by Haley Weir
“How did she earn their trust?”
Michael said nothing as he straightened his clothes. Anders circled the desk and grabbed his friend by the collar. “What did she do to earn their trust?” he barked, losing his patience.
“She gave them her maps and told them everything. Most of her time is spent with Corey. He opens up to her about his father’s relationship, but lately he’s been trying to convince her that she doesn’t belong to anyone except him, that they’re kindred spirits separated by circumstance.”
Anders released Michael. “Does she believe him?”
Michael scowled and pushed Anders. They entered the elevator together and Anders continued to wait for Michael’s answer. “No. I don’t think she would leave you if she could, no matter what the rest of us think.”
“What does that mean?”
“None of us think she deserves the stress you put her through,” his friend said plainly. “And by ‘none of us’ I mean all of us. Jenny and Sapphires other friends have told Dorian that they want to hit you where it hurts for the way you’ve treated your mate. You already know how Brock and I feel about it.”
Anders began his examination of Sapphire White, his most troublesome patient. “I was going to hand your file over to a different doctor, but your friend Jenny specifically requested that I stay on the case.”
“I’m sorry to be an inconvenience, doc.” She looked down at her hands and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “I should be out of here soon. No need for you to worry. We can get back to living our lives and pretend none of this ever happened,” Sapphire suggested.
“I’m your doctor, Miss White. There’s no need to be so upset. You’re my patient and I want what’s best for you.” Anders continued the procedure, trying to force himself to concentrate on the task at hand instead of the flush on her cheeks. “I think that would be for us to keep things as professional as we can. This time might have been different, but can you honestly say that you’ve never come to this clinic just to see me? That you’ve never gotten injured so that you—”
Sapphire held her hand up to stop his accusations. “You’re ego is out of control,” she said. “I’ve been this way my entire life, so don’t go thinking you’re something special. You are handsome, Dr. McKinney, but everything you just said made you the least attractive person in this town.”
He mentally flinched at the memory that bombarded his thoughts. Michael snorted beside him. “Whatever you were thinking about, the truth is much worse, trust me. Sapphire and I had our feud, but we stayed out of each other’s way. You went out of yours to make her feel bad about herself.”
Anders slid down the wall and pulled at his hair. “What have I done? I’m such a fool. Why couldn’t I have seen it sooner?”
“Me, Brock, and Dorian tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I don’t know how she can even stand the sight of me after I left her in the woods on our first date,” Anders said in awe. “You’re right, I don’t deserve her, but I need her. No one will ever love me the way Sapphire loves me.”
***
Night fell in the mountains and Sapphire slipped out of her tent. She left her shoes behind along with anything that would make noise as she crept through the camp, crouching low to the ground. Her eyes struggled for a moment to adjust to the darkness, but it didn’t slow her down. Feeling the earth beneath her bare feet allowed her to move undetected toward the tree line.
Sapphire heard voices nearby and pushed her back up against the trunk of a tree. She peered around the corner and watched Corey grab Travis by his hair. “What do you mean the helicopter is late?” the super soldier hissed through tightly clenched teeth.
“We got him ready, but we’re waiting in the clearing for the helicopter. It’ll be another hour. There’s a storm blowing in from the west and they don’t want to get caught in the lightning,” Travis whispered. Corey released him and stomped off toward his tent. Travis kicked over a bucket and then sauntered down the opposite way as his boss.
Sapphire dashed for the trees. Her heartbeat felt like it beat to the pulse of a hummingbird's wings as she ran. She tripped once, but rolled back to her feet without injury. For the first time in her life, Sapphire felt graceful as she navigated the forest with practiced ease. Her muscles throbbed and burned with exhaustion by the time she reached the rendezvous location.
The moon cast a pale blue light upon the hills as she slowed her momentum and came to a stop near the edge of the outcrop. Her eyes scanned the trees in search of her ally. Any other time she would have laughed at the thought of Michael Adair as someone she could trust, but they were willing to work together in order to keep their loved ones safe. Stars twinkled above her head as Michael walked into the light.
“Did you run into trouble getting here?” he asked.
“No, I’m proud to say that I only tripped once.”
“That’s a new record.”
She laughed sarcastically and tossed a rude gesture his way, which he took in stride. Sapphire realized how downtrodden he looked, but chose not to comment. Just when she was about to speak, Anders emerged from the other side of the outcrop. He approached her slowly, lifting a hand to touch her face as if he couldn’t believe that she was real. Sapphire kissed his palm and turned back towards Michael. “He won’t budge.”
“Did you push him too hard?”
“If I pushed him any slower, it would be a poke.”
“Ugh, I did not miss your jokes,” Michael snorted. “What else?”
“I’ll get the tapes tomorrow night. From what they say, I think Hydra might be somewhere on there. He worked for Sector A before he owned it.”
“Corey speaks of Hydra?”
She shook her head. “He refers to him as his ‘employer’ or ‘sponsor’ only. But I think the answers we need to end this are on the tapes. Vanessa went through a lot to keep them hidden, but Patrick dug them up.”
“Alright. Get the tapes, but be careful.”
