With hesitant steps, Tucker inched forward, approaching her from the opposite side of the gurney as Sinclair. Almost as if he wanted to make sure they were framing her. Then, reaching out his hand, he gave the chain a small tug.
Instantly, Nicole felt the latch release at the same time he gave a low command.
“Go for his throat,” he breathed so softly only a shifter could catch the words. “Trust me.”
Never doubting Tucker for one second, Nicole widened her jaws. The second she felt him drop the chain, she leaped off the gurney straight at the guard.
Grant screamed, holding his hands over his face as her fangs skimmed his throat.
“Fuck.” He fell backward, pissing his pants as Nicole loomed above him. “Shoot the bitch. Shoot her.”
Not entirely sure what to expect, Nicole didn’t have to fake her loud yelp of pain as something small and hard was shot into her side. Not a bullet. Maybe birdshot? Whatever it was, it hurt like a bitch. Two more slammed into her side and she tumbled to the side, feeling blood trickle through her fur.
Instantly, Tucker was kneeling at her side, his fingers touching her neck even as he whispered in her ear.
“Play dead.”
****
Tucker breathed a sigh of relief as Nicole allowed her eyes to slide shut, her body going limp beneath his fingers.
He’d nearly had a heart attack when Grant entered the lab. They’d depended on the ability to explain the plan to Nicole before calling for the head of security to join them.
Thankfully Tucker’s chosen mate was as brilliant as she was beautiful.
She’d played her role to perfection.
Now he glanced up to watch as Sinclair holstered the gun he’d just fired and helped the guard to his feet. The Alpha’s lips twisted at the sight of the human’s flushed face and wet trousers.
“That dog almost killed me,” Grant breathed in shock, struggling to stay upright.
“You don’t have to worry,” Tucker said, continuing to kneel at Nicole’s side. “She’s not going to be attacking anyone again.”
“How bad?” Grant demanded.
“Dead.”
“What?” Grant’s brows snapped together. “Bullets can’t kill a full-grown shifter.”
Tucker was prepared for the argument. It was the same one that he’d made to Sinclair when his Alpha had first proposed the wild, dangerous plan.
“I think it might be a combination of the drugs mixed with the trauma of her injuries,” he said, the pronouncement filled with authority. It was amazing how easy it was to convince people to believe him just by his tone of voice. “Her heart stopped.”
As hoped, Grant turned away instead of trying to determine for himself whether or not Nicole was truly dead.
“What a clusterfuck,” he muttered, the air thick with the stench of his fear. “Markham is going to go ballistic.”
On cue, Sinclair moved to stand at his side. Not going so far as to put an arm around his shoulder, but sublimely letting him think that they were in this mess together.
“Not if we get this cleaned up before he gets back,” he offered in sympathetic tones.
Grant stilled, a hopeful expression easing his tight expression. “You think I can keep this a secret?”
“Naw.” Sinclair gave a shake of his head. “But you can blame it on Viker. He was the one who dumped the shifter on your doorstep and put the SAU in danger by killing a human.”
Grant gave a hesitant nod. “I suppose that’s true.”
Sinclair swiftly tried to press his advantage. “Doc can dispose of the shifter while I make sure that Viker disappears.”
Of course, Grant couldn’t simply agree.
That would be too easy.
“No,” the head of security abruptly muttered, digging in his heels. “Tucker can get rid of the wolf. You go find the guards and help them bury the human someplace it can’t be found,” he commanded Sinclair. “I’m putting Viker in the pens just in case someone in authority gets wind of this mess. We’ll need a patsy to pay for this shit.”
Sinclair frowned. “But-”
“Go,” Grant snapped, his nerves clearly rubbed raw.
Tucker didn’t hesitate. He understood the worth of having Viker in their hands to reveal the truth of the SAU, but right now, all he cared about was getting his mate out of the facility.
Scooping Nicole into his arms, Tucker rose to his feet, careful to pretend to stagger beneath her weight. Then, making a straight path to the door, he headed toward the waiting elevator. Less than ten minutes later, they were in the underground parking lot.
Striding to where they’d left his SUV out of sight of the security cameras, he opened the passenger door and laid Nicole across the seat. Then, making sure his body blocked any curious passersby, he reached out to run his fingers through her tawny fur.
“Are you okay?” he demanded in low tones.
There was a swirl of magic as Nicole painfully changed back to her human form, her hair tangled and her eyes still haunted as she rubbed the large bruises that marred the side of her torso.
“Those bullets hurt,” she groused, allowing him to wrap his lab coat around her naked body. “Couldn’t you have found a less painful way to get me out?”
Neither of them jumped when Sinclair appeared to stand next to Tucker, his lean face unrepentant.
“Not if you want to be with your mate,” he drawled.
Nicole stilled, a fragile flare of hope shimmering to life in her hazel eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
Sinclair leaned against the car door. “As of now, Nicole Bradley is officially dead. At least as far as the SAU is concerned.”
