* * * *
Their escape had been way too easy, and with each mile they covered, Jacqueline grew more and more paranoid waiting for their luck to run out. She couldn’t stop looking in her rearview mirror as she drove. If she wasn’t looking behind her to make sure no one was following them, she was looking behind her to check on Ben. The man had passed out as soon as his body hit the seat, and he hadn’t moved once in the hour they had been on the road. If it wasn’t for her being able to see his chest move up and down with each breath he took, she would have pulled over several times to make sure he was still alive. She didn’t like his color at all, and judging by the amount of blood on the car seat, his wounds weren’t healing like they should have been.
The fact that his wounds weren’t healing scared her the most. Jacqueline had grown up surrounded by shifters. She had seen injuries that would have killed a human healed in less than a day in shifters. If Ben wasn’t healing, then that meant something was wrong with him.
Checking the mirror one more time, Jacqueline pulled off the highway and into the back parking lot of a gas station. She pulled some cash out of her bag and ran inside. Once she found the first aid section and its pitiful selection, she grabbed every bottle of peroxide off the shelf and all the gauze and bandages they had. Luckily the clerk didn’t ask any questions. Jacqueline wasn’t sure she could have come up with any answers if he had.
Back in the car, Jacqueline climbed into the back seat and got to work cleaning Ben’s wounds. It worried her when he didn’t even flinch the whole time. Once she had him cleaned and bandaged the best she could, she climbed into the front seat and got her phone from the glove box. Thanks to her father and her hacking his files, Jacqueline had the phone number of every council member and enforcer. She scanned through her list until she got to Mitch Ericson’s number and dialed before she could talk herself out of it.
“Enforcer Ericson speaking,” the deep voice on the other line answered.
Jacqueline paused, unsure of what to say. Did she tell this man that the former Councilman Percival was her father? Was she supposed to tell him it was drugs created by her that had put them all in the situation they were in now? Ben had told her to trust this Mitch guy, but she had a feeling not even Ben would want to save her once he found out the biggest secret she had been keeping. Not even her father knew what she had done. Now that secret was affecting Ben, and he had no idea.
“Hello, who’s there?”
“Oh, umm…” Jacqueline stuttered, trying to come up with something to say. “Hi, Ben told me to call you and you would come and get us..”
“Who is this? Do you know where Ben is?”
She had to pull the phone away from her ear as Mitch shouted his questions. Jacqueline decided to ignore his first question for the moment and focus on the second one. There would be plenty of time for her to explain who she was once she and Ben were someplace safe.
“Ben is right here with me. We got away, but he’s hurt really bad. He’s unconscious in the back seat, but before he passed out, he told me to trust no one but you. He told me you would keep us safe.” She truly hoped that was true.
“Tell me where you are,” Mitch demanded. “I will come get you myself.”
Jacqueline had a feeling he was the type of guy who always got what he wanted without question. He ordered, and people followed. Normally, she would have followed his order, but for some reason, as she looked at Ben lying in the back seat, she felt very protective of him. Something she couldn’t describe, but was more powerful than her own guilt for what she’d done to him, kept her from telling Mitch where they were.
“How do I know I’m speaking to the real Mitch Ericson? I don’t even know what you look like. How do I know the real you will even show up here?” The growl on the other end of the phone raised the hair on the back of her neck and effectively stopped her from asking any more questions.
“Listen, lady, I don’t know who you are, nor do I care. All I care about is Ben. He is the closest thing I have to a brother. I have been searching for him for almost three months now, so if you have any clue as to where he is, I suggest you tell me now, or I will hunt you down and—”
Mitch’s threat was cut off when Jacqueline heard him arguing with a woman in the background. She was tempted to hang up, but the thought of having to keep Ben safe on her own stopped her.
“Okay, lady,” Mitch said, sounding irritated. “My mate says to see if you’re willing to drive here to our home. She seems to think you’ll feel safer knowing I’m allowing you into my home with my pregnant mate and cub here.”
Jacqueline thought about it for a moment. From what she knew about shifters, they were very territorial and protective when it came to their mates and children. If Mitch was willing to let her into his home while they were there, then he must be telling the truth. “Okay. Tell me where you are, and we will come to you.”
She pulled out a map as she listened to Mitch tell her his address. His home was just outside of Flagstaff. The particular bunker they had been staying in was located in southern Colorado. Even with the hour she had already driven—luckily in the right direction— she was still looking at a three-hour drive at least. Jacqueline looked over at Ben. He was still pale, but his breathing was normal. She had managed to get the claw marks on his side to stop bleeding, so at the moment, he wasn’t in danger of bleeding to death. He still needed medical help though, and he had made her promise to trust Mitch.
Taking a breath, she finally answered. “Okay. We should be there in about three hours if all goes well. I will call you back if something happens.” She hung up before Mitch could respond and she broke down and begged him to come get her.
