Caged Wolf (Wolves of Willow Bend Book 2) by Heather Long Read Free Book Online

hand over his face, Mason stared at the stream thoughtfully. “Look, you stay with her. Owen and Timothy will secure the area and I’ll give you a couple of days…maybe three. No more. Everyone knows you’re home and knows this trial is coming. They’ll want to know the truth, they need it. You weren’t the only one hurt by the decision to leave you. I have a pack to heal, Andrew.”
    Sighing, A.J. nodded. “I’ll stay here with her. Can you keep my mother away?”
    “Not for all the money in the world will I get between your mother and you.”
    “Can you give me a few hours? If she sees Vivian…” Claudia Buckley was a kind and gentle woman, but if she thought Vivian had anything to do with his sentencing—his mother was his fiercest protector.
    “I’ll do what I can. Come on, let’s go see to your girl and your brothers.”
    Side by side they walked toward the cabin. “How much trouble is Linc in?”
    “A lot. But Owen will get over it and he didn’t touch Margo.” Margo Montgomery, he recognized the name. She was an Enforcer. Hunters and Enforcers seemed similar on the surface, but where Hunters were loyal to their packs, the Enforcers were not. Enforcers stood outside the pack structures, but they enforced all the laws, protecting the packs equally. Pissing one off was a bad idea.
    “Well, that’s something.” They continued in silence, then A.J. said, “Congratulations on the baby and Alexis.”
    The change in Mason was swift and unmistakable. He smiled and his scent turned practically joyous. “Thank you.” At the cabin, his Alpha faced him. “We’ll sort all of this out and then you can come meet my daughter and my mate.”
    “You know, I have met Alexis before.” For the barest moment, a spark struck inside him. “I tried to kiss her once.”
    From joy to ferocious glare, the transformation was absolute. “Did you just tell me you tried to kiss my mate?”
    “Tried, but didn’t succeed.” For a moment, he wanted to smile. It was such an alien sensation, he had to touch his face to see if his mouth moved.
    “Since you failed, I’ll let you live.” Mason’s good humor returned. “Three days, it’s all I can give you.”
    After that, Mason cleared the others away in short order, Tyler included. His brother didn’t want to go, but A.J. asked him to find Linc before their mother did. Gillian, the healer’s apprentice, argued she should stay, but Owen dragged her off with him. Alone, he stared at the cabin.
    Vivian …
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    Everyone left. No explanation, no advice, no wait here while they fetched a car to take her home, nothing. They simply left. She sat on the edge of the bed for thirty minutes before she realized they might not be returning. Leaving her perch, she walked on shaking legs to the bathroom, pausing to glance between the blinds on the room’s only windows.
    All green grass and trees as far as she could see. Trembling, she made use of the facilities, then paused to study her reflection in the mirror. Her mouth was still sore, but the swelling seemed to have retreated. Whatever Gillian did to her worked.
    What did she do? She touched my arm, I got warm and the pain went away. Maybe she’d only imagined the pain to begin with. She’d not seen any evidence of injury. Except the other woman had her hand over my mouth and nose. Touching two fingers to her nose, she tested the skin. It tingled, but nothing more sensitive than a mild sunburn.
    It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility that I am having a full and complete psychotic break. Maybe she’d imagined all the people—imagined A.J. Did I imagine being kidnapped? A blackout. Could she have blacked out, driven to the middle of nowhere and then entertained this utter flight of fancy? Not three years ago, she’d experienced episodes exactly like that.
    Always the woods, too. Once she’d driven nearly seventy-five miles and parked next to a lake. When she woke, she’d been