Claimed (Blood Ties Book 6)

“COLT!” Carven roared.

All I heard was the boom…boom…boom.

But I didn’t know if it came from my heart or Colt’s fading footsteps. They all ran out, every single one, leaving me behind. I lifted my hand to touch the slick from Colt’s tongue on my neck as it cooled against my skin and tried to understand what the fuck just happened.

“Vivienne!” London roared.

Thunder sounded once more, then he was there, filling up the doorway of the cell where we’d found Colt.

“Pet?” London gasped, and reached for my hand.

I met his stare, gave a nod, and finally moved, following him out of there. He held me as we ran, following the others along the dark, dank hall of the slaughterhouse until we came to the metal stairs we’d descended minutes before.

It felt like hours…days, almost. Days in that cold and the dank and the smell…oh, God. The smell.

My stomach clenched. Blood and death crammed my nostrils as I gripped London’s big hand and raced up the stairs a step behind him.

“Colt!” Carven screamed, his voice booming through the space. “COME BACK! WE WANT TO HELP YOU!”

We ran between the filthy, empty pens that once held animals for slaughter, bursting out from the cracked open doors to stop dead in the middle of nowhere.

“Where the fuck did he go?” London growled, scanning the trees and the darkness.

“Hell if I know.” Guild sucked in hard breaths as he pressed his hand to his shoulder and winced in pain.

London swivelled, meeting my gaze. “What the hell happened back there?”

He bellowed at me as though he wasn’t right in the damn room himself. “What do you mean?” I shook my head, pulling my hand from his. “I tried to help him. I tried to—”

With a pissed off snarl, London started walking toward the trees surrounding the abattoir.

“I dunno what you all saw. But that…that was not Colt.” Guild shook his head as Carven appeared from the trees, striding toward us.

“Yes,” London answered with his back to us, his tone grave. “It was.”

I shook my head, remembering the pure lunacy in Colt’s stare. My Colt…MY COLT. He was the man who’d held me, who’d loved me…who’d kept me safe. But that man…that…that didn’t look like him.

“Maybe he’s gone home.” Carven shook his head as he strode to where the cars waited with engines still running and open doors.

Headlights spilled along the dirt outside the slaughterhouse. I followed the others, climbed back into the Raptor, and yanked the door closed barely a second before the four-wheel drive shot forward.

“He’s alive,” London muttered, scanning the trees as we drove to where Helene and her men waited parked by the side of the road. “That’s the only thing that matters right now.”

We stopped long enough for London to lean out the window and tell Helene briefly what had happened.

“We’re heading back home,” he finished. “If you hear anything else…”

She shifted her gaze to me sitting in the rear seat, and our gazes collided as she answered. “Of course, you’ll be the first to know.” She scowled, looking at me as though she wanted to say something.

But she didn’t, just turned away at the same time I did.

Damn her.

I clenched my jaw, drawing my focus from the ache that seemed to rise when I looked at her. I didn’t like her. I didn’t even know her. The images of those photos came back. But she seemed to know me, though, didn’t she?

That wasn’t fair.

Because she was the one who’d wanted it that way.

Tires spun, kicking up stones to blast the underside of the Raptor as we sped away and raced for home. I scanned the trees as we passed, searching for movement. Carven did the same, his gaze on the darkness.

We have him!

We have Colt!

London’s roar still resounded in my head as we drove. We stopped every few minutes, climbing out of the car, calling for Colt as we searched the trees between the slaughterhouse and the city. Still, there was no sign of him. The last hour was a blur, coming from the lowest lows then soaring to the highest of highs. I still felt that choke hold that had gripped me as they’d carried Haelstrom Hale’s body past us to the waiting white can.

I’d thought it was over.

I’d thought we’d lost, until London said those words which changed everything.

We have Colt.

I pulled my attention from the past, forcing myself to focus. But did we? Did we really have Colt?

I wasn’t so sure.

We headed back to the house. The moment we pulled into the driveway, Carven was out, calling his brother’s name. I clawed the handle, desperately running after him. But as we raced along the hall to his bedroom, I couldn’t help the thoughts from racing through my head. What the hell was going to happen when we found him?

