by Tia Didmon
She swallowed uncomfortably. “He always knew where I was and what I was doing. Kevin was never alone with me for more than a minute.”
Hunter nodded. “The tracker.”
She had forgotten the tracker. “Why hasn't he found us?”
Hunter leaned in, looking closer at the plans. “Garrett has been setting up dampening devices at all homes and businesses owned by the Canadian lair. He’ll be installing them on ours next.”
“The animal lab will have everything we need?”
She didn't look at him, pointing at the side wall on the screen. “His computer is set up here. It's a custom PC that he built himself. The encryption will be off the charts. Even if we manage to recover it...”
Garrett turned in his chair. “Honey, you get it to me and I’ll crack it.” He turned back to the screen, opening a second window that showed roof access points.
Racheal squinted. “If you are thinking you can fly in and drop onto the roof, you can't. They have a guard tower with high-power rifles and grenade launchers. A chopper won't make it anywhere close to the building.”
Hunter turned. “We aren't flying in. The animal lab has air ducts that ventilate directly to the roof.”
“Yes, but you need to be on the roof to access them. How are you going to get up there? There’re men everywhere and they will see you.”
“The Kallans’ aren't the only ones with high-tech toys. Garrett and Cade have developed a suit that reflects the image behind it. Essentially they look invisible but it's an optical illusion.”
“There are various industries using that type of tech. No one has an invisible bio suit.”
Hunter winked. “We do.”
She never considered that the shifters would be technologically advanced. Cyril had been forced to tell them about how his body shifted, his mating habits, and his cat's needs. She realized he had answered what he was forced to but had never told them about the men behind the animals. The Kallans' were missing a big part of the equation, one she was just starting to see for herself.
Hunter put his hand lightly on her chin. “You didn't answer my question.”
Racheal was confused. “What question?”
“Will the animal lab have everything we need? Specifically, the serum for Aiden and the information on the poison he gave you?”
She hesitated, knowing she was a horrible liar. “The computer may have that info.”
Hunter growled. “Where did he give you the antidote for the poison? Was it at this facility?”
Racheal's eyes widened. “Yes, it was.”
“Was it in the animal lab?”
She blinked rapidly. “No.”
Hunter grabbed her arms. “What the fuck Racheal! Do you think this is some kind of game? You don't omit information, especially when it concerns your life. What are you thinking?”
Racheal's eyes flared with her anger. “I think that there’s no way to get to two labs on opposite ends of the facility. Getting in and out of one will be a miracle. The animal lab will have the serum. It may still house the DNA samples from the other shifters. We can even grab the tranquilizer and whatever else Jordan is working on. Garrett is brilliant. He can reverse engineer the tranq, so you can develop an antidote.”
Hunter's voice dropped low. “Garrett can? He isn't a doctor, or a geneticist. Why would he be doing that rather than you?”
Racheal swore under her breath. Honesty was her only option. “There's a chance that the composition of the poison is on Jordan's computer. If it isn't you have to accept that there will be no way to save me.”
Hunter's eyes glowed. “Never fucking happening. You’re my mate and it's about time you damn well accept what that means.”
The silence and hard glares continued until Garrett interrupted. “I found it.”
Racheal squinted at the screen. “What is that?”
Garrett rubbed his chin. “It's your tracker.”
Hunter put a hand on Garrett's shoulder. “Do you have the tracker’s location?”
Garrett sighed. “Yes, but you're not going to like it.”
Hunter retracted his hand. “Where is it?”
“It's currently located under the left lung.”
“What do you mean currently?” Hunter asked.
Garrett rubbed his forehead. “It's freeborn. It has a micro motor, giving it the capacity to move to any area of the body it's programmed to.”
“Shit! Will it move if we try to extract it?”
“It's dormant right now because the external signal is being blocked but that isn't my main concern. I need to study it.”
“If it's dormant, we pull it out and study it. I want that fucking thing out of my mate.”
Garrett turned in his chair. “Hunter, I think the tracker has a fail safe on it.”
Hunter's body went cold. He scrunched his fists. “What kind of fail-safe.”
“If I tamper with it... it explodes.”
“Fuck!” Hunter shouted.
Racheal grabbed her chest. “Oh my god.”
Garrett looked at Racheal. “I'll find a way to get that thing out of you. I just need some time.”
Racheal studied the tracker image. “He uses the same tracker on the soldiers.”
Garrett leaned forward. “Do you know how to disarm it?”
Racheal shook her head. “I use a computer for my work but that's it. I have no idea how to hack his software.”
Garrett held up a finger. “You don't need to be a hacker to help me. You know Jordan. You know his work. Did he say anything that would help me?”
Racheal's head tilted to the side. “A few years ago, he was talking about one of the weapons he had engineered. He said that most hackers would believe they had success when they had in fact only cracked the first layer of encryption.”
Garrett turned back to the screen. “It makes sense that he would have several layers of encryption. Looking at the tracker's code it appears that the directional system is fairly easy to hack. Too easy in fact.”
“What do you mean too easy?”
