by Milly Taiden
Chase punched the truck’s engine, ramming through the guard shack’s single arm barrier, flying toward the main production line building where most of the smoke hovered.
He was out of his vehicle and inside the door before his brain caught up with his actions. His instincts were to save and protect. Half his pack worked in the plant. It was the main moneymaker in the small town.
People flowed past him in a heavy stream. It was too dark, smoke too thick to see much of anything. Someone yelled to him, “Alpha, second floor. Help.”
That was all he needed. When he was younger, he spent several years working in the plant side by side with members of his pack. Here, he’d gained the trust and respect of many of his fellow wolves with his strict work ethic and willingness to go out of the way for others.
Taking the stairs three at a time, he was on the second floor swiftly. His lungs were already overcome with the toxic air. Even though wearing his favorite pair of jeans, he shifted, tearing all material on his body to shreds, which he quickly shed.
In his wolf, he moved much faster, closer to the ground where the air was better.
The upper floor consisted mainly of admin offices and conference rooms. Along the back wall of the building, a section in the middle from ground floor to second-level ceiling was blown inward like a missile had been shot from a fighter jet.
A long pile of shattered wood and debris stretched from one side to the other. Chase’s heart squeezed. How could anyone have survived this?
Yet through the chaos and uproar, his senses picked up heartbeats and groans. He shifted to human form and starting chucking pieces of furniture, file cabinets, and drywall every direction to get to those alive.
He dug his way through to an unconscious female, one of his pack. She was bleeding profusely from deep gashes. Summoning his alpha voice, which he didn’t often have to use, he ordered the unconscious woman to shift.
Her inner wolf had no choice but to obey, transforming and mostly healing her fragile flesh. He lifted the animal and carried it to the stair landing, the safest place on the burning level.
The next he smelled was a human male, but there was no heartbeat from him. His wolf cried out inside for the loss of life while he continued through the smoldering fragments.
Others on the floor had found their way from under the wreckage, most confused and in shock. Chase let out a shrieking whistle, drawing their attention. In various zombie-like stages, they made their way toward him. The more coherent helping those worse off.
Behind him, first responders rushed forward, finally reaching the upper floor. He saw Seff and Riel making their way along a different path through the debris. Of course, they had their clothes on, still. Wussies.
A smaller explosion rocked the structure, sending portions crashing to the bottom level. A woman’s scream turned his head.
A female dangled, holding on to exposed wires over the hole that had opened from the blast. Burning remnants were below and above her. The only way to reach her was from a snapped two-by-four sticking out over the gaping maw.
With no thought of his safety, Chase launched himself through flames to the board. He discovered that piece of wood was about two feet long. Not enough space for both of them if he pulled her up with him. There was only one way to do this.
After quickly explaining the plan to the woman, he stretched out and grabbed her wrist. On the count of three, Chase yanked the woman up to the board he lay on, giving her his position of safety. As he fell into the fire below, he prayed one day Sophia would forgive him for abandoning her and the children.
15
Sophia woke slowly, which wasn’t normal for her. The smells of the room registered in her brain before her eyes even opened.
Without moving, she let her other senses inform her of her surroundings.
The air was chilly and damp, a bit musty as if in an underground room or basement.
Light buzzing noises, like appliances or small machines, were the only sounds.
The surface she lay on was hard, but gave to the bend of her body. A cot maybe. Definitely not Tempurpedic like Chase’s mattress.
She smelled fruit and bread, faintly. And of course, her stomach growled, making itself the squeaky wheel.
Opening her eyes, she rose to a sitting position. Looking around, she saw her senses were correct, but her guess on where she was, was far from being right.
If she believed in time travel, she would’ve thought she was in a 1960’s bunker. A secret lab not only hidden, but forgotten.
The room was done in white and teal tiled walls and floors like those in her parents’ old elementary school pictures. Army green lockers lined one of the walls and a door that had a sign that said restroom sat next to those.
What was surprising was the new lab equipment sitting on a center island. Nothing state-of-the-art, but updated and solid gear.
So, where in the hell was she?
Then the image of her abductor popped into her head. Jake Asshole Schnake. Anger erupted in her chest.
“Hey, prick. Why are you here?” she hollered, not afraid of his reaction to her name calling. She dropped her feet over the side of the cot and stretched her back.
From a corner, she heard his voice.
“My, my. How the princess has changed. I wouldn’t have believed it if not seeing with my own eyes,” he said. She heard him, but didn’t see him. Glancing up the wall, she noted a small monitor with a camera below it. His damn smug face filled the screen.
“Shut the hell up and take me home, you bastard. I told you I never wanted to see you again. And the courts agreed.”
“The courts have no control over me,” he said, narrowing his eyes, studying her. His voice was calm and calculated, which she knew happened when he was upset. So the justice system had done its job on him. Unfortunately, insane assholes seemed immune to changing for the better.
“Fine, Jake. What do you want?” He didn’t reply. That worried her. Jake had always known what he wanted and he made sure everyone around him knew also. No one was getting in his way. Except his own idiotic, non-intelligent self.
