Argus: Accepting the Challenge

  Argus let out a roar that stopped all of the conversations and looked at Jacob who was pale and looked like he was seconds from shifting. He was trying to hold his animal in just the same as Argus was.

  “Where is she?” Argus said quietly.

  “She was in the front office. I can smell a human also and blood, Skye’s blood.” Jacob said and looked at Ari. “Who were the humans in the compound?”

  “Caterers. We have used them for years. Sierra arranged it with your mothers.” Ari said and looked to where the three women were standing looking horrified.

  “Oh my Gods. I am so sorry. They checked out, they always check out.” Sierra whispered and began to sob.

  Seila stepped forward and said. “Information is on the table and the rest of the catering staff is on the patio. Go.”

  Argus and Jacob nodded and walked to the back of the house. Someone would tell them how Bob had gotten in this house, or they would rip apart everyone who stood in their way.

  ***

  Skye groaned and tried to roll over. What the heck was going on? She couldn’t move. She felt her arms over her head, her legs tied together, and she frowned. Don’t panic. What was the last thing she remembered?

  Okay, so she met two guys who were not from a cult but were lion shifters and they had bitten her on the neck and claimed her for their own. They lived in a huge mansion and promised to take care of her for the rest of her life. Wait, was that a dream or real. She frowned trying to focus a little more. Nope, it was real; she was supposed to meet their parents.

  Oh, shit. Bob. She remembered feeling something on her neck and turning and seeing him. How had he found her and gotten into the gated community? Skye tried to open her eyes but she discovered that they were covered by something. She listened intently but she was sure she was alone. That was good. At least she had a chance to get out of here without getting hurt. She just had to think.

  She pulled on her arms and felt the rope bite into her skin. She grimaced but continued to twist and turn them hoping that Bob was not good at tying things up. She had never let him do that to her thank goodness. She felt the rope tearing at her skin but she refused to give up. She needed to get her hands free before he got back.

  Skye heard herself sob a little as she pulled and jerked. She felt the blood slicken the ropes and so she could turn her hands a little more, but it hurt. It hurt so badly. She pushed the pain aside and continued to work. It seemed like it took hours but she finally was able to loosen the rope. It was probably because of all the blood that allowed the first hand and then the other to slide out from the ropes.

  Shit, they hurt; she thought and pulled the scarf that Bob had tied around her head. She blinked at the light. How long had she been here, she thought and sat up. Her wrists looked a little like hamburger, but she ignored them and untied her feet. She needed to move. Later she could take care of her wrists.

  Skye stumbled to the ground when she tried to stand up. She must have been there for a while because her body felt like it had been through the ringer. She pushed herself upright and looked around. It was a small room with one small window in the corner. No way was she fitting through that. It left the door. Skye waked to the door and tried to turn the handle softly. It was locked. Of course, it was locked. Nothing could be easy.

  She tugged a little, trying to be quite, just in case Bob was in the other room. She was sure that he wasn’t, the air was dead around her. She felt alone. The door did not budge, who would have thought in this shit hole, the best thing would be the door.

  Skye looked around for something to break the door knob with; she knew if she broke it, the door would open. At least that was what the asshole had done when she locked him out of their bedroom one time.

  Nothing, he had left nothing in the room. Only the bed and mattress. No table, no chairs. He knew she was going to fight. She heard a lock turn in the other room. She had run out of time.

  Skye bit back a sob and then stepped away from the door. “Skye?” She heard Bob call out in a weird happy tone. “I am home. And I know you are awake. Just give me a few minutes to get ready bitch, and then I am going to show you what happens when you think you can leave me.”

  She looked around wildly and tried to find something she could use to defend herself. There had to be something. Skye dropped to the floor and looked under the bed; surely, he had not gotten his butt down here to look. He was too lazy, but there was nothing there. Shit.

  There was a small door in the corner of the room, like where an old storage area used to be. She scrambled on her hands and knees to the little latch and she pulled. The blood on her hands made it slippery but after several try’s she finally got it open. Skye stopped and listened for a moment. She could hear Bob laughing and talking to himself in the other room. She did not have time to look. She saw the door knob turn and she shut the door quickly; hopefully she would be alive to check it later.

  Chapter 13

  “He has her.” Argus said grimly to Devon when he arrived to the compound.

  “I know. Ari told me. This is Teagan, Levi, and Darien; they are the best Enforcers we have, as well as being part of the New Council. So where are we at with finding her?” Devon asked.

  “No where, she has been gone for ten hours and we are no closer to finding her than we were when she went missing. None of the caterers knew who we were talking about; he must have slipped in with their cars though. One of my Pride mates remembers seeing a strange acting man, but he did not see him later.” Argus said.

