Found, a Vampire Romance by Lori Devoti Read Free Book Online Page B

his hand toward her. Two of the boys grabbed her cage and lifted it onto their shoulders— as if she and the steel cage weighed nothing.
    She gripped the metal bars and tried not to show the fear that was shooting through her.
    What the hell were these boys? Not regular college students, that much was for sure. Despite the chill, her palms were sweating. Her hands slid down the bars with each of the boys’ jostling steps.
    “Over there, in the gulley.”
    The boys hefted her cage off of their shoulders and then dropped it into a small ravine. Her body bounced up, and her head hit the top of her prison. When she landed, it was in water. Water trickled through the ravine and over the bottom of the cage. Nancy’s jeans and shoes were soon soaked.
    “Time to run, rabbit.” Brandon jerked the cage door open. She stared at him stupidly.
    Adrenaline pumped through her. She wanted to run, but some small piece of her also said don’t .
    Fight or flight . Given the choice, she had never been one to choose flight.
    “I said run!” Brandon leaned closer, his expression pulled into a snarl. Then his face twisted, and his body jerked. A grunt followed by a growl fell from his lips. Hair sprouted on his face, and his back bent.
    His body jerked again and again. Until he was no longer human— he was a wolf.
    Nancy knew she should scream, knew it was the rational response, but her lungs were frozen. She couldn’t pull in air, and she couldn’t push out a noise.
    Brandon, the wolf, snapped his teeth and grinned.
    The horror clicked something in her brain. This was real. Everything was real.
    It was her last rational thought before she shoved open the cage door and ran.
    o0o
    It hadn’t taken Dorian and Cameron long to locate the werewolves. For animals known for their stealth, their human-shifting counterparts seemed to feel no need for secrecy.
    In one of the darkest parts of the canyon, they’d built a bonfire, and a dozen werewolves, all in human form, were gathered around it drinking beer from plastic cups.
    However, there was no sign of Nancy. Dorian turned to leave. Cameron placed a hand on his arm. “Where are you going?”
    “To find Nancy.”
    There had been a time Dorian would have dove into the middle of the gathered werewolves, torn a few apart just to appease his rage, but tonight he had more than his anger at stake. He had to find Nancy, alive and totally unharmed.
    After he’d done that, he’d come back for the werewolves.
    He crept around the circle, listening and watching for some clue, any clue, as to where she was now.
    “You got ‘em under control?” A college-aged male held a walkie-talkie to his mouth. “Gotta wait until Brandon says it’s okay.” He lowered the device and stared across the clearing, watching for this Brandon, Dorian realized.
    In a moment, a wolf trotted into view. It lifted its head.
    The male with the walkie-talkie uttered one word. “Go!”
    Dorian didn’t know who the male was talking to, or why, but every instinct he had told him it had to do with Nancy.
    Careful not to alert the werewolves gathered around the fire and keg, he crept around the side of the clearing until he reached the spot where the wolf had first appeared.
    There was another trail, this one leading to some kind of creek or gulley, and inside the gulley, the bottom covered with muddy water, was a cage.
    If Dorian had been a wolf, he would have howled. Instead he gritted his teeth and swore to himself, promised himself that the werewolves standing around the fire, laughing, and slamming down beers, were going to pay— in blood.
    o0o
    Nancy heard howls. She stumbled over a rock that lay in her path but caught herself and kept from falling. She was running wild, she knew that— no plan, no idea how she was going to outrun a pack of wolves. No. Werewolves .
    Her heart beat so loud and hard she could hear the pounding in her ears.
    Dorian had taken care of her, shown her nothing but love and respect, and