Rene, what hope would she have against them? The night was cold and still, the snow beyond the road powdery light, glittering brightly under the moon's harsh light. The nearby trees cast deep shadows, and the smell of pine and balsam was rich in the air. She sniffed deeply. Behind those two scents was another. A warm, woody aroma that sent the blood pounding through her veins. Duncan was here somewhere. And so were Betise and Iyona, even though she couldn't smell them. The other trucks pulled to a halt behind them, and men poured out. Savannah stopped beside her, sniffing the air lightly. 'I can't smell them.'
'Duncan's here. Betise will be, too.'
Savannah looked past her, and Neva followed the direction of her gaze. Zeke Sinclair walked towards them, his stride long and powerful, his angelic face expressionless, and his dark eyes shuttered. For one moment, he looked so much like Duncan her heart ached. Behind him were two shadows who were just as potent, but who were hiding their anger less skillfully. Tye and Kane.
Zeke stopped in front of Neva. The sense of his power, the sheer force of his masculinity swept over her, and yet didn't stir her. She glanced at her sister and saw that Savannah was similarly unmoved. Which was a good thing, but odd, given the night and the moon.
'Where?' His voice was sharp. Abrupt.
Neva pointed to where she'd seen the brief flicker of light, and mentally passed the image and the information on to Savannah. 'About half a mile in.' How she'd managed to see the light from such a distance she didn't know. Nor did she care. Not if it freed Duncan.
Zeke looked at Savannah. 'How do you want to do this?'
'Neva suspects Betise will try to perform the ritual of promising. If that's the case, they'll more than likely be in a clearing. We need to get Rene free first, then we'll surround the clearing and get Duncan out.' She hesitated, her green eyes narrowing. 'No accidents, Zeke. I want these two women alive.'
Zeke raised his hands. 'We have no weapons.'
'A wolf doesn't need a weapon to kill.'
There was nothing warm in Zeke's sudden smile. 'I will protect my sons, Ranger, no matter what your rules say.'
'You can protect all you want. Just don't kill.' Zeke's gaze flickered to Neva, studying her so intently she shifted uncomfortably. After a moment, his smile became warmer. 'Perhaps I won't need to. There are other emotions, and other players, here tonight.' Heat touched Neva's cheeks. She had a horrible feeling this man saw far more than normal men, and in her case, that he saw the feelings she was trying hard to ignore. She pulled her gaze from his and glanced at her sister. 'You want me to lead?'
'You take Ronan and the Sinclairs and head to the right. The rest of us will head left.'
As she nodded she glanced at the sky. The moon was bright, and magic was beginning to stir the night.
If they didn't hurry, they'd be too late.
She shifted shape and lunged forward through the soft snow.
It was the cold that woke Duncan. It surrounded him, filled him. He frowned but didn't move, allowing awareness to surface fully as he listened to the night. Someone breathed close by, someone whose scent was all too familiar, and relief surged. Rene.
He cracked open an eye. They were in a small cave. Warm shadows danced across the walls, flickering shapes that indicated a fire was close. Naked, his brother leaned against the opposite wall, his eyes closed, though he wasn't asleep. The tension riding Rene's bruised and cut shoulders told Duncan that much. Rene's hands and feet were tied with chains that gleamed silver in the night, and the bandages over the gunshot wound were bloody, an indication that the wound had opened again. Anger surged through Duncan, but he thrust it away. Right now, anger wasn't going to help either of them. He glanced down at himself. He was also naked, though he couldn't have been undressed for long, because he could still feel his finger s and toes. Hypothermia was a ways off yet. But he had a fair idea why they were both naked, and what Betise intended to do. Tonight was the night of promises, and that mad bitch was undoubtedly going to try to raise the magic.
Worse though was the fact he was also tied with chains, and if the warmth against his skin was anything to go by, those chains didn't just look silver, they were silver. Which meant neither of them could shift shape until the chains were off, as silver was the one metal immune to magic of all kinds. He moved his arms, trying to find some give in the looped chains and work them loose.
'I wish you luck,' Rene said quietly. 'Because I certainly haven't had any.'
Then the two women had been less careful about tying him, because the chains weren't as tight as they had been. 'Are you all right?' Though Duncan asked the question softly, his words seemed to echo in the cave, and outside, someone stirred.
'Yes. Though I have to say the moon dance is not much fun when you're just a body and not a willing participant.'
'It could be worse, Brother .' And probably would get worse, unless he could find a way out for both of them. He very much doubted that Rene had been taken just as a hostage. There were two women and two of them, and this was all about revenge. Revenge for past wrongs. Revenge for promises never made.
And what better revenge was there than to bind yourself to a man who hated you?
A shadow loomed across the wall, shifting from wolf to human shape. He craned his neck to the left and watched Betise enter. Like them, she was naked. Oddly enough, her body was covered with a white powder, and he couldn't smell her. He couldn't smell Iyona, either, though she was undoubtedly just as close. Betise's gaze met his, green eyes glowing like ice in the darkness. 'The time has come to keep your promises, Duncan.'
'Tell me first why you killed those women.' Not that it really mattered now. He just needed to buy more time. Time to loosen the chains some more. Time for his father and brothers to track them down.
She shrugged. 'Kill the competition, give the dance a bad name, and my chances of catching a Sinclair mate rise, don't they?'
Only a crazy woman would believe that. 'So why make it look like they were raped?'
'To confuse the rangers. Worked like a charm, too, didn't it? They were so convinced it was one of you
Sinclairs they didn't even bother looking for other possible culprits.'
'So why attack yourself?' It was a guess, but a reasonably safe one.
'Neva told me her sister was waking. I knew if the ranger remembered the attack, she'd know it was a female who attacked her, not a male.' She shrugged again. 'I was hoping it would throw everyone off, but it didn't. You suspected me, didn't you?'
'Yes.' Though not of the killings. Not at first. She nodded. 'I smelled you in my hair salon, you know.'
'Is that why you got rid of the wig?' Surprise flitted across her face, and he smiled coldly. 'I fished it out of the river, Betise. Savannah has it.'
'You lie.'
'It doesn't matter if he's lying.' Iyona stepped out of the shadows, a rifle held steadily in her hands. A rifle that was aimed straight at Rene. 'The time of promising has come.'
'I made no promises to Betise. I never will.'
'You will if you want your brother to live to his time of promising.'
His gaze flicked to hers. Where Betise's gaze was crazy, Iyona's was hard. Intent.
'This will gain you nothing.'
'You're a Sinclair, and the Sinclairs owe me.'
'My pack had nothing to do with what happened to you.'
'You're all Sinclairs. I don't care which pack pays me what I am owed.'
'And what the hell are you owed, Iyona?'
'A name. A child. A comfortable lifestyle.' The woman might not look mad, but she was every bit as insane as her daughter. 'Neither Rene nor I can give you a child. That's taken care of every moon dance.' Betise snorted. 'You taking bets on that fact?' He stared at her, a sick sensation in his gut.
'What are you saying?'
Betise's smile was contemptuous. 'That I tampered with one box of injections. Twenty, in all, I think.
The good doctor keeps meticulous records, and I knew Rene was being done early. But if I'd known you were coming back, I would have tampered with yours, as well.' Relief slithered through him. At least he didn't
