“Nicholas, what is it?” Aleks asked, fear knotting in his throat.
“I felt panic, then pain from Ashby. Then panic, then anger, then pain from Rebecca, and then nothing. I don’t feel them anymore!” he wailed.
Aleks roared and the walls shook. People stopped talking and the music stopped. He ran past Nicholas and down the stairs, Liam and Bran steps behind him. He saw Connor talking to Rian and Damian, who were shaking their heads and crying. They looked up as Aleks approached at a run.
“Bathroom,” Connor said, taking off at a run to the side hallway, the men following him. When they got there, Emmett, Benedict, and Duncan were questioning people in the bathroom hallway as Gavin treated Kate, who lay motionless on the floor.
“Where is she?” Aleks roared. His hands became claws, and he raked them down the walls, sending wood and plaster flying.
“Kate!” Bran yelled, falling to his knees beside his mate.
“Rebecca and Ashby were taken out the emergency exit by four hyenas. Kate was trying to stop them when they stabbed her in the stomach. I don’t have any supplies here, Aleks,” Gavin said urgently, his hands full of blood as he tried to staunch the bleeding.
“Noel, take this gentleman and Ms. Edwards to our clinic downstairs. Give them anything and everything they need. Radek, Bryn, I need to move any witnesses to the VIP section and clear out the rest. Aleks, who is your best tracker?” Gabriel asked, turning to Aleks, who stood beside them, chest heaving. “Aleks, I can’t even pretend to know how hard this is for you, but you are the next leader of Arkadia. You need to focus,” Gabriel said softly. Aleks’s head snapped to Gabriel.
“Benedict and Finn are our best trackers, Liam is our best hunter. I trust him to take charge out in the field,” he said through clenched teeth. He was barely keeping himself from shifting. His bear was clawing at him to get out, to go get his mate. But the human side of him knew they had a better chance of getting her back if he could focus and start working this as a crime scene. He took a deep breath and looked at Gabriel with solid black eyes.
“We need to isolate each witness and get statements.” Gabriel nodded then moved to where Bryn was ushering the witnesses upstairs. “Emmett, I need you to guard the scene. We can’t have too many people down here. The scents we have are fading. I don’t want any gawkers trailing through them destroying them completely.” Emmett nodded then simply started walking, arms stretched out, until each hand touched either side of the hallway and pushed everyone down the hallway using his body as a plunger and then blocked the entrance.
“Connor, I need you to get Rian and Damian down here. The three of you will be looking for any kind of trace evidence.” Connor nodded then ran past Emmett to go get the two lions.
Aleks turned to Duncan. “I need to you to call Ma, tell her everything that has happened. Get Dr. Claybourne up here. You also need to call Riley and let him know that his Alphas need them,” Aleks said, referring to Bran’s Beta. Duncan nodded and pulled out his cell phone.
That only left Nicholas. Before Rebecca, he never would have thought of the smaller man. His eyes moved past the onlookers until he saw him on the outskirts of the crowd, his arms wrapped around his body and silent tears streaming down his face. He looked lost. Aleks walked past Emmett and walked over to Nicholas, who looked up at him, his face ashen.
“Alpha, I…” His voice broke.
“I need you to stay by my side, Nicholas. Besides our mating bond, you are my only tie to her. If you feel anything, anything at all, tell me right away,” he said gently. He placed a hand on Nicholas’s shoulder.
“Of course, Alpha, I’ll do anything to get them back,” he said. Aleks nodded and looked up. Gabriel was motioning that they join him.
“Two witnesses said that they heard the hyenas say something about making a delivery. They should be contacting us soon,” Gabriel said.
“I can’t sacrifice Arkadia,” Aleks said.
“No one said you should. Rebecca seems the kind of woman who wouldn’t want others hurt for her sake. We’ll find them, Aleks. Then we’ll take out these hyenas, and the vampire’s blood supply will dry up,” Gabriel said lowly.
“What happens to the vampires?” Aleks asked, looking at Gabriel. He was surprised when the vampires eyes started to glow a dim red color.
