by Olivia Gayle
“They’re giving me something that keeps me from doing anything more large scale,” Sonya continued, flexing her hands. “I think I’m slowly getting an immunity to it; they dosed me up maybe a couple hours ago and I can already do this.”
“What happened?” Ever murmured, using her good arm to prop herself upright. That feverish throbbing above her eyes wouldn’t stop, but she blocked it out. “How did you even…” Unable to think of the words, she gestured feebly at her sister, who smiled sadly.
“You’re going to think I’m an idiot.” Sonya’s mouth twisted into a grimace. “One of my coworkers, Emily, had fallen in with this weird-ass crowd. I was certain it was a cult from what she told me, and, don’t laugh, I was curious. Not, like, in the I-wanna-join-because-I-believe kind of way but… Ever, it was a real cult. Stuff like that doesn’t happen to me.”
Ever gave a small laugh that hurt her entire body. “You joined just for the cult experience?”
Sonya shook her head. “I knew you’d think I was an idiot.”
“I don’t think you’re an idiot Sonya, just…next time you want adventure, just ask me okay? There are safer ways out there than a sadistic cult.”
“Like skydiving? Bungee-jumping?”
Ever tried not to laugh, it hurt too much. God, but she’d missed her sister. “So what happened?”
“Emily took me to one of the meetings, and it was so weird. This guy Hendrix kept talking about the goddess Luna and her children, the Chosen breed or something. I didn’t intend to go back, and should have stayed away, but then Emily was missing and I went back to find her.”
“Did you? Find her, I mean?”
“Kind of.” Sonya’s lips compressed into a thin line, and she shook her head. “I snuck onto the grounds, then got chased down by what I thought were guard dogs. By the time I realized what they were, I was already sick with the Change. There were three other girls in the room with me, including Emily. I was the only one who made it.
“Afterwards…” She swallowed, looking away. “After I got past the sickness, it took me two weeks before I actually Changed. By then, I knew to pretend I was with them, that I believed the drivel Hendrix spouted. The night of the full moon after I’d recovered from the bites, they took me out to the woods on some kind of ritual thing. That’s when I Changed for the first time into a wolf. But you have to understand, I was desperate to get away.
“One of the lions, Levi, took an interest in me. When he asked me in a roundabout way if I wanted to get away, at first I denied it. I didn’t know if I could trust him—even now, I’m not sure if it wasn’t some elaborate set up. But he told me about this Shifter town where I could be safe, and said he’d take care of everything.” She drew in a shaky breath. “So I took a chance, went where and when he told me, and lo and behold there was a car with a map and an envelope of cash.”
“Why didn’t you just call me then? I would have come and gotten you.”
“Everything happened so fast, and I wasn’t sure I should drag you into this. Heck, I’m angry at myself for even calling you in the first place. Anyway, I headed outside of town to meet with this old, crabby guy who was my landlord, and that’s when they found me.”
Seeing inside the dark room was getting more and more difficult. Ever’s eyes kept crossing, the room wavering. “We talked to Mr. Avery, he thought you were with them.”
Sonya laughed bitterly. “Figures. I don’t know how they tracked me, but the minute that old man saw them he started lobbing things at them that exploded. I took the time to get the heck out of dodge, but they were hot on my trail.
“That’s when I found I could be anything I set my mind to, even as small as a mole. I made it into town the next afternoon with no clothes, no phone, and no car. I didn’t know what to do, so I stole some clothes from a laundromat, borrowed some money from the gas station clerk, and called you.”
“And then you were kidnapped?”
“Yeah. They’d seen me Change into different types of animals while I was running away.” Her chin started to quiver. “Some of the “sermons” I’d heard talked about an evil being who could change into anything, kind of like the Devil to this goddess Luna, so I knew it could be bad for me. I just didn’t realize… I’d barely even woken up when they started to, to…”
The misery in her sister’s voice tore at Ever. When Sonya began to sob, Ever threw an arm across her shoulders, holding her without a word while her sister cried. Rage bubbled up, and Ever wished it was her own hands that could turn to claws and rip out every man’s throat in the facility. Squeezing her eyes tight, she laid back down on her sister’s lap, careful to keep her injured arm from bumping anything. “Help is coming,” she murmured. “Aidan…”
Her sister sniffled. “Who’s that?”
