by Vella Day
“I’ve cross-referenced the men’s movements, added in their credit card receipts, and cell phone locations. I’m sure as one can be without actually flying there to verify that particular facility is where the girls are being held.” He nodded to the photos. “Those are the aerial shots of the town. There’s a furniture warehouse on the east end, though it’s not all that large. If that’s not the place, I have no other suggestions.”
Armand tapped the pictures. “This looks promising. You’ve done a fine job. I’ll send someone up there to investigate.”
As soon as he was alone, he dialed his old buddy, John Summerville, up in North Carolina. The man ran the satellite office for The Pack, though their interaction hadn’t been much of late. With all the disappearances, Armand had his hands full.
John and he had served together, and after what happened in the war, John owed him one. His friend had two sons, twins if his memory served him—Ford and Tyson. Both had gone undercover with the Colter organization almost a year ago. Instead of human trafficking, they were battling gun running.
These two men would be perfect to check out the facility. Not only were they expert military operatives and fighters, Statler wouldn’t recognize.
Time to call in that favor.
THE END
Fighting For Their Mate
Pack Wars (Book 5)
Vella Day
Dedication
To my fabulous readers. Thank you!
Chapter One
“How much farther?” Bailey Nash had to work hard not to let each word take a whole breath. Her right heel had a blister, and the straps of her backpack were digging into her shoulders.
Two things made this expedition close to enjoyable. One was that she was able to spend time with her younger sister, Tatum, who’d just graduated from college. Secondly, as a photographer, Bailey had to admit the forest was amazing. Sunlight streamed through the trees turning the leaves rich greens and yellows, the rush of the water over the smooth rocks echoed in the wind, and the forest animals romped through the underbrush, adding to the harmony of the North Carolina woods.
“Maybe ten more minutes,” her sister answered. “It’s on the other side of the river. Remember, we looked at the map where it showed a bridge a little ways ahead?”
Tatum had said that twenty minutes ago. As much as Bailey loved the outdoors, she never should have agreed to a three-week hike on the Appalachian Trail, or AT for short. Five years ago, after running track all through high school, she’d been in shape. Now? Not so much.
“Yes.” Kind of. A rustling came from the bushes about fifty feet up the hill to their right. Bailey stopped, excited they might have finally found an animal worth photographing. “Hold up.”
Tatum looked back over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“Give me a sec,” she whispered. Not wanting to lose sight of the animal’s location, she kept her eyes on the spot.
Bailey unsnapped her chest strap then set her backpack down. With as little movement as possible, she undid the top, pulled on the drawstrings, and lifted her Canon EOS 7D from inside. Now she was pleased she’d already put on her 28mm-210mm zoom lens. Carefully, she lifted the camera, flipped open the view screen, and swept the landscape for the animal.
Loud footsteps sounded next to her. Way to go, Tatum. Scare the poor creature away.
Bailey aimed the lens in the direction of the scampering, waiting to catch a glimpse of the forest creature. As if by magic, golden eyes popped into view and she jumped back, the image bigger than life. Her heart slammed against her ribs. “Holy fuck.”
Tatum placed a hand on Bailey’s back. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Uh-huh.”
Bailey lowered the camera, her mouth dry and her arm limp by her side. If she hadn’t hooked the strap around her neck, her precious camera would be on the ground.
The huge wolf growled and stepped out from behind the bush. Tatum grabbed the back of Bailey’s shirt. “Ah, we need to get out of here. As in right now.”
Bailey had taken enough animal shots, both in zoos and in the plains of Africa, to understand that part of their nature was to chase things. If they took off, that animal would be on them in seconds. His mouth opened and his teeth glistened in the late afternoon sun. Was he trying to prove to them that he could have them at his mercy in seconds?
While alarms were sounding in her head, his beauty mesmerized her—that was until spittle dripped down his mouth and it began to foam. Then her stomach nearly revolted. Holy shit. Was this animal rabid? Did wolves even get rabies?
Show no fear.
Tell that to my heart.
Keeping her gaze on the ferocious animal, Bailey slowly bent at the waist, lifted the camera from around her neck, and dropped it in the pack. After much fumbling, she found the backpack straps and lifted her pack to her shoulder. “Tatum, back away real slow. Do not make any sudden moves, or we’re both dead.” Her nerves were so taut, Bailey was surprised the words even formed.
The creature headed down the hill and stopped, brazenly standing before them, his gaze aimed at them. The tan hair mixed with black and gold was quite stunning, but those eyes appeared crazy.
“Going now.” Tatum sidled down the path, moving effortlessly and quietly.
It wasn’t as easy for Bailey. With the pack only on one shoulder, she was off balance, but she managed to maneuver about twenty feet until her foot caught on a stick protruding from the earth. The wolf bared his teeth, causing Bailey to rush. She raised her foot, but it wasn’t high enough. Her toe caught on the obstacle, and she lost her balance and tumbled. As she rolled, her backpack slid off her shoulder. Oh, shit. Fear and panic clawed at her belly as the animal stalked toward her. Leaves crunched under its feet, and its growl carried across the span between them.
“Tatum! Run. Go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Go.”
