Once Upon A Midnight Read online

  “I tried to stop them.” Erin’s voice was barely a whisper. She wheezed for air, clutching onto Rafe’s arm.

  Lucas charged into the room, skidding in his tracks, trying to comprehend the scene before him. “We’re all done out—”

  Gurgles bubbled from Erin’s throat when she tried to speak again. “They hit her with a tranquilizer dart and took her.”

  Shock sliced through Rafe as Lucas leapt for the bed in human form, shifting into his wolf in midair.

  Lucas landed next to Erin, his tongue lapped up a drop of her blood before a growl left his throat.

  What happened next would be argued for years to come, between the two, as Lucas bit down on the uninjured part of Erin’s neck.

  Stunned, Rafe watched the wound on Erin’s neck begin to knit itself back together. It could only mean one thing…Lucas and Erin were true mates.

  “Huh,” was the only word that could sum up the astonishment that Rafe felt.

  Somehow, Erin had kept her scent hidden from Lucas all these years. When Lucas collapsed beside Erin in human form, Rafe shook his head and tossed him a pair of jeans.

  “I know you feel like you’ve been beaten to death from healing Erin’s wound, but you need to get up and get dressed. We need to find out where they took Mina. Meet me in the holding cells in five minutes.”

  “Ugh. You got it, boss.” Lucas pushed himself off of the bed, giving Erin a hard stare. “We have some talking to do later.”

  Erin nodded in disbelief.

  Chapter Twelve

  Patience was not one of Rafe’s strengths. He never once claimed it was. Why others assumed he had the patience of a Saint was beyond him.

  His own personal motto was more like hurry the fuck up, I don’t have all day.

  It was hard to stay calm when all he wanted to do was shred the bastard lounging behind the bars to pieces.

  Tanner yanked the silver tipped teeth from the man’s mouth before they threw him in the cell. He could have collared him in silver, but he knew Rafe would not approve. Instead, he allowed the bastard to shift back to his wolf in order to heal. It was a courtesy offered to other wolves by Black Paw.

  A courtesy that Rafe was seriously rethinking.

  The stubborn wolf left Rafe with few options if he wanted to find out where his mate was.

  “You can shift now, on your own, or we can do this the hard way,” Rafe warned.

  The wolf refused to acknowledge Rafe’s demand, opting instead to look away.

  Forcing a wolf to change forms was a messy business and not something Rafe liked to do on a regular basis, if ever.

  But desperate times and all.

  It was a gift that all true Alphas were born with…the ability to force any wolf in and out of their current forms. It was the ultimate punishment to strip them of their ability to shift temporarily, or if the law dictated, on a more permanent basis.

  Lucas entered seconds later as Rafe began to mentally press his will upon the captive. The wolf paced the cell, whimpering in pain, trying to fight Rafe’s will.

  “He seems to think he he’s stronger than me,” Rafe joked with Lucas.

  “You know, I have heard that those who run with Twisted Tail aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box.”

  Rafe pressed harder, causing the pacing wolf to collapse to the floor. Blood poured from his nose and ears as howls of pain rose from the creature.

  “Last warning.” Rafe moved closer to the bars. “I’ve barely broken a sweat here. How much longer do you think you can last?”

  The wolf shook his head in defiance.

  “If I force you to human, it will break all ties you have with Twisted Tail. Not to mention, from here on out, you’ll only be able to shift at my will. Never again on your own. Is protecting Griffin worth it?”

  Taking away the ability to shift was a hard decision and he’d done it only once. To lose one’s wolf left the person feeling empty and emotionally scarred. Rafe loathed the mere thought of it, but he would strip this wolf in a heartbeat if it meant finding his mate.

  A few seconds passed with no response from the wolf. Rafe was tired of messing around. He doubled his force and blasted the wolf with a stronger dose of will. A scream erupted from the captive as his body slowly changed to human.

