“Wait. I’ve heard about this. Gavin told me.They weren’t wiped out, not like you’re saying. The ones who surrendered were adopted or assimilated into the pack.”

“Adopted! Made into whores for the wolves! Wintersand the other leaders were killed!” Tucker shook his head. “I still don’t understand how this has anything to do with me.”

“Your mother, damn it! She left Winters and their son. Then she turned around and mated with a damn wolf. Quite a slap in the face for Winters. That’s why she had to die.”

Tucker felt the blood drain from his face. “He k -killed my mother?”

“Of course! Tried to kill her little abomination too, but you lived! Your grandparents took you and ran away, but it didn’t take too long for Winters to track you down. He had quite a network of operatives. He’d been planning to have you killed for years once the war with the wolves settled down. He just never got around to it. So, in his memory, so to speak, I thought it might be a good test of Tommy’s training. I wanted to see if I could send him on a mission and have him complete it. He came damn close too, but your mate got in the way. Lustful bastard couldn’t stay away from you once he found you.” He looked down at Tucker. “Understandable, really. You’re a beautiful little thing, even if you are one of them. Maybe I’ll have a little fun with you later.”

Tucker dropped his head so he wouldn’t see the disgust sweep over his face. No sense in antagonizing him even more at this point. “Maybe I’ll film it, like I plan to do with Nicky here. Send it to the alphas and tweak their noses a bit. They’re so damn possessive and jealous. Yes, it really was a bonus to have the alpha take you for his mate and bring you back here for me to try again. So convenient. I’ve wanted an alpha’s pet to kick this off all along, but none of the others were suitable. Nicky and Gabe are humans, and that other one is a wolf. You’re perfect— practically royalty to them with your father a beta and your mate an alpha. How humiliating it will be for all of them to realize they can’t even keep their own precious pets safe.” Tate’s smile grew even wider. “Now enough stalling, Tucker. Time for your medicine, sweetheart!”

“Wait, please! I still don’t understand! What’s in this for you? Why are you doing this?”

His smile faded and his eyes became icy and still. “Revenge, of course. Why else would I have come back to some little backwater town to practice medicine? I’m a heart surgeon! But when the opportunity arose, I couldn’t pass it up. Elias Winters was my father. I was illegitimate, of course, but he took very good care of me and my mother, and paid for my education. I have an obligation to him to restore the Hunters and lead them back to their former strength. I won’t make the same mistakes my father did, and this time, we’ll annihilate the wolves along with their half-breed bastards.”

“Wait a minute,” Tucker cried out, stalling for time. “Nicky said your sister is mated to a wolf.”

“My half-sister, yes. Stupid cow. It did give me the perfect in, though. I could say I was visiting her and get all the information about the pack that I needed. Now, enough prevaricating.” He let go of Nicky’s arm and reached for Tucker, hauling him roughly to his feet. His legs felt like boiled spaghetti, and he could barely stay upright.

Tucker made a silent vow to kill Tate at some future time and place, slowly and with extreme prejudice. Pulling the Taser from his pocket, Tateheld it pressed to Tucker’s temple as he dragged him over to a wooden chair in the center of the room. He had only walked the perimeter before and totally missed it in the dark. Underneath the chair was a large roll of duct tape. Shoving him down, Tate stepped back and reached for Nicky, who shuffled over to stand in front of him.

“Shit, what have you done to him? I thought you said he was just a victim?”

“Oh,he is, and when I have him properly trained, I won’t have to drug him anymore. Until I can find a cure for the blood he has to drink, I’ll have to give him a synthetic substitute, but the real problem is the brainwashing they’ve done to him. I have to train that out of him.”

“Training, hell—he’s been drugged!”

Tate smiled and caressed Nicky’s rounded little ass, giving his ass cheek a squeeze. “Just another little cocktail I devised. A bit of Valium, some ecstasy and a few Oxycontin. Makes him nice and compliant, with the added bonus of getting him hooked on Oxy. Hooked like a fucking fish! He’ll be all mine soon, and much more obedient that way. Nicky’s been mine from the first moment I saw him, really,but he hasn’t figured that out yet. I almost had him too, except for the interference of that stupid creature he was mated to.” He released Nicky’s ass, reached under the chair for the tape, and shoved it at Nicky. “Tape him to the chair, Nicky. Make it nice and tight, baby.”

Nicky, with his head still lowered, sank to his knees and dutifully began wrapping the tape tightly around Tucker’s legs. Tate was smart. Tucker didn’t feel inclined to fight Nicky, even if he could have mustered the strength, and even if he had, the Taser was leveled at his chest again. Nicky’s blond head was bowed, and his hands were trembling violently.

