He pulled over to the narrow shoulder and stopped. Before he left the car, he put on the hazard lights and grabbed a blanket from the back. Shifters were used to nudity, but it was his mother who stood before him.
With a shifter’s speed, he ran to his mother and embraced her, after wrapping her in the blanket. By this time, a number of cars were now parked behind him. His mother was sobbing in his arms. He had left her behind at Samantha’s.
Barry gently shook his mother’s shoulders. “What happened? Is Samantha all right?”
He already knew the answer to his questions. If his mate was safe, his mother wouldn’t have been on the road to intercept them. His mother muttered incoherently, still sobbing.
“Report what has occurred, Nancy,” Alpha Hopkins commanded.
His mother straightened her back and stopped crying. “Ian attacked the house with gun fire. Samantha ordered I leave her and meet up with you. She knew you’d all come, but also knew we had run out of time. It was her belief Ian wouldn’t harm her and he’d kill me.”
“Did you check your watch before you shifted?” Levon asked.
Nancy nodded. “It was just after eight.”
Tobias Hopkins placed both hands on Nancy’s shoulders. “Can you be more exact? Every minute counts.”
“Five minutes after,” Nancy said without hesitation.
Barry heard Levon swear. “Too much time has past. He could have taken her anywhere. Let’s head to her house and see what we can find. Gerald, I want you to drive Barry and Nancy to Samantha’s house. We’ll all follow.”
He got into the front passenger seat after opening the back door for his mother. Levon knew Barry was in no condition to drive and he wasn’t about to argue the point and called on one of his lieutenants. They were wasting valuable time anyway. The cougar shifter was driving faster than the speed limit, but not the maniac rate he had set.
“Was she all right when you left?” he asked his mother.
“As well as could be expected,” her mother replied. “I think she was more pissed off than scared. Samantha didn’t freeze when the bullets started to fly. She also calculated when she’d fire back at Ian. Before today, I never realized how fearless Samantha was.”
He knew his mother spoke the truth. It took a lot of courage for Samantha to continue with their relationship, regardless of her own misgivings. Any other woman would have looked at their differences and put an end to things after their first night together. But Samantha knew what they were to each other and was determined to fight. He just hadn’t expected the violence to escalate past the brick being thrown through her window. She was in danger because of his shortsightedness.
When Gerald pulled into Samantha’s drive, Barry exited the car before it came to a complete stop. He ran through the opened front door and stopped in his tracks. Her living room looked like a war zone. Bullet holes decorated the walls and broken glass was all over the carpet.
His heart stopped temporarily when he saw the blood stained carpet behind the sofa. He couldn’t tell from the soaked carpet how much blood had been spilled. The scent told him it was Samantha’s. Remnants of skin told him it was a cougar who brought her down, not a bullet.
A long whistle alerted him to the presence of another in the living room. He turned to see Levon surveying the room. The alpha appeared as shaken as he was.
“Is there enough blood to indicate the injury was fatal?” Levon asked.
“I can’t tell for sure, but I doubt it,” Barry responded. “Ian probably would have left her to bleed out if he wanted her dead. He was part of your pride, where would he have taken her?”
He couldn’t help the accusatory tone he used to ask his question. Ian had been abusive and the alpha had done nothing until he placed the restraining order against him. Not that his own pack leader would have done anything differently. Males abusing their partners was nothing new where dominate males needed to prey on their weaker mates to feel powerful. It made him sick.
Levon didn’t meet his angry stare. “I’ll ask his former friends if they have any ideas. Ian has been gone for years. He may have taken her to wherever he has been living all this time.”
Barry knew he was useless in helping to track down Samantha and Ian. He imagined cougar shifters with the best scent receptacles were scouring the vicinity for any sign of the two. It was likely Ian had a car stashed not far away and had carried Samantha. He would only be able to transport Samantha in her human form. If she shifted, her injuries would have healed and she would have attempted to attack Ian in whatever form she found him in.
His mother walked down the stairs, fully clothed. He hadn’t even realized she had entered the house. She came to stand beside him, looking at the destruction around her.
“She worked so hard to furnish this house,” Nancy said with no emotion in her voice. He knew his mother was trying not to fall apart again. “I remember when she brought the catalog to one of our bridge games and showed me the furniture she had picked out. She had created a schedule when she anticipated she’d have the money for each piece.”
They would get a new place in Colorado she could furnish from scratch. In the meantime, they’d live in his rental until the new one was ready. He envisioned them both walking into the finished masterpiece together.
His eyes once again stared at the blood stain. He couldn’t let all his negative thoughts drag him into a depression. Samantha was out there and she was counting on him to rescue her. The problem was, he didn’t know where to begin.
God, she hurt. Samantha slowly regained consciousness and one thing was clear, she was injured. Her jaw was probably broken and pain rocketed through her body when she moved her shoulder. The last thing she remembered was Ian’s cougar leaping in her direction. Everything that followed was a blur.
She hesitated opening her eyes, afraid of what she’d see. There was no natural light, just a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She sat up on the sad excuse for a bed she had been placed on. Pain coursed through her body with that simple motion.
