Sebastian: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 4)

by Chelsea Handcock

  What he didn’t prepare her for was how fast the ground would be approaching. She tried to steer just like Bas had said, but she was finding it hard and she was moving off course. Her descent had slowed but not nearly enough. What was she supposed to do when she hit the ground? How hard and fast was she going to hit the ground?

  Sky pulled the down on the handles as she approached the ground. It seemed to slow her more. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t slow her enough, and she landed with a thump. The chute caught and it pulled her up again like a rag doll, only to dump her back to the unforgiving earth. She saw Bas running her way, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop another pull upward. He was yelling, but Sky couldn’t hear what he was saying because of the ringing in her ears.

  Before she could hit the ground again, he grabbed her, pushing her to the ground and started to gather up the cords of the chute, pulling it towards him. Sky hurt and didn’t even try to move from the fetal position she was in on the ground. Bas maneuvered her body, taking off the harness and checking her out. He was talking, but still, she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Bas sat her up looking in her eyes and feeling around on her head. After a couple of seconds, he shook her. "Sky, baby, talk to me?"

  "My name might be Sky, but that is a place I never want to go to again," she said.

  Bas laughed and hugged her close, “Okay, babe, no more ‘Sky’ diving for you, I promise. However, you did well for a first-timer," Bas said with a grin.

  Bas helped her to stand. Her knees were still wobbly, and her feet felt weird being on the ground. She took a couple of steps, but her legs would quit shaking. Bas just picked her up and took her over to where Ryleigh was standing. She was staring at the skyline, and the look on her face was one of complete horror. She pointed, and Sky looked that way only to see the plane they were once in collide with some trees off in the distance. Then flames were shooting out everywhere.

  "Fuck!” Bas screamed. “Shit, you two need to stay here and find some shelter or something. I need to go and check on Cash." Seconds later Bas’ bear erupted from his body, and the bruin took off towards Cash and the fire.

  Ryleigh wasn’t moving or saying anything. Sky was sitting on the cold ground looking around. There wasn’t anything to see except snow, trees, and more trees. Where exactly were, they supposed to find shelter? Sky wasn’t even dressed for this type of weather; wearing only a hoodie, t-shirt, and jeans. Ryleigh had on a sweater and jeans, but neither of them were going to last long if they didn’t do so something fast. It was frigid out here.

  Sky gathered everything in her and stood, coming face to face with Ryleigh. Ryleigh had tears in her eyes, and she was still pointing towards the fire. Sky tried saying her name a couple of times but wasn’t getting the woman’s attention. Taking her shoulder, Sky shook her and said her name again, and this time Ryleigh looked at her like she hadn't seen her before and said one word, "Cash?"

  "I know, Rye, but Bas is going after him. We have two choices here: we either need to go towards them or away. I don’t have any experience with this, so you’re going to have to tell me what to do. Shit Rye, I don’t even know where we are or what direction we should go."

  Ryleigh thankfully took over issuing commands," Grab the parachutes. We can use the fabric as added insulation. I think we need to walk towards Bas and Cash. We should all stick together. It’s safer that way."

  Sky wondered about that because Bas had taken off and just left them. She understood his need to check on his friend, but leaving two vulnerable women in the middle of the wilderness should have at least crossed his mind. They didn’t even have proper clothing, tools, or anything. Sky started to pat her pockets down. She found a pencil in her back pocket and a lighter in the front pocket of her jeans. She didn’t have anything else. She noticed that Ryleigh was doing something similar but came up with a pocketknife and some keys with a little flashlight attached.

  Sky gathered up the parachutes while Ryleigh cut the cords. Winding some of the string up and handing it over to Sky, she put it in the front pocket of her hoodie not knowing what else to do with it. They wrapped themselves up like mummies with the parachute material and tied it off so it would be easier to walk. Then they started out in the direction that Bas had gone.

