“Are you crazy?” I shoved myself to a sitting position. “We can’t rescue them soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Just calm down for a minute and think about it, Lindsey. They’re going to take them to the lab. This way, we’ll know its location because they’ll lead us right to it.”
I didn’t like this plan. I didn’t like delaying things. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t see the wisdom in letting the Bio-Chrome scientists lead us right to the lab.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“I think we go back to the lair tonight, see what we can salvage. They trashed the place.”
“Don’t you think they’re still watching it?”
“They left someone behind, but I already took care of him.”
I didn’t want to ask exactly what he’d done. Our very existence was in jeopardy. Any action was justified.
FOURTEEN
To say they’d trashed the place was an understatement. Clothes and food were strewn everywhere. It added insult to injury.
“How did they even know where to find us?” I asked, baffled. No way could Mason have found this place—unless he knew exactly where to look.
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Someone must have told them.”
Rafe spun around and scrutinized me. “You don’t think it was me, do you?”
I held his gaze steadily and told him the truth. “No.”
He seemed to release a breath he’d been holding. “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did. I’m supposed to be on watch, and instead I go for a run—and in walks the enemy.”
I went over to him and touched his cheek. I may have had doubts earlier, but that had been fear taking over all rational thought. “I know you wouldn’t betray us.”
He shook his head, and I could see the shame in his eyes. “I should have taken my job more seriously. This is my fault.”
“No, Rafe, it’s not. Just like Dallas’s death isn’t mine. We’re looking for someone to blame. We can blame Mason and Bio-Chrome.”
He nodded with determination. “You’re right. I made a mistake, but I can fix it.”
I glanced around again. The food had been opened, smashed, stepped on. Even Rafe’s bike was toppled on its side. I thought I must have been watching too many undercover cop shows, because I suddenly had this insane idea: If they’d hired mercenaries to track us down…
“Could there be some kind of locating device on your bike?” I asked.
“What? When would they have put it there?”
I shrugged. “The clerk at the hotel said someone was looking for Dallas. Maybe whoever it was overheard you talking with Dallas about meeting up.”
“I did point my bike out to him. Maybe one of Bio-Chrome’s mercenaries overheard me talking to him and confirmed that I was a Shifter. Damn it.” He rushed over to the bike, knelt down, and began probing every nook and cranny. Cursing, he held up a small disk. “This doesn’t belong.”
He dropped it on the ground and lifted his foot.
“No, wait!”
He lowered his foot. “What are you thinking?”
“If they left someone here, then they must not think they’ve gotten everyone. Any chance you could attach that to a rabbit or something?”
“Send them on a wild goose chase. I like your thinking.” Grinning, he winked at me. “But then, I like everything about you.”
I felt the heat flush my face. I liked everything about him, too.
With his brow furrowed and his jaw tensed, he looked around. I knew what he was thinking.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
He nodded. “I’ll be quick.”
After he disappeared outside, I sat on an overturned crate and felt the tears sting my eyes at the sight of the destruction. It seemed like an omen for what might happen to all of us Shifters. Bio-Chrome, Mason, his father—they were working to destroy all that we’d built.
And it looked as though they were going to succeed.
Without Rafe there, the cavern that had once served as our refuge seemed incredibly ominous. Every time I heard a noise coming from outside, I froze, barely breathing, poised to fight whoever came for me. The minutes ticked by as slowly as hours.
Absently, I cleaned up the mess, keeping my senses alert to anyone who might be approaching. Sometimes the anger took hold and I threw clothes, blankets, and canned foods into the containers as though they were the enemy. Then a deep sadness would well up inside me and I’d take great care to fold the blankets so they wouldn’t wrinkle, to line up the remaining cans so the labels were clearly visible to whichever Shifter might make use of this lair after us.
Then I realized that we’d probably have to abandon this site. It was no longer our sanctuary.
