by Kim Fox
That’s when it hit her. She had escaped for a reason and she believed that freeing her family was that reason. Maybe Mack is a part of that.
Maybe he could help her.
Her heart was saying she could trust him, but could she?
She pictured those intense brown eyes and wondered.
Chapter Six
Mack
Mack was getting goosebumps just from watching her sleep. She was so beautiful. She looked so innocent and pure, and the sight of her angelic face full of color as she slept so peacefully was stirring all sorts of unfamiliar emotions inside of him.
The food that he had gotten for her was sitting on the night table, leaking grease through the soggy brown paper bag as it got colder by the minute.
She’s my mate. She has to be.
It was the only thing that could explain the intense need in him. Just driving to the restaurant had been pure torture. The need to see her had been ripping through him, tearing him apart piece by piece. The tension had been mounting and mounting within until he nearly bit the head off the poor guy when the fries were taking too long.
It wasn’t just need or desire, Mack had realized. It was an obsession. An obsession to see her that seemed to be taking on a life of its own as it threatened to consume him whole.
He couldn’t go five seconds without thinking of her. He didn’t want to go two seconds without thinking of her.
He sped home, thinking of how good she had felt in his arms. It was painful how good his sweet girl had felt.
When he arrived, he was both happy and disappointed to find her sleeping. He knew that the delicate little bird needed her rest, but he longed to look into her gorgeous amber eyes once again. So, he watched her sleep as Tempest sat in the chair behind him, rolling her eyes.
He knew he was coming on strong. That he had been a little intense.
I have to calm down. I have to keep it together. She must think I’m a beast.
But he didn’t know how to calm down or keep it together. This overpowering need to possess her was coursing through his body and he couldn’t seem to stop it. It was all new to him and he didn’t know how to handle it.
Even my lion is acting strangely. The cat was still on full alert, even though Kara was safely sleeping in the bed. Something had gotten into him too.
Mack closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to settle his raging nerves. These feelings and sensations were all new to him. Before Kara, he always wanted to keep people away, and he was pretty good at it. He didn’t know how to keep anyone close. He had never been very good at that. Except with Bryce.
Bryce! Shit.
How could he forget? He had been so preoccupied with this girl that he had forgotten all about the reason why they were there in the first place.
What the hell has gotten into me? She has to be my mate. Her scent drives me wild and the thought of her belly round with my cub is making me crazy.
The sudden urge to kick Tempest out of the room, lock the door, and breed this sweet girl was starting to take over his mind.
Then at least, she’ll be linked to me forever.
Kara’s eyes slowly opened and Mack froze, sitting ramrod straight beside her. His body was tight enough to shatter until her eyes settled on him and she smiled. The air rushed out of his lungs and he relaxed a bit as she stretched out on the bed with a moan.
“Is that for me?” she asked when she spotted the soggy brown bag on the night table.
“It’s cold,” Mack grunted. “I’ll get you another.”
She shook her head as she sat up in the bed. “I’m sure it’s fine,” she said as she reached for it. “After what I’ve been eating, I’m sure it’s going to taste like heaven.”
Mack helped her take out the burgers and set up the fries in the box. “Eat it all. It will give you your strength back.”
He watched her closely as she began to work through the burger, making sure she ate every bite. He smiled, impressed at her appetite.
She smiled shyly when she saw that he was watching her devour it. “Are you hungry?” she asked as she offered him the half-eaten burger. “Do you want some?”
Mack shook his head. His stomach was in knots and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to eat again.
Tempest stood up from her chair. “I’ll have some fries!”
Mack turned and shot her a warning look as she walked over. She suddenly stopped and cringed when she got a look at his face. “Or, I’ll just wait outside.”
She left the room, leaving them all alone and Mack began to breathe a little easier. She continued eating, but she looked a little more shy now that it was just the two of them. Her cheeks were pink and she kept glancing down.
Mack was feeling a little shy too. He wanted to make things flow a little better by talking, but what could he possibly say to an angel?
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” he finally asked.
Her eyes dropped as she lowered the burger. Her cheeks were blushing even more and it made Mack tense up.
“Who is it?” His voice was shaky. A violent rage was coursing through him. He’d gladly kill anyone who had ever laid a finger on her.
“I…” she started then stopped. “I shouldn’t tell you.”
“Yes, you should. I meant it when I said I’ll protect you. I’m yours now. There’s nothing I won’t do.”
He watched closely as she began moving those sweet pink lips, telling him what happened. His stomach dropped as he heard some key words.
“Facility… family… prisoners… need my help…”
Mack’s heaving chest burned and his lion paced as she told him everything.
Mack burst out of the motel room like his lion’s tail was on fire. “We’re leaving now!” he barked to the crew who was lounging around the quiet parking lot.
Grant was sitting on the back of the pickup truck. He lazily turned his head. “What?”
Mack charged forward. “We’re leaving! Everyone get in the trucks!”
