Silenced: Book 1 of the Bound Trilogy

~Unknown POV~

I watched as the car pulled up to the house. I needed to know if it was her. I had heard of a girl being hit by a car and that the Alpha had taken her in. There were rumors spreading that she was now the Luna and the Alpha’s mate.

If this was true, and she was the one I was looking for then things would be more difficult than I had imagined. I figured if she were the one I was looking for then I would take her and move on to the next step in my plans. If she is indeed the one and is mated to the Alpha then I may not be able to take her away without either killing the Alpha or something else just as drastic.

I suppressed a growl of frustration as people were getting out of the Range Rover. I needed to be still and quiet. If either one of the men noticed something off or heard something they shouldn’t, I would be a dead man.

Holding my breath, I watched as a man, I’m assuming he’s the Alpha, opened the passenger door and helped a woman out of the vehicle.

I took a good look at her. She had short, choppy pale hair—not white, but not blonde either. She had pale brown eyes with flecks of gold in their depths. Over her left eye was a scar that could only be caused by silver or another wolf. She was about five foot tall and slender as a willow wand. It looked like she had been ill for quite some time.

Even though she could not talk the Alpha spoke to her as if she were responding to his questions. Hmmm, something to think upon. Taking another look at her as the two of them headed towards the back of the house I knew she was the one I was looking for.

My job just got a lot harder.

~Jack’s POV~

I heard the timer ding for the oven. Letting me know that the delicious casserole one of the women from the pack had left was done.

Yum, the women in our pack sure knew how to cook. Devin did too, but he was usually too busy with Alpha stuff to bother cooking. Plus, what’s the point in only cooking for yourself? I know how to cook, but I never do. I just come over and mooch off Devin’s stockpile.

Taking the foil off the casserole I was assaulted with the delicious aroma of hash brown and sausage casserole. Mm mm, a personal favorite of mine. Gotta love hash browns.

Just as I was about to start dishing some of this delicious goodness onto a plate Devin contacted me through the link. He and Leah were out for a run, and him contacting me could only mean one thing. Trouble.

‘Jack, I need you to shift and get out here. Leah is panicking for some reason and will not stop running. If she keeps going, she will be out of our territory and I won’t be able to follow without starting a war. I need you to try and cut her off somehow. We need her to stop so she can calm down and we can find out what the hell is going on!’

‘On it,’ was my only reply. With one last longing look at my would-have-been dinner, I ran out the door and shifted into my grey and black wolf. Not caring about the clothes I just ruined. I figure I’ll steal some from Devin when we get back.

Taking off into the woods, I ran as fast as I could. I knew that Devin was going to try to steer Leah towards the lake so I took off in that direction. If I got there fast enough then I could head her off and possibly get her to stop. If not then I could distract her enough that Devin could tackle her to the ground and force her. I know he didn’t want to do that as she has been through a lot, but it may be the only way.

~Devin’s POV~

She wasn’t slowing down.

If Leah kept going at this pace and in this direction, she will be out of my territory and I will not be able to stop her without starting a war.

With that in mind, I sped up and started steering her back towards a lake that was close by. I contacted Jack and let him know what was going on so he could come and help. I knew that it may come to me tackling my mate to the ground and the state she was in I didn’t think it would be a good idea. I really hope I don’t have to.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack’s grey and black wolf weaving in and out of the trees.

‘Try to cut her off up ahead. I think she’s tiring out but in case she tries to make a break for it I need you there.’ I sent to him through the pack link.

In reply, he sped up and was out of sight.

I watched my mate running in front of me. If she weren’t in such a state of panic this would be such a turn on. Watching as her white rump and tail bounce, and her form weaving in and out of trees. I repressed my growl of desire and reminded my wolf that our mate was in distress and we needed to help her not claim her. My wolf throttled back his desire in his need to protect his mate.

Leah came to a skidding halt in front of me and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have run right over her. I noticed Jack in front of her. He wasn’t doing anything threatening, but she was acting as if he was going to attack her. I tried to connect with her again through our link, and again it was still blocked from me.

I saw Leah’s wolf begin to shake and I felt fear come off her in waves. There was a shimmer, I heard the cracking of bones, and Leah was on the ground in front of me shaking in her human form. Jack took off to the trees and came back in his human form with a shirt for Leah and shorts for me. We had taken to stashing clothes around the forest in case of emergencies and I’m glad we did. I shifted back and placed the shirt over my mate’s still shivering body. She was as limp as a rag doll and I was getting really worried. I put the shorts on that were in my hands and reached to hold her.

Pulling Leah into my arms, I sat on the bank of the lake and rocked her back and forth. Jack stayed back and kept an eye out in case something else happened while I was distracted. I was thankful for his help and his silence.

I kept whispering nonsense words to my mate and running my hand down her hair and arms until she finally calmed down.

‘What happened, love?’ I asked, and thankfully, our connection was open.

~Leah’s POV~

‘What happened, love?’

I heard Devin’s voice in my head as if it was coming from far away. I tried to open the connection more, but I was still dealing with what happened.

I know that I was running with Devin and we were having fun. Then, I do not know what happened. I felt scared. All I know is I needed to get away. I do not think it helped that Devin chased after me but I could not seem to tell him what was going on.

I know a wolf jumped in front of me. Not recognizing him, I stopped and just started to shake. I could not help it. My fear took over and I lost my will to keep my wolf form and turned back into my human self.

I know that Devin picked me up and I can feel my shivers start to subside. Trying to get my bearings, I looked over Devin’s shoulder and saw Jack standing a discrete distance away. I looked the other direction and saw a large body of water in front of us.

Using the water as a distraction, I tried to calm my racing heart. It helped that I was in Devin’s arms. For some reason being near him was calming. My wolf would purr in contentment and I would get tingles every time we touched.

Settling firmly into his hold I tried to explain what happened.

‘I’m not sure,’ I finally sent to him. I know he could sense my confusion and only held me tighter. Waiting for me to continue. ‘All I know is that one minute I was enjoying the run and the next I was scared out of my mind.’ I shivered in his hold. I did not like that feeling at all and I did not want to relive it.

Turning so I was able to catch his scent better—he smelled like the woods we just ran through and something that was just him alone. Taking a deep breath, I used his scent to calm me further.

‘I felt like I was being chased by something bad. Like I was reliving something. Does that make sense?’ I asked.

I heard and felt him take a shuddering breath. ‘Yes, it does make sense. We don’t know about your past, but from the scars on your body, I would assume that when you ran into the road someone was chasing you. Who that is? I don’t know. However, I can promise you we will find out what happened to you. We will find out about your past,’ with that, I felt his lips on my forehead. I shivered at the contact as it sent shocks throughout my body. Everything he was making me feel was wonderful and scary at the same time. I did not know what to do with all of this so I just relaxed into his arms and looked out at the water.

‘What is this called?’ I asked him.

‘It’s called a lake, love. The pack goes swimming here during the summer and we hold picnics here on the beach.’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been swimming,’ I told him. I know he could feel my mood dampening as his arms tightened even more.

‘Don’t worry, love. I’ll teach you anything you want to know.’