Tears pooled in her eyes as the realization that Jack was really hers and she was free for good from Damien dawned on her.

"He did it," she said thickly, rubbing at her cheeks to wipe away the tears. "I'm done, I'm really done with him."

Malachi sent the delivery man away and then hugged her. "How does it feel to be free?"

"Like I just won the lottery."

Brynn squealed in happiness and hugged Nila, and she embraced her friend. "Thank you for helping me," she said, sniffling.

"Oh, babe, of course! You can bring Jack to the house tonight and I'll watch him while you two go celebrate."

Malachi chuckled. "I think you're just trying to get Acksel used to having a kid around the house."

"Jack is very handy, and he's so adorable."

Nila pressed the signed papers to her chest and sighed in relief. "We can drop these off at my lawyer's office on the way home tonight."

"I'll have one of the omegas take them over," Malachi said, reaching for his phone. As he pulled it from his pocket it buzzed, and he glanced at the screen with a frown, stepping away from the desk and few paces down the hallway.

"Wonder what that was about?" Brynn asked as she sat behind the desk.

Nila shrugged, but something about the way that Malachi suddenly tensed made worry streak through her.

Malachi cursed and disappeared into the breakroom so fast he was just a blur. When he raced back to the reception desk, he had her purse and coat. "Someone set a fire at the daycare."

"What?" she shrieked, the papers falling to the ground as panic clawed at her.

Malachi held her coat for her, and it took her a second to realize he wanted her to put it on. "The guards went in to help get the kids out, and they realized that Jack was gone. Someone took him while the teachers and kids were panicking."

Her legs turned to jelly and it was only Malachi's strong grip that kept her from hitting the tile floor. He gave her a little shake. "Sweetheart, stay with me. We need to go to Acksel's house and figure out how to get Jack back."

She swallowed back the fear that lodged in her throat and put her coat on, following Malachi out of the clinic and into the bitter cold.

She tried not to think about how scared Jack must be. Had Damien grabbed him, or sent some of his buddies? Had they gotten his jacket and hat? Was he hungry or hurt or scared? Questions wheeled through her mind as Malachi tore out of the parking lot, the engine of his SUV roaring like a lion.

"We'll get him back safely, Nila, I swear on my life."

She wanted to trust him, but she was too terrified to do anything but stare out the windshield and pray that her son was okay.

Acksel's house was bustling with activity. Nila sat on the couch while Malachi, Acksel, and a large group of men talked about Jack and her crazy ex. She was trying to be strong for her son, but she was scared senseless. She had no idea what Damien would do to Jack. She glanced at the clock. An hour had pa.s.sed already.

She reached for a cup of hot tea that Jeremiah had made for her. He and a few other men were standing at the back of the room, not partic.i.p.ating in the discussion on how to get her son back, and she glanced over her shoulder and looked at them.

Jeremiah stepped forward quickly and knelt behind her. "Did you need anything else, Nila?" he whispered.

"No, I just... I'm trying to distract myself by not thinking about what's going on with my son."

He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. Malachi will get him back."

He patted her shoulder and moved to the back of the room again. She realized she was wondering about him and the other men back there because she didn't want to think too hard about what was going on with Jack right now. She was about one dark thought away from losing it. Damien didn't have a paternal bone in his body. She'd only left Jack with him once when he was a baby. She'd needed to go to the doctor and Damien had said he'd watch him, but when she'd come back a few hours later, Damien was gone and Jack was screaming in his crib. Damien said later that his dad had called a meeting and he wasn't about to take a half-breed with him, so he'd left him, and then he blamed her for being a bad mother and not being there when her son needed her. She'd never made that mistake again, never trusted Damien alone with him.

Her phone danced on the coffee table as it vibrated, and she reached for it automatically. Everyone went quiet in the room as she checked out the screen and saw that it read 'unknown.' Swallowing hard, she answered.

The first thing she heard was Jack crying. Her heart clenched and her stomach dropped into her feet. Damien said, "I don't have to tell you how disappointed I am in you, b.i.t.c.h. I told you that you would never be free from me. I own you, no matter what marks are on your neck."

"Please don't hurt Jack."

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Half-breeds are of little value to the pack, and I'm too busy to keep an eye on him."

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out as fear choked her. She managed to whisper, "Damien, please."

"You'll come crawling back to me by sunset, or your little half-breed takes a long walk in the dark woods. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes," she squeaked.

"I'll meet you at the place where you first spread your legs. Come alone, or you'll never see him alive again."

The call ended and she sat frozen, the phone pressed to her ear, her eyes filling with tears.

Malachi pulled the phone away, set it on the coffee table and sat down next to her, pulling her close.

"Where does he want to meet?"

