Full Moons and Mistletoe Page 6

  “Wait here.” The first thing was to make sure Alex was safe.

  She was already getting dressed. For once I didn’t mind that she hadn’t listened.

  I took her hand, and we returned to the door.

  Grady’s eyes moved up and down her body. She looked sexy even in old jeans and a hoodie. She’d looked sexy in anything. I glared at him. He straightened up. “Sorry.”

  “Tell me everything. How does Adrian know?”

  “Donna saw Alex at the bar. She told Theo, and it turns out Theo’s working for Adrian now,” Grady explained.

  “But how do they know about Langdon?” Alex looked up at me through worried eyes. “How did they know I’ve had your child?”

  “That’s a good question, but either way we need to get you somewhere safe.” I pulled her close against my side.

  “What about Langdon?” She paled. “If they know about him, can they find him?”

  “We’re getting him now.” There was no question. I had an obligation to protect my pack, but protecting my mate and son came first. But she wasn’t officially my mate yet. I shouldn’t have teased her so much. I should have made her mine, but it was too late for that now. Mating wasn’t meant for a quickie on our way out the door.

  “We need to get him.” Alex shook. “If anything happens to him…”

  “We’ll get there.” I took both of her hands in mine. “I promise.” I turned to Grady. “Gather the others. We’re going to have to be ready. And have them keep their eyes open for my son.”

  “Who is Adrian, and why does he care?” Alex asked. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  I pulled her out to my truck, and we got in. “I’ll explain everything on the way.”

  9

  Alexandra

  I got into Ryder’s truck in a state of shock. Somehow we’d gone from fooling around to an emergency situation. All I wanted to do was get Langdon back in my arms. I called Nancy, but the call went to voicemail. If anyone touched my son. I couldn’t even comprehend the possibility.

  “He’s fine. He’s going to be fine.” Ryder took my hand in his.

  “You can’t know that. You can’t know he’s okay.”

  “No. I can’t, but I’ll make it okay. Adrian won’t hurt him. Even if they got him, we’d get him back.” He squeezed my hand.

  “Then why would he take him? Why does this Adrian guy even care that Langdon exists?”

  Ryder gripped the wheel tighter. “It’s kind of a long story.”

  “We have a long drive.” I needed to know. I’d inadvertently stepped into a mess, and I had to find a way out of it.

  “Fine, but no freaking out, okay?” He slowed down as a car cut us off. He said something under his breath, and I wondered if he was trying to avoid cursing around me.

  “There was a time when our pack was the biggest wolf pack for miles and miles. No one could touch us.”

  “Was the biggest?” I’d definitely noticed the past tense part. “Has that changed?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “But everything changed when the Dragons came to town. They pushed the Bears out who had always been in charge. Not everyone was happy about it.”

  I nodded to let him know I was following even though I still didn’t get how everything connected.

  “My father was Alpha, and his brother was second in command. It’s how things usually work.”

  I nodded again. Not sure what else I could say and eager to see how this somehow related to Langdon.

  “My father sided with the Dragons. He thought they were stronger and could help protect the entire shifter community from other paranormal creatures, but his second in command disagreed. He supported the Bears.”

  “But if your dad was Alpha, didn’t his brother have to follow his lead?” I’d done some research on shifters once Langdon began to show signs.

  “He should have, but the Bears saw their chance and killed my father.” Ryder’s expression darkened until his eyes were nearly black.

  “Oh my gosh.” I struggled to find the appropriate response. “That’s awful.”

  “But my uncle didn’t become Alpha like the Bears thought.” Ryder changed lanes to avoid getting stuck behind an 18-wheeler. “I did.”

  “So what happened? Did the Bears go after you?” Obviously he’d survived, so I kind of knew the ending. But I also realized there had to be a lot more of the story.

  “The Dragons protected me and my brother. They took power, and their Alpha raised us as his own.”

  “What happened to your uncle?” I already had a sinking feeling he wasn’t good for my situation.

  “Uncle Adrian left the pack and started his own. He left Forest Ridge, but every opportunity he gets he tries to take over the territory. We’ll never let that happen. The problem for him is by leaving the pack they lose their chance at finding their true mates. There’s a magic to these mating things. So their pack will never grow naturally. They have to continually recruit.”

  “So he doesn’t want you to grow your pack either?” I checked to make sure I was following.

  “Exactly. We’ve kept ours small and bided our time until we all found mates and grew it the way it should be grown. Adrian knows when that happens, he and his traitors will be history.”

  “Then how can you be so sure he won’t hurt Langdon?” As afraid as I was to hear the answer, I needed to. I had to be strong and face reality head on.

  “Because Langdon would be more valuable to Adrian alive.” Ryder put his hand on my leg. “He’d want to keep him in his pack. He knows Langdon will be strong since he’s the rightful oldest son of an Alpha.”

  “We need to get there. Faster.” I could barely breath. I needed to get to my son. Forget staying calm. I never should have left him alone.

  “I’m sorry.” Ryder’s voice was full of regret and sadness. “I should have protected you both better.”

  “How could you do that when I didn’t even tell you Langdon existed?” I was just as much to blame as he was. “This is my fault. I stayed away and then returned out of the blue. I still don’t get how they figured it out.”

