by Anne Kane
Wolfe threw back his head and screamed his anguish, even as he felt an unseen hand squeeze his heart, breaking it into a million tiny pieces.
He’d failed. He was her Protector. He’d bound her to him thinking, in his arrogance, that the binding would keep her safe. And now she was gone.
He stooped to pick up the hat, taking one of the bright berries and putting it slowly into his mouth. She’d been picking raspberries. The sweet fruit grew just outside the protective boundaries, coaxing her into the hands of her enemies. The fruit melted on his tongue. He swore he could taste her sweet presence on it. The last thing she’d touched.
Rage flowed through him at the thought of anyone touching his bond mate with the intention of hurting her. He’d hunt them down and make them rue the day they’d been born.
Reaching out with all of his senses, he searched for her. Nikki? They would have drugged her so she couldn’t call out to him. They had to, or she would answer. He could still sense her, but he couldn’t tell how close she was.
Concentrating on the forest floor, he followed the tracks left by the intruders. They hadn’t bothered to hide their trail. Crushed foliage and scuffed footprints in the soft forest floor made it easy to find the spot where the helicopter had waited for them to return with their human cargo. They’d landed on the far side of the ridge, the large rock outcropping blocking the sound made by the machine.
Then there was nothing.
Damn!
He stared at the sky for a long time, as if he could somehow will them to return. Will them to bring back the other half of his heart.
He shook his head. Time to get moving. He would get her back, and anyone foolish enough to get in his way would regret it. He needed to get in touch with Trina. Maybe there had been something in her vision that would help him locate her.
Returning to the tree house, he grabbed his cell phone and car keys. Flipping the phone open, he checked the signal strength. Damn. Only one bar. The peaks were too close here for decent reception. He put the phone away, headed down the steps to the ground.
Turning his back on the clearing, he started the long hike back to his Jeep. Hopefully the men who had been staking out her cabin hadn’t bothered to disable the vehicles.
He settled into a smooth rhythm, jogging through the dense forest with the ease of long practice. His long stride ate up the ground while he took consolation from the solid presence of the bond. She was alive.
Reaching the ridge just below Hunter’s Range, he stopped at a fast-running stream for a drink. Having slaked his thirst, he pulled out the phone. Five bars! Great. He pulled up Trina’s number and hit send.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings. He gritted his teeth. Answer the damn phone! Four rings.
“Hello?” Trina’s cheerful voice sent relief flooding through him. “Wolfe?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” He didn’t bother with the niceties. “They’ve got Nikki.”
* * * * *
When she came to, she couldn’t move her arms or legs, and a bone-chilling cold sent shivers throughout her entire body. She tried to move, but her limbs refused to move. She panicked, struggling to get her body to respond. Pain flashed through her wrists. What the hell?
She was strapped to a cold metal table. A man came into her field of view, his lab coat a startling white. Ignoring her struggles, he walked around her, muttering and making notes on a clipboard. Nothing he said made sense. She had no idea what language that was but it definitely wasn’t English.
“Where am I?” Her voice came out a raspy croak that even she had trouble understanding.
The man looked up from his notes, as if he just realized she was there. He frowned, his heavily accented English jarred her memory. German. He’d been talking German.
“Ja, you are awake now. Don’t try to talk. The sedative takes a bit of time to wear off, and your throat will be dry. You’re inside Dr. Kvordic’s research facility, of course. Once we complete our inspection, you’ll be taken to your enclosure.”
Dr. Kvordic? Who in the hell was Dr. Kvordic? Was that the guy Todd said might have taken his sister? Fear raced through her as she remembered her sister’s vision. When did the torture part start?
The man ignored her and walked to edge of the room, pushing a button on the wall. “The subject is conscious and seems to have suffered no ill effects from the sedatives. She can be moved now.”
“Excellent. I’ll send one of the guards down to escort her to her new quarters.” The disembodied voice came from a speaker mounted on the wall.
