“What the hell is Johnson planning?” asked Machk.
“He’s trying to gain strength by taking all the possibly fertile females.” Nashoba felt rage swell up inside him. “I should have known he’d go after more than just our girls. From the sound of it, he’s taking on every tribe within a hundred miles.”
“We don’t have the resources to get all those girls out, Nashoba.”
“What do you propose we do?” he replied, staring Machk down. “We can’t leave them here.”
“I guess we’ll just have to do our best to get them out, then. Maybe we can steal one of their trucks to get the girls to safety?”
“That might just work,” said Nashoba. “New plan. Machk, you get us transportation while the rest of us split up to get into those cabins where the girls are being held.”
The team nodded silently to indicate that they each understood their individual roles, and then slipped back off the ridge to go in after their targets. Nashoba paired up with a young warrior named Tetto, and they made their way along the edge of the village until they were as close as possible to the building holding the women.
“I’ll take out the guard on the left, and you take the one on the right,” whispered Nashoba when they were just around the corner from the only entrance. “Have you ever killed before?”
Tetto shook his head and spoke quietly. “Only for food. But I can do this. My… they have my wife, Nashoba. She’s in one of these buildings.”
“Okay then, let’s do this.”
The two men crept forward in the shadows until they were able to slip behind their targets without even the sound of an exhaled breath. In near perfect sync with each other, Nashoba and Tetto grabbed the guards, slapping one hand over their target’s mouth, and the other reaching around to grip the shoulders for the leverage required to snap their necks in a single motion.
Nashoba searched the two guards until he found a ring of keys, and after a few fumbling attempts, he unlocked the door and pushed it open carefully, motioning for Tetto to grab his guard and drag them inside. There was a small room just off the entrance, and Nashoba was happy to see that it was empty and that the interior of the cabin didn’t seem to be guarded. It was only a matter of time before someone realized the guards were missing, so he dropped the body of the guard on the floor and went back into the hallway while Tetto dragged his guard in behind him.
The lights were dim, and Nashoba could hear movement in the rooms beyond. He found a light switch and flicked it on, revealing the scared faces of nearly a dozen young females from several different tribes.
SIX
“Nashoba?” said a girl he recognized instantly.
“Rachel.” Nashoba grinned and stepped further into the cabin to see the girls huddled together for fear of who might be coming for them. “I know someone who’s going to be happy to see you.”
“Tetto!” she cried as her mate entered the room after getting the guards out of sight. Rachel allowed herself to be swept into his arms. “I knew you’d come for me. I knew it in my heart.”
“Rachel, where is Akala?” asked Nashoba. “Was she kept here with you?”
“She was, but Johnson’s men came to get her an hour or two ago. She’s been up in the main house with him since then.”
“Tetto, can you take care of these girls?” asked Nashoba. “Machk should have a truck out here soon. No matter what happens, I need you to get these girls onto the truck so you can get the hell out of here.”
“I won’t leave you behind, Nashoba. It’s crazy for you to go after Johnson alone.”
“I don’t see that I have any other option.” Nashoba’s eyes fell on young Sinopa and the marks of dried tears on her cheeks. “Save these girls, Tetto.”
Nashoba turned and made his way out of the cabin before anyone could say anything else. He looked up and down the path, his keen eyes looking for some sign that the Kintawep had been alerted to their presence, and when he saw nothing, he ducked into the shadows and struck out for the garish house where he knew he’d find Akala and Johnson.
His fingers closed on the tiny leaf still sitting in his pocket, and he thought of Haley’s warning to be careful about taking too much. He already felt himself acting impulsively, and his blood lust was high, but there was no question that he’d need to fight if he was to have any chance of saving Akala. He decided that the only way he’d survive was to risk taking the last of the clennestine leaf, and so he put it in his mouth and chewed it until he could swallow the fibrous remains.
The effect of the leaf was almost immediate, and Nashoba surged forward without another thought for his own safety. The only thing that mattered now was finding a way into Johnson’s house to get Akala back. Every fiber of his being wanted to run up to the house and smash through a window, but a small voice in the back of his mind kept him from doing anything rash. Johnson’s house had guards patrolling the grounds at regular intervals, several were posted on the front door, and there were even a few of them on the roof watching the area below. The worst of it was that some of the guards were armed with automatic rifles, something Nashoba couldn’t fight against even in his wolf form, with all the effects of the clennestine leaf raging through his system.
The entire area around was illuminated by large floodlights, making it impossible for Nashoba to sneak up to the building. As calmly as he could, Nashoba crouched in the shadows of the closest building and surveyed the layout. He couldn’t get past the guards with the lights as they were, and he needed to get into that house, so he’d just have to take out the lights. This would have been a problem if Johnson had been smarter about building his defenses, but he’d been cocky, and he’d left the main generator exposed at the edge of the village.
Nashoba picked his way from building to building, knowing that he’d only have another few minutes at best before all hell broke loose. The second Machk started up those trucks, the entire Kintawep tribe would know that something was wrong, and it would be a straight-up fight to get out of there. The only way anyone was going to escape, would be if there was a distraction big enough to sow confusion in the Kintawep guards and warriors, and Nashoba had a pretty good idea of how to make that happen.
