"We know enough,” Chuck started. “And five hundred thousand is what we’re willing to pay.”
"Timber Bear Ranch isn’t for sale to the likes of you. I would appreciate if you get off my property. If there is a legitimate debt, sue me.”
"Have it your way," said Brandon. "The offer goes down by hundred thousand dollars a day. I would get on it soon if I were you."
"Not a chance," Leland said to their backs as they walked down the stairs and climbed back on their motorcycles.
His brothers and Sylvia came out onto the porch as the Updike brothers drove away on their bikes. Leland shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What were the Updikes doing here?" Jessie asked.
"Trying to offer to buy the ranch for exactly the value of our bill," Leland said.
"Do you think it's a coincidence?" Buck asked.
"I've learned not to think of anything as a coincidence," Leland said, looking down at Sylvia.
"Should we be worried?" Sylvia asked.
"Don't worry about them. They are just harmless jerks who are trying to take advantage of a bad situation."
19
After spending all day working with the brothers deciding what to sell, researching prices, and collecting information, Sylvia was tired and hungry.
She left Leland and his brothers in the parlor to continue discussing their options over cold bottles of Fate Mountain Lager. She went into the kitchen to check the cabinets and refrigerator but came back empty-handed. Leland had bought a few things at the grocery store a few days ago, but most of it was already gone. He'd been up on the mountain visiting Cyrus until this morning.
"I'm going to the grocery store to get some things would any of you like me to pick something up for you?" she asked the brothers in the parlor.
"That would be awesome," Jessie said.
The brothers told her what they wanted from the store and she took down a list. As she stood, everyone handed her cash from their pockets and she thankfully accepted what they had to offer.
She shoved the cash in her purse and made her way to the door. On the way into town, her mind was awash with feelings. She and Leland had barely had a moment to consider what they would do after everything was sold with the baby on the way. But she tried not to think about it.
She had to trust that he would always take care of her. And she did. She continued down the road, thinking of what it would be like to be a mother, and what her baby would look like. Would he have Leland's eyes? Would he have her chin? Baby names flitted through her mind and she smiled.
Sylvia still hadn't told her mother about Leland, let alone the baby. She glanced down at the antique ring on her finger. Soon she would have to face her mom and let her know her daughter had finally found a good man.
Part of her wanted to keep it to herself after everything her mom had put her through. But she knew that making peace with her mother would be important for her children in the long run. She really did love her mom. She knew that she’d just been trying to help her, at the end of the day. Even if her help seemed like interference most of the time.
Sylvia made it into town and parked in front of Fate Mountain grocery. She went inside, grabbed a cart, and started picking up the things on her list. The boys all had varying tastes, from roast beef to tofu. She found everything they wanted and everything she had wanted too, and made her way to the checkout.
After putting everything on the checkout counter, she waited for the total. The bagger quickly put her things in her cart and she declined help getting her groceries into the car. Outside, she opened her trunk and placed her bags inside. When she slammed her car trunk door closed, she jumped back with a start, seeing an unfamiliar face standing across from her.
"Can I help you?" she asked the man.
He had shaggy brown hair, a sharp nose, and eyes that glowed with the light of a shifter. He was letting his animal come through, and she could feel the threat rolling off him.
"Tell the Kincaid brothers to sell."
"What are you talking about?" she demanded.
The sunlight had faded behind the mountain and the only light was the streetlamp at the other end of the parking lot.
Another man walked up behind her and grabbed her arm. His fingers bit into her bicep as he squeezed.
"Let go of me," she demanded, trying to yank her arm away from her assailant.
She was too far away from the entrance to the grocery store for anyone to see her in the dark.
"Tell them to sell," the first one said.
She couldn't see the other man's face, but she could feel his hot breath blowing down over her head and his cruel fingers biting into her skin.
"This has nothing to do with me," she said.
"This is pointless," one man said to the other. "You're coming with us."
They dragged her away from her car, her keys dropping on the ground. They shoved her into the middle seat of an old pickup truck and one of them covered her mouth with his hands, keep her from crying out to for help. The other one got behind the steering wheel and started the engine. Sylvia kicked and punched, trying to escape.
The driver peeled out of the parking lot and raced down the highway, running a red light on the way. They were headed up the mountain, past Timber Bear Ranch. For miles and miles they drove, the man's cruel arms around her until she finally went still and started crying.
"Just let her go," the driver said to the man holding her. "Maybe she'll stop crying."
"Where are you taking me?" she demanded when the cruel man let go of her mouth.
"Wherever we want, it looks like," said the driver.
"What do you want from me and the Kincaids?"
"You had a chance to meet our demands. But you lost that chance. And now you're gonna pay for it."
"Why do you want the Kincaids’ ranch so much?"
"We don't want anything from the Kincaids. We just do what we’re told."
"You work for someone who wants the Kincaids’ ranch?" Sylvia prodded.
"What is this? Twenty questions?"
"Shut her up," the driver said.
"The first man pulled a dirty handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her mouth. He used a piece of baling twine to tie her hands behind her back. No matter how hard she fought against him, it was impossible to fight him off.
