“I need to talk to you, alpha.” Evie looked up with sparking amber eyes. “This is important, and I need you to hear me out.”
“Okay,” Talon said, walking around to take a seat at his desk. “What is it?”
“Your brother and I are not fated mates.” She released a heavy sigh. “I’ve thought about this long and hard. I want you to allow me to be caught by the Community so I can get in there to bring them down.”
“No,” he barked, slashing his hand through the air. There was no way he would put a female in that much danger on purpose. Allowing Evie to be captured again was never going to happen on his watch. “I will not let you be taken again.”
“It has been seen that I will be there anyway,” she argued. “I am strong enough to keep myself from being harmed, Talon. The fact that your brother and I did not have the spark when we touched will make it easier for me to go inside this facility the Watcher has seen in his vision. A male’s touch will not hurt me.”
“Have you spoken to Kye about this?”
“No,” she stated, narrowing her eyes. “I love him, but he does not rule my actions. This is my decision.”
“It goes against everything I stand for to let you, or any of my pride for that matter, be kidnapped and taken to a facility where they could be studied like lab rats.”
“Have the healer imbed a tracker under my skin,” she said. “Even if I am comatose, you can find me.”
“Do you honestly think you can handle another kidnapping?” Talon asked, knowing he was being crude, but the female was stronger now and needed to know what she was asking for. “They could hurt you again, maybe even violate you, Evie. Think about it.”
“Talon,” she growled, gritting her teeth. “I have nothing left to lose. The wolves have made me infertile, Kye is not my fated mate, and the only thing I have left is my knowledge and training. This has to stop somewhere, and I am volunteering to be the one to set that in motion.”
“No,” Talon repeated. “I’m not going to allow that.”
“But you know it’s going to happen,” Evie yelled. “The Watcher saw it!”
“As your alpha, Evie, do not make me order you to stand down,” Talon warned. “We will keep you safe, and we will find another way to stop the Community.”
“Then have Harold imbed the tracker in me anyway,” she begged. “They’re coming for me, and when they do, I want to be prepared.”
“They won’t get to you,” Talon snarled.
“They will, alpha,” Evie said as she stood from her seat. “And when they do, I will go with them willingly.”
The female stormed out of the room, leaving the door to his office wide open. Talon knew she was right, but he wasn’t going to allow her to just walk into their hands. If there was anything an alpha could do to get himself killed by his pride, it was to willfully hand over a female to an enemy. No matter the circumstances.
Talon picked up the phone and dialed the healer. Harold answered on the second ring. “Alpha? Is everything okay with your mate?”
“Yes, she is fine,” Talon replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need you to get with Storm and Dane. We need you to imbed a tracker in Evie.”
Storm Cooper held the tiny disk in the palm of his hand. The blonde Guardian looked apprehensive, but set the thing on a tray next to the healer. Evie nodded and lay back on the table. Booth sat in a chair on the other side of her head, holding his phone carefully as he entered information into an app he’d use to track her whereabouts.
“Before we start,” Harold said, pulling the paper mask up over his mouth. “The site will be red and irritated for a few hours. Keep the bandage on it until morning. You should be healed by then.”
“Okay,” she sighed, holding her arm out to the side. The plan was to put it inside the top part of her arm. The disk was so small, only a tiny incision would be needed.
“Have you told your mate?” Harold asked, raising a brow at her as he sat back on his stool.
“I guess you all should know,” Evie sighed heavily, “Kye and I are not fated mates.”
“I’m so sorry,” Harold said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. Booth stood at the doorway with an equally sad expression.
“No need to be sorry.” Evie shook her head. “This problem with the Community and the vision the Watcher had needs to be dealt with before I can move on with him.”
“No, this doesn’t,” Booth growled. “The Watcher could be wrong, Evie.”
“He’s not,” she replied, looking over at the healer. She just wanted to get this over with so she could go on about her night. “Please do it, Harold.”
The healer reached for a packet of iodine to clean the area he was going to cut open for the disk. Evie had told him there was no need to numb the area. The incision wasn’t going to be that painful. At least, that was what she’d understood.
“I’m going to make the incision,” Harold said aloud. Evie sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth when the cold blade cut her skin. She looked toward Booth instead of the healer, hoping she was making the right decision.
“The disk is going in,” the healer mumbled. Evie felt the pressure, but there was no more pain as he finished up, wiping down her arm with something cold and wet. A second or two later, he placed the bandage over the site and removed his gloves. “It’s done.”
“Thank you.” She smiled, sitting up carefully. She looked at her arm and flexed it, realizing the disk wasn’t going to be felt by her or hinder her in anyway. “If someone touches it, will they know?”
“No,” Harold stated. “It’s in there pretty deep.”
“Good,” she said, looking toward the Guardian Storm. “Is it working?”
Storm punched a few buttons on his phone and waited several seconds for the program to load. They’d explained some of it to Evie earlier in the day. The tracker worked with a satellite signal, and with the program the Guardians used, she’d be able to be found anywhere in the world.
