Fractured

Chapter Thirteen

Hey guys! Above is part of my inspiration for the pack house. I WILL KEEP WRITING!! For all twelve of you!!! I seriously love writing this story, and I'm so glad you guys enjoy it!  xxx

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Daniel invited the four of us inside to the main room of the home. It was a spacious, open area surrounded by floor to ceiling windows on one side, and what looked like the natural rock of the ridge behind the house. As if the building were built into the side of the mountain. The central area opened up on one side to a kitchen that appeared to have enough space to feed twenty people.

We were joined shortly by four large, imposing men, similar to the ones we'd seen at the front gates. Garrett introduced them as Ian, Cole, Dax, and Simon, as they all took up strategic points around the room, as if constantly on guard. Maybe they were. Their expressions gave nothing away, but their body language told me that they considered someone in the room a threat. I wasn't sure whom.

Once we were all seated, Garrett cleared his throat. "Daniel, I found Nathan outside of Revelstoke. He was the rogue attacking humans, but he... didn't seem to remember who he was. I had to use pack influence to get him to recognize me."

He paused, as if he thought this next part would be worse. "This," he gestured to Sophie, "Is Sophie, she and Caroline were out hiking together when Nathan attacked them. I found Caroline bleeding and starting her change, but he'd already taken Sophie. He was able to recognize her as his mate." He was chasing his words extremely carefully, I noticed. He almost seemed nervous, or afraid even. "And Caroline is my mate, as well." He added that as an afterthought, as if trying to downplay its significance.

Garrett's news broke the hardened facades of the four other men around the room. Confusion, wariness, then uncertainty seemed to pass through all of them in phases. Then all their eyes came to rest on the alpha. It seemed as if Daniel's next words would decide our fates.

Daniel's eyes had narrowed, and his gaze shifted from me to Sophie, as if appraising us. "What would two city girls like you be doing in the middle of the Canadian forest in November?"

"We enjoy hiking," Sophie replied. Then it dawned on me what made Garrett so nervous and Daniel so suspicious. I wanted to glare at Garrett. Damn him for not preparing me for this.

"Sophie..." I started to ask. "Why did we decide to go hiking that day? We should have seen the storm coming in, right?"

"Well, we-" Sophie opened her mouth to speak as if an explanation were on the tip of her tongue. But there was nothing. Her mind was just as blank as mine. I couldn't even remember getting ready that morning.

"Trap," the one Garrett identified as Ian said.

"Sebastian," Daniel addressed the man who'd just spoken. "Please go get my aunt. I think she'd like to see Nathan." Sebastian-Ian nodded and walked down a corridor opposite the kitchen and disappeared. Daniel turned to a liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. He took a long gulp before turning back to us.

"What did he mean by a trap?" Sophie's eyebrows were furrowed, and I noticed that she had moved closer to Nathan.

"You," Daniel replied. "What are the chances that a long lost werewolf, one of his closest childhood friends, and both of their mates show up at the exact same location and time?" He set down his glass on a side table a little harder than necessary with a clang. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Until we know otherwise, we have to assume that someone went to a lot of trouble for the four of you to meet. The question is, why?"

His last word hung in the air as Sophie seemed to catch up with what the rest of us had already realized. We were being played.