Rise to Embrace [Rise of the Changelings, Book 3] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove)

by Lynn Hagen

  But he hadn’t found Willow.

  She wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Brooke and Deluca had checked every cell. Deluca knew the children had been kept separate from their parents, but to see the appalling conditions they were living in was something he would never forget.

  Changelings were shifting, attacking the guards as they fought to get to their children. Deluca knew before long this place was going to be ass-deep in military personnel. They weren’t getting out fast enough, and in that chaotic moment, Deluca knew not everyone was going to be saved. Some were going to be recaptured. Some were going to be killed. But Willow was not going to be either of them.

  He ran down a white corridor, stopping at the first room he came upon. Deluca swung open the door, his gun held in front of him as his eyes swept the room.

  “Holy mother of…” Brooke whispered as they looked at what had to be a changeling. The poor creature was lying there whimpering, half human, half tiger. It almost looked like the—Deluca wasn’t even sure if it was a man or woman, but the changeling looked like it had been turned inside out.

  “Kill me,” the creature begged in a raspy voice. Deluca swallowed hard, aimed his gun, and put the poor bastard out of its misery. He began to pant heavily, becoming dizzy at what he had seen.

  What in the fuck was going on in this place? Was the government experimenting on the nonhumans? This would be the perfect setup if they were. They had multitudes of changelings at their disposal. Nothing would stop them from experimenting on one after another. The sight of the creature disturbed Deluca in ways that he knew he would never forget. He was going to have nightmares about the sight and voice of the creature. There was no way he couldn’t.

  Willow.

  Sheer terror filled him as he renewed his search. He had to find her. If they had done anything to Willow, Deluca was going to hunt down every last one of the bastards responsible and…he tamped down the rage and fear as he hurried from the room.

  He was almost afraid to see what was in the next one. Deluca was terrified to find Willow in the same form, begging him to kill her. He couldn’t think about that. He didn’t want to find her that way.

  “I’ll go first,” Brooke offered. Deluca nodded as he swallowed around the fear in this throat.

  The next room was empty.

  Deluca was almost relieved. They half jogged to the next room, and Deluca began seething when he saw a coyote lying on the metal bed. The coyote wasn’t moving. It just lay there, but Deluca could see a small rise and fall of the animal’s chest and knew it was alive.

  “Is that her?” Brooke asked.

  “I sure as shit hope so.” Deluca holstered his weapon and quickly, but carefully, picked the coyote up and began to make his way from the room and down the hallway. Brooke ran next to him, his gun raised.

  They made it back to Cell Block C. Brooke climbed down, and then Deluca slowly lowered Willow to him. “I’m going to get Rick.”

  Brooke nodded as he disappeared from sight with Willow in his arms.

  God, I hope that is Willow.

  Deluca turned and ran toward the control room. Rick had the men tied up and he was watching the area around him when Deluca came to a stop. “Move out!”

  Rick ran from the room. “Not everyone is out.”

  “We have to go, Rick. We are about to be invaded by America’s finest in uniform. Trust me, you don’t want to be here when they arrive.”

  “I’m not leaving anyone behind,” Rick snapped as he spun around and began to hurry away.

  Deluca tackled him. Rick was not a small man, and it took the forward momentum to bring the guy down. “You are too damn important to lose, Enrique Marcelo,” he said angrily. “If they capture you, it’s over.”

  Rick pushed to his feet, knocking Deluca right off of him. “I never understood why I’m so goddamn important in all of this! Yeah, the government thinks I’m some sort of unstoppable force. But why? Why do they fear me? I know they think I’m powerful and influential, and that I won’t sit by and watch the changelings be destroyed. But what made them look twice at me?”

  “Because,” Deluca said as he got to his feet, “whether you know it or not, the changelings have made you their leader.”

  Rick stood stock-still. “The entire species?”

  “Did you ever wonder why they targeted you in the first place for those murders?”

  Rick nodded.

