A Wolf's Pride (56 page)

The man nodded
and left, closing the door lightly behind him. A few minutes passed
before Daniel walked into the room, his expression
concerned.
The guard must have passed on
my dishevelled state.
Chloe’s heart
stuttered at the sight of him and she had to force her body to stay
still. He was torturing her mate and yet he had the audacity to
look innocent, worried for her over lack of sleep. She’d spent a
great deal of the night thinking about her future, hers and her
family’s. They were the monsters that Ryan had described to her and
they were torturing her mate but they were still family. She’d
loved them unconditionally her entire life, it was a habit that was
hard to break. The thoughts had plagued her the entire night during
the gaps in Ryan’s torture and she had yet to come to a conclusion.
Conclusion or no, it didn’t prevent her hands from forming into
small fists, her nails biting against her flesh, preventing her
from raking them over Daniel’s face.

“
Jesus Chloe,
what happened to you?”

You tortured
my mate into the early hours of the morning, that’s what happened
to me.
“Nothing,” she shrugged.

He stepped
closer, tilting her chin up to better look at her face. “You look
awful, don’t tell me that nothing happened.”

“
You’re so good
for a woman’s confidence Dan,” she scoffed, moving her face from
out of his grip.

“
Chloe, talk to
me, tell me what’s going on.”

Her eyes
narrowed. “I don’t want to talk to you, I want to talk to Hannah,”
she began mentioning a friend from work.

“
Chloe, why
can’t you talk to us? We’re all here for you. You’ve been through a
traumatic experience, we know what’s going on, we can help
you.”

The only
traumatic experience I’ve been through is seeing Ryan stabbed,
bruised and burnt.
Inwardly she cursed,
outwardly she sighed. “And how exactly would you Christian or
Jonathan be of use in this situation? You guys are wonderful
brothers but you’re horrible to talk to when it comes to matters of
the heart. Christian is a well known womaniser. When was the last
time you had a relationship that lasted more than two months? And
Jonathan? Jonathan is a workaholic who doesn’t even have time for a
goldfish let alone a woman. I spent all night crying over that
bastard Ryan, now I just want to speak to a friend and talk about
how horrible the male species is. I’m sorry but you just wouldn’t
understand. It’s at times like this that I wish I wasn’t the only
female in this family.” She rolled her eyes and held out her hand
expectantly. “Look, just give me your phone so I can call Hannah,
have a girly talk and then get some well needed rest. Then you
won’t have to worry about me. Trust me, I’ll feel much better after
talking to her.”

Her
description of each of their romantic exploits was surprisingly
accurate and so it was on a dejected sigh that he handed her his
mobile. “Promise you’ll go to sleep as soon as you’re done speaking
to Hannah because Chloe you look terrible.”

“
It’s no wonder
you’ve never had a relationship that lasts long if that’s the sort
of thing you tell a woman.”
You could
probably do with taking some tips from Ryan. He can be impulsive
but he definitely knows what to say to warm a girl’s heart.
Her fingers were nimble as they dialled the number
that Ryan had given her the night before and she waited anxiously
as the phone rang for someone to answer.

“
Hello?”
Tobias’ voice was groggy with sleep but even then it was so
distinct that she instantly recognised it.

“
Hannah? Hey,
it’s Chloe.”

“
Chloe? Ryan’s
Chloe? Of course it’s you, I recognise your voice. Who’s Hannah?”
His voice was becoming more alert, though she could tell he was
tired.

Having three
young children would do that to anyone,
she
supposed. For a minute she contemplated the wisdom of her plan. If
Tobias was exhausted, he wouldn’t be much use to Ryan. The moment
passed quickly, he was a werewolf; he’d shake off his fatigue
quickly once he knew the situation. “Yeah, I know, it’s been a
while since you heard from me.”

“
I spoke to you
a few days ago. What are you talking about?” Tobias demanded
confused.

