And he had to find them tonight.
The wolves would kill Cora first. She was running out of time.
He watched Paige and Baxter run down the street and turn a corner. Caleb came up to him and handed him his phone, “These are the wolves' last known hideouts. They've all been abandoned.”
Ethan glanced at the short list. One of them was an underground bunker not far from where they were.
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Cora's unique scent from her dress and seeing her pretty, smiling face in his mind. He'd seen her photograph on her staff pass. She had lively, hazel eyes, wavy brown hair and a sweet, rosy, heart-shaped face. He could imagine her running after her kindergarten students and laughing merrily with them.
In fact, he could almost hear her laughter. The sound became a scream in his head, and Ethan snapped his eyes wide open.
“This one,” Ethan said, pointing at the last location listed on Caleb's phone. “They're here.”
“How do you know?” Caleb asked.
“Just a hunch.”
Caleb narrowed his eyes at him. But all the bears in his clan knew that their Alpha's hunch was almost always dead on target.
“What can I say? Your Alpha is always right!” was his smug, flippant refrain.
There was no way he could explain to them that he could sometimes hear the screams and pleas of the victims in his head. They might not even be the victims' voices. He could just be a bear with an overactive imagination. But whatever it was, it allowed him to solve cases and find people that the police and authorities have all failed to find.
The Black Bears Group never let a client down. They never left a client behind and they always finished the job.
Paige and Baxter were running back towards them.
“The trail is very faint but we managed to follow it past the rows of old houses and towards a wide open field,” Baxter reported. “It looks like there's...”
“...an old bunker out there,” Paige finished breathlessly.
“Let's go,” Ethan snapped. “They're in there.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. I'm sure,” Ethan gritted out. He had never been so sure in his life.
Cora Olson was there, and she was alive. He was sure of it. He could feel her pain and rage, almost as if...she were his mate.
Ethan shook his head hard.
Was this human woman...his?
Could it be?
As he began to sprint across the road, Baxter shouted after him, “Should I call for backup?”
“No time. We're going in now! Move it!”
“Yes, Alpha!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cora groaned and felt something wet against her cheek.Cora forced her eyes open and a lion cub's furry face swam into focus.
She started as the cub licked her face tenderly. “Oh,” she rasped. “It's you.”
Billy shifted back to human form and knelt beside her. “Sorry if I scared you, but I can protect you better as a lion,” he said bravely.
“You didn't scare me. Well, maybe a little.” She tried to smile but her whole face hurt too much.
“Are you okay, Cora?”
“I'm okay.”
“You don't look okay.” Billy shook his head and swiped roughly at his eyes.
“I'm fine. I'm t-tough.” She coughed and tried to sit up. She was back in her cage. Only this time they had thrown Billy in with her. Billy had probably refused to leave her side, growling and snarling at them in his lion form. To save time, the wolves had just stuffed him in the cage with her. What could a baby lion do anyway?
The fluorescent light above them flickered and Cora pulled Billy to her weakly. She saw big, ugly bruises all over the little boy's naked, grimy body.
“Thank you for protecting me. You're my hero,” she whispered, planting a kiss on the top of his head.
“You protected me, Cora,” he answered. “You're the real hero. You're brave, like my mom. She was human too. But she died in an accident. She's real pretty too, like you. I look at her pictures all the time.”
“I'm so sorry,” Cora whispered, hugging him.
“My dad used to be a policeman. He'll save us,” Billy said with absolute confidence.
Cora nodded but even that little movement sent fireworks exploding in her head. She closed her eyes but stars continued flashing on the back of her eyelids.
She felt Billy stiffen beside her and he gave a low growl. Cora opened her eyes to see the boy change swiftly into his lion form and position himself in front of her. The little cub made a fierce, angry sound that she supposed was the baby version of a roar.
The wolves were back. But there were only two of them this time. She vaguely remembered their names, Ziel and Rog. Cora didn't like the looks on their faces as they approached her cage. Billy snarled at them, his tail swishing angrily.
