Hurt but trying to hide it, Bret turned to Travis.
“What about the woman? Where is she? Is she okay?”
Nikki gasped from behind him as she took a step to the right, coming up beside him. “I forgot! Who is she? Was she…?”
Bret knew what she was trying to say and nodded. “She was in a cage in the basement beneath Donny’s shack,” he said grimly.
Travis took over from there. “She's upstairs sleeping, scared, but she’ll live. When she wakes up, Sam’s taking her to a safe house for the time being, where the other three girls are being held.”
“So what's the plan now?” Nikki asked, her eyes scanning everyone.
Just then, Jackson Maddox walked into the kitchen. “The plan,” he said tensely as he made a beeline for the coffee pot on the counter, “is to go after the bastard in charge. Your husband.”
Pouring himself a cup, he turned to face Nikki, his dark eyes unreadable as he took a gulp of the hot liquid.
“I just got back from following him from the dock where Donny was supposed to drop off the girl you guys rescued last night. I do know that Donny was his main supplier, and you guys took care of that link last night, so one last scumbag gone.”
Bret couldn't have agreed more, but they still had the issue of the bastard to deal with, and he was still very much alive, much to his regret.
“That place is a fortress,” Nikki said quietly. “There are tunnels throughout the whole house, but I don't know where they are.”
“What about getting the police involved?” Samantha asked.
“No!” Bret and Nikki said at the same time.
“He's got leaks in the department,” Nikki said, shaking her head. “It's why I never went to the cops.”
“And it was a cop who tried to rape her,” Bret said grimly.
That nipped that in the bud right there.
Ava’s crying came across the baby mic in the kitchen, and Vanessa jumped up from Travis’s lap. “Be right back.”
She left the kitchen just as Jackson continued, thoughtful. “There may be another way we haven’t considered.”
“What?” Travis asked, leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Let's turn the tables on the asshole and set up a bait for him.”
Bret stiffened, not liking that tone or suggestion at all. Nikki tensed beside him, drawing the same conclusion as him.
Before he could bark at the other man, Jackson shook his head, taking another gulp of his coffee. “No, not using Nikki. A few of our own women. No offense, Nikki, but they are stronger.”
Travis’s eyes narrowed, but Bret could tell his Alpha was thinking about it.
He nodded to Aiden. “We could set you up as the buyer and get word to Edward that a new shipment has come in and you’re looking to sell,” Jackson said. “We could use Jessica, Abby, and Sam.”
At the mention of Sam’s name, Aiden stiffened, and Bret could see the objection forming behind the cloudy gaze of the other man.
He wasn't wrong.
“Hell no!” he snapped. “She's not going to be bait for that sick fuck!”
Sam jumped up from the table and glared at him, her hands fisted at her side. “Yes. I'm doing it, and you have no right to order me around. You are NOT my mate, Aiden!”
Aiden flushed, and his eyes hardened, but he remained silent, unable to argue with that.
“But wouldn't it be suspicious that this shipment suddenly came in?” Nikki asked, trying to distract from the sudden tension in the air.
Jackson shook his head in disgust, eyeing Aiden thoughtfully. “Actually, no. Since I've been investigating this sick fuck, the underworld market for young girls seems to have hit our small town hard. It's cleanup time,” he said, his lips tightening.
Travis stood up from the chair, taking in the small group with the steel behind his command. “Okay, I want Aiden, Jackson, Noah, and Bret with me. I'll leave Zach and Patrick here with the house. Let's head to the office to get this started.”
There was a moment of silence while everyone digested the orders.
As Aiden stormed out of the room, Bret nodded and, without thinking, turned, pulling Nikki into his arms. Kissing her gently, he pulled back and smiled down at her, her expression dazed as she looked up at him, her lips wet from his own.
“Love you,” he whispered, going against his recent vow not to rush her.
He didn't give her time to respond and followed the men out of the kitchen.
Chapter 15
As Bret left the kitchen, Nikki’s eyes followed him, tracing the fine line of his perfect body as he disappeared out of her view.
Someone cleared their throat, and when she turned back, Vanessa had returned, Ava in her arms, and was standing beside Sam. They wore identical grins on their faces.
Nikki blushed, caught.
“You love him,” Sam said quietly. “Why don’t you admit it?”
Nikki’s eyes widened as the blunt words sliced through her, a level of truth that she refused to admit, at least to anyone else.
She shook her head. “No. It’s too soon. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I—”
“Nikki, you’re mated now.”
“Mated?” she squeaked, eyeing the two women in shock. “Why do you guys keep saying that? I can’t be mated! I’m still married to another man. Isn’t that the same thing as being mated?”
Nikki was beyond confused. Even though she had grown up around the pack, being young and not really into boys, she hadn’t paid close attention when boy-crazy Sam talked about her latest crush and how mating worked within their kind.
“It’s not the same thing, sweetie,” Vanessa said. She sat down at the table, and Ava climbed down from her lap, crawling over to the cabinets to play with the pans.
“Humans marry and divorce like changing underwear,” Vanessa continued. “But when it comes to mating, there is a bond that can only be broken with death. You feel it your whole life. You’re synced to the other person and their emotions.”
