Mated To The Devil (19 page)

“I want you both to listen to me. You’re on pack lands now. There is no one and nothing that can hurt you now. Do you hear me? We protect our own. I will protect you. What happened in the city with those men won’t happen here. I promise.”

“Promise?” Jacques fear, evident in the trembling lip he tried so hard to control, made her eyes prickle.

“I more than promise. I swear to you, as long as I have a breath in my body, I won’t allow either of you to come to harm.”

Mina knew Remy meant what he said, so why was it that his words sent a shiver down her spine? Why did she feel as if something heard his challenge and determined to answer it?

Chapter Seventeen

The weekend passed in a blur, a pleasant one spent as a family going on walks, checking out a movie, playing tag at the park. They also did things as a couple holding hands, cooking dinner, making love. The ugliness of her past faded into the background. This was her new reality. Her new life. And, oh, how she loved it.

On Monday, Jacques went to his first day of kindergarten at his new school with hardly a wave goodbye. Mina quietly sniffled as she stood watching, Remy’s solid arm around her shoulders. Her son had gone through so much lately and by all appearances, come out happier and stronger than ever.

Returning to an empty house because Pierre had already left for the sheriff’s office, she enjoyed a long kiss before Remy took off to work. Welcome to her first day as a stay-at-home mom. Alone, but refusing to sit idle, Mina put herself to work. Despite Remy’s admonitions to take it easy, she wasn’t a slacker. First she handled the boxes Dean had brought from her apartment. When Remy’s best friend had shown up with them on Saturday, her first impulse was to chastise Remy for his nerve in having her things packed and brought to his house. Then, it hit her. He truly meant it when he said he wanted them in his life. By bringing her the meager items she’d accumulated over the years, he’d made it clear where she and Jacques belonged: with him. How could she get mad at him for that?

Most of the stuff she left in boxes, intending to give to charity like her mismatched dishes and tattered paperbacks. Other items like clothing got put away while the photo albums stayed out on the coffee table. She knew Remy would enjoy seeing Jacques’ progression from baby to little boy, even as she expected they’d both feel the sadness and guilt for having missed out on those years together.

However, they’d both vowed to stop living in the past. What mattered now was today. After lunch and a phone call from Remy that made her smile, she tackled the housework with purpose. Laundry, dishes. She also tossed together the ingredients in a big pot for a slow-simmering stew. Until she found a job, the least she could do was make herself useful.

At midafternoon, Remy’s truck came to a dusty halt in front of the house. “Don’t panic,” were the first words out of his mouth when she skipped down the steps to meet him.

She skidded to a halt as she took in the serious look on his face. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“Jacques is missing.”

Her heart stalled. “What do you mean he’s missing? He went to school this morning. How could he be missing?” She shouted the last bit as fear rushed through her with tidal force.

“The school’s not too sure. One minute he was on the playground with the other kids. The next, he was gone.”

“He ran away?” No. Not her baby boy. He wouldn’t do that.

“Possibly. A few of the children claimed they saw an older man hanging around. Before a teacher could investigate, the stranger was gone. Not long after that, when the bell rang they realized Jacques was gone, too.”

Mina clasped a hand to her mouth and shook her head, unable to stem the tears. “No. No. No. This can’t be happening.”

“Calm down, baby. Wherever he is, I’ll get him back.”

But she couldn’t calm down. Wouldn’t. She flew at him, her fists hitting him in the chest. “You promised we were safe. You said you’d protect us.” Unfair accusations given they didn’t know what happened yet, but she couldn’t help herself, not with her little boy missing.

“And I failed.” The abject misery in those three softly spoken words stung, and she sobbed as she sagged against him.

“Oh, God, Remy. What are we going to do?”

“Find him of course. My dad and some of the others are already searching. I just came here to warn you about what’s happened and to make sure you were still safe.”

“You think someone took him?” She raised a tear-stained face to look at him.

“I don’t just think. I know. I tracked his scent. He left school property to talk to someone and got in their car.”

“Jacques wouldn’t go off with a stranger.”

“There’s no sign of a struggle. But the scent also wasn’t one I recognized. You’re sure you didn’t call or tell anyone where we you were living?”

