“I wouldn’t have a shifter for a fiancée if I weren’t.”
After a second, Sean’s sister nodded. “So far, I like you.”
Standing up to the shifter female seemed to be working, so Lauren kept at it. “Well if you do, then can we get going? My leg hurts like hell, my toes on my good leg are starting to go numb, and I’m wearing blood-soaked clothes.”
“Fine, follow me. I’ll take you to one of DarkStalker’s apartments in the area to get cleaned up. Then we’ll see if you’re any use to us.”
Once the shifter turned her back, Lauren let out a long breath as she followed Danika through the woods. If it took this much energy to handle one shifter, what would it be like to face a whole room of them, let alone an entire clan?
Think of Sean. You love him. You can do this.
For Sean, she’d do anything. She just hoped she could change her clothes and eat something before she had to try to win over any more stubborn shifters.
***
Looking in the bathroom mirror, Lauren made a face and decided there was nothing she could do about the curly frizzy mess that was her hair. The apartment Danika had brought her to lacked any of the hair care products she usually used to straighten it.
Of course, worrying about her hair was just the latest excuse she was using to stay inside the bathroom. By now, Danika’s friends should’ve shown up, which meant dealing with more shifters and trying to gain more acceptance.
She wouldn’t mind all of this if Sean was at her side. But alone, it was going to be downright exhausting.
At least her leg felt better after the hot shower and a liberal application of antiseptic gel. She’d been right in her earlier assumption that while long, the cut wasn’t deep.
Stop dillydallying and coming up with excuses, Lauren. Think of Sean. With one last glance at her reflection in the mirror, she turned and opened the door. As she walked down the hallway, she heard a male’s voice say, “According to Dave, Human Purity doesn’t try to hide their tracks. He should have a list of possible locations to search in the next hour or two.”
Danika’s voice greeted her ears next. “I don’t like waiting, but knowing Sean, he’ll find a way to keep them from killing him in the next two hours. I’m more concerned about having enough shifters we trust to investigate the list of locations.”
There was a pause and then the male voice said, “Hello, human. Care to come out and join the conversation? I promise I won’t bite.”
The male shifter’s light tone eased a bit of her nervousness. Maybe not all shifters were as hardass as Danika Fisher.
Straightening her shoulders, Lauren strode into the living room and was greeted with the sight of a muscled man with amusement dancing in his green eyes. He was tall, as all shifters tended to be, but since he wasn’t glaring at her the way Danika had back in the forest, he was a little less intimidating.
The male smiled. “So this is Sean’s human? If I weren’t mated myself, I’d be tempted to try to woo you.”
She battled a flush. Human men had rarely noticed her over the years, but she attracted shifters like a fly with honey. “And you are?”
The male strode over and held out a hand. “I’m Sylas Murray of Clan GreyFire.”
It took her a second to recognize the name. “The wolf-shifter clan?”
He winked. “The very one. My mate is GreyFire’s clan leader, Kaya.”
He wiggled his fingers, and Lauren took his hand to shake. Once she finished and dropped it, she looked over to Danika and then back to Sylas. “I don’t understand. Sean is a cougar-shifter. From what little I know, the wolves and cougars don’t much care for each other.”
Danika’s tone was dry when she said, “It’s taken me months to get use to the stench of wolf, but despite their smell, they have their uses.”
Sylas shook his head. “What Dani is trying to say is that I’m a cougar-shifter too, but I’m mated to a wolf. My brother, Kian, is DarkStalker’s clan leader, so I have ties to both clans. You could say I’m the reason the two clans are now getting along.”
Danika rolled her eyes. “Yes, you and not the virus we helped with.”
Sylas shrugged. “Hey, the virus helped, but you know it’s all down to me and my sexy talk. Kaya didn’t stand a chance.”
As the two continued to banter, Lauren tried to take it all in, but was having trouble. A few months ago, Sean had started to trust her with his clan’s affairs, but she was still human, and there was so much she didn’t know.
Watching the pair argue like brother and sister, Lauren decided she needed to stop them so she could get answers and bring their focus back on Sean.
Sean. He needed their help, and she would remind them of that fact.
Lauren gave a loud whistle and the two shifters stopped talking to stare at her. Fueled by her love for Sean, she said, “Enough. Right now, I don’t care how or why you’re working together. All I want to know is what is being done to find Sean. I overheard that you’re tracking the location, but unsure about having enough bodies to help. What can we do to fix that?”
Dani frowned, but Sy grinned before he said, “Yes, I think I like you, human.”
Danika gave Sylas a shove before she answered, “Your drive to save Sean raises you in my esteem, but there isn’t much for you to do but wait around. You’re a dentist, not a soldier.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Sylas cut her off. “As much as I hate to say it, she’s right. But hang tight. If Sean’s in a bad way when we find him, we’ll need your help. That’s why my brother wanted Dani to bring you here to wait.”
As much as she didn’t want to think of Sean in a “bad way,” Lauren would rather be prepared. “What? How?”
Danika explained, “Shifters usually have control of their inner animals, but sometimes, when they’ve been severely injured or feel threatened, the animal side takes over. When that happens, it’s about a fifty-fifty chance of bringing the human side back.”
