He ignored the woman, his focus on Kotori. His best friend’s eyes were all black, and his canine teeth hung past his lips. Birk knew Kotori held on to rationality by a thread, because Birk felt the same. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure. I tracked her partway out of Juneau. She’s not alone. A half dozen others are with her.”
“She could have joined them voluntarily.” Birk struggled to keep his head on straight. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but when Kotori charged into his office and claimed Shiya had been taken, he had flown into a rage before using his head.
Kotori growled, his voice thick as if he forgot how to form words. “Are you coming or not?”
Birk stood up. “First we check her suite. Then we track her. If someone does have her, they will die at my hands.”
They left the office without explanation to his staff and jumped into his SUV. All the way to Shiya’s place, Birk thought over the situation. If Shiya’s own family had her, why would they bother? They had to know where to find him and Kotori. They weren’t in hiding. Kotori had sent his grandmother to the mountains where many of them lived anyway, and Birk had no one in Alaska. So why didn’t the Keiths just come? Hell, they could have picked him up at the vet hospital, and Kotori at his offices, with some semblance of an excuse.
Well, it didn’t matter why. What mattered was getting Shiya back.
“We shouldn’t have left her,” Kotori complained. “She’s ours, and we should have kept her at the cabin.”
“Contrary to what we want, we have to think about Shiya’s happiness. She’s not strong enough to be our mate, and we couldn’t hold her prisoner forever.” He squeezed the steering wheel beneath his grip and felt the materials giving way. He forced himself to calm down.
“Where she is, I go.” Kotori’s simple logic attested to his giving over to his animal side.
“Can you adjust to San Diego?”
“I can.”
Birk sighed and soon pulled up to the private entrance to her suite. He hadn’t set a foot outside yet before he picked up the scent of several men—and a woman. He took the steps two at a time and checked the door. The knob twisted in his hand without hesitance, and he walked in. Two people stood inside the small living room, guns in hand. Birk narrowed his eyes at them.
The man he recognized as Shiya’s ex-boyfriend. Behind him, Kotori growled on seeing the human they hated most.
The woman looked so much like Shiya, Birk’s chest constricted in pain. She smelled similar as well, but he easily picked out the difference. He kept his face expressionless, but his friend had no such control. He sensed Kotori coiling for attack, and Birk held up his hand to hold him off—for now.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
The woman raised her chin. He caught no glimpse of fear in her eyes and smelled none either. He had to give her credit for that. This must be Shiya’s sister. He didn’t recall her name and didn’t care to. All he wanted to know was where they’d taken his mate.
“You have three seconds to answer me before you die.”
The woman waved her gun. “I guess you don’t see this weapon, huh? Don’t come in here threatening me. I’ve dealt with your kind before, and I’ve put them down more times than I can count. As far as I’m concerned, you’re nothing but animals that look like people.”
Kotori sprang forward, but Birk caught him just in time. He felt like his arms would be torn from the sockets keeping a grip on Kotori, but he managed it. The woman went on.
“However, my sister seems to care about you, and I love her more than anyone on this planet. My brother’s wrong for kidnapping her, and I want her back, so I’m happy to send you into his trap. As long as Shiya’s okay. But if you get her hurt, if you cause even a scratch to mar her skin, I will pump your ass so full of bullets, you will beg me to die.”
“Where?” Birk snapped.
The man, who hadn’t said anything, pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and tossed it onto the floor. “There. We have a temporary compound set up. That’s where Shiya is.”
Birk snatched up the sheet and saw that a map had been printed on it. He stuffed it in his coat pocket and pushed Kotori toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Kotori strained against him at first, but gave in. He performed a U-turn in his vehicle and, amid screeching tires, tore off down the street. He had a general idea of where to find Shiya and was glad of the map. They could track her, but knowing exactly where to go cut time. Hold on, baby. We’re coming for you.
The trip would take several hours, but Birk intended to floor it all the way, even if parts of the road made it unsafe. They had taken Shiya far away from civilization to cover their activities.
