He has a jagged scar running from his forehead to the bottom of his throat, and Conrad's eyes are glued to it as she frantically tries to place this man.
He's not the one who broke into Carlos' house, and she doesn't recognise him from any of the wanted or missing lists.
A sniff tells her that he's a rogue.
"Conrad Rosser. And little miss Sabrina Amaretti. Where is your father today, young lady?" He asks, peering at Sabrina.
Conrad pushes the child behind her, her grip tightening on the knife.
"He isn't here. He isn't with us," Conrad spits, pointing the knife at the man.
"Now, now. There's no need for violence," the man sing-songs, his group of men stepping closer. They all have guns of varying sizes, and they're trained directly on Conrad's head.
"You have guns pointed at us," Conrad retorts, and Sabrina whimpers quietly behind her.
"Oh, have we scared her? You wouldn't think much would scare her, what with her parentage and all that," the man chuckles, shaking his head.
"Is this about High Alpha Amaretti?" Conrad asks, trying to buy herself some time.
She's expecting to be shot any moment, but she needs to try and find an opening for Sabrina to escape.
"Well, it began about him, but we started looking into you, too. You're with him so much that we thought it would be good to see who you were, and what we found was most interesting," the man smiles.
It is a very pretty smile, to be fair to the man.
Goddess, he must have dental insurance, Jane mumbles.
Conrad stays silent, her mind racing.
She needs to get Sabrina out of here, but she doesn't even know where to send her.
She isn't a fighter, she's a tracker, and she won't survive against all of these men.
"I have a proposition for you. We want you to work with us," the man smirks, and Conrad furrows her brows, staring at him.
"I need to bring Sabrina home. If you want to talk about this seriously, I can't do it with her here," Conrad quickly responds.
The man scowls, tapping his foot impatiently.
Conrad knows his answer will depend on how serious the offer is and how desperate he and his merry band of criminals are.
Dad, call Carlos. Call the Council. Call anyone you can, Conrad quickly mindlinks to her father.
The cold metal of the butt of a gun hits her in the cheek, causing her to swear and stagger.
"No mindlinking," the man snaps.
"Okay. I won't mindlink anyone. I need to bring Sabrina home. Nobody will try to find me if I bring her home," Conrad urges, and the man is staring at her calculatingly.
"Fine. You can get your laptop there, too. It's cheaper for us if you use what you have," the man finally decides, "but you have to tell all security in the area surrounding the home to go far away."
Conrad nods eagerly.
"I will; I'll get rid of them all. We need to go to 146 Carlton Drive. I can leave her there," she nods.
On it. Alpha James is contacting the Council as we speak. Leave your tracking on, Silas orders.
When Conrad doesn't respond to him, he can feel his concern rising quickly, but he tries not to let it bother him. He knows Conrad is good at taking care of herself.
"Fine. But we're going with you, and the guns will be on you the whole time," the mane orders, pointing towards an SUV that sits a few meters away.
Conrad lifts Sabrina into the vehicle, sitting right beside her in the back. Conrad is diagonal from the passenger seat, anticipating a gun being pointed at her while they're in the car.
"Any music choice?" The man asks Sabrina directly, and the child shakes her head, tears running down her cheeks as she clings to Conrad's hand.
Conrad slides her knife back into her jeans.
Nobody had mentioned it, so she assumes she can keep it for now - guns are faster than a knife, anyway.
"I would advise you to bring three changes of clothes, that's all you need. We have washing facilities, but not shopping areas," the man announces as he pulls out of the parking lot.
Conrad can see the blue Mazda that they came in sitting in the lot near the doors.
It stands out among the black cars everywhere else, and Conrad knows someone will spot it once they start searching.
Carlos is informed, he's at the house, Silas links her.
Conrad rubs her eyes while replying, squinting them closed.
We're heading to the house, Conrad quickly replies.
"We're going to mic you up. If you say anything about this to the man, we kill the child. You get your stuff, then we let the child go in once you're back in the car," the man explains.
Conrad nods silently.
"Mindlink your little patrol people there. Tell them there's a problem at the mall, and everyone is needed there as soon as they can get there," the man adds after a few moments of quiet.
Conrad obeys, keeping her face blank.
Immediately, there is an influx of messages from the guards asking what happened, but Conrad doesn't reply as they pull up to the house.
"In you go, we'll keep the little girl here," the man smirks, and Sabrina bursts into sobs.
"No, don't go, please don't go," she wails, clinging to Conrad's arm.
"I have to go; it's okay, you'll be with your daddy in a few minutes," Conrad whispers, kissing her forehead.
The man steps out of the car, holding a tiny microphone. He attaches it to her shirt without waiting for her consent, nodding towards the house.
Carlos parked in the garage, so his car isn't visible from the front.
"In you go," the man orders again, and Conrad looks at Sabrina.
"Be brave," she murmurs, and the girl screams, hanging on as tight as she can as she tries to leave the car with Conrad.
The man in the other seat simply removes Sabrina from Conrad.
Conrad hurries up the drive, wiping her tears away as she unlocks the door.
Sabrina has her bear in the car, and Conrad hopes that will comfort her.
