“He wants me dead, Minnie. I went to the bar looking for him and I heard him telling someone that. I have to run.”
“You come here now.”
“I’m taking the first flight they have open, I don’t care to where, but I’m out of here.” The guy in front of her moved, the line going fast. “It’s my turn to buy a ticket. I left Grady’s Jeep in the parking lot and the keys are under the seat. Let him know where it is tomorrow. I love you and I’ll call you soon. I’m turning my phone off now.” She hung it up and turned it off, returning it to her purse.
* * * * *
Mika glanced at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes. The first flight out was to New York and she couldn’t board for another twenty minutes. She glanced around the nearly empty terminal, relaxing when she didn’t see Grady. She really didn’t expect him to come after her now that she was leaving. He had no reason to kill her if she was no longer a part of his life.
Hot tears threatened to spill again but she blinked them back. She hugged herself and winced, forgetting the bite that throbbed as her wrist rubbed across her tender breast.
She glanced at her watch and realized only a minute had passed. Time was crawling by. Movement made her lift her head and she stared at a tall, long-haired man wearing a black leather jacket and jeans walking straight toward her. He looked very similar to Grady but the walk was different. He was staring right at her, moving quickly, and she sat frozen just staring at him until he stopped a few feet away.
“Mika?”
“No,” she lied, staring into eyes that resembled Grady’s enough that she knew this had to be one of his half brothers.
The man’s mouth was similar to Grady’s as well, especially when he frowned at her. He purposely sniffed and shook his head. “You can’t lie to me when you scent of Grady that damn strongly. Get up and come with me now.” Her fingers gripped her purse, nearly clawing the material. “No.” His frown deepened. “I need you to come with me.”
“I need to leave.”
They stared at each other. The man shifted his weight. “Grady needs you.”
“No, he doesn’t.” It hurt to say the words. “He’s got Megan.” He sucked in air. “He’s hurting bad, Mika.”
“I just saw him not forty minutes ago and he was fine.” And able to make death threats about me.
The big man stared at her with a deep frown. “He chased you, trying to catch up with you and ran right into the path of a truck. I didn’t want to tell you that here but he’s in bad damn shape. They don’t think he’s going to make it and he’s asking for you.”
The air left her lungs and shock tore through her. If she hadn’t been sitting she knew she would have hit the floor. “What?”
Grady’s brother looked grim. “He’s asking for you. You need to come with me now, Mika. Get up and let’s go.”
She couldn’t make her legs move as tears blinded her. He’d been hit by a truck?
“He’ll heal,” she said hopefully. “Your kind heals fast.”
“It was a big damn truck, he was hit head-on, and he’s dying,” the man said softly.
“Get up and come with me.”
“Oh God.” Grady’s image flashed in her mind as pain lanced through her.
A hand gripped her arm, gently pulling her up and she found herself being led through the airport blindly, since she couldn’t see through her tears. Grady was dying?
It couldn’t be true. Not Grady. He’d been chasing her but she’d been terrified after hearing him say he was willing to kill her. She didn’t even know why he’d run after her.
He should have just let her go.
She blinked hard, clearing her vision as a car pulled up in front of them, a black four-door sedan, Grady’s brother yanked open the back door and practically shoved her inside. She was forced to make room for him as she wiped at her tears, staring at the man in the front who turned his head, knowing instantly that it was yet another brother of Grady’s because they could have been twins.
“How did you talk her out?” He faced forward and punched the gas, the car pulling away from the front of the drop-off zone at the airport.
The man sitting next to her sighed. “I lied.”
His words sank in and Mika jerked her head in his direction to find him watching her with a grim look.
“I lied,” he repeated softly. “Grady is fine. I figured you’d come with me easily enough if I told you that shit. I couldn’t exactly throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of there. Security would have stopped me.” She stared at him, mute, and then her heart started to pound. “You son of a bitch!
You told me he was dying.”
“Shit,” the man in front hissed. “That was harsh, Von.”
“Shut up, Rave. It worked, didn’t it? She’s in the damn car.” Mika was in shock, trying to calm down now that she knew Grady was fine, and tried to make sense of things while she fought the rage that filled her over being fooled that way. It was mean and cruel.
“Why would you tell me that shit?”
“You were running,” Von sighed. “Grady called us to look for you. There’s only three ways out of town unless you were going to try to drive back to California. Rave and I got the airport. Grady went for the bus station and our other two brothers are at the train station hunting for you while our father was activating the tracker on Grady’s Jeep with teams of our men standing by to hit the road to chase you if you had tried to drive home.” He pulled out a cell phone, hitting a few buttons, and held it to his ear.
“We have her. Call off the search. We’re bringing her in now.” He hung up and stared at Mika. “Did you really think you could just leave and we’d let you go? Do you know what would happen to Grady if you left him high and dry while he’s in heat after marking you?”
