ANDREW
It was a nightmare brought to life, but it was also more hopeful than their situation had been only a few hours ago. He looked around their motley group. The wolves were huddled together in the living room. The fox had been sent to sleep. He’d lost his twin, they couldn’t expect him to be helpful. The pride was huddled close, taking over the kitchen with him.
Zachary sat on a counter, with Troy and Gabe joining him. Gabe was quiet mostly for this entire thing. It was concerning; but, like Riley, they couldn’t force it right now. They could all smell the worrying mix of agony, despair, and misery on him, even though they’d escaped. Brenton stood with Andrew, tapping his finger on the counter top.
They were all dressed again in the clothing that they had worn when they were originally grabbed. Andrew felt dirty in them, but it was all they had.
“So, where are we?” Brenton finally asked. Sheriff grunted and added his own voice to that sentiment. Sheriff was drugged to hell and back, but neither gunshot was life threatening. They just needed to stop the bleeding and keep them from getting infected. The wolves had stitched him up before they did anything else.
It was James, the wolf, that answered.
“I used to be a member of the Texas Pack. I recognized the road we were on. This house belongs to my sister.” He held the phone. “I called her when we got in, she’s going to stay with her Alpha. Her Alpha told us to stay low and keep out of trouble. He doesn’t want to rile up hunters so close to home, so he’s going to pretend we aren’t here.”
“Shit, isn’t that fucking fortunate?” Zachary laughed. “Fuck, being lucky never felt so good.”
“We weren’t lucky,” Chris growled. “Thomas and Riley fucking saved our damn hides. They could have taken off and left us to die.”
“It was her idea,” Thomas shrugged to his Alpha. “I told her that I was hanging around in case any more of y’all escaped. She wanted to go in and get her pride, even though she couldn’t stand when I first found her. She nearly went without me, no plan or anything.”
Their girl would have charged the building by herself for them. Andrew looked away from Thomas, his eyes full of tears. Now she didn’t even want to look at them or touch them, nothing. They told her they loved her, and she didn’t want anything to do with them.
“She’s a ballsy kitten,” Sheriff groaned. “Good for her. Stupid of her, but damn am I thankful for her right now. Thank you for helping her.”
“I wasn’t going to let her go in and get killed when I could help her. I’m a Marine.” Thomas looked to Sheriff and smiled. “She’s a good chick, that’s for sure. Has a fire in her that they couldn’t beat out, though it seems like they fucking tried.”
All the males in the room stiffened at what Thomas said. Andrew couldn’t stop the vicious growl that erupted from his throat. Neither could Brenton or Zachary. Troy and Gabe just looked awful.
“They dragged her off and let some fucking buyer molest her,” Brenton’s voice broke on the words.
“Yeah, she told me. For fifteen million, she was going to become the new pet of a lion shifter she didn’t recognize.”
Andrew stilled and quieted. He looked slowly to Brenton, who was pale and washed out. Andrew’s own skin was clammy. Zachary was cursing and jumped off his counter, storming out of the room. Gabe only whimpered.
“Excuse me?” Brenton whispered, staring at the counter.
“Yeah,” Thomas nodded to them. “A shifter was in that building, buying from them, and he wanted her.”
Andrew felt sick. Gabe ran out after Zachary, and they could all hear him getting sick right outside the front door. Troy bolted after him, whispering Gabe’s name.
“We thought…” Andrew shook.
He couldn’t lose her because of that.
Because another shifter was the lowest piece of scum on the earth.
“You thought another hunter had a go with her or some rich human,” Chris whispered. “And we never knew another shifter was there. God, how many of our kind could be working with them? Buying from them? Selling to them?”
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Thomas told his Alpha. “We need a plan to get the fuck out of here. We need to call in people to shut that shit down.”
“Any ideas?” Brenton looked back to the wolf. Thomas had his shit together, where everyone else in the room was falling apart.