Samantha noted she had not been restrained. There was nothing stopping her from shifting and healing her injuries. Her shoulder injury had been cleaned and dressed. The room reeked of rubbing alcohol, Ian, and another person.
Her eyes surveyed her environment. She was in a cinderblock room with a door on the far end from where she sat. There were no other doors, meaning no bathroom or running water for her to drink. There was a small table with two chairs and a small partition in the corner.
A groan escaped her when she rose. She had to find out if the door was locked. Halfway across the room, she heard a moan come from behind the screen. Before Samantha investigated the sound, she tried to turn the door handle. It was locked. That shouldn’t have been a surprise.
The pain was unbearable. She needed to shift and heal, but she didn’t want to destroy her clothing in the process. There was a good possibility there wouldn’t be a change of clothing available to her. It was painful to remove her shirt, but she bit her lip to quiet her scream. Blood ran down her chin.
She shifted into her cat and stalked toward the screen. Whoever was behind the partition was human or hadn’t shifted in days. The smell of blood was evident and it wasn’t hers.
She peered around the corner of the wicker divider to find an unconscious man bound. His face was black and blue from a beating. She was clueless why he had been locked up with her.
Her outstanding hearing heard footfalls coming down the stairs on the other side of the locked door. The room may have been made of cement, but the door and stairs were made of wood. The steps creaked as whoever was on the way down continued. Maybe now she’d get answers.
The door slowly opened and the first thing she saw was the nozzle of a handgun. She growled when Ian entered the room, backing away from the approaching man.
“Good, you found my gift.” Ian’s head shifted toward the bound man, but he never took his eyes off her. “I thought you might get hungry”
She growled her displeasure. There was no way she was going to eat that man; she’d rather starve to death. To think, she had made love to this mad man.
“Baby, I have him all wrapped up for you,” Ian said.
Having had enough of this one-way conversation, Samantha shifted into her human form. She’d change into her cougar if she thought the bastard was going to touch her.
“Have you gone stark raving mad?” Samantha shouted. Her hands were clenched into fists. “You were an abusive prick, but never homicidal. What happened to you?”
Ian laughed. She was expecting anger, not mirth. “I found a remote pride that lives as our forefathers did before towns like Eclipse were founded. We weren’t meant to stay in our human forms, only use it as a means to lure our prey to the pride.”
“Humans?” She cringed at the thought.
“Why do you think our forefathers eventually shifted? We were cougars, the top of the food chain. Until guns were invented, humans stood little chance against us.”
She wasn’t sure who had been filling his head with such nonsense, but it was pointless to argue with him. If he was willing to talk, there were other questions she wanted answers to.
“It’s been years, Ian. Why the sudden interest in me?”
A slow leering smile crossed his face. She wanted to shift and swipe her claws across his dimpled cheeks. Anger coursed through her. To think, she once was turned on by that look. What had she been thinking?
“There is no one but you,” Ian answered. “I’ve searched far and wide. When I heard you soiled yourself with a wolf, I had to come back to remedy the situation. Had to save you.”
“What about Officer Smith? I thought he was your friend.”
“Harvey played his part,” Ian answered. “He fed me information as I required it. When I told him my plans, he tried to stop me. The coward knew too much to continue living. He actually threatened to tell your alpha.”
In the end, Harvey had done the right thing. If she managed to get out of here, she’d have to tell Levon. She still didn’t have a clue how much time had passed or where she was. For all she knew, she was no longer in California.
“And the guy in the corner? Who is he?” Samantha asked.
“Someone who would do anything for money,” Ian replied. “I was taking him to my new pride when I got the news about you. Thought he’d come in handy for the time being. Once he learned the truth of what we are, he became expendable. He’s the one who threw the brick through your window. I thought the relationship with the wolf would fall apart once you were threatened. Who would have imagined Levon would have set up guards to protect your house?”
“So what now?”
Ian smirked. She got the impression he wasn’t sure of the answer himself. “We wait until things calm down. Every shifter community in California has been alerted to your kidnapping. My new pride members will eventually join us. Who’d ever imagine they’d provide so many resources to get you back?” He shook his head in disgust.
Samantha let out a sigh of relief. They hadn’t left the state. She wasn’t sure where they were or if Ian had left any discernible trail her rescuers could follow. Ian was smart, but she could only hope he screwed something up just enough to alert the small army looking for her.
Chapter 28
Barry paced outside Samantha’s home. The local sheriff’s men had removed all the bullets and turned over the crime scene. A cleaning crew was inside removing the broken glass and vacuumed. Employees from his family’s hardware store were fixing the windows and repairing the walls damaged by gunfire. He wasn’t sure what to do about the destroyed furniture. Ironically, not a single lock had to be replaced.
He was worried sick about her. For a short period of time, he was able to distract himself with the work that needed to be completed to her home. Now, he had time to imagine all the things Ian could be doing to her.
