by Kit Tunstall
“A few hundred,” he said. “It’s a sanctuary from the rest of the world, where we can move freely among our own kind without having to hide what we are. I was born on the island, and I used to run wild there all year round with Alex and Kade. We used to drive my dad nuts, since we were out all hours in all weather. He’s human though, and he didn’t understand the pull of nature, or how amazing it is to transform into your bear.”
It did sound amazing. “Who’s Kade?”
“He’s my cousin. He was older by a few years, but we were all in the same age group, and there aren’t a whole lot of kids on the island, since it’s a small population. We all tended to band together if we were anywhere close to the same age.”
“Were you an only child?”
He shook his head. “I have a younger sister, but she lives in Seattle instead of on the island. My mom died when I was fourteen, and Allison was seven. Dad tried to stick it out on the island a couple years longer, but he wasn’t happy there without Mom. I don’t think he had ever been happy on Bear Island, but he loved our mother enough to stay on the island with her. Eventually, he gave up and returned to Seattle, taking Allison with him. I was sixteen, so he let me have the choice of staying on the island or going to the city. There was no choice at all for me though, because Bear Island is my home, and I felt comfortable among my own kind.”
“So your father and sister still live in Seattle. Do you see them much?”
He shrugged. “I see quite a bit of Allison, even if it’s just through Skype. My father remarried a few years ago, and he and Stella like to travel, but I see him at least once or twice a year.”
She patted his stomach, where her hand rested. “It sounds a little lonely. I’m really close to my parents. Before I was born, they developed some sort of software system for the military, so we’ve always been well-off, but I never had a nanny, or even an au pair. My parents raised me themselves, though that sometimes meant sitting in their office for hours on end as I entertained myself while they wrote code.”
“That sounds nice, but I’m not lonely. I’d like to see more of my dad, but I have…had friends and family and a life on Bear Island. At least I had all that until Alex and I decided to go to Seattle, hoping to find our mates. Kade and his mate had recently had their second child, and Cody, our uncle, had mated too. I suppose Alex and I were feeling envious. We already knew our mates weren’t on Bear Island, so we started our search in Seattle. We had a half-ass plan to increase the distance of our searches if we didn’t have any luck, but we never got a chance to implement that strategy.”
She stroked his abs, trying to keep him calm. “Do you know how they identified you as shifters?”
He shook his head. “No, but I remember Stone had a tablet. Maybe he used that somehow.”
“If I could figure that out, maybe we could stop him from acquiring more shifters.”
His only answer was a yawn, and she realized he was slipping back to sleep quickly. She was also tired, and though she continued talking softly to him about nothing important, she surrendered to sleep too, content to be held by him at the moment and pretend she really was his mate.
Chapter Five
“Good morning, lovebirds,” boomed Stone in a cheerful voice. “It’s time to wake up. You have a big day ahead of you. Eventually.” He chuckled.
She jerked awake, immediately alert, and stared at Stone for a second before looking down at Hale. He blinked open his eyes, but his gaze was unfocused. He seemed in more of a stupor than he had last night. “Did you drug him again before waking us up?”
The doctor nodded. “I couldn’t have him too alert or trying to resist. Señor Calderon has big plans for you both, and I need him docile and cooperative for the day.”
Her heart stuttered at the words, though she struggled to hide her fear. “What kind of plans?”
Shooting her a smug smile, he just shrugged. “You’ll find out. In the meantime, Guillermo is going to escort you back to your room and lock you in. I have certain preparations to make with the shifter, and it will be easier without you around.”
Her eyes widened when she realized they planned to separate them. Fear was growing stronger, and she was afraid a bit of it leaked through her voice when she spoke again. “What kind of preparations? What are you going to do to him?”
He nodded to Guillermo, who seemed to be asking silent permission to open the cage and gather her. As the guard unlocked the padlock and swung open the door, his hand fastening on Maya’s arm to drag her out, Stone leered at her. “I think a better question is what will your bear-shifter do to you.” He laughed, clearly delighting in their suffering. “Take her to her room and make sure she can’t escape. Those are Señor Calderon’s orders.”
“Whatever you have planned, you won’t get away with this.” It was an ineffectual thing to say, but she felt better for speaking at all, and for trying to resist whatever they had planned. She tried fighting Guillermo when he dragged her the rest of the way out of the cage, but he easily subdued her.
Hale let out a roar suddenly, and though he was in human form, it had a distinctly bearlike quality. Despite the drugs flowing through him, he was making a serious effort to get off the floor and keep her from slipping away. Before he could accomplish the goal, he collapsed to the floor again, and Guillermo secured the lock again.
“I hope you all rot in hell.”
Stone ignored her, clearly caught up in his own work, which didn’t bode well for her or Hale. What could they have planned for her? An even better question was, what would they have planned for her and Hale together? Her blood ran cold as she considered the possibilities, and she had plenty of time to do so after Guillermo locked her in her room and left her there for the next several hours. She paced and worried, simultaneously wanting to know what was happening, while dreading the discovery that would answer her questions. She wanted out of the room, and she wanted answers, but most of all, she just wanted to be in Hale’s arms again.
