Mark Of The B*E*A*S*T*

by Rebecca Goings

  That was a damn fact.

  All that time in the same cage with Dylan, Robyn had no idea he was a crossbreed. He could obviously overcome the effects of the serum, but had chosen to hide that from the scientists and remain an owl for their entire time in captivity. Now that Mac had seen him do it, he was able to shift as well. If Lucian ever caught wind that his serum didn't work when the shifters put their minds to it, he'd work that much harder to bring them pain.

  He'd refine the concoction, change it. Make it so no one could ever hope of breaking through the barrier. No, it had been a good decision not to inform the scientists. Perhaps it had been the last good decision Dylan ever made.

  As she watched him stuff more clothes into a large duffel bag, one that was also filled with a rifle, some ammo, a tranq gun, darts, and a few vials of serum, he was talking to himself, as if having a heated conversation.

  Mac gave her a bewildered look, then rummaged through the crate himself and found some jeans and a shirt.

  "Sorry, no women's clothes!” Dylan said with a wink.

  "What the hell are we going to do?” Mac asked him, stepping between them. She had to smile. She knew Dylan wouldn't hurt her. Well, she was fairly sure. But having Mac protect her not-so-subtly warmed her heart.

  "We can't very well storm the cockpit. I doubt you know how to fly."

  Dylan's eyes flashed as he grinned. That grin sent shivers up Robyn's spine. She stepped closer to Mac for good measure.

  "Oh, I know how to fly,” Dylan said. “Just not in the way you think."

  Mac gave him a look of exasperation.

  "So does that mate of yours.” Dylan nodded his chin toward her. “Robyn was mine before she was yours, you know."

  Mac growled and took a step forward, stopped only by

  her hand on his arm.

  "You're wrong, asshole,” he yelled over the drone of the engines. “Robyn has always been mine. Lucian stole her from me and I found her again. She was never yours. Say that shit again and I'll rip out your tongue and feed it to you for breakfast."

  Dylan arched a brow as his gaze flitted between both of them. “Whatever you say."

  Mac's muscles tensed. Robyn squeezed his arm. “Mackenzie, he's not worth it. We know the truth."

  He turned and stared hard at her. Unbelievably, his countenance softened. He smiled and winked at her.

  "All right!” Dylan said, clapping his hands together once. “Here's what we're going to do."

  Walking to the rear of the plane, he found a bundle of parachutes tethered to the wall.

  "We'll jump out!"

  Mac and Robyn followed him tentatively.

  "You're shitting me.” Mac seemed appalled.

  "Nope! It's perfect. They're probably taking us to the one B*E*A*S*T* compound left standing. Once we land, we won't have any other means of escape. This is our only chance."

  As much as she hated to admit it, Robyn knew he was right. But the thought of parachuting out of a plane scared the crap out of her.

  "You'll have to hold the duffel bag, of course,” Dylan told Mac, handing it to him. Before Mac could ask why, he had smacked the giant red button that controlled the enormous rear door of the plane.

  Instantly, a powerful wind filled the compartment. Seeing the ground, so far away, sent a shot of dread straight to Robyn's heart. Good Lord, she was going to be sick.

  "Hey, wait. Wait! What are you doing?"

  Mac's voice could barely be heard above the cacophony. But to Robyn's horror, she watched as Dylan tossed every parachute out the door—all but one.

  "Dylan! What the hell? You just killed us all!"

  Robyn was too shocked to do much more than stand there, horrified.

  "Nonsense,” Dylan shouted with a smile. “Don't want

  those bastards following us, right? Robyn and I are birds. We can take care of ourselves."

  For once, Mac seemed too dumbfounded to stop him when Dylan took hold of Robyn's arm.

  "See you on the ground, jag!"

  With that, Dylan fell out of the plane, taking Robyn right along with him.

  She screamed as the plane dropped away.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  THIRTEEN

  "Mother fucker!"

  Mac scrambled into his parachute as fast as he could. He'd never put one on before. He could only hope he was doing it right. Each precious second that ticked by was another second he couldn't save Robyn.

