He turned enough to look at her. "To take care of her."

Without another word, he stepped through the hole, and it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Faith rubbed her eyes and stared at the place where the hole had been.

The sound of rushing feet alerted her to her pack coming, and the reality of the situation finally sank in. Lindy was gone. And Faith didn't know where she'd been taken.

An hour later, Faith was still sitting at the spot where the hole had appeared, waiting for Logan and his fairy mate, Jenna, to come. The highest ranking members of the pack stood around her and Tina, who had brought her clothes from the full moon meeting place and knelt next to her, one arm around her for comfort. Flashlights helped illuminate the area.

Jason and his second, Michael, were discussing the trap with Linus and Bo, who were pack third and fourth. They were all furious that another trap had been found. Unlike the previous trap that had been right on the edge of the territory, this one had been at least a hundred yards inside.

"Was the trap baited with meat of any sort?" Linus asked, rubbing his knuckles across his jaw in thought.

Faith shook her head. She'd answered questions about the trap since they'd shown up.

"It was covered with leaves. I saw something metal glint in the moonlight and I barked to warn Lindy. She tried to turn away from it, but her paws slipped on the leaves, and she landed right on it."

Logan and Jenna came through the trees. Logan said, "Sorry for the delay. What happened?"

They all looked at Faith expectantly, and she told the story once more.

Logan looked down at Jenna. "Sounds like a portal to me. But I didn't know that your people had werewolves."

Jenna shook her head and walked toward the trap. "We don't."

The trap lay in several pieces like someone had taken a hammer to it. But Faith had seen the man break the trap with his hand. And with those wings, he looked like an angel. A really p.i.s.sed-off, naked one.

Jenna closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her wings slid from her back, the loose tank top allowing them to slide free without tearing her shirt. The pale blue and silver transparent wings looked very different from the feathered ones the man had. Her eyes were bright like silver coins, and she stood slowly and turned toward where the portal had been.

"I don't know why, but a portal to my realm was opened here. Someone very powerful came here. Even without my wings, I could feel the remnants of his power. He used a spell to open the trap, and then he took her through the portal. What did you see when you looked through the portal?" Jenna looked down at Faith.

"A house. It was dark there like it is here, but there was a light over a door, and it looked like the house was made of black stone."

Jenna looked at Logan and said, "It was a wulfen."

Logan's brow arched. "I thought you said that you didn't know of any wulfen alive today."

She shrugged. "I don't. But the Fae Realm is enormous, and although it's ruled by one governing body, there are many different armies that protect the various glens. Only warrior fae have feathered wings, and the only fae that can shift into large, white wolves are wulfen."

Faith shivered. "Why did he take her? What's going to happen to Lindy?"

Jenna's wings slid back into her body, and her eyes dulled slightly. She moved to Logan, and he pulled her into his arms.

She said, "A wulfen is a highly skilled, powerful warrior for my people. I don't believe that he took her to hurt her. There's no reason for a fae to randomly come here and happen to stumble upon a wolf in distress. I think that he spelled for his truemate and found her."

Everyone went quiet.

Bo said, "You were really far away from Logan when you spelled for him, though. Why wouldn't the spell have brought you straight to him if that were the case?"

"Well, first I didn't travel through a portal on my own; I was kidnapped. And second, I heard that when wulfen spell for their truemates that their power is so great that they are able to pinpoint where their mate is and go straight there."

Faith said, "He was huge. I've never seen such a terrifying wolf in my life."

Jenna smiled softly. "I've only seen pictures of them. They're very rare among my people, but I have no doubt that he was frightening." She looked up at Logan. "Let's go home. The sun will be up soon, and I can portal-call my parents."

Turning her attention back to Faith, she said, "I'm going to ask my father to find out where this wulfen male is, and then Logan and I will go speak to him and find Lindy. Rest easy. She couldn't possibly be in better hands than those of her truemate."

Tina helped Faith to her feet and hugged her. "Come back to my house and have some coffee. The sun will be up soon."

Jenna nodded. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

Linus picked up the broken trap, and Jason said, "Bring that back to my house. Logan, take your mate home and then call me so you can be conferenced into the discussion. We've got to find out who is planting these traps and stop them before someone else gets hurt."

Faith was numb from head to toe with worry over Lindy. Jenna said not to worry, but until Faith could see for herself that Lindy was okay, she was just going to keep on worrying. Lindy and McKenna were like sisters to her.

Once back at Tina's home, Faith called McKenna, who came straight over with Drake and sat with her in Jason's parents' home, waiting to hear from Jenna.

It had been a very long, horrifying night, and it wasn't over yet.

Chapter 8.

Lindy. His mate's name was Lindy.

