A Forbidden Love

by Lorelei Moone

  Aidan had never particularly warmed towards her and always seemed a bit suspicious. Turning up at the scene of an attack wasn't helping. She had to find a sensible explanation... Screw it, she had nothing. Jamie had made it clear that the truth wouldn't be particularly popular with anyone, including his own people, but it was the only chance she had of earning Aidan's trust.

  "This is going to sound really crazy, but Jamie and I are mates. I felt he was in danger." Alison's bottom lip was trembling while she spoke. She still felt the risk, and if they didn't hurry up, things could get a whole lot worse.

  "Okay." Aidan looked away from her again, fished his phone out of his pocket and read something on its screen.

  "Really. I know it's not acceptable, considering I'm not one of you, but-"

  "Calm down. I believe you."

  Wow, that was easy.

  "My mate is inside too," Aidan added, looking up from his phone to make eye contact with her.

  Finally his demeanor started to make sense. They were in the same boat together. He'd been brought here not by some silent alarm, but the same feeling of uneasiness that had spurred Alison into action. The alarm had just served to confirm the danger he'd already sensed himself.

  "So what do we do now?" Alison wondered aloud.

  "We're going in, of course! Backup is arriving shortly." Aidan put the phone away, straightened his back and started marching towards the door.

  Shit . This was it: the moment of truth. She knew she couldn't do anything to betray Jamie, but Gareth was in there. Despite everything, he was still her brother. Her dad was in there too, more than likely.

  She had to pick a side and it would no longer be possible to keep her relationship with Jamie a secret from the rest of them either.

  "Wait! What do you mean, shortly?" Alison rushed into the building behind Aidan. She wasn't going to be much use in a fight, but considering everything was already unraveling around her, perhaps she could use her position to her advantage.

  "Ten minutes, tops." Aidan scanned the empty office space. Wherever Gareth and the guys were, it wasn't in here.

  Alison felt Jamie more keenly, and her feet wanted to carry her ahead to his position, making it nearly impossible to focus. Every second they wasted discussing what to do increased the risk of escalation inside. She had to be proactive, and get Aidan on her side.

  "I haven't been entirely truthful with you." Alison turned to face Aidan, who paused. "I don't have time to get into it now, but they know me in there. I'm going to stall them, try to get them away from your people if possible. You stay out of sight until the backup gets here and then surprise them."

  Aidan's jaw tightened. He wasn't happy to find out she'd played him, but seemed to accept this wasn't the time to argue about it. "Fine. Don't make me regret this. I don't have to tell you what will happen if anything happens to Hei- them."

  Aidan's threat didn't faze Alison. If something happened to Jamie, she wouldn't be able to live with herself anyway. "Okay then." Here goes nothing.

  Alison looked back at Aidan one last time before heading for the door leading out of the cluttered office space. It creaked heavily as she pushed it open, making her flinch. Hopefully nobody had heard her.

  She listened for any movement up or down the stairs. She knew that she'd been kept upstairs during her interrogation. That must mean that the prisoners had been locked up downstairs...

  Alison tiptoed down the steps until she heard muffled voices, though she couldn't make out what they were saying exactly. There was another door at the bottom of the staircase, which led into a dimly lit corridor.

  Alison pushed the door open. Its shrill squeak sent shivers down her spine. There they were. Heads turned in her direction and she recognized the faces of the two armed guards waiting in front of one of the doors leading off the hallway.

  "Lads," Alison mumbled.

  The two skinheads exchanged a look and then shrugged and nodded at her. So far so good.

  "Gareth called me in, where is he?" Alison asked, hoping they wouldn't detect the slight tremble in her voice.

  "In there." One of the men gestured at a door further down the hall.

  Alison kept her shoulders straight as she marched onward past the pair of them. She managed to steal a glimpse out the corner of her eye at the door they were guarding, but there was no window to see inside. That's where Jamie was, she could feel him. Hopefully he could feel her, too and then he'd know that she was here to help.