  “When the werelion told the world you existed, the government captured him. He told them that if a war should ever break out, that you would be the one that they should fear the most.” That was what Deluca had heard. Honestly, it all sounded like bullshit to him. Something else was going on, but Deluca hadn’t a clue what. He just had a gut feeling Rick was being targeted for a specific reason. Whatever the reason, he needed Rick to get the hell out of there. So he told him the rumor. He just didn’t tell the werewolf it was only a rumor about the lion saying those things about Rick.

  “But I don’t even know the werelion. How could he know I would lead the way?”

  Deluca shrugged. “I haven’t a clue, but you need to get the fuck going before you make me shoot you.”

  Rick hesitated and then began to run toward the exit. Deluca was relieved he didn’t have to shoot the man. It would have been a lot more difficult carrying his dead weight.

  Rick jumped down into the hole, and Deluca followed. They took off, elbows and ass in the wind. Deluca knew they didn’t have much time. They had to get back to the van and get ghost before reinforcements showed up.

  When they exited the sewer, Deluca noticed the forest was empty. There wasn’t a changeling in sight.

  Good.

  “Move it.”

  Rick took off toward the van and then came to a halt, dropping to his knees. And that was when Deluca spotted Dorian curled up on the ground.

  “Gatito!”

  “Pick him up and move out, Rick. You can check him out in the van. We gotta go, now.”

  Rick scooped Dorian up in his arms and took off running. They made it to the van, and Deluca was happy as fuck everyone was inside. There were even a few additional people as he and Rick jumped inside.

  “Omar was shot,” Benito shouted. “The Death Squad found us!”

  Deluca slammed the van doors shut as Corrigan took off. Rick settled with Dorian in his lap and then began to check the man over from head to toe. “Did they hurt my mate?” Rick asked frantically.

  “No,” Benito quickly replied. “They roughed him up, but didn’t hurt him.”

  Deluca moved to the floor of the van and checked Omar’s wound. Someone had placed a tourniquet around his leg, but they were going to have to get the bullet out. “Why hasn’t he shifted?” Deluca asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Rick replied. “But if any of you newcomers even think about shifting from Omar’s scent of blood, then I’ll kill you myself and dump your body outside the van.”

  Deluca left Omar to crawl over to Brooke and Willow. There was hardly any room to move. The van was packed. Howard had his wife cradled in his arms. Brooke was holding the coyote with a death grip, running his fingers through her fur. There were a few other faces he didn’t recognize, but Deluca ignored them as he settled next to Brooke. “Any changes?”

  Brooke shook his head. “But Miguel confirmed it was Willow by her scent. Trisha as well.”

  Deluca glanced over at Trisha and then Peanut. They were curled up together, the toddler fast asleep. Trisha was staring at Willow.

  “You okay?”

  Trisha shrugged, but didn’t verbally respond. Deluca scooted over to her and then pulled Trisha and Peanut into the folds of his arms. Trisha went willingly, but didn’t say a word. Deluca knew changelings needed touch for reassurance and comfort. He guessed the kids needed it even more.

  He ran his hand down her back as Corrigan drove them away from the detention center. He glanced over at Brooke, who was watching them. His eyes were glued on the sleeping pup. Deluca knew what the man was thi
nking. Since they were keeping Willow, they were keeping Harmony.

  He wasn’t sure about Trisha. They would have to talk to Willow. But Deluca knew he would have no problem keeping the teenager as well. It was a little overwhelming to think of the instant family he was about to take on, so Deluca pushed those thoughts aside to examine later. Right now they needed to worry about getting away and making sure Willow was all right.

  Deluca nodded at both men, but Phillip just stared at everyone as if they were going to attack him at any moment.

  “Glad you made it out, Remus,” Rick said as he stared at a man with slate grey eyes and short black hair.

  “Yeah, me too,” Remus replied in a deadpan voice as he turned away and stared at the wall of the van.

  Mason nodded to the man next to him. The guy looked scared shitless, and he had large bags under his eyes. There was another man sitting next to the stranger. “This is Phillip, Edward’s cousin. And that’s Frisk, one of Edward’s pack members. Remus brought them to the van and told us who they were.”