Sapphire looked at Anders for a moment. “They said something about a helicopter headed for a clearing. I can’t be gone from camp long enough to check it out, so I need one of you to do it for me.”
“There’s only one clearing big enough to land a helicopter,” Anders stated.
“Exactly,” she replied. “Travis said they have someone waiting there to be transported, but I haven’t seen anyone else at camp since I arrived. Good luck.”
“Good luck to you as well,” Michael said. He surprised her by pulling her into a quick hug. “I’ll be listening if you need anything.”
He walked back the way he came. She turned to leave, but Anders spun her around and kissed her. Sapphire’s resolve shattered and she clutched his head and deepened the kiss until the world around them faded. But the danger that still surrounded them was getting worse and time was of the essence.
Sapphire severed their connection. “I love you,” she whispered, but didn’t stay long enough to hear his rejection. If she saw the doubt in his eyes, then it would distract her from her mission. Anders didn’t dare call out to her so close to the hunters. She disappeared into the night and slipped back into her tent before they realized she had been gone. She fell asleep with thoughts of Brock tormenting her subconscious.
“Do not defend him, Sapphire! Not to me. He hurt you!”
“I let him,” she argued. “It wouldn’t have meant anything if I hadn’t let it mean anything. He told me he wasn’t interested, that I was attractive, but that was all it was.”
“Anders gave you false hope!” Brock finally caught her, grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the floor. “You might see yourself as too strong for this sort of thing, but you’re only human. He’s the one who messed up. He’s the one who can’t see what an amazing woman you are.”
“I’m not…I can’t be loved. I’m broken, Brock.”
“And I’m not broken?” he asked. “After everything I went through with my father and the guilt of my brother
having to clean up after me, am I not worthy of being loved?”
“Of course you’re worthy!”
“Then why wouldn’t you be? It’s his loss, Sapphire, and he’ll come around and see that eventually. Don’t…let him use you,” Broke pleaded.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The following night, Anders, Dorian, and Michael stood on the edge of the clearing. Six armed guards stood around a small shelter. Anders sniffed the air and smelled something strangely familiar: antiseptic. Whoever was inside that shelter was sick or injured. He attempted to step into the clearing, but Michael stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“We can’t take them,” Dorian said.
“Why not?”
“Look at their weapons. They’re designed to fire electric rounds. It’s more than likely a high enough voltage to knock us out for a few hours,” Michael pointed out. “They’re here for one of us, a shifter. Think about it. If the three of us are here, who do you think is in that shelter?”
“Brock.” Anders looked back at the shelter and gaped. More soldiers stepped out of the door and spoke with the guards. One of them looked like a medical officer. “I don’t see any of the hunters. These men are soldiers, but I bet they haven’t seen action outside of the facility. They remind me of the guards that I met while I was there.”
“Were they military recruits?” Dorian asked.
“They were volunteers. Most of the men came from generations of hunters that capture or kill things like us,” Anders disclosed. “They have a soul-deep hatred for shifters and have no qualms about using force.” He lifted his shirt and pointed to a scar on his side. “One of them used a barbed wire chain to restrain me.”
Michael looked ill as he watched the guards. “So, they volunteered and then got training from the government? Great. Even though Sector A is a private owned facility now, it still has military connections.”
“Jenny said that Corey is some sort of prototype soldier, how does he know he wasn’t cooked up in a lab at a facility like Sector A?” Dorian asked. “If he’s leading all of this, then he should be here, right?”
Anders didn’t have answers to any of Dorian’s questions, but something in his gut told him that he needed to get to Sapphire as quickly as possible. “I have to go.”
“Where?”
“If Corey and the others are still at the camp, there’s no way Sapphire can sneak inside of his tent to get the tapes without them knowing,” he said. “They’re setting her up. Letting her think that they’re here for the transport, but they’ll be lying in wait.”
Anders retreated down the path and took off at a dead run, he felt the adrenaline amp up his heartbeat until the change was triggered. He didn’t fight it. For once, Anders let the change rush through him as he ran, shredding his clothes along the way. He tore through the forest in the blink of an eye, rushing for the mountains as fast as he could. Sleek fur glistened in the night.
He couldn’t lose her, not when he hadn’t gotten the chance to tell her that he loved her. Not until he could prove to her that Nora’s love was nothing in comparison to the light that Sapphire brought to his life.
“Hey!” she shouted.
Anders watched the two cats run for cover as their human lost her temper. Sapphire shoved Anders, but he wouldn’t budge. “Anders, let him go.” He finally looked at her. It was then that he saw the love she had always had for him and he didn’t know how to react. Anders couldn’t see through the fog of possessiveness that he felt.
Sapphire didn’t back down in the face of his anger or his need. No – Anders hungered for her. “Hey, I’m right here, ok? No one is going to take me away from you. Let him go and hold me. Come one, Big Bear. I’m getting cold.”
His eyes never left her gaze as he dropped Brock and jealously hauled her against his chest. Sapphire flinched in his grasp, but she wrapped her legs around his waist and embraced him. She kissed Anders, swallowing the growl on the tip of his tongue and staking her claim on him as much as he had done to her the night before. Anders reared his head back and sank his teeth into the healing mark on her shoulder.
