by Dia Cole
“No worries. We can bring you a bucket,” Gabriel announced cheerfully.
“A bucket?” This isn’t happening. I laughed. “Very funny. Joke’s over. I know you aren’t going to leave me in this dilapidated shack with no running water or electricity in the middle of the forest alone.”
Liam and Mason flinched.
Gabriel pressed his lips together. “Count yourself lucky, princess. There’s nothing around this cabin for miles. No houses. No stores. No people, which means no infected will find you and eat you.”
“What about bears?” I cried.
“There are no bears around here. Your only threat is a couple of lonely wolves,” Gabriel retorted.
I wrapped my arms around my chest. “Wolves?”
Mason shook his head. “Gabriel is making a bad joke. You’re not in danger from anything. Liam stocked the shelves with some food we picked up from town. We’ll bring more food and supplies when we come check on you. Won’t we?” He gave Gabriel a hard look.
Gabriel returned his glare. “Come on, let’s leave her to get settled in her new home.” He strode to the door.
Desperate not to be left there, I played the only card I had. “Nathan wouldn’t like you leaving me like this. He said you were bringing me to a safe place.”
Gabriel whipped around. “This is a safe place, princess. Just because you’re a pampered pet who’s going to have to live without the finer things in life doesn’t mean you aren’t safe. Besides, given the way you spoke to Nathan on the phone, he probably doesn’t give a damn about what happens to you now.” He stalked through the door and marched out to the SUV.
Who the fuck does he think he is? I was no pampered pet. I’d been on my own since I was sixteen. Anger roared through me along with the desire to punch that ass in the jaw so hard he’d have to wire it shut.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Mason announced.
I grabbed his arm, not wanting him to leave. “Please don’t go.” I despised the plea in my voice. There was only one thing I feared in life. That was being alone. Looking around, I amended that fear to being alone in a dark, abandoned cabin.
“I have to. For now.” He gently twisted his arm free and kissed the top of my hand.
“Where are you staying?” I asked.
“The lodge is a few miles north of here.”
“We aren’t far and we’ll be checking on you,” Liam rumbled behind me.
I turned to see the big guy holding the head of a huge brown-and-beige snake in his hands.
I stumbled back a step. “What’s that?”
He looked down at the serpent. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
“You found that in here?” My voice climbed one note shy of shattering glass.
“It’s more afraid of us than we are of him.”
The creature shook its tail and a dry rattling sound filled the room.
“I highly doubt that,” I squeaked. Trembling, all I could do was back away as he carried the vile thing to the door.
Liam stopped in the entryway and called back, “Remember keep the stove going, you don’t want to lose your only heat source. There’s supposed to be a big storm coming. It’ll be cold as a witch’s tit outside.”
I nodded weakly. This can’t be happening.
Mason headed for the door.
“Wait. Don’t leave!” I begged.
An agonized look crossed his face. “I’ll try to talk some sense into Gabriel. Hopefully, we can get you into the lodge in a couple of days.”
“A couple of days? I can’t stay here a couple of days.” My throat constricted as I looked around the room in growing panic. I can’t stay here a couple of hours.
“I’ll be back,” Mason promised. The door creaking shut behind him sounded like a coffin closing. My coffin.
“Oh, God.” I swallowed hard and eyed the woodstove warily. “It’s just for a few days.” Damn. I need to call Syd. She’ll know how to survive in this place. That crazy girl loved all this outdoorsy stuff as much as I hated it. She followed homesteading and canning blogs the way I followed fashion and celebrity posts. Careful to avoid the holes in the floor, I walked to my bag and pulled out my phone. Of course there’s no signal. I sighed and carried the useless device to the couch. As I sat down, something moved inside the cushions.
I shot to my feet and an army of mango-sized rats poured from the fabric. Screaming, I bounded on top of the table. Hyperventilating, I watched the vermin skitter into half a dozen different holes in the walls. Oh, God. “I’ve changed my mind!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Take me back to town. I’ll take my chances with the zombies!”