Boom!

Carven threw open the door to his bedroom and raced inside. I hit the hallway, London and Guild a step behind. But as we all raced inside the darkened room, we knew he wasn’t here.

“Where?” Carven spun, staring at London. “Where else would he go?” Torment was etched in his mesmerizing eyes as he shook his head. “The old house. He’d go there, right?”

“We can try,” was all London offered.

We headed back out, climbed into the four-wheel drive once, and drove through the city to the other side. My mind raced, unable to shake the nagging feeling that it didn’t matter how many houses we searched. Colt wasn’t there.

Cat…

That hoarse sound Colt had gasped rose as we parked out front of the house I’d once lived in. Car doors opened and closed. That sound was a man clinging to sanity. A man beaten and tortured. A man lost…

“Vivienne?” London called my name, standing outside the car with the driver’s door open.

I jerked my gaze to his.

“You can stay here.”

“No,” I answered, but my hands refused to move.

My scalp pulsed, the memory of my abduction roaring back to me. London opened my door and held out his hand. But it was all too much. Everything. All the desperation. All the longing. I just wanted…peace. Was that too much to ask? “I just want some peace.”

“What?”

I shook my head, crashing back into reality. “Nothing,” I answered, and climbed out, following London back into the house I both loved and loathed.

Moonlight filtered through the shrubs, casting shadows along the footpath to the house. I froze, letting London walk ahead. My mind replaced the murky spill with blood. This was where it had happened, where I’d changed forever.

“Pet?”

I nodded, forcing myself to follow him inside. My gaze instantly turned to the stairs and the bedrooms above as Carven strode along the hallway and headed back down the stairs. “He’s not here.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t get it. He’s hurt, probably bleeding internally. Where the fuck would he go?”

“He doesn’t know anywhere else.” Guild stepped into view, coming from the rear of the house.

“Yes,” London answered. “He does.”

We all looked at him as he added. “The one place he shouldn’t want to go.”

“No,” Carven growled. “No.”

My stomach clenched. I tried to swallow the acid in the back of my throat. But I knew…we all knew, even if we didn’t want to believe it. He was going to the orphanage.

No one spoke as we left the house and climbed back into the Raptor.

“You sure about this?” Guild cast London a glance as we pulled out.

“No,” he answered, his focus on the street as he accelerated hard. “But we have no choice.”

I reached for Carven’s hand in the dark, but the moment I touched him, he pulled away.

“I just need to get him back.” His voice was husky as he stared out the window. “Just gotta get him back.”

I swallowed that fist in the back of my throat, driving it all the way down into my chest. Tears shimmered, blurring the fading lights of the city as we left it behind, heading back to the place of my nightmares.

I closed my eyes.

Despair and torture have a certain…flavor about them, as you well know. London’s words floated to the surface of my mind. I tried to remember now, gathering together all the things he’d said. The house was so quiet…so very quiet for one filled with children.

I remembered now. Remembered that night, he’d taken me all too well. The looming presence of the orphanage was terrifying enough, but that was nothing compared to what waited inside. Inside. I closed my eyes, and a tear raced down my cheek. Please let Colt not be there. Please let him not be in that place.

Even as I prayed, London’s words from that night came roaring back.

You were taken before they could do too much damage and placed with a couple who raised you. They didn’t hurt you. I made sure of that…

Daughter.

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard the Sons call me that. But it was the first time I truly understood. I’d thought it was used to demean and hurt. But it wasn’t…it was who I was.

Daughter.

Daughter.

And they were his sons.

The moment we turned off the highway and down that long narrow dirt road, I knew in my heart this was where he was. This was where a broken Colt would come. My hands never trembled as London handled the four-wheel drive, skidded around the corner, and raced toward that chained gate.

He never slowed, never stopped. Just slammed the front of the Ford into the steel, watching as the chain snapped and the gates flew back onto their hinges. Then we were hurtling toward that monstrous, towering place. Dust kicked up everywhere. I was already yanking the handle and shoving the door open wide.

I was out before anyone else…

Even Carven.

I looked up as I raced for the stairs. The front door was open, the boards torn free.

