9781631054747HerstoBearHoffa (16 page)

Dr.
Montrose crossed to her and held her head in place, she looked at John. “What
is her name?”

“Jenna
Raynes.”

“Jenna,
try and clam down,” the doctor said as Jenna was strapped to the gurney. “You are
safe and Sarah is unharmed.
Relax,
rest and when you
wake up I will explain it all to you. Just rest now.” Elizabeth stroked her
hair and Jenna closed her eyes and appeared to go back to sleep.

Elizabeth
crossed to John. “What the hell have you done? You can’t take humans! Humans
aren’t like
shifters,
her parents will call the
police. You are a blithering idiot!”

John
grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “You think the police are a
problem? God, how can you be so naïve, when your father practically runs this
program? We can do anything we want. No one will stop us. No one will question
us.”

* * * *

About
half a dozen men were gathered around Guiles’ laptop in the Schmidt’s kitchen.
They had determined that one of the vehicles was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and
another was a large cargo van, but they couldn’t determine what make or model.
The third was an SUV, with fifteen inch tires, but it appeared they all used
the same type tires, so it could be any make or model.

This
was getting no closer to finding Jacob. Bern started to pace the confines of
the room. His patience was wearing thin. A sudden stab of terror hit him, like
nothing he had ever felt in his life. He fell to his knees.
Run, Sarah, run!
Screamed through his
mind and then total silence.

A broken
roar swelled from his throat and rattled the windows of the house. Fur sprouted
from every pore and fangs filled his mouth, his clothing split and tore. He
stood, no longer human, an enraged ten foot grizzly bear tearing hell-bent for
leather toward the front door and escape.

His
mate, he had to get to his mate. Sebastian raced ahead of him and opened the
door before he could tear it from the frame. He ran blind with rage and fear,
he kept calling to Jenna in his mind and she didn’t answer.
Nothing.
Their connection was gone. Blank. The hunters had never killed before, please
God,
don’t
let them have killed his mate.

He
raced toward the center of town and eventually Sebastian’s word’s reached him
through their mind link.
Calm down, my
friend. You can still feel her life force. I can feel it through our link. She
only sleeps.

Sebastian
had shifted and followed Bern in wolf form. Several others in the pack followed
in SUVs. Bern took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. Yes, there
it was. He could feel his mate. She lived.
They
were after Sarah, my niece. Oh God, Bastian. What will I tell my sister?

One crisis at a time, my friend.
Let’s find your mate and determine what happened.

They
reached the school and crashed through the front doors, Bern headed straight
for Jenna’s classroom. He shifted back to human as he reached the door,
clasping the handle he threw it open and was greeted with nothing but an empty
room.

Nothing
was out of place, no signs of a struggle and
no
Jenna
or Sarah. The scents of dozens of shifter and human children mingled with the
scent of his mate and Hans. He followed the fresh scent of Hans and Jenna to
the playground and discovered his guard, unconscious on a park bench with a
tranquillizer dart still embedded in his neck.

Bern
left Sebastian and the newly arrived Martin to deal with Hans while he
frantically searched for Jenna. It was an open area, where the hell could she
be? He shifted back to bear so he could more easily follow her scent and
tracked her from the swing set along the trail back toward the school.

He
found the area where she fell. He sat on his haunches in his big bear form and
scratched his chest. They took her. That was the only possibility and it was
their first and last mistake. Bern stood and roared again, but this time it was
a roar of triumph. Victory was in their hands. HUNTS didn’t know it, but they
had signed their death warrants. They could mask their scents, hide their
tracks, they could travel from here to Timbuktu, but they could never hide a
bonded mate from a shifter.

It was
true that Jenna hadn’t completed her first shift yet, but Bern already held her
in his heart. He knew her thoughts and her feelings and he could sense where
she was from anywhere in the world. They would be able to find them now. All
they had to do was pray to the God and Goddess that the HUNTS crew kept Jenna
with the cubs.

Bern
shifted back to human and stood panting hunched over with his hands on his
knees for a few moments. Three shifts in less than an hour had him worn out.
“Toss me a pair of pants,” he called to Martin, and a pair of sweat pants
sailed through the air in his direction.

Bern
sauntered back toward the crowd gathered around the groggy, but slowly waking
Hans, an injection of Y
ohimbine reversing the effects of the
Ketamine. “They have taken Jenna,” Bern said.

Sebastian
looked up in shock. “Why the hell would they do that?” he asked.

“I
don’t know, but it’s the first mistake they’ve made. We’ll be able to track
them now. Get everyone together. We need all the firepower we can get. Do you
have anyone good with explosives in your pack?”

“Explosives?
Are you fucking serious?”
Sebastian balked.

“You
bet I am. If we find their laboratory there will be nothing left of it but smoke
and ashes,” Bern replied in a voice as cold as ice.

“I
have two men who are former Navy SEALs. One is a demolitions expert, but I
don’t know if he has any explosives on hand,” Sebastian answered.

