“Shit, Pix, sure, go ahead. Take as much time as you need. We can talk when you come back out.”
“Thank you.” Sky sulked to the restroom, dragging her feet along the way. She hoped she was portraying a dejected woman. Yeah, she was playing it up, but she knew if she didn’t, Tuck would never let her out of his sight. No, she needed to come up with a plan and get the hell out of there.
The bathroom didn’t even offer a window. After taking a couple of minutes, Sky peeked out the door. Thankfully, no one was there because right at the end of the hall was an exit. Walking as fast as she could without breaking out into a full out run and drawing attention, Sky got to the door as quickly as possible. Trying the knob and finding it was, thankfully, unlocked and there wasn’t a security alarm attached to it, were blessings Sky needed right now. Opening it, Sky peeked her head out and looked around, making sure no one was hanging out back there who could stop her. Finding no one, Sky took off for the apartment. Thankfully, it was only four blocks away.
Coming up on the back of the building, Sky ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Her only goal was to get to Shelby as soon as possible. It was a decision she would sincerely regret in a matter of seconds.
Throwing the door open, it took Sky a couple of seconds to process what she was seeing. Shelby was on her knees in front of a man, and it looked like she had been beaten. Stunned, Sky stood there, still unable to process what in the hell she was seeing. The man was tall and lean, but nice looking. Why had he been hurting Shelby? And why wasn't Shelby trying to get away from him instead of just sitting there?
When the man looked up, Sky cringed back from the slimy, evil feeling that seemed to encase her body. When Bas had looked at her, she felt warm and fuzzy, but this man made her feel cold and clammy. It wasn’t a good combination.
Taking a step back to escape the man, Sky was surprised when she ran into something solid. When beefy hands gripped her arms, she wanted to scream. Damn, had she been hit by the stupid stick today? She knew better and yet, here she was, for the second time, getting caught unaware. She tried to look back and see who her new assailant was, but his grip was tight. When she tried to move her head, he only pulled her in closer to his body, preventing the movement.
“Ah, I see the guest of honor has finally arrived,” the creepy man said with a slight lisp, while never moving his hands from Shelby.
Shelby was looking between the man and Sky. The words that came out of her mouth surprised Sky more than she could have ever thought possible.
“See, I told you she would be here. All you had to do was wait. Now, you can just take her and go. You don’t even have to give me the money you promised. I’ll just leave, and we can call it even, okay, Dean?”
“Oh, I don’t think so, Shelby, you silly, little girl. We can’t risk you running those lips of yours, now can we?” He ran his finger over Shelby’s lips when he said those words.
“I swear, Dean, I won’t say a word. Just take her, and I’ll leave. You’ll never see me again, I promise. Please, I did what you asked. You can do whatever you want with her, just let me go!”
“Oh, I plan to. But I’m sorry to say, you’ve outlived your usefulness, Shelby. We can’t have mongrels running around, now can we? They are fun to play with for a little while, but in the long run, must be put down for the greater good. Don’t you agree?”
Sky watched as Shelby shook her head back and forth. The whole time she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and when she was finally able to comprehend what was happening, it was too late. The gruesome man grabbed Shelby by the jaw and quickly jerked it to the side unnaturally far. The act only took a second, but to Sky it was as if everything was in slow motion. The look of fear in her cousin’s eyes, feeling every beat of her own heart threatening to jump right out of her chest, and the sickening sound of her cousin’s neck bones breaking, amplified the moment. Sky wanted to look away, she even tried to close her eyes. But the sound of her lifeless body hitting the apartment floor once again drew her attention, and it was like seeing it happen all over again. Sky’s knees buckle beneath her. Now the mystery monster was only holding her up from behind.
“Oh, my dear. Now, now, no need to fret. The girl was useless trash. Her time has come and gone. Don’t worry your simple mind over such mundane things.” Then the man stepped over Shelby’s prone body as if it were nothing, like he hadn’t killed her right in front of Sky and proceeded to stalk toward Sky.
