And if he was leading them into a trap…well, it couldn’t be much worse than being locked in the basement.
That didn’t, however, mean she intended to lower her guard.
Keeping a reasonable distance from the stranger, she continued to probe for information.
“I heard the guard say that you made females disappear,” she said.
He shrugged, his gaze locked on the doorway at the end of the hall. Was he expecting trouble?
“They assume I enjoy rough sex and that I bury the bodies in the mountains,” he explained in off-hand tones. “It’s the only way I could smuggle them out of the building.”
A portion of her dislike for the man eased. “You rescued them,” she breathed.
“Not as many as I would have liked, but I have to be careful not to make my employers suspicious. They’re easy to dismiss as stupid humans, but they’re cunning and dangerous.”
Cora grimaced, recalling how easily they’d managed to kidnap her.
“True.”
Sinclair came to a halt in front of a large window.
“I cut the sensors to the alarm, but there are three guards patrolling the grounds.” He glanced toward the large wolf, who continued to eye him with homicidal anticipation. “You’ll need to keep an eye out for them.”
Cora hesitated. She understood that every passing second increased the odds of them getting caught, but she also knew the only way to get away from the SAU was to take off through the nearby parkland. It was too risky to remain in the neighborhood. Who knew which nearby houses might be owned by the secret government agency?
Which meant she would be away from civilization for the next half hour or more.
“I need to contact my father,” she said, preparing herself for an argument.
Instead, Sinclair reached into the pocket of his jeans to pull out a small black object. With a lift of his hand, he tossed it in Cora’s direction.
“It’s a burner phone,” he told her.
Snatching it out of mid-air, Cora flipped it open and sent a text to her father in the secret code they’d developed years ago. It was the one certain to make sure that he knew it was her.
Beyond a brief reassurance that she and Soren had managed to escape from the SAU, she sent a short warning that the leader intended to try and force him to use his powers as Alpha to create new shifters.
It took a few minutes, but at last, a short text flashed across the screen that assured her Jonah had received her message and was making plans to deal with their enemies.
Sending up a silent prayer that her father wouldn’t do something to get himself killed, Cora shut the phone down and handed it back to Sinclair.
“Here.”
“Keep it,” he said in tones that indicated he was accustomed to giving orders. “And take this.”
She reached to take the folded piece of paper that he’d pulled from his boot. She lifted her brows. He was like a magician producing random items from thin air.
Inanely she wondered how long it took him to get dressed in the morning.
“What is it?” she asked as she smoothed the paper to reveal what looked like a treasure map with a large X marked in the middle.
“A map to an underground bunker that the Unseen use to hide extra food and supplies. You’ll find clothing there, as well as weapons, and if you want, you can take one of the automobiles. We’ll have it picked up later.”
“You drew a map?” She glanced up, her lips twitching with an unexpected flare of amusement. “You know they have this crazy new invention called GPS,” she said.
He peered down the length of his aquiline nose. Cora grimaced. Unseen or not, he had to be an Alpha.
“This is disposable,” he said, tapping the paper. “Plus, I can dismiss it as a silly drawing my niece made for me if it’s ever discovered by the SAU.”
Knowing she was being subtly chastised, Cora couldn’t resist giving the male a little jab.
“Do we need a secret handshake to enter the bunker?” she asked in sweet tones. “Or is there a password.”
“No, I’ll call and warn the guards that you’ll be dropping by.” He deliberately paused. “Hopefully they won’t shoot you.”
Okay, she’d deserved that.
The male had risked his trusted position among the SAU guards—not to mention his own neck—to help them. It wasn’t his fault his natural arrogance made her want to kick him in the nuts.
Just as she was climbing through the window, she halted, suddenly remembering his earlier words.
“I assume that your claim about there being more shifters was just a way to get rid of the other guard?” she demanded.
“Yep. Until you reach the camp, you’re on your own.”
Without waiting for her reply, he headed down the hallway, opening the distant door and closing it with a decisive bang.
“I wonder if all the Unseen are so friendly,” she muttered.
At her side, Soren moved to butt her with the top of his head, silently herding her forward.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, grabbing the edge of the windowsill again and climbing through.
Dropping to the ground, she heard the scramble of Soren’s nails against the tiled floor before he was leaping through the air to land beside her.
She paused long enough to make sure they hadn’t been noticed before she was jogging toward the nearby fence.
“Let’s go home, big boy,” she told her companion.
The sound of Soren’s howl echoed through the air.
Chapter 11
Holden’s argument with Jonah had been short but fierce.
The Alpha of the Golden Pack had been determined to confront the bastards who’d kidnapped his daughter on his own. Holden understood his fear. It was always a danger that the men coming to speak with Jonah would sense Holden and his wolves and punish Cora. The male would do anything to protect his daughter.
Not to mention the fact that they were flagrantly disobeying SAU law by sneaking out of the compound without permission. Which could potentially be a death sentence.
