The dragon disappeared from the sky. A few minutes later, Matthew walked out from behind the line of trees at the edge of the clearing. He was buttoning his jeans with one hand and tapping on his phone with the other.
“Change back,” he commanded to the lion.
It had no choice. Luke gritted his teeth as the change came quickly, the pain shooting through his bones as he became human again. He heaved from the sudden shift, his head feeling light. He felt something hit his head—a spare set of clothes Matthew must have been carrying along with his own.
“Jason told me you ran off,” Matthew said in a calm voice. “He asked all of us to try and find you. What happened?”
He grunted as he finished dressing and turned away. “Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, obviously.” He felt Matthew grab his shoulder. “You can tell me.”
“Just leave me alone!” He shrugged Matthew’s hand off. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s such horse shit!” Matthew sidestepped to face him.
There were more high-pitched screeches coming from high above. Two more dragons circled overhead, one of them identical to Matthew’s dragon, while the other one was smaller, roughly half the size. They flew in unison, swooping down and disappearing. A few moments later, Jason and Sybil both walked into the clearing.
“Luke!” Sybil ran toward him and threw her arms around her. “Luke, I’m sorry. About your pride.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Sybbie.”
“I told them what happened,” Jason explained. “And that you ran away before you heard Georgina’s entire story.”
“So you know how she betrayed us! And that she’s one of them!” He spread his arms in challenge. “Her father was the one who killed my pride!” He turned to Matthew. “And tried to kill you, your mate, and everyone else on your wedding day!”
Jason shook his head. “Yes, she’s The Chief’s daughter, but she had nothing to do with any of that.”
“How can you be sure?” Rage filled his veins, making his blood boil. “What if she was sent here to spy on us? And who knows what else? We caught her just in time.”
“You’re an idiot!” Matthew shot back. “She’s your mate.”
“There’s no such thing as mates.”
“Then why did you help me with Catherine?” Matthew countered. “And Jason with Christina? And Ben? And Nathan?”
Luke huffed, but didn’t say anything.
“Look man, I know things haven’t been easy for you,” Jason said. “And, maybe, you helped us because you still care about us. You know we care about you, too.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Matthew said.
“Georgina told us everything. From the beginning. She didn’t know how evil The Chief was or about The Organization. She was a child and a pawn. When she got pregnant with Grayson, everything changed.” Jason paused. “They killed Grayson’s father and then threatened to get rid of her baby. They would have done it, if she hadn’t run away.”
Luke felt the muscles in his jaw tick.
“And then they threatened you and Grayson. They told her they would kill you if she didn’t plant that device in my computer. She didn’t do it though. I know because our systems at Lennox weren’t compromised.”
Shock entered his system like a slow wave. It made his temple throb and his gut clench.
“Luke, please,” Sybil whispered. “Just listen to your heart. What does it say?”
Luke let out a frustrated growl. Georgina … she did it to protect him and Grayson? Of course, she did. “Dammit!” He kicked a rock with his bare foot. “She’s mine.” And I love her. He had for a long time now; he just could never say it.
“Yes!” Sybil squealed and hugged him.
“Where is she?” he asked, his throat constricting. Hopefully she would forgive him for not believing her.
“She and Grayson are headed to the castle,” Jason explained. "We need to—” A ringing sound interrupted him before he could continue. He got his phone from his pocket and answered it. “Hello. Christina? What? You were what?” Jason’s eyes started to glow, and Luke immediately felt the temperature change. He remained silent as he listened to whatever Christina was saying on the other line, even though it was obvious he was getting agitated. “Who found you … who’s that? Oh, the new guy.” He let out a relieved breath. “Are you okay? Yeah, he’s here.” He glanced at Luke. “Okay. Go to medical and get checked out. Yeah, we’ll be there.”
“What’s wrong?” Sybil asked.
Jason slowly turned to Luke. “I’m sorry. They have her and Grayson. Knocked out Christina, too.”
