*Daphne*
The car stopped near an abandoned truck on the side of the road. The big man up front ca around the car to open my door and grabbed as the other captor undid my seatbelt buckle.
I sucked in a breath as the seatbelt that had clung to my throat was finally released. The big man yanked out of my seat. I was too lightheaded and scared to fight as he walked further from the sedan toward the pickup truck.
“As promised,” the big man said, and he stopped to drop on the ground.
I landed on a pile of soggy leaves and probably broke a few branches, and I let out a groan.
Another man scooped up and threw into the back of the pickup truck, which was enclosed with a camper shell. The back door slamd shut. I leaned against the camper window as the truck started and moved back onto the road.
The divider window slid open, but I couldn’t see who was driving.
“Princess Daphne Crimson.”
A familiar voice called my na. I turned to look into the rearview mirror and watched it turn so that a familiar pair of eyes glinted back at . Although I could not see the mouth, his eyes told he was grinning.
I had seen those eyes before. It was that rough shifter, Brutus.
“You don’t have to worry about your pretty little head. I’m taking you sowhere safe and will make arrangents for your parent’s reward money.”
I frowned, and he must have guessed the unspoken question.
“You want to know how I found you, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“My boys spotted you at the fair with Rion. Looked like you were getting a tattoo.”
He let loose a gurgling snicker.
I groaned. I knew that if I was in this man’s hands, it ant nothing good for . Although he might have ant it when he said he was going to turn over to my parents, that wouldn’t stop him and his gang from doing terrible things to before that happened.
My heart dropped. They were cutthroat and dangerous, I was nowhere near safe.
He drove us deeper into the woods and back into familiar territory. We ca upon a little shack set in a clearing of trees that the truck managed to reach, albeit with a bouncy ride.
He dragged out from the backside of the truck and I struggled all the way to the porch, slung over his aty shoulder like a doll. I kicked and punched but it did nothing. It didn’t even irritate him.
We erged into the amber glow of the house and were t with a round of triumphant cheers and laughter from his n.
He ignored them and went down a darkened hall. Keys jingled and a door opened. He tossed onto a bed and my entire body flew into a panic. I wriggled around and fell onto the floor. A light ca on and I saw his face seconds before it vanished behind the door as it slamd shut.
“Now, you all listen to . She isn’t to be touched. Violators will die, hear ? So don’t get any funny ideas with her.”
The door jiggled and the sound of the lock going through echoed in my ears.
***
*Rion*
The wolves that the intruder sicced on were rough, but I was an equal match. I struggled with three on top of , avoiding clamping jaws and curled claws in my face as they fought to overtake .
I howled for help from my crew and within a few seconds, my crew jumped on the remaining wolves. I bit into one of the wolves as my crew dove in to finish them off, their remains dropped into piles of blood and fur on the floor.
I searched for Daphne but saw the open window. I rushed for it and looked down to find a car taking off.
“They took her in a car. We need to go after them!” I yelled at Jasper.
He nodded and followed and the other crew mbers as we dashed down the stairs.
“We’ll go after her, just catch up,” one of Katheryn’s crew mbers said as he and a handful of others dashed out the door.
I nodded, shifting back and throwing on so sweatpants.
The mont Jasper and I were dressed, we got into the nearest car and followed on after Katheryn’s crew. Jasper drove for so ti, unable to find a sign of cars ahead of us.
“We’re not getting anywhere going this slow,” Jasper said and he floored the gas. On the uneven road, the car jostled around, but that didn’t bother .
My wolf surged with anger and frustration that I had to keep down. I had just gotten Eva back and just like that, Daphne was taken from . He kept driving fast until we ca to the crash site of the first car that had gone after Daphne.
My wolf ached to keep going, but we stopped to check on them.
One of them hollered at us from the side of the road. “We’re okay, but this car is busted. The other car was headed for the main road. You can still catch up.”
Jasper revved up the engine again and stepped on it down the bumpy street. Within a few minutes, we ca upon an abandoned car that looked similar to the one that Daphne had been taken into.
“That looks like the car the intruders took,” Jasper said as he slowed down.
“Looks abandoned,” I said.
We slowed down and both cars parked just as the road turned into pavent. I got out of and circled the abandoned car.
“No one’s here,” Katheryn’s crew leader said. “And there aren’t even footprints to tell us if she managed to run away into the forest or not.”
Jasper looked at .
“Now what do we do?”
Panic crept its way into my chest. I looked around the abandoned car and the surrounding area, but with no tracks, there was no way to tell what had happened. They could have been sucked up right out of the sky, for all I knew.
“I recognized one of Brutus’ n when they took her,” I said.
“For the reward,” Jasper reasoned.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’ve got to start tracking her down. Her scent is all over that car but then it vanishes, so they must have put her in another vehicle.”
