I was getting ready to climb into truck when I noticed something sticking out of the wiper on Delilah’s car. I didn’t remember seeing it when I looked at her car when we pulled up. I looked around, searching for who could have put it there, but I didn’t see anyone. Walking over I picked up the sealed white envelope. My name was scrawled across the front of it.
“Alex,” I looked up at him in shock. He walked over, eyes scanning the area as I had, and nodded for me to continue. I carefully slid my finger under the seal and pulled out the single sheet of paper. Something fluttered to the ground and Alex bent to pick it up as I read the note out loud.
“Zee,
First, I would like to introduce myself since I didn’t have a chance to that night in the bar. My name is Malcolm. I have a great deal of interest in you Zee. I have even more interest in your future mate, Alex Kallis. A born wolf and one with such an interesting family history. He’s exactly who I’ve been searching for. Pity you didn’t die that night we met, now you’ve been infected. Collateral damage I suppose. Much like your little sister will be. Delilah is alive if you were curious. She won’t live for long though. I have some interesting plans for her. I believe Silas does as well. I will make you a deal, Zee. I won’t kill her if your entire pack goes to the last motel Jarren saw Silas at. Don’t be expecting to see me, but I will know if you come. If you send Jarren out looking for her, we will slice her up piece by piece. Maybe I will mail you a finger or two. Don’t keep me waiting long.
- Malcolm”
I looked up at Alex. He was staring at what I could now see was a photo. He handed it to me and took the letter. I looked down at a picture of my sister. Delilah had a gash across the side of her head. Her lip was split and swollen. One of her eyes was already swelling and bruising. Her arms were pulled behind her attached, I knew, to the kitchen chair. She was in a pair of shorts and a tank top, and her feet were bare. Somehow, I doubted they had taken the time to dress her warmly before they took her.
“We have to hurry,” Alex practically shove me in the truck. On the drive back to the pack house he made calls, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was staring at the picture of Delilah. One thing that I noticed, over all the injuries, was Delilah’s eyes were full of fire. She was angry and she would fight. I knew Delilah, and she wasn’t going to take all of this quietly. I smiled. My sister was alive, my pack was mobilizing to find her, and I was going to see Malcolm dead for hurting my family.
Epilogue
Delilah
I felt like I was floating through a fog. I could tell there was a clearing and I reached for it. I immediately regretted my choice to fight for consciousness when I realized the past several hours or days were not a dream. I kept my eyes closed and tried to take stock of my injuries and surroundings.
My shoulders ached from my arms being wrenched behind my back and zip tied to the chair I was sitting in. I couldn't feel my hands anymore but the zip ties around my wrists caused me to cringe if I moved. I knew they were cutting into my skin and I tried to keep as still as possible. My ribcage couldn't expand fully in this position, but I was able to take shallow breaths.
My face was the worst of the pain. Fists and lips tended to not get along, and my split lip proved that quite well. The skin on my cheek was tight with dried blood from the cut I got when I was thrown into the coffee table at the apartment.
I tried to turn my focus onto my surroundings. The room was quiet in a wide-open kind of way. I knew I was in a building because of the way the wind outside sounded distant. My body shivered violently from the intense cold. My feet were flat on the floor, but they had been numb for I don't know how long. I heard the echo of footsteps coming towards me and I finally cracked my eyes open warily to see around me.
The floor and walls around me were concrete. That explained my cold toes. I was in a wooden chair in the center of a huge room. Huge concrete pillars jutted from floor to ceiling along the center of the room. I was between two of the pillars facing a large door that a man had just entered through. I noticed bits of trash and beer bottles tossed around, and I really hoped they belonged to some homeless dwellers that would be returning at any moment.
My only company at that moment was the man walking toward me. He had seemed so unassuming when I saw him at the bar, and he introduced himself as Malcolm. Now he had a dark smile on his lined face as he stalked towards me. He was bald, but it could have been by choice. He had a goatee that was salt and pepper in color. His eyes were blue, and at the bar they had seemed friendly. Right now, as he stopped in front of me they were icy and terrifying.
“Your sister was at your apartment,” he said as he looked down at me. “I imagine she was horrified