But there was no way in hell that Holden was going to let the Alpha travel to the secluded area alone. The days when shifters could enjoy being enemies were long over. If they were going to survive, it meant facing the humans together.
No matter the risk.
Jonah had grudgingly agreed to his demand that he slip several of his best fighters through a secret tunnel they’d managed to dig beneath the fence, while Jonah had taken a more visible journey through the front gate.
Now he silently moved among the shifters that he’d spread along the base of the five sharp peaks that ran along the east slope of Green Mountain. Known as the Flatirons by the locals, the area was heavily foliaged and miles from civilization.
Still, he commanded his wolves to patrol the area. Not only to prevent any nasty surprises from sneaking up on them, but to make sure there were no stray campers who might get spooked if anyone decided to start shooting.
He was making his second sweep when Jonah stepped onto a flat rock in the center of a clearing and waved a hand in his direction.
Shifting into his human form, Holden stopped by the Jeep that the cats had driven to the area to pull on a loose pair of sweats. Then, jogging through the pine trees, he joined Jonah, who was in the process of shoving his phone back into the pocket of his slacks.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
The Alpha cat flashed a lethal smile. The kind of smile that indicated he’d just gotten the cream and now intended to slay the mouse.
“I just received a text from Cora.”
“Soren found her?”
“Yes.”
Relief slashed through Holden. Shit. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how worried he’d been for his Beta. He’d lost too much.
The thought of Soren being taken from him was…inconceivable.
“Both of them?” he pressed, needing to hear the words.
Jonah
nodded, his gaze meeting Holden’s with an understanding that only two Alphas could share.
The price of leadership meant that they had to be willing to put those they loved most at risk.
“Both.”
“Thank God.” Giving himself a second to savor the news, Holden quickly turned his thoughts back to the reason he was standing in the middle of nowhere instead of tucked in his bed with his mate. “Did your daughter say why they were so anxious to get their hands on you?”
Jonah curled back his lips to reveal his elongated fangs. “They think they can force me to create shifters.”
“Shit.” A combination of guilt and frustrated fury replaced Holden’s momentary relief. “I knew that Claire’s treachery was going to come back and bite us in the ass,” he snarled.
Jonah shrugged. “I suppose it was inevitable that they would learn that particular secret.”
Holden didn’t know if it was inevitable or not. He only knew that a female he’d trusted had betrayed them all.
“That bitch is going to pay.”
“Right now, I’m more concerned with what they intend to do with the shifters they want me to create,” Jonah said.
Holden grimaced. His companion was right. Claire’s betrayal was over and done with. There wasn’t anything they could do to change it.
All they could hope to do was minimize the damage.
“My vote is that we don’t ever find out,” he said. The mere thought of an Alpha being forced to create a shifter was offensive on a cellular level. And to have the SAU involved…a deep shudder wracked his body. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Jonah held up a hand. “Not yet.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“They boldly came into our lands and stole my daughter.”
Holden’s heart squeezed with dread. Shit. He understood that Jonah was pissed. The mere thought of having the humans enter their territory and take his child would no doubt haunt him for years to come.
But they couldn’t afford to create a head-to-head confrontation with the government.
They didn’t have the numbers, or the necessary weapons to win that battle.
“And now she’s free,” he said in soothing tones. “We live to fight another day.”
Jonah’s eyes flashed with the golden heat of his cat. “We need to teach them that we aren’t completely at their mercy.”
Holden allowed his gaze to skim the nearby area, making sure none of the wolves or tigers were close enough to overhear their conversation.
The two Alphas had taken special care not to be seen arguing in front of their Packs.
No matter what their disagreement.
“Are you talking war?” he demanded.
“No.” Jonah sent him a smile that did nothing to reassure him. “Just a small lesson.”
“Damn, you stubborn cat,” he muttered in low tones. “You’ll get us all killed.”
The smile never wavered. “I don’t intend to spill blood,” he promised Holden. “At least…not tonight.”
Holden scowled. Okay. He accepted that Jonah wasn’t intending to start slicing and dicing humans, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to cause trouble.
“Then what do you plan?”
The male reached beneath the leather jacket he was wearing to pull out a large manila envelope that was embossed with an official-looking emblem on the front. Jonah held it up as if it was the Holy Grail.
“So far, the SAU has managed to convince the public that we’re dangerous beasts that have to be locked up for their safety,” Jonah said.
Holden snorted. He had little love for the humans who’d so easily turned on them despite the fact that it was shifters who’d saved their damned lives.
“They were eager enough to believe the lies.”
Jonah gave a lift of one shoulder. “People always fear what they don’t understand. Especially when they’ve just witnessed a near genocide.”
Holden didn’t give a shit about what the humans had endured. All he needed to know was whether or not he needed to prepare his people for retaliation.
“Do you have a point?”
