Cat Scratch Fever (16 page)

Yeah, the world was an insane place.

Grinning to himself, he tugged on his suit jacket and stepped from the room. The clock on his nightstand confirmed that it was almost nine thirty. Thank Christ they were doing an early ceremony. No way could he survive waiting even another hour to pledge the rest of his life to Lilly.

He just hoped like hell that a good night’s sleep had banished her fears and concerns about their future.

It’d about killed him to give her the space she’d needed yesterday, but he’d understood the necessity for it. Still, staying away from his mate when he’d ached to ease her worries and prove to her that he’d remain by her side, no matter what, had been one of the toughest things he’d ever forced himself to do.

Well, after today he’d never leave her side again.

With that affirmation burning in his gut, he snatched his keys from the kitchen island and headed outside to his pickup. After scraping the fresh layer of snow from the windshield, he hopped inside the cab and drove in the direction of Lilly’s cabin.

Bafflement and consternation battled for foremost supremacy as he stared at the empty spot where her SUV was usually parked. Had she already left for the ceremony site?

Deliberately ignoring the faint stirrings of doubt creeping in, he swung out of her driveway. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of the Bowl ’N’ Brew. Judging from the amount of vehicles congesting the lot, the majority of his pack and a few other invited wedding guests had already arrived. He didn’t spot Lilly’s SUV. The niggle of worry worming through his insides intensified a fraction. Deliberately tuning out the sensation, he climbed from his truck and strode toward the bowling alley. Inside the building, he was greeted by boisterous catcalls and bone-crushing hugs from friends and relatives.

He spied Shane sidling toward him, a grin planted on his mug. “Lookie here, it’s the man of the hour.”

Dante bumped fists with his cousin, but his gaze continued to comb the growing crowd. “Any chance you’ve seen Lilly?”

Shane thumped him on the back. “Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see your bride before the deed is done?”

“You know I don’t believe in that superstitious bullshit.”

Shane chuckled. “Sorry, can’t say I’ve seen her. But I only got here a few minutes ago myself.”

“I’m sure she’s on her way.” Dante didn’t realize how desperate he’d sounded until he caught Shane’s knowing look. He fought back a scowl. “She will.”

“Yeah, I don’t doubt it.”

Dante abandoned his cousin’s side and made his way through the sea of guests, stopping occasionally to shake a proffered hand or accept yet another hug or kiss. By the time he made it to the far end of the bowling alley where the ceremony would be held, his previously stalwart nerves had begun jumping ship.

He glanced at the enormous digital clock centered on the nearby wall. Where the hell was Lilly? She should have been here by now.

“Dante!”

He swung at the sound of Kinsey Prescott’s frazzled voice. He spotted her and Chloe weaving their way through the throng. The tension uncoiled from his gut. With everything on his mind lately, he’d forgotten that part of the Prescott clan had decided to make the trip up north. No doubt that explained where Lilly had been.

Chloe made it to his side before Kinsey. Tears of happiness glistening in her eyes, she threw her arms around him and squeezed. The woman was deceptively strong for such a little thing.

Kinsey cleared her throat. “Easy, Mom, you don’t want to kill Dante with hugs before he’s even been declared your son-in-law.”

Sniffling, Chloe eased her grip. “Oh phooey. He’s a strapping boy. He can take it.”

Dante resisted the urge to check his ribs for bruises. Chloe patted his arm. “Now where is that daughter of mine? I intend to give her a proper hug before Kinsey and I walk her down the aisle.”

He frowned. “I thought Lilly was with you.”

“No, we just got into town two minutes ago.” Kinsey grimaced. “The roads were so bad last night, we opted to stay in Gaylord rather than risk ending up in a ditch.”

His festering doubts returned to the forefront. “So you haven’t seen Lilly at all this morning?”

Kinsey and Chloe both shook their heads. Before Dante could say anything more, his uncle Wayne approached their small gathering. After Dante made the introductions and explained that Wayne would be performing the ceremony, his uncle clamped a meaty fist on Dante’s shoulder. “You want me to start rounding up this crowd so we can get the show on the road?”

