She pulled over and got out her phone, texting Stella, I’m here. Parked on the street. Can you and Eva come out?
There was a long, long pause while she waited. Ken reached over and took her hand. “If she doesn’t respond, that’s okay,” he said. “There are plenty more steps to take.”
Five min
utes passed. Seven. Ten. “I don’t think she’s going to answer,” Lynn said finally.
“That’s fine. Try calling her.”
So she did. It rang once, and then suddenly Stella’s voice was loud in her ears. “See, she’s calling me!” she shouted. “Lynn, I’m coming—!”
“No, you aren’t!” a male voice yelled.
“Stella, I’m coming in right now,” Lynn said tersely. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Ken was already getting out of the car, and Lynn followed him, keeping the call open in case anything happened in the few minutes it took them to run up the drive towards the house.
Ken reached the door first. He didn’t bother knocking. It wasn’t locked, and he burst in with Lynn right behind him.
The occupants of the house froze in surprise at the sight of them. Lynn took in the tableau with a quick glance.
There were six men in the room. All shifters, Lynn was pretty sure—this must be the pack, then.
Todd, the boyfriend, had Stella’s arm in a tight grip. Behind her was Eva, looking white and scared. Standing next to Eva was the biggest of the six pack members, a six-foot-plus hulking man with a bushy beard. Eva’s eyes jumped to Lynn as the door opened, but then they went right back to the man.
“Called your sister to come rescue you, huh?” Todd snarled as Lynn came in. “That’s not going to help. Even if she brought her boyfriend.”
“Are you hurt?” Lynn asked tensely, looking from Stella to Eva.
“No,” Stella said, her voice steady. Eva shook her head.
“They’re not leaving,” the big man said.
“What do you care?” Lynn snapped, taking a step forward. She could feel Ken as a warm, solid presence at her back.
The other four members of the pack, thankfully, were sprawled in front of the TV, where there was a game on. Clearly they hadn’t thought that a fight between Todd and his girlfriend was enough to stir themselves.
But now they were starting to sit up and take notice. Lynn kept her focus on Todd and the big man. The pack alpha, maybe?
“Well,” the big man said reasonably, “that’s none of your goddamn business, is it? You’re not a part of this pack.”
“Neither are they,” Lynn said. “They’re not wolves.”
Behind her, Ken said thoughtfully, “How many women do you have in this pack of yours?”
There was a long silence.
Lynn understood, and then wished she hadn’t. These guys hadn’t been able to keep any female shifters around—no wonder, if this was how they treated them. The alpha didn’t want to let Stella and Eva go, because then they’d be an all-male group, not a real pack at all.
“You can’t just kidnap people like this,” she said firmly, and strode forward, hoping that the men’s focus would turn to her, and Stella and Eva would have a chance to run away.
It sort of worked.
The big alpha definitely turned his focus to Lynn—he stepped up to meet her, reaching out to grab her by the elbow before she could reach her sister or her niece. Eva took the opportunity—smart girl! Lynn thought—and darted away while his attention was on Lynn, disappearing behind Lynn’s back somewhere.
Lynn tried to yank her arm away, but the alpha’s grip was too strong, and he caught her other arm when she tried. “Ow!” she said, glaring.
There was a rush of air.