by Unknown
Connor hadn't moved from where he had landed, more than likely dead. The truck holding the
other wolves pulled out, headed in the direction of the main road. For now, the others were safe, but it wouldn't last forever. Once Carlos got them into his new facility, they would suffer. He wouldn't settle for anything less.
It was her worst nightmare, come back to life. By staying here, all she had done was give him
some new toys to play with. It was all her fault that this had come to pass. Guilt pressed down on her, heavily. She didn't deserve anything more than the facility they were headed to, but she'd be damned if the other wolves were held, too.
Carlos sat down next to her, wrapping a heavy arm around her shoulders as they pulled off. “I
see you've gained quite a bit of weight,” he said, sardonically. “Personally, I prefer a slimmer woman, but who knows? Maybe it will add to your fertility.”
He pressed his thick lips to her ear, his tone lowering in volume. “I've been waiting a long time to have you beneath me, Taylor. My patience has paid off. Your body is going to immortalize me. By breeding with you, will be my genes in the first human/hybrid wolf mix to ever be carried and born. I'll finally get the recognition I so richly desire, and you will get the full benefit of my attentions. Just think... You'll be kept naked and chained, awaiting my pleasures anytime I decide to give them. Doesn't that excite you?”
Taylor gagged, unable to hold back the nausea bubbling up into the back of her throat. She
pressed a hand against her mouth, moving away from him as far as the seat would allow. With her supernatural sense of smell, she couldn't bear to be in close proximity to the stench of his pores. The cool night breeze helped, as she turned her face in its direction.
“Was that answer enough for you, Carlos, or did I actually need to hang my face over the side
and puke my guts out?”
His eyes narrowed on her as the soldiers in the front seat laughed mockingly at her words.
“Stupid bitch,” he bit out, his face angered. “ You stupid, stupid, bitch. I can see we need to up the dosage on your shots.”
“I just bet you do. You don't want a woman with any spark of life in her, do you? You want a
living zombie, someone without the ability to fight back. I'll tell you one thing, though. You can drug me all you want, but it won't never make you more of a man.”
“Give me the sedative, now,” he ordered to the soldier sitting in the passenger seat. He handed him back a long needle, filled with a yellowish-fluid. “Sleep tight, Taylor, and know when you wake up I'll more than likely be between your legs.”
She pulled away, but he wrapped his large hand in her hair, grasping it cruelly to hold her in place. Without any hesitation, he stuck the needle into the side of her neck, quickly pushing the plunger. The liquid burned as it flowed into her, but began to work, immediately. Carlos threw the needle on the side of the road, watching the drugs take effect.
Taylor fought to stay awake, but it was created to work on werewolves and humans, alike. Her
body flooded with a mixture of helplessness and hopelessness. It was her last waking thought as the darkness carried her away.
Chapter 11
Marrok paced the confines of Alonzo's living room as the other men talked. It was nearing
dawn, but it didn't slow down the werewolves. They were finalizing their plans to move in and take control of Carlos. Their sources were certain that he was holed up in another section of New Mexico, one unconnected by tunnels with the prior one.
His wolf was antagonized. He couldn't shake the sense that something was terribly wrong, and
the physical manifestations from the stress were driving him insane. His skin itched unmercifully, his body twitching to shift. With each hour that passed, he grew more certain that leaving had been a horrible mistake.
Ignoring the men, he pulled the door open and walked outside. The night was cool, but it didn't ease the fire burning within him. He surveyed the land around him, taking in the red dirt and large mesa that stood hauntingly silent in the distance. This was where it had all begun... And where it would all end. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed the number for headquarters, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the guardian on duty to answer.
Alexander and Alonzo followed him outside. Alexander arched his eyebrow when he asked,
“What's wrong with you, Marrok? You've been on edge since we left the settlement.”
Marrok ignored them, staring at the phone with a thoughtful look when it automatically stopped ringing,unanswered. “That's strange,” he muttered, trying again. At their curious looks, he elaborated,
“Nobody is answering the phone at headquarters.”
Quicker than the human eye could have seen, Alexander snatched his own phone out. Pushing
the button for his home, he held it up to his ear as it rang. With his blue eyes flashing, he stared back at Marrok. “Nobody is answering at home, either.”
“Maybe your guardian had to take a leak,” Alonzo said, trying to ease the men's worry.
“It's something else,” Marrok insisted, his voice brooking no argument. “Dammit, I shouldn't
have left. There's something wrong at home, and we're stuck here in New Mexico.”
Alexander dialed the number for headquarters. It rang repeatedly before Hunter finally
answered. All three men heard the stress in his voice when he barked out, “Headquarters.”
“Hunter, this is your king,” Alexander said, his voice low and insistent. He didn't bother asking if anything was wrong. Instead, he said, “I need an update, immediately.”
Placing the phone on speakerphone, the three men waited for Hunter to speak. “My Liege,
we've been attacked.”
“Where is my mate?” Alexander hissed into the phone, his features broadening. “Where is
Carole Anne?”