After a.s.suring the woman that he would take care of Lindy, he raced through the portal, sealing it behind him as he darted into his home. He tugged a thick blanket from the back of the sofa and laid her on it. Her wound was still bleeding. He called the lights to come on in the room, and the lanterns and candles blazed to life. Moving to the kitchen, he opened a temporary portal and called one of the military healers who lived nearby.

A bleary-eyed Viscount stumbled into view. "You bellowed, Crimson?"

"I found my truemate, and she's seriously injured."

Viscount's eyes widened, and he snapped to attention. "I'll be right there."

The connection broke, and Crimson grabbed a pair of trousers from his bedroom and tugged them on, picking up a towel from the bathroom and going to Lindy. He pressed the towel to the wound and settled his ear on her furry chest. Her heart was beating slowly, and her breathing was shallow. He didn't know if a werewolf from the Mortal Realm could actually die from blood loss, or if her accelerated healing would stop the wound before that happened. His heart clenched as worry settled over him. He'd just found her. He didn't know what would happen to him if she died.

The door burst open, and Viscount strode in, a leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Crimson was surprised when Riyad and Merik followed close behind.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the brothers.

Riyad jerked his head toward the healer. "He told us to come along. We were just on our way home from the tavern when he came rushing by like his a.s.s was on fire."

Viscount said, "Hold him while I check her out."

Before he could blink, Riyad and Merik pinned him to the wall opposite the sofa, their bodies pressed against his and their hands gripping his shoulders. "What the f.u.c.k?"

Viscount looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to have to examine her and possibly hurt her so she can heal. I don't want you ripping my head off, Crimson. You're a wulfen, and this is your truemate. You have no idea how protective you're going to be."

The healer turned his attention back to Lindy and put his hands on her body. Everything in Crimson's world narrowed down to Viscount's hands on his mate. He growled and tensed his body, his claws springing free from his fingertips as his fangs descended.

"Hades, Crim," Riyad grunted, "calm the f.u.c.k down!"

Viscount pulled the b.l.o.o.d.y towel away from her leg and began to stretch the damaged leg out. Blood dripped onto the floor, and she whimpered in pain. Crimson roared. "Don't touch her! I'll kill you!"

"Keep a good hold on him," Viscount warned.

"If he kills me when he shifts, I'm going to haunt you forever, Visc," Merik snarled angrily.

"It's about to get worse," Viscount warned.

Crimson's shoulders were shoved hard against the stone wall, the rough material cutting his flesh.

"Calm down! He's helping her!" Merik said harshly.

Crimson struggled. He knew that Viscount was helping Lindy, but his beast didn't want anyone touching her, let alone hurting her. The sight of her blood on the floor, coupled with the sound of her pained whimpers, was driving him insane. His beast was rolling and twisting under his skin to protect her at any cost.

"Hurry up, Viscount!" Riyad yelled.

Rage colored his vision red as the healer put one hand on her hip and the other on the paw of her injured leg and jerked hard. There was a snapping sound, and she whined in pain, her body twisting and writhing as she shifted from her wolf form to her human form. Still unconscious, she rolled to her back, her face ashen and her leg covered in blood.

Crimson felt his skin p.r.i.c.kle as his fur sprouted. He fought not to shift, knowing he would hurt his friends, but the urge to protect her was almost overwhelming.

Viscount poured clear liquid from a bottle over her leg and cleaned it up with a cloth. The scent of antiseptic filled the room, and slowly his rage began to ease as he realized that her leg was now entirely healed.

His beast retreated some, and he relaxed with a sigh, his head slumping forward.

Before Merik and Riyad relaxed, Merik asked, "Are you resh now, Crimson? Can you control yourself and your beast?"

"He's good," Riyad said.

"I want to hear it from him. There are certain parts of my body that I'm fairly fond of, and I don't want him to suddenly shift and slash off the protruding parts."

Crimson swallowed thickly and shuddered violently as his beast settled finally. "The female population can rest easy. I'm not going to tear off your c.o.c.k."

They relaxed and moved away from him. His body sagged slightly, but he was too determined to get to Lindy to take care of her, so he stumbled forward. Viscount tossed the cloth and bottle into his bag and stood up, moving to the other side of the sofa. Riyad and Merik joined him. He snorted inwardly as he knelt next to his mate and pulled another blanket from the back of the sofa to cover her body. As if the sofa would stop him or his beast if he wanted to tear them apart.

"She's okay?" He looked up at Viscount.

"Her leg wasn't going to heal in her wolf form; it was broken and bleeding too fast for her healing to stop it completely. If she'd stayed in her wolf form, she might have remained lame for the rest of her life. I pulled the leg straight to align the bones and the pain forced her to shift back into her human form. That shift sped up her natural healing, and her bone is now completely healed and her leg is fine."

Relief flooded him.

"Thank you for coming so quickly."