“I give the orders in this crew!” Grant snapped back. “I’m still the alpha!”
Mack didn’t have time for this shit. His girl’s family needed his help.
“Then get off your ass and get this crew moving. We have to storm the facility now!”
Grant leapt off the truck and rushed over, getting right into Mack’s face. “We’re not storming anything! We’re sticking to the plan. Scouting the place out, then sneaking in to find out if Bryce is still alive, and then sneaking back out with or without him.”
“Plan has changed,” Mack said moving around him. He walked up to the truck and opened the driver’s door.
Grant followed him and kicked the door closed. Mack turned with a snarl.
His lion was pacing furiously within. His hair was up, his claws were out—he was pissed, and Grant could sense it.
Mack lowered his head and flexed his arms when he smelled Grant’s lion coming to the surface.
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” Grant snapped.
Mack couldn’t answer that question even if he could unclench his tight jaw to talk. He had no idea what was happening to him.
“Stand down, Mack!” Grant warned.
He couldn’t. Not while Kara was in pain. Not while his sweet girl needed his help.
“Mack!” Logan pleaded. “What the hell are you doing, man? Calm down!”
Mack never took his eyes off of his alpha’s. “This doesn’t concern you, Logan,” he answered in a tight voice.
“This concerns all of us,” Ryder said from somewhere nearby. “We’re a crew.”
“We’re a family,” Amélie corrected.
Mack knew they were right. It was true. They were the only people that Mack had ever considered family. They were the only people he had ever loved. But now, everything had changed. Kara was in his life and she needed his help. And nothing was going to stop him from helping her, not even his family.
He grabbed the door handle again and pulled
it open. Grant kicked it closed, again.
“Stand down,” he demanded. His voice was practically a snarl. “Last chance.”
“You guys can stay here, but I’m going. I don’t have time for surveillance. I’m storming the gate.”
“And what about Bryce?” Grant asked.
Deep down, Mack believed that Bryce hadn’t survived. He was hoping for the best, but a part of him already knew what he would find. He was only here for revenge, but now he had more important things to worry about than revenge. Kara’s family was more important than any need for vengeance, no matter how badly he still wanted it. “If he’s alive, I’ll get him too.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Grant answered. “And him too.”
Mack took a deep breath and then opened the door of the truck once more. Grant didn’t kick the door closed this time. Instead, Mack heard the ripping and tearing of a shifter phase behind him.
“What is happening right now?” Tempest shouted in disbelief.
Mack heard the challenging growl of a lion and exhaled in frustration. I don’t have time for this shit.
But it wasn’t something he could just ignore. Grant’s angry lion was out and his bright eyes were locked on him.
Mack turned around and squeezed his hands into fists when he saw Grant’s lion crouched low. His golden mane was flowing around his snarling head. He looked furious.
“I don’t want to fight you, Grant.” Mack took a step to the side, but so did the lion to block his way.
Mack let out a huff and changed directions. He tried to get back to Kara, but the lion cut him off again. He had taken Mack’s actions as a dominance challenge and wasn’t about to let him go without a fight.
“Step aside,” Mack warned. He was starting to lose his patience now. His girl needed his help and he didn’t appreciate this shit stopping him.
Mack’s own lion was getting all worked up inside. He could feel him wanting to come out and straighten this threat out.
“Guys!” Tempest shouted with her arms open. “We’re in a public freaking parking lot!”
Luckily, there was no one around in this small shitty town, but this wasn’t like Grant to be so risky. Mack knew he must have really pissed him off.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Grant,” Mack warned once again. “But I will if you don’t move.”
Amélie approached and stood beside her mate. She placed her hand on the top of the angry lion’s head and he seemed to instantly relax. “Just let him go.”
Grant’s lion continued to stare him down as Amélie pet his head, trying to soothe him.
Suddenly, he began to shake and a few seconds later, Grant was back in his human form, standing beside his mate. He was staring Mack down, his eyes full of hurt and betrayal.
It broke Mack’s heart to see his alpha and his best friend looking at him like that, but this was beyond his relationship with Grant. This was something he had to do.
Grant had stormed one of General Hunt’s military facilities to save Amélie’s family. So, why couldn’t he realize that he had to do the same for Kara’s family?
Finally, Grant reluctantly stepped aside, letting Mack pass. He hurried back to the room and went straight to the bed where Kara was sleeping once again. The poor little bird was so exhausted and weak. He felt a swell of pride at being her protector as he gently touched her shoulder and shook her awake.
“What is it?” she asked, quickly sitting up in bed.
“Come with me,” he whispered as he slid his arms under her legs and around her back. He gently scooped her up and held her close to his chest.
She didn’t even resist. She seemed to trust him completely already.
It’s because you’re my mate. He knew the words were true, he just didn’t know why his lion was taking so damn long to make it official.
“Where are we going?” she asked in her sweet voice.
He carried her to the door. “To get your family out.”
