“Oh Christ.” Jude groaned. “The babies.”
No one bothered to answer. What was there to say? Janis looked at her brothers and started crying. Their tanned faces appeared ashen. They looked like they wanted to cry too.
“You didn’t see anyone at all when you came back from the stable?” Jude’s hands were shaking.
Janis shook her head. “I was about to go upstairs for a shower when I smelled something weird. That’s when I looked around and found where the window had been cut. Did you see anything outside?”
“I took a quick look coming back from the stable,” Jude said. “The back gate was open, the padlock cut. I think we should take Sherlock and see if we can pick up a trail.”
“Oh God,” Janis moaned. Kidnapped. Right under their noses. “I’ll wait here for the sheriff.”
The two men looked at each other but didn’t answer.
Janis wiped her eyes with her arm. “You did call him, didn’t you?”
Jude looked at Jonas. “We’re not calling the sheriff. We’re not calling anybody.”
Janis narrowed her eyes at Jude. “We need to organize a search party.”
“Sit down, Janis.” Jude sat and patted the couch next to him.
Janis felt dread in every part of her body. What the hell was going on?
“Sable is very special.” Jude took her hand. “The boys too. Nobody can find out how special.”
“Sable is a Lycan,” Jonas broke in. “She can shift into a wolf. Nobody—”
Janis started laughing hysterically. More from fear and disbelief than amusement. “A wolf? Like the ones who killed our parents?”
“No. Not a feral beast. A person who can turn into a wolf. A Lycan,” Jude said. “I saw her change in the woods, and we trapped her.” He winced and looked down shamefaced. “We wanted to breed her and—”
“Are you saying my nephews are the result of some kind of crazy experiment?”
“God no! It’s not like that, Janis. We fell in love with her.” Jonas sat on her other side. “And she fell in love with us. This three-way marriage. It wasn’t unusual for her people.” Jonas reached out for her.
Janis raised a hand to ward him off. “Supposing I did believe all this, and I don’t, why can’t we call for help?”
“If anyone finds out what she is, they’ll want to study her and the boys, or worse. I’m afraid that’s why they were taken.” Jude explained all this as if he really believed it. She’d have to humor her brothers, but they still needed help.
“Surely there’s someone we can go to for help,” Janis cried.
“There might be one person.” Jonas looked over at Jude. “Malcolm Connor.”
“Why him?” Janis asked. There’d always been bad blood between Malcolm and Jude. It was only since her brothers married Sable that the two families became closer. And that was only because Sable was friends with Malcolm and his wife Karin. They had a son just a few months older than her nephews.
“Tell her,” Jude urged. “We have no choice now.”
“Janis, swear you won’t breathe a word of any of this.”
“Of course.”
“Malcolm is like Sable.”
“A Lycan,” she said indulgently.
“Yes. One of the few survivors of his people. Like Sable. If anyone can help us, it’s him.”
* * * *
Janis didn’t know the Connors well. She actually knew Karin’s mother better than Karin. Grace lived in
Philadelphia
, and she’d taken in Sable as a houseguest for a time. Janis and Grace had planned the wedding for Sable and Jude.
Of course, at the time, Janis hadn’t known that Sable was actually hiding from her brothers. Evidently Jude tracked her down, and when he found out she was pregnant, he asked her to marry him. Then Jonas had to be convinced that they were meant to be a triad. No wonder he’d been drinking. These three had already been through hell and now this. It wasn’t fair.
They all sat around Karin’s kitchen table, a bottle of whiskey and glasses in front of them. Malcolm paced back and forth like a six foot four bear. His face was truly scary to look at. Janis could almost believe he really was a Lycan.
“We’re wasting time sitting here,” Jude complained. “We need to start tracking them.”
“Let me think for a minute,” Malcolm snarled.
“Okay. While you think, I’ll go back and get Sherlock.”
“You don’t need the bloodhound.” Malcolm stopped short. “They’re probably already out of town, out of the state even.” Four stricken faces looked back at him. “They’re okay. I’m sure of it. Someone found out who they were and took them, but they’re worth more alive than dead.”
Janis moaned, and Karin came over to hug her. “Don’t worry. Malcolm will find them.”
“I sure as hell will,” Malcolm growled. “I’m going out to track them as far as I can. I can learn a lot just from their trail.”
“We’re going with you.” Jonas was already rising out of his seat.
“Oh, no you’re not. I can make better time myself.”
Jude got up angrily. “I’m the best damn tracker in the county.”
Malcolm laughed at him. “Oh, you think so.” He started to unbutton his shirt. “Listen to me. I want them back as much as you do, and I will get them back. Make no mistake about it. But right now I want you here protecting my wife and son, who might be next on the list. As soon as I have something to go on, I’ll be back.”
Janis watched fascinated as Malcolm pulled down his jeans. He went commando, and his cock was impressive even in its flaccid state. Tall, dark, chiseled face. Why did everyone remind her of Wade and Noah?
Malcolm’s face contorted, and all thoughts of her tenants fled. Gray hair spread from his shortened feet up his legs. His spine bent, and he went to all fours. Popping, like the amplified cracking of hundreds of knuckles, made her cover her ears with her hands. A massive gray wolf crouched where Malcolm had once stood. Janis got up and backed away in fear. “Oh my God.” Was this one of the animals she’d seen outside the kitchen window?
