by Susan Bliler
“Marko?” She didn’t even try to hide the fear of being helpless to protect her child.
“You’re safe.” Marko’s expression darkened as he frowned at her. “They know you’re a little trigger happy where I’m concerned. Just a safety precaution. I got you.”
Once she was shackled, Thea was lifted into his arms where he pulled her close to his chest, ignoring the pain from his gunshot wound.
The ring of Sentries that had seconds ago been circling her suddenly turned, giving her and Marko their backs as they drew their weapons, providing a protective shield around them. Confusion and relief warred within her, but in the end, she decided she was grateful that at least her baby would be safe.
With tactical proficiency, she was escorted to a waiting chopper. Marko carried her inside and made to belt her in her seat and then stopped when he realized the strap would cross her midsection.
Thea shook her head. “Don’t.” Her eyes were imploring as she looked up. “If something happens…” She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to. If the helicopter took a hit, the full weight of her body would slam into the belt. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it’d be bad for the baby.
Marko sat and secured himself before pulling Thea from the seat beside him and onto his lap. She didn’t bother fighting. She remembered all too well how strong Marko was, and struggling would only wear her out and make her look like a fool. Apparently, it wasn’t enough security because he barked, “Lok! Bodi!”
Two Sentries sat on either side of him and fastened themselves in before the one near her feet put on thick gloves and then grabbed her ankles, lifting her feet onto his lap. He clamped vice-like hands around her lower half to secure her in place. Then her upper body was being pulled back until she was laying flat across three laps. She squeaked and tensed to protest, but was no match for the strength of the Sentry on the other side of Marko, who also wore thick gloves.
“Relax,” Marko commanded.
She tried but was too tense. A rucksack was shoved under her head and then the other Sentries arms banded across her shoulders. Marko and the two Sentries held her pinned down and it was humiliating. She tried to adjust but couldn’t move an inch.
“LET’S ROLL!” Marko commanded, and the chopper blades whomped louder as the helicopter powered up.
Thea closed her eyes to keep from staring at the Sentry hovering over her. His arms were banded across her shoulders, and she wondered why his contact with her didn’t hurt. Even when she’d been taken by the other man, she could feel the zing of painful electric shock through the material of his clothes that separated her skin from his.
Looking down at her, the Sentry smiled and glanced at his arm then back at her. “Kevlar. Doc Jen thought it should do the trick.”
Thea lost all focus on his words though when the helicopter made to lift off and her belly dipped. Mouth suddenly dry she licked her parched lips and concentrated on Lamaze breathing through the queasiness.
“THEA?” She heard Marko say loudly.
Unwilling to open her eyes, she simply shook her head, hoping he understood she couldn’t talk right now.
After several seconds, the sick feeling ebbed but didn’t fully disappear. She was worn out. She’d been awake since she’d shot Marko. Even sleeping at the motel had been futile. Worse, she’d been sick the entire time. Her body felt run-down, and she was pissed at not taking better care of herself for her baby.
Safe now, she couldn’t worry about what awaited her at StoneCrow. Her biggest concern was the Sentry with his hand protectively settled over her belly and her unborn child…their unborn child.
The repetitive whomp, whomp, whomp of the chopper blades was lulling as the flight drew out and the fight slowly left her. The cadence of the blades mixed with the heat in the cabin. That coupled with the recent strain on her body, and Thea was fighting to stay awake. It was a fight she eventually lost.
***
Marko struggled to hide the elation he felt at having Thea in his arms. She was exhausted which had him both glad and worried. She was too tired to fight him, and he didn’t want that, but should she be this worn out? Is she well? Inhaling, he tried sifting through her anger, fear, and exhaustion. His heightened sense of smell was only just coming back, which had been triggered by his affliction. Thank the Grandfathers! It took him longer than normal, but he was finally able to pinpoint what he’d been looking for. He remembered her scent, but the memory of it was nothing compared to the real thing, and now it carried another marker. The new scent had his chest tightening painfully. It was just the softest whisper of new life. A new life they’d created together! His child. He hated to admit it, but part of him had worried that she’d terminated the pregnancy. Now, scenting the baby she carried, he couldn’t stop the emotion that tore through him and had him pinching his eyes shut as he swallowed hard. It was pure happiness and inside, he thought he felt just the merest stirring of his beasts.