“Do you know what is going to happen to me if I don’t leave?” She huddled in her seat.
Chapter Thirteen
Dread was instant as the car pulled up in front of a house that Mika had never seen before. It was a large, ranch-style home surrounded by woods. She turned to stare at one of her captors. Von took a deep breath.
“We’re at our father’s house. He wants to know what the hell is going on and he wants to talk to you. Let’s go, Mika.”
She didn’t budge. “I want to call my uncle.” She really wanted him to come get her.
She was afraid and didn’t know Elroy all that well. She reached for her cell phone but Von was faster, his hand grabbing hers. He shook his head.
“Let’s go,” he repeated. He had an annoying way of doing that. “Don’t make me carry you in there because I will.”
She was scared but nodded. The hold on her wrist eased and he released her. She turned and before she could reach for the handle, the door opened. Rave stood outside the car now, staring down at her, and she thought she saw pity on his face as she stared up at him. He held out his hand to help her but she ignored it, getting out on her own.
Her hands trembled as she clutched her purse and walked for the front door. Rave walked beside her and Von stayed behind them, close, as though they expected her to try to bolt. She knew she couldn’t outrun them but at that moment she really wished she could. The front door opened before they reached it and a black-haired woman who stood about six feet tall frowned at them.
“Hello, Mother,” Rave sighed. “Father is expecting us.” The woman sniffed and her lip curled as she glared at Mika. “That isn’t coming into my house.”
A low growl rumbled from behind Mika, making her jump and twist her head to stare at Von. He glared at his mother. “Move. This is pack business and you have no right to interfere.”
Fury gripped the woman’s features but she spun away and stalked into the house.
Rave jerked his head, glancing down at Mika. “Walk.” She barely glanced at the nice interior of the home. It was lavishly furnished with deep earth tones, the only impression her mind registered before she was led down a dim, long hallway that opened into a large room. There was a pool table in the center of it and Pack Leader Elroy turned as they entered, a pool stick in one hand, a beer in the other. His attention focused intently on Mika.
“You’ve caused a lot of trouble for me tonight.”
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, not sure what to say.
“Grady never asks for a damn thing so imagine my shock when he called here in a panic an hour ago saying you were running and he needed us to move fast to try to find you before you got too far out of our reach.” He laid the pool stick down on top of the table, took a sip of his beer, and then shook his head as he set the bottle down. “If you were going to get involved with one of my pack you should have realized that you need to follow our rules. I understand you’re human but your uncle allowed you to know about us so it was his responsibility to make sure you know our laws. Are you aware that running from a male who marked you during mating season is against pack law?” Oh shit. She shook her head. “No one told me that.” Dark eyes glittered, frightening her more. “They should have. Pack law is harsh.”
“I didn’t know,” she said softly.
“Were you told that Grady would hunt you if you ran and that he could go insane if you did?”
She debated lying but then discarded that idea. “Yes.” Elroy’s eyelids narrowed into slits. “So you were willing to have me put my own damn son down? Is that what you’re telling me? Is this some damn game to you, Mika?
We’re talking about my son’s life and sanity.”
“He doesn’t want me.” She paused. “If he hadn’t had to mark me he never would have touched me. I went looking for him tonight when he didn’t come home and found a na**d woman in his apartment who he’d called to come to his place.” Her chin lifted and some of her fear eased. “Then I heard him threaten my life. It’s not a game to me but I’m not going to stay put and be a sitting damn duck to a man I heard say he’s willing to kill me because he wants someone else.” The enraged look eased on the pack leader’s face. “That doesn’t make sense about the other woman. You’re marked and it’s mating season. No other woman would satisfy the needs he has right now but you.”
“Tell that to the redheaded, na**d woman in his shower who told me he called her.
She said her name was Megan, his girlfriend.” She refused to cry in front of them so she fought the urge. “I told him if he cheated on me while we were together that I was leaving so he knew what would happen.”
Elroy sniffed the air and his face darkened with anger. His gaze slid to one of his sons, standing next to her. “Where is Grady, Rave?”
“I assume he’s on his way here to get her.” The man shrugged his broad shoulders.
“That’s where I’d be if she were mine.”
“Am I the only one scenting her?” Von was staring at Mika. “She’s in a lot of pain.” Elroy nodded. ”I’m aware. My son has some explaining to do.”
“Your son doesn’t want me. I wish he did, but I’m human. He’s got a problem with that. Please just let me go. He wants a werewolf woman and he called her to be with him.”
A door slammed and Von stepped back as Rave also moved away from her, both of them turning to stare down the hallway. Mika looked over her shoulder to see two men walking side by side toward them. Both of them looked similar to Grady and she knew these were his other two brothers. They stopped feet from her, two sets of dark brown eyes locked on her.
