by Sydney Addae
“You’re right, he should see the end of this. I haven’t been to see him, should I go see him now?”
“Not right now, he’s resting. He grows weaker each day. What will you do? Can you make the ultimate sacrifice to save our leader?” Her voice rose at the end.
Jim’s thoughts flew all over the place. He could make it there and back in less than two hours, but it didn’t seem right. If Chrome could talk, Jim didn’t think the man would ask this of him. What about the others? What would Brenda tell them about his disappearance? What if Vanessa woke and he wasn’t here? They’d lock her up in a cage, drug her or who knew what else now that they knew he might be sterile. He couldn’t risk it.
“If I can take Vanessa, I’ll do it. But I’m not leaving her here.” He shook his head. “She stays with me; he can’t have her.”
“She’s unconscious.”
“We’ll be in a car; she can rest in the back seat.” The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Leaving Vanessa with Tim, Brenda, or Pamela was a bad idea, none of them cared for her that much. No. He was the only person who could protect or care for her properly.
“They’re looking for her,” Brenda said slowly, as if he were unstable.
“They’re looking for both of us here. Once we’re on the way to the airport, and then the bank, we’ll be fine. Do you want us to return the same way we leave?”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s best. I don’t think you should take her, but if you insist, okay. Chrome’s health is the most important thing.” She held his gaze a few seconds longer as if checking his sincerity.
“Yes, he’s a great man and awesome leader.” He stood. “How soon do you want me to go and get it?”
“Immediately. Please don’t tell anyone how sick he is or that you’re going on this mission. Once you return and Chrome stands to rally the troops, he’ll tell everyone of your sacrifice.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m part of the team, Ma’am.”
She smiled, stood, and left the room, leaving him with his thoughts. Now that he had permission to leave with his fiancé, how would he handle her when she woke? First, he needed to get more sleeping serum.
Chapter 24
The moon hid behind the clouds as the last munitions team signaled approval to move forward. La Patron sent specialists from the compound to do a sweep of the area for bombs, traps and explosives. They’d found, deactivated and removed six so far. Time crept at such a slow pace Ethan wanted to scream “enough”.
Ethan’s thoughts zeroed in on Vanessa. Was she awake? Fighting? Or worse? Bleak scenarios slid across his mind, each worse than the next. He looked up and saw Vanessa lying naked on a bed with someone on top of her. He tried to fight the vision, to change it into something else and couldn’t. Defeated, his beast howled in despair over their inability to save their mate. His soul ached and he needed to act, to do something.
If anyone had ever asked what to do when someone was upset, Ethan never would have thought of, let alone suggested, sending warmth through mental links as his Alpha did that night. But it worked. His beast reveled in the closeness of pack and the knowledge they worked as a team to find his mate.
Abel raised his hand and the circle of pack moved toward the designated location. Abel tapped him on the shoulder, stopping him. “We’ve broadened the area to two additional places where we feel they may escape through tunnels. If I hear anything I’ll let you know. Once they breach the entry, we go in. La Patron spoke to the local officials who swear there are no records of tunnels or activity in the area. They’ve given him permission to search for his sister without interference, but have asked that we not destroy the area.”
Ethan nodded, his gaze on the advancing team and appreciation of the ruse La Patron used, claiming a sister, to have his way.
“We don’t kill except in self-defense, or if they say something I don’t like. But we take Vanessa and Thorne’s mate.”
“And the cleaners La Patron sent?” Ethan pointed to the small group standing a good distance away watching the team.
Abel shrugged as he glanced over his shoulder. “My instructions are to protect them. I don’t know what he told them to do.” He clapped Ethan on the shoulder and moved slowly behind the advance team.
“Kitchi?” Ethan called, hoping his brother was awake.
“Yeah?”
Grateful his brother was awake, Ethan’s chest lightened. “Glad to hear your voice. Did you take the medication?”
“Yes. Tastes like shit by the way.”
Ethan smiled and walked toward the rest of the team. “Sorry about that, but it works. Must be a rule or something.”
“Must be.” He paused. “Hey, about your mate.”
Ethan stopped. “What about her?”
“I got the impression she was done with that guy. She’s no pushover, that’s for sure. Kinda spicy. Problem is I think he realized it and that’s why they took her. Be careful with that one. He’s got that ‘if I can’t have her, you won’t have her,’ aura going on. Don’t trust him.”
His chest squeezed tight. His beast howled in anger. “So you think he’ll hurt her?” He didn’t want to ask but after that last vision, he had to know.
“Dunno. Maybe. More like he’ll use her to hurt you, that kind of thing. But if he can’t do that, then yeah, I think he’ll hurt her.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“Scalp his ass, make your ancestors proud, pup.”
Ethan shook his head. “I haven’t been a pup in a long time.”
“As your older brother, I can always call you pup. Pup.”
“Tell Fulton you need another pill, your thinking’s way off.”
Abel waved for him to come forward. Ethan ran and went through the door behind the last man. He moved slowly down the hall. The malodorous odor knocked him back a bit. He pulled out a piece of cloth from the plastic pouch and inhaled whatever concoction was in it. Seconds later, the headache cleared and the stink no longer affected him. He looked over his shoulder at Abel, who removed the cloth and nodded.
