Mating Games (13 page)

Once again, he flattened himself against the wall, then peered around the edge. Just as quickly, he moved back and pressed himself back against the wall, only this time, he covered his mouth with his hand to keep from crying out.

Sebastian, Alastar, Zac, and Aiden all knelt on the living room floor, their arms crossed behind their heads. Dobry counted four heavily armed men surrounding them. The man who scared him the most, Alpha Rodrick, paced back and forth between the fireplace and Dobry’s family. Sebastian seemed to be glaring at one particular goon.

Dobry motioned for Matt to go to the pantry and followed after him. The moment he closed the pantry door, he heaved a huge sigh, closed his eyes, and leaned back against one of the pantry shelves. He didn’t know how in the hell they were going to get out of this mess.

“What?” Matt whispered. Dobry opened his eyes to look at the man. Matt looked anxious, desperate, his eyes wide and the corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown. “What did you see?”

“It’s Alpha Rodrick,” Dobry said. “He has the guys.”

“Which ones?”

Dobry swallowed, his heart aching. “All of them.”

* * * *

Alastar fumed as he watched Alpha Rodrick pace in front of the fireplace. The man was a complete ass, but apparently, he was a smart ass. He’d been able to capture him, Sebastian, Zac, and Aiden. Alastar just hoped that Dobry and Matt got away.

He was still stunned at how easily Alpha Rodrick had captured them. One minute they were all laughing and walking into the house.

The next thing Alastar knew, armed men jumped out of every corner of the house and attacked them.

Alastar was all ready to attack when Alpha Rodrick made it clear that he held Dobry and Matt prisoner in another room. After that, all four men had given up without a fight. What else could they do?

It wasn’t until they were kneeling on the floor in the living room, their arms crossed behind their heads, that Alpha Rodrick and his armed goons started laughing and filled them in on the truth.

Alastar knew that Sebastian, Zac, and Aiden felt his relief when they learned that Alpha Rodrick didn’t have their little mates. He just wished he knew where they were. He hoped it was a long ways from here, but he seriously doubted it.

Alastar had seen the dough rising in the kitchen when he walked in. He knew his mate was close by. He even thought for a moment that he smelled him, but then the scent of cinnamon filled the room, overriding anything else he might have scented.

“You don’t know how much pleasure this brings me,” Alpha Rodrick said as he gazed down at all four of them. He reached down and grabbed a large handful of Sebastian’s hair and yanked his head back. “Not only do I get my little pet back, but I get a Delta as well.

I’m a very lucky boy.”

Sebastian pulled his hair away, yanking his head back from the Alpha. “You can go fuck yourself,” he growled. “You’re never going to get your hands on Dobry.”

“Oh, but I will,” the Alpha said as he wiggled his fingers to get the loose hair that had come out of Sebastian’s head when he pulled away off his hand. “My little pet will come running the moment he learns that I have you. That’s the wonderful thing about being mated.

He won’t be able to stay away from you.”

“Dobry is a human.” Alastar smirked. “He doesn’t have the same bond that we do. After what you did to him, he couldn’t care less what happens to us. He’ll head for the hills as fast as he can run.”

The cold laugh that Alpha Rodrick let out sent a chill down Alastar’s spine. He knew he should have taken the guy out when he had the chance. The man didn’t need to live, and Alastar would take great delight in fixing that.

“Dobry can be a lot of…well, he can be entertaining, but he was getting kind of stale. He didn’t put up as much fight toward the end. I think this new little mate to your friends here would make a suitable replacement.”

Alastar should have warned Zac and Aiden what kind of man Alpha Rodrick was. He liked to see people react to his words. He regretted that when he saw the two men struggle and start to fight, only to be hit over the heads by the butts of the guns Alpha Rodrick’s goons held.

Both men fell forward onto the floor, grabbing for their heads as they grunted loudly. Alastar tried to hold his anger under control when he saw the blood on Zac and Aiden’s heads as they sat back up.

Alpha Rodrick would pay for that as well as everything else he had done.

“And as a wonderful bonus,” the Alpha said as he stroked his finger down first Zac’s face, then Sebastian’s. “I have two Deltas in my care, instead of just one.” Alpha Rodrick laughed viciously. “Just think, boys, we now have two men who can sneak into any coven, pack, or compound without being seen.”