“Of course not. Besides, who would I tell? I haven’t spoken to anyone since we moved out here.”

“I’ve got a vague description of the abductor. An older white guy with longish gray hair on the sides, balding on top, and glasses.”

“That sounds like Dr. Moireau, but that’s impossible. I never spoke to him after he did those tests on Jacques.”

Remy’s lips thinned. “Impossible or not, that’s the description of the stranger the kids spotted lurking.”

A doctor who suspected their secret. She didn’t need anyone to help her draw conclusions. A white haze descended over her eyes at that point, and Mina’s legs folded. She barely registered the strong arms that caught her as the full horror of the situation slammed into her. The beautiful dream she’d lived had just come to a terrifying, screeching halt. She should have known better than to think God had forgiven her sin.

Chapter Eighteen

Being little didn’t mean Jacques lacked intelligence, something the icky doctor didn’t count on. Jacques knew he’d done a stupid thing in going over to talk to the doctor when he’d seen him hovering outside his new school’s play yard. But that didn’t stop him from marching over to talk to him. The man was bad. Jacques knew it. His doggie knew it. And bad meant his mama might get hurt, and maybe his new dada, too. Jacques also knew if his father were here, he wouldn’t let the yucky smelling doctor get away. He peeked around for a teacher, but the ones on duty had their backs turned as they dealt with other children. Still, Jacques was in plain sight and other kids milled around. How dangerous could it be?

With his father’s promise he’d never come to harm hugging him tight, he strutted with confidence over to the gesturing man—ignoring the little voice that told him he should run to his teacher instead.

The white-haired doctor smiled, but his eyes remained cold.

Sucking in a breath Jacques boldly said, with only the slightest quaver, “Go away.”

“Now Jacques, is that any way to speak to a grown-up?” the doctor chided.

It wasn’t, and his mother’s lessons on manners almost made him scuff his foot in the dirt, but Jacques refused to let the man’s words cow him. This close to the older man, the smell of
wrongness
truly overpowered. Almost sickly, the odor wafted from the doctor only thinly veiled by a yucky cologne. He almost took a step back, but the shouts and ribaldry behind him made him hold his ground.
We’re in the open. I’m safe
. He puffed up his chest, his inner wolf giving him additional courage. “You’re not supposed to be here. Go away, or I’m gonna tell teacher.”

“You don’t want to do that, Jacques. I don’t like tattle tales. I’d hate to have to punish your mother for something you did.”

His stomach tightened into a ball. “Don’t hurt my mama.”

“I won’t, if you do as I say. Get in the car.”

His mother’s preaching words cemented his feet:
Never, ever get in a car with a stranger or someone I haven’t approved.
Sounded like great advice right about now. “No.”

“Get in the car right now or I’m going to drive away with your mother and you’ll never see her again.”

“You don’t have her.”

“Oh, yes, I do. She’s in the back. And if you don’t come with me, you’ll never see her again.”

The doctor reached back and slid open a rear door. Without even thinking, fear for his mama saw Jacques diving into the van, searching for his mother. Only, she wasn’t there. Not a scent or trace.

Tricked!

The door slid shut and clicked before he could turn around and scamper back out. Against the window he pounded, his tiny fists useless against the glass. Tugging the handle accomplished nothing. It didn’t budge no matter how he strained.

A scary heartbeat later, the vehicle lurched into motion, sending Jacques tumbling onto a seat. He scrambled to his knees on the padded cushion and peered out the window as the landscape flew by. He pounded on the glass.

“Help me!” Every inch the little boy now, he screamed for aid, regretting his foolishness.

“Stop that right now,” the doctor yelled.

“No!”

Tires squealing, the minivan took a corner too fast and sent Jacques tumbling yet again. However, it didn’t cause any harm and Jacques was soon back to smashing at the window, his small fists not even cracking the glass. How he wished he were bigger. Maybe he should have eaten all those vegetables like his mother told him to, perhaps then he would have had the size needed to make a difference.

“I order you to stop it, or so help me God . . . ” The doctor threatened.