In her sleep, one of Thea’s hands curled into his tactical vest in an almost possessive gesture, making his own possessive urges shoot to the fore. His arm tightened around her as he eyed the male Walkers in the cabin and wondered if she smelled as good to them as she did to him. The sound of a mewling noise passing her lips drew his attention back to her. Her features were so soft in sleep, and the weak feminine sound had him recalling how she’d made similar noises when he’d been inside her. He had to adjust her on his lap to ease some of the discomfort from his now erect cock.
“SHIT!”
It was the only warning they got before the helicopter rocked and alarms started blaring. Marko’s hands tightened on Thea even as her eyes snapped open and she struggled to sit up.
“Stay still,” he barked, eyes slicing to where Tito struggled to control the helicopter in the pilot’s seat.
Tito yelled, “We’re hit! We’re going down! We’re going down! We’re going dow…”
Chapter 26
Thea struggled in the Skin Walker Sentries’ hold. She may as well have been trying to push a bus off her for all the good it did. Arms like steel bands clamped around her shoulders and knees. Marko’s hold was the tightest with one arm intimately secured just below her breasts, and the other clamped over her hips.
When the pilot yelled for everyone to brace, the Walker holding her shoulders bent and covered Thea’s head while Marko folded his body protectively over her abdomen. She heard him snarl, and it was the last thing she heard before a deafening roar filled the cabin as the helicopter hit the ground. Thea was only aware of the feeling like the entire cabin collapsed onto them before everything went black.
Thea woke cold to the sound of metal wrenching. Everything was dark, and smoke filled the air. She strained to get up, but hard hands grabbed her, and instead of being gentle as she’d expected, she was jerked roughly from under debris and drug out into the open where her body slammed hard onto the frozen ground. She was being pulled away from the helicopter by the zip tie still locked around her wrists. Trying to get her bearings, her breath chugged out of her in puffs as the frozen earth scrapped against her back. Her head ached something furious, and after the deafening crash, the absolute silence that surrounded her was terrifying and had her fighting to blink her eyes open. She moaned as the brightness of the snow-covered terrain blinded her. Too bright!
Rocks and chunks of ice tore at her as she was pulled along. She tried to jerk her arms free, but the grip on her slid to one wrist and tightened painfully. Her shoulders ached too from the strain of being dragged.
Blinking her eyes open, it took Thea a moment to focus on the bare branches of the towering tree above her as they slowly passed overhead. The pain in her shoulder and arm ceased as her body stopped moving. Moaning, she made to roll onto her side, but something hard hit her chest and pinned her back to the ground.
Thea looked down at her chest and the object. It was a boot. Someone was holding her down with their foot.
Eyes tracking up the leg, her heart pounded out
a terrified rhythm as she glanced a long dark trench coat and followed it up to the pasty white creature who’d shot her with the tranq dart at StoneCrow. Megalya!
She wanted to scream but didn’t want to draw the attention of the Megalya holding her hostage.
Marko! Turning her head just a fraction, she scanned the area. Nearby, she saw smoke billowing up from where the helicopter must have crashed. Her eyes snagged on movement near a tree, and she startled hard. Her eyes cut back to the Megalya standing over her and then back to the creature near the tree. They looked exactly the same. Both…creatures wore dark trench coats over dark clothes. They had bald heads and blacked out eyes. When they opened their mouths, they had sharp, shark-like teeth. They looked evil, and while she’d heard that there were many Megalya, she hadn’t known that they all looked the same.
“Thea!”
She heard someone call her name and turned toward the sound. It wasn’t Marko, and that had her worried that he’d been hurt in the crash. Knowing she needed to call out so that the Walkers could find her, Thea looked up and fear dumped into her middle as the thing standing over her angled his head and stared at her.