Her lips parted, her gaze moving to Tucker in dazed understanding.
“Dead,” she breathed in wonderment.
Sinclair sent her a wicked smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll contact Holden to let him know you’re now a part of the Unseen Pack.”
Chapter 10
Tucker reached out to gently smooth the hair from Nicole’s flushed cheek, his heart squeezing with a love that threatened to overwhelm him.
“We’ll need to keep a low profile. I think it would be best if we go visit my mother for a few weeks,” he murmured, barely daring to breathe until she gave a slow nod of her head.
It was one thing to make plans that included this female as his mate; it was another to actually wait for her to accept that they belonged together.
“Yes,” she agreed with a tentative smile.
“Okay.” Sinclair slapped him on the back, knowing just how earth-shattering the moment had been. “I’ll come up with a cover story for your absence with the SAU.”
Leaning down to brush a tender kiss over her forehead, Tucker turned his head to glance at his friend.
“What about you?”
Sinclair wrinkled his nose. “First I need to contact the guards and tell them to return the body to the house.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” Nicole abruptly said, her gaze ricocheting between the two males. “What body are you talking about?”
“You don’t want to know,” Tucker assured her.
He wasn’t sure everyone would understand Sinclair’s decision to steal an unclaimed body from the local morgue to leave in Viker’s house.
“Hey, I’ll have it taken back to the morgue,” Sinclair said with a shrug. “No harm, no foul.”
Tucker easily dismissed the iffy morality of their decision. As far as he was concerned, nothing mattered but rescuing Nicole.
“Then what?”
“I-”
Sinclair snapped off his words as all three of them caught the scent of a human sneaking through the gloom that had gathered at the end of the parking lot.
Viker.
Obviously the idiot had realized there wasn’t going to be any free trips to Vegas.
Tucker stepped away from the vehicle, his ears ringing and his mind clouding with a red mist of fury.
Almost
as if sensing that predators were watching him, Viker slowly turned, his face paling at the sight of Tucker prowling forward.
“You.” Viker stumbled backward. “You’re alive.”
Tucker growled low in his throat, lunging forward.
“Shit,” a male voice said from behind him. “Tucker, no.”
Tucker was nearly on top of Viker when Sinclair leaped in front of him.
“Stop,” he commanded, in full Alpha-mode.
Tucker skidded to a halt, his fangs elongated as he snarled in frustration.
Sinclair held up his hand. “Yeah, I get you want to taste his blood, but we can use him,” he tried to soothe. “You can eat him later.”
Viker was pressed against a cement pillar, his eyes wide with shock as his gaze flitted from Tucker’s elongated fangs to Sinclair’s eyes that glowed with the power of his wolf.
“You’re shifters,” he breathed in horror.
Sinclair slowly moved to stand at Tucker’s side, staring at the cringing Viker with a critical eye.
“He’s not very bright, is he?”
Tucker trembled with the effort to keep his bear leashed. “He works for the SAU, how smart could he be?”
Suddenly, Nicole was pressed close against his side, her arm wrapped around his waist. Instantly, the trembling halted. Just the warm scent of her musk was enough to ease the animal clawing inside him.
“If someone gets to eat him, it should be me,” she said, glaring down at the man with searing hatred.
“She has a point,” Tucker told his friend.
“Agreed,” Sinclair said. “But first I intend to use him to prove that the SAU is made up of a bunch of unscrupulous bastards who’ve lied to the public for years.”
Viker shook his head in panic.
“I won’t do it,” he said in a shrill voice. “Not unless you swear I won’t be harmed.”
“Fine.” Sinclair took a step forward. “Do you want to go back inside and be shot in the head by Grant? Or would you prefer to be eaten by the lovely Nicole.”
“I…” Viker’s words faded away. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
Sinclair grabbed him by the chin, squeezing hard enough to crack his jawbone.
“Choose.”
“I’ll talk. I swear,” the man abruptly sobbed. “I’ll tell you everything I know about Markham and the SAU.”
Sinclair patted his cheek. “Good boy.” Grabbing Viker by the front of his shirt, the Unseen Alpha sent Tucker a small smile. “Enjoy your honeymoon, but don’t forget you belong with the Pack.” He glanced toward Nicole. “Both of you.”
With obvious enjoyment, Sinclair headed toward a nearby Jeep, hauling the crying Viker behind him.
Wrapping his arm around Nicole’s shoulders, Tucker steered her back to the SAU, sensing her tension.
“Someday soon, babe,” he murmured, knowing how hard it must be for her to allow Viker to slip from her grasp. She’d spent seven years plotting his death. “I promise.”
Reaching the vehicle, she climbed into the passenger seat. “If he can help expose the SAU, that’s the best revenge I can imagine.”
Tucker studied her in surprise. “You sound as if you mean that.”
“I do.” She lifted her hand to lay her palm against his cheek, her eyes soft with love. “I’ve lived in the past long enough. It’s time to start living for my future.”
