Dire

“You have my word that he will not be harmed tonight.” Hunter gazed into my eyes. “My word is law. It will not be broken.”

I looked at Gage. “At least you will be nearby.” I watched for his reaction. I needed him to go along with things until we could figure out an escape. It looked like we were back to where we started the night. The difference was we now knew we were dealing with wolves.

Chapter Fifteen

Gage

I tossed and turned the rest of the night. As promised, Hunter gave me the guest room, but knowing that Mary Anne was in his bed across the hall made it impossible to sleep. The fact that there was a wolf-man standing at the door watching me made it difficult too. I’d never felt weaker or more helpless in my whole life. After the second time Chet changed I stopped trying to delude myself into thinking I was dreaming—or dead. Either of those possibilities would have made things simpler, and nothing was ever simple.

“If you’re not going to sleep, why are we even wasting our time?” Falcon asked from his spot in the doorway. I glanced at my watch. It was just after four in the morning.

“I don’t know? Why are you wasting your time messing with us?”

“We’re not wasting our time.” It wasn’t Falcon who answered. Hunter strode into my room. I was surprised he’d left his watch of Mary Anne. “We’re not wasting our time at all.”

“Is that so?” I was so exhausted it was hard to speak coherently. Too bad sleep wasn’t an option.

“Let’s go for a ride.”

“A ride? Suddenly you can get the truck out?” I had no doubt that Hunter had been messing with us the whole time, but I was surprised he was admitting it so soon.

He shook his head. “We’ll take the snowmobile.”

The snowmobile. Right. Because that’s how werewolves would travel across their property. Somehow I knew this wasn’t going to be a social ride, nor could I say no. “Are we waking up Mary Anne?”

“No. She needs her sleep.” He glanced into the hall as if he could see her. The guy was obsessed.

“How do I know she’ll be safe?” I glanced in the same direction as him. “Why should I go anywhere with you?”

“Because you’re not stupid, and you want to stay near her. If you want that then you’re going to listen. I’m not going to kill you. That would just upset her, and I don’t want to upset Mary Anne. “

“Because you’re so afraid of upsetting her?” I arched an eyebrow. “What, are you trying to woo her?”

“My plans are none of your business. “

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” He’d just told me as much, but I was stalling. Leaving the house, and Mary Anne, wasn’t high on my to-do list.

“No. No, you don’t.”

I stood up. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He walked back into the hallway. I pulled on my boots and followed him out. I hesitated in front of Hunter’s door.

“Keep moving.” Falcon followed behind me. I was tired of being watched.

“I’m coming.” I dragged myself away from her door. I would only cause more problems if I delayed the inevitable.

The night was cold and silent. Our boots crunched loudly in the snow. Hunter easily opened a large barn and walked into the dark space. I followed, wondering how much crazier things could possibly get.

“Get on.” Hunter barked as he took a seat on the snowmobile. I sat down behind him, my stomach twisting at the thought of leaving Mary Anne alone in that house. At least Hunter wasn’t there. He seemed to be in charge, and I hoped that meant that the other wolves wouldn’t touch her in his absence. I had to believe that.

Hunter started the engine and pulled out into the forest. I wondered if the noise was loud enough to wake up Mary Anne. I hoped not. I didn’t want her to know I was gone. I didn’t want her to doubt I’d leave her behind. I’d seen the hesitation in her eyes earlier that night. I never wanted to see that again. I wasn’t ditching her. We were in this mess together.

The wind stung as we flew across the white terrain. I hadn’t been on a snowmobile in years, and this occasion felt nothing like the joyrides I’d done in my youth. “Where the hell are we going?” I called over the noise of the engine.

“I want to make sure we’re seeing eye to eye on everything now.”

“Eye to eye? Yeah, because that’s happening.” I didn’t bother yelling, I didn’t particularly want him to hear.

“Yes, I don’t think you quite understand the gravity of the situation you’re in.” His eyes remained fixed in front of him.

He’d heard me? What kind of hearing did he have?

He shut off the engine and got out. “Recognize anything yet?”

I got out and followed his gaze. He was looking at the charred remains of some sort of truck. “Wait. Is that my truck?” Bile started moving up my throat. My Bessy.

“Yes. It’s a shame that no one survived the accident.”

“What the fuck?” I shoved into Hunter’s chest. “You destroyed my truck? You want people to think we’re dead?”

He appeared unmoved by the shove. “Why not? They’re never going to see you again anyway.” His voice was flat. Emotionless. I felt anything but. Burning my truck was a statement. He wanted me to know we had no hope.

“You are seriously fucked up.”

“Fucked up?” He pulled me toward him by my jacket. I moved to shrug him off, but I found I couldn’t. This guy was strong. “You haven’t seen fucked up. Keep disobeying me, or getting in my way with Mary Anne, and you’ll see fucked up.”

I pushed my luck. “What’s your end game? You think you’re going to turn her into your little slave or something? Preying on an innocent girl?”

“I’ll treat her better than you’ve been treating her. You’re using her.” He glared. “Don’t bother denying it. I can read it plain as day. You figured she’d come in handy to tide you over until your next distraction. But she’s more than that. She’s special.”

“I’m not using her.” Just hearing him speak those words made me angry. Maybe I’d gone about things wrong, but I was going to fix everything once we got home. “But why do you care? Why do you want her so much? Is it just because of what she looks like? You don’t even know her.”

“I know her just as well as you.”

I laughed dryly. “I’ve known her for almost my whole life.” The wind picked up, blowing a coat of snow over the remains of Bessy. I was going to miss that truck. I couldn’t even begin to conceive of how to explain things to Mary Anne. Our families weren’t going to look for us. They were going to think we were dead. That brought up the question of bodies. Would they find any? I couldn’t even go down that line of thinking yet. The number one priority was protecting Mary Anne and getting her the hell away from these wolves.