Kelley Armstrong - Frostbitten

"No, you didn't. You made a halfhearted suggestion that we leave town, but you didn't really want us to go. You just wanted to be able to tell yourself you tried and-"

I stopped and scanned the forest. At any moment, Tesler was going to step from the darkness, and I was wasting any chance I had of escape by bickering.

"Did you hear the last thing Clay said to you?" I asked.

Joey didn't answer.

"Do you think that was an idle threat? Knowing Clay, do you really think it was an idle threat?"

No answer, but I swore he went a few shades paler, gaze darting away, lips tightening.

"You remember what Clay did to that mutt thirty years ago? You were there."

"I wasn't-"

"Not at the scene, but around at the time. His friend at the time." When I emphasized the word friend , his lips tightened more. "You know what he did and why he did it. But a whole generation of mutts has grown up since then, a generation that considers that ancient history, and isn't afraid anymore. You know Clay won't accept that. He can't. If they've forgotten, then he needs to remind them. He needs to prove he still deserves his reputation. What better way than to repeat it, only not using a mutt this time… but an old friend who betrayed him."

Joey went white. Then green. Then red, his jaw setting as he swiveled to face me. "You don't need to threaten me, Elena."

"No?"

His eyes met mine, hard now. "No. Why do you think we're just sitting here?"

"Because you're waiting for Travis Tesler to-"

"The meeting place is half a mile away, the meeting time a half-hour from now. I stopped here because I've changed my mind. I can't go through with it."

My gaze went as hard as his. "Bullshit."

"Bullshit? Do you see Tesler? Why would-?"

"You stopped a half mile from the meeting place. Then you woke me up. If you'd changed your mind, you'd have put the car in reverse and gotten the hell out of here, leaving me asleep as long as possible. Instead… "

I trailed off as I understood.

"I want my son back," Joey said. "I need him back. You're a mother. You should understand."

If my hands were free, I would have scratched his eyes out for that. His son ? A kid he'd rejected by dumping him on his father? A kid who obviously needed something Joey refused to provide because it clashed with his own worldview?

He expected me to understand the depth of his feelings because I had children? He had no idea what it meant to be a parent. No fucking idea.

"You want me to barter myself voluntarily for your son," I said when I found my voice.

"You're strong. A fighter. Clay's chosen mate." He said this as if it was an honor I'd won in the gladiatorial ring. "I saw you and him this morning, play fighting. He wasn't letting you win. You're a better fighter than I've ever been or could ever hope to be."

"So you're saying I should walk into captivity and fight my way out."

"You're smart." Desperation edged his voice now. "Clay listens to you and he never used to listen to anyone but Jeremy. My dad said Jeremy was always talking about you, that he thinks you'll be Jeremy's choice for successor. A female werewolf as Alpha? For Jeremy to even consider that, you must be-"

"Freaking amazing. A werewolf Wonder Woman. Is that how you're going to play this? Yes, I'm smart… smart enough to know you don't give a rat's ass whether or not I can escape Tesler. You just want me to volunteer so you'll feel okay about this. If you turn me over, he'll kill me before I get a chance to fight."

Joey shook his head. "He doesn't want you dead. This isn't about status or reputation. If it was, he'd have asked for Clay, not you."

"So what does that tell you?"

He looked at me as if he didn't understand the question.

"Tesler wants me. The female. Do you think he plans to woo me with roses and candlelight?"

"Well, no. I guess he… "

"You guess what ?"

His gaze slunk to the side again, "It's my son's life , Elena. And if Tesler wants you, that means he won't kill you. You'll get a chance to escape. There will be time for Clay to get here."

I could only stare, blood pounding in my ears. "You're saying I should let him rape me, for as long as possible, because it will kill time until my white knight can arrive?"

"It wouldn't have to be rape," he mumbled.

The pounding blood filled my head. "Are you… are you asking me to seduce…?"

"Willing or not willing, Clay would understand. You did what you had to and he'd forgive you."

"For-forgive me? He'd forgive me if I got raped?"

"No, I meant it would be okay. He'd still-"

"Want me? Touch me?" My voice had taken on a note between rage and outrage. "Is that what you think I'm worried about? Whether he'd still want me if I've been raped?"

I yanked at my bonds so hard I felt blood trickle down my arms, but I kept pulling, struggling to get to him, to grab him by the hair and smash that self-absorbed-

A flicker of movement in the woods stopped me cold, my rage congealing into terror. I was still bound and helpless, having spent my time threatening and fighting the only person who could save me. Now Joey would shove me out the door and speed away without a backward glance and I'd-

A porcupine poked its head from the trees and looked quizzically at the car. Around it, the forest stayed motionless.

I still had time. Now stop screwing around and use it !

When I turned back to Joey, the fear and rage had frozen over, cold and hard now, my brain and my path now clear.

"Do you really think Tesler is going to give Noah to you? Ever? Why should he? You've proven you'll do anything he asks in the faint hope of getting him back."

"Which will keep him alive." His gaze lifted to mine. "Maybe they won't let him go today or tomorrow, but as long as it's to their advantage, he'll live."

"So you're willing to do whatever it takes to keep him alive? Including tossing them the wife of your old buddy, to be raped, tortured and possibly killed? Just so your son can live another day?"

To protect my own children, I'd go farther than I care to contemplate. But I would never do this-throw their captors another victim to buy time I had no intention of using.

Joey was like a fugitive, holed up and surrounded by police, shooting random passersby simply to buy more time, to keep the cops at bay while praying the hand of the Almighty would reach down from the heavens and save him, because he sure as hell didn't plan on doing it himself.

"And then what?" I asked.

He looked at me blankly.

"And then what?" I repeated. "I make this sacrifice and I distract them, and you will use that time to… "

"I-I'll figure something out."

"Of course you will. You may not be stronger than them, but you're definitely smarter. You'll outwit them."

He nodded, relieved that I understood.

"Bullshit. If you were smarter than them, we wouldn't be sitting here. We'd be up at that meeting point, and I'd be slumped in this seat, pretending I was doped up and out cold. Clay would be lurking downwind in the forest. Travis Tesler would arrive. You'd make the exchange. You'd take Noah. Tesler would grab me and I'd kill him while Clay killed his brother. The end."

Joey stared at me. He blinked. He swallowed. His lips formed an "oh," but all that emerged was a faint sound of pain. And with that, my hate evaporated, leaving only a thin film of disgust, even that bringing a stab of guilt.

It'd been twenty-five years since Joey had been a Pack wolf, and even then, he'd never been in the thick of it. Expecting him to know how to deal with his son's abduction was like plucking a random human off the street, kidnapping his kid and expecting him to make the right choices. I couldn't hate him for what he'd done, but still that veneer of disgust refused to disappear, turning my words brittle.