by Sammie Joyce
He started to feel the anger rise inside of him and he needed to do something to repress it. His job was to protect Sarah right now and him shifting from being angry wasn’t going to help anyone. He needed to be focused. So, he walked into his workout room and started to work out on the bag. This was the best way to clear his mind and body of all of his feelings. He kept working out until his phone beeped.
“Hello,” he spoke into the mouthpiece.
“Give up the girl and we will make sure that everyone on your team lives,” a voice on the other end of the line said.
“How did you get my number, Dr. Ranson?” he asked calmly.
“So, you figured out who I am. How exciting for you.”
“I know a lot more than you think. I know that Sarah’s parents were not her birth parents and that they worked for you at one time. I also know that you staged their death by making it look like an accident, but you turned that bear rogue. So, how else are you part of this scheme? How do you know Sarah’s birth parents? Are they alive?” he asked, glad he had taken the time to clear his head.
“You know who she is, don’t you? You know that she is special for your kind and that she is different, and you want to know why she is different. I can give you all of these answers, but I need the girl first. I can’t tell you anything without running some tests to tell you why she is so special. But I do have one response for you. Yes, her parents are alive and well. They are residing in a room inside my lab and I think they would love to be reacquainted with the daughter that they never met. Bring Sarah to my lab and we can talk. I am sending you the coordinates right now,” he said. The voice on the other end of the line dropped.
He dialed another number. “Dimitri, I’m sending you the coordinates to the scientist’s lab right now. Send out a team to take care of him, but make sure to save Sarah’s parents and whoever else he is holding hostage in his lab. Let me know when you have them in your custody. How are things going at the office?”
“We have it taken care of. The goons are no match for us, especially on our own turf. I’ll send a team out now and I will let you know when we have secured the perimeter and have the hostages in our custody.”
Shane started hitting the bag over and over again until he couldn’t see anything but red.
Dimitri sent the men around the perimeter of the lab. He could hear people inside. They threw a grenade into the front of the door and blew it open, with a wave of tear gas to push all of the people standing around the door aside.
He entered the room with a rifle in hand a pistol in his pocket. Four men followed behind him with shields, batons and guns as well. They entered the room like a group of SWAT and they were going to rush it and clear it out before they all left. He knew how important the girl was to Shane as well as her parents. He would protect their lives with his at all costs.
“Over here,” the men yelled. “We found him, boss.”
Dimitri ran over to where the yells were and found Dr. Ranson holding a gun to the head of a woman who was in shock. She must have been Sarah’s mother.
“Make one more move and I’ll kill them,” he said.
He had worked with men like this before. He knew that the scientist was crazy enough to kill her to save his life or to just kill her regardless.
“Put the gun down,” he said. “You know this isn’t going to end well. I might be able to negotiate a way to keep you alive after you answer for your crimes, but you will have to come with me and turn the hostages over. The jig is up,” Dimitri said.
The doctor threw his head back and laughed. “Your orders are to kill me. I know too much. They will never want to keep me alive. So, I might as well kill her before I’m killed.”
A bullet rushed through the air and landed right in his forehead. The woman screamed as the scientist fell dead to the ground.
“It took you long enough,” Dimitri yelled to Tom.
“I had to make sure that I had a clear shot,” he said. “He was holding a gun to her head and I didn’t want to get her.”
The woman wiped the blood off her face as her husband rushed forwards and held her in his arms.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance, but my orders are to bring you in and make sure that you are okay. I need to ensure your freedom and I know that there is someone that you would like to meet,” he said. “May I ask your name?”
“Leonard and Amanda Bridges,” the man said as he stood up with his head held him.
Tom’s face went white and instantly he bowed his head in respect. “You have been missing for years, sir. We thought you were dead,” he said.
“We might as well be. We have been locked in this place for over twenty years and we did whatever we had to do to survive,” he said.
“Well, we will get you out of here and cleaned up. You are safe with us,” the vampire said as he turned to one of his men. “Please dispose of the body and acquire all of the information that he had accumulated in this lab. Then burn it to the ground when you are done.” He took the woman’s hand and helped the two hostages to the truck and took them back to headquarters.
