Bas ran towards the crash site with three things on his mind: finding Cash, finding shelter, and getting back to the girls. He didn’t want to leave them, but if Cash was hurt, he needed to get to him and get him back so they could all get to safety. Ryleigh was a trained operative. She would know what to do to keep Sky safe until he got back.
His bruin could run at speeds that defied regular bears, but the crash site as miles away from where they had landed. When he came up to the location, his hopes died. There wasn’t anything left of the plane. It was smashed beyond all recognition. He looked around and didn’t see any signs of Cash. He also didn’t smell him anywhere. Did he get out in time, was he lying somewhere hurt, or making his way to them? Fuck!
Bas changed into his human form and started to scavenge for anything that could help him and the girls. There was a first aid kit that had made it through the crash relatively intact. Other than that, there wasn’t much else. Bas started to do a perimeter sweep looking for any signs of Cash. Nothing, he did find a piece of the windshield, and it didn’t offer him much hope because there was blood on it.
He knew that Cash would have sent out a mayday, so he could only hope that the rest of the Team was on their way to their location. Walking out further, Bas was surprised to find that he made it to the shoreline. He had been trying so hard to catch Cash’s scent that he missed the smell of water. Bas searched the shoreline and the water. When a flash of red caught his eye, he moved closer to get a better look. Fuck, was that Cash’s parachute? It had to be.
He couldn’t go into that water in his human form, but his bear might have a chance. Dropping the first aid kit, Bas shifted and made his way into the icy water of Lake Superior. The ice chunks were an unneeded obstacle, but his bruin handled them like a champ. Getting out to the parachute that kept on moving further away was a problem.
When he finally got to the chute, he was devastated to find that Cash was still nowhere to be found. He pulled the material in with his claws and made his way back to shore. Shaking his fur to dispel the water, he waited a little while before changing back. When he did, his clothing was damp but not drenched. It was one of the benefits of the bear.
Examining the parachute, Bas noticed that there were slices in the material that shouldn’t have been there. They were too clean for damage from the dive, and they were in places that would prevent the chute from fully forming on descent. Fuck, what the hell happened? it was evident that someone had tampered with the chute. If Cash landed in this water after falling from so high with no slowing down, his momentum would cause every bone in his body to break upon landing. A Shifter could survive those injuries, though they would still need some medical intervention.
The harness was unstrapped, so that gave him a little hope that he was at least able enough to remove the device. But the blood on the straps canceled that out. Bas started to scream his name over and over again, hoping for a response. When none came, he had no choice but to leave the area and head back to the girls. When Alpha arrived, they could set up a search party and hopefully find their fallen man.
Bas grabbed the first aid kit up again and changed back into this bear. He had been moving at high speeds, but a smell hit him and stopped him in his tracks. There were Shifters, several of them. One of which was definitely of the reptile variety. Son of a bitch! How in the hell had these people found them in the middle of fucking nowhere? Bas didn't even know exactly where they were. He wasn’t one to run away from a confrontation, but he thought it was best to lead these fuckers away from Sky and Ryleigh.
Bas ran for a while, leading them in the opposite direction of the girls, but the bastards hemmed him in quickly. He knew that two cat Shifters were in front of him with the reptile and a wolf behind and two bear Shifters on either side. They were herding him, and Bas was letting them. The further away from the girls he got, the better.
When he had nowhere else to go, he Shifted back. A small man approached. He smelled of reptile, and Bas knew instantly that this was the man that had been after Sky back in Defiance. His eyes reflected the elongated pupil of his kind.
Bas tried to play it off like he was happy to see them and that he hadn't noticed they were following him all this time. Shifters were taught to help each other out. He hoped these men learned those same lessons. "Hey, I am so glad to see you guys. My plane went down and my buddy is missing. I need to get to a phone to call in my Team so we can find him. Do you live around here? Or maybe have a SAT phone I can use?"
"Oh, Mr. Frost, I expected a lot of things, but you playing dumb wasn’t one of them. Your buddy is sleeping on the floor of Lake Superior, and you’re going to be joining him soon. I smelled you on her, on our prize, and that can’t happen. You are not worthy of holding such a treasure."
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Bas was still attempting to deceive the stranger. This guy was nuts to his very core. He smelled wrong, just like emotions held a scent, so did insanity. And this guy needed to be in a strait jacket. The others were closing in. Bas would fight, but the odds were against him. He looked to the bears that had also changed back into human their form. He didn’t know them, but the cat looked familiar. It took him a couple of seconds, but he called out.
“Yo, Noah, what are you doing hanging out with these guys? What would your brother think?"
"You dare to speak of my brother after what your people did to him?" Noah shouted.
Bas had no idea what he was talking about. The last time he knew anything about Jonas Rosen, he was a part of Zulu. He had never hung out with the man, but they ran in the same circles, and he knew him, in a way. Noah, on the other hand, looked just like Jonas, so making the connection was easy.
"What do you mean what we did to him? I saw him a couple of months ago, had some beers and talked for a bit. He was just fine then one hundred percent committed to his team and NAC. What are you committed to Noah?"
"Damn, you NAC boys, are all so fucking stupid. Jonas wasn’t one of you. He was one of us," Noah said. "That fucker, Matthias, picked him up, and no one has seen him since. How about we make a deal? I will ask Dean here to spare you if you find out where they are holding my brother."
"Oh, no need for that, Noah, we will find Jonas. NAC has become too compliant. One of our members will soon find our brother's location. No need to fret," the reptile Shifter interrupted. "As for you, Mr. Frost, I believe your time has come. We looked into you at one time hoping to save you from your filthy background, but it became apparent that you would never leave the human trash your father kept on producing. It is a shame, but no matter."
Bas felt the sting of a dart piercing his shoulder. Damn, the fuckers didn’t play fair, or honorable. He could feel the fire of the drug burning his veins. He could also feel his body becoming heavy. He tried to reach his bear, but the fucker wasn’t there. For the first time in his life he was truly alone, but he wasn’t. He still felt his bond to Sky. It was like a live wire in the middle of nothing. He tried to push his feelings and thoughts through that bond and hoped that she would know that his last thoughts were of her.
He wanted more than anything to go back and change all the awful things he had said and done to her. To accept her with open arms and keep her safe, but he hadn’t done any of that. He tried calling to his bear again and still there was nothing, just blank dark space. The beast that he cursed on most days was dead to him, and he didn’t like the feeling one bit. He fell to his knees and then to the ground. His limbs were not working as the drug took over his body. Right before the darkness swept in, Bas heard Dean Summerfield say, “Take him to the lakeshore and dispose of him like we did Mr. Windsor.”
Fuck, they had gotten to Cash. Bas concentrated on his bond with Sky. This time he pushed thoughts of running to her, hoping against hope to give her some kind of warning of what was to come. Digging deeper, he tried to find his bond with Jacks or even Senior, pushing thoughts of danger and urgency their way.
Damn, if these legends were actually true, then all of this should work. Bas' last thoughts were of Sky and everything they could have had together. She was his mate; the one destined for only him. He had treated her so poorly, even cruelly, but maybe if the fates allowed, he could still help her in some way. Bas fought the darkness but lost the battle. Before his world could go completely black, he felt a spark running through his veins straight to his heart. His Sky.