by Sydney Addae
She understood he needed to go, but fear lodged protests in her throat. "Be careful."
His large palm cupped her cheek. "I will. Go, visit with your sister. Stay here with security. I'll contact you when I know more."
Jackie kissed the inside of his hand and slid out of the car tamping down words to make him stay. Her beast whined as he pulled out the drive and down the street. Slowly, she returned to the house to face her sister's questions. The rebels forced her hand, now she'd need to share Ramos' secret and develop a plan to help save the pups.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Rebels? Are you crazy?" Renee asked as Jackie changed into black jeans, tee and hiking boots.
"Not crazy. Motivated to do something." Jackie glanced at her watch and wished Nionis would hurry. They needed to move now.
"But... you're going hunting for people KnightForce can't find," Renee said standing in front of her sister to slow her down. "Call them, let them do their jobs. You shouldn't be running behind Quinn into danger. Does he have experience?"
Jackie regretted sharing the little information about Ramos and Quinn with her sister. Renee had been wailing her doubts since Jackie and Nionis decided to join the hunt. First, Nionis had to secure Chip's promise to keep their efforts a secret just as Renee had.
"We need to move out," Jackie told Nionis who was downstairs pleading her cause with Chip.
"Almost there. Can you calm down Renee? If I feel her distress, others may as well."
Jackie spun to face Renee and pointed. "Look, I shared something really important to me. I love those pups and if Marsha or any of them die while I hide behind Daddy's shield, or do nothing I'll never forgive myself. So stop bitching."
"Telling KnightForce is doing something," Renee snapped undeterred.
"You said it yourself, KnightForce can't find them. If they've never found the rebels before, they won't find them now. I won't risk the pups that way." She picked up her small pack of blades and placed it in her pocket while wondering if she should take a gun. Her parents made sure they could all defend themselves against all threats, human and dual-natureds.
"You're really going all vigilante?" Renee said into the silence.
Jackie snorted. "Leave it to you to call it that."
"Feels like I'm seeing a different part of you, that's all. If anyone had asked if you'd do this." Renee waved at Jackie. "I would've said no."
Jackie thought about it for a few seconds. "You may be right. Things happen in life that opens our eyes to situations we had no idea existed. Once we learn about them we can't ignore what we've seen or know is true." She paused. "I held that little boy, talked to Marsha and laid on a bed with Penny. They aren't faceless pups to me. Listening to their stories, learning their hardships, their lives so different from mine and others... it changed me. Changed what I want to do with my life."
"What's that?"
"Make a difference for those who join the pack and those who don't.
"What do you mean those who don't? That's illegal." Renee crossed her arms and returned Jackie's stare.
Jackie shrugged. What Quinn said made sense. "Some create smaller packs and it fits them better. They're still dual-natured wolves and not necessarily rebels."
"Don't get it twisted, they are rebels if they don't join the pack," Renee said in a hard tone. "The stuff about the pups, I get that but the rest of it... no. That's wrong. We have pack for a reason. Safety, security, sharing of resources, and others. That's what makes the rebels so dangerous. They stop pack members from getting the help they need."
Jackie didn't bother arguing points she knew better than Quinn's name. Instead she shrugged and headed for the door. Downstairs, Nionis, dressed similarly to Jackie, nodded.
"Let's go. I've got an area mapped on my phone where they may be hiding, we'll start there," Jackie told Nionis.
"Have you told Quinn we're coming?" Nionis asked.
"No. His phone went to voice mail. When we are on the move you can tell Ramos, not before." She pinned Nionis with a look to show how serious she was about this.
Nionis nodded.
Jackie headed toward the garage, mentally calculating scenarios, tactics and probabilities at lightning speed. There was a good chance they'd find the pups, but would it be in time to save Marsha and Penny? The two females were in the most danger.
"Chip's in the truck out front," Nionis said behind her.
As much as she would've preferred to do this on their own, ditching security with two La Patron pups in the state was a pipe dream. Jackie altered directions mid-stride and headed toward the door.
