Jamie was going over their options again when a door situated between two of the cages opened and two men stepped in the warehouse. Some of the shifters instantly began to growl and roar while others cowered in the back of their cages. Finn moved to the back of his own cage, his eyes wide with fear.
The men walked toward Jamie, stopping in front of his cage as he looked at them. One of the men was small and chubby. His eyes were hidden behind thick glasses, and his body wrapped in a white lab coat. The other man was clearly a guard, because he was dressed in what looked like a uniform of some sort, his muscles bulging under the fabric. He had a gun on one hip and a Taser on the other one.
Jamie put on a brave face and asked, “Where am I? What do you want?”
The guard just looked at him but the chubby man slowly smiled.
“Why, Mr. Ellis, I think you know why you’re here. I’m sure your neighbor has already told you about what happens in this laboratory.”
“I know you’re experimenting on these people.”
The man snorted. “People? All I see are animals.”
Jamie’s anger rose. “Shifters are not animals! They have a human part.”
“Part is the key word here, Mr. Ellis. You can’t say they are human, right?”
Jamie knew nothing he could say would change this man’s crazy idea. “It still doesn’t explain why I am here. I’m as human as you are.”
A look of disgust appeared on the guy’s face. “You might be human, but you’re consorting with those animals. We know you mated one of them. What we want from you is information on the shifters you know and on the pride your mate is a part of.”
“Will you let me go if I tell you?” Not that Jamie was going to tell him anything, at least anything useful.
“Of course not. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a mate before now, so I will have to study you and see how the mating affects you physically. However, if you tell me what you know, I can make all of this painless. You really are the one to decide how painful it will be.”
Jamie didn’t like that idea, and he didn’t believe for one instant that the mad scientist would make it easy for him. “My mate will find me.”
Mad Scientist smiled, the expression sinister. “Oh, I sure hope so. I never have as many specimens as I could use. I’ll see you soon, Mr. Ellis.”
Something occurred to Jamie. “Wait! Were you the one who broke into my apartment?”
The small man stopped and turned. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“We were looking for information on your mate and the pride, of course.”
“You didn’t need to ruin everything to do that!”
“No, but it was much quicker that way.” Well, at least one of the mysteries was solved, even if it didn’t do any good right now.
With that he turned away once more, leaving Jamie in his cage, his heart heavy with dread. He looked at Finn and could see the same feeling reflected in the Nix’s eyes.
“What do we do now?”
* * * *
Jamie had been gone for days and they still hadn’t found him. Ward alternated between anger, when he did his best to find his mate and couldn’t, and depression, when he stopped eating, his heart too heavy to do anything other than think about Jamie. In fact, he also had slept very little during the past days. He wasn’t eating, wasn’t sleeping, and his body was starting to feel it. He was weary and had a hard time keeping his eyes open.
“Go to bed.”
Ward looked up from the videos he had been looking at for the past hours. They had found out the bank in front of Jamie’s apartment building had a security camera that looked onto the parking lot. It had recorded a black van pulling out at the time Jamie had been kidnapped, but it was impossible to see the driver or the license plate. The image was too grainy to be useful.
“It’s an order, Ward.”
Ward knew Dominic was right. His eyes were red and burned from the hours spent in front of the screen and the sleepless nights. It felt like his eyelids were made of sandpaper. Ward knew he needed to sleep, but he was scared to go to bed. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Jamie, hurt, tortured or worse, even though he knew his mate was okay from the things he felt through their bond. Still, there was no way he could fall asleep anyway.
“I’m about to find something, I know it.” Ward knew Dominic saw right through his excuse, but he had to try.
The Alpha sighed. “You’ve been at it for days. You’re not eating, not sleeping. What good are you going to be to your mate if you collapse from exhaustion before finding him and bringing him back? Go to your room and sleep. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”
Ward could tell Dominic was serious by the look in his eyes, and he had to obey his Alpha. Dreading the moment in which he would have to lie down in his bed and close his eyes, Ward stood up and nodded to Dominic.