“If you hacked into the directional system and told the tracker to exit the body. You would believe you had solved the problem.”
Hunter rubbed his forehead. “If we can't cut it out and we can't hack it, how do we get it out?”
Garrett sighed. “For now, we don't.”
Hunter turned to Racheal. “You can't go into the facility. Hell, you can't leave this house without your life being in danger.”
Racheal put her hand on Hunter's arm. “My life has been in danger since the day I met Jordan. I have to go or you won't get what you need to save Aiden and I will die anyway from the poison in my system.”
Hunter's cat raged at the feeling of helplessness. “I can't lose you.”
Garrett cleared his throat. “I may have a solution.”
“What?” Hunter said quickly.
“I could outfit one of the bio suits with the same dampening field I'm using here,” Garrett said.
“She would be safe as long as she's in the suit?”
“As long as she doesn't get close to the detonator. If the detonator were close then it's signal might be stronger than the suits.”
Hunter shook his head. “Too risky. I can put her on coms and she can tell me which samples I need.”
Garrett scratched his neck. “We won't have coms while you're in the building. And you won't have video either. I hate to admit it but his tech is sound. I can't disrupt his signal unless I'm inside the building.”
Racheal put her hands on, Hunter's stomach. “Hunter listen to me. I have to go. I know how to get around the lab once inside and I know what to look for. You don't. I would take too long for you to explain every vial you come across.”
Hunter felt the warmth from her touch. He wanted to pull her closer. To bury himself inside her lush body, reminding himself she was real. He felt like he was in a vise. His cat was furious at the thought of her going near Jordan Kallan but he knew she was rig
ht. He wouldn't be able to tell a sample from a placebo.
Hunter eyes glowed. He didn't attempt to reign his cat in. He wanted his mate to know how furious he was. “Garrett, outfit that suit and if anything happens to her... you know the consequences.”
Racheal wanted to discipline Hunter for threatening Garrett but got the impression his remark wasn't aimed at the blonde cougar. She decided to stay on track. The mission was more important.
She touched Hunter's arm, hoping to focus his anger in a more productive endeavor. “Where’s the suit?”
Hunter went into the basement and emerged with a black neoprene-looking suit.
Racheal took it from him, examining the material. It had a more reflective surface that she had originally imagined. “What material is this?”
Hunter clicked a button located under the collar of the suit. It made a low hum as the suit powered up, reflecting the surface behind it. “Garrett created it.”
Racheal put her hand on the suit. “This is incredible. It’s similar to cloaking technology on an aircraft. Jordan has been trying to adapt this for individual use. He isn't this far along.”
Hunter growled. “The Kallans’ aren't the only ones with a technological genius.”
She detected the anger in his voice. “I'm impressed with your tech. I wasn't trying to insult you or Garrett.”
Hunter's eyes glittered. “Every time you talk about him, you speak as though you admire him. He fucking tricked you. Imprisoned you. Forced you to have sex with him...”
Racheal held up a hand. “He didn't rape me. I consented to that before I knew who he truly was. That mistake was mine.”
“He coerced you. Made you feel inadequate, like there was something wrong with you,” he snapped.
Racheal's demeanor collapsed. “Do you think I don't know what he took from me? I have to tell you that my virginity was the least of the things I lost at the hands of Jordan Kallan.”
Hunters voice dropped low. “What was worse Racheal? Losing your self-respect or your will to live?”
Pain splintered in her heart. He shouldn't know about that. No one should. “What?” she asked, the fight gone from her voice.
“Cyril told Sarah you tried to kill yourself.” His tone lacked compassion.
She wasn't going to apologize for one moment of weakness. There were many things she had done that she would have to pay for. That wasn't one of them. “I did.”
Hunter grabbed her arms, without hurting her. “You gave up on life. On Us!” he shouted.
She realized he had been holding this in for some time. Probably trying to keep his anger too himself. She calmed her voice. “I didn't know you existed. They were threatening to abduct Sarah. Gerald wanted to breed her. He was obsessed with her. I’d been captive for years. I knew they would use me to manipulate Sarah... just as they had used her to manipulate me. It would have been an endless cycle. I needed it to stop. You have no right to judge me.”
Hunter leaned in. “Honey, I'm not judging you. I am making sure you don't plan to give up... again.”
“Fuck you, Hunter.”
Hunter's cat surged for dominance. It chafed at the prospect of its mate's death. Hunter berated himself for not being there to help her. He had pushed her, needing to know she wouldn't give up. That putting her near Jordan Kallan wouldn't send her down a spiral from which she couldn't recover. She was mad at him. Her anger and fire only incited his need for her. His cock hardened to the point of pain. “Fucking me is a great idea,” he said in a low voice.
Racheal's eyes narrowed. “That isn't what I meant.”
Garrett closed the laptop and exited the house without a word.
Racheal looked at Hunter suspiciously.
He shrugged. “I did.” He pulled her toward him before she could protest.
His lips were on hers. Hard. Demanding. His tongue dueling, seeking dominance, over hers.
She wasn't backing down. Her hands clutched the material of his shirt, forming a knot at his stomach.