  Christ, could he even do it?

  Sure, she was a bird, but she'd been shot up with Lucian's serum. Breaking through that wall was damned hard to do, and she had to do it while freefalling.

  "Shit!"

  With a few more choice curses, Mac frantically checked all his buckles and straps, then grabbed the duffel. Sending up a short prayer, he backed up and took a running leap out the door.

  Wind pushed at him from every side as he twirled in the air, watching while the huge body of the cargo plane continued on in the sky without a care in the world. He knew better than to pull the ripcord too soon. But his stomach leapt inside him as he turned to look at the ground. He had to concentrate on keeping his hand away from the cord.

  Below him, he could make out the black shapes of Dylan and Robyn, seeming to tumble around each other. The memory of Robyn's scream echoed in his head. He had to reach her.

  Mac flattened his arms against himself, holding on to the duffel as if it were a child. He pointed his head toward the ground and kept his feet together like he'd seen on a few movies. He had no idea if it would make him fall faster, but he needed to try.

  Good God. Dylan was psychotic. When Mac got his

  hands on him, the bastard wasn't going to live to see another day. But he had to keep his rage in check if he had any chance of saving his mate. It looked like he was gaining on them, albeit slowly.

  The intense wind whipped both his hair and his face, making it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open for any length of time. But he hadn't had time to stop and look for goggles before jumping out the plane.

  "Robyn!"

  His voice was swallowed by the sky. But she looked up at him just the same. Her mouth moved. He knew damn well what she said—his name. Her eyes were wild and she stretched her arms while her legs flailed.

  Ignoring the ground, Mac focused on her as he fell. Dylan looked like he was laughing, but Mac didn't care one way or another. The man could smack the ground at one hundred miles an hour and he wouldn't shed a tear. B*E*A*S*T* had messed that man up beyond repair.

  "Try to shift!” Mac shouted, getting closer.

  The vast expanse of dirt and sand beneath them rushed forward. Not too much longer now and he'd have to open his chute. He had no idea if it would hold his weight along with Robyn's, but right about now, he didn't give a damn.

  "Shift, baby!"

  She made a face—she was trying, continuing to reach out to him. Her life was more important than the duffel. His decision made, he let go of the bag. In mere moments he'd have her.

  "Hang on, Robyn, hang on!"

  She was too terrified to cry.

  Dylan reached out for Mac as well, but he barely paid him any heed. A few more seconds. A few more and he'd have her. If he reached a little more...

  Without warning, Dylan pulled Mac's ripcord and he went flying backward, snapped up into the air by the drag of the wind.

  "No, no, no! Robyn!"

  With his heart in his throat, Mac watched as she fell away from him, her arms reaching, her mouth obviously calling his name.

  "Jesus, please, no!"

  Frantically, he searched for the release cord. Surely this pack had a reserve chute. He could ditch the first and launch the second once he had Robyn. But the ground was so close now, and Robyn and Dylan could barely be seen.

  Fuck it.

  With one tug, he pulled on the three rings near the side of the harness and the chute fell away. Instantly, he was freefalling again. He wanted to scream, his fear was so great. Not for his o
wn death, but for Robyn's.

  His entire body tingled at the thought. He had to reach her. They still had time.

  But as the ground rushed forward, he'd lost sight of them. The wind made it impossible to smell where they were. His eyes scoured what was left of the sky below him. They weren't there.

  Oh God.

  Panic overwhelmed him and he began to hyperventilate. He didn't even have the breath to call Robyn's name. If she died, he'd die right along with her. There was no way he could go on living. Not after spending two of the most hellish months of his life without her.

  There was the ground, almost upon him.

  With a cry of desperation, he pulled the cord on his reserve and felt the kickback of the drag once again. But he didn't have long to gain his bearings before he spiraled downward on a crash course. He'd barely come to grips with the fact that he was going to live before he slammed into the dirt.

  A loud snap reverberated throughout his body and his right leg collapsed like an accordion.

  Mac screamed through his tears.

  Robyn awoke to sand in her mouth. On weak arms, she sat up and spat out the gritty substance. The sun was bright and hot. Shielding her eyes, she squinted and looked around.

