He finally had the werewolf he’d been hunting to experiment on and it was up to Lindsey now to save him.
Chapter Seven
Lindsey ran after the black van but she was no match for it. Out of breath, she pulled out her phone and quickly typed out the license plate number. It wasn’t much, but at least, it was a start. She ran to her car and thought about her options. The police wouldn’t be any help; they would ask questions that she didn’t have the answers too. For the first time in her life, she wished that she was a more social person. Maybe if she had friends or family with connections, they could help her track him.
The idea hit her like a ton of bricks. She put her car in reverse and flew out onto the highway, heading for her home. As she drove, she thought about what she was going to do. She didn’t have any family growing up. It had always just been her and her mother. Lindsey didn’t have any family that could help her, but Jayden did. She hoped that she wasn’t too late, that the pack was still lurking in her woods, keeping an eye on their fallen brother. The sun was setting in the sky and Lindsey stepped into the woods as the last of the light drifted behind the mountains.
She took a deep breath and called out into the darkness, “hello? Um, Jayden’s family?”
She cussed under her breath, she sounded like a scared child. No answer came to her for several minutes, then a growling came from a few yards away and made her jump.
“Please, I need your help. Beyer took Jayden,” saying the words out loud brought tears to her eyes. “I don’t know what to do; I don’t have any family that I can call to help me. I don’t know where they took him,” she collapsed onto the ground and began to cry in earnest.
The woods were silent. Lindsey was devastated, she had no other choice. The pack was her last chance to save Jayden and they didn’t seem to want to help her.
Her sadness turned into anger and determination as she rose to her feet, “fine. I’ll do it myself.”
Lindsey turned her back to the woods and didn’t let the growling stop her. She didn’t turn around when the footsteps followed her either. She stormed away, back to the house and slammed the door, she was furious. There was no time for her to stay angry though, the door opened to the laundry room. She looked up but didn’t rise from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. Several minutes later a man walked in. He was older but charming. His black hair and beard was flecked with grey.
“I am Aeron, alpha of Jayden’s pack,” said the man.
Aeron continued less formally, “I was also a close friend of your fathers. We will help you find Jayden. We never leave a family member behind,” he said as he watched her.
“Thank you for your help, I don’t have any family to count on,” she said looking down at her hands.
He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Lindsey, your father was an amazing man.”
She smiled at him, “you know, everyone keeps telling me that, but how can I believe you?”
“You have to have faith in us, faith in Jayden. Our kind do not lie, it goes against nature which we are one with,” he replied.
“That sounds wonderful, I wish I could live like that, just fall off the grid and not worry about anything,” replied Lindsey.
Aeron chucked softly, “I wouldn’t say we live off the grid. We adapt depending on what our pack needs. For instance, right now our pack needed to protect you and bring down Beyer, so we have assimilated into society once again. It’s true though, we prefer to live in the wild.”
She paused before speaking again, “can people, can they turn into werewolves? You know, like in the movies?”
Now he looked at her with a great amount of curiosity, “it’s true, if a human is bitten by one of us while we are in our animal form, they can be turned into a werewolf also.”
Lindsey looked at him with hope.
“However,” said Aeron, seeing her desire, “it has to be done during a full moon and there are other parts to the ceremony that can be, well, uncomfortable.”
She was intrigued, “like what?”
“Let’s see, there is a mating ritual and a blood oath that you must take,” he said as he watched her. “It is not for the faint of heart and it must be approved by me and I don’t do so often. True love is rare, if one of my pack finds it, I will agree but only then.”
She smiled, she was sure that their love was real. At least she was sure that she loved him, she couldn’t tell if he loved her and if they didn’t find him soon, she may never get to find out.
He saw her smiled fade, “don’t worry, we will find him.”
She smiled at him as the back door opened and three wolves came through. As Aeron spoke to them, he took up the phone on the kitchen counter. She realized that this man, this stranger had been in this house before. He had known her father when she had not, and it broke her heart. She listened as he spoke in a couple different languages, she didn’t understand anything that he said. When he was done, he hung up the phone and gave the three waiting wolves an address and nothing more. They left through the back door as quickly as they had come.
“Where are they going?” She asked him as she stood up.
“They are going to save Jayden,” he said bluntly.
She watched him, “I need to go with them, if he gets hurt I need to be there to take care of him.”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot risk your life for one of ours,” he said.
She glared at him but he was unfazed, “fine.”
Lindsey rose from the table and stormed into the bathroom. There was no way in hell she was going to leave Jayden up to those three. He had given them the address and that’s all she needed. She opened the window and quietly climbed out. Her keys were right in her car where she left them. She locked the doors and started the engine. The last thing she saw was Aeron running after her. She didn’t slow down, and she stopped looking back.
