Van, Becca - Alpha Panthers [Terra-form 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

April walked out of the large bathroom, hoping the three men claiming to be her mates had left the room. She was out of luck. They were still there. She walked over to the small table in front of the window, sat down, and stared outside, taking in the beautifully landscaped gardens stretched out before her as far as she could see. She couldn’t wait to get away from her so-called mates. She wanted nothing more to do with them. They didn’t even trust her. How the hell could anyone build a relationship when there was no trust? As far as she was concerned, love and trust were the basis to every solid relationship.

April couldn’t believe what she was thinking. Why was she worried about whether her mates trusted her not? She didn’t even like them, for goodness’ sake. And she wasn’t going to be here long enough to be worried about needing their trust or love. She was going to find a way home if it was the last thing she did.

“April, look at me,” Gage demanded.

April was still feeling too hurt to be bothered with her mates, so she just continued to stare out the window ignoring them.

A firm hand grabbed hold of her chin, pulling her to face Gage. April made sure to keep her face totally blank of any feelings and expressions. She just stared up at him passively, not showing any concern at all.

“What the hell did you think you were doing to Vanessa? Do you think you are going to make any friends by treating people that way? What is wrong with you, woman? I should put you over my knee and tan your ass until it’s red and raw. If I ever catch you treating another person that way again, that’s just where you’re going to find yourself. Just because you’re my mate doesn’t mean you can be disrespectful to my people. I want you to think about what you have done. When you can find a bit of remorse for your actions, you will go and apologize to Vanessa. Is that understood?” Gage asked.

April didn’t respond to him at all. She didn’t even blink. She just stared through him. She ignored him totally. She was so hurt inside she didn’t think she could ever forgive him. How could he believe she would do something like that without provocation? He let her chin go when she continued to ignore him. She saw Gage turn on his heel and storm out of the room. Saxon was frowning down at her, too. No doubt he was just as angry with her, as well. He didn’t bother to ask her what had been going on with her and Vanessa. He spun on his heel and walked toward the door. He paused for a moment, turned back, and called for Ben to follow him.

Ben surprised her as he gave her a kiss on the cheek then went hurrying after Saxon. The sound of the large timber doors closing behind him was what she needed to hear. She had been on the point of breaking down in front of her mates, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. It seemed the only thing she had left was her pride, and she would damn well hold on to that. They weren’t going to take that away from her, as well.

April sighed as the tension she had held on to slowly left her body. She wanted nothing more than to break down and have a good cry, but she was determined not to give in. She wanted to get outside. Maybe the tranquility of the gardens would help soothe her ragged nerves. She only hoped she could find her way out.

April was surprised to see two tall, muscular men standing guard at her door. She didn’t bother to acknowledge them. She knew they were there to watch over her. She didn’t really care at the moment. In fact, her anger was finally receding, and she was beginning to feel totally numb inside. She meandered down the long hallway, and when she once again came to the
T
intersection, she turned left, trying to find her way outside. She found the glass doors midway down the long corridor, opened them, and stepped out into the warm, humid air.

April breathed in the scents of blooming flowers as she wandered up and down gravel footpaths. The gardens were gorgeous, hedges surrounding the perimeters to separate the beds from the pathways. She wandered for hours, breathing in the scents, listening to the cheerful chirping of birds and the peaceful, soothing sound of water trickling somewhere nearby. April had always loved water in gardens. It seemed to have such a soothing effect on her nerves. She followed the sound until she found herself in the center of the landscaped gardens and sat down on a bench, which was shaded by the branches and leaves of a large tree. She watched what looked to be goldfish swimming lazily in the deep, wide pond as they foraged for food. She had no idea how long she sat there staring at the fish as she tried to work out a way to escape from this luxurious palace.

April looked around her, trying to see where her guards were hiding. She couldn’t see them anymore and wondered if she had lost them as she meandered around the gardens or whether they had been called away for some other duty. She rose from the bench and began to move toward the far side of the gardens, away from the palace. She was hopeful she would be able to escape since she wasn’t being closely watched at the moment.

April realized the gardens and palace grounds weren’t even fenced in and felt excitement permeate her body. She cautiously looked around her, trying to spot her guards. She didn’t hesitate to keep walking when they were nowhere in sight. She had no idea where she was going, or even if she was heading in the right direction. She just knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. She knew she was going to have to move quickly. She didn’t want it to be discovered she was missing too soon. She was going to need a large head start, because she knew her mates would have no trouble tracking her, whatever time of day or night it was. They could easily shift into their beast forms and be on her before she knew it.

April ran through the forest, not stopping when her legs began to burn or a stitch formed in her side. She was panting heavily, but knew she had to keep going. She didn’t want to be where she wasn’t wanted or trusted. Pain sliced through her chest again at Gage’s lack of trust, and her heart felt wounded with betrayal. She bit her lip as tears coursed down her cheeks. She knew there could only be one reason for her to feel such pain. She was beginning to have feelings for him, for all of them. She loved the fact that Gage was so arrogant and dominant. He knew what he wanted and went after it. She loved that he wanted her, needed her so much. He drew her to him with his displays of masculinity. Saxon was just a dominant as Gage, but he was a lot gentler than his brother and went about getting what he wanted differently. And Ben, her gentle giant, was already embedded in her heart. She knew deep down she wanted to let go and be the submissive to their dominance, but she didn’t know if she could trust them enough.

She hadn’t felt pain like this when she had found out her previous lover had only wanted to fuck her, not really have a relationship with her. She had dated that bastard for six months before she had given her body to him. Yet, she knew it had been her pride that had been wounded, not her heart. She had to get out of here, and the faster, the better. There was no way she would be able to hide her feelings from her mates forever, and the last thing she wanted was to see the satisfaction in their eyes at knowing they had a hold of her, without returning her feelings. She’d been there once before, or thought she had, but she knew now the pain she had felt at having her pride wounded was nothing compared to having her heart broken by her mates.