“Now, I’m sorry, but I must make sure she’s been telling the truth.” With those words, the man yanked her wrists forward and turned them so her hands were palm up as if looking for something. He reverently ran his thumb over Sky’s birthmark. Without looking up, he said with a pleased tone, “I’ve been waiting a long time to finally meet you, my dear. My only regret is your training didn’t start sooner. But I’ll fix that soon enough.”
“What?” Sky muttered, still in shock.
“No worries, Miss Thomas. Everything will be explained in time, but we really must be going now. It seems you’ve been a rather bad girl tonight. We’ll have to talk about that later as well. I don’t particularly like my minions being dispatched without my knowledge. You will pay for that later, but we really need to be going. I don’t want anything to delay our departure further. It’s already been too long.
“Your father thought he could keep you away from me. I told him that wouldn’t happen, but he wasn’t as loyal to our cause as we thought. No matter, all is well now that you’re back within the fold. I’ll take great pleasure in teaching you the ways of our people and the woman’s true role in our society.”
The man stepped back, releasing her wrists. He then placed his hands on his slim hips and vulgarly perused Sky head to toe. Shaking his head in disgust, the man made a sweeping motion with his hand down Sky's body.
“This will never do! It seems the first thing we will need to address once we get home is your lack of proper attire and appearance. We do, after all, have a reputation to uphold. I have no idea what you’re wearing, but it is far from acceptable. No woman of mine will ever dawn peasant’s clothing. If I had the time, I would make you change into something more appropriate.”
The man looked up and down Sky’s body in disgust, like she was wearing a G-string and pasties. The sneer made Sky look down at her clothes herself, almost surprised when she found exactly what she knew she would—jeans, flannel, and a tank, the same things she wore most days. What the hell was he talking about and damn, why did he care about what she was wearing? And what was that about her Dad? Did she just enter the twilight zone? Shit, she must be in shock or something.
The man started to walk around the apartment, shaking his head as if he didn’t like or couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
“I can’t believe your parents would have allowed something so sacred to our people live in such squalor and filth.” He continued to mumble about the apartment and her clothing, but Sky was ignoring him. Right now, the man at her back had her focus.
His grip on her hadn’t moved or loosened. She couldn’t see him or get away. From the feel of him, he was large and definitely strong. When she felt his erection on her lower back, she started to struggle. Unfortunately, that only brought the other man’s attention back to her. He walked over and once again took her by the wrist.
Then the horrible guy did something really creepy and moved his tongue in and out of his mouth super-fast, making a weird sucking noise. Kind of like that guy from Silence of the Lambs, but in a different and way more disturbing manner. Sky cringed back from him and his touch. Whereas Sebastian’s touch had drawn her in, this man’s touch burned, almost like acid or poison. There was a burning sensation under her skin, and it was painful and repulsive.
“Seems you’ve been around one of our kind. I wonder, will you be forthcoming with the information or do you need persuasion? Hmm, let me see if my skills are working.” The man then leaned forward and smelled Sky’s neck. She wanted to cringe back, bu
t the dude behind her was keeping her still, locked in his grasp. When he all out licked her, Sky felt the bile rising up in her throat.
“I scent bear, late twenties, maybe early thirties, and very dominant!” The man gripped Sky’s chin and forced her to look at him. The touch was painful, but Sky didn’t allow him to see her reaction. She was pretty sure it would only make him happy.
“That could be a problem, Miss Thomas. We can’t have you cavorting with other Shifters, now can we?”
Sky’s brain was reeling. She didn’t have a clue what she was hearing. The man had killed her cousin, criticized her clothes, mentioned her Dad, and now he was talking about Shifters and bears. What the hell?