Rage burned through him. “Bastards.”
“We’ll get them back,” Sybil assured him.
“We will.” He had to believe it. “And then we’ll make them pay.” His lion roared in agreement.
The fastest way back to Lennox Corp. was flying, of course, but Luke didn’t want to catch a ride with any of the dragons. He hadn’t gone far, and in his lion form, he quickly crossed the miles, following Sybil, Matthew, and Jason as they flew overhead. He didn’t bother to wait for the dragons to shift back before going straight to the fifteenth floor.
The Shifter Protection Agency offices were shaping up, though there were still some opened boxes littering the floor and exposed wires crossing over the carpets. The few agents there were too busy to notice him, as most of them were running around. The energy in the air was palpable, and Luke knew something was very wrong.
He strode over to the corner office, easily spotting Christina through the glass walls. She was leaning against the desk, holding an ice pack to her head as she spoke to a man Luke had never seen before.
“Luke!” She waved him inside. “Glad to see you’re back.” Her face was grave, and she winced as she lowered the ice pack. She nodded to the man in front of her. “This is Petros Thalassa. He’s going to be my right-hand man. Petros, this is Luke Lennox.”
The man pivoted on his heel to face him. Though he was a couple of inches shorter than him, Petros Thalassa showed no sign of being intimidated. He was just as wide as Luke, with his shoulders and arms straining under the formal navy suit he wore. Petros seemed to size him up, and his eyes—a strange light blue-green the color of the sea—pierced right into him. Wolf, of course. He felt Petros’ animal growl at him, a feral snarl escaping its lips. There was something not quite right with the other man. His own lion was rearing up for a fight.
“Stop with the shifter bullshit. I grew up with it and won’t tolerate it. Now,” Christina said. “We’ve got more important things to work on.”
Petros gave her a nod. “Of course, Miss Stav—I mean, Christina.”
Luke took a step forward. “What happened? Where are they?”
She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop him.” She sank down on the leather chair behind the desk. “He got away and took Grayson and Georgina.”
“Christina!” Jason burst in through the office and ran toward his mate. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I swear I’m going to tear him—”
“I’m fine,” she said, sighing as Jason pulled her into his arms. “I got checked out at the clinic.”
“What happened?” Matthew asked as he and Sybil entered the room.
Christina recounted how Adrian had been waiting for them and knocked her out cold. “And then when I woke up, Petros was standing over me.”
“I had just arrived,” the wolf shifter explained. “And I saw a delivery truck speeding away from the garage. I felt something was off, so I followed where it had come from. Christina was on the ground. I immediately took her into the building.”
Jason gave the man a grateful nod. “Thank you.”
“What else did you see?” Luke asked. “Did you see a woman and a child?”
Petros shook his head. “I’m afraid not. And I didn’t think to follow the truck or read its license plate. My apologies.”
“Yo
u didn’t know,” Matthew said. “Now, we need to figure out where they’re taking Georgina and Grayson.”
“Our team has started the search,” Christina said. “We’re tapping into every security camera in the city to see if we can find the truck matching the description Petros provided.”
“Any luck?” Sybil asked.
“We’re working on it, but if they took the old highways, we won’t be able to track them.”
“Which they probably did,” Luke said. These bastards were too smart.
“We’ll keep trying,” Christina said. “But there’s something else.”
“What is it?” Luke asked.
“Even though he knocked me out, I was still semi-conscious. I heard him say something.” She took a deep breath. “I think they’re planning something. Something big.”
“Like an attack?” Matthew asked.
“I didn’t hear much, but it sounded bad. Blackstone could be in danger.”
“We can’t underestimate them,” Jason said. “We’ll have to get organized. Get everyone on board.”
“We should call Dad,” Sybil said. “And everyone else. Uncle James, Uncle Clark, Nathan, and Violet.”
Matthew nodded in agreement. “We’ll need everyone we can trust.”
