9781631054747HerstoBearHoffa (15 page)

Cassandra
broke in. “Oh, I can’t wait to meet you, Bern. We were planning to come down
for Christmas, but maybe we will move it up and come for Thanksgiving. What do
you think? Barton, could you get away then?”

“We’ll
see, Kiki. Where’s my daughter, is she listening in?”

“I’m
here, Daddy,” Jenna said, Bern held the phone so they could both hear.

“I’m so
happy for you baby. If your mother has her way, and you know she will, we’ll be
there in November, but we’ll talk to you next Sunday.”

“We
love you,” they both said.

“I love
you too,” Jenna said, and they both hung up. Bern hooked the phone back into
the holster on his belt and Jenna laid her head on his shoulder. “That went
well.”

“Yes,
it did. Your father sure didn’t seem to care that you mated a shifter.”

“I told
you he wouldn’t.”

“I know
you did, but I have to say I had my reservations.”

Jenna
sat up and looked into his eyes, in them she saw reflected the pain of years of
prejudice. She leaned in and tenderly kissed his lips, palming his cheeks and
then running her fingers through his shaggy brown hair.

For
long minutes they gently caressed and kissed, passion took a backseat to warmth
and affection. Jenna’s hands travelled over Bern’s muscled back, moving
constantly, mapping the hills and valleys of the sculpted terrain.

Bern’s
hands tangled in Jenna’s curls, holding her head in place for his kisses. When
they finally broke apart, he leaned his forehead against hers and breathed deep
of her scent. “I love you, my mate.”

“I love
you too, my big bear,” she said. They rested like that for a moment, and then
she stirred. “I hate to say it, but I better go home. Alice is waiting, and
tomorrow is a school day.”

Bern
kissed her nose. “You’re right, little one. I will take you home.”

* * * *

In the
dark of night the HUNTS crew planned their mission. No fire burned at the
campsite tonight. The men were all dressed in black, camouflage on their faces.
They gathered in a circle around a map with a flashlight.

“Okay,
the damn wolf warned the fucking bears and they’ve increased the night patrols,
but I still think we can make the grab tonight. The Schmidt’s house is at the
edge of town, and we have enough sleeping gas for two rooms. If we time the
grab between the roving patrols, and take out one of the guards with a
tranquilizer dart, if necessary, we can grab the Schmidt kid before midnight.”

“I want
to hit the bears fast and get out of town. While they are out searching for the
Schmidt kid, we’ll hit the playground after school tomorrow afternoon and get
Sarah Barr,
then
we’ll take both kids to the lab,”
John said.

“That
means we have to keep Jacob Schmidt here until tomorrow
afternoon,
aren’t you afraid the bears will find him?” Scott asked.

“We
won’t keep him here,” John said. “We’ll keep him sedated and in the van. It
will only be eighteen hours, I have enough scent blocker to keep him hidden for
that long and we can keep the van moving.”

“Maybe
we should wait and snatch the kid closer to morning,” Kyle said. “Hit the house
like four am,
then
we wouldn’t have to hold the kid so
long, or be on the run as long.”

John
scratched the scruff on his chin. “That’s a thought. Good thinking Kyle. It
also gives us a chance to get a little sleep tonight. Okay men, set your alarms
for three and hit the rack.” He slapped Kyle on the shoulder and the men
dispersed.

John
went over to check the equipment in the van, Kyle followed. “Everything set?”
Kyle asked.

“Yeah,
I’ve got sleeping gas for two rooms, twelve tranquillizer darts and twenty
scent blocker pills,” John replied.

“Are
you sure this tranquillizer is strong enough for bears?”

John
quirked a brow at him.
“Yes, I’m sure.”

Kyle
raised his hands in a defensive gesture.
“Just checking.”

“Get
some
sleep,
I don’t want any mistakes tonight.”

Kyle
saluted.
“Yes, sir.”
He turned and headed to his tent.

