“I’m certain it’s in the book of war or something marked under cruel and unusual punishment to drink coffee in front of prisoners without offering them some.”
He panicked for a moment. “Let me check with Trevor,” he finally said, quickly leaving the room.
When the door shut, Samson started to laugh a full belly laugh. “You can thank Lyle up there for your lack of coffee,” he said once he composed himself.
“Whatever. I did what I had to do,” Lyle said.
“They were sending in a woman named Helen to deliver our meals, but she got close to the cage and as she gave them their meals up there, I grabbed for the keys and Lyle dumped scalding hot coffee on her head as a distraction. I had managed to get out, but not before the others came in from the commotion and someone tased me, before locking me back up once I was subdued. It was worth it just to stretch my legs for those few minutes.”
“We haven’t seen Helen since,” Lyle added. “Or any coffee.”
Trevor came in with Kent. “Sorry, Miss Westin, there will be no coffee after the rather unfortunate incident they just explained to you.”
That certainly confirmed they were listening to and not just watching us.
“Coke? Chocolate? Anything with even the slightest bit of caffeine?” I was practically begging.
He sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. Despite what you must think, our intentions are not to make your lives miserable.”
I snorted. “So, these are just your best accommodations?”
He smirked at me. “Touché.”
Awkwardly he turned and left. I tried to reposition myself, wondering just how long it would take for this cavalry to arrive and break me out of this prison cell. I didn’t really talk to the others much. It seemed too risky, knowing they were listening in. My imagination got carried away with all sorts of secret spy stuff and various escape scenarios. I knew I couldn’t just break myself out. No, I’d have to save the others, too.
I felt around in my pockets. Nothing. I found a bobby pin still stuck in my hair. I was convinced I could pick all the locks and ninja fight my way out of there before they could stop me. I took a deep breath, bracing for the exact moment I would enact my plan.
Just then, an alarm went off. It was a loud siren, like a fire alarm. I knew that was my chance. The others would have to be distracted by the noise. I quickly took my bobby pin and squeezed my arms through the cage bars. They rubbed tightly against my skin, feeling like they were burning it off. I bit back a scream and got to work, awkwardly maneuvering the hair pin into the lock and twisting it all around. Nothing. They made this look so easy in the movies. Determined, I still tried to pick the lock, my arms now stuck as far as they’d go through the bars. I never even stopped to think how I’d get them out of there once the lock was popped. I just kept working.
Soon the door burst open and I knew I was busted. They were going to take my bobby pin away and frisk me for more. I hadn’t asked what they’d done to Lyle and Samson as punishment for their great escape plan, aside from the coffee ban. Maybe I should have, so I’d know what was coming next.
“What the bloody hell are you doing?” an all-too-familiar voice asked.
“Patrick?” I practically yelled, trying to look up and see him, but with my arms wedged so tightly through the cage bars, my face was pressed up against them and I was unable to move. Tears pricked my eyes at knowing he was there. I was safe. A strange tingling sensation shot up my spine like electrical current. I took in a deep breath from the shock of it. That’s when I smelled him. “Thomas?” I whispered. “Patrick, is Thomas with you?”
“Of course. You think he was gonna let us rescue his girl without him? He practically had a path marked to your doorstep. If the snow hadn’t come in so quickly last night, he’d have had you home long before we arrived,” Patrick told me.
“Thomas?” I yelled. “I’m in here.”
“Lily,” I heard as footsteps ran towards me. I saw his feet stop just below me. He bent down and looked up at me. “What are you doing?”
Samson let out that full belly laugh of his.
“Not helping, Samson. Are you going to get me out of here or not?”
“Seriously, Lil, what the feck are you doing?” Patrick asked as I heard him unlock the cages above me.
“Since we’re stopping to make fun of me, I’m assuming you have the threat under control?” I said, getting a little annoyed.
“Toss me the keys,” Thomas finally said. “Your captors are in custody. You’re all safe now. Let’s see about getting you out of here.”