I tried really hard not to think about my friends. The pain I felt for them was excruciating. I hurt for Lucas because he was our leader, always looking out for our best interests. For Kayla because she’d only just come into our world, and this was a hell of a welcome. And for Connor because I couldn’t imagine him not being in my life.
It didn’t help when I picked up a can of Red Bull—Connor’s favorite energy drink. Trailing my fingers over it, and thinking that Connor could have it after we rescued them, I decided to put it in my backpack.
When I twisted around to look for it, my gaze fell on a shadow just inside the doorway. I released a small shriek before I realized who it was. Relief swamped me.
“Oh my God, Rafe you made me jump out of my skin,” I scolded lightly as I hurried over to him and wound my arms around his neck. “I was so worried. It was taking you so long.”
He hugged me to him and held me close. “Sorry, Lindsey. I saw them and decided to follow along for a while, to make sure they’re okay. Connor and Lucas are both a little bruised. I figure they put up a fight. And they look mad. Mason is liable to discover that he doesn’t like them when they’re mad.”
I released a small laugh at the image of Connor and Lucas nipping at Mason’s heels as they marched, biding their time until they can make him pay. It felt good to smile.
“Also, I had to be a little more careful, catching a rabbit I didn’t intend to eat. Took longer than I expected.”
I felt like I never wanted him to let me go, but I realized we weren’t in a situation where any sort of romance would be appropriate. Our friends were out there, frightened or at the very least wondering if rescue would ever come. If I hadn’t gone to talk with Rafe, I’d be with them. It was wrong to feel any sense of happiness, and yet at the same time, I didn’t want Bio-Chrome dictating my emotions.
I worked my way out of Rafe’s embrace and swept my arm in an arc, indicating the cavern. “I was trying to straighten things up, but I guess it’s pointless.”
Rafe skimmed his thumb along my cheek, his light touch still enough to cause some discomfort from the swelling. I’d avoided looking for a mirror, not wanting to know how badly my eye had blackened from the fight last night. It was hard to believe that only a day had passed.
“Not pointless,” Rafe said. “We’ll have to pack it up eventually when we decide to move everything to another lair.” He gave me an understanding smile. “Besides, we’ll need to rest tonight before we start out after them.”
We began working together to put things into containers and stack them against the wall.
I peered over at Rafe. He was focused on his task of stacking food items into a container. His dark hair framed his handsome face, and I could see determination written in every line of his features. Connor and Lucas weren’t the only ones who were angry. Rafe usually kept all his emotions bottled up, as though he was afraid that if he let them out, he wouldn’t be able to stuff them back inside. He’d released them briefly last night when he’d fought with Connor, and then he’d taken control of himself again.
But since the summer solstice he’d revealed so much to me: some of his vulnerabilities, some of his ambitions, some of the wildness that made him uniquely Rafe. If I had to make my
choice at that exact moment, I wasn’t entirely certain that I wouldn’t choose him.
By the time we had things tolerably straightened, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. We each grabbed some protein bars and a couple of plastic bottles of juice and went outside. We climbed a short rise that gave us a spectacular view of the forest bathed in the light of a quarter moon.
“A little over a week to go,” I said quietly, referring to how little time was left before the next full moon. “Do you think we’ll have them back by then?”
Rafe wrapped his hand around mine where it rested in my lap. The gesture carried no sexual overtones; it was simply for reassurance. “I’m sure of it.”
But even while we were trying to save our friends, I had some soul searching and decision making to take care of.
Any other time, what we were doing tonight, watching the stars together, would have seemed romantic. Instead we were simply waiting out the passage of time.
“Rafe?”
“Hmm?”
I took a deep breath. “Until we free the others, whatever you feel for me, want from me, whatever I’ve started to feel for you…we need to put it on hold. Our focus has to be on getting Kayla, Lucas, and Connor away from Bio-Chrome.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
He started to pull his hand away and I closed mine more firmly around it. “But we can still offer comfort, strength. We can be there for each other.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to sleep alone.” After what I’d seen happen that morning, I wasn’t certain that I ever wanted to be alone again.