  Her feet felt like they were made of lead as she forced herself to move ahead, when all she wanted to do was rush inside that first room to make sure Jamie was okay. Assuming there was nobody else inside the room where the Alliance people were held, the current scenario was ideal for a rescue. As long as she could keep most of the Sons out of the way.

  Could she risk a quick message to Aidan to let him know? No way, the two geniuses by the door were probably still gawking at her.

  She pushed against the door the guards had pointed out to her and was greeted by a half-dozen surprised faces clad in combat gear, along with three in civilian clothing. The room looked depressing, barren except for a bed and mattress. Paint peeled off the ceiling and walls, revealing damp patches in the concrete. This must have been one of the cells where the Alliance had held their prisoners.

  "Alison," Lee Campbell said. "What are you doing here?"

  She cocked her head to the side, then jumped ahead to give him a hug. "Dad! I'm so glad you're okay."

  Tears burned in her eyes. This was an impossible position to be in. Of course she was glad he was unharmed. He was her father. But since the first night with Jamie, he wasn't really her family anymore.

  She let out a sob as his arms tightened around her. "It's okay, darling. It takes a whole lot more than a few days of confinement to bring me down!"

  "Sis..." Gareth's voice spoke behind her. "What are you doing here? How did you know where to find us?"

  She didn't move, just sniffled into her dad's shoulder for a moment while considering her answer.

  Of all the familiar faces she'd seen coming into the room, one had been missing: her ex, Ian. Perhaps...

  "Ian called me, thought you could use some help handling the prisoners. After all, I'd spoken to some of them before," Alison said, while turning around and smiling at Gareth. "Good to see you've got the situation under control."

  "Right." Gareth stared at her in silence for what felt like forever, but then turned to face one of the other former prisoners, inspecting the bandage on his leg. "I think we should get Bob, here, to a doctor as soon as possible."

  "Can I have a look?" Alison asked. She'd had some first aid training, so it was only natural to ask.

  Gareth stepped aside and waved her over. "What do you think?"

  Alison's mind was still racing. If she could stall everyone in here until Aidan's backup arrived, perhaps she’d have a fighting chance of defusing the situation without endangering Jamie and the others.

  "This might hurt," Alison whispered, as she carefully pulled away the cotton gauze covering some of the man's wounds. His leg was in a bad state, though there was no sign of infection so far and it was starting to heal a little.

  "I don't think he should walk," Alison concluded, while making more of a show of inspecting his leg than strictly necessary. He probably could walk without any issue, but it was all she could think of to buy some time.

  "Do you think you can use some of those blankets to make a stretcher of some sort?" Alison asked Gareth, who looked at their father for confirmation.

  "Really? Can't we just prop him up and let him limp out of here?" Gareth argued.

  "He's not bleeding right now, but if it starts we'll have no way of stopping it and he could be in real danger," Alison lied.

  "She's right, better safe than sorry," their dad chimed in.

  It hurt. He was supporting her in front of Gareth, yet here she was fighting for the other team. Then again, they wouldn't hesitate to kill Jamie if the
y knew about their affair. And for what? For being a different species?

  Alison had to wonder if other than for reasons of vengeance, shifters had ever actually attacked and harmed humans. More often than not it had been the Sons who struck first.

  She bitterly remembered the origin story of the Sons that her dad had told her when she was little, about a bear who abducted a human woman to be his bride many centuries ago. The story of Eileen and Bhaltair. The rescue team sent in by the woman's father, Lord Domnall, were the first of what was to become a long line of shifter hunters. But that was just myth, surely?

  Since then, had shifters actually done anything wrong? Most of them seemed to live their lives in secret, separate from human society to prevent anyone from knowing the truth about them... Torches and pitchforks were never too far away when shifters revealed themselves as different, as Jamie had rightly remarked.

