They arrived at the cliffs, but nothing remained except the fast-fading scent of his mate and the foul stench of humans.
Lifting his head, Derrick gave a blood-curdling howl.
His mate was gone.
Chapter 14
“The scent is the same.” Derrick barely heard Silas’ words through the haze. Angelica was gone. Only hours before, he’d held her in his arms while she made sweet, passionate love to him, and now...
He never should have left her alone. Not when he’d seen the sadness in her eyes, felt her disquiet. He should have known she’d seek out the water. That was where she found her peace when she believed she had nowhere else to turn.
But he’d been a fool. He’d thought his distraction had worked. He’d thought a few words and well-placed kisses would be enough to allay her fears.
At least I can do this...
Her words haunted him until he wanted to claw them out of his own head. Didn’t she understand that she was so much more to him? To them?
No, of course she didn’t. Because she was hormonal. She wasn’t thinking clearly.
As if her life hadn’t changed enough in the last few weeks! Christophe had said a she-wolf’s first heat cycle could be overwhelming as her body struggled with the changes. As a human female, her cycle had been monthly and relatively mild, but a she-wolf’s heat only came twice a year and packed a much more significant punch. He’d said it would explain the mood swings, as well as an increased desire for acceptance and comfort, and her insatiable needs.
And what had he done? He, a six-hundred plus year old Alpha, had panicked. He’d fucked her and run to the security of his pack. After mouthing off a bunch of assurances, he did the one thing guaranteed to negate them. He’d left her behind.
He’d left her behind so she had no choice but to venture out alone for what she needed. Without him. Without protection.
And now she was gone.
Another blood-curdling howl rent through the night.
“Derrick!” Silas’ voice was pure steel, but nothing less would have cut through his feral mind. The Alpha turned to his second in command, to the others who had gathered around him. They were a sober bunch, each one shouldering a heavy sense of the blame for failing to keep Angelica safe.
“The ones who took her, Dieter says the scent is the same as those who attacked Markus’ pack.”
Derrick’s heart fell further.
* * *
The boat sliced its way north in the relatively calm sea. He would have to return to finish the job, but that was all right. He had something even better: an unexpected opportunity he couldn’t help but take advantage of.
Carrow felt almost giddy as he leisurely stroked the wolf’s fine coat, confident he was in no danger. It was something he’d never allowed himself to do before, but he couldn’t help himself. This one was so small, so soft. Definitely very young. Its size coupled with the fact that it had allowed itself to get separated from the others and hadn’t scented danger until it was too late told him so.
The plan had been to locate those who had managed to escape from the Northern raid, but this was so much better. This one was different. Unique. Worth a dozen of the others for the coat alone, but he would not skin this one. The doc would pay his weight in gold for a pup like this.
Beneath his hand, he felt it starting to change. His eyes widened and he held his breath. The silky gold fur became hair — long, glorious golden hair. The shape morphed smoothly into that of a beautiful young woman. She murmured softly, an anguished moan, but she was still under the effects of the potent tranquilizer.
Jesus Christ, Carrow breathed. They’d caught a female.
* * *
They went over every inch of the beach where Angelica had been taken. Other than a few non-descript footprints in the loose sand, they had little in the way of clues.
They knew Angelica had been drugged and Christophe was in his office trying to identify exactly what they had used. Niko had been the one to find the spent tranquilizer dart amongst the rocks, where it must have dislodged when she fell.
Steffen had been examining security footage for the last several hours, but it provided nothing useful. The bastards who had taken Angelica appeared as nothing more than occasional dark smudges against the shoreline. The abduction had been quick, less than a minute from the emergence of the first smudge to the empty spot where Angelica had stood.
“There!” Niko zoomed in on the previous night’s satellite video until the boat became visible. Painted in hues of deep blues, greens, and blacks, it would have been nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye in the waters at night. Only the small variation in heat allowed it to be picked up at all.
Derrick memorized every feature of the craft. He would find it again. He would track it to the ends of the earth if need be. But he would get Angelica back.
* * *
Something big was going on. Really big if the doc’s eyes were glittering maniacally like that. The man’s eyes were disturbing to begin with, but when he got all excited like this, it creeped Lachlan out.
Lachlan hated what he was forced to do every day. He hated injecting himself with the toxic chemicals that allowed him to conceal his true nature. He hated assuming the persona of a human scientist. He hated seeing the pain and suffering to which his brethren were subjected. The brothers he had abandoned so long ago.
But it was the only way to save what little remained of his pack, to ensure no other pack experienced the hell his had.
Lachlan lifted his hand to the biometric scanner, shifting his weight impatiently while he waited for it to confirm his identity. Unlike many of his kind, he had spent most of his life in the human world. He was still pack — nothing was stronger than blood — but his voracious appetite for knowledge had prompted him to attend some of the world’s most prestigious universities. Over the years, he had immersed himself in science. He was fascinated by the intricacies of biochemistry and physiology, his dream to discover what made him and his brethren different from humans.
In the human world, he was acclaimed for his cutting edge genetic research.
In the lupine world, he’d been vastly misunderstood. No one could comprehend why he would willingly choose to live and work among the humans when he could have a place of prestige among his pack.