“
I’m sorry
about the way I just up and left. It was a very strange period of
my life. How’ve you been? How’s Josh?”

“
Josh? Who the
hell is Josh? Where’s Ryan? What on earth is going on? Tell me
right now!”

Her eyes
wandered to Daniel who was lounging against the door, looking for
all intents and purposes as though he was settling in for a long
stay. “No, no, no I didn’t resign I promise. There’s been a huge
misunderstanding. They haven’t given my job away to someone else
have they?”

“
Chloe,” he
growled, forcing her to move further away from her brother in case
he overheard. “You aren’t making any sense. We resigned on your
behalf so that you could be with Ryan. He let you leave only
because you said you wouldn’t try to run from him, are you going
back on your word?”

“
Well that’s
good, at least I know that I have a job to come back to. So much
has happened since I last saw you. I’ve got so much to tell you.”
She put her hand over the phone. “Dan?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Privacy? Ever
heard of it?” She looked pointedly at the door, shooing
him.

He rolled his
eyes in exasperation. “Fine, let me know when you’ve
finished.”

“
I will.” She
smiled widely though the friendly action pained her. When she was
certain that he was gone, she put the phone back against her ear.
“Tobias?”

“
Well you’ve
finally got my name right. Who’s Hannah? Who’s Josh? Where’s Ryan
and what’s going on?”

“
Tobias, listen
to me. None of that’s important.”

“
Where’s my
cousin?”

“
Tobias, they
caught him. They’re hurting him. Oh God, if you’d seen him,” she
sobbed. “He told me to call you.”

“
You’re not
making any sense. Start from the beginning.”

“
I went to meet
my family and you guys were all right. They’re hunting you. When I
found out I called Ryan, asked him to come and get me so we could
go home and when he got there they shot him.”

“
Ryan’s been
shot? Are you okay?”

“
What sort of a
question is that? Ryan was the one that got shot.”

“
And it’s you
that he’d want me to be worried about,” he retorted
calmly.

She was
silent for a moment, how could she come back from that? He was
right. “I’m fine now.”

“
Now?”

“
I was bleeding
pretty badly for a while back there. But I’m fine now.”

“
And
Ryan?”

“
They’ve got
him tied up to this table with silver shackles, there are knives
all over his body and God only knows what else happened to him last
night. He was screaming, Ryan never screams.”

“
But you’re
fine?” he pressed.

“
Yes,” she
snapped, increasingly angry with his line of questions. “What have
I got to do with anything? It’s Ryan that’s being
tortured.”

“
Yes, but the
fact that you’re fine means something.”

“
And just what
would that something be?”

“
That he’s made
a deal with his captors to protect you. Hunters normally go for the
vital spots on a body, the ones that can kill you if damaged, like
the heart. They’re having to be creative now.”

“
How can you be
so calm about this? Ryan could die.”

“
They won’t
kill him. They want you alive. And if you could see me right now I
don’t think you’d be saying that I was calm. I’m not calm; I’m just
not worried. I’m thinking things through. Ryan’s tough and he knew
that we’d be coming for him. The hunters won’t know what’s hit
them. Do you know where you are?”

“
No, how will
you find us?”

“
We’re wolves,
we’ll track you. How many people are there?”

“
I don’t know
exactly. There are men all over the place. I didn’t know I was
meant to be counting.”

He paused for
a moment, his mind working frantically. “Chloe, the men there, do
they all have the mark? The mark of the hunters?”

“
Do you mean
that tattoo thing on their necks?”

“
Yes,” he
responded, his voice excited.

“
Yes, but I
don’t see what that’s got to do with anything. Ryan needs
help.”

The hunter’s
headquarters? If that’s where they are then we could finally
eliminate the threat to our species.
“I
know Chloe. We’re on our way. I’m gathering the people right now.
Just sit tight. Help is on its way.”

Her grip on
the phone tightened. “What do you mean? Please Tobias, I’m scared
for him. Tell me what’s going on.”