“You won’t have to,” he said quietly.
Just then, I saw a star shooting across the sky. I could think of so many things to wish for, but I chose the one that meant the most to me.
I wish…I hope we all come out of this alive.
Within the circle of Rafe’s arms, I was able to sleep. When I opened my eyes, however, we weren’t alone. Mason stood over us, larger than I remembered him. He was holding a silver gun, pointing it at me, and somehow I knew it contained silver bullets—one of the weapons to which we are vulnerable.
“I can’t let you rescue them,” he said in a soft, menacing voice.
He quickly shifted the gun over to Rafe and fired.
I screamed.
Arms came around me.
“Lindsey, wake up! You’re dreaming. It’s just a dream.”
I opened my eyes for real this time. Rafe was holding me. Trembling, I collapsed against him. “Oh, God, it was horrible. Mason killed you.”
“Bastard,” he muttered through a slight grin.
I tightened my arms around him. “It’s not funny.”
“It was just a dream. I’m fine.”
But still…the dream had seemed so real.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Time for us to get going.”
I nodded, but neither of us made an effort to get up. I wished so much that things were different, but wishing wasn’t going to make it happen. I took a few more minutes to draw strength from Rafe’s embrace. Then I began to prepare for whatever the day would bring.
While I gathered food for us, Rafe grabbed some hidden cans of gasoline and refueled his bike before rolling it outside. When I had stuffed as many supplies into my backpack as possible, I went out to meet him.
He was sitting on his bike, staring into the woods.
“We’re going to ride?” I asked.
“No, too much noise. They’d hear us coming. But I want to teach you a few things in case you need to drive.” He swung his leg back and got off the bike. Patting the seat, he said, “Sit here.”
“You’re not thinking I can drive that.”
He sighed. “I think you need to know the basics just in case something happens to me and you need to get the hell out of Dodge.”
My stomach tightened into a knot of fear. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“I’m not planning on it, and both Connor and Lucas know how to drive it, but still…” He arched a dark brow and slapped his hand on the seat again.
Taking a deep breath, I set the backpack down. I straddled the seat, leaned forward, and grabbed the handles. Rafe got on behind me, his arms brushing up against my sides as he placed his larger hands over mine.
My breath hitched inappropriately with his nearness. At any other time, I thought I would have enjoyed the lesson, would have found his instruction incredibly sexy. But right now we were fighting for our lives and the lives of our friends.
“Okay, here’s what you need to know,” he said and his breath wafted along the side of my neck, causing a shiver of pleasure to cascade through me.
I tried to focus on his words and not on how wonderful it felt to have him so close to me. He explained the hand levers, the clutch, the brakes, the throttle, how to shift and brake using the foot controls. The concepts were easy, but the way everything had to be timed…
“I’ll probably kill myself. Maybe I should just run,” I said when he told me to take him back through the motions of starting the bike.
He chuckled low, a sound I was worried I’d never hear again. It warmed me, gave me hope that we would survive this.
I went through several mock sessions without actually turning on the bike. Rafe guided my hands and feet, giving me a sense of how to work the mechanics.
“Wish we could do a test run,” Rafe said. “But I’m afraid they’ll hear us.”
“I think I’ve got it,” I assured him.
He nodded. “Now, let’s just hope you won’t need the lesson after all.”
We set off then, and because we knew the terrain well and were in great shape, both naturally and from all the hiking we do—unlike Mason’s group, many of whom probably spent all their time sitting on stools, looking through microscopes—we were able to easily catch up with the group—even though Rafe was pushing the motorbike just in case, unable to shift, I needed to make a hasty escape. I also suspected that Kayla, Lucas, and Connor had done everything they could to slow the group down.