The man walked back over to her, his expression one of cool detachment. “You’re not human, so don’t expect we should treat you as one. We know what you are. This is a research facility. We collect specimens of nonhumans and study them.”
He produced a metallic collar from one pocket and fastened it around her neck. “That’s for identification, and tracking in case you get lost. It doesn’t come off so don’t bother trying. You’ll only injure yourself, and that won’t please the doctor. You’ll soon learn that pleasing the doctor is very important. He intends to study your habits both as human and selkie in order to combine it with his research on other nonhuman genomes. If you behave, you’ll be treated humanely. If you make trouble or try to escape, you will be punished. Do I make myself clear?”
Nikki nodded slowly, feeling dazed. How had this happened? Wolfe had been so sure no one knew about the tree house. There weren’t any roads into it, and he’d told her that there was a protective barrier around it.
Damn! She remembered wandering into the woods when she’d spotted the bush full of plump ripe raspberries. Had she stepped outside the protective circle?
The door opened and a chunky woman dressed in a guard’s uniform entered. “This the new selkie?”
“Yes.” The man consulted his clipboard. “Her name is Nikki. I’ve already collared her.”
“Here’s hoping she’s a little sturdier than the last one.”
Nikki stayed silent as the guard released the restraints on her wrists and ankles. Unless they asked her a direct question, it didn’t seem like a good idea to volunteer any information.
The woman addressed her. “I’m the day guard in the ecosystem compound. You can call me Mrs. Simmons. Dr. Kvordic went to a great deal of trouble to make sure each of you creatures has the proper environment, so I’m sure you’ll be comfortable. You should be thankful that he is so considerate. Most researchers would just stick you creatures in cages.”
Nikki didn’t like the way these people kept referring to her as some type of animal. Throughout human history, once a culture convinced themselves that their captives weren’t human, they had no trouble treating them as animals, and slaughtering them when they were no longer useful. She stood, letting the guard take her arm and hustle her out the door. Her legs were a bit wobbly, probably from the anesthetic they’d used.
The woman led her down a long hallway, unlocking the door at the end of it by inputting a code into the electronic lock. So much for knocking her out and stealing the keys.
When the door swung open, the unexpectedly brilliant sunshine almost blinded her, and Nikki drew in a startled breath, squinting to be able to see. The compound looked like a high-end zoo. Glass-sided enclosures surrounded various ecosystems. On the left, there was a jungle with palm trees and a thick canopy. On the right, she could see a hardwood forest with a couple of large dogs sitting under the trees watching their approach.
“Werewolves.” The guard gestured at the dogs. “Don’t trust them. The one on the left attacked me just last week. They upset the water system and I had to go in to adjust it. Sneaky buggers. I’ll insist they be tranquilized before I go in again.”
The larger of the two werewolves stood and stalked toward the wall, his tongue lolling out as if he were laughing. Nikki noted the way the guard took an involuntary step back from the glass.
Fear. Nikki filed the information away for future use. If she could figure out how to make contac
t, the werewolves might make good allies.
“What’s in the jungle?” She tried to sound casual.
“A were-panther. We’re still studying it. So far, the doctor hasn’t been able to convince him to shift to his human form. He will though.” The guard gave a knowing nod of her head. “Dr. Kvordic can be very persuasive when he wants to be.”
They came to a lovely enclosure with a large waterfall feeding a deep pond. Under different circumstances, Nikki would have found it charming. The guard keyed in a code, opening the door with a flourish. “And this will be your new home. You’re our second selkie, you know. The first is still in the infirmary. Managed to escape and get into the werewolf enclosure, stupid thing. They’re all males over there, and the alpha mounted Sasha, got her pregnant. The doctor was going to let her go to term to see the results, but it didn’t go well. He thinks their genetic codes are incompatible. The pregnancy was terminated and when she regains some of her strength, we’ll be putting her back in with you. One more reason for you to steer well clear of the werewolves. Absolutely ruthless, those beasts.”
