Taken by the Wolf Read online

  

  Brac Village 26

  Taken by the Wolf

  When Sheriff Orlando Werth responds to a nine-one-one call, he discovers his mate hiding in a closet. He isn’t sure why there are gunmen after Newt. His mate is clueless, as well, but Orlando is hell-bent on keeping the little human safe from the killers out to end Newt’s life. He takes his mate home to keep him safe, but the hired professionals are determined, and Orlando must stay one step ahead of them if they are to survive the ordeal.

  Newton Bradley is scared out of his mind when his home is invaded. He clings to his cell phone with the dispatcher, wondering if the cops will get there in time to save him. When his closet door swings open and a sexy cop coaxes him out, Newt is thankful for the rescue by the broad and handsome sheriff. But the two must find out why Newt’s life is in danger while exploring their deep attraction toward each other.

  Genres: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 31,360

  TAKEN BY THE WOLF

  Brac Village 26

  Lynn Hagen

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Taken by the Wolf

  Copyright © 2019 by Lynn Hagen

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-609-9

  First Publication: January 2019

  Cover design by Emma Nicole

  All art and logo copyright © 2019 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  For all titles by Lynn Hagen, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/lynn-hagen

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TAKEN BY THE WOLF

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  TAKEN BY THE WOLF

  Brac Village 26

  LYNN HAGEN

  Copyright © 2019

  Chapter One

  “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

  “I think someone is in my house,” Newton whispered as he smashed himself so far back in his bedroom closet there was nothing behind him but the wall.

  “Are you safe?” the operator asked.

  “For now.” Newt tried to regulate his breathing as best he could. He feared the person invading his home would hear the beating of his heart, because it sounded thunderous in his ears.

  “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Newton Bradley.”

  “Can you confirm your address?”

  It took a second for Newt to remember. His brain was scattered, and terror was coursing through his veins.

  “1815 Churchill Road,” he mumbled, praying the guy wasn’t close by. He didn’t want the intruder to hear him talking and drag him from the closet. Newt wasn’t even sure why the guy had broken in. It wasn’t as though he had anything valuable to steal. Well, he did have his grandmother’s jewelry, but his mother had told him it was costume jewelry and wasn’t worth a nickel. Not that Newt had wanted the stuff, but his mother had insisted he take it since the jewelry had been in their family for generations and Newt was her only child.

  “Do you know if the intruder is armed?”

  The operator’s voice snapped Newt out of his thoughts. He hadn’t seen the guy. Newt had just heard something crash in the living room and he’d run to his closet and hidden. For all he knew, the intruder could’ve been a female, though—yes, he was double standard as hell—Newt seriously doubted it. “I-I don’t know.”

  “Where in the house are you located?”

  “In my bedroom closet.”

  “I’ve just dispatched a unit,” the voice said. “The police are en route. Do you have any weapons in the home?”

  “No.” If Newt had had any guns in the house, he would’ve…still hidden in the closet. He was terrified of guns and had never handled one before, let alone seen one up close.

  “Any animals that might attack the officers?”

  “No.” That was a dumb question. If Newt had a dog, it would’ve attacked the intruder. He would’ve considered getting one, but Newt was terrified of dogs, ever since he was bitten as a child by his neighbor’s huge husky.

  “Okay, I need you to stay as calm as possible, Newton.”

  “It’s Newt.” Not that the shortened version of his name mattered at the moment.

  “Okay, Newt, I need you to stay as calm as possible.”

  How the hell was he supposed to stay calm when he had a goddamn stranger in his house? He’d never been this scared in his life. He couldn’t stop shaking and feared the intruder would hear his bones rattling.

  “Are you still safe?” the guy asked.

  Newt held his breath when he heard the floorboards creak. His heart pounded so hard he should have had a heart attack. Blood pulsed in his head, giving him an instant migraine as his entire body became covered in sweat.

  “The police are minutes away,” the operator said.

  Newt might not have minutes. From under the crack of the door, he saw a shadow pass by. Newt slammed a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. This couldn’t be happening to him. He’d heard about home invasions, but he’d never thought he’d fall victim to one. This happened to other people. Not him.

  His racing heart beat even faster when he heard mumbled voices. There were two of them! Newt squeezed his eyes closed, praying the police made it there in time.

  “Two,” he whispered as low as he could.

  “There are two assailants?” the operator asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Remain hidden and remain calm,” the guy said. “The unit should be there any second.”

  Newt nearly pissed himself when the closet door handle started to turn. He wanted to scream at the dispatcher that it was too late, that he was about to die, and then the handle stopped moving.

  “I see a cop car outside,” one of the intruders said.

