She continued to stuggle but soon heard the sound of the helicopter returning. Her head sagged down as she listened to the sound of it circling before flying back over her. After a moment the she heard it fly over and then back over before finally landing, somewhere. For some reason, she felt safe, even though she knew it would not be long before the men found her again. Maybe the pain was affecting her brain, but she suddenly wanted very much to be found by the men.
Meanwhile, four very confused men were circling the helicopter. They had headed south, but after a few miles, when Delany centered himself with his wolf again, the direction had changed so Jamie had turned to fly west, but Delany had demanded they fly back north, toward the prison. Jamie flew back toward the prison, then over and past the prison and Delany had demanded they fly south again. Gammon was demanding to know what was going on, Marcus was demanding answers also, and the four in the helicopter had no answers to give.
Finally, after flying back and forth for awhile Delany had demanded to be put down in the desert. He said he would just find her on foot. Gammon had refused the request and demanded the men return to the prison. When the helicopter landed they were met by Marcus and the rest of his team. Gammon, Trey and the females, along with their Sentinels had remained inside. The men piled out of the helicopter and turning toward Delany prepared to follow his wolf. They had no idea what they were going to find, an underground bunker maybe, or some camouflaged hideout, but the men did not care. They were trained to seek out rogues, and destroy them.
Except, in this case, the one who would be doing the seeking was a wolf from another pack. They would just be his backup. As the men spread out behind Delany, he raced toward where he could feel his mate. When they reached the fence they turned and headed toward the gate. As the team jogged through the gate Delany turned west and ran along the fence, finally angling away from the fence and toward the south.
Fifteen minutes later Delany's wolf let out a howl.
Allison stared in disbelief at the strange men surrounding her. One of them was looking at her with anguish on his face. She watched as he dropped to the ground beside her and gently touched her face. She closed her eyes, this, this feeling must be what Kate had told them about. She had no idea who this man was, but she felt like she had come home. When the man tried to turn her over she screamed in agony. He immediately released her and demanded someone go get a stretcher. She listened to him threaten death and dismemberment if that someone did not hurry. She heard his demands for a doctor for his mate. Then he did something so surprising Allison had no words, he lay down on the ground beside her and just held her. His face, wet with tears, created the most incredible feeling inside of her.
"Shhh sweetheart, I am so sorry. I would not have hurt you for all the gold in the world. What is wrong, what happened?"
"I jumped, from the helicopter. They left Kate and Julie behind. I had to try to get back to them. I had to. But, we were high, higher than I realized. My legs, I broke them. Please, my friends, they are still inside, we have to help them."
Allison heard someone else speaking, "We found her, she can't help us find the rest though. Tell Doc we got another one for him. She jumped from the helicopter, broke both legs. Get that stretcher ready, we are going to need it." He turned back to see Delany brushing the hair from his future mate's face.
"Hush love, it is ok, we have your friends. They are safe. No one is ever going to hurt them again. We won't let them. What is your name and which one is Kate, and which one is Julie?"
Allison gasped in pain as she told him her name and then she tried to tell the men to be careful with Julie. But she need not have worried at all. Kate was right, if you are a good person, your mate will be good, the perfect complement to you. And if you are good, the ones you are with would be good.
"Look at me. No one in that prison now will every hurt your friends. The screaming one is Julie, which means Kate is the name of Craig's mate. Your friends are safe, that is what we do, we keep females safe." Delany watched Allison give a start of surprise and saw he look of disgust, knowing what the rogues were capable of he hurriedly continued, "No, not like that. We keep them safe so they can choose who they want to mate. As few females as we have, don't you think it would be better for them to find their true-mate, cause that is what we believe. We have a compound in Alaska, nothing like this at all, where we have thousands of acres to roam around. Sometimes, we even get females like your friend Julie, shattered by experiences they have faced, lost in a world of darkness and despair, we take them in too. We have people who help them heal, and if they don't want a mate, we don't force them to find one. We have one now, she has lived with us for six or seven years now, still single, still refusing to have anything to do with any males. She was kept captive in a basement for years while the Alpha of the pack waited for her to mature so he could give her as a gift to his son. That Alpha is no longer alive, his son is Beta to the new Alpha, and that Beta has his true-mate. Believe it or not, his true-mate turned out to be his current Alpha's sister. We were keeping the sister safe in Alaska while she was young. The old Alpha was a real piece of work so her family sent her to us to keep her safe. When she reached twenty-one her father took her home. We keep females safe so they can have the life they want, not the life we want for them. We are nothing like the men who were keeping you and your friends in that prison, nothing!
Allison was glad then that the male had laid down beside her, she could easily reach his face. "You know, you never told me your name."
She watched him turn red, as the men around him began laughing, he muttered, "Delany, my name is Delany."