  It was cold, but between her clothes and the parachute, Sky wasn’t freezing. Well, her feet felt like they were, but that was because she was only wearing tennis shoes. Ryleigh’s feet had to be burning because she had been wearing flat ballerina shoes. Sky looked down and noticed that the tops of Ryleigh’s feet were red, but she had never once complained and just continued forward.

  "Rye, wait a minute,” Sky stopped. “Let’s put something else on your feet. The parachute material will slip, but it I cut off some pieces from my t-shirt. It will at least offer you some protection from the snow and cold."

  "It's fine, Sky, let’s just keep on going."

  "It’s not fine, Ryleigh. Do you want to lose your feet to frostbite? They are red, and swollen. Come on; let me do this for you. When Bas and Cash get back to us, we can do something else. But for now, let’s just do this much. It will only take a minute and we can’t be that far behind them."

  Sky knew she was pulling at straws. They weren’t close to Bas or Cash. Things always looked like they were just right up ahead when many miles could be separating them. Shit, they had already been walking for what felt like hours.

  "I say we head over to those trees and try and find a dry spot to sit in for a while,” Sky suggested. “I will take off my t-shirt, and then we can wrap your feet. I also think we need to melt some of this snow and get us something to drink."

  Ryleigh wasn’t saying much and let Sky lead her. Sky found a couple of evergreens that had some space underneath them that wasn’t snow covered. Sky sat Ryleigh down and got to work. Ryleigh’s feet were a mess. They were so swollen that Sky was afraid to take her shoes off. She removed the parachute material and then her hoodie. The chill from the air made her teeth chatter when she removed her t-shirt. No time for modesty. She didn’t even care that Ryleigh could see her boobs. Sky hated bras and only wore them when she absolutely had to. She didn't find that need often as big bulky hoodies could hide her unharnessed breast, so no one was the wiser and she liked it that way. Right now though, the extra material would have been nice. Even the underwire would have come in handy. Maybe she should reconsider her stance on bras. Yeah, still not happening.

  Sky gathered some pine needles the remaining pieces of her t-shirt and some rocks. She made a little pile and noticing some dried leaves closer to the tree, she grabbed them as well. Sky used her lighter to get a small fire going with the things she had collected. Leaving Ryleigh to rest, she walked around the area and grabbed sticks and anything else she found that she thought would burn. There wasn't much that was not snow covered and wet. Carting her newfound treasures back to their makeshift campsite, Sky noticed that Ryleigh appeared to be sleeping.

  Adding her new finds to the fire, Sky warmed her freezing hands. She decided that the next thing she needed to do now that they had a little warmth was to get some water. Driving some sticks that she gathered into the ground close to the fire, Sky made a little teepee type thing. Then she knotted a piece of the parachute material together making a pouch. Sky placed it close to the fire but not close enough to catch the stuff on fire or melt it and put some snow inside. She had no idea if the fabric would hold the melted snow but if worse came to worse, they could squeeze the fibers to get the liquid out.

  Rubbing her arms, Sky knew they needed to address another thing; the wind was brutal. The low hanging branches provided some shelter, but not much. She went to work cutting more branches off other trees and dragging them back to the temporary home for the moment. Ryleigh was still sleeping. Sky didn’t know anything about hypothermia, so she kept on jostling her and test her skin to see if it was too cold. The fire was doing its job, but not good enough. Fuck, where the hell was Sebastian?

  Chapter 24

>   Bas ran towards the crash site with three things on his mind: finding Cash, finding shelter, and getting back to the girls. He didn’t want to leave them, but if Cash was hurt, he needed to get to him and get him back so they could all get to safety. Ryleigh was a trained operative. She would know what to do to keep Sky safe until he got back.

  His bruin could run at speeds that defied regular bears, but the crash site as miles away from where they had landed. When he came up to the location, his hopes died. There wasn’t anything left of the plane. It was smashed beyond all recognition. He looked around and didn’t see any signs of Cash. He also didn’t smell him anywhere. Did he get out in time, was he lying somewhere hurt, or making his way to them? Fuck!

