Mate Set (22 page)

one of her captors. Von took a deep breath.

“We’re at our father’s house. He wants to know what the hell is going on and he

wants to talk to you. Let’s go, Mika.”

She didn’t budge. “I want to call my uncle.” She really wanted him to come get her.

She was afraid and didn’t know Elroy all that well. She reached for her cell phone but

Von was faster, his hand grabbing hers. He shook his head.

“Let’s go,” he repeated. He had an annoying way of doing that. “Don’t make me

carry you in there because I will.”

She was scared but nodded. The hold on her wrist eased and he released her. She

turned and before she could reach for the handle, the door opened. Rave stood outside

the car now, staring down at her, and she thought she saw pity on his face as she stared

up at him. He held out his hand to help her but she ignored it, getting out on her own.

Her hands trembled as she clutched her purse and walked for the front door. Rave

walked beside her and Von stayed behind them, close, as though they expected her to

try to bolt. She knew she couldn’t outrun them but at that moment she really wished

she could. The front door opened before they reached it and a black-haired woman who

stood about six feet tall frowned at them.

“Hello, Mother,” Rave sighed. “Father is expecting us.”

The woman sniffed and her lip curled as she glared at Mika. “That isn’t coming into

my house.”

A low growl rumbled from behind Mika, making her jump and twist her head to

stare at Von. He glared at his mother. “Move. This is pack business and you have no

right to interfere.”

Fury gripped the woman’s features but she spun away and stalked into the house.

Rave jerked his head, glancing down at Mika. “Walk.”

She barely glanced at the nice interior of the home. It was lavishly furnished with

deep earth tones, the only impression her mind registered before she was led down a

dim, long hallway that opened into a large room. There was a pool table in the center of

it and Pack Leader Elroy turned as they entered, a pool stick in one hand, a beer in the

other. His attention focused intently on Mika.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble for me tonight.”

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, not sure what to say.

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“Grady never asks for a damn thing so imagine my shock when he called here in a

panic an hour ago saying you were running and he needed us to move fast to try to find

you before you got too far out of our reach.” He laid the pool stick down on top of the

table, took a sip of his beer, and then shook his head as he set the bottle down. “If you

were going to get involved with one of my pack you should have realized that you need

to follow our rules. I understand you’re human but your uncle allowed you to know

about us so it was his responsibility to make sure you know our laws. Are you aware

that running from a male who marked you during mating season is against pack law?”

Oh shit
. She shook her head. “No one told me that.”

Dark eyes glittered, frightening her more. “They should have. Pack law is harsh.”

“I didn’t know,” she said softly.

“Were you told that Grady would hunt you if you ran and that he could go insane if

you did?”

She debated lying but then discarded that idea. “Yes.”

Elroy’s eyelids narrowed into slits. “So you were willing to have me put my own

damn son down? Is that what you’re telling me? Is this some damn game to you, Mika?

We’re talking about my son’s life and sanity.”

“He doesn’t want me.” She paused. “If he hadn’t had to mark me he never would

have touched me. I went looking for him tonight when he didn’t come home and found

a naked woman in his apartment who he’d called to come to his place.” Her chin lifted

and some of her fear eased. “Then I heard him threaten my life. It’s not a game to me

but I’m not going to stay put and be a sitting damn duck to a man I heard say he’s

willing to kill me because he wants someone else.”

The enraged look eased on the pack leader’s face. “That doesn’t make sense about

the other woman. You’re marked and it’s mating season. No other woman would

satisfy the needs he has right now but you.”

“Tell that to the redheaded, naked woman in his shower who told me he called her.

She said her name was Megan, his girlfriend.” She refused to cry in front of them so she

fought the urge. “I told him if he cheated on me while we were together that I was

leaving so he knew what would happen.”

Elroy sniffed the air and his face darkened with anger. His gaze slid to one of his

sons, standing next to her. “Where is Grady, Rave?”

“I assume he’s on his way here to get her.” The man shrugged his broad shoulders.

“That’s where I’d be if she were mine.”

“Am I the only one scenting her?” Von was staring at Mika. “She’s in a lot of pain.”

Elroy nodded. ”I’m aware. My son has some explaining to do.”

“Your son doesn’t want me. I wish he did, but I’m human. He’s got a problem with

that. Please just let me go. He wants a werewolf woman and he called her to be with

him.”

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A door slammed and Von stepped back as Rave also moved away from her, both of

them turning to stare down the hallway. Mika looked over her shoulder to see two men

walking side by side toward them. Both of them looked similar to Grady and she knew

these were his other two brothers. They stopped feet from her, two sets of dark brown

eyes locked on her.

“He tried to use another woman to get him through mating heat.” Elroy was pissed.

“No wonder he called us for help to find her. She,” Elroy glanced at Mika, “found the

other one in his apartment naked. She stated she told him she’d leave if he touched

someone else.”

The brother on the left, who had just entered the room and appeared to be the

oldest of the four, frowned, stared at Mika. “She’s human.”

“No shit,” Elroy spun away, walked to the pool table and leaned heavily against it

as he faced his sons again. “I guess he didn’t learn from my mistake of getting involved

with one of them.”

The brother watched his father and then his dark gaze zeroed in on Mika. “I’m

Anton.” He jerked his head at the man next to him. “He’s Braden.” He paused. “Why

did you run from my brother?”

“He doesn’t want me,” she said softly. “Trust me, my leaving is for the best. I’m

human, he’s got a big problem with that, and after he bit me he destroyed my bedroom

in a fit of rage. He called a woman to be with him after he left me at my house.” She

paused. “Then I overheard him say if I tried to claim him he was willing to kill me.

Please just let me go.”

“He bit you?” Anton sniffed loudly.

“It was an accident.” The men all looked at each other but no one said a word.