#
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kate
Kate
My limbs felt heavy, and I hurt all over. I tried rolling over but someone was laying beside me. I slowly opened my eyes, or tried to, the light blinded me. I lay there, blinking, trying to focus, trying to remember what had happened, where I was, and who was laying beside me. As the memories came rushing back I felt a contentment, and lots and lots of pain. I tried to breath deeply, but even breathing hurt. My breaths shallow, I reached out with my mind. But to my surprise it was not my parents who answered but a complete stranger. A fragile sounding stranger with a pain filled voice.
Don't let go. Never let go.
Turning my head I see I am in bed next to a strange man, my mate. Guess we survived, so far anyway. From what I can see of him he is one solid bandage. I can't see much so I try to lift my head. I gave that up pretty damn quick. I reach again for the connection to my parents. They have to be close, within a few hours of, well, I don't actually know where we are now. I get nothing but silence.
Slowly turning my head the other way I try to figure out where we are, other than a hospital. I don't know if we are still at the prison, whether they rescued me and got me to safety somewhere, I have no idea where we could be and no indication.
Centering myself again I reach for the voice. The strange voice that could only have come from the male next to me. My mate, and I don't even know his name. My parents will never believe this when I tell them. I try to think back to what I do remember. A sick feeling pervades my stomach, I remember killing a man. I remember going back to my room, screaming, falling, a mating ceremony, then nothing. I don't smell anyone I know in the room. The room is covered in the scents of others, males and females, but not my females, not my friends.
I start to panic before realizing, if I am laying next to my mate, we are safe. I can find the others. I just hope my mate can heal fast enough to find them before it is too late. I know Dawn and Allison will take care of Julie, the other girls will also. I feel myself drifting back into the blackness and I struggle to stay awake. I need answers. I must have made some small sound because suddenly a strange female is peering down at me.
"Ah dear, aren't you a lucky one. You managed to avoid the clans, extermination, and still mate to your true-mate. How did you manage to live so long? Who kept you hid so well I wonde
r? No, don't try to talk. You have been out all day and most of the night now. Gabby has gone to get you something to drink. Marcus is on his way. He wants his oath and he wants it now, or as soon as you can talk. Bold, your parents must have been ten kinds of bold, and twenty kinds of stupid. Do you realize you single handedly broke the curse Miranda put on the shifters. Oh, probably not the full curse, but I can actually talk to them about witches and they still remember the conversation an hour later. Do you know how many times I have had conversations with some of these same men over the years and they never once remember anything I said about witches. Miranda will shit a gold brick when she finds out the curse is broken. Congratulations, if your parents told you about us, about the clans, which I am not part of so do not insult me by asking, if you know anything at all about your history then you know what I am talking about. Just nod your head."
I nodded, but I had questions. I tried to ask, but she was right, talking was not an option right now. I hoped this Gabby person hurried with the drink. My tongue, sticking to the roof of my mouth, felt heavy and I felt as though my mouth was full of cotton. I hoped this Marcus guy showed soon. If he was my new Alpha, well, since I never had an old one I guess he would not be new, so to speak, but if I gave my oath, I could talk to him without effort. I tried to remember if that meant I could not talk to my parents anymore. I could not remember my parents mentioning anything to that effect. But I also could not reach my parents. But, she said all day and most of the night, so it must be the middle of the night where ever we are. My parents probably spent all day searching for me, probably half the night. They had been trying for months to locate the fancy prison in the desert.
"Ok, I hear Gabby and Marcus coming so listen up. Whatever you do, do not mention the curse to anyone. Do you hear me? We will speak again after they leave. If you value the life of your mate, and the rest of the shifters, they can not know of the curse."
I found myself nodding my head while silently screaming at my parents though our bond. I didn't know what I had gotten myself into, but I saw the flames rise in the woman's eyes as she forbid me to mention the curse. She did not seem pissed about the broken curse and she had not killed me outright, but I really needed to talk to my parents. I did not know what to do. The one thing they had kept me from all my life was other witches. They knew my birth was a death sentence, and here I was, in the room with another witch and laying helpless on my back.
Just as the door opened and three people walked in I heard the groggy voice of my mother. She was crying, I could tell, frantic with worry she began to demand answers. Answers I did not have. I left the connection open so she could hear what was being said in the room.
"Hello little golden wolf, I don't know how much Casey told you but my name is Marcus, that fellow laying beside you so still and quite is Craig. First off, thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving him. Although, once you get to know him, you might decide to kill him yourself, but as his true-mate, I hope you don't. Hey, no, don't look like that, it was a joke, in poor taste but a joke none-the-less. Drink some water while I tell you just what you have gotten yourself into and then Doc will look at you again. First off, I don't know if you know this, because I don't know how isolated you have been, but I am Craig's Alpha, as his mate that makes you mine. I need you to oath bound your life to my pack, specifically, to my leadership. I will ask for your oath of loyalty to me, to the pack, and you will agree to it. Do you understand that?"