The power transformer was surrounded by a high chain link fence, but Nashoba was happy to see that they hadn’t bothered locking it. He moved fast and smooth, risking the exposure and walking directly up to the large grey box, saying a silent prayer of thanks to his ancestors that the side of the box he needed access to was on the opposite side of the closest light, giving him the barest slice of shadow to work from. Carefully, he opened the box and inspected the contents, having only a rough idea of how he’d accomplish what he had in mind.
Nashoba selected a few key wires and began unplugging them while flipping every switch he could find to the max power setting. After crossing up a few of the contacts, he waited patiently for a sign that Machk had secured the vehicles before doing anything further. Every second that he stood next to the power box only increased the odds that someone would walk by and see him there, but still he stood silently, his fingers poised above the final switch.
A large diesel engine roared to life somewhere in the camp, and still Nashoba waited. He strained to hear voices in the darkness and was eventually rewarded with the first shouts that meant Machk and his team had been discovered. Not waiting another second, Nashoba plugged his wire into the conduit he’d chosen, sending the power box into a dangerous cycle that sent its load gauge deep into the red zone.
Nashoba ran as fast as his legs would carry him, putting as much distance between himself and the transformer as possible. He made it nearly to the perimeter of Johnson’s house when the explosion ripped open into the sky above him, sending a blast that knocked him off his feet and sent him face first into the grass. Pain flared from his side despite the heavy dose of clennestine leaf, and he rolled over onto his back in agony, wondering if he’d failed in his attempt to knock out the lights.
Slowly the brigh
tness faded, and Nashoba realized that it was flares in his own vision that he was seeing. A backup generator had kicked in somewhere in Johnson’s house, but the external lights had all gone out, giving Nashoba the cover he needed to get to the house. He struggled to his feet and forced himself to resume running. Kintawep men would be coming to check on the source of the explosion at any second, and he needed to be clear of the area if he had any hope of saving Akala.
The second leaf he’d eaten helped numb Nashoba’s pain much more quickly than if he hadn’t chewed it, and by the time he reached the wall at the back of the house, he felt like he’d only been trampled by a single bull instead of a herd of cattle. His vision was a touch blurry, and his ears rang with the echoes of the explosion, but he felt focused enough to keep going. Akala was in this building somewhere, and he still had a long way to go before he could get close to her.
Nashoba skirted the building until he found a place to climb up onto a second story balcony. The heavy glass door was locked, and there was no easy way for him to shatter the glass, so Nashoba hopped up on the railing and jumped to the roof, barely latching onto the edge of it and pulling himself up and over the lip to fall softly onto the flat surface on the other side of the knee-high barrier. The guards he’d seen patrolling the roof had both gone to look at the explosion and chaos below, so Nashoba took his opportunity and began running.
He hadn’t fully thought out how he would take down two men armed with machine guns, but he didn’t have the luxury of thinking just then. If these guards had a way up onto the roof, then surely one of them had a key to the door that stood waiting in one corner of the open roof area. All he needed to do was to get those keys, and the clennestine leaf coursing through his veins told him he’d be able to do what was necessary.
Nashoba launched himself at the first guard, hitting him hard at shoulder height and knocking him down to the ground. The guard’s head caught the edge of the low roof barrier, and he was dead before they both hit the ground.
The second guard spun around, bringing his gun up to bear on the intruder, but Nashoba was already moving, his body barely registering the bullet that grazed his thigh as he hurtled towards his target. Nashoba wasted no energy of movement, slipping right through the guard’s defenses and going straight for the throat. He dug deep with his fingers, feeling them penetrate flesh until he felt the satisfying crunch of his target’s windpipe collapsing.
Nashoba hunched over the body, frisking it until he found the thin plastic keycard that would give him access to Johnson’s home. Not wasting a second, he ran to the door and swiped the card across the scanner, grinning as the door clicked open.
SEVEN
Akala’s felt like she was barely holding it together. She’d been escorted back to Johnson’s house after a fitful sleep and a day of worrying over the other girls who’d been taken. None of them knew exactly what was going to happen to them, and the waiting was a sort of torture, straining their nerves until everyone in that prison of a cabin was ready to snap. Akala had shared what she’d learned from her first visit with Johnson, but it hadn’t gone a long way towards making anyone feel better. They all knew why it was only females that had been taken, and it didn’t take a stretch of the imagination to figure out what might happen to any girl who didn’t go willingly into the bed of one of the Kintawep men.
Now, perched in a high backed wing chair in a study in Johnson’s house, Akala was beginning to think her time would be here any minute. Johnson’s men had deposited her there after making it clear they’d be waiting just outside the door should she try to escape, and the first thing her captor had done upon entering the room was to pour her a glass of something brown and fiercely alcoholic. Akala wasn’t much for hard liquor but she drank the scotch or bourbon down in a few gulps, hoping it would numb her at least a little to whatever awful thing was about to happen.
“You don’t like me, do you?” asked Johnson, leaning against his large mahogany desk.