Nikki felt her heart sink. Sasha. That had to be Todd’s missing sister. If she didn’t recover, he was going to be devastated. She wondered if the girl had been trying to form an alliance with the strongest predators in the compound. Hard to believe she’d just stumbled into a werewolf compound. She’d have to wait and talk to her when she recovered.
The guard continued the tour. “Food is supplied three times a day. There’s a bathroom over there, a supply shelf with towels and such along the back wall. The bedroom is in the far corner. We do follow humane procedures and supply you with the basic necessities. You’re expected to shift when asked so that the doctor can study you in both forms. You will be informed if they need you in your alternate form. The entire compound is monitored by a ’round-the-clock security staff, so you will be watched at all times.”
“Why?”
The guard blinked as if that were the stupidest question she’d ever heard. “That’s why you’re here. So that Dr. Kvordic can study you. He’s working on a comprehensive thesis of the paranormal creatures hiding amongst real humans. When he’s ready, he intends to unveil you creatures to the world. He tried to tell them years ago that he’d seen a pack of werewolves in the northern Rocky Mountains but they laughed at him. The stupid idiots. They won’t be able to laugh this time. He’ll have documented proof, as well as all you lovely specimens to show them. He’ll be famous, maybe even get nominated for a Nobel Prize.” Her eyes shone with zealous fervor, and Nikki shrank back a step. This place was a madhouse, and the insane were holding the keys!
The guard didn’t seem to notice. “I’m off to do my rounds now. If you need anything, just holler and security will pick it up on one of the monitors.” She stepped back out of the enclosure and pulled the door shut, engaging the electronic lock. Without a backward glance she sauntered off toward the jungle enclosure. Watching her go, Nikki wondered what other poor creatures were caged here.
When the guard rounded the corner, Nikki took a good look around her compound. She refused to think of it as anything else. The walls were at least twenty feet high, and neither of the two trees growing inside them were close enough for her to use in an escape attempt. A heavy wire ran along the top of the glass, and signs warned that it was electrically charged. Lovely. She wondered if the voltage was high enough to kill, or just send her screaming for mercy.
She could see two cameras on swivel mounts high up on the glass, where they could follow her every move. She took a few steps to the right and watched the one camera follow her. She’d have to find a way to neutralize them if she made an escape attempt.
In the housing area, two more cameras covered every possible inch of the living space, making privacy nonexistent. The furnishings consisted of a bed, a table and a chair all in a drab green color. Real cozy. They needed a new decorator.
The bathroom would have done credit to a correctional facility, all gleaming chrome with a glass-walled shower. She looked up and sure enough, a security camera was in position to catch just about anything she might do, including shower. She sure hoped they were tough enough not to run screaming at the sight of her in the morning.
Refusing to give in to despair or the hysteria she could sense rapidly rising, Nikki wandered to the chair and sat, closing her eyes. Part of her sister’s vision had come true so it stood to reason that the rest would as well.
Concentrating, she searched her mind for that tiny corner where she’d been able to feel Wolfe’s presence ever since that binding thing. To her surprise, she could still feel him. Maybe he wasn’t as far away as she thought.
Wolfe?
She couldn’t believe how disappointed she felt when he didn’t answer. She’d come to rely on his solid presence, his calm reassurance that nothing bad would ever manage to come between them. She tried again. Wolfe? Where are you? I need you!
Nothing.
She could feel him, but she couldn’t contact him. She had no idea what that meant. Could he still feel her? Could he tell where she was? Maybe this place had some sort of blocking system in place to make sure she didn’t reach out for help. Damn this whole stupid binding thing anyway. She had no idea if her captors were aware of her link to Wolfe. Why hadn’t she paid more attention when he tried to explain it?
Frustrated, she picked up the mug on the end table and threw it at the glass wall of the enclosure. It bounced off without leaving a mark. Great, not glass. Must be some sort of Plexiglas or plastic polymer. Could be harder than she thought to get out of here.
How had Sasha managed to get into the werewolf pen?
