Chapter Ten
Caleb couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His sweet pacifist, Izzy, standing in a soldier’s position of attention, ready to obey this man’s command. She’d betrayed him, right? The words replayed in his head. Conditioning. The music, the tests, the drugs. Understanding dawned.
“So, you’re starting to get it, grizzly?” Bossman laughed. “It’s a highly specialized form of hypnosis using drugs, implanted thoughts, and triggers. We found her triggers easily. Yours, on the other hand, we’re still working on. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to do this nice and neat and slow. So, we’re going to have to get a bit messier.”
Isabella furrowed her brow and tilted her head toward her master.
“Why don’t you give lover boy one last kiss for old time’s sake.”
He shouldn’t have told Bossman about his love for her, or that he would die to protect his mate, but it had come tumbling out in a fit of rage in the middle of Doc’s sessions last night. He’d even fessed up to helping Isabella escape and blaming it on the new guard. Holy shit, he had to get control of himself before he hurt someone. But right now, even with the pain of seeing the woman who had singlehandedly thrown him to the wolves—the human kind—he was seriously losing it.
Isabella’s demeanor changed. Gone was the warrior, and in her place a seductress with swiveling hips and full breasts. She flounced over to Caleb and worked her mouth up his body. Caleb groaned as Isabella started with his naked ankles, running her tongue up his calf and over his knee. Her soft fingers mirrored the action on his other leg. Lips and fingers, with a tiny bit of playfully clawing up his thighs. She didn’t pull up the hospital gown covering his groin, instead running her mouth quickly over his steel-hard cock then up, and up. When she reached his neck, she grazed him with her sharp claw, and he groaned again as his traitorous body surged even more to life. Fuck. Even in a life-or-death situation, he was hard for this woman. She enclosed his lips with her warm mouth, licking along the seam, plunging into his mouth. She sucked on his tongue then bit his lower lip. Damn. It hurt so good, and he wanted more. Yeah, he was screwed. When she released him, he thought he saw something blazing in her eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it came, and her cold gaze shuttered back into place. She cupped his balls once, giving them a good squeeze before getting off him. “Anything else, sir?”
Bossman had turned up the low music with the special words, so it was now blaring.
Caleb’s head was already killing him. He tried to tune out the noise and the high-pitched sounds that made him feel like puking. A sharp jab radiated pain in his right arm. The doctor had given him another set of the animal juice. Shit. Whatever it was, it made his head spin.
Now there were two Izzys crawling on the floor, kissing the tops of his feet. His bear released an angry roar. It wasn’t much more than a puff of air and a fucking whine. His limbs were heavy, and his head felt like it could float right off his shoulders. Dammit, he had to keep his wits. If Izzy was under this asshole’s control, she was in danger. He forgave her right then. None of this was her fault. His mate hadn’t betrayed him. She’d been brainwashed by this sick bastard who giggled as she ran her hands up the sides of his legs. The fog cleared from his brain, and he watched both females merge back into one. His mate. Only. He growled, and this time, it came out like it should. Low and rumbly, vibrating through the entire room.
“I think we need more incentive, Roger,” Frankie whispered quietly.
“Damn. I was hoping to not have to push to this extreme, but…” Bossman—Roger?—snapped his fingers, and Isabella jumped to attention. “Open the blinds.”
Izzy strode to the other wall and pulled back the curtain. It was one of those one-way windows into the next room.
Shit.
He knew that furious glare, those snapping jaws, and that vicious mouth. The jet-black hair with streaks of pink and purple. Sam was thrashing with all her might against the two guards who were pinning her down to shackle her to the bed. No! They ripped her shirt open and laughed when she screamed in terror and rage. Blood streaked her cheek.
Of all the things his tough, younger cousin could take, she would never withstand this. Not a second time. As the world slowed around him, the loud, echoing sounds of the music heightened and his gaze tunnel-visioned. He hadn’t been able to protect her that day. And the moment was repeating itself.
“No!” he roared.