Sapphire arched her back beautifully beneath him…
Anders crested over the hill where he last saw her. He followed her scent until he came upon the camp, but Anders didn’t approach. Something was wrong. He could sense it in the air. If it hadn’t been for the eerie quiet, he would have made his presence known, but he didn’t want to put her in danger in case it was nothing.
Corey walked away from the quarry, strapping a pair of military grade hard-knuckle tactical gloves on his hands. Anders shifted back into his human form and shook his head to clear his vision, but it was useless. The “Bear Flu” caused his body to overheat and his mind to feel like Swiss cheese. Corey stopped suddenly, his eyes searching for whatever had released a pitiful groan.
Anders shrank back into the darkness, clutching his head. No, no, no, he thought. The shadows began to curl around his vision, lulling him toward the darkness to the place where his memory never returned. He bit down on his hand and tried to stay in the present. Anders thought of nothing but Sapphire and her beautiful eyes. He thought of her smile and the clean scent of her hair.
He thought of the honey on her lips…
Anders tortured himself by watching the slow drip of honey slide down her bottom lip. He curled his fists in the blanket and resisted the urge to –Anders lunged after she pulled her sugarcoated fingers from between her lips. His hands tugged her forward as he sealed his mouth over hers. Luscious temptation filled him with the hottest fire. Anders drank in the taste of her moans, tongue delving into the warmth of that delicious mouth. She gasped, sucking air into her lungs before he was on her again.
Something took over. Anders removed his hands from her hair and gripped her hips, groaning at the softness he felt beneath his palms as he lowered Sapphire onto her back. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her lips mingling with the honey that she had suckled from her fingers.
Clarity began to return to him along with thoughts of his beloved. Anders rested against a tree and gulped down mouthfuls of air until his heartbeat slowed. In that moment, he envied Michael’s ability to control his change. It was only Sapphire’s love that kept him from tumbling over the edge. I love her, Anders thought.
And he realized that he had never loved Nora, not the way he loved Sapphire. No woman existed in his life that could compare to her and he had been a fool for never telling her just how much she meant to him. He just needed her to hold on and to stay safe until he could get to her.
***
A faint blue glow emitted from the shelter. It seemed to brighten and then dim down every few seconds alternating in a pattern that was almost hypnotic. The soldiers guarding the small building didn’t seem affected by it, but it called to Michael like a beacon. He was drawn like a moth to a flame. A weaker man would have succumbed to the call; however, Michael Adair was not a weak man.
“What is that?” Dorian asked. He tore his gaze away after a moment. “I can’t look at it for long or else I start hearing things…seeing things.”
“Like hypnosis?”
“I think so,” his friend replied.
“It’s dangerous. If they have weapons that can draw shifter toward them and weapons that can knock us unconscious, there’s no way we can fight back against that kind of force. We need to think smart on this one.”
“So, we just let them take Brock?” Dorian shook his head. “We can’t do that, Michael. He’s counting on us to set this right and to save him. He might not be awake right now so soon after the fire, but I know he wouldn’t want to go with them. Not after what happened with Anders.”
“Something about this doesn’t seem right to me.”
Michael saw the stretcher being wheeled out the small shelter with Brock on top of it. An oxygen mask obscured his face, but Michael knew his brother. They carted it over to the helicopter. The spinning blades whipped leaves and twigs around. Soldiers rushed to assi
st the doctor as they loaded his brother into the air transport. He didn’t notice Dorian move into the clearing until it was too late.
Dorian shifted into his bear with more ease than Michael thought he was capable of. The large bear swiped out its paw and sent men flying through the air. People screamed and ran for cover, but most of them fought back. Michael didn’t shift all the way. He tapped into that strength that Corey Reed had seen in him and tried to make it to Dorian in time. Four gunshots echoed in the clearing.
Michael saw each round hit Dorian with a sickening thwack. He grabbed the bear around the shoulders and pulled it back into the tree line. Because he was so focused on saving Dorian, he hadn’t seen the soldier sneak up behind him. Michael felt a blade pierce his side and turned to see who had attacked him. There, in the forest where animals ruled above man, Michael roared in the human’s face and bared his teeth.
The pungent odor of urine wafted toward his nostrils. “W-what are you?” the man stuttered, tripping over his tongue in fear.
“I am Michael Adair. And Haden Springs is mine.”
“Our orders are to bring you freaks in.”
Michael’s face contorted into a fierce snarl. “If my brother is harmed in your custody, then I will hunt you down and I will take away everything you love while you suffer. I have your scent, human.”
He reached out toward the man as more of a threat than an actual danger. The human soldier ran back to the clearing and Michael helped Dorian shift back into this other form. Honestly, he didn’t really think he could hunt a single person across the country with scent alone, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. Bullets pushed out of his skin and dropped to the ground. Michael tucked himself beneath Dorian’s shoulder and carried the weight of his friend back toward town despite the injury in his side.
“Come on, Dorian. I can’t lose you too. Jenny would never forgive me if you died out here.” As much as he wanted to help Sapphire and Anders, Michael needed to get Dorian some help. “Hold on, man. I’ve got you.”
