“Well, we know Ren was guarding the scrolls, we know they didn’t find the one with the key. So, we need to go back to where they were hidden and see if they’re still there,” Anthony said, and Hope frowned.
“I thought they were gone.”
“Why?” Lexie sighed, and Hope frowned deeper.
“I don’t know, I just thought they were gone.”
“Okay then, like everything else, can we assume it’s a fake memory so let’s go with it,” Lexie said.
Hope shrugged and said, “No problem, I will go check it out.”
“What now?” Marcus asked and then said, “Because you know I am the Alpha here, I am the one who will be approving or disapproving of this shit.”
“Okay,” Hope said and looked at her brother. “Can I please go find what we are all looking for so we can stop being trapped at this compound before I kick your ass like I did when we were kids.”
Marcus glared and cleared his throat and said, “You may leave.”
“Tell me what I want to know,” Sienna snapped to the prisoner she had left the entire night to feel the soul pain. The man was exhausted, you could see the tension and the pain in his face.
When Sienna had come back into the main room, the man had been passed out laying in a pool of sweat, but she hadn’t given it a second thought. Instead, she released the man’s mind from the torture and thrown water on him to wake him up. So far, he hadn’t spoken a word, only stared at her with a confused expression on his face, and to her, that was unacceptable.
“What were your orders exactly?” she repeated, and the man finally groaned and rolled until his face was away from her. Sienna practically vibrated with anger. Cloning, messing with her friends, this was so not okay. The Ulfer and their leaders deserved everything they got.
“I was to take you to the Prentiss site in Texas,” the man whispered with a groan, and Sienna frowned and turned when her mates came into the room and looked at her with a possessive gaze.
She rolled her eyes and said to them, “They were to take me to some site in Texas,” she relayed to the guys.
Cameron frowned and tilted his head. “A site in Texas? Are you sure? As far as we know, there is no site in Texas.”
Sienna turned back to the man and snapped, “Where in Texas?”
The prisoner moaned a little again, and he said, “Just outside Dallas. We had already captured one of you and taken her there.”
Chase stepped forward and said, “Who?”
The man sighed loudly and then rolled over and stared at the trio. “Don’t you know; can’t you feel them?”
Sienna glared at him and then shot a small burst of the pain into the prisoner when he yelled loudly, she stopped and said, “We didn’t ask for your commentary, we asked a question.”
Chase looked over his shoulder at Cameron who was smirking and shaking his head. “Yep, just like…”
Sienna turned and glared at them, and both men stopped smiling and then looked everywhere but into her eyes. “Answer!” she snapped, focusing back on the prisoner.
The man glared but said, “Phoenix.”
Chase tilted his head and tried to remember the child. He looked at the others, and Cameron shrugged, and Sienna said, “Firebird.”
“Fuck,” Chase said loudly, and then he pulled out his phone and walked to the kitchen so the prisoner couldn’t hear him as he called Marcus. This was so not good, like at all.
“Open the cage,” Cameron snapped, and Sienna nodded and then lowered the magical bars. Moving quickly, Cameron had the Ulfer up and dragged him out of the cell area to the chair he grabbed from the kitchen.
He slammed the weak man down and then moving faster than Sienna could see, the prisoner was tied up to the chair. Then he leaned down into the prisoner’s face and said, “I am done fucking around with you. I get that you were trained not to give information but, buddy, that isn’t working for me. Now, my mate has shown you what she can do, but you have no clue what Chase and I can do, so let me give you a little taste of that.”
Cameron grabbed one of the shifter’s hands and squeezed. The prisoner screamed loudly as the bones in his hands began to crack as Cam put more pressure on them. He stopped and released then whispered, “Every bone in your body will be broken if I have my way, slowly and painfully. In the end, I will make sure you writhe for hours until we finish you off. I have no problem doing it. Now, tell me what the fuck I want to know, which is, where exactly is the facility at, and how many more are there?”
Chapter Eleven
“I told you we’d find something worthwhile,” the scientist said to Geoff who was pacing his office after learning they had found a shifter with unusually extraordinary DNA. It had been a shock, but Geoff knew this was the key, he knew it.
They had stumbled upon the woman by accident. The idiots hadn’t even known who they stumbled upon. It wasn’t until they got her back to the facility when they discovered instead of having fun with the female they had kidnapped, they had to turn her over to the Prentiss.
“How long will it take to replicate her DNA?” Geoff snapped, and the scientist made a noise that really irritated him. It was one of those, ho hum noises which never conclusively gave an answer.
“It is a slow process, we are taking blood first to see exactly what we are working with, and then we need to—” the scientist said, and Geoff snapped.
“I don’t care if you have to drain her dry, get me results!”
The scientist had made another annoying noise before he said, “Well, I understand your need to have this immediately, but we need to do things right. If we kill her before we have all the information, then it will be a problem farther down the road. Also, we need to see what happens when she mates, because there is a possibility—”
“Okay, you do not understand what I’m saying. I do not care about the nitty gritty details, I want results, and I don’t care how you get them. Just get them for me.”
