Free Awakening: Montana Wolves, Book 2 by Chloe Cole Page A

skillet on the stove.
    Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, and she was on number two in her mental countdown to three when he faced her again.
    “You did a good job with the pictures,” he said with an approving smile, “So I hate to have to do this, but it seems like we’re at an impasses.” He opened his briefcase and extracted a length of rope and a piece of cloth.
    The window of opportunity had closed, and panic made her stomach pitch. He leaned toward her, making short work of tying her to the chair. The sour stench of his sweat filled her nostrils and bile rose to her throat.
    “Please, don’t do this,” she begged, terror coursing through her in icy waves.
    He continued binding her as if she hadn’t spoken, even whistling as he worked. He tested the ropes a few moments later and finished by tying a length of cloth around her mouth.
    As he stood back to survey his handiwork, Chandra began to stir from across the table. Wheeler moved fast, extracting something from his pocket as he approached her. Amber screamed from behind her gag as he jabbed the barely conscious woman in the neck with an obscenely large syringe.
    Surely a needle that size would kill her.
    Sick with guilt and dread, Amber watched helplessly as the madman half-lifted, half-dragged Chandra to the door. She struggled against her restraints as the door closed behind them, only one thought in her terror-filled mind.
    This woman could die, and it was all her fault.
     
    ***
     
    “Sounds like we’re all on the same page,” Liam announced, slapping his hands on his knees before rising. “I’m about ready for bed, though.”
    Jax stood with him and stretched. “I’m right behind you.”
    Too bad he’d be sleeping alone. Chandra had left his bedroom only a couple hours before, but he found himself every bit as hungry for her as he’d been the before. He briefly entertained the idea of stopping by her room and asking her if she was interested in a sleepover, but then reality set in. Friends with benefits didn’t do sleepovers.
    So maybe you want something more with her, asshole.
    He pinched his eyes closed, fighting off the headache that had been plaguing him for the past twenty minutes. It had been an eventful day, packed full of revelations and introspection. He’d made great strides with his son, and had his first—and second—sexual encounter with a woman since Sara died. Maybe it was better to let it all marinate for a day before making life decisions.
    “I’ll call the lumber place and make sure they have what we need to get started ASAP,” Billy said from his perch on the back of the couch, derailing Jax’s wayward thoughts.
    The three of them had been discussing a lucrative real estate deal that they’d locked up that evening, adding to the sense of well-being Jax had been feeling. All in all, things were right and tight and he was looking forward to waking up the next morning, a feeling he’d been missing for a long time.
    As he crossed the room to the stairs, the low-level throb in his temples turned into a blinding flash of pain and a vision flickered in his mind, stopping him in his tracks. It was so very faint he could hardly make it out. He tried to bring the vision into focus, shutting out the conversation behind him, but it was blurred, fading in and out.
    Strange. It looked like Amber. Tied to a chair. Again the image dimmed and he grappled mentally, struggling to grab hold of the link, but it was no use. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might explode. He could only see what one of his brethren was seeing when they linked with him, which meant one of his pack members was in a room with Amber and they were trying to tell him that something was very wrong.
    Chandra.
    He felt her then, her essence trying to touch his mind. Her fear and confusion rippled through him, but it was unfocused, disoriented. For a single moment, he sensed a male presence, heard a low, muffled voice. The image flickered once more,