“It’s okay.” Karin came to her. “Don’t be afraid.”
Malcolm approached and sat a foot away. Karin got to her knees and put her arms around him. She looked up at Janis. “He’s still Malcolm.”
Janis crouched down beside her. If this animal could find Sable and her nephews, she would embrace it.
The wolf turned its yellow eyes on her, and for a second, she froze. “You were outside the house a few nights ago. With another wolf.”
The wolf shook its massive head back and forth.
“It wasn’t Malcolm,” Karin said. “Maybe some of the pack survived. Or…” She looked in Malcolm’s eyes. “Could there be others out there like you and Sable?”
Malcolm let out a warning growl and went to the window. He leaped over the sill and disappeared.
Chapter Ten
Sable tried to escape the murky depths of the river and rise to the surface. The feeling of being submerged for a long stretch of time frightened her. She’d been trapped underwater without oxygen for too long, and she struggled to suck in air.
Consciousness came with a fit of coughing. Sable sat up and fought for control. She heard her own intake of breath between each scream she let out.
The door of her small adobe prison opened, and a tall, dark man entered. She saw him through a haze of tears, and she wiped her arm across her eyes to get a better look. He smelled nothing like the wolf who’d taken her captive.
“Where are my babies?” Her throat felt raw, and her voice came out a croak.
The
Lycan
approached the bed and stood looking down at her. She pulled the cover up over her naked body.
“All in good time,” the wolf told her. The mattress shifted under his weight.
Sable snarled and bared her teeth at him. She wouldn’t kill him until she knew where he’d hidden her cubs.
He laughed. “I can see it will be fun taming you.”
Sable started to shift. Through the haze of her anger, she heard his warning.
“Shift and you’ll never see them again.”
She stopped immediately and stared at him, body tense, muscles quivering.
He smiled. “I see my man was right to bring the half-breeds. I have no use for them, but if you behave, I’ll let them live.
Sable gasped and clenched her fists. “Who are you?” she growled.
“I’m your Alpha.”
“I don’t have an Alpha.”
“You do now, and you’ll follow the rules of the pack.”
“The pack? Where am I?”
“You’re home.” He reached out and cupped her cheek. “Where you belong.”
Sable slapped his hand away.
The Lycan snarled and twisted his hand in her long hair. He pulled her head close. “Don’t ever do that again.” His eyes glowed with red-hot anger. “Ayala!” he screamed, and a trembling young woman entered with Sam and Max wiggling in her arms. As soon as they saw Sable, they reached their little fists out and started crying.
Sable let out a whimper and made a move toward them, but the wolf had her firmly by the hair. “Let me go,” she cried.
“You’ll have many more. You won’t miss them.”
“No!” she screamed. The other woman cowered and wouldn’t look at her.
“Look at me.” He grabbed Sable’s chin and held her face steady. “I’m going to tell you this one more time. Do as I tell you, and I’ll let them live.”
Sable nodded, and he released her. She looked at her twins then back at him. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
* * * *
For a minute Janis had no idea where she was. The bedroom was smaller than hers at the Outlaw ranch. She sat up, and her head pounded. Then she remembered. She was in the spare bedroom at the Connors’ house.
They’d talked for hours. Her brothers weren’t crazy. She’d seen Malcolm change to a wolf in front of her eyes. Her sister-in-law could do the same thing. Her nephews might be able to as well. They wouldn’t know for sure until puberty.
Jude and Jonas were afraid she would feel differently about Sable and their children. That’s why they hadn’t confided in her before. She tried to convince them that her feelings hadn’t changed, but inside she wasn’t really sure.
Karin had suggested they all try to get some rest until Malcolm returned. Janis didn’t think she’d sleep, but she wanted some time alone to think. She couldn’t process it all. Too much had happened in a short time. Evidently she had fallen asleep.
She turned to check the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was only ten at night. She hadn’t been out long. She got up and went into the adjoining bathroom to pee and wash her face. Then she walked out to find her brothers and see if there was any word from Malcolm.
Karin had provided pillows and blankets, and Jude and Jonas had sacked out on sofas in the great room. They weren’t asleep. As soon as they heard her, they both sat up. She felt so sorry for them. They looked exhausted, haggard—worried.
Just then, Ralf let out a howl and ran to the window. Janis jumped when the gray wolf leaped through it a few seconds later. A light came on, and Karin descended the steps from the loft.
Everyone still had their jeans on, except Malcolm who was now standing naked in front of the stone fireplace. Karin grabbed his jeans from a kitchen chair where he’d left them and handed them to him.
“Did you find anything?” Jude asked anxiously.
“Enough.” He kissed Karin. “Can you make some coffee, honey?”
She nodded and went to the kitchen. Malcolm followed her and sat at the table. So did everyone else.
He looked at Janis. “You say you saw wolves the other night?”
“Yes. Two of them.”
He shook his head. “It was wolves that took them.”
“How can you be sure?” Jonas asked him. Everyone looked at each other stunned.
“I’m sure because I scented them. They’re Lycan.” Malcolm looked around the table. “I want you all to think real hard. Did anything else unusual happen? Anything concerning Sable and the boys?”
Jude had his head in his hands. “Nothing.”
Jonas groaned. “No. I can’t think of a thing.”
Malcolm looked at Janis. “Janis? Anything at all? Here or in
Philadelphia
?”