  Jacob stepped forward. “We called her old boss and the place she lived and nothing. Ronnie, her boss, said that Bob had been there all day waiting for Sky until he had suddenly gotten up and walked out. We figure he must have seen us leave. He followed us and we led the little fucker right to us. He has no money that we can figure; he borrowed his way across the country. So we are looking at empty houses close to here.”

  Devon nodded and said. “Do you have her scent? Levi is a tracker.”

  Argus nodded and pulled out the shirt she had worn the first day she had come here. It was torn but he didn’t care. Levi took it from his hand and took a deep breath. Argus and Jacob both growled a little. It drove them nuts thinking of another man sniffing her. But it was for her, they needed to remember that. Levi handed the shirt back to him and nodded. “I need a bike.”

  Jacob grinned and said. “Come this way.”

  Argus let the two men leave to go to the garage. They both had Harleys that they took out on nice days. Argus thought about his mate for a second and thought they had never asked her if she liked to ride. He hoped they would get the chance.

  Darien stepped up and said. “Where are your Warriors?”

  “Warren and Cedric are in the security room, looking at maps. They have sent the rest out looking already.” Argus said and pointed to the door at the top of the stairs.

  Darien nodded and walked up the stairs. Teagan smiled and said. “Do you have a doctor?”

  “No, but we have a medical room for when we have to call one in. It’s behind the kitchen, Sierra can show you.” Argus said and pointed to the woman who was hovering in the background.

  Devon put his hand on Argus’s shoulder and said quietly. “We will find her.”

  Argus just nodded and said. “Ari, you are with Devon and me. We’ll take the truck. Warren will call and guide us to the locations as he finds them.”

  The three men went to the door just as two motorcycles drove by. Jacob waved and followed the other man who was on his bike. He hoped that they would be able to find her soon.

  ***

  Skye lay on her side, trying to not cry from the pain that she was feeling. Bob had come in and been in a rage. Thank goodness, he had only beaten her. Although he said later, he was going to break her. Skye laughed a little and grimaced when she spit up blood. The bastard had tied her up again, but only her wrists. And the dumbass had just slipped them on thinking that she was too beaten. Skye pulled her arms out aga
in and slid to the floor.

  She knew she looked like shit. She felt her teeth with her tongue and thought; well at least he did not knock any of them out. She pushed herself up slowly wincing when she felt the soreness in her ribs. Some were broken, she could tell. When she moved she could feel the bones rubbing.

  Determined to be ready for the next round she crawled to the small door. With one of her eyes was already swelling shut, she had to squint. It took her a few times to get the door open because when she raised her arm the pain was unbearable. She scooted until she was able to open the door without having to reach so far.

  This sucked. She thought and peered inside. Oh thank you. A family lived here before and had children. She saw a small bat leaning against the wall. It was the size a peewee would use, and was nerf on the outside, but it was solid on the inside. It would work. She reached in and bit her already bleeding lip to keep her from crying out.

  Once she had it in her hand, she felt better. Even if it hurt, she had a weapon. Bob was not going to kill her. She would fight until her last breath. She had a reason now. Her mates. Yep, that is right, she thought, her mates, somewhere between the kicking in the side and the punching in the face; she had made up her mind. She was going to be the lioness to the Southern Pride and damned if she was not going to act like it.

  Skye pushed herself until she was sitting against a wall. She needed just a few minutes to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and pictured her men. They were lying in the bed smiling at her, naked and covered with a sheet that rode low on their hips. Her raw and cracked lips smiled. They were waving for her to come closer. She laughed because she could see the hunger in their eyes. They wanted her. Skye Thomas a little nobody for most of her life, but now she was not a nobody. She was the mate to two very sexy lions and they were coming for her. She could feel it.

  She took a deep breath concentrated on her fantasy. They would help her make it through. She could almost feel herself walking to them and crawling on the soft bed right in between them. Jacob would pull her on top of him and kiss her soundly before handing her off to Argus. Argus would ravage her mouth. She could almost feel him swiping his tongue in and out of her lips, tasting her.

  She groaned when she felt the pain trying to get through her fantasy and she needed to focus. Bob was sleeping; she could hear him snoring in the other room. After he beat her, she had heard beer tops popping every few minutes, indicating he was celebrating kicking her ass. Then he had passed out. When he woke, he promised to give her more of the same. Her only hope was the fact that he would be hung over. Bob was not a good drunk, or a good day after drunk.

  She thought back to her men. They would caress her and undress her, until she was writhing with pleasure. Argus knew how to play with her breasts the way she liked. He had spent hours learning her body the other night. So had Jacob, but he was more of an ass man. He loved to play with her ass. She was shy at first, but by the end of the night, she was more than happy to let him do what he wanted.

  Things had been so crazy for the last few days. Her life had changed for the better, but still it had been fast. She wondered if other shifters were like this when they found their mates. Would she feel differently when they changed her? Oh how she wished they had changed her before. She would have gone furry on his ass and mauled him. The thought made her smile. She dreamed of him screaming out for mercy, which of course she would not give the little pecker.