Frustration and anger had Mika on edge. She decided to try again. “Please just let me

go.”

A door slammed and Mika wanted to whimper when she saw Grady storm down

the hallway looking half wild, his hair messed up, clothing disheveled. The snarl he

uttered was enough to make her knees go weak. Rage made his eyes appear to be two

orbs of pure evil as he kept coming at her, never even glancing at his family, and a

louder snarl tore from him as he lunged for her.

Mika cried out when she saw claws swipe at her but Grady never got to touch her.

Rave jumped in Grady’s path, preventing him from reaching her. “Don’t,” he snarled.

“Move,” Grady snarled back. “Mine.”

“Calm,” Elroy was there instantly, standing next to Rave to block his son from

Mika. “You’re out of control.”

“Move,” Grady snarled, sounding even scarier.

Von suddenly grabbed Mika around her waist, lifting off her feet to hold against his

body as he backed away. Her purse dropped from her hands, hitting the floor hard. His

voice was soft as he spoke.

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“You running sent him over the damn edge. He’s not himself. He won’t mean to

hurt you but like this, he will.”

A howl of rage shattered the room and Mika watched, horrified, as Grady attacked

Rave, throwing his brother aside as easily as if he were a feather pillow. The big man

flew a few feet to crash to the floor and Grady tried to lunge again at Mika. Elroy

moved, grabbing him, and they struggled. Anton and Braden were in the mix in the

blink of an eye, each man grabbing Grady’s arms and hauling him away from their

father. Elroy roared out in rage, glaring at Grady.

“Control yourself.”

“Mine!” Grady’s face wasn’t quite human anymore as he snarled at his father,

struggling to break free from his brothers.

Elroy shook his head, backing up a step, and shot a look at Rave when the man got

to his feet. “Get the chains and the dart gun now. Move.”

“Fuck,” Von hissed. “Are you happy now, human? Look what you did to him. He’s

totally out of his damn mind because you ran and left him to go nuts. They are going to

have to chain him down and drug him to calm him now.”

Mika snapped. She was horrified, terrified, and tired of taking the damn blame. She

elbowed Von hard, hitting him square in a soft spot under his ribs, making him hiss out

in pain and drop her. She moved away from him and then looked at Grady. He was

fixated on her, those terrifying eyes of his never wavering, and he struggled, snarling

again, trying to reach her.

“Knock it off,” she yelled at Grady, moving closer to him. “I’m not yours.”

“Don’t provoke him,” Von ordered her, rubbing his ribs. “The drugs will calm him

down enough for you to be safe with him.”

Provoke him? All she’d wanted to do was leave town. This was Grady’s fault, not

hers. He was the damn jerk who kept breaking her heart. She glared at him when he

snarled at her again, fighting the hold his brothers had on him but unable to break free.

All her pain turned to anger and she encouraged it.

“Mika,” Grady snarled. “Come here. I need to hold you.”

“Fuck yourself,” she yelled at him. “That’s what you want from me, right? That’s all

you want. Why don’t you call Megan again?”

He snarled, tried to bite one of his brothers, and fought but they held him. Mika

inched closer, not caring what kind of danger she was in—too angry.

“I’m okay, by the way. Not that you give a damn since you left me bleeding and

scared in the spare bedroom while you tore my damn room up. Do you have any idea

what it’s going to cost me to fix that?” Hot tears filled her eyes and she didn’t care

anymore who she cried in front of. “I was worried so I went looking for you. How

stupid was that? I told you if you slept with someone else I’d take off. I am so damn

tired of you hurting me.”

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He stopped struggling, just watching her as he breathed heavily. Mika shook her

head at him.

“Then you have your brothers come after me.” She jerked a thumb toward Von.

“He told me you were hit by a damn truck to get me to leave the airport. I was worried

about you, terrified you were going to die, and I left with him to rush to your damn

side. Again, really stupid. I’m done, Grady. You’ve hurt me for the last damn time.”

He was breathing hard, his chest rising rapidly. “I didn’t call Megan to fuck her. I

owed it to her to tell her face-to-face that it was over.”

“In your shower?”

He growled low. “I didn’t know she’d let herself in.”

“And I heard you say if I tried to claim you that you’d kill me.”

He struggled to break free again but then stopped fighting. “I was talking about

Megan. I’d kill her if she tried to claim me. She could only do that if she challenged you

and killed you. I was protecting you when I said that.”

Some of her anger eased because she really wanted to believe him. “It doesn’t

matter, Grady. You never wanted me and it was an accident when you bit me. I just

want to leave and go back home.” She wiped at her tears. “I can’t and won’t take this

anymore.”

“You’re mine,” his voice was deep but he wasn’t growling or snarling anymore. “I

did bite you and you’re my mate.”

“I’m nothing to you, Grady. You’ve made that perfectly clear. I’m leaving.”

He went insane, howling, and hair started growing out on his arms. Elroy was

suddenly in front of his son, grabbing his face in his hands, his voice deep when he

spoke.

“Don’t. Hold your skin,” Elroy ordered him.

Grady stopped changing but he was hairy as hell, his mouth was extended, his nose

wider, and his eyes… Mika had to look away. They were narrower than they should

have been, shaped differently, and pure black. Those eyes scared her as growls tore

from him.

Rave rushed forward with chains draped over one muscular arm and, in shock,

Mika watched his hand rise. She saw a handgun and then she heard a soft noise.

Grady whimpered and her head jerked in his direction. A blue dart was sticking out

of his chest. She stared at it and her gaze flew to his face. He was staring at her, showing

sharp teeth, and then he slumped forward, his brothers having to hold his weight

totally, Elroy helping them by holding his son’s head.

“He’ll be out for about an hour. Let’s get him secured quickly.” Elroy was furious as

he turned his head, glaring at Mika.