Hunter swallowed hard. “She's been taken, along with your grandparents and Taylor.”
Alexander's body visibly trembled at his words. Leaning his head back, he howled with an
intensity that made the veins in his neck bulge out. When he brought his face back down, his eyes were wild, more animal than human. Marrok knew how he felt.
“There's more. Connor was shot with silver at the airfield. The attack happened right after you left. He's with Doctor Sanders now, more dead than alive.”
“Shit. Who has them?” Alexander bit out. “I need to know, now.”
“We don't know. We know it was a group because of the amount of vehicles. Based off of the
tracks, they are traveling with a tractor trailer. We did find two needles filled with drugs. Doctor Brown is running tests on the residue. He believes one of them is a sedative.”
Marrok's eyes widened in rage. There was only one that would travel with drugs like that.
“Carlos has them.”
Alexander nodded in agreement, his hands clenched into fists. It wasn't often the alpha was
pushed beyond the limits of his control, but when he was, there was hell to pay. “You said this happened shortly after we left. How do you know?”
“The guardians at the airfield never returned, but we didn't know it, immediately. It wasn't until Connor didn't show back up here for his shift that we realized something was wrong.”
“How long ago was that?”
“A half-hour ago. I was on my way in to notify you. We've got Wolf Town secured, and every
guardian remaining has been pulled in for duty. We have also dispatched a team of our best trackers to follow their scent trail.”
Alexander closed his eyes in relief. “That was a good move, Hunter. Hopefully, they can find
them. Make sure the team lead has my number. I want to be notified if anything changes, immediately.”
He hung up, his eyes filled with the promise of death.
Marrok forced himself to think, but it wasn't easy. Knowing his mate was
in the clutches of his enemy destroyed his generally rational thoughts. “I won't sit and wait,” he warned Alexander. “I refuse to sit around while my mate is in his hands.”
“Hell, no. That bastard is a dead man walking,” Alexander replied. “Alonzo, can you notify the packs between here and Missouri to be on alert?”
“I'll give the order, now.” He turned, moving quickly to go back in and make the call.
“Once we get an idea of the direction they are moving in, we'll move out. With any luck, they
haven't managed to catch a private plane. If they have...” Alexander's voice trailed off, not wanting to put the thought into words. It was too painful for each male. In a plane, they'd be damned near untraceable.
“Hunter said there were a lot of them, so it's unlikely. When we find Carlos, he dies,” Marrok bit out. “No bullshitting around. He's way too deranged to risk removing him and taking him
somewhere else to question. We question him right then and there, or not at all.”
“If he's hurt my family, he won't live long enough to be questioned,” Alexander snapped. “I'll rip his damned throat out where he stands.”
Alonzo stepped back out. “I've notified the council, and they are already on it. I've called for an emergency meeting here, due to start in fifteen minutes. It's up to you how you want to go with this, Alexander. Our pack can more than handle exploring the possible hideout, if you want your team to concentrate on this.”
Alexander nodded. “It's possible this lead was nothing more than a ploy to get us away from
Wolf Town. I doubt you'll find Carlos anywhere around here, but he's clever. I wouldn't put anything past him. Warn your braves to move in with care.”
Alonzo nodded, his dark eyes calm and unwavering. “We will proceed as planned. Should we
discover anything, I'll notify you myself. Don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything else for you.”
The guardians arrived, accompanied by the braves from the tribe. All of them were tense and
edgy. Werewolves were not created to take anything lying down. They were ready to see the end of anyone associated with the research facilities, and they would do whatever was needed to make sure it happened.
Alexander faced the men, his shoulders pulled back and his expression grim. “For those of you
that haven't heard, Wolf Town was attacked after we flew out. My family was taken by the head of the research facility, and Connor was possibly killed. They traveled in vehicles, and the guardians left behind are tracking them. When we get word of their direction, we'll be leaving. The braves will handle storming the hideout.”
The battle cry of the wolves was haunting and bittersweet as it filled the night air, an animalistic representation of the savageness hidden within their hearts. Werewolves were loyal to their pack beyond fault. It was a lesson the humans involved were going to learn, and learn well. Day or night, no matter what it took, they would be vindicated.
Alexander's cell phone rang. The wolves quieted immediately. Answering it fast, they all waited for the caller to state their business. “Alexander, it's Rand. I'm the lead on the team following your mate. I was given the order to notify you immediately with our findings.”
He put the call on speakerphone.“What do you have?”
“The jeeps were deserted at a state park about an hour from Wolf Town. Surprisingly, they seem to be headed west, although, that could change at anytime. We are still on their trail, but the scent is harder to detect in the more urban areas. They don't appear to be stopping for anything other than gas.”
“Stay on their tails,” Alexander ordered immediately. “Switch out your drivers as needed. Once you make visual contact, don't attempt to stop them. They might decide to hurt one of ours in the process. If your guess is right, how soon until they arrive here?”
Rand was quiet for a moment. “They had a head start of several hours before we realized what
had happened. If they drive straight through, they will be there sometime after the sun sets, possibly in as little as twelve hours. That's if they are returning back to Jagged Rock. I'll call you immediately if their course changes direction.”