“I’ll go, but if anything…”
“It’s a promise. Go and rest. I don’t want to see you for at least eight hours.”
Ward stood and headed out of the media room, but he didn’t want to go to his room. Jamie had never slept in Ward’s bed, but all of his things were there because Ward, Keenan and Bryce had finished packing and moved his things. The boxes were in Ward’s suite, but he hadn’t had the courage to empty them, knowing that seeing Jamie’s things, smelling him on them, would bring him to tears.
Ward decided to stop in the kitchen. He realized only now that he was starving, and rummaging in the fridge he found some left over fried chicken. Putting it in the microwave, he waited for it to heat.
“How are you doing?” Keenan asked from behind him.
“I’m not doing. Without Jamie…it’s like I don’t exist anymore, like half of my soul has been ripped from me. My life is on standby right now.”
Keenan squeezed Ward’s shoulder, silently offering his support.
“We’ll find him,” Bryce told him.
Something snapped deep in Ward. Everyone kept on telling him that everything would be all right, but they weren’t any closer at finding Jamie than the day he’d been kidnapped. “How? How are we going to find him?” he yelled, anger marking each word, every movement he made. “We have nothing! How do we find him?”
Bryce grabbed Ward and pulled him in his arms, hugging him tightly. Ward struggled to get free but his friend held on until Ward calmed down, clutching Bryce’s shirt. “Please, tell me. Tell me how to find Jamie, Bryce. Tell me.”
The anger had left Ward, replaced by sorrow. He was crying, and he didn’t care if it made him look weak or needy. He needed his friend right now.
The sobs slowed, then stopped, and Ward stepped away. Bryce took the chicken from the microwave and placed it on the table, gesturing at Ward to sit down and eat.
“You’re exhausted. When is the last time you slept more than a few hours?”
“The night before Jamie was kidnapped.”
“Jesus, that’s five days, Ward. Eat, then sleep. You’ll feel better and you’ll be able to focus on finding your mate.”
Ward nodded. “You’re right.”
Bryce sat in front of Ward, Keenan sitting on his lap. The two were pretty much an item by now, even if they weren’t mates. It hurt to see them together, so Ward kept his eyes on his plate and tried to ignore the soft words the two lovers exchanged. As soon as he was finished he put his plate in the dishwasher and left the kitchen.
Once in his room he closed the door and leaned his back against it, looking at the boxes scattered around. Ward longed to see Jamie in this room, in his bed, his skin flushed in passion. Ward’s cock made a valiant attempt to rise at the image, but the sadness was too much.
Ward moved from the room and caressed one of the boxes. He wanted Jamie to come back to a home, their home. Deciding it was time to do something, he opened it and started pulling out Jamie’s clothes before hanging them in the closet.
Box by box, Ward made the room belong to Jamie, putting his mate’s belongings right next to his, until all t
he boxes were empty and stacked near the living room door to take out. Then Ward pulled off his clothes and took a shower. He could feel the weariness finally getting to him and threatening to pull him under. Grabbing Jamie’s pillow, Ward settled on the bed, deeply inhaling his mate’s cinnamon scent, a pang of longing rushing in his chest before sleep finally claimed him.
It seemed that only minutes had passed when someone knocked on the door. Ward groaned, hugging Jamie’s pillow closer and burying his face in it.
“Ward? Come on, man, wake up! We found something!”
Ward jumped from the bed, sleep leaving him instantly. Opening the door, he found Bryce and Keenan on the other side. Bryce took a look at him and covered Keenan’s eyes.
“Get dressed, we’ll wait here.”
Ward quickly threw on a pair of jeans and grabbed a t-shirt.
“Tell me.”
“The florist across the street gave us a description.”
“Why didn’t she give it before?” They had talked with everyone who either lived or worked in Jamie’s street, and no one had seen anything.