She tried to imagine Sean wild with an animal-frenzy, but couldn’t picture it. She’d known her boyfriend was a cougar-shifter, but he’d never, not once, given her a reason to fear his animal side. “Only fifty-fifty?”
Sylas added, “That’s where you come in. When someone both the human and animal sides love tries to coax them back from the brink, be it family or a mate, the odds of saving them increases exponentially. The only real question is, are you confident in your love for Sean and his for you? Because if you’re not, Sean may kill you in that state.”
Without missing a beat, Lauren nodded. “Of course. I love Sean Fisher. He’s my best friend, and I’d rather die than live without him.”
Sylas nodded in approval. “Good. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but I feel better with you being prepared.” The male shifter glanced at Danika. “Feed her, Dani, while I tap my contacts.”
“No, Sy, you feed her. I have a far bigger reach than you, and you know it.”
Lauren interjected, “Why don’t you both try to reach people? As long as there’s food in the kitchen, I can feed myself. I’m a big girl.”
One side of Sy’s mouth ticked up. “Good human. The fridge is stocked, so have at it.”
She was about to turn around and head for the kitchen when Danika said, “Oh, and a doctor is coming to check you out properly. So eat fast.”
At the word “doctor,” Lauren prevented herself from showing any emotion on her face. While she wanted to make sure she was all right, she was afraid the doctor might discover her secret and then deliver the bad news.
She kept a steady face and nodded.
Her mask must’ve been convincing because no sooner had she given her confirmation, Danika looked back over to Sylas and began discussing who to call.
Well, at least that discussion had been avoided. If anyone deserved to hear about her secret first, it was Sean.
Lauren limped to the kitchen and hoped these shifters knew what they were doing. The longer Sean was missing, the greater
her fear grew concerning Sean making it out of this alive.
Hold on, babe. You haven’t given me a chance to say yes.
In that moment, Lauren realized the best Christmas gift she could ever hope for was to have Sean alive and back in her arms again.
Chapter Five
Sean was finally alone again. The male human bastard had throttled him for nearly half an hour before he stopped to give an overly enthusiastic speech into the video camera.
The speech hadn’t told him much apart from “a large-scale attack was coming soon.” They’d only let him hear that, and the call for more recruits to reply to the video for more information, because they assumed he’d be dead soon.
Sean hoped to disappoint them on that front.
He scanned the room around him more slowly than before, now that he was alone, to try to find something to help him escape.
He didn’t see any two-way mirrors for observation or anything that looked like a camera. Human Purity wasn’t completely stupid; the less evidence they had of his kidnapping, the less chance of a conviction. Even with the video of the male punching him, they’d be careful to block out both their faces.
Not like the US Shifter Department of Justice would take much notice. They were understaffed and overworked. A single kidnapping was low on their list of priorities.
The reminder that he was on his own, at least until his clan knew he was missing, focused Sean. He might be the only one who could save Lauren. He needed to find a way out of here.
But no matter how much he studied the room, he didn’t see anything that would cut through his bindings.
Ignoring the pain from his injured shoulder, he tried pulling his hands apart again, but nothing. The material wouldn’t budge.
He then closed his eyes and focused on the position of his fingers. As he wiggled them the minuscule amount allowed by his bindings, he realized something about the fourth finger on both of his hands. If he extended his claw and pierced through his palm, he might just be able to cut through the material on the other side.
Sure, it would hurt like hell, but given the amount of pain he already was in from the car accident and his beating, a little more was no big deal. Especially if it meant he could be free to find Lauren and make sure she was all right.
Concentrating, Sean extended the claw on his ring finger of his right hand and clenched his jaw as the sharp point poked through his palm. He felt it pierce the other side and into the binding material. Gearing himself up for more pain, Sean then moved his claw up and down through his palm. The bones of his fingers made it difficult to move more than a little, but it was enough. He could feel the claw catch on the bindings. He’d have to do both sides, and then he might just be able to pull his hands apart.
Since the blood from his wounds would drip onto the floor and alert anyone from Human Purity who came to check on him, he focused on his task. He had one shot at freedom, and the next time the door opened on the far side of the room, he’d be ready to spring. Given the confidence of the pair he’d seen earlier, combined with the normal-looking lock on the door, his prison probably wasn’t that secure. One shifter against a handful of humans were good enough odds that even with his injuries, he might be able to escape.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he continued slicing through the binding material. Hold on, Lauren. I’m coming.
Rescuing her was his top priority. It helped him to forget that after this, Lauren might want nothing to do with him.
No. He would fight for her. He loved his human, and he would protect her. No more hiding from his clan; he would introduce Lauren and ensure she had the protection of Clan DarkStalker for the rest of her life whether she wanted it or not.
***
Lauren blinked at the blonde-haired, green-eyed woman who called herself “Dr. Lisa.” Although she hadn’t said as much, judging by her height and familiarity with Sylas Murray, Lauren suspected the woman was a shifter.
The doctor was poking and prodding her abdomen as she said, “Does it hurt here?”
“No.”