“MARKOOOOOOOOO!”
***
Marko came to crumpled up against hard cold metal. He heard King shout, “Thea!”
Snow burned his cheek, and there was something warm and sticky trickling down his face. Sitting up, his eyes snapped to his lap. “Thea?” Fuck! Shoving up off what was left of the floor, he scanned what was left of the cabin. Beside him, Lok was just coming too, blinking furiously, he reached for a still unconscious Bodi.
“Thea!” Marko barked, pushing part of the bench seat up off the floor in front of him to search underneath.
The sound of clicking metal drew his attention and his eyes locked on where King pulled an unconscious Tito out of the pilot’s seat with one hand while his other shoved a Glock toward the window. “Gentlemen, we’ve got company.”
Marko’s eyes shot to the window, and he didn’t see anything.
“Megalya,” King explained. “I count at least seven.”
Marko’s heart seized, and his eyes shot back to the area around him as he searched frantically.
King’s next words sent horror washing through him. “They’ve got Thea.”
They’ve got Thea? They’ve. Got. Thea! Something inside of Marko snapped. He drew in a breath through his nose, and it wasn’t enough. He had to take another and then another until his chest was heaving with the rage that seared through him, yet it seemed that with each inhalation his chest expanded and kept right on growing.
“Holy shit!” Lok breathed. “The fuck’s wrong with him?”
Marko couldn’t focus. Couldn’t concentrate. The thought of the Megalya—the same monsters who’d tortured him for years—now having their hands on his Angel and unborn child was too much. An animalistic snarl tore through him as he felt his body changing, but it wasn’t like any other shift he’d experienced.
“Fuck!” King hissed. “Get Bodi out! Everyone out, now!”
King hauled Tito out the opposite side of the helicopter while Lok slipped his arms around a just waking Bodi.
Marko wanted to move, but he couldn’t. Something was happening. The blood rushing through him suddenly felt like it was a billion degrees and a vicious roar left him as his body lurched forward. He landed on his hands and knees, and he watched as his hands curled into tight fists that grew too large. The color drained from his knuckles first and then the entire back of his hands before his fingers went snowy white. His favored color for animal form had always been white, and he was changing, just not into any animal form he recognized.
Silken white, almost transparent hairs, slipped from his pores. Hunching in on himself as his body bowed and contracted, he threw his head back and roared louder, but the sound that came out wasn’t one he’d ever made before.
Adrenaline tore through him, and he shoved to his feet, realizing he’d grown so large that his boots had split and his clothes were shredded.
Behind him, he heard Lok breathe reverently, “Holy shit! He’s like a white hulk!”
He didn’t care what was happening to himself though. No, one purpose consumed him. Find Thea! Keep Thea!
He took a thundering step and crouched. With all his strength and all his rage, he vaulted himself upward, tearing through what remained of the metal shell that was the helicopter cabin.
He landed twenty yards away with a force that shook snow down from the trees all around.
Thea! Megalya have her. Megalya must die! His head slowly ticked around the clearing seeking a target to destroy. When he heard Thea scream his name, his head whipped around, and his brows speared down as his lip curled back in a vicious snarl. Time to die!
Chapter 27
When she screamed, the Megalya standing over Thea actually grinned as if he liked the sound before squatting beside her. Two more Megalya came from out of nowhere. Thea clamped her mouth shut and watched as they studied her a little too curiously. One circled down near her feet, and one stopped beside the other who was squatted near her head. When the other two squatted, Thea tried to recoil away, but hands shot out. The Megalya by her feet grabbed her ankles while one of the other two grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. The third Megalya leaned over her and started sniffing. At first, Thea was afraid to scream, because they’d seemed to enjoy it so much, but when the Megalya sniffing her pressed his face between her breasts and then slowly snuffled his way down to her belly, she gave in and screamed for all she was worth.
“NOOOO! MARKOOOOOOOOO!”