“The map,” Kotori said, and Birk handed it over. His partner studied it and then handed it back. “I’m getting help.”
Birk stiffened. “Do you want to drag your family into this?”
“Won’t you do everything for her?”
“Of course.” Birk would give his life for Shiya, but he had no one else to protect. He considered it now and knew that if he did, Shiya would come first. His animal side saw his mate as being above all else. Part of the reason he hadn’t ripped those humans apart back at Shiya’s place for being a part of her kidnapping was because the woman admitted to loving Shiya more than anyone. He saw in her face that she didn’t agree with her family’s tactics. The rest would not be spared.
“You’re right. We don’t know how many there are. Don’t take too long. I don’t want her to suffer a minute longer than she has to.”
Kotori nodded, and Birk pulled to the side of the road to let him out. His friend shifted into his bear form and took off running. Birk continued on.
Three hours later, he pulled his car to the side of the road. The rest of the way would have to be on foot. He removed his clothes and left them in the SUV. Then he shifted and headed into the trees. Snow covered much of the ground out here, and his claws and wide, flat paws allowed him to cut through it with ease. Scents not natural to nature tickled his nose. He picked up the smell of humans, a lot of them—and Shiya.
* * * *
Shiya rolled over on the floor, wincing in pain. Her wrists had swollen and gone numb. Since they dropped her in this joke of a cabin that had nothing on Birk and Kotori’s place, no one had come back to check on her. She’d called out, but nobody answered. Every now and then, she picked up voices, men snapping orders and other conversations. The cabin she occupied was one of just a handful. Tents occupied other spots, and she didn’t think they planned on staying out here long. Just enough to slaughter an entire family. She needed to get out before Birk and Kotori came.
Working her bound hands to her butt, she wiggled to get her hips through the loop her arms made. Tendons in her arms grew taut, and she paused to catch a breath. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she hadn’t even started yet. After what felt like an eternity, she managed to get her hands down to her knees, and she rolled to her back and sat up. Very slowly, she pulled her knees up to her chest. The only thing she was thankful for at this point was that someone had taken her boots and left her in her socks. She figured they did it to keep her from running out in the snow, but then someone had locked the cabin door from the outside anyway.
She lay on her back and slid her hands down her calves as far as she could, then worked one foot into her palm and through. Her muscles strained and ached. She took a break, panting and moaning. When she managed to get the other leg through, she stood up. What little rest she’d gotten after the marathon of sex with Birk and Kotori had been sapped with this experience.
Voices outside the cabin made her run behind the door. A key sounded in the lock, and the latch gave. She brought her clutched hands down on the back of his head. Her blow didn’t knock the man unconscious, but it was enough to land him flat on his face. Shiya kicked the door closed and dropped on her knees in the middle of the man’s back.
He groaned in pain. “You bitch.”
&n
bsp; “Right back at you,” she snapped and kneed him hard behind the neck.
Before he could regain his faculties, she jerked his shirt up and grabbed the knife most of Kasen’s men carried in scabbards on their back.
The hunter’s knife cut through the plasticuffs, and she was free. She ignored the painful surge of blood to her hands and wrists and grabbed Kasen’s man by his hair, putting the knife up to his throat.
“If you don’t want to get buried out here, you will help me, and keep your mouth shut.”
He laughed.
“What’s so damn funny?”
He flipped her onto her back and landed on top of her, an arm across her throat. The knife fell from her hand and clunked onto the floor. The bastard shoved it away. “Okay, should we try this again?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but a growl cut her off. The door exploded inward, smashing against the wall. A polar bear stood in the opening, seeming so out of place yet so right where he should be. His baleful gaze bowled from her to the man atop her, and Shiya could only imagine what he thought. She shoved the idiot.
“Get off of me before he kills you.”
Kotori lunged at him, but he shoulder-rolled away and snatched his knife from the floor. His crouch looked good, but Shiya knew it would mean nothing. Kotori was in a rage. She sensed it, blown away by the connection.