When Sophia had first arrived at the CDC viral lab, she kept to herself and did her work as her shy withdrawn personality dictated then.
Jake was a hotshot at the lab who, in her opinion, was a social butterfly dipping into every female’s flower to find the tastiest fruit. He was a nobody to her.
She’d happened upon a discovery she was keeping to herself until she was absolutely, positively certain her data and experiments were correct. She didn’t want to go through showing her work and someone finding it to be faulty and wrong.
She was too old to hide in the closet anymore.
Then one day, Jake introduced himself and asked if she’d like to get a cup of coffee. Of course, she said no, but was flattered to hell that he noticed her.
The next day, he brought coffee to her and so she was forced to sit and talk with him. Turned out he wasn’t that bad. He sounded intelligent, but he was a research tech so he should’ve been. His smile was hot enough to melt panties off any woman.
And talk about hot, the man sizzled in the thin white T-shirts he wore under his lab coat. Broad shoulders and pants that hugged his thighs and perfect ass. Mmm, mmm. Eye candy galore.
Sophia couldn’t believe he paid her any attention, especially the friendly kind. Before long, he’d wiggled his way into working with her at the lab, and eventually, in the bedroom.
Needless to say, he was much better in bed than he was in the lab. He even introduced her to blindfolds and light bondage. She never enjoyed restraints and such with him. Something inside her didn’t completely trust Jake Schnake.
Her suspicions were proven correct. The morning she was to give the presentation on the discovery, Jake had tied her to the bed, stripped her naked, and took pictures with his phone.
He left her tied while he demonstrated her work and took accolades for himself. He knew the shy Sophia would do nothing.<
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To prove Jake’s wrongdoing, she’d have to show the pictures of her naked self sprawled over the bed. Sophia would never let that happened.
As a secondary plan, Jake had erased all information related to the project from her computer. If she didn’t have the history of data, then it made sense she couldn’t have made the discovery.
The only thing that saved her was a backup of her computer onto a flash drive she had in her purse. After losing important info several times due to system crashes and stolen laptops, she got into the habit of having an alternative place to store her stuff.
That thumb drive along with testimony from coworkers were enough to convince a judge to award her the case.
She took the money she received in damages and got the hell out of the city, dragging her sister with her.
And now, here she was again, trapped by the dick. Luckily, she was smart enough to not let him slither his claws into her.
“What do I want?” he echoed. “I want everything, Sophia.”
Yeah, that was so Jake. “What do you want with me, dipshit?” she said, growing tired of him already. She was being bold, but with shifters inside her, she was stronger and faster than any human. She wasn’t afraid of him.
He studied her more from the monitor, quietly. The old Sophia would be huddled under the cot by now, scared of others finding out she was in trouble.
New Sophia wanted to bust out a fang. But did Jake know she was a shifter? He couldn’t possibly have a clue. She’d never heard of shifters before her sister was bitten.
She looked at the monitor and saw an empty chair at a desk. He was gone. The sound of metal against metal turned her head and a heavy-duty steel door opened to reveal her captor.
The first thing that hit her was his smell. Holy hell in a basket! He was a shifter. She hadn’t known. Then the significance of his name slapped her upside the head.
“You’re seriously a snake shifter? Not just an asshole?” she blurted.
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door. “You were always a bit slow when it came to things outside the lab,” he sneered.
She snorted. “Yeah, fuck you, too, dickwad.”
A laughed burst from him, surprising her. “I like this new you much better than the other one,” he commented. “Unpredictable.”
“Ha,” she grunted, “You ain’t seen shit, yet. Now, I’ll ask again, what do you want with me?”
“I want your shifter DNA research,” he said.
Why was she not surprised by his answer? Once a liar and thief, always a liar and thief.
She recalled the last conversation she had with Tori, facility director. She said she was waiting for a male. “Are you working with Tori? You part of her scheme?”
“For your information, it’s my scheme. Winchester played along because she had a bone to pick with the shifter race. One word about getting revenge and she was all in,” he answered.
That made sense. Her boss said as much that night the woman was killed. Wait—Chase said the samples on the table were taken and the body missing.
She asked, “What did you do with Tori’s body? You’d better do right by her.”
Again, he laughed. “Maybe you’re smarter than I gave you credit for. Don’t worry about Winchester.”
“Someone will find her and evidence will link you to her,” she said.
Jake laughed. “No, nobody will find her body. I guarantee it.”
“This is shifter country, Jake. Someone will smell the decay before—”
“Trust me, Sophia,” he sneered, “no one will find her body. It’s physically impossible.”
The man really was stupid. “How could it be impossible—”
“I disposed of her body, but it isn’t buried,” he huffed. “She’s not your concern. You’re going to be busy.”
Sophia patiently waited for him to continue. He smiled. The little prick was purposefully baiting her. Damn. She’d forgotten how annoying he could be.
“Tell me, Jake, what will I be busy doing?” she asked.
“You will be creating a serum to make supershifters,” he answered.
“What?” Did she hear correctly? “Supershifters? As in Superman-like shifters? Being several times stronger than humans isn’t enough for you?” Good God. What would it take to please this man?
