Ben stood and stared at her, concerned. “Get to the safe room. I’ll come for you as soon as this is over.” When Jacqueline nodded, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I love you, little mate.”
“I love you, too.” She watched Ben head to the bedroom door and remembered the whole reason she had woke him up in the first place. “Wait,” she yelled and grabbed the syringe off the nightstand. She ran over to him and lifted the arm of his T-shirt and injected the antidote before he could say anything. “Now, you can go.” Ben just nodded and turned to look at her one last time before he left, closing the door behind him. Ignoring the sudden feeling of loss, she ran to the dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
Jacqueline heard the next round of Ben’s explosives going off just as she was zipping up her jeans, letting her know she only had minutes to get herself in the safe room. She ran down the hall and headed for the stairs, cursing the fact that she had forgotten to ask Ben to show her where the safe room upstairs was hidden. It would have certainly been faster to go to that one where she assumed Tessa and Nico were than the one all the way in the basement.
At the bottom of the stairs, Jacqueline gasped. Through the large picture window Mitch loved sunning himself in front of so much, she saw dozens of her father’s men out in the yard. Some were in their shifted form, and some were human with claws and fangs, but they were all surrounding Mitch and Ken, who had both shifted. Mitch had shifted into his large golden lion, and Ken into a very frightening grizzly bear. They were all standing still as if they were under a spell, waiting to see who made the first move. Jacqueline seemed to be under the same spell as she stood rooted at the bottom of the steps, holding her breath, waiting to see what would happen.
All of a sudden, the rogue shifters started dropping one at a time to the ground, and Jacqueline frowned until she saw blood starting to bloom on each of their foreheads, letting her know her mate and Ryan were carrying out their part of the plan. It didn’t take long for the rogues to realize what was happening. They all moved at once, attacking Mitch and Ken, who seemed to have no problem handling themselves with the large number of rogues. With one last look, Jacqueline turned and headed for the basement.
“Wait,” she yelled at the bottom of the basement stairs when she saw the safe room door slowly closing. She had assumed Tessa and Nico were in the room upstairs, but she let out a sigh of relief when the woman peeped around the door with those eerie ice-blue eyes that matched her son’s. Jacqueline was glad she wouldn’t be alone waiting and wondering what was going on outside.
She skirted around Nico’s tiny table and then her own. She was about ten feet from the door when she saw Tessa’s eyes go wide and her mouth open to scream. Before Jacqueline could turn to see what Tessa was looking at, her hair was caught in a vise grip, and she was yanked to a complete stop.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Jacqueline started to shake in fear from the playful voice coming from behind her. She shouldn’t have been surprised her father had found a way into the house without anyone knowing, but the man had definitely caught her off guard this time.
Percival tsked in her ear. “You’ve been a naughty, naughty child, haven’t you?”
She didn’t bother to answer. Although the tone in her father’s voice sounded as though he was in a good mood, Jacqueline knew it was just the calm before the storm. All it would take was something small to send her father into a murderous rage. She looked over at Tessa, whose knuckles had gone white from her grip on the door. She trailed her eyes down to the pregnant woman’s belly and the small bump that held a tiny life in it then to Nico, who was peeping out from behind his mother. She knew she needed to do something to keep them safe. She had brought this all on them, and she was the only one who could take it away.
“I’m so sorry, Father. I had no choice. Please forgive me.” Jacqueline stared directly into Tessa’s wide eyes trying to silently communicate and hoping the woman could forgive her for what she was about to do. “The shifter attacked me and forced me to help him. He was going to kill me if I didn’t.” The lies tasted bad as they rolled off her tongue. With her hands, she made a tiny shooing motion toward Tessa, trying to tell her to get into the safe room.
Percival snarled and yanked the hair in his grip. When Jacqueline cried, Nico let out a roar that would have done Mitch and his lion proud.
“You expect me to believe you’re here because they forced you?”
“It’s true. I didn’t want to come. I just couldn’t stand up to the shifter. He was too strong.” She began to babble to take her father’s attention off the safe room door. “They haven’t been mean to me, but they’ve kept me in this basement, forcing me to find a cure for the rogue formula.”
Jacqueline motioned for Tessa to go into the room again, but the tiny shake of the stubborn woman’s head caused Jacqueline’s stomach to drop. Tessa had no idea what Jacqueline’s father was capable of, but she did. She knew Tessa and Nico’s blood would be on her hands if she didn’t somehow get them to go into that room and lock the door. She couldn’t let that happen. “Take me with you, Father. I want to go home.”
“Why should I? You ran from me. You betrayed me. What do you have to offer me to let you back in my graces?”
This was it. If what she said next couldn’t get Tessa into that safe room without her, then nothing would. “I can give you Enforcer Ericson’s pregnant mate and cub,” she said, pointing toward Tessa.
Tessa gasped, and Jacqueline saw tears welling up in her eyes. Percival snarled from behind her, and the grip in her hair was suddenly gone as he lunged for the door. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Jacqueline watched Tessa shove Nico into the room behind her and pull the door shut. It closed with a thud just as Percival reached the handle, and Jacqueline held her breath until she heard the muffled thumps in the large door signaling the locks sliding home.
