by Kim Fox
Hardy had always been so tough, so seeing him like this—grimacing as sweat dripped down his face—was hard to take. She didn’t even want to imagine what that energy felt like.
DeMarcus, Irish, and Caelum weren’t fairing much better. They all looked miserable.
It was then that it dawned on Kara—Mack wasn’t there.
Did that mean he escaped or did that mean he was somewhere worse, being tortured in more horrific ways?
She prayed that he had gotten out. Her mate had promised to protect her for the rest of her days, and she hoped that he would live up to his promise. She hoped that he would save them all.
The General’s eyes narrowed as he approached her. “If you ever escape again,” he said in a low serious tone, “I will build one of these for your entire family, and while you’re outside living the sweet life, they’ll be frying in here every second of every day. Understand?”
Kara swallowed hard and nodded.
“Bring her back to her cell,” the General said, dismissing her with a wave.
Kara took one last look at her brother and then at the strange young man who was still standing guard, staying unnaturally still.
“Let’s go.” The guards yanked her back out of the room and dragged her down the hall as she suddenly began to feel nauseous.
Her thoughts alternated between Hardy and Mack as they dragged her out the back of the building and forced her onto the back of a snowmobile. They drove her through the forest and back to the compound where they kept all of the prisoners. She had an ache in the back of her throat as they brought her inside.
She hated this place. She hated every inch of it.
They dragged her down the familiar halls and stopped in front of the familiar metal door with the slot at the bottom.
The guard unlocked the door and swung it open. Waves of disappointment and relief washed over her when she saw her parents and two sisters huddled inside.
Her dad’s face dropped when he saw her. “No…”
Kara looked at her mom who started crying. She wasn’t sure if they were tears of happiness to be seeing her daughter again or tears of sadness that she was back here. It was probably a little bit of both.
“Welcome home,” the guard said as he gave her a hard shove. She stumbled and fell to her knees as the thick metal door closed behind her with a boom.
Kara dropped her head and cried as warm comforting arms surrounded her.
Chapter Fifteen
Mack
“This is it,” Mack said when they arrived at the electrified fence by the compound. It was mid-morning and they were in the same spot where Bryce had thrown him over a few hours earlier.
Mack looked up at the building and saw the office where the cyborg had climbed into. He had scaled that wall so fast. What had they done to him?
They kept him alive. That’s what they did.
Bryce had been changed forever, but was the alternative better?
“How do we get over the fence?” Ryder asked as he waved his hand close to it. A little string of blue electricity darted out to his palm and he yanked his hand back with a wince.
Logan grinned. “Our old move.”
Ryder raised an eyebrow. “Can your lion get over after?”
Logan yanked off his shirt. “Only one way to find out.”
He dropped to his hand and knees in front of the fence as Ryder took a few steps back.
Mack watched as Ryder ran forward, stepped on his back and jumped at the same time as Logan sprung up, shooting the tattooed lion shifter into the air. He sailed over the fence easily and landed quietly on the other side.
Tempest and Amélie went next, easily clearing the fence.
“You go, Mack,” Grant said as he placed a hand on Mack’s shoulder.
Mack turned to him with a heavy breath. “Grant, I’m really—”
“Get your ass over that fence, soldier,” Grant interrupted with a smile. “It’s all good.”
All of the guilt and shame washed away, replaced with gratitude for being in such an amazing crew. How could he ever have wanted to leave? “Thanks, boss.”
He took a breath, ran, and leapt off of Logan’s back. Logan grunted as he heaved him up—Mack did have more mass than the other ones—but the powerhouse of the team managed to clear the buzzing fence as well.
Grant flew over next and then it was Logan’s turn. He phased into his three-legged lion and Mack watched with butterflies in his stomach as the lion ran and tried to leap over. His tail hit the top of the fence, but he cleared it.
It wasn’t long ago that Logan’s three-legged lion couldn’t even walk without falling and now he was leaping over tall fences. Mack was filled with pride as he watched him.
He wasn’t the only one filled with pride. Logan’s lion came strutting over with his chin in the air and his chest puffed out, looking cocky and a little full of himself—until he realized that the fluffy tip of his tail was on fire. His eyes widened in panic until Grant rushed over and smothered the flame with his hands.
“You guys should go free Hardy and the boys,” Mack said. “I’ll go to Hunt’s office and get that tablet from him. Once I break that, Bryce should be on our side. With Hardy and his crew, along with Bryce, we should be able to free everyone inside and then burn this place down.”
Mack knew that Kara was somewhere inside there and it killed him not to go find her immediately. He had promised to protect her and here he was wasting time making up plans when he could just go charge in and get her.
Stop. This is the best way forward. You have to work together if you want to save her for good.
“Do you know where Hunt’s office is?” Grant asked.
Mack nodded as he looked up. The broken window he had been thrown through was already repaired, but he was sure it was that one. He could see Bryce’s finger holds that were dug into the brick.
“I’ve been here before,” Amélie said as she looked around. “I think I know where the General is keeping my friends. It’s got to be in the building on the other side of that forest.”