“He wasn’t there when we stopped in. We talked with the owner, but the clerk was away visiting family. He came back a few hours ago.” Bryce handed Ward a piece of paper folded in half. Ward looked down at the man who had taken his mate but didn’t recognize him.
“Dominic asked Isaiah to hack into the driver’s licenses database and compare the drawing with the pictures.” Bryce took a second piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Ward. “This is the guy.”
Jamie’s kidnapper looked up at Ward, making his cat howl, wanting to claim blood. The guy was an ex military, now working for the Glass Research Company, based in New York. He really didn’t have any creative streak, because the license stated his name was John Smith.
“Where is he?”
Bryce sighed. “We don’t know. We can’t seem to find him.”
Ward’s hands balled into fists, the picture wrinkling. “So we still have no idea where to find Jamie?”
“No, but Isaiah is researching the company. He’s looking for buildings and land owned by it near town. Come on, let’s go and see if he found anything.”
* * * *
Jamie didn’t know how many days had passed. There was no way for him to even tell if it was night or day, but he thought he had been trapped in that cage for about a week, give or take a day. For the first few days Jamie hadn’t left his cage. He had watched as a lot of the shifters who shared the warehouse with him were taken by the guards and brought to the laboratory. They returned either groggy and full of stitches and bandages or beaten and full of bruises just to see how fast they healed and how much they could take. A few of the rabbit shifters didn’t return at all, and while Jamie prayed they were all right, he knew that it was an empty hope.
That was why he decided that if he ever got out of this hell, he would do his best to come back and find out who the shifters were and tell their families what had happened to them. It didn’t help that most of them remained in their animal forms and he couldn’t ask for their names or talk to them at all. He had tried, but the most he had gotten from them were some growls and whimpers.
Jamie shivered, knowing very well that he was luckier than most of them. While the Mad Scientist had taken him out of his cage after a few days, it had only been to take blood and do other physical checks. But Jamie knew it wouldn’t be long before they really started using him if they found something in his analysis, and how could they not? Jamie couldn’t be sure, but mating with a shifter had to change things physically, since his life had been extended and he could heal faster.
Finn was another story altogether. The tests they had been doing on him were becoming more violent and painful, and Jamie was worried for the Nix. The guards had come and taken him at least six hours earlier and he still wasn’t back.
A door opened on the far end of the warehouse and two guards entered, framing a man and holding him up by the arms while they walked. Jamie could see he was trying to keep up with them, but he was unsteady on his feet, so they were literally dragging him. The guards stopped at the cage in front of Jamie’s and helped the man inside before locking it and walking away.
Jamie had tried to talk to all of the guards at some point, but none of them had even bothered to look his way except when they gave him food, so he had stopped. He didn’t want to capture their interest since he was still trying to find a way to steal the key to Finn’s collar from the Mad Scientist.
With that, Jamie started worrying about his friend again. Why hadn’t Finn come back yet? Had something happened to him? Usually when it took so long for a shifter to be brought back to his cage it meant that he had been operated on, and Jamie feared it was what was happening to Finn.
A moan tore his thought away from the Nix. The new guy rolled over, his hand flying to his closed eyes, and Jamie got his first good look at him. Dark chocolate hair fell in front of his eyes, desperately in need of a haircut. His painfully thin body was long, probably around six foot one, but Jamie couldn’t be sure since the man was still lying on the floor. While Jamie was watching him, brown eyes blinked up at him from behind slender fingers. The man groaned. “Where am I?”
“In a laboratory.”
“Yeah, I mean, cage or lab?”
“Umm, cage.”
He groaned again. “Good, I’ll have time to rest a little before they start again.”
It was obvious the guy wasn’t surprised, far from it. He seemed to take the whole situation as normal.