I waited for him to say more but finally realized he was waiting on me. I had swallowed some water, but my mouth and throat was still so dry and scratchy that I finally just nodded. Both my parents were listening at this point and neither had interrupted what they could hear with comments. But, when they did not hear anything from me after a moment my dad demanded "Tell him yes, give him the oath. You must belong to pack. Pack will keep you safer than we ever could."
I know dad, I am nodding to him. My mouth is just so dry and scratchy. I have been out of it since morning. Hush now please, you are making me miss what he is saying.
"You agree to this? You realize the oath will bind you as surely as the mate-bond bind you right?" When I nodded he continued speaking, "As long as you understand I will go ahead. But you have to be able to at least say the words I so swear when I am done for the oath to set. Can you manage any words yet? I would not rush you like this, but we have at least eight missing females somewhere out there and you seem to know more than Allison about what is going on. Besides that, Allison gave her bond to Gammon, not me, so I can not speak to her mentally."
I jerked my head up when he said eight missing females. I was going to correct him, we had eleven females at the prison. But he said eight, if Allison was here, and I was here, who was the third female?
"Who?" my voice broke as I tried to ask him who the third female was. Please please don't let it be Dawn. If Dawn was here, and Allison was here, where ever here might be, then no one was watching Julie. Tears of frustration trickled down my face.
"The oath first, then we can talk."
When he finished, and I croaked out the words needed, I felt my mind open up with new pathways. I smiled when I heard his voice in my head.
"How bout we try it this way Kate, and see what we can figure out, I will speak to you, and you answer mentally."
You said eight females, but there were eleven of us here, so who do you have? Who else? You said Allison, but did you rescue another one? Why not all of them, why only rescue three?
"Whoa, whoa, not so many questions at a time. We rescued one that screams, a lot, Julie I think they said her name was. Gammon also has her. Not to take her oath, but because his mate is with him and she has dealt with shattered females before. You see, my pack is a Seeker pack, we seek out rogues and rescue females such as the ones held here. When we make a rescue, we have a pack who takes the females to Gammon's territory for safety. They can chose the life they want, the mate they want, or no mate at all. I don't know a lot about Gammon, until recently he did not come into my world, and I did not go into his. But I do send rescued females to him. His pack's job is to protect our females until they are old enough to chose their pack. As far as rescuing you, we didn't, Craig is my pack, so I felt the attack, or rather I felt him dying. I gathered a team, and some others invited themselves along on the search and recover mission. We did not rescue you, they abandoned you. We just thought you and your friends were valuable enough to keep instead."
So where are we now? Back in your pack territory? Where is that?
No, we are still at the prison.
Ask him where that is, where is the prison?
Marcus eyes widened and he turned his head, looking around the the room before I saw his eyes narrow as he turned back to me. "Who was that?"
Before I had a chance to say anything the strange witch popped up, "Who was what Marcus, we can't hear her, remember? You are the only one in the room that can, other than Craig, and he is out cold."
"Someone, besides Kate, just spoke through the pack bond, and it was not anyone in my pack. They want to know where the prison is, and I want to know who they are."
My apologies Marcus. I did not realize you would be able to hear me speak to my daughter. We have been searching for her for a year now, and her mother and I would appreciate it more than words can say if you would tell us where our baby girl is right now.
I watched Marcus turn his head to look at the strange witch, no one has told me her name yet. "He said he is her dad. I think you have a few more things you need to tell me about this hybrid mating, Casey."
Ah, so her name was Casey. I did not recognize her name as any my parents had ever mentioned.
You have someone there who can tell you of hybrids? Not a witch is it? Please tell me you have not let a strange witch around my daughter.
Casey is a friend, family you might say. Well, I would not say that personally, but she labels us her clan. We are not certain what that means, exactly, but Casey won't hurt your daug
hter. She helped us to save both your daughter and your daughter's mate. Marcus had no idea why they seemed so worried about Casey being around Kate. This new addition to his pack was getting more and more interesting.
Interesting, you will keep her safe, I know this, you are her Alpha and I heard your oath to her and her to you. Do you have room for a couple of more in your pack. Where my daughter goes, we go. And we have been without her for far too long as it is. If you can remember us when we finish talking that is. Hard to be part of a pack when no one remembers you because of a bloody curse.
Yeah, about that curse, I am going to be needed more info about that. We, none of us remember witches, but apparently memories are starting to come back since you daughter mated into my pack. And even the ones outside my pack are reporting memories coming back. Look, where are you at now? Do you have a number we can call? I can get one of our pilots to come get you.
By the time Marcus had finished making arrangements for someone to go pick up my parents, who I found out were less than a hundred miles away, I was crying, they were crying and that strange voice I now knew belonged to my mate sounded in my head again. I let the connection to my parents close, they were on their way, but right now, my mate needed me.
Kate (Safe Haven Wolves Book 3) Page 9