12
“Sir, the suspect has been apprehended. All of the information has been collected, the body disposed of and the lab burned down. Sarah is safe and she can go free now,” Dimitri said.
“And the hostages?”
“They are being brought back to headquarters with me. We will question them and hold them until you bring Sarah to meet them. I know they will be anxious to meet them as well. However, I think you might want to know who her parents are. They seem to be pretty important in the shifter world; Leonard and Amanda Bridges. I’ll wait for your return to headquarters,” he said before hanging up the phone.
He hung his head to say a prayer for the dead man. Even though he was evil, he still deserved prayer. His body would be sent to his family for burial so that they can grieve for him in their own way. That was the least they could do for them.
He sighed in relief because now he was able to separate his personal life from his professional life. He was able to act in the way that he wanted to since he met her on the bridge that day. But first, he needed to tell her who her parents were and why she was so special. It all made sense now.
Washing his face off in the bathroom, he washed off of all of the sweat that had run down his brow. He walked into his bedroom and changed his shirt and put on some cologne. Looking in the mirror he ran his fingers through his hair to make sure that he was presentable for her.
His knees started knocking, his heart was beating fast in his chest and his palms were sweating as he walked up to her door. He rapped on it a few times.
“Come in,” Sarah’s voice rang from inside the room.
He opened the door and walked in. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed. She had thrown her hair into a bun that rested on top of her head and he loved the way her slender neck was fully exposed.
“Hi,” he said as he closed the door behind him.
“Hi, how are things?” she asked.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said as he sat down beside her and took her hands in his. “Circumstances have changed and there are so many things that I want to tell you. So, you will have to give me a minute. We have sent our SWAT team to the scientist’s house and he has been apprehended and his lab has been burned down. However, we have taken the hostages back to the lab,” he said.
“What does that mean for us? Are we done?” she asked.
Shane looked into her eyes and his words caught in his throat. “No, we’re not done. Why would you ask me that? I loved you since the day I left you in the forest. When you saw the real me. I have dreamt about you for three years since then.”
“Didn’t you dream about me because of your guilt? How could you love me and you don’t even know me.”
“My soul knows you. It yearns for you. I will spend a lifetime getting to know you. You’re the one for me.”
Sara leaned over and pressed her lips a
gainst his. Her lips were sweet like mine. And they left him intoxicated. He pressed himself against her gently putting his hand on the back of her head. He opened his mouth and slid his tongue into hers. Gently he pulled away and stared into her eyes.
“I don’t know if we can do this,” she said. “I just found out I was a shifter. I don’t know anything about my powers. I don’t want to drag you through the learning process.”
“I wouldn’t have any issues helping you with the learning process. That is what I’m here for. I’m here for anything that you need me for. I want to be here for all of that,” he said. “But I have more news for you.”
“I don’t know if I can handle much more,” she said with a laugh.
“You are going to want to hear this,” he said as he took her hand in his again. “So, when Dimitri and the team went into the lab, they took out some hostages like I said and brought them back to headquarters. These hostages were your birth parents... and they aren't just anyone, Sarah... Your birth parents are really important to our shifter society, they are almost like royalty,” he explained.
Sarah put her hands to her face. “Royalty? I’m… My birth parents are at headquarters?” she asked.
Shane nodded in return.
“Can we go to them? Can we see them?” she asked. She needed to see their faces. To hold them and smell them. This is what her body was telling her.
“Yes, we can,” he said to her.
She jumped up from the bed and ran out the door faster than he could follow her. She was waiting for him after he finished locking up.
He watched her as he backed the truck out of the driveway and headed onto the street. She was bouncing up and down like a schoolgirl. But, he would have done that too if he had another chance to see his parents. It had been awhile and he really missed them. He had been estranged from his siblings ever since their death and maybe he needed to go back and see his family. This could be why he felt like he needed Sarah so much because he didn’t have anyone in his life.
The road followed to the highway and he got off on the next exit. The big building came into sight and Sarah was running out the door before he could even turn the car off.