Jacqueline stood tense as her father beat and raged against the door before finally turning around and focusing his attention on her. It was the first time she had laid eyes on him since she’d run, and what she saw shocked her. Her normally impeccably dressed, never-a-hair-out-of-place father looked as if he hadn’t slept or showered in days. His hair was disheveled, and she saw dirt, leaves, and bits of twigs in it as if he had been rolling in the woods.
As her father stalked toward her, seething, Jacqueline closed her eyes, knowing he was going to kill her right where she stood. Instead, he continued past her and muttered one word, “Come.”
The man didn’t even turn to see if she was following as he headed up the basement stairs. Jacqueline hurried behind him, unwilling to risk his wrath. At the top of the stairs, they turned toward the back of the house, and Percival led her to an open window. She realized he must have used the alarms going off as cover to get the window open without anyone knowing and shook her head. If her father had used even a tenth of his genius criminal mind for good, he could have made the world a much better place instead of constantly bringing misery to everyone he encountered.
Jacqueline climbed out the window when her father motioned for her to and waited for him to come through. They were at the back of the house, which meant they were closer to the woods and escaping. She looked up to the roof where she knew Ben was and felt her heart being torn in two at the thought of never seeing him again.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Jacqueline. I will kill you if I have to.” Percival grabbed her arm in a painfully tight grip and began leading her toward the woods. Jacqueline rubbed her chest over her heart when it felt as though it was being squeezed with each step she took away from the house and Ben.
* * * *
Ben grinned as Ryan moaned next to him. They were both watching Ken finish off the last of the rogues, and it seemed watching his mate fight had turned Ryan on, judging by the smell of lust the wind was blowing his way.
“Damn, that’s sexy,” Ryan whispered, confirming Ben’s guess.
Ben laughed and looked down to see Ken, who had been toying with the rogue, deliver the killing blow. The fight had been too easy in his opinion. Mitch had been right about the shifters never suspecting they would be on the roof sniping. He and Ryan had taken out quite a few before they had even known what hit them, allowing Mitch and Ken to take out the rest in record time. Now, all they were waiting on was Mitch to give the all-clear. The lion had run off through the woods to make sure there were no stragglers left behind.
Ben reached down to rub his chest. Now that the fight was over and the adrenaline was wearing off, he was starting to feel strange. He frowned as he felt his heart beat speed up. He started to pant because it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
“Ben!” Ryan shouted, shaking his shoulders. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”
All he could think was that something was really wrong, and he had no idea what. At first he thought something had happened to Mitch, but his wolf’s snarl caused him to freeze. In his sixty-five years, Ben had never heard his normally easygoing wolf make that noise. There was a reason he called the wolf pup.
Mate! His wolf shouted louder, and Ben knew he was correct. The hair on the back of his neck and arms started to stand, and his nails started to lengthen into claws as his wolf tried to force his way out. Everything Ben had been feeling and his wolf’s unusual behavior was a warning that something was wrong with his mate.
Ben ran to the trap door leading to the roof. “Something’s wrong with Jacqi,” he yelled over his shoulder as he jumped down into the opening, not bothering with the ladder. The thud behind him let him know Ryan was following, and Ben was grateful. He had no idea what he was about to walk into as he headed for the basement safe room. All he knew was his mate was in danger, and he appreciated all the help he could get.
Ben’s agitated wolf paced and snarled in his head. Calm down, pup. We need to stay clear-headed. Ben tried to soothe his wolf, but in the back of his mind, he was blaming himself for not personally escorting his little mate to the safe room and locking her in himself. If something had happened to her, he knew he would never forgive himself.
Nothing seemed out of place when they reached the basement, but Ben’s sense of urgency increased. There was a strange scent in the room that didn’t belong there. He hurried over to the door and tapped the code on it. The click of the locks being released seemed to take forever, and as soon as he heard the last one, he grabbed the handle of the door and wrenched it open. Tessa’s tear-stained face was the first thing he saw, and Ben knew Jacqi wasn’t in the safe room with her.
“Her father took her,” Tessa answered before he could even ask the question. “Nico and I had made it to the safe room, but he caught Jacqueline before she could make it in. She gave herself up to save us.”
Ben sagged to his knees, threw back his head, and allowed his wolf to let out the howl it had been holding in since he’d first felt something was wrong. He felt hands on his shoulders trying to lift him, but he couldn’t be bothered because his world was crashing down around him. He had failed his mate.
I want her back. Get up, Ben. She’s ours, and we have to get her back.
The calm, serious tone of his wolf broke through the fog in Ben’s brain. He was normally the one comforting his wolf and calming him down. This was the first time the roles had been reversed. His wolf was right though. He could sit there and wallow in his grief, or he could get up and go get his mate back.
Ben chose the latter. He climbed to his feet and wiped the tears that he hadn’t even known he shed from his face and turned to his friends. “I’m getting her back.”
Mitch looked grim as he held his mate in his arms and comforted her as she cried. “This is your mission. Tell us what you need, and we’ll do it.”
