Page 1 of My Pucking Family

1

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how perfect last night was with Leera as I pull our car into the arena's parking lot.

It's strange to think that this is the same lot that fills to capacity on game nights—people cheering and hollering all over the place. During the day, it's calm, quiet, and desolate. The only cars parked here now are my teammates and a few abandoned cars, usually from responsible drivers who had too much to drink at the game last night and had to snag a ride home. I pull the car through to the other side of the aisle so that when I'm ready to leave, I can just drive out of the spot; not that it matters since the lot is practically deserted. It's mostly a reflex for game days.

I grab my bag and check my phone to see if Leera has textedme yet, but she hasn't. Being the impatient and slightly obsessed man that I am, I shoot her a text to let her know that I can't get her off my mind.

But just as I hit send, I hear the chirp of her phone, here in the car somewhere. She must have dropped it in her scramble to get out of the car.

Benny, tell Coach I'll be late. I don't care what you tell him. Leera left her phone in my car, so I’m going to run it back to her.

Ten-four, Boss.

Tossing my gym bag back onto the floorboard, I scoop up the sparkly pink cell phone and keep it clutched in my left hand. I turn the car on, put it in gear, and take off back towards the college for one more moment with my sweet little mate.

This wasn't part of my plan to spend more time with her today, but I'm definitely not mad about it.

Her phone dings and rings a few times as I make the quick drive back to campus. It’s Zoey’s name that pops up continuously, and while I’ve crossed some boundaries, answering her phone or reading her texts with her best friend is crossing another kind of line, and I don't want to upset her. Her friend is probably wanting some girly gossip about last night anyway.

Bringing my thoughts back to last night sends sparks shooting through my blood stream. The way her body answered mine. The way it felt to sleep with her in my arms. Knowing I have to take my time with her makes every moment that muchsweeter. Knowing as I claim her body, in every way it can be claimed, that I will be the first and only person to bring her body pleasure, is enough to make my dick hard just at the thought, and I have to set her phone down long enough to adjust myself.

Like the arena, the college grounds are strangely quiet on the weekends. Most kids elect not to have weekend classes, and they usually find better things to do with their time than hang out and do nothing on campus. For so many, like Leera, it's their first taste of freedom, so they're sure to fill their time with adventures, some more appropriate than others. But still, this emptiness…I can't explain it. Something feels wrong, but I can't pinpoint what it is.

When I pull up in front of her dorm building, I'm immediately on even higher alert when I find her roommate running across the lot towards me.Fuck what was her name…Chloe or something. No, it started with a Z...zzz…Zoey; it's Zoey.As she nears me, she's not just running, she's panicking. Her face is red, and her eyes are wild. I scramble out of the car and sprint the remaining distance between us.

“Zoey, what's wrong?” I ask the poor girl who looks like she's on the verge of hyperventilating.

For too many moments, she just shakes her head and sobs.

My wolf and I are both about to lose our shit at this point.

Placing my hands firmly on her shoulders, I attempt to ground her all while trying not to scare her at the same time, and I try again, “Zoey,” I growl, “Can you hear me? What's going on? Is Leera okay? Where is she?” My own panic is now setting in as I try to understand what we're even upset about. I take a moment to look around her, but I don't see Leera anywhere. Surely, it's nothing. Maybe they just got into an argument or something.

She takes a few more long breaths, trying to regain what she wasn't able to get in before. She seems to be getting herself together enough to speak, while I'm starting to tingle with a deadly combination of terror and rage. I don't like this feeling. I need information. I need this small human to pull her shit together and tell me what the fuck is going on.

“She's gone! I can't find her anywhere! I went back to the room, and I could see she was back because some of her stuff was there. Not all her stuff; her school stuff was missing. So I came back out to see if maybe we just missed each other. I told her to come out and study with me under our tree. But when I came back out, all I found was her backpack on the ground.” She finally stops dumping all her thoughts on me at once and grabs my hand, dragging me across the grass while I try to keep my mind and body here and now. I can feel my wolf trying to take control, but I have to fight it.

Just outside the door to their dorm building, there are wolf scents I don't recognize swallowing the sweet honeysuckle and spun sugar smell of my girl. But they're faint. There's some grass ripped out of the ground and scuffs in the dirt, like someone was dragging their feet. A few more steps from that area is her backpack. Not just sitting on the ground like she stepped away to grab something real quick. It's laying on its top, like it'd been thrown down in a hurry.

From there, to the very edge of the parking lot, closest to the grass, are more scuffle marks. These look more erratic. I'm not the tracker. Benny is. But I know well enough to recognize a kidnapping.

My entire body is shaking, and I don’t know if it's from the rage consuming my entire being or the fear threatening to drown me alive.

BENNNNNNYYYYY!I scream through the mind link just as my wolf begins to howl. I can feel my soul starting to shred.

I can't go through this again. Why is history repeating itself? It wasn't even humans who took her. It was wolves. Wolves who I don't know. Who would even know about her other than the six of us?

That's when I remember the stunt I pulled at the game. Making a grand gesture of love to my soul mate. “GODDAMMIT!” I roar out loud this time, causing Zoey to jump nearly a foot off the ground. In the midst of my nightmare coming true, I forgot she was even here.

Shit Boss, what's up? All the men heard you…

We're listening…

What’s going on?

Are you okay?!

My men all shout through our bond.

---