9
Mason
I glared at the back of Gabriel’s head the entire five-mile drive up to Sanctuary. “We shouldn’t leave Havana in that hellhole.”
The dark-haired Enforcer didn’t respond, but based on the angry looks Liam was hurling at him, Gabriel was likely getting an earful from his friend.
I could’ve tapped into their telepathic argument, but I saw no reason to tick both males off. Getting on the wrong side of Enforcers was never a bright idea.
I looked over at the empty seat beside me. Even though I’d known Havana for only a few hours, I missed her. She was a fascinating mix of vulnerability and sexy seductress. I’d never met a female like her.
Spying her discarded jacket on the floorboards, I bent down and picked it up. Unable to resist the impulse, I held it up to my face and inhaled deeply. Her amazing scent filled my nostrils making my stomach tighten with need. At once, my mind flooded with the memory of her incredibly soft skin and the rich, raven strands of her hair.
A growl escaped my lips. I won’t let her suffer in that hovel. She was an injured female trapped in that poor excuse for a shelter without a jacket or even proper footwear. Leaving her in that situation felt wrong on every level. Even if she hadn’t been the most enchanting creature I’d ever met and her scent hadn’t twisted me up inside, leaving any female to fend for herself went against both my human and Lykos instincts.
Neither Liam nor Gabriel should be okay with the situation either. A Lykos male’s entire purpose was to care for and protect females, not endanger their lives. I opened my mouth to plead Havana’s case again, but Gabriel jerked his head up.
“I don’t want to hear another fucking word about her from either of you.” He turned and glared at me with his one good eye. “We did our part. We got her out of town.”
“But we were supposed to take her to Sanctuary.” Liam pointed up the snowy road.
“Technically, the cabin is on the edge of Sanctuary land,” Gabriel replied, crossing his arms. “She can’t stay with us.”
“Why the hell not?”
Gabriel snapped his head around to glare at me. “Because she belongs to Nathan.”
I shook my head. “But she said they—”
Gabriel held up a hand cutting me off. “I don’t care what she said. What I care about is what the Alpha will do if he discovers that one of you made a move on his female. He’ll be here soon. He'll decide what to do with her.”
I closed my mouth. I’d had enough interactions with Alphas to know that you didn’t get between them and what they wanted. The memory of Tasha’s face flashed into my mind. How naive I’d been when I’d encountered the ruthless Alpha female. Having lived among humans my entire life, I’d been confused and panicked by my first transition. My instincts had led me to Winterhaven where the sentries took me in and brought me to Tasha’s chamber.
At the time, she’d seemed like a goddess with her golden hair and skin. Little did I know she was a monster.
After hearing the story of how I’d been found as a baby outside the Saguaro Valley Fire Department, adopted, and raised overseas, Tasha’s citrine eyes had gleamed.
She’d stroked one of her hands over mine. “Pledge yourself to me, Mason Wheeler. Join our faction and together we’ll track down your biological parents.”
Dazed by her beaut
y and burning with the need to discover my origins, I’d readily agreed. Only later, when Gabriel had paid me a visit, did I learn the ramifications of my rash decision. The Enforcer explained that I now belonged to Tasha and she forbade any long-term relationships between humans and our kind. As such, any contact between my adoptive parents and myself would result in their immediate termination.
I’d been shredded when I realized what I’d done. Although my adoptive parents had always been rather reserved, I knew they loved me. No doubt they’d worried themselves sick over losing contact with me so abruptly, but there was nothing I could do to rectify that without putting their lives in jeopardy.
Months later, without delivering on her promise to help me find my birth family, Tasha forced me to accept a position at the Saguaro Valley General Hospital. Although I was an emergency room physician on paper, my true purpose was to screen the blood of patients for Lykos genetic markers. Tasha didn’t want any others of our kind being lost among the humans.
There was no option of refusing the position. Gabriel had made it clear Tasha would torture me if I refused her request, and if I tried to run… Well the grim look on his face told me how that would turn out. By pledging myself to Tasha I’d lost my freedom and my family forever.