“Brutus has a ton of hideouts in the area. Let’s start knocking on doors,” Jasper suggested. I nodded.
Jasper nodded and revved the engine. We left the rickety dirt road for the paved path. Within a few monts, we arrived at an abandoned industrial park. Jasper turned onto the main street that wound through the park.
“Let’s check here first. There are so many places he could easily hide in here,” I told Jasper, who nodded and rolled the car into a shady area to park where the car could remain hidden. Katheryn’s two cars with her crew mbers passed us on the road.
Jasper and I checked around the abandoned buildings and warehouses, which for the most part were empty. But I knew those places were ant for drop-offs and pick-ups when I’d worked the streets.
I looked at the other end of the warehouse and found a form moving. I burst into a run straight for it. The force of my body collided into the retreating figure and sent them crumbling into the hard packed dirt by the abandoned warehouse.
He groaned but lifted his arms in surrender. I pulled myself off of him but kept my boot on his shin in case he decided to get any ideas about running away.
“I didn’t do anything!” he groaned. I recognized him as one of Brutus’ lieutenants.
“I need to know where Brutus’ latest hideout is. He took sothing from that I want back.”
“He’s got half this borough in the palm of his hand,” the lieutenant sniggered.
I stamped down on his shin and the lieutenant wailed.
“Alright, alright. He’s got a little hideout in the woods nearby, the one near east park. It’s a little shack all by itself in the middle of the woods. When you co across it, you’ll know by the green door.”
I stood back and walked away from him. Jasper followed back to the car.
I drove away toward the east side of the industrial park. I had been there a few tis in the past. Within a few minutes, we reached the shallow field between the park and the forest.
“We break in, get Daphne, and leave. Do whatever it takes to make sure we leave with her, unhard,” I told him.
Within a few minutes, we found the shack with the green door and I stopped the car. We got out and crept for the door.
I broke the door down and Jasper and I rushed in. The front room was empty but Daphne’s scent hung in the air. I rushed toward the hallway and kicked every door I saw as I made my way through.
The next door I kicked open revealed a few n who seed to have been waiting for us. Jasper and I quickly took care of them.
I heard the faintest hint of screaming at the end of the hall. I rushed for the door at the end of the hallway that looked like a closet entrance.
I flung it open and found Daphne still bound and gagged on a bed. Otherwise, she looked untouched. I rushed for her and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed her cheek before slowly peeling off the tape from her lips and let her spit out the gag.
She burst into tears as I helped her out of the bed sheets and bindings encasing her. She and wrapped her arms around my neck. I let her sob into my chest as my fingers gently felt her torso for bruises or any injuries. She gulped for breath between sobs.
“Oh thank you so much for coming for ! I was so scared about what they would have done if you hadn’t co.”
I used a knife to undo her bonds at her wrists and ankles.
“Did they... do anything to you?”
“No, they didn’t try anything like that.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, but the commotion from outside told we needed to go. As we got out, we entered the main room from the hallway and I found Brutus waiting for .
“You’re not going anywhere with her.”
I stepped in front of Daphne, shielding her from Brutus. My eyes narrowed as I glared at the large shifter blocking our escape.
"Get out of the way, Brutus," I growled. "We’re leaving."
Jasper entered, pulling Daphne away to a safe distance.
Brutus let out a raspy laugh. "I don’t think so. The princess is my ticket to a hefty reward." He cracked his knuckles nacingly. "You’ll have to go through first."
Without warning, Brutus charged forward, swinging his aty fist toward my face. I ducked swiftly, the punch sailing over my head. As Brutus stumbled past , off-balance from the missed hit, I delivered a sharp kick to the back of his knee.
Brutus bellowed in pain and rage, wheeling around to face again. We exchanged a flurry of punches and kicks, both of us being experienced street fighters familiar with brawling. I managed to block most of his powerful but slow strikes while landing quite a few painful hits of my own.
Realizing that his fists had little effect, Brutus changed tactics. He grappled around the waist, trying to use his superior size and weight to wrestle to the ground. I twisted in his grip, breaking the hold, then swept Brutus’s leg out from under him.
The big shifter crashed heavily to the floor. I pounced, raining down blows on Brutus’s face and body. Brutus tried to shield himself, but my punches ca relentlessly.
Finally, I grabbed Brutus by the hair and slamd his head viciously against the hardwood floor. Brutus’s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
I stood slowly, breathing hard. I looked down at Brutus’s limp form bleeding on the floor.
"Let’s go," I said gruffly, turning to take Daphne’s hand.
For a mont, I thought about just turning myself in and taking Daphne directly to the palace. But Eva was still at the inn and she needed . Plus, I owed it to Katheryn to let her collect that reward money.
With a little inner debating, I knew I had to go back to the inn first. But I also realized that Brutus wouldn’t be the only one searching for the princess to get that reward.
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