Homer had fought side by side with the other werewolf for years. “When did you become such a pessimist? I only need to loosen these enough for me to be able to get the slightest space in them. Then I can shift and we’re all getting out of here.”
“Unsung hero of the war you might be, but you aren’t going to get out of this. You know what the hill wolves are like. They’re all half crazed and they want Robbie’s pack land. I can assure you, considering the ease by which they took us, this had been planned for a long time. Distract the whole pack with the constant sick dragons and then grab us when our backs were turned. Kind of brilliant actually.”
Homer gritted his teeth and tugged on his chains some more. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not really in the mood to discuss strategy. I’m more interested in killing our captors.”
Joe nodded. “At least you got to mate. That’s a gift. Funny, I had just decided, thanks to you finding yours, there might be a future for all of us. Robbie’s plans could actually come through.”
“They will. We’re all getting out of here, Joe. I’ll figure out a way.”
A bang sounded, announcing the arrival of their captors. The hill wolves were a surly, unclean bunch. Most of them had never served in the battles, fleeing to the hills and hiding while the rest of them risked their lives and limbs to keep the werewolves safe from dragons. While there, if the stories were true, they’d gone ahead and picked up a real addiction to the dragon egg serum Dougal’s mate Caitlyn had figured out how to destroy.
The hill wolves didn’t want the manufacturing of the illegal, sometimes lethal substance to stop. They saw Robbie’s pack as getting in the way and had become a real nuisance to deal with. Robbie had tentative plans laid out to illuminate them as a problem.
They’d certainly become more than an aggravation now.
“Look what we have here. One little skirmish and these so-called heroes are all down for the count.”
Homer’s wolf prowled to life, desperate to be given the ability to take down his enemies. They’d harmed him and left his mate vulnerable. They could not be allowed to live.
“Why keep us alive?” Joe called out. “Why not kill us where we stood. You could have. Don’t have the taste for death?”
While Joe’s question warranted an answer, Homer really wished he’d keep his mouth shut. Silence was frequently called for in heightened situations. Why make it worse? “Joe.”
“Why kill you when we can use you?”
The man whose dark scent spoke of leadership stepped forward. The whole room stank of drug abuse, there wasn’t a clean wolf amongst them. He hated the stink in close quarters. The city had been bad enough but at least he’d been outdoors. Tall with visible veins crisscrossing his face, the man who spoke might have at one time been a formidable werewolf. But his body had been worn down. How close was he to death? Homer would be happy to put him out of his misery.
“We aren’t going to be doing anything for you.” Joe snarled and Homer had the satisfaction of seeing his friend hadn’t totally lost his fight. “So get that out of your head.”
“We’ve found ourselves a real gift of dragon eggs and we need someone to harvest them for their drugs. Cut ourselves a sweet deal with the distributor. He’s going to let us keep a whole bunch for ourselves. But we need wolves to harvest it. That’s where you come in.”
Homer tugged at his chains so hard his wrists burned. They happened to know how to make the drug. The elite unit had been briefed on the particulars of the whole process when they’d been trying to destroy it. No way would these cowards know that, however.
“We don’t have the slightest idea how to make the drug.” Homer had long ago learned to how to hide fabrication from his scent. Not that the wolves in front of him had the capacity to tell the difference anymore.
“I might believe you if I hadn’t been told who you boys were.” The man sneered. “I’ve it on good authority you’re some kind of special wolves, some kind of heroes. The best of the best. And you know more than anyone else what we need.”
Homer’s mind whirled. Who could have told him that? They’re identities were closely guarded. No one outside of the pack should have had that information to give out. If the truth of their role in the war had been revealed, what else had come to light? Was Camille already at risk? “Where are you getting your information?”
“Had a girl with us for a while. Named Elizabeth Knox. She died last year but she and her mate were here with us. Her sisters mated two of you. Guess family talks to family.”
Homer didn’t believe for a second either Lena or Caitlyn had shared secret information with their drug-addled sister. He would, however, not put it past the love their mother still had for Elizabeth to have passed some info on to the woman before she herself succumbed to old age and heartbreak. In any case, at least they could figure out how to plug up a leak.
“There isn’t anything you could ever do to me to make me help you.” Homer wanted to be clear on that point. “So why don’t we cut a deal? There has to be something else you want, something I can get for you.” Some way out of my chains so I can tear you to small shreds.
“You will. Because if you don’t help us, you’ll never get any more of this.” The man pulled a syringe out of his pocket. “And after today you’re all going to be dying for a splash. The sheer ease of life with it in your veins, the way you know all will always be right for the times when you’re up.”
“Shit.” Joe struggled with his restraints. “You aren’t putting that in me. No. No. No.”
Homer took a deep breath. This was happening. He was chained up and couldn’t move. Drug-addled lunatics were going to shoot him up and there was very little he could do to make it stop. After the injection he was going to change. Some people recovered from the need, others died. He forced himself to find his calm center. Like any other battle, there would be winners and losers. Homer had to survive to get back to Camille. She needed him. If he was too far gone by the time he got there, he trusted his Alpha to end him before he did any damage.
