“I also want a fucking apology that you were going to leave me back there. You and I both know it’s true. I felt your resolve before you left that room. Know one thing, Sebastian, I don’t let go of the things I love. I hold on tight with both hands until it proves to be a useless situation, and then I still hang tight just a little longer, hoping it will change. If that makes me stupid, then it’s my burden to bear.”
She’d said her piece, now the ball was in his court. Sky wasn’t anyone’s puppet; she had a mind of her own and she planned on using it. Wanting him, no needing him, didn’t mean she would roll over and let him make every decision. Decisions about her health and wellbeing in this situation or damn, maybe even in life, yeah. The bedroom, hell yeah, he could have that. She kind of liked those demands. That was if he ever decided he wanted it. But if she could use her skills and abilities to make their lives better, she would, whether the big, doofus alpha male liked it or not.
Bas was seething. How could she have put herself in further danger like that? This mating shit wasn’t going to work if she couldn’t give him the control he needed. Shit, now he was even thinking about a future that didn’t exist. What the fuck?
Chapter 20
After about a half hour, cooler minds prevailed. Sky had given them the chance they needed to lose the people currently tracking them. He just didn’t like that Sky put herself at even more risk by disabling the other cars. He also didn’t like that she disobeyed him and waited instead of moving on.
If they stuck it out together much longer, he didn’t think he would able to hold himself back from her. Tasting her, kissing her, and holding her, having her taste him made him want things he couldn’t have. Fuck, he was trying to do the right thing. Why couldn't she just give in and let him? His bigger problem was he didn't know if he wanted her to.
No, he wanted what was best for her, and that wasn’t him, a broken Shifter with a limited future. Even if she was his mate, it wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. That had to mean something, right? Sure, he wanted her, even needed her, but would the results of them sticking it out end up hurting her? Until he had the answers to that question, he couldn’t go any further with any of this.
“Babe, I’m sorry. I just can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt,” Bas said, finally breaking the silence in the car.
“Thank you, Bas, but how about we drop all the ‘babe’ shit. You made your intentions quite clear. Now, how about we focus on more important things like how do these people keep on finding us?”
“That’s an excellent question ba… Sky, and one we need to find out pretty quick. Your work on their cars helped for now, but I have a feeling our luck won’t last, and we still have quite a long way to go until we can meet up with my team. Dig around in that bag and find a gray box. It will have two buttons on it, one you press and one with a red light.”
Sky did as he asked and found the box thing.
“I need you to press the button and run it over your body, then over the bag,” Bas instructed.
Sky did it, and the thing didn’t do anything. She wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but nothing happened.
“Okay, Sky, I need you to jump in the back and start doing the same thing with the car. Run it over every surface.” Sky did, acting like a monkey and climbing all over the place. When the box still did nothing, Bas said, “Shit, it has to be somewhere. Come back up front and run it over me.”
Sky did and the thing lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Son of a bitch! Sky, you need to drive. Scoot over here and take the wheel. I’m not going to stop because I don’t want to lose the lead we have.”
Sky did that and after a few awkward movements, she was driving the car, and Bas was in the passenger seat, stripping out of his clothes. Sky almost ran off the road when he took off his shirt. Then he went for his boots, and then the snap of his pants caught her attention. The last thing on her mind was paying attention to the road. She had yet to see Bas completely naked, and she couldn’t resist taking a peek.
“Eyes on the road, Sky. I don’t want you crashing this car, so you can watch me.”
Asshole. Sky diverted her eyes to the road, but she still got a pretty good look at all that was Sebastian Frost. To say he was yummy was an understatement. The man's body was to die for—chiseled chest, eight-pack abs, arms to die for, and one hell of a cock. Even flaccid, the appendage was larger than Sky’s battery-operated boyfriend. Licking her lips, Sky remembered how his silky length felt in her mouth. She wanted that taste and feel again, but Bas had once again turned on a dime. There wouldn’t be sex anytime soon.
Bas ran the box over his clothes and the bug detector pinged a couple of times. He threw his clothes onto the floorboard. He would throw them out the window as soon as he found all the bugs. Grabbing his boots, the device lit up again. Running over more slowly, he discovered the tracker in the heel of the boot. Fuck, he’d had these for years, and ever since Peyton and Senior’s trip, they’d been doing sweeps regularly. How the hell did this get missed?
He hadn’t taken his boots off for days. There wasn’t a time in the recent past that they were ever left where someone could have gotten their hands on them. None of this made sense. Bas found three more trackers in his clothing, one under his belt and two sewn into his jeans. None of this made any fucking sense. Bas took the knife and cut out all the trackers, placing them in the cup holder as he went. He then threw his clothes out the window.
He couldn’t dispose of his boots the same way because he needed them. Link had packed some clothes, so he had a something to change into, but he couldn’t go around barefoot for the rest of this trip. Just to be safe, he ran the box over the clothes that Link had packed for him. When the bug detector didn’t light up, he got dressed. Fuck, none of this was good for them. Those fuckers were tracking him, not Sky.
Damn it, so The Association was after Sky, but it looked like Pandora had him in their sights. Not good.