Rafe and I worked to stay upwind of them so their dogs wouldn’t pick up our scent. While the group walked in a valley, we took the high ground instead, using rocks, boulders, trees, and brush to serve as cover as we kept them in our sights. When they stopped for lunch, so did we. Compared to the mercenaries, Mason appeared to be a hundred-pound weakling. I also noticed two of the lab techs—Ethan and Tyler—whom we’d met earlier in the summer.
“And to think I drank beer with that guy,” Rafe said, pointing toward Ethan.
“They had us all fooled.”
“Nah, I don’t think Lucas ever trusted them—not completely.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t try to rescue them tonight? Before they’re someplace where we can’t get to them easily?”
“Once darkness comes, I’ll shift and prowl around. Maybe I can get close enough to Lucas to discuss tactics. I don’t have any clear plans, and this is such a mess. I should have left you back at the lair.”
“I wouldn’t have stayed.”
He gave me a wry grin. “Yeah, that’s true.”
He looked back toward Mason’s group. They were on the move again.
And so were we.
We waited until nearly midnight to approach the camp, Rafe in wolf form and me—well, I was in the only form I could be at the moment. If we were spotted, Rafe would at least have the chance to get away. I probably wouldn’t be as lucky. I knew Connor would be royally pissed if I was captured, but I wasn’t going to hang back in the shadows as though I were useless.
More of the moon was visible tonight, and we were able to use its light to guide our way. Because my hair is such a pale shade of blond, I’d clipped it back and covered it with a dark bandanna so it wouldn’t be visible. I’d even pulled a commando, smearing mud on my face so I would blend in better with the night and the forest. In truth, not yet being a full-fledged Shifter gave me an advantage: Because our
fur tended to resemble the shade of our hair, I would be much harder to hide as a white wolf.
When we arrived at the edge of the camp, I felt an ache in my chest at the sight of my friends, sitting with their backs to a tree and their hands and feet bound. I thought if I could just get close enough, I could cut their bonds with the hunting knife I’d brought.
Rafe emitted a low, warning growl: Don’t even think about it. I’d promised not to deviate from our plan, which was simply to observe.
I watched as Mason strolled toward our friends. He was good-looking, true, but in a Hollywood bad guy kind of way. Why hadn’t I seen it before?
Mason knelt in front of Kayla and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. It also gave her a direct shot for spitting on him, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had taken advantage of it.
“Look, I know Lucas is a werewolf,” Mason said. “The wolf we caught had the same shade of fur as his hair—the exact same eyes. Human eyes. I know you broke him out of the cage.”
“Do you realize how mental that sounds, Mason? That you believe people can really transform into animals? I admit to letting the wolf go, because they’re a protected species in this park and you were abusing him. You didn’t feed him or give him any water. You were killing him.”
“We were weakening him so he’d be forced to shift. What about Connor? Is he one, too?”
“Mason, you’re psychotic.”
The crack of Mason’s palm hitting her check echoed around us and was quickly followed by Lucas’s low growl.
“Sure sounds like a wolf to me,” Mason said.
I dug my fingers into my palms to remain focused, so I wouldn’t do anything foolish. I wanted to yell at him to leave them alone, to let them go. I felt the animal inside of me tensing up, preparing to pounce. I was so angry that I thought I could take Mason down with nothing more than my human fists, fingernails, and teeth.
“How did you even know where to find us?” Kayla asked.
“Dallas. Misguided fool. He quit! No one quits Bio-Chrome. Our research is too important, and so is its secrecy. Took us a while to track him down in Tarrant. I figured there was only one reason he went there—to warn the werewolves. We’d been keeping a watch on the hotel, waiting for Dallas to return for his stuff. We were nearby listening when he arrived with that Rafe guy. We knew Lucas is a werewolf, so I assumed the other guys from our little hiking expedition are, too. The two of them talked about heading out on the motorcycle the next morning, so we put a tracking device on it. We figured Dallas was going to lead Rafe to the lab—it was our chance to catch one of the werewolves alone, and to stop Dallas’s attempt at divulging the lab’s location.”