“He tried to use another woman to get him through mating heat.” Elroy was pissed.
“You come here now.”
“I’m taking the first flight they have open, I don’t care to where, but I’m out of here.” The guy in front of her moved, the line going fast. “It’s my turn to buy a ticket. I left Grady’s Jeep in the parking lot and the keys are under the seat. Let him know where it is tomorrow. I love you and I’ll call you soon. I’m turning my phone off now.” She hung it up and turned it off, returning it to her purse.
* * * * *
Mika glanced at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes. The first flight out was to New York and she couldn’t board for another twenty minutes. She glanced around the nearly empty terminal, relaxing when she didn’t see Grady. She really didn’t expect him to come after her now that she was leaving. He had no reason to kill her if she was no longer a part of his life.
Hot tears threatened to spill again but she blinked them back. She hugged herself and winced, forgetting the bite that throbbed as her wrist rubbed across her tender breast.
She glanced at her watch and realized only a minute had passed. Time was crawling by. Movement made her lift her head and she stared at a tall, long-haired man wearing a black leather jacket and jeans walking straight toward her. He looked very similar to Grady but the walk was different. He was staring right at her, moving quickly, and she sat frozen just staring at him until he stopped a few feet away.
“Mika?”
“No,” she lied, staring into eyes that resembled Grady’s enough that she knew this had to be one of his half brothers.
The man’s mouth was similar to Grady’s as well, especially when he frowned at her. He purposely sniffed and shook his head. “You can’t lie to me when you scent of Grady that damn strongly. Get up and come with me now.” Her fingers gripped her purse, nearly clawing the material. “No.” His frown deepened. “I need you to come with me.”
“I need to leave.”
They stared at each other. The man shifted his weight. “Grady needs you.”
“No, he doesn’t.” It hurt to say the words. “He’s got Megan.” He sucked in air. “He’s hurting bad, Mika.”
“I just saw him not forty minutes ago and he was fine.” And able to make death threats about me.
The big man stared at her with a deep frown. “He chased you, trying to catch up with you and ran right into the path of a truck. I didn’t want to tell you that here but he’s in bad damn shape. They don’t think he’s going to make it and he’s asking for you.”
The air left her lungs and shock tore through her. If she hadn’t been sitting she knew she would have hit the floor. “What?”
Grady’s brother looked grim. “He’s asking for you. You need to come with me now, Mika. Get up and let’s go.”
She couldn’t make her legs move as tears blinded her. He’d been hit by a truck?
“He’ll heal,” she said hopefully. “Your kind heals fast.”
“It was a big damn truck, he was hit head-on, and he’s dying,” the man said softly.
“Get up and come with me.”
“Oh God.” Grady’s image flashed in her mind as pain lanced through her.
A hand gripped her arm, gently pulling her up and she found herself being led through the airport blindly, since she couldn’t see through her tears. Grady was dying?
It couldn’t be true. Not Grady. He’d been chasing her but she’d been terrified after hearing him say he was willing to kill her. She didn’t even know why he’d run after her.
He should have just let her go.
She blinked hard, clearing her vision as a car pulled up in front of them, a black four-door sedan, Grady’s brother yanked open the back door and practically shoved her inside. She was forced to make room for him as she wiped at her tears, staring at the man in the front who turned his head, knowing instantly that it was yet another brother of Grady’s because they could have been twins.
“How did you talk her out?” He faced forward and punched the gas, the car pulling away from the front of the drop-off zone at the airport.
The man sitting next to her sighed. “I lied.”
His words sank in and Mika jerked her head in his direction to find him watching her with a grim look.
“I lied,” he repeated softly. “Grady is fine. I figured you’d come with me easily enough if I told you that shit. I couldn’t exactly throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of there. Security would have stopped me.” She stared at him, mute, and then her heart started to pound. “You son of a bitch!
You told me he was dying.”
“Shit,” the man in front hissed. “That was harsh, Von.”
“Shut up, Rave. It worked, didn’t it? She’s in the damn car.” Mika was in shock, trying to calm down now that she knew Grady was fine, and tried to make sense of things while she fought the rage that filled her over being fooled that way. It was mean and cruel.
“Why would you tell me that shit?”
“You were running,” Von sighed. “Grady called us to look for you. There’s only three ways out of town unless you were going to try to drive back to California. Rave and I got the airport. Grady went for the bus station and our other two brothers are at the train station hunting for you while our father was activating the tracker on Grady’s Jeep with teams of our men standing by to hit the road to chase you if you had tried to drive home.” He pulled out a cell phone, hitting a few buttons, and held it to his ear.
“We have her. Call off the search. We’re bringing her in now.” He hung up and stared at Mika. “Did you really think you could just leave and we’d let you go? Do you know what would happen to Grady if you left him high and dry while he’s in heat after marking you?”