“They face me,” Gabriel said. Aleks nodded. He would have preferred to rip them apart with his bare hands, but one look at Gabriel’s eyes and Aleks knew that killing them with his bare hands would be a mercy. He wanted them to suffer, so they would be facing their Prince.
Chapter 16
“Eww, it smells like shit in here, I mean like, literal shit,” Rebecca said, shifting her body so that she lay on her side facing Ashby. They both had woken up with their hands tied behind their backs.
“I’ll take your word for it. That bastard broke my nose,” Ashby said, wincing as he spoke.
“Not to sound ungrateful, because if you weren’t here I’d be losing my mind, but why did they bring you?” Rebecca asked. Ashby gave a small chuckle.
“Because they couldn’t separate us. Even when they knocked us unconscious we didn’t let go of each other,” he said, giving her a soft smile.
“Aww, I wuve you too, Ashers,” Rebecca said, making a kissy face. He laughed then gasped.
“I think they broke a few ribs too,” he said, breathing out slowly. Rebecca growled and Ashby grinned. “You know they say that after a while couples start acting alike. That is the tiniest growl I have ever heard, and I babysit,” he said, grinning. Rebecca laughed.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked. Ashby was about to respond when the door to the room they were in slid open. When light filled their room, Rebecca realized she wasn’t in a building. It looked like they were in a railcar.
“Quiet in there, no talking or we beat the tiny lion some more,” a harsh voice called before slamming the door closed.
“Why does he think you’re a lion?” she whispered as low as she could.
“At the club I was dancing between Rian and Damian. It must be their sweat. It explains why I’m tied up and not in a cage. If they knew I could shift smaller and out of my bonds I’d be in a cage,” he explained.
“Then shift, go!” she whispered.
“Never going to happen, Rebecca, I will never leave my Alpha Mother,” he said.
“Look, I appreciate the sentiment. But if Aleks and Liam and Bran knew where we were, those hyenas would be in tiny pieces by now. We were out for a while, so no telling how far we are from the club. We’re in a railcar. We’re both covered in coal dust. Railcars move, Ashby. They could move us anywhere in the mine. We’re stationary now, but God only knows if that will change. They would never find us. I mean who starts looking in railcars? They will probably mount an army and storm the woods. Shift, go get help. Even if they move the railcar, at least you could let them know to look for one,” she whispered. She knew it would be a long shot, but at least he would be safe if he left.
“I can’t leave you alone. You’re human, they’ll kill you,” Ashby replied, tears in his eyes. She scooted forward and kissed his forehead.
“If they wanted us dead, we’d be dead. They need me to control Aleks. Ashby, I am asking you to leave me here and go get help.” She looked him in the eye. “Please,” she said. He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. He closed his eyes, and his human form disappeared and he shrunk down to a tiny white fox. She smiled when he raced behind her and started chewing through the bonds. When they snapped apart, he went to where she was lying and licked her face. She giggled.
“Thank you for freeing my hands. They were starting to hurt.” She ran a hand over his soft fur.
“Go!” she whispered. He ran for the corner of the railcar where the metal had rusted out leaving a small hole. He wiggled through and then, he was gone.
* * * *
Aleks was standing in front of the club in the empty parking lot watching the sun come up. His Ma and Pa had arrived
in the night with Riley, some of Bran’s wolves, a few of Liam’s lions and Dr. Claybourne. Purgatory had become their base of operations. His mouth twisted at the irony. He felt like he was in Purgatory, a limbo between Heaven and Hell. His head turned at the sound of quickly approaching feet.
“Aleks, they’re on the phone,” Connor said, breathless. Aleks raced past him up the stairs to Gabriel’s office. Gabriel stood next to his desk and motioned to the phone.
“Okay, he’s here, say your piece, parasite,” Gabriel said. A maniacal laugh floated through the room from the speaker phone.
“I want to hear the Arkadion, or, you get to hear his bitch.” His voice stopped and a painful scream filled the room. Everyone jerked.
“Rebecca! You motherfucker! If you hurt her, I will fucking end you!” he screamed.