  Bas changed into his human form and started to scavenge for anything that could help him and the girls. There was a first aid kit that had made it through the crash relatively intact. Other than that, there wasn’t much else. Bas started to do a perimeter sweep looking for any signs of Cash. Nothing, he did find a piece of the windshield, and it didn’t offer him much hope because there was blood on it.

  He knew that Cash would have sent out a mayday, so he could only hope that the rest of the Team was on their way to their location. Walking out further, Bas was surprised to find that he made it to the shoreline. He had been trying so hard to catch Cash’s scent that he missed the smell of water. Bas searched the shoreline and the water. When a flash of red caught his eye, he moved closer to get a better look. Fuck, was that Cash’s parachute? It had to be.

  He couldn’t go into that water in his human form, but his bear might have a chance. Dropping the first aid kit, Bas shifted and made his way into the icy water of Lake Superior. The ice chunks were an unneeded obstacle, but his bruin handled them like a champ. Getting out to the parachute that kept on moving further away was a problem.

  When he finally got to the chute, he was devastated to find that Cash was still nowhere to be found. He pulled the material in with his claws and made his way back to shore. Shaking his fur to dispel the water, he waited a little while before changing back. When he did, his clothing was damp but not drenched. It was one of the benefits of the bear.

  Examining the parachute, Bas noticed that there were slices in the material that shouldn’t have been there. They were too clean for damage from the dive, and they were in places that would prevent the chute from fully forming on descent. Fuck, what the hell happened? it was evident that someone had tampered with the chute. If Cash landed in this water after falling from so high with no slowing down, his momentum would cause every bone in his body to break upon landing. A Shifter could survive those injuries, though they would still need some medical intervention.

  The harness was unstrapped, so that gave him a little hope that he was at least able enough to remove the device. But the blood on the straps canceled that out. Bas started to scream his name over and over again, hoping for a response. When none came, he had no choice but to leave the area and head back to the girls. When Alpha arrived, they could set up a search party and hopefully find their fallen man.

  Bas grabbed the first aid kit up again and changed back into this bear. He had been moving at high speeds, but a smell hit him and stopped him in his tracks. There were Shifters, several of them. One of which was definitely of the reptile variety. Son of a bitch! How in the hell had these people found them in the middle of fucking nowhere? Bas didn't even know exactly where they were. He wasn’t one to run away from a confrontation, but he thought it was best to lead these fuckers away from Sky and Ryleigh.

  Bas ran for a while, leading them in the opposite direction of the girls, but the bastards hemmed him in quickly. He knew that two cat Shifters were in front of him with the reptile and a wolf behind and two bear Shifters on either side. They were herding him, and Bas was letting them. The further away from the girls he got, the better.

  When he had nowhere else to go, he Shifted back. A small man approached. He smelled of reptile, and Bas knew instantly that this was the man that had been after Sky back in Defiance. His eyes reflected the elongated pupil of his kind.

  Bas tried to play it off like he was happy to see them and that he hadn't noticed they were following him all this time. Shifters were taught to help each other out. He hoped these men learned those same lessons. "Hey, I am so glad to see you guys. My plane went down and my buddy is missing. I need to get to a phone to call in my Team so we can find him. Do you live around here? Or maybe have a SAT phone I can use?"

  "Oh, Mr. Frost, I expected a lot of things, but you playing dumb wasn’t one of them. Your buddy is sleeping on the floor of Lake Superior, and you’re going to be joining him soon. I smelled you on her, on our prize, and that can’t happen. You are not worthy of holding such a treasure."

  "Dude, what are you talking about?" Bas was still attempting to deceive the stranger. This guy was nuts to his very core. He smelled wrong, just like emotions held a scent, so did insanity. And this guy needed to be in a strait jacket. The others were closing in. Bas would fight, but the odds were against him. He looked to the bears that had also changed back into human their form. He didn’t know them, but the cat looked familiar. It took him a couple of seconds, but he called out.

  “Yo, Noah, what are you doing hanging out with these guys? What would your brother think?"

  "You dare to speak of my brother after what your people did to him?" Noah shouted.