“Cameras and alarms have been disabled,” he told Ethan. In the distance they heard fighting and moved forward.
With his sense of smell temporarily impaired, he started opening doors searching for Vanessa. When he entered a room decorated like a nursery or a young girl’s room, he paused and looked around. Abel entered behind him.
“So it’s true, they’re breeding,” Abel said, looking around.
Disgust filled Ethan, choking him. He left the room and opened the one across the hall. When he reached the end, he turned and headed to another corridor. She had to be here.
“She’s not here.”
Ethan stopped, turned, and faced a bleeding Sanders. Ethan didn’t say anything, simply stared.
“She and Jim left. Left us here to fight their battle. If he hadn’t brought her here, none of this would’ve happened.”
Turning from Sanders’ hate-filled eyes, Ethan went down the hall and searched every room. How many breeders did they have in this place? Were they all pregnant? At the last door, he paused and walked inside.
His beast howled.
The sound slipped from his mouth as Vanessa’s scent slammed into him. But it wasn’t hers alone that sent his beast reeling. The smell of Jim and human seed mingled in the air. Head thrown back, he released another long, mournful, sound from the bottom of his soul. His vision had been true.
Abel came inside the room and stopped. “Damn.”
“Ethan?” Alpha Jayden called.
Instead of responding, Ethan dropped to his knees and released another howl. This time Abel joined him and soon a cacophony of sound filled the underground space.
“Ethan, I’m sorry,” La Patron said in a low voice. “I’m so very sorry. I will find her, I promise.”
“No, Sir. I’ll find her,” Ethan said, standing slowly. “And I’ll find him, too.”
“Understood,” La Patron said. “I’m sending reinforcements, wh
atever you need, you’ve got.”
Ethan pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground on his way out the room. He stopped in front of Tim and several others.
“Where did he take her?”
“Fuck you …oof”
Ethan punched him in the stomach and went to the next person in line. “Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan punched him on general principle because he should know. He went down the line, asking each one while Abel played with and taunted Sanders. When the last person lay on the floor bleeding, Ethan returned to the front of the line and did a partial shift, exposing his claws and fangs.
“Where did he take her?” He ignored the stench of fear from Sanders and bulked into a partial hybrid.
“They didn’t tell me, just that it was important that he go,” Sanders said fast when Ethan placed the tip of his sharp claw on his throat.
“Who is they?” Ethan asked, piercing skin and watching a thin stream of blood roll down Sanders’ chest.
“Command.” Sanders looked at the others laying on the ground moaning and swallowed hard.
“Where’s Pamela?”
Sanders eyes widened but he didn’t say anything. Inhaling deeply, Ethan turned and headed to a room he’d checked before. This time he allowed his beast to search. Hidden in a small cubby hole behind a book case, Pamela sat crying.
Ethan pulled her out and waited a few seconds for her to pull it together. “Where did he take her?”
“She left me. After everything I’ve done she left me.”
He didn’t care about her problems. He showed his claws. “Last time, where did he take her and how long since they left?”
“Can I see Tim? Did you hurt him?”
Ethan placed his hand around her neck. The tips pierced her skin.
She screamed.
“Answer me,” he yelled.
Abel entered the room and blocked the door. Pamela stopped moving and stared at the blond giant. Tim shouted for a few moments until someone shut him up.
“Who’s this tasty morsel?” Abel asked.
“Pamela, Sanders’ lover, and she worked with my mate. She knows where McNeill took Vanessa.”
“Oh, can I interrogate her?” Abel asked, unsnapping his pants and kicking them off. “It’s been a while since I’ve questioned a blond. Wonder if she’s blond everywhere?” He pulled his shirt over his head.
Pamela jerked against Ethan and slapped his arm. “Stop him, stop him, you can’t let him rape me, I’m married. Tim and I are married, mates.”
“So what?” Ethan shrugged.
“It won’t be rape, I promise you,” Abel said, walking closer, wearing snug fitting boxers that drew Pamela’s gaze.
“No. No. No. Stop this. How would you feel if someone did this to Vanessa?” she asked.
“I’d want to kill him and anyone who stood in my way of getting to him. Am I making myself clear?” Ethan growled.
“Yes… but… you don’t understand. He… he took her to get the serum. We need it for Chrome, he’s dying. We all are or will, but not Chrome, he’s our leader, we need him. So he had to get it.”
Ethan removed his hand from her throat. “I don’t care about Chrome or any of your problems. Just tell me where that bastard took my mate and I’ll release you to yours. Otherwise, I’ll strip you naked, like you did Vanessa, and have you kneeling on the floor in front of your mate.”
“How’d you…” Her face blanched as she shook her head slowly. “You’re an animal, just like she said.”
“Not really. If I were an animal I’d fuck you raw in front of your mate, but I want nothing to do with you. Give me the location now,” he yelled in her face.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she told him the plans to save Chrome.
“Which bank?”
“I don’t know. It was his father’s bank.”
“Alpha, I need General McNeill’s bank information.” He told Alpha Jayden what Pamela said.
“Was Vanessa awake?” Ethan asked her.