  Remus moved back, and Deluca’s eyes went wide. “Freedman?”

  Rick’s head snapped around as they both studied the man who was sitting there quietly. “Hello, Deluca.”

  “So, you’re Freedman,” Rick said.

  Freedman nodded.

  “How in the hell did you end up in this van?” Brooke asked.

  “He killed the leader of the Death Squad,” Benito answered.

  Deluca sat there in stunned silence. He knew what that meant. Freedman was a dead man walking. The Death Squad was going to double their efforts to find them, and when they did, Freedman was not going to die quickly. The man had sacrificed his very life to help these people out, and Deluca was going to do everything in his power to keep Freedman from dying.

  “Middleton killed Henderson,” Freedman said evenly, his eyes guarded as he stared down at his hands.

  “The guy who came to warn us in Georgia,” Rick stated quietly. Deluca could see the cold promise in the alpha’s light-grey eyes as he stared at Freedman. Rick was going to avenge Henderson’s death. There was no doubt in Deluca’s mind. Even though Middleton was dead, Rick was going to take his revenge out on the rest of the squad.

  Deluca rested his head against the van wall as he continued to rub Trisha’s back, and Corrigan drove through the night on a long, dark back road to who knew where.

  “Wake up, sugar.”

  Willow felt a hand run down her back. There was solid heat all around her, and she no longer felt like she was going to freeze to death. She smiled and burrowed deeper into the warmth.

  “You keep making those sweet little sounds and snuggling close and I can’t promise you we will behave.”

  We?

  Willow slowly opened her eyes to see Brooke gazing at her with a lazy smile. His dark features and masculine scent combined sent small shivers through her body.

  “There’re those pretty eyes.”

  “Where am I?” she asked as she realized there was a solid body lying behind her. She knew it had to be Deluca. His hand was strong, warm, and felt good on her skin.

  Wait. Oh, hell, she was naked!

  Willow struggled to get up, but an arm held her in place. “Slow down, Willow,” Deluca said softly behind her. “You’re safe.”

  “The detention center,” she whispered and then remembered the lab. She remembered the doctor ordering the guards to strap her down to the table, and then he gave her a shot, forcing her to shift. It had been the most painful thing she had ever felt in her life. Willow remembered screaming, begging, and feeling as if she were going to turn inside out as her body slowly shifted into its changeling form. “What did they do to me?”

  “As far as we can tell, nothing,” Brooke answered and Willow could see the anger in his amethyst eyes. “We found you in your coyote form, lying on the table. We checked you over, but didn’t find anything wrong.”

  “The explosions.” Willow remembered hearing explosions just as the doctor injected her.

  “That was us,” Brooke replied.

  “Then all they made me do was shift.” She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or not. Willow didn’t know what was in that shot. It could have been anything. But she didn’t feel any different. Brooke’s words finally caught up to her racing mind. “You checked all over?”

  “Every single inch,” Deluca whispered in her ear with a light tone of seduction. “But I promise you it was just to make sure you were okay.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, scowling at Deluca. “I’m sure it was.”

  “Honest,” he replied playfully. “Trust me, sweetheart. I want you awake when I touch you for pleasure.” When Deluca’s hand slid down to her hip, his fingers drawing lazy circles, Willow fought to get free. This time they moved away and let her up.

  “Willow,” Brooke said her name as he moved slowly from the bed. His hands were up, but he didn’t move any closer. “What’s wrong?”

  “We would never hurt you,” Deluca said in a low tone as he, too, moved from the bed to stand. She noticed that while Deluca wore nothing but jeans, Brooke was in his boxers. Oh, hell. “Are you that afraid of us? Would you prefer only one of us at a time?”

  Willow quickly grabbed the thin blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her body, backing away once she was covered. “I need both of you to leave.”

  Brooke lowered his hands as he glanced over at Deluca with a worried look then focused his gaze back on Willow. “That’s kind of hard to do, hon. We are in a motel in the middle of nowhere, and there aren’t any more available rooms.”