Stay safe. He wanted his wolf strong. Go away. Don’t watch this. You have to be there for her when I’m lost.
He didn’t know if the wolf understood but it felt better to say it. Three men came to him. Funny, they thought it would take that many to squeeze one vial of drugs into him while they had him restrained and tied to the wall.
The first poke of the needle burned and he closed his eyes. This would not beat him.
****
Camille knocked on Robbie’s door and waited. She’d been waiting days for the Alpha to do what he’d promised. He assured her he would get them back from the drug-addled hill people who took them.
The door swung open and Robbie’s mate Tatyana stood there. “I thought we’d see you today. Come see.”
She followed the other woman into their home. Camille had been in it once before. The night Homer went missing, the Alpha had shown up at her place to tell her. They’d brought her home, talked to her, explained there had been an attack. Her mate had been harmed and she hadn’t even known; she’d slept through the whole thing.
Camille rubbed her belly. She would get her mate back, make it a true joining, and then never let him away from her for a night again. A war hero attacked and kidnapped from his pack lands when all the dragons should be dead.
Not. Okay. Her temper rose and she pushed it down. The last thing she needed was her wolf causing trouble by trying to shift without Homer there to calm her down.
She walked to the backyard and then skidded to a stop. Right in front of her, tied up with a small length of rope, was a dragon. A big green, nasty looking creature.
Tatyana put her hand on her arm. “Don’t be afraid. Did Homer tell you about Caitlyn?”
“She talks to them. Controls them.”
The Alpha’s mate nodded. “That’s right. We’re trying to get an exact location.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Caitlyn spoke through clenched teeth to the dragon. “Th
ey sent you here. The hill people. You must know where they are.”
Tatyana hissed in her breath. “Robert is so mad. He wanted to kill those lunatics months ago and was talked into restraint. He’s going to blame himself for this for a long time.”
“He can join me in the process. If I hadn’t gotten so worked up about even seeing the dragons Homer wouldn’t have been anywhere near the scene.”
Caitlyn turned to the group. “His brain is so addled. He’s dying. He just has no idea.”
“Kill him.” Robbie gave the order to Dougal before he turned his back to face her. “Don’t worry, Camille. We’ll invade the hills. We won’t come back without them.”
“My Alpha.” She hadn’t had one since her father died but it seemed the best way to address the sheer force of will that was Robbie Owens. Keeping her eyes level with his proved challenging. “I think I can help.”
Robbie exchanged a glance with Tatyana. She had no idea what their silent communication meant nor did she care. They needed to hear her out. She had obsessed about what she could do for days and the answer had proved so simple. Camille was going to save Homer with our without Robbie’s permission. She’d rather have it. But if saving him meant she could never go back to the Owens Pack then so be it.
Her mate mattered more. There were few things in life she would defy Robbie for. Homer and her unborn child were the two things.
“How so?” He spoke to her softly, like she might break.
“I know their supplier. Derek Dresden sells them drugs. He’ll know where they are.”
Robbie’s eyebrows shot up. “The father of your baby.”
“Homer will be the baby’s father. But my ex, yes.” She realized she was playing semantic games with a man who had once led an elite group of warriors which included her mate. He could outplay her. She wouldn’t budge, not when it came to Homer. “I can get him to tell us where Homer is.”
Tatyana moved away from her and placed a hand on Robbie’s arm. “How?”
“I won’t sacrifice my baby. And I won’t lose Homer.” She swallowed. Somewhere inside of her she had a spine of steel. She knew it had to be there. It was why she lived. “Surely there is a deal to be made.”
Robbie shook his head. “I’m not giving you to Dresden. So if that is your idea lose it. I won’t get Homer back only to see him dead from having his heart ripped from his body.”
“Derek didn’t want me for more than my virginity. After that I was convenient. I agreed to have sex with him regularly and to take his particular brand of abuse in exchange for safety.” It had been hard telling this stuff to Homer. Explaining to Robbie, however, constituted a new brand of misery. Her own misery didn’t matter, only getting Homer back did. “He was pissed about the baby. Blamed me. The hurting got worse. I ran off. He really doesn’t want this child any more than he still does me. What he cares about, however, is not losing face with his people. They knew I was pregnant. He has to look like he gives a shit.”
Silence met her statement. “You’re suggesting in exchange for getting us the location of Homer and the others, you’ll let him, what, visit the baby? Have him or her for a weekend?”
“My Alpha, may I speak frankly?”
“By all means.” He nodded. A loud crack in the background followed by a thump indicated the end of the dragon. She turned her head slightly to see Dougal shifting back to his human form to join them. He only had one hand and didn’t seem to hold him back in the least.
The males and females of this pack were brave. She had to be as well. “I’m suggesting we’re going to tell him that. He’ll have terms, demands. You’ll get the location. Rescue my mate. And the others. And then...” Her voice fell off. Would Robbie throw her out for even suggesting what she wanted?
“And then?” Dougal prompted her on.
“And then one night Derek doesn’t have to wake from sleep. With just enough time no one could ever blame us.”
She stiffened her back. There, she’d said it. Camille had advocated to her Alpha he kill the biological father of her baby. So help her, she wasn’t even sorry.