“I
also have a demolitions expert in my clan.
Former Special
Forces.
We have Semtex and detonators, timers, everything we will need.”
Bern nodded and turned striding toward one of the SUVs.

“Martin,
gather the inner circle. Sebastian
come
with me. We
will rendezvous at my home, sixteen hundred hours,” Bern tossed over his
shoulder never breaking stride.

Sebastian
followed him, but in his mind he heard.
It
is a good thing I like you, my friend. I am not used to taking orders. You
would do well to remember that
.
 

Bern’s
step faltered for a moment and then he continued on, but he nodded his head in
acknowledgement.

“I
better call Alice,” Bern said.

“I
do not envy you that task, my friend,” Sebastian chuckled.

Bern
called as they careened out of the school parking lot, Alice answered on the
first ring.

“Hey
big guy, are you holding up my girl again? I thought she’d be home by now.”

Bern
cleared his throat. “Um, there is a small problem, Miss Alice.”

“Problem?
Whutz up?
Your crazy sister
late picking
up her kid again?”

“Um,
well…”

“Spit
it out bear. You’re makin’ me nervous,” Alice barked.

“Did
Jenna tell you about the missing cub from last night?” Bern queried.

“No,
she didn’t say shit. You got my girl keepin’ secrets from me, already? What the
fuck is going on, bear?”

“Another
cub has been taken, my niece, Sarah.”

“And
let me guess, Jenna was with Sarah when she was taken? Am I warm?”

“Yes,
Jenna was taken too.”

“Fuck
a duck! I’m getting Louie!”

“Louie?”

“My
Louisville Slugger, I’ll kill those bastards!” Alice screamed.

“That’s
my mate,” Sebastian whispered.

“I
appreciate your sentiment, Miss Alice, but we have it under control. I assure
you I will have Jenna home safe and sound by supper tonight.”

“You better, bear.
I’m calling her parents!” With
that the line went dead.

Great.
Just the way Bern wanted to
meet the in-laws.

*
* * *

Ten
vehicles and fifty shifters set out from Bern’s house less than thirty minutes
later. Jenna was awake, but groggy. Bern could feel her anger and frustration.
She was trying to figure out where she was and what her captors wanted.

He
caught only glimpses of what she saw in his mind. A huge underground cavern,
lights flickering above, white coats. Sebastian drove because Bern wanted to be
able to concentrate on Jenna and any images he received from her. The words
he’d heard when Sarah had been taken were the first time she had communicated
telepathically with him and he didn’t know if she’d be able to do it again.

Bern
reached for her with his mind.
Little
one, can you hear me?

A
startled gasp sounded in his head.
Oh my
God, Bern, is that you? I won’t tell you to get out of my head this time. How
are you doing this?

I told you we would be able to
communicate telepathically once we were fully bonded.

But, I haven’t shifted yet.

No, but you are obviously
gifted.

He
heard her laughter in his mind.
Not
gifted enough. I got caught by these jag offs and they got Sarah. Bern, I’m
scared.

I know, little one. Be strong,
we are on our way.

On your way?
How do you know where we are? I don’t even know where we
are.

I can sense you. We are
following your trail. Is Sarah still with you?

Yes. Sarah and Jacob are both
here. We are at some kind of lab I think. Underground. The doctor was really
mad that the guy brought me because I’m human. She said it would cause
problems, and the guy said it wouldn’t.
That they had
government backing.

How many people have you seen?

We are still in the parking
area.
Only the men who brought us, three, and four lab guys,
plus the doctor.
The doctor and the guy, I think his name is John, are
still arguing.

Pretend to sleep, so they don’t
drug you again.

I’ll try. They stopped talking
and the doctor walked away. They are taking us somewhere.

Okay, don’t try to talk now.
Concentrate on breathing slowly and evenly. I know you are scared, little one,
but I am coming. I promise you I will be there soon. I love you.

A
feeling of warmth and love touched Bern’s heart. He could feel her fear, but
she was keeping it under control.

The
convoy continued to head southeast, through the Blue Ridge Mountains and headed
toward the Smokeys. They were only an hour or so behind the HUNTS crew and
should be nearing their location soon. Bern could sense himself coming closer
to his mate and his heart soared.

Soon
he would once again hold her in his arms. After he slaughtered the men who had
dared to touch what was his.

Bern
are
you there?
Jenna’s soft voice touched his mind, wiping the anger away.

Yes, my sweet. What’s going on?

I think I’m going to be sick.
I’m in a cage! They took us in an elevator, down I think, to a laboratory.
Bern—
Jenna’s
voice cracked.
There are dozens of
children here. I can’t see all the cages, so I can’t count how many exactly,
but my God, Bern, there are so many. Will we be able to rescue them all?

We will, my sweet. We will not
leave one shifter child behind.
“Damn, Jenna says there are
dozens of shifter children in cages in a lab at the facility,” Bern relayed to
Sebastian.

Sebastian’s
eyes lit with hope. “My cubs may be there then.”

“That’s
true, but how will we transport all those children?”

“Once
we get them out and to safety I can call in a helicopter to transport them
out.”

“You
have a helicopter?”