  Alison was certain she was now on the right side of this fight, but she didn't want these Sons dead either. She'd grown up with some of them. She observed Gareth and his men fold and arrange the blanket, tearing strips to secure to bits of wood scavenged from what had been a bed frame only moments before. It took them a while, but in the end, they had a makeshift stretcher.

  Now what? Alison had started to panic over finding another reason to keep everyone in here when the door finally flung open with a loud crash. The figures that entered didn't belong to the other guards outside. They weren't even human. Aidan's backup had arrived!

  Chapter Nine

  The change in the air had been gradual.

  Jamie sat with Heidi and Kyle in a row on the bed, staring at the locked door. If they shifted, it would be no match for the three of them. They could easily break through, but they'd still have to take care of the dozen armed fanatics on the other side. It would be a suicide mission.

  While he sat and tried to come up with some sort of a plan to keep his team – and mostly Alison – from any fallout from today's cluster-fuck, what had seemed like a hopeless situation started to change. He felt the change, a presence. It was faint at first but then the sensation grew until he could identify it: Alison.

  She was here.

  He felt her near the cell, exchanging words with someone outside. If he could feel her through the door, he was certain she could feel him, too. She had come here for him.

  His optimism was short-lived as she passed by his cell. She was moving ahead, probably to confront the rest of the Sons who were further down the corridor tending to the prisoners. How would she be able to explain her presence? If they found out why she was really here... He dreaded to think of what would happen.

  Jamie tried to listen to the conversation that took place in the other cell after Alison opened the door, but the walls were too thick even for his keen sense of hearing. All he heard were indistinct mumbles.

  He couldn't stay still any longer and got up, pacing the room restlessly.

  "You okay, Boss?" Heidi asked, her eyes wide with concern.

  She was a sweet girl, loyal to a fault.

  "Fine." Jamie paused, listening for any sign of trouble next door, but there was none.

  Still, Alison was upset – he could feel it. So he started pacing again.

  "Aidan," Heidi whispered behind Jamie.

  Had Alison brought him here? Or had he come in after her on his own accord?

  "Heidi, I respect your wish for privacy, but if there's anything you can feel that'll help us, please share," Jamie said.

  "What?" Kyle wondered aloud.

  Jamie shot him a strict look in an attempt to keep him quiet. There was no time to explain.

  "He's here," Heidi said, looking up at Jamie. "We'll be okay."

  "Is he alone?" Jamie wondered. He knew he was able to communicate with Alison telepathically, but only when they were in the same room together. Perhaps Heidi and Aidan's bond was stronger because they'd been an item for longer.

  Heidi closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate, hard. "No. I think the Alliance pick-up has arrived early."

  "Shit, really? That's awesome," Kyle exclaimed.

  "Get ready," Heidi said.

  Jamie cleared his mind, as much as possible with Alison's fear leaching through the wall separating them, and prepared himself. Beside him, Kyle quickly took off his T-shirt.

  "What? I don't want to ruin it. They don't sell these anymore," he justified when Jamie gave him a questioning look.

  "Five... Four... Three..." Heidi gestured the rest of the countdown.

  For the first time since Heidi's rescue, Jamie let the beast out. Ordinarily, he dreaded it. His bear form had always felt painfully incomplete, so he avoided shifting unless a situation absolutely demanded it. Now things were different.

  The tickle that traveled the length of his body as brown fur started to break through his skin actually felt pleasant. A burn in his muscles signaled growth. Within a split second, he'd torn through his clothes.

  Beside him, Kyle had transformed into his slightly smaller black bear form and Heidi stood on all fours, her razor sharp teeth exposed as she growled at the door. On her signal, they charged ahead, breaking through the door.

  Alison. I'm coming.

  Jamie lashed out at one of the two armed guards in the hallway, as Heidi and Kyle took on the other. At almost the same moment, a group of bears in varying shades of brown led by Aidan's huge bear form charged through the door coming from the stairwell.

  Jamie didn't recognize anyone else, but gladly handed over his slightly bruised prisoner to one of the strangers who had arrived as part of the Alliance Council transport.

