Well, if she’d ruined the dress, he’d be more than happy to help her remove it. He smirked. The past week had been the best of his life. And the hottest. Julie had met him move for move, doing anything and everything he’d asked. But as much as he’d never thought he’d say it, the best part wasn’t the sex. It was being able to curl around her afterward, feeling her rest against him and nuzzle his chest with her nose.
He understood Jason’s frustration over not being able to spend the night with Samantha. Now that he was mated, being separated from Julie left him anxious, as if her mere presence settled his wolf. But even so, the tableau in front of him seemed a bit extreme. Unless something had happened to the women. A brief flash of panic accompanied the thought.
“What’s the matter?” Brendan demanded, stalking farther into the room. Danny stood to one side, leaning against a wall, watching his brother pace.
“Nothing. We just spoke to Ethan, and he said everything is fine.”
Brendan glanced back at Jason. This was definitely an extreme reaction if they knew everything was fine. Even after being separated from his mate for the entire night.
“So what crawled up his butt?” Brendan asked.
Jason turned toward him and the fire in his eyes made Brendan take a step back. He held up his hands in surrender before things got out of hand. Jason turned around and resumed pacing.
“Apparently,” Danny paused and tried to hide his smile, “Samantha is pregnant. And it’s causing some rather dominant protective instincts to come out.”
No wonder Jason’s reaction had been so extreme to the threatening note. He was surprised Jason had agreed, even with Ethan there, to leave her for the night. He thought about how he would feel if Julie carried his child. The rush of giddiness almost made him dizzy. Julie swelling with his child would be a beautiful sight.
“As soon as Dad gets here, we’re going to head over. We’ve already told Ethan, and he’s going to hurry the girls along too. I don’t think the inn can take much more damage.”
Glancing around, Brendan noticed one of the chair backs lay on the floor behind the seat. Poor Alyssa. Now he understood why she wasn’t taking the relaxed stance Danny had.
Charles, their father, walked in the front door, took one look at his son and ushered them all outside and into the car. No words seemed needed.
Jason growled, and Brendan covered his chuckle with a cough. He didn’t want to meet Julie with a black eye if Jason took offense to his amusement. The conversation buzzed around him, but he tuned them out as his mind tried to focus on the haziness filling his brain.
Something wasn’t right.
It came on suddenly, a rush of alarm, but he knew it was from Julie. This wasn’t some worrisome dress concern. This was full-fledged, bomb-exploding terror. It only lasted a second before it was gone, but he hadn’t imagined it. He swore he heard his name echoing in his head with fear and pain.
Trying not to panic, he looked toward Jason and Charles. If something had happened to the women they would have sensed it as well, right? After all, they both had mates there too. Jason continued to growl, but didn’t appear any more anxious than before. Charles smiled and chatted away with Danny, looking as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
Brendan bit his lip in indecision. He didn’t want to rile Jason any more than he already was, but he needed to ask. Was it his imagination or Julie crying for help? He had to know. “Did you guys–” he paused, considering how to phrase his concern, “–sense anything just now? Anything at all?”
All three of them stared at him for a minute before shaking their heads. Jason’s eyes bore into him, demanding he tell them what was wrong.
“Never mind. Must be that artist imagination.” He turned toward the window, so they wouldn’t see his frown. It had felt so real. And Julie hadn’t even been on his mind at the time. He’d been secure knowing she was protected by Ethan, Laurie and Judith.
He got out of the car with the others and stalked inside the church. When he realized the women hadn’t arrived yet, he walked toward the doors to wait. His wolf insisted on seeing Julie, and his human side wasn’t arguing. He needed visual assurance she was okay.
He tried reaching out through the bond but felt nothing. That was scarier than the panic. There was no joy or fear. Just a void of nothingness. Even when she slept he felt something through the bond. Some sense of her dreaming conscious.
The limo pulled up to the curb, and he dragged his mind away from his dark musings, needing to see her. He watched Ethan exit the car and hold the door open as the women followed. Horror filled him as Ethan shut the door behind them–before Julie had gotten out.
They made their way up the short flight of stairs into the church, and Brendan pounced on Ethan, demanding to know where she was.
“She’s not here?” he asked.
“I called and told you she was on her way over.” Brendan’s anger and fear hit the ceiling, and his voice rose as he took out his anger on Ethan.
“Whoa, calm down. She called, said she forgot something at home and would be late. When we got the call to leave early, I left her a message to come straight here. She’s probably on her way now.”
Brendan turned away, running his hands through his hair. He felt the scrape of claws and knew he was about to lose it. Julie was in trouble. She’d tried to reach out to him, but he’d brushed it off, thinking she was safe with her family. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.
“Something’s wrong.” His voice was guttural, but the way her family crowded around assured him they understood.
“What do you mean?” Danny demanded.
“I felt something in the car. Blind panic and then nothing. I can’t sense her anymore. I ignored it, because I thought she was with you.” He spit the last out at Ethan.
He looked at her family, saw the worry on their faces, and was grateful they took him seriously. They had to find her. It was the only thought rushing through him.
“Okay, let’s not panic yet. We’ll backtrack to your place, see if we can find her along the way,” Ethan said, putting his hand on Brendan’s shoulder and squeezing. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”
Brendan saw Laurie move between her brothers’ mates. She’d protect them while the rest of the family found Julie. The other members of the pack, gathered in the church to watch their Premier wed his mate, now stood. Some took position next to Laurie, others stared at Jason and Brendan for instructions. The message was clear. Julie was one of them, part of the pack, and they would help however they could.
Julie woke up disoriented. Where the hell was she? She tried to stay awake, remain focused, but the darkness pulled her back into its embrace and the world disappeared once more.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before she came to again. Pain pounded a furious rhythm behind her eyes. She placed her palm on her temple as she leaned up and gazed around. It looked like some kind of cabin in the woods somewhere.
The room spun, and she swallowed the bile rising to the back of her throat as she struggled to remember.
A flash of her car door–the hand covering her mouth while the other gripped her waist, preventing her from struggling–had her sitting up in panic. The world swam, making her regret the action. Whatever they’d done to her had given her a major hangover.
“So you’re awake.” Julie spun toward the male voice. The man in the doorway wasn’t someone she recognized. “Who are you, and what do you want with me?” She hated the way her voice shook. If only the room would stop spinning, she could figure a way out of this mess. She had to get home to Brendan. Thoughts of her mate steadied her. He would come for her, and when he did this man would regret ever touching her.