Sky’s brain was going into meltdown mode. She knew she needed to do something, but she was so stunned, she couldn’t even form a coherent thought, let alone do anything about the situation. The man in front of her scared her more than anything had ever scared her in her life, and apparently, when faced with those things, Sky froze like a statue. Unlike before, when she fought with everything she had, now she just stood there waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly, Sky felt a jolt at her back. The strong hands that had been holding her in place moved off her arms and away from her body. Then there was a thud of a body hitting the floor. Sky was pushed off balance by the movement, but she quickly corrected herself, thankful the man had fallen backward and not taken her down with him. A person would have thought that would have gotten Sky moving, but it didn’t. She was still staring at the man in front of her. She could hear feet pounding up the stairs outside, but she was still frozen in place, unable to move.
When the man stepped back and smiled, Sky cocked her head to the side. She still couldn’t figure out what was going on.
“Well, my dear, it looks like our reunion will have to wait a little while longer. No worries though. Trust me when I say I’ll find you again.”
Sky had no idea what the man was going to do. She was standing in the only doorway to the apartment, and his accomplice was currently lying on the floor in front of it, but the man was acting like it was no big deal. She knew the answer to that question in the next seconds because the man she had been staring at, immobilized in shock and terror, morphed into a snake right before her eyes. She had to be losing her mind. She was seeing things that couldn’t possibly be there.
Sky blinked a couple of times, but the scene didn’t change. No, there was a big-assed snake right in front of her, and the man was nowhere to be seen. Sky didn’t know about snakes, didn’t like them, and couldn’t have cared less what types there were in the world. All she knew was this one was huge, unnaturally so, with yellowish coloring and markings. It had also been a man once. Her head was swimming in a fog, desperately trying to force a comeback to the reality she seemed to have lost at some point.
When she was grabbed from behind and pulled out onto the landing, Sky was speechless and could only point at the snake. Her frazzled brain recognized Tuck as being the one who grabbed her, but nothing else. It took her a couple of minutes to actually say anything, but by that time she’d already been carried down the stairs and was being thrown into a car. The slap to her cheek brought her out of her shock, and the man in front of her brought welcomed relief.
“What the fuck, Sky?” Tuck screamed right into her face. All Sky could do was grab onto his neck and hug him. Then the real tears started as the overwhelming reality of what had happened hit her.
Chapter 11
Bas was waiting for Senior to send the helicopter to pick up the man who had attacked Pixie. Shit, the nickname fit. The woman reminded him of something a person would find in a fairy tale. His first thoughts had been to call her sprite. She was tiny, five foot nothing, cute with a round face, big, expressive eyes, and her body. Damn, her big boobs and plump ass made his dick twitch thinking about them. But it was her touch that truly got him going. He couldn’t explain it and didn’t even want to, but she did things to him on a level he’d never felt before.
Shit, she wasn’t one of Pandora or Franklin’s creations. The background information on Shelby would have indicated that, but she drew him in and turned him inside out. Bas’ attraction and his overall need for her were so insane and uncharacteristic for him. Sure, he’d been in lust before, wanting to fuck a good-looking woman. But this was beyond that, like a hundred-fold. Leaving her back with the RBMC was possibly one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. Even thinking about it now made his blood boil. He knew the men with the MC, and he trusted them, especially his brothers, but the thought of any of them touching her made his bear rage.
He looked down at his wrist. There was a small raised red area where he had felt the burn earlier while holding her hand. Bas had no idea what it was or where it came from. There hadn’t been anything remotely hot near either of them when he grabbed her hand, so the mark didn’t make any sense. How does one get burned without a flame?
Bas heard the telltale signs of a helicopter approaching. Time to get to work. The unknown Shifter was still unconscious, but Bas decided a little more restraint might be in order. He had found some zip ties in the SUV, so he secured his prisoner for transport. Bas had hoped the man would have woken up, so he could have gotten some answers, but whatever was in those tranquilizers were Shifter strength. Like the ones that had downed several of Milo and Kayden’s men.
Was this man or other Shifters part of The Association and were they working in conjunction with Pandora? From all the intelligence, Alpha Team and NAC had been convinced only Pandora had the new drugs. However, this man having the drug put that theory in serious jeopardy. Bas hadn’t scented any other Shifters on or near the scene of Pixie’s attack. Did that mean this man was acting alone or were there more hiding in the shadows?”
