Rescued by the Pack
Rescued by the Pack
Pack Instincts #1
By Leah Knight
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For Allison Randall, the night started off with a breakup and walk in the woods under the light of a full moon. Attacked by a pack of vicious wolves, she is certain her life is about to end. Overwhelmed by terror, her world fades into darkness.
She awakens chained to a bed in a house with three men. They tell her she’s chained for her own protection, but Allison senses that something more sinister is at hand.
Allison soon learns her instincts are correct. She’s been saved by a pack of werewolves from a violent rival pack and now that she’s learned their secret she has two choices… stay with the current pack and be their mate forever or be returned to the other pack and become theirs.
Things soon take an even darker turn as Allison finds herself in the middle of a war between wolf packs, and an evil lurks around the corner that she never could have anticipated, putting them all in jeopardy.
But the one thing she never expected was to fall so hard or so fast…
Chapter One
“I’ve had it with you!” shouted Allison Randall, throwing her boyfriend’s jacket at him. “I’m going for a walk, and if you’re still here when I get back, I’m calling the police!”
Allison stormed out of her house seething with rage. She’d just found evidence that Kyle was cheating on her – again. He was a habitual cheater, and she’d finally had enough.
The night air was chilly, and she’d left in such a huff that she’d forgotten her coat. She shivered and picked up her pace, hoping the activity would warm her. She jogged into the woods behind her house. Though it was nearly midnight, the moon was full and bright, and the silvery beams of moonlight lit her path.
“Damn him,” she muttered. “Damn him to hell! The nerve of that bastard. I’ve been supporting him for months, and he’s got no appreciation!”
She continued walking deeper and deeper into the forest, mumbling and grumbling as she went. In her anger, she scarcely noticed the thick fog beginning to roll in, nor the clouds that had begun to blot out the moonlight.
It wasn’t until she heard the low, somber howl of a wolf in the distance that she froze and became aware of the change in her surroundings. A chill swept over her body, causing tiny goose bumps to erupt on her skin. An owl hooted in a nearby tree, and she gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin.
“I’d better get back,” she mumbled nervously, turning to head back toward her house.
As she turned, she froze in sheer terror. Standing before her was a massive, hulking wolf with his terrible fangs bared. He snarled ferociously, and she shrieked. She turned to flee, but two more wolves were closing in on her from opposing angles. She was surrounded.
She paused for a moment as the color drained from her face, leaving her with a ghostly pallor, and then tried to make a dash past the lone wolf that stood between her and her home. The lead wolf lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She tried to scramble to her feet, but the wolf mounted her, his massive paws pinning her to the frigid ground. He was snarling furiously.
Panic set in. Her body began to tremble, and a wave of nausea caused her stomach to lurch wretchedly. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, and she could scarcely breathe. In a moment, her vision began to blur. Just before she lapsed into darkness, she thought she heard a hollow thud and then the pitiful whine of a wolf in pain, and she seemed lighter, somehow.
*****
Allison awoke to the sound of conversation nearby. Her vision faded in and out as her eyes attempted to adjust to the low light in the room, and as she attempted to sit up, she swayed and collapsed backward.
“Hey, she’s awake!” she heard a voice say.
“Where am I?” she asked, touching her swimming forehead weakly.
“You’re at our den,” a voice said.
She turned toward the sound of the voice, and a young man no older than eighteen took a step toward her. He wore nothing but a pair of black shorts, and beads of sweat trickled down his chest. His face appeared kind and gentle.
“Who are you?” she asked cautiously.
He smiled. “I’m Logan,” he said cheerfully. “What’s your name?”
“A-Allison,” she muttered.
“Pretty,” he commented. “I like it.”
“Where am I?” she asked again.
“Like I said, you’re in our den,” Logan said brightly.
“Den? You mean, like a living room?”
“No. Well, it’s kind of like where we…,” Logan started to explain.
“Enough!” boomed a deeper voice behind them.
Allison’s body jerked with surprise, and she turned to face the source of the new voice. Two more men, both a bit older than Logan, stepped out of the shadows. Both were wearing nothing but black shorts. Their muscles rippled and twitched as they sauntered over. One appeared to be around thirty, and the other perhaps a few years older than Logan, around twenty-five, perhaps.
“I’m Michael, and this is Luke,” the older male explained. “Luke and Logan are brothers. They’re my… lieutenants, I guess you could say.”