Luke clenched his fists. “We’ll stop them.” They had to. He would rescue Georgina and Grayson, kill The Chief, and then destroy every single person in the Organization. Only then would everyone he loved be safe.
Chapter Thirteen
They had been driving for what seemed like hours. Adrian had thrown them into the back of a dirty truck and shut the door. Since there were no windows, she couldn’t see outside.
Grayson wouldn’t stop crying and shaking. “I don’t … want to … go back in the cage, Mommy.”
“Shhh … it’s going to be okay, sweetie,” she soothed, running a hand down his back. “I won’t let them hurt you again.” She didn’t know how or what she would do, but she knew she would use her last dying breath to protect him if she had to.
Part of her was clinging to the hope that, maybe, someone would rescue them. Maybe it might even be Luke. But she couldn’t count on that. If Adrian had taken Christina, Jason would have burned the world to get his mate back. He was smart, not provoking the dragon.
Grayson eventually tired himself out from crying and fell asleep. She held him tighter and kissed the top of his head. She had to think of a way for him to escape. Maybe once they stopped and the doors opened, she could get him to shift and run away.
Before she could even formulate a plan, the truck jerked and stopped. Oh no. There was no time now. Should she wake him and tell him to go?
The metal doors screeched as they opened. Georgina shielded her eyes as light filled the truck, blinding her temporarily. Even though she couldn’t see, there was no mistaking the sound of guns cocking. She put her hand down, and her blood pressure plunged when she saw the half dozen gun barrels pointed at them.
“Get up,” Adrian said. “We’re here.”
She picked up Grayson, who had begun to stir. “Mommy?” He opened his eyes and when he looked around, his face turned into pure terror.
“Shhhh, sweetie. It’s okay.” She held onto him tighter as she hopped off the back of the truck. Looking around, she saw they were somewhere rural. Definitely not the city.
Adrian grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her along. “Looks like we got here in time for a little family reunion.”
Dread filled Georgina. She knew what he meant.
After a few minutes of walking down a dirt road, they came across an old farmhouse. He led her up the rickety porch steps, and the lone guard standing outside opened the door as they walked in. It was abandoned, judging from the dank and musty smell, though it looked like someone had straightened up and cleaned the place recently.
Adrian pushed her along and shoved her into one of the rooms. When he tried to grab Grayson, she screamed and clawed at him, but it was no use. Adrian wrenched Grayson away from her.
“The Chief wants to talk to you in private,” he said as he walked away.
“No! Grayson!” She turned around to go after them.
“Hello, Georgina.”
The sound of the voice made her freeze. A chill ran over her skin.
The Chief stood up from behind a large wingback chair and turned to face her. “What? Nothing to say to your mother, after all these years?”
“What would I ever say to you?” Georgina spat.
Regina Winnick’s red-painted lips curled into a smile, though her eyes remained cruel and cold. “So, that was him? The cub?” she sneered. “Your abomination of a child should—”
“Shut up, Regina!”
“My, aren’t you feisty now?” She walked closer to her. “Too bad you didn’t show this much spirit when you were a child.” She tried to place a hand on Georgina’s shoulder, but she shrugged it away. “If you had only shown some backbone, you could be the one taking over once I’m gone.”
“Shown some backbone? You mean spew hate at innocent people, right?”
“They’re not innocent, and they’re not people!” Regina countered. “You were always a spineless, sniveling weakling. I told your father when he was alive that he always spoiled you too much. I was always ashamed to call you my daughter! You could never have been the next Chief!”
“So, what was the plan, then?” Georgina asked. “Marry me off to your loyal right hand man and make me into some broodmare? To further our abhorrent family line?”
“You insolent child!” Regina’s eyes became narrow slits. “How dare you speak that way about our family. We’ve been protecting the interests of human kind for generations! My father and his father before him have done everything they could to keep our bloodline pure. You were the one that muddied it with this monstrosity.”