“I doubt you will get the chance. Here are my terms. You get me six pints of blood from every shifter in Arkadia. My men will pick it up at the town’s entrance. Except for you. I want every drop of your blood, Aleksander Arkadion. My client will be extremely happy to get the young virile blood of the Arkadion King.” The hyena cackled.
“No! Aleks, don’t do it. Look to the east, Gandalf should be coming to rescue Gimli from the mines of Moria,” she yelled. There were laughs, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and another scream.
“Uh-oh, Arkadion, her mind is already cracking. You have until tomorrow morning.” And then the line went dead.
Aleks roared. Ma stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her son.
“We’ll get started in getting the blood,” she said quietly.
“Aleks, you give them that blood and you’ll never see her alive again. They will keep her and torture her just to keep you and Arkadia in a position to be blood whores,” Gabriel said quietly.
“What do you suggest? I am not leaving my daughter in the hands of those insane monsters!” Ma retorted. That snapped Aleks out of his rage.
“We have to find her. He’s right, if we give them blood now, they will just hold her over my head. What do we know?” he asked, turning to Gabriel.
“Not much. We have two witnesses say they heard about a delivery. Another says they smelled of metal, and another refuses to leave the hallway until he places the smell. He says it smells like dead plants and animals,” Gabriel said, sighing. He was normally resting during the day. Most of his men had gone underground to gather their strength, leaving only Gabriel and his acting second-in-command Roman awake.
“What was it she said about Gandalf?” Duncan asked looking around the room.
“She said that Gandalf would be coming from the east to rescue Gimli,” Emmett said absently.
Out of nowhere Connor began to laugh. He laughed as he danced a jig around the office. Everyone stared. He turned and grabbed Aleks by the arms.
“Aleks, your mate is a fucking genius!” he said.
“I know,” Aleks replied confused.
“No! She is an authentic genius. She has an eidetic memory and she’s a Goddamn librarian! Do you really think she would misquote Tolkien?” he asked. Looking around the room, he got blank stares.
“Really! Come on, people, didn’t you even watch the movies? Gandalf didn’t ride in from the east to help Gimli,” he said, waiting for them to put the pieces together.
“Gandalf the Grey didn’t help Gimli, he helped the Rohirrim at Helm’s Deep!” Duncan exclaimed.
“He wasn’t Gandalf the Grey then, he was Gandalf the White, he kicked some major ass once he was white,” Emmett said out of nowhere.
“White. She liked his pretty white fur,” Aleks said, smiling.
“Fuck! I think we’re losing him, people. Keep your shit together, man,” Liam said, walking up to Aleks.
“Ashby!” Aleks yelled.
“No, I’m Liam,” he said cautiously.
“Not you, asshole. Ashby! Ashby is white, not grey. He will be heading from the east from a mine where Rebecca is being held! The shifter in the hallway can’t place the scent. The smell of dead plants and animals must be coal! She’s near a coal mine,” Aleks said and grabbed Connor in a huge hug.
“My mate is a freaking genius!” he said, smiling for the first time in hours.
“Ashby!” Nicholas yelled, holding his phone up to his ear. Everyone got quiet and turned to Nicholas. Aleks ran over to stand beside him.
“Ashby, you’re breaking up, where are you?” Nicholas screamed into his phone.
“Ashby! Ashby!” Nicholas looked at his phone in panic.
“All I heard was the word ‘railcars,’” he said, looking at the phone then up at the group.
“There have only been a few active mines in North Carolina, and all three are located about four hours east of here,” Gabriel said.
“Nicholas, you’re with me. Bring your phone. Let’s go, people!” Aleks said, and everyone scrambled.
Chapter 17
“Damn cell phones!” Ashby yelled and threw the one he managed to steal into the woods. He was freezing his ass off with no clothes and not many options to get any. It was winter. It wasn’t like people were hanging their clothes out on their clotheslines. He shifted back to his fox form.
He figured with his tiny legs it would take him two years to get to where Aleks and Nic were. Hoping that he gave them enough to find them, he headed back towards where Rebecca was being held. He didn’t like leaving her alone. He would have better luck stealing another cell phone from one of the hyenas than trying to walk through two feet of snow when he was only ten inches tall.