“Apparently, people are looking for you guys.” Thomas turned to Brenton and pointed at the last two pride members in the room. “Government. I have contacts with the US SSTF, and I can bring them in to get us out and home. And keep us safe. The hunters knew that people wanted to find you guys, Riley and I overheard them after we got back into the building.”
The Shifter Special Task Force. A coalition group run by the United States Government to shut down and eliminate illegal activities around shifters that crossed state lines and became federal without it becoming public. They hunted down major criminal targets in both shifter and human populations. Like these hunters. Like Isabella Gordon, who’s been on their wanted list for three decades, and more.
“Yeah.” Andrew nodded. “The leader of that little fucking hellhole told us something similar.”
“They would also shut down the ring. It’s not the only one out there, but it will show a strong force against the SHS that this shit is no longer tolerated,” Brenton growled. “They picked a target too big for them, and now they are going down.”
“We call them after we get the fuck out of here,” Chris Marek growled. “I don’t want to be wrapped up in it, and we can make it, we just need to go. I don’t want to stick around this close to them.”
“Well, we could just fly out of here,” Andrew mumbled. “We got our stuff back, we just need to get to an airport. We’ll pay for all of you to get home or come with us. But we need to get cleaned up.”
“I can… call in our private jet. Keep us off the grid a little, have someone in the company say they are using it,” Brenton waved his hand around. “It could work. We can get the damn thing sent here, to Lubbock and fucking fly away with everything we got from the hunters.”
“Then call the US SSTF or just send it all to them. Even if that compound is rebuilt somewhere else, those guys will get caught or they will be all over the watch lists,” Thomas nodded. “You got a call to make.” Thomas handed the phone to Brenton, who took it slowly.
“Yeah…” He looked down at it. Andrew knew he didn’t want to do this and took the phone from Brenton.
“I know the codes, Brenton.” Andrew patted his Alpha’s back, who’s head nodded distractedly.
Andrew made the call. It was to a board member and Andrew would have to speak in riddles to get the point across.
“Jamie Christopher speaking, who is this?”
“Hey man, it’s Andrew. Before you say anything, I just wanted to tell you that you're doing a great job at Kingson, Inc for us,” Andrew kept his tone light. He heard the sharp gasp from Jamie on the other end. “Brenton was thinking you would be perfect for a business trip. How’s Lubbock, Texas sound this time of year?”
“Wonderful, I’m free to go whenever you need me,” Jamie tried to sound professional and it was a decent attempt. He could hear Jamie rustling around in the background.
“Go ahead and get to the jet. We’d like you down there are soon as possible. Tell them what I told you and they will get you there as fast as they can.”
“Who am I meeting in Lubbock?” Jamie was going by the script, Andrew thanked any higher power that might be watching. All the shifters were watching wide eyed at the exchange except Brenton. It was Brenton’s idea to have these codes with only the few most trusted human members of the company. Out of the pride and harm’s way, but could still help them out if they needed it.
“Oh, it’s a huge group with a lot of new faces. You’ll see them at the airport, no worries. They know you’re coming.” A huge group meant it was all of them. A few people meant it wasn’t the entire pride. ‘Just a guy’ meant only one of them. But the rule was to say no names and pretend you weren’t the one being picked up.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible. Do you want me to call when I touch down?”
“No, that’s fine.”
Andrew hung up. The conversation lasted less than two minutes, good time.
“That’s it?” Sheriff growled. “You just ask some employee to come get you?”
“Without giving away who’s here, who’s not, and if anyone was listening, none of us are. Andrew talked like he wasn’t in Lubbock. Jamie’s good. He’ll get here.” Brenton smiled ruefully back at Sheriff. “We’re felines, Sheriff. We’re the definition of paranoid.”
“Shit,” Chris mumbled. “I wish I was rich enough to call on a private jet when it was helpful.”
“I’ve owned it for a few years,” Brenton mumbled. “Andrew, can you take Riley’s bag to her. And her clothes? If... anything is weird and she’s asleep, you let me know. Don’t wake her no matter what. She needs all the rest she can get.”
