Chapter 134

Rachel POV

"Time to play a game."

Fighting the urge to scream, I focused on breathing through my mouth in slow, deep breaths. If I could control my fear, I would be more likely to keep myself and my baby safe.

"What kind of game?" I asked.

"We're going to trade favors. You want this water, don't you?"

I didn't respond though I really wanted to shout at him for being an idiot. I wouldn't have asked for water if I didn't want it! How was I going to keep my temper around these thugs if they kept being stupid?

"Hey!" shouted the second man, stepping forward to point at me, "He asks a question, you answer it! That's how the game's played. You got that?"

Nodding, I said, "I've got it. I do want water. I wouldn't have asked for it if I didn't really want it. I'm not like that."

I noticed the speculation on the smaller man's face and realized he had to be at least a delta wolf if not a beta. His build was rangy, long limbs with lean muscles, and he seemed to be the smarter of the two.

"My name is Rachel," I tried, "Who are you? I need something to call you. I'm going crazy thinking of you as just Goon 1 and Goon 2."

"We know who you are," Big Goon said, "You been on tv. You did that love song on all the stations now. You know a lot of people think wolf girls are easy now because of you?"

Completely confused, I asked, "What? What do you mean? My song is about falling in love."

"At first sight," Smaller Goon said, rolling his eyes, "It's stupid. Humans are all pretty stupid if you ask me. I'm Dorney. He's Gus. There's some names for you."

Where had they gotten the impression my song was about sex? Or lust even? 'Love at the First Sight' was literally about falling in love with someone who was right for you based on instincts rather than a fated mate bond.

I'd written it for Nathan Lewis who had been my first love even though we both knew we weren't fated mates. I still loved Nathan in some ways and I knew I always would. My song was supposed to reflect the rush of first love and the thrill of the first rush of love at the beginning of a relationship.

I hadn't heard anything about people using it to make assumptions about wolfen women.

"Figures Gus would get you to shut up by making it all about you. You agree to be quiet unless you need something? No more screaming?"

Dorney looked as if he would rather be anywhere but here. I wondered what he did when he wasn't kidnapping people for my father.

"I won't scream. Unless I really need to," I decided, "I'm not supposed to be off bedrest. My baby---I'm worried about my baby. Are you planning to keep me long?"

Gus said, "We got no idea how long Pat wants to keep you. It'll come down to how fast your mate pays off your ransom. He won't keep you once he gets paid."

"He'll let me go then? Or he'll kill me?" I asked, needing to say it out loud, hear them answer me even if they lied.

"Killing you wouldn't do any of us any good. The only reason he'd kill you would be if Wright won't pay. We both know he will. That's not a problem. Right, Rachel?" Dorney prodded.

I could tell he wanted to hear me answer aloud too.

I guessed we all wanted to have our suspicions confirmed; I couldn't think of any reason why Tyler would refuse to pay a cash bounty for my return. Money wasn't a problem for him given Moonrise Entertainment made billions of dollars every year.

"It shouldn't be any problem at all, Dorney. Tyler has never been cheap."

"Dorney, you sure we should've told her our names?" Gus asked, looking at his friend with confusion clouding his features, "Who says she won't rat us out to that Alpha Inspector she's got following her around?'

"How do you know about Art?" I asked.

I was so surprised they knew Art had been keeping company with me. The Alpha Inspector literally popped into my life whenever he felt necessary and with no warning. We had not kept our interactions secret, but I hadn't thought anyone would know who he was or what he did.

"We know about a lot of things. The AI is a known problem for guys like us. You want to tell me why he's so hot on your trail? Pat says it's because of your mother. I didn't think the Council was interested in the Campbell bitch anymore," Dorney said with a shrug.

No reason to refuse to answer him came to me so I replied as honestly and simply as I could.

"I'm having a baby and I have no official status with any pack. I asked for the Alpha Council to help me determine if I could join my mother's pack to protect my child from House Wright."

"As if they'd ever do anything to hurt their heir's mate," Dorney scoffed.

I realized these men had the same prejudices about me I'd recognized having about them.

They thought I was beloved because I was the mate of a high-ranking Alpha. I thought they were thugs because they worked for Patrick.

My gut feeling was they were the kind of men not to be trusted all the same. I couldn't afford to be wrong about them. My baby wouldn't get a second chance at life if something bad happened to me.

"I won't cause any problems," I promised, hating myself for my weakness, "Can I have my water now?"

I was given my ice water with a caution which showed they had a healthy respect for women. I wondered how many others they'd taken just as they'd taken me.

And how many of those women made it home.

Thinking about them killing me would only raise my blood pressure more so I tried to refocus my thoughts. I knew I would have to do whatever I could to instill sympathy in them, get them on my side, or at least convince them to care a little about my welfare.

"This is my first baby. I'm having a girl. Do you have children?"

I couldn't think of anything else to do or say so I hoped if I turned the conversation back to Dorney and Gus, they'd respond well to me.

Gus laughed a little, sounding surprised, before saying, "Yeah. I got six littles at home. Four boys and two girls. They're all good kids. Only the oldest boy takes after me. The rest favor their mother which is a good thing since she's a looker."

"I live vicariously through Gus here. No kiddies for me," Dorney chuckled.

"Six!" I was shocked at the number even though wolfen families did tend to be larger than human ones.

"What can I say? I'm a love machine," Gus made a kissing face at me before asking, "You want more water? I could get you some crackers too if you're feeling sickish. My wife threw up every day with all ours."

I had no idea when or if they'd offer me food or water again so I agreed quickly, "Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you very much."

Dorney exchanged a look with Gus before saying, "We're not gonna hurt you if we don't have to, okay? If you keep your head together, don't cause no problems, we'll make sure to take care of you. Deal?"

"Deal," I agreed.

I knew I'd have to fight my way free if I could or escape if the opportunity came around, but I could promise to behave in the meantime. These two were hard to figure out. I couldn't tell if they'd hurt me or not; I didn't want to find out.

Dorney got a call on his cell phone just then and he answered it on speaker, gesturing to me to be quiet, "Dorney."

The man on the other end of the line said, 'You will need to get her to do a live chat in two hours. Wright wants proof of life. If she says too much, gives any of us away, I want you to kill her.'

My blood went cold as I realized I recognized the voice on the phone and it didn't belong to Patrick. Oh no, this was a new evil.

"Understood," Dorney said.

'Good,' came the man from the phone, 'Wait for my call and keep her quiet in the meantime. Use any means necessary as long as she's still alive and capable of speaking when the feed goes live.'

"Will do," Dorney agreed again, holding the phone as if waiting for permission to drop the call.

I could feel tears slipping down my cheeks as the phone call disconnected to only the sound of a dial tone.

Richard Campbell was the other man involved in my abduction. Both my fathers were responsible for taking me from my home, endangering my baby, and threatening my life.

Did that mean Richard knew about my mother, too?