She didn’t say a word as he carried her into the parking lot, past the judging hurt eyes that were watching them leave. He carried her to the truck, opened the passenger side door, and gently placed her inside.
He could feel Grant’s heated eyes on him as he walked to the driver’s side, but Mack kept his eyes on the pavement. He stepped inside and turned the keys that were in the ignition, starting the truck.
“What about your friends?” Kara asked as she looked back at them through the window.
“They’re not coming.”
“Oh.”
They sat in silence as Mack put the truck in drive and rolled away. He took one last glance at his crew in the rearview mirror, swallowed down the lump in his throat, and then turned onto the main road and drove away.
Chapter Seven
Kara
“You can’t just charge in there,” Kara said as she watched Mack drive down the empty road. “They’ll… They’ll… capture you.”
A sharp stab cut through her chest just thinking about it. Kara didn’t know half of the horrible things that went on in that place, but she knew they were beyond horrific. She had heard the screams and tormented cries of shifters begging to be killed.
She looked up at Mack’s hard stoic face and tears started to prickle behind her eyes as she pictured him in there.
“I don’t want you to go.” Kara closed her eyes, choking back tears. None of this made any sense. She was crying over a man she had just met. Crying over a man who was as rough as a caveman and seemed as civilized as a barbarian. Maybe those cold nights spent outside had frozen the common sense part of her brain.
But deep down, she knew this wasn’t the case. Maybe their minds didn’t know each other well, but their bodies seemed to. They seemed to be radiating on the same wavelength—perfectly attuned to one another.
She thought back to being cradled in his strong arms and there was no denying that it felt right. It felt good to be held by him, safe, secure. Just thinking about it made her scooch a little closer to his large body.
“Your family is in there,” he said quietly as he watched the empty road. “I’ll get them out. For you.”
Kara knew what that meant. Going in there alone meant suicide. There were dozens of armed guards, if not hundreds, as well as weapons that belonged in Science Fiction movies. There was no way he would make it out alive.
She studied his hard face, admiring the sharp slope of his thick jaw. This man had already given up everything for her. Those nice people back there had seemed like more than friends to him. They seemed like family.
It had been hard for him, she knew that much for sure. Kara had seen the hurt look in their eyes as he chose her over them, and she saw the even greater pain in his eyes as he drove away, leaving them behind. It still broke her heart to picture it.
She had begged him to turn back, told him that he didn’t have to do this, but he had made up his mind. She was in pain because her family was being held captive, and he was determined to take all of her pain away. He told her that he would do anything to make her happy and now she believed it.
Kara watched him out of the corner of her eye as they drove in silence. His big hands were clenching and unclenching the steering wheel as his massive chest heaved up and down. His deep brown eyes were focused on the road, but he was probably seeing something else because they looked so sad. A swell of emotions bubbled up inside her and she looked away, taking a deep breath as she wondered how this man could elicit such strong emotions inside her. It’s crazy.
“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked as she fiddled with the bottom of her shirt.
He turned and looked at her, and the affection in his intense gaze took her breath away.
“My whole life, I’ve had a cloud of darkness surrounding me. It traps me in. It suffocates me and I can’t breathe. The darkness pulls me down like quicksand and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get out. And it’s been worse than ever lately.”
His right hand was resting on
his knee that was bouncing up and down nervously. Kara reached over and slid her hand over his, calming him.
“But when I saw you, it was like the dark clouds parted and a ray of sunshine came through. Your presence warmed me from the inside out and I knew…”
Kara rubbed his hard knuckles, encouraging him to go on.
“I knew you’d be my…”
She leaned closer as she gazed up at his lips.
“My mate.”
Mate. Kara had only heard that word being used once before. Years ago, back home in Maine, an older shifter came to talk to her brother and her parents about shifters and what to expect when living with an animal inside of you. She remembered her whole body going still as he explained the connection and love that a shifter has with their mate. She could barely breathe while he explained it, and she wished that one day someone would love her like that.
Mack turned his hand and she slid her palm over his as she felt herself moving closer to him. He looked down at her with a look of concern on his face. He had just bared his soul to her and told her his darkest secret. The poor guy was probably wondering how she was going to react.
Kara was breathing heavily under that intense gaze. “You’re a shifter?”
But it all made sense now. The growling, the protectiveness, her sudden feelings. She knew he was right—they were mates. It was the only thing that explained the deep connection they both felt after so little time together.
Now she understood why she was still a virgin. It made sense now why it didn’t feel right with any of the other guys. Why she held off, why she stopped roaming hands, why she waited. She knew now even though she didn’t know it then—she had been waiting for him.
“I am,” he answered in a low voice. “A lion shifter.”
“Lion shifter,” she repeated under her breath. Wow. She looked over at his large heaving chest and swallowed hard.
Her hand seemed to have a life of its own and moved up from his palm to his chest. She pressed it to his heart and felt the vibrating of his purring lion within.
