Taken: True Mates Book 2 (BBW Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) Read Free Page B

won’t quit, I added silently. “She’s filled with an unstoppable kind of energy, always moving, always having fun. A spark…” I trailed off, remembering how it had felt when that spark had been aimed at me.
    “Sounds like Luisa.” Shock was clear in the other man’s voice. Shock and worry. “But what’s she doing mixed up with a pack of wolves? And, why is she calling herself Lisa?” He muttered to himself. Then with a jolt, he looked at me, pinning me with his gaze. “And, why the hell did you let her get kidnapped?” he growled, striding toward me.
    A growl spilled from my lips at the challenge, even if he was Lisa’s brother, I couldn’t let it go. I strode forward, meeting him halfway, letting my beast bleed gold in my eyes. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, feline?”
    “A wolf that let my sister get kidnapped, by the sounds of it!”
    “I’m the Beta of the Colstone Pack, so back the fuck down. And, we didn’t let your sister get kidnapped; she was in the packhouse. It’s meant to be a safe place,” I added as an afterthought, the truth of his words hitting home — we had — no, I had…
    “Sure sounds like a safe place.”
    Clamping down on the urge wipe the sneer off his face, I leaned closer, crowding the smaller man. “If you don’t know where she is then I have no need of you.” Then I grinned, the smile of someone who didn’t give a shit. Okay, the smile might have a touch of manic in it, but relaxing the tight rein I kept on my temper felt real good. A little too good. Walking a fine line, I reminded myself.
    Seeing something in my eyes, he nodded, wary respect reflected in his own. “I’m going with you—”
    “No, you’re not.” I shut him down and strode off.
    “You’re going to need me—”
    “I don’t need anyone.”
    “I’m her twin! We have a bond!” he shouted after me.
    Well, fuck .
    He had more than me, then. I took a deep breath. Resigning myself, I jerked my head in assent.
    “Better catch up then, we’re up against a ticking clock.”
     

CHAPTER THREE
    Sean
    “Who took her?” the guy — Luis — asked, pushing aside thick foliage as we trudged deeper into the forest.
    “Smithrock Pack—”
    “Those fucking rabid—”
    I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “Not the whole pack. Eric, the Alpha’s son is — was — a sick, twisted bastard. He was poisoning the pack, trying to take over. He killed his own mother. He had a thing for Kara—”
    “Kara? Luisa’s friend?”
    “She told you about her?”
    “Yeah. Said she had found a stray, someone who needed help. That was Luisa — always with the big heart. Got her in all kinds of trouble when we were kids.” He shrugged, chuckling to himself.
    “She’s Lisa, now. And yeah, she helped Kara, got mixed up in it all, and Eric took her as leverage.”
    “But Eric is dead now? You said ‘was’.”
    “James, my Alpha, challenged him — and won. From what I hear, Eric didn’t play fair and deserved what was coming to him. He killed his own Alpha, in front of the Council. His own goddamn father! Now James is acting Alpha of the Smithrock Pack, much to his bemusement. ”
    “I’ve heard of the Council,” Luis said casually, flicking a leaf off his shoulder. “The jaguar member is one of my uncles,” he added as explanation. He shrugged, continuing, “It’s a small world. So, what’s your interest in my sister?”
    My defenses immediately slammed up tight. “No interest, except that she was taken on our land…and is the best friend of the Alpha’s new mate.”
    “Ah, Kara. So, that’s how she plays into this.”
    I grunted, pushing ahead. We didn’t have a clue where we were headed, just following some sort of internal radar that Luis claimed to have.
    “So…she’s nothing to you?” he pressed, catching up.
    I gave another grunt. Jeez, I sounded like a caveman! But, I couldn’t force the words out. She should mean nothing to me. I had decided that she