Someone was close, and it wasn’t one of their group. A smile parted her lips briefly at the thought of being part of the group. She wasn’t sure how she knew; it was like the footsteps were wrong. Her animal had memorized the cadence of each male’s steps and she knew this wasn’t right. Whoever was around was close to the window which was why she could hear them so well.
Her hearing was exceptional; it was something she was just beginning to realize. A second set of footsteps joined the first pair. What were they searching for? Think, she told herself. The other males went to intercept the intruders in the car. These men here could be doing reconnaissance, getting the lay of the land or even planting bugs.
No, that wasn’t worth the risk; they wanted something else. The only thing left here was her. They had come to get her back. She couldn’t go back with them, they would torture her, make her tell them what she knew.
Desperately she started pressing her hands against the walls; there had to be another way out of here. No way Tane didn’t have a backup exit. Not finding anything on the walls, she began feeling the floor beneath her feet. When that didn’t work, she slid her fingers over the floor until her pinky caught on something. It was a lever. Carefully she played with it until the panel in the floor slid back.
Her heart raced as she saw a ladder that led down. She hated dark, damp places. It reminded her of the hole they placed her in when she wouldn’t cooperate. Not having a choice, she took a deep breath and started down the ladder closing the trap door behind her as she heard the outer closet door open.
Don’t make any sound, she said in her head, touching the ground before taking a step. She didn’t know which way to go so she let her animal come forward and take the lead. The tunnel wasn’t wide and it was dark, no light at all. She picked her way through it using her hands and the senses the government gave her.
The sound of the trap door opening behind her made her breath quicken as she tried to go faster. Just as she thought she might find an opening, a hand covered her mouth as another grabbed her around her mid-section. She tried to fight back as she was dragged out of the opening.
“Leza, stop.” Tane’s voice filled her ear. Her body relaxed against him going limp in his arms. He had been waiting for her at the opening of the underground tunnel.
He passed her over to Jay. “Stay quiet, they are on your trail.”
She nodded and moved further away with Jay. Tane and Ben each took a side of the tunnel opening. They were dressed in military gear. Each had a weapon as well as several knives and smaller guns.
A hand on her shoulder had her crouching down in the long grass next to a tree while Jay knelt before her lifting his weapon. Two men came out of the opening with their guns raised. With a kick, Tane had the man fighting for his balance, knocking him down while Ben reached for the second one.
A quick blow to the face had the man Tane was fighting falling to his left. The weapon he was holding fell away. He jumped to his feet grabbing a knife and came after Tane making a grunting noise.
“My mama always said use your words.” Tane taunted him as he encouraged him to come and get him.
The man leapt at him, knife raised to stab him. Tane came in low avoiding the knife and going for his legs. He tossed him over his shoulder. Turning, he dived on him, hitting him repeatedly in the face.
“Who sent you?” Tane asked before hitting him again.
The man spit blood at him saying nothing.
“They didn’t care about you or they wouldn’t have sent you. Are they really worth dying for?”
“I’m dead either way,” the man said a look of defiance on his face. “Not that it matters, they will get her back and you too.”
“What do they want with her?”
“Her? That trash is the base whore, they miss having someone to suck their…”
The crack of his neck cut off his words.
Leza turned her head to see the other man was dead too. Her eyes had turned sad as she looked at Tane.
“I never…” Why should he believe her? She hadn’t but it was becoming obvious that some wanted to use her like that. They told her when she came back that she would be servicing them. All of them. She lowered her head in shame because she knew she wouldn’t be able to fight them off.
It was the feel of Tane’s hand on her cheek that made her lift her head.
“I don’t care if you were or weren’t. You’re here now and you’re nobody’s whore.”
A tear she didn’t know she was holding in ran down her cheek. “No one touched me ever, but they threatened to. I knew when they brought me back they would, and then suddenly I had a chance to run. To be free and I had to take it. I couldn’t let them do that to me.”
He lifted her up and placed his arms around her. She snuggled her face into his neck and breathed his scent in. It settled her and her animal. It was part of what she was missing, his warmth.
“They’re going to keep coming for me. You have to let me go.”
“You’re right they are. That’s why we have to go.”
“They will just follow us.”
“They will try. We knew we wouldn’t be safe here forever, but we needed a place to lie low. A place they could keep an eye on thinking they were still in charge. While they saw what we wanted them to see, we’ve been preparing another place. A place that won’t be easy to sneak into. That’s where we’re going to go.”
She looked at him knowing it wouldn’t be easy.
“You don’t have to come, Leza. You can make a run for it if you want to. Because when we get there we won’t ever go with them at least not alive. That’s our choice; you have to have a choice also.”
Loneliness had been her constant companion. It was the one thing she could count on. She had no friends, just acquaintances mostly. No matter how she tried, she just wasn’t one of those people who could make small talk for the sake of it. The latest game on her smart phone didn’t really thrill her. Not that she wanted to talk politics or anything like that. Instead she wanted to change the world.