“Lieutenants,” Allison repeated. “Are you in some kind of army?”
“Something like that,” Michael chuckled.
“Why am I here?” she asked.
“You don’t remember?” Michael asked incredulously. “You fainted in the woods. We brought you here to keep you safe.”
Her mind was fuzzy, but she remembered bits and pieces of what had happened in the woods.
“Keep me safe? Oh, you mean from the wolves?” she asked.
The three men burst into laughter, and her face flushed pink. Perhaps she’d dreamed the whole thing. Maybe she’d fainted, and she’d imagined all of it.
“Are you hungry?” Michael asked.
“N-no,” she answered, shaking her head. “I’d like to go home, now.”
She attempted to stand, but something caught her ankle. She looked down, and noticed an iron shackle around it. She shackle was attached to the foot of the bed on which she was lying.
“What the hell?” she shouted. “Why am I chained? Let me go!”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Michael said firmly.
“What? Why the fuck not? Let me go!”
Allison jerked her ankle, trying to yank the chain free of the bed. It held firm, and she snarled viciously.
“Please, calm down,” Michael said gently. “We only mean to protect you.”
“By chaining me to a bed?” she shouted. “Let me go, or I swear I’ll scream!”
“You can scream if you like, but there’s no one out here to hear you,” Michael said.
“Oh, really?” she remarked in a very snotty voice. “Fine, but I warned you. Help! Help!”
She continued to scream, but the men just laughed at her. They clearly weren’t worried about her being heard. She decided they must be telling the truth about no one being around to hear, so she stopped screaming and kicked the foot of the bed and growled in frustration.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you go, but we don’t want to harm you,” Michael said smoothly. “Are you comfortable? Is there anything we can bring you?”
“Why can’t you let me go?” she asked. “I won’t tell anyone about this. I swear!”
“It’s not about that,” Michael said. “You wouldn’t be safe out there now.”
“Why not?”
Michael sighed, and his head and shoulders slouched forward.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Allison demanded.
Laughing, Allison said, “Werewolves don’t exist.”
“I’m afraid they do,” Michael argued. “And our rival pack is… rather cruel. They would have done horrible things to you.”
“Wait a minute,” Allison said flatly. “You seriously expect me to believe you all are werewolves?”
Her eyes flitted over to Logan. For some reason, she trusted him. His eyes were kind and gentle, and she felt certain he wouldn’t lie to her.
“Logan?” she begged.
“It’s true,” he told her, hanging his head as if in shame.
She scoffed.
“No,” she said. “It isn’t possible. It just isn’t!”
“I know this is difficult to believe,” Michael told her. “But I assure you, it’s true.”
“So how long do you intend to keep me here?” she demanded to know.
“Indefinitely,” Michael said bluntly.
“What does that mean? Forever?” she gasped.
“Potentially,” he replied. “We must be able to ensure your safety.”
The air rushed out of her lungs as though she’d been punched in the gut. Her mind reeled, and tears welled in her eyes, stinging them and blurring her vision.
“Why?” she asked pitifully. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“Hey, don’t cry,” Logan said gently, sitting on the bed beside her and putting his arm around her shoulders.
Allison buried her face in the bare skin at the base of his neck and burst into tears. He wrapped both arms around her and squeezed tightly. She noticed how warm his body was, despite wearing nothing but shorts. She’d been shivering before, though it barely registered due to her anxiety. But the intense heat of Logan’s body had calmed her chills and her emotions.
Logan tilted her head up with one finger. Mascara had clumped her lashes together, and it was running down her face in streaks. She sniffled. His crystal blue eyes were intense, but gentle.
“I’m sorry, Allison,” he said gently.
For a moment, she got lost in those eyes. His brow was furrowed with worry, and his eyes darted back and forth, searching hers.
“You’re really not going to hurt me?” she asked him.
“Never,” he promised her.
She sighed and nodded. “Alright, I trust you.”
“Good,” he grinned. “Now, can I get you something to eat or drink?”
She thought for a moment, and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. It had been just before lunch when she discovered Kyle’s indiscretions, and she hadn’t been able to eat for the rest of the day.
“I am hungry,” she admitted.
“I’ll be right back!” Logan said with a pleased grin.
Logan disappeared, and she turned her eyes toward Michael, and then toward Luke, who had so far been silent.
“So you’re Logan’s brother?” she asked Luke.