Alastar suddenly knew Alpha Rodrick’s game, and it made his stomach roll with a fear he hadn’t felt in years. “You knew,” he whispered. “How did you know?”

The Alpha laughed again. “Oh, I have my ways.” He wagged a finger at Alastar. “I’m just surprised you caught on to my little plan so quickly. But then, you always were a smart one, Alastar. I’ve always liked that about you.”

“What in the hell is he talking about, Alastar?” Sebastian hissed.

“Yes, Alastar,” Alpha Rodrick snickered, “tell your dear mate what I’m talking about.”

“Alpha Rodrick didn’t take Dobry to be his pet, not for the long term. That was just a bonus for him. He needed Dobry because he’s your mate,” Alastar began. “I thought he planned to capture my coven leader, but what he really wanted was me. He never had any intention of kidnapping Damian.”

“Why?”

Alastar could hear the confusion in his mate’s voice. It was almost overridden by the anxiety. He detested telling Sebastian the conclusion he had come to concerning Alpha Rodrick. Sebastian was going to be devastated.

“The same reason he let it be known that he held a human,”

Alastar finally answered. “He wanted a Delta to come to the rescue.

He wanted
you
to come to Dobry’s rescue. Somehow, he knew that Dobry and I were your mates.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Alastar?” Sebastian gritted through his teeth. Alastar could tell that his mate was starting to get the idea. “I didn’t even know about you two until I smelled you.”

“He knew who we were, Sebastian, and he wanted us for that very reason,” Alastar said as he looked Sebastian in the eyes and saw the dawning of horror in his face. “He needs Dobry and me as leverage to keep you in line so you’ll work for him and do all the dirty little deeds he wants done. If you don’t, he’ll kill us.”

Dobry leaned back against the kitchen wall and took a deep breath. His mind reeled with what he was hearing. Every degrading little thing that Alpha Rodrick and his Betas did to him had just been a bonus? They just wanted him to keep Sebastian in line?

He had no idea how Alpha Rodrick even knew who he was. That was a mystery to be solved another time. Right now, Dobry’s main concern was rescuing his and Matt’s mates. They could deal with everything else later.

Dobry motioned to Matt, and they both headed to the kitchen counter and the nice display of cutting knives in the knife holder.

Dobry took three, one for each hand and a third that he wrapped in a washrag and shoved in the back of his pants.

“You go around to the front door,” he directed Matt. “Make some sort of noise, a diversion, then get the hell out of there. I’ll wait here until I hear you, then move in. Maybe you can come in through a bedroom window or something? Save my ass if this goes tits up.”

Matt nodded and hurried out the patio doors. Dobry watched him until the man disappeared from sight and then walked over to the edge of the kitchen archway. His heart pounded as he pressed himself against the wall and waited for Matt’s diversion.

It seemed like forever before Dobry heard a loud clank from the other side of the house and then the doorbell rang. He peered around the corner just in time to see two of the four armed men head toward the front door. That left two armed men and Alpha Rodrick.

Dobry had no idea what he was doing as he scooted around the corner into the living room. He gripped the knives tightly in his hands. The blades pointed down his arms, the sharp edges out. He held them slightly behind his body as he crept across the room.

Just as he reached the edge of the living room couch, Sebastian looked up and saw him. The man’s face paled considerably. He looked terrified. Dobry knew how he felt. His heart thudded so fast in his chest he was sure everyone could hear it.

No, Dobry!
Sebastian shouted into his mind.
Go back, hide. Don’t
let Alpha Rodrick see you. Please.

Dobry shook his head.
I can’t leave you here, Sebastian, you know
that
, he sent back to him silently.

Shit!
Sebastian snapped just before he jumped to his feet and raced toward Alpha Rodrick.

Dobry was momentarily startled by Sebastian’s speed when he saw the man shift in mid-leap. One moment Sebastian was a man jumping through the air, and the next moment, he was a huge werewolf sinking his teeth into the arm of Alpha Rodrick.

The Alpha shouted, and all hell broke out. People started shouting, growling, shifting, and fighting. Dobry swiped the knives in his hands at the nearest goon to him. One blade connected, cutting a strip across the man’s stomach. The other caught nothing but air.