  Rafe watched in disgust as each limb sluggishly shifted from wolf to human. Mucus dripped to the floor as the agonizing process began. Torturous screams filled the cell as each shift of bone was felt by the prisoner, leaving him writhing in pain.

  The man cried out, begging Rafe to make the pain stop, but it was too late. Once the process started, there was no stopping it.

  “If it ever gets to the point where you feel the need to do that to me, do me a favor and put a silver bullet through my heart.” Lucas, being one of the few to ever witness Rafe’s true powers, cringed at the sight.

  “It will never happen. I would have no reason to ever force your wolf from you,” Rafe tried to reassure Lucas.

  “How do you know? What if this whole mate thing with Erin drives me insane?”

  Taking a deep breath, Rafe didn’t have to think about the answer. “Even on your worst day, you would be a thousand times better than this guy on his best day.”

  “I sure hope you’re right because I don’t ever want to do that.” Lucas motioned to the huffing heap on the floor.

  The change had spread to about forty-five percent of the man’s body, with each new spasm looking a million times more painful than the last.

  “I’m going to see what I can get out of him now. He’s in too much pain to throw up any mental blocks. Even if he did, at this point, I’d knock through them in about ten seconds flat.”

  Rafe darted into the man’s mind, dodging the pain that consumed his every thought. He looked past the bullshit of the man’s life and went straight for pack business. What he saw sent a surge of fear through him, jolting him into action.

  “Send someone down here to sit with him. We need to go. Griffin plans on forcing a mating on Mina as soon as he gets a hold of her.”

  “She hasn’t begun her heat cycle yet, has she?” Concern laced Lucas’s voice.

  “No, and if he forces it on her, he’ll kill her.”

  Rafe’s wolf panicked when he saw Griffin’s plans for his mate. He tried to claw his way to the surface, but Rafe held strong, calming his wolf the best he could. We’re going to get her. Hang tight for just a little longer.

  “What the hell is he thinking?” Lucas clenched his fists.

  “That he’d rather see her dead than mated to someone else. Griffin believes that if Mina isn’t strong enough to survive, she doesn’t deserve to be his mate.”

  “Oh God.” Lucas’s face paled at the thought.

  “Exactly. Tanner’s on his way down here now. Get him up to speed on what’s going on and meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can. I’m going to gather the rest of the pack.”

  Lucas nodded as Rafe bolted up the stairs.

  Rafe walked outside and let out a series of long, loud howls, calling the pack together. He paced the deck. Awaiting their arrival, the plan came together in his mind. Lost in thought, he glanced up, finding himself flanked by Eddie and Lucas. The pack had assembled in his back yard.

  Rafe filled everyone in on the events and broke the pack into four groups. Those who would stay behind to guard Black Paw and three teams who would take down Twisted Tail. With everything quickly sorted, he led the charge to bring his mate home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mina’s head pounded. Her eyes flicked open. What happened? Where am I?

  The room spun when she tried to sit up. The stench of rotting flesh assaulted her nostrils as she took in the scene before her. The carcasses of decomposing animals strewn across the floor made her gag.

  “Ahh. There’s my traitorous little bitch.”

  The sound of Griffin’s voice startled Mina. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze clouding her thoughts as she concentrated on breathing
through her mouth.

  “What did you do to me?” Her tongue felt like sandpaper.

  “Very little compared to what I’m about to do. I gave you a little supercharged sedative so you wouldn’t scream and ruin my plan of getting you out of Black Paw. I was concerned about you. Thought that maybe they captured you, they were keeping you as a hostage or something.”

  Griffin flicked his ash and took another drag of his cigarette. He let out a long exhale, blowing the smoke directly in Mina’s face, knowing how much she hated it.

  “Imagine my surprise when I found you in the Alpha’s home, with his fucking mark on your fucking neck. His scent tainting every inch of your body. The body that I intend to possess.”

  She sat, defiantly meeting Griffin’s hostile gaze. The old Mina would have dropped her head in shame. Meeting Rafe, a true Alpha, and others at Black Paw, changed her opinion of the asshole staring her down.