But Lachlan had no interest in claiming his birthright. He didn’t want the responsibility of an entire pack; he wanted to travel and learn and grow. So he had left, leaving another to lead them in his stead. And now, they were all dead. All but a precious few who were kept in cages and experimented on like lab rats by a sadistic, twisted son-of-a-bitch in the name of “science”.
How ironic was it that that same separation was now the only chance of preserving what little was left of the pack?
Anticipating the clearance, he leaned forward for the retinal scan as well. The locking mechanism gave an audible click of final approval and Lachlan stepped inside. His feet automatically carried him toward the observation glass.
Dr. Victor Schaeffer was brilliant. He was also certifiably insane. A real-life, worst-case scenario of Dr. Frankenstein meeting Van Helsing, Dr. Schaeffer hunted and experimented on mythical creatures who really weren’t so mythical. His thirst for knowledge rivaled Lachlan’s, but where Lachlan’s motives were pure, Schaeffer’s were not. In the highly-specialized, exclusive underground circles where Schaeffer moved, he was known for his total lack of compassion, seeing Weres as nothing more than fascinating science experiments. In Schaeffer’s convoluted mind, they were creatures to dissect piece by piece until all the mystery was revealed.
Lachlan had heard of him through shadowed whispers deep in the subterranean tunnels of his legendary and highly secret research facility. But he hadn’t actually met him until he was summoned by the doctor himself several weeks ago to collaborate on something so incredibly fantastic, it boggled the mind. Dr. Schaeffer had managed to procure beings he claimed to be actual living, breathing werewolves.
&nbs
p; At first, Lachlan didn’t believe it. He, like all Weres, had heard of the raids, but he hadn’t worried. His pack was one of the oldest and strongest, living in a virtually impenetrable fortress in the harsh Northern mountain regions of Eastern Europe. But then, halfway across the world, he’d felt link after mental link being extinguished one by one, and knew his pack had been attacked. In a matter of mere hours, a pack which had existed for centuries was virtually annihilated, all but wiped from existence.
He had received the summons as he followed the few remaining pulses of his pack, his family. Now, here he was, watching the doctor perform experiments on three of his brothers who had somehow survived, while desperately searching for a way to free them from this hell and lay waste to Schaeffer’s facility, wiping it and every sick bastard who walked its halls from existence.
Even with the potent chemical cocktails flowing through his veins, it was hard to fight the change. His wolf wanted to rip free and destroy everything and everyone in his path. But the man knew he wouldn’t make it five feet before he was taken down and secured to an exam table just like the rest of them. No, if he wanted to save them, he would have to play this twisted game for a little while longer.
He’d already managed to lay the charges at strategic points that, when activated, would bury the facility beneath so much rock, it would be harder to find than Atlantis. Now, all he had to do was get his brothers out. Maybe this latest find would prove enough of a distraction for him to finally pull it off and put all of this behind him...
The moment he reached the glass, Lachlan froze. He had thought he was beyond horror. That nothing could shock him or reach so deep into his very being that his beast would take over despite all of his precautions.
He was wrong.
A female. A fucking female. And Holy Christ, she was just a baby. Maybe two and a half decades on this earth at most, but her transition was in its infancy.
Lachlan cursed the stupid son of a bitch who allowed her to get captured, even as he struggled to control the protective instincts of his beast. He could not help her if he was chained to the exam table next to her, but his eyesight was near red with berserker-level rage.
Then, she turned and looked at him. Looked right into his goddamned eyes and his beast stilled. He knew then that he would save her, just as he would save what remained of his family. There simply was no other option. The wolf in him shuddered and growled, retreating back far enough to do whatever it took.
Schaeffer was nearly rubbing his hands with glee when Lachlan took a deep breath and forced himself into the room. He nearly staggered at the scent that hit him. Not just a young female. A young female in heat. Fuck.
Lachlan’s flesh began to burn as he fought the change with everything he had. His heart broke as he thought of all the things the sadistic bastard would do to her. No wonder the psychopath was so giddy.
Chapter 15
Derrick! Niko called out. His voice was level and calm as always, but Derrick and the others felt the pulse of urgency. Meet us in the caves at the southernmost tip of the island with all haste.
You have found something? Derrick asked, even as he raced toward the cliffs. It was Dieter who answered. Come.
The Were male was barely conscious as they half-carried, half-dragged him farther back into the darkened chamber. Niko had spotted him laying tangled between the sharp outcroppings, brought in by the tide and too weak to break free.
“Who is he?”
Niko shook his head. “We do not yet know.”
Derrick sniffed the air. “The scent. It is familiar.”
“That is what we thought as well,” Dieter confirmed. “He smells like Oskar.”
Derrick’s eyes widened. “His sire?”
“Most likely. The blood running through his veins smells too similar to be anything but a close relation.”
The male groaned.
“Get him to Christophe immediately and bring Oskar to him. Let us see what he has to say about this.”
* * *
Angelica woke up feeling terribly groggy. Nothing was familiar. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was she was cold and hungry, her head felt as though it had been squeezed in a vice, and she was dressed in some sort of hospital gown. There were bonds around her ankles and wrists, and she was hooked up to several machines.
