“I’m looking for a bouquet of flowers.”
“Did you want to order something or grab one that’s pre-made? What’s the occasion?” She approached him, placing her hand on his arm. She guided him toward the back of the shop. “We just got a fresh shipment of roses.”
“That would be perfect.” Warren watched the little pixie of a woman flutter from bouquet to bouquet, describing in detail the various flowers that made up each one. Her eyes gleamed every time she looked at him. He smiled and the sparkle in her eye only intensified. The wolf could tell that she was interested in him. He could almost smell it on her skin, but at this point, he only had eyes for Roxie.
Her image haunted him. Last night, when he had gone to sleep, alone in his bed, she was the only thing on his mind. The lusciousness of her curves. Her breathtaking smile. The chocolate color of her skin. Everything about her was enough to send his instincts into overdrive. She had to be the one for him – his mate. And tonight, he was going to prove it. He would go over to her place and apologize, making her realize that he was the right man for her.
“I think I’ll go with the original. A dozen roses. Do you think that would be a good bouquet to give someone when you apologize?”
“Depends on what you did.” The woman frowned slightly, taking the arrangement to the cash register.
“I messed up pretty badly.” It wasn’t like he could tell this woman that he nearly tore apart a bear because of the girl he was lusting over. “Let’s just say I got into a fight with someone because I let jealousy get the best of me.”
“In that case… you might want to go for the premium package. It costs a bit more, but it should really get the message across.”
Warren contemplated his options, but in the end, he stuck to the original bouquet. Roses were classic. There was no way Roxie would shut the door in his face if he stood there with roses. Right?
Feeling confident, he held them in his arms as he walked down the street toward her building. He still couldn’t believe that she lived in such a rundown apartment. It made him cringe just thinking about what she must go through every day.
He shook his head and quickened his pace. Just before he could reach her building, he heard a car coming up the road. When he turned around, he saw Leo’s pickup truck. “Dammit… why does this guy have to show up every time I’m trying to make a move?”
Leo jumped out of the truck, looking smug before he noticed Warren standing there with a bunch of roses in his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to apologize like a decent human being,” Warren answered, heading for the building entrance.
“You mean, you’ve come here to kiss ass. That’s why you brought the flowers.”
“It’s just a symbol of apology. Girls tend to like flowers, you know? Maybe you should try it sometime.”
“Why should I waste my money on something that’s going to die? I rather just kiss them or show them how sorry I really am.”
“Oh, please. You haven’t been sorry for anything in your entire life.” Warren rolled his eyes, opening the door before starting up the stairs.
“Of course I am. I’m sorry I ever met you.”
Warren laughed. “That makes two of us then. Glad we agree on something.”
Leo growled. “You’re just compensating because you know Roxie will pick me. I don’t need flowers to impress her, but you do.”
“Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” Warren turned around, blocking the stairs. “But I don’t want to argue with you. Our fighting is what made Roxie kick us out in the first place. I’m willing to be the better man here and keep my mouth shut if you would just do the same.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Because then you’d look like the civilized one and I’d look like the brute.” Leo pushed Warren aside, taking the steps two at a time. “It’s not going to happen. If you really want her, then you’re going to have to go through me.”
Warren bit his tongue. He wanted to snap at the bear and put him in his place, but he thought about Roxie. If he just kept his cool and proved that he could handle himself, then maybe she would end up picking him. After all, who would want to be with an airhead like Leo?
The two men hurried to the third floor. Leo knocked on the door, only to find it slightly ajar. It creaked open and light from the home spilled onto the landing, illuminating Leo’s face. “Roxie?” He called out, wondering why she had left her door open so late at night. “Are you home?” He opened the door with caution.
Warren finally caught up with him. “What are you doing?”
“Her door was open.”
“What do you mean it was open? It’s like eight, why would she just leave it open?”
“I don’t know, that’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Leo stepped inside. He listened carefully, but everything was quiet. “Roxie?” He called out once more, but again, there was no answer.
“Someone’s been in here. No, two people… and I recognize their scent… I would recognize that smell anywhere… sulfur.” Warren’s voice dropped to a serious tone, his eyes growing big. His fingers tightened around the flowers, destroying them. “No…This can’t be happening…” He rushed forward. “Roxie?” His voice was nearly hysterical as he looked for her.
Leo grabbed him as he came out of the kitchen. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
“They got her.”
“Who got her? What are you talking about?”
“The Mach Gorillas. I’m picking up their scent. I can smell them all over the house. They were here. They came after her… because of us.”
“But we killed all of them! We decimated their base.”
“Well… apparently, some of them survived. The leader’s son must’ve survived. Badly injured… but I guess he made it out. Now, he’s obviously back to get revenge.”
“You’re crazy. I killed all those bastards myself. You helped me.”