  She knew Griffin was no true Alpha. He was nothing more than a heavy-handed thug who posed as Twisted Tail’s Alpha. How she hadn’t seen it all along, she had no clue.

  “You think you’re so smug now that you wear his mark? It’s nothing but a dead man’s mark anyway.”

  Griffin challenged Mina.

  “You think he’ll show up in time to save you? He doesn’t even know where you are, unless he’s a bloodhound and can scent out tire tracks. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was mixed with a dog. From what I’ve heard over the years, his mother is nothing more than a cheap whore who blows flea bags for dime bags.” Griffin shrugged as he pulled up a seat on the desk. “It doesn’t matter if his blood is contaminated by a mutt from the pound, or if he’s as pure as the fallen snow, he won’t survive the attack.”

  Mina’s blood boiled. Grace had been nothing but kind to her. “You keep her name out of your mouth. Grace is a damn good woman and wolf.”

  “Mina, can you hear me? Are you okay?” Mina kept her eyes steady on Griffin as her mating connection with Rafe came to life.

  “Rafe, is that you?” She kept her breathing steady, not wanting Griffin to know that she was linked to Rafe through his mark.

  “Don’t you mean was a good woman? My enforcers are there now, ripping Black Paw apart. I ordered them to start with the whore and her son. I told them to bring their heads back to me on pikes,” Griffin continued to taunt Mina.

  “I’m fine. Are you okay? Is your mom okay? Griffin said he sent his enforcers to kill you guys.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t let him know we’re communicating. My mom is fine. I just left her house. The pack is with me. We’re on our way to get you. We’re close, but we need a little bit of time. Keep him talking. Stall him the best you can. He’s going to try to force you to shift. He’s done waiting for the full moon. His plan is to mate with you today.”

  A single tear streaked down Mina’s face when Rafe confirmed that Grace was alive and well. She would have never forgiven herself if the woman who had been so kind to her had been hurt because of her.

  As for Griffin’s plan to mate with her? She’d bite his cock off before she let him get near her in that manner.

  “You would shed a tear for a stranger who cares nothing for you?” Griffin sneered in repulsion. “Pathetic. I would think my mate would be stronger. It’s a problem we can easily remedy, should you survive the mating.”

  Nausea churned in Mina’s stomach at the thought of Griffin touching her. His long, greasy hair made her want to hurl. Crooked teeth offset his shaggy, graying beard. She glanced over his stained clothes to see his dirt packed fingernails. Bile rose in her throat.

  “I’ll never mate with you.”

  “You will, and I’ll enjoy every minute of breaking your so-called bond with Rafe. I even brought a mating present for you.”

  “I don’t want anything from you. You…monster!” Mina spat at Griffin’s feet.

  “Rafe, please hurry. He’s up to something, but I have no idea what.”

  “Can you run?”

  “Maybe. I can try.”

  “Mina, I need you to tell me which building you’re in. We just crossed over the boundary lines.”

  Mina looked around the room for any chance of escape. She could run, but where? She knew she was faster than Griffin.

  The question was, would she make it to the door before he shot her with a silver bullet?

  “I’m not sure what building he’s holding me in. There are a few boarded up windows and nothing else. It’s a large room, maybe one other room. I’m not sure. I’ll see if I can distract him long enough to make a dash for the door.”

  “Aren’t you even curious about your mating present?” Griffin walked over to a small closet and opened the door.

  “There’s nothing I want from you.” Mina glanced around the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon in her human form.

  “Are you so sure about that?” Griffin reached into the closet, and much to Mina’s disbelief, pulled her sisters out by the hair, tossing them to the ground.

  “He has my sisters, Rafe. They’re here with me.” Mina ran to the girls, helping them up from the floor. She wrapped them in her arms and tried pulling them to safety, but Griffin was faster. He latched on to Kenzie, jerking her from Mina’s embrace.

  “Not that I don’t love a good family reunion, but I’d like to get things rolling along a bit faster, if you don’t mind.”