"The movie theater in Dorlan. It's abandoned now, it closed two years ago." She didn't want to think about how humiliating it was that Damien wanted to meet there.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against Malachi's strong shoulder. If this was the last time that she was going to be with him, she wanted to remember every detail. Inhaling slowly, she let the natural spicy scent of him fill her. The way he smelled to her - at the same time comforting and exciting - was something she never wanted to forget.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, drinking in his features. He was so gorgeous. Blue eyes like a summer sky, a straight nose, strong jaw, and the stubble that resided there now made her want to rub against him like a cat.

Malachi turned his head and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you staring at me like you're never going to see me again?"

Leaning back slightly, she said, "I know you heard the conversation I had with Damien with your super-sharp hearing. You know what he asked for, what I have to do to keep Jack safe."

His eyes flashed to the amber of his wolf and his lip curled as a growl rumbled in his chest. "I heard it."

"Then you know I have to go alone."

The low growl turned to a full on snarl. "No."

"Malachi," she started, but he cut her off.

"We'll be there, Nila. There's no way in h.e.l.l I'm going to allow you to go there like a lamb to the slaughter. He could still hurt Jack, just to spite you. I'll be there, and so will the pack."

Acksel, arms folded across his chest and a defiant look in his eyes, said, "You're Malachi's mate and that makes you, and Jack, members of my pack. No one threatens my pack and gets away with it."

She looked at the males behind him. Dade, Acksel's father; Ren, the beta; Sam the leader of the protectors; and several of the protectors who had been watching over her and Jack. They all wore identical looks of fury and resolve. Acksel was speaking for them, but it was clear they felt the same way that he did. She was part of their world now, and no one messed with a mate, even if she was human.

The support was overwhelming, and she didn't think she'd ever be able to thank them enough, even if all they were doing right now was standing with her.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank us, Nila. Jack got taken because the protectors were deceived. It's not going to happen again," Sam said.

"Take a couple minutes to calm down, but we need to get on the road," Acksel said, making a gesture that seemed to snap the wolves into action. Within a few seconds, the room was empty except for her and Malachi.

"What's going to happen?"

"The only thing I know for sure is that your son is going to be in your arms at the end of the night. Nothing else matters except for getting him home."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and when he pulled her into his lap, she snuggled as close as she could. His strong arms surrounded her, and she tucked her head under his chin and let the tears she'd been holding back fall. She could afford to be weak right now, but only for a minute. Jack needed her to be strong, and with Malachi by her side, she could do that. Her son's life depended on it.

Chapter 14.

Malachi didn't like anything about the situation they were walking into. Or, rather, the situation that Nila was walking into. They'd been very careful to conceal themselves before they entered Dorlan, so that it would appear as if Nila was truly alone, even though she was anything but. Malachi's pack members were spread inconspicuously throughout the area around the abandoned movie theater.

At one time, Malachi imagined it was a decent place to go, but now it showed signs of neglect. The marquee was empty, the windows and doors boarded up, and trash littered the brick entrance. Nila stood underneath the marquee, the wind whipping her hair around her face and blowing snow in every direction. From where he, Acksel, and Ren watched her from behind a dumpster in an alley across the street, he could see that she was shivering. It was cold as h.e.l.l, but she was probably scared out of her mind, too.

Acksel looked up and then rolled his neck. "It's almost sunset."

"She's where he said to meet her," Ren said. "They couldn't have seen any of us, we were very careful."

Malachi knew that Nila would never forgive herself if something happened to Jack. She had wanted to come alone and trade herself for Jack's safety, but Malachi knew that nothing good would come from her running off to Dorlan by herself.

Her head whipped to the side and her body tensed up. Malachi crept forward, worry streaking through him. His wolf wanted to be right there with her, not using her as bait.

A male strode toward her, stopping a few feet away. He knew it wasn't Damien, and alarm raced through him. He straightened from his crouch and sprinted toward her as a large, dark SUV squealed its tires down the street and paused only long enough for the male to grab Nila and toss her into the vehicle. Malachi just missed grabbing hold of the b.u.mper as it sped away.

He snarled in rage. Ren grabbed Malachi's arm and jerked him back to the alley where their SUV was waiting. "Let's go!"

Acksel was behind the wheel; Malachi climbed into the backseat. The engine roared as Acksel raced from the alley, turning sharply and following the SUV. Malachi's phone buzzed, and he looked at the screen. Nila's name came across it.

"Sweetheart?"

A male snorted. "Sorry, lover boy, but I ain't your sweetheart. Back off or we'll throw the human out of the SUV."

"Don't hurt her." He ground the words out between clenched teeth.

"If I have to tell you to back off again, she's going to pay with her life."