“Thank you, Rand. I'll be waiting to hear back from you.”
The other wolves heard the entire conversation with their sensitive hearing. Alexander didn't
waste time repeating it. “They are headed in this direction, but a lot could affect their final destination. I feel confident they won't attempt to return to the destroyed facility. They would have had a backup area, someplace safe to escape to if their facility was ever breached. That's what we need to focus on locating, be it from the tip we received or by our own efforts.”
“It's a good plan,” Marrok agreed. “We can find it and storm it before they make it back. Once it's cleared, we'll hide and wait. We want to stop them before they ever get inside, preferably during the unloading stage. This will give us an advantage they won't see coming.”
“We have a lot to do today,” Alexander called out. “Let's get busy.”
The werewolves separated. Some would grab a quick bite to eat, while others took a brief nap.
The rest would spread out, searching out the hidden secrets beneath the mesa. Then, they would switch, something Alexander fully approved of. He wanted his werewolves at the top of their games. His entire future was riding on it.
Marrok and Alexander moved to their borrowed jeep. The sun was beginning to rise, but their
bodies were full of energy. Sleep was not an option for the two whose mates were abducted. The only thing that would soothe them was preparing for a successful rescue. Nothing else mattered.
Alexander leaped into the driver's seat in one slick motion. The jeep rocked from the weight of his powerful, muscular form. Marrok ran around the side, hopping in an instant before Alexander tore off.
He took the dirt road fast, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. “You know this area better than anyone, Marrok. Where should we start?”
Marrok didn't reply. Instead, he stared at the mesa silently, reaching out with everything he had in him. As innocent as it looked, underneath its rocky surface were numerous secrets... And numerous places to hide. If they weren't careful, they could lose their mates permanently in its mysterious depths.
“Let's start back at the ranch. I want to see the hidden entrance for myself. Maybe once we see it, we can get a clearer picture of what we need to be watching for. Turn right at the next road.”
Ten minutes later, they pulled up to the front of the deserted house. Several buildings of varying sizes surrounded it, lending credit to the belief that it was nothing more than a simple ranch. “No wonder this place was never suspected,” Alexander said out loud, taking it all in. “Even I would have been fooled, if I didn't already know what it is.”
“It's the perfect hiding spot,” Marrok agreed, climbing out of the jeep. “Nobody ever thought
twice about the traffic coming and going from here, not with it being touted as a highly-productive ranch. It would have been impossible to keep a large entrance hidden if they would have put it in the rock wall. By concealing it like this, though, they could have kept this up, forever.”
“If they are coming back with a big rig, they will need a huge entrance. So far, the only one that describes this would be the steel building out back. Let's start there.”
The two men moved around the house, their strides long and powerful. “They must have been
watching us as we left last night,” Alexander mused, his mind replaying the events leading up to the abduction. “So they already knew we would be departing at that time and place.”
Marrok shot him a grim look.”Do you think we have a spy?”
“Hell, no,” Alexander replied, with a quick shake of his head. “There isn't a werewolf alive that would ever align themselves with someone who tortures and kills their own people. I'm thinking they have been watching us and waiting for their opportunity, though.”
<
br /> “It would have been damned hard for them to avoid detection by the guardians, but not
impossible. Years ago, they used a concoction to cover their scent. In thirty years, they have probably perfected it.”
Alexander's eyes scanned the horizon, thoughtfully. “Why would they return back here?
Especially knowing we are here. It doesn't make sense.”
Marrok pulled the heavy door open and walked in, quickly checking for danger. There was none
to be found within the dark depths of the building. It was larger than he'd imagined, the ceiling likely fifty feet high. His hand moved automatically to the wall, searching for the switches to turn on the lights.
Bright light flooded the room. It was as silent as a tomb, the air stale to his nose. Nobody had been in here recently, of that he was positive. “All clear,” he called back to Alexander, although, the other man had already moved in.
Marrok picked up where they had left off, moving to search through papers lying on a table.
“Maybe it makes perfect sense they have remained local,” he said, thoughtfully. “It's the last place we would have suspected. Beyond that, I just don't get this. Is there any rhyme and reason to his madness?
If there is, I'm completely missing it.”
Alexander sighed. “We should hear from Alonzo soon. Maybe the tip will be legitimate. If so,
we will head over immediately. If not, we've got to locate their new hideout, and somehow, we have to pull this all off by sunset. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Marrok moved to the control center, pulling open drawers and examining everything he found.
It was unlikely he'd find anything of importance in an obvious spot, though. The New Mexico pack was much to thorough for that. “I can't stand this,” he roared out, throwing a drawer on the floor. “I hate these games. How long can Taylor hold up, back in the hands of the monster that had her for so many years?”
“We will get them back,” Alexander vowed. “They picked the wrong pack to mess with, that's
for sure. By the time I'm done with Carlos, he'll beg for mercy.”
“Dammit,” Marrok hissed out, slamming his fist down on the metal top. His eyes circled the