Lisa removed her hands and stood up. “While scans would give me a better answer, my preliminary exam didn’t find anything life threatening.”
“So I can help with Sean, if they need me?”
“I don’t like it, but it’s not like I can stop you.”
The doctor remained quiet and Lauren realized if this woman were a shifter, she could finally get the answers she’s been looking for. She blurted out, “Are you a shifter?”
“Yes. I assumed Sy or Dani would’ve told you that.” She gave a long look and then continued, “Since you claim to be a shifter’s fiancée, I’m guessing it doesn’t bother you that a shifter just touched your skin. So tell me why you burned to ask me that question.”
The female shifter was very calm, collected, and logical. That made Lauren like her all the more than the flirty Sylas or gruff Danika.
Especially since Lauren had some questions she’d itched to ask for months now, but hadn’t known whom to ask. Of course, two weeks ago, the need to find answers had become more pressing. She wasn’t about to pass up this chance. “I want to ask you some biology questions, but if I do, will it qualify as doctor-patient confidentiality?”
“As long as it doesn’t endanger any of the shifter clans in the Cascade Mountains, then yes, ask away.”
Lauren picked at her borrowed sweatpants, suddenly nervous. But no, she needed an answer to prepare herself before talking with Sean. So she asked, “Do babies conceived between humans and shifters turn out okay?”
The shifter doctor stared at her a second before she asked, “How far along are you?”
That answer made her heart sink. “Why? Will it not survive to full-term? Please just tell me, Doctor. I need to know.”
“Because of the laws, it’s rare for shifters and humans to conceive, but it has been done many times before. Just like with any pregnancy, there are risks, but there is no reason your child shouldn’t survive and be born healthy.”
A huge weight suddenly lifted from Lauren’s shoulders. At first, when she’d taken the pregnancy test last week to try to confirm her suspicions, the test had resulted in a half-plus symbol, which was neither positive nor negative. Four more tests all turned out the same way, making her think humans and shifters weren’t supposed to have children.
But now, if what Dr. Lisa said was true, her baby might live.
Dr. Lisa’s green eyes were stern yet inquisitive. Lauren decided to give her more details. “I missed my period about two and a half weeks ago. Combined with fatigue and lack of appetite, I suspected I might be pregnant. I stopped taking my birth control pills just in case. The tests I took all came out weird, so I wasn’t sure what to think.”
“And you couldn’t go to a human hospital for fear of arrest or a forced abortion.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to hazard a guess that you didn’t tell Sean, let alone Sy and Dani about this.” Lauren shook her head and the doctor let out a sigh. “I really wish you would have. If Sean knew his female was carrying his child, he would’ve taken better security measures to ensure your safety.”
Lauren knew the shifters had their own way of doing things, but if she didn’t set a line now about her opinions, it might be too late. Straightening her shoulders, Lauren said, “There will always be risks and I’d rather face them than be kept in a glass cage.”
The doctor smiled. “I feel about the same way, although be prepared, Lauren. Sean will turn into a possessive, protective male once he knows the truth. As difficult as it may be to do it, allow him to be a little more protective of you. Otherwise, he may turn wild.”
“Why does everyone keep mentioning Sean turning wild? He’s never been that way with me, not even in the worst of our fights.”
“That’s a good sign. But just prepare yourself, because shifter men aren’t human; denying their animal sides will eat away at them until they turn into an unhappy, depressed mess.”
<
br /> “An unhappy, depressed mess? Is that your clinical explanation?”
Lisa snorted. “A more apt description is a fucking mess, but I was trying to be somewhat polite.”
Lauren smiled. “I like a doctor who’s honest.” Sobering back up again, she continued, “Will you be my doctor?”
“I’m a GreyFire wolf-shifter, but if Kian will allow me to visit once you move to DarkStalker’s land, then I would be delighted. It would give us more information about human-shifter pregnancies that could end up saving lives in the future.”
She didn’t like the idea of being a test subject, but she’d put up with it if it meant she could have Dr. Lisa.
There was a knock on the door and Dr. Lisa said, “Come in. The exam’s over.”
Sy opened the door and poked his head in. “We’ve narrowed it down to two locations in the area. Is Lauren cleared to go? I need both of you to come with me. We might need you.”
The doctor nodded. “As long as you don’t bring her into the den of snakes, then yes, she can go.”
The two women shared a look and Lauren nodded in understanding; she needed to be careful of the baby, especially after the recent car accident.
Lauren turned toward Sylas. “So, where are we going?”
***
Both of Sean’s palms throbbed as he waited for his next visitor. It had taken at least an hour to saw through his bindings, maybe more, but they had finally given way. The bitch of it all was he couldn’t rotate his shoulders or move his arms for fear of someone walking in on him, yet every muscle in his body itched to do exactly that.
The enduring pain and waiting around game reminded him of his teenage training years. At the time, he’d hated every second of it since he’d never intended to be a sentry or soldier for the clan. Building things and figuring out how stuff worked had always fascinated him, and from a young age, Sean had known he wanted to study engineering. Yet right now, he was glad for the training since it was keeping him disciplined.
It might also keep him alive.
Taming the Alpha Page 45