  “Why are you so suddenly afraid of us?” Deluca asked. He took a step toward her, and Willow backpedaled until she was against the wall. She gazed at both of them and could still scent their arousal heavily on the air. Her body betrayed her as her pussy began to pulse at the dark intimacy in their eyes.

  “We can’t have sex,” she blurted out. Her fingers curled around the blanket in a death grip as Brooke moved closer. His steps were measured, slow, as if he were approaching a wild animal.

  She was a wild animal. Willow could feel her canines elongating and her claws sliding free. Her mind was screaming for them to get away, but her body was throbbing with the thought of them taking her. Willow wanted to scream in frustration.

  “Whoa,” Brooke said as he stopped advancing on her. “Are you really that afraid of us?”

  Willow slid down the wall until she was sitting on her bottom, resting her forehead on the palm of her hand, the other still clutching the blanket as she began to rock her head back and forth, felling so damn tired. “No,” she answered.

  Seconds later both men were kneeling beside her. Willow fought not to cry. She no longer wanted to hold the dark secret inside of her. She no longer cared if Garrett went through with his promise to kill her if she ever said a word. The guilt was eating her alive, and her arms ached viciously.

  “Talk to us, Willow,” Brooke said beside her. “Does the idea of being with two men at the same time truly scare you?”

  She could hear the fear in his voice and knew that if she said yes, she would crush both men. But that wasn’t the reason she had freaked out. That wasn’t the reason she had backed away.

  She lifted her head, gazing into Brooke’s eyes, and then Deluca’s, wondering if telling them her well-hidden secret would do any good.

  “Willow?” Deluca said her name gently.

  “As soon as I gave birth to Garrett’s son, he took Kell away from me.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Brooke knelt beside Willow in stunned silence. He wasn’t sure what to say. Thoughts came and went. Questions rattled through his mind and then disappeared. The revelation had flat-out shocked him.

  “You had Garrett’s son?” Deluca asked in a tone that said he was just as shocked as Brooke.

  At least Deluca’s brain was working enough to ask the question. Brooke couldn’t say the same for him. He had met Garrett, knew what the man was like
. Brooke highly doubted the guy was a caring lover. He didn’t even want to think of Willow with another man. But Garrett? “Did he force you?” Brooke finally spoke.

  “No,” Willow replied as she tried to push to her feet. Brooke could hear the shame and anger in her tone and wondered exactly what happened that this sweet woman would sleep with a monster.

  “Okay, wait,” Deluca said as he got to his feet. He reached down and pulled Willow up and then took a step back. “Please don’t tell me you love that piece of shit.”

  Oh, fuck. Brooke hadn’t even thought about that. What if she did? What if there was no future for the three of them because she was in love with the alpha of her pack? Brooke could feel his future slipping through his fingers before he ever had a chance to enjoy it.

  He stood and walked to the bed, taking a seat. Rubbing a hand over his head, Brooke felt lost. For the first time in his life he and Deluca had found a woman to settle down with, and they just might lose her.

  She shook her head as she looked between the two men. “No, I don’t love him.”

  “Then tell me what happened,” Deluca said. Brooke could hear the scalpel-sharp tone. His best friend was getting pissed. Brooke didn’t honestly know what to feel. He was still stunned as hell.

  “Don’t take that condescending tone with me,” Willow fired back. “You have no idea what happened. So don’t you dare stand there and judge me!”

  “No one is judging you, Willow,” Deluca shot back, but some of his tension visibly receded. “You started this conversation. I just want you to finish it.”

  Willow yanked the blanket up higher, sheer stubbornness on her face. “Why, are you going to help me get him back?”

  “Who, Garrett?” Deluca asked in disgust.

  Brooke groaned. Sometimes Deluca was just too damn thickheaded. “The baby, Deluca.”

  Deluca snapped his head back toward Willow, the anger draining from his face. “I just want you to tell us what happened. We will go after…Kell?”