“It’s time they knew the truth,” Jonah said, giving a wave of the envelope.
“What is that?”
Jonah paused, waiting for a patrol of wolves to pass the rock and head for the thick circle of trees before he spoke.
“Files that were smuggled out of the CDC headquarters before it was burned to the ground.”
Holden felt a genuine stab of shock. Civilization had crumbled during the worst stages of the virus. There’d been looting, fighting in the streets, and outright anarchy that had included torching of most government buildings.
Which meant that any actual information gathered during the initial outbreak was as rare as gold.
“How did you get your hands on them?” he demanded.
A sly expression settled on the older man’s narrow face.
“I have connections with a few humans in leadership roles who aren’t completely happy with the SAU and how shifters are being treated,” he admitted.
Holden narrowed his gaze. The cunning cat.
“I knew it,” he muttered. Silently, he wondered what it would it take to get the names of the government contacts from the tiger.
An Alpha could never have too many friends in high places.
Clearly not ready to share, Jonah glanced at the envelope instead.
“They gave me these when it was obvious that we needed a way to keep the SAU from completely destroying us.”
“What’s in the files?”
“They trace the original outbreak of the Verona Virus to a human lab outside of Rome,” he said, a hint a triumph in his voice. “The defense contractor was attempting to create a weaponized form of the Ebola virus.”
“Shit.”
It was exactly what he’d always suspected. The virus would never have spread so swiftly, or been so potent, if it hadn’t been genetically engineered. Every attempt to halt it had been met with a mutation of the virus that would have wiped out the human race if the shifters hadn’t stepped forward and offered their far more potent blood to create a vaccine. The SAU, of course, had steadfastly refused to admit their guilt. Instead, they’d more or less implied that it was the shifters themselves that had been responsible for the outbreak.
To be able to show that the original virus had come from a human clinic…
That was a game-changer.
“You have proof?”
Jonah grimaced. “Nothing that the governments around the world won’t try to refute,” he admitted. “Nothing less than the actual scientists confessing to the truth will ever force them to reveal what truly happened.” He gave a wave the envelope. “But I have enough evidence to create questions among the press.”
Holden folded his arms over his chest, his brief flare of hope swiftly fading.
His opinion of the human press wasn’t much better than the politicians.
Scuttling bugs that pretended to shine the light of truth, but were, in fact, on the payroll of the highest bidder.
“We’ve tried to get them to listen to our side of the story before,” he growled. “They refused to believe what we had to say.”
“It has taken time for the world to recover from the chaos,” Jonah said.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that the humans have started to accept that they aren’t in danger of being ravaged by a bunch of bloodthirsty shifters.”
Holden wasn’t nearly so convinced. Granted, there were no longer protestors who marched outside their gates chanting that ‘the man-beasts were going to hell.’ Or ‘death to the shifters.’
Still, no one was offering to let them move into their neighborhoods.
“If they accepted us, then we wouldn’t be living behind fences,” he said in dry tones.
“I didn’t say they accepted us,” Jonah corrected. “Only the fact that we haven’t become the enemy the SAU tried to cre
ate.”
Holden shrugged, about to dismiss the male’s overly-optimistic opinion of humans, when he was struck by a sudden thought.
“You know, that could be why they’re hoping to create their own shifters. They could have them perform any number of heinous acts and blame it on our Packs,” he said, easily able to imagine the SAU forcing their homegrown shifters into ruthless, bloody rampages. “It would keep the public terrified of us.”
“A possibility,” Jonah agreed, his large body stiffening as the sound of vehicles rumbled through the air. “Here they come.” He sent Holden a questioning glance. “Are you staying?”
A humorless smile twisted Holden’s lips. “Damned straight.”
Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two Alphas watched the three large Hummers come to a halt at the edge of the road. Minutes later, a dozen humans were swarming up the hill, their guns out despite the fact that they couldn’t see a damned thing in the darkness.
The idiots didn’t even know there were both wolves and tigers prowling through the trees just a few feet away.
Idiots.
The head idiot shoved his way past his guards, arrogance chiseled onto his broad features.
“Jonah Wilder?” he demanded, his gaze locked on the tiger Alpha.
Obviously, he’d already seen a picture.
“Yes.”
The Director’s gaze flicked toward Holden. “I didn’t give permission for any other shifters to be out of the compound,” he snapped.
Holden shrugged. “Life is filled with all sorts of disappointments.”
The man glared at him before returning his attention to Jonah. Almost as if he hoped by that ignoring him, he could pretend Holden didn’t exist.
“I’m Director Markham of the SAU,” he said, planting his fists on his hips. “Do you intend to come with us peacefully?”
“As a matter of fact…I don’t.”
A flush of anger stained Markham’s face as a tangible shock raced through the chilled air. Laying his hand on the holster strapped to his side, he puffed out his chest and took a step forward.
“Then we do this the hard way,” he blustered.
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