Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Dickie sneezed. “No. I just got a call from the hotel.”
Every nerve in Jackson’s body went taut. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah. Frederick just called. Somebody knocked him out, and Emily’s gone.”
Jackson froze, the words slamming into him like a physical blow. Frederick Wallington had owned the hotel for years and was also a hell of a soldier in his day. Now, he was long retired. “Somebody knocked out Fred?”
“Yeah. He said he was up making warm milk because he couldn’t sleep, and two males came through the back door and jumped him,” Dickie said.
“Who were they?” Jackson’s voice went low and sharp.
“Fred barely saw them. Said their faces were covered, and they reeked of garlic.”
“Damn it.” Jackson dropped his pry bar with a clatter and bolted down the tunnel toward the elevator shaft. Panic clawed at his chest, rising fast and hot, but he shoved it aside. Emily was in danger. He had to find her.
Leroy jumped into the elevator beside him as Jackson slammed the control panel.
“This is bad, Jackson. If we let the female Alpha from the Slate Pack get kidnapped—”
“Fuck that,” Jackson growled. “We’ll get her back. I want everybody in the vicinity of the hotel interviewed. Every single person. I want to know what everybody saw or heard. Got me?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get on it.” Leroy swallowed hard as the elevator began rising slowly. Dust drifted from the walls as gears clanked above, the echoes bouncing off the tunnel walls.
“A few businesses are open late around the hotel,” Leroy added. “Maybe someone saw something.”
“They’d better have.” Jackson’s pulse hammered in his ears. His fists were clenched so tight his nails bit into his palms. His heart pounded with a force that made it hard to breathe. Anger burned through him like wildfire. Beneath it, sharp and undeniable, was fear. Real, gut-deep fear. And something darker. Possessiveness.
The primal, territorial urge to tear through anyone who dared to touch Emily gripped him so hard it almost doubled him over. The intensity of it shocked him and made his pulse stutter for half a second. She wasn’t his. Didn’t seem to want to be. But right now, none of that mattered.
The elevator shuddered as it reached the surface. Before the gate had fully opened, Jackson was moving, sprinting across the gravel lot toward his truck. The cold night air slapped against his overheated skin, but he barely noticed. Keys jingled in his hand as he yanked open the driver’s side door.
Leroy scrambled in beside him, slamming the door shut. Jackson turned the key, the engine rumbling to life beneath the hood. His fingers flexed and curled around the steering wheel, knuckles white with tension.
“They can’t have gotten far. We’ll find her.” Leroy’s voice was steady, but Jackson could hear the uncertainty beneath it.
“We have to.” Jackson shifted into gear and gunned the truck onto the main road, tires spitting gravel behind them. Streetlights flashed as they rushed past. He gripped the wheel tighter, like holding on to it could somehow pull her back to him. His mind raced, calculating possible routes the kidnappers might have taken, but underneath all the logic and planning, raw fury coiled in his chest.
The thought of Emily in someone else’s hands, frightened and vulnerable, unleashed a fierce, uncontrollable force within him. It wasn’t just the duty of an Alpha protecting his territory. This was personal. Bone-deep. No one would take her from him. No one.
Nothing could happen to Emily Nightsom.
He wouldn’t let it.
Chapter 12
The vehicle hit a series of bumps, and Emily groaned as her body slammed against the roof and then the floor of the trunk. The scratchy carpet scraped her bare arms, and she bit back a curse. Her head throbbed worse than usual, and when she reached back to touch her scalp, she winced at the swollen bump beneath her fingers. Bastards.
Why would anyone kidnap her from Jackson’s territory? None of this made sense. Curling onto her side, she tucked into a ball to minimize the impact of the rough ride. The vehicle rattled and bounced on what had to be a dirt road. The car slowed and she braced herself to attack.
Voices filtered through the thin metal.
“All right, you take her shirt that way to spread her scent, and you take these socks the other direction. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous spot tomorrow at noon. Get out of this territory as soon as possible.”
Emily pressed her ear against the side of the trunk, straining to hear. So there were three of them? They’d taken some of her clothing? Bastards. Her stomach clenched.
A percussion thudded through the air. Someone had shifted. Then another wave. So two out of the three had shifted. Good. That left only one—the driver.
The vehicle rocked and a car door slammed shut. The vehicle picked up speed again, bouncing hard over what felt like potholes. She moved out of her attack position and flattened herself on the floor, clutching the ledge inside the trunk, trying not to slam against the walls. The driver didn’t give a damn if she got bruised. She inhaled through her nose, but the lingering garlic clung to her senses, masking any scents of the trees or terrain. She ground her teeth. The minute she got out of there, she would shove that garlic-soaked sack down the bastard’s throat.