Chapter 15
Hudson's POV
Trent stood in the doorway, smirking his aggravating smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him, suddenly suspicious of his antics.
"Hudson! What a wonderful surprise!" Trent exclaimed, testing my patience. "And Daniel Murphy! An equally wonderful surprise!"
"Don't test us" I growled.
"Test you? Why on earth would I do that?" inquired Trent, quizzically. I saw Danny scoff out of the corner of my eye. I sent him a warning look. We didn't need to make Trent mad because he had at least 6 or 7 guys to back him up. We were out numbered. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from saving Katie, and from the looks of it, neither was Danny.
"You know exactly why you would do that!" Danny said through clenched teeth. Trent raised a blonde eyebrow.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about" he replied, feigning ignorance.
"Yes, you do!" I barked, nearly shouting.
"No, I don't. Now it's been a lovely time chatting with you two, but I have a woman to get back to" Trent smirked. I felt my eyes blaze red, knowing exactly which woman he was talking about.
"Don't. You. Dare" I spat, barely feeling Danny's arms as he tried to stop me from tearing Trent apart for even thinking about my mate, my Katie.
"Ah, I understand now. You wish to take my fiancée away from me" Trent simply stated, his face becoming blank and unreadable. His eyes, however, still had a mischievous, cunning glint. I felt pang in my heart at the word "fiancée."
"We will." I growled, my still red eyes never leaving his amused-looking brown ones.
"Are you even sure she wants to go with you? What if she's completely in love with me?" Trent taunted. A scream of pure rage escaped my lips, and Danny let go of me in surprise.
"Never!" I promised, "She will never love you! I won't let her! I won't let you corrupt her!"
"It's too late. I asked her to marry me, and she said yes."
"No!" I felt my heart being ripped out. I slumped to the ground in front of the Peterson pack house. My emotions were all over the place. Anger, depression, utter hopelessness.
"Don't listen to him, Hudson! He kidnapped her! He forced her to marry him! Didn't you, scum?" Danny called from somewhere in the distance.
"It's possible. The fact that she didn't have a choice was just a minor detail" Trent responded, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. I felt new found hope soar within me. Katie didn't love Trent! I still had a chance! And that was the greatest feeling in the world, hope.
With renewed resolve, I shakily stood, giving Danny a look that said "I'm ready to kick butt and get my mate back." He nodded, seeming to understand. Quickly, I went through the plan Danny and I had fabricated beforehand. Nervousness rose in my body, and I gulped to keep the bile from rising in my throat. I hoped this would work.
Just as we planned, Danny charged at Trent, knocking him flat. I heard him let out a groan of surprise at the sudden attack. Without hesitation, I surged at top speed through the door and into the Pete's house. I frantically looked all around for where Katie might be.
"Hey!"
The sound from behind me caught me off guard. I spun around to see Mackey standing at the top of the tall staircase. I sent him a dirty look before beginning to search again for her. Thundering footsteps could be heard as he sprinted down the steps. I groaned in exasperation.
"Mackey, I'm not in the mood to fight with you today" I said, turning around to see him in a defensive stance.
"I don't care. We are going to fight" he responded, giving me a cold look that said "bring it on."
"I will not fight you."
"But why?" he asked, relaxing his position.
"Well, one: you're family. Imagine the look on Uncle Markus and Aunt Carol's face if I beat their only child senseless. And two, which is substantially more important than the first: I'm looking for Katie, and I can't afford to get distracted" I replied, moving into the kitchen. Mackey followed, looking guilty. Good, he deserves it.
"Go through that door into the living room. She's passed out on the couch" he responded quietly. Before I could reply, he ducked out of the room and up the staircase.
"Thank you" I whispered to his retreating figure. I knew he could hear.
I nearly ripped the door off its hinges trying to get through and into the living room. I slowly approached the couch, and I looked over the top of it. I caught my breath. Katie looked like an angel, a real life sleeping beauty. I nearly cried in relief when I saw that she wasn't harmed at all. I must look really creepy, leaning over the couch to watch her sleep, but I didn't care. She was just fine.
