Reaching into the crib, Janie tucked the small blanket around her daughter, a small smile crossing her lips. Xavier had gone to get some more things from his apartment, and Flame was getting ready to leave with what was left of hers. She would miss her friend, but she was excited to begin the rest of her life with Xavier.
Shivering at the sudden chill in the air, Janie crossed to the other side of the room and gently lowered the window, wondering how it had gotten so cold so quickly. It took her a moment to realize that it couldn’t be coming from Alayna’s window. It had only been open a small crack.
With one last look at her daughter, Janie left the room and wandered slowly down the hall. She paused when she reached the living room, her brow furrowing as she glanced around the small apartment, taking in the open sliding glass doors to the balcony. “Flame? Is that you?”
When there was no response, Janie glanced back toward her daughter’s room, debating on calling Xavier, but then she noticed something in the air that she had missed when she first came into the room. Blood. Flame’s blood.
Quickly making her way across the living room, Janie gasped when she saw her friend lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, blood streaming from her temple and dripping on the white tile. A gun lay beside her, as if it had slipped out of her grasp when she fell. “Flame!” she gasped in shock, running to crouch beside her. Feeling desperately for a pulse, Janie shuddered in relief when she found a strong one.
She was so worried about Flame, that she almost missed the familiar smell that suddenly teased her nostrils. One she hadn’t scented in a very long time. Inhaling deeply, just to verify what she already knew, Janie rose, turning to face the man who now stood in front of her. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I made a mistake, Janie. I’m here to take you home.”
“A mistake? How did you find me?”
“Let’s just say I have friends in high places,” was the short response. “Time to go.”
Janie shook her head slowly. “No. I won’t go with you.”
The man’s eyes narrowed, and he grinned ruefully. “You sound like you think you have a choice. You should know better than that by now, girl.” Pulling a gun from behind his back, he pointed it at Flame. “Now, let’s go, unless you prefer I put a bullet in your friend here.”
Janie swallowed hard, her gaze going from Flame, then down the hall to where her baby slept peacefully in her crib, and back to the man in front of her. His eyes narrowed as he watched her carefully, “Or maybe there is something else in this place that means more to you?”
Janie stiffened, realizing her mistake immediately. He obviously didn’t know about Alayna, and she didn’t want him to. She moved quickly to stand in front of Flame, hoping to distract him from the little girl who owned her heart. Gritting her teeth, she growled, “I will not let you hurt my friend.” Or my daughter, she thought as her eyes strayed to the gun on the floor just a few feet from her.
He threw his head back and laughed. “Do you really think you will be fast enough, girl? I will shoot that bitch first, and then go after whatever waits down that hall. Smells like a child to me. Your child.”
Anger filled Janie, pure raw fury. She was going to kill the bastard for threatening her daughter. The pain hit her hard, her body suddenly bending and reforming like it had never done before. Claws sprang from her nails, and fur began to sprout on the back of her hands, then down her arms.
“What the hell?” he yelled, his eyes wide with shock. “You can’t fucking shift!”
“I guess I can now, asshole,” Janie snarled around a mouthful of teeth. Dropping to her knees, she groaned as her bones began to change and transform into something she never thought possible. It didn’t take long, and soon she was standing on all four legs, shaking out of what was left of her clothes, glaring at the man in front of her. She hated him. Had always hated him. And now he had just made the fatal mistake of threatening her daughter.
He threw his head back and laughed. “This just means I will get just as much money for you as I did your sister,” he said, taking a step toward her. “She didn’t come easily either, but she soon figured out that you can’t fight your alpha. I will always win.”
The door to the apartment opened, and that small distraction was all Janie needed. Leaping at Byron Reed, she wrapped her jaws around his neck and clamped down hard. She had seen his eyes widen in surprise, but he never got a chance to react. It was over within seconds, with her old alpha on the ground, his throat ripped out, and Janie standing over him. Her body shook as she stared at him, thinking about the hell she’d lived through for so long after he kicked her out of his pack.
“Holy shit. Your mate is badass, X.”
The sound of Aiden’s voice pulled her out of the rage she was in. Her gaze swinging toward the door, she cocked her head to the side. Xavier, Aiden, and Chase stood just inside the room, their arms full of boxes. His eyes never leaving hers, Xavier let his box drop to the floor. “It’s okay, baby,” he said quietly, crossing the floor to kneel beside her. Reaching out, he ran a hand gently over her head and down her back. “Your wolf is gorgeous, mate. I’ve never seen a wolf with fur that beautiful tawny color like yours before. It has small pieces of white throughout, and your eyes. They are breath-taking. A dark golden color.” Janie’s wolf preened at his words, and she rubbed her head against his chest. Xavier stroked his hand down her side, leaning in to kiss her muzzle gently. “I love your wolf, Janie, but I would like you to come back to me now, please.”
Janie’s eyes narrowed, and she looked over at Chase for help. She had no idea how she had shifted in the first place. How did she change back?
Chase smiled, setting the box in his hands on the carpet before making his way toward her. “Let me help you, little wolf.”
Janie felt his power pouring through her, filling her with contentment, along with a silent command, and then she was shifting. It took a while, and she shivered when she was finally fully back in human form, gratefully accepting the blanket Aiden wrapped around her.
“What the hell happened?” Janie’s gaze flew to where Flame was pushing herself up into a sitting position on the kitchen floor, glaring around the room as she pressed a hand to the side of her head. “Someone fucking hit me with something. I’m going to kill him!”
“Good luck with that,” Aiden laughed, motioning to where Byron lay in the middle of the living room floor. “Janie already beat you to it.”
“Janie?” Flame asked, her eyes narrowing as she struggled to her feet with Chase’s help.
“I guess my wolf didn’t like him threatening you and Alayna,” Janie said, burrowing into Xavier’s side, exhaustion rolling through her after what she’d just been through.
“Who was he?” Chase broke in, after helping Flame over to the couch.
“My old alpha,” Janie admitted, laying her head against Xavier’s shoulder. “He said he made a mistake. That he came to take me home.”
“A mistake?”
Janie’s eyes widened in horror when she remembered his next words. “He said that since I could shift, he would be able to get just as much money for me as he did my sister.” Grasping Xavier’s shirt tightly in her hand, Janie looked at Chase. “He sold my sister, Alpha. Please, we have to find out where she is.”
“We will, Janie,” Chase promised, taking out his phone. “First, I am going to get someone in here to clean up this mess. Then, I’m going to need all the information you have on your sister, and I will contact your old pack to find out what they know. Don’t worry, we will find her.”
“We have to,” Janie whispered, her gaze going to Xavier. “She was the only one who fought for me, Xavier. The only one who wanted me to stay. We have to find her.”
“We will,” he told her, cupping her face gently in his hand. “We will.”