The Helheim Wolf Pack Novellas: The Complete Collection Page 15

  Riley laughed. Yeah, he could drink to that.

  Dylan

  Book 3

  Captain of the Guard of the Alfheim Wolf Pack, Dylan is as hard and unyielding as a werewolf can get. He sees love as a weakness, relationships as folly…

  That is until he’s sent to investigate claims that a rogue pack has been hiding an unforgivable secret. He stopped believing in true mates, until he lays eyes on Gia, a female werewolf who challenges everything he’s ever believed in.

  “Dylan” is a short story based on the characters in the Helheim Wolf Pack world. These novellas are best read in order.

  Dylan: A Helheim Wolf Pack Novella (#3)

  Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Dawes

  First Edition, 2021

  www.authorlaurendawes.com

  The right of Lauren Dawes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000

  E-book: 978-1-922353-21-4

  Print:978-1-922353-22-1

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical or mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Sly Fox Cover Designs

  Edited by Kaylene Osborn (Swish Design & Editing)

  Proofread by Nicki Kuzn (Swish Design & Editing)

  Dylan is set one day after Riley

  It’s best that you read these novellas in order.

  Chapter One

  Dylan curled his hands around the steering wheel of his truck as another errant thought sliced right through him, cutting him to the bone. The information Layla, Riley’s female, had provided to the pack was both welcome and enraging. Hunter had known that Mitchell, the alpha of the Rogue Wolves, was up to something, but he’d never had the evidence to impale the guy to the wall.

  That had all changed when Layla literally broke down in their territory.

  Dylan couldn’t quite comprehend how an alpha could hold a female of his own pack hostage. They were meant to be revered, given how rare they were. He didn’t know whether Gia was a bitten wolf or a born one, but he was damn well going to find out.

  As he drove, he worked through the plan he and Hunter had eventually agreed upon. Dylan was all up for destroying Mitchell and every member of his pack who knew of Gia’s imprisonment and Layla’s abuse and did nothing about it, but Hunter was much more level-headed and logical, which is why he was the alpha. Dylan was his right-hand man—there to dole out the punishments as required.

  Two things were clear, though. Gia had to get out of there unscathed, and Ben was not to be killed if it could be helped.

  The Rogues’ beta had apparently been instrumental in helping Layla escape their territory, and now the bastard was off-limits to Dylan too.

  He glanced at the clock on the dash, mentally counting how many more hours he’d be on the road. The entire drive was twelve hours long, which would have him arrive in Patten, Maine, at around six o’clock in the evening if he didn’t hang around for long when he stopped for gas.

  The sound of ringing suddenly filled the cab of his truck, and he answered the call. “Yeah?”

  “Where are you?” Hunter asked.

  “I’m about four hours out,” he replied, rubbing his eyes. The bastards were stinging from the early start and late night. He’d been up at four o’clock to incinerate Lucas’s body before he hit the road.

  “Riley mated her,” his brother said, making Dylan smile.

  “Good.”

  Hunter let out a sigh. “I’m happy about it, too. Layla is staying on in the pack. In fact, she’ll be joining my Ava at the clinic when it opens.”

  Dylan’s mouth curved up a little, pleased by that news. His brothers were finally getting a taste of the kind of happiness only a mate could bring. Granted, Hunter was on his second mate, given his first had passed away, but a second chance at love was better than no chance at all.

  Of course, Dylan wouldn’t be getting a second chance either.

  Mates and females were just collateral damage when you’re the Captain of the Guard for a pack. He’d learned that the hard way. The fucked-up thing was, he hadn’t even been able to introduce Sara to his family. At first, he was too scared even to admit he had a female or that he was interested in making his mate. And secondly, she’d died before he could claim her.

  “Dylan, are you still there?” Hunter asked.

  He blinked, wondering how long he’d been stuck in his head. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “So, you’re good with the plan?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “What’s the issue?”

  He breathed in deeply, then let it out, loosening his grip on the steering wheel. “I hate the idea that I have to pretend to be what Mitchell is.”

  “I get that, brother, but it’s simply a means to an end. By you pretending to be a foreign wolf interested in securing a female for your personal use, it’ll keep Mitchell on side. He doesn’t know who you are… hasn’t seen your face before. You just go in there, ask to purchase Gia for your own, then get the fuck out of there.”

  Dylan’s jaw ached from where he held it so tightly. “And after that?”

  Hunter sighed. “I’ve spent the last hour on the phone with the alphas… seems nobody endorsed the formation of the Rogues. This pack isn’t official in any way. They’re just kind of squatting there. Mitchell assumed leadership when nobody was looking.”

  A wicked idea formed in his head. “And as such, they have no allies.”

  “Correct. Once Gia is gone, we can sweep through there and decimate Mitchell with very little resistance.”

  “Unless that resistance comes from the pack itself.”