~.~
Isabella knew the exact moment the switch flipped. Caleb’s eyes darkened, and his pupils enlarged, taking up the whole eye. Black as death. The inhuman roar of helpless rage swept over him. He shuddered. Before her stood a beast of a grizzly. And he wanted to kill everything he saw. And she, lucky girl she was, was first in his sight since the two guards had shuffled behind her. Frankie and Bossman had quickly left the room. They wanted to see their new soldiers in action. Crapola on a stick. She inched back ever so slowly, never taking her eyes from his vicious claws and strength. “Come on, big guy. You don’t want to do this.”
A low growl was his reply. He took a long, slow breath, his huge body charging up for its attack. Isabella did the math in her head quickly. One hundred twenty-pound female vs. Goliath. Her wolf snorted at her. We could hold him off in wolf form better than the weaker one.
No, she told her wolf. If Caleb sees us as an animal, the threat in his mind grows. We do this the old-fashioned way.
Scream like a little girl and run?
Yep.
Okay, but stop lying about your weight.
Fine. One thirty. Ish. Duck!
Isabella ducked. She couldn’t stop the high-pitched shriek that left her mouth as the large arm swept down right where her head at been.
I can’t believe our boyfriend is trying to decapitate us!
Isabella ignored her wolf’s frantic howl to get into the action. She squirmed behind the metal counter. The whole thing lifted off the cement hinges and crashed into the other wall. If she could make it to her bow, which she’d dropped by the med cabinet in her moment of panic, she could hit him with a dose of Ida’s new formula.
Crazy Boyfriend Griz followed her glance and rumbled in rage, beating her to the cabinet. No!
Vials, papers, and syringes spilled onto the floor, glass shattering under his large paws. Forgetting all about the many ways he could crush her, tear her limb from limb, and pretty much kill her with one paw, she scrambled forward. Glass embedded in her palms. She winced but slid forward on her tummy. Catching the last syringe, she rolled out of the way as jacked-up Grizzly went all rampage on the cabinet.
Okay, she had to get out of his line of sight, keep him distracted, and somehow get the needle through his thick fur. Was this the special syringe made specifically for them when they were shifted? It was hard to tell with all the lights flickering on and off. And hello, she wasn’t uncapping it to test on her little pinky.
Step one – Don’t get mauled by your grizzly-bear boyfriend who wants you for breakfast. And not the sexy way.
Step two – Distract the big guy before he takes off your head, or the hand holding the syringe.
Step three – Pray you got the right antidote and pierce his thick fur without losing your arm or head.
Step four – Run away as fast as you can, with or without girly screams of terror, and pray the antidote works before he kills you.
Yeah, see? Easy peasy, she told her wolf and backed toward the door.
He turned toward her with a rumble that started in his chest and grew in intensity until it released from his mouth as a savage, inhuman bellow. Frozen in place, she could only watch as he bore down on her. Vicious claws, sharp and deadly. Huge paws, large brown tree trunk of an arm sweeping down for her head. Time slowed as his arm descended. She could do nothing but watch. Even her wolf had gone deer in the headlights. She’d hurt her mate, so she deserved whatever happened next.
She closed her eyes and waited for the killing strike.
But it never came.
A whoosh of air preceded a quite hard nudge to the side, and her body went flailing. Her pissed-off grizzly shot right past her and attacked the guard with the red hair. One savage roar bellowed into the human’s face. Caleb’s sharp claws disemboweled the man with one swipe. One guard down. The team had better be in place because this was going down fast.
Her grizzly turned to her and gave a low whimpering growl before turning to advance on the next asshole. The bald guard who’d been laughing until thirty seconds ago.
How was it possible? Caleb was fighting the very thing which had made her into Bossman’s slave. She didn’t have time to process it now. They had to get out of here, save the rest of the shifters, and get those drugs out of Caleb’s system before he succumbed. What if he wasn’t hurting her because of his mating call? Would he fight Sam or Ida or any of the other good guys? She couldn’t take a chance. She had to get the antidote into him asap.
The bald guy was crying and begging for his mama as Caleb advanced on him.
