by Kim Fox
Mack clenched his jaw and squeezed as hatred surged through him. Caelum’s eyes widened as his mouth opened, gasping for air that wouldn’t come. Promise or not, he made Mack kill Bryce and he had to die.
Hardy and DeMarcus reacted fast and in seconds there were strong hands all over him. DeMarcus pushed Mack’s body back onto the seat as Hardy pried his hands off of the skin shifter’s throat.
“Stop!” Kara hissed with hurt in her eyes. “You promised!”
People in the bowling alley were watching, but he only cared about those gorgeous amber eyes in front of him that looked betrayed.
Mack slumped back down in his seat and stared forward, seeing nothing as the reality hit him like a ton of bricks. Bryce was dead.
He shot Caelum a hard look but was stunned when he saw tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he said in a trembling voice. He shook his head as his chin quivered. “I was just trying to channel your lion—you know, take out your crew’s best weapon, but your lion fought me and I couldn’t slip in. It went crazy from there. I don’t know what happened… your friend’s arm… and then the kid.” Caelum wiped away the tears from his eyes, but more were coming out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want any of that. I’ve been feeling sick over it ever since. I’ve been having nightmares…. He was so young. He was just a fucking kid…” He bit his bottom lip as he looked at Mack with watery eyes. “What was his name?”
Mack cleared his throat, trying to get the lump out, but it just got bigger. “Bryce.”
“Bryce,” Caelum whispered to himself. “To Bryce.” He lifted his bottle of beer and so did everybody else.
Except for Mack. He wasn’t ready to drink with them yet.
“So, why are you working for a monster like Hunt if you’re such a moral guy?” Mack asked him, shooting him a judgmental glare.
Caelum’s eyes dropped to the table. “They have my girl.”
Mack’s heart started to race. “Oh.”
“They have my Holly,” he continued. “She’s in one of the compounds, but I’m not sure which one. There could be dozens of them. When General Hunt took her, he told me that he’d take off one of her fingers for every order that I failed to execute completely. So, I followed his orders. I hated it, but I did it.”
Mack swallowed hard as he listened.
Kara turned to Keegan, or Irish as everyone called him. “And you?”
“I came here with my brother Brody when we had some trouble with our old pack over in Belfast,” he said between sips of beer.
“He’s a dog too?” Mack asked.
Irish locked eyes with him. “A wolf. But yeah. The General got a whiff of our scent and he took our cousin Shannon as collateral and separated us. I think he’s working for the General too, but I don’t know for sure. I haven’t seen him since.”
Kara then put her hand on DeMarcus’s arm. The big man hadn’t said a word since they had sat down. “Do you have someone, DeMarcus?”
He began breathing heavily as he looked down at his beer.
Hardy spoke for him. “They have DeMarcus’s son.”
“I’m sorry,” Kara said, looking crushed.
“Tristan.” The polar bear shifter’s voice was deep and full of pain.
Kara’s head tilted and her brow furrowed. “Tristan Price?”
DeMarcus’s eyes darted up and landed on her.
“About seven?” she asked.
His huge back straightened as his eyes widened. “You know him?”
“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “I used to catch bugs with him in the courtyard of the compound. He’s a cute kid. You should be proud.”
DeMarcus glanced past them to the exit, looking like he was ready to leave already.
“This place?” he said, looking a little frantic now. “Tristan is in there? Are you sure? How could I not have smelled him?”
“The lab is in the front,” Kara explained. “But it’s a hike through the forest to get to the compound where they keep the families.”
“Is Holly there?” Caelum asked with a hard swallow. “Holly Bell. Blonde, big boobs?”
Kara shook her head, looking unsure. “I don’t know…”
“What about a Shannon O’Reilly?” Irish said, jumping in. “About twenty years old?”
Kara’s cheeks were starting to turn pink as they all leaned in toward her. “Maybe… I don’t know for sure…”
“It’s time to end this,” Hardy said with a growl. “Let’s go storm it.”
“But we don’t know for sure if our girls are even in there!” Caelum replied in a panic. “What happens if they’re not?”
Irish sank back in the booth with a grim look on his face. “General Hunt will kill them. That’s what’s going to happen.”
“I’m going,” DeMarcus said in a voice that was final. “Alone if I have too.”
“Me too,” Hardy said with a nod. “But we’re going to need all the help we can get. Where’s your crew, Mack? We could use Amélie’s panther and some scrappy lions.”
Mack picked at the label on his beer bottle as shame and remorse came rushing back. “I don’t know,” he said, hating himself. “You got me solo on this one.”
“We can’t storm anything,” Caelum argued. “Hunt has got that magic shit now.”
“Magic?” Kara asked.
Caelum nodded. “He took the wand from these guys and now he’s harnessed its power. Who knows what kind of deadly weapons he has now.”
Hardy cracked his thick knuckles. “We have deadly weapons too.”
Mack grinned. He wouldn’t mind taking on General Hunt with these tough bastards by his side. They weren’t his first choice of crew, but they were better than nothing.
“Storming the compound won’t work, but we have access cards,” Caelum said, thinking about it. “It’s late at night now and we’ll be able to walk in easily. Once we’re in, we can get to that building, find our families, and get the hell out.”
