Fighting For Their Mate (2 page)

Tatum hissed, and Bailey’s heart broke. “That’s terrible.” Bailey turned to her sister. “We need to get out of the forest, at least until they capture this wolf.” Once they were safe and sound, she might suggest they head to the east coast and get a hotel on the beach.

“I’m glad you’re willing to see reason,” Tom said. “Brad and I have been hunting this fucker since the attack. We’ll get him though. We’ve got a car about a mile from here. How about we give you a ride to a local hotel? Once we capture the wolf, we’ll blast it all over the local news, and you can resume your hike.”

He’d just said they were on the look out for wolves—plural. And hadn’t he mentioned they were rabid? She was so out of there. Having a hot shower after four days of hiking sounded divine. Add in the chance to sleep in a real bed, and Bailey’s energy suddenly increased.

When they finally made it to the parking lot, Tatum placed a hand on Bailey’s arm. “Take a picture of me with Tom and Brad.”

Really? How could her sister even think about a man after their ordeal? Oh, yeah. That was Tatum—the free spirit of the family. Every time Tatum went off on some wild adventure, Bailey could practically see the wheels spinning in her father’s brain. He was a senator, and each time Tatum did something crazy, his chance of reaching the White House dimmed.

“Fine.” Bailey lifted her camera from her backpack.

With their faces to the setting sun, she adjusted the light meter. Through the lens, she had to admit the three of them looked good. She snapped two pictures, opened the aperture, and took two more to be sure. “All set.”

“Great. Climb in, ladies,” Tom said.

As soon as Bailey’s butt hit that cushy back seat, she was almost thankful for that wolf.

*     *     *

Bailey collapsed onto the divinely comfortable bed. After a very long hot shower and then a meal at Longhorn Steakhouse, which blissfully was next to the hotel, she was in heaven. She’d bandaged her heels and had finally calmed down from the near attack.

Before she fell asleep, she pulled out her iPad from her pack and uploaded her photos to Dropbox. She never took chances with her flash drive. A few months back, she’d lost a whole day of shooting when the file became corrupted.

“Get any good shots?” Tatum asked.

“Some. I’m thinking I might be able to sell a few of these, especially the one of the wild-eyed wolf. Man, was he a mean mother.”

“He sure was. How about turning on the news to see if those men found that menace?” Tatum asked.

Part of Bailey wished the hunter failed. Ever since she finished college last year, she’d grown soft. Now more than ever, she realized she liked luxury. Tatum, on the other hand, could live in the wild without phones or the Internet for months. If their parents hadn’t been upfront about Bailey being adopted, she would have known she and Tatum weren’t related. She loved Tatum more than anything, but where Bailey did nothing to upset the apple cart, Tatum willingly pushed it over.

Since Bailey had the remote next to her, she clicked on the television, and then had to surf to find the local news station. After watching for half an hour and hearing no news of the wolf or the attack on that poor girl, Bailey clicked off the set.

“So how do you want to play this?” she asked Tatum.

Her sister’s mouth dropped open. “You aren’t bailing on me, are you?”

“I’d never do that. This is our time together, and I want to make the most of it.” Her body would ache and her feet would hurt, but she’d hike with a smile on her face if it killed her. This might be the last time the two of them could spend quality time together, as Tatum would be starting her job in Pittsburgh next month. Other than maybe at Christmas, there was no telling when they could arrange vacation time.

As if Tatum had been holding her breath, her chest caved. “Great. How about we wait a few days and see if they catch the wolf? If they don’t, then we can call it quits, I guess.”

The disappointment in Tatum’s eyes tore her up inside. Bailey snapped her fingers. “How about we call a cab, have him drive us twenty miles farther up the trail, and hike in from there?”

The shine in her sister’s eyes brightened. “That’s pure genius.” Tatum jumped off her bed, came over to Bailey’s, and gave her a hug. “You’re the best big sister a girl could hope for.”

“I try.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Tatum glanced at her. “Who could that be at ten at night?”

Instinctively, Bailey pulled the blanket up to her chest. A shot of fear encircled her heart. “Look through the peephole first.”

Tatum trotted over and checked. “It’s just Tom and Brad.” She unlatched the lock without asking if it was okay.

“Hey, guys. You catch the wolf?” Tatum grinned.

As soon as the men entered, Bailey sensed something was off. They said nothing. Instead, Tom strode toward Tatum, and Brad marched toward her. He raised his arm from behind his back and jammed a needle in her upper arm.

What the hell? It stung and burned. Bailey tried to scream, to thrash, to hurt the man, but nothing worked—not her mouth, not her arms, not her legs. Her head lolled to the side, and then her vision went black.

F
ord Summerville motioned for his brother to join him.

“You see something?” Ty asked, looking around the forested backdrop of the lab where they worked.

“Maybe.”

Ford and his twin were assigned to check the exterior of the secret lab in Falling Pines, Ontario, Canada. The two of them had been sent to the facility two weeks ago to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the building’s entry and exit points. Their goal was to judge if a full-scale attack was even possible. So far, the answer was no, but they’d keep looking for ways to breach security.

Ty rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Christ. I thought North Carolina was cold, but Canada is fucking icy.”

“Wuss. It’s almost April, for God’s sake.” He nodded at two men getting out of a Dodge truck wearing nothing more than flannel shirts. “We should check them out.”

Ty watched for a moment. “Locals, I bet.”

Ford hoped so. Their job was to stop anyone from snooping. Hoffman Furniture was used as the front for the lab in back. The ten thousand square foot showroom had a larger manufacturing section next to it where they made the custom furniture. Falling Pines only had a population of three thousand, and the powers that be thought it would be less suspicious if there was a reason for all these people coming and going up the mountain.