Geoff hung up the phone and then walked to his desk. Finally, after years of searching, they had found something to work with. Geoff knew that he was missing something before the first wars, it was because of the newly rumored ‘Firebirds.’ How he could have missed that years ago he wasn’t sure, but he did. Now he wasn’t going to make that mistake, this could be the key to everything. He felt like celebrating but knew he couldn’t yet, there were still a few things to answer. Such as where Rebekah was. He needed to find her, without her, this may not work.
The Chosen will not come back, they will not cause him problems because a long time ago, he had put all of this in motion. The years of sacrifice were not going to be in vain. He would rule both humans and shifters. He would be the most powerful man in the world.
Geoff walked to the wall and opened his safe. He pulled out his picture of Braden and smiled. His mate, he would be so proud right now if he had lived. The Chosen were to blame, them and their families. It was disgusting how many people actually worshiped them. Even now, they had tried to ruin their reputation, trying to show people what exactly they were—murderers. The way people fawned all over them was annoying, as well as just plain wrong. They were nothing. Not powerful. Not special. Nothing.
Chapter Twelve
“We need the exact locations of any facility he knows about,” Marcus snapped and then turned and looked around the room. His mate had come to only moments before the phone rang, and to be honest, she wasn’t happy at all.
Chase paused, and Marcus could hear the screaming in the background. “Yeah, Cam’s already on that, but you need to know they have at least Phoenix, which means they could have more. We are going to need to get them out ASAP.”
Marcus ran a hand down his face. “How the fuck much more can we do when we are flying blind? I mean, the Chosen missed mates, we possibly missed a mate, and we have a whole species we totally didn’t know about. Sol was a firebird, Solei was also, which means we have children who were part firebird out there, Phoenix is one of them, and damned if t
hat doesn’t screw us over royally knowing the Prentiss has her. Factor in the whole piece we are completely missing, which may or may not affect us in a major way.”
“I told you I wasn’t exaggerating,” Cass grumbled and folded her arms over her chest. “Shit is going sideways, and we are way behind the power curve here.”
Marcus glared at his mate and shook his head. This shit was seriously getting on his nerves. It was one thing or another, and so far, not one damn thing had gone as planned.
“Okay,” Marcus said slowly into the phone. “For now, we need you three to stay there, I am going to send Hope to bring back Axel, and anyone else who shows up will be brought here slowly. We have too many shifters coming to Drake for sanctuary to leave, but the cave will make a good stopping point. Since Hope is able to transport, this will be the way we deal with things.”
Hope yelled in the background, “You know sometimes it sucks having everyone’s fucking powers. It is never-ending.”
Marcus growled and said, “And Hope will come there without bitching too much.”
“No I won’t,” she yelled, and Marcus growled louder.
“Just have him ready, and any information. We will decide how to proceed once we figure out how many facilities there are.”
Chase replied, “Not a problem, we will begin looking today for the exact location, as well as the other locations. Cameron and I will plan the missions we will need to do in order to solidify the area surrounding all facilities. Plus, Sienna has an interesting talent that will help.”
“Really?” Marcus said slowly. “Do I want to know?”
“Just saying, she puts Simon to shame,” Chase said proudly, and the Alpha grimaced and shook his head.
“Great, we totally need two of them,” Marcus said dryly, and Chase chuckled.
“I will keep you apprised of what we find out.”
Sienna was sitting on the couch trying to think of everything she could remember. There were still blank spots, especially surrounding her childhood. She wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. But one thing she did know, those bastards had taken one of her friends, and she was going to get her back.
Chase and Cameron took over talking to the prisoner since she was too angry. And as she watched them, she realized they were her perfect match. In the short time she knew them as adults, she had felt safe and secure. Also, she had felt desire, and Sienna knew it would grow, all of it. She also remembered them as children, and they had protected her. Granted they had also teased and tormented her because she was a girl, but they had never allowed anyone to hurt her. It was important to her, she realized her mates, they were important to her.
“He’s done,” Chase announced to the man who was weeping in the chair. He had given them everything he knew, which was a lot about the facilities, but not about what they were doing there. The man was a middle man, a hunter, sent to find the children of the Chosen and take them to where the Prentiss wanted them. Which pissed her off even more because according to the prisoner, there were more than one of her friends in their hands, and who the hell knew what had been done to them.
Axel walked into the room and paused, looking at the man who was weeping, to Chase and Cameron, and finally to her. He frowned and walked toward her. “What’s going on?”
Cameron stepped in his path stopping him from getting to the couch. “Nothing for you to worry about. Hope will be coming to take you to the compound in a little while. Grab your belongings, we are going to need the rooms here.”
Axel’s frowned deepened, and he said, “What about you? Are they taking you as well, Sienna?”
“No, I will be…” she started
Chase wanted to growl at the man who dared to speak to his mate with such familiarity. It wasn’t right; he wasn’t a friend. “No, our mate will remain with us, and again it is not your concern.”
Axel frowned and then shrugged before he said, “Not trying to be a pain in the ass, man, it’s just I am concerned with everything that’s going on. This place may be stocked, but it’s a cave.”
Cameron said, “It is the safest place beside Drake, we will be fine.”
“Maybe I should stay and help?” he said slowly, and Chase was already shaking his head.
