Since Onyx had gagged her—and threatened to shoot her should she not comply—she’d been pretty quiet. But he didn’t say anything about reaching out to Gage with her mind.

It was weird, and she had no idea if she was doing it right, but she focused every brain cell on Gage’s handsome face. Then she started yelling his name in her head.

Onyx had also tied her hands behind her back. As he guided her out the window and to the edge of the roof, she started having second thoughts about this whole kidnapping thing. Onyx must have sensed it; he pressed the mouth of the gun to the back of her skull.

“Don’t think for one minute I won’t follow through,” Onyx growled into her ear. “It would give me great pleasure to kill you, then march back in there and take out that obnoxious wolf of yours.”

The thought of Gage coming to harm at her expense was too great a pain to bear. Nodding once so he’d get she wouldn’t try anything, Danica let Onyx pull her to him. Before she could blink, he jumped. Her scream was muffled by the handkerchief, her eyes wide as they plummeted toward the ground. Like an animal, Onyx landed on his feet, catching Danica so she wouldn’t injure herself.

Two shadows moved around the side of the house. She recognized them as two of Gage’s packmates. Spotting her bound and gagged, one of them swore and started to transform when Onyx aimed and shot him. The bullet went clean through his head. The man’s body arched backward, and Danica’s eyes widened farther as he hit the ground, dead.

“Let’s go!” Onyx hissed, dragging her across the lawn toward the woods.

The second were had changed, coming up behind them in a blur of snarls and brown fur. Onyx whirled, placing Danica in front of him as a shield and planting the gun against her temple.

The wolf drew up short, lips pulled back over its fangs, ears pinned low against its head.

“Tell your master not to pursue us, or I’ll kill her,” Onyx demanded.

Danica trembled against him, not sure if she should be more afraid of her captor or the ferocious, giant wolf pawing at the dirt like a bull about to charge.

After a stare down, the wolf at last turned and ran back toward the house, howling. Danica’s eyes flashed up to her bedroom window to see Gage.

Though he was too far away for her to tell for certain, she swore their eyes met. It was a feeling she had inside, a rush of hope that was quickly extinguished when Onyx took her into the woods.

This part of Harper’s Forest wasn’t nearly as ominous as that which surrounded the witch’s cabin, but it still made her skin crawl to be handled so roughly by Onyx.

Her heart pounded in her chest as panic set in, making it harder to think.

You have to stay calm. You can’t afford to lose focus in case an opportunity to escape or to see landmarks shows up. If she could give Gage directions and clues, maybe she could guide him to where Onyx was taking her.

A black SUV was parked along a dirt path. Onyx shoved her in the backseat, then walked around toward the driver’s side.

Danica immediately tried going for the door handle while his back was turned, but he grabbed her hair and yanked her away.

She glared at him as he started the engine, her scalp burning. She had a hundred questions and couldn’t ask any of them.

Closing her eyes, Danica focused on sending info to Gage. Black SUV. License Plate 067HGNM. At least, she hoped that’s what it was. She’d only been able to catch a glimpse of it.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

Danica had just enough time to open her eyes and see the butt of the gun flying toward her skull. There was a cracking sound, followed by a flash of pain, and then darkness pulled her under.