SEALed Embrace (2 page)

“You’ve
been gone nearly three days,” Sean said. “When the ransom demand came and dad
refused to pay it, I thought I’d never see you again. But I was talking to Jack
Wellby, you remember him, and he mentioned these guys to me. Apparently his
brother served with them. You, my dear girl, were rescued by a team of retired
Navy SEALs. I wanted the best for this job.”

Parker
nodded. “Nick Wellby is a great guy. We tried to get him to join the team, but
he was ready for a break. Last I heard he was kicking up his heels on a beach
down in the Keys.”

Sean
stepped through the doorway and motioned for the guys to follow. He settled Isi
on the sofa in the living room then moved—with the grace only a shifter could
have—to the kitchen to fetch her a bottle of water. It was Vitamin Water in her
favorite flavor. She knew he kept it on hand for their hikes through the woods.
They went every week like clockwork on Mondays, weather permitting.

“Now,
who wants to tell me what happened?” Sean asked, looking at the men
expectantly.

“We
don’t know for certain why it happened, but someone from the Wilkerson clan
kidnapped her then passed her on to Rickshaw. As you know, Rickshaw decided to
use her best by asking for a ransom. For that, you should be thankful. I don’t
think Rickshaw is as twisted as Wilkerson, but I’ve heard of slavery between
packs, even women being sold down in Mexico. With your dad refusing to pay the
ransom, if you hadn’t sent us after her, I’m not sure what her fate would’ve
been.” Garren glanced her way, as if he wasn’t sure he should continue in her
presence.

Lee
apparently didn’t have any problems moving forward with the topic and continued
where Garren had left off. “They’d locked her in an old underground shelter
that was little more than a metal box. Her air supply was about gone and she’d
already used up her water and food. If we’d been even an hour later, we might
not have made it in time. She was fading fast. I’m surprised she sprang back
this quickly, I figured she’d be unconscious a while longer.”

“I’ve
always been a fast healer.” Isi smiled. “That isn’t to say I’m not light
headed, dizzy, hungry, and a host of other things, but at least I’m mostly
upright and have all of my senses working properly.”

“I
don’t think she should be left alone tonight,” Parker said.

“She
can stay here,” Sean said. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“
She
wants to go home.” Isi narrowed her
eyes. “I want a shower, some clean clothes and my nice soft bed.”

Sean
ignored her. “So, will you four be off now?”

Garren
shook his head. “Your payment didn’t just cover her safe delivery. We still
need to figure out why she was kidnapped, otherwise it could happen again.”

“My
father won’t be pleased, but consider yourselves my guests for the foreseeable
future. There’s a large cabin in the middle of the village where you may stay.”
He smirked. “I must warn you though, our women can be rather persistent and
will no doubt find the four of you fascinating. Once you’re declared heroes,
there will be no stopping them, even if you did rescue someone they hate.”

Dagan
shook his head. “Why such animosity toward Isi?”

“I
told you. I can’t shift,” she said.

He
gave her a blank look.

“They
think I’m cursed.”

Parker
snorted and then it turned into a chuckle. “Cursed? You? I’d say you have
rotten luck, being kidnapped and all, but that’s about as much of a curse as
you have.” His gaze took in her features. “Unless, of course, it’s the curse of
your beauty.”

Garren
gave him a dark look and Parker shrugged.

“If
the four of you will wait here, I’ll run by Isi’s place and gather some clothes
for her. Then I’ll give you directions to the cabin, along with a note giving
you permission to use it for as long as you have need of it. I’ll be sure to
call my father as well so he will not question your presence in town.” Sean
smoothed a hand down Isi’s hair. “I don’t want to let her out of my sight
tonight.”

Garren
frowned and Isi wondered what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to like it when
someone paid her a compliment or gave her any attention whatsoever. Yet, he
seemed kind and she felt that he wanted what was best for her. His dark looks
and frowning countenance had her wondering if perhaps he felt she wasn’t
deserving of such attention. She knew she was just a job to him. Did he, maybe,
feel the same way as her clan?