Lofty dreams for the woman who spent most of her times between the pages of a book. Now she could be free, but that wouldn’t change anything. If she wanted to do something with her life, she could help keep them all alive and maybe greet any new females when they found them.
If she were honest then she’d admit how much she wanted to spend time with Tane. He made her feel safe when her heart wasn’t in her throat because his nearness was making her feel beautiful. Yeah, there were a thousand reasons she could stay but the one that really mattered was looking at her with green eyes and a serious smile. She wanted to get to know him better.
“Just consider me the resident cook, but if I come you have to agree to teach me how to use a gun.”
Tane gave her a smile that lit up the night and she knew that the right decision had been made.
“How did you know they were coming for you?” Jay asked.
“I could hear them.”
“Explain,” Tane said.
She quickly told them about the car and then being pushed into the closet and the footsteps. Then how she found a way out and ended up where Tane found her.
“You will help with lookout.”
She looked at Tane wide eyed. “I will?”
“Yes, your hearing is more sensitive than any of ours. It’s a skill that we have need of.”
A smile crossed her lips as she followed him back to the cabin. A useful skill. Thank you corrupt government for helping me fit in with these honorable men.
The others were at the cabin when they got there. Dai ran his eyes over her making sure she was ok before turning to look at Tane.
“Thank you for taking care of her.”
Dai cocked his head. “Not as well as I should have.”
“You gave her a way of escape; she was smart enough to take it. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Dai nodded. “What’s our next move?”
“Everything is ready. Grab wh
at you need and we will move out.”
“Tonight? Before we go to sleep and get some rest?”
“Yes, Leza tonight. The men in the car you heard never made it here or back to base. I want to be long gone before some trigger happy colonel decides to send a troop in after us.”
“Are we walking?”
“For now.” Tane replied and walked her into the cabin.
A feeling of sadness overcame her as she changed into her cargo pants and a dark shirt. It had only been a few days, but she liked this cabin and this land. She could be comfortable living here.
Tane walked over and gave her a knife before he wrapped a sheath around her leg close to her ankle.
“Someone gets too close use it. Go for someplace deadly like the heart or the eyes. Remember they won’t hesitate to kill you.”
She nodded. Once again her life was changing. She grabbed a duffel bag, placed her few clothes in it, and followed him out the room.
Chapter Eight
Leza had been walking forever. She glanced at the sky once more following the movement of the moon and wished she could tell time just by looking at it. Her cell phone was destroyed the day of the surgery and the watch she held onto for sentimental reasons probably met that same fate. All she knew was Tane’s strong back because she had been staring at it for hours as she followed him picking her way across land she assumed he owned.
“What will happen to all of this land?” Were they coming back? From the looks of things they weren’t.
The house and everything in it had been collapsed before they left. Dai had a second bag on his shoulders filled with electronic devices and appliances that had been stripped from the house. Jay had sighed when they rigged some dummy electronics to give out warning shocks. He wished they could have rigged the place to blow but they couldn’t be certain a nosy local wouldn’t investigate. No one wanted innocent blood on their hands.
“The land is no longer ours; it now belongs to the one person in town who helped us. We have it tied up in legal tape it should take years before it can be verified that we moved on. Which means part of their manpower will be spent watching empty land.” Tane held his hand up and everyone stopped.
“What about the person you gave the land to?”
“She will have to wait a year to claim it but understands. She is grateful to receive such a large holding.”
They were at the edge of a wooded area. Roughly ten feet in front of them stood two black SUV’s. Tane motioned for Jay and Ben to go check them out. They broke off from the group approaching the SUV’s while staying close to the ground.
Leza watched as they circled them before getting close enough to open the door. They opened all the doors as well as the back hatch before climbing in and moving around. Once they exited, a small bird call was heard from each of them that Tane answered. He took her hand encouraging her to run with him to the vehicles.
They split into two groups. Tane, Dai, Jay and Leza climbed into the first one. Ben, Lore and Dev climbed into the second one with Lore in the driver’s seat. Tane flashed him a couple of hand movements that she couldn’t interpret and Lore responded. Lore fired the engine, took one last look at them, and pulled out. Tane pulled out going in the opposite direction.
“What’s happening?” Leza twisted her head to watch the other SUV until she couldn’t see it any longer.
“We’re changing our base of operations. They will head to it in one direction and we’ll take another taking care of anyone on our tail as we move.”
She sank into the comfort of the seat. She was riding shotgun while Tane was driving.
“How long did we walk?”
“Four hours,” Dai answered her.
“Only four hours?” she said slightly sarcastic. “I guess I shouldn’t be exhausted but I am. I think I will get some sleep.”
“Dai, Jay get some sleep also; in a few hours I will wake Dai to drive.”