Even worse, just a few days into my new job, I was contacted by a private investigator. He’d told me my parents were searching for me. I had him relay the message that I’d located my biological family and no longer wished contact with my adoptive family. Telling those lies killed me, but it was the only way to keep them safe.
I hoped they were able to get to safety after the anonymous warning message I’d dared to send them about the coming epidemic. But I couldn’t let myself be optimistic about their chances for survival. England was no better equipped to handle the masses of infected than this country. Unfortunately, most humans didn’t have the foresight to build places like Winterhaven, or Sanctuary for that matter.
Outside the car window, the formidable eighteen-foot stone walls surrounding Sanctuary came into view. Ever suspicious of humans and paranoid of attacks by rival Lykos factions, Tasha had ensured that her vacation home, like Winterhaven, was one of the most secure locations in the region.
Liam stopped the car at the wrought-iron front gate, rolled down his window, and punched in a code on a keypad.
Immediately, the gate swung open revealing the driveway up to the massive timber-framed lodge. The eastern portion of the sprawling building looked to be under construction with tools, lumber, and heavy equipment lying under blankets of snow.
“The construction crews were recalled to Winterhaven yesterday,” Liam said, answering my unspoken question. “They’ve been working night and day to finish the pool by the January deadline Tasha gave them.”
“Pool?”
“Yeah,” Liam said dryly. “Tasha wants an in-ground lap pool and sauna. And what Tasha wants—”
“She gets,” Gabriel finished for him.
I shook my head. Pool. Seriously? As if the ten-bedroom luxurious mountain lodge equipped with a hidden lower level capable of withstanding a direct nuclear attack and outfitted with enough supplies to keep Tasha and her entourage going for years wasn’t enough.
Liam parked the SUV by the front steps, and he and Gabriel got out of the vehicle.
With a sigh, I slid out of my seat and followed the two males up the impressive stone staircase.
As Liam tapped a code into another keypad by the door, he explained that a mixture of solar panels and wind turbines powered this property. Sanctuary would not be affected if and when the power grids went down.
The door clicked and Gabriel turned the handle and strode inside.
“What’s the code?” I asked Liam as we stepped across the landing.
He ignored me.
I took a deep breath inhaling the scent of pine and lemon-scented wood polish. “Fine. I’ll remember that if you ever need emergency medical care.”
The giant grinned. “I like your grit, Doc. Few males have the balls to talk to me that way.”
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t either, but these were far from normal circumstances and I was tired of being ignored and pushed around.
“Since I sometimes work with the construction crew, I’ve been entrusted with the codes,” Liam explained, shutting the door behind us. “If I were to give them to you and Tasha were to find out…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. “Right.” I made the mistake of glancing up at the massive antler chandelier hanging from the lofty wood beam ceiling. Ugh! This place reeked of Tasha’s singular taste from the various bear pelts scattered over the gleaming wood floors to the countless animal trophies mounted over the stone fireplace in the foyer. My eyes bugged out at the sight of a taxidermied wolf captured mid-growl at the foot of the massive wood staircase. Surely, it couldn't be… “Is that one of ours?”
Liam glanced over at the wolf and gritted his teeth. “An unfortunate Lykos male from the Moon Valley faction. Tasha loves to display her kills. Fair warning you’ll find them all over the lodge.”
I shuddered. Great. “And why are we breaking into the psychopath’s vacation home again?”
“We’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t find out.” Gabriel said, staring into the wolf’s glassy black eyes. “I’ll touch base with Nathan and contact Winterhaven. Everyone working here should’ve been evacuated, but there could be stragglers. Liam, I want you to check out the property and make sure it’s clear. The last thing we need is one of the cleaning staff or a construction worker discovering us here.”
Liam grunted. “Tasha will expect us by nightfall. What are you going to tell her?”
“That Nathan and the coming storm delayed us. She'll buy it. She has to expect that the Alpha male will resist her orders.” Gabriel looked over at me. “There’s supposed to be an infirmary on the lower level.”