  Bas had no idea what he was talking about. The last time he knew anything about Jonas Rosen, he was a part of Zulu. He had never hung out with the man, but they ran in the same circles, and he knew him, in a way. Noah, on the other hand, looked just like Jonas, so making the connection was easy.

  "What do you mean what we did to him? I saw him a couple of months ago, had some beers and talked for a bit. He was just fine then one hundred percent committed to his team and NAC. What are you committed to Noah?"

  "Damn, you NAC boys, are all so fucking stupid. Jonas wasn’t one of you. He was one of us," Noah said. "That fucker, Matthias, picked him up, and no one has seen him since. How about we make a deal? I will ask Dean here to spare you if you find out where they are holding my brother."

  "Oh, no need for that, Noah, we will find Jonas. NAC has become too compliant. One of our members will soon find our brother's location. No need to fret," the reptile Shifter interrupted. "As for you, Mr. Frost, I believe your time has come. We looked into you at one time hoping to save you from your filthy background, but it became apparent that you would never leave the human trash your father kept on producing. It is a shame, but no matter."

  Bas felt the sting of a dart piercing his shoulder. Damn, the fuckers didn’t play fair, or honorable. He could feel the fire of the drug burning his veins. He could also feel his body becoming heavy. He tried to reach his bear, but the fucker wasn’t there. For the first time in his life he was truly alone, but he wasn’t. He still felt his bond to Sky. It was like a live wire in the middle of nothing. He tried to push his feelings and thoughts through that bond and hoped that she would know that his last thoughts were of her.

  He wanted more than anything to go back and change all the awful things he had said and done to her. To accept her with open arms and keep her safe, but he hadn’t done any of that. He tried calling to his bear again and still there was nothing, just blank dark space. The beast that he cursed on most days was dead to him, and he didn’t like the feeling one bit. He fell to his knees and then to the ground. His limbs were not working as the drug took over his body. Right before the darkness swept in, Bas heard Dean Summerfield say, “Take him to the lakeshore and dispose of him like we did Mr. Windsor.”

  Fuck, they had gotten to Cash. Bas concentrated on his bond with Sky. This time he pushed thoughts of running to her, hoping against hope to give her some kind of warning of what was to come. Digging deeper, he tried to find his bond with Jacks or even Senior, pushing thoughts of danger and urgency their way.

  Damn, if these legends were actually true, then all of this
should work. Bas' last thoughts were of Sky and everything they could have had together. She was his mate; the one destined for only him. He had treated her so poorly, even cruelly, but maybe if the fates allowed, he could still help her in some way. Bas fought the darkness but lost the battle. Before his world could go completely black, he felt a spark running through his veins straight to his heart. His Sky.

  Chapter 25

  Sky was doing the best that she could. She had made them a shelter, and Ryleigh was still sleeping. Sky had woken her a couple of times and had Ryleigh drink some of the melted snow. She was just about to put another branch on the fire when a pain hit her heart so hard it bowled her over. Bas.

  Sky jumped up and looked around, she felt him. Had felt him firmly attached to her, and then there was nothing. He wanted her to run but run, but to where? Sky looked around and decided that she couldn’t run. Ryleigh wasn’t doing all that well, and to top it off she was uber pregnant. They were similar in size, so there was physically no way she could carry her out of here. Hell, she didn't even know in what direction they should head in the first place.

  Sky started looking around. They needed to hide. She kicked some snow over the fire and started running around, frantically looking for something, anything. All the while, she was trying to reach Bas with their bond. The line was blank, and that scared her even more. Ryleigh woke up in all the commotion and asked, "What’s going on, are the guys back?"

  Sky went to her knees in front of her, "No I don’t know what is going on, but something has happened to Bas. I can feel it, or rather I can’t feel him anymore. Right before that, I felt him yelling at me through the bond. He was telling me to run. We can’t do that, but we need to find some place to hide. These parachutes and the fire are a beacon for anything that is out there trying to find us."

  "Shit. Okay, calm down,” Ryleigh said getting up slowly.