The Megalya at her belly disappeared. One second he was there and the next he was gone. Gunfire erupted, but the Megalya at her feet disappeared as quickly as the first.
Thea’s head whipped around as she tried to figure out what was happening. The Megalya holding her hands snarled, but he was looking around too.
The snow swirled and caught her attention, and Thea squinted against the flakes blasting against her face and stinging her cheeks. She blinked rapidly and squinted harder. That’s not snow!
Something was moving…
Her eyes rounded and her mouth fell open as what looked like a behemoth abominable snowman rushed them. When the Megalya released her, Thea knew she should scramble to her feet and try and escape, but she was transfixed. The beast coming toward them moved like a giant silverback. Muscled arms tapered down to clawed hands whose knuckles hit the ground hard with each stride as it pushed off its thickly muscled back legs. Its fur was short and whiter than any fur she’d ever seen. It grew long around the beast’s shoulders, hips, and maw, but tapered thinner around the pale face that stared menacingly at the Megalya with icy clear eyes.
The Megalya charged the beast, and just when Thea thought they’d crash together, the beast stopped, planted his feet and grabbed the Megalya. Twisting at the torso with a power Thea couldn’t believe, the beast sent the Megalya sailing thirty feet through the air until his body crashed against a sturdy pine with a sickening crack. The Megalya hit the ground and didn’t move again.
Breath chugging out of her in puffs like a freight train, Thea tore her eyes from the Megalya and looked at the beast. And the beast was looking at her.
Fear was beating a war song in her belly, and this was no frantic flap of butterfly wings. No, a goddamn caged silverback was thrashing around in her middle, trying to goad her into action.
The snow started falling harder, and Thea finally scrambled up from her prone position to her knees. She didn’t even have time to try to get to her feet before the beast was on her. He’d moved so fast that he’d blurred and too afraid to scream, Thea yelped as she was pushed to her back. Shaking uncontrollably, her eyes searched the tree line for Marko or the Skin Walkers. The thought that they might all be dead had a whimper escaping her lips as she looked back at the beast who pressed against her and snuffled at her hair and neck. Apparently, she either smelled really good or really bad because monsters cou
ld stop sniffing her.
“P-please,” she stammered, settling a shaking hand on the beast’s chest.
He pulled back fast, and Thea tensed. They stared at each other for long minutes. Something about him felt so damn familiar.
Quick as a flash, the beast had Thea up and in his arms as he started walking into the blizzard leaving Marko, the dead Megalya, the downed chopper, and the injured Skin Walkers behind.
“No,” Thea pleaded softly, but the beast kept on walking. “NO!” she said more loudly but froze when she heard a strange pop.
The beast snarled and spun so fast that Thea had to pinch her eyes and clamp a hand over her belly to keep from being sick. When the beast roared, Thea’s eyes shot open, and she saw King and his men standing in a line. All of them had their weapons drawn and pointed at her and the beast.
“Put her down and back away.”
The beast roared again and took a challenging step toward King before stopping and looking down at her, as if only just now realizing that he couldn’t fight and hold her at the same time.
King bellowed, “NOW, MARKO!”
Thea’s eyes tracked the line of Walker Sentries, expecting Marko to jump out and do something. That didn’t happen. In fact, none of the Skin Walkers’ attention left the beast holding her. It was then that realization dawned.
Thea’s heart stopped as her eyes slid from King up to the face of the beast holding her. Marko?
His concentration was still on King who asked calmly, “You get him with that tranq, Conn?”
Another group of Sentries stepped from the tree line. One of them who had a wicked scar down his face answered, “Yeah. I got him.”
“Holy shit!” one of the new Walkers exclaimed lowering his weapon to blatantly stare. “What in the piss is that?”
The one called Conn barked, “Shoulder your goddamn weapon, James.”
The amazed guy did but still stared at them in awe. “Marko’s a yeti?” His weapon dipped as he smiled at his Commander. “A motherfucking yeti? Oooooh, he’s so gonna teach me that shift!”