“VIVIENNE!” London roared. “STOP! IT’S DANGEROUS!”

I knew that.

The floors were rotted.

The rusted nails still sharp.

But I couldn’t think about any of that now. I pushed all thoughts of this place aside, grabbed what was left of the wooden door, and yanked, then slipped past the splintered wood and plunged inside.

Darkness, that’s all I saw. I prayed to God he was with me and stepped forward.

The pungent scent of dust and terror filled me. I swallowed the air as my eyes adjusted to the gloom. “Colt?” I whispered, taking a step of faith, then another.

Dark shadows yawned on the floor in front of me. I followed the lighter tone, stepped around the fallen away floor, and kept moving. My gaze went right as I pushed further into the house.

“Vivienne!” London snarled, pissed off behind me. “Come back!”

I couldn’t. I hoped one day he’d understand that.

I hoped one day he’d forgive me.

I lowered my hand, cupped my belly, and pushed deeper, turning my focus toward the rear of the house. I left that room with the scratches inside the door behind.

“Here!” Guild called.

A grunt followed the slap of something against a hand before a click sounded and the bright shine of a flashlight illuminated the all but destroyed floor. I glanced over my shoulder toward the three men waiting.

London took a step and listened to the beams creak underneath before he spat a stream of obscenities, then fixed those dark eyes filled with desperation on me.

“Stay on the beams, pet,” London cautioned, shining the light in front of me. “Follow the light.”

I used the bright glow to scan the house in front of me, taking step after step until the glow faded, and I stopped at a doorway that led to stairs above. My heart hammered as I looked back and found Carven’s gaze fixed on me. “I have to go up.”

“Here,” London murmured, turning the flashlight in his hand. “Take this.”

Then he cast it through the air toward me. My heart lunged as I lifted my hands and caught it.

“We’ll look for another way in,” London urged, standing in the dark. “Be careful, pet.”

His gaze lowered to my belly, looking like he wanted to say more. But he didn’t. Carven turned and left. I shone the light toward them, helping him navigate the ruined floor until he was gone.

“Find my son,” London whispered desperately. “Bring him back to us.”

I gave a slow nod, then turned to the stairs and aimed the light higher. Footprints were embedded in the thick layer of dust. They looked fresh…very fresh.

The light bounced, trembling in my hand as I took a step. I didn’t know what drew him back to this hell and not home. I wished to God I understood, but as I gripped the banister and climbed, I realized it didn’t matter.

None of it did.

Fresh blood shone on the banister in front of me. I jerked my gaze upwards. It was him…it had to be him. That thought made me surge upwards. The stairs creaked. One gave way, leaving me to cling on for dear life to the filthy banister.

Still, I climbed, stopping at the first floor and aiming the flashlight higher. The marks in the dust continued, so I resumed climbing. The further up I went, the colder it became. I glanced below, my stomach sinking, before I focused above me, until I passed the second floor, then the third.

Until there was nowhere to go.

I shone the light along the footprints, following them until they stopped at a set of stairs that led up into the attic. I froze, the light bouncing against the missing rungs on the ladder. There was no way I was going up there. No way I could even…

The jagged edges of the rungs looked like weapons. Still, I didn’t know if it was really Colt up there. What if it was someone else? What if it was…

Cat.

That guttural sound still gripped me, along with the desolate look in his eyes. It had to be Colt. It just had to be. I inhaled deep, trying to still the damn shake in my body, and stepped up, grabbing the sides of the ladder and clenching the small flashlight in my mouth, until a sound stopped me. One so terrifying it made me flinch.

Guttural. Savage. Warning me.

Don’t. Come. Closer.

I lifted my gaze to that sound. This was Colt. This was just Colt.

My boots slipped, but I found purchase where I could and pushed toward the opening in the attic. My hand slipped and pain flared across my palm. I hissed with the sting as I twisted my head to shine the light against my hand.

A sharp sliver of wood stuck out of my palm, allowing blood to well and spill down my wrist. I lifted my head and kept going, using my other hand to grip tighter until, with one more heave up a missing rung on the ladder, my head was inside the attic.