"Wait," Renee yelled from the staircase behind them.
Jackie didn't stop. Outside she slid in the back seat and pulled out her phone. Nionis sat upfront with Chip. Renee slid in next to Jackie.
"What are you doing?" Jackie asked unable to hide her surprise at seeing her fashionable litter-mate in baggy black jeans and over-sized black Tee. She didn't think Renee owned a tee-shirt or black steel toe boots.
Renee closed the door and waved for Jackie to move over so she'd have more room. The SUV pulled out the driveway. "I'm going with you. Maybe I need to see what you've seen instead of repeating what I learned in school. Obviously, I'm missing something." She shrugged and patted her thick ponytail. "This is important to you and you believe it needs to be done. That's enough for me."
Jackie started to remind her sister of her recent opposition but stopped. "Thanks, this is important. Everything's not black or white. Pups are being abused and that's not right."
"Then we help them by shining light on a gray area so others can't take advantage of them." Renee paused. "Is there time to get a decent pair of hiking boots?"
"No." Jackie continued looking at her phone and instructed Nionis to tell Chip where to drive.
"Being mated changed you," Renee said.
Startled, Jackie looked across the seat at her. "Really?"
Renee nodded. "This whole search the mountains, break laws if necessary, save the world dressed in black, which looks really good on you by the way, is new"
"I'd like to think I'd have changed if I saw the pups anyway." Jackie shrugged off the compliment, sat back and looked out the window. Was Renee right? Jackie didn't think so but if Quinn was the catalyst for her helping the pups she could live with that just fine.
"Probably. Listen I know I agreed to keep this between the two of us and I will." Renee held up her hand to stop Jackie's protest. "But when we're done, we'll need to share what we learned with everybody. If your gray area prediction is right, Mama and Daddy need to know so they can fix it. It's not fair to keep this kind of information away from them."
Jackie didn't say anything. She had planned to talk to her parents about Quinn today after the meal, but things derailed after the Ramos' message. Still, Renee was right, eventually they'd need to come clean about a lot of things. Jackie inhaled.
Good thing eventually wasn't right now.
Twenty minutes later they drove on US 441S through the mountains. Jackie re-read the information Ramos sent Nionis regarding the attack. Renee sat quietly on the other side looking out the window. Nionis laughed aloud periodically, probably from a mind-link conversation with someone, otherwise silence filled the air. None of them were prepared when the rear window shattered and smoke filled the car.
"Quinn!" Jackie yelled as thick smoke filled her nostrils and the vehicle swerved across the road and finally stopped.
"Jackie. I can hear you," Quinn said through a mental link.
She didn't respond to the surprise in his voice. "Smoke. Car. Help." A cool wind blew down the link clearing her mind. Renee and Nionis lay slumped in their seats. Chip managed to turn off the truck but now lay slumped over the steering wheel unmoving.
Jackie pushed some of the cool wind to Renee. "Wake up and fight this," she told her sister as a sense of foreboding rolled over her. Someone was coming.
"What?" Renee moaned.
"Quiet someone's comin
g, I need to wake Nionis." Hoping her litter mate could fight back on her own, Jackie reached out to Nionis.
"I'm good," Nionis surprised her. "Ramos cleared the way for me while Quinn took care of you. I think we should see where this leads."
"What?" Jackie wondered if Nionis had lost her mind.
"Hear me out," Nionis said. "These are the ones we're tracking. This is how they got Ramos and the pups off the road, right?"
"Yeah." Jackie hadn't thought about that.
"They may take us to the pups. Ramos is locked onto me, Quinn to you. They're already on their way, why not lead them to the pups?"
"Something could go wrong and my sister could get hurt," Jackie said, already feeling guilty about Renee being a part of this.
"Let her stay here or have her escape and go home," Nionis said.
"Get real, Renee would never leave me like that," Jackie said feeling trapped. Nionis' idea was good on several levels. At the very least she could talk to her father in case things got out of hand. He had shown them how he could intervene on their behalf no matter where they were in the world.
