Taken by the Wolf: Collection Read Online Free PDF Page B

it.
    Wonderful, she thought. I’ve been kidnapped and sent back to high school. Can this get any worse?
    She started kicking herself for even having such thoughts as one of the heavy doors opened, revealing a short—but still built like a linebacker—bailiff.
    “Rowan Phoenix?” the bailiff called out, looking down at his roll sheet. His eyes grew wide and he paused before reading the next part in confusion. “And his human?”
    “Don’t act like you’ve never seen one before,” Rowan said. He turned to Eva and flipped his head. “Let’s go, mouth shut.”
    Eva followed him into the room, sulking at his admonishment. She wasn’t used to being given orders like this, it really pissed her off. It was indeed like a large courtroom. Five men sat above everyone else, like judges presiding over a trial.
    Four men, of various shapes and sizes sat on a lower row. They barely registered, as her eyes were locked on the one sitting above the others. He was larger than Rowan, if that was possible, with wild black hair that looked like it’d never been combed. He wore nothing but some furs around his waist, revealing a bare chest marked with scars. His eyes were a bright green that burned like wildfire. His face was a stone mask of seriousness, and he looked like a man who had never laughed in his life. As he stared down at Eva, she felt uneasy, like an intruder who had stepped onto his turf. The others were giving her a similar disapproving look, but they didn’t matter; the one at the top was the only one that mattered.
    His eyes darted back and forth between Eva and Rowan, like he was trying to figure out who to attack first. Finally he rose from his seat, revealing more scars further down on his stomach. This man had seen a battle or two in his life.
    Eva wanted to be anywhere but here, anywhere. She looked to her left, seeing several frosted windows that led to the outside world. She imagined her body hurtling through one, falling to the ground. An ambulance would pick her up, take her far away from this place. Surely they didn’t have a hospital in Bucklin? It was too small. It would take her back to Cedarville, far away from this place.
    “What do you have to say for yourself?” the head wolf asked.
    Eva turned, afraid he was addressing her. His eyes were planted firmly on Rowan. The large sheriff stood beside her, not blinking, his back rigid, his chest puffed out, his face a mask of quiet determination. A lesser man would have already cowered and run from the council that stood before him, but Rowan was facing them down without any fear. At this moment any thoughts of running away completely fled from her mind. He really was here to protect her, and she couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it.
     

Chapter 6
    Rowan stared back up at the alpha of the Dawnguard pack, Aster, as he tried to intimidate him. Aster knew better: Rowan respected him, but he feared no man or wolf. This was all a big show for the other alphas; he had to assert his dominance as head alpha. In reality he knew Rowan was every bit his equal.
    “I was sent by the alpha council to investigate the rumors that Satan’s Angels were back in Cedarville,” Rowan said.
    Aster instinctively touched the scar on his chest as Rowan spoke of the other pack, a harsh reminder of the past.
    “We sent you to investigate,” Crow, alpha of the Red Moon pack said. “Not start a war!”
    The Red Moons were always looking for any excuse to grab power; they were the second strongest pack and coveted the top alpha position. They would use any excuse to force Aster out, but Rowan wouldn’t give them that.
    Rowan fixed his steely glare on Crow, trying to bore a hole right through the smaller wolf. Crow had achieved his position through cunning and deception, not through physical prowess. He was a short, skinny wolf who held his pack in check through feverish devotion rather than brute strength.
    “It was unavoidable,” Rowan said.
    “The rest of the council