Parker
and the others seemed to think the whole curse thing was ridiculous, but maybe
Garren put stock in it. That thought brought pain to her heart. She might not
have gotten a good look at her rescuer, but after hearing his voice, she’d known
Garren was the one who’d jumped into the hole, the one who had given her water
and lifted her out to safety. Maybe she just had a case of hero worship, but
she found that she couldn’t look away when he was near.

“We’ll
stay until you return,” Lee said. “Then we’ll retrieve our gear from the helicopter
and send it on its way. We’ll call Bryson when we’re ready to return home.
There’s no point in his staying until then.”

Sean
nodded. “I’ll return as soon as I can. Isi just lives a few minutes from here
in the middle of the village. Her home isn’t far from your cabin, for that
matter.”

“I’m
sure Tomi is worried about me,” Isi said. “Would you see if she’s home and
reassure her that I’m okay? Tell her I’ll see her tomorrow?”

Sean
smiled. “I’ll be happy to. Rest while I’m gone and I’ll return soon. Are you
sure I can’t convince you to stay more than one day?”

“They
hate me enough around here. Can you imagine the talk if the women got wind of my
staying here for several days? They’d think I tricked you into my bed.”

“As
I recall, I asked you out. You told me no.”

“We
both know I’m not your mate. There would’ve been no point.”

A
deep rumble came from Garren, a scary sound that raised the hairs on the back
of her neck. His gaze had sharpened on Sean, looking lethal. Perhaps he wasn’t
as unaffected by her as she’d thought. Maybe all of his savage looks had been
for the
opposite
reason. Could it be
that the rather hunky alpha male was taken with her? She couldn’t imagine why—she
was ordinary at best. And she was fairly certain she looked like road kill at
the moment.

Sean
glanced at Garren. Isi watched as his eyes flared, the wolf in him flashing in
their depths for a moment. “I’ll return momentarily.”

Without
another word, he made his escape. She’d never seen him back down from anyone,
but that’s essentially what he’d done by not taking Garren to task. If he
feared the larger man, she couldn’t blame him. There was something untamed
about the black-haired giant. The man stood inches above the other men in his
unit, and was broader by far. He was just… more.

“You
mentioned going home when this is all over, where’s home?” she asked.

“Galveston.
We all wanted to be near the water, but most of us are from Texas and were
ready to come home when our last tour was over,” Dagan said.

“Most?”

“I’m
from Atlanta originally,” Lee said.

“And
you all served together?” she asked.

Garren
nodded. “We’ve all been in the military at least eight years. Dagan and Lee
were in a little longer. After the last tour, we decided we were ready to
retire.”

“Thank
you for serving our country. I can’t begin to imagine the horrors you’ve seen,
the things you’ve been asked to do. Just know that you’re appreciated.”

Parker
smiled. “I loved serving my country, but I have to admit I’m something of an
adrenalin junky. If we hadn’t formed our current unit, taking on rescue
missions and security details, I’d be bored out of my mind.”

“I
don’t mean to be insensitive, but I can tell you’re all shifters. Do you have a
pack in Galveston? Are you wolves?” Isi asked.

Dagan
shook his head. “There’s a small leap of jaguars there that we associate with
at times, but we pretty much stick to ourselves. As for what we are, well…
we’re not wolves, I’ll tell you that much.”

That
still didn’t answer her question, but she supposed it would remain a mystery.
If they wanted her to know, they would have told her. It didn’t stop her from
wondering though. Garren didn’t seem like a wolf, not like the ones she knew
anyway. The way he watched everyone, carried himself, he was definitely a
predator, but what type was anyone’s guess. He moved with a certain grace that made
her think that maybe he was some sort of large cat. He was big enough to be a
bear, but that didn’t seem right.