The door to the healer’s home and office burst open, causing Evie to reach for her weapon and aim it in the direction of the commotion. Booth and Storm immediately went into defensive mode. Harold put his body as close to hers as possible, only leaving enough room for her to be able to discharge her weapon if needed and growled low in his throat. A male came around the corner at top speed, but Booth grabbed him, slamming the intruder against the wall.
“Kye!” Evie roared, holstering her gun. Booth’s eyes glowed bright with his beast on a hair trigger. “What are you doing?”
“I came to ask you the same thing,” Kye snarled, pushing at the Guardian who still had him pinned.
“It’s none of your business,” she replied, feeling her panther pace in her mind.
“The fuck it isn’t,” he spat, pushing Booth away so he could come to her side. Harold moved out of the way, and she gasped when Kye grabbed her wrist and lifted her arm. “They put a tracker in you?”
“Yes,” she admitted, using her free hand to cup his cheek, praying her touch would calm him. “It needed to be done, Kye. The Community is coming for me, and I asked them to do it.”
“You are not leaving me!” Kye bellowed, his voice so loud, it shook a few items on the tray next to the table.
“I’m going to do what needs to be done to stop them,” she told him, resigned. “The sheriff saw it, Kye. My time here is short, and I refuse to let others be hurt if I can get in there to signal to our Guardians where this place is so we can shut it down for good.”
“No,” he cried, dropping her hand and using both of his to cup her face tenderly. “Evie, I cannot let this happen. You’ve been through so much.”
“I’m stronger now,” she said, straightening her spine.
“No one is that strong,” he whispered. Evie looked around his shoulders to see Booth and the healer standing guard not far from Kye as if they were prepared to physically remove him if he got out of hand.
“Can I leave now?” she asked Harold.
On her nod, the two males exited the room. Evie didn’t speak to Kye as she grabbed her things and walked out of the healer’s home. When she reached the road, she sighed and turned toward him. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Seventeen
As soon as the door closed, Kye picked Evie up and wrapped her legs around his waist. The scent of the small amount of her blood from the incision sent his panther into a snarling frenzy. He was born a predator, and blood was something that was easy to detect. The fact that the coppery scent belonged to his female made his panther uneasy, thinking she was hurt.
“I’m so angry with you right now,” he snarled, tightening his hold.
“Everyone needs to realize I might be abducted again,” she said softly, resting her forehead on the top of his shoulder. Kye walked over to the couch and sat down, but didn’t release her. “I took it upon myself to go to Talon and offer to give myself to the Community, but he denied me.”
“Damn right, he should’ve denied you,” Kye barked.
“Thankfully, after I left his office, the alpha agreed to let me be implanted with a tracking device so I could be found if the Watcher’s vision comes true.”
“Are you not scared?” he asked, needing to get inside of her mind. Evie was strong; so much stronger than she was three years ago, but this way of thinking was almost suicidal.
They wanted to hurt her… to make her infertile.
Too weak to fight…
“I’m terrified,” she admitted.
“If, and I mean if, they get you, I promise to come for you,” Kye vowed. “And I will kill them with my bare hands.”
“I know you and the pride will keep me safe,” Evie said, stroking the side of his face. “I’m stronger than before, and I will fight them this time.”
Kye closed his eyes, wishing the magic that picked their mates would work for him and Evie. At that moment, he’d give anything to have her as his destined mate so he could use that to remind her that giving herself up would be painful. Maybe she’d hesitate with her plans, but in all reality, Kye knew she would do it regardless.
“Until we know if the sheriff’s vision will come true or not, I want you to train every single day, twice a day if you can.”
“I agree,” she whispered, taking his lips.
Kye relished in her taste and the scent of her desire. He turned to the side and laid her against the couch cushions, hovering over her body.
“Make love to me, Kye,” she whispered.
“We have twenty-five men in place to take down the Shaw pride,” a voice crackled over the cell phone that sat on the desk on speakerphone. The Community had put out orders for the takedown of this pride’s leader and for the soldiers to bring back a female to the island for studies.
Carlin Eldridge lifted the half-smoked cigar to his lips and smiled wickedly around the tip. He really should give that pride of panthers a break, because Talon Shaw was the one who had opened up the idea for his little project, pulling in millions of dollars by using religion to scare the population into fronting his cause.
“I want you to go in just after midnight,” the leader sneered. “Bring me a blonde female if you can find one. I’m thinking about breeding her with this lion we just captured.”
The more they studied and bred these abominations, the more money he could get from the followers of his “church.” He used that term lightly. Those sheep would follow anything as long as you could turn the good word in your favor.
“Yes, sir,” the voice replied.
Chapter Eighteen
Evie bounced on the balls of her feet, shifting from side to side as Kye prepared for their training. Evie watched him as he leaned over to pick up the gloves from his bag. The muscles in his back bunched when he moved, sending heat to her core. Over the last year, Kye had almost doubled in size, making her feel so much smaller than before. His strength was more than just physical, he’d become her biggest supporter and confidant.