Tucker was fairly certain that his heart was about to explode with happiness.
****
Three days later, Nicole stared in the mirror of the bathroom. It was the only mirror in the small cabin she shared with Tucker.
Built near Tucker’s mother’s home, it was a simple structure without many modern amenities, but Nicole had never been happier.
Not only was she free of the compound, but she also adored Tucker’s mother, who’d been careful to give the newly mated couple plenty of time to be alone.
And, of course, there was Tucker.
Her beautiful, powerful, loyal bear.
Almost as if she’d conjured him with her thoughts, there was a sharp knock on the door.
“Nicole,” he called through the thick wood.
“What?”
“Are you ever coming out?” Turning, she pulled open the door. Warily, he stepped into the tiny room, his broad shoulders barely fitting. “You’ve been in here so long I was worried about you.”
She grimaced. She’d lost track of time. But who could blame her?
When Tucker had insisted this morning that they get rid of the collar before they returned to civilization, she’d had no idea how emotional it would be for her.
“I’ve never been without my collar.” She lifted her hand to touch her bare throat. “It feels…”
“Yes?” he prompted, as her words trailed away.
She allowed a slow smile to curve her lips. “Glorious.”
Something that might have been relief, followed by a strange uncertainty, flashed through his dark eyes.
“I have something else glorious.”
Her brows arched as she gave a short laugh. They were still in their bathrobes after yet another bout of hot, sweaty lovemaking.
“Good Lord. I didn’t know bears were so insatiable,” she teased.
He gave an unexpected burst of laughter. “Why, Nicole Bradley. Is sex the only thing on your mind?”
As always, she was dazzled by his beauty. How the hell had she ever managed to capture this sensational creature?
“Me?” she forced herself to protest. “You brought it up.”
“I said I have something glorious,” he reminded her with open amusement. “You were the one who assumed it meant having your wicked way with my body.”
She lifted her hands to slide them in the loose opening of his robe, savoring the feel of his hard muscles beneath her palms.
“It is glorious,” she murmured.
“True.”
“Shameless.” She gave him a light smack. “If you weren’t trying to lure me back to bed, then what were you talking about?”
He reached into the pocket of his robe to pull out two silver necklaces.
“This.”
Her eyes widened as he held them up so she could see that each chain had a tiny medallion. One was perfectly shaped to resemble a polar bear while the other was designed to look like a wolf.
“Oh, Tucker,” she murmured. “They’re exquisite.”
“I had them custom made by a local artist,” he said, his voice oddly gruff. “The Unseen don’t share tattoos to celebrate a mating. We exchange amulets.” He held up the necklace with the polar bear. “This one is for you. Will you accept this as a gift from me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, pure joy flowing through her heart. “Yes, I will.” With reverent care, Tucker slid the chain over her head, allowing the amulet to rest between her breasts. Then he handed the second necklace to her. “And this is to mark your claim on me.”
Taking the chain, she waited for him to lean down, tugging it over his head until it settled around his thick neck.
Something warm spread through her. A sense of destiny being fulfilled.
“Mine,” she said in solemn tones.
He wrapped her in his arms, kissing her with tenderness that made her toes curl.
“Always, and for all eternity,” he pledged against her lips.
Nicole leaned her head against his chest, allowing the sound of his steady heartbeat to combine with the peace that settled deep inside her.
She would always mourn the loss of her son, but the pain was tolerable as long as she had this male to help her carry the load.
Pulling back, Tucker led her out of the tiny bathroom. Then, holding hands, they stepped out of the shadows of the house and into the bright sunshine.
Together.
Forever.
Look for more of the Branded Packs series in 2016!
A Note from Alexandra and Carrie Ann
We hoped you enjoyed reading ABANDONED AND
UNSEEN. This is just the start of our dark and gritty Branded Packs series. With more to come, we can’t wait to hear what you think. If you enjoyed it and have time, we’d so appreciate a review on Goodreads and where your digital retailer. Every review, no matter how long, helps authors and readers. You won’t have to wait long for more in this series! Happy Reading!
The Branded Pack Series:
Book 1: Stolen and Forgiven
Book 2: Abandoned and Unseen
Book 3: Coming in 2016
About Carrie Ann and her Books
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.
Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.
Make sure you’re signed up for her MAILING LIST so you can know when the next releases are available as well as find giveaways and FREE READS.
www.CarrieAnnRyan.com
Redwood Pack Series:
Book 1: An Alpha’s Path
Book 2: A Taste for a Mate
Book 3: Trinity Bound
Book 3.5: A Night Away
Book 4: Enforcer’s Redemption
Book 4.5: Blurred Expectations
Book 4.7: Forgiveness
Book 5: Shattered Emotions
Book 6: Hidden Destiny
Book 6.5: A Beta’s Haven
Book 7: Fighting Fate
Book 7.5 Loving the Omega
Book 7.7: The Hunted Heart
Abandoned and Unseen Page 21