  He heard thundering footsteps but didn’t trust that they’d left his house. Maybe they were in the living room looking out the front window. Maybe only one man had left and the other was still in his room.

  “The unit is there,” the operator said. “Stay hidden until Sheriff Werth calls out for you.”

  That wouldn’t be a problem considering Newt couldn’t move. He was frozen in terror and didn’t think he could crawl out of the closet even if he’d wanted to.

  Bam. Bam.

  “Stay hidden,” the operator stressed at the sound of gunshots. “Are you still safe?”

  Safe? Was the guy kidding? The intruders were having a shoot-out with the cops in Newt’s home. How could he categorize that as safe? He guessed that answered the dispatcher’s earlie
r question. At least one of the bad guys was armed.

  “More units are on the way,” the guy said. “Can you give me your description, Newt?”

  “Why?” Newt was getting tired of the questions. He just wanted this over.

  “We need to let the sheriff and his men know what you look like so they know you’re the caller, not the intruder.”

  “I-I have on pajamas.” Newt wiped away the sweat that was dripping in his eyes. “They’re Adventure Time pajamas.”

  “I love that show,” the guy said. “Tell me about your physical features.”

  Newt suddenly felt like he was on some dating site. “I have brown hair with blond highlights, blue-gray eyes, and I weigh about one hundred and twenty pounds.”

  “Got that,” the guy said. “How tall are you?”

  Newt heard the sound of distant sirens. The first police car must have tried to creep to Newt’s house, because he hadn’t heard the siren. But now that the intruders knew cops were outside, he guessed they didn’t have to sneak.

  “Five feet six.”

  “Are you still safe?”

  “I-I think so.” Newt strained to hear what was going on, but the shadow had disappeared and he didn’t hear anyone talking. The gunfire had also stopped. The quiet was deafening. Newt wanted badly to escape his closet and see what was going on, but he kept his butt parked on the closet floor while he was still curled into a ball, his cell phone pressed to his ear.

  “I’m right here with you,” the operator said. “We’ll get through this together, Newt.”

  Hearing the guy use his first name, as if they knew each other, went a long way in keeping Newt calm. It almost felt as though they were friends, and he suspected that was what the guy was aiming for.

  Still, Newt was so terrified that he was seconds away from passing out.

  Until he heard footsteps.

  “I think one of them is coming back,” he said in a strangled whisper. His throat went bone-dry, and his body started shaking again. His heart beat so fast that his chest hurt.

  “Stay as quiet as you can,” the operator said.

  Newt held his breath, afraid the intruder would hear him breathing. But he couldn’t hold it for long. His lungs began to burn, so Newt let his breath out in tiny bursts.

  “I’m right here with you,” the operator said.

  Though the voice on the other end of his phone had brought him a tiny measure of comfort, Newt wanted the guy to shut up in case the intruder heard him.

  Where were the cops? Why hadn’t they arrested the bad guys yet? Why were they still walking around his house as if they were arrest-proof? The police should have stormed his house and taken the men down by now.

  Had the gunfire taken down the first-on-the-scene cop? Were the others hiding behind their car doors with their weapons aimed, waiting to see what the bad guys would do? Newt needed to stop watching so many police procedural shows. He hadn’t the first clue what happened in real life when a situation like this occurred.

  But not knowing what was going on was killing him.

  “The police are inside the house now,” the operator said.

  The doorknob turned again. Was it a cop or one of the intruders? Newt pushed to his feet and buried himself behind the row of clothes hanging on the pole. His legs were visible, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

  He sucked in a deep breath and held it as he waited to see if he was about to die or be rescued.

  * * * *

  “Newton Bradley, it’s Sheriff Werth,” Orlando said as he turned the knob. “I’m coming in.”

  He swung the door open, and the bedroom light flooded the closet. He spotted a pair of legs under the row of hanging clothes. “You can come out.”

  “I-I can’t,” a tiny voice responded. “I-I can’t move my legs.”

  Werth holstered his gun and moved inside the small closet, pushing the clothes aside. Standing against the wall was a short, slim guy with piercing blue-gray eyes that were filled with terror.

  Holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, Werth nodded at the phone. “Do you mind if I take that from you. Mr. Bradley?”

  Slowly, Newton handed it over. “Call m-me Newt.”

  Orlando nodded. “Then I’ll call you Newt.”

  Orlando pressed the cell phone to his ear. “Hey, Pat. I have Mr. Bradley in front of me.”

  “Oh, thank fuck,” Patrick Moore said. “I was terrified for the guy.”

  Orlando ended the call with the dispatcher and held his hand out. “Take my hand, Newt. I’m gonna guide you out of here.”