As Jacqueline pulled out of the parking lot, she hoped she wasn’t making a mistake in trusting Ben and Mitch. She had learned at a very young age to depend only on herself. According to her father, her mother had died when she was too young to remember, and her father himself was too caught up in trying to take over the world to pay any attention to her. Whenever he did show her any attention, it was usually to berate her or to yell at her because he wasn’t getting the results he expected. Those rants usually ended with him threatening her life. Needless to say, instead of craving his attention, Jacqueline had learned to stay as far away from it as possible.
Now, she had placed her trust in the hands of a man she knew nothing about all because he had saved her life. No one had ever cared enough about her to do something like that. Even her own father had used her as a human shield. That was the moment she knew she would die at the hands of the man if she didn’t do something to help herself. She was tired of feeling helpless and not in control. She was tired of following orders she knew were wrong and went against everything she believed in, all because she was afraid of what her father would do to her.
Because of the drug she had created for her father, innocent shifters had been turned into nothing more than animals. All of that was on Jacqueline’s hands. The only way to make it right was to find a cure or antidote to the rogue drug. She knew she would never forgive herself for what she had done, but at least she could make it right, and in order to do that, she had to get away from her father. So far, so good. They had managed to escape the bunker without much incident. Now she had to get them to Arizona before her father caught up with them. She had no doubt the man knew they were gone by now and was tearing up the state looking for them.
Jacqueline winced as she drove. She felt bad for the guards they had left behind because she knew her father would take his wrath out on them. They would suffer greatly before they died. She didn’t even want to think of what he would do to her if he caught her. His own daughter betraying him was something, she had a feeling, he never expected to happen. She knew the slaps across the face she was used to would feel like love taps compared to the torture he had planned for her if he ever caught her.
Determined to not end up in his control again, Jacqueline drove toward her destination as fast as she could without
drawing any attention to herself. The last thing she needed was to be stopped by the police. She constantly checked the rearview mirror as she drove, not only making sure they weren’t followed, but keeping an eye on Ben as well.
She was beginning to worry about him. He hadn’t moved an inch since he had passed out, but at some point, as she was driving, his eyes had opened slightly. Jacqueline saw the amber glow coming from between his dark lashes and felt his stare. From what she knew about shifters, when their eyes glowed like that, it meant their animal was close to the surface. She didn’t know what kind of animal Ben was, but whatever it was, it had been watching her for the past hour and a half. Although it freaked her out a little, for some reason, she didn’t feel threatened or in danger from Ben or his animal.
Jacqueline was beginning to think she was lost when she finally found the turnoff to Mitch’s house. “Whoever the guy is, he certainly likes his privacy,” she mumbled as she followed the narrow drive. It was over a mile long and surrounded by dense trees, and she was tempted to turn on her headlights, even though it was broad daylight outside. The driveway finally opened up into a clearing where a large house sat. She pulled up to the front and turned the engine off. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her, and Jacqueline rubbed her palms against her thighs in an attempt to wipe the sweat from them.
She turned to look at Ben. “It would be real nice if you could wake up and talk to me right now. I don’t know if I can do this by myself.”
Ben didn’t respond, but his amber eyes never left hers. Jacqueline took a deep breath and forced herself to get out of the car. Just as she closed her door and moved toward the back door to open it, she heard the door to the house open. Her eyes widened in instant recognition of the large blond man who stepped out onto the porch.
“You!” the man shouted as he launched himself off the porch.
“Oh, damn,” was all Jacqueline could get out before his large body slammed into her. All the breath left her body as they hit the ground, leaving her unable to explain anything to the man she assumed was Mitch. She wondered how she could have been so stupid to have forgotten there had been other people there with Ben the night they had attacked her father and he had been captured. This man in particular had been there, and he had seen Jacqueline with her father. As far as he knew, she worked for Percival and couldn’t be trusted. He had no idea that she’d helped Ben escape. Now, as black spots invaded her vision, Jacqueline could only hope he didn’t kill her before she had the chance to explain.
Chapter 5
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Ben’s wolf pounced around in his head.
“Not now, pup. Just let me sleep a little longer. I hurt too much.” Ben tried to turn over, but he was in too much pain to move. Plus, the weight on his chest was stopping him. Cracking his eyes open, he came face to face with a pair of small ice-blue eyes staring back at him.
“Hey, Nico.” Nico smiled and leaned down to hug him. Ben held back his grunt of pain and squeezed the boy tight. He had become close to Nico and his mom when he guarded them, and it felt good to see the boy again. He’d never thought it would happen again once he’d been captured by Percival. “I missed you too, little man.”
“Nico, what did I tell you about waking your Uncle Ben up?” Tessa, Mitch’s mate and Nico’s mother, fussed as she came in the room. Instead of moving Nico, she came over and sat on the side of the bed and wrapped her arms around them both. “Oh God, Ben. I’m so glad you’re back and safe. We were so worried about you.”
When she pulled back, Ben wiped the tears from her cheek. It felt good to know someone cared enough to be concerned about him. He wasn’t used to that. Aside from Mitch, Ken, and Ryan, Ben had no other family. He had left his pack and family a long time ago when he realized they would never understand him. They considered him defective because of the relationship he had with his wolf. They didn’t think it was natural that his wolf would rather play chase than hunt and kill. The fact that Ben didn’t see anything wrong with it, and even encouraged the playfulness in his wolf, made him an embarrassment to his family. They had asked him to leave the pack because it was making them look bad. Ben had been hurt that they didn’t stand up for him, but he’d left and never looked back.
