Spiral of Need (The Mercury Pack 1)

“I’ll go with them,” offered Marcus.

Roni sidled up to her mate. “Not alone you won’t.” When an odd expression crossed Nick’s face, she glared at him. “Do not go all overprotective on me right now. I need to be part of this.”

The Alpha male sighed at her in resignation. “Fine. You, Derren, Marcus, and I will go with Jason and Clark. We’ll get Kerrie and we’ll bring her back here to deal with her and Miranda together.” Nick addressed everyone else as he said, “If something goes wrong, we’ll howl.”

It was no secret that Ally wasn’t the most patient person in the world. The fact that she was also worried for the safety of Derren and her pack mates meant that she was beyond edgy as she took Bruce for a short walk through the trees near the border of Miranda’s territory, waiting for them all to return. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of her mate making his way back, but she was also hoping to walk off her pent-up restless energy.

Her wolf was just as anxious, pacing and flexing her claws. She didn’t like being apart from her mate at the best of times. Being apart from him while it was possible that he could be walking into danger wasn’t something her wolf was handling too well. Ally had asked to go along, but Nick had said that it was important to him that Shaya and Willow were adequately protected. And Derren had backed him up. Not for Shaya and Willow’s sake, she knew, but because he didn’t want Ally walking with him into what could be a dangerous situation. He was being his usual overprotective self.

It was annoying, but it was also comforting to have someone who put her first like that. For so long, Ally had been close to a nomad—flitting from place to place, never putting down roots. She’d never felt “home.” Until now. She felt settled, like she fit in somewhere, like she belonged. But it wasn’t being part of the Mercury Pack that made her feel that way. Derren was home, he was her safe place, and he settled her.

Hearing a short, doglike yelp, she froze. That was when she noticed that the dog was nowhere in sight. “Bruce?” All she heard was a heavy thud. Torn between following the sound and signaling for—

Ally flinched as a sharp sting struck her neck. Son of a bitch. For a moment, she thought she’d been stung by a wasp or a bee. Then, as she brought her hand up to her neck, she felt it: something long, metal, and feathery. Yanking it out, she realized it was a fucking dart. She howled a warning.

Or, more specifically, she tried.

Nothing happened. She couldn’t even open her mouth, let alone use her vocal cords.

Then, as if the muscles in her body lost their tone, she slumped . . . into a set of strong arms. The scent of the person holding her was male, tiger, and totally unfamiliar. Another male tiger shifter appeared in front of her, equally unfamiliar, and lifted her by her legs.

Carefully and quietly, they carried her through the trees . . . and she could do nothing but watch as paralysis set in, leaving her awake and alert but unable to move. Fuck it all.

Her wolf howled and lunged for the surface, fighting for supremacy so that she could defend Ally and rip the strangers apart. But Ally was just as unable to shift forms as she was to do anything else.

Soon enough, they reached a vehicle parked among the trees. Then the fuckers opened the trunk and dumped her in it. Oh, she was going to burn shit down when she could finally fucking move again.

“Something’s wrong.” Derren came to a total standstill seconds after crossing the border back onto Mercury territory.

“What?” asked Nick, spine locking. Roni and Marcus, who were dragging an unconscious Kerrie, also tensed.

“Ally,” replied Derren as apprehensiveness began to build in his system and his wolf started to pace anxiously. “I could feel through our bond that she was nervous and frustrated with waiting,” he explained as he dug out his cell phone. “But now . . . now she’s seriously pissed and feeling sort of helpless.” Which made no sense.

He called her phone. It rang. And rang. And rang. No response at all.

Every instinct he had went on high alert, and his apprehensiveness became blind fear. “Something’s wrong,” he repeated, adamant this time.

“I’ll call Shaya. You try reaching Ally again.”

Again, Derren’s call went unanswered. Shaya, however, answered her call from Nick with a “Please tell me everything’s okay?”

“We’re fine, we have Kerrie,” Nick assured her quickly. “Where’s Ally?”

Through the receiver, Derren heard Shaya’s answer clearly: “Ally? She went to take Bruce for a walk just outside our lodge. Why?”

With that, Derren raced through the trees, fear pumping through him. He called out her name several times as he searched the area surrounding the main lodge, but there was no answer, nor was there any sign of her.

Pausing, he spun around to face Nick, who had followed him. “I don’t see her. You?” Then two scents reached his nose. Two scents that didn’t belong. “Tigers.”

Nick inhaled deeply, inspecting the scents. A growl trickled out of him. “Fuck.”

He and Nick both followed the unfamiliar scents, continuing through the trees, while Derren’s heart slammed hard against his ribs and his wolf lost his fucking shit. Nothing could happen to Ally. Nothing.

Derren swore loudly as he found Bruce’s body slumped on the ground. Dropping to his knees, he pulled out the dart that was embedded in the animal’s flank. “He’s alive. But he’s been drugged.”