The Breed: Nora's Choice (4 page)

            The change
rushed through his body instantly, filling him with adrenaline to match his
anger. He was praying the farm house was filled with hunters because he needed
to fight, needed to bleed, and if he couldn’t kill the man who had hurt her,
hunters were the next best thing.

            As he ran
full speed towards the house the last thing he heard was Jax screaming into his
cell phone, “Cass we have a serious fucking problem.”

~

            Memphis
knew there was something wrong the minute he saw her apartment door ajar.

            He took a
deep breath and stepped into what looked like a war zone. Furniture was flipped
over, glass scattered across the floor, cabinets flung open, end tables smashed
to splinters.

            He hadn’t
come home to a mess like this in almost thirty years; not since her last
episode.

            Even if he
hadn’t heard the shower running he would have known exactly where to find her.
He had found her under the spray of a cold shower almost once a week for fifty
years.

            He had come
to talk to her about what was happening with her and Quinn, to try and reason
with her about their bond, but all thoughts of that were quickly replaced with
worry and dread as he tapped softly on the bathroom door and pushed his way
inside.

            She sat
knees to chest against the cold tile, her eyes closed and a nearly empty bottle
of tequila against her thigh.

            “Baby
girl?” he called out, not wanting to frighten her, when she was like this
anything could set her off.

            “I’m ok,”
her teeth chattered, “the episode passed a while ago.”

            “Then why
are you still sitting in there?” he sighed and sat down on the toilet seat,
hating that she had to go through this.

            Her head
lolled to the side and she shrugged her shoulders.

            As he
leaned over to turn off the faucet the smell of alcohol assaulted his nose, she
had more to drink than he originally thought.

            “Nora we
need to talk about this,” he said firmly. He had known that very soon they
would need to have a serious talk, and now was as good a time as ever.

            “No,” she
moaned and shook her head, “I don’t want to hear it.”

            “I don’t
give a damn,” he tossed a towel at her, “you’re gonna listen whether you want
to or not.”

            She wrapped
the towel around her shoulders and closed her eyes again.

            “You need
to accept this bond with Quinn. The bond doesn’t just give you a mental link to
the other person, it completes you. I’ve seen old warriors full of mental
battle scars meet their mates and become normal men again,” he explained,
thinking of his old pack leader.

            The bond
carried powers far greater than any of them understood, and Memphis was putting
every bit of faith in it to help fix her. If anyone deserved happiness and a
normal life, it was Nora.

            She had
lived through a punishment worse than death, and had still found a way to be a
good person and do her best to move forward.

            Guilt ate
away at him every day like a cancer he couldn’t cure. No matter what he did for
her now, nothing could ever change her past, or the fact that his son had
caused this. Nothing could ever stop her suffering… except for this bond.

            “Heal me?”
she snorted, “He’s the reason why I’m having these damn attacks, I was
perfectly fine until he came along. Now every time I’m around him I end up like
this.”

            “Your life
was perfectly fine? Who are you trying to fool?” he shook his head.

            Before
Tessa and her family had come along Nora was more a shell of a person than
anything. He could hardly get her leave her room; she stayed in her pajama’s
most days watching reruns of ‘The Golden Girls’ and ‘I Love Lucy’.

            Tessa was
like a breath of fresh air for their family. Once she had come along Nora had
started shopping and going out, had even started laughing again.

            Once she
had bonded to Quinn, Memphis thought the dark days of alcohol and depression
were over.

            “I hate
him,” she slurred, “with his stupid muscles, and being all cute, then every
time he leaves I have an attack. It’s all his fault.”

            “Then go
see a therapist,” he replied seriously, “I’m not letting things go back to the
way they were for you. I will burn every pair of pajamas you own Nora, I swear
it.”

            “Things
sucked pretty bad didn’t they?” she cracked lopsided smile.

            He let out
a sigh and was truly grateful they were having this discussion while she was
drunk. A sober Nora would have put up one hell of a fight at the word
‘therapist’. He’d prepare himself for a fight with her in the morning.