The fact that Mitch was giving up control meant everything to him. The lion shifter was their leader, but he knew Ben needed this. He needed to be the one to give the orders to save his mate. “There’s something you need to know.” He looked each of his friends in the eyes to let them know how important what he said next was. “Jacqi’s pregnant.”
There was no need to say anything else as Ben turned to leave the basement. He was going to kill Percival with his bare hands if he had hurt a hair on his mate’s head. His wolf let out a growl, signaling he agreed.
Chapter 14
Edmund felt joy surge through his body when he slammed Jacqueline against the wall and heard her cry out. The scent of old blood and despair coming from the cell smelled like home to him as he took a deep breath. This was what he lived for, proving how superior he was to the pathetic humans that thought they were the top of the food chain.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he told his daughter. “I’ve been watching you for days. I know what you have been up to. The stench of Enforcer Sullivan rolling off you proves that. Did you think I was dumb enough to believe you were there because they forced you to be? Did Enforcer Sullivan force you into his bed as well?”
Edmund knew the answers to all of his questions, just as he knew the mating mark on Jacqueline’s neck meant that Benjamin would suffer. It was the only reason he had taken his daughter with him rather than killing her on the spot for betraying him. Her death would have been a nice parting gift to let the other enforcers know he could get to them anytime he wanted. Instead, he had decided to take her with him. Any excuse to make the enforcers suffer for derailing his plans was worth delaying her death in his opinion.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” he taunted. Edmund loved seeing Jacqueline squirm. He smelled the fear rolling off her in waves. “Okay, if you don’t want to talk about that, then let’s talk about what you did to my rogues.” He lost the playful act and snarled in his daughter’s face.
His rogues were dropping like flies. Shifters didn’t normally get sick, but his seemed to, and it all had started right after his own daughter had run off with his prisoner. At first, it seemed like they were all suffering from the flu, which was supposed to be impossible for their kind. After a few days, their temperatures started climbing nonstop until his rogues had literally roasted to death from the inside out. The only thing the shifters had in common was that they had all received the last round of the rogue serum about six months ago. That put the blame squarely on his daughter’s shoulders.
“How long have you been planning on betraying me?” Edmund let the growl rumble deep in his chest as he stared at Jacqueline. “I don’t know whether to kill you or congratulate you. No one has ever gotten the best of me, but you did. I never suspected the child I raised as my own would turn her back on me.”
Jacqueline gasped, and Edmund grinned. Now he had her attention. “I’m not going to kill you for betraying me. Yet…” He let the word hang before continuing. “You look just like her, you know? You both have the same frightened expressions. The last time I saw that look on your mother’s face was when I was tearing her baby from her stomach.” Edmund held up his hands, letting his claws click together. “I delivered you with my own two hands after I found out the bitch had planned on betraying me. Her punishment was seeing her daughter in my arms and knowing that I was going to raise her as my own as the life slowly left her eyes.”
“You’re a monster!” Jacqueline shouted and spat in his face.
Edmund backhanded her across the cheek and laughed when he heard her head bounce off the wall behind her. “I never said I wasn’t. I never pretended to be anything else, but I can’t say the same for you.”
“What did my mother do to you that was so bad? No one deserves to have their child ripped from them.”
Jacqueline was crying now, and Edmund had to clench his hands into fists to keep from raking his claws across her throat to shut her up. The one thing he hated more than humans was a sniveling crier. Crying was a sign of weakness, and it wasn’t something he tolerated. His father had taught him that lesson every day as he beat him up until Percival killed the man by ripping his throat out.
“Your mother was human, but she knew about shifters. Adrian’s family had been attacked by rogues and all killed except for her. She was about thirteen at the time she came to live in my pack. The council had decided it was best for her to be raised by shifters rather than be put into foster care because she was too old to be convinced that she had been imagining things. That way they could keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t reveal our existence. I wanted to argue with the council about letting a filthy human into our world, but I couldn’t. To do so would have given away my position and ruin all of my plans. I had to look like a sympathizer, so I befriended your mother and treated her like a daughter.” Edmund paused to let what he was telling Jacqueline sink in. “She grew up following me around, and I allowed it, but I hated it. I thought I had your mother wrapped around my finger until she fell in love with a human, and I started seeing her less and less.
“The night I killed her, she’d come to me and told me she knew all about my plans, and she was going to the council to tell them. I have no idea how she found out about my plans, but she said the reason she was telling was because she was pregnant, and she needed to keep her baby safe. My ideas of a world where humans were basically slaves wouldn’t let that happen.” He laughed at the thought of Adrian thinking she could intimidate him. “All I kept thinking to myself was, ‘How dare this pathetic human think she can threaten me? How dare she think she can ruin everything that I’ve worked for?’ I proved to her that night that a worthless human would never get the best of me. I took the one thing from Adrian she was willing to betray me to protect. I took the precious child she was carrying.”
Edmund looked over to Jacqueline as she silently sobbed with her face buried in her hands. “It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. You betrayed me just like your mother did. It seems fitting your punishments should be the same.” When her head shot up and she stared at him with a confused look on her face, Edmund knew then she didn’t know. “He didn’t tell you, did he? Your mate didn’t tell you that you were carrying his pup.”
Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 12