“Kotori, it’s fine. He didn’t hurt me. Calm down.”
“Don’t go near him. He’ll kill you!”
Shiya glared at her attacker. “Just be quiet.” She stepped in front of Kotori, cutting him off from his prey. “Kotori!” She held her hands up, which turned out to be a mistake. Her lover focused on the bruises around her wrists where the cuffs had been.
Kotori shifted into his human form and barreled past Shiya. He disarmed Kasen’s man as if he were no more than a child and had him several feet off the floor by his neck. He slammed him into the wall and squeezed his throat.
Shiya had a flashback to Joe and rushed over to grab Kotori’s arm.
“Stop, Kotori. Let him go,” she pleaded.
“You’re the one who put those bruises on her?” Kotori demanded, as if he hadn’t heard her. Another slam on the wall brought a stain of blood. Shiya’s stomach somersaulted.
“He didn’t do it,” she shouted.
Kotori dropped the man to the floor. Shiya thought she heard a bone snapping when he hit. When he didn’t move, she bent to check his pulse. Her heart thundered out of control. Kotori had already killed him.
“Who?”
She swallowed and looked up at her lover.
“Who?” he repeated. He reached down and pulled her to her feet, but his touch was nothing like what he’d done to Kasen’s man. Kotori’s grasp on her arm remained gentle. She wondered at how he could go from strangling a man to handling her with care. Her hands shook, and her knees seemed about to give at any second, but she didn’t fear Kotori. What she did fear was telling him it was Kasen who put the cuffs on. Her brother was all kinds of a bastard, but she couldn’t let Kotori kill him.
“It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t intentional.”
Kotori narrowed his eyes and raised her chin. She shivered at the darkness she saw there. “Anyone who hurts you does not get to live.”
Staring up at him, all of a sudden, she knew the truth about what had happened to her mother. One of them, her mother, or her dad, maybe Kasen, had killed the shifter’s mate. The wolf that attacked Kotori had been defending his rights to kill the man who had touched his mate. Kotori had only seen her bruises. If for some reason she’d been killed . . . The shifters weren’t fully animal, but they weren’t fully human either. They lived by their own rules, and she understood why that would terrify humans who knew of their existence.
How would she distract him from insisting she tell him? More growls erupted outside the cabin, along with the clink of steel on steel. Kotori hadn’t come alone. He shifted and started out of the cabin, and she picked up the knife to follow. The makeshift compound was in an uproar. Polar bears attacked men in several areas. Men in animal skin clothing and mukluk boots held small curved blades as they fought Kasen’s men. Their darker skin and long black hair pegged them as Tlingit, Kotori’s people.
The scent of blood permeated the air, and it stained the snow in too many spots. Shiya scanned them for Birk. This was her fault. If she’d never slept with them, never asked to get out into the field . . .
When her feet began to freeze, she looked down and winced, remembering her boots had been taken away. At another cabin, she heard her brother’s cry and ran in through the open door. Birk and Kasen faced off. Her brother’s right hand hung at an awkward angle, but he’d switched his weapon to the left. A gun lay discarded, and she figured Birk had disarmed him earlier.
“Kasen, give up,” she demanded. “If you and your people leave Alaska, we can end this fighting.”
Her brother sneered. “They all deserve to be killed. You saw them out there, didn’t you? There are more shifters here than your two lovers, and every one of those men are carriers. I can guarantee you that. Besides, they cut down too many of my men. I can’t let that slide.”
“You started this!” She took a step closer to her brother, but Birk reached out and snatched her back. In one fluid motion, he whipped her around him and thrust her in Kotori’s direction. Kotori held her close to his side, and she couldn’t make him let go no matter how hard she struggled.
“And I’m going to finish it.” Kasen feinted left and went right to drive his knife into Birk’s side. Birk blocked the move and sent Kasen flying backward. Her brother smacked into the side of a table and doubled over. He spit out blood and dragged a hand over his mouth.
