by Lacey Thorn
It was the safest thing to do since they didn’t know what had happened.
“Sidia.” Her name whispered from his lips like a prayer.
“We’ll find her,” Jensen swore.
Koby nodded. He’d find her, and God help anyone who tried to get in his way.
Chapter Two
It was two days before Sidia felt it was safe to venture from her hiding place. She took the underground tunnel that led to a hatch that opened into a small cavern. Beyond it lay the rocky area at the base of the mountain. The rocks should provide enough cover for her to get away.
She lifted herself through the opening and stayed in a crouch while she focused all her senses on the immediate area. She relied mainly on her nose, by far her strongest sense as a bear shifter, and attempted to sift through the layers of smells, searching for one that could spell danger. The ground was soft and spongy, the sky just beginning to lighten as dawn broke, and at the moment, the odor of smoke was overwhelming. She strained her ears, listening for any sound that shouldn’t be there.
Hoping the smoke would clear, she waited ten minutes then ten more and so on, until almost another hour had passed. She couldn’t stay where she was, though. She’d be a sitting duck if anyone came across her in the cavern. Slowly, she edged her way to the opening, peeking her nose out to take a better sniff of the air. Her eyelids dropped to half mast as the breeze carried something to her. It was masculine, a scent that called to her at the animal level and had her bear eager to track down the person behind it. One word echoed in her mind. Mate. The fragrance belonged to the man who should be hers.
She crept from the enclosure, doing her best to stay low as she made her way down into the tall grasses. The scent was coming from somewhere inside the forest to her left. She had at least a half mile to cover before she’d hit the tree line. On the other side of the forest lay the old logging road. Somewhere between the two was the man her animal instincts said was her mate. She had to get to him.
She was just preparing to run when a voice yelled from behind her, just above the rocky enclosure she’d exited. She came to a jerky stop, head turning and gaze searching until she latched onto the two men who blended almost seamlessly with the gray stones surrounding them. She saw them clearly now as both stood with high-powered rifles resting in their arms.
“Well, well, well,” a high-pitched male voice said. “Looks like we hit the jackpot. Where you planning to run off to, darling?”
She inhaled, doing her best to push the tantalizing scent of her mate out of her nose and focus on all the others around her. She couldn’t smell them. It was as if they carried no scent other than the heavy stench of the smoke in the air. That wasn’t right. She should still be able to pick up on the odor of sweat and man that permeated their skin.
She could play stupid, pretend she had no idea who they were and that they had no idea what she was, but she hadn’t been much for games since she’d been stripped of her family and forced to live in hiding. From the corner of her eyes, she scouted the grass. It wasn’t much in the way of protection if she made a run for it. Then again, she was already a sitting target. She’d at least make them work for it before they killed her.
Jerking her pack, she took off at a sprint, slinking as low as she could to make use of the height of the grass. They’d still be able to make out where she was, but she wouldn’t be as easy a mark. The first shot whizzed by her shoulder, so close she felt the ripple in the air near her skin. The second one slammed into the ground behind her right foot. She was halfway across now and gaining more speed as she went. The third hit her backpack with a pop sound, and it dawned on her they weren’t shooting bullets. She spared a brief glance back. Darts. The motherfuckers were shooting darts at her.
She hit the tree line and straightened as a roar rent the air. Her mate. He was close and, from the sound of it, mad as hell. Piercing fire hit her buttock, sending pain lancing down her leg and making it go immediately numb. She screamed and reached back to rip it from her skin. She managed to stay on her feet, dragging one leg behind her as she veered in a direct path for that roar. She heard scrambling behind her and knew the men were done playing. She had no idea if they meant to kill her or take her someplace else so they could play some more. She didn’t want to find out.
She slipped behind a tree and collapsed. The numbness was spreading into her other leg and up her right arm. She couldn’t seem to fight it anymore. It had to be some form of muscle relaxer. It wasn’t knocking her out yet, but it was making her incapable of moving. A man appeared in a gap between the trees. He was a giant, easily over six and a half feet tall with short hair somewhere between blond and brown. He was gorgeous, but one whiff said he wasn’t the man she was hoping for. He spotted her immediately and headed toward her at a fast run.
