Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,199

after the meeting. I figured, I mean, I hoped that she was with you, but here you are.” He kept his voice quiet, probably to avoid panicking the rest of the pack lingering in the apartment behind him. “Which means neither of us knows where she is.”

“I was supposed to meet her at Cole’s, but her co-worker said she didn’t come into work,” Connor agreed. Carlo’s expression darkened and he started pacing the length of the front step, hands worrying through his hair. Connor watched him, his own thoughts moving a mile a minute.

If she wasn’t at her apartment and she wasn’t at the lodge then where would she have gone? There’s no way she would have disappeared. Not without telling him, or Carlo, at the very least. Unless…

“Where’s Vince?” Connor asked, voice low and dangerous.

Carlo stopped pacing, scowling at the name. “He didn’t come back either. Good riddance to him…” He paused, eyes wide as Connor’s meaning sunk in. “Oh God, Brooke.”

A cold dread washed through Connor’s body. This was bad.

Vince had her. Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialling Eric’s number and pressing the receiver to his ear, “Come on come on-”

“Connor? What’s-”

“Eric, get the others,” Connor ordered. “We’re gonna need that back up.”

* * *

Chapter Twenty One: Brooke

* * *

Brooke spent the whole night tugging at the ropes that bound her hands, her wrists chafing. She had begun to feel the hot sticky wetness of blood hours ago, the burn agonizing, but she continued. Her legs had long since fallen asleep, occasionally buzzing with pins and needles as she worked. The moon rose higher and the early pre-dawn morning began. The weak light revealed more of the cabin she was trapped in.

It really was a shithole. The floor creaked and groaned every time the wind whistled through the gaping holes that littered the walls and ceiling. The room itself was probably quite cosy once; there was a fireplace on the back wall, currently covered in spiderwebs and dust, but Brooke could still picture it all lit up and throwing warmth around the large room while a family sat together, or maybe while a couple fucked lazily on a couch… God, she missed Connor.

She tested the ropes again, making a small sound of satisfaction when she found she could rub her wrists together like she was trying to start a fire. The blood was actually useful, helping the rope slip over her skin. Almost there.

They must have been using this place long before they brought me here, she thought. Even with the state of the place, there were tell-tale signs left behind by its recent inhabitants: beer bottles and take out cartons were piled high to one side - still reeking as the leftover food festered and mixed with the pungent stench of stale beer.

She listened intently as she continued working at her bindings, but the place was completely silent save for the far off river and the birds singing in the early morning light. They must have figured she was no longer a threat and left her on her own.

The ropes fell to the floor. Jackpot.

Brooke pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, staggering as blood rushed back into her legs and wincing at the numbness in her toes. She tried to rub the feeling back into her wrists. Beneath the blood were deep gashes and friction burns where the ropes had repeatedly dug into her skin.

Brooke took her time, feeling out her injuries. She was tired and hungry, her head was still pounding from where she’d been hit, and her ankles and wrists felt like they were on fire but apart from that she seemed to be fine. Satisfied she wasn’t going to bleed out anytime soon, she took a few stumbling steps to the front door. It was locked, obviously, but the wood was rotten around the edges and Brooke was confident that with a few strong kicks, it wouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Problem was, with her legs as they were, Brooke doubted she had many strong kicks in her. She considered throwing herself against the wood, using her body as a battering ram, but she needed to be functional enough to get away afterwards. She cast her eyes over the cabin’s interior, searching. She needed something to dull the pain.

There was another door at the back of the room that led to what probably used to be a bedroom. Brooke checked it out. Lines of herbs and dried flowers hung from the