Elemental (15 page)

Nicolas
paced away. It was either that or he’d punch a hole in the wall, neither of
which would help. “We need to come up with a plan. Mandy is out there with an
obviously unstable werewolf and we need to get her back before he hurts her.”
God help the bastard if he hurt her, because Nicolas would fry his ass on the
spot.

“Let’s
get moving then. We’ll need to split up to cover more ground,” Jonathan put in.
“Anna, I’ll need you to come too, just in case she is hurt when we find her.”
He turned back to address Nicolas, obviously sensing his distress. “We will
find her, Nic.”

“I
know. I just hope that it’s not too late.” Please, please don’t let it be too
late. Nicolas couldn’t bear it if she was hurt. Mandy was so fragile, so easily
hurt as a human, that the werewolf could seriously injure her without even
trying. No, he couldn’t think about that, it would surely drive him crazy, and
he needed his wits about him if he was going to be of any use at all.

“It
won’t be,” Garrett vowed. “I’ll head out to his markings and see if any of them
have been refreshed. With any luck I may be able to track him, or at least get
a general idea of which direction he came in from.”

“Good.
We’ll get the satellite phones from the study. I want us all to be in touch. If
you find anything at all you report in.” Nicolas’ order was met with three nods
of agreement before they all headed out for the garage out back.

They
all needed to head out as soon as possible if they had any hope of finding her
safe. Garrett headed out for the markings, and Jonathan and Anna went in the
opposite direction, and Nicolas took the middle path.

He
could not believe that the wolf had the balls to snatch her in broad daylight!
Unfortunately, Nicolas took this as a bad sign. Either the werewolf was sure
Mandy was his mate, or he was completely insane now. He could only hope that
the former was the case. At least then, the werewolf wouldn’t intentionally
harm her. He might even treat her well as a way to woo her, but Nicolas wasn’t
counting on that to be the case. He was determined to find her as quickly as
possible and when he did, he would never leave her side again.

Mandy
might end up feeling smothered, but until his sanity returned, he was going to
be stuck to her like glue. Unfortunately, his sanity was so far out of his
reach at the moment that Mandy may very well be stuck with him as her shadow
for a very long time to come.

“Hang
on Mandy, I’m coming for you.” God, how he wished he could offer her some form
of comfort, could reassure her that help was on the way. Instead, he was forced
to search blindly through the mountains and hope against hope that he found her
in time.

Regardless
of the outcome, the werewolf would die. The only question remaining was whether
or not his death would be swift, or a prolonged and agonizing as he could
manage to make it.

Yes,
as soon as the mangy bastard laid his hands on Mandy, he’d signed his own death
warrant, and now Nicolas was determined to see it carried through.

*
* * *

Mandy
awoke to the soft mumblings of a strange man next to her. At first her head was
so fuzzy that she couldn’t make out the rambling, but when her hearing finally
cleared, she was surprised.

“Please
be okay. I’m so sorry that he got to you first, but I’m here now and I’ll keep
you safe, I promise. Please wake up…” Whoever he was, his voice was a nice deep
rumble that sounded vaguely familiar.

Deciding
that she’d better open her eyes and see what exactly was going on, Mandy cautiously
cracked her lids and found
herself
looking into the
concerned silver gaze of the hunter from the tavern.

“Easy
now, you’re going to be alright. I got you away from him, but we need to lay
low for a bit before we make our move,” he explained. “How’s your head? Would
you like some water, something to eat maybe?”

He’d
saved her? Mandy remained silent as she replayed what she could remember of her
day. She had been at the shop, looking at a halo for the wedding, when someone
grabbed her and apparently drugged her.

Judging
from the way this hunter guy was going on, he’d obviously saved her from her
would-be kidnapper, but where were they now?

“Where
am I?” she croaked, her throat as dry as the Sahara.

“We’re
in my cabin, about three miles from the village. We’ll be safe here for a few
days, and then we’ll head out and get you to safety. Don’t worry, I’ll protect
you.” What was this guy’s deal? Offering protection to a woman that you don’t
even know? Who did that?

“Who’s
after me?” she asked, because obviously that was the main issue.

“
There’s
two of them, they’re local, but one travels a lot.
I’m not sure what they have planned for you, but it can’t be good.” He fluffed
a pillow behind her head and offered her a sip of water.
“How’s
that?”

“Better,
thank you.”

“There’s
no need to thank me. I’ll always take care of you.
Your needs
will forever come before my own.”

Wow!
Someone had bought a ticket for the crazy train. What was this guy talking
about?

Suddenly,
all of the discussions about a werewolf losing his sanity in the absence of its
mate came rushing back into her head, and Mandy had the sinking feeling that
this was their wolf. And wasn’t she the lucky gal? He obviously thought she was
his destined mate.

Right,
so what was the first thing the cops always did with the crazy hostage people
on the shows? Oh, yeah, they always kept them talking, basically leading them
to believe that they were friends.

“So,
what’s your name? I’m Mandy.”

“My
name is Liam.” He moved over and added another log to the fire, affording Mandy
her first look past him to the room beyond.

They
appeared to be in a very small cabin. She was on a couch directly in front of a
crackling fireplace, with a wooden chair sitting next to her. The walls looked
like real logs, so she guessed they were in a log cabin. There were two doors
off to the side, one a bathroom from what she could see through the doorway and
the other was probably a bedroom.

Mandy
shivered as a feeling of dread washed over her, and immediately, Liam was at
her side. “Are you cold? Let me get you some coffee. It will warm you up and
help to clear your head at the same time.” Without waiting for a response, he
was up and heading to the small kitchen located on the other side of the main
room.