He entered the office with Dimitri gently sitting Sarah down. “You will have to wait. They’re being questioned right now,” he said.
“What’s going on?” Shane asked.
“John is having a discussion with the Bridges right now and she wants to run in and see them,” Dimitri said.
Shane turned and looked at Sarah. “John is my boss. He is just asking them some routine questions and is making sure that they are okay. You can see them as soon as they are done, alright? Do you want something to eat or drink while we wait?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t think I can. My nerves are tangled.”
Shane sat down next to her and she took her hand in his for support. He was shocked that the first thing that she had gone for was his hand in her time of need. This sent a warm fuzzy feeling all over his body.
After what seemed like forever, the door flew open and three people walked out. A man in a suit walked the couple into a room, like the one that Sarah had stayed in, and closed the door behind them. Then he ushered Shane over to him.
“How are they?” Shane asked.
“They are doing really well given their current condition. However, I think that they need to stay here for a few more days for observation just to make sure they are alright. They have been through quite an ordeal and I’m surprised that they haven’t sustained any physical injuries,” he said.
“Okay, great. Well, I’m going to bring Sarah in because she is eager to meet them, and they are eager to meet her. It will answer a lot of questions that she has, and maybe some of ours as well.”
“Whatever you think is best,” John said as he walked off.
Shane turned and motioned for Sarah to follow him. “Are you ready?” he asked as they walked up to the door.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. I haven’t been ready for the things that have been happening to me the past couple of days. I know that this couldn’t possibly be any different,” she said.
Shane knocked on the door and waited for a response on the other end before he opened it. The couple was sitting on the bed, holding each other. He could tell that they looked scared. Who could blame them after what they went through? Would he have trusted where he was if he was them?
“Mr. and Mrs. Bridges, I have someone that you might like to meet,” he said.
Sarah entered the room and the woman got off of the bed and walked towards her. The two women circled each other, sniffing the air and examining one another.
“Is it you?” she asked.
Sarah nodded her head. They didn’t need to exchange any words. He could tell they just knew.
The woman threw her arms around Sarah and she did the same. They ushered for the man on the bed to come to join them and threw his arms around both of them.
Shane could see the happiness in their eyes, and he was glad that he could be a part of their uniting together. He had felt so guilty about what happened before that seeing this made all of that guilt go away.
He went to close the door behind him so that they could have some privacy.
“Wait,” Sarah said as she broke free from the group and closed the door taking his hand. “Don’t leave. I want you to stay with me and help walk me through this,” she led him to the couple standing, watching them.
“I don’t know what to call you yet. This is all so new to me, but this man… bear…? has been there for me through it all and I care about him. I want him to be here for this leg of the journey as well,” she said.
“That sounds wonderful. What’s your name young man?” Leonard asked.
“Shane. Shane Rodriguez,” he replied.
“I knew your parents. They were great people. Come, sit down,” Amanda beckoned.
Shane and Sarah pulled up two chairs and surrounded themselves around the couple. Shane never thought in a million years that he would find people or creatures that were so accepting of him and he was glad for it. He never thought he would find his mate either. But here he was in a room with shifter royalty and the woman who chose him to be hers. Maybe she was sent to help him and not the other way around. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t going to tempt fate and accept everything for what it was moving forward. He couldn’t wait to see what the rest of his journey and Sarah’s journey had in store for them.
About Sammie Joyce
Sammie Joyce has enjoyed romance for almost all her reading life. As a young teen, she read a young adult romance (before young adult romance was such a thing!) and knew she’d found something special. The name of that book was Surf With Me but the author’s name has sadly long been forgotten. The story was about a surfer boy who taught a high school girl how to surf. Of course they fell in love and of course there was angst and trouble before they realized they were meant for each other. Ah, the satisfaction of a happy ending!
Then she found paranormal romance and that was when she realized what she wanted to write.
Sammie is married to the man who gave her the nickname she goes by today. Sarah Anne Mayhew is her birth name, though the boy she would marry used her initials to give her a nickname. SAM. The two live happily together in the St. Louis, Missouri suburbs.
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