Thomas removed the bobby pin from my hand. He held it up and I could tell he was grinning in amusement without even seeing his face. He unlocked and then removed the lock, but when he went to open the door, I came flying out with it.
“Whoa, there,” Patrick said as Thomas grabbed my legs that didn’t quite reach the floor below. His contact calmed my wolf for the first time since the whole nightmare began, but my arms were tightly wedged between the bars and they weren’t budging.
“Get a chair for her to stand on,” Thomas ordered. “What did you do?”
“I was trying to escape. I heard the siren go off and thought this was our chance.”
“And what? You were just going to pick the lock with a hair pin?” Thomas asked.
I could hear humor in his voice, but I also felt his underlying nerves. He was keeping it light so as not to freak me out–or anyone else.
“I saw it in a movie Chase made me watch once. They made it look simple.” The room exploded in laughter. I groaned. “Laugh it up, but get me out of here.”
“Can you pull your arms back through?” Patrick asked.
“Don’t you think I’ve tried that?”
“We may need to soap them up.” Yutu offered. At least he was trying to help.
All they could find was some antibacterial hand gel. It was cold as they squirted it, coating my arms. It burned from the abrasions the bars caused, but it gave a little, then evaporated much too quickly.
The next round they lubed me up, and Samson tried pulling me from behind. I cried out in pain, causing Thomas to growl at him. Patrick decided that was a perfect moment to snap a picture on his cell phone and send it off to Kyle.
“What? Kyle asked me to send a pic as proof you were safe and sound.”
“You’ll pay for that, Patrick,” I threatened.
“Slugger, I know it’s going to hurt, but I really need you to pull your arms through this time,” Thomas said. I could feel his wolf close to the surface. He was going to lose it if I didn’t get free soon.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said. As soon as my arms were coated once again, I pulled back with all my might. I heard my elbow pop as pain shot up through my left shoulder, but I kept pulling until they both popped free. I looked down and saw the ugly red marks left behind.
Thomas crushed me to him, pulling me down from the chair. I whimpered against him, just before his mouth crushed down against mine. Feeling his wolf begin to calm, I pulled back from him. The edges of my vision were beginning to darken.
“Thomas,” I gasped. “My elbow.”
He carefully examined it, quickly realizing what I was telling him.
“Patrick, I need your help. Please hold Lily tightly, her elbow is dislocated and needs to be set,” he said.
“Why don’t you let me do that?” Patrick offered.
“No, she’s in pain, and my wolf is far too worked up right now. I’ll likely rip the head off anyone who hurts her. It has to be me.”
I shivered at the thought, closed my eyes, and braced back against Patrick as he held me. Thomas straightened my arm and pulled. I didn’t scream, but I wasn’t sure how I’d managed not to. There was an awkward pop again and the pain almost instantly subsided. I opened my eyes, feeling Patrick’s arms relax, and I launched myself onto Thomas.
Having him back in my arms righted my whole world. My wolf growled possessively, and I nibbled at his neck
. We were ready to complete our bond, and if my wolf had her way we’d be doing it right then and there.
Patrick’s phone rang and broke the moment. I pulled back a little, my cheeks flushed. I didn’t let go of Thomas, keeping one arm around him and resting my head on his shoulder.
“It’s Chase,” Patrick said. “Sorry Lil, looks like Kyle sent that picture to the whole fecking family.”
“Put me on speaker,” I heard Chase say. With enhanced wolf hearing, he really didn’t need to.
“Lily? Lily, are you okay?” he asked once on speaker mode.
“I’m here, Chase. I’m fine.”
“Aw, don’t be too hard on them. I’m glad you’re safe. I didn’t know any of that was going on, so I’m little angry at them both right now for not telling me you were missing.”
“It wasn’t even twenty-four hours, and there’s nothing you really could have done. One of the guys here helped me. They sent me a note with my breakfast letting me know Patrick was coming with help.”
“They did?” he said excitedly. “What did you do with it? Did the bad guys find it? Please tell me you ate it. Please, please, tell me you disposed of all the evidence.”
