Read Online Dark Refuge by Kate Douglas - Free Book Online Page B

view. “Hey, man. Why are you calling at the crack of dawn?”
    “Crack of dawn? It’s after seven. Annie and I want to know what’s going on. Is Em awake?”
    “She is now.” Gabe laughed and thought of carrying the phone with its camera into the bedroom, but figured that might not go over all that well. “Why don’t you guys come on over. We’ll figure out something for breakfast.”
    “Sounds good. Twenty minutes?”
    “Works.” He saw Annie peeking over Alex’s shoulder. “Hey, Annie. You still hanging out with this loser?”
    “It’s a tough job, Gabe. A struggle, but I manage. See you in a bit.”
    “She’s got your number, Alex. You’re a beaten man.”
    Alex glanced over his shoulder and sighed. “Yeah. Isn’t it great?”
    Laughing, Gabe ended the connection. Twenty minutes. He wondered if he and Em might just . . . she stepped into the kitchen, still all tousled and sexy, and wasn’t this how their morning began a little over an hour ago? “Hey, Em. Alex and Annie will be over in about twenty minutes. Do you think we . . .”
    She burst out laughing. “No. Why did I know you were going to ask me that. I’m going to get a shower. Make some more coffee, okay? And check the GPS.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Grinning broadly, he saluted, but he watched her leave the kitchen, admiring the curve of her perfect butt and the way her hair swung against her naked back with each step. Only after she’d moved out of view did he follow her into the bedroom and grab his sweats. He pulled them on and went back to the kitchen to check the GPS. Sissy was still in the same location. By the time Em was out of the shower and drying her hair over the floor heater, Gabe had bacon frying, the griddle heating, and pancake batter mixed. Alex and Annie arrived a few minutes later.
    Even though Alex was a couple years older than Gabe and Jace, they’d all hung out together when they were kids. They’d been like any regular pack of boys, except all had the ability to become predators. All kinds of predators. Gabe often wondered how their parents had handled such a precocious group, but from a kid’s viewpoint, it had been a charmed childhood. Aaron Cheval, Em’s brother, had been one of their pack, along with Mac, Gabe’s twin, Jack Temple and Connor Trent. All great friends and good, solid adults.
    Of all of them, Connor had been the first to take a mate when he’d fallen hard and fast for Jack’s little sister, Andrea Temple. They’d both still been in college, but Connor said that one day he looked at Andrea and knew she was the one. Alex and Annie had rediscovered one another this past summer around the same time Gabe’s sister Lily had met Sebastian. Lily and Seb had married shortly after mating, but Lily’d never been one to mess around when there was something she wanted.
    She’d obviously wanted Sebastian, but that had turned out to be an amazing match. Just like Jace Wolf and Romy Sarika. The whole group was beginning to pair off, though Alex and Annie were still holding back on the wedding. Annie’s dad made no bones about the fact he wanted to walk his baby girl down the aisle, which seemed to be the only reason Annie’d refused to set a date. One more way, Gabe figured, for Annie to wrest control from her often overbearing but much-loved father. Alex didn’t seem to care one way or the other. He and Annie were bonded mates and he obviously adored her.
    Gabe finished making pancakes while Em filled Alex and Annie in on Sissy’s story. “So that’s it, for now,” she said. “Sissy is still in the same place, and once we have breakfast we’re going to see if we can get close enough to mindspeak with her. She’s got the nutrients and it shouldn’t be too much longer before she can shift. That might come in handy when we’re ready to stage a rescue.”
    “So today, we’re only verifying where they’re being kept?” Annie clutched Alex’s hand. She’d been held captive by Sebastian