Still with his head down, he held out his hand for the syringe, and Tate dropped it into his palm, along with a rubber tie. Despite his seeming stupor, Nicky came to him and snapped the tie aroundTucker’s arm, leaning in close. He raised his head for the first time and looked directly into Tucker’s eyes. Then he very deliberately lowered one eyelid in a wink. Tucker thought for a moment that he’d imagined it, but the tiny smile playing around Nicky’s lips convinced him that Nickywasn’t as stoned as he was pretending to be and had some kind of plan in mind. Tucker decided to play it up for Tate, who stood carefully watching. He shrank back as far as his bonds would allow him.

“Please Nicky, don’t do this!”

“’S’okay, Tugger…” Nicky said softly, slurring his words. “I know howta do this—I won’t hurt you.”

The needle sank into his arm and Tucker tensed, still not completely sure if Nicky was pretending or not. A huge blue vein had sprung up beneath the tie-off and the needle hurt badly as it went in. Tucker screamed a hoarse, desperate scream that made Nicky shake even worse as he quickly pulled at the tieoff band on Tucker’s arm. Tucker waited tensely, but nothing happened, just a vague feeling of coolness spreading through his vein. Nicky started to get up and sprawled back down again across Tucker’s lap, his hands fumbling down beside the chair to the floor for support. Tate was immediately beside him, cooing over him as he tenderly helped him to his feet, but not before Nicky fell over against Tucker’s chest, pretending to have a hard time getting back to his feet. Tucker felt him slip a short knife down into his bound hands, tucking it quickly up under the tape. Since Nicky had taped his hands facing together, it was easy to palm the small knife, hiding it from Tate’s sight. To help cover, Tucker moaned loudly, rolling his head on his shoulders as Nicky pretended again to stumble as he was pulled away.

He must have had the knife taped up under the chair, Tucker thought dazedly, so relieved he was still shaking badly. Tate was pulling Nicky upstairs, and he knew he had only a few minutes before Nicky was taken to another room and raped. The little knife was sharp and soon he’d cut through the bonds on his hands. He bent over and made short work of the tape around his ankles.

Quietly as he could, he made his way up the steps, winded after going only halfway, hoping that Tate would have had his hands full with Nicky and didn’t lock the door back. He knew he had to hurry and hoped Nicky would be able to stall Tate for a few more minutes. He tried the door knob and a wave of relief washed over him as it turned easily in his hand. As he came through the door at the top of the stairs he came out into a modern kitchen. This must be Tate’s home then. A phone hung on the wall by the doorway. Easing over to it, he dialed 911 and when they answered, whispered one word into the receiver—“Hurry.” He let the phone dangle on its cord then, not daring to waste any more time, or have the dispatchers call back and alert Tate. He knew dispatch would send officers to check out the call, and in the meantime, Nicky needed him. Passing by the front door, he eased it partially open, so the officers could get in and not waste time knocking. He could hear grunting and moaning coming from down the hallway. If Tate was distracted with Nicky, he might have one chance to surprise him, while Tate tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. Despite his weakness, Tucker was a trained police officer, and he thought he could handle Tate, even in his weakened state, and especially with Nicky’s help.

Creeping silently to the door of the room the sounds were coming from, he paused for a second in the doorway. Nicky lay on his back in the middle of a huge king-sized bed, with Tate straddling him. He heldNicky’s hands down on either side of his head while he was busy biting and licking at his neck. Neither of them had noticed him standing in the doorway. Tucker inhaled a deep breath and hurled himself at Tate, catching him around the waist and rolling sideways, gravity and momentum on his side. Tucker fell heavily on top of Tate, getting his hands around his throat and watching Tate’s face turn a satisfying shade of red as he gasped for breath. Tate didn’t give up easily, and they struggled desperately for several minutes, rolling around on the floor by the bed. FinallyTucker managed to get his hands around Tate’s neck, ably assisted by Nicky who had launched himself off the bed and stood behind him, kicking Tate’s ass and balls for all he was worth whenever he got a chance. At least a few of the kicks must have landed, because Tate began shrieking like an alarm going off.

From some recess of his brain, he became aware of noisy shouts around him, and someone tryingto pry his hands from Tate’s throat. His adrenaline was stronger, though, and a red haze covered his vision. It took a sudden blow to the back of his headwith a cop’s flashlight before he loosened his grip and sagged to the floor. The last sound he heard before he lost consciousness was Nicky yelling his name.