How did Ever describe him? She didn’t have the energy to give as detailed an account as Sonya, but two words Ever knew would sum it all up. “My mate.”
It felt right to call him that. Ever closed her eyes and pictured his face; exasperated by her antics, his dry humor, the passion lurking in a pair of amber eyes. Whatever the reason, biological or otherwise, she loved him—Ever knew that—and she knew for dead certain that her bear would come after her.
“Your what?”
Nausea turned Ever’s stomach suddenly, and she tensed at the sharp pain that accompanied it. “Sonya,” she whispered, “I don’t feel so good.”
Sonya’s grip on her tightened as Ever rolled sideways off the other girl’s legs, vomiting up blood all over the concrete floor.
Chapter 24
Driving might be the fastest way, but sitting in a vehicle doing nothing was making Aidan crazy.
The four of them were crammed inside the car, while Marcus drove. Mac had stayed behind to coordinate the operation, and would send backup in the form of more deputies. The men in the car were at least half an hour ahead of anyone else, however, and Aidan planned to have it over before the cavalry arrived.
Davis was on speakerphone, continuing to feed them information. He’d hacked into somewhere official and gotten them real-time satellite imagery of the area, which he patched to the dashboard monitor. Marshall had also set him to work on discovering who all they’d find at the compound and might possibly fight.
“From what I can find, he brought three hyenas, four lions and two bears, all male, with him from Portland. According to credit card tracks, he’s also attracted at least a tiger, another hyena and two panthers. No prey animals, apparently he only rolls hardcore. Boss, I’m finding there’s also been a rash of missing persons reports coinciding with his presence in the various areas, mostly female and all human.”
Aidan’s bear wanted out. A growl came from his throat; his nails darkened as fur sprouted atop his hands. The control he was so proud of was gone; all he wanted was to get his mate back, safe and sound.
Any other option was unthinkable.
Marcus turned down a dirt road, and the ride grew bumpy. Aidan and Julian were jostled around the back, clinging to their respective sides to avoid touching. Aidan knew that if the other man so much as made a single quip, he’d come unglued, but so far Julian had been surprisingly silent.
“Go faster,” he growled at Marcus.
“I can’t. If I do, this car’s going to rattle apart.”
Davis’ voice came over the speakers. “Um, guys, you’d better hurry. A helicopter is heading toward them, and there’s activity on the ground.”
Marshall cursed. “How far away are we?”
“Thirteen miles if we take roads, but only about five if you go overland.”
Well, that settled that for Aidan. “Stop the car.”
Marcus pulled off the road and everyone got out. Aidan was already changing as he spilled out of the car, leaping down the embankment and landing on all fours as a bear. He didn’t pause for a second, running as fast as he could through the trees. Marcus stayed in the car, taking off as the three other men headed out into the forest. Julian, now in pant
her form, kept pace with him, and the Brahm… Aidan saw that he hadn’t shifted but was keeping pace perfectly well as a two-legged human.
So be it.
His nails dug into the ground, giving him all the traction he needed to keep a steady pace. Aidan could feel the bear getting winded, a rarity for them, but he didn’t care. The wind was from the side, helpful in that their presence wouldn’t be known to the camp first, but useless when it came to finding his mate.
It did, however, bring with it another scent. Aidan slowed, smelling the air, but Marshall identified the newcomer first. “If Derek’s here,” he murmured, voice carrying over the sound of running, “then they have Eleanor too.”
The other bear’s scent came from their west, and Aidan could almost smell his trajectory. His stepfather would reach the camp before they did, and Aidan had no doubt he’d attack outright. Part of him realized they could use the distraction, but he also knew Derek, while deadly in his own right, wasn’t thinking clearly. His mate was in danger and he needed to get her back.
