Mating Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel (27 page)

As she and Fletcher walked, she said a silent prayer that Jayce didn’t lose his temper and do something that could ruin this entire operation.

Chapter 18

F
letcher’s body was pressed against the length of Kat’s as he nuzzled her neck. She tried to keep her body pliant, to pretend she was enjoying it, but it was hard.

Judging from how tense the beta was, he wasn’t having a good time either. “Your mate is so going to kill me,” Fletcher murmured.

The statement made her laugh, which slightly eased her body. They were near an SUV behind the bowling alley, just waiting for the cop to arrive.

At the same time she heard footsteps around the side of the building, she scented the cop. “Punch me,” she whispered.

Fletcher pulled back, his entire body taut. “Do you
want
the enforcer to kill me?”

She pressed her forehead to his. “Do it and make sure the cop sees you do it.” Her words were barely above a whisper, too low for human ears. Anyone watching would have thought they were just two lovers embracing one another.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Her heart rate increased. They had only a few precious moments to pull this off.

Smiling seductively at Fletcher, she said, “So when can we get out of here and go back to your place?”

His fist came from the left, slamming into her jaw, but she knew it wasn’t as hard as he could have hit her. With a cry of alarm, she let her arms flail as she fell against the vehicle and then collapsed onto the concrete.

Dirt and wet pavement met her face. Gross.

“I wasn’t sure this would work,” the cop murmured as he came up on them. “You sure she’s out?”

“How can you not know new shifters are so weak?” Fletcher said with an incredulity that even Kat believed. Guy was a damn fine actor. “Slap your cuffs on her.”

Kat resisted the urge to wince as the cop yanked her arms behind her back and put on the handcuffs. For one terrifying moment she was back in that barn, being strung up, helpless, with no escape. The world began to spin as their muted voices hummed around her. She couldn’t think straight—but then she remembered that Jayce was out there, listening, waiting to help. Keeping her eyes closed, she remained a limp deadweight while the cop patted her down, likely searching for weapons. He was quick and professional before hefting her up and dumping her in the back of the SUV.

“Bitch is a lot heavier than she looks,” he said before slamming the door shut.

Kat wanted to growl, but refrained. Hurting this guy would be no problem.

She felt a little bad for Fletcher. He hadn’t wanted to punch her. She’d seen the indecision and agony in his eyes, but thankfully he’d done it. As a shifter she’d learned to channel her pain in a way that she would never have been able to do as a human. It wasn’t as if she’d enjoyed the punch, but after the past couple of months, there wasn’t much that could faze her anymore. Now, she felt only a dull throb as a remnant of the blow Fletcher had inflicted.

Thankfully these bigoted APL members were in the dark about certain shifter practices. That was how she’d come up with this plan in the cop’s basement. She’d figured that the general public knew even less than she herself did about shifters. Hell, even now that she
was
a shifter she was still learning things. Granted, that was mostly her fault for not embracing her pack—and pack life—more, but the fact remained that the world at large didn’t know much about shifters, and they were going to capitalize on that ignorance tonight.

This cop thought that because she was newly turned she was weak and the perfect bait for Jayce. As they hit a bump in the road, she rolled and her head hit the back of the middle seat. She barely refrained from crying out. Not from pain, but shock. She bit the inside of her lip. She needed to watch her natural reactions.

Talk, talk!
she screamed to Fletcher in her mind. They needed to get the cop on tape for the authorities. Sure, she’d heard them talking in the bathroom, but that was thanks to her shifter senses. There was no way the recorder had picked up their conversation.

“When do I get to see my mate?” Fletcher asked, breaking the silence.

“Soon.” The cop.

“Not soon. Now that you have Kat Saburova you don’t need me anymore. The enforcer will do anything you want.”

“That’s the plan,” the cop muttered.

Kat quietly rolled her body so that she was more on her back than her side. She wanted to make sure the recorder picked up the entire conversation. The handcuffs digging into her wrists were an annoyance. Even though she could easily break them, she’d had a moment of panic simply at the feeling of being restrained—until she reminded herself that she wasn’t the same woman she’d been a month ago. Never again would anyone restrain or torture her. She’d been training and could defend herself. And if that failed, she knew the cavalry was out there listening to every word. Jayce would never allow her to get hurt. Or he would die trying to stop her pain. Of that she had no doubt. She was actually surprised that he’d allowed her to become bait tonight—though she had an idea why he’d agreed to the plan.

