Clothesline Read online

  He blinked, but he was sure it had been days rather than moments since they reopened.

  Where the hell was he and what had happened?

  He closed his eyes and reached for his animal, but it was gone. It wasn’t sleeping, it was gone. There was an emptiness in him that made his heart want to break.

  He mourned the comfort of the beast. He mourned that part of him that he had always depended on. He mourned his own weakness.

  There was something else sharing his brain, but he didn’t know it. The feel of it slinking through his mind felt like needles in his brain. It felt like an alien had invaded him and was taking over his body.”

  He screamed and pounded his head against the floor.

  “Get the hell out of my head.”

  He felt claws in his mind as if his brain was being shredded.

  He shivered with the pain in his head. Chills raced over his body even as his head burned.

  “Oh, my pet, you will accept this. You have no choice. Accept what you must and live a life of luxury or suffer, but it will still happen just the same.” The woman with golden eyes grabbed his jaw.

  “I will have my cubs.” She vowed.

  “I’d rather die.” His cursed through the pain in his head.

  “I guess I’ll ask you again tomorrow. Would you like something to drink my pet? It will cost you a kiss.”

  “No.” He said through a throat so dry it hurt. “I don’t want anything from you, except your blood.”

  “Maybe tomorrow.” She turned to leave. “Turn the heat up and increase the dosage. Get rid of that damned dog.” She told the guard and the door slammed with a metal clang.

  Line tried to gather enough spit to swallow, but he had none. He lay there on the hard floor and shivered despite the heat that blasted into the room. He would die there, he knew he would. He would die, or they would break him, but either way, he would be no more.

  He saw Harmony’s face in his mind and reached for her. His chest burned, and he felt tears leak down his face. He would never see her again.

  His chest burned like someone had lit a fire inside him, but it was a good pain. He felt something move in his mind like a shadow. His wolf was there, like a ghost in his mind, but he was there.

  She did this, somehow, he knew that she was sending him strength. Without her he would have already fallen. He would fight, he would do that for her, but how long could he hold out.

  Harmony.

  His mind screamed for her and she could feel her there.

  Help me. I can’t escape. Help me.

  He felt her pain and then her courage. He couldn’t hear her voice in his head, but he felt her strength. She would go to River. His pack would find him, they had to find him. He’d been such a fool to leave them. He was nothing without them.

  They will never accept you.

  The voice slinked through his mind like glass cutting flesh and he screamed.

  You are mine. I will never let you go.

  How had she gotten in his head? How was this bitch in his head? He pounded his head on the hard ground as despair threatened to drown him.

  Harmony.

  His mind screamed, but he couldn’t reach her.

  He would never feel the softness of her lips on his. He would never see the glimmer of happiness in her eyes when she looked at him or the welcome in her arms. He felt something in his chest, a surge of strength, her strength. She was sending him strength and he needed it desperately. She was fighting against the hold the lion bitch had on him and she was winning.

  He fought, against what he did not know, but he thrashed and fought until his body was spent and he lay sweating on the floor. He cursed until his voice was nothing but air, but he wouldn’t give up.

  He reached for his wolf, but he couldn’t find the beast that had been with him since birth. His fingers went right through the shadowy figure in his mind like smoke.

  The pain increased in his head and he heard an unfamiliar sound hiss from his lips.

  This could not be happening.

  How could this be happening to him?

  He faded in and out of consciousness, for how long, he did not know, but the pain never left him, and he could never find his wolf.

  You are my brave little wolf aren’t you my little clothesline puppy? Muriel’s face swam into his mind. I need you to be so brave right now.

  It hurts auntie.

  I know it does baby, but you are my brave boy. You can take a deep breath and then another until the pain is better. Can you do that for me?

  Line took one deep breath and then another, forcing as much air to move in his lungs as he could. His mind cleared a little, just as it had all those years ago, but this was different now, it was as if she were there, urging him on. It wasn’t Muriel, it was Harmony and she was urging him, pushing him, giving him all of her strength.

  I need you to look around. You hear water, there must be some water. If you can find it, you’ll be alright.

  He tried to move, but his limbs felt like lead.

  Fight it. It’s your body, make it move.

  He screamed as pain shot through him at the smallest movement.

  They have drugged you. Fight it. Fight it. Fight it

  She chanted it like a litany until he forced himself up. His muscles shook, but he gained his knees and crawled across the floor.

  Pie sat near a damp puddle on the floor, grinning like an idiot.

  “You look like hell.” He said in a bored voice, but he wasn’t real, none of this was real. Was the water real? Was anything real?

  His body shook as he grabbed the water pipe and tugged, but he was too weak.

  He collapsed on the floor.

  “Get the fuck up right now.” River’s voice cut through the fog, but it didn’t have the power it once had. Still, Line forced his body to move.

  “Weak as a kitten.” Pie crowed and laughed at his own humor.

  The words caused fury to boil in Line’s blood. He heaved the pipe and it broke. Water poured from it in a cold rush and Line gulped it down. He laughed.