“No, Marcus wants you back at the compound.”
Sienna stood and snapped, “May I have a conversation with my mates for a moment?”
Axel shrugged and stepped toward the kitchen, and he said, “No worries, I will grab something to eat.”
Chase and Cameron walked toward her, and she glared at them. “We have been mated for less than twelve hours, and I am going to kill you where you stand if you try that again. I realize this is all new to us, all of us, and I also understand your protectiveness. However, I am not a shrinking flower, nor will I ever be, so get that out of your heads right now.”
Chase stared at her and then smiled. “Baby, we would never think that, but remember, we are just newly mated, we don’t want any male around you.”
Sienna rolled her eyes and then she yelled, “Bastard!”
The men turned, Axel had been walking to the kitchen, and somehow the prisoner had gotten a hand loose. He grabbed a knife from the table Cameron had been using to make the man talk. Axel shifted quickly, but the Ulfer was just quick enough to cut the bindings off, swing his arm at the wolf, which caught the majestic animal on his side causing Axel howl but fight him.
The three stood and watched while Axel moved in quickly, biting the Ulfer’s arm. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the one with the knife, but it still served as a distraction.
Chase and Cameron growled, and Sienna snarled, “Axel, finish him!”
The prisoner laughed. “He is too close to me for you to use your power, you could miss and then what, hit one of your own? I don’t think so; you wouldn’t chance it.”
There was a flash, and suddenly a woman and two men were standing there. The prisoner ran for the entrance as they were distracted by the sudden appearance of new people Sienna didn’t know or didn’t recognize. Chase, one of the men, and Cameron ran after him as the woman, and the other man stood staring at the white wolf, and Sierra was watching Hope curiously as she seemed to be almost entranced with the white wolf.
“How?” the woman whispered, and Sienna tilted her head and watched the woman step forward, and the man still present put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. The white wolf turned, and the hair on his back bristled, and then he ran after the prisoner as well.
“Wait”! the woman called.
Sienna stepped forward and asked curiously, “Who are you?”
The woman frowned, and her attention switched to Sienna. “Huh? Oh, sorry, I am Hope, this is one of my mate’s, Mak; the other, Gio, went with Cameron and Chase.”
Sienna paused and closed her eyes. Hope, the Alphas’ daughter, the one who had all their powers. Sienna smiled and said, “Do you still mimic your mom?”
Mak chuckled, and Hope smiled and nodded. “anytime I can.”
Chase and Cameron followed by Gio used their speed to attempt to stop the Ulfer as he looked for an exit from the mountain they were on. “He is an eagle!” Chase yelled, and Cameron moved faster, in case he decided to shift. There was a good chance he couldn’t shift, though, because of Sienna, and they all hoped like hell it was the case.
He headed down the path on the opposite side from where they had come up. Chase and Cameron knew there was a rope bridge he was going to need to cross, and the bridge wasn’t sturdy. It hadn’t been used in years obviously, but it would be a place they could stop him.
Chase saw the turn right before the bridge, and he slowed down. Motioning to Cam and Gio to drop below in case he fell. They didn’t want him dead yet, dammit. He knew where this place was, and even with the magic, they wanted to be free to come and go as they pleased for now.
The Ulfer skidded to a stop right before the bridge, and Chase stopped behind him and said, “Nowhere to go.”
The man turned and shoo
k his head, Chase saw the shimmer of him trying to shift, but it didn’t work, thankfully. The Ulfer glared and said, “I am dead anyway.”
And with that, he jumped. Chase rolled his eyes and walked to the edge and looked down. Gio and Cam were standing and staring at the Ulfer who was stuck on a huge old water wheel that was in the river below. The Ulfer tried to hang on, but the current was moving the wheel pretty fast, and he was taken over and under the wheel. For a second the wheel stopped, and Chase grimaced. Fuck what a way to go. Slowly it moved, seeming to be stuck on a rock, but they knew different. When the wheel finally began to move again, there was blood on one paddle. And with the next turn, it was gone, washed away like the Ulfer.
When he turned, a white wolf was standing there, and he howled loudly, a sign of their small victory.
Chapter Thirteen
“That was a white wolf,” Hope whispered, and Sienna frowned and nodded.
“Yeah, we know, I thought Chase told you when he called. Axel was shifted when he came into the cave,” Sienna said slowly, and Hope shook her head.
“But…” Hope said, and Sienna interrupted.
“Yeah, I know, they are rare. We were shocked as well, but he is part of the Denver Pack.”
Hope shook her head and then tilted it. “No, really Jo and Fredi are the only white wolves we know. We heard of others of course, but we have yet to actually verify the claims.”
Sienna nodded, and she said, “I know.”
Mak said, “Well, shit keeps getting more and more interesting, huh?”
Chase, Cameron, and Gio came in the entrance followed slowly by Axel who looked a little frustrated. “What?” Sienna asked, and Chase grimaced.
“Well, the Ulfer kinda got squished under an old-fashioned water wheel.”
Hope laughed loudly. “I don’t think I have ever heard someone being killed like that. Maybe we should write that down, you know in case someone wants to write a book about us. It would certainly make it more interesting.”