He wanted her to be in control of her life and instrumental in bringing down the APL. He hadn’t said the words, but she’d sensed that he understood her need for vengeance.

“What exactly are you going to do with her?” Fletcher asked.

“When did you get so fucking chatty?”

She heard the sound of materials rubbing together. Fletcher probably shrugged against the seat. “If you’re going to abuse her, I’m not letting you take her.”

A snide laugh. “You really think you can stop us?”

Fletcher growled low in his throat, a reminder that he was an animal.

The cop swallowed hard. They might be holding the guy’s mate captive, but he was still stronger than this cop. If he wanted to, Fletcher could rip him apart. Of course, he would never find his mate if he did that, but the cop’s primitive side had to recognize that Fletcher was stronger and more dangerous than he himself was.

“Calm down. We’re not going to touch her. Just throw her in a cage and call her boyfriend in. If he does what we say, we’ll let her go,” the cop said.

That was a blatant lie. They would never let her go. A shot of fear surged through her, bitter and fast. What if she’d damaged the recording device when she landed on the ground earlier? What if Jayce couldn’t hear her, didn’t know where she was being taken?

Her breathing became ragged as blood rushed in her ears. What if this had been a giant mistake? What if––

“He won’t be easy to control,” Fletcher said, injecting fear into his voice and completely cutting off Kat’s train of thought.

The fear was a nice touch, Kat thought, and probably not all fake.

“He will when I have a gun with silver-injected bullets pointed at her head.”

A new burst of fear bloomed inside her at the mention of the weapon. She might be fast, able to dodge bullets, but she’d never actually put it to the test. Deep down she worried that she’d crack under pressure, be unable to react and would get herself killed.

“So when do I get to see my mate?” Fletcher asked.

Kat tensed, knowing what was about to happen. She and Fletcher had talked outside the bowling alley/bar before they’d reached the SUV. It wasn’t part of the original plan, but Kat wanted Fletcher reunited with his mate. He’d been a slave for weeks, constantly worrying about his mate. No one deserved that kind of emotional pain. Connor and Jayce had to have heard her conversation with Fletcher, so they would know that she’d made a change. She just hoped all parties—meaning law enforcement—went along with it. Not to mention that this would make Fletcher’s role look more realistic.

The cop had searched her for weapons but not recording devices and she doubted that they would do that. Especially not after what Fletcher was about to do.

“I’m getting sick of your questions,” the cop ground out.

“And I’m sick of you,” Fletcher snarled.

She heard the sound of a fist connecting with skin, followed by curses, and then the vehicle swerved dangerously, slamming Kat up against the side. Finally the vehicle jerked to a stop, the sound of skidding tires grating on her ears. She didn’t make a peep until Fletcher dove over the backseat, yanked her up, and pressed a gun to her temple.

Fear sparked inside her. She might be a shifter now, but she’d been a human a hell of a lot longer. Having a gun to her head sent an icy chill snaking through her.

She opened her eyes and saw the cop staring at the two of them, blood dripping down his nose and from a split lip. “What the fuck are you doing?” he rasped.

“You don’t bring my mate here right now, I kill her and you’ll never get what you want.” As if to prove his intent, he pulled back the slide action to the gun, chambering a round.

Kat swallowed. She might trust Fletcher to an extent, but having a gun pressed against her head was a scary thing.

The cop’s features twisted with anger. “You don’t get to bargain with me!”

“I’m not stupid. I know you never planned to let my mate go. Now you’re going to. It’s a win-win situation. You get this bitch and I get my mate. Make the call and have her brought right here in less than twenty minutes. She gets one escort and that’s it. If she’s not here, I’ll kill you.” Fletcher’s voice was steady as a rock and so damn convincing, Kat didn’t have a doubt that he’d kill the cop if pushed.

And she wouldn’t blame him. She forced a fake tremble. “Please don’t kill me,” she begged.

The cop held up his hands in surrender. “No one’s going to kill you. I’m reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone, okay?” he asked Fletcher, a slight tremor to his voice. The thread of fear rolling off him was real too. The scent was rancid, stinging her nostrils.

