Claiming Their Mate (9 page)

His second nodded and rushed into the building.

Jared turned to the other alpha. “Simon will be allowed sanctuary within my pack. You will be placed before the ruling council to answer for your crimes.”

Hate filled the other man’s eyes as he glared at Jared, refusing to break eye contact. “I am alpha of my pack!”

“Your position of alpha is suspended pending the council’s decision,” Jared informed him succinctly.

“You can’t do such a thing! I don’t answer to you!” Gage snarled at Jared.

“I am the ruling alpha of this region and I will be obeyed,” Jared told him in no uncertain terms.

Gage growled threateningly deep in his throat.

“You want to react as an animal rather than face your punishment as a man? Fine.” Jared focused on Gage and waved his hand at him before growling low in his throat. “Change.”

Gage’s back immediately bowed as Jared pulled his wolf from him, Jared’s power washing over the other man as smoothly as water pouring from a spout. Gage tried to fight the change, causing his body to contort violently before he finally stood before Jared as a large silver wolf.

Jared leaned down and snarled in the wolf’s face, never breaking eye contact until the large silver wolf whined and lowered his head submissively.

“Leif!” Jared barked, calling one of his guards.

Leif sprang forward immediately. “Yes, Alpha?”

“Collar and leash this mongrel,” Jared instructed, watching dispassionately as Leif brought forward a silver collar, buckled it around the throat of the large wolf, and attached a silver chain, effectively binding Gage in wolf form until it was removed. “The council will decide what’s to be done with him, but he will be delivered in a cage.”

“Yes, Alpha, it will be done.” Leif bowed slightly before leading the leashed wolf away.

Jared left the alley to find his second and hopefully some idea of where Selena had taken their mate.

* * *

Madison awoke with a pounding headache to find herself dangling over a thin shoulder. It took a minute to remember everything, and then she realized she was slung over Selena’s shoulder.

Madison shuddered as she thought of poor Winter, so very unhappy and now left dead in an alley like so much trash.

Why hadn’t Selena killed her?

“I know you’re awake,” Selena said conversationally. “Your heart rate sped up when you came to.”

“Where are you taking me?” Madison asked, trying hard to keep her tone even and ignore the threatening slide of claws up and down the backs of her legs.

She swallowed against the bile coming up in her throat. Selena would kill her; it was only a matter of when and where. The deranged woman just wanted to play with her first, to torture her.

“Don’t you worry, you’ll get yours. I have a very full evening planned, you’ll be begging for death by the time we’re through.”

“Why? What did I do to you?” Madison wanted to understand.

Selena suddenly threw Madison off her shoulder so she bounced hard on the unforgiving ground at her feet with a snarl. “You took everything from me! Even my pack!”

Madison struggled to sit up painfully; between her head and the jarring impact of the ground when Selena threw her down, she was not in great shape. Her tender bottom didn’t care for the rough ground either. She tried to scoot the short skirt of her dress underneath her to cover her bottom; this was not the ideal situation in which to be sans panties.

“Selena, I’m sure if we go to Jared together…”

“Don’t even try to negotiate with me; you have nothing I want except your suffering.”

Madison felt the blood drain from her face at Selena’s bald statement. Unable to even respond, she listened as her captor continued talking.

“It’s too late for me, I know it and you know it. If Jared and Ethan don’t kill me it will be Winter’s mates, but you’ll go first.” Selena’s smile chilled Madison’s blood. “He’ll be left with nothing; I might not be part of the pack anymore but Jared will never forget me. Not after I’m finished with you.”

Selena grinned and reached down to grasp the hem of Madison’s dress, then ripped the entire thing from her body.

Madison gasped and tried to cover herself with her arms from where she crouched on the ground at the base of a large tree. As she cowered she heard the sound of fabric ripping.

“This will work just fine,” Selena said under her breath. Then she lifted Madison to her feet and tied a long strip of fabric that had once been a part of her dress around one wrist.

“No, please, Selena… you don’t have to do this…” Madison cried as she found one hand tied over her head to a branch.