"True. Someone's here, just watching for now. Maybe waiting to see if anyone stops to help," Nionis said.
"Or waiting for backup. They need a vehicle to move us if they don't take this one," Jackie said looking at Renee and sending more fresh air down their link.
"I think we should wait, let them take us and then rescue the pups," Nionis said.
Other than Renee getting hurt, Jackie couldn't think of another reason not to follow through. All three of them had trained with KnightForce agents from time to time and were just as lethal. Additionally, she and Renee could use David and Adam's energies and abilities if necessary to defeat an enemy. They'd practiced that type of fighting over and over until her father was comfortable with their skills.
"Okay. I hope they hurry, I can't stop worrying about Marsha and Penny," Jackie said.
"Me neither," Nionis agreed.
Moments later a van pulled up behind them with a medical emblem on the side. Four men in white coats approached the SUV while the first person on the scene remained at a distance. The doors opened, three of them were lifted from their seats and taken to the van.
"If they plan to hurt Chip, we stop this now," Jackie told Nionis.
"These four won't hurt him, I don't know about the one watching. Security is almost here, they'll get Chip." Nionis paused. "Now would be a good time to tell your parents you're okay because security will call it in that we're missing."
Jackie thought over it for a bit. Since she could link with her father she swallowed her pride and reached out.
"Jackie? How's Tennessee?" her dad asked.
Hearing the deep cadence of his voice made her feel like a little girl with her arms stretched for him to pick her up and make everything alright. Eyes closed, she tightened the lid on Ramos and the ranch. "Hi Daddy, I've got something to tell you and Mama."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Jackie....Jackie!" Quinn continued yelling through the tenuous link he'd held a few moments with his mate. Eyes widening as realization dawned. "She's not responding," he told his uncle. "Why can't I reach her? Mates are supposed to be connected. What's happening?"
Ramos placed his hand on Quinn's shoulder as Antwan pressed the gas pedal in the jeep. "It's a new connection. Sometimes they're unstable, especially in stressful situations. I've got a link on Nionis and your mate's fine. The rebels took the women but left their security guard. Nionis sensed another full-blood near their truck."
Quinn's gut tightened at the idea of his mate in the hands of his enemies. "Jackie," he called through their link again.
"She thinks it's the wolf who shot the gas canister in their truck... and ours," Ramos said.
Quinn growled low in his throat.
"If he's still there when we get close, he's mine," Antwan said in a low menacing tone.
"We have to catch up with the rebels," Quinn said, eager to make sure Jackie was okay.
"Won't take long," Antwan said as their vehicle shot down the highway. A few moments later, they slowed. "I see their SUV on the side of the road. One heartbeat in the truck, another creeping forward." He glanced at Ramos and unbuckled his seat-belt. "Take the wheel."
Knowing it was useless to argue, Quinn searched for signs of his mate or her state of mind when she was taken. One second Antwan was in the driver seat, the next he jumped out the jeep. The vehicle swerved, straightened as his uncle took the wheel until it slowed to a stop on the side of the road.
Quinn and his uncle jumped out and ran across the street. The full-blood who'd been creeping toward the SUV took off into the woods.
Antwan and Quinn followed.
As soon as they entered the tree line both shifted and took off after the full-blood. With the scent of his prey in his nostrils, a new level of anger roared through Quinn unleashing a feral side of his beast. Death to the one who harmed his mate.
Death. Death. Death. The word rolled through his mind with singular purpose. He caught sight of the rebel jumping a fallen log and stumble. Eager to capitalize on the rebel's misfortune, Quinn quickened his stride, jumping from boulder to boulder until he saw the rebel on the ground beneath him standing slowly, preparing to run. Quinn leapt, landed on the rebel's back, knocking him down.
Antwan reached them just as Quinn made contact. "Mine," Antwan said through their link.
"We need information," Quinn said hoping Antwan would listen. But if this wolf had anything to do with taking the pups from Ramos, he would die painfully at Antwan's hands.