“
We’re coming
to get you Chloe. Don’t worry about Ryan, he’s tough and they won’t
do anything too horrendous, they want him alive. He hasn’t been
there all that long so he should still have the energy to heal from
his injuries. Until we get there don’t do anything to attract
attention or suspicion to yourself. If you get hurt Ryan will be
uncontrollable. You said he’s tied to a table?”

“
With silver
shackles.”

“
Right,” he
mused. He was quiet, trying to think of the best way to get his
cousin out of the hunters’ grasp. Ryan was a fighter, one of their
best, but he was just as susceptible to silver as the rest of them.
“If he could get free then we could launch a two pronged attack.
Most of us would be on the outside and we’d attract their
attention, they wouldn’t even notice him coming…” His voice was low
as though he were talking to himself rather than her but Chloe
interrupted, Ryan was her mate, her input was just as
important.

“
I can get him
out.”

“
No. You stay
where it’s safe.”

“
I’m going to
help him no matter what you say. I’m not your mate, I don’t have to
listen to you.”

“
I’m king,” he
retorted.

“
Not of me
you’re not. The only wolf I listen to is Ryan and even that’s at a
push. I’m doing it regardless so you might as well get used to the
idea.”

“
If you get
hurt he’s going to come for my head and I have responsibilities
that mean I need it in one piece. I’ll be forced to fight
back.”

“
Trust me, I’ll
make sure he doesn’t do anything unreasonable.”

“
Fine, if you
can free him without getting hurt then do it, if you can’t then
stay safe. We’ll get him out either way.”

“
When will you
get here?”

“
I don’t know
where ‘here’ is, but we’ll be there by nightfall at the
latest.”

“
How can you be
so sure?”

“
Wolves are
quick and my cousin’s mate has asked me to help her, how can I make
her wait?”

“
You’re not as
scary as I first thought, a little bit difficult, but not scary. I
think being difficult is in your genes, only Sebastian has managed
to overcome that.”

“
You need to
have a long talk with Erica once this is all over. I think you’ll
quickly change your mind. I’ve got to go now Chloe, remember, stay
safe.”

“
I will.” The
line went dead as Tobias hung up. She walked to the window, leaning
out and whispering on the breeze. “I’ve done it Ryan, I’ve called
him. Now just hold on ‘til tonight.” The chances that he heard her
were low, very low but a faint smile crept onto her lips
regardless. This was Ryan and when it came to her, he was capable
of extraordinary feats. Below her feet, tired but not truly beaten,
a matching smile crept appeared on Ryan’s face as Chloe’s words
drifted to his ears. The words were muted whispers but he heard
them as clearly as though she’d been standing right beside him.
When his mate spoke to him how could he not hear her and listen?
What were distance or volume when it came to matters between
mates?

Chapter Forty
Eight

Her cheeks
ached and it was with a sigh of relief that Chloe closed her door,
leaning heavily against the thick wood. The day had dragged on and
on with seemingly no end in sight. Her body had been in a
conflicted state of turmoil since she’d spoken to Tobias earlier
that morning. Spending the day with her family had been a nerve
wracking experience, one that she didn’t want to repeat. She had
been in a constant state of alertness, watching and waiting for
Tobias to arrive, all the while being forced to interact with her
family as though nothing was going on. The smiles she’d made that
day had been forced and her family knew it. They all knew each
other too well not to notice when something was going on. Their
concern had however only made her more anxious, while they were
fussing over the bags beneath her eyes, they were hurting Ryan.
Each time one of them disappeared she had wanted to cry, to scream,
to hurt them enough that they couldn’t hurt him but Tobias’s words
had weighed heavily on her shoulders. She had to act as though
nothing was wrong otherwise Ryan’s escape might be put in jeopardy
and so she’d smiled, she’d laughed all the while she felt as though
she were dying inside. To be in the relative sanctuary of her room
was a relief.