The call ended and Malachi quickly pressed a b.u.t.ton on his phone to trace the call. His heart pounded in his ears as he told Acksel to stop driving and watched the program as it loaded her location.

The dot burned steady on a map for a few seconds and then blinked out, and he knew that they'd destroyed her phone.

"She's headed toward the park," Malachi said.

"Let's go get your mate," Acksel said, his voice a dark growl.

After Tanner, one of Damien's cronies, had approached Nila, she knew something was up and she wasn't going to see Jack or Damien in front of the old movie theater. Maybe Damien sent her there to humiliate her, forcing her to re-live one of her least favorite moments, when they'd had s.e.x for the first time in the back row of one of the deserted screening rooms, and the manager had caught them. Damien had been furious at the manager for the interruption, and while Nila had tried hurriedly to right her clothes, Damien had given the human manager a few good punches and sent him scurrying away. She'd been impressed that Damien had defended her like that, but now she saw it for what it was - he'd just been p.i.s.sed that he'd been interrupted by a human.

Tanner had thrown her into the back seat of the SUV and pushed her face into the seat as his bulky body pressed against hers. Panic had clawed at her as she fought to breathe, and then he'd added to the fear that rode hard through her by tugging on her clothes. She'd kicked and struggled, her lungs burning and lights sparking before her eyes as he dug her cell phone from her pocket and then eased up from her. While she caught her breath, he tied her hands behind her back, then lifted her up and shoved her over the second row of seats into the storage area. Without use of her hands, she'd been unable to stop herself from landing hard, her head cracking against the floor.

As her head spun and her ears rang, she heard Tanner talking to someone and telling them to back off. Malachi! Tanner's warning to Malachi made her blood turn to ice. How could he find her if he couldn't follow her?

Something crunched loudly and a window was rolled down, letting in a blast of freezing air. She didn't have to see it to know that Tanner had destroyed her phone. The SUV stopped suddenly, and Nila groaned as she rolled toward the back of the SUV, unable to stop herself. She kicked both legs out, barely preventing herself from being flattened against the back door.

She thought the back door would open, but instead someone fisted her hair tightly and began to pull her over the seat. She screamed in pain as Tanner used her hair to drag her into the second seat. Tanner hooked an arm under her and jerked her out of the truck, throwing her to the ground. She rolled with a sob as her body impacted hard, the jolt making her bones rattle.

Gasping for breath, she heard Jack cry, and everything inside her froze.

"Get up, b.i.t.c.h," Damien said. She looked up and found him standing in the center of the park just outside of Dorlan, the place where his pack gathered for meetings. Scrambling to her knees, she struggled with the rope tying her wrists, but it was tied too tightly. Already her fingers were numb.

With some effort, she managed to get to her feet. She glanced around, looking for Jack, but didn't see him.

"Where is my son? I showed up where you asked me to."

Damien moved so fast she couldn't track him. He was suddenly in her face, gripping her throat and digging his fingers into her neck. He lifted her off the ground and she kicked out, never touching him.

"You never could follow directions. I said you had to come alone. Did you really think I wouldn't know those human-loving wolves would come along and try to screw things up? You're mine, and no one is going to take you from me."

She opened her mouth, but he tightened his grip and she wheezed but couldn't form any words. He lowered her to the ground and eased his grip, but his hand remained wrapped around her throat, as if he wasn't done reminding her that he could kill her.

He snapped the fingers of his free hand. The wolves who were standing around watching parted and a young woman came forward, carrying Jack on her hip. Nila jerked, trying to push past Damien to get to Jack, and his hand tightened on her throat again.

"Now, now, b.i.t.c.h, don't think I'm going to give you back the kid so quickly. Maura is going to take care of Jack while you make up for your sins on your knees."

Jack's face was wet with tears, and he wasn't wearing a coat. She whimpered as Damien increased his hold on her throat and then he relaxed it again. Her eyes blurred with tears as she watched Jack reach for her, "Mama," he pleaded.

Gasping in a breath, she said, "It's okay, baby."

Damien gazed at her with cold eyes. Had he ever really cared about her? Why had he stayed with her for so long when all she could see now was his hatred?

"Is it, Nila? Is it really going to be okay?" he said, a sneer twisting his mouth into something gruesome.

"Please don't hurt him, Damien. I'll do whatever you want," she said, sniffling and wishing desperately that she could wipe her eyes. It was so cold that the tears were freezing on her cheeks.

"You'll do whatever I want anyway, b.i.t.c.h. You're not in control here, I am." Damien motioned to Maura and she turned to carry Jack away, when Jack suddenly shouted, "Carrot!"

Nila gasped in surprise as something furry flew over her head and knocked Damien down. Hands grasped her wrists, and she screamed but then she realized she was free.