The address he had given them was just a few miles away. She turned off her car after pulling into the woods outside the small building. In the darkness, it looked like a small barn. There were a few windows scattered throughout the walls but nothing outstanding beyond that. Lindsey saw the black van parked under one of the two outside lights. Slowly, she crept forward, all the time looking out for the three wolves. She didn’t see them but the closer she got to the building, the louder the noises inside were. They were sounds that broke her heart. Jayden was screaming out in pain.
Chapter Eight
Lindsey moved as fast as she safely could across the rough terrain and towards the screams. She had shut off her emotions, knowing that they would cause more harm than good in the next few minutes. Finally, she found the location of Jayden’s screams and stopped under a window. Saying a silent prayer that she would go unnoticed, she slowly rose up and peered through the window. What she saw horrified her, nothing could prepare her for what she was witnessing.
They had Jayden strapped down on a long hospital table. The straps were fortified to hold someone of his strength with chains. He was stripped naked, and the doctor was standing over him with a large knife. He was making deep incisions into Jayden then timing how long it took him to heal. Lindsey had to cover her mouth to keep from crying out. She watched the tears stream down his face as he turned his head away from the doctor. He looked through the window and saw Lindsey.
His eyes filled with fear, knowing what she was risking by being there. He looked away from her, trying not to draw any attention to her outside. Lindsey turned and looked to the other end of the barn where the four frat boys had just walked in from another section of the barn. They were laughing and drinking. Acting like this sort of thing happened every day. Lindsey wondered what the connection between the men and Beyer was. As the leader of the group walked over to where the doctor was experimenting, he smiled at the man.
“That proves it son, they can regenerate their bodies but at a much slower pace than we originally thought,” said Beyer.
“That’s great dad but you promis
ed me the speed and strength, how else will I make it to pros?” Asked the leader of the frat boys.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get your speed and strength my boy, but when I am done with this mutt, you won’t need the pros. We will be rich,” said Beyer.
Lindsey remembered hearing Amy talk about the younger Beyer, but she had said that he was away at college. It was probably a lie that Dr. Beyer had told her at one point to keep his little group of henchmen out of the spotlight. What kind of father would let his son rape a woman and beat them up? Even before she finished asking herself the question though, she knew the answer. The same kind of father who tortured people and killed their own wives. A family of monsters, it made Lindsey shudder in horror.
“Then, then I can buy all the women I want,” Beyer said as he walked back over to the table that Jayden was strapped onto. “I may just have some fun with her anyways. I am sure she will do anything to get you back.”
The man grinned and leaned over the table, “of course, she’ll never really see you again. I will destroy her. I may even let you tell her goodbye as you watch me climb on top of your little flower.”
Jayden was furious, she could see the straps starting to break on his wrists. Beyer hadn’t noticed the small fractures yet though. A noise at the other end of the barn drew her attention away from him. The Calvery had arrived it seemed. She saw Jayden stop fighting, and the two Beyer’s turn their heads to the noise.
“How did they find us?” Hissed Dr. Beyer to his son. “Deal with them.”
His son didn’t look as sure as his father but he didn’t argue with him.
Beyer walked back over to Jayden, “I bet it was that bratty little woman of yours, wasn’t it? How did she find your pack though when I have been looking for years?”
Screaming from the other end stopped Beyer short, “I guess it’s time to go. You won’t mind if I take the samples with me though, do you?”
Lindsey couldn’t believe what she was seeing; Beyer was just going to leave his son to die! She saw he was going for the back door. She looked around and found a large rock near her feet. Grabbing the rock in her hand she waited for the door to open. The second it did, she bashed him over the head with a sickening thud. He fell to the ground and gripped his head, all of his samples falling from his hands. The small vials of Jayden’s blood shattered on the dry Arizona ground.
“You stupid bitch!” He screamed at her, “do you have any idea what it took to get that? Do you know what I have had to do? I have killed for this moment, and now you are going to take it away from me.”
He caught her off guard as he shoved her against the wall. The blow stunned her but didn’t stop her as she swung the rock again. This time she connected with the man’s eye. She watched in horror as blood covered his face. The horror was enough to distract her from his hand coming up and hitting her. It knocked her back against the door and she blacked out.
***
“Lindsey,” said Jayden.
He sounded so far away and she was so tired. She wanted to answer him but her mouth wouldn’t move. It took her several moments to come out of the blackness. When she did, she felt like her brain was going to burst out of her head. Reaching up, she felt a large gash that was covered in drying blood.
“Oh thank God,” said Jayden.
“Hey,” she said, trying to smile. She was pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace than anything. Looking around, she saw that they were sitting near her car, “how did we get here? Where are the others?”
“Well, after you blacked out, my brothers destroyed the four men that attacked you and Amy. Unfortunately, one of them was able to inject my brother with antibodies, they had to get back to the pack and get the poison out immediately. Normal vaccines, like the one you attempted to give me the night we met, can kill us. On their way out, they found me and then I found you. Why did you come my love? You could have been killed, you almost were,” he said as he cradled her in his arms.