Ziel unlocked the cage door and reached in for her. “Come here. No point letting this soft, female body languish in here.”
Billy pounced and sank his teeth into Ziel's arm. Ziel bellowed in pain and smashed the cub hard against the cage bars. Billy's little body twitched and shuddered, but he refused to let go.
“Stupid little shit!” Ziel roared, clubbing Billy violently on the head. Cora screamed and grabbed Ziel's arm, digging her nails deep into his skin. She drew blood but that didn't slow Ziel down. As he dragged Cora out of the cage, he tore the cub off his arm and flung Billy back into the cage before slamming the door shut. Billy mewed weakly before his head lolled to the side.
“Billy!” Cora yelled but Ziel pulled her away.
“You like it rough, eh?” Ziel gripped Cora's face and displayed his fangs in a cruel smile. “I like it rough too.”
Rog stepped forward and unzipped his pants. “You hold her down. I'll go first.”
Ziel narrowed his eyes, then smirked. “Fine. I want to hear her scream when you fuck her. That'll get me off.”
Cora struggled violently, but the two wolves were too strong. They overpowered her easily and pinned her to the ground.
Rog put his hands on her breasts and squeezed roughly. “Nice tits,” he laughed. He ripped the remains of her shredded blouse away and fondled her all over. When he tried to tug her zipper down, Cora kicked out, screaming and thrashing desperately.
“Don't touch me! Leave me alone! Help, help!”
“No one will help you.” Rog lowered his face to hers. “No one can hear you. No one even knows you're here.”
Cora tried to kick him where it mattered when he grabbed her legs and forced them apart. “Scream,” he hissed. “Go on. I love it when females scream and struggle.”
Cora yelled herself hoarse. This couldn't be happening. These wolves would use her, then kill her. She had to stay alive. Cora heard a wrenching sob escape and she cursed even harder as she strained against their rough, savage hands. Don't cry, don't be weak, don't give in to these dirty wolves!
Her scream pierced the air just as the door exploded and she felt herself being released suddenly.
Cora scrambled away as Rog and Ziel whirled round to face the intruders. Two towering men slammed into the werewolves and Cora crawled painfully towards her cage, towards Billy, ignoring the wild, animal roars behind her.
She glanced back over her shoulder to see Ziel and Rog attacking the two broad, muscular men. She glimpsed claws glinting from the fingertips of the men and knew that they were shifters.
Were they werelions? Was one of them Billy's dad?
The little cub was still lying unconscious at the corner of the cage. Fear and worry gripped Cora's heart. No, Billy couldn't have broken his neck or his skull. He couldn't! He had to survive.
“Billy, wake up,” she whispered fiercely, reaching through the bars to stroke his downy fur. “Please wake up. We're going to be okay. You're right. You dad has come to save you. Now wake up!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ethan charged at one
of the werewolves, his claws fully extended. The bastard had been about to rape that helpless woman when he burst into the room with Caleb. They had found the bunker and he'd tracked her scent to this room. There was another wolf in the bunker, but Paige and Baxter had killed him when he tried to raise the alarm.
Ethan had heard the woman's screams. Her voice was hoarse and filled with pain and fury. Exploding into the room, he saw her pinned to the ground by two wolves, her pants being ripped as one of the wolves forced himself on her.
His bear roared but Ethan didn't let his beast out. The woman's terror was like a knife in his gut and he didn't want to traumatize her further by shifting into a big black bear.
Ethan slashed his claws down the werewolf's face while Caleb took the other wolf down. Somewhere at the back of his head, his rational, shrewd, alpha mind told him not to kill the piece of shit.
They could question him and break him. These wolves would be more useful alive than dead.
But his bear was roaring for blood.
This wolf had hurt Cora. He deserved death, even though death was too good for him.
Ethan rammed his claws into the man's throat. His hand shook as he fought the urge to tear out his throat.