Before Dobry could swing again, the man jumped at him. They both crashed to the floor. Pain exploded through Dobry as the goon landed on top of him. The air rushed from his lungs. Dobry lay there stunned for a moment. It was just long enough for the man to get the knives out of his hands and hold one of them against Dobry’s throat.

Dobry swallowed, then quickly wished he hadn’t when he felt the blade cut into his throat. He tried not to swallow again and looked up into the deep blue eyes of the man holding him down to the floor.

“That was really stupid,” the man snarled down at him. Dobry’s eyes widened when the man’s snarl turned into a grin. “But pretty damn ballsy for a human.”

“Wha—” Dobry started to ask when the man suddenly rolled to his feet in one motion and held out his hand to Dobry.

“Come on, human, you need to get out of here while we finish this,” the man said. When Dobry just stared up at him, not taking his hand, he flipped the handle of one of the knives around and held it out to Dobry. “Does this make you feel better?”

Dobry nodded slowly and took the knife. He climbed to his feet, keeping his eyes on the stranger just in case. He didn’t know what the man’s game was, but Dobry didn’t trust him. The man just grinned at him and then turned to jump back into the fray.

Dobry stared after him for a moment, then looked down at the knife in his hand. The man had surprised him. Not only had he not hurt Dobry, but he’d given one of the knives back. Dobry suddenly thought that maybe the man wasn’t on Alpha Rodrick’s side, especially when he saw the man attack one of the other goons.

Before Dobry could make sense of what he saw, he heard a loud crash from the other side of the room. He turned to see Alpha Rodrick trying to escape out of one of the living room windows. The loud crash Dobry heard was a small stool going through the window glass.

Dobry would have thought that the Alpha would go through the front door or the kitchen, but a quick look in both directions showed that they were blocked by fighting. The window was Alpha Rodrick’s only escape.

After everything that had been done to him and the things that Alpha Rodrick planned to do, Dobry wasn’t about to let the man escape. He deserved to pay for what he did. Not knowing what else to do, Dobry ran across the room and stabbed at the Alpha’s legs as the man started to climb through the window. A loud, agonized cry was his reward.

Dobry stabbed again and again. He felt his hands slick with blood, his fingers cramping with the ferocity of his movements. The sounds of fighting behind him faded away as Alpha Rodrick’s cries of pain filled him.

His mind was in a blood-filled haze, revenge and payback the only things that he could think of as he stabbed at the Alpha. The man had done so much to him, horrible things. He deserved to die!

Dobry didn’t realize that he was screaming until someone suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him from stabbing at the Alpha again. He turned to defend himself, the knife raised in his hand, until he saw Alastar standing before him.

Dobry cried out and dropped the knife, throwing himself at Alastar. Strong arms wrapped around him, cradling him to Alastar’s chest. Dobry could feel kisses placed on his head, his neck, his cheek.

“Ssshhh, I’ve got you, baby,” Alastar whispered in between kisses. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Dobry held on to Alastar as tight as he could, burying his face in the man’s neck and inhaling his scent. It was musky, masculine, and tinged with a hint of sweat and blood, but it was all Alastar.

“How’s our baby?”

Dobry lifted his head when he heard Sebastian’s voice, turning in his direction. “Sebastian,” he breathed, reaching out to the man.

Sebastian was instantly there. He didn’t move Dobry out of Alastar’s arms, rather enclosed them both in his.

“He’s good,” Alastar replied. “He saved us.”

“He’s going to get his ass paddled for not getting out of here when he could,” Sebastian snapped. “He had no business coming in here, and he knows it.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said a voice from a few feet away, “I think he gave us just the opening we needed to catch this asshole.”

Dobry peeked over Sebastian’s shoulder to see the man who took him down and then gave his knife back standing there grinning at him. The man stepped over and held out his hand to shake.

“The name’s Constantine, Constantine Stylianios,” he said as he winked. “Nice to finally meet you, Dobry.”

“Who—”

“He’s a pain in the ass, but he also happens to be a Delta,”

Sebastian said. He turned Dobry and Alastar in his arms so they could see the man too, before glaring over at Constantine. “My guess would be that he’s here on council business.”