  "The rest are in there," Jamie said, while leading the way. He had to get to Alison before any of the others did.

  "The girl is one of ours," Aidan remarked behind him, giving Jamie pause.

  Aidan knew?

  Jamie cleared his mind and charged ahead, breaking into a run before crashing through the door.

  "What the-" a Sons member on the other side of the door exclaimed.

  Two of them carried the wounded guy they'd held prisoner on an improvised stretcher, so they couldn't react without dropping their comrade. The others were scrambling for their weapons.

  Jamie went straight for Alison's brother, pinning him to the ground under the immense weight of his paws. Behind him, Aidan, Kyle and Heidi also charged in and neutralized some more of the intruders, growling, biting, and slapping weapons out of their hands, but making sure not to harm them too badly. The Alliance backup did the same until, after just minutes, they had disarmed and surrounded all of the Sons members in the room.

  Most of them hadn't even fought back. The element of surprise was a powerful thing indeed.

  In the center stood an unarmed man who hadn't been engaged so far: Lee Campbell.

  "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" Aidan snapped at him.

  He didn't reply, but he suddenly looked utterly defeated. Gone was the smug prisoner who had taunted Jamie and the others during every interrogation. He'd lost. It seemed as though the man had aged ten years in a span of seconds.

  Next to Campbell stood Alison, shivering visibly. Jamie let go of Gareth and stepped up to her. She wobbled slightly, and seemed dangerously close to losing her balance as she looked down at him.

  Are you okay? Jamie stretched his paw out in her direction, just in case she needed to steady herself.

  I don't know, she responded, pressing her lips together tightly. This was a lot to take in. As much as Jamie and she had shared over the past couple of days, he hadn’t transformed in front of her before.

  She looked over at Gareth and her dad and tears started to stream down her face.

  "I fucking knew it!" Gareth hissed at Alison, attempting to get up. Heidi pushed him back down with her front paws. "You filthy whore!"

  "Watch it," Campbell interjected.

  "No, Dad! Enough! While you've been rotting away in this building, your favorite over there has been screwing the enemy!" Gareth groaned a
s Heidi shifted more of her weight onto his upper torso.

  "That can't be. Alison, tell him he's wrong. Whatever you did, you were just doing your job, right?"

  Jamie glanced around the room at everyone. Despite being in animal form, their expressions were clear as day. Surprise. Shock. Anger. This was bad.

  "That's enough. Let's get them out of here." Jamie attempted to regain control of the situation.

  "The girl has been informing for us. She brought me in to coordinate the rescue," Aidan explained.

  A few bears Jamie had never seen before exchanged looks, as though they weren't quite convinced by Aidan's words, but nobody argued back.

  Heidi jumped into action first, nudging Gareth up and snapping at him when he tried to turn around.

  "You're going to pay for this," Gareth growled, while he was forced out of the door.

  Reluctantly, Kyle followed suit and got his prisoner up as well, herding him out the room behind Heidi.

  One after the other, the guys from the Alliance Council secured the Sons members, using heavy cable-ties as stand-in handcuffs and placing cloth bags over their heads. Jamie stayed behind with Alison and watched them as they led prisoner after prisoner from the room.

  When the room was largely empty, a familiar human face entered. Adrian Blacke, wearing one of his trademark black three-piece suits. No doubt he thought his outfits made him look more authoritative.

  "I don't have to tell you that we expect a detailed report of what went wrong here," he said to Jamie.

  Blacke turned and scrutinized Alison from head to toe. "I suppose thanks are in order for your role in the rescue."

  She nodded, but didn't say a word.

  "I probably don't need to tell you that what you've seen here today is strictly confidential. Your loyalty will be rewarded. Similarly, if we find that you've breached that confidentiality, there will be consequences."

  Jamie glared at Blacke, but quickly reined in his distaste for the man when he turned to face Jamie. "You'll monitor the situation, Abbott. And that report. Monday at the latest, understand?"