April didn’t see the trap covered by leaves on the ground. One moment she was jogging along, tears blurring her vision, and the next her feet were being pulled from beneath her body. She found herself hanging upside down about ten feet from the ground. Her body was still swaying and spinning back and forth, and she had to close her eyes so she could try and keep the nausea she was feeling at bay. When the ropes holding her captive around the ankles finally stopped spinning, April was able to open her eyes. She slammed them shut again as vertigo set in, making her feel dizzy because of the height she was from the ground.

April knew she was going to have to try and free herself once she had her vertigo under control, and if she couldn’t manage it, then she was going to have to start yelling for help. The last thing she needed was to feel humiliation when her mates found her hanging upside down in a trap. April didn’t know it would be so difficult to use her stomach muscles to pull herself up until she could reach her ankles from her upside-down position. She was quite a fit person and had always done stomach crunches in her normal exercise routine. It took more out of her than she expected, leaving her panting for breath as she gripped the rope in one of her hands as she caught her breath again.

April knew if she was able to loosen the ropes around her ankles, she would then end up having to contend with a drop of at least ten feet to the ground below. She didn’t really know if she was capable of such a feat, but knew she didn’t have much of a choice. If she wanted to escape before her mates found her, she needed to get out of this trap, now. April studied the knots and loops binding her in midair but couldn’t see a way to remove them from her ankles. She was going to need two hands to pry her feet out of the ropes, which meant she was going to need all the strength of her stomach muscles to hold herself in her current position. If she could manage to get one of her feet out of the trapping rope, the second one would follow easily.

April tugged and pulled at the loop binding her ankles until the palms of her hands were feeling raw and burnt from the abrasive rope. She knew she was defeated, as the weight of her body was keeping the rope taut. They wouldn’t move an inch, no matter how hard she tugged and pulled. April was panting with exertion, and her stomach muscles were screaming at her to be released from their strenuous exercise. She gripped the rope with her grazed, burning palms, letting her stomach muscles relax with a groan. She carefully followed the rope up to the tree branch until she could see where the rope was wrapped around the large limb several times, then around the large tree trunk. She was fucked. There was no way she would be able to get down by herself.

Chapter Six

“What do you mean you lost her?” Gage roared at the two guards he had ordered to follow his mate around.

“She was in the gardens sitting at the pond, Sire. She didn’t even seem to be aware of us. She just sat on the bench staring at the pond. I only left her for a brief moment to relieve myself, and by the time I got back, she was gone,” one of the guards explained.

Gage studied the two guards who had been appointed to protect their mate. They were still quite young and not yet fully trained warriors. He wondered why he had not thought of this before and had more seasoned warriors protect his mate.

“Where were you while this knucklehead was relieving himself?” Saxon asked.

Gage took another step forward and stopped in front of the young warriors.

“Um, I…I was just…I was with my girlfriend, Sire,” the man answered, his face a bright crimson.

“Let me get this straight,” Ben stated quietly. “While you were fucking your girlfriend and you were taking a piss, our mate was either kidnapped or escaped from the palace grounds. Is that about right?”

“Yes, sir.” The young men mumbled their timid replies.

“You will address Ben as Sire, too. He is your elder, and he is also Alpha of the bear clan. Is that understood?” Gage snapped out.

“Yes, Sire,” they answered Gage. “Sorry, Sire,” they apologized as they turned to Ben.

“I want you two bumbling idiots to report to Jasper first thing in the morning. You are to train with our warrior trainer until you have learned what a good warrior should know. Now get out of my sight before I kill you both,” Gage roared.

Gage watched the two young warriors bow to the three of them then rush out of the room. They nearly crashed into the doorway in their eagerness to escape the displeasure of their Alphas.

“Saxon, go and round up ten of our best warriors. I want their help in tracking our mate. We may need to fight to get our mate back, if she has been taken by another kind. We’ll meet at the pond in the gardens. The warriors should be able to catch our mate’s scent from there,” Gage stated.

Saxon turned to do his brother’s bidding as Gage led Ben out into the yard. Gage followed the meandering path their mate had made through the gardens until they came to the pond in the center. April’s scent was still quite prevalent, for which Gage was thankful. The older warriors would definitely be able to help them with the search for their mate. Gage and Ben paced restlessly until they heard the warriors coming toward them.

“Thank you for coming so quickly. I know you have other chores you have had to neglect at my request,” Gage began. “Our mate has gone missing, and I’m not sure if she was kidnapped or has tried to escape, yet again. I am fearful she may have stumbled on other were kinds and want you to back us up if we have to fight to get our mate back. I cannot scent any other odor here besides our mates, so I am sure she has just tried to escape again. I want you all to get her scent into your lungs and noses from near the bench, so you will be able to help us track her. If we find her and she is alone, I do not want any of you to intervene as I punish our mate. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sire,” the ten warriors replied without hesitation.

“All right, let’s head out,” Saxon stated and took the lead in tracking their mate’s scent, Gage and Ben close behind with the ten large warriors following.

Gage followed the scent of his mate. Even if he hadn’t been able to scent her, it wouldn’t have been hard to track her, because she had left an easy trail to follow. She obviously had no skills on how to hide her presence from others. Sometimes her footsteps were clearly visible in the damp earth on the ground. Other signs were broken twigs and scattered leaves she had disturbed, which showed bugs scurrying to bury themselves to hide beneath the fallen foliage once more. Gage knew from the length between her footsteps and the heavier impressions that their mate had literally been running away. He was quite surprised that such a small woman could have traveled so far in so little time. She had only been missing for the better part of an hour, and they had traveled quite a few miles and still had not caught up with her.