Chapter 22
Lincoln
“Brother, we will get her out of this alive,” I heard Jackson say.
We’d been staking out the park since eight in the morning. Ford, Grant, Jackson and fifteen other men from our clan were there. We’d covered all the possible exits and entrances to the park and I was hopeful. If this guy brought Charlotte with him, there was no way he was slipping away with her.
Yet, I was nervous.
And Ford had noticed it.
I was concerned for Charlotte’s safety, for the health of our baby. No matter what happened today, I was sure it was going to take its toll on her. It had been nearly twenty-four hours that Charlotte was in captivity, which was enough time to break her.
I nodded at Ford, grateful for his support. Once I’d informed my friends that Charlotte was pregnant with my child—I knew that everyone at the clan was going to do everything they could to get mother and child out alive. They would be willing to give up their lives to save her if they had to.
“There’s a van,” I heard a voice on the walkie. It was Jackson, who was keeping an eye out on one of the roads. I looked in his direction and saw a blue van pulling up. There was no sign of Charlotte, so it was quite possible that it was a false alert.
Then we saw a man jump out the front and stroll into the park. I knew right away that he was a coyote shifter. I could smell him from here. Luckily we were upwind so it would take him awhile to notice us.
Andrew was already in position, sitting on the bench in the middle of the park in full view.
I picked up my walkie.
“Go to the van. Check if Charlotte’s inside,” I told Jackson as I felt my bear shift underneath my skin .
“Lincoln, wait, he could have back-up from the rest of his pack” Ford hissed as I stepped out from the hiding spot behind the tree.
“His pack isn’t here, he’s working alone,” I said. He was the only coyote I could smell in the area.
I watched as the man sat down on the bench beside Andrew. They were still some distance from me. I walked towards them. They had their backs to me so neither of them could see me coming.
All I needed to do was get close enough to him without alarming him, or anyone else in the park.
I could feel my blood boiling already—knowing that it was this bastard who’d kidnapped Charlotte right out of her room. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip him apart.
As I inched closer to them, I could hear Andrew and him talking.
“Where is my daughter?” I heard Andrew ask.
The man was glaring at him.
“I’m not going to tell you that until you agree to stop the construction,” he hissed.
“That wasn’t a part of the deal. You have the money now, give me back my daughter!” Andrew raged and the man shook his head.
“I make the rules here. So, now I’ve changed them. Stop the construction and you can have your daughter,” he said.
“That will take some time. I can’t just do it right now, not today!” Andrew remarked and the man shrugged.
“I can wait…I’m sure your daughter can wait too,” he said.
“Okay, look, I’ll do anything. Just let my daughter go!” Andrew said.
I was inching closer to them, as close as I could get without being detected by the coyote.
“Stop the construction. Give back the homes to the shifters you took them from and I’ll return your daughter to you. Until then, she stays with me!”
My blood curdled at the sound of that. He had his money. Andrew had handed over the bag of cash to him; but that wasn’t enough. He’d planned on keeping Charlotte captive. He had more demands.
I was close enough to him now to grab him if I wanted to.
Andrew was faced towards me, and I knew from the corner of his eyes; he could see me coming. But thankfully, he didn’t look at me or make a move. The man still didn’t know I was behind him.
“She’s fine…” he said, with a hiss in his voice. In the next moment, I reached my hand out and grabbed his throat.
“Don’t move or you’re dead,” I growled. Instinctually, he raised his arms up in the air, but kept his face forward.
“You are making a bad mistake,” he hissed.
“Stand up. Slowly!” I shouted.
By now, there were people in the park who’d noticed the scene. They were staring at us not sure what to do. If I had to shift, and we started a fight, they would all be in danger.
“You’re coming with us,” I said to him.
“I’m not going anywhere. And you won’t find Charlotte either. So, kill me!” he squealed.
Andrew was standing up too now.
“Where is she? Where is Charlotte?” he shouted.
“I’m not telling you anything. You will never find her!” the coyote screamed.
“Tell me where my daughter is and we’ll let you go. We’ll forget this happened. Just tell me where to find Charlotte!” Andrew continued to shout.
“You can fuck right off. I don’t care if I live or die!” the coyote said.
I’d had enough.
I looked around the park, and most of the people that were staring had run away. I let go of the coyote, and let me bear take over. The power consumed me and when my paws hit the ground I let out a loud growl.
Andrew quickly backed away.
The coyote quickly shifted as well. If I were in my human for I would have let out a laugh. He was tiny compared to my grizzly bear size. He let out a low growl and tried to rush toward me. But I was too strong for him. All it took was one strong strike with my paw and I was able to pin him to the ground. I placed both my paws on him and snarled near his throat. He squirmed for a moment, but then realized I had him. His body went limp and my bear took that as a sign of him submitting.
I backed away and shifted into my human form, as he did as well.
“She’s in the van,” he said.
The clan was gathered around us now, and I grabbed the coyote and shoved him in the direction of one of them.
“He’s coming with us,” I growled and turned to where the van was parked on the road. Jackson threw me some shorts as we started to walk towards it.
I needed to see Charlotte.
I needed to make sure she was okay.