She sprinted to the other side of the wall and closed her eyes as the horrifying sounds of a grizzly doing what it did best came from behind her. A shriek, a gurgle. Then a thump as a body hit the floor. “My name is Isabella Werner,” she whispered shakily. “You pissed off my mate. Prepare to die.”
Come on, get a grip, crazy woman, her wolf said in frustration.
Can’t help it, she giggled. I’m trying not to go into shock.
You’ve got to dart him before he goes too feral. We don’t know how long he can hold off from coming at us, her wolf said.
Two big things collided. And it wasn’t just her and the wall. She got her back against it and opened her eyes. Caleb was roaring and grappling with a much smaller, darker bear. The brown bear was half his size, but it wasn’t backing down and had placed itself firmly between Caleb and Isabella.
Isabella took in a deep breath through her nostrils. Black eyeliner, lipstick, and the residual scent of the special alloy used for piercings that would allow the shift from human to bear. And this bear was very close to going into heat. Sam. The goth chick best friend of Jane, and cousin to Caleb. The female who disliked her and had said not to trust Isabella from the get-go, was now giving her a much-needed distraction.
Isabella grabbed her bow and positioned herself in the farthest corner from him. Yeah, it cornered her even more—with a pissed-off grizzly bear—but she had only one shot at this. The special dart Ida had given her should counteract the effects of the chemicals in his system. But how long would it take?
She placed the dart over her thumb along the groove where a thinner arrow would have been positioned. Pulling her right arm back, she slowed her breathing and focused on her target. Ten feet of distance between them. It should have been a cakewalk, easy shot, pie, whatever. But if he moved the wrong way, she could hit Sam. And then they’d both die. This was her one chance.
Sam turned her brown snout to her and met her gaze. Isabella inclined her head to the left. Please let her understand. Caleb started to turn back to Isabella and her ready arrow, and fear spiked up her spine. Smack! The smaller bear had slapped him across the snout, diverting his attention back to her. He roared and raised his paw.
Isabella lined up her shot, one eye closed, the other focusing squarely on Sam’s head. The arrow would release straight into Sam’s right ear unless…
Isabella released the string from her right fingers and said a prayer as the dart slid across her thumb and straight toward Sam. At the same time, Sam backed up. Their grizzly stepped forward to deliver his killing blow, his right hand swinging down. The dart struck. Squarely in the left side of Caleb’s neck.
Pie, her wolf said, celebrating with a howl.
Not yet, she told her wolf and watched as the bear she had pierced took the dart out of his neck and examined it. He shattered the thing in his paw and roared at her before crashing through the wall and into the room next door.
Oh crap. There weren’t any more darts.
A gun went off, and Sam went down with a grunt. Two more guards entered the room.
“Kill both females, but cage the male!” Bossman shrieked from farther down the hall.
Uh oh.
Now can we please get furry? her wolf growled.
She ducked as the spray of bullets crashed over her head into the wall behind her. Isabella rolled behind the fallen counter, tearing off her shirt and jog bra. Another shot pinged off to her left. Let’s get wolfy.
Her wolf surged to the front, and her boots and pants fell to the floor as she leapt over the counter. Zip left, feint right. Bullets zinged past her, but they didn’t touch her. Isabella and her wolf, in tune with each other as the Goddess had intended. Her wolf scented the gunpowder and heard the click of each round as it was fired. Isabella’s human side watched the man’s eyes for the trajectory. They knew exactly how to stay out of the path of each bullet, and all it took was a bunch of really cool wolf parkour. Short leap here, roll there, duck here, soar through the air… She barreled into the man’s chest, knocking him onto the floor. His gun clicked madly at her muzzle. Empty chamber, a-hole. Yeah, she was good at counting still. One quick swipe across the man’s throat, and he was gone. She didn’t look at the blood or his eyes as the life seeped out of his body. She might be half animal, but it gave her no joy to kill another living being. She jumped away from the dead man and trotted over to Sam. The female shifted back into human form and slumped to the floor with a loud groan.
Isabella shifted back and helped Sam to her feet. “You okay?”
Sam winced as she rubbed at the bullet wound in her shoulder. “Fucking peachy. I’ll live. Let’s go get your mate and blow this shit-hole up.”