* * * *
It was late afternoon when they arrived in the county that held one of the abandoned mines. Nic was whimpering in the back seat, and Ma held him. He had started shaking with cold about an hour ago, and Aleks took that as a good sign. It meant he was close enough to be picking up physical distress. Aleks was desperate to pick up something from Rebecca but got nothing.
“He’s getting closer. He’s close,” Nicholas said. Aleks jumped from the car and ran over to where Bran sat in the SUV with Liam. Kate had woken up in the night and made him promise to get Rebecca or she would be withholding sex. Bran reluctantly left her side. Only the chance at ripping apart the bastard that stabbed his mate appeased his wolf. Bran knew she was in good hands with Pa there.
“Bran, Nic says that Ashby is close. Can you guys shift and sniff him out?” he asked. Bran nodded, and he and two of his men headed for the woods.
The wait was excruciating for Aleks. Finally after thirty minutes Bran appeared at the edge of the woods, a half-frozen white fox in his mouth. Being an alpha, Bran was nearly double in size to the other wolves, and it made Ashby look even smaller. Aleks ran forward and gently took Ashby from Bran’s mouth. The wolf turned and headed back into the woods to where he left his clothes so he could shift back.
Aleks carried Ashby to the SUV and gently laid him beside Nicholas. After a few moments, the white fox disappeared and Ashby lay there naked and shivering. The bond they had with Rebecca and each other seemed to be different than a mating bond. The mating bond concentrated on feelings and emotions to better ensure open communication and giving your mate what they needed. This bond seemed to be more centered around protection and could be felt over greater distances. Ma quickly covered Ashby with a blanket as he and Nicholas lay huddled together. Dr. Claybourne lifted Ashby’s wrist to check his pulse.
“Ashby, where is Rebecca?” he asked.
“I tried to call,” Ashby said, shaking.
“I know, we got your phone call. It got us this far, but we need to know where she is,” Aleks repeated, getting impatient. Ma scowled at him.
“I tried to make my way back to Rebecca, but I got lost. Everything looked the same from my height. I got turned around,” Ashby said, teeth chattering.
“Can you get us there now?” Aleks asked. Ashby looked up and nodded.
“Head towards the old coal mine and then head east. It’s an offshoot strip mining location. They have her in a railcar that’s in th
e center of their camp,” he said as his shaking subsided.
“Ashby, thank you!” Aleks said and jumped from the SUV. He got his brothers and the men organized. With any luck Rebecca would be in his arms before sunset.
* * * *
They moved in at dusk. Aleks decided to stay in human form so that he could tend to Rebecca when she was found. He paced and waited for the signal. When they heard the screams of the dying hyenas had been watching the perimeter, everyone began to move. Aleks charged forward. His goal was to get to the railcar as quickly as he could. If he had to rip apart the hyenas that stood between him and that railcar, so be it. Body after body was shredded by his claws. He didn’t even see them as people. Just objects in his way. He reached the railcar and threw the door open, snapping the chain that was holding it closed. It was empty. The smell of his mate filled the car. He could smell blood, a lot of his mate’s blood, but the car was empty. He threw his head back and roared. Six roars echoed in response as his brothers shared in his frustration. He ran to where the fight was dying down. Bran had a man before him on his knees about to rip his throat out.
“Wait! Bran! Rebecca isn’t here,” Aleks yelled. Bran didn’t stop his swing, only retracted his claws and pummeled the man into the ground.
“Where is she?” Aleks demanded. He lifted the man up with one hand and shook him.
“You’ll never find her, Arkadion. She’ll die and you’ll never find her.” The hyena laughed and then started to cough up blood. Aleks looked around helplessly. She could be anywhere. He threw his head back again and roared.
“Aleks, you’re being loud again,” a soft voice said from behind him. Aleks spun around. Rebecca was walking slowly, supported on either side by Ashby and Nicholas. A rough wool blanket was wrapped around her naked body, and rivulets of dried blood covered her arms and legs. He ran to her and dropped to his knees in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her carefully and buried his face in her chest. He couldn’t hold back his tears.