“Do you know what is going to happen to me if I don’t leave?” She huddled in her seat.
Chapter Thirteen
Dread was instant as the car pulled up in front of a house that Mika had never seen before. It was a large, ranch-style home surrounded by woods. She turned to stare at one of her captors. Von took a deep breath.
“We’re at our father’s house. He wants to know what the hell is going on and he wants to talk to you. Let’s go, Mika.”
She didn’t budge. “I want to call my uncle.” She really wanted him to come get her.
She was afraid and didn’t know Elroy all that well. She reached for her cell phone but Von was faster, his hand grabbing hers. He shook his head.
“Let’s go,” he repeated. He had an annoying way of doing that. “Don’t make me carry you in there because I will.”
She was scared but nodded. The hold on her wrist eased and he released her. She turned and before she could reach for the handle, the door opened. Rave stood outside the car now, staring down at her, and she thought she saw pity on his face as she stared up at him. He held out his hand to help her but she ignored it, getting out on her own.
Her hands trembled as she clutched her purse and walked for the front door. Rave walked beside her and Von stayed behind them, close, as though they expected her to try to bolt. She knew she couldn’t outrun them but at that moment she really wished she could. The front door opened before they reached it and a black-haired woman who stood about six feet tall frowned at them.
“Hello, Mother,” Rave sighed. “Father is expecting us.” The woman sniffed and her lip curled as she glared at Mika. “That isn’t coming into my house.”
A low growl rumbled from behind Mika, making her jump and twist her head to stare at Von. He glared at his mother. “Move. This is pack business and you have no right to interfere.”
Fury gripped the woman’s features but she spun away and stalked into the house.
Rave jerked his head, glancing down at Mika. “Walk.” She barely glanced at the nice interior of the home. It was lavishly furnished with deep earth tones, the only impression her mind registered before she was led down a dim, long hallway that opened into a large room. There was a pool table in the center of it and Pack Leader Elroy turned as they entered, a pool stick in one hand, a beer in the other. His attention focused intently on Mika.
“You’ve caused a lot of trouble for me tonight.”
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, not sure what to say.
“Grady never asks for a damn thing so imagine my shock when he called here in a panic an hour ago saying you were running and he needed us to move fast to try to find you before you got too far out of our reach.” He laid the pool stick down on top of the table, took a sip of his beer, and then shook his head as he set the bottle down. “If you were going to get involved with one of my pack you should have realized that you need to follow our rules. I understand you’re human but your uncle allowed you to know about us so it was his responsibility to make sure you know our laws. Are you aware that running from a male who marked you during mating season is against pack law?” Oh shit. She shook her head. “No one told me that.” Dark eyes glittered, frightening her more. “They should have. Pack law is harsh.”
“I didn’t know,” she said softly.
“Were you told that Grady would hunt you if you ran and that he could go insane if you did?”
She debated lying but then discarded that idea. “Yes.” Elroy’s eyelids narrowed into slits. “So you were willing to have me put my own damn son down? Is that what you’re telling me? Is this some damn game to you, Mika?
We’re talking about my son’s life and sanity.”
“He doesn’t want me.” She paused. “If he hadn’t had to mark me he never would have touched me. I went looking for him tonight when he didn’t come home and found a na**d woman in his apartment who he’d called to come to his place.” Her chin lifted and some of her fear eased. “Then I heard him threaten my life. It’s not a game to me but I’m not going to stay put and be a sitting damn duck to a man I heard say he’s willing to kill me because he wants someone else.” The enraged look eased on the pack leader’s face. “That doesn’t make sense about the other woman. You’re marked and it’s mating season. No other woman would satisfy the needs he has right now but you.”
“Tell that to the redheaded, na**d woman in his shower who told me he called her.
She said her name was Megan, his girlfriend.” She refused to cry in front of them so she fought the urge. “I told him if he cheated on me while we were together that I was leaving so he knew what would happen.”
Elroy sniffed the air and his face darkened with anger. His gaze slid to one of his sons, standing next to her. “Where is Grady, Rave?”
“I assume he’s on his way here to get her.” The man shrugged his broad shoulders.
“That’s where I’d be if she were mine.”
“Am I the only one scenting her?” Von was staring at Mika. “She’s in a lot of pain.” Elroy nodded. ”I’m aware. My son has some explaining to do.”
“Your son doesn’t want me. I wish he did, but I’m human. He’s got a problem with that. Please just let me go. He wants a werewolf woman and he called her to be with him.”
A door slammed and Von stepped back as Rave also moved away from her, both of them turning to stare down the hallway. Mika looked over her shoulder to see two men walking side by side toward them. Both of them looked similar to Grady and she knew these were his other two brothers. They stopped feet from her, two sets of dark brown eyes locked on her.
“He tried to use another woman to get him through mating heat.” Elroy was pissed.
