us right now. I’d scent them.”

Stacey briefly met her gaze, chewing her lip. “A year ago, he took over our property. He sells our timber off our land. He’s got us working around the clock for him, for nothing. He’s holding our families, the older gophers and the young ones who can’t work hard enough, prisoner. He moves them to different hiding spots every few days.”

“But I saw you in town,” Katrina protested.

“He sends some of us in from time to time so nobody will know anything’s wrong, but he always has one of his men with us.” Her eyes glittered with tears. “It feels like it will never end. It feels like we’ll die like this. I haven’t seen my parents in weeks, I don’t know if they’re alive.”

Katrina thought she might vomit. This was horrifying, and it had happened on her property, right under her nose.

“Dear God, I am so sorry. I swear to you I didn’t know. I would never have stood for this.”

“I believe you.” Stacey’s voice was dull and hopeless.

“I can sense where your families are, because I picked up on their feelings,” she said. “That’s why Roman wouldn’t let me anywhere near here – I would have sensed it. They’re about a quarter of a mile northwest of here.” She pointed. “We can get Maddox and he will make sure they’re rescued. Then we can report my stepfather to the Council.”

She felt relief wash over her. If her stepfather were in trouble with the council, maybe the Death Challenge wouldn’t need to happen.

“You really think so?” Stacey asked anxiously.

“I know so. I’ve been staying with him almost a month now. I know what he’s like, he’d never put up with this if he knew. Do you have a phone with you? We can call him right now.”

Stacey shook her head. “None of us are allowed phones here. Your stepfather’s afraid we’ll call and alert somebody.” She leaned in furtively. “We managed to stash a few phones. I can get to one, but it might be a little later today. I have to report back to the construction site. They just sent me to deliver a message to a construction foreman, and I’ve already taken too long.”

Katrina froze, tipped her head back, and sniffed at the air. “Wolf. I smell wolf. One of my stepfather’s nephews. I’ve got to go before I’m spotted. Tell Maddox that I told you Teresa and Lula are traitors and they’re collaborating.” She recited Maddox’s number to Stacey and made her recite it back three times, and then she shifted and ran.

She found the same spot that she’d dug under earlier and wriggled back through. Dirt clumped in her fur, and she shook it off as she ran.

When she reached the main road, she hesitated as she saw a car heading towards her. She scented…yes. It was Reese, from her pack. Distant cousin on her father’s side.

She stepped out into the road and waved frantically at him. She needed to call her mother, to tell her what was happening and alert her to get off the property. She didn’t want her mother there when the Elders sent in the Wardens; her mother might end up getting arrested right along with him, and who knows how long she’d be in jail before everything was straightened out.

She ran out into the road and waved at him. He pulled over quickly. “Katrina, what are you doing here? You escaped! Jeez, we thought you’d never get out of there. Hold on a minute.” He climbed out, shed his denim jacket, and handed it to her. She quickly put it on; she wasn’t cold, but there was no need to stand around naked. Fortunately, he was a big guy; the jacket went down mid-thigh.

He started to talk, but she held up her hand.

“Reese, I need to borrow your cell phone. Actually I need to keep it for now because I need to make a few phone calls,” she said. “Just, uh, head on back to the pack property and I’ll get it to you later.”

“But I can give you a ride.” He looked confused as he dug in his pocket, pulled out his phone and handed it to her. “Aren’t you coming with me? The Killingworth Pack might find you out here.”

She hesitated for a minute. Could she trust him? She truly didn’t know. Who in her pack knew about the gophers, and whatever else Roman had been up to? Right now, she couldn’t risk it.

“I need you to go,” she said. “I am going to have someone pick me up. I’ll be fine.”

“Uh…Roman’s probably going to be pretty pissed if I just leave you here.” Reese looked worried.

“Tell him you asked me to go with you and I refused. He knows how stubborn I am.”

“All right…I guess.” With a worried glance back at her, he climbed in the truck and drove off.

She quickly dialed her mother.

“Mother, just listen,” she said the moment her mother answered. “Is Roman with you? I need to talk to you alone.”

“No. He’s not here. Where are you?”

Katrina headed to the other side of the road and into the woods as she talked, back in the direction of the Killingworth pack. She had a good seven or eight miles to go from here, and she didn’t want to risk any of the Mordhaus pack driving by right now

She quickly filled her mother in on what she’d found out. “So you need to get off the property right now. You should probably go consult a lawyer so you don’t end up letting you drag you down with him.”

After a long pause, her mother said “Well, they’re not wolves, are they? They’re only gophers.”

Katrina gasped. “You are serious? You are okay with him enslaving and abusing a peaceful group of shifters? Wolves against gophers? That’s disgusting.”

“The pack is the most important thing. The pack always comes first, and this has enriched us considerably.”

“The honor of the pack is the most important thing,” Katrina said heatedly. Then she reached for the only thing that her mother cared about – their reputation. “People in town are already starting to catch on. When everybody finds out about this, our pack will universally be loathed, and other packs may very well come to the rescue of the gophers out of principle.”

“I suppose.” Her mother didn’t sound convinced. “Maybe not, though. Your stepfather’s going to be a lot more powerful, soon. He’s got some great plans.” She lowered her voice. “He’s going to be one of the Elders.”

“How? The Elders are a lifetime position,” Katrina protested.

“Well, things happen, you know. And he’s positioning himself in such a way that, should one of their seats become empty, he will be popular enough that he’ll have an extra shot. And with all those charity balls that we’ve been giving, people may not even believe it about the gophers. We can say they signed a contract with us and now they’re trying to get out of it.”

Katrina went cold. Her stepfather’s ambitions were endless. He’d somehow arrange for an Elder to die, and then take his place.

There had been recent reforms on the Council of Elders, including allowing female pack members to choose their own mates rather than requiring their Alpha’s approval, and allowing pack members to leave their packs without repercussions. She knew that Roman didn’t approve, and he was always talking about reversing the reforms that had been achieved.

Roman in a position of power like that…it would be a nightmare.

“Come back and we’ll talk about it,” her mother said. “We’ll figure out what to do. Where are you right now?”

Katrina hung up the phone without answering. She dialed Maddox quickly. “Where are you?” he demanded, his voice furious. “Lula claims that she saw you shoot and kill Michael.”

“Killed?” she cried out. Her blood ran cold. Lula had killed him after all. “Me? Lula shot him with the tranq. She’s the one who tried to help me escape the first time, and she put cyanide in the darts so that I’d kill people while I tried to escape and you’d blame it on me. And Teresa’s in on this somehow. Have you talked to the gophers yet?”

“The gophers? What? How is Teresa in on this?”

“I woke up in a car trunk, and she was driving the car,” she said hurriedly. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk. I’m headed back to your property and I’ll explain everything when I get there.” She hung up before he could say anything else, dropped the phone, and shifted. Then she ran.

Would he even want her back? He’d sounded enraged when he’d answered the phone. Was he angry at her because he believed Lula, or angry because of what had happened?

Michael was dead, Michael was dead…she wished she could shift to human form and cry. She wished she could howl, but she didn’t dare make any noise. She just kept running.

A few minutes later, the wind shifted, and she realized that she smelled several of her packmates nearby – and getting closer.

Her mother had sold her out.

She picked up speed, frantic, but within minutes they were on her and she was surrounded.

She stopped, panting for breath, and shifted. Her stepfather’s nephews Daxon and Tor were there, and a couple of other pack mates who’d come over with her stepfather. No-one from the Mordhaus’ original pack.