She
wasn’t sure what her fascination was with the man. It wasn’t like she hadn’t
been around good looking guys before. All Isi knew was that her gaze followed
him wherever he went. She wanted to breathe in his scent—and even more, she
wanted to feel his arms around her again. She’d never felt as safe as she had
in his embrace. When he’d held her, all had seemed right in her world. She’d
known that everything would be fine, that she would be taken care of.

It
didn’t take long for Sean to return, his expression grim. Isi could smell at
least three female wolves on him and knew that was the reason for his
displeasure. Poor man couldn’t leave his house without the women in the pack
throwing themselves at him. Until he found his mate, he would go through this.
There wasn’t a woman in the pack who didn’t want to be claimed by him. Well,
except for her. And Tomi. Okay, there were a few others, but for the most part,
the women in the pack were after a McGraw brother to claim as their own. What
better way to climb the ranks than mate with one of the alpha’s sons?

He
dropped a bag on the floor and Isi frowned. There was no way he’d only picked
up one change of clothes, not with the sides bulging the way they were. Had the
man not listened to her? Whether he liked it or not, she was returning to her
home in the morning. She didn’t need a babysitter.

“We
need to talk,” Sean said.

“Apparently
we do, since you’re deaf. I told you I was going home in the morning.”

“Yeah,
about that. Someone took it upon themselves to put your place up for rent, even
though you were only gone a few days. Everyone in the pack knew you’d been
kidnapped, but it seems your landlord figured you weren’t coming home.”

Isi
cursed under her breath. The man had always hated her, but he’d been willing
enough to rent to her when she hadn’t blinked at his outrageous price. She knew
she paid more than anyone else in the duplexes, but to whom was she going to
complain? The alpha wasn’t going to do anything. He hated her relationship with
his son and wasn’t about to make her life more comfortable than it already was.

“I’ll
call him and get it straightened out,” Sean promised. “But for now, I think
you’re safer staying with me. There are those who aren’t happy you’ve been
returned to us.”

Garren’s
gaze sharpened on the wolf. “What do you mean?”

“There
were a few rumblings in town. Some feel Isi should have stayed gone. It’s
nothing I can’t handle,” Sean said with his jaw set. “I’ll just move her in
here with me.”

Isi
shot to her feet and immediately grabbed her head as she swayed in place.
Garren gripped her arm to steady her.

“No,
you won’t,” she said. “I’m going home, Sean.”

“You
need to be under someone’s protection right now, Isi. This isn’t the usual
grumblings of the pack about you being cursed. People are seriously pissed that
you’ve returned. They thought they were rid of you for good.”

Parker
frowned. “It sounds like maybe someone in town had something to do with her
kidnapping.”

Sean
snorted. “Good luck figuring out who did it. The whole town hates her, for the
most part.”

Dagan
rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we should think about taking her with us. I
can’t think of a safer place for her to be.”

“If
you move her into the cabin with you, they’ll label her a whore. One woman and
four men? Yeah, like that’s going to go over well.” Sean shook his head.

Lee
frowned. “She’d have her own room. I’d sleep on the damn couch before I’d let
it be any other way.”

“According
to you, there are going to be rumors regardless of where she stays. I’d rather see
she’s safe—and to hell with what everyone has to say—than leave her here
unprotected.” Parker crossed his arms.

Sean
scowled. “I’m quite capable of protecting her.”

Isi’s
gaze met Garren’s. The intensity of the look he shot her way nearly melted her.
If his hand hadn’t still been on her arm, she’d surely be a puddle on the
floor. What did he think of this conversation? Did he want her to stay with
him? Or did he not care one way or another?

“I
have to agree with Dagan and Parker. I think we should take her with us, Garren.”
Lee lifted Isi’s bag as if it were a foregone conclusion.

She
stared into Garren’s green eyes, wishing he would give some clue as to what he
was thinking or feeling. Tearing her gaze away, she took her bag from Lee, or made
an attempt. The stubborn man refused to let go.