“Like you?” Akala set the empty glass down on the small table next to her chair. “You raided a village, threw me into the back of a truck, locked me up with a bunch of other girls that you plan on handing out to your men, and now you have me sitting here like some kind of whore that you expect to do whatever you want. No, I don’t like you. I despise you.”
“This can go a lot of ways, Akala.” Johnson smiled and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t want it to have to be unpleasant for you, believe me, I don’t. With the plans I have for the united tribes, the werekind will thrive in these lands and finally have a power base from which to go public. Do you know what that means for us? Do you know what it means to always have to hide your true identity for fear of being hunted down and murdered?”
Akala shook her head. “That still doesn’t give you the right to do this.”
“Why not? Kings have been taking land and people for as long as there was someone to sit upon a throne. I would be a king to my people. I would see them stand strong and powerful as the rightful apex predators of this world. We werewolves are cunning and strong, loyal and brave, and there is no reason for us to hide any longer. Wouldn’t you rather be a part of that instead of a lowly human cowering as we take our place in society?”
A shiver ran down Akala’s spine. She’d known she was dealing with a madman from the minute she’d been brought to his home, but she hadn’t realized quite how far his delusions of grandeur reached. What he talked about meant all-out war with humans, and he had to know that he’d never survive the fight against the police and military forces that would swoop in to shut them down. If Johnson was bent on this course of action, he doomed not only himself, but all those in his tribe and any shifters unable to escape notice when he went public.
“And what would you offer me instead?” she asked acidly. “A baby in my belly and a chain around my ankles to ensure that I never leave the house? What kind of life would I have as your slave?”
“No, it wouldn’t be like that.” Johnson stood and came to kneel before her. He took her hands in his and kissed them gently. “You would be my queen. You would rule beside me and help me convince any who oppose us that they would be smart to lay down their arms and accept our superiority. There would be pups to bear, of course, but it could be so much more than that. As my lead mate, you would have power over all in our tribe.”
“Lead mate?” Akala strained to keep herself from yanking her hands back away from him in disgust. There was a flicker of something dangerous in his eyes, and she feared what he might do should she push him too far.
“It’s nothing against you, but I have to ensure that my family line grows strong. Though not common among our kind, there have been times when a leader must take several mates to sow his seed amongst. There could be pleasure in it, don’t you think? Have you known the touch of another woman? Have you felt the heat of two or even three other people pressing their skin against yours?”
Johnson moved his hands to Akala’s thighs and rubbed them softly over her bare legs. His fingertips pushed up against the hem of her shorts, seeking the private areas hidden below. Akala dared not move for fear of angering him, and she hated herself for not slapping him and trying to run. She considered her options and couldn’t decide if it was better to take a beating and be thrown back in the cabin than it was to endure whatever might happen here.
It’s only sex, she whispered in her mind. I can’t get pregnant right now, and it’s only sex. I just have to survive until I can escape or until Nashoba comes for me. Nashoba will come for me.
Her confidence in Nashoba waned considerably when Johnson began kissing her neck. One hand drifted upwards, sliding over her shirt to cup her breast where it squeezed and massaged the soft flesh in a way that made her feel sick for the response it triggered in her body. A part of her liked it, and welcomed this handsome man’s attention, but her brain rebelled at the thought of how he wanted to control her. Johnson wanted to own her and use her body for his own personal gain, and th
at alone was enough to make her want to throw up when his lips found hers.
A knock at the door made Johnson pull his head back and turn in anger. “I said I was not to be disturbed!”
“I’m sorry sir,” said the guard who’d entered the room, “but there’s been a breach of the compound. They seem to be here for the girls.”
No sooner had he finished saying the words than a muffled boom vibrated through the house. Johnson stood and walked away from Akala to speak in a furious but quiet voice to the guard. After a brief exchange, the guard left them alone again and Johnson returned to Akala.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed her and hauled her up to her feet, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her upper arm.
“What’s happening? Where are you taking me?” Akala felt hysteria creeping in at the edges of her voice, but she could do little to hold it back.
“It seems your boyfriend’s tribe has decided to raid our village. I’m told they’ve already secured trucks and taken out our guards at the cabins where the females are being held.”
Hope flared through Akala. If Choctaw were here on the raid, that surely meant Nashoba would be with them. She knew in her heart that Nashoba would stop at nothing to get to her. If he was here, that meant she was closer than ever to being rescued.
Johnson half dragged her through his compound until he reached a set of stairs where he pushed her in front of him. Unable to fight back against her captor, Akala had no choice but to keep moving forward, down the stairs and into a dark passageway that seemed to run underground for some length. She stumbled and almost fell a few times, but Johnson was always there on her heels, ensuring that she kept moving forward.
When they finally emerged from the passageway, it was from a natural cleft in the rocks, as if they’d just come out of a cave or den. A small fire burned bright in the darkness of night, and a woman sat next to it, her legs crossed and her eyes closed, soft chanting spilling from her rapidly moving lips. She seemed to be fixed in a deep trance, but her eyes flicked open at their approach, and she tilted her head when she saw who approached her.
The Alpha's Mail Order Bride- The Complete Series Page 10