Before she could say anything, Vanessa nodded to the side of Nikki’s neck where it was still red.
“He bit you, didn’t he?”
Nikki reached up and felt the swollen wound, nodding.
“Let’s experiment. Close your eyes, and bring Bret into focus, into your thoughts. What do you feel?” Vanessa asked, leaning forward in her chair. Sam was quiet, letting Vanessa take the lead.
A little unsure, Nikki did as she was told and closed her eyes, bringing Bret into her mind. As she pictured him, her thoughts swirled.
Concern.
Love.
Worry.
Passion.
It was all there, and yet it wasn’t her feeling it.
Gasping, her eyes flew open to encounter the understanding gazes of her friends, but the emotions never left her. They were tangled with her own, mingled with fear of the unknown and the dark shadow that was ever present.
“And the bond will only grow,” Vanessa said softly. “You’re mated. He will give you a choice, though, Nikki. You don’t have to stay with him if you don’t love him. He would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do. But if you do leave him, Bret will never have another mate. That’s just how our species works, wolf or bear.”
Silent communication passed between the other two women, but Nikki missed it, her thoughts consumed by what Vanessa had said. When she looked up, the kitchen was empty.
Lost in thought, Nikki returned to her room, the house for once silent, but for the first time since returning to the pack, the silence began to eat at her, forcing her to face her fears and thoughts.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. She thought of the pending bait trap for her husband, the guys downstairs even then planning it, and the poor girls, so young, entrapped and sold by Edward Calhoun.
Why hadn’t I known? Had I known and yet chose to ignore the signs?
Nikki shuddered, the foul taste of bile in her mouth at the sic
k thought.
No! I hadn’t known. I hadn’t…
Then Nikki thought about what Vanessa had said about being mates, and she touched the tender spot again. It didn't hurt, but the mark was there.
Mated. To Bret.
She sat there, stunned at the thought and not for the first time. She didn't know how she felt about it. Did she love him? She wanted him, that much she knew. But love? What did she know about love? All she knew was abuse, hate, and pain. Her parents hadn’t shown her any affection. It was why she had basically grown up at the Kameron house and why the pack had let her in their circle. She wasn’t dumb. She knew it had started with pity in the beginning, pity and sorrow for the awkward girl who really didn’t have a home. No one had expected her and Sam to get so close, and within a year, she was practically family and living within the shifter world that very few humans were privy to. There had been heartache here, too, though. Travis and Samantha’s father had been murdered by Vanessa’s father, it was soon discovered, and those days had been dark.
She didn’t know how long she sat there in her room surrounded by the silence of impending doom she couldn’t help but feel. Something bad was going to happen. She could feel it, taste it, and she didn’t know how to stop it. It was all she could do not to pack her bags and leave, but the pack family, her family, was already her husband’s focus.
Leaving wouldn’t do any good, not now. It was too late, and all she could do, all anyone could do, was be prepared for the worst.
Two days later, they were ready. Jackson had put out the word of the seller and which area they would be docked, and like predicted, Edward made contact, expressing interest in the shipment. Aiden was the contact and set up a time to make the transaction, two nights from then.
Travis, with Vanessa beside him, was in late meetings with the other men, Bret, Aiden, Patrick, and Noah, detailing the attack plan, with Sam sitting in due to her role. The other two women sat in as well, Jessica and Abby, both dark-haired women and the perfect placement that would interest Edward.
Nikki babysat Ava, playing with her and trying desperately not to think about what was about to go down. Everything was happening too fast. She was being left in the dark for the most part, but she knew why. She wasn’t a shifter and couldn’t really add to their force. She was the reason they were in the mess to begin with.
Bret and she hadn’t had a moment alone in the past two days, but even with the meetings and activity surrounding the house, he had tried, and Nikki had avoided him, not sure about anything she felt.
The night before the bait, Vanessa had taken Ava and left Nikki alone with her own thoughts, thoughts of something going wrong. All she could picture was death. Just because they were shifters didn’t mean they couldn’t die. That had been proven with Travis’s father years before and the many deaths since then.
Standing at her bedroom window overlooking the valley and the looming mountains in the distance, Nikki gazed up at the nearly full moon that peaked over one crest, wondering about the full moon the next night and if it could be an omen.
A quiet knock came to her door, and she didn’t bother to turn around, already knowing who it was.
She felt the burn of his gaze as the soft click of the lock slid into place, the carpet muffling his steps. Her heart pounding furiously, she stood still, waiting, feeling each step coming closer. She shivered as she felt his large hands on her arms, pulling her back against his naked chest. Taking a deep breath, she turned in his arms, gazing up at the flickering expressions of love and lust that he couldn’t hide.
“Bret—”
He lifted his long finger to her lips.
She watched, her breath held as he lowered his mouth, taking hers in a tender assault that she wouldn’t have stopped for anything in the world.
Opening up to him, they kissed, their ragged breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent room.
