Chapter 29: Abducted!

Emma woke feeling sated and hungry at the same time. Dex wasn’t in bed, but she could smell coffee so she’d bet he was somewhere in the house. She stretched, showered, then found him in the kitchen. He handed her a cup of coffee.
“You need me to make breakfast?” she said.
“No, we’re going out. The pack wants to meet you. Well, those that haven’t already.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What if they don’t like me?”
He kissed her nose. “You are being silly. Of course, they will like you.”
He drove her to a clearing in the middle of the woods where a crowd had gathered. Barbecue grills had been set up and the scent of roasting meat reached Emma’s nose. Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled.
Dex leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I guess we’re getting here just in time.”
Leyton appeared in front of Emma and dragged her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. We can chat when you’re ready about what I’ve been doing to fill in as a Luna.”
Emma didn’t want to crowd out Leyton. “Of course, but you don't want to keep doing things?”
“I can be an advisor to you, Emma. Until you get comfortable.”
She let go of Emma and more she-wolves introduced themselves and hugged her. She wouldn’t remember all of their names, but the reception they gave her warmed her heart.
Dex arrived with a plate of food. “My Luna is hungry. I need to make sure she’s fed.”
Emma found herself at a table with Dex, Brutus, and Leyton. Brutus didn’t say much or look her way. He might be the one she would have to work hardest to accept her, but Leyton would help.
Once she was done eating, she walked around the table with Dex so he could introduce her to the male wolves of the pack. They all greeted her with respect. She couldn’t stop thinking about that. Lucien never would have done this.
She shook herself. It was time to stop thinking about Lucien. She would contact the Elders tomorrow and Lucien would be dealt with. She never needed to see him again.
The names and faces of the pack raced around Emma’s head, but she was determined to remember some of them. This was her pack now. They were her responsibility almost as much as they were Dex’s.
When the party broke up, Emma sat with Dex in the woods for a few more minutes. “Did you organize that?”
“Leyton did. As soon as she found out you were coming here, she called everyone.”
“She doesn’t mind me taking over Luna duties?”
“No. She’s happy for you and me,” Dex said.
As they spoke he rubbed her back. She was full and happy and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She’d done it. She’d left Lucien and now could make a life here. “What happened with the invaders?”
She had a moment of panic. Should she have asked that? Lucien would have been angry.
Dex didn’t even blink. “We never found them, but there was evidence wolves had been there. We’ll keep an eye out. Have patrols out today. I’ve alerted the packs around here so they know.”
That had been more than Lucien had ever shared with her. “Do you think it’s Lucien?”
He took in a deep breath then let it out, as if he were deciding what to tell her.
“Dex. Don’t sugarcoat anything for me. Okay? We’re in this together.”
The look he gave her was pure love. “Yes. I don’t think Lucien thought you’d leave. He had to regroup after you did. He won’t give you up that easily.”
“But I don’t want to be with him.”
“It’s a matter of pride now. A matter of that honor he always speaks of.”
Lucien and his honor. “Do you think they’ll be back?”
“I hope not. You know me, Emma. I don't want to fight, but I will if I have to,” Dex said.
She nodded. Dex wouldn’t start anything, but he wouldn’t back down either.”
Leyton and Brutus sat down on the other side of the table.
“Everything’s cleaned up,” Leyton said.
Dex gave Emma a one-armed hug. “Brutus and I have business to attend to. Leyton is going to show you around the territory.” He kissed the side of her face. “You going to be okay?”
“I’ll be in good hands with Leyton.”
Emma watched Dex leave with Brutus. Her gaze came back to Leyton who was smiling. “Human form or wolf form?”
“Oh, wolf form. It’s been a while.”
They shifted and Leyton ran off into the woods with Emma in pursuit. Being in wolf form was the freest Emma could ever be, and Dex didn’t seem to care if she shifted or not. It was her choice.
She raced after Leyton, tackling the other wolf. They fake growled and nuzzled as if they were sisters. Emma’s heart was so full of affection she thought she’d burst. When they tired of the play, they shifted back to human form.
“Let’s go get some coffee and you can ask me anything,” Leyton said.
They were on the edge of the property and Emma heard a sound. “What was that?”
They both stopped. Emma heard it again. “Let’s shift and get away.”
Before they could, two wolves in human form grabbed Emma. She screamed and Leyton shifted back to her wolf form to defend Emma. She attacked, but the wolf not holding Emma shifted and attacked.
“Go, Leyton. Tell Dex.”
Emma struggled and wanted to shift, but she was unable to for some reason. The man had slapped a silver bracelet onto her wrist. She wouldn't be able to shift.
Leyton ran off and the wolf left shifted back to human form. They were the same men who had dropped her off under Lucien’s orders. Dex had been right. Lucien wasn’t going to give up that easily. She kicked the man who held her in the shins.
“Ouch.”
His grip loosened, but the other man caught her before she could escape. She kicked and screamed, but they wrapped her wrists together with duct tape. They shoved Emma into the back seat of their truck and drove away.
“What are you doing? Let me go.”
“Shut up or we’ll tape your mouth.”
To what level had Lucien stooped? Kidnapping her? Did he think he was going to convince her to be his Luna again? She settled down to think about how she would escape. With the silver bracelet locked on her arm, she couldn’t shift.
Leyton would let Dex know. He’d find Emma, but she had to think of a way to get out. The men drove her back to Fang City and to a warehouse she’d never seen before on the edge of town. She was put in a cell, her hands still tied.
Lucien showed up not long after. He paced in front of the bars. “Emma. What am I to do with you.”
“You’re going to let me go, Lucien. I don’t want to be here.”
“No she-wolf is going to embarrass me,” Lucien said.
She walked to the bars her face right near them. “It’s always about you. About your so-called honor, isn’t it?”
“Shut up.”
“No, Lucien. My days of shutting up are done. My days of being the object of your bullying are done.”
“Big words for a wolf in a cage.”
“I’ll get out of this cage.”
“Dex won’t find you.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll get out under my own power.”
Lucien laughed. “You’ve got silver on your wrist and bars between you and freedom. I’ll wait, Emma. You’ll come around.”
What were his plans? “How is that going to happen?”
“You’ll get hungry enough or cold enough. I’ll figure out the trigger and then you’ll be back with me. You’ll beg me.”
She couldn’t imagine begging Lucien for anything. “Don’t hold your breath.”
“I won’t have to, Emma. You’re only tough when you’re with Dex.”
That’s where he was wrong. Even if Dex left her, she’d still be strong. Gone were the days of basing any part of herself on what someone else thought. She sat on the cot in the room. She would have crossed her arms.
“We’ll see about that,” Emma said.