Thomas watched, fascinated, as I blushed furiously. I was willing to bet that even my hair looked a shade pinker.
“Yes, I ate it with a banana. I couldn’t let it fall into their hands, and I didn’t know who to trust,” I blurted out as the several remaining people snickered around me.
“And that pic Kyle sent? You were trying to pick the lock, weren’t you?”
“I’m going to kill Patrick, then Kyle, for sending that.”
“Are you kidding? That’s awesome. A few more minutes and you’d have had that lock picked, I’m sure of it. Just like . . .”
I cut him off. “Don’t ever mention that movie to me again! We should sue them for false advertising or something. That shit does not work.”
“We’ll practice when I’m home for Christmas, just in case you ever need it again,” he offered.
“Chase, it’s never happening! Plus, I imagine I’ll be in Collier for Christmas anyway. Maybe you and Jenna could come visit for a few days on your break.”
“Collier? Why would you be in Collier?”
I turned wide eyes towards Thomas. I couldn’t believe no one had mentioned our mating to Chase, even though he was away at college. How could he not know?
“Um, that’s a conversation for later. I really want to get out of here. I promise I’ll call you when I’m settled in. We have a lot to talk about.”
Thomas
Chapter 22
We stuck around the old emergency shelter where the humans were keeping Lily and the other shifters in until Patrick’s team had thoroughly gone through every bit of research being done there. Unfortunately, it was a new facility and they were only just getting started.
When Patrick arrived at Tulok’s, the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, so he took some time in a closed-door, confidential meeting with myself and the Alaskan Alpha before we went to rescue Lily to fill us in on some pretty crazy stuff that was going on. I had never heard of the Verndari before, a human faction that discreetly monitored shifter activity worldwide. I didn’t even think there was a shifter group that kept up with that sort of information.
I was a little pissed that Kyle had been keeping all of this from us. If these humans were a threat to the packs, all Alphas should have been notified about them, yet he’d chosen to keep it on a need-to-know basis. Earlier this year the ten biggest packs had joined together to stand with Chase, the youngest of the Westin children, when his panther mate’s father declared war on the wolves. We were all together then, and he had still mentioned nothing about the Verndari.
Some rational part of me knew that wouldn’t have been the time or place to release such a bombshell of information, but had I known about these people, I would have taken drastically different measures when I went looking for the missing shifters. I would have never let Lily out of my sight until they were found to save her from the nightmare she’d had to endure.
Patrick told us he had strong alliances on the inside—humans. The current group we are dealing with are the new generation of the Verndari, the new generation who believed their parents were wrong in protecting and observing the shifters. They saw our enhanced gifts and strengths as things to be studied for the benefit of humans. I couldn’t argue with their logic, just the method they chose to obtain it.
Patrick’s human friend on the inside had tipped him off with the coordinates to Lily. I would be forever indebted to him, and I hoped I’d get the chance to at least shake the man’s hand and thank him properly. I was still in shock with this new information, and by the quick response of the task force that Kyle had sent. He hadn’t mentioned who exactly they were, but they clearly were not just a bunch of random Westin wolves helping out. I still had a lot of questions, but they had to wait as my need to ensure my mate was safe was stronger than anything.
I had been told to hold back while the team went in first to clear the bunker. They were heavily armed and obviously trained. Again, I wondered who they were, but I was too busy trying to keep control of my wolf to press the issue.
Since the moment Karis crawled into sight the day before, my wolf had been on edge and fighting to break free. The brief time tracking when I’d let him have control only made him harder to restrain him when we didn’t return with our mate. Seeing that we had stopped a mere twenty feet from the hidden door to the bunker made me physically sick. We’d been so close. I couldn’t stop the feeling that we had let Lily down.
Seeing her locked in that cage made me see red. Patrick had to take the lead to free her because my body was vibrating in anger and I was seconds away from sprouting fur. I kept my voice light and so much calmer than I actually felt as we got the cage unlocked. It wasn’t until she almost fell from the damn thing, dangling there, stuck, and I’d wrapped my arms around her to support her that my wolf started to relax. She looked ridiculously cute, but she wasn’t in danger and it felt like my heart began to finally beat again.
