didn’t want to imagine what condition his sister would be in. And even if he could somehow persuade an

officer to investigate, Freki was powerful. Roman himself said there were people high up in the

government who took care to cover up the pack’s indiscretions. No, the only thing he would accomplish

would be getting the police’s suspicions up.

So he sat there in the dark and waited three endlessly long hours before the phone went off, playing

“Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran. Before the first strains of the tinny song were even over, Kevin

scooped up the phone and hit Talk. “Freki, where the hell is my sister?”

“Patience, little wolf, patience,” came her silky voice. It ended on a low, growling note, like she was in

some transitional phase of her shift. “Your dear sister is with me, and quite well, I might add.”

“I want to talk to Hannah!” Kevin shouted into the phone. “Put her on!”

“You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“I don’t trust you, you bitch. You murdered Jonah. You murdered Toby!”

“I’ve murdered a lot of people over the millennia. And you don’t have any other choice, do you?”

Fuck, she had a point. Kevin worked on getting his temper under control. If he flew off the handle, he’d

get nothing from Freki, he knew. He decided to try and reason with her. “Look, this is between you and

me. Hannah and Matthew have nothing to do with any of this…”

“I disagree. I think Hannah has a lot to do with you staying in the human world. However, being a fair

type, I think I may be able to offer a trade of sorts—your life for hers.”

“Anything. I’ll come back if you let her go. I’ll be your wolf, your mate, just so long as she goes free and

unharmed.”

He sensed Freki’s smile. “Meet me at the lodge and we’ll talk. Be here by sun up, or Hannah dies. See, I

can be fair.”

With a tittering laugh, Freki hung up.

***

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kevin was shaking like an epileptic as he approached the lodge. The drive up to the mountains had been a

nightmare, and he was feeling relieved just to be at his destination. He didn’t think he could endure one

more mile of road in his present state of mind.

There were a collection of familiar vehicles parked on the gravel outside the lodge, but otherwise it

looked dark and deserted. No one looked to be home, but he knew that meant nothing. The werewolves

could be hiding in the woods, just waiting to ambush him. He checked the gun he’d stuck in his belt—it

was a .45 S&W that belonged to Jolene. He knew she kept it in her office for break-ins and had gotten it

out of her desk before driving up, though she knew nothing about it. Southern girls and their guns. He

wasn’t sure it would kill a charging werewolf, but he felt somehow safer for having it.

He got out, his hiking boots crunching on the white luxury gravel, and made his slow way up the drive to

the front door. He stopped to check the Wolfsbane in his pocket, gave it a nervous squeeze. Then he drew

the gun, regulated his breathing, and tried the door.

It was unlocked. He pushed it half open, lifting the gun and half expecting the pack to descend upon him

like a swarm of angry bees, but the foyer and connecting common room was empty and dark. Nothing

stirred, though a whining noise came from upstairs. It sounded like a creature in pain.

He hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Hannah? Hannah! Matthew!”

No answer.

When he got to the top floor, he followed the sound to Roman’s bedroom. A large cage was set up with a

black wolf pacing nervously inside it. It was panting and whining, but it stopped when it saw him and

gave him pleading yellow eyes. “Roman,” Kevin said before rushing to the cage and kneeling down.

Roman shifted back to his human form. His body was streaked with dirt, his hair snarled and full of

leaves and twigs. It was obvious the pack had been making sport of him in the woods. Dried blood coated

his body up and down, though there were no obvious wounds—his body had taken care of healing him, it

seemed.

Still, Kevin felt his heart break at the sight. “Are you all right?”

Roman nodded. “Yes,” he said, his voice tired and hoarse. “I heal quickly.”

“What did they do to you?”

Roman averted his eyes. “What the pack does to traitors…to anyone who doesn’t follow the queen.” He

reached through the bars and took Kevin’s hand, squeezed it. “You need to get out of here before they

return.”

“I’m not leaving you like this! And I’m definitely not leaving Hannah!”

“Hannah isn’t here! Freki took her and her human lover out to the woods to hunt them.”

“Don’t you dare say that!” Kevin roared. He grabbed the big padlock on a chain around the door of the

cage and rattled it with anger and frustration. The metal screeked but held. Even his rage couldn’t seem to

break it. “Was she all right when you saw her…?”

Roman nodded. “She was fine when Freki took her out. They both were.”

“I’ll skin that bitch if she hurt Hannah…!”

“I don’t think she will, Kevin. Without Hannah, she has no leverage on you.”

Kevin yanked on the padlock in disgust. “Do you know if Freki took the key?”

“She keeps that in her bedroom.”

Kevin stood up and looked down at his lover kneeling in the cage. “She’s done this to you before, hasn’t

she?”

“She’s caged me when I’ve displeased her, yes.”

Just another reason to kill Freki when he saw her. Kevin swallowed hard against the knot in his throat.

“I’ll be right back.” He made his way to Freki’s room. Really, it looked more like a fancy boudoir than

anything else. He flung open her closets and threw her clothes everywhere, then ripped into her dressing

table, tearing everything apart. He finally found the key in her makeup case, but as he was making his way

back to Roman, he heard a door open downstairs and people returning. The little hairs on the back of his

neck stood at rigid attention. He flattened himself against the wall of Roman’s room and listened for

sounds of Hannah, of humans. He found none. If they had hurt Hannah he was going to kill them all. He’d

wipe the pack out, or die trying. Roman saw the determination in his face and shook his head, but Kevin

ignored him. He tossed the key to Roman before walking to the head of the long, curving stairwell.

Freki stood at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by the rest of the pack. Some of them sneered up at him

—these beautiful young men who had welcomed him into their lives only a month ago. A few started

changing, but Freki lifted a delicate white hand for them to stand down. “Kevin, I’m impressed by how

quickly you made it here.”

“I’m impressed by how stupid you are to have targeted my sister.” He pulled the gun loose and cocked it,

aiming it at Freki. “Where is she?”

Freki ignored the gun and wagged a well-manicured finger. “Tsk, tsk. Your social graces need work,