Excited whispers and murmurs surrounded her, though none were familiar. She sniffed the air tentatively. Humans, mixed with the antiseptic smells of a hospital. Remembering the last time she was in a medical facility, she shivered uncontrollably.
“She’s awake,” someone said before she felt them excitedly crowding around her. One lifted her wrist and wrapped cold fingers around her pulse. Another placed icy steel upon her chest, close enough that she could feel his breath.
“Vitals are still erratic, but stabilizing.” That voice. There was something vaguely familiar about it. Angelica opened her eyes slightly — her lids felt like lead — and tried to make out the blurry figure now positioning a penlight over her face. She caught the briefest glimpse of wild eyes before the light flicked on and blinded her.
“Pupil dilation suggests the tranquilizer is beginning to wear off. Christ, how much did Carrow shoot her up with?”
“We could not risk losing her due to insufficient sedation,” another voice, a cold voice, answered, as if that would have been obvious.
“The idiot almost killed her,” said penlight guy. “A corpse would not have suited our needs.”
“True, but even in death there is much she will tell us.”
Angelica shivered. She felt the briefest touch of a warm hand on her shoulder, the vaguest impression of a pulse of compassion flowing through her before it was gone.
“I have not traveled all this way to examine cadavers, Dr. Schaeffer.” Currents of displeasure were weaved into the voice, subtle intonations that a human ear probably would not have noticed. Instinctively, Angelica knew it was the same man who had just touched her.
“No, I suppose not.” Angelica shivered. The second man’s voice held no compassion. He sounded almost disappointed that he would not get the chance to dissect her just yet. “How long will you need?”
“Several days at least,” murmured the first man. “Perhaps more.” Angelica felt the pads of his large, warm fingers pull back her lips, felt him stroke and tap her teeth, as if gauging their sharpness. She summoned enough strength to snap at him.
* * *
Lachlan pulled back just in time to prevent losing his fingers completely. Outwardly, he scowled, but inwardly, his beast was pleased. She had spirit; that was good. She was going to need it if she had any hopes of surviving.
“Unacceptable,” Schaeffer said, running his hand up Angelica’s left calf, checking her muscle tone.
Lachlan straightened to his full height, a respectable six-foot-six. He towered over the much smaller man. “Excuse me?”
“I want to begin as quickly as possible.”
“Understood,” Lachlan said, barely containing himself. “But since your tests will most likely kill her, I would prefer to complete my analysis first.”
“My tests are not fatal,” Schaeffer said, stiffening. “What happened with the male was unexpected. I could not have foreseen he would have such a violent reaction.”
“You would have if you had bothered to read my analysis,” Lachlan accused coldly, burying the images of his brother writhing in agony the day before, all because Schaeffer had decided to go behind his back and attempt to chemically induce the change from man to beast. Lachlan had only just been able to save him by discreetly injecting him with several vials of his own blood. It was the only way to counteract the toxins literally destroying his lupine DNA, rather than coaxing them to the surface as Schaeffer believed.
Schaeffer didn’t know that, however. Lachlan had been carefully adjusting his findings to keep the psychotic scientist from discovering the truth. “I was quite clear in indicating the genetic anomaly I discovered in the processi
ng of various proteins could have unpredictable results when exposed to specific inorganic compounds.”
Schaeffer glared at him, bristling. He did not like being chastised in his own lab. Had he been a wolf, Lachlan was sure the hair would have been standing erect at the back of his neck, his canines extending in warning. He almost wished that were the case. Lachlan would have welcomed the chance to rip out his throat.
Whether Schaeffer sensed Lachlan’s thirst for blood behind his cool eyes and impassive expression was unclear, but his aggression lessened. “A regrettable oversight on my part. One I shall not repeat.”
Lachlan blinked almost lazily. The fucker was already dead. He just didn’t know it yet.
“Will forty-eight hours suffice?”
Appearing to consider this, Lachlan’s brain worked furiously. Two days was not nearly enough, but he had to tread carefully. Asking for too much time would make Schaeffer suspicious. Of course, he could agree to the timeframe up front, then create delays if need be. He’d become something of an expert at subterfuge.
“It will have to, I suppose. Can I assume that during this period you will refrain from conducting your own experiments?”
A dark shadow crossed Schaeffer’s face. Clearly, he’d had no intentions of any such thing. But Lachlan had thrown that out there as a safety net. If something went wrong and he could not get them out in time, this would keep Schaeffer from doing anything irreversibly damaging until he could.
Finally, Schaeffer sighed, his disappointment evident. “I will refrain from anything too taxing.”
Lachlan let his eyes graze over the small form trembling on the table before him, listening to every word. He only hoped she made it.
* * *
“Oskar!” Liam’s voice was barely audible, but he reached out with both arms for his son.
“Papa!” Oskar was there, gripping his father with the strength of a boy-cub, his face covered with shamed tears. “I am so sorry, Papa...”
“Don’t be,” Liam said, clutching his son. “If you had been there, they would have gotten you, too.”
Black Wolfe's Mate (Paranormal Shifter Romance) Page 10