“I’m Jamie. Are you a shifter?” He probably was, but since Jamie was human and Finn was a Nix, he wouldn’t assume anything. He watched as the man sat up and leaned against the bars before answering,
“I’m Oliver. I’m a hundred percent human, or at least I used to be. Now I’m not sure, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve been experimenting on me for a while and since I now have heightened senses I’m pretty sure they messed me up. That and the fact that I now have a bear to share my body with, even if I can’t shift.”
Jamie was horrified. “What did they do to you? They changed you into a shifter?”
“Not exactly. I told you, I can’t shift. I just have a bear half and believe me, he’s not easy to live with, since he’s trapped inside me.”
Oliver flinched as he slowly got up. Pulling up his shirt, he looked down at his stomach and Jamie saw his chest and stomach were full of scars, some old, some more recent. A new one stood out, running from one side to the other of his body right over the waistband of Oliver’s pants. It was angry pink and swollen, and Jamie could see the stitches were still in it.
“What did they do to you?”
“Who knows? It’s not like they tell me, they just slap me on the operating table and get to work. I think they’re still trying to find a way for me to shift, though. I just don’t know why they have to open me up to do it.”
Just then the lab’s door opened and a guard came out, Finn in his arms. The Nix’s eyes were open and focused, his mouth contracted in a grimace that deepened with every step the guard took. He put Finn back in his cage and walked away, not looking at any of the other prisoners and Jamie rushed to his friend.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
Finn whimpered. “Yeah, I’m fine. It hurts, but I’m fine.”
“What did they do to you? It took them forever to take you back this time.”
“They opened me.” Finn moved next to the bucket of water in the corner of his cell and ducked his hand and part of his arm in it, sighing heavily in relief and relaxing. Jamie knew that as a Nix, Finn had to be near water or and touch it fairly often. He also knew that it would help his friend heal faster.
Looking from one man to the other, Jamie knew they had to find a way out. He didn’t want either of them to be hurt more than they already were, and he was scared to death that he would be next. He wanted to go home, to climb in his mate’s arms, hu
g him and never let go. He could feel Ward’s presence in the back of his mind and while it gave him strength, he could feel his mate growing desperate and he longed to get back to him, to feel safe again.
Jamie had to find that damn key.
* * * *
They had finally found Jamie’s kidnapper. It had turned out that Isaiah was right, the guy really was staying in one of the company’s properties in their small town. Isaiah had been able to hack into the company’s computers and he had found things that had made Ward’s hair curl. It was obvious whoever was in charge knew about shifters. They had found only a few mentions, but it still scared Ward, because wherever they had found information on shifters, it was always linked to laboratories and experiments, and god knew what they were doing in them. They had tried to find more information on what was happening, but not even Isaiah had been able to.
Right now Ward was with Bryce, Dominic, Nate and Sebastian heading to the apartment where John Smith, Jamie’s kidnapper, was supposedly staying. Ward clutched his jeans, his hands balled up in tight fists and his fangs dropping at the idea of finding his mate’s kidnapper and making him talk. Seriously, John Smith? If he really had to have a false name, he could have been a little more inventive than that.
“Calm down.”
Ward looked up at Dominic. He was grateful to his Alpha for coming with them. He didn’t have to—hell, he could have prohibited Ward from trying to save Jamie, and Ward would have had to obey. Instead Dominic had wanted to be there, showing how much he cared for his pride members.
Bryce stopped the car and Ward looked out the window. They were in the better part of town. Whitedell was a small town, but it did have a poshier section where the wealthy inhabitants had banded together and built their houses and some apartment buildings. The one in front of Ward was definitely well cared for. The windows of the lobby were sparkling in the sun and the potted plants placed on both side of the door were a healthy green.
“It’s on the second floor,” Bryce told them as everyone got out of the car and headed toward the building. Ward’s hands were itching to get on John Smith’s throat and tighten, maybe leave a wound or three with his claws, and Ward’s leopard yowled in agreement, making it hard for Ward to keep him under control, but he had to. It wouldn’t do them any good for humans to discover about shifters.
Whitedell Pride 1 - Jamie Page 9