They nodded and quickly got comfortable in the back seat.
*~*~*~*
Tane glanced over at Leza and felt a ball of tension unravel in his chest. Just the sight of her could do that. The fact that she represented a future he thought the military and the government stole from him still felt surreal.
The military was supposed to be his ticket to a better life. He and Dai had enlisted when they were eighteen. There was nothing in civilian life for them. Their father died when they were thirteen. He was a foreman for a construction company. They called it an unfortunate accident. An accident that left their father crushed and lifeless. The insurance money they received had barely been enough for their mother to keep food on the table but she did the best she could.
He knew that everything would be ok when they turned eighteen. They would find better jobs than the afterschool ones they were working and take care of their mother. Then she developed cancer. She had insurance, but it wasn’t all that good. She faded fast. Soon they were barely keeping their grades up at school trying to pull double shifts to make money for her medicine.
“Please graduate,” her voice was frail and thin when she asked that. All she ever wanted them to do was graduate.
The doctors told them she wouldn’t live to see them walk across the stage but his mother was determined that she would see her two boys become men.
Tane could still see the doctor shaking his head when he told them their mother wouldn’t live another week to see them walk across the stage at graduation. She was dying. He could still remember the fuss when he and Dai walked into the hospital the day of their graduation dressed in their gowns with their caps sitting precariously on their heads.
Clutched in his hand was a simple dress, one his mother had seen in a store window and pictured wearing when they crossed the stage. He asked her favorite nurse Nancy to help them get her changed. She kissed them both on the cheeks and agreed.
Then with the doctor frowning with his mouth, but smiling with his eyes, he unhooked her from the machine. He told them she had to be back at ten that night because she couldn’t miss the next dose of her medicine. They acknowledged him and took her to graduation. She was given a place of honor on the stage to see her sons walk across and accept their diplomas.
When they walked each one of them ended at her side kneeling down before her. She was the powerhouse in their lives. The whole stadium stood up and gave an ovation. Their mother deserved it. She had held them together. They could have been lost to the streets and gangs. Or whatever else waited for two angry teens but she refused to give them up. That moment was made possible by her.
They went to a restaurant with some of their friends and their families. Mom was sitting between them, she couldn’t eat but that didn’t matter. She laughed and talked and rejoiced in their special day.
She died a month later with them holding her hands. It was ok; she was ready to go home and she had already charted their lives. They would enter the military, find good women, settle down and have babies. Of course they would tell the babies about their grandma and granddad who loved them even though they didn’t get a chance to meet them.
He was pretty sure that dream died the day they ended up in that testing facility but his mom never knew about that. Now Leza was at his side. Now they were fighting for their lives against the government but what their mom instilled in them would get them through. They gave up hours of sleep in order to study to make their mom’s dream a reality but it had helped them later in life. They were intelligent. Way too intelligent for their own good was how the government doctors logged it.
He watched the sun as it climbed the sky. He checked the position and realized it was close to eight in the morning. It was time to stop and get something to eat. Then he needed sleep.
*~*~*~*
Leza stretched. The feel of Tane’s hand caressing her face woke her up with a sleepy smile on her lips.
“Where are we?”
“At a rest stop. You need to get up and get something to eat.” She nodded and looked into the back to
see that both Dai and Jay were up doing a visual reconnaissance of the stop. They silently slid out the car and moved off into different directions. She reached for the door handle but Tane stopped her.
“Let’s wait until they come back.”
She nodded her understanding. They didn’t trust there wasn’t danger even though the rest stop was filled with families and what looked like businessmen and women getting their day started. Dai and Jay finally came back giving Tane a sign that everything was fine. He let go of her hand, and she quickly exited the SUV not wanting to draw attention to herself.
They walked into a busy restaurant, it was loud and boisterous. Leza found herself relaxing. It was humanity at its best as a mother teased her child and a boyfriend snuck a kiss. It was normal, something she hadn’t seen or been a part of in a long time.
“This is what life was meant to be,” she said as they were seated at a booth. “Early morning with the family. Full of life and love as you make your way to someplace amazing.”
“It’s not what every life was meant to be,” Jay said looking around the restaurant. “Not everyone has those kinds of lives, they just don’t.”
“I know, but I always believed it was meant to be this way.”
“I think life was meant to be you by my side, along with my brothers as we run from the government and military to a safe place to live,” Tane said. “There we will have early morning breakfasts and raise kids and live in freedom.”
Her eyes glazed over as she imagined living on acres and acres of land with Tane, their children sitting in their laps as they watched the sunset. She would look over and he would place a kiss on her lips. When she looked to the other side one of the other males would be their tickling their children or kissing their mates. She could see forever in a place like that. Raising her hand, she wiped at her eye before a tear of longing could fall.
“That sounds nice. I can almost see it.”
Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1) Page 5