Nikki couldn't think past that night, past the urge of wanting him, craving him. Her robe, prompted by the light caress of his fingers, fell to the floor, and she opened her eyes to his soft gasp, the red glow of his eyes as he took a small step back and looked at her nakedness. Nikki tried to cover up the small scars on her stomach from where Donny had burned her and Edward had watched, laughing.
Bret reached over and drew her hands away, the lust in his eyes bringing a blush to Nikki’s cheeks. She had never felt beautiful in her life, but at that exact moment, she felt like the very essence of desire, the most beautiful woman in the world. She was still terrified to put her emotions, her feelings for the man before her into words, but maybe she could show him through actions.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, her thighs wet. Groaning, Bret picked her up and carried her to the bed, their lips never breaking contact. Laying her down gently, he quickly undressed and slid in beside her.
His hands gentle, he teased and caressed her body, bathing her in slow kisses as his finger trailed down to the ache between her legs.
Moaning, she spread her legs farther, craving that touch that teased her thighs, just out of reach.
“Please, Bret.” She gasped, her head moving back and forth on the pillow. He took her nipple in his hot mouth and sucked as two fingers slipped inside her.
Her eyes heavy, it was a struggle to open them as he got between her legs and slid in, slow and easy.
She didn't want slow. She wanted hard and fast. Lifting her hips, she pushed him in farther, and his face tightened even more. The control he had on his bear, the glowing eyes of the beast, rose to the surface. She grabbed his neck and pulled him down, letting her human teeth sink into the thick flesh as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
The thin strand of restraint he had managed to hang on to snapped, and he growled, his pace suddenly fast and furious as he pounded into her.
Gasping, she arched her back and felt herself coming.
“Bret,” she moaned, her throat dry as the scream built.
She felt his teeth again, the mate bite, as his own teeth latched onto her.
“Mine,” he growled against her neck.
She came hard and fast as the pain blended in with the climax.
She rode the crest of the climax, shuddering with the aftermath.
Panted breaths filled the silence as he rolled to her side, his own breathing ragged.
She felt his tongue over the small wound, licking and healing.
Sighing, she closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips.
“Mine,” he whispered again.
Opening her eyes, she met his. “Yours,” she answered back, her voice a mere whisper of breath. Nothing existed except for them. The world lay beyond their door, dark and deadly, and yet all Nikki saw was the man beside her, loving her in more ways than one.
A grin of pure joy transformed his handsome face and stole her breath.
“I love you, Nikki,” he whispered.
Her heart felt like bursting, and the words were there, struggling to squeeze out past her tight throat, but she was still scared—scared to open herself up to what those three little words meant. Scared that once said, there was no going back. It wasn’t as if she could go back now even if she wanted to, but once said, they were out there.
Swallowing was almost painful as their gazes locked, her eyes tracing every fine line of his beautiful face.
She opened her mouth, but before she could say what she was feeling, a knock came on her door.
“Bret! It’s time,” Travis called from the other side. They heard his footsteps retreating from the door until they were left alone again, but the spell was broken.
Saved by the knock, Nikki thought, closing her mouth and keeping the words from exploding.
“Nikki…”
“Please be careful,” she said softly.
He looked at her for a moment more and smiled a soft smile of understanding and love that threatened to bring tears to her eyes.
“Always, darling.”
After kissing
her gently on the lips, he got out of bed and dressed quickly.
“Everything will be over soon,” he said as he left the room.
The tears fell as the door closed behind him, and she buried her face in the pillow.
“Please come back to me.”
Chapter 16
The men waited on the dock, the night silent and still. Nothing moved except the eyes of the watchful, the beasts contained within the humans.
Aiden and Jackson stood in plain sight, their tall shadows barely noticeable.
Bret, Travis, and Noah hid among the vehicles parked a few yards away, crouched down against the sides.
Sam and the two other women from the pack, Jessica and Abby, were in the back of a black SUV, tied up and acting drugged.
Bret could tell Aiden was furious, but he wasn’t about to go against Travis even though he wasn’t part of the pack. Sam had spoken the truth. They weren’t mated, and Bret honestly felt sorry for the other man. If that had been Nikki…
He shook the thought from his mind. Nikki was safe back at the house. That was all that mattered.
Something was wrong.
Nikki hadn’t been able to sleep and instead paced her bedroom, nervous energy spiking through her as different scenarios raced across her mind at what was happening miles away. Vanessa was attempting to put Ava down, but the little girl could no doubt sense the worry and tension inside the house, and the fight against sleep was probably testing Vanessa’s limited patience at the moment.
A shower, anything to pass the time while she waited. After grabbing her pajamas, she closed the bathroom door behind her and was soon standing beneath the spray of the hot water, letting it pound against her head and back.
Feeling clean and better about what was happening, she got dressed and opened the door just as she heard a noise. Nikki froze, the dim light from the bathroom causing flickering shadows throughout the bedroom.
“Vanessa?” she called softly.
She tried to breathe evenly and control her racing heart. Not only was Vanessa in the room down the hall, so were two other shifters, Zach and Patrick.
Bear's Shadow (Vendetta Series Book 2) Page 11