Aidan’s bear clawed at his mind, showing a similar desperation. Yeah, pot, meet kettle.
Marshall pulled ahead even as beside them, Julian fell back. Whether from exhaustion or part of a plan, Aidan didn’t know, but he kept up his pace, wanting only to get to the compound. His imagination was going into overdrive, imagining her dead, dying, or worse.
The bear roared, lengthening its stride, desperate to get to its mate.
Ahead of them, the tree line abruptly ended. Marshall was stopped beside a tree, surveying the scene. Whoever chose this place either wasn’t expecting to be discovered, or was cocky enough not to care. Traps were a foregone conclusion, but Aidan didn’t care. He barreled past his father and into the open, trampling the tall grasses surrounding the compound.
Aidan could see the buildings, hear Derek’s bear roaring from somewhere amidst them, and didn’t waste a second. When two wolves came around the corner, he waded in the middle of them, slapping them out of his way. He had to find Ever; that was all that mattered. Aidan trusted both his father and Marcus to have his back. He wasn’t sure Julian wouldn’t try to take a shot at him while his back was turned, but at the moment he didn’t care. This close to the buildings, he could smell her. Her scent was faint but there; he just had to find the trail. He could smell his mother too, but Derek could get her.
The three buildings were circled up like wagons, their entrances all facing an inner courtyard. The moment Aidan hit that, shifters poured out of the buildings, many already in animal form, but several still human and wielding guns.
Those were his first targets.
He mowed through the animals and took out two of the guns before he hit his first real obstacle. A grizzly bear shifter broadsided him, knocking Aidan into the side of one metal building. The blow dented the outer wall, but didn’t deter Aidan himself, who roared and launched himself at the other bear, tearing at the beast’s face. He scored a lucky blow, raking his claws across the face and taking out one eye. The creature howled in pain and Aidan took advantage, clubbing him along the side of the head with one paw.
That managed to daze the other creature, and Aidan pushed past him into the first building. Immediately, he knew Ever wasn’t there; her scent was nowhere inside, but there were chairs and the oddest altar Aidan had ever seen.
Whatever. He wasn’t there to judge decor, but to find his mate.
He pushed back through the door just as Julian came onto the scene. Two wolves came at Aidan, but the black werepanther blocked their path, engaging them as Aidan headed straight for the next building. In the distance, he could hear the whirring of helicopter blades, but it wasn’t in the direction his nose was leading him so he ignored it.
The door opened just as he got within a few yards, and two humans emerged with guns. Aidan felt the bullets penetrate the bear’s thick hide and roared in pain, but didn’t stop his charge, barreling into them and knocking both men back. One immediately shifted into a hyena and attacked while the other man pulled out a handgun from his belt. Immediately sensing the still-human shifter was his biggest threat, he swiped the gun out of the other man’s hands just as the gun went off. There was a snikt and the tink of something definitely not-bullet hitting the metal wall, but the gun was knocked out of reach.
Now the human shifted, growing into another black bear, and the fight was on. Aidan knew he had the right building; Ever’s scent seemed to hover in the air, as did the smell of her blood, making him wild with need to get to her. The hyena bore the brunt of his rage, but a blow from the black bear almost knocked Aidan onto the ground. The two took advantage of his weakened state, tearing out chunks of fur and skin from around his collar, and Aidan realized he needed to focus on the fight, not simply on getting to his mate.
Easier said than done.
The hyena was quicker on its feet, darting in and out of the fight. His attacks would bleed Aidan out, weakening him even as he focused on the black bear. So he shifted targets, slamming down onto the hyena as it moved in for another bite. He pinned it to the floor by its neck, trying to ignore the bear’s teeth roughly shaking his shoulder. The hyena clawed at Aidan’s underbelly desperately, but Aidan raised one paw and swiped sideways, breaking the creature’s neck.