Shiya searched her mind for a way to stop this. “If you don’t back off, he’s going to kill you. They’ll kill all of you. I’m willing to bet you’ve never come against this many shifters and carriers at once. You’re out of your element here, Kasen. Kotori’s family are used to the climate, and they don’t interact much with those on the outside.”
Her brother sneered again. “Meaning they’re wilder than the animals we’ve come across before. They deserve to be wiped off this planet.”
Kotori moved up to Birk’s side. Where he’d calmed down some after finding her, she saw his rage resurface. She had to end this, or they would bury her brother just as they did her mother.
“If you don’t stop, I’m going to wipe out every piece of information you have on the shifters, every contact, every lead.”
Kasen swore. “That can be gotten back.”
“Ten years’ worth? In how long?”
He seemed to debate over it. Her threat didn’t hold much water. All Kasen needed to do was contact her dad or someone else at their headquarters and get an IT person to change the access. In seconds, they could lock her out of the system and back everything up.
“Kasen!”
Shiya jumped, and all of them turned toward the new voice in the doorway. She couldn’t believe her dad stood there, as calm as if he’d been out taking an evening stroll. His angry gaze locked on Kasen.
“Please explain to me why you have my daughter in the midst of all this fighting.”
“Daddy, I’m fine.” She tried not to draw his focus on her feet.
“Dad, I—” Kasen began.
“Outside! I want a full report!” Her father spun on his heel, and it was as if both sides agreed to back off for now. Shiya noted from the doorway that all fighting in and outside of the cabin halted. Polar bears melted into the trees, camouflaged by the white snow. Kasen rushed to the edge of the cleared area, frustration obvious in the set of his shoulders and his clenched fists.
“Dad, you know they’re shifters, right?” Kasen demanded.
Her dad ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest. Shiya noted how fast Kasen calmed down. No one disrespected her father and got away with it—even her brother.
Shiya began to step out of the cabin, but Birk blocked her p
ath. “Kotori, she needs boots.”
Her lover disappeared and returned in seconds with a pair. She wondered whom he beat to take them, but didn’t ask questions. Her feet were freezing. Kotori stripped her wet socks off, and held her up while she stuck her feet into the warm boots. Birk waited close by, alert to anyone trying to hurt her. Her heart warmed at seeing them there, but so easily they could have been killed. All around lay injured men, and a couple of Kotori’s people picked up their fallen and melted into the scenery.
“We’re going, Shiya,” Birk said. “I have the feeling your father won’t allow your brother to go too far again when it comes to you.”
Her stomach dropped. She felt a sob rise in her throat, but swallowed it. The hesitance in Birk’s expression made her wonder what he wasn’t saying. “Yes, I’m safe. My dad’s never been a fan of using us girls. Birk, what are you not telling me?”
He scanned the area. Several of Kasen’s men were close, but not in hearing distance. They stood at alert as if they suspected Birk and Kotori would take her. She resented the thought since her brother had started this mess. Birk eyed the men and turned toward the trees. He found his route blocked. Now she knew her dad coming hadn’t put an end to the fighting. He’d stopped her being used as the pawn. As far as he was concerned, Birk and Kotori were still on his list. Had anyone told him about her relationship with them? They must have, or he would wonder why she would work as bait in the first place.
Kotori held his hands to the sides, claws forming from his nails. Each one slowly turned black, and he growled low and threatening. Something told her Birk wouldn’t stop him if he attacked her family.
She swung to face her father and brother and raised her voice. “Dad, please, just let them go.”
Her dad held out his hand to her, standing several feet away. All she had to do was step away from her lovers and over to her dad, but to do so meant turning her back on them. With Shiya so close, her dad wouldn’t give the order to shoot Birk and Kotori. She knew how he worked. Yet, she also knew, out there in the trees, even though she couldn’t see them, Kotori’s people weren’t far. They had a standoff, and it depended on her decision.
Juneau Heat Page 13
