JAMES POVI smiled at Lexi and headed into the bathroom, grabbing my phone without her seeing me. I turned on the shower and sat on the closed lid of the toilet and put in a call to Toby.“Yo! You having a good time? Does Lolly still work at that bar? Tell her Toby says hi.”I smiled wryly, my brother’s enthusiasm overwhelming, as per usual. “I had a vision and I need your help,” I stated, no preamble.“Okay, tell me.” He sounded serious. I loved that about him. He knew when to be serious he knew when to cut loose a little.“It was Addie. She was in the back of a car. The backdoor opened and someone took her out of the car. She was screaming and kicking.” I took a deep breath, nausea threatening to overcome me.Toby could hear the anguish in my voice. “Calm down, bro. Let’s talk this out. What kind of car?”I gulped air. “A town car. Like what I usually use for service when I go into the city.”“Okay. Was there anyone with her in the backseat?”I thought back. “No,
ADDIE POVA moment ago, I was happily shopping for friends and then I thought I saw Vanessa. It would be super weird to see her here, on this island, at the same time we were, so I told myself it wasn’t her. But then James started acting odd, almost pushing me into the next store. I started to wonder.I found a very ornate sweater that I wanted to buy for Sophie and when I looked around to find James to get his wallet, I saw that he was outside of the store talking to the woman I saw. It was Vanessa. I stood in the window, watching them, and I saw her lean up and kiss him on the cheek. He moved away, thank goodness, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he walked into the store.“Find something?” he asked with a grin. I waited for him to bring up Vanessa, but he didn’t so I went along with it. Maybe he thought I’d be upset, and he didn’t want to start something in front of the shopkeeper. I’ll wait until the plane to talk to him about it, I decided.We finished up our shopping
JAMES POVI could tell Addie was upset as soon as she saw Vanessa. I should have warned her, but I honestly didn’t think Vanessa would get to the plane before we did. I had hurried Addie through the shopping and even had the concierge pack our bags so that I would have more time to talk to Addie before Vanessa showed up. I should have found a quiet corner and talked to her.I was beyond irritate with Vanessa’s stunt with the seatbelt but, to my surprise, Addie didn’t comment on it. I was grateful. I didn’t really want to spend the whole flight refereeing between the two.Vanessa and I were deep in conversation when I could feel Addie’s hurt through the mate bond. I didn’t know if she had overheard something or why she was feeling the way she was, but I tried talking to her. She refused and I figured we would just have to sit down and talk about it. I texted Beckman to be ready to take us back to the hotel tonight instead of the Pack. Addie and I needed to sit down together, a
ADDIE POVI blinked back tears, trying hard not to cry. I was hurt and I was angry at myself. I don’t let myself get close to people. I learned a hard lesson a long time ago about trusting others with my heart. I swore I would never do it again and what did I do? James comes along, smelling like blueberry waffles, and I go and fall for him, hook, line and sinker.And then I got mad at HIM. He was acting weird since he got that vision and wouldn’t tell me about it. I heard him talking to Toby about it, but I didn’t get there in time to hear what the conversation was. I knew he was worried about it, and he was constantly after me to talk about things, my past, my worries, and even the good things in my life. But when it was him who needed to share, he clammed up?And what the hell was the whole thing with Vanessa about? Some guys are just too nice for their own good and I was ready to throw James in that category. He genuinely didn’t seem to realize when women were flirting w
ADDIE POVThe biggest guy reached down and hauled me to my feet like I weighed nothing. My legs almost buckled but he tossed me against the car and I leaned against it. I could feel the silver weakening me and Talia and I was fighting the effects of it. “You’ve grown up,” the woman said to me, moving into my line of vision. “You look like your mom.”I looked at her, disbelieving. “Helena?” Standing in front of me was the Omega that my father had given the Alpha command to. The woman that betrayed my sister and me the second the command was lifted due to his death. I snarled and lunged at her.The first man poked me with the cattle prod again and I went down in a heap. “Quit doing that, you son of a bitch,” I growled at him. He chuckled.“Feisty,” he said. He grabbed my hair and started walking into the cabin, dragging me with him. “Get rid of the car,” he told one of the other men. I saw him walk over to Beckman’s body and take the keys from his coat pocket. I tripped go
ADDIE POVI watched the Hunter warily. He walked over to where I was chained and ignored me on the floor, unlocking the chains from the wall. “Up you go,” he said, pulling up the chain and forcing me to my feet.I gritted my teeth against the pain and scrambled up. He jerked the chains, not unkindly, but definitely uncaring. I refused to scream.“I hate werewolves. Always thinking that they’re better than the humans because they have the ability to shift. You know what your kind doesn’t realize? That wolves are dogs. Wild dogs. You shift into something without an ability to think or to feel and that’s feral. I don’t know why there’s any pride in that.”He pulled me over to the table and fastened one of the chains to the table leg. He went around to the other side of the table and pulled on the chain, forcing me up on the table and laying on my back with my arms spread wide. “But every once and again, there is a werewolf that is better than the humans. And it has nothing t
JAMES POVWe burst through the front door and were confronted. I skidded to a stop.“Jacob Sawyer,” I acknowledged the Hunter in front of me. He looked surprised to see me.“James Adler. I didn’t know you consorted with this sort.” He stood in front of me, looking relaxed, but I knew better. This Hunter has been credited with thousands of kills of my kind. He was strong and ruthless, and he had a serious hatred for anything supernatural, though he wasn’t above using them if they would help meet his needs.I could see my warriors spreading wider around me, Toby flanking me to my left. I knew Bruce had slipped out the door behind me, probably to see if he could get to Addie another way.Just then an earsplitting scream came from the floor below us. It was like a knife through my heart, and I grimaced.Jacob looked at me with interest. “I misjudged you, James. I thought you were someone to be admired, a savvy businessman. But I see now. I don’t know how I missed it. You’re o
JAMES POVWe got Addie back to the hotel. Toby had called ahead and made arrangements for the penthouse and then found us all clothing to put on while we were driving. Watching Bruce put on pants while driving eighty miles per hour on the highway wasn’t for the faint of heart, but I knew showing up to the valet completely naked wasn’t a good idea. It was bad enough that Addie was just wrapped in a blanket.I should have given Toby more credit. Bruce pulled into the parking garage and the person Toby was on the phone with opened the private elevator and sent it up to the penthouse. A concierge was there with a key to let us in.Bruce excused himself to go wait on the roof for Dr. Joanna to arrive via helicopter. I lay Addie on the bed, her clear eyes looking up at me completely trusting. I removed the now dry towels and wet two more, laying them on her. She quietly thanked me.Dr. Joanna was with her for a long time. I waited outside the room with Toby, not sure I could contro