“Then we need to get a move on, don’t we?” Ransom was not going to wait a second more. He’d waited long enough for Isabelle, and he was not going to let this chance get away from him.
The preparations for his plan took much longer than Ransom wanted, but he supposed as long as they did it before Isabelle had a chance to see her family, then everything should all fall into place. Surprisingly, Sabrina had thought it was a great idea and even pitched in to help with the cover story.
“Are you crazy?” Cross had said. “You can’t—”
“Call it hormones,” she had replied with a shrug. “But I think it’s romantic. Oh, don’t you look at me like that, Cross Jonasson. May I remind you of your actions? Of the things you did, without asking me what I thought?”
It seemed the irony of what Ransom was asking Cross to do hadn’t been lost on Sabrina either. “She got you there, buddy.”
Now, they were ready to put this plan in motion. However, he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive as they stood outside Isabelle’s door. He was about to rethink this whole thing when his wolf howled its approval of the plan, and Ransom decided to follow his animal’s instinct.
“Ready?” Cross asked.
He clutched the small vial in his hand tightly. “As I’ll ever be.”
Cross nodded and pressed up against the wall so Isabelle wouldn’t be able to see him. Using his free hand, Ransom rapped on the door. It was nearly dawn, so she would have had a couple of hours sleep. A few moments later, he heard the sound of footsteps pounding on the floor, then the door flew open.
“What’s going on? Is it the mages? Are they—” Isabelle’s eyebrows wrinkled. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you to leave.”
“I did,” he said. “But now I’m back.”
She crossed her arms under her breasts. “What do you want?” She tapped her foot impatiently when he didn’t answer right way. “Well?”
“I’m sorry, Isabelle, but I have to do this.”
“Do what?”
As Cross instructed, he opened the top of the vial and tossed the contents at her.
“What the—” Her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.
Quickly, he caught her and lifted her up into his arms. “How long will she be out?”
“If I estimated her metabolism rate correctly, she’ll be awake by noon.”
“That’s should be enough time.”
Cross huffed out a breath. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I’m still in trouble with the clan. I don’t think kidnapping the Alpha’s sister is going to help my cause.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured the hybrid. “Everything will go according to plan.” At least, he hoped so. Because he didn’t know what he’d do if it didn’t. A life without Isabelle and Evan wouldn’t be worth living.
Chapter Thirteen
Isabelle had never slept so well in her life. It was a dreamless and deep sleep. Evan didn’t even cry out for her, so he must have slept well, too.
Her lids, though, felt unusually heavy. But why would she want to get up? It was so nice and warm in this bed. Everything smelled amazing. Like rain and musk. And the flannel sheets were so soft and snuggly.
Flannel sheets?
She forced one eye open. The red, green, and black checkered pattern told her these were definitely flannel sheets. But she didn’t own any sheets like these. For one thing, the colors were hideous. Though she gave up designer clothes long ago, she still enjoyed her thousand thread count Egyptian cotton bedsheets.
It was also unusually warm like she had her own personal electric blanket. As sleep began to leave her and her brain slowly became less foggy, she realized that was not an electric blanket. Rather, it was a heavy, muscled arm over her waist.
“Argh!” She scrambled to her knees and whipped around. Ransom was in the unfamiliar bed with her, lying on his stomach. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced around at her surroundings.
Is this a … log cabin? The dark, masculine furniture, minimal décor, and the view of mountains from the large window on one wall told her she was definitely not inside her apartment in The Enclave. What the hell? The last thing she remembered after he left was going to sleep, waking up to someone banging on her door and—
“Wake up!” She whacked Ransom on the head, making him start and jump from the bed, eyes glowing.
“What the—who’s—” When his gaze landed on hers, his eyes returned to their normal green-gold color. “You’re up.”
“I’m up?” she said incredulously as she jumped off the bed. “That’s all you have to say?” Running her hands down her body, she felt relief knowing she was fully dressed in the pajamas she had slept in. He, however, was shirtless and was only wearing his boxer briefs. “You knocked me out using some potion, and now I’m—Evan!” Dread creeped in, mixed with anger. “Evan’s going to wake up, and I won’t be there—”
“Princess, relax.” He circled the bed and came to stand in front of her. “I wouldn’t leave Evan alone, he’s right here.”
“Where?” Examining the rest of the room, she did not find any trace of her son.
“I mean, here, in my house.”
“Your house?” she echoed. “What do you mean, your house?” Her sensitive ears perked up as she heard the distant sound of Evan’s cry when he woke up first thing in the morning. “And where is my son?”
“He’s in the other room,” he said. “C’mon.”
Ransom led her out of the bedroom and into the hallway. The cabin was much larger than she thought, initially thinking it had been one of those one room cabins she’d seen in movies. There was a long hallway outside, also done in the same rustic, masculine log cabin style, but they only went as far as the bedroom next door. It was smaller, but clean, thankfully, and she saw Evan’s crib in the corner by the window.
“Oh, baby,” she lifted him out of the crib and held him