“Careful. And don’t forget I can hear every word you’re saying. Try anything and I put a bullet in your brain,” Fletcher said.

The cop, or Derrick Bird—it was so much easier to think of him by his profession than to give this monster a name—did as he was ordered.

Then they waited.

Barely ten minutes later, a vehicle pulled up behind them on the side of the deserted highway, high beams shining into the back of the SUV.

“Call your friend and tell him to kill the lights.”

Derrick did as ordered and the lights immediately shut off.

“Now send my mate out.”

“Not until you let her go,” the cop said, nodding at Kat.

Fletcher snorted. “You’re not running this show anymore. Send my mate out, let her get in the passenger seat, and I’ll let Kat go. There’s no other option for you unless you want to die.” There was a note in Fletcher’s voice that told Kat that sooner or later Derrick Bird was dying. If he didn’t die tonight, it would eventually happen at Fletcher’s hands.

Indecision flared in the cop’s eyes, but finally he stepped out of the SUV and waved his hand at the other vehicle.

“I’m sorry for doing this, Kat. I couldn’t take the risk that they’d kill Heather later. There was no guarantee your pack would have gotten to her in time,” he whispered so low she almost didn’t hear him.

“I don’t blame you,” she murmured. And she didn’t. They’d had no idea where his mate was being held, and it was the only shitty part of the plan. They’d been hoping the APL would give up her location in return for leniency once they had the bastards locked down.

Moments later a petite, scared, very pregnant blond female slid into the front seat. Fear rolled off her, a bitter, enveloping scent as she turned to look at them. “Fletcher?” There was a question in her scared voice.

“Are you okay, Heather?” Fletcher’s voice held a soothing quality reserved only for his mate. Kat was positive of that.

“Me and the baby are fine, but my due date is almost here. I have maybe a couple days,” she whispered.

Those words only confirmed Kat’s decision that it had been right to help Fletcher in this way.

The cop stood by the open driver’s-side door. “Let the woman go.”

Fletcher motioned at the cop with his gun. “Keep your hands up, back away from the door. I’ll let her out as soon as you’re across the street.” When the cop hesitated, Fletcher growled. “I’m not risking a high-speed chase with my pregnant mate. I’ll let her go as soon as you move!”

“I’ll find you,” the cop growled.

Behind her, Kat felt Fletcher tense. All he’d have to do was turn the gun on the cop and kill him. It would be so easy. His tormenter would be dead.

But then they wouldn’t have what they needed. Bringing down one APL member wasn’t newsworthy. Derrick’s death would be brushed off and he’d be labeled as a bad seed in the organization. Sensing Fletcher’s thoughts, Kat squeezed his thigh tightly. The middle seat of the SUV blocked the lower half of their bodies, and since her arms were still restrained the cop wouldn’t be able to see her.

Fletcher relaxed immediately. “You can try, cop. Now move and keep those hands in the air.”

Once the cop started backing away, Fletcher helped Kat over the seat and followed her, opening the side door a fraction. Leaning forward so that her lips grazed his ears, she prayed that no one on the other side of her recording device could hear her as she whispered in the beta’s ears. “Lose this vehicle as soon as you can and disappear.”

Nodding, Fletcher shoved the door open, pushed Kat out and dove for the front seat. Before she’d even hit the pavement, the SUV tore away, tires squealing, dirt and snow flying everywhere.

Playing up her supposed weakness, Kat pretended to try to stand, then stumbled and fell, crying as she did. “I don’t want to die,” she said.

Hands grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up. “You’re not going to die. You’re bait,” the cop said.

Another male, this one with a slightly crooked nose that looked like it had been broken multiple times, joined them as Derrick started leading her to the waiting car. “Why’d you let them go?”

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Besides, if they ever get his DNA in the system,” Derrick said, referring to Fletcher, “they’ll bring him down for the men he killed. Any story he tells will just seem like bullshit. I’m a cop and he’s a killer. No one will believe we forced him into killing those scum.”

Crooked Nose laughed under his breath. “Guess you’re right. Should we put her in the trunk or the backseat?” he asked as if she wasn’t even there.