Rather than respond, Antwan grabbed the downed beast by the neck, and growled so low the vibration went through ground. He dropped the beast and it shifted. Antwan shifted, picked up the full-blood by the neck and shook him.
Quinn didn't want the rebel killed until they learned where Jackie had been taken.
The full-blood tried to break Antwan's grip but couldn't. Quinn morphed to human. "We don't have time to string this out." His body shook with need to be closer to his mate.
"He won't talk," Antwan said.
"Kill him and let's go." Out of patience and fearing his beast would take control and seek their mate, Quinn turned to head back to the jeep.
Antwan threw the rebel on the ground at Quinn's feet. "He set up your mate to be taken."
A low growl erupted from Quinn as his beast took control. Spinning, he grabbed the full blood by the hair, lifting him from the ground and slammed his fist into his face repeatedly, breaking bones. Fueled by the thought of his mate in danger because of this asshole, Quinn stepped outside his medical training, his commitment to save life and used every bit of knowledge he possessed to damage the full-blood in ways he would never recover from.
"Pleeeeease," the full-blood begged as Quinn dug into a pressure point near his jawline.
"Why did you attack us today?" Antwan asked, placing his hand on Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn's body shuddered with effort to pull back the murderous rage enveloping him.
"Stop," the rebel panted.
Swallowing hard, Quinn eased up but didn't release him. His beast growled and snapped against his human side for control.
"Answer me," Antwan said stooping close to them on the ground.
"Pups," he whispered.
"You had the pups and attacked the second truck," Antwan said squeezing Quinn's shoulder to stop him from doing more damage.
"The pup wanted her... told us about the others."
"What are your plans for the others?" Antwan asked watching Quinn who took short sips of air to contain his beast.
"Don't know."
Antwan grabbed the full-blood by the back of his head and lifted it to face him. The rebel grimaced from being in such an odd angle but Antwan gave no respite. "Lie again and he'll break you." Antwan tipped his head at Quinn who fought his beast to remain in human form.
"Breeding," the rebel whispered and screamed.
The moment the word
was uttered Quinn lost the battle with his beast and shifted. Antwan flung the full blood to the ground. Quinn jumped on him and bit down on his back, crushing bones. The rebel shifted and tried to fight but it was too late, Quinn fought through a haze of hatred and vengeance. This beast had taken his mate, placed her in harm’s way to be touched by others and would die for that by his hand.
Quinn broke the full-blood's neck. In death, it returned to its human form. Antwan picked up the rebel and tossed him into the forest. Quinn shifted and headed back to the jeep, Antwan followed in silence. They broke through the trees and saw Ramos and two other shifters. Eager to find Jackie, Quinn strode to the jeep while Antwan headed to his mate.
"Jackie... Jackie," Quinn sat in the back seat with his arms wrapped around his waist rocking as he called to his mate. His skin grew cold, then hot as he tried to find her. Looking over his shoulder, he growled over the delay in reaching his mate. Canine teeth crowded his mouth as his fingertips turned to claws. Need for his mate gripped his gut, slashing against him. Unable to remain still, holding on to his humanity by a thread, he stepped out the jeep and ran in the direction they'd been going.
He searched for her scent, it was too faint to follow but he'd try even if he had to shift and track her from the woods. Eventually the jeep pulled alongside him. Ramos waved for him to get in. Quinn jumped in the back seat and they took off down the road.
"Alpha Gilbert sent KnightForce and extra security to squash the rebels. They've agreed to allow us to go in to get the pups," Ramos said. "I don't like it or trust them but we have no choice. Either work with them or be left out." He paused. "I think La Patron is involved."
Quinn stared out the window in silence. His mate had been captured, taken from him. Why had she left pack lands where she was safe? Did the pups mean that much to her? He thought about it for a moment. Yes. She would risk her safety to save others.
Antwan turned off the highway onto a dirt path and stopped. "Let's go," Ramos said stepping out and shifting. Within seconds they were deep in the forest. Scenting others nearby, they stopped. Ahead, six full-bloods dressed in camo gear stood in front of a copse of trees, blending nicely