“You got it, love,” he replied.
The side of her top lip lifted in disgust. “I am not your ‘love.’”
His eyes darted to her stomach as he smirked. Instinctively, she covered her lower belly.
“Guess you’re right. Fucking you to get your research won’t work this time. I’m impressed you’re screwing the alpha. Went straight to the top, didn’t you?”
A growl vibrated in her chest. Jake stiffened and pulled out a gun from his lab coat pocket.
“I suggest you calm yourself and your animals. I believe you were shot not too long ago.”
Her inner companions backed off, but weren’t happy about it.
Jake tilted his head to the side, toward a counter. “You have food and water in the fridge. And there’s a restroom. You’re not leaving this room until I have a working serum in hand. Your research is in the walk-in cooler in the back. Feel free to get started anytime.” He slipped out the door, making loud clanking sounds as he locked up behind him.
She plopped down on the cot. Was this truly happening? First, Tori wanted to get rid of every shifter in existence, and this asshole wanted to be Captain America.
If her boss was still alive, she wondered which plan would’ve overcome? Knowing Jake, he would’ve done something to Tori. Seemed he was prepared to get rid of her body.
Looking around, she blew out a breath and wondered where to start. No windows, one exit door, she wasn’t crawling through AC ducts in the ceiling. She made her way toward the food. Might as well check it out and see the offerings.
No filet mignon, but better than cheese and crackers.
“Oh, by the way,” his voice came from the monitor on the wall, “your computer and research are on the counter next to the microscope.”
She looked over her shoulder to find where he was talking about. Yup, that was her laptop she locked in her office. Tori made everything easy for him.
Taking a handful of grapes, she moseyed to her computer and opened it, making it look like she was working even though escaping was at the top of her thought list.
She needed to focus to try to reach Chase with their telepathic wave in the sky, radar love thing. Hopefully, he was at a place where he could communicate with her.
16
Chase glanced up at the woman balanced on the two-by-four he was on less than a second ago in the burning car plant. At least she was safe. His death by fire wouldn’t be in vain.
His only regret was that he wouldn’t get to see his children. Well, he believed in an afterlife, so maybe he’d see his children from wherever he ended up.
Suddenly, his body was slammed into by something cold, hard, and…wet?
He flew sideways through the air and crashed onto the concrete floor away from the main fire. Sitting up, he shook water from his drenched hair.
“Sorry, Alpha.” A firefighter on the other side of the blown-open wall held a firehose on the flames. “Didn’t see you coming down.”
Chase raised a wave to him. “No problem, Eli,” he called out. Getting to his feet, he chuckled to himself. “No problem at all.”
With a cough, he headed toward the closest exit, which was where he’d parked his truck earlier. He had a pair of shorts stuffed somewhere in the back that he could slide on.
He was comfortable in his nakedness, like most shifters were. But there were humans outside, and of course, being in cold water always caused shrinkage, and he didn’t want anyone to think he was usually this size…not that size mattered…well…
Outside, fire trucks, ambulances, and other flashing lights filled the parking lot in front of the building. Responders and factory employ
ees bustled in different directions. Some handing out blankets to those in need, others helping the injured to medical personnel.
“Chase,” River hollered from somewhere among the crowd. Of all times for his beta to open his mouth and draw attention. Chase hurried to his truck before everyone and their brother saw him—all of him.
“Hey, man,” River said, “you okay? What’s going on?”
Chase pulled a black pair of workout shorts from under the back seat and slid them on. “Hell if I know. But I’m thinking hyenas had something to do with it. You demolished that shack where Tryx was held, right?”
“Yeah,” River responded, “last week. Same day we rescued Tryx and your mate. Cleared the place then leveled it.” Julia came up beside his beta.
Chase nodded. Speaking of mates, he searched the crowd for his.
“I take it Sophia hadn’t made it to your house yet,” he asked Julia.
She shook her head. “No. You want me to call her?” Julia asked.
“No,” he said. “If she’s at home, that’s fine. I don’t need her worrying over anything.”
Sheriff Hurley tapped the hood of the SUV as he came around the front side. Soot and ash covered his uniform and face.
“Glad you’re all right, Chase,” the sheriff said. “Scared the shit out of me for a second.”
Chase bobbed his head, a little embarrassed by the concern from another respected male.
River and Julia eyed him. “What happened?” River asked.
“Nothing,” Chase said, cutting off any response of the sheriff. “Just doing my job protecting lives.” He pointedly stared at the officer beside him. He didn’t need any glorified stories getting started when he did what anyone else would’ve done.
The man lifted his hands. “Whatever you say. My official report will read otherwise,” the sheriff replied with a smile.
“I’d like a copy of that report,” River said.
Chase snorted. “Not on your life.” He turned to the town’s peacekeeper. “What do you think happened? Accident on the plant’s part?”
The sheriff rubbed his chin, staring at the smoking remains of the structure. “Not sure. I’m inclined to say it wasn’t a coincidence that the hyenas were spotted around here, but who knows?”