At
three o’clock the men gathered and took their scent blocker pills, the pills
worked within thirty minutes, so by the time they reached the outskirts of town
they would have no scent.

“Move
out,” John said and the men piled into three vehicles, the van and two jeeps.
They drove to the edge of town and parked the jeeps in the woods, concealing
the vehicles. They drove the van as close to the house as possible, still
keeping out of sight.

According
to their reconnaissance, the guards shouldn’t be due to patrol this area until
five am so they had an hour to get in and out. John grabbed the tanks of
sleeping gas, it was a formula the scientists had come up with of aerosolized
Ketamine, Rohypnol and God only knew what else, John sure didn’t want to know.
But it worked great for their purposes. The animal tranquilizer put the weres
to sleep and Rohypnol made them forget anything they might have heard of the
crew during the kidnapping.

The
couple would wake in the morning, astonished to find their child missing.
Saying they had never heard or seen a thing. It was beautiful.

The
fall weather made things even easier, the windows were open to the cool night
air, so all John had to do was slip the hose through the open window and open
the valve. Ten minutes and the drug had taken effect.

He
moved to the child’s window and repeated the process. The men donned gas masks
and entered through the open window. John injected the child with a dose of
Ketamine to make sure he stayed asleep and carried him out to the van.

Metal
cages were built into the sides of the van and he secured the child in one of
the cages, locked the door and backed out of the van, closing the double doors.
He slapped Scott on the shoulder. His white teeth showed through the black
paint on his face as he smiled.

“Let’s
get out of here. Well done, my friend. Well done.”

* * * *

Bern’s
phone woke him from a sound sleep, never a good thing. “Bern here,” he
answered.

“
Sippe
,” a tearful voice cried. “Jacob is
gone!” Margo Schmidt’s voice was so agonized Bern hardly recognized it. He sat
bolt upright in bed, threw off the covers and began to grab clothes, dressing
as he asked questions.

“When
did you notice he was missing, Margo?”

“We
woke to find him gone! I don’t know how,
Sippe
.
We never heard a thing. We went to bed and everything was fine, I went to wake
him for breakfast and his bed was empty.” Margo began sobbing and her husband’s
voice came over the phone. His voice was more bear than human.

“I will
kill them, my
Sippe
. Send a hunting
party. We will search.”

“Can
you find a scent, Alexander?”

A roar
sounded on the other end of the line, full of both anger and sorrow. “No,” he
growled. “There is so scent, no tracks.
Nothing.
Like
ghosts stole in the night, but I will find them. They will not get away with my
son.”

“No,
they won’t, Alexander. I will pull out all stops. I will also call in the
wolves,
they are the best trackers around. We will find
them, but please, stay there until we arrive and set up a plan. Don’t run off
half-cocked.”

“I will
try, but hurry.”

“I’m on
my way.”

Bern
was already dressed, his next call was to Martin, he directed him to call out
the all the guards in the clan. This would be an all-out assault, he would keep
a skeleton crew in town to guard the population, but everyone else would be
searching for Jacob Schmidt.

Next he
called Sebastian Von Drake. One day after their bonding and already he was
calling on their bond. They hadn’t even performed the ceremony in front of
Sebastian’s pack yet. What a cluster fuck.

“Bastian,
HUNTS hit last night. We have a missing cub.” No time for greetings or small
talk, Bern just laid it on the table.

If
Sebastian was less than alert before the call you would never know it, he
answered straight in operational mode. “I’m on my way. I’ll bring my three best
trackers. How many other men do you need? Do you want the whole pack?
All my guards?”

Bastian
felt his heart swell, with that many shifters searching they would have to be
able to track the cub.

“If you
could bring all the guards I would appreciate it. We should be able to cover
every possible escape route between your men and mine.”

“I’ll
make the calls now. Where do you want to meet?”

Bern
gave him the address, and signed off, feeling slightly better, knowing he had
the help of the best trackers in the area and double the man power to help in
the search. He quickly dialed Jenna to let her know what was going on.