Selena laughed. “I know I don’t have to, silly, I want to. There’s a big difference between the two.”

In very little time Selena had both Madison’s hands secured over her head and her legs attached to the base of the tree in a position that spread her completely open. Her ankles were spread wide and tied with a strip of fabric running around the bottom of the tree.

Madison struggled against her bonds, trying to ignore the rough bark of the tree biting into the tender flesh of her back and buttocks.

She tried to twist her torso away from Selena when the other woman grabbed hold of her bra. Selena ignored her struggles and ripped the flimsy garment from her, leaving her naked against the tree.

Madison watched Selena nervously as she pulled a small package from her pocket. The woman grinned at her once more as she unwrapped the package to show four long silver nail tips.

Madison shuddered in horror as she watched Selena slip them on the end of all the fingers of one hand and realized the silver nails were sharp needle-like knives.

Selena walked toward her and lightly scraped the tips of the deadly nails over her breasts and down the center of her torso. “Better be still, human. You don’t want me to nick you accidently.”

Madison tried to hold very still and bit back a gasp when she felt a very sharp pain in the fleshy part of her upper arm. Looking down, she saw a thin weal of blood spring up in a long line.

“How many little cuts do you think it will take before you start to get weak and bleed out?” Selena asked conversationally.

Madison closed her eyes and braced herself for the next stinging slice. She didn’t have long to wait; this one fell above her left breast.

“We’ll know by the end of the night,” Selena assured her. “Soon you’ll scream for me.”

* * *

Jared and Ethan left Simon in the care of Jordan and her mates; he needed care they could not provide and they had to find their mate. It was obvious Simon was not an alpha and had been chosen as Gage’s second because he would be easily controlled.

Simon’s guilt was understandable but there was no way he could have gone against the power of an alpha. Gage had victimized both Simon and his mate, instead of protecting them and every other member of the pack as an alpha was honor-bound to do. A true second was almost as strong as the pack alpha, to ensure someone could stand up to the ruler if necessary for the good of the pack.

Jared dismissed the other men and their pack from his mind as he and Ethan transformed to better track Selena and Madison.

Hopefully they hadn’t had enough time to get very far. If Selena stayed in her human form she wouldn’t be able to move nearly as fast as a wolf could. There was no way she could have transformed and taken Madison with her. They were betting she wanted to take her time with Madison and hadn’t killed her right away.

So far the scents they tracked proved this theory to be accurate.

They followed the scents into the woods at the edge of town. As they wound their way through the trees, the sharp rich smell of blood filled the air.

Both wolves barely managed to contain their howls of anguish recognizing the blood belonged to Madison.

Jared tore through the trees with Ethan right on his heels rushing toward the smell, toward Madison, their mate, and hoping they weren’t too late.

* * *

Madison hung weakly in her bonds; it was amazing what overwhelming fear and several small shallow cuts could do to your equilibrium.

Selena’s almost constant smile caused nausea to churn in her stomach. As she watched, the woman licked her blood from the tips of the silver knives. “Such spicy blood you have, Madison. I wish I could have felt it on my claws, but I was afraid of turning you. At least I can bathe in your blood and gorge myself on your entrails before they kill me.”

Madison really hoped she lost consciousness before the whole gorging on entrails ensued; she’d really rather give that a miss.

The woman suddenly cocked her head to one side as if listening, then looked back at Madison with a pout. “Our play time is over. They’re coming, so I must hurry to finish our time together.”

Selena stripped naked and walked toward Madison with a gleeful expression. A little blood was smeared across the woman’s right cheek and her specially made silver claws were fully extended.

Madison closed her eyes and tensed against the coming pain, hopefully there would be nothing left of her. Surely no body at all would be better than Jared and Ethan seeing exactly what this demented woman had done to her. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of everything they would miss; everything she would miss.

She now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they loved her and she loved them; Ethan was more of an almost love but the potential for love was there and Madison knew it wouldn’t have been long before she’d happily have given herself to both of them completely. She knew she would have reveled in their mating, even in their discipline.