  A desert greeted her, as far as the eye could see. Sagebrush dotted the ground and the pale blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon. Where the hell was she? Definitely not in Florida anymore.

  Sitting up in the dirt, she gasped. She was naked. When had that happened? The last thing she remembered was...falling.

  Oh God. She'd fallen out of the plane. With no friggin’ parachute!

  Mac. Where was Mac? Robyn stood and glanced all around. She couldn't see him. But a few feet away, Dylan lay in the sand, as buck-naked as she. Had they shifted? They must have. It was the only explanation.

  Robyn swallowed hard as her memories came rushing back. Dylan had pulled Mac's ripcord right before their fingers had touched, sending him flying high above as they continued their fall. The ground had been so close. She'd tried her hardest to shift, but slammed against the wall of the serum.

  It was finally the strength of her fear which allowed her to punch through it and shift, becoming the snowy owl that B*E*A*S*T* had engineered her to be. But she'd been trapped by her pink t-shirt and had continued falling like a stone.

  Dylan had helped her out of it before shifting himself. But by that time, they only had seconds before hitting the ground.

  Robyn flapped her wings furiously and managed to slow her descent only long enough to alight roughly on the ground. Her terror had clutched her heart and overcame her. She'd blacked out.

  By the looks of things, so had Dylan. Or maybe she'd gotten lucky and the bastard hadn't shifted fast enough. He'd deliberately kept her from Mac, both on the plane and in the sky. If he wasn't dead, he was damn well going to wish he was.

  Following her nose, Robyn was able to find her pants and her shirt a few yards away from each other. Her flip-flops were long gone. She got dressed before confronting Dylan, who was still lying motionless on the ground.

  Walking right up to him, she kicked dirt in his face.

  "Get up, you son of a bitch!"

  He recoiled and sputtered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  "What the hell?” he cried.

  Straddling his shoulders, Robyn cocked her arm and pounded his cheek with her fist.

  "I don't give a shit if you're some big bad gorilla or powerful crocodile. To me you're nothing but a goddamn snake. You deliberately kept me from my mate. How could you!"

  Stepping away, she kicked him in the ribs, instantly regretting it for the pain in her toes. Dylan doubled over.

  "I...I'm sorry, okay?” he said, holding up his hand. “I only did it to show you anyone can break through the barrier of the serum."

  "You could have given me a lesson rather than toying with my life. I'd be dead if I hadn't figured it out!"

  "Ah, but you did figure it out."

  "Go to hell, Dylan. You stay away from me, and stay away from Mackenzie. If I so much as see your face again, I'm going to kill you."

  He stared into her eyes with a look of astonishment. “You're serious."

  "You're lucid enough to understand that. Wonderful! Good riddance."

  With purposeful strides, she walked away without looking back.

  "Wait! Robyn, wait, B*E*A*S*T* is just going to find you again."

  "We're in the middle of nowhere, Dylan. I think we're fairly safe!"

  "You're wrong.” He trotted next to her. She didn't look at him. He was still naked and there was no way she wanted to remember that image.

  He yanked on her arm and made her halt with his iron grip. “You have a GPS locator inside of you."

  His words stopped her heart. With wide eyes, she stared into his face. “What did you just say?"

  "You have a beacon somewhere under your skin. We all do—all the shifters from Florida. Lucian demanded it after Colorado and Oregon had been compromised. He didn't want any more of the experiments getting away. How do you think I was able to find you once you left the Everglades?"

  "I...I—” Her mind was blank. A locator beacon? Good Lord.

  "We need to get it out of you. Damn. Mac has the knife in the duffel."

  "He let go of the duffel to save me!"

  Dylan sighed. “Well, that is a problem. We'll have to find it."

  Robyn began walking once more. “You do whatever the hell you like. I'm going to find Mackenzie. He can't be far."

  "Right, right.” He ran a hand through his hair and turned completely around. “Robyn, over there!"

  She followed where he was pointing.

  "That looks like a downed parachute."