Her sister sprinted toward the river as Bailey scrambled to her feet. The wolf drew near. Slowly. Doggedly. With intense determination. He wanted her. Wanted her badly.
Heart in throat, she grabbed her pack by the strap, but it was too heavy to lift. It must have been caught on something. She tugged. Come on. Come on.
Growls came from low in its throat, and she truly believed she had seconds to live. Throwing caution to the wind, she turned and ran, leaving her pack on the path.
A shot rang out and Bailey thought her heart had burst out of her chest.
A spider web nabbed her face, and her vision blurred from the liquid pooling in her eyes. Swiping at her face, she looked behind her and nearly lost her balance again. She blinked. A man with a rifle had fired in the direction of the wolf. The underbrush swished and swayed. Bailey froze, unable to make sense of what was happening. Then Tatum rushed back in her direction.
“Is it gone?” her sister asked.
Bailey strained to see the spot where she last remembered that evil creature’s location. “I think so. Maybe.”
The hunter was coming toward her. What was he doing on the AT Trail with a rifle? Hunters couldn’t just shoot animals in the open. A second man, taller than the first, emerged from the path behind him.
“You get him?” the new arrival asked the first man, jogging up to meet him.
The man with the gun faced his friend. “No, but I scared the shit out of him.” He turned toward them. “You ladies okay?” He reached down and grabbed Bailey’s backpack with little effort.
Her heart was still lodged in her throat, preventing her from moving. Tatum, however, seemed to have her wits about her. She stepped around Bailey and hiked toward the two men.
“Wow. Thank you. You saved our lives. I’m Tatum, and the one still in shock is my sister Bailey.”
“Brad Carson and my friend Tom Danvers.”
The adrenaline rush finally ebbed, but Bailey’s legs still refused to obey her command to stand. Dear Lord. She’d almost died. Almost been eaten and mauled by a wolf. To think she was occ
asionally afraid to live by herself in Richmond, Virginia. The city was looking safer by the moment. Sweat pooled under her arms and dirt clung to her skin. Bailey dropped her head in her hands and inhaled to calm her pulse that raced dangerously high.
A large hand touched her shoulder and she jerked. After taking a slow inhale, she looked up. Concern filled the hunter’s eyes.
“You okay?”
She couldn’t even remember what he said his name was. “Not really. Just give me a sec.”
The hunter glanced around. “He’ll be back, you know.” He held out his hand to help her up. The stress in his voice implied if she didn’t move her ass, the next time she might not be so lucky.
She clasped his warm hand and rose. “Thanks.”
She dusted off her dirty palms. These men looked fresh. Without packs, they must be day hikers. But why the gun? Their dad had cautioned them about trusting strangers, but these two had saved them.
Brad held out her pack. “You dropped this.”
Relief washed through her. “It snagged on something. Thanks.”
She turned around and slipped her arms through the straps. With her pack securely on her back, she twisted around to face them. At least now, if the wolf returned, she could drop to her knees and assume the fetal position. The backpack would help protect her.
The hunter’s friend sucked in a breath. “How long have you ladies been out here?”
Bailey looked over at Tatum who answered for them. “Only four days. I couldn’t convince sis here to hike the whole Appalachian Trail, but she agreed to do the part in North Carolina. We’ve got a little more than two weeks to go.”
Bailey shook her head. “I’m not going any farther with that wild animal on the loose. No way. No how.”
Tatum pressed her lips together. “How about you guys? Aren’t you afraid to be out?”
What was she doing? There was no need to strike up a conversation. She and Tatum needed to get out of there—unless her sister was trying to give Bailey a few more minutes to compose herself. The near death experience had really shaken her.
Or was her sister just being polite because these men had saved them? Bailey was usually the politically correct one in the family, but she hated guns, which meant her friendly meter was out of order. It didn’t matter that his weapon had scared the wolf away.
“Brad and I are with the Wildlife Commission. There were sightings of rabid wolves around here and we’re trying to reach as many hikers as possible to warn them to get off the path. Two days ago, one of the wolves attacked a woman. She’d already crawled into her tent for the night when the wolf ripped through the nylon walls and got to her. She’s in intensive care now.”
Tatum hissed, and Bailey’s heart broke. “That’s terrible.” Bailey turned to her sister. “We need to get out of the forest, at least until they capture this wolf.” Once they were safe and sound, she might suggest they head to the east coast and get a hotel on the beach.
“I’m glad you’re willing to see reason,” Tom said. “Brad and I have been hunting this fucker since the attack. We’ll get him though. We’ve got a car about a mile from here. How about we give you a ride to a local hotel? Once we capture the wolf, we’ll blast it all over the local news, and you can resume your hike.”
He’d just said they were on the look out for wolves—plural. And hadn’t he mentioned they were rabid? She was so out of there. Having a hot shower after four days of hiking sounded divine. Add in the chance to sleep in a real bed, and Bailey’s energy suddenly increased.
When they finally made it to the parking lot, Tatum placed a hand on Bailey’s arm. “Take a picture of me with Tom and Brad.”