  “From what Layla tells me, the pack members know about Gia, but most are too afraid to do anything about it. The strongest wolves are loyal to the alpha, and the weakest have essentially had orders not to speak about it to anyone. Mitchell forbade them from leaving the pack, although the fool was stupid enough not to gag Layla. He thought she’d be too scared to go out on her own.”

  “Joke’s on him,” he murmured.

  Layla looked like a stiff breeze could blow her over, but Dylan had seen the steel in her eyes. She was a survivor, and survivors had spirit, even the most tyrannical ruler couldn’t contain.

  “How is she after Lucas’s death?”

  He was still in awe of the female. Lucas had been the one to make her, to torture her, to cause her pain on an unimaginable level. Yet, she’d looked that bastard in the eye and wanted to end him. Whoever said females of the species were the weaker sex clearly didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about when it came to werewolves.

  “She’s good. Ava thinks she might need some counseling, so we’ll set something up with Casey’s therapist.”

  “Good idea.”

  There was a beat of silence before Hunter growled, “I want you to make that bastard suffer, okay?”

  It was already on his to-do list. “I’ll make sure he knows Layla sends her regards.”

  “Good.” Hunter hung up, leaving Dylan lost in a thousand thoughts. Pretending to be a piece-of-shit werewolf with a penchant for captive females was going to be a tough gig. He still wasn’t sure he’d gotten over the fact that Casey had been held against her will and tortured, but his sister was a spitfire, and she’d come through the other side. Although, according to Oliver, she’d also flirted with the idea of suicide. She had lost the male she thought was her mate, and Dylan knew from personal experience what the loss felt like.

  He slowed the truck as the highway he was driving on began its entry into a small town w
here the main street was all that seemed to be there. Pulling into a parking spot on the side of the road, he parked his truck, got out, and wandered into the bank.

  He withdrew one hundred thousand dollars from multiple pack accounts and got back into his truck. The money, which was on the passenger seat inside a manila envelope, felt tainted already. He hoped it would be enough to get Mitchell to agree to the sale. Jesus, he felt sick, even thinking about buying Gia.

  Before getting back onto the road, he dialed Vaile Wolfe’s number and waited for the Bluetooth system to connect.

  “Wolfe,” the growly voice on the other end of the line said.

  In the background, the sound of kids laughing reminded him that he was calling during a holiday period. “Vaile, it’s Dylan.”

  “It’s Thanksgiving. This better be important.”

  “I think this is something that will interest both you and Rhett.” He glanced at the cash. “I don’t think you’ve been made aware of a recent situation…”

  There was the sound of footfalls before the noise cut off. “What situation?” he growled. “And know that Rhett can hear you, too.”

  Well, two birds, one stone, he guessed. “We had a female come into our territory on Wednesday night. She’s from the Rogue Wolves in Maine.”

  Vaile grunted. “We never officially welcomed the formation of a pack in Maine, nor did we think it was a good idea that Mitchell should be alpha of that pack, but…” Dylan could practically hear the shrug.

  “We don’t have a head council,” Dylan provided. That was a job for another day.

  “Dylan, it’s Rhett. What happened to the female?”

  “She was fleeing her pack, but her car broke down in our territory. She’d been bitten and turned four years ago, then tortured for those four years by the Captain of the Rogues. Mitchell condoned the treatment, and this female, Layla, let us know that there’s another female being held by the alpha.”

  Twin growls filled the line. “We’ll send up a team.”

  “I’m already in Maine. We figured going in there with force would probably force Mitchell to react badly. He’d kill the female and destroy the evidence if he knew we were coming.”

  Rhett asked, “So, what is your plan?”

  He laid out the particulars for the alpha and beta of the Helheim pack. “Can I have your support on this? Hunter will send some enforcers, but the more we have, the better chance we have of diffusing this situation with Mitchell before it becomes an all-out slaughter.”

  “You have my support,” Rhett said. “How long will you need before we strike?”

  “Forty-eight hours. That should be enough time to secure Gia then get her out of harm’s way.”

  “Where will you take her?” The question was from Vaile.

  “Back to our packhouse. Layla and Gia are friends and have both been through this trauma together.”

  “What’s Layla going to do?”

  “Riley and her mated last night. She’s staying with us.”

  Rhett chuckled. “Good for fucking him. All right, you have forty-eight hours. If you secure Gia’s safety before that, let us know. We can have our team up there in a few hours with the use of our pack’s plane.”

  “I will.”

  Dylan hung up, now feeling better about the plan. He called Hunter and let him know what was happening with the Helheim wolf involvement, then got back on the road. He planned on stopping in Sherman, only fifteen minutes away from the Rogue’s pack house in Patten. He didn’t want to actually stay in Patten in case Mitchell was a suspicious sonofabitch and had the town monitored.

  With everything now in place, he got back onto the highway, content to let his truck chew up the remaining hours.