  “Me either.” Ryder returned his hand to the wheel. “And I’m not used to being in a position where I don’t know.”

  “Could it have been—” I stopped myself from going further. I hated to plant a seed of doubt in Ryder’s head, but considering his uncle had turned on his father it seemed reasonable.

  “Norm?” Ryder finished my train of thought. “Is that what you were going to say?”

  “Yes.” I looked down. “Sorry, I just—”

  “It wasn’t him.” Ryder met my eyes before returning his eyes to the road. “I promise you that.”

  I wanted to ask him if he was sure. If he thought maybe he was being biased. Norm was the only other person in town who knew, but I also didn’t want to push Ryder’s buttons as we drove through the snow up to check on Langdon.

  “What if he isn’t there?” I moved on to my next fear. I had quite a few of them at the moment. “I mean where would Adrian take him?”

  “First we need to find out if he was actually taken,” Ryder pointed out. “We don’t know that for sure yet.”

  I tried Nancy again. It went right to voicemail. “Nancy isn’t picking up. She knows how nervous I get about Langdon. She wouldn’t do this to me.” Something was wrong. I felt it. I knew in the deepest part of my heart Langdon was in danger.

  “It’s also really late.” Ryder tried again to assuage my fears. “Maybe she forgot to leave her phone by her bed.”

  “You don’t believe that.” I called him out. I knew his false words were out of concern for me, but that didn’t change the fact they were false.

  “I don’t know what’s going on. I wish I did, but staying positive is the only thing we can do right now.” Those were more honest words, but staying calm was impossible. Langdon was everything to me.

  “You’re right.” I texted Nancy, just to cover all my bases. I stuck with just “
Hi.” If someone else was with her, I didn’t want to tip him or her off.

  “What’s his favorite food?” Ryder returned his hand to my leg.

  “You want to talk about that now?”

  “Just tell me.” He squeezed my leg gently.

  “Pizza. Cheese pizza.”

  “Good taste. His favorite book?”

  “Anything with trucks.” We had piles of truck books at home. Books were the one thing I splurged on for him.

  “He likes trucks? What kinds?”

  “Anything big and involved with construction.” I smiled thinking about the way he pointed out any and all construction sites.

  Ryder continued with the questions, and I realized what he was doing. He was distracting me. This was a diversion I could accept.

  Before I knew it, we were closing in on Nancy’s place. I grabbed a hold of Ryder’s hand.

  He slowed down and turned onto her block. “When we get there, I’m going to go in first.”

  I nodded because I didn’t want to argue, but I wasn’t staying back. This was Langdon we were talking about, and that meant I was willing to take any risk.

  10

  Ryder

  I was as nervous as she was, but I couldn’t show it. I couldn’t risk upsetting her more. We would get Langdon back. That much I knew for sure, but how safe he was at the moment was out for debate.

  It was crazy how much I cared about someone I had never met, but from the moment Alex told me about him, I did. He was my son. I would do anything to protect him.

  “I’d tell you to stay in the truck, but I know you’re not going to listen.” She was headstrong. In general that was a good trait, but not in this emergency situation.

  “You are right about that.” She reached for the door latch.

  I touched her leg. “That doesn’t mean I’m letting you go first.”

  “What do we do if they’re not in there?” Her eyes were full of fear.

  I swore I would make sure that fear never returned again. “We take this one step at a time. No jumping the gun.” We weren’t going to find Langdon inside. I knew that already, but she had to stay calm.

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “He’s my son too, so not easy for me to say.” I didn’t know how to explain to her how much I already cared about him. The feeling only continued to grow.

  She nodded as if resigning herself. “Let’s not waste time fighting.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  We walked slowly to the door. I grabbed her hand and kept it securely wrapped in my own both to comfort her and to make sure I could pull her out of trouble if necessary.

  Her hand felt so small and cold in mine. She was worried sick about Langdon, and she had every right to be. And it was all my fault.

  I tried the door. It easily turned in my hand. I didn’t sense anyone or anything moving around, but someone was in the house. It was a human female. Despite how prepared I was for it, I had to shrug off the wave of disappointment that Langdon wasn’t there. I hoped the human was Nancy, and she’d have some clues to share with us.

  But I couldn’t be sure it was her. Adrian was a wolf of many tricks. I pulled Alex close to my side.

  “Nancy?” Alex called out lightly.

  I put a finger to her lips. We needed to make sure this wasn’t a trap.

  She nodded, and we continued to move into the house.

  I pushed Alex behind me as we walked into the kitchen.

  Alex ran over to a girl tied to a chair with a gag over her mouth.

  I pulled the gag off. Nancy let out a breath. “I’m so sorry.” Tears streamed down her face. “I did everything I could, but he said if I didn’t cooperate they’d kill Langdon.” Her face was distraught, and I didn’t doubt her sincerity for a moment. I’d seen enough fakers in my lifetime. This was true blue emotion. “I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “This isn’t your fault.” Alex fell to her knees in front of her friend, while I worked to untie her bindings. “But we have to find him.”