  He reached for his animal and found more than he’d bargained for. His mother had been a wolf and his aunt had taught him how to control it, but his father had been something else. Line had never understood it, but he did now, in his insanity he embraced what he was. He was not wolf alone, but he was also lion. He looked down at his hand and watched his claws slide out and retract. He’d always known this was unusual, but he hadn’t understood until now, when his tortured mind was scrambling to survive.

  He wasn’t just a wolf.

  He was lion too.

  A sound broke from his throat that threatened to rip it out. It hurt, but it felt liberating at the same time. It wasn’t the howl of the wolf he loved so dearly, it was the roar of a lion he had suppressed, and he was pissed off.

  His skin split and broke apart as his massive lion ripped from his body for the first time and the cell door burst open.

  Line shook his massive head and felt the mane shake. It was a strange feeling, so he did it again.

  Somehow this didn’t feel wrong. His lion didn’t feel like a stranger.

  The woman skidded to a stop in the entrance and grinned.

  “Good boy.” She turned to the guards. “Leave us.”

  “Kirisima. It is not safe my queen. I beg you.” One of her servants begged, but the woman slapped him away.

  “I said leave me!” She screamed.

  They whimpered and backed out of the room, leaving them alone.

  “Come here.” She commanded and the smile that curled her lips told him she expected him to obey her.

  But she was not his alpha. River was his alpha. Even his lion accepted that.

  He roared and stalked her.

  She seemed to know he wasn’t coming closer because of her command.

  “You are my mate. You will give me cubs. Do you understand me?” She kept her voice calm and strong, but her eyes betrayed her.

  She fe
ared him.

  He was going to kill her. Eat her. Destroy her. She was nothing to him. He was stronger in every way. He would not bow to this woman.

  “I need you to change back now. NOW!” She screamed, but he didn’t slow. “Change now!”

  She grabbed the cell door and slipped through, barely escaping him. He didn’t care. He would find her, and he would taste her blood.

  He heard her screaming commands from the other side of the door. He couldn’t wait for her to regroup.

  He slapped at the door with one massive paw and it gave way. Three more slaps and it was gone, hanging askew on its hinges. He was free.

  He ran.

  He could smell her, all of them. He fought anything that stepped in his path without care, but she eluded him.

  Part of him wanted her blood, part of him fought to get free.

  “This way.” He heard a voice, meek, weak, but insistent.

  The other part won.

  Escape. That was all he could think of. Escape and Harmony.

  He struggled through the narrow halls until he saw light through a window and he leapt.

  He felt glass cutting into his hide, but the air was fresh and cool, and he could smell water. Freedom.

  He ran.

  There were shouts behind him, but he was free, and no one would ever hold him captive again.

  He paid little mind to the small creature who struggled to keep up with him, but she was there. He wanted to hate her too, but all he felt was pity and disgust.

  She wasn’t worth his notice.

  His stomach rolled.

  What kind of monster thought that way?

  He fought against the creature that was taking over his mind. Fought against the benevolence he felt growing in his mind.

  Then there was nothing.

  9

  “I need you here right fucking now.”

  River’s voice came over the line when Creed handed her the burner phone.

  Creed had stayed with her. He’d claimed he just had business with the Howlers, but she’d felt the lie in his words and he’d known she would.

  He was a good man.

  “What happened?” She said with fear in her throat.

  “I need you here. There has been a development. You need to be here. Just get your ass here.”

  Creed grinned. “He’s such a conversationalist. Always admired that about him.” He raised his brows. “Ready to go?”

  She looked at him dumbfounded. “No?”

  “Wrong answer sweetheart. Come on.”

  She sighed. “Fine. this is ridiculous. I am a grown woman for heaven’s sake. I should have the option of doing whatever the hell I want to.”

  “It’s about Line.” Creed turned and walked toward his big truck as if her complaints mattered not at all.

  Harmony huffed, but she followed because she did care about helping Line.

  “You are really no help at all, do you realize that?”

  He grinned. “I think there’s a certain poetry to it.”

  “You would.” She rolled her eyes but climbed into his truck and let him drive her the few miles to the little trailer that sat behind River’s house. It was a place to stash people and keep an eye on them. It reminded Harmony of the old shed where Reed had been caged. The sight of it always made her skin crawl.

  It only took a few minutes to make the drive, but her stomach was churning by the time she stepped out of the truck and looked at the trailer. Shauna was there, and Harmony took heart in seeing the woman. Harmony had helped Shauna escape when her family had taken Shauna hostage. They had become friends since then and her presence eased Harmony’s worries.

  “We will get him back.” Shauna assured her pulling her into a hug. “I promise we will. You have to have faith in that.”

  Harmony nodded and soaked in Shauna’s reassurances. It helped. It helped to have someone understand and offer comfort instead of just telling her to be strong.

  “Lion.” Creed snarled when he saw the tiny woman seated on a low couch in the old trailer.

  “What the fuck is she doing here?” He pushed Harmony behind him.

  “She has information. She helped Line escape, but they got him back. There’s plenty she isn’t sayin’ but she gave us that much.” River frowned. “He was alive two days ago.