“Hi,
darling,” she answered.

“Hi,
Jenna.”

“What’s
the matter?”

“You
already know me so well. One of our cubs was kidnapped last night.”

“Oh
my God!
No!
Who was it? Is it one of my students?”

“I
don’t know. It’s Jacob Schmidt.”

“Oh, I
know him. He’s in First grade. He’s adorable. Poor little boy, he must be
scared to death! His poor parents! Is there anything I can do?”

“No,
little one, just keep yourself safe. Make sure you stay with Hans. Sebastian
and his guards are on their way and his group and ours will be out searching as
soon as we get organized.”

“I
can’t have my phone on in class, but text me and let me know what’s going on.
I’ll check my phone whenever I can. Please be careful.”

“I
will,
little one. You be careful too.”

“I
promise. I love you.”

“I love
you too. I have to go.”

Bern
pulled into Margo and Alexander Schmidt’s driveway. Alexander paced the front
porch. Bern jumped from his SUV and ran toward Alex, he hugged the other man.
The bear needed the support of his alpha and physical contact gave him
necessary strength.

Vehicle
after vehicle pulled into the driveway after Bern’s arrival. The clan was
assembling,
it was a search party, a hunting party. Jacob
Schmidt would be found.

Chapter
Thirteen

The
Schmidt’s kitchen became a command
post,
the kitchen table
was covered with maps. Communication devices were handed out to everyone in the
search party, specially made to be used in both human and shifted forms, the
two
way
radio bracelets were self-adjusting,
regulating to the size of the arm of the wearer.

Bern
divided the city and outlying areas into quadrants, two man teams would search
each section. Reporting in every twenty minutes, time was of the essence. Every
minute was a step farther Jacob got from home, and lessened the chance of him
being found.

Sebastian
arrived just as Bern was sending out the first of the search groups. His
expression was grave and he spoke through their mind link.

Is it the same as with our cubs?
No scent? No tracks?

Bern
nodded.

My best trackers are here,
but…you know they searched for our own cubs and found nothing. We will do our
best, but be prepared for the worst.

Bern
met his gaze.
I will not accept that. We
will find Jacob. I have faith.

I had faith too.
Bastian responded.

Bern
looked down at the floor for a moment, then squared his shoulders and looked
back up at Sebastian. “Welcome, my friend,” he said aloud. “Bring your trackers
and come this way.” He led them to Jacob’s bedroom.

The
three wolves stripped and shifted, scented the air, and then began a methodical
search of the room. From corner to corner each wolf searched, scenting every
object in the room, toys, bedding, and furniture.

Finally,
they shifted back, standing naked, unconcerned for their state of undress, they
turned to Sebastian. As one they shook their heads, and the lead wolf stated.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. There is nothing here, but the scent of bears.
Nothing at the window or door to the room.
Nothing in the room.”
The wolf and his brethren looked down
at the floor, embarrassed and disheartened to have disappointed their Alpha.

Sebastian
laid a hand on the wolf’s shoulder. “It is not your fault, Johnathon. You
cannot find what is not there. Go outside search the perimeter. Do not despair.
We will find Jacob, and hopefully our cubs too.”

Sebastian
stroked a hand through the wolf’s hair and he calmed from the soothing gesture,
nodded and shifted back to wolf form, the other two following suit. The three
wolves padded from the room and headed toward the front of the house.

“How
are they managing to leave no scent,” Bern raged.

“I can
only think that their scientists have somehow come up with a way to mask their
scent, my friend. I do not know,” Sebastian replied.

“Let’s
head to the campsite, maybe your trackers can pick up their scent from there,”
Bern said.

“Good
idea. Let’s go.”

Sebastian
grabbed the clothes his trackers had discarded and the two men gathered
communication devices and headed out the front door.

As
expected, they found the campsite abandoned. The only indication anyone had
ever been there was the burned out remnants of the campfire. However, the
scents of the HUNTS crew were strong.