            “Since
you’re drunk, lemme just go ahead and give you all the good news,” he smiled
back at her.

            “Better do
it while I’m drunk, cuz in the morning we’ll fight,” she slurred in a sing song
voice, waving her fists around.

            “You and
your partner Nancy Drew up there are going to start taking defense classes with
me, beginning tomorrow,” he voiced the law Cass had laid down. Since Nora kept
going along with Tessa’s hair brained schemes, she could deal with the
punishment as well.

            The fact
that Memphis was going to manipulate the situation by forcing Quinn to join the
classes, could be left unsaid.

            “I can
fight,” she argued and kicked him in the shin hard enough to shatter a human’s
femur.

            “You don’t
have a choice, now get out of that tub and get into bed,” he commanded, holding
out his hand for her.

            “I don’t
have a choice about anything I guess,” She angrily snatched at his hand.

            After
trying to get up twice and sliding back into the tub, he sighed and scooped her
up like a baby. 

            “Memphis I
really, really hate him,” she whispered against his chest.

            “Honey
you’re drunk, you can feel anyway you want to about him tonight, so why don’t
you worry about hating him in the morning?” he suggested, knowing how she
really felt and wishing she would just stop being stubborn and accept it.

            She flung
her arms and legs out, then went limp like a doll, her toes scraping against
the floor as he carried her.

            “You’re
right, I’ll hate him tomorrow, tonight maybe I’ll like him a little bit,” she
laughed.

            “Good
girl,” he smiled down at her, happy to see his baby girl acting goofy.

            “Oh, and
I’ll remember to fight with you about that therapist idea tomorrow,” she poked
him hard in the chest.

            “Of course,
wouldn’t have it any other way,” he laughed as he shook his head.

               
Nora
awoke in the middle of the night and was so overjoyed that her episode was
over, she didn’t even care about the hangover raging through her system. She
stretched back, squeezed her pillow, and enjoyed the last few minutes of
peaceful relaxation before she had to get her day started. 

            Finally
getting out of bed and going in search of something to soothe the pounding in
her head, she found her apartment completely clean; every broken piece of
furniture removed, every shard of glass swept away.

            Memphis.

            On the
kitchen counter was a glass of water and a note.

            “
Had to
leave early, your boy might have just lost his damn mind. Get all the rest you
can, your defense training starts at 9am. If you’re one minute late I’ll give
Quinn the key code to your apartment and tell him to wake you up personally.
Don’t think I won’t.
”

            Defense
training? She rolled her eyes, what a joke that was going to turn out to be.

            Secretly
she wondered what Quinn had done to have to pull Memphis away, and if he was
alright. She searched her feelings but couldn’t pick up any of his emotions.

            Which was
fine with her, because she really didn’t care.

            At all. 

            Dialing up
Remy she explained their first day of nursing courses would have to be later in
the day because of her new obligation.

            “Hey can I
come?” she asked sounding way too excited for the occasion.

            “Yeah I
guess,” Nora shrugged, “I never would have thought you’d be interested in
fighting though.”

            “Oh I’m
not,” she sighed on the other end of the line, “but Memphis is so easy on the
eyes, and I’ve heard
quite
a few things that I’ve been dying to see if
were tru-”

            “Hey! Go
take a cold shower you perv,” she snapped her phone shut, shocked by how hot
blooded Remy was turning out to be.

In
her eyes no one would ever be good enough for Memphis, even his destined mate
was going to have to be one hell of an amazing woman to gain her respect.

            With that,
her mind wandered to thoughts of her own destined mate, and if what Memphis
said could possibly be true. If she gave it more of a try could he really cure
her of her hallucinations? Was the bond that powerful?

            No, no, no.
Thinking like that was dangerous.

            She had
already given it a try. They had spent time together, even being intimate in
the hospital, and minutes after leaving his side she had had an episode.

