Jake considered this good news. A smile cracked the frown on his face. He could wait a few more hours. He didn’t want to but his friends were right.
Jake cleared his throat. “Thanks for helping me, Seth.” He done nothing but butt heads with the man since they met but he owed the man his life, literally.
“It’s cool.” Seth smiled wide, baring all his shiny white teeth. “Let’s just say you owe me.”
Jake didn’t like the sound of that and the look on his face must have conveyed his feelings on the issue because Holden started to laugh. Never one to hold a grudge Jake had to agree. He did in fact owe Seth a favor or something in the very least. The man save his life after his mate shot him. Jake hoped that one day he and his mate could look back on all this and laugh but they had a lot to work out before they got to that stage in their lives.
* * * *
“Wake up, sunshine.”
The familiar voice had Carl opening his eyes in time to see a fist plunging toward his face. He gasped in pain but the sound was drowned out by the continuous blows to his head and body.
“You thought you could leave me, did you?” Another blow to the side of his head. “Silly boy, you’re mine.”
Carl brought his arms up to shield his head but it only left the rest of his body open for his alpha’s abuse. The man hit and kicked him until Carl started to go in and out of consciousness. His body ached and his brain tried to regain focus.
Casper, his mind shouted. Need to protect your brother. Carl rolled to the side and felt around the bed for where his brother should have been but it was empty.
“Stop, please god, stop.” His brother’s fearful cry caused their alpha to stop kicking Carl to a bloody, broken mess. “I’ll go with you, just please stop hurting him.”
“Casper, my dear.” Carl could hear the heavy footfalls as the alpha walked across the room. He turned to watch. “You need to be punished for leaving like you did. Actions have consequences and you’ve been a very bad boy.”
“Tobias, leave him alone,” Carl managed to say. Blood filled his mouth from his busted lip. He swiped a hand over his mouth but it only smeared the bright-red substance across his face.
The floor vibrated under his head as he watched their alpha walk back toward him. He knelt down and whispered into Carl’s ear, “See this is what happens when you try to leave me. Do you know how hurt I was when I found out you had left?” Tobias spoke in a menacing tone. “Losing your brother is your punishment. I’m sure after you spend a few days alone you will make your way back home and I’ll be waiting for you.” The man kissed the side of his head and Carl tried to pull away.
“Anton.” The alpha said the name of his next-in-command and Carl didn’t have time to anticipate the blow. A boot connected with the side his head and his vision went black.
In the distance he could hear his brother’s cries as he begged to say goodbye to him but the alpha refused. The door banged shut and Carl lay there numb, unable to move a finger to help his brother. He began to gag on the coppery taste in his mouth.
Images of what they left behind ran through his mind like a bad movie. The beatings, the things they were forced to do. But Carl had gotten off lucky. It was only the alpha that was allowed to touch him, but Casper? He was a toy the alpha’s men passed between them.
Oh god I need to get to him. Carl tried again to will his body to move but it was useless. A tear leaked out of the corner of his swollen eye to mix with the blood drying on his face. This had been his entire fault. If he could only have loved Tobias none of this would have happened.
Chapter Five
At daybreak Jake was up and out of bed dressed and ready to leave before Seth and Holden had even woke up. Jake kept rousing them to hurry up as he followed behind them, trying to get them to move faster.
Earlier that morning he woke up in a cold sweat with a feeling of dread weighing down on him. He tried to blame it on a nightmare but he had a sinking suspicion that wasn’t it.
“Slow down,” Seth called out to him. “You’re going to fall and break your fool neck.”
Once they started out that morning Jake ran ahead and Seth and Holden could barely keep up. The ground was uneven and surrounded by trees of all sizes blocking his path. At times he felt like he was in a pinball machine dodging obstacles as he trudged through the woods.
Thirty minutes had passed when the rundown cabin came into view. Holden had raced up to catch him before Jake could reach the house.
“Maybe we should make our presence known,” Holden suggested. “Make some noise, call out our names. You know something like that so he doesn’t shoot at us.”
“Good call.” Jake took a deep breath to calm his thudding heart. “Hello. It’s me, Jake, from the other day.” He looked over to Holden who nodded his head in encouragement and he called out again. “Are you in there? Can we come inside?”
He waited but no answer followed his questions. The setting seemed to quiet. He glanced over at Seth who stood with eyes narrowed examining the house.
“Something’s not right.” Seth started toward the house.
“I agree.” Jake took off for the front door. He could hear Holden running along behind him. When he reached the cabin door he turned the knob. It was