She tried to shake her head, to warn him of the danger, but nothing on her body was responding to her commands.
“Shh,” he crooned as he dropped to his knees beside her. “You’re safe now. Where are you hit?”
She couldn’t get her lips to move but managed to push out sound anyway.
“Bu…nu…mmm…”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “I have no idea what the hell you’re trying to say.”
A loud roar rent the air again, this time coming from behind her. A masculine scream filled the air then abruptly shut off.
“Normally, I’d check you over, but I’m not sure that would be a safe call at the moment. My brother seems to believe you might be his mate, and in the primal state he’s in right now, I’m not sure he’d understand I’m just trying to help you if he showed up and my hands were on you.”
“Ma…” she gurgled, trying to force the word out. His brother was her mate. She could feel it, even now her bear was reaching out.
“Let’s try this. Can you blink?”
She blinked her eyes several times.
“Good. So one blink for no, two blinks for yes. Okay?”
She blinked twice.
“Perfect. Were you shot?”
Stupid question. Of course, they’d shot her with something or she’d be able to fucking talk to him, wouldn’t she? But if she blinked yes he might think she’d been shot with a bullet and not a dart. Damn!
His hand suddenly reached out and plucked something off her backpack. She watched as he brought the dart around and carried it to his nose, sniffing at it.
“They darted you?”
She blinked twice.
“Fucking hunters and their tranquilizing darts,” he muttered.
He brought the dart to his tongue and tasted the tip of it. It had to be a minute amount, surely not enough to hurt him with his size, but still, she wanted to swat him upside the head. Didn’t he see what it was doing to her? He reached out and touched two fingers to the pulse point in her neck.
“Strong and steady. This tastes like…a muscle relaxer mixed with the drug they use to prevent us from shifting. Definitely potent in someone as small as you. I don’t sense anything else in it. We’ll need to get you back as soon as we can so I can take a closer look at it in the lab. Can you move anything at all?”
She rolled her eyes at him, which served to make him laugh.
“I bet you’re going to be a lot of fun when you can talk back.”
Another roar, this one sounding closer, had him leaning in to whisper.
“I’m Jensen, by the way. Jensen Holloway. That very angry bear you hear is my brother, Koby,” he said. “He can be a little intimidating, and right now, he’s not exactly at his best. So try not to let him scare you, okay?”
She blinked twice. Koby. Her mate was Koby Holloway. Nicholas would be happy to know her bear seemed set on a Holloway and one of the very ones he’d suggested to her, too. Just thinking of Nicholas had her eyes filling with tears. It appeared she had as much control over her emotions as she did over her muscles at present. She couldn’t stop them from spilling down her cheeks.
“Shit! Don’t cry. He won’t hurt you. Pr
omise. But if he comes in here and sees you crying and me next to you… Well, hell. I’m not opposed to shedding some blood, but I’d prefer it wasn’t mine.”
She tried to laugh, but it surfaced as more of a wet gurgle instead. Jensen was muttering something when a grizzly came through the trees and reared up on his hind legs claiming her full attention. He was the largest bear she’d seen. There was blood on his muzzle and one of his paws, but she knew instinctively it wasn’t his. He’d killed to protect her. Her heart beat a fast staccato in her chest.
He dropped to all fours and stalked toward her. Jensen came to his feet and moved to stand slightly in front of her.
“She’s been darted. Found this on her backpack. She seems fine, but we’ll want to get her back to the house as soon as we can, so I can analyze this and see exactly what we’re dealing with. It seems like their normal cocktail, though. She should be able to sleep it off and be fine when she wakes up.”