As horrific images assaulted his mind, a wave of nausea nearly brought him to his knees. He needed to shift and run off his frustrations, but he was afraid he would not be around when the sheriff or Levon had something to report. As the pride’s alpha, Levon was heading the investigation. Every time Barry approached him for information, the alpha took another incoming phone call.
His mother was resting upstairs in Samantha’s guest room. The attack and her subsequent escape had worn his mother out. All she could have done was pace beside him. Neither had a role to play in his mate’s rescue.
Levon’s voice rose. Whomever he was talking to seemed to have information, but not enough. The alpha’s voice reflected the frustration he was feeling. News was coming in slowly and incomplete. Ian had left no discernible trail. There was a possibility an accomplice had picked up Ian and the wounded Samantha.
The alpha approached him, the side of his eyes wrinkled with concern. “One of the sheriff’s men has found an old friend of Ian’s. It turns out Ian had a cabin located deep in the state park. This supposed friend had been there with him, but couldn’t remember where it was located. All he could recall was that the property was not accessible from any road.”
Barry let out a sigh of frustration. The park was huge. It was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
He always prided himself on his mind, it was high time he used it. “Cougars like high altitude. We should be able to eliminate the lower lying areas. From what I have been able to ascertain, Ian was a lazy son-of-a-bitch. The cabin can’t be too far from the road.”
Levon nodded. “Cougar sightings are rare. We can start our search with reports of sightings over the last decade. Ian has been gone for years, so we’ll start with the oldest sightings first. Unlike many of our pride, Ian always enjoyed running with real mountain lions.”
A blossom of hope began to lighten his mood. He finally felt he was making a contribution. “Is there anyone I can work with at the park service?”
A smile cross Levon’s face. “One of our women recently started working there. I’ll get you her information. She’ll have maps and will be able to coordinate our efforts in the park. The sheriff will make a call to the administrator.”
Barry headed inside to get his phone and car keys. Levon tapped him on his shoulder. “Take a walkie-talkie. They are sometimes more effective than cell phones when we are dealing with a coordinated effort and the area is remote.”
He took the walkie-talkie. When he retrieved his phone, the female park ranger’s phone number had been forwarded via a message from Levon. Another message came in, advising him to meet Ranger Patrice Highland at the south station. She was starting her research on the sightings and would have a number of locations identified by the time the rescue team arrived.
A caravan of eight cars and SUVs headed out from Samantha’s house. Barry was the second in line. Levon was in the lead car and was setting a fast, but safe pace. Barry would have gotten himself killed speeding. It’s a miracle he hadn’t already.
Rather than waking his mother, he left her sleeping at Samantha’s. She’d done enough to protect her friend. It was his turn to play the hero. As a boy, he dreamed of saving his true love from bad guys, but never dreamed he’d ever be put in the terrible position where it could become a reality. He was a doctor, not an action hero. Of all the people joining in the search, he was the least prepared.
Samantha sat back on her cot and concentrated on the noises about her. She believed Ian was alone in the cabin, but she doubted that would be true for long. If she was going to mount an escape, it had to be now. Ian spoke with such confidence about the other pride, she figured when they arrived it would be with a large force.
She knew Ian well enough to know when he was lying. He stood a little taller when he was telling the truth and slightly slouched when he was spinning tall tales. On this rare occasion, she knew he was telling the truth.
A whine came from the other side of the room. “Shut up,” Samantha growled. She had never bothered to ask Ian the guy’s name. “If you don’t stay quiet, I�
��ll quiet you permanently.”
The edge in her voice indicated she was serious. Although, she had no plans to touch, let alone, kill the man. He was a distraction she couldn’t afford. The next time Ian came down the stairs and opened the door, she would be ready for him. If he shot her and she died, it was a better fate than what her former lover had planned for her.
She jerked at every creak made from the wooden floor above. Her hearing was excellent, but her cougar’s was far superior. Impatient, she rose and undressed. The next instant, she was in her cougar form, ready for when Ian opened the door. Time would pass faster if she paced, rather than sat idly by.
In her mind, she imagined the door opening and she would pounce. It was at that point she wasn’t sure what she’d do. If she had the advantage over Ian, her survival instinct was to rip out his throat. But she spent too much time living as a human to contemplate such an action.
Her cougar growled at her inner-turmoil. Ian’s accomplice whimpered at the sound. She wanted to roar and scare the man to death, but she didn’t want to alert Ian. Her roar would be heard upstairs. Losing her temper wouldn’t help her in the least.
Another sound caused her ears to perk up. Her heart beat faster when she realized Ian was coming down the stairs. She positioned herself at the X she had marked on the floor. Her eyes were focused on the door, waiting for the knob to turn. As soon as she saw the gun extend into the room, she’d pounce and attack Ian’s hand.
Each step brought Ian closer to the door that separated them. She hadn’t paid attention to how many steps there were. Her hips swayed, ready to spring into action when the door opened.
The doorknob finally moved and her cougar prepared to pounce. She needed to see the metal pass the door and part of his hand. When she saw his flesh, she leapt, her jaws open, ready to put an end to her captivity. She was no longer Ian’s victim.
20 Shades of Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Collection Page 31