“I don’t remember much from that day. I was so enraged about the death of my pack… I killed everything in my sight. I don’t know if I killed all of them or if I let some of them run away. I have no clue…” Warren was shaking with anger. He thought he was done with that horrible part of his past. He thought Leo was the only part of that time which still existed… but it seemed his time in the Navy Seals hadn’t quite come to an end just yet.
“You have to be mistaken…” Leo whispered. He couldn’t believe that terrorists from nearly ten years ago were trying to get revenge now.
“You know my nose is never wrong. Besides the scent is unmistakable. I don’t know how you can’t smell it.”
Leo started to pace around the room, his anger getting out of hand. He ran his fingers through his hair before he noticed something glinting in the corner of the room. It was a small, silver cufflink in the form of a G. He recognized that insignia anywhere. So the Mach Gorillas really had been there… “No!” He slammed his fist against the drywall, punching a hole right through it. He thought they had finished off all those bastards a long time ago. They couldn’t have returned and yet, the small metal adornment in his hand felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, reminding him of his failure.
Chapter Ten
“Where could they have taken her?” Warren asked, starting to get worried. He pictured Roxie in the terrorist’s base and it only made him fear the worst. The Mach Gorillas were not a group to be taken lightly. Their hostages rarely walked away with their lives…
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I don’t care if I have to turn over every goddamn rock in this town before I find them and when I do, they’re going to regret it. They’ll rue the day they ever laid a finger on Roxie.” Leo bellowed, his fist tightening around the small piece of metal.
“That kind of attitude is what got us into this mess in the first place. You can’t just barge into every situation. We have to think this through. If we go around looking in the wrong places, then we might not find Roxie until it’s too late, if at all.”
“Well if you keep wasting time… then it won’t matter. Trust me, these guys won’t hesitate to kill her. They obviously want their revenge for what we did to them. What better way to get back at us than to kill the woman we both love?”
Leo grounded his teeth in frustration. “So what the fuck do we do?”
“We have to think this through…” Warren tried to reason with Leo. He wanted to save Roxie as much as the bear did, but he knew he had to be the one to keep a level head. If it was up to Leo, they would just fight their way to Roxie, no matter the cost.
“So what, you want me to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs while you think of some genius plan?”
“No. I never thought I would say this again… but we have to work together.”
“That didn’t work ten years ago, and it’s not going to work now,” Leo growled.
“Just standing here isn’t helping her either.” Warren had a really hard time keeping his voice steady. Leo was getting on his last nerve. “I can’t believe we let this happen…” He ground his teeth in frustration.
“This is all your fault,” Leo grumbled.
“My fault? How the hell is it my fault?” Warren threw down the flowers.
“If you had just let me stay with her, then none of this would’ve happened.”
“She wanted to sleep with both of us. I had nothing to do with that. Plus, you agreed. Don’t even try to pin this on me.” Warren had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He couldn’t believe that at a time like this – when Roxie’s life was in jeopardy – Leo still wanted to fight him on every little thing. “I know you don’t like me – and to be honest, the feeling is mutual – but for Roxie’s sake, let’s put our differences aside just this once. Okay?”
“Fine. But we’re leaving now. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. You can think in the car while I look for her.” Warren nodded and followed Leo to his pickup truck. It was the best plan they had.
They sped down the street, leaving skid marks in their wake. “Where are you going? The Warehouse District is in the other direction.” Warren saw him take a right when he should have taken a left.
“We’re making a little pit stop first.”
“What? We don’t have time…”
“Look. I’m willing to admit that you’re right. This one time. We can’t fight these guys without being prepared.”
Warren looked at his old army buddy in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“As much as I want to shapeshift and tear these men to shreds, it might not be so easy to get to them that way. Besides, being a bear is like having a giant target on your back.”
“So, what are you suggesting?”
“Guns. Big ones.”
“And where are we going to get those?”
“I don’t know about you… but once we were done with the army, I thought it’d be a good idea to get myself some security.”
***
“How is any of this legal?” Warren gaped at Leo’s basement. It was filled to the brim with heavy, state-of-the-art weaponry.
“Most of it isn’t. But I had to make sure I was prepared.”
“Prepared for what, the zombie apocalypse?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, zombies don’t exist.”
“Oh sure, coming from a werebear that makes a whole lot of sense. Anyway, about those guns. Did you know that some of the terrorists were still alive that you’ve stocked up? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“No. I thought we had decimated the Gorillas. I had no idea some of them survived. But, you know, better safe than sorry.”
“Right.” Warren stepped forward, picking up a sniper rifle. “How did you get all this stuff?”
“I know a few people.”
“Of course you do.”
“Be careful with that.”
“You think I don’t know how to handle a gun? Where are the cartridges for this thing anyway?” Leo tossed him a round and watched as Warren started to load the gun. “I doubt you need a Glock.”
“You always need one. Unless you have a Desert Eagle around here somewhere.”
“A Desert Eagle? What are you, a fanboy of the Portuguese GOE or something? I swear you run one op with those guys and…”
“Oh shut it. Where are those Glocks?” Leo placed two of them in his holster. “I don’t know what we’re up against.”