“Jayden, I couldn’t leave you there, I had to know that you were going to be okay,” she replied.
He looked into her eyes and she felt the desire starting to grow in her again. The pain in her head was suddenly less important as she pulled him to her in a fiery embrace. It was like her instinct was taking over. The woods around her were coming to life. She wanted him right there.
He laughed and broke away from her, “easy my love. We have all the time in the world.”
She smiled, “I don’t know what wrong with me. I just feel like the woods are an aphrodisiac.”
When she pushed herself up to stand, a pain shot through her wrist and she screamed in pain.
“What is that?” Asked Jayden, taking her hand in his.
A piece of glass was sticking in her wrist, “I must have fallen on the vials of blood that Beyer was trying to make off with.” She said as she pulled out the small shard of glass, she noticed something odd, “huh, that’s weird.”
Her blood had taken on a purple tint where the glass was pulled out.
“Oh my god,” whispered Jayden.
“What?” Asked Lindsey, she still felt a little lightheaded but cheerful. For some reason the air and the woods were just wonderful. They made her feel alive.
“My blood,” said Jayden, “it's running through your veins now. We need to get you back to your house. I may still be able to stop it but I will need Aeron’s help.”
“But why?” She asked him, “don’t you want to be with me? Isn’t that what your blood does?”
“No my love, my blood is poison,” He said.
Chapter Ten
Lindsey awoke in her own bed. She didn’t know how she had arrived there or why her body felt like she had been hit by a colossal truck. The door to her bedroom opened as she sat up in bed. A smiling Jayden came into her room, carrying some much needed coffee, “hey! You're awake.”
“Barely,” she said with a smile, “what the hell happened?”
“I almost lost you,” he said, his voice was full of pain.
She looked at him as he sat on the bed, “I’m sorry.”
“My blood was coursing through your veins when I got you back here; you had already slipped into a coma. Even Aeron didn’t know if he was going to be able to save you. In the end, the only way we could think of to bring you back was by injecting my venom into you.” He said everything like it was a conversation he had every day with people.
Her head shot up from her coffee, “excuse me? Venom? Please don’t tell me you are part snake. I can deal with a lot of things but snakes are not one of them.”
He laughed, “no snakes, I promise. I think that you have some of our lore confused with vampires though. Our blood is toxic when we create another werewolf it’s our venom that will change them.”
She thought about it for a few minutes and realized that it made more sense if anything in her currently crazy world made sense. She watched him for several minutes; there was obviously something on his mind that he was avoiding.
“Jayden, we have been through so much, you know you can tell me anything right?” She said to him.
“It’s more of a question, I have spoken with Aeron, I want you to come live with me,” he said.
Lindsey gasped as he continued, “I don’t need to know right away. The pack is leaving after the next full moon in three days.”
“Three days?” She asked, “that’s not a lot of time to change someone’s life forever.”
“I know. I wish I could give you more time, but it’s not possible. There are other threats arising. Others like Beyer, who want to expose us. We like to keep moving.”
The name reminded her of what had happened before, “so did your pack, kill them all?” She choked on the words. She wasn’t crazy about the idea of killing humans, no matter what they had done.
He looked worried now, “all of the young men yes, Beyer got away though.”
“What?” She said in shock.
“They hunted him for a while but couldn’t
follow his trail after the river. We don’t know where he’s at, but he hasn’t been spotted in town. I think that he’s left,” replied Jayden.
“Your pack, though, you will leave without knowing?” She asked, a little surprised.
“They will, yes,” he said.
Lindsey looked down at her hands. Making the decision on whether or not she wanted to be with Jayden was simple. She never wished to leave his side. However, she didn’t know if she could leave her home and Amy knowing the Beyer was still on the prowl. He was a murdered, if she left now, what would stop him from going after others?
“I don’t know,” she said.
He hung his head, “I understand.”
She looked at him, and her heart broke as she climbed from where she was over to him, “I don’t think you do Jayden. Just as you protected me, I have a duty to protect others. I want to be with you, I do. How can you ask me to leave with you when you know, Beyer will come back here? He will pick up where he left off but this time, Amy may not be so lucky. Or the next girl that he decides to hire.”
Lindsey felt the tears starting to fall as she kissed his cheek, “I’m sorry Jayden. I can’t go with you though.”
He nodded his head and left the room. She couldn’t believe he was so willing to walk out; he made it look so simple. She listened with hope; maybe he was just going downstairs. Her heart sank when she heard the back door slam shut. She lay her head back on the pillow of her room and cried. The man that she loved had just walked out of her life.
***
Lindsey let herself wallow in heartbreak for the rest of the morning before deciding that she would need to take life by the horns. Her heart hurt, but she had a monster to catch. She let out a loud shriek when someone tapped on her shoulder while she was standing in the kitchen.
“Oh, crap! Hey it’s just me,” said Amy.
Pursuit: A Bad Boy Romance Page 50