  Chapter Two

  Gia slid back against the headboard of her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her room. It wasn’t actually a room—more like a cell that had been sheetrocked over to give the illusion of being a private bedroom. It wasn’t private, and it was as far from a sanctuary as it could be.

  Her gaze shifted to the small black dome near the corner at the back, the one with the blinking red light that she watched while trying to fall asleep each night. Mitchell was always able to see her, always knowing what she was doing. At first, that knowledge had bothered her, but as the days had dripped into months and years, she’d made her peace with her lot in life. She was never getting out of this prison.

  Pulling down her white cotton shift, she crossed her legs at the ankle and turned her attention back to the TV. The classic Thanksgiving movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles was on, and the memories of sitting down and watching it with her brother every year without fail sent a feeling of loss and mourning right through her. Although six years had passed since her parents’ and brother’s murders, she didn’t think she’d ever get over the pain. Of course, on a clinical and professional level, she understood that her grief wouldn’t necessarily go away, but it would lessen.

  Eventually.

  Still, therapists never made the best patients. They were too close to the emotions, unable to step back and look at them critically and without bias. Lord knew she had tried.

  Her gaze fell to her wrists, resting on top of her crossed legs. The perpetual bruises that marred her skin had a matching set on her ankles, evidence of Mitchell’s attempts to dominate and subdue her. Her alpha enjoyed restraining her when he came to her, making her fight back harder even though eventually he would win. He hadn’t come to her last night on account of it being Thanksgiving.

  She had come to terms with her fate a long time ago. She couldn’t change her future. It had been set since the day that bastard had bitten and locked her in this room, but there was another female in the pack, Layla, who stood a chance. She wasn’t Mitchell’s plaything like Gia was. Layla belonged to Lucas, Mitchell’s loyalist soldier, and that particular bastard’s MO was torture rather than rape. As Lucas had been the one to turn her, Mitchell thought it was only fitting that he be the one to break her.

  The last time Gia had seen her, the other female had confided in her, telling her she and Ben had come up with a plan to get her out of Maine altogether over Thanksgiving.

  She prayed that she had made it out.

  And that she was finally safe.

  She turned her head when the slide bolts on the outside of her cell rasped against the steel, making her pulse leap into her throat. Fear wrapped its dirty, stained fingers around her heart, making the damn organ shiver. Talk about a conditioned response. Slowly, she eased onto the edge of the bed, her fingers digging into the mattress as she waited.

  She let out a long breath when Ben stepped into the room. Dressed in his usual worn jeans and soft plaid shirt, he was the beta of the pack and the only ally and friend she had beside Layla.

  “Jesus,” Ben breathed.

  “What?” she asked, but by the way his gaze was locked on her face, she knew. She touched her cheek and winced.

  Tilting her chin up and moving it from side to side, he inspected her face. “What did he do to you?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

  Mitchell didn’t normally hit her on the face. Tying her up was more his style.

  She pulled out of Ben’s grip and slumped back onto the bed. “Nothing I didn’t entice him to do.”

  His expression immediately clouded over, his wolf flashing in his eyes. “You made him do that on purpose?”

  “I fought him,” she replied boldly, but it had been for nothing. The combination of poor nutrition and captivity had left her weaker than she should’ve been. It had gotten to the point where she’d even stopped menstruating, her body just pulling the plug on her biological needs. The only silver lining from that was he couldn’t impregnate her.

  Ben eased down beside her on the bed, his gaze stuck somewhere on the floor. It was no secret that he felt terrible for her, but she knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. Mitchell was a force, dominating all his wolves and controlling their actions. All it would take would be one wolf
to stand up to the bastard, but she also understood how great of a risk that act would be.

  Mitchell had surrounded himself with sycophants, true believers in his grand plan for a pack that was completely autonomous. They gave new meaning to the phrase ‘follow blindly.’

  “Have you heard from Layla?” she asked softly. She peered at him with a sideways glance. “Did she make it?”

  “I don’t know…” He shrugged. “But the only positive I can take from that is that she hasn’t been dragged back here by Lucas yet either.”

  “Mitchell sent Lucas after her?”

  His expression was grim. “As soon as he realized she was gone, he sent the bastard after her.”

  Fiddling with the bottom of her shift, she asked, “Does he know it was you who sent her away?”

  Ben’s expression turned doubtful. If Mitchell suspected it was him, he would kill him without a second thought. Descension was not permitted in the Rogue Wolves’ ranks. “Let me worry about Mitchell.”

  She bobbed her head. As much as she wanted to give him that burden, deep down in her heart, she was worried about him. “How are you and Steve doing?”

  His mouth turned down in the corners, and he shook his head. “It didn’t work out. He said I wasn’t present, whatever that means.”

  Their alpha didn’t know Ben was gay, and if he ever found out, he would be killed. Simple. But the idea of him not being there anymore hurt her just as much as thinking about Layla getting caught.

  “You’ll find someone soon,” she told him, reaching out and entwining their fingers together. “Your soul is too beautiful not to find love.”