“Okay,” Grant whispered as he looked around the circle of shifters. “Let’s go. Keep it safe. Mount up.”
They all bumped fists and then exploded into action. Mack ran to the brick wall as Amélie led the crew through the forest to the main building. Logan’s lion was running after them.
Mack leapt up and grabbed the window ledge. He began scaling the wall—not as fast and effortless as Bryce—but he managed to get himself up to the window.
He glanced inside and saw an empty office. Perfect.
He slid the window open and climbed inside as quietly as he could. A stunned human was watching with wide eyes as Mack stood up inside the office. He couldn’t see the guy from the angle outside, but he was cleaning up the mess Mack had helped make from his last visit.
He wasn’t a soldier—he looked more like a prisoner who was assigned to clean up.
“I’m here to help you,” Mack said as he showed him his palms.
The man who looked to be about in his fifties watched him with an uneasy look.
“Where’s the General?” Mack whispered when he didn’t say a word.
The man glanced at the door. “He’s around. Be careful.”
Mack nodded as he hurried to the desk.
“You must be Mack.”
Mack jerked his head back in surprise. “You’re—”
“Kara’s father.”
His mouth dropped open. “Oh… Is she?”
“She’s fine,” her father said. Mack took a breath of relief as he thanked the heavens. His girl was okay. And once they got through their plans, she would be free as well.
Mack and his future father-in-law stared at each other until the sound of footsteps in the hallway jerked them out of their daze.
He quickly ran to the desk and started yanking drawers open as he frantically looked for the tablet. He couldn’t find it anywhere.
The door swung open and General Hun
t walked in with Bryce by his side.
Bryce’s eyes were bright green with the computer code running over his irises. The AI software was in control.
General Hunt’s eyes narrowed as he spotted Mack behind his desk. “Kill him.”
Bryce took a step forward and then hesitated for a moment as the green in his eyes flickered off and on. His face twisted up as he struggled to fight back the software. His hands were clenched into fists as he jerked his head from side to side, trying to fight it.
The General yanked the tablet out of his pocket and began to furiously smash buttons. Bryce’s eyes flashed a bright green and the cyborg took over once again. Mack sucked in a breath as the machine charged forward like the Terminator.
His face and eyes had that eerie lifeless look as he grabbed Mack’s shirt with a firm grip. He yanked Mack off his feet and slammed him down onto the thick desk so hard that he broke it in two.
“Ompf,” Mack grunted. Ow, that fucking hurt.
“Bryce!” Mack tried to yell to him, but it barely came out with the wind knocked out of him like it was. He looked into his indifferent, emotionless green eyes pleading with him to regain control, but the cyborg was running the show.
The cyborg pounded him with hard punches and Mack tried to block them, but they came out too fast, slamming into his stomach and head, bruising flesh and crunching bones. Mack was dazed as the cyborg grabbed him, picked him up, and slammed him onto the ground.
“Oh… fuck…” Mack’s body was crushed, but the heartless machine wasn’t done. He lunged at him, dropping bombs until Mack’s vision started to cloud over with black. He was dazed and nearly out of it, not even able to hold his arms up to block the incoming blows.
His eyes glazed over like a cloud was blocking his vision and his hearing was muffled like he was wearing noise-canceling headphones.
The beating stopped and he could barely hear the muffled voices over the pounding in his ears.
“Get the girl,” General Hunt ordered. “His girl.”
Mack struggled to get up, but his body wasn’t responding. He had been beaten too badly.
He dropped his thumping head back on the floor and willed his enhanced shifter healing to work double-time while the cyborg was gone.
General Hunt walked over and stood over him with a smirk on his face. Mack opened his eyes and saw the crackling wand pointing directly at him. The metal attachment was still on the tip.
“Don’t move or I’ll zap you,” he warned.
Mack wanted to laugh. Like he could move after that fierce beating.
But when the cyborg dragged his mate into the room a little while later, Mack found his second wind. The scent of his mate had both him and his lion perking up.
Mack winced and grunted in pain as he pushed himself up to a seated position. Bryce was holding Kara as General Hunt walked over with a grin.
“I want her to watch this,” Hunt said as his face darkened.
His heart broke as he looked at her beautiful face. She was too pure and innocent for this.
“Kara!” her father shouted from where he was standing in the corner.
General Hunt shot him a glance and then began to smash some buttons on the tablet, bringing the cyborg to life.
Bryce’s eyes flashed a bright green, but Mack wasn’t paying any attention to that. He was staring at Kara, not able to take his eyes off of her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I love you.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she stared back at him with a look of love and devotion on her face. “I love you too, Mack.”
“End him,” Hunt hissed as he pressed a button.
The cyborg snapped to attention and then charged. Mack stood up and braced himself as Bryce arrived with his green eyes glowing brighter than ever. He slammed a fist into Mack’s stomach, dropping him back down to his knees.
Mack still couldn’t fight him. This was his boy. His Bryce.
There was a part of the kid still hidden inside and Mack wasn’t willing to hurt him. Even if it meant dying.