She was left bound and defenseless, not even able to ask questions. It had been so easy for them to take her, they didn't even have a gun. She hung her head in shame, feeling so stupid for letting herself get plucked up like this.
She had no idea the threat had been so great. What would Leland think when she didn't come back home? Would he ever be able to find her? Did these men want her dead? They turned down a dark, bumpy road and continued up a steep grade for many miles.
When they finally stopped and pulled her out of the truck, she found herself in front of a dingy old single wide trailer with boarded up windows. The steps up to the front door were rickety and the dim front room smelled of mold. The dingy green carpet was stiff under her feet as she stumbled across the room to collapsed on a dusty old couch against the wall.
She was too terrified and overcome with emotion to even cry any more. She thought about the baby growing inside her and what this would do to her sweet child. These horrible men had to be stopped. No matter what. But there was nothing she could do. Her only choice was to try to wait for Leland to come rescue her.
The men sat down on either side of her and one of them clicked on an old box TV that somehow had reception.
Every so often static filled the screen and the audio buzzed out. It was irritating to watch and made the situation even more upsetting. The men continued to drink beers for several hours while she sat there in silence, watching the horrible television.
Finally, one of them picked her up by the bicep and led her into a bedroom where he sat her down on the bed. He stared down at her in the dim light of the room, with the TV flickering from through the
door. Fear gripped her throat. The look in his eyes was a mixture of hatred and lust, and she took a sharp breath through her nose.
"Leave her alone," said the man who had driven the truck.
The man above her grunted and told her to go to sleep before closing the door and leaving the room. Sylvia climbed into the bed as best she could in her immobilized condition, and rested her head on the musty pillow. Tears ran from her eyes as they dropped onto the dingy pillowcase.
She slowly drifted to sleep to the sound of the broken television and prayed with all of her heart that Leland would somehow save her.
Chapter 19
After two hours without Sylvia returning home, Leland became extremely anxious. He dialed her cell phone and didn't get a response. He waited two minutes and called her again to the same ends.
Turning frantic, he called her a dozen more times before hurrying out to his truck and driving into town. When he got to the grocery store, he found her car in the parking lot and her keys discarded on the pavement below her tire.
He smelled the faint scent of hyenas in the air, and gritted his teeth. The scent wasn't the same as the Updike brothers who had threatened him earlier, but it had the distinct sharp scent of hyena. He could smell Sylvia's fear, hot in the air, even after two hours. He grabbed her keys and shoved them in his pocket, dialing his brother to let him know what had happened. Buck answered on the second ring.
"Did you find her?" Buck asked immediately.
"Her car is in the parking lot and her keys were on the pavement. I smell hyenas."
"Is it those bastard Updikes?"
"I don't believe it is. But it's definitely hyenas.”
"They're everywhere nowadays. Me and Jessie will be right there to help you find her.”
Leland got off the phone with Buck and then went into the grocery store to ask the checkout girl if she had seen Sylvia.
“I just got on shift a few minutes ago," she said. "I haven't seen anyone by that description.”
Leland left the grocery store and continued out into the parking lot just as Buck and Jessie arrived.
“Let’s show these Updikes what happens when you mess with a Kincaid brother’s mate,” Buck growled.
Buck grabbed his shotgun from the rack of his pickup truck and sat in the passenger seat of Leland's crew cab. Jessie got in the backseat with a pistol he had strapped under his arm. Buck looked at Leland and glanced down at his shotgun. As Leland pulled out onto the highway, he opened his glove compartment, revealing the pistol he kept inside. Buck nodded and they continued up the mountain toward the Updike estate.
The Updikes had lived on Fate Mountain for as long as the Kincaids had. Unlike the Kincaid family who had worked their land, the Updikes seemed to work everyone else on Fate Mountain. After Fate Mountain Lodge had fallen into disrepair, and they'd sold it to Levi Blackthorn, the family seemed to go into decline.
But that had all changed recently after the Updikes’ father had gone to jail for a murder he’d committed years before. When Leland pulled into the front driveway of the Updike’s mansion, he was amazed at how many other trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles were parked outside. He looked at his brothers questioningly.
"It looks like the Updikes have company," Jessie said.
"Do we confront them now?" Leland asked. "Packing heat?"
"How many hyenas do you think you can take in grizzly form?" Leland asked his brothers.
"Eight," Jessie said.
"Ten," Buck said.
"Then I can take ten too," Jessie said.
"I'm bigger than you," Buck objected, looking over his shoulder into the backseat at his younger brother.
"But I'm faster than you," Jessie countered.
"Let's split the difference at nine,” Leland said. “I'll say I can take nine as well. That makes twenty-seven hyenas altogether. Do you think there are more than twenty-seven hyenas in that mansion right now?" Leland asked.
"Possibly," Jessie said from the backseat.
"Let's just do this. No more talking," Buck said, pulling open his door handle.
He slid out of the truck before Leland could object. He followed his brother, realizing in that moment that Buck was a strong second-in-command for the family. They walked together up to the front doors of the mansion, and Buck lifted his fist to pound on the front door.