Shoving his brewing worries to the back of his mind, Dante nodded. As he watched his uncle amble off, he tried not to focus on the disturbing revelation that the most important person of all had yet to make an appearance.

Chapter Sixteen

Lilly shivered and blinked against the snowflakes crusted on her eyelashes. She’d never been more cold and miserable in her life. If not for her heat cycle—which had intermittently warmed her blood off and on throughout the endless night—she probably would have frozen to death long before now. But as it was, even those little bursts of sluggish heat were coming less frequently.

It would only be a matter of time before Anna’s dire prediction of the cold killing her came to fruition.

She wanted to scream and cry at the bleak emptiness of that thought, but she didn’t possess enough energy to do either. She peered dismally at the fat snow clouds overhead. What time was it? Surely Dante would have noted her absence by now. Had he begun looking for her? For all she knew, maybe he thought she’d gotten cold feet. God, that was plenty ironic, considering they were currently blocks of ice. Regardless, thanks to her behavior yesterday, she’d given him lots of reason to believe she’d jilt him at the altar.

Then again, if that didn’t seal her fate, there was always the possibility that Anna’s nefarious plan to drive the Escape into the nearby river worked.

Lilly mentally conjured the image of Kinsey and Chloe clinging to each other as they mourned the loss of Lilly. A painful ache settled in her heart. It doubled in size as she pictured Dante’s grief-stricken face. She wasn’t sure what hurt more—the notion that he’d believe she’d ran out on him, or him thinking that she’d drowned.

How much more devastating and painful would it be losing your mate? Wouldn’t the intimate bond they’d established make it a thousand times worse to bear? If she received news that Dante was dead, how would she feel?

The cramp vising her chest was all the answer she needed. She choked back a sob. A rustling noise sounded to the right of her. Muscles too numb to tense, she jerked her focus in that direction. A tree squirrel darted from the underbrush and stared at her before dashing off. Contradicting emotions warred inside Lilly. A part of her was grateful that it hadn’t been a predator looking for a meal bigger than a stashed nut, but for one bittersweet moment, she’d held on to the hope that it might be Dante.

Of course it wouldn’t be him. Other than Anna, no one knew she was out here. More than likely they’d never discover the truth of what had happened to her.

A fresh surge of anguish heated her blood, temporarily banishing a fraction of the chills racking her body. The brief reprieve also managed to fire up her determination to find a way out of her predicament. Although she’d failed during the countless times she’d struggled to escape her bindings during the night, she renewed her efforts to wiggle her wrists enough to loosen the bungees securing them to the tree branch. They wouldn’t budge. An exhausted wave of defeat threatened to swamp her, but she beat it off before it could suck her under. Closing her eyes, she concentrated all of her energy on shifting into her lynx form. Her body stubbornly refused to cooperate. The drugs Anna had given her must still be lurking in her system.

Refusing to bow to the mocking voice of fate, she gathered her wits into a relative semblance of order. There had to be a way to free herself. Glancing upward, she inspected the branch her arms were secured to. Maybe the key wasn’t freeing her wrists from the bungees, but somehow getting the branch to snap. It looked thick and sturdy, but apply enough of her dead weight to the task, and surely it would crack. Yeah, it was a long shot, but it was better than doing nothing and waiting here to die.

Dropping her focus, she eyed the strap bound just below her knees. That was probably the easier of the bindings to work on. She wiggled her legs, scissoring them as much as the nylon cord would allow. For several agonizing and painstaking minutes, she repeated her tiny, awkward motions until she felt a noticeable give in the strap. The small victory sent a thrill of victory shooting through her trembling limbs.

Gathering every ounce of her strength, she pulled away from the tree trunk and let her body slump forward. Now that the lower strap wasn’t holding her entirely, there was nothing to protect her muscles from bearing the brunt of her weight. They screamed in protest at the additional pain being inflicted on them. Desperately blocking out the agony, she set her chattering teeth and wrenched harder until she was certain her arms were seconds away from being torn from their sockets.