“Can do, Brenton,” Andrew nodded and went to the pile of stuff and searched for hers. Once he had it all, he tiptoed to the bedroom they’d given her.
He looked inside and stopped. She was asleep in the corner. After seeing the room she’d been… taken to in the compound, he couldn’t blame her. But it hurt to see. It hurt to see how the bed hadn’t even been touched. She couldn’t even try, and that really concerned him. He placed her things gently down and left just as silently as he’d come.
He passed Brenton at the kitchen, and waved his Alpha to follow. Brenton walked out with him.
Zachary, Gabe, and Troy were all on the front porch.
“She’s sleeping in the corner of the room,” Andrew said through gritted teeth. “On the floor, as far from the bed as she can. And the bruises are darker now than they were in the warehouse.”
“They’ve had a couple days to mature to the full ugly look of them,” Brenton added. “When we decide to leave, I’ll be the one waking her up. I might need to force her to keep moving for us and to eat when we get the chance. I would rather have her hate me for doing it than any of you.”
They all looked at their Alpha, and Andrew knew why Brenton had said it.
They could make her hate them by trying to force her to eat and keep going. Brenton could earn her hate by actually forcing her. He would be successful in keeping her alive.
“So, when are we moving out?” Chris’ head came out the door and Brenton turned to him.
“Give us two hours to clean the vehicles up a little. The least we can do is get all the glass and shit out, so we don’t cut ourselves again and again. Bring us trash bags and shit so we don’t get it all over this woman’s driveway.”
“Can do,” Chris was gone.
“Do you notice her… afraid of any of us during all this?” Zachary asked. It was hard to listen to.
Andrew nodded and so did Brenton.
“She stiffened when I talked to her,” Zachary looked down at one of his hands, opening and closing it. “Like I was the guy who had…”
“She didn’t want me near her when we got back here,” Troy mumbled.
“We need to keep an eye on her mental state until we find someone for her to talk to. And she needs someone to speak to. We all do,” Brenton leaned on the wall by the front door.
“We should never have gone back to Wild Junction.” Gabe’s words were harsh.
“I’ve realized this,” Brenton growled softly. “But it’s done, and we have to clean up the mess.”
“We promised to keep her safe!” Gabe roared. “On day fucking one! Pride is family, and we fucking protect our own!”
He roared at the sky after that, throwing the chair he’d been in off the porch. It broke into several pieces. Andrew mentally noted to make sure they paid for it later.
“We told her that we weren’t trying to rope her into any illegal shit, and look what fucking happens!” Gabe spun, his arms wide. “Look at this! Everywhere we go, the Kingson Pride inspires fear and resentment. Another fucking one of our kind tried to buy her! Our own Goddamn kind! Because she was ours!”
“Gabe, pl-” Troy tried to stand, but Gabe shoved him down.
“We’re just a bunch of fuck ups who are lucky,” Gabe snarled. Andrew felt punched in the gut with those words. “We poison everything we fucking touch, and now it’s touching her!”
“Gabe!” Troy looked to his brother, and Andrew could see the rift begin to grow. The pride was falling apart, and Riley was somewhere on her own, lost in nightmares they couldn’t save her from. They needed her to be okay as much as she needed to them to hold it the fuck together.
“I wish we were dead,” Gabe snarled at his brother. “I wish that car accident had taken me out years ago. Maybe then Riley wouldn’t have to deal with everything we’ve ever done being brought down on her fucking head.”
Brenton looked down at Gabe, who was snarling at Troy still.
“Gabe, quiet.” He was using being an Alpha on Gabe. Gabe’s mouth shut, and his eyes widened. Andrew was amazed that Brenton would go there. He looked to Zachary, who had a similar expression. “You will keep that shit from Riley, you will not say that to her. It would be the final nail in the coffin on her, and I won’t fucking allow it.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Gabe whispered.
