“Hello, Sterling.” He grimaced. “You stink of cat.”
Another Dire had freed Laura from the driver’s side. She approached Braden, her gaze flitting from Jessie to him.
“A present for you.” She smiled up at Braden.
“Clever girl,” he said. Still holding Jessie with one arm, he grabbed Laura and pulled her close, before bending to kiss her.
No way Laura had planned for Jessie to come along, but she wasn’t against taking advantage of the fact she had. Desperate to get away, Jessie yanked hard on his hold. His fingers slipped on her skin, and she almost managed to break free.
Huge, hairy arms wrapped around her from behind—another Dire, with fur the color of chocolate. Braden’s pale gaze snapped to her and his lips peeled back in a sneer. One echoed by Laura who clung to him.
“Nice try, my pretty. But I have plans for you.”
“You going to give her to the pack?” Laura’s eyes possessed an unhealthy glow.
Jessie glared at her. How could she, for even one minute, have had any sympathy for this woman? She’d been Braden’s all along.
“You’ll see,” he replied. Laura’s expression slipped at the noncommittal comment. Braden released her and bent to pick up something on the ground—binder twine from baled hay. It must have fallen off the back of Zach’s truck.
Braden gestured to a big Dire standing in the ditch. And as the hulking beast approached, he grinned his twisted smirk down at Jessie.
“We have places to go. Ready for the ride of your life?”
Jessie cut through the crap. “No matter what you do, I will never be yours.”
Laura’s gaze hardened. “No,” she said. “You won’t.”
The brown Dire held her as Braden tied the twine to her wrists.
“Like it or not, my pretty,” he growled. “You belong to us.” He yanked hard on the knots, making them bite deep.
Jessie refused to show her pain. She glared at him as the bastard leaned close.
His breath was hot against her skin as he whispered, “And I’m going to enjoy proving it to you.”
33
Something was wrong.
Zach sat up on the cot. The world spun, but he braced himself with arms that shook. His mental walls were in fragments, and he struggled to see past the emotions pummeling him.
Kitani, Cody, and Ryan stood close. The group of Weres in the kitchen. And then Kade’s spike ofworry,followed by a sense ofdread.Around a central focus—Jessie. Zach searched for her distinctive beacon of light. Not in the house. Not in the yard...
“Zach, what’s wrong?” Cara sensed it too.
“She’s gone,” Zach whispered, as he grabbed on to something that felt like Kade. It chased the tiniest of pulses, a multitude of millisecond glimpses into Jessie’s mind. The Were was connected to her. But how?
He soared beyond it, casting his awareness out past his driveway, and along the access road leading to the highway. And found her. But Jessie’s distinctive presence wasn’t alone. Laura was with her. He sensed Jessie’sdesperation. And then their combinedterroryanked him in, just as the truck began to roll. It merged with the images of his own accident, flashing light and crunching metal.
He was dimly aware of Cara grabbing him, locking him down with a flood of calm.
“Zach! Focus! Where is Jessie?”
He gasped and floundered but fastened on to her energy like an anchor. Scanned for others. Kade was out in the yard, with the Weres, now pouring from the house.
Zach was through the empty kitchen before he was even conscious of rising. He staggered, lost his balance and rebounded off the counter. Cara ran after him and slipped beneath his arm as they pushed through the door and onto the porch.
The rain had stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The storm was moving out. Zach’s eyes scanned for what his brain already understood. His old pickup was gone.