Really? How could her sister even think about a man after their ordeal? Oh, yeah. That was Tatum—the free spirit of the family. Every time Tatum went off on some wild adventure, Bailey could practically see the wheels spinning in her father’s brain. He was a senator, and each time Tatum did something crazy, his chance of reaching the White House dimmed.
“Fine.” Bailey lifted her camera from her backpack.
With their faces to the setting sun, she adjusted the light meter. Through the lens, she had to admit the three of them looked good. She snapped two pictures, opened the aperture, and took two more to be sure. “All set.”
“Great. Climb in, ladies,” Tom said.
As soon as Bailey’s butt hit that cushy back seat, she was almost thankful for that wolf.
* * *
Bailey collapsed onto the divinely comfortable bed. After a very long hot shower and then a meal at Longhorn Steakhouse, which blissfully was next to the hotel, she was in heaven. She’d bandaged her heels and had finally calmed down from the near attack.
Before she fell asleep, she pulled out her iPad from her pack and uploaded her photos to Dropbox. She never took chances with her flash drive. A few months back, she’d lost a whole day of shooting when the file became corrupted.
“Get any good shots?” Tatum asked.
“Some. I’m thinking I might be able to sell a few of these, especially the one of the wild-eyed wolf. Man, was he a mean mother.”
“He sure was. How about turning on the news to see if those men found that menace?” Tatum asked.
Part of Bailey wished the hunter failed. Ever since she finished college last year, she’d grown soft. Now more than ever, she realized she liked luxury. Tatum, on the other hand, could live in the wild without phones or the Internet for months. If their parents hadn’t been upfront about Bailey being adopted, she would have known she and Tatum weren’t related. She loved Tatum more than anything, but where Bailey did nothing to upset the apple cart, Tatum willingly pushed it over.
Since Bailey had the remote next to her, she clicked on the television, and then had to surf to find the local news station. After watching for half an hour and hearing no news of the wolf or the attack on that poor girl, Bailey clicked off the set.
“So how do you want to play this?” she asked Tatum.
Her sister’s mouth dropped open. “You aren’t bailing on me, are you?”
“I’d never do that. This is our time together, and I want to make the most of it.” Her body would ache and her feet would hurt, but she’d hike with a smile on her face if it killed her. This might be the last time the two of them could spend quality time together, as Tatum would be starting her job in Pittsburgh next month. Other than maybe at Christmas, there was no telling when they could arrange vacation time.
As if Tatum had been holding her breath, her chest caved. “Great. How about we wait a few days and see if they catch the wolf? If they don’t, then we can call it quits, I guess.”
The disappointment in Tatum’s eyes tore her up inside. Bailey snapped her fingers. “How about we call a cab, have him drive us twenty miles farther up the trail, and hike in from there?”
The shine in her sister’s eyes brightened. “That’s pure genius.” Tatum jumped off her bed, came over to Bailey’s, and gave her a hug. “You’re the best big sister a girl could hope for.”
“I try.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Tatum glanced at her. “Who could that be at ten at night?”
Instinctively, Bailey pulled the blanket up to her chest. A shot of fear encircled her heart. “Look through the peephole first.”
Tatum trotted over and checked. “It’s just Tom and Brad.” She unlatched the lock without asking if it was okay.
“Hey, guys. You catch the wolf?” Tatum grinned.
As soon as the men entered, Bailey sensed something was off. They said nothing. Instead, Tom strode toward Tatum, and Brad marched toward her. He raised his arm from behind his back and jammed a needle in her upper arm.
What the hell? It stung and burned. Bailey tried to scream, to thrash, to hurt the man, but nothing worked—not her mouth, not her arms, not her legs. Her head lolled to the side, and then her vision went black.
Chapter Two
Ford Summerville motioned for his brother to join him.
“You see something?” Ty asked, looking around the forested backdrop of the lab where they worked.
“Maybe.”
Ford and his twin were assigned to check the exterior of the secret lab in Falling Pines, Ontario, Canada. The two of them had been sent to the facility two weeks ago to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the building’s entry and exit points. Their goal was to judge if a full-scale attack was even possible. So far, the answer was no, but they’d keep looking for ways to breach security.
Ty rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Christ. I thought North Carolina was cold, but Canada is fucking icy.”
“Wuss. It’s almost April, for God’s sake.” He nodded at two men getting out of a Dodge truck wearing nothing more than flannel shirts. “We should check them out.”
Ty watched for a moment. “Locals, I bet.”
Ford hoped so. Their job was to stop anyone from snooping. Hoffman Furniture was used as the front for the lab in back. The ten thousand square foot showroom had a larger manufacturing section next to it where they made the custom furniture. Falling Pines only had a population of three thousand, and the powers that be thought it would be less suspicious if there was a reason for all these people coming and going up the mountain.
He and Ty headed toward the front, wearing their Hoffman Furniture security uniforms. As they neared, Ford sensed the men weren’t werewolves. “False alarm.”
“You know, sending in humans could be the smartest thing.”
Ford checked out his brother. “What have you been smokin’?”
He shook his head. “Any werewolf who gets within fifty feet of the place will set off the sensors. Humans won’t.”
“So? Whoever is on guard outside would take them down in a heartbeat before the intruders are able to get in.”