            Thinking
the bond could cure her was just wishful thinking. She couldn’t rely on hopes
and dreams, she needed to fix herself.

            She
wouldn’t go back to her old ways and let fear and depression take over her
life. She was going to stay at this embassy, get a job, and keep her life.
Holding her head up high she vowed never to let herself fall into the black
hole of depression she had once let consume her.

~

            Quinn had
completely leveled the top portion of the farm house by the time everyone else
arrived. The walls were so full of gaping holes it was a miracle the structure
was still standing at all.

            With hulking
breaths he tried to calm himself. Now that Memphis was here he could question
him; but he couldn’t speak while he was in his wolf form, he had to calm down.

            “Well at
least there wasn’t an ambush,” Jax half attempted a smile.

            “What kind
of an idiot would tell a man that about his mate? Especially when they’re on a
mission,” Cass was beside himself with fury, his blue eyes flashing electric.

            “You’re a
worse gossip than a high school girl,” Kain slapped him across the back of his
head.

             “He was all
pitiful and depressed, thinking Nora hated him. I was just trying to help, I
didn’t think he’d freak out so bad,” he snapped.

            “Wouldn’t
you?” Memphis demanded shaking his head.

            “This place
is a bust, just an old abandoned house,” Ghost heaved a sigh of disappointment
as he adjusted his thick black sunglasses.

            “Actually
it’s a gold mine,” Quinn finally calmed down enough to transform and speak,
“this is the first laboratory they took me to. I didn’t recognize it until I
got inside. Pull up the floor boards under the window and it leads to a massive
lab underneath.”

            Jax tossed
him the gym bag that held a change of clothes and he hastily dressed.

            As everyone
descended down the now uncovered rickety stairs, Memphis grabbed his arm.

            “When we’re
through here, me and you need to chat,” his voice was calm and commanding.

            “We sure
do,” Quinn replied coldly. He was pissed not only that something had happened
to his mate, but also that no one had bothered to tell him something so
important. When they were done exploring the lab, things were going to get
interesting.

            The farther
down they climbed into the cellar, the more familiar things felt to him.

            He
remembered the thick earthy smell, mixed in with the sour odor of chemicals. It
was something that had constantly assaulted his nose, making him want to retch
even now.

            He had been
terrified when they had shoved him, fully naked except for the shackles binding
his arms and legs, down the stairs face first. He was new to the Breed, still
sick from the transition and barely had enough strength left in his body to
lift his hands to brace his fall.

            The lights
flickered an eerie off white glow as they finally found solid ground.

            “This is
some horror movie shit,” Jax complained loudly from the back.

            “Shut up,”
everyone barked in unison.

            The smell
of blood, sweat and urine burned his nostrils, and he forced himself not to
think about all the time he had spent down here as a prisoner.

            Row after
row of steel cages came into view, and he recalled the cramped clustered
feeling of being held inside them.

            They were
reinforced dog cages, too short to stand up in, and not long enough to lay
down. For four months he sat with his knees bent against his chest, his body
constantly aching in discomfort.

            No one said
a word, they just gave him stiff nods, as if to give condolences.

            Good. The
last thing that he wanted was their pity.

            “This is
disgusting,” Memphis spat out as he eyed the conditions his Breed members had
suffered through.

            “We would
never treat their kind like this, not even when imprisoned,” Casstiel shook his
head.

            Though the
place was completely empty it was obvious how the Breed members inside had been
treated. Quarantined animals at the pound had had a better life than this.

            “Help us
figure this place out Quinn, we need to know what you know,” Memphis spoke.

            By the
looks on their faces he could tell no one wanted to make him relive his time
here, but it had to be done. If he was going to be a member of this team he
needed to get over his weaknesses.

            He ground
his teeth together for a moment before finally speaking.

            “This place
wasn’t like the rest of them, it was easier I guess you could say,” he scoffed
at how ridiculous that sounded, “Once you were in your cage they never let you
out again until you moved out permanently. In the other places they pulled you
out all the time to run tests and stuff, but here you just there, too cramped
to move and not allowed to speak to the others.”

