Time to get back to his woman.
Grinning at the thought, Logan spun around and knocked into a packmate who was rushing past to grab seconds. The food splattered against Logan’s chest, drenching him in a sticky, reddish juice. The plates hit the floor.
“Sorry, dude,” the packmate said, helping him brush off a chunk of broccoli. “Didn’t think you’d spin around so fast.”
Logan sighed, struggling to keep his frustration on lockdown so it wouldn’t flip to anger. “It’s all right. I got it. Just go.”
The packmate took off toward his table with a new plate, while Logan tried to brush off what he could. He stunk to high heaven. Like greasy chicken and garlic sauce. His wiped off his hands, used a bunch of napkins to dab the mess, then went to work remaking Veronica her late-night snack.
Thanks to the spill—and another few minutes trying to get away from an old woman who insisted he looked just like her nephew—Logan stepped off the elevator ten minutes later than he’d planned to.
He hit the floor nearly running. And stopped when a pair of boots sticking out from a foyer down the way caught his eye.
Carter.
He dropped the plates and charged down the hall, heart in his throat. Carter was unconscious, though there were no visible wounds. Logan peeled back his eyelids and checked his pulse.
“Veronica?” Logan hollered, then pushed open the door to the suite. “Veronica, are you in here?”
No answer.
The unmistakable scent of something zesty, or fiery Mexican food, stung his nose. It was the same smell he’d picked up when he met Veronica’s pastor friend, Patrick.
He’d been here.
But Pastor Patrick Bennett couldn’t have been a wolf—he didn’t give off the scent, first of all. Secondly, there were hundreds of wolves living in Seattle. Patrick had to have lived like a damned monk not to be recognized by someone at the wedding. Maybe anonymity had been his plan all along…
Logan chastised himself for not following his instincts. He didn’t like that guy from the second he met him.
Rage shook Logan’s bones and boiled the blood in his veins. His legs twitched with unbridled power.
Where would Patrick take her? His private suite? There had to be hundreds of condos and suites in the tower. How long would it take to track down Veronica’s scent? Ten? Twenty minutes? That’d be too late.
“Roof,” Carter mumbled from the floor.
Logan bent. “He took her to the roof?”
Nodding, Carter roused and got to his knees. “Sorry, man. No one expects a preacher to pull a fucking Taser out of his pocket.”
“What happened to the other guys?” Logan asked.
Carted swallowed hard. “Wrong group. They were on order from Alpha. They guard his daughter on the other side of the building.” He pointed down the hall. “Your guys were probably getting drinks before heading up.”
“I’ll call for help,” Logan said.
“No, I’ll get help.” Carter swallowed hard and brushed himself off. “You get the girl.”
“Damn right.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Veronica fought against the ropes tying her wrists together to no avail. Her arms were tied behind her back, and her shoulders hurt from the strain. She kicked out her feet, but they hit the legs of the chair. Patrick had tied her ankles too tightly to budge them free.
“Why are you doing this?” She swallowed down hot tears. “I don’t understand.”
Patrick squatted in front of her, his arms resting on his knees the way he used to do when they made campfires in his backyard and he’d help get her marshmallow the perfect shade of brown.
“I didn’t want things to happen this way, but you left me no choice.”
“What way?” She tugged on her wrists. “What are you talking about?”
“I cared about you.” His gaze was soft, and oddly sincere. “You and Leah were like sisters to me. I wanted good things for you, Veronica. I wanted to care for you and protect you.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“To make you remember…” He tapped his fist against his chin. “When you lost your parents, who was there for you?”
He’d called to express his condolences. They’d hung out a couple times. As friends. That had been it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Patrick—she did—it was just that they’d gone separate ways, were leading different lives. They didn’t fit the way they had before.
“I was there for you when you needed me. It made me happy to replace the family you lost.”
“You didn’t—” she began, but he shushed her.
“I never knew if you realized this,” he said, “but I was turned into a wolf our senior year in high school.”
“I didn’t know.” How could she have? They weren’t close then. They’d drifted into different circles. Where was Logan? Would he know to find her up here? “Please let me go, Patrick. Please.”
He didn’t seem to hear her. “I was at a party, passed out, and some drunken adolescent werewolf though it’d be funny to bite me. The transition wasn’t difficult and I actually liked the power and strength of my wolf form. But one thing always bothered me.”
Veronica frowned and tugged harder on her wrists. It’d been five minutes since they’d been up here. Maybe ten.
Patrick stood and brushed his hand down Veronica’s cheek. She flinched.
“That wolf took away the possibility of ever being close to you again. I wanted the same things as you and Leah. A home filled with laughter and love. A family. But neither of you would be with me as a wolf.”
He crouched at her side, his face inches away from hers. She couldn’t look at him, so she stared straight ahead, willing those elevator doors to open.
“I figured if I couldn’t share a human life with you,” he said, “I’d make you like me. I’d turn you both into wolves and we’d be together again.”
“What?” she screeched.
“Leah went first, and that was easy.” He chuckled, his fat cheeks scrunching beneath his eyes. “She didn’t see it coming.”
“You’re the one who attacked her?”
“No one suspected a pastor.” He winked, clearly proud of the work he’d done and how he’d gotten away with it. “No matter how much I hated what I had to do, the sacrifice had to be made. How else could we be a family again? That’s what you wanted, all you guys ever talked about. I was going to give that to you.”
“A family”—Veronica’s head went light—“with you?”
His expression shadowed over. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“We were never together that way!” She jerked the chair forward and back. “What would make you think that we would
“You and I were together before, we could’ve been together again.”
“We were