  The human swallowed repeatedly as tears welled up in his eyes and some of the moisture caught in his thick lashes. His tears spilled over as he placed his shaky hand in Orlando’s, and damn if Orlando’s hand didn’t swallow the guy’s.

  “One step at a time,” he said in a soothing tone. “Just concentrate on my voice.”

  Newt’s lips took the shape of a tight O as he blew out a long breath. He moved from the back wall and followed Orlando into the bedroom. His eyes were still too wide, and his hand shook in Orlando’s palm.

  “Are they gone?” Newt looked around the room, shrinking back slightly, as if he’d run back into the closet at any second.

  “Yes.” One of the intruders was dead, and the other had gotten away, but Orlando kept his answer short. He didn’t need Newt having a panic attack. He’d tell him later, but for now, he just wanted to get Newt to calm down. “I want you to come with me into the living room. Do you think you can do that?”

  Newt’s head bobbed up and down as he continued to scan the room as though the gunman would jump out at any second.

  “You’re safe,” Orlando reassured him. “I’m right here, Newt.”

  Finally, slowly, Newt looked at him. Relief flooded the human’s eyes as he threw himself into Orlando’s arms.

  “I was so scared!”

  “I know, but you did an amazing job staying hidden.” At first, Orlando kept his arms at his sides. It wasn’t uncommon for a victim to latch onto the first thing they deemed safe. It had happened to Orlando more than once.

  But for reasons he didn’t understand, he slipped his arms around Newt’s slim body and held him tight. “You’re safe.”

  It was then that the most succulent aroma hit him. Newt smelled like warm summer rain and mint. Orlando inhaled deeply as his wolf snarled.

  “Let me get you into the living room.” Orlando released him but studied Newt for a brief moment. He was staring at his mate. The revelation struck him hard, and for a second, he forgot what he’d just said, until Newt moved toward the bedroom door and peeked into the hallway.

  There were deputies milling around in the living room as they waited for the crime tech to arrive. Some of Maverick’s pack was in there, as well. Hawk and Remi had shown up to help them when one of the intruders had started firing out of one of the living room windows.

  It had been Hawk who had killed one of the perps. The second one must’ve run out the back door, and he couldn’t have been human, because he’d gotten away with two wolves hot on his trail. Orlando hadn’t a clue who the pursuing wolves were and hadn’t asked. They’d just appeared and given chase.

  As he and Newt walked down the short hallway, Orlando asked, “Did you know the guys?”

  Newt shook his head. “I didn’t even see them. I just heard a crash and ran to my closet.”

  “You did the right thing.” Orlando took Newt’s hand, hoping the contact made him feel safe. It wasn’t protocol to hold a victim’s hand, but the rules had been thrown out the window when Orlando discovered Newt was his mate.

  He would do whatever he had to in order to protect the guy and help him feel grounded again. He would be Newt’s anchor as the human processed what had happened.

  “Do you have any enemies?”

  Newt looked at him, and for the first time since Orlando had pulled his mate from the closet, Newt’s expression wasn’t fear. He looked at Orlando as if
Orlando had lost his mind.

  “I work at The Village Inn. If someone wants me dead, it’s because we ran out of arthritis cream or the cable is messing up. None of the elderly residents would send hitmen after me for that.”

  Orlando smiled. “No, I don’t think they would.”

  Newt looked around the living room at all the people. “I can’t believe this happened.”

  “Do you have somewhere to stay?”

  Newt turned a questioning look toward him, and Orlando had to fight not to pull his mate into his arms. It wasn’t the time to check the guy out. Newt had just had the scare of his life, but Orlando couldn’t help but notice just how gorgeous the human was. The guy was so short that his eyes only reached Orlando’s pecs, and a protective streak shot through him.

  “Your house is a crime scene,” Orlando explained. “We need to take you somewhere else.”

  Newt blinked rapidly as he pulled his hand from Orlando’s and wrapped his arms around his middle. “I need to pack some clothes, and I have to call my mom. She doesn’t live close, so I can’t go there unless I want to drive for forty minutes, and I don’t think I have the brain function to do that right now.”

  Orlando cupped Newt’s face. “Hey, hey. Look at me. Just breathe, hon.”

  With furrowed brows, Newt stared at him. Orlando hadn’t meant to use the endearment. It had just slipped out. “I could go into work,” Newt said. “Carla wouldn’t mind the help. She’s always complaining about being short staffed.”

  Orlando knew who Carla Young was. She managed The Village Inn. Werth had never met a more caring and sweet person. That was one reason Maverick had hired her to run the nursing home. He knew Miss Young would make sure her elderly patients were well taken care of and bring down the wrath of god on any employees who mistreated them.