  It sure the hell did. Without another word, she broke into a run. Dylan didn't follow her, thank God. She wasn't sure, but Mac might just be mad enough to kill him for real this time.

  Her feet squealed at the hot sand and sharp pebbles, but she wasn't about to stop. It was a parachute.

  But as she got closer, she didn't see Mac anywhere. Not even any footprints marred the ground. That only meant one thing. He'd dumped his main chute. Oh, hell.

  "Mackenzie!"

  Had there been enough time for him to deploy his reserve? Her heart raged within her chest. What if he hadn't? Was she really prepared to find him dead and broken in the dirt?

  Tears burned behind her eyes and she closed them to regain her composure. She took deep breaths and a faint scent wafted to her. It was him, she'd know his scent anywhere. Her sense of smell wasn't as good as Mac's, but it was better than a normal human nose would be.

  Blood. She also smelled blood.

  Panic bubbled within her as she scanned the landscape with her sharpened eyes. There, maybe a quarter mile away, was another patch of color in the dirt. It looked like a huge green tarp. It was the reserve chute. It had to be.

  "Mackenzie!” she called again, running in that direction. She stumbled a few times and cried out as she tripped over sagebrush in her haste. She'd smelled his blood, but thankfully, the stench of death wasn't permeating the air. He was injured, nothing more.

  But that did nothing to ease her worry. Her pace slowed as her bare feet protested, but she pushed on. Mac's scent became more pronounced, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  It had to be coming from under the chute.

  Robyn frantically drew up the nylon until she saw her mate, out cold. His right leg was covered in blood and it stained the dirt a deep red. But that wasn't the worst part. His bone protruded from his thigh, jutting through both his skin and his jeans.

  B*E*A*S*T* had engineered their experiments to heal quickly, but Mac needed his bone to be set before it could.

  Kneeling beside him, she took his face in her hands and kissed his lips.

  "Mackenzie,” she whispered, combing his hair with her fingers. “Can you hear me?"

  He tossed his head, but didn't open his eyes. Perhaps that was for the best. He'd be in excruc
iating pain otherwise. With a few sniffles, she laid his head back down and inspected his injury. He'd need these jeans cut off him. She wouldn't be strong enough to set his bone on her own.

  That meant she needed Dylan.

  Shit.

  "Dylan! Hurry up and find that goddamn duffel bag!"

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  FOURTEEN

  "They should have been here by now."

  Noah looked at the afternoon sun and sighed, then turned to Rogan. “You're right. They should have been here last night."

  "Maybe they stopped at some motel along the way.” Lanie looked back and forth between them. “I know Mac was touchy about... Well, you know."

  Wade chuckled. “Mac mighta stopped to get his freak on, but they wouldn't have gotten a motel room. He knew we needed to regroup as quickly as possible. Even with a midnight rendevous, he should have been here hours ago."

  "Something happened.” Noah paced back and forth in front of the motel room window. The cowboy decor was tacky yet quaint with its cow-print drapes and paintings of good ol’ boys wrangling cattle. He'd made fun of it when they first stayed here not too long ago, but now, it only served to piss him off.

  "We need to go back.” Keira stared at Wade with wide, frightened eyes. “That shifter in Miami might have caught them!"

  The room went eerily quiet. She'd just said what they were all thinking.

  "He's a needle in a goddamn haystack the size of Florida,” Rogan growled. “It'll be a friggin’ miracle. How are we supposed to find him?"

  Noah cocked a brow, then shook his head. “We're gonna have to split up again and case interstates in our shifted states. Our only hope is to find him with our senses."

  "No,” Rogan said. “There's another way."

  "Would you like to share with the class?” Noah knew he was being a jerk, but his nerves were getting the better of him. He couldn't stomach the thought of Mac and Robyn meeting the same fate as Jet and Trevor.

  "It makes sense Mac pulled over and got himself caught. The shifter on his trail wouldn't have jumped him if he stopped to get dinner, that'd be too risky. Mac probably stopped at a rest stop. It's more private to spend time with his mate, and also to fall into a trap. If that's true, all we have to do is search those stops."