“He’s not my mate. At least, he doesn’t want to be my mate.”
“Yeah, right.” Sam rolled her eyes and grinned at her. “He goes all man-killing grizzly on everyone else except for a chick from a casual fling.”
“Let’s discuss this later when we’re both clothed and not bleeding.” Isabella shifted back into her wolf form and suppressed her laughter as Sam flipped her the bird and shifted into her bear. Bear paw one-finger salutes were not the same as in human form.
The sounds of guns firing, guards shouting, and animals attacking met them when they got into the hall. Isabella led the way. They needed to find Caleb, and her nose was telling her he’d gone to the right. Plus, the string of bodies lining the hall. She frowned as the stench of blood and urine met her nose more strongly. These were the times she hated being a royal. She would have nightmares from the smells alone.
As they followed the long hall, she knew exactly where Caleb would be. She led the way through the flickering lights, past empty rooms. Her original cell door was open, and the scents of her, Caleb and death wafted from it. She shuddered but continued through the doorway.
“Stop.” The agony in his voice froze her in place, head in the doorway, bushy tail in the hall.
She turned to Sam and inclined her head toward the end of the hall with a low whimper. The brown bear nodded and continued on her own in search of prisoners, leaving Izzy alone with the large, broken man.
Caleb had shifted back into human form—probably after killing the guard who lay in his own blood on the other side of the cell—and now sat naked and shattered on her old cot. The remorse in his eyes tore at her soul. He wrapped his beefy arms around his bare chest and shuddered and wheezed. She remembered the harsh moment when Ida’s herbs had kicked in, and her body had been wracked with more pain, and her mind reeled in confusion. What was reality, what was truth?
Shifting, she walked barefoot and naked into the cell.
“Stay away from me!” he roared. “I don’t want to hurt you!” His eyes flashed with his bear, but his tight, raised fists did not grow claws. His heavy arms and fists were in defensive—not attack—posture.
“You’re not going to hurt me.”
“You…don’t know…for sure.” He winced and doubled up with coughs and dry heaves. He flailed his arms around as if to strike her away, but she continued forward. When the back of his hand brushed her shoulder, she still moved forward. His heavy fists could do some serious damage to her in human form, but her heart would not yield. It had a goal. Reaching Caleb.
The soft sounds built up from her chest, and she released them. A low hum built quickly into melody. Then words. Then chorus. She didn’t even know what she was singing; the notes came from her soul. Each melodious note, harmonized in her head by her wolf. The music, at first haunting and devastating, mourning the loss of their beloved. Then the glorious sounds came tumbling out, like a full orchestra amping up to deliver the defeat of the enemy, the glory of the win, the beauty of love soaring all around them. Her love for Caleb flowed into each note, pouring out of her as she desperately ached for him to listen. To truly hear her. To accept her love. True, honest, heartbreakingly beautiful love.
When she wrapped her arms around his body, he didn’t fight her. He collapsed into her embrace. And when his salty tears reached her nose, she cried with him. The words couldn’t come anymore, because of her hiccupped breaths and sobs. So she hummed. And he rumbled against her chest. No, he didn’t rumble. The low vibration from his chest and throat touched every part of his body as he engulfed her in his embrace. She hummed. He purred. All other sounds around them faded until the click of a gun cocking in the doorway shattered the silence.
~.~
Caleb squinted his bleary eyes and focused on the man. He held a walkie-talkie in his left hand, a cocked pistol in his right, and a rifle was slung over his shoulder.
“I’ve got them cornered in human form, sir. Orders?”
“Kill the female. Lock up the male. Then get your ass down to the loading dock. The helicopter is waiting out back. If you don’t make it, you’re on your own.”
“Yes, sir.”
Isabella tensed in his arms, and Caleb released a low growl in frustration. He couldn’t shift yet. The dart had shaken him back to his senses, but it had left him unable to reach his bear. Isabella was vulnerable standing between his legs, her whole body positioned for an easy shot. It didn’t matter if the soldier’s pistol and rifle were loaded with normal bullets. A shot to the head or heart would kill her instantly. And he couldn’t fucking shift to protect his mate. His mate. The rage built within him. He would die before he let this asshole try to hurt his mate.