“An angry son who wants revenge for the father you murdered.”
“Look. Stop pinning that whole thing on me.” Leo slammed Warren into the wall. “I fucked up, okay? But that’s in the past now and the more you piss me off about it, the more time we waste and that’s something we don’t have. As much as I hate to admit it, I need you to get her back safe and sound. So stop fucking around and get your head in the game.”
Warren was actually shocked. He had never seen Leo so serious before. “Wow… you must really care –” Before Warren could finish his sentence, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Leo quickly let go of him, letting him fish it out of his pocket. “It’s a video message…” He whispered.
The two men watched as Warren’s screen trembled with shaky footage before Roxie came into view. She was tied to a chair, her head slumped forward as if she was unconscious. Two men stood on either side of her, holding large guns before a third walked up to the camera.
“I take it you two scumbags remember me. Especially you, Warren. Nearly ten years ago, your pack of animals decided to infiltrate the Gorilla base and kill everything in sight. Well, almost everything.” The man grinned before he walked over to Roxie. “As retribution, I think it’s only fair that we put an end to someone who’s precious to you… Lately, you two have been rather fond of her, haven’t you? I can’t say I blame you.” He pulled out a knife from his pocket and yanked back Roxie’s hair before he placed the dagger against her delicate neck. “Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, expect a few more videos from us. She’s going to die, but we aren’t going to make it easy for her. Starting now, every four hours I’ll torture her in front of your very eyes and each time will be worse than the last. Every time you will hear her screaming louder and louder until you watch her take her final breath.” He ran the blade harder against her neck, drawing a thin line of blood. “That was just the prelude… but how does it feel to know that she’s going to suffer and there’s nothing you can do about it?” The man laughed and with that sinister laughter echoing, the video turned to darkness, and eventually cut off.
Leo could barely contain himself. He was enraged from head to toe. “Those bastards.”
“I know where that is!” Warren exclaimed as he paused the video, zooming in slightly.
“Where?” Leo grabbed him by the shirt, demanding answers. “Tell me now.”
“Those tanks, they’re filled with oxygen. Those kinds of things haven’t been used since the factory district was operational. If you think about it, that’s the perfect place to set up base. Abandoned and no one lives there…”
Leo finally let go, grabbing another gun and holstering. “Do you know how to get there?” He asked, his mind now focused on the sole task of saving Roxie.
“I do. Now let’s go.” Warren nodded, slinging the gun over his shoulder, following the bear out of the house.
Together, the two of them went back into the pickup truck, prepared to get Roxie back by any means necessary. Leo pushed his truck to the limit, flying down the street, barely making any of the stop signs and traffic lights as his truck roared through the night. All he could think about was Roxie. He couldn’t even fathom what she was going through right now. His fingers tightened around the wheel. One way or another… he was going to get her back.
Soon, they arrived at the warehouse district. “Slow down… you don’t want to give us away…” Warren whispered, peering out the window, looking for any building that looked suspicious. “Don’t you think this is too easy?”
&
nbsp; “What do you mean?” Leo’s pickup barely moved down the street, trying to remain silent.
“I mean, leaving those tanks in the background. It seems obvious where they were... What if this was all a trap and they just used the video to lure us here? What if Roxie isn’t inside?”
“She has to be,” Leo growled. “Where else would she be?”
“I don’t know… but it would be pretty convenient for them to lure us here … I mean we have no idea how many of them are in there.”
“I don’t give a damn. We’re doing this.”
“Just don’t lose your head or it could cost us our lives. As well as Roxie’s.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you.” Warren wasn’t so sure. He could already see the crazy look in Leo’s eyes. This didn’t bode well. If he just charged in there, there would be hell to pay. “Just try to listen to me for once in your life.”
“Fine.” The car came to a stop at the end of the road. “Do you see that? There’s a light on in that building. It has to be the place.” They stayed hidden in the car, using it for cover, watching as a few men exited the building, holding large boxes and loading them into a van.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Warren asked, straining his vision. The moon was hidden by clouds, making it hard to see and even harder for him to tap into his inner beast.
“I don’t know, but Roxie has to be in there. I can feel it.” He turned. “Can’t you like sniff her out or something?”
“I’m not a bloodhound, you know.”
“Close enough.”
Warren sighed. “I can try, but no promises. I doubt it’ll work from this far away.” He took a deep breath, cracking the window, letting all the aromas from the outside world filter into the car.
“Can you hurry it up?”
“Can you shut up?” Warren’s nostrils flared as he tried to pinpoint Roxie’s scent amidst everything else. “I don’t know if Roxie is in there… but they’re packing some heavy-duty stuff. C4 for sure. A lot of gunpowder as well… I have no idea what they’re planning, but I doubt they came to America just to get their revenge on us.”
Claimed by Two Navy Shifters Page 8