  “You don’t understand. I can’t. I can’t disobey my queen. I can’t do that.” She whimpered under his gaze. “I don’t have the strength.”

  “You disobeyed her enough to come here.” River snarled.

  “I was never ordered not to. They wanted rid of me. I was a burden. She let me go.”

  “I smell a lie.” Books tilted his head and lifted one side of his mouth to reveal his fangs. Harmony jumped in surprise and she noticed several glances from others in the room. Books was usually the calm one, but by the look in his eyes, he was barely hanging onto his skin.

  The woman paled and shivered. “Alright. I escaped. I helped your friend out of the house and then I just kept going. I think it was adrenaline or something, maybe his dominance, maybe Kirisima was just too busy to order me back, I don’t know. I escaped, and they will kill me if I they ever find me.”

  “This is bullshit. It’s a trap. She has led them here or something.” Ricky spat. “She was ordered to come here and fill us full of shit. I ain’t buyin it.”

  “I swear. I didn’t. I didn’t know. I just ran. I helped him escape, but he blacked out, I couldn’t wake him, and I couldn’t carry him. I ran. You don’t know what life there was like...I had to escape.” She whimpered.

  “You fucking left him and saved yourself. Coward.” Dice spat in disgust.

  Books was snarling now, not trying to hide his hatred toward this woman. He stepped around Harmony and out of the trailer.

  “Need a breather.” He said instead of his usual greeting and closed the door behind him.

  “Why am I here? There is no reason if she can’t tell us anything.” Harmony stepped around Creed, but he kept his hand on her arm. She wanted to look at this woman, smell her. She wanted to know if Line was alive.

  The woman’s eyes snapped to her. “You.” She hissed and lunged for Harmony. “You will die!”

  Dice grabbed her by the hair and shoved her back down on the couch.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” River screamed in her face. “You came here for protection and you try this shit? I should break your fucking neck.” He shoved her away. “You don’t threaten my fucking pack. You get that?”

  She paled. She shook her head as if to clear it. “I... I don’t know.” She sobbed into her hands. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

  “You get up again and I will fucking kill you.” River vowed.

  “It’s her connection with her queen. It’s different for them.” Lucian said in his smooth way. He was a cool observer, untouched by the emotions that twisted in the others.

  He didn’t care, maybe he couldn’t care, but he was curious.

  Pie stepped in the room behind Harmony. He looked tired and pissed off.

  “Welcome home Pie.” River breathed trying to regain control. “Appreciate you coming out, I know your ass is dragging.”

  “Anything to get him home.” Pie said and tiredness drug at him.

  The woman shivered on the couch where she sat. her eyes were on the open door like she would give anything to escape. She seemed to draw her strength.

  “They let me go. They knew you wouldn’t see me as a threat. I was to find out what held him and now I know, and they know. They want me to kill her.” Her eyes shot to Harmony and Creed let go of a string of curses. “It’s the only reason they would let me go.”

  “Why?” River’s voice was calm and as Harmony looked around the room, she saw the effect of it on the others. His power was an amazing thing.

  The woman’s golden eyes met his and he held them.

  “Something holds him to the world. Holds his wolf. She can’t kill it, my queen. If she cannot kill his wolf
, his lion cannot take hold. She cannot control him until she kills it. Even then, it will be difficult because he is very dominant, but it is worth it.”

  Harmony couldn’t breathe.

  If the news shocked River, he did not show it.

  Books leaned on the open door, a dark scowl on his face.

  “How will she kill the wolf?” River asked. The woman looked sick. The strain was getting to her fast.

  “She uses the serum. The one that brings the Sickness. If a shifter has only one animal the sickness will kill him. If he has two, it will kill only the dominant one and the other will live. Feline is always recessive.”

  Harmony watched River’s body stiffen.

  “The lions are behind the serum. Fucking lions.” Books cursed with more venom than Harmony had ever seen.

  “Of course. The hyenas aren’t resourceful enough.” There was pride in her voice and it made Harmony’s stomach churn. “You disgust me.”

  Creed looked over at her and frowned. “I’m with you.”

  River’s eyes silenced them.

  “Why does she want Line?”

  “She needs to join his bloodline to hers. We are few. Lionesses like me are not allowed to mate. Our queen must bear cubs for us, but we need new blood. Your man has new blood. The other Prides are as we are and there is such animosity between us all that we are unwilling to trade males. We need a strong male. We need him to survive.”

  “Line. He’s a lion.” Dice said, disbelieving. “Anybody else find that fucked up? I mean, he’s a lion and we call him Line.”

  “We can talk of irony later Samual. Right now, we need to focus.” Lucian sighed.

  “His father was a dominant. Those are no good, can’t be controlled or trusted. He left his Pride, ran, knowing they would eventually kill him, and searched out mates for himself. He found five of various species. He wanted a normal life, begged for it and he was allowed to breed, but he was being watched. When he discovered that his mates were being murdered after they gave birth he began digging. He discovered that his offspring were being used as test subjects. Not his alone, there were others, but he was furious that his children were being used by the Pride that turned their backs on him. He went a little mad, helplessness will do that to a dominant.”