  That is probably what pissed him off earlier. But it had made him stop. While he was beating her, she had laughed at him and told him of her lovers. How they were better endowed than he was. Of course, it had enraged him. At least it had frustrated him enough to leave and get drunk.

  She held her breath when she heard him snorting. He was waking up. At least she knew him. First, he snorted and then he would groan and moan, before belching and then rubbing his stomach. She had about an hour before he would be back. And she would be ready.

  Chapter 14

  Levi stopped the bike about a mile from the compound and pulled off his helmet. Jacob pulled up next to him and watched and the wolf lifted his head and took a deep breath. He looked around and then put his helmet back on and turned the corner. They were in a small little subdivision that was run down. The housing market had affected it a lot. Many of the homes were in foreclosure.

  Jacob felt Argus behind him. Warren must have sent him the same way. They wound their way through the curvy streets before Levi stopped again. Jacob waited patiently as the wolf did this three or four times, before finally pulling off to the side.

  He got off his bike and looked around, and then he pointed to a small house that sat back a little ways from the road. Jacob took off his helmet and looked around. Argus, Ari, and Devon got out of the truck and stepped forward staying on the side of the truck so Bob could not see them directly if he was looking out the window.

  “There. That is where his scent stops.” Levi said and they stood looking at the house. “I will go and look; you stay here in case he is watching.”

  They nodded and watched the man slink quietly around the side of the house and disappear. Argus shifted on his feet and waited. His lion was pushing against him demanding that they storm the house. But they did not know what kind of weapons the man had. They could not chance that he would kill her before they reached the front door.

  After what seemed like hours, Levi walked calmly from the side of the house. His face was grim and Argus and Jacob held their breaths while he quickly walked to them. “He just woke up. I could see him stumbling around the living room, I think he is drunk. Skye is in the back room in the corner. I could not see her, but I scented blood, a lot of it. We need to get in there before he decides to go back in.” He said and looked back at the house.

  The men quickly planned their entrance and then split up. Jacob and Argus were going to go in the back. Their lions were pushing too hard to remain in control. They were going for their mate. Devon and the others could handle the man who took her from them.

  By the time they were all in place, they heard Bob calling out to Skye in an attempt to scare her. Argus growled when he heard what the man was saying.

  “Skye, I am coming for you. Are you ready? I am gonna fuck those bastards right out of your mind. When I am done with you, they will never touch you again. You will be used trash like you always have been.” Bob called.

  Jacob grunted and then turned to Argus. He saw his mate’s teeth growing. His lion was pissed. They needed to get her out now. Argus turned his head and listened for the others signal. When he finally heard it, he was ready.

  Argus and Jacob broke down the back door as Devon and Levi went through the front. Ari went through a side window. Bob had just entered a room closest to them when they got in the house. The man looked back at them startled and then narrowed his eyes and glared. “Too late fuckers.” He ground out and then walked into the room.

  Argus roared and ran toward him right when they heard a grunt and the large out of shape man appeared before them again looking stunned. They could smell his blood and paused for a second.

  Devon, Ari, and Levi grabbed the man and slammed him back into the living room. Argus and Jacob ran around the corner, entered the room, and saw their mate standing in a Warriors pose with a small bat raised above her head. She was not focusing because she ran at them screaming ready to use it to protect herself.

  “Skye.” Jacob cried and grabbed the bat as it came close to his head.

  “No.” She cried and tried to pull the bat away. She was weak and beaten but she showed strength and courage. It made them proud to see she had not given up.

  “Baby, it’s us.” Argus crooned and waited for his voice to penetrate her foggy mind. He kept repeating it to her as she struggled with Jacob.

  Finally, she seemed to lose her fight and she slumped against Jacob. “My mates, they will come for me.” She whispered.

  “We are here.” Argus said and took both of his mates in his arms. Jacob was wh
ispering over and over again that they were here also but it did not seem to get through.

  Devon came into the room, looked at the scene, and said quietly. “We have to get her to Teagan. She is in shock.”

  The men nodded and Jacob scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the truck. Neither of them noticed the man lying on the floor dead. They would not have cared anyway. He got what he deserved. Levi and Ari ran in front of them getting the doors open. They laid her on the back bench and Jacob pulled his keys from his pocket and threw them at Ari. The Warrior caught them and ran for his leader’s bike.

  They were on the road in less than a minute. Argus driving while Jacob sat on the floor in the back holding their mate in place as she struggled and fought him, telling him over and over that her mates were coming for her.

  It made him want to weep, the desperate tone in her voice. She was clearly in another place in her mind. She had gone somewhere she could block out the pain of what had happened to her. Even their small clinic may not be enough.