Chapter Fifteen
Nikki opened one eye and stared blearily at the wall of her cell, trying to see what had disturbed her sleep. She’d spent a restless night, her sleep punctuated by vivid nightmares of her sister’s vision.
The sound of a gong echoed through her cell, and set her teeth on edge. Her eyes focused on the food hopper, where someone had shoved a plate through the opening. Lovely. Even the meals reminded her of an institution. Did they think she was some kind of rat, conditioned to eat at the sound of a bell?
Pulling the blanket over her head, she rolled over and made a determined effort to ignore the world, or at least her annoying little corner of it. She felt for Wolfe’s presence, hoping it wasn’t just her imagination that kept her hopes alive. No, she could still feel him but she had the impression he was far away.
It didn’t matter. He would come for her.
She had to believe that, or she might go mad.
“Nikki. Time to get up. You have a full schedule today.”
What the hell? She pulled the blanket off her face and looked around. No one. Maybe it was too late. She’d already gone insane.
“Nikki. Time to get up.”
She located the speakers hidden in the ceiling panels. She rubbed a tired hand across her face and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. This captivity thing was getting annoying. Stumbling to the bathroom, she dashed some water on her face, and hazarded a look in the mirror. Maybe she could let them see her before she brushed her hair. That ought to scare the living bejeezus out of them.
Ambling into the main living area, she grabbed the tray from the hopper and set it on the table. Her hand on the lid, she hesitated. These people were living in their own little Dream World. Did she really want to know what the madman might consider a suitable breakfast for a selkie? If there were raw fish on this platter, she’d heave it right into that damn Plexiglas wall. It may not break it, but someone would have to come and clean the damn thing up.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted the lid gingerly and stared at the plate. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, jam and a cup of orange juice. Not bad. Apparently, the mad scientist didn’t concoct the menus. At least she’d be able to keep her strength up until Wolfe arrived to rescue her. And he would. She hugged his presence in her mind like a talisman. He was her Protector. He wouldn’t fail her. She
picked up the plastic fork and took a mouthful of the scrambled eggs.
“Good girl!”
She put the fork down and looked around. Enough already. “Look, you assholes. I spent half the night having nightmares, thanks to your wonderful hospitality. Now I’m awake, and I’m eating even though I’d rather spend the next few hours unconscious in the sack, and if you don’t bloody well leave me alone to do it, I’m going to show you exactly how nasty a pissed-off selkie can be. Now sod off and let me finish my breakfast.” She punctuated her tirade with a glare around the room. Let them make some of their damn notes about that. She picked up the fork and resumed eating. The voices in the ceiling remained blessedly silent.
She’d just finished gulping down the last of the juice when Mrs. Simmons appeared to unlock her cell. “Time to get moving. We have a panel of tests for you before your meeting with the doctor.”
Nikki raised her brows. “I haven’t had time to shower or brush my teeth yet.”
The guard pursed her lips. “You’re new, so I’ll give you five minutes. In future, when you hear the wakeup call, you get out of bed. Immediately. This isn’t some high-class hotel.”
No kidding. The room service sucked. She refrained from saying it aloud, merely mumbled something that she hoped sounded suitably thankful and headed for the bathroom.
Not a fan of taking a shower in front of however many hidden cameras they had installed, she settled for a quick sponge bath, and stopped dead.
Clean clothes. Not like they’d let her pack a suitcase before they’d grabbed her. Wrinkling her nose, she went back to the kitchen area. “How do I go about getting some clean clothes? These are starting to smell.”
Mrs. Simmons shook her head. “You’re still persisting in thinking of yourself as human. You’ll get over it. You all do, sooner or later. Just take those things off and toss them in the trash bin. We keep the temperature in each ecosystem warm enough that clothing is not necessary. The male specimens are quicker to grasp that.” She picked out a bathrobe from the shelves. “We supply bathrobes to be worn when you are being transported from one area to another or when you are being interviewed by the doctor or one of the researchers. Some of them find it uncomfortable to work with a specimen that appears to be a nude human.”