“Okay, Sky, we need to make a call. There is a burner in the bag, but the battery is low. I want you to head to the interstate and find the first town, city, or whatever you can find, so we can make a call. It’s time for Alpha to get involved.”
Bas made a quick call and hoped the battery held out. At the same time, he searched the bag and the car, hoping to find a power cord so he could plug in the cell phone. No luck. Jacks picked up on the first ring with a simple, “Go.”
“Evac compromised, need a pickup,” Bas instructed. “Have Wyatt initialize the tracker for our location. Both Pandora and The Association are on our tails. Can’t shake them. Airlift needed. One bar left on battery and an unknown amount of time until complete radio silence.”
“Roger that, get someplace safe and plug in,” Jacks advised. “Wyatt will have your twenty, and we’ll send reinforcements.”
“Roger and out.”
Bas hung up the phone and hoped the battery held out long enough for them to either get somewhere or get instructions where they would be picked up. Almost all gas stations or truck stops had power cords for cell phones, nowadays. Looking around, he tried to orient himself on exactly where they were. The trip through the woods last night and the chase had knocked him off kilter. Before crashing the SUV, they were just inside of Illinois. And since they had been heading north ever since, they had to be making their way towards Wisconsin. It only took a couple of more miles to confirm his assumption.
“Sky, take the next road and head for that town,” Bas said pointing to the road sign.
It promised food, gas, and lodging. He didn’t need two of those things, but he could at least get rid of two of his current problems. They needed to find the first gas station with truckers and pull in. Sky looked at him, confused, but didn’t question him.
“Sky, we need to send these guys away from us. I’m thinking that if we slip these babies,” he said palming the trackers, “on the biggest, baddest looking trucker we can find, it might buy us the time we need to get to
the evacuation location.”
Sky acknowledged Bas’ statement with a nod of her head.
“Bas, what are those and why were they in your clothes?”
“Shit, babe, I really don’t know how they got in my clothes. What I can tell you is that they’re trackers. Someone has known my location since I left Alpha base.”
“So, what you’re telling me is those guys back there were after you, not me?” Sky asked.
“Looks that way, but Sky, don’t let that fool you, babe. If those guys are part of Pandora, you would be just as much as a target as I am.”
“How can you know that, Bas? I mean you told me about Pandora, and from the way it sounds, I’m not even on their radar. I don’t have the right blood type, I was never in foster care, and I have no association with that Franklin guy. Why would they even consider me a target?”
“Guilt by association? I don’t fucking know, but they would try to figure it out. We’re traveling together, and even though you don't fit the profile, they would still try to understand our connection. Both Pandora and Davis are looking for Franklin’s creations, along with The Association, and NAC. If they get me, they would take you in and run tests. Plus, there’s no way you can be sure you aren’t part of all of this.”
Touché, Sky thought to herself. She did as he instructed and found a truck stop just off the highway. The place was teeming with cars and semis, probably because of its location. According to the sign she read, it was also the last place for gas for a hundred miles. Pulling over, Sky parked the car out of the way of oncoming traffic, but also in a place allowing them a view of the gas pumps, so they could find their target. Bas was quiet, taking in their surroundings.
“Okay, that looks like our man,” Bas finally said, breaking the silence.
Sky looked over to the diesel pumps and saw a big, burly man, the kind you would think twice about messing with, pumping gas.
She felt guilty and had to ask Bas, “Are we putting him in danger by planting those things on him?”
“No, Sky, once he’s led the people following us away and they catch up, they’ll instantly realize he doesn’t have anything to do with this, and we more than likely planted the bug on him. They might pull him over and search just to make sure, but I doubt they would do more than that. That guy has Illinois plates, and the truck looks as if has been on the road for a while, so he must be heading home. That will hopefully lead those guys in the opposite direction of where we’re going and buy us some much-needed headway.”
“Okay,” she replied, not knowing what else to say.
“I need you to distract him when he goes in to pay for his fuel,” Bas instructed. “Talk to him, so he isn't paying attention. While you’re doing that, I’ll plant the trackers on his rig. Then I’ll meet you inside, and we can get some food and a charger for the phone. We’ll hang back and make sure he heads south. Then we’ll get out of here and wait to hear back from Jacks. Sound like a plan?”
“Yep, let’s do this.”
Sky watched the trucker as he made his way away from the pumps. She walked up slowly and tripped over her feet right when she was within a foot of the man. He caught her, thankfully. She didn’t need any more bruises on her body. The trucker was big and greasy looking, like he’d been on the road for a long time without a shower, but he had kind eyes.
“Hey darlin’, you need to be more careful. Wouldn’t want that beautiful face to get messed up. Looks like you’ve had enough trouble for one night.”
“Thanks, sorry, I’m a total klutz,” she apologized. Sky indicated the scrape on her cheek that had still yet to heal. “I got this one trying to catch my cat. The little bastard thought it would be a good idea to run between my legs when I was walking out the door. Hit the porch, full force. Not one of my more shining moments,” Sky laughed and attempted to plaster what she hoped was as close to a genuine smile on her face as possible.