He and Ty headed toward the front, wearing their Hoffman Furniture security uniforms. As they neared, Ford sensed the men weren’t werewolves. “False alarm.”

“You know, sending in humans could be the smartest thing.”

Ford checked out his brother. “What have you been smokin’?”

He shook his head. “Any werewolf who gets within fifty feet of the place will set off the sensors. Humans won’t.”

“So? Whoever is on guard outside would take them down in a heartbeat before the intruders are able to get in.”

Ty shrugged. “Bodies will bring the authorities.”

That would cause more harm than good. “True.” Several cars from the side exited, a nurse in civilian attire driving each one. They only hired female nurses for the lab. Ford suspected it was because they caused fewer problems than males. “I think we should focus on that side entrance. It seems more vulnerable.”

“How so?” Ty asked. “Nurses are checked when they enter. Kind of hard to get past security.”

“How close do you think those guards pay attention? They scan the badge. If the light blinks green, they wave them in then go back to their computer game. I bet a few don’t even look to see if the badge matches the face.”

Ty kept his eyes peeled, but Ford could see him thinking. “Are you saying if a trained female operative were to get her hands on a nurse’s badge, she might be able to sneak in?”

That was what he’d been thinking. The women were in street clothes to avoid suspicion from the locals and changed into their uniform once inside. “It’s possible.”

“Interesting.” Ty checked his watch that was part communication device. “It’s time to teach our class. Let’s go in through the manufacturing building.”

He and Ty had been brought to the facility because of their expertise in human combat training. Specifically, hand-to-hand combat. While all of the guards had guns and knives, too many relied on their ability to shift and kill. Statler, the head of the operation, had warned the men not to let anyone know werewolves existed. It would ruin their entire operation. That meant the guards would have to remain as humans when they fought, unless confronted by other werewolves.

“You just like to use the scanners.” Ford chuckled.

“You got that right.”

Ford pressed the keypad to get into the building then headed straight toward the back stairwell, which led to the basement. Off to the side was another door that gave access to the lab. A retinal and fingerprint scan later, they gained access to the back of the main lobby.

“I thought we’d go over ground defense today,” Ford said.

“That means I’m your wingman. Great. I love trying to get out of the way of your lethal feet.”

Ford laughed. “It’s all for the greater good.”

“If you say so.”

He nodded to the two men on guard and headed toward the gym, which was in the sub-basement level one. They swiped their keycard then had their eye scanned again. Ford wasn’t sure how anyone could breach the entrance without one of Statler’s men escorting them. Most of the facility had been carved into the mountain, invisible to satellite surveillance, and the gym was no exception.

When he and Ty entered the musty smelling space, three of the shifters assigned to the class were present. After two weeks on the staff, Ford had made it a point to learn their names. Dram Peters, Wilson Schmid, and Nate Holtz. This was their third class. These three were new, and from what Ford had observed, had little skill. His method was to test them first then teach them. Besides skill, both he and Ty had one big advantage. For the past week, they’d undergone daily serum infusions to make them immune from dying from a specific kind of poison—one of the few things that could kill a werewolf. He didn’t feel any different, so he wouldn’t know if the serum worked until he was shot—something he hoped he never experienced again.

A large mat sat in the middle of the floor. The trainees were a few minutes early, but it wouldn’t hurt to warm them up before demonstrating to the entire class.

“You three want to step on the mat?”

Dram nodded toward the wall of weapons. “Can we defend ourselves?”

“You can try. How about you each grab a knife of your choice?” It wouldn’t do them much good. There was no way they’d get close enough to cut his throat. Any accidental nicks or stabs would heal in seconds. Gunplay on the other hand could be deadly if used on a non-enhanced wolf. Ty was the weapon’s expert. He’d be holding a shooting class later.

The three men returned. Ford didn’t want to give them too much warning. “Come at me as if I’m human.”

They all charged at once. That was their first mistake. They should have circled him before advancing. As they neared, Ford dropped to the mat and swirled his feet. He flipped over and over again, never letting them get a hold of him. One of his former students had called him a human eggbeater with legs. The heel of his boot connected with Dram’s shin and he yelped. Pussy. On the next rotation, Ford managed to trip Wilson. The third man, Nate, stayed out of the way. Smart. The lack of attack gave Ford enough time to grab his knife. In a flash, he was on his feet with his weapon slicing through the air.

He chose to advance on Dram because that trainee was the most arrogant. Ford twisted the man around before he knew what was happening, wrapped an arm around his throat, and then placed the blade to his neck.

The other two men stilled, their eyes wide.

“All right, gentlemen, let’s discuss what happened.” Ford stepped back. “What was your first mistake?”

The newbies glanced from one to the other. Clearly, it would take months of training to get them even close to those he taught back home.

“We should have surrounded you,” Wilson said.

“Precisely. Dram, what should you have done?”

He grunted. “Not let you get behind me?”

“Correct.” Ford inhaled to gain some patience. “Ty, let’s show them how it should be done.”

His brother stepped on the mat, bent his knees, and held up his hands in a defensive pose. “Try me to take me down, bro,” Ty challenged.

“Note how Ty has lowered his center of gravity so I can’t push or pull him easily, especially if we’re struggling for a weapon.” Ford demonstrated, and Ty managed to remain upright. “His hands are up, so that if one of you comes from behind him, you can’t reach that all-vulnerable throat. If he’s off guard and sees my hand close to this throat, he should shrug his shoulder and tilt his head so I can’t reach his jugular. Questions?”

The last three men showed up, and he repeated the challenge with them. Two failed miserably, but Tony Khan showed some skill. Ford would have to watch out for him.