Did it really matter that they were not fated to be mates? As sad as she was that they didn’t have the spark, she knew she loved him more than her own life. She’d do anything to protect him, and he’d do the same for her.
“Ready?” Kye asked as he turned around, tightening the Velcro on his gloves.
“Yep,” she grinned, shaking her arms at her sides to loosen the tension in her body.
The sounds of the woods around her quieted as they began to circle each other. She sized him up, noting how he had grown over the past six months. He was damn near a foot taller than her five-seven frame. He had to weigh two hundred and fifty pounds in muscle. She tipped the scale at one thirty, and she blamed her hips on her genes. The muscles in her arms and legs were all from her training.
“Focus,” Kye said, holding his gloves up close to his face. He peered over their tops and shifted to the left. “Are you sure you want to go full out?”
“Yes,” she smirked from behind her gloves where he couldn’t see her.
With that, Evie threw her first punch, but it was blocked by Kye’s beefy gloves. He pulled in his elbows to block a blow to his stomach, making her growl with frustration. Kye got in one good tap to her cheek, but he wasn’t hitting hard enough to knock her down.
“Good,” he grunted when she moved to the left and repaid him with the same move.
As they sparred, Evie wiped sweat out of her eyes, never looking away from her opponent. It was imperative that she remember her training, not backing down when she would hit him hard enough that Kye would grunt. Every hit she made that sent him a step back only increased her confidence.
“They’re coming,” Sheriff Lynch barked into the phone.
“When?” Talon gasped.
“On the setting sun tomorrow night,” he answered.
“We will be ready,” Talon growled, hanging up the phone. He immediately called out to his pride to meet at the circle. It was inevitable… they were going to have to fight.
Chapter Nineteen
Guardians lined up in front of the alpha’s home, some of them shifting into their panthers. Others were armed with weapons provided by the sheriff. Evie watched from the window in Talon’s office, refusing to hide with the pride females. Hope was by her side, strapped with two guns in her shoulder holster.
“They’re going to take me tonight,” Evie whispered, looking over at the other female who was already shaking her head in denial.
“We are not going to let them take you,” Hope vowed.
“You and I both know the sheriff’s visions are solid.” Evie blew out a harsh breath. “Hope, I need you to promise me something.”
“No,” Hope snarled, her eyes glowing amber. “I won’t promise you anything, because you aren’t going anywhere.”
“Just listen to me,” Evie snapped, her own panther agitated. “Please keep Kye from hurting himself to come save me. Let the Guardians do it; keep him home.”
“That man is going to come after you.” Hope raised a brow. “He’s growing as an alpha, and I’m fairly certain even his brother’s command won’t keep him away.”
“He’s going to try to fight his way to me,” Evie acknowledged. “It’s going to be dangerous, but I’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” Hope reminded her, coming up to pull Evie into a hug. “Please get into the safe room.”
“No,” Evie replied, looking up into her friend’s eyes. Hope had wetness there. Her usual hard shell shattering with worry. Evie started to say something, but gasped when Hope raised her own gun in the air.
“I’m so sorry, but I have to save you,” Hope whimpered, bringing the butt of the gun down… making Evie’s world go dark.
Evie jumped to her feet, cursing when she looked around the safe room and saw all of the females of the pride with their young. The older couples were consoling everyone as they waited for word of what was happening on the outside. She had a knot on her head from where
Hope had struck her. Thankfully, with her fast healing, it was subsiding along with the massive headache from the blow.
“Damn it!” Evie swore, pulling on the door.
“It’s for the best,” Nova said, holding Atlas to her chest.
“No, it’s not,” Evie replied, feeling the beast prowl beneath her skin. She reached for her weapon and threw her hands in the air when she found it gone. “This is bad, Nova… really bad.”
“It’s for your safety,” Liberty repeated to her, handing her sleeping daughter off to Savage’s mother.
“No,” Evie growled, shifting her eyes as she searched the room. She knew every aspect of the protective space behind the weapons cabinet in the security room, because she helped build and stock it. Reaching above the door, she heard Liberty curse when she retrieved the hidden key. “I’m sorry. I’m going.”
“Evie, NO!” Liberty started to grab Evie’s hand, but a hard scowl from the young female sent the alpha’s mate a step back.
“Do not stop me,” she warned as she unlocked the door to her unwanted prison. She slipped out the door, ignoring Noah as he cursed from behind her. She locked the pride in the room and closed the cabinet, tossing the key to the Guardian.
“Where is everyone?”
“Damn it, Evie,” Noah shouted, standing up from his seat.
“Noah, I will hurt you if you even try to come at me,” Evie warned, her canines thickening in her mouth.
“Shit,” he replied, running his hands through his dark hair. “On the lawn. Others are in the woods.”
“Kye?” she asked, needing to know where he was.
Panic lodged in her chest as she felt fear from her leader. Noah spun around and looked at the monitors. Men were coming through the gate at the road with weapons raised. Evie gasped when a human officer was shot.
Kye (Rise of the Pride, Book 6) Page 10