They
were able to easily discern the distinct identities of the five men. They would
be able to identify them if they could find them.
If.
That was the problem.
Finding them.
Tracks from three
vehicles left the campgrounds and they were able to follow them to the place
where they had parked in the woods to kidnap Jacob, but from there it was a
bust.

It
looked as though each vehicle had taken off in a different direction. They were
intentionally confusing the trail. The men had taken to main roads, paved
roads, and there was no way to follow a trail on paved roads. No scent to
follow in a vehicle, and they didn’t even know which vehicle held the child.
Which direction to follow.
Oh, God, where did they go from
here?

The sun
was
rising
high in the sky now. It was almost noon.
What time had Jacob been taken? They didn’t even know that. How many hours head
start did the kidnappers have? They could be a hundred miles from here by now.
What direction were they travelling? There had to be a clue somewhere, Bern
just had to find it.

He
texted Jenna.

Campsite abandoned. Found tracks
to abduction sight, but lost them from there. Search continues. Will
advise
. Love you.

Sebastian
walked up and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We have tire tracks. Is anyone in
your clan good on computers?”

“Yes,
Guiles is a genius on computers. Why?”

“We
might be able to determine what kind of vehicles they are driving from the tire
tracks. I’ve seen it on those crime shows on TV.”

“Brilliant!
I’ll get Guiles over here straight away. At least then we could be on the
lookout for the cars!”

* * * *

Jenna
did her best to put on a smiling happy front for the children at school. They
didn’t know what was going on, and weren’t supposed to know. She couldn’t let
on that anything was wrong. She was going to deserve an Academy award for her
performance today.

At
lunch she checked her phone and saw the text from Bern. Not good news, but
something at least.
She texted back.

Praying for
Jacob’s safe return.
Love you too.

Because
of the kidnapping Hans wasn’t content to guard from outside as usual, and
insisted on being in the classroom with her. Jenna had worried it would disrupt
the children, but they seemed to take it in stride. After the announcement this
weekend, they all now knew she was the
Sippe’s
mate and the extra security didn’t faze them.

Though
Jenna worried constantly, the afternoon passed quickly. Twenty five-year olds
kept you on your toes. When afternoon pick-up started Jenna’s phone rang.

“Jenna,
it’s
Julia. I’m so sorry, but I’m over at Margo
Schmidt’s house. She is a basket case. Dagmar is going to come and pick up
Sarah, but she’s running a few minutes late.”

“No
problem, Julia. I’ll take her out on the playground until Dagmar gets here.
We’ll be fine. I feel so badly for Margo. You take care of her. Are you sure
you don’t just want me to take Sarah home with me?”

“That’s
so kind of you, but no. Dagmar is already on her way. Thanks.”

“Okay,
I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.”

Sarah
looked up from her
seat,
bless her soul and shifter
hearing. “Mommy’s going to be late, again!” she said.

Jenna
laughed. “Well, technically, your Aunt Dagmar is going to be late,” she said.

“Yeah,
whatever.”
Sarah sighed.

“Am I
so bad?” Jenna asked.

At that
Sarah smiled. “No, you’re terrific!”

“Okay
then! As soon as everyone else is picked up, we’ll go play on the swings.”

“Cool!”

It only
took about ten minutes for the room to clear out and leave only Jenna, Sarah
and Hans. Jenna extended a hand to Sarah. “Okay, little girl, let’s go!”
Swinging hands, Jenna and Sarah walked ahead of Hans out to the playground.

Hans
took up his usual spot on the bench and watched as Jenna pushed Sarah on the
swings. “Do you want to sing a song?” Jenna asked.

“I
don’t know. What kind of song? I don’t really know any songs?”

“How
about
Five Little Monkey’s
Swingin
’ in a Tree
?” Jenna tickled her, and Sarah
laughed.
“Because you’re a silly little monkey.”

“Am
not,” she squealed. “I’m a big ole bear!”