All three men nodded. Viscount said, "She'll probably sleep for a few hours. She will most likely be starving when she wakes up, so make sure she eats and drinks plenty. If she has any lingering pain, give me a call, and I'll drop off some medicinal herbs to help, but she should be fine."

He watched his friends walk out and close the door, and he slumped against the sofa, his head resting on Lindy's bare shoulder.

"Hades, Lindy," he took a few deep breaths and the scent of her calmed him, "let's not tempt fate again."

He pressed his lips to her cheek and got up, going into the bedroom. He pulled the covers back on the bed and willed several candles to light. Returning to the front room, he lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her down and tossing the blanket from the sofa on the floor. He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead and decided she was a little on the warm side, so he only pulled a thin blanket over her before pressing a kiss to her cheek and going out to the front room to clean up the mess.

He marveled at the events of the evening. It had happened so quickly. He'd known that he would go through the portal somewhere in the vicinity of his mate, but he'd never imagined that his first interaction with her would be so stressful. He didn't think he'd ever been quite so worried for one person's well-being in his whole life.

After the wood floor was free of blood and he'd washed the blanket and towel and hung them to dry in the backyard, he went into the kitchen and opened his cooling unit. From inside the rectangular, metal-lined box, he pulled out packages of meat and set them on the marble counter, along with vegetables and fruit for juicing. He'd never cooked for anyone but himself before, but pride flared through him as he lit the thick ring of oil underneath the metal burner on his cooker and placed a pan on top to heat. After coating the pan with wials oil, he placed two thick blue-furred boar steaks in the pan and listened to them sizzle. He turned his attention to the fruit and sliced apart the green-fleshed yumonmi, twisting each half on the wooden juicer that drained into a small stone jug. When he'd juiced enough for several gla.s.ses, he set the jug in the cooling box to chill and flipped the steaks. He chopped vegetables, and after removing the steaks from the pan, he tossed the vegetables into the hot pan and cooked them until they were tender.

He plated the steaks and vegetables and set them on a tray inside the oven to keep warm. He put out the flame under the burner and washed his hands. He knew he needed to make a few calls, so while she was still asleep and since the sun was now up, he placed the calls. First, he opened a portal to call his father to share the news of his mate and the strange circ.u.mstances of their meeting.

"She's well now, though?" his father asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

"She's still unconscious, but yes, her leg is healed."

His father said, "Your mother will be back from the spa in six days. I would suggest that you head to the Mortal Realm before she returns. I will speak to her and let her know what's happened to you, and hopefully by the time you are ready to return here for your mating ceremony, she will realize how fortunate it is that you found your mate so quickly."

Crimson sighed. "Do you think she'll accept a she-wolf as my mate?"

His father's brow arched. "Does it matter?"

"Of course not. But I don't want Lindy to feel as if she doesn't belong with me just because mother wanted me to mate to a high-born female so she could go to all the high-society parties."

"The important thing is that you care for her and want her to be part of your life. Your mother will change her tune when you show her your first child. She melts around babes and will be helpless to deny her own grandchild."

Crimson couldn't help but smile at the thought of Lindy, pregnant with his child. Shifting his thoughts away from those that threatened to turn his c.o.c.k to stone, he said goodbye to his father and promised to keep him updated on her condition. After ending the call with his father, he called his commanding officer and took a leave of absence to tend to his mate.

"I hadn't expected to come home so quickly, so I wanted to let you know that I'm still taking my leave of absence even though I'm home with my mate now."

"That's fine, Crimson. You're quite lucky to have found your mate so soon. I hope she recovers quickly from her injury."

Ending the call, he rolled his neck with a sigh and straightened up the kitchen before walking back to the bedroom. Lindy was still asleep. Although the part of him that had been raised a gentlemen didn't think he should crawl into bed with a nude, unconscious woman, the bigger, less-gentlemanly part of him decided that she was his mate and there was no better place for him to be than by her side. Even if she was naked.

The image of her pretty wolf form shifting back into her human form flashed through his mind. He'd caught a glimpse of her curvy body before he'd tossed a blanket over her to preserve her modesty in front of his friends. He couldn't wait to familiarize himself with every inch of her body.

He drew off his trousers and laid them over a leather armchair in the corner, extinguished the lights, and climbed gingerly into bed. Drawing the blanket up over his hip, he settled on his side and rested his hand on Lindy's stomach. The thin blanket separated his hand from her flesh, but he could feel the heat of her body against his palm, and it settled his beast to be able to touch her even in such a small way.

Closing his eyes, he fell asleep quickly, content that his mate was now home.

Chapter 9.

Lindy rolled over and shivered. She reached down for her comforter to pull it up over her shoulder but couldn't reach it. Yawning, she rolled to her back and stretched. As she lifted her arms up, one of her hands b.u.mped into flesh, and she froze, her eyes popping open. She'd gone to bed alone last night, hadn't she? Wait. How had she even gotten into bed?