“Alive,” Ethan roared to his beta. “We want them alive.”
Caleb bellowed a reply as he wrestled the enemy to the ground.
Ethan forced himself to retract his claws from the man's neck. The werewolf had only half shifted. His form was still largely human, but his eyes were glowing with blood lust.
He bared his bloodstained fangs at Ethan. With a smile, he jerked his head and sliced a long, deep gash across his neck with Ethan's claws.
“Shit,” Ethan spat, snatching his claws out of the man's spurting neck.
“This one's gone,” he shouted over to Caleb. “Keep yours alive.”
Caleb sheathed his claws and aimed his sledgehammer of a fist at the werewolf's head. There was a loud crack, and the man slumped to the ground in a heap.
Ethan went to the woman who was whispering to an unconscious lion cub in a cage. “Miss Cora Olson?” he said gently.
She jerked her head up and stared at him. Her lower lip was cut and there were bruises on her face and body. Tracks of blood trickled down her arms but she didn't seem to pay any attention to her injuries. She was staring worriedly at the little cub in the cage. The sight of her wounds made Ethan's heart clench. He didn't regret killing that wolf. He only regretted not making him suffer.
Her lovely hazel eyes shone with tears of relief. “Yes, I'm Cora. Are you Billy's dad?” she asked.
“No. I'm Ethan Flint, Alpha of the Black Bears. Billy's dad came to us for help.”
“Black Bears?” she swallowed.
“We own the Black Bears Group. We do security work,” he explained.
She gulped and nodded jerkily. “They hurt him.” Her voice trembled with rage.
“We'll get him out.”
Ethan turned and saw Caleb pulling a bunch of keys out of the dead werewolf's pocket. Caleb threw the keys to him and he caught it neatly out of the air.
Ethan glanced at the keys in his hand. Then he took just one look at the lock of the cage and his experience and instinct kicked in. He had been in the security business a long time, and he instantly recognized the right key.
Unlocking the cage swiftly, he scooped the cub up in his palm and went to Cora.
“Let's get you two out of here,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her.
“I...I'm fine. I can walk...”
“I won't hurt you,” he said softly.
She blinked up at him and gave him a shy smile. “I know,” she said.
Caleb grabbed the unconscious Hyland wolf and dragged him unceremoniously out the door.
“That's Caleb,” Ethan introduced in a conversational tone, wanting to put her at ease. He didn't want her to feel intimidated by his bears, who were all in their black uniforms and armed to the teeth. Their guns were visible in their holsters and knives were strapped to their boots. Being surrounded by a bunch of powerful, strapping bear shifters would be pretty unnerving for a tiny, human woman.
“Caleb is a Black Bear too,” Ethan continued casually. “And Paige and Baxter are waiting for us outside.”
“They're your friends?” she said as cheerfully as she could.
“They're my clan...and my colleagues. We work together.”
She nodded and tried to hide her grimace. She was in pain but she didn't want to slow them down.
“I'll carry you,” Ethan said. Baxter came jogging up and very gently eased the lion cub from his hand.
“T-thank you,” she whispered as her head fell on his shoulder. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER NINE
Cora opened her eyes and blinked up at the ceiling. It took her a few minutes to realize that she wasn't in her own bed. She patted the smooth, silky covers and turned to see someone sitting in a chair by the bed.
Startled, she was about to cry out when she realized that the gorgeous stranger in the chair was the man who had rescued her from those wolves. He'd told her his name. Ethan Flint. He was just sitting there with his eyes closed, his fingers laced together over his stomach. His soft, blond hair flopped across his forehead and Cora lazily let her eyes roam down his sharp, straight nose to those sensual lips. He was very good-looking, and his physique was...mouth-watering. Cora licked her dry lips, shamelessly admiring her sleeping rescuer. His t-shirt stretched over broad shoulders and his long legs were crossed at the ankles. She remembered that he had the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
“You hungry?”