  “I know.” Nancy nodded. “I don’t know who they were. The men. They were awful. I don’t know how they got in. The door was locked. I swear.”

  “Describe them.” I didn’t bother with formalities. Every second counted. I could tell this women cared about Langdon, and I trusted her word. I untied her arms and legs.

  “It was three men. Each were over six foot, but not as tall as you.” She pointed at me.

  I nodded.

  “One had black hair, the other two had lighter hair. The one with the dark hair had a scruffy beard.

  “That’s Adrian.” Even thinking about him made my blood boil. I would kill him for daring to touch my son.

  “They said they weren’t going to hurt him if I cooperated. Please tell me this Adrian guy was telling the truth.” Fresh tears streamed down her face.

  “He has no reason to hurt him, but he has every reason to keep him from me and try to poison his mind against me.” Nothing would make Adrian happier. He blamed me for what happened, even though he was the one who turned on his own Alpha.

  “You told me not to jump the gun, but now it’s time. Tell me, where do we look next?” Alex stood up. She wasn’t crying. Her eyes were clear and determined.

  “I am almost positive I know where Adrian took him.” The fact that Adrian left Nancy behind said it all. He wanted us to find her and to know he took Langdon. He wanted us to follow him, and there was one place where he knew he’d have the upper hand.

  “Then why did we come here first?” Alex wrung her hands.

  “To make sure. Breaking into Adrian’s compound is going to be dangerous. We weren’t going to do it unless we had no other choice.” It was a place I never intended to go, but right now I would have gone to hell and back for my son.

  “His compound doesn’t sound like a great destination, but we have no other choice.” Alex appeared stoic.

  “No. It’s the only reason he would have left Nancy here. He wants us to follow.” That was dangerous, but it was also our only choice.

  “Then let’s go.” Alex tugged on my arm. “Stop wasting time.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Nancy rubbed her arms as if to ward off the cold. “You can’t keep me out of this now.”

  “Fine. But we need to go.” I opened the front door, and they followed me out. Having two humans with me to protect would be difficult, but we couldn’t leave Nancy behind. Maybe she’d also bring comfort to Alex and help keep her calm. Alex was going to need it. The situation we were walking into was one I’d never expected to face.

  Breaking into Adrian’s compound wasn’t going to be easy, but it was entirely possible. Besides, the risk was completely worth it. We would get Langdon back, and then I would do what I should have done years before—get rid of Adrian.

  We had to park several miles from the compound so we wouldn’t be seen. Adrian would be expecting us, but that didn’t mean we had to make things any easier on him.

  It was cold, and a light sprinkling of snow fell from the sky, but neither girl seemed to notice. Luckily Alex had borrowed an extra coat from Nancy.

  Alex also carried a fleece blanket. Although she didn’t say anything, I was positive it was for Langdon.

  I took her hand. “We need to stay calm. Any rash movement might not only put us in danger, but it might but Langdon in danger too.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  The first mile went quickly. We walked silently, determined to get to Langdon but nervous about what was to come.

  I knew I could take Adrian, but could I defeat him and his pack mates while also protecting the girls? I couldn’t handle the thought of anything happening to Alex.

  We were a half-mile out when I sensed the first wolf. I slowed my pace and checked our surroundings as best I could.

  Before I could warn the girls, a giant gray wolf jumped out of the woods.

  I released Alex’s hands and moved a few feet away before I reached for m
y wolf. I felt the intense heat, and my vision tunneled as my wolf form took over. Within seconds I was fully transformed.

  I lunged for the wolf, going straight for his neck. I saw only in shades of red and black as I bit down on the wolf’s neck. I could taste his blood as his body went limp.

  Alex screamed, and I tossed the wolf.

  I turned around to find five more wolves circling around Alex and Nancy.

  I thought fast. I had to find a way to attack on the largest wolf, Adrian, as once their pack leader was killed, the rest of the wolves would retreat. Before I could act, a second group of wolves appeared: my pack.

  I could now focus on the biggest wolf, knowing my pack mates would take care of the smaller ones. They would show no mercy. Each wolf had wronged our pack—they’d threatened my mate and son.

  The large grey wolf stepped away from the others, waiting for me to make a move. He slowly circled around me.

  I waited until Adrian walked beside me, to make my move. I lunged for Adrian, knocking him to the ground. I kept him pinned to the ground with my paws while I exposed his neck. He was no match for my strength. I looked into his eyes as I ripped the flesh of his neck and watched as his life slipped away. The life in his eyes slowly faded, and I waited until I felt his heartbeat ceased.

  Maybe I should have felt something for my uncle, but after what he’d allowed to happen to my father, and what he’d done to my son, I didn’t. He would have killed my mate. He would have done anything to destroy my pack.

  I stared at the carnage of what was once my uncle until I was calm. Then I allowed my human form to take over.

  “Here. I think the women would prefer if you put this on.” Norm’s voice brought me out of the fight.

  Without turning around I accepted the jeans he held out. Thankfully he’d packed an extra from me.

  I turned around and found my entire pack in their human forms. As I’d expected, they took care of the rest of Adrian’s pack.

  I ignored them all and pulled Alex into my arms first. I held her against me, relieved that she appeared unharmed.