“No. Not when they left.”
Kitchi’s words came back to him. “If he can’t have her, no one would.” Seems his brother was right on that score.
“Who’s Command?” Ethan asked, trying to put all the pieces together.
“I don’t know their real names,” Pamela hedged
“I can smell a lie,” Ethan growled. “Last chance, who’s running this bullshit?”
“Brenda and her husband, Chrome. They left right after Jim.”
“They did? Why not stay with the troops?” He shook his head at the gullibility of some humans.
“Her husband is sick.” Pamela spat, showing some fire.
“Did you see him? When was the last time you saw him? For all you know he could’ve died a long time ago.” He turned his back and listened as Alpha Jayden gave him the name of two banks.
“We have pack members working in both places, I’ve set them on alert. La Patron’s jet will pick up you and Abel and take you to Virginia where the banks are located. When he shows up at either place I’ll let you know. Have Abel go in the bank for McNeill while you search nearby for your mate.”
“Yes, Sir.” Ethan released a long breath. “Is that why you didn’t like Vanessa, because she was so much smarter than you? She’d never follow someone blind like this.”
“Smart? If she was smart she would’ve recognized Jim from New Jersey. How smart is it to become engaged to your kidnapper? I don’t ever want to be that smart.”
Ethan stilled as her words poured over him. This had been an elaborated ruse to steal something precious from his mate. “No, it’s too late for you to ever be that smart. Tell me what happens to the women brought here? Can they leave after they have their babies? Who raises the children?”
Her mouth opened, then snapped shut.
“No matter, that’s not my concern, La Patron will handle that. And you will tell him everything he wants to know. The truck will be here soon to take all of you to his compound where you’ll be his guests for a short while.”
“But… you can’t just…you’re not the law around here. I have rights,” she sputtered.
“None of the authorities have records of this place, and agreed with La Patron that if he found anything, to shut it down quietly.” This group had no idea of how far Silas Knight would go to get his way.
“What?” she screeched. “That’s… that’s not right.”
“Neither is kidnapping someone for your experiments, a teacher who’d received multiple honors. She’s a citizen with rights, yet no one cared about those,” Ethan said, his voice rising. “Don’t you dare talk about your rights when you snatch those same rights from others so easily.”
“No, you’ve got it wrong. Jim’s going to marry her, once they’re married…”
Jaw clenched, the vein throbbed above his head. “If you say it I will kill you where you stand and toss your husband’s broken body on top of you.”
Her face turned white as a sheet and she took a step back.
“Jim signed his death decree with the kidnapping, knowing he planned to breed her with others guarantees it’ll be long and painful.” Ethan paused and fought to bring his beast under control. “If it were up to me, all of you would pay the same price McNeill will pay. Must be your lucky day.” He stepped away and headed toward the door. They needed to get to the landing strip to catch their flight, plus Edwin and a Knight had arrived to take everyone back to the compound. Ethan heard the whirring of the scanning equipment and wondered how these people had been altered. There had been some fighting, but it hadn’t lasted long.
Abel put on his clothes and placed his finger beneath her chin. “I don’t know if they told you, but we have a superior sense of smell. When I walked in, you creamed your panties. I smelled it.”
Ethan waited for Abel at the door.
“That’s why I offered to accommodate you. Make up your minds,” Abel said, walking out. “You cl
aim to hate us, yet you want to be us.” He looked over his shoulder at Pamela. “That was a one-time offer by the way, because this animal has standards.” He left the room.
“Come this way,” Ethan said to Pamela, whose face turned beet red as she stalked out the room toward the security team. “Here’s one more.” He pointed to her.
Edwin nodded and placed her in line to be scanned before transport. The cleaners had started down the hall with their equipment. Every now and then someone would get into a shoving match with security, but the process of disarming them and their weapons didn’t take long at all.
“Ready? Transport’s here,” Abel asked, striding down the hall.
“Yes, I need to finish this.” Ethan walked up a series of stairs he hadn’t seen before. Once at the top, he saw the helicopter that would take them to the jet and ran toward it. In the distance, three SUV’s bearing La Patron’s crest drove away from the area toward the compound.
Local authorities would be happy to know no one died in this confrontation. Ethan wouldn’t say that about the next.
Chapter 25
Ethan sat in silence in the car waiting to hear which bank McNeill entered. Abel was in the parking lot of the other. Both were within five minutes of each other, which made him wonder why the General would have two safety deposit boxes in different places so close together. Not that it mattered, La Patron would deal with the man as he saw fit.
Ethan would deal with the son.
First he needed to rescue Vanessa from that sick bastard. Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly and watched the front door of the bank. A security guard stood just inside the building.
“Come on, come on, get here already,” he murmured, looking up and down the street for McNeill.
“Got him, he’s getting out of a car in front of the Bank on Main. The vehicle’s a registered limo,” Abel said. “I’ve got someone checking records now to determine where the limo picked him up.”
Ethan slapped the steering wheel and almost pulled off when a limo stopped in front of the bank. Brenda, from Vanessa’s school, stepped out and walked inside. Ethan waited a few seconds and went to the car. The driver waved him away. He told Alpha Jayden what was going on.