But now it was too late. She mourned the life they would never share.

She heard Selena gathering herself to charge with a wild cry but the pain never came; instead Madison heard an enraged snarl and was hit with a hot spray of liquid.

Opening her eyes, she saw Jared’s wolf with his teeth sunk deeply into Selena’s throat, savaging her. Selena now stared at Madison with sightless eyes; with another savage snarl Jared shook the woman’s body hard before dropping it at his feet.

Ethan’s large brown wolf dropped to his haunches in front of her and whined once before changing. He quickly untied her bonds and caught her high in his arms before she could collapse at his feet.

“Oh, baby, what has she done to you?” Ethan crooned to her, rocking her in his arms as he sank down next to Jared’s wolf. Jared nuzzled her neck with a whimper.

“Alpha, we must get medical attention for Madison. I don’t think her injuries are serious but there seems to be a lot of blood. Come back to us now. We have her safe,” Ethan said softly.

The big black wolf sighed loudly, then seemed to relax and Jared was before them once again. “Never again, Ethan, nothing can ever be allowed to harm her again.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Ethan agreed fervently as Jared pressed in close, Madison cradled between them.

Madison lifted a hand to each man and gently stroked each jaw. “I’m ok, just a little tired.” Then mercifully she passed out.

Chapter Nine

Madison woke cradled between Jared and Ethan; each man slept wrapped around her as if to protect her even in their sleep.

She smiled then winced at the pain in her head and face; as she shifted in the bed experimentally, Madison became aware of aches and pains spread throughout her body and couldn’t suppress a soft groan as she moved.

Both men were awake instantly.

“Madison? How do you feel?” Jared asked, gently helping her to sit up while Ethan rose from the bed and pulled on a pair of pants.

“I’ll get the doctor,” he said before hurrying from the room.

“I’m a bit sore but I don’t think a doctor is necessary,” Madison said earnestly.

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for three days, Madison. The doctor wanted to be notified the moment you woke,” Jared said firmly.

Madison was stopped from arguing further by the arrival of Ethan and the pack physician. The man was short of stature with thinning gray hair.

“You gave us quite a scare, my lady,” the doctor said as he leaned in to examine her pupils. After he was satisfied with whatever he saw in her eyes, he cupped her face to look more closely at her jaw.

Madison winced when his fingers grazed a particularly tender area. Ethan growled low in his throat at her reaction to the doctor’s examination.

“Ethan,” Jared spoke sharply to his second. “It would be best if you waited outside until Dr. Fredrick is finished.”

Ethan spun to face Jared with another warning growl, his eyes bleeding from their normal soft grey to molten amber. Jared growled back and stared back at Ethan until the other man dropped his eyes.

“I apologize, Alpha,” Ethan said under his breath before leaving the room without a backward glance.

Madison frowned at the exchange. “What’s wrong with Ethan?”

Jared closed his eyes. “The bond between you and Ethan is incomplete and his wolf is very unsettled. His mate is in pain and he feels helpless and the need to claim you is strong. It is leaving his temper very volatile. It would be too dangerous for him to remain in the room while the doctor finishes his exam. Ethan is only holding on to his control and that of his wolf by a very thin tether.”

“Ouch!” Madison yelped when the doctor pressed on some very tender ribs along her side. “I don’t really understand. You seem to be handling it all right.”

“Our bonding is complete, though it will grow stronger when Ethan joins with us as our third. A wolf with an unbonded mate can be very unstable. Add the kidnapping and your injuries into the mix and it’s even worse. Every instinct in Ethan is demanding he mate with you immediately and allow no other males anywhere near,” Jared explained. “Ethan’s human side knows he must wait to finish claiming you until your body has healed; his two sides are battling.”

“It will be at least two weeks before she is ready to mate,” Dr. Fredrick announced, finally finished with his examination. “Your mate has a concussion and several bruised ribs. The other injuries including the one to her jaw are just superficial but I want her on bed rest at least until Thursday. I’ll come and examine her again then and determine if she can start getting up for a few hours each day after that.”