Now that I had her back and she was safe, I was struggling not to touch her, grateful when she didn’t pull away from me, staying by my side. Even when she moved to give Patrick back his phone after ending the conversation with her youngest brother, Chase, she held my hand and never lost contact with me. I wondered if maybe her wolf was more on edge than usual, too.
I knew I was ready to get out of that place. It gave me goosebumps just thinking about it and what could have happened there. Even with my mate’s touch, I knew I couldn’t fully relax until we were out of there. Going back to Tulok’s was not an option. I needed to get us home.
Patrick and his men were still busy working when I pulled him to the side. He hadn’t introduced the team he’d brought with him, and from what all I had learned, I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear more, so I didn’t bother asking who they were or where they came from. I wasn’t even sure if they were shifter or human.
“Your guys look like they have things under control. How bad would it be if I ditched and got Lily home?”
Lily looked confused all of a sudden. She stared around the room. “Your guys? What’s he talking about? These guys are with you, Patrick?” I could see fog slowly lifting, and questions began to pour out of her. “Wait, how did that Dave guy know you? He warned me you were coming. He knew exactly who I was and told them to let me go. But how? Why? And Jacob Winthrop was here. I kept my mouth shut about that and didn’t question it because Dave was signaling me not to, but seriously, what does Maddie’s dad have to do with any of this?”
“Wait, Maddie’s dad? My sister? Are you saying my father was here?” I asked, suddenly needing to know what was going on.
“No, sorry, I meant her father-like figure. Jacob and his wife, Annie, took MC in after . . . the incident. . . and helped her raise Oscar all those years. He’s been like a dad to her and every bit the grandfather to Oscar. I shouldn’t have
said ‘dad.’ I don’t really know what else to call him, though,” she explained.
Patrick scrubbed his face with his hands. He looked exhausted, and I was certain it had been a very long night for him. “Jacob’s also a Verndari.”
“Come again? Vern-what-ya-said-ie?” Lily asked.
“Verndari,” I repeated for her. “Patrick was explaining them to me this morning that they’re some sort of human faction that monitors shifter activity.”
Her eyes widened at the implication. “So, are all these guys Verndari?”
“No.” Patrick answered. “We learned about the Verndari more or less through Maddie, or rather Jacob. Turned out Liam was doing business with several of them, but we had never heard of them. We were caught off guard and didn’t like it. Most of them are actually good people. They are sworn to keep our kind secret and it’s been cool to learn about the various things they’ve done throughout history to throw humans off our tracks and allow us to live in peace, but there’s a small rogue group, mostly young people, that are taking things to a scary new level. Last year Maddie and I had freed a bunch of shifters they were holding captive. The facility was a lot bigger and more state-of-the-art than this place, but you can imagine. They were running all sorts of experiments. Raina was being held there, Lily. That’s why I got involved, for Kelsey.”
“Who’s Raina?” I asked.
“Kelsey’s aunt from Bulgaria. She was supposed to have come to visit in time for Zander’s birth, but never showed up. I know Kelsey was worried sick about her. If you saved her, where is she now?” Lily added.
“The packs are still monitored closely. We couldn’t risk tipping them off by a sudden appearance in San Marco. Jacob helped us fake her death to get her out of there, so she’s lying low in a facility we built just outside our borders. It was done in secret alongside the new lodge.”
“So like, the lodge was a cover-up for this place?” Lily asked, sounding surprised.
“Exactly,” Patrick commented. “Kyle and I thought it would be best if we started keeping a closer eye on these people and mapping out shifter activity on our own. When we faked Raina’s death and got her safely out of there, she was supposed to be the only one, but Maddie couldn’t stand the thought of leaving the others, so she freed them all. Several of the shifters had been there for years, kidnapped from all over the world and had nowhere to go.”
Can't Be Love Page 16