“What the hell do you think you are doing to my mate? Why is she crying?”
Ben rolled his eyes at Mitch’s statement. The man was always in a bad mood. “Jeez, a guy goes missing then returns home injured and he doesn’t even get a hello. Speaking of mates, where is mine?” He knew she hadn’t been in the room because her scent wasn’t there, but he needed to see her with his own eyes to make sure she was safe.
“You mated the enemy?”
“Well, we haven’t technically mated yet, but she is my mate, and she saved my life.” He had forgotten that Mitch had been there the night he’d met his mate. “Her father is Percival, but she went against him to help me escape, and she kept me safe until we got here. Now, where is she?”
“Wait, how is she that asshole’s daughter? She smelled completely human, not shifter,” Mitch asked, completely ignoring Ben’s question.
Ben stopped the growl starting in his chest. “I didn’t get a chance to ask that question while I was fighting and running for my life. Now, tell me where my mate is.”
They locked her up. I watched her for you while you were sleeping, but when we got here, the big cat knocked her down, and the bear took her away.
Ben felt his wolf’s irritation. He wasn’t angry, just annoyed at being separated from his mate. The anger came from Ben. He was angry at the fact that someone had dared to touch his mate, even if that someone was his best friend, who was only trying to protect him. He gently lifted Nico from his chest, ignoring the pain in his side, and sat him on the bed.
“Where are you going? You need to stay in bed until you finish healing,” Tessa said as she tried to get him to lie back down.
“I need to see my mate.”
“Well, if you insist on being stubborn, then at least let Mitch help you.” Tessa stepped back and motioned for her mate to move to Ben’s side.
Ben wanted to laugh at the annoyed look on Mitch’s face as he did exactly what his mate wanted. For someone who had been so solitary for most of his life, Mitch had become a completely changed man when Tessa had come into his life. For once he was following orders instead of barking them out. Ben kept his mouth shut though. He valued his head too much to point that out to Mitch.
He let Mitch help him down the hall and followed his mate’s scent to the guest bedroom door his friend Ken was currently blocking. The big man nodded at him then stepped away, more than likely off to find his own mate. Ken was a man of few words, so Ben knew that was his way of saying welcome home. He vowed he would talk to each of his friends later and thank them. He had no doubt they’d done everything they could to find him. First though, he needed to see Jacqi.
Ben took a breath and opened the door. His mate was in the middle of the room pacing but stopped when she heard the door open. He watched as those large violet eyes scanned him from head to toe before she smiled and threw herself at him.
“Thank God you’re all right. I was so worried about you.”
Jacqi pulled back and began rubbing her hands up and down his chest and side, checking his injuries. Ben had to hold back a moan at how good her hot hands felt on him. He imagined how good those hands would feel rubbing his cock and felt himself starting to get hard.
Now that he wasn’t delirious from the drugs she was constantly injecting him with or running for his life, Ben was finally able to take the time to really look at his mate. What he saw amazed him. He had never seen a woman as beautiful as Jacqueline, and that was saying something. Ben knew beautiful women. They threw themselves at him every day, and he had no problem getting any of them into his bed. It was what he was known for. He was always the guy who vowed to never mate because there were too many women out there to waste his time with just one.
Looking at Jacqi, he
saw that for the lie it was. She stood about five feet five, which, compared to his six feet, seemed small and fragile, but when she had hugged him, they had fit together perfectly. Her petite curvy body molding against his. Add in the long dark chocolate hair and those stunning violet eyes of hers and his mate made all the other women in his past seem like trolls.
Pulling Jacqi back into a hug, Ben buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath. Her spicy cinnamon scent did more to calm him than anything he could remember. He knew he had to brief the guys and let them know everything that had happened to him, but at the moment, he couldn’t think of anything more he wanted to do than to hold his mate.
She could be rubbing my belly.
Let’s not get carried away, pup. She still doesn’t know that she is our mate yet, and something tells me she isn’t too comfortable around shifters.
She will love me. Everyone loves me.
Ben held back a laugh. He knew his wolf wasn’t being arrogant. It was just his playful nature that assumed since he loved everyone then they automatically loved him as well. If he let his wolf out now, he had no doubt his tail would be wagging and his tongue would be hanging out of his mouth in a big wolfy smile. What he said about everyone loving him was true also. In some ways his wolf was like an overgrown puppy. He was always ready to play or receive a good belly rub. Most people couldn’t help but fall in love with him.
“I’m fine.” Ben pulled Jacqi away from him and held her by the shoulders. “Are you okay? You aren’t hurt or anything, are you?”
“I’m a little sore, but that’s to be expected when a hundred-and-thirty-pound girl gets tackled by an eight-hundred-pound, ten-foot man.” Jacqi glared at Mitch.
Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4