He nodded and said, “Yep, last time I checked.”
“Are you as nice as he is?” she asked him seriously.
He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Not by a long shot!”
“Yeah, I got that vibe from you,” Allison said, her mouth scrunching up in the corner.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand,” Luke said quickly. “I won’t hurt you. I’m just not the goody-two-shoes my little brother is.”
Allison raised her eyebrow curiously at Luke. She was about to say something else when Logan rushed into the room carrying a tray. He placed the tray over Allison’s lap. The tray held a muffin, a bowl of fruit salad, a pack of potato chips, and a can of diet cola.
“All we had was diet,” Logan said. “I hope that’s okay with you.”
“Diet is fine,” Allison said, smiling weakly. “Thank you.”
Logan grinned again.
Allison picked up the muffin and took a small bite from it. It was soft and still warm from the oven, and flecked with bits of fruit and nuts.
“Wow, it’s delicious,” she said.
Logan beamed. “I made it!” he said. “While you were asleep.”
Michael pulled a chair over near the bed and sat down. The look on his face was serious, almost grave. She continued to eat, but she eyed him nervously.
“There’s something we need to discuss,” Michael said. “I don’t want to scare you, but this is quite serious.”
Allison swallowed a bite of muffin, which had suddenly become quiet dry and flavorless. It stuck in her throat, and she took a large swig of diet cola.
“Alright, what is it?” she asked.
“Werewolves have a code of conduct of sorts, a set of laws we live by – or at least, most of us live by,” Michael began. “Our rival pack chooses not to live by our laws, which is why we had to save you from them.”
He continued, “Their pack is savage. They take what they want, and they don’t care who gets hurt. We, on the other hand, live a life of honor. There are… certain elements we can’t control… but we do our best to ensure no one ever gets hurt.”
Allison’s gaze was transfixed. Michael leaned forward, locking his shocking golden eyes with her blue ones.
“I want you to understand that we never meant for any of this to happen,” Michael said. “I can’t tell you how important it is for us that you know this.”
“What are you saying, Michael?” Allison asked.
“Because we rescued you, pack law states you must become our pack’s mate,” he said in a very matter-of-fact way, as though he’d just told her the sky was blue, or her shirt was on backwards.
“Mate… like… sexually?” she asked, her eyes growing wider.
“Precisely,” he said.
“And if I refuse?” she asked.
“You cannot,” he stated.
“But what if I do?” she pressed him.
“Then we will take you,” he said.
Her eyes traveled to Logan, who shifted his eyes to something across the room. He refused to look at her.
“I thought you didn’t want to hurt me,” she said, turning her eyes back to Michael. “You said that, right?”
“We don’t wish to hurt you, Allison,” Michael told her. “That is why you must comply when the time comes.”
“So I have no choice,” Allison said flatly. “That’s what you’re saying. If I don’t submit, you’ll force me.”
“Yes,” Michael said bluntly.
Allison’s mouth fell open. She sat gaping at Michael, shocked at how nonchalant he was about the matter.
“You must know that this is not what we want,” Michael said. “But unfortunately, pack law will not allow us to do otherwise.”
“What exactly does this law state?” Allison demanded.
“Anytime a pack rescues a member of the opposite sex from mortal danger caused by a rogue pack, the pack must take the rescued individual into the pack for protection,” Michael said. “Since you are not a werewolf, you cannot be accepted into the pack in the traditional sense. However, pack law states that a pack, in the absence of appropriate werewolf mates, may take a human as a mate. Thus, the only way we can take you into our pack is by making you our mate.”
“Why not just let me go?” Allison asked.
“Because you have seen us,” he answered. “Pack law states that once a human has learned our secret, they must either join the pack or be killed.”
“Killed?” she gasped. “So that’s the only other option?”
“I’m afraid so,” he said, his voice showing some sign of emotion for the first time in the discussion.
“This is not happening,” she muttered. “This can’t be happening. This is all just a bad dream. I have to wake up.”
She took the fork from her tray and jabbed herself sharply in the arm. She sucked air in sharply through her teeth, and the fork clattered onto the tray.
“I’m afraid this is not a dream,” Michael said.
“So you said I had to comply ‘when the time comes’… what does that mean?” she wanted to know.
“A wolf pack goes into heat every so often,” Michael explained. “The timing is unpredictable, and our reaction is… uncontrollable.”