"Hudson! Come on, man!" I heard Danny's voice echo through the mansion-like house. I finally broke my creepy reverie. I reached over and grabbed both of her bags. Huh, the backpack had some interesting designs on them. The Draco Malfoy bag is cool, but I was always more of a Ron Weasley fan myself. I picked Katie up carefully, hoping not to wake her. The last thing I need is to wake up and think I'm some creeper that's trying to, you know, do what creepers do... Thankfully, she's either a heavy sleeper, or she was really tired before she went to sleep. I suddenly felt sorry for her. She shouldn't have to deal all this in one day. I wanted to say sorry so much.
I turned the corner and ended up right in front of the front door. Where was Danny? And Trent, for that matter? I carried Katie into the cool air and saw wind whipping her hair around her face. I pushed it back from her face. Her face was so smooth, like nothing I'd ever felt before. Suddenly, she stirred in her sleep but didn't wake. Instead, she turned her face into my hand and leaned into it. She smiled and nuzzled my hand like it was her favorite stuffed animal. I was so touched by this simple, subconscious gesture of affection.
"Hudson, thank God, you found her!" came Danny's voice from behind me, causing me to jump a little in surprise. He came up beside me and looked at Katie with a look of guilt and relief. I can only assume he feels guilty because she was kidnapped on his watch.
"Look, Danny, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know it was going to happen" I said, trying to reassure him. He didn't look convinced.
"It is my fault" he stated simply.
"I'm sure she won't think so" I replied, looking back down at Katie. He smiled weakly down at her as well.
"You're right. She'll probably blame herself" he mused, laughing quietly.
"Yeah, probably" I agreed, still staring at her sleeping face cuddling with my hand.
"We should go. I don't know how long there is until the rest of the Pete's pack realizes she's gone" he said, turning to walk back the way we had come. We had to walk in our human forms now because I was carrying Katie. This made for a very long walk back home, but I would do it for her.
"Yeah, let's go."
We walked in silence for awhile. The crunching of leaves under our feet as we trudged through the forest and the occasional owl hoot were the only sounds to be heard. Every so often, I would have to ask Danny to pull back a tree branch so I could walk through with Katie in my arms. Finally, after it got too dark to see Katie's face, which had been my only source of entertainment (not that I'm complaining), I spoke to Danny.
"How did you defeat Trent?"
"It wasn't easy, but I found his weakness. Do you remember when we were kids and your dad taught us how to fight other wolves? He said to find the other one's weakness and turn it against them. Trent's weakness is that he's too overaggressive. All you have to do is wait until he tires himself out from lunging at you so much and then he's all yours" he replied darkly.
"You remember that?" I asked into the darkness.
"Yeah, but I think I remember something else. You know, from when we were kids" he replied, not sounding too sure.
"What is it?" I said.
"I don't know. I just think we've met Katie before" he thought out loud. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure we had, too.
"Maybe just in passing. It's not like we knew who she was at the time. And even if we had, I don't think we would have believed it" I stated, thinking it over.
"Exactly. Maybe we went to camp with her or something."
"Maybe." I didn't think that was it, though.
"Finally, we're here! I need to catch some major Z's!" exclaimed Danny from up ahead. Now I could see the porch light of our house, no doubt kept on at the insistence of Danny's former mother just in case he decided to come and be her son again. I really doubt that he would want to still be their son after being lied to for sixteen years.
As we climbed the steps onto the front porch, I let out a relieved sigh. We were home, and Katie was safe. I wore a megawatt grin on my face. Looking down at Katie's still beautifully sleeping form, my breath hitched again. I saw a deep purple and blue patch on her forehead. A bruise. It must've have been forming while we were walking. I suddenly felt guilty that she got hurt. I should have protected her better.
"Don't worry. I'll make things better again. I promise" I whisper to her even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I leaned down and kissed the forming bruise. She stirred and rolled over in my arms, her face now pressed against my chest.
"Hey, stop with the lovey-dovey stuff! That's my sister, bro!" Danny taunted. I laughed as I crossed the threshold into the house. The warm, familiar scent of home filled my nostrils, and I took a grateful, greedy breath.
Then the lights came on, and a pair of angry eyes met mine.