The bear shifted and turned into a gorgeous male slightly larger than Jensen. Koby. He had shaggy light brown hair with blond through it, wide shoulders and a broad chest, covered with a smattering of light hair, that tapered into a narrow waist. His cock rose long and thick from a nest of curls and had her heart beating even faster with anticipation. His scent filled her head and infused her body. He squatted beside her, being careful not to touch her, closed his eyes and inhaled. A rumble filled his chest.
She stared at him, unwilling to look anywhere else, and was just as surprised as he was when his clothes came flying at him, hitting him square in the chest and falling between them.
“Jesus, man! Get your clothes on before you terrify her with that thing waving around. Not to mention the fucking blood. Christ! You just love making things harder for yourself, don’t you?”
She preferred to think he was making it hard for her, and from the looks of it, he was doing a fabulous job. He stood quickly, scooping up the clothes as he did. His cock bobbed just out of reach, and she damned the drug in her system even more for thwarting her desire to reach out and touch him.
“Here,” Jensen said, shoving a bottle of water at Koby. “Wash up first before you get that all over the clothes.” He took Koby’s jeans and shirt back while Koby uncapped the bottle and rinsed his hands then splashed his face clean. “You’ll have to do a more thorough job when we get to the truck. I’ve got disinfectant and mouthwash, but you’re going to want to scrub and brush good when we get home. Damn! You don’t know what those assholes have running in their veins.”
“It’s not as if we can get human diseases,” Koby snapped. His voice was deep and rough, the sound sliding over her skin and making her nipples pebble.
“Yeah, but the whole might-be-mates thing,” Jensen said, casting a glance her way. “You don’t want to kiss her with that taste in your mouth. Right?”
Koby growled. His gaze snapped to her lips then up to clash with hers. She blinked twice.
Jensen laughed.
“What?” Koby demanded.
“We have a code. Two blinks means no. See. She doesn’t want you to kiss her with that yuck mouth, either,” Jensen answered.
Sidia wanted to scream at the lying bastard. He’d pay for that. He winked at her, his grin playful.
“Of course, she could also be reacting to the thought of mating herself to you,” Jensen offered.
Sidia’s gaze narrowed at Jensen’s words, but it was nothing compared to the snarl that left Koby’s lips.
“Just saying,” Jensen replied. “First impressions, bro. You need to work on that. You’re zero for two in the female category lately.”
Her bear wanted to roar at the thought of another woman with him, and she snapped her glance back to Koby just in time to watch him tuck away that massive cock then button and zip. He shoved his feet into sneakers and ripped a shirt over his head.
He stalked to her again, and this time, when he squatted down, it was to scoop her up into his arms. He stood, holding her high against his chest. She couldn’t even lift her arm to touch him. Still, her head lolled into the space between his neck and shoulder, and she inhaled his scent. Her cheek pressed against his bare skin. She could feel the oil glands beneath her skin already working to supply the mating scent she needed to mark him as hers. Not enough of it would transfer to him until she could move and was able to rub against him, but it would have to do for now.
“Get your ass moving,” Koby ordered his brother. “I want to know exactly what was in the shot she took. No surprises, Jensen.” He glanced down at her, leaned close and whispered for her ears alone. “I’ve got you now. I’ll watch over and protect you. Trust me.”
She automatically blinked twice then wanted to groan at the hurt that reflected in his eyes. Damn Jensen for his foolish game. She blinked once, willing Koby to understand her.
“I won’t hurt you,” Koby vowed. “Just rest.”
For the first time in five years, Sidia felt safe. She stopped fighting the drowsiness tugging at her, trusting her mate to watch over her. She didn’t care what the drug was at the moment. She just wanted it out of her system so she could claim the man holding her and erase the hurt she’d inadvertently caused. Then she’d teach his brother a lesson.
Chapter Three
Sidia was out cold in Koby’s arms when they reached the truck. Her breathing was deep and easy, doing a lot to ease his fear over her being drugged. He hated that he and Jenson weren’t there in time. He wanted to stay with her, to hold her and never let her go, but all he could see was her blinking twice when he’d urged her to trust him. No. That unspoken word had wounded him deeper than anything else ever had. It was no more than he deserved for how he’d behaved with Holt and Jaeda when they’d mated.