“Well, gee.” Robbie laughed. “You fit right in here, Camille. Come in the house. Let’s have a drink and go over the details. I love making assholes not wake up from their naps.”
****
Homer didn’t know how much time had passed. He’d started losing track. Life was a series of moments. The moments when he tried to butcher the way he made the drugs so they lost a batch and couldn’t sell it. The moments when he wasn’t cognizant enough to do that, but to simply go through the routine of breathing in and out and maybe he made a good stash. Who could remember? The moments when they fed him more drugs so he could think again.
The moments when they didn’t and his hands shook, his heart raced, his stomach turned and every movement caused his joints to ache miserably.
He was losing himself. The bad moments were outnumbering the good. How much longer could he hang on? How much longer should he? At some point, the best gift he could give his sweet mate was to never see her again.
Not yet...
A voice inside of him spoke. Was it his wolf? Some kind of inner strength encouraging him to hang on?
Not yet...
Homer closed his eyes and leaned his head up against the wall of the cave. Camille had survived on her own for so long. The least he owed her was to hang on. Just to see her face again would be a gift.
****
Camille expected to feel something when she looked at Derek again. He’d been her lover for almost a year. And the baby in her womb was a present from him. Granted, one he’d not intended to give her but still, even not having met the baby yet, she knew she’d always be grateful for the child.
Yet, staring at him across a table, she felt nothing at all. Of course that could be because Robbie was sending her such a strong dose of Alpha energy to keep her cool; she didn’t know if she’d feel anything if the world exploded around her.
Derek drummed his fingers on the table. “I always knew you’d come crawling back.”
“She’s not crawling and I’ll warn you to speak to my pack mate with respect.” Robbie sat back in his chair. Deceptively cool. She wondered if he and Homer had gotten through the war exactly that way. Acting like what they were doing was no big deal...
“Let me see if I get this straight. You are offering me the chance to see my baby—who you have no right to keep from me in the first place—in exchange for some information about your pack mates.”
“Seeing as you speak the same language we do.” She couldn’t resist the jab. “I’d say you heard him and understood what he said the first time. And as for the insinuation we don’t have the right to keep the baby from you, I’d point out you never knew where I was. Try and come after this child without doing what I’ve asked and you’ll find you once again have misplaced a baby. Would hate for your competitors to find out you can’t even locate one little woman.”
Derek stared at Robbie. “You’ve given her guts.”
“She already had them. Or she’d never have survived you. Do we have a deal?”
“We do. Might be useful to have a son to bring out. Let you raise the brat and then send him to me.” Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening. She clenched her teeth.
“Go on.” Robbie instructed him.
Derek stood up. “I have no love for the hill wolves. Cowards, every one of them. I served. I did my time. They’re good customers who have come upon new product recently. They made a so-called deal with me where I had no choice but to comply. I have to say, I think I’d prefer to have their product instead. Can you make that happen?”
Robbie nodded. “Yep.”
“Then you have a deal.”
Her baby jumped inside of her and she patted the movement. The male in front of her had whipped her until she bled when he found out she was pregnant. Dead in his sleep, she reminded herself.
****
Homer pulled himself to his feet. Something
caught his attention and he wasn’t sure what. He should be sleeping. It always helped if he could remain unconscious through the shakes. Next to him Finn groaned and Joe cursed.
“Why are you up?” Joe coughed as he spoke.
“Not sure.”
The room spun and his stomach threatened to empty itself again. He didn’t know why he bothered to eat. Food wasn’t what he wanted anymore. He needed more of the drug. And he wanted it more than he wanted to breathe.
Still, he’d never begged and he wouldn’t start then.
“Seriously, Homer. Go back to sleep. I need to wait this out and I can’t do it with you standing there. It makes the jitters worse.” Joe sounded as desperate as Homer felt. His pack mates had held up as well as he had. Homer didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad one. Maybe it would be better if they all overdosed.
“I heard something.”
Finn groaned. “Well we didn’t. So sit down.”
The shakes really hit Homer then. He could have sworn there was a noise he couldn’t place. Then again what was he really going to do about it anyway if he had? He was useless. A surge of anger hit him and he tried to shove it down. He wasn’t really feeling mad. The drugs did things to him. He wondered sometimes if he would kill one of his pack mates to have them. How far was he going to go before there was no turning back? What would the sign be?
A loud pop caught his attention and this time the others must have heard it, too. They all sat up. Homer sniffed the air, only the action did nothing. His sense of scent abandoned him with the first needle pushed into his skin.
“What was that?” Joe spoke through clenched teeth.
“Whatever it was, it better not get in the way of them getting in here with my fix,” Finn replied.
Waking up from his stupor, Tatum groaned. “Would you assholes just shut up?”
Homer found himself nodding before he could stop himself. Sometimes it was simply easier to give in, admit he had no control over anything.
The figure who appeared in the doorway of the cave didn’t seem real. For a second, Homer sat stunned with his mouth hanging open. The others must have felt the same because no one spoke. With their noses broken, it was hard to believe only the evidence of their eyes. Was it possible? Had Robbie come?