  Griffin pulled a gun from behind his back and held it to Kenzie’s head.

  “It’s time to shift, bitch.”

  “Let her go, Griffin.” Mina seethed with anger. She pushed Bree behind her, acting as her shield. Her wolf lingered in the foreground, seconds away from taking control.

  “No. I don’t think I will. Maybe I’ll force a mating with this one, instead. She seems to be a little more even-tempered. Pliable. Accommodating even. Or maybe I’ll keep the three of you and trade off day to day.” Griffin seemed to be pleased with his newest crazed idea.

  “Over my dead body.”

  “Careful what you wish for, bitch. I could end one of you, or all three of you. It’s your choice. Now, shift.”

  “He’s forcing me to shift, Rafe. He has a gun to my sister’s head.” Mina allowed her wolf to take full control of the situation. She trusted her to do what was necessary to keep her sisters safe.

  “We’re here, babe. Right outside the door. I can’t believe Griffin hasn’t scented us.”

  “I think he’s high on a power trip right now.”

  Griffin shoved Kenzie to the floor as he began his slow awkward shift. It was no surprise to Mina that he turned out to be just as ugly in wolf form as he was in human form.

  Mina sprang toward her sisters, sending them silent commands to shift to their wolf form just as the doors crashed open. Rafe and a dozen members from Black Paw descended on their position.

  Griffin took off as soon as he realized his grand plan had been thwarted. He crashed through a window with a single board across the center.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rafe let out a lone howl, then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Mina and her sisters. He looked them over briefly, making sure there were no physical injuries that required medical attention.

  When he confirmed none of the women had been physically harmed, he shifted to human and held out his hand for Mina, who shifted from wolf to human and gladly accepted.

  All he wanted to do was wrap her in his protection and never let go. Which was completely unrealistic and he knew it.

  It was easy to see that Mina had always been under the forceful rule of the Twisted Tail leader and her father.

  The last thing Rafe wanted was for her to think he was just as bad as those mutts. He wanted to provide her with all the opportunities to discover who she was and what she wanted out of life, with him by her side.

  “God, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Is everyone okay?” Rafe pulled Mina into his arms and held her tightly.

  “A little shaken, but we are all fine. I think he ro
ughed Kenzie and Bree up a little bit, but it’s nothing shifting to their wolves couldn’t heal.”

  Lucas ran into the building and swiftly shifted to human.

  “We lost his scent on the road. He must have had a car waiting.” Lucas bristled with anger.

  “Fuck.” Rafe’s fingers flew to his messy hair. “Where would the bastard have gone?”

  “You don’t think he headed for Black Paw? Do you?” Concern filled Lucas’s eyes.

  “No. He’s not that stupid. His goons probably helped him escape. We’ll catch up with him one day. Don’t worry. If he thinks I’ll forget about his transgressions against my family, my pack, he’s got another think coming.”

  “I’m going to send a quick text to the group at home and let them know what went down, and to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Just in case.”

  Rafe nodded, deep in thought. “Sounds good.”

  ***

  Mina stepped away from Rafe and Lucas after learning that Griffin had indeed eluded them. She motioned for her sisters to join them in human form. It took a little coaxing to convince the girls that Rafe and Lucas were friendlies and wouldn’t hurt them.

  With a little work, Mina finally got them to shift and pulled both of her siblings into a hug, consoling them. “I was so afraid he was going to hurt you, Kenzie.”

  “I sure hope they catch him.” Bree was the first to break the hug. “So, are you going to introduce us to the hotties or what?” Bree smoothed her hair down with her hand and glanced at Mina. “Hey, is that a mating mark on your neck?”

  Kenzie pulled Mina’s hair back and confirmed Bree’s suspicion. “OMG, you are such a hussy. You’re barely gone a full two days and you come home branded by a man.”

  Mina laughed at her sisters’ familiar banter.

  Rafe and Lucas joined them a few moments later and Mina proudly started the introductions.