The man’s gaze hardened. He dropped the walkie-talkie, and it clattered to the ground as he swung his rifle up to aim at the woman Caleb loved. Both weapons fired at the same time, and Caleb wrenched his mate around, so his body covered hers.
Bullet after bullet tore through his skin, and the sounds of Isabella’s shrieks filled the room. Her shrieks turned into howls as his body jerked and seized from all the bullets. Her wolf leapt into the air. Caleb fell onto his side on the bed and watched the wolf as it savagely tore into the guard. His screams, Caleb’s dull, achy breaths, his heartbeat thumping wildly, the wolf ripping into the other man, two loud gunshots, followed by a heavy body falling to the floor. Her growls hadn’t ceased, and she continued to rip into the already-dead man.
“That’s enough, Princess.”
She froze as if in shock at what she had done and released a high-pitched whimper. His sweet mate needed him now more than ever. Isabella needed him to calm her, stroke her, hold her. Tell her it was going to be okay. They could get out of there and be together forever. But they couldn’t be together forever. Look what he had already done to the poor woman. His sweet, young, innocent vegetarian who couldn’t even stand watching Bambi was turning into a bloodthirsty Femme Nikita who’d hate herself down the road. Caleb was the beast who had let her get brainwashed in this place. He had let her fall in love with him even after she said she didn’t want love. He’d tried to kill her in the medical facility a few minutes ago. And, now, she was covered in the blood of a fresh—human—kill. All his fault.
She stepped toward him with another shaky whimper, but he held up his hand.
“No. You saved my life and I appreciate it, but you need to go now. Get yourself and the other prisoners to safety.”
She took another step forward, eyes wide and frightened.
“Don’t you get it, Princess? We don’t belong together. We may be part animal, but no one wants to mate a monster.”
She gave him a quick growl and turned to stalk out the door.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
She made it all the way out the door before her tail dropped, and she slinked the rest of the way out. Leaving him alone with a couple of dead guys, fallen weapons, and an aching heart that hurt a hell of a lot more than the dozen or so bullet wounds in his body.
He’d been talking about himself, but she thought he’d called her a monster.
You really are a monster. He stumbled to his feet and wrapped the bloody bed sheet around his waist.
He walked out the door and almost ran into Ida pushing a passed-out guy in a wheelchair. Must be some sort of shifter based on the scars and wounds on his body. But he didn’t have Isabella’s nose or ability. And he sure as hell couldn’t ask her now.
“Glad you’re okay.” Ida gave him a quick hug. “The leaders of this place took off in a helicopter. Sorry we couldn’t get to them, but we got all the prisoners. This place is ready to blow. Can you make it out on two feet?”
“Yeah. I’ll help push.” He wasn’t really helping push the chair as much as he was leaning on it, but it helped his pride. Why was it the females around him were all such badasses, and he was the one who could barely walk? Wuss.
“You’re riddled with bullet holes and remnants of bad drugs meant to mess up your system, cub.” Ida nudged his shoulder, and he held in the wince. “Try to cut yourself some slack until we get you patched up.”
They got the last prisoner loaded up into the dark SUV and made eye contact with everyone who had gone in as the rescue party. Sam and the feline friends of Stone were in a truck. Zach, Bo, Nissa, and Izzy—who sat with her arms around herself, staring straight ahead, not meeting his gaze—were in the Impala. Stone had a van full of rescued shifters. And he and Ida had the last of the prisoners. They tore out of the compound as the explosions went off. One after another, building upon each other until the whole place was nothing more than smoke and rubble. Thankfully, Stone had gotten all the hardware and software they could get off the systems. Unfortunately, Bossman—Roger?—was still out there. And so was the crazy doctor. But that was a battle for another day. For right now, all he wanted to do was sleep. And get the bullets out of him. Sleep first. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the passenger window while Ida drove. Bullets later. What else was he forgetting? Something about music.