I slammed my lips closed, desperate not to suck in the inch-thick filth, and caught the outline of a hunched figure in the middle of the attic. Fear punched through me, making me freeze.

Someone was there.

Someone was right…there.

My heart hammered. I didn’t dare move. Seconds felt like hours. Inch by inch, I lifted my hand, took the flashlight from my mouth, and aimed the beam against the side of the attic. The place was beyond filthy. Cobwebs clung to the roof, cascading like a spindled blanket. Something scurried in the corner of my eye. I bit the insides of my cheeks to stop from crying out.

Still a sound escaped, low, terrified.

“Don’t,” Colt’s low, throaty warning came. “Don’t come closer. I’m not…me. I’m not me right now.”

He shook his head, fighting his own personal demons.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I whispered, both terrified to have found him and relieved.

“It’s not you I’m worried about.”

That sounded like Colt. Like the one I knew, at least. My thighs burned, my knees trembled, still perched on the ladder which could crumble any moment underneath me. I was trapped, unable to stand here, and yet… I lifted my gaze to the shrouded figure. I didn’t want to frighten him.

“I’m going to step up, okay?” I murmured.

I had to take the chance. I had to…risk everything.

Because that’s just what he would do.

I rose carefully, then stepped out of that hole in the ceiling and onto the thick wooden beam.

Chains rattled. I jerked my gaze toward the sound. Light from the torch spilled over him. There was a shackle in his hand, red and rusted. What the hell…

I aimed the light lower, finding a bolt in the middle of the floor. A heavy chain was piled around it. I followed the links to the shackle in his hand. One too small to be around his neck…one almost big enough to fit around a—

My stomach clenched.

My breath stilled.

Ice plunged all the way into the center of me.

“C-Colt.” My voice trembled as I glanced at the shackle, then at the bolt once more.

“They used to keep me up here.”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t even speak.

“She did, I mean,” his hoarse voice was so faint I had to strain to hear.

I moved without realizing it, taking a step forward to the next smaller beam.

“She laughed when they ripped me away from Carven. She liked that bit—tearing me away while he screamed and clung to me—almost as much as she liked to watch them beat me. I had to kill her, Wildcat. I had to—”

“You protected yourself,” I whispered, taking another step.

“She was my mother.” He turned around, his deep blue eyes almost black. “Did you know that?”

Surprise slammed into me. Mother? HIS MOTHER? I shook my head, unable to believe it…

Only I did.

I did believe him.

I closed my eyes, rocked to my core. “That wasn’t your mother,” I whispered as a flutter came from somewhere deep in my belly. It wasn’t the baby. I knew that, still it drew my focus to that pregnancy test sitting on the edge of my bathroom vanity.

I opened my eyes. Hate and love and desperation collided inside me. I took a step closer, watching his eyes widen. “She might’ve given you life, but that woman was not your mother, Colt. She was a cruel, manipulative, soulless, spiteful thing that occupied a body. What you did, you did in selfdefense.” I searched his eyes, seeing the torment he held inside. “She wasn’t part of you, and you weren’t part of her. You are part of us. We are your family.”

I stepped again, watching his top lip quiver as he fought for control.

My heart was in my throat, thudding violently as I lifted my hand and brushed my thumb along his cheek. “Family is the one you choose. The one you fight for. The ones who fight for you.”

His brow pinched. Heavy breaths made his big chest rise, drawing my gaze. I stared at the blood and bruising…then the bloodied stub on his hand where his thumb had once been.

“Family is the ones who want you, who need you.” That lump choked my words. I tore my focus from what they’d done to him and took a step closer. “That part of you who killed also protected you.”

He shook his head. “A beast.”

“A beast you needed,” I whispered, staring into his eyes. “A beast I needed. I needed him to keep you alive. But I need him to bring you back to me now.” I reached out, watching him flinch as I touched his hand. But I tried again. This time, he didn’t pull away as I guided his hand to my belly. “Because we’re going to be a family of our own. You, me, Carven, and London…and…” I held his stare. “And our baby.”

His eyes widened. Deep breaths sucked in all the air before he whispered, “Baby?”

“Yes, my protector…our baby.”