***
Guillermo came for her a little after seven, openly laughing at her when she tried to dart past him through the door and escape. He clamped an arm around her waist, holding her immobile for a moment as he shook her lightly. “I have no wish to harm you, señorita, but they won’t care if I’m required to as long as I deliver you in one piece.”
A chill swept through her, and she nodded her head to indicate she understood. She let her body go limp, and he put her on her feet a second later. Guillermo maintained a grasp on her, his hand wrapped around her bicep, as he steered her out of the house. “Where are we going? What’s going on? What does Stone plan to do with us?”
He simply grunted in lieu of answering, prodding her along when she started to slow. She quickly realized their destination was the fighting arena, though she’d expected it to be the enclosure. The house was set far back on the island, but the fighting arena was in sight, and he increased his pace the closer they got. By the time they reached the wooden building with the metal doors, she was having to almost run to keep up with him. She suspected it was a deliberate gesture on his part, to further weaken and throw her off-balance.
They entered the building from the back entrance, a new route for her. There were two sets of stairs in front of them, one with the flight going down, and one with the flight going up. He skipped them both in favor of turning into a doorway past them.
It was a scantly decorated room, composed mainly of raw timber walls and cement flooring. She trembled when she saw Stone waiting for her. The man himself was not overly imposing, but the syringe in his hand certainly was, as was the gleam in his eyes. It was disturbing, though she couldn’t identify what emotions he was feeling. Guillermo jerked her to stop in front of the scientist, and she glared at Stone. “Why am I here? What are you planning?”
“Strip her,” said Stone before focusing his attention on her questions. “You’re here because you’re going to assist in an experiment. For months, we’ve been trying to get the shif
ters to breed either with each other or human partners, but they refused to. It doesn’t matter how much the goons beat them, or how many times they’re shocked. They won’t breed the men and women we provide.”
Her eyes widened at the horrific revelations. “Why would you even want to? Are you planning to set up a shifter pimp service on the side?”
He actually looked intrigued by the idea. “I hadn’t considered it, but it might be an interesting source of revenue. We’d take only the most exclusive clients, of course, which means those with huge bank accounts.” He grinned, and it was creepy. “Thank you for the suggestion.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t being serious.”
He laughed. “I know, which is what makes it so perfect. You’ve come up with an excellent idea for exploiting our resources, and you did it because you’re being sarcastic and thinking of the most improbable thing that could come to mind. It’s a stroke of genius really. However, we’re not opening a shifter brothel tonight.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“It’s obvious Rampage has a hard-on for you, so it seems plausible that he’ll finally breed. I ramped up his pheromones, so I doubt he’ll be able to resist.”
She batted Guillermo’s hands away when he tried to take off her hoodie. “Stop that.”
“Undress her,” said Stone. He sounded bored.
As she struggled to keep Guillermo from removing her clothing, she glared at Stone. “I still don’t understand why you want them to breed?”
He let out a small sigh. “It’s incredibly difficult to identify shifters. I stumbled across the gene while I was working at a hospital, and over the years, I’ve developed a computer program that helps me analyze certain physical traits of shifters, which include a more rapid heart rate and a higher core temperature. That can only tell me so much though, so only blood can confirm if the person we’re taking is a shifter. We’ve acquired several subjects that turned out to be simply human, perhaps ill or having recently exercised, rather than being shifters. It would be far more efficient to breed our own shifters for the program.”
She was busy trying to keep Guillermo from stripping off her jeans, since he had managed to steal her hoodie and rip away her T-shirt underneath. “You’re planning to breed bear-shifters for the fights? That’s barbaric.”
Stone surprised her by agreeing. “It is barbaric. There are far nobler purposes to which we could put shifters, including studying them for medical science and finding ways to accelerate human healing and increase our lifespan, but as I told you earlier, I have to go where the funding is. Señor Calderon prefers the entertainment of the bears fighting, so it’s a necessary evil to be able to do my research.”
“Evil’s the right word,” she panted as she beat at Guillermo’s back. He forced her to the cold cement floor, stripping off her clothes, aside from her panties. She let out a cry of outrage when a needle entered her hip a moment later. “What’s that? What are you doing to me?”
“I’m simply boosting your pheromones, so you’ll drive the bear-shifter wild. He’s getting a similar treatment, though Señor Calderon forced me to add aggression stimulators to the mix. He didn’t understand how that can taint the results of the experiment.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck about your experiments,” she shouted as Guillermo allowed her to get to her feet. She crossed her arms over her chest, wondering when she had lost her bra in the struggle. “I just want you all to die.”
He gave her a cool look. “Ironically enough, you could be the one who dies, depending on how much your precious shifter can maintain control of himself. I see no valuable purpose for the aggression stimulator, though Señor Calderon seems to think it will encourage him to perform, when he might otherwise be reluctant to do so. I’m afraid it’s going to push him over the edge, and he might fuck you to death. That would be a shame for the experiment, and a lost opportunity.”
“My heart breaks for you.” She tilted her head, glaring up at him. “There’s no way Hale would deliberately hurt me. You don’t know him at all if you think that.”