Mandy
sat up slowly and took inventory of
herself
. Aside
from feeling a little fuzzy still, she was none the worse for wear. She still
had on all of her clothes right down to her snow boots, so they hadn’t been
here long. Now she only needed to figure out a way to escape without getting herself
killed.

She
had no doubt that Nicolas and Jonathan were looking for her, but they had no
way of knowing where the werewolf had taken her. Hell, if they’d known where he
lived then she wouldn’t be in this mess right now. They would have taken care of
the problem days ago.

So,
she concluded that she was alone with an insane werewolf, she had no clue how
long she’d actually been missing, and no way of getting to help. Well, didn’t
that just make her want to break down into a hysterical fit?

“The
coffee will be ready in a few minutes,” Liam announced as he came to sit next
to her. “Do you have a headache? I know that some people report waking up with
a headache after having passed out from chloroform.”

“Is
that what it was?” No wonder she’d felt so crappy when she first opened her
eyes. “I do have a slight headache, but the coffee might help.”

“I
have aspirin,” he offered. He looked nothing like she had believed a
psychopathic werewolf would look like. He was polite, concerned, well groomed,
considerate, doting…a real gentleman. She had been expecting someone who had
forgone bathing, held a feral look in his eyes, and snarled more than spoke,
but then again that Bundy guy was said to be the sweetest guy you’d ever meet…until
he killed you, anyway.

It
seemed like psychos came in many shapes and personalities. Mandy just hoped
this one was as stable as he appeared to be.

The
thought crossed her mind to just use her ability and toss him through one of
the large windows, but she remembered how quickly he had recovered in front of
the castle. There was no way she could possibly hope to win in a fight against
a werewolf, so she was going to have to play nice and play along until help
arrived, or until she was able to escape safely.

As
luck would have it, her chance at escape came about two hours after the coffee.

“I
need to go and get some food for the cabin. I’ll be getting some wood for the
fire while I’m out too, so don’t worry about rationing what’s left here. You
put on as many logs as you need to stay warm and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“A
few hours?
Why so long? Are we that far from the
village?” Just how far out had he taken her? She could have sworn he’d told her
they were three miles from the village.

Of
course the crazy wolf completely misread her flare of panic and fear as concern
for his wellbeing. “Don’t you worry about me, I just want to be sure we have
enough food and wood to get through the snowstorm that’s starting out there,”
he gestured to the window and Mandy saw the fat white flakes drifting to the
ground. “I want you to promise me you won’t let anyone inside. You lock the
door when I leave, okay?”

That
was a fairly easy promise to make, since she wasn’t going to be letting anyone
in, but letting herself out. “I promise.”

“That’s
my girl,” he smiled and came to wrap her in a big hug, planting a kiss to her
cheek before walking out the door.

A
few minutes later, Mandy heard the sound of an engine roaring to life. Shit, he
had a truck? That could mean they were anywhere from one to who knew how many
miles from the castle.

Mandy
decided this could turn into a grueling hike on her part, so she went to the
bedroom and rummaged around until she found a backpack and a long coat in the
closet. Satisfied with her find, she moved back to the kitchen, located a
thermos and filled it with coffee, then grabbed two bottles of water from the
refrigerator and placed them all in the bag. As for food, she found some kind
of dried meat she hoped was beef jerky, a bag of dry cereal, and some fruit.

Once
she was confident that she had enough to survive until she found help, Mandy
plucked the white blanket from the couch and covered her head as she stepped
from the cabin, into the growing storm outside.

Chapter Thirteen

Nicolas
was losing his mind. Scenarios kept running through his head of what Mandy
could possibly be facing. Would the werewolf hurt her? Could he be torturing
her right now, trying to punish her for the blow she’d dealt to his ego when
she’d fought him off before? Was he looking at her with anger or lust? Had he
attempted to mate with her?

The
last thought had the ability to send him into a rage, mainly because he knew
she would fight it and likely be hurt or killed as a result. A werewolf mating
was almost violent in the best of conditions, but when the female struggled,
the potential for injury was far greater…and Mandy was human.

A
vibration from his satellite phone saved him from his dark thoughts and
effectively dumped a load of adrenaline into his system. Finally, some news!

“What
do you have?” There was no time for polite greetings in this situation and he
knew Garrett would take no offense.

“I
found fresh tire tracks leading to the village,” Garrett reported. “I followed
them back to a cabin, but it’s empty. There were footprints in the snow all
around the cabin, but it looks like Mandy is either with him or locked inside
where I can’t see her. I picked up her scent, but his as well, so I think they
are together. The snowfall is making it harder to track her. My nose isn’t as
good as a full-blooded shifter.”

“You’re
trying, that’s all that matters. Do you think she’s hurt?” Nicolas dreaded the
answer but needed it all the same.

“I
can detect the scent of fear, but there’s no blood or signs of struggle, so it
appears that she is okay for now.” Garrett paused and his silence worried
Nicolas. “She’s a smart girl, Nicolas. With you and Jonathan keeping the girls
informed of everything that’s been going on, I doubt that she would challenge
him in any way which would make him lash out.”

Nicolas
sighed. Leave it to Garrett to know where his mind was wandering. “I hope
you’re right.”

“I’m
going to stick around the area and wait for the truck to return. There’s a fire
going inside, so they’ll be back.”

Perfect!
Now all he needed to do was get there
himself
. “Where
are you? I’ll call Jonathan and we’ll be there as quick as we can.” This was
it, Nicolas could feel it. “Send me your coordinates and I’ll plug it in. Let
us know if they come back.”