“Gotta watch out for those mangy cat’s, girly,” the trucker joked. “They’ll get you every time. My ex-wife had one, and it wasn't anything but trouble.”
She talked with him for a few more seconds, then made her way to the truck stop, going straight to the bathroom. She took care of business and washed her face. When she came out, she found Bas at a display stand that held phone chargers.
“This one will work,” Bas declared. “Grab a couple of drinks and anything else you want, but make it quick. Our truck is getting ready to pull out, and I want to ensure the guy heads in the right direction, meaning the opposite one from us.”
Sky did as she was told, grabbing a couple of bottled waters, not bothering with the snacks. She handed them to Bas, and he went up to the counter to pay while Sky waited for him at the door.
Once they got back in the car, they watched as the trucker started up his rig and pulled out of the parking lot. Sky held her breath and crossed her fingers when he turned right onto the road and took the ramp to the highway heading south. Only then did she let the breath out of her lungs. At least one thing had gone right.
Bas ripped open the charger package and plugged in the phone. Now, they just had to wait for the call from his Team leader.
Chapter 21
The phone rang, startling Sky even though she had been waiting for it. She listened to Bas’ end of the conversation and waited for him to tell her the details.
“Okay, we have a pick up about forty-five minutes from here,” Bas revealed. “Cash, the Second in my Team, and Ryleigh are currently closest to our location. They’ll be handling your evacuation.”
That was all he said. It was short, simple, and straightforward, like the decisions he was making were no big deal. She was supposed to go with these people she didn’t know and just accept it? Well, she could be just as stubborn as him.
“That’s fine, Sebastian,” Sky said in a haunting tone. “Since we seem to have some time on our hands, why don't you answer this. Are you just going to hand me off to your friends without looking back? How about you give me the rest of the information since you seem to be washing your hands of me as soon as we meet up with your friends?”
“Fuck, Sky, I can't say it enough. It’s not like that. This is how things need to play out for both of us.”
“So, you keep on saying, no, telling me about legends I don’t fit into, or maybe all the mating stuff that doesn’t fit our situation.”
Bas let out a drawn-out breath as if she was annoying him, and that irritated her immensely. Sky had a right to these answers, and she didn't want them to come from anyone else.
“Listen, I realize you don’t get any of what’s going on here, and that’s fine. I’m doing this in your best interest, and you need to remember that. But if you want the information, I’ll give it to you. Then you can ask Ryleigh or any of the other mates to clarify anything I’ve missed when you get back to Alpha Base.”
Sky didn't want clarification from the mates, the other women in the pack, so to speak. She wanted Bas to realize what he was saying was as insane as what he was doing. She hoped talking with him and asking questions would make him understand that. So, she sat quietly in the car and waited for his explanation.
“Legend states that when a Shifter meets his mate, an immediate and unbreakable bond snaps into place,” Bas revealed. “At the same time, for the male, his human and animal forms unify. Mating goes beyond human marriage, it’s all-encompassing. A true mating unites the mind, body, and soul of the couple with the beast that lies beneath the surface. If the mating is fated, a blessing will appear on one of the pulse points of the pair. The mating mark, which looks similar to your birthmark.”
“Okay, so what you’re saying, in fact, is we meet the requirements of your legends?” Sky snapped.
“No, I’m not. Listen, we haven’t fucked, Sky, so we haven’t mated, and therefore we haven’t completed the bond. Your birthmark and this mark on my wrist can’t be mating marks. They don’t look like any of the other ones I’ve seen. It’s not natural. I don’t know what it me
ans, and I can’t explain it, but once I get you back to Alpha, I’m confident Ryleigh and the others can figure it out.”
Sky begged to differ. Her mark seemed to be more natural than the others he was talking about. After all, she’d had it since birth, and now he had the same mark. It had to mean something. Fucking or not, Sky believed it had to mean more. She just needed to convince Bas. She also didn't believe that she had been genetically engineered in some test tube. It was possible, but she didn’t think so. Her parents were not wealthy people; surrogacy, artificial insemination, and other means to have a baby were expensive and way out of their grasp. But she held her tongue, not saying any of that to Bas.
“That’s not the only thing,” Bas continued. “I told you that there aren’t any natural born Shifter females left in the world, only males. All the women we’ve located are now mating with Shifters, and they fit the status quo. This thing between us is just a byproduct of that engineering. My beast calms while I’m by you, but as soon as I walk away, getting some distance, my bear is just as crazy as he ever was. You don’t soothe the beast.
“For my generation, and several before, man and beast exist as separate entities, constantly fighting each other for control. The human side is usually able to dominate, but as time wears on, the animal becomes stronger and more defiant. When the human side loses control of the beast within, there’s no choice but to take them down, permanently. Do you understand what I’m saying? My days on Earth have been numbered since the day I was born. I’m going down that path quicker than any of us could have predicted.”
“But, how do you know?” Sky questioned. “I mean, nothing in life happens exactly the same way twice. How can you be so confident this is wrong, and how do you know your animal is on the downward slide? What makes your circumstance so different from any other Shifter?”
NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team Page 99