            He wanted
to scream and smash everything in sight. Memories of the others imprisoned
flashed through his mind, and his stomach clenched with guilt that he had
escaped while they were still suffering.

            More than
anything he hoped this list of coordinates could lead them to finding all the
others and freeing them.

            “The cages
were spaced apart so that the hunters could walk through and give us shots,” he
continued, “Even if we weren’t so doped up, the cages were way too small to try
and escape or ever attack them. I’m not sure what they were giving us, but they
would shoot us up, then walk through with clip boards and monitor us.”

            He
remembered the sweet brown eyes of the girl caged next to him. Speaking aloud
was severely punished, so they had mouthed things to each other whenever they
could. Her name was Jill and she was from Portland, with a fiancé and a dog.

            Almost a
year later he saw her at another laboratory, hope had soared in him that she
was still alive, but things had ended there for sweet Jill.

            He squeezed
his eyes shut and forced himself to breathe. If he couldn’t keep himself
together he would be useless to the team. He had to get over this, had to keep
the demons locked away in the past.

            “So the
list we found could be of all the laboratories on this coast,” Jax suggested,
his eyes full of pity as he walked cautiously through a row of cages.

            “Or of all
the buildings they’ve abandoned,” Kain replied, looking around in disgust.

            “We’ll know
tonight when Sebastian gets to the next location,” Cass spoke, as always, with
complete confidence in his brother.

            “This would
have been where they kept all their data,” Ghost had found a hidden panel in
the back that opened to a small computer room.

            Unfortunately
everything had been removed. Besides what had been drug up from Quinn’s
memories, this place would give them no answers.

            “It doesn’t
make sense that they would abandon this place. Isolated location, no escapes;
they didn’t do it in a hurry either. Everything in here was meticulously taken
out, humans could find this place and think it was just a dog breeders,” Kain
scrubbed his hands over his face.

            Cass looked
around with a grim expression, “It doesn’t make sense that they’d shut this
place down… unless they know we’re on to them.”

~

            Sebastian
knew she had seen him, so why hadn’t she alerted Marcus? She wasn’t stupid, she
knew he had been spying.

            As he drove
his sleek black rental towards the coordinates Casstiel had given him, he put
all this thoughts out on the table.

            He was
absolutely positive that she had been reporting his movements to Marcus, but
perhaps she wasn’t exclusively working for him.  If she was sleeping with him
then she truly did have the best intel in this embassy, and he would be a fool
not to recruit her. She could have kept her mouth shut about him spying as a way
to show good faith.

            Now all he
needed was to find a price they could both agree on. With how quickly she
worked through men he could find out all the information he ever needed to know
and be back to New York in a week.

            He parked
his car a few miles away, and strapping his sword to his back, decided to hike
the rest of the way.

            Though he
had twin guns slung from his hip, he never liked to go into a fight without his
sword; hazard of growing up in the 16
^th
century.

            Choosing to
ignore the trails he walked through the thick woods making it harder to be seen
or followed.

            For forty
minutes he walked through the heavy brush, silently debating the pros and cons
of working with Ayla, all the while becoming increasingly agitated. According
to his GPS he was in the right spot, but there wasn’t a damn thing in sight.

            No
compound, no hunters, not even an outhouse.

            Furiously
he walked in circles ready to call Cass and tell him his list was an absolute
joke, when his foot landed on something strange.

            He tapped
his boot in circles until he felt wooden planks beneath it, instead of the soft
dirt that should be there.

           
Interesting
,
he grinned.

            Heaving
open the cellar like door, complete blackness met his eyes.

            Using his
cell phone as a flash light he discovered badly worn stairs that led to a pitch
black tunnel.

            Sebastian
never enjoyed going into places that he couldn’t see completely, but it didn’t
look like he had any other choice.