“Hopped up on aggression and sexual desire, there’s no telling what he’s going to do. I really wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
He laughed, and though it was a soft sound, it still grated on her nerves.
“Go check with Señor Calderon and see if he’s ready for us to release her to the arena.”
Guillermo did as ordered, leaving her almost naked in Stone’s presence. She backed away from him as he advanced on her, nerves suddenly tight. When he pressed her against the wall, she let out a small cry of shock. “Back up.”
He laughed again. “I’d really looked forward to sampling your charms, Maya. The connection between us was obvious from the start, and I felt it like a jolt the moment our eyes met that first night at the fight. I’m having to make a sacrifice for science by letting you go, but I really need the data you can provide.”
She shook her head at him. “You’re a crazy man, just like Calderon. This whole island is full of crazy, evil, brutal people, aside from your victims.”
He struck suddenly, moving as fast as a snake, which was an apt description.
She tried to clamp her thighs shut, but she wasn’t fast enough to prevent him from burying a finger in her. She let out a sound of disgust and tried to push him away. “Don’t touch me.”
He pulled his hand from her and licked his finger in an obscene way. “I simply wanted a little taste, since I won’t get to sample the whole thing. Perhaps after your breeding sessions, if you manage to get pregnant, then I can have a little fun while we wait for the delivery.”
She raised her hand and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. “You’re a disgusting little creep.”
He retaliated in exactly the same fashion, slapping her hard across the face, which sent her staggering sideways for a moment. “I hope you survive the experiment, and not just because of scientific curiosity.” He licked his lips in a long, drawn-out fashion. “You’re going to pay for that slap, but not tonight. Tonight, you have a different destiny, and I can’t wait to see if you survive it.”
She didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response, though inside she wondered the same thing. Would she survive facing off with a horny, aggressive bear-shifter who believed she was his mate? The potential for violence was astronomical, and she was fearful when Guillermo returned to indicate Calderon was ready.
She tried not to let it show, and she walked of her own volition to the stairs, choosing the flight leading down when Guillermo nodded his head in that direction. It was the longest, hardest walk of her life, though the distance was actually moderate. It was knowing what was at the end of the trip that was so nerve-racking. How would she find Hale? More importantly, would he recognize her at all, or would he simply see her as a female with which to rut?
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Guillermo shoved her through a door, slamming it behind her. She shivered when she heard the lock engage a moment later. Whatever they had in mind for her, she wouldn’t find an escape through that route. Cautiously, she took a step forward and looked around, instantly realizing she was in the fighting arena. She shivered, both with cold and fear, and a hint of embarrassment at having all her curves and flaws on display for the jerks watching whatever they had in mind.
She had a feeling she knew what was in mind, and it was a relief to see Hale enter the ring a moment later in his human form rather than the bear version. They seemed like sadistic enough men that they would have enjoyed sending in the bear version of Hale to ravish her. The human side was a huge relief.
At least until he got closer, and she saw the wild, unfocused look in his eyes. He was in his human form, but it was clear his bear was dominant. She swallowed a lump of fear in her throat and braced herself as he reached her. “Hello, Hale.” She kept her tone even in calm, hoping it would transmit to him.
He showed no visible reaction to her speaking to him. Instead, he l
ifted her off her feet and to press her against the wall. She winced when her back collided with the rough stone, but she tried to maintain eye contact with the bear-shifter, attempting to reach the human side of him. “You’re better than what they want from you, Hale. I know you can control this.”
His pupils were dilated, and they seemed to shrink slightly as she spoke, gently caressing his shoulders as she did so.
Taking a leap of faith, she relaxed against him and pressed her head to his chest. “Don’t let them get the best of you.”
He didn’t move for a moment, but when he did, it was to tighten his grasp on her. He buried his face into her hair and inhaled deeply. “Mine,” he said in a growl. “Ours,” he said in the same tone.
She inferred that meant his and his bear’s. There was no way she could completely talk him out of this, she realized, because he was too far gone and under the control of the drugs they’d given him. The best she could do was to try to keep him on the calm side, so he’d be gentler than they expected. With that in mind, she tried to relax against him, keeping her tone soothing as she whispered to him while his hand moved down her body. He cupped her breast, tugging a little more forcefully than she would have liked, but she couldn’t deny the simple touch was enough to start making her slick.
Apparently, he realized it too, because his nostrils flared, and his pupils widened again. His hand moved from her breast to between her legs, and his fingers surged inside her rapidly moistening folds. It was uncomfortable for a moment, but his fingers flexing rhythmically inside her soon increased her own natural lubrication, until she was soaked.
In his current state, he seemed incapable of foreplay. Hale shifted her, lowering her body to the right angle. She made it easier on both of them by clamping her thighs around his hips, needing to hold on in her current position. She clung to him, torn between fear and desire as he brought his large erection against her opening.
She took a deep breath as he surged inside her, wincing at the stretched, burning feeling for a moment. Her body acclimated soon enough, and she was surprised by how much she was enjoying his rough possession. Every deep thrust of his hips, which bucked rapidly, pushed her back against the wall, but she was mostly unaware of the small discomfort as Hale thrust into her.