“There is,” Liam said, nodding.
“Good. Mason, go down there and do an inventory. Make sure you have everything you’ll need.”
“Need for what?” I asked puzzled.
“To continue your research on a cure for the Z-virus and save the world,” Gabriel said, stalking off down the hall.
No pressure there. I turned to Liam. “Where is it?” Although I’d initially been consulted when Tasha wanted to add an infirmary to her fallout shelter, I’d never been on-site.
Liam motioned me to follow him down the hallway until we came to a library.
A low whistle escaped my lips as I glanced up at the massive collection of books. The pine bookcases stretched two stories tall and covered the length of the basketball court-sized room. Cathedral windows bathed the gleaming tomes in morning light. Despite my hatred for the female, I couldn’t help being impressed. “I never figured Tasha for a reader.”
Liam snorted. “She’s not. She had this built for her son.”
“Oh,” I said softly thinking of the mysterious Alpha male. I hadn’t had too many run-ins with Tyberius, but knowing he was also a book lover increased my regard for him.
Keeping my gaze locked on the books, I stepped around another taxidermied wolf. “This looks like a first edition,” I murmured, reaching for a gold embossed volume of Oliver Twist.
Liam stopped at the next bookcase. He tugged on the spine of Heart of Darkness and the wall of books swung open revealing an elevator inside.
I laughed. “A hidden elevator behind a bookcase? It’s a bit clichéd don’t you think?”
Liam shrugged. “They don’t ask me. Take the elevator down a floor. The infirmary is the second door on the right. You can’t miss it. It’s right next to the storage room.”
I stepped into the elevator, but stopped the door before it closed. “You agree with me about Havana, right? There's plenty of space for her here.” Hell, there was space enough for a quarter of our faction here.
Liam grimaced. “Yeah, but there is no budging Gabriel. When he’s set his mind to something he can be one st
ubborn ass.”
“Then you—”
Liam cut me off. “Don’t worry about the female, Doc. I plan on paying her a visit real soon.” With a smirk the red-haired giant walked away.
“Asshole,” I murmured from inside the steel box. As the elevator descended, I quickly stomped down my jealous reaction. Havana wouldn’t be interested in a brute like that. She needed a male that would see to her care and happiness. But how can I care for her when she’s miles away? Lost in thought, I stepped off the elevator and sucked in a lungful of stale recirculated air.
Recessed lights on motion sensors turned on as I navigated past what looked like a sleeping area. Across the underground passageway was a warehouse-sized space filled with aisles of canned and packaged food. Not a bad place to ride out the apocalypse, I thought as I strode through the next door.
The infirmary was just as I’d specified in the plans, with an exam table and two hospital beds in the middle of the room. Across from the counter was a wall of glass cabinets. Upon closer inspection, I found them filled with every kind of medication and medical equipment imaginable. If there was a life-threatening emergency, this room had nearly everything I needed to save lives. However, it also had virtually none of the specialized equipment and supplies I needed to continue my research on the Z-virus.
A soft electric hum led me to the back of the room where an upright medical refrigerator stood. I peered through the glass door and started at the sight of dozens of bags of blood stacked on the shelves. “Oh, yeah,” I muttered remembering that Tasha had required her entourage donate blood in case they needed it in a medical emergency. The bitch thought of everything. I glowered, looking at the bags of blood printed with her name on them. She’d even donated several pints herself. As if the she-wolf would ever need a blood transfusion. Between her ability to regenerate any but the most severe injuries and the dozens of Enforcers who’d die before letting harm come to her, she was the last person who’d ever need medical attention.
Not like Havana. The cut on the beautiful female’s hand could get infected and there was the issue with her lower back. I hadn’t missed how she’d winced every time something jolted her. Since I couldn’t continue my research, at least I could use my medical training to help her. I walked back over to the glass cabinets and rummaged through them until I found the supplies I needed. After a quick pit stop at the storage room, I marched back to the elevator. Gabriel and his orders could go to hell. I was a doctor and my job was to help those in need. Right now Havana needs me.