“You will hold the fuck on for Riley, Troy, and the rest of us until we get home and talk about this.” Brenton grabbed Gabe’s shoulders and pulled the leopard to look at him. “I understand, Gabe. But I just need a little time. Just a little. Please.”
“Brenton,” he groaned, “I can’t-”
Brenton pulled Gabe into a hug, and Andrew was happy to see how the leopard held onto him. Brothers, the entire pride. They couldn’t let that go now.
“You are as much my brother as Troy’s. You have Zachary and Andrew, who would also do anything for any of us. And Riley will get better. We’ll help her, but we need you, too. And we need to find the fucker who did it to her. You can help with that once we get with the SSTF.” Brenton told him softly.
“Of course, Brenton,” Gabe mumbled into his shoulder. They all ignored the tears they saw on Gabe’s face. When he let Gabe go, Troy immediately held his brother. Brenton patted them both on the shoulder.
It was an emotional moment for them all. Gabe and Troy fed off each other. If one was openly having a hard time, the other was probably silently having one or trying to stop from falling into the same despair. Andrew knew they had to bring Gabe back from the brink quickly, or both would be lost again.
Chris and Thomas came out, holding gloves and bags for them all. The other two wolves followed with a couple brooms and dust pans. Neither of them commented about what the entire house probably just heard.
It would have to do. And it worked. Over the entire two hours Brenton had asked for, they cleaned up the Range Rovers and truck they had stolen. They would be abandoned in the airport’s parking lot, and none of them cared about leaving prints on them. The US SSTF would shut down any cases against them if they came up.
When they were done, the wolves took the bags to the end of the driveway for pick up. They weren’t here to ruin this woman’s house and leave it totally trashed. They needed to be respectful.
“It’s time,” Brenton whispered, standing with all of them. “Wolves, if you can get the fox, that would be great. And help with the bags. Zachary, Andrew, grab Sheriff and load him in. Troy and Gabe, help them get all our stuff.”
“And you?” Thomas asked, looking at their Alpha. Andrew bristled in response to the accidental challenge on Brenton.
“I’m getting Riley.” He walked away and into the house.
They all followed after a few more minutes. They hadn’t had a break, it was nearly dawn. They were tired, and they weren’t in a place where they felt safe enough to get any rest.
Andrew shook Sheriff’s shoulder gently.
“Hey, old man,” he smiled down at the bear, whose eyes opened with a growl. “Woah, Sheriff. No need for that. We’re getting to the airport. Zachary and I want to get you in the car.”
“Fine,” Sheriff grumbled, letting Andrew help him up. “Who’s getting kitten?”
“Brenton,” Zachary answered, throwing one of Sheriff’s arms over his shoulder. They hauled the bear up and walked him out slowly. His human wife was going to kill them for bringing her husband home in this shape, but Andrew hoped she understood that he was at least home. There had been a real possibility she could have been a widow.
They sat him down and stretched his injured leg out over the back seat. Troy and Gabe would both be driving since they did the thing with the wires. Andrew didn’t know how, neither did Brenton. Zachary might but he was more worried about their safety.
“I don’t like that I’ve got to drive,” Gabe growled softly.
“Why?” Andrew looked to the black leopard, frowning.
“Riley,” he mumbled, looking away.
“We’ve got make do,” Andrew reminded him. “You two have to drive and Riley is riding with us, not the wolves.”
“Yeah,” Gabe sighed, though Andrew knew he was uncomfortable with it.
“What now?” Troy asked quietly as he finished helping the wolves. The fox was being kept in the pickup, and two of the wolves needed rides in the Range Rovers. It was a tight fit for everyone, but Zachary made it clear that Riley would be in the front seat of whatever vehicle she was in and they all needed to deal with that. He wasn’t going to force her next to any of them,
“We wait,” Andrew told Troy after a long time.
They needed Brenton to be able to get her to come out.