A pathetic, blubbery sob escaped her just as an unmistakable crack snapped overhead. At first she thought it might be her bones producing the sound, but suddenly the branch securing her right wrist broke with an audible groan. Dazed and disbelieving, it took her a moment to realize she was now partially free. Her brain and limbs impotently sluggish, she wrestled her arm from the broken section of branch before reaching behind her to fumble with her still-trapped wrist. Loosening the bungee one-handed was no easy feat, but eventually she pried the hooks apart. Weak and limp, she fell forward into the snow.

Gasping and shaking, she fought to keep unconsciousness at bay. She slowly straightened so she could work on the remaining strap. Her fingers could barely move, but somehow she managed to inch the binding down until it slackened. She struggled out of her boots, the loss of their bulkiness making it easier to slip out of the strap’s tenacious hold.

After pulling her shoes back on, she collapsed into the snow. The desire to curl into a ball and sleep was overwhelming. Digging deep for her last reserve of energy, she crawled onto her knees. Getting any farther than that proved impossible, so she continued to drag herself onward that way.

She knew from yesterday’s drive that she was miles away from help, or signs of civilization, for that matter. Making to the nearest used road could take her hours.

Hell, days at this rate.

Refusing to cow to defeat after she’d come this far, she shuffled forward. The ground beneath her suddenly gave way. She scrambled for a hold as she fell through the loose snow and dirt before landing on her ass with a jarring thump. Half buried beneath the avalanche of snow, she tried to get her bearings. From the look of things, she’d fallen into a sinkhole, or maybe an abandoned animal’s den. She attempted to wiggle loose of the snow and dirt, but both refused to release her from their clutches.

Despite her best efforts to fend them off, tears of anguish and frustration leaked down her cheeks. One way or another, fate seemed determined to make her die in this lonely wilderness.

Bitterness and regret cramping her heart, she rested her face against the cold pillow of snow. Dante’s beloved face was the last image she clung to before unconsciousness claimed her.

Dante ignored the murmurs of speculation spreading like wildfire through the congregation seated in front of him. His calm had abandoned him over an hour ago, but he refused to show it to anyone.

Wayne cleared his throat softly. “How much longer do you want to wait?”

Dante opened his mouth but quickly snapped it shut. This was ridiculous. He wasn’t so boneheaded that he couldn’t see the writing on the wall.

Lilly wasn’t coming. His mate had left him high and dry.

A sharp spike of pain slammed through his chest. Shit, he should have listened to Shane. His cousin had warned him he’d only end up sinking in the mire of his own heartache. Unable to meet his uncle’s most likely sympathetic gaze, Dante loosened his tie and wrenched it from his neck. He raised his voice to ensure he’d be heard by everyone in the room. “I appreciate you all coming out today. Just so this isn’t a complete waste of your time, the beer is still on the house.”

Tuning out the cacophony of voices surrounding him, he strode toward the exit. Once outside, he dragged in a deep breath and willed the chaos of emotions twisting his heart to lessen. The door opened behind him, and the boisterous noise leaked from the building, disturbing the quiet solitude. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, he headed in the direction of his truck.

“Dante, wait,” Kinsey called out.

The last person he wanted to converse with was Lilly’s sister, but Kinsey’s persistence matched Lilly’s as she tailed him to his vehicle.

Hell, too bad Lilly’s stubborn doggedness hadn’t extended to making a go of their relationship. “There’s nothing for us to say to each other, Kinsey.”

“Yes, there is. I know, Lilly. There’s no way she would have willingly not shown up today.”

He offered Kinsey a wry look. “Unless she’s invisible and mute, I’m pretty damn sure I didn’t see her anywhere in there.”

“I know what it looks like, but I swear to you that she loves you. She confessed as much to me on the phone yesterday.”

Kinsey’s admission released a fraction of the tension constricting his heart. Until cold, harsh reality came rushing back to the forefront. “Apparently she doesn’t love me enough.” Before she could say anything more, he climbed into his truck and banged the door shut. Gunning the engine, he roared out of the lot.

A stiff drink sounded mighty damn fine at the moment. Thankfully he had a pint of whiskey at home perfect for the occasion. Less than fifteen minutes later, he tore down the road leading to Morgan’s Ridge. He barreled past Lilly’s cabin but got no farther than thirty yards before he stomped on the brake. Fishtailing in the snow, he slammed the gears in reverse and hauled ass back to her driveway.