He opened the back door and laid her across the seat, taking special care to make sure she was secure and comfortable before snagging a backpack and shutting the door.
“What are you doing?” Jensen asked immediately.
“I’m not going back yet. Send one of the others back for me in the morning.” He flexed his shoulders and shook his hands to release some of his tension. He glanced back in to where Sidia was sleeping. She looked peaceful and unafraid. The chances of her staying that way were much higher if he wasn’t there to scare her more when she woke up. “Look, we need to know what happened here, and we really can’t wait for her to come around and tell us.”
“You can’t just send your mate home and not be there,” Jensen stated incredulously.
Koby blew out a breath. “She’s scared of me. I think it’d be best if Jaeda was the one there when Sidia opens her eyes.”
“You can’t—”
“You saw me when I walked out of those woods,” Koby almost roared at his brother. “My bear is holding on by a very thin fucking thread, and it’s fraying with every inhale of her scent. I want her, more than I thought I wanted Jaeda, and I was ready to take Holt apart to get to her. The best thing for Sidia right now is for me to be as far away as I can manage until I gain some fucking control. Understand?”
Jensen nodded. “I don’t feel right leaving you. You’re not exactly yourself right now.”
“I’m pure instinct and adrenaline right now,” Koby countered. “I’m the animal in human skin. I killed two men. I don’t think we want anyone stumbling across that fact right now. I need to tidy that up then get up the mountain and check the house, check for Nicholas. He could be alive up there.”
He saw the doubt in Jensen’s gaze but didn’t comment on it.
“I’ve got my pack. I’ll grab my cell from the console where I left it. Tell Laramie I’ll check in with him tonight after I’ve had a chance to take a look around. You just get her back to the lodge and find out for sure what was in that dart she got hit with. Call me if there’s anything I need to know.”
“I’ll go, but one of us will be back soon, so you better keep your phone on you and answer the damn thing,” Jensen warned.
Koby had a habit of turning the thing off when he was
out doing something. It was a distraction, one they could ill afford sometimes. Nothing like trying to do reconnaissance and having your pocket buzzing, vibrating or even ringing. He gave a noncommittal grunt and reached in to grab it, shoving it in his pocket before Koby could see it was turned off.
Koby glanced in at Sidia one more time before forcing his feet to move.
“Drive safe,” he warned his brother.
Jensen nodded. “Be careful. There’s something about this smoke I don’t like.”
“Yeah,” Koby agreed. “It has a different scent to it, as if it’s been altered somehow. I’ll check into it more when I get to where the fire originated. Could be Nicholas had something in the house when it went up. Now, go.”
“Okay, okay,” Jensen muttered. “You better be focused. If anything happens to you, Laramie will have my hide.”
“Do I look like I’m not focused?” Koby lifted a brow as he stared down his brother.
“You look cold and deadly,” Jensen observed.
“Someone just tried to kill my mate. First by fire, then by hunting her down. I’d say cold and deadly is accurate.”
“So you think she’s your mate?” Jensen asked.
“I know she is,” Koby declared. “I…scared her, coming out of the woods the way I did, but it couldn’t be helped. I needed to be sure she was okay. Not the way I would have preferred to meet her, but…” He shrugged. “Take her home where she’ll be safe, and let me do what I do.”
Jensen nodded again, but this time, there was no concern in his expression. “Be safe. Watch your back. Declan or Slade will head back as soon as I arrive.”
Koby didn’t say anything, just tipped up his chin in acknowledgement then turned and walked away. He was an enforcer. He and Laramie were the only two of the brothers who had been trained prior to their father’s death. There had been six others with them, working in two-man teams. It was their job to enforce the pack laws and to punish those who broke them. The pack had the same basic laws as humans, with a few differences thrown in. They didn’t do prisons, and they didn’t give second chances. Punishments were swift and merciless, fitting to the crimes committed.