“What about him?” Hardy asked as he motioned to Mack with his head. “How do we get him in? He doesn’t have an access card.”
“I’ll be your prisoner,” Mack said. “You take me in like you would as if you captured me.”
Hardy nodded. “That could work.”
Mack felt uneasy about the entire plan, but there was no other way. He was going to let his enemies escort him into the facility. Was he crazy? How could he trust them already? Kara did, maybe that was why…
No, it wasn’t just that. It wasn’t just Kara. He was starting to see. Maybe they weren’t so bad. Maybe not everything was so black and white.
Chapter Ten
Mack
Mack took a deep breath as he stepped into the military facility. Hardy was holding one arm with a firm grip and DeMarcus was holding the other. Irish was leading the way in front of him and Caelum followed close behind. He was surrounded by enemies. At least, they used to be his enemies. It was a little vague now…
He stared at the Irish flag tattooed on Irish’s neck as the wolf shifter nodded to the night shift guards who let them pass without any questions.
They walked deeper and deeper into the facility, passing checkpoint after checkpoint. The guys seemed to have full access since all they had to do was swipe cards and nod at the guards to move forward. So far it was going well.
Kara was waiting in the truck and it made Mack nauseous to think that she was all by herself. It pained him to leave her, but he didn’t have much choice. He left the keys in the ignition and told her that if they weren’t back in forty-five minutes to start driving and don’t stop until she got to Argentina.
“Down here,” Irish whispered as they turned down a long hallway. Mack was still unsure about this. A few hours ago, this guy’s wolf had his teeth sunk into his hand, and now, before the scars had even faded away, he was leading him through the absolute worst place that a shifter like Mack could be in.
The plan was to stroll through the facility and
come out the back. From there, they would disappear into the forest and try to find the way to the compound that was holding all of the families. Any guards would be neutralized and then they would try to find a way to get everybody out. The guy’s families would be the first priority, and then anyone they could save in addition to that would be a bonus.
That was their plan. Mack’s plan was a little different.
Since learning that Bryce was dead, everything had changed. That unquenchable desire for vengeance was back, eating at him from the inside out. Saving Kara’s family was important to him, but Hardy was here now and was more than capable of taking care of that. Mack had his sights set on one thing only: General Hunt.
If he was somewhere in the building, Mack would find him, and take his life.
So far, they all thought he was going along with the plan…
“The door is just up ahead,” Irish whispered as he turned the corner. His back suddenly stiffened as he came to a stop.
“Shit,” Hardy muttered under his breath.
Mack couldn’t see up ahead with Irish blocking the way, but the four shifters around him were tense.
“What are you guys still doing here?” a deep voice snapped. A familiar voice. A voice that had every hair on Mack’s forearms standing straight up. “I ordered you to go to New Mexico.”
Irish cleared his throat. “We found something of interest.” Mack could hear the uneasiness in his voice.
“What is it?”
Irish stepped to the side, presenting their captive. Mack’s eyes narrowed with hatred and fury as he glared down the hall at The Angel of Death himself, General Hunt. He was standing there with a file in his hands and a smirk on his face.
“I was about to deal with you and your crew,” he said with an air of amusement in his voice and on his face. “And look at this… The cat came right up to me.”
A million thoughts came swirling through Mack’s head. Bryce. Kara. Logan. DeMarcus’s kid Tristan. Amélie. Elodie. All of these people he’d hurt and tormented. The rage took over as his hands clenched into fists and his nostrils flared. His pulse jacked up as adrenaline rushed through every vein in his body. He yanked his arms out of Hardy and DeMarcus’s grasp and began slapping his shoulders, one then the other, pissing off his lion and making him as enraged as he was.
“Hold him,” General Hunt said as he took a step back.
Hardy and DeMarcus tried to grab his biceps, but Mack couldn’t be held down. Not this time.
He pushed them both to the side and then charged forward like a demon. General Hunt looked so small as Mack barreled down on him like a runaway train. He let his lion come, phasing mid-stride and then leapt into the air to take his vengeance.
Hunt’s arm darted up as the snarling lion flew at him and Mack lurched to a sudden stop. An excruciating bubble of crackling energy engulfed him, suspending his trembling body in the air as every cell in his body screamed for relief.
He had felt this horrible feeling before. When Tempest first arrived on the Clayton Rock Ranch, he had teased her about the wand, and she let him feel the power for himself. It sucked then, but she had only held him for about three seconds. General Hunt was continuing to hold him and it was getting worse with each agonizing second that passed.
Mack’s lion couldn’t move. He was inside the animal, feeling the fury of the cat as the magic pinned him in place. He slowly inched his eyes over to General Hunt’s hand. The popping and crackling magical energy was flowing out of the wand and surrounding him.
It was pure torture and he wondered why the fuck his supposed ‘friends’ were taking so long to help him.
It was Tempest’s red wand all right, only there was something new about it. There was a metal attachment on the end. Mack was afraid to find out what that thing did. Could anything be worse than this?