He pulled the dress over her head in one motion, pulling her naked form back against his body. His hands slid down her back, cupping her ass before working his way to her breasts. He massaged the soft globes, inciting a throaty moan.
Her hands went to the waistband of his jeans, pulling them open in desperation and pushing them down his hips.
He groaned when she fisted his cock, sliding her fingers over him gently before moving lower to cup his balls. He grabbed her ass firmly. “Put your legs around my waist.”
She put her arms around his neck then did as he asked.
He walked her over to a small bookcase, placing her on top, using it as a bench as he spread her legs with his hands. He knelt before her. Hovering over her engorged bud, close enough she would feel the warmth of his breath, without touching her. She squirmed.
He licked through heated folds, causing her to moan as her hands fisted in his hair. His pain. Her pleasure. The combination too explosive to ignore. He devoured her pussy, reveling in the taste of her. Each moan and whimper an aphrodisiac to him and his cat.
“Hunter please.”
He basked in the glory of bringing his mate to mindless pleading. He needs this. Her desperation. All focused on him and the pleasure only he could give her. He traveled up her body slowly, nipping and sucking her skin. Little marks and stings that would remind her who she belonged too.
He paid close attention to her sensitive breasts, the small pink nipples more succulent than fresh berries. Swirling his tongue over the tiny buds, inciting his mate further.
“Dammit, Hunter!”
He kissed her hard, pressing her head against the wall as he positioned himself at her entrance. He held her legs wide apart, thrusting into her with one long stroke, impaling her to the hilt.
He paused to let her adjust. His girth separating the soft flesh. He felt her clamp down on him, the pleasure so great he feared he would go over before he was ready. He pulled out, repeating the motion.
Racheal's hands clung to his shoulders as he thrust into her with animal strength. The bookcase, rocked against the wall, marking the pristine paint. The wood creaked as it slammed against the hard surface.
“More!” she gasped
He pumped harder, surprised the makeshift bench wasn't buckling under the force. Hunter felt Racheal’s muscles tighten, signaling she was close to her release. He thrust with his remaining strength.
The hot jets of his orgasm brought her over with him. She clamped down on him hard, forcing him to groan loudly.
He kissed her gently before opening his eyes to the amber ones staring back at him. “Racheal?”
She began breathing heavily and quickly. She was panting.
He took her over to the couch. “What’s going on?”
Her amber eyes continued to glow. “I don't know. I feel like my body is on fire. Like blood is rushing to every part of me too fast.”
Hunter inspected her arms. “This could be the first stage of the transformation. Your arms should ripple and break first. It will be excruciating but they will reform quickly. I'll be right here.”
“Jordan said this would kill me. I would start the shift then stop. That the process would continue until it killed me,” she gasped.
“Jordan is a sick puke. He experiments on us but knows nothing about us. Trust me, Racheal. Let it happen,” he soothed.
She took a stuttered breath. “It's starting.”
Hunter watched as fur erupted over her arms. The skin rippled like water before the uneasy sight receded, leaving her arms as they once were.
Racheal looked at the ceiling. “They didn't break,” she said in an emotionless tone.
Hunter rubbed his forehead. “I don't understand...”
“I do. Jordan is all the things you say he is. He also happens to be right. I’m going to die.”
Chapter 7
Hunter growled. “You aren't going to die. I won't allow it.”
Racheal huffed. “I love how you
think you can order the universe to follow your orders but I'm afraid it doesn't work that way,” she replied sarcastically.
His cat chafed at her flippant attitude toward her death. As if her life were meaningless and his whole world wouldn't crumble if she wasn't in it. “I won't let you give up,” he said in low tones.
Her jaw clenched. “I'm not giving up. I'm making a contingency plan. One that assures that you have a life despite my final outcome.”
His cat battled against his restraints. Its mate had no idea of her significance in his world. “I have no life without you.”
She paled visibly. “We aren't mated.”
He sensed her fear. “My cougar chose you. I choose you. Regardless of the final outcome, there will be no other for me.”
Her face crumbled. “No! I've destroyed so much. I didn't want too but I was too weak to stop it. You're mad because I tried to end my life but if I had you would have been safe.”
Hunter let the rage blister under his skin. She didn't understand. “Would you prefer I age, going insane, eventually turning on the ones I love and respect, forcing them to put me down like a rabid dog?”
Racheal sucked in her breath. “No, of course not.”
He let his cat's anger show through. “That's what happens to us if we don't find our mate. We can survive but we don't live.”
Her lips pursed. “If one of you dies and you have children, do you abandon them?”
He had hoped she wouldn't travel this road. It was too soon for this discussion. “If one parent dies then the other would go on for their children. At least until the children were fully mature and the surviving parent's death was expected.”
Racheal's chin came up. “So, you CAN live without a mate.”
Hunter leaned into her. His lips hovered over hers. “If a mated pair were together long enough to bring a child into this world then they have been given their reward. No man would forsake that time even if it were short. A mate is our reward in this life and that child would be a daily reminder of their love and commitment. That is what a shifter lives for.”
