Trayis (VLG Series Book 11) Read online

  He moved before she could react and struck her with his uninjured forearm.

  Pain exploded in the side of her cheek. The force of the blow sent her flying backward, and she hit something—probably the coffee table—and landed on the hardwood floor.

  He crouched next to her as she stared back, stunned. “Kale is getting the enforcer position. They sent me to the outer border patrol because of you!” He snarled the words. “Now it’s my turn to get even.”

  Shay tried to roll way, her face throbbing and her head hurting.

  He hit her again. The blow landed on the back of her head, making her forehead strike the hardwood floor, and she nearly passed out. Her limbs didn’t want to work as she was lifted, thrown over his shoulder, and then they were moving. She heard him slam her front door then he leapt off her porch, her stomach painfully colliding with his shoulder.

  She finally lost consciousness when he began to run.

  * * * * *

  Trayis knocked on the door again. “Shay?”

  She wasn’t answering. It worried him. Had she freaked out by changing her mind about leaving with him? He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her sister.

  Marcia answered on the second ring, sounding out of breath. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Trayis. Is Shay with you?”

  “No. She’s at the cabin.”

  “She’s not answering her door. I’m here now.”

  “Maybe she’s taking a shower.” Marcia lowered her voice. “I know the door code. Just punch in the numbers. You’re her mate now, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” She told him the digits he needed.

  He punched them in, the lock clicked, and he entered the cabin—then froze. “Shit!”

  “What? Don’t tell me she got that human cold feet thing? Just ignore her and tell her to shut it.”

  Trayis crouched, staring at the broken coffee table and a few drops of blood. He pressed his finger to one of them and lifted it to his nose. Then he tasted it. “The coffee table is broken and Shay’s blood is on the floor. She’s not here.” He knew that without having to check the loft. He inhaled. “I smell a male. It’s faint, but not a scent I know.”

  “I’m on my way!” Marcia disconnected.

  He called Arlis.

  “Hey, brother. Are you on your way to say goodbye? We’re at the house.”

  “I need you and your enforcers at Shay’s cabin now.”

  “What’s wrong?” Arlis’s voice deepened, going tense.

  “She’s gone. The coffee table is smashed like someone landed on it. Her blood is on the floor. There’s an unknown male scent lingering and Shay is missing. I think someone took her.” He rose quickly and closed the door, hoping to trap the male’s scent inside before the fresh air could destroy it.

  “We’re on our way.”

  Trayis searched the cabin quickly. Her packed bags were near the door with her purse, but no Shay. Then he waited by the door, time seeming to pass very slowly.

  Who would take Shay? It wasn’t her family. He’d met Rod that morning, and had spent time with Dean and Sylvia. The remaining foster siblings had no reason to hurt her.

  He heard voices and waited until he identified his brother’s from the porch before opening the door. “Get inside and sniff. You know everyone in your pack. We need to find out if this was one of yours or if her grandparents sent an outsider after Shay.”

  Martin and Arlis entered. He caught a glimpse of Marcia running out of the woods but closed the door before she reached them. He held his breath, watching as his brother and his head enforcer took in the broken table, the blood drops, and both sniffed around.

  Martin snarled and glared at Arlis. “Tegan. He smells of dirt, but under that, I know the bastard’s smell.”

  Arlis grimly nodded. “Agreed.”

  “The one who attacked her before?” Rage filled Trayis. “Where is he?”

  The door lock clicked and Marcia rushed inside. “What’s going on?” She saw the damaged table and rushed forward, crouched and sniffed. “Shay’s blood. Fuck—is that Tegan’s scent?” She stood fast. “I’m going to fucking rip his balls off and make him choke on them! That bastard hurt her. Where is she?”

  “Calm,” Arlis ordered.

  Trayis wanted to roar in fury. A pack male had hurt Shay, and now she was missing.

  Arlis pulled out his cell and made a call. “Alert all sentries and every member of our pack to be on the lookout for Tegan. It seems he’s taken Shay.” He paused. “Yes, Darlene. I’m serious. Shay’s missing, there’s blood in her cabin, and Tegan’s scent is here. Wide alert to every phone right now except his. I want him found!” He disconnected and faced Trayis. “I assigned him to outer patrol duty. He isn’t supposed to be here. Hell, he should be too hurt still to do something like this.”

  “He’ll know the schedules and patrol routes of the sentries.” Martin looked equally pissed. “He would know how to sneak to the cabin and snatch Shay without being caught. Fuck! I knew we should have killed him.”

  “Why would he go after Shay?” Trayis would kill Tegan. It was a done deal. He just needed to find the bastard first. “Where would he take her?”

  Arlis shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “He’s an immature asshole who never could take responsibility for his own fuckups,” Martin snarled. “He probably blames Shay for his punishment.”

  “Enough,” Arlis growled. “We’ll find them. He’ll have known to avoid the sentries, since he’s familiar with their routes, but a tasker might have seen him.”

  “What kind of tasker?”

  “We have people who clean up trash, collect food, and check traps we’ve set up to catch game.” Arlis paused. “He’ll avoid the cameras, since he knows all their locations.”

  His brother’s phone rang, and he answered it. “What?”

  Trayis stepped closer, picking up a female’s voice. She spoke too low for him to hear her words.

  Arlis hung up. “Tegan was seen less than an hour ago near the river by our north border. A trash gatherer called when the alert came in. Brad said he saw him there yesterday, too.” Arlis looked at Martin.

  “That’s up where he’s assigned. It’s remote, few of our pack venture there, and it would be a good place to hide a female.”

  Or to kill one—taking his time, without worry about interruption.

  Trayis shoved that thought out of his head. He turned, yanked open the door, and saw that a dozen members of his brother’s pack waited outside. A few of them were Arlis’s enforcers.

  Arlis stopped next to him and tore off his shirt, also kicking off his shoes. “It will be quicker to shift and run. I’m not as fast as you but I know the way. Let me lead. We’ll find Shay, and then Tegan is all yours.”

  “I’m killing him for harming Shay.” Trayis would go insane if anything happened to her. She was his.

  He never should have left her alone to pack her bags. He knew some of her pack were assholes to her. He’d just never suspected one of them would physically harm her in any way.

  Everyone stripped. They shifted and Arlis took the lead. It was tough on Trayis not to dart ahead. He could move faster than any Lycan, but his brother knew his territory better.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shay woke in an unfamiliar room. It stank of mildew, dirt, and rotted wood. Her back was against a coarse wall, her hands painfully bound near her butt. She lifted her head and saw light filtering through some cracks in the wood planks. It took her a moment to realize she seemed to be in an old shack.

  The floor under her had suffered water damage. It was a small space, maybe eight feet square from wall to wall. There was a half door, more like a wooden hatch, across from her. No furniture or anything else in the room. It was possible it was a storage shed instead of a shack.

  Her head hurt, near her temple. She couldn’t see or feel what was wrong but her memories returned fast. She’d been attacked. That’s why her head hurt.

  Tegan had done i