He then turned his attention back to the other bear, who seemed to realize that, without the hyena, he was outclassed. He turned and made a run for the door, but Aidan knocked him down with a lunge. The black bear tried to shake him off, scrambling wildly beneath him, but Aidan’s animal was much larger, and much angrier. He tore at the nape of the other bear’s neck, ripping through fat and muscle, until he came to the spinal column and snapped it with one bite.
The bear wasn’t dead when Aidan rolled off him, but he would be soon. Either way, he was incapacitated, and that was all Aidan cared about. There was nobody else left inside the building that his nose could detect, so he shifted back into human form and picked up the handgun he’d swiped off the bear earlier. It was an air-powered tranquilizer gun, with two more nodules inside containing a milky concoction. Aidan had no idea what it did, but he kept it with him as he ran down the hall.
Ever’s scent was close; she’d definitely come this way, and when he came to a doorway he slammed against it. When it didn’t budge on the first try, he tried again, and a third time, before the metal reinforced door finally gave way and he was inside.
Blood soaked the floor. Ever’s blood. His mate laid there, eyes sightless, staring up at the ceiling, as the girl with her sobbed, and Aidan’s world came to an abrupt end.
Chapter 25
“Ever?” Her name came off his lips like a moan, and he fell to his knees. That’s when he saw her lips part slightly, and her chest rise as she took in a breath.
He’d never felt relief like what flooded his body now.
The other woman, whom Aidan immediately recognized both from sight and smell as Sonya Jackson, seemed to notice him then. “You can’t take her,” she snarled, and launched herself at Aidan. She stayed human, but her hands were elongated claws that ripped through his skin like a hot knife through butter.
Pain blossomed at her touch and he grabbed the girl’s wrists. She was strong, and he could see the muscles in her face and neck twitch as if they wanted to Change, but nothing happened. His touch however sent the girl into an absolute frenzy; she kicked at him, struggling to get away. The tears on her face, so like his mate’s despite the bruises, tore at Aidan’s heart. “I’m here to help.”
She struck out at his knee, then angled her foot upward toward his groin. He managed to block her, but she was relentless. Those nails, unlike any animal he’d ever seen, told him what she was: a chimera, like his father. He knew, were she at full strength, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance.
On the ground, Ever moaned, and Aidan’s temper snapped. “She’s dying, I have to help her now!”
That seemed to mollify the other girl, who stopped her struggles. Aidan took a chance and let her
go, and she skittered away from him. He’d deal with her later, but for now he needed to help his mate.
Sonya stared at Aidan with wide, suspicious eyes. “You’re here to rescue us? Ever said someone would come after her…”
“I’m her mate. Of course I’d come.”
The other girl didn’t seem to believe him; her suspicious glare didn’t change one bit, but Aidan didn’t care. She didn’t attack as he knelt beside Ever, who weakly lolled her head sideways to look at him. A tiny smile tipped her lips even as her body shuddered. “I knew you’d come.”
Her words were breathless, but the relief and sureness in her eyes were what did him in. He took her good hand and squeezed, trying not to show his own terror at her condition. “Managed to knock a few heads on my way in too.”
She looked terrible. Blood slicked the floor around her where she’d moved; her arm was obviously broken, the skin purple around the break. Puncture marks marred her perfect skin there, as well as on her shoulder and legs. She’d obviously been bitten, but the marks weren’t healing.
If the Change had come over her, they’d already be closing, which meant it hadn’t grabbed hold. She was dying.
His hands fluttered over her, helplessness filling him. Leaning down, he licked over the puncture wounds on her shoulder, and heard Ever’s hiss of pain. Behind him, Sonya came alive again. “What are you doing to her?”
He didn’t reply, keeping his gaze on Ever’s face. She was dazed, eyes feverishly bright. Aidan squeezed her good hand. “I need to bite you,” he murmured, and wondered from her blank expression if she understood. “It’s the only way I can help.”
Behind him, Sonya came alive again. “You need to what?”
“If I don’t, she dies.” Saying the words only drilled that point home, and he knew it might already be too late. “The Change didn’t take from the others, but I’m her mate. I can do it.”