But Jacques didn’t care. “No! Help! Help me!” But no one heard him as the doctor drove through streets barren of traffic and housing. What Jacques once found pretty and liberating, all the trees and open spaces now worked against him as the doctor took him farther and farther from his school and family. Jacques prayed like his mama taught him. Prayed for his grandpa’s police car to come sirens blaring to the rescue. For his dada to zoom up behind them and rescue him from the bad man. However, no one answered his prayers. He was on his own. But not done fighting.

Jacques needed to get the van to stop. Turning his head, it took him only a moment to come to a decision. He leapt onto the back of the driver seat, grabbing the wispy hair growing from the sides of the doctor’s head. The man let out a yell and the vehicle swerved, dislodging Jacques, who flew across the van and hit the side with a hard thump.

“You little fucking brat,” cursed the doctor. “Good thing I brought something to shut you up.”

The vehicle skidded to a halt, sending Jacques tumbling once more, the smack of his forehead against the front seat stunning him. The side panel slid open and despite the throb in his head, Jacques noted the doctor coming at him, a needle in one hand.
I hate needles.

Fear. Anger. Fear. Emotions warred inside him, but strongest of all was his will to survive. And while a little boy might not be a match for a grown man intent on harm, Jacques was more than a little boy.
Help me,
he asked the presence in his mind.
Save us.

With a snarl, the furry friend in his head rushed to his rescue. Jacques barely had time to suck in a breath before he was shoved inside his own body as his wolf took over. There was no pain, just an odd twisting sensation, just like his dada said.

And then he was a wolf.

Teeth snapped at the blue-veined hand that sought to grab his nape.
My teeth!
Again he/his wolf lunged, and he scored a gash along a forearm even as a prick entered his side.
Ouch!
He hated shots.

Snarling, he bit again, but this time he didn’t miss and the hand holding his scruff loosened enough he slipped free. Darting at the daylight he could see, he squeezed out of the van and hit the gravel lining the road on four feet.

No time to ogle that strange sight. Survival was what he needed to concentrate on. His wolf mind, albeit fuzzy around the edges, still retained enough of his human consciousness to know he needed to choose a direction in which to flee: up the road or into the woods? A whine escaped him as he tried to decide what to do. He waited too long.

Instinct made him duck as a hand swiped at him and missed. Off he flew, four legs pumping into the shadowy haven of the forest. He needed to find somewhere to hide. Somewhere safe until his mother or father came to find him.

And they will come.
Of that he held no doubt, because they loved him. Jacques clung to that thought as he ran and stumbled, fear fighting the drugs that wanted him to sleep, a fear heightened by the cursing doctor following behind. He ran until he could no longer deny the drug pumping through his system and hoped he’d hidden well enough.

Then, before blackness took him, he prayed.
Help me, Mama. Help me, Dada.

Chapter Nineteen

Remy and his wolf fought for supremacy. A part of him, the feral part, wanted to hunt for his pup, track the one who’d taken him and tear him apart. Hear him scream. Hurt him for what he’d done to his mate and son.

But the man, who held on by the thinnest of threads, knew his woman needed him. A sobbing mess, she hiccupped at the kitchen table, her face red and blotchy. How could he leave her like this? Even with the women who’d arrived to keep vigil with her, it seemed beyond cruel to let her sit and wait alone. He knew he couldn’t do it. Why should he expect her to? The chances of Jacques making it here on his own were slim to none.

“Let’s go.”

“Go where?” she sniffled.

“Looking for our son.”

“I th-thought it was best to stay here in case he got away?”

“Fuck that. I can’t sit here and wait, and neither can you. We need to be doing something. If he shows up, then that means he’s safe and they’ll call us. Meanwhile, we could join the search party. They can’t have gone too far.”

Shoulders straightening, Mina stood and swiped at her wet face. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Remy held out his hand, and without hesitation, she slid her fingers into it. “We’ll find him, baby.” They had to. Anything else didn’t bear thought.

“I wish I could be so sure.”

“Be sure.” Because he wasn’t about to lose his family. And he had a promise to keep.
I’m sorry, Jacques. You should have been safe.
But who could have expected such a brazen attack? To boldly drive up in daylight and kidnap his son? Only a madman would dare such a thing.
Or a really sick bastard.