Conrad sprints up the stairs, passing Carlos on her way.
"Wh-?" He begins, and Conrad slams a hand over his mouth.
"Don't speak," she mouths, pulling her knife out of her pocket.
She slices her hand and holds it up to him.
He immediately offers his, and she slashes his too, putting them together and squeezing a little.
Once their blood mixes, Conrad breathes a sigh of relief, nodding to him.
What the fuck is going on?, he links her, his eyebrows raising when he realises it's working.
They have Sabrina, but they want me. I think it has something to do with your father. He's in the car outside, Conrad grimaces, finally able to place the man.
It's odd that he smells of rogue because he's an Alpha, but Conrad doesn't have the mental energy to question it while she shoves clothes into a bag.
I'll kill him, Carlos growls, and Conrad shakes her head, making eye contact with him.
Don't. He has guns trained on Sabrina from every angle. Me going with him is the only way you get her back. We have a blood bond now, we can mindlink, and I can tell you where I am and what's going on. You need to make sure Sabrina gets back to school where she's protected, Conrad frowns, putting her laptop into the bag on top of her clothes.
What happened to your cheek?, he asks, frowning as he peers at her.
I mindlinked my Dad. The Council is aware of what's happening, but I didn't tell him that it's your dad. I didn't realise it was him until a minute ago, Conrad grimaces.
She throws in her charger and her knives, willing Jane to heal her hand before she goes back out.
Jane obeys happily, healing the cut while Conrad crams packets of nuts into the bag beside her clothes.
She doesn't really know if they're going to be feeding her, so she should bring her own stuff.
Conrad grabs a box of tampons from the wardrobe, putting her small pocket knife into it underneath the tampons, a grin on her face as she forces them into her bag.
Carlos momentarily stops pacing to stare at her, shaking his head.
Good luck, he quickly mindlinks to her as she walks down the stairs, bag in hand.
She nods to him before she opens the door, walking slowly and steadily down the driveway.
"Okay, let her go," she orders, and the man shakes his head.
"Get into the car first. Then we let her go. Scouts honour," the man smirks.
"No. You never did Scouts, you would have learned that it's not very nice to abuse your child, or to abandon them," Conrad hisses back, which earns her a sharp slap from the red-faced male.
She exhales roughly, wincing as the pain comes back into her split cheek.
Conrad silently slides into the back seat, nodding to Sabrina.
"Okay, she can leave now," the man sighs, nodding to his second-in-command, who lifts Sabrina out of the passenger seat where she was moved to once Conrad left.
Sabrina is almost flung out of the car, and she scrambles to her feet, screaming at the top of her lungs.
The noise brings people outside of their houses, and Conrad observes this, deciding to use the opportunity.
She launches herself out of the open door, grabbing Sabrina.
"Fuck," the man roars, firing his gun.
The bullet fired barely misses Conrad, and she gasps, stumbling over her feet.
"You don't run from us," the man roars, and Conrad screams, hearing the footsteps behind them.
Come get Sabrina, Conrad orders Carlos, swinging her off the ground again.
Back door, you go in the storm shelter door, Carlos responds with equal firmness, and Conrad puts all of her energy into sprinting towards the back of the house.
Carlos' father is an Alpha, and he's strong, despite his age.
Conrad hurtles towards the backyard, passing the pink scooter Carlos surprised Sabrina with the night before when they returned from the restaurant.
A gun clicks, a noise Conrad is getting really sick of hearing.
"Get back here, right now," the man yells, and Conrad can see the back door.
It's open a little bit, and she grits her teeth determinedly.
"Get ready," she murmurs to Sabrina, who looks up at her nervously.
Now, she roars across the link, throwing the girl with all of her strength.
She doesn't make it to the door, but she lands on her hands and knees, and Carlos pulls her inside.
Conrad skids down the mossy steps to the storm shelter, forcing the door open.
She slams it behind her, forcing the cabinet beside the door in front of it.
She knows Carlos' father will easily be able to break in; he's extremely strong.
She hurries up the steps to the main house, bolting the door at the top of the stairs.
"You okay?" Carlos calls, appearing in view with Sabrina on his hip.
"It's bolted," Conrad breathes, and Carlos nods grimly.
"Take Sabrina upstairs. I'll make sure he doesn't get in," he growls, his eyes flashing.
Conrad can feel his wolf, and he isn't happy.
Conrad obeys his request, taking Sabrina from him and running up the stairs, holding the little girl's hand.
"They have my bear," Sabrina mumbles, her eyes full of tears.
"It's okay! We can get you a new bear," Conrad soothes her, biting on her bottom lip nervously.
"But it's not that bear. We made her together, and we'll never be able to find the clothes again," Sabrina whimpers, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Conrad pulls the little girl onto her lap, letting the girl rest her head onto her shoulder.
"We'll find better clothes, then," Conrad whispers, closing her eyes.
Two days in a row.
I got my uni exam results today, and I'm second in my entire very big course - pure shock and delight in my brain today!
Hope everyone getting results around now does fabulously!!
Lots of love,
- Aoife :) xx