They were greeted by a female servant, dressed in a traditional French maid's uniform. For a moment, Leland thought that she was the entertainment until she behaved like a servant and showed them inside.
"The Updikes will be right with you, gentlemen," she said in a hollow voice before moving away from the Kincaid brothers.
Leland could tell the woman was a shifter. Something in the small canine family. Maybe a fox. She didn't smell like a hyena, but he had a feeling that the pack was keeping her against her will. That made Leland furious. He gritted his teeth as his grizzly growled. He refused to lose control of himself even in this chaos.
The Updike brothers hurried down the stairs, dressed in trendy athletic wear with gold chains and baseball caps tilted to the side. Leland could barely stand what he was looking at, and wanted to shoot them right then and there.
"This isn't the Jersey shore," Jessie said with a growl, crossing his tattooed arms over his taut muscled chest as he caressed the pistol under his arm.
"The same for you. Hick boy," said Chuck.
"What the fuck do you want?" Brandon spit out, staring directly at Leland.
"Where is she?" Leland said, cocking his chin and caressing his pistol with his thumb, meaningfully.
"You didn't have to bring your guns if you wanted women, gentlemen," Chuck said with a cruel laugh.
Leland scoffed.
"Sylvia Becker, my mate. Where is she?" Leland said, staring Chuck in the eyes.
"You found yourself a mate? Now all the fun is over for you," Brandon laughed bitterly.
"My mate is everything to me. And I know you have something to do with her disappearance.”
"If your woman went missing, maybe it’s because you aren't a very good lover," Chuck said.
Leland growled and started to charge toward the hyena, his teeth bared and his grizzly clawing to come out. Buck lifted his fist and stopped Leland as his arm connected with his chest. The blow from his brother brought him back to his senses. Getting into a physical altercation wouldn’t help anything. He couldn't smell her scent. Even if they did know something, she obviously wasn't here.
"You're right, Updike," Leland said. “We should get the police involved with this."
"Go ahead. But the police no longer have any power on Fate Mountain," Brandon said.
"You think the Bear Patrol no longer has power on Fate Mountain?” Buck said with a sharp laugh.
"Not like it used to. But I'll let you idiots believe it does."
"Well, thanks for your help,” Leland said, backing towards the door. “Why don't we get lunch sometime, and catch up on old times?" He twisted the doorknob as his brothers followed him.
The Updike brothers grinned as their hyenas shined through their eyes.
"Sure, if you pay," Brandon said.
The Kincaids covered each other as they walked out and made their way back to the truck. Once they were in the safety of the cab, Leland hurried down the drive and back onto the highway. He hadn't smelled Sylvia’s scent anywhere on the property. Going there was a dead end.
“They would have known we’d go there first. I bet someone else took her,” Leland said.
“I’m calling Rollo,” Buck said, dialing his cell phone.
Leland could hear Rollo's angry voice over the speakerphone and his fist slamming into his desk.
"If only it were just the humans we had to worry about anymore," Rollo growled.
"Are the shifters so much worse?" Buck asked.
"These hyena shifters are running us ragged. We can't keep up with the petty theft, the crime, the muggings. Fate Mountain is not the safe place it used to be."
 
; "Have you brought in more support?" Buck asked.
"We have. But the law isn't as popular as it used to be with shifters. A lot of men are wounded from the war. They’re turning to crime instead of order.”
"In some ways, you can't really blame them," Jessie pondered.
"Oh, I can blame them, all right," Rollo said. "We'll do everything we can to find your mate, Leland. You can count on that."
"Thank you, Commander Morris," Leland said before Buck hung up the phone.
"I guess being out on the range sheltered me from things I should have known about,” Leland concluded.
"The hyena problem is not isolated to Fate Mountain," Buck said. "But it is affecting Fate Mountain more than most other places."
"It's probably because there's so many shifters here already.”
"You may be right," Leland said. “But none of that makes any difference. We have to get Sylvia back.”
"We should go home and gear up to go back out tomorrow at daylight," Buck said. "Try to get some sleep."
Leland nodded in agreement. His younger brother was right again. He was getting too emotional because his mate was in danger. He needed his brothers to help get her back to safety.
He made his way home, his anger building by the moment. He doubted he could sleep a wink with her gone like this. He wanted to call down the entire shifter army to search the entire area all night long, but he knew that it wasn't possible. Buck was right, they had to wait till daylight.
When they made it home, everyone went off to their own rooms to prepare for the next day and to try to get some rest. Leland tossed and turned most of the night, unable to settle the enraged grizzly inside him.
Finally, he got out of bed and ripped off all his clothes as he made his way out into the cool night air. Under a waning moon, he roared up into the sky, his thick breath puffing out in front of him. He shifted with a strangled roar and fell on his four massive paws. The grizzly was angry and in need of blood. He sniffed the air, picking up the scent of the cattle grazing in the north pasture.
Breaking into the pasture and hunting the cattle would be like shooting fish in a barrel for his grizzly. The animal started to move up the driveway toward the sleeping cattle. Leland's human mind screamed inside him, trying to regain control of his inner beast.