Crescent (Tribes, Book 1) [completed]

Chapter 28

Liana never lost consciousness on the journey, and for that she was both grateful and terrified. The men hauling her out into the woods didn't say much, but Liana had already gathered that they weren't after her. In the end, they wanted Conner. She could securely guess that their intentions included killing him. Scared as she was, Liana knew one thing: she could never let them kill Conner.

Whatever she had to do, she wouldn't sit back and watch while they had their way.

The forest was unfamiliar to her, as she had only seen parts of it as it swept by the sides of her running wolf. The alcove they arrived at, however, was far too recognizable. Liana had been there only the day before, trailing along behind a little girl through the tents and the cabin.

It appeared they had been wrong about those inhabiting it. They hadn't moved on at all.

The giant toting Liana over his shoulder deposited her on the ground at the foot of the cabin's steps.

Liana landed without any way to catch herself, and therefore barely managed to avoid hitting her head on a rock. She hit her shoulder instead. It didn't hurt any less.

"She's here!" the giant ruffian announced as he reached down to remove the duct tape from her mouth.

The rip of duct tape leaving flesh rang harsh in Liana's ears. 

"Doesn't matter if your alpha hears you now," he explained.

Liana rolled her eyes. These fools clearly didn't understand the meaning of subtlety. Because she was a human, they had been able to easily overpower her. Did they think that same level of strength would be enough to kill Conner? Liana doubted the sanity of their plan.

A gray-haired man with perfect posture stepped out of the cabin. Liana may be incapacitated, but she wasn't stupid. Judging by the way he held himself, this must be the grandfather that Kat mentioned. Apparently, wolves were attractive for the duration of their lives. A panicky giggle tried to escape Liana's throat, but she managed to hold it back.

The man at the cabin door studied her for a long moment, his eyes as alert as if he was still in his twenties. Liana definitely never would have described him as a grandfather, had this been anywhere except the Crescent Reservation.

"I expected more from him." A heavy sigh fell from the man's lips. "Come and see, Konan. You've been asking so desperately about my plan."

Konan? Liana remembered that name. The memory of a gray wolf in the middle of Conner's living room flooded her senses. Right. Konan. Kat's dad and Hilda's mate.

He appeared from the doorway, in fully human form, wringing his hands timidly. When his gaze lifted, he caught sight of her, and only two soft words fell from his lips. "Alpha's mate?"

"Konan." Liana managed to finagle herself into a position where she could consider sitting up. Laying on her aching shoulder any longer wouldn't help it, anyway. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you alright? Where's Alpha Conner?" Konan took two steps toward Liana, as if he might help.

The older wolf reached out an arm to hold him back. "He'll be here soon enough. Go back and prepare to start the spell."

"You won't hurt her, will you?" Konan turned his attention back to the elder man. "She has nothing to do with this."

"She's his mate." The elder man glared. "So, yes. She does have something to do with this."

"You shouldn't hurt her," Konan tried again, sounding more frantic than the first time.

The elder shoved Konan back toward the door. "Then do your job."

Liana got the gist of the situation. Konan didn't want to be there any more than she wanted to be there. Somewhere along the line, for reasons Liana didn't dare to guess, Konan had been dragged into this mess in much the same way that she had.

"He won't come," Liana stirred the waters, if only to get information about the upcoming fiasco.

The gray-haired man snickered. "Yes, he will."

"Haven't you heard? There's something wrong with our bond. He won't know where I am."

The older man stalked down the cabin steps and squatted to be closer to Liana's level. "Don't worry. We've let him know what to do." He chucked her chin with two fingers.

Liana tossed her head away from his touch. She could stand a lot of things, but patronization wasn't one of them. If this man thought he could pacify her or humiliate her, neither were good options. He had already royally ticked her off. Liana, when pushed into a corner, always came out fighting.

With firm determination, Liana glared at the man with all the venom she could muster. "Fine."

"What's fine, little wolfsmate?" the man asked.

"You asked for this."

"For what?"

Liana spit in his face.

The man reared back as if she had burned him.

"Do whatever you want, it won't pan out. Extortion and blackmail only work until the ones you're threatening get fed up." Liana lifted her chin as if she owned the whole forest, when in fact she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and disappear. "You're all stupid to even try this."

The man's fingers dug into Liana's jaw, forcing her to face him eye-to-eye. "It doesn't matter what you think of this. Your job is to sit here quietly and wait for your wolf."

"Gladly," Liana gritted out.

The man released her and stood to return to the cabin, shooting only one command over his shoulder. "Watch her."

Thank God he left. Her bravado was all a front. Liana had acted confident to buy as much time as possible, but the truth was that she didn't want Conner to find her. If he found her, there was the slightest possibility of everyone ending up dead. She would much rather find a way out herself.

So, she'd have to be careful. Watchful. Cautious.

Liana's eyes landed on a small campfire across from her, where the guards retreated to grill some sort of small forest creature. And her final option began to form. One piece at a time, one bad decision after another.

First, she would wait for her opportunity. Then, she would strike back.