A strong callous hand wrapped around Mack’s neck and the air was snatched from his lungs as the cyborg lifted Mack off his feet. He was holding Mack up by the neck with only one arm, and the lion shifter couldn’t breathe.
Starved of oxygen, Mack’s body began bucking. He grabbed onto the cyborg’s thick forearm as his legs kicked out wildly beneath him.
Mack stared into the cyborg’s green eyes, knowing that Bryce was somewhere down there, struggling, fighting to get out.
Come on, kid. You can do it you little twerp.
Suddenly, the green eyes flickered and the grip on Mack’s neck loosened. Bryce was back with his warm golden eyes. He immediately dropped Mack and the old lion shifter choked down deep gulps of air as he looked up at his friend.
“Run,” Bryce said, breathing heavily. “I don’t know how long I can hold it back.”
Hunt was mashing the tablet behind him and the green eyes flashed back on, brighter than ever. He landed a hard punch into Mack’s stomach and then wrapped his arm around his neck.
“Take his head off,” Hunt snapped. “Literally!”
Mack panicked as he grabbed onto the cyborg’s hard arms. They were squeezing his neck and pulling his head back. Mack had seen what the cyborg could do—digging fingertips into brick, cracking bones with every punch—and he knew that he was about to die.
He struggled with everything he had left but was getting nowhere.
General Hunt was staring at him with wide eyes and a creepy grin on his face as he watched. He was so absorbed with the scene that he didn’t notice Kara’s dad sneaking up behind him with a chunk of cement from the wall in his hand.
He cracked him over the head with it and Hunt’s legs wobbled as he grunted. Kara’s father jumped on him and wrestled the tablet out of his hands. Once he had it, he tossed it to Mack.
Mack caught it and broke it in two.
The arms loosened around his neck and then released him completely. Bryce stood beside him with his eyes back to their normal warm golden glow.
Mack smiled at him and took a sweet breath of air as Kara rushed over and wrapped her arms around his neck. She hugged him and kissed his face over and over again. Nothing had ever felt so sweet. She felt so perfect and smelled so damn good.
Hunt landed a hard roundhouse to her father’s chin, knocking him out cold as the General stumbled backward, holding his bloody head with his hand.
“We’re not done yet,” Bryce muttered under his breath.
Mack pulled Kara protectively behind him as he narrowed his eyes on the cornered General. He was injured and on the ropes. It was time to finish him.
Bryce pulled Mack up to his feet and held him up as they walked toward their enemy.
The door of the office flew open and the cavalry charged in. Grant, Ryder, Logan, Amélie, Tempest, Hardy, Caelum, Irish, and DeMarcus all rushed into the room.
General Hunt looked so pathetic in the corner, holding his injured head as he looked around the room at all of the threatening shifters.
Mack grinned. Hunt was about to get what he had coming to him for a long time.
“You’re fucked now, Hunt,” DeMarcus said in a booming voice. “Where’s my boy? Where’s Tristan?”
General Hunt locked eyes with him. “Kill these shifters and I’ll free him. I’ll free all of your families!”
Hardy had his father in his arms, hugging him as he woke up. His dad’s eyes watered when he opened them and saw his son’s face. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, Dad,” Hardy said, tearing up as well. “You’re not dreaming.”
DeMarcus was glaring at the General. “I’ll free my son myself.”
Amélie put her hand on his big shoulder for support.
Grant stepped forward. “Give us the location of all the other compounds like this,” he said in a voice that was thick with authority, “and we’ll let you live.”
Caelum’s face hardened. “Every last
one of them.”
“Or, we’ll smoke your ass,” Tempest said with a sneer.
General Hunt’s eyes roamed from shifter to shifter. “You think this is the end? I have a whole army at my disposal. Knock me down and a new General will take my place.”
“Then we’ll knock him down too,” Hardy said.
Mack nodded. “And the next one, and the next one, until all of you Angel of Deaths are where you belong: roasting in hell.”
They all started to converge on the cornered General when he pulled out the wand.
“I’m not ready to burn yet,” he said with a grin as he let the magic fly. It crackled and popped as it took ahold of DeMarcus first, engulfing him completely as it yanked him off of the ground and held him there.
The attachment made the magic spread like wildfire. Grant, Irish, Ryder, Amélie—it got them all, yanking them off their feet as they grimaced in pain. Hardy charged the General but the magic was too fast and it jerked him back and into the air, frying him as the magic took hold.
Bryce was next and Mack quickly followed.
The feeling was excruciating, but there was nothing he could do as the magical energy lifted him into the air.
There was nothing any of them could do.
Hunt had won again.
Chapter Sixteen
Kara
Kara was screaming so loud. “Let them go!”
She couldn’t take her eyes off of Mack’s face. It was all twisted up in pain as some sort of weird energy surrounded him. It was crackling and popping and holding them all captive. They couldn’t seem to move anything. It was horrible.
“Let them go!” she screamed again in a panic.
“I’ll let them go when they’re nearly dead,” General Hunt answered. “Then, I’ll make them my slaves once again.”
“I don’t think so, General Cunt.”
It was a woman’s voice. Tempest. She walked out of the crowd of frozen shifters with a golden ax in her hand.