“Fuck you, Regina! Fuck you and your pure bloodline!” That earned her a resounding slap.
“You ungrateful girl!”
Georgina covered her face with her palm, trying to soothe the pain. “Why couldn’t you leave us alone, Regina? I was staying out of your way, trying to raise my son. What do you want with me?”
“You stupid child!” she raged. “After what you did, becoming pregnant by one of those animals, how do you think that made me look? To our allies and the people under me? You made me into a fool!” She grabbed her arm, digging her fingers painfully into Georgina’s arm. “I looked weak, especially when you escaped.”
“Do what you want with me, but please, don’t hurt my son,” Georgina pleaded.
“Oh, I’m going to do what I want all right,” Regina said with a curl of her lip. “And soon, I won’t look weak to anyone. Not after I destroy Blackstone and burn it to the ground.”
“No!” she shouted. “What are you planning?”
“Those stupid shifters!” Regina cackled. “They thought they were safe in their little town. We’ve been working for weeks, infiltrating them. That USB you were supposed to put in Jason Lennox’s computer would have granted us access to the Shifter Protection Agency’s network. But it doesn’t matter because they will all be gone soon. We’ve planted powerful bombs around town. They’ll never find all of them in time. In twenty-four hours, Blackstone will be no more.”
“You bitch!” Georgina screamed. “You can’t do that!”
“I already have, my dear daughter,” Regina said. “When we detonate those bombs, Blackstone will be wiped off the earth.”
“What makes you think you’ll get away with this?” Georgina asked. “You can’t eradicate an entire town and think people will look the other way.”
“Georgina, you really have no idea what we’re capable of, do you? We’ve spent decades buying influence and amassing power. Half the major news organizations are in our pockets, not to mention law enforcement and politicians. We’ve already prepared all the news reports, detailing the terrible accidents in the blackstone mines that destroyed the entire town and everyone in it.”
“Do you think this is the first time we’ve done this? I’ve made entire groups of shifters disappear, just like that!” Regina snapped her fingers. “That lion you’ve been fucking? Who do you think ordered his pride to be annihilated? I didn’t realize he was the cub who escaped, but when Hank and Riva Lennox started poking around, I put two and two together. They were relentless, trying to find more information. I threw them a big enough bone so they would go away.”
Georgina gritted her teeth. Regina really was evil and hateful.
She continued. “We’ve never done something on this scale, of course, but then, there’s no other town like Blackstone. Even if it came out that Blackstone was attacked on purpose, no one will ever trace it to us. We already have scapegoats from those anti-shifter groups ready to take the fall. I’ll be the first Chief to finally rid the world of these monsters.”
“You’re the monster!” Georgina screamed.
Regina rolled her eyes. “This is getting tiresome. Adrian!”
“Yes, Chief?” Adrian said as he strode into the room.
“Take her away,” Regina ordered. “Make sure she and the brat stay put.”
“Will do.” Adrian trained his dead eyes at her. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t touch me!” She evaded his grasp.
Adrian ignored her and took her by the arm. He led her out of the room and up to the second floor of the farm house. They walked down a long hallway, and Adrian pulled a rope hanging from above. A ladder slid down from the ceiling.
“Mommy!” Grayson cried as he peeked from the attic above.
“Grayson! Did they hurt you?” She yelped as Adrian pushed her forward.
“Get up there,” he ordered.
At least I’ll be with Grayson. She grabbed the ladder and made her way up. She gathered Grayson into her arms and hugged him tight.
“Don’t even think of trying to escape,” Adrian warned as he stared up at them. “We’ve got guards everywhere.”
Georgina startled when the ladder closed shut with a loud bang.
“Mommy, where are we?” Grayson asked, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I don’t want to be here. I wanna go back to Blackstone, to our house. And to Luke and Auntie Sybil and—”
The Blackstone Lion: Blackstone Mountain Book 5 Page 14