The General seemed annoyed as he looked past Mack’s lion to the guys behind him. “Do I have to do everything around here? Caelum, take control of his lion.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, General,” Caelum answered. “I failed to channel him the last time.”
“Why?”
“His lion fought me,” he explained. “He kept me out.”
Hunt’s face lit up as he turned back to Mack’s lion. “Really?” He walked up to him, looking him over and admiring the cat’s physique. The wand was buzzing in his hand, surging out a constant flow of energy that surrounded Mack and crackled and popped in his ears. It was getting worse with every passing second, and Mack was having a hard time focusing on anything but the discomfort, the pain, the need to be free from it.
“Aren’t you a formidable beast then,” Hunt said as he walked around the floating lion, admiring his muscular body. “The things I could do with you.” He bent down and furrowed his brow as he inspected the lion’s ribs. “A few enhancements, a couple of tweaks… yes, you could be quite the useful device.”
Come on! Mack urged his lion to move, to break free, but there was nothing they could do. Even an animal as powerful as Mack’s lion couldn’t do anything against a magical hold. He couldn’t even move a whisker.
General Hunt was nodding as he walked up to the lion’s ear. “Funny little thing this is,” he said as he glanced down at the wand. “Marcerium energy. Or, magic as the uneducated call it. I’ve made some progress in learning how to wield it. I’ve even developed some for my prison ward. Neck, arm, and leg braces that keep unruly shifters in place with a constant flow of Marcerium. Phase back and fall in line when I release you or you’ll be the first to test it out. I’m curious to see what happens if someone is left in them for a few decades. Make one move and we’ll both find out.”
He stepped back out of Mack’s lion’s reach and released the magical hold.
The lion dropped to the floor, choking and gasping as he struggled to stand up. Fuck. That had been rough.
Mack phased back into his human form and took a second—sitting on the ground—to catch his breath.
Caelum gathered Mack’s torn clothes off the floor and handed them to him. There was a look of concern in his eyes as he knelt down, and it made Mack feel a little better knowing that he had at least someone on his side nearby.
Hunt watched with a smirk on his face as Mack struggled to get dressed with his shaky limbs. He pulled on his shredded clothes as best he could and then stumbled as he got up to his feet.
“Bring him to my office.”
Hardy and DeMarcus were on him at once, grabbing his arms and dragging him forward as they followed the General down the hall.
“That wasn’t the plan!” Hardy hissed in his ear. “What the fuck?”
Mack just let his head drop. What was he going to say? That he fucked things up again as usual?
A few minutes later, they were all standing inside General Hunt’s large office. Mack was in the middle of the room with the four shifters standing guard all around him. He was facing General Hunt with a blank stare as the General walked around his desk and sat on it. He was talking on the phone—his voice light and happy as if he was speaking with a young child.
“You did!” he said with a smile. “Your Pappy is so proud of you!”
Mack’s heart was thundering in his chest as he watched. He thought this man was incapable of having a softer side, but here it was on full display.
“Third place is great,” he said, nodding as he paced from one end of his desk to the other. “I know it’s not first, but you can’t win every time.”
Mack quickly surveyed the room while the General was distracted. There was only one door that led in or out of the office and it was behind him to his left. There were two windows along the wall on his right side and he was about four stories up.
“Okay, pumpkin,” he said with a laugh. “Pappy loves you too. Okay, bye.”
He hung up the phone and tossed it back on his desk with a clank.
“My granddaughter on the east coast,” he said as he looked at Mack. “She came third in her spelling be
e.”
Mack just glared at him with hatred oozing out of his eyes. He wondered how someone who loved one child could keep another like Tristan locked up.
“Oh, I see,” Hunt said, tilting his head to the side as he grinned at Mack. “You have a beast inside you, but you think I’m the monster, don’t you?”
“You’re the one holding innocent lives in captivity,” Mack said. “That’s pretty monstrous in my opinion.”
“Your animals are the real monsters,” Hunt replied, “and they must be controlled. You think I’m the bad guy, but I’m the only one brave enough to do what needs to be done.”
“Caging innocent families? Kids…” Mack said, shaking his head in disgust. “You think that’s brave? You think that’s noble?”
“When it saves the lives of millions of others,” Hunt said with a nod. “Yeah. I do.”
“You’re not saving anyone. You’re just using them for your own selfish desires. You’re mistaking fear for bravery. You want power and you’ll take it by any means necessary.”
“That’s right, I’ll take it by any means necessary,” he snapped back. “The enemies have shifters and so must we. There’s nothing more to it than that. It’s pretty damn clear.”
“Nothing is ever so cut and dry,” Mack answered with his chin in the air. “It’s never so black and white. Evil does not justify more evil.”
“Sometimes it does,” Hunt answered. “The ends always justify the means.”
“No, they don’t.” The voice was behind him. Mack looked back and saw Hardy approaching with a hard look in his eyes.
General Hunt swallowed hard. “What?”
“They don’t,” Hardy repeated. “Not when you have to terrorize innocent families—our innocent families—to save others. People didn’t sign up for that. On either side.”
Hunt looked amused. “I use your families as tools to save hundreds of millions.”
“Not anymore.”