Jenna
stilled and stopped the swing, something was wrong, she could feel it. She
turned to look at Hans and saw him slumped on the bench. “Hans!” she shouted
and he didn’t respond.

She
grabbed Sarah and started running toward the school, whispering in her ear.
“Something is wrong. If something happens to me, you get to the school. Lock
yourself in my room. Hide. Stay safe.” Jenna could feel the tiny body in her
arms trembling.

Claws
sprouted from the ends of Jenna’s hands,
well
that was new
. Footsteps sounded behind them, thundering closer. Senses on
overload, Jenna heard something whistle through the air and then a thunk and a
sharp pain in her neck, she fell to her knees, Sarah still clutched in her
arms. “Run, Sarah, run,” was all she managed before everything went black.

* * * *

John
and Kyle chased after Jenna and Sarah, John stopped and took aim with the
tranquillizer gun, he shot the dart into Jenna’s neck and she dropped to her
knees and then fell forward to the ground. Sarah jumped from her arms and
continued running toward the school. John aimed another dart and shot the
child, she fell immediately.

Kyle
was already scooping the child into his arms when John reached them. Jenna was
prone on the ground with her arms stretched toward them. Claws extended from
the ends of her hands.

“What
the hell is that?” Kyle asked. “I thought the school teacher was human? We’ve
been watching them for weeks. She was documented as human. How the hell does
she have claws?”

John
walked over and examined Jenna’s
neck,
he found the
fresh bite mark. “Look at this. She has a bite mark on her neck. She must have
mated with one of the bears. This could be the break through we’ve been looking
for. The rumors may be true about shifters being able to change their mates.
We’ll take the teacher too. Elizabeth will be over the moon. Let’s get the hell
out of here.”

John
threw Jenna over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and the two men took off at
jog for the van. Once both Jenna and Sarah were secured in cages the van began
the journey toward the laboratory in the Smokey Mountains.

John
was feeling very self-satisfied. Not only did they have the two bear cubs, but
a shifter’s mate too. He couldn’t wait to dump them with Elizabeth and get the
hell out of Dodge. He needed a
vacation,
he was taking
ten days in Aruba before he headed to Arizona and the lion pride. He needed to
decompress.

Three
hours he drove southwest, out of the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia and
into the Great Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. His captives slept
peacefully in their cages, never stirring. Kyle rode shotgun, splitting his
attention between the rearview mirror and the inert captives in the back.

“Do you
really think shifters can change people?” Kyle asked.

“I
don’t know,” John answered. “But it certainly is something interesting to
explore.”

“Did
you call ahead and let Dr. Montrose know we were coming?” Kyle asked.

“No, I
wanted to surprise her with our little shifter mate,” John said.

Kyle
laughed.
“How long until we get there?”

“I
forgot you haven’t been to the compound before. We’re almost there.”

Kyle
looked around. “You’re kidding. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Exactly,”
John replied.

Kyle
sat wide eyed as John drove them into the mountain. Now that they had arrived
John used the intercom system to call down and have three gurneys sent up to
transport their captives. Elizabeth arrived with the equipment.

John
was opening the van doors when she walked up.
“Why three
gurneys, John?
Did you bring an extra child?”

“Something
better, Liz. I brought you a shifter’s mate.”

“What
do you mean?”

“A
human teacher at the school where we snatched one of the kids must have
recently mated a shifter. She has a bite mark on her neck.”

“You
kidnapped a human! What the hell were you thinking, John! We don’t harm
humans!”

“Hold
your horses, Liz. She was with the kid when we grabbed her and before we could
tranq her she sprouted claws.”

Elizabeth
sputtered.
“She what?
Claws, let me see?”

John
went to pull Jenna from her cage, but the woman was now semi-conscious. “Where
am I? What do you want?” she mumbled.

John
pulled her from the vehicle and placed her on one of the gurneys. Her hands
were now completely normal. Jenna’s head flopped from side to side and she mumbled
constantly. “Sarah? Where is Sarah? Where am I?”