Damn, he needed to get this transfer over with and get back to Pixie. He also needed to secure the Shelby chick and find out if she’d been the ultimate target like he was starting to believe might be the case. Why else would The Association want Pixie? The Shelby chick had been using her name. Could it all have been a simple case of mistaken identity?
Bas watched the helicopter land. The massive amount of wind felt good on his overheated skin. He didn’t approach, knowing one of Carter's men would come out to retrieve the prisoner. Bas smiled when he recognized the man crouching and running away from the debris and wind the helicopter's blades were throwing up. It was the one and only Cole Pritchett. Every time Bas saw the man, he wanted to laugh. His name was Cole, but he was a ginger all the way. He looked like he belonged in a kilt, holding a broadsword.
He was also hilarious. The few times they had been able to hang out, he was always the life of the party, telling stories about his conquests or the various mishaps that had happened to him. But Bas knew beyond all that easy-going humor laid a skilled and deadly warrior. Cole reminded Bas a lot of Cash.
Cole approached and gave him a man hug and a slap on the back that almost made Bas lose the breath in his lungs. The guy was a brute. He was smaller than most of the guys on Alpha, maybe around six feet, but he was solid and stocky.
“Well, Laddie, what do ya got for me today?” Cole asked, kicking the unconscious man on the ground with the toe of his boot. “Smells like a wee pussy?”
“Ah, Cole, are you trying to act Scottish now? I thought you were from Nebraska,” Bas couldn't help but laugh.
“Yer bum’s oot the windae.”
“What the hell are you saying? Are you trying to speak Scottish? Cole, dude, I have known you for years, and I have no clue where the Scottish brogue came from. But honestly, man, are you that desperate to pick up women? I mean, I know you're a bit puny and all, but hey, we all have our faults. You just have to learn to deal with them. Adapting one's self to a new heritage and faking an accent, dude, I had more faith in you.”
“I’ll show you puny, you wanker.” Cole lunged for him, but pulled back at the last second. Then he started to laugh when Bas stepped back. The guy hit hard, even harder than
Dalton during training.
“You like it?” Gone was the Scottish brogue. “It's something new I’m trying out. Even bought myself a kilt. I can’t keep the ladies off of me.”
Damn, the guy was a piece of work, but hey, he wasn’t going stop him if the accent worked.
“Okay, fill me in,” Cole said. “Senior has called in Matthias for this guy, and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Bas totally understood the time for fun was over. They all had jobs to do, and right now, his was to get back to Pixie and figure out what the hell was going on.
“Understood,” Bas replied. “The unknown attacked a human female in a bar parking lot. When I approached, he pulled a tranquilizer gun. Victim shot him once and downed him. I shot him two more times to make sure it stuck for transport. Didn’t have much time for conversation, but the man seemed lucid. Rogue status unknown.”
Bas handed over a baggie filled with the three darts from the gun. When Cole seemed to be waiting for the weapon itself, Bas explained. “Weapon left on the scene with a trusted ally. The situation is not secure, and I have to get back to it. I appreciate the pick-up.”
“Got it. Anything else you want me to relay?”
“Not at this time, but I’ll keep you updated.”
“Roger that. Let us know if you need anything else. Seems like every time Alpha comes into the area, we’re running around cleaning up all the damage.”
“Whatever, dude, I clearly remember the last time Delta decided to come into our territory. It took Jacks two months to make the townsfolk stop looking for wolves around every corner.”
“Ah, good times. We should do it again soon. Well, I guess I should get on with it.”
Bas watched as Cole picked up the unknown Shifter in a fireman carry over his shoulder like the man didn’t weigh close to three hundred pounds. Bas hadn’t struggled either when he performed the same move, but he did grunt a little, not Cole. Waiting on guard until the helicopter took off, Bas was making his way back to the SUV when his phone rang.
NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team Page 92