Cora jerked at his voice. His lips had barely moved and his eyes were still closed. But he seemed to know that she was awake. She flushed, wondering if he had sensed her eyes on him.
“I...”
He opened one eye and smiled at her.
“You knew I was awake,” she said.
“Yep.” He grinned, and her heart skipped a beat.
She had a feeling that many a female had fallen prey to that boyish, devastating grin. She could feel her traitorous female bits responding and fluttering infuriatingly, making her forget what she wanted to say.
“The doctor's been in to see you,” he said, pouring her a glass of water. “Nothing's broken. No infection, no fever. The doctor gave you an injection and some medication.”
Cora accepted the glass of water and said, “What about Billy? Where is he?”
“He's home, with his dad and grandma.”
“Is he okay?”
“He asked the same thing about you.”
“He's a great kid. He protected me from those wolves.” Cora sipped her water and said, “He tried to stop them from...touching me. He bit them, and they hurt him.” Her hand began to shake and she had to put the glass down.
“He's a really brave kid.”
“His wounds…?”
“Billy is a shifter. He heals much faster than you. He's fine, and his bruises have faded.”
“But I'm still black and blue all over,” Cora concluded, grimacing.
Ethan chuffed, and his face turned stormy.
Cora gasped at the rage evident in his expression. Why should he be feeling so angry at the mere mention of her injuries? The man looked like he was about to go on a murderous rampage and kill those wolves who had hurt her. Oh wait, he did kill Rog. His claws had sliced right across that werewolf's neck, like a knife through butter.
Cora shuddered. Ethan was a bear shifter.
He might be drop dead gorgeous but make no mistake, the man was a predator, a deadly killer.
He could take out a big bad wolf with one swipe of his sharp claws. Imagine what he could do to her with those big, calloused hands…
Cora gasped. The thought aroused her rather than frightened her. Unnerved by her own reaction, Cora swallowed and wrapped her arms around herself. She was wearing a big, loose t-shirt and sh
e had no doubt it was Ethan's shirt. She could smell his scent and it seemed to calm her and assure her. It didn't make any sense but it made her feel safe. Maybe it was because Ethan had saved her. What she was feeling was just gratitude.
And well, it wasn't wrong to admire a good-looking male specimen. She just had to make sure he didn't catch her ogling him.
“I'm glad Billy is okay,” she said softly. “But why did those wolves kidnap Billy? They said something about making him pay for the sins of his father. Billy said his dad used to be a cop.”
Ethan blew out a breath and said, “Yeah. Billy's dad, Keith, shot and killed a suspect. The thug opened fire first, and Keith covered his partner and killed the guy. But the dead guy wasn't any ordinary criminal. He was the brother of Marlo Hynderland, the leader of the Hyland Wolves. The Hyland Wolves made their riches smuggling Hyweed, an illegal drug. Hyweed can increase the powers of shifters, but it can also mess with their nervous system, making them lose control of their beasts.”
“A werewolf drug lord,” Cora muttered.
Ethan nodded. “The Hyland Wolves are vengeful and violent. Marlo wants to make Keith pay for killing his brother. So he took his son, hoping to make Keith suffer.”
“You caught the other Hyland wolf, right? I think his name is Ziel.”
“Yes. My bears have been...persuading him to talk.”
Cora opened her mouth then shut it. It might be better not to know about their methods of persuasion.
“Has he...talked?”
“A little.” Ethan shrugged.
“And?”
“We know that Marlo is in town.”
Cora nodded slowly. “There was blood in the other cage. Billy told me...”
“Werewolf blood.”
“What?”
“The Hyland Wolves executed one of their own. Marlo is known to execute wolves within his pack who have grown too powerful for his liking. He probably gave Ziel and company a wolf that was rising too quickly in power and position within the pack. Get rid of a potential threat to his leadership and trigger the blood lust of those wolves.”
Bear's Bride (Bear Heat Book 1) (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) Page 3
