Changing Times (14 page)

Carly turned away from the French doors. She thought about
what Tony had told her about Micah as she walked back to the bed. Tony had told
her to sleep but she was wide-awake now. She was worried about Micah. There had
been something in Tony’s voice that worried her.

“Tony, you need to be careful too. Please take care of
yourself. I want to be able to tell you how much I love you.” She spoke
fiercely in the quiet room.

“Really? How sweet. A human loving a shifter.”

Carly started as she whirled back toward the balcony. “Who
the hell are you and what are you doing in my home? Are you a friend of Tony’s?”

The blonde leaning against the wall grinned at her. “Chill,
chickie. I’m Maggie and I let myself in. I’m here to pick you up. And I’m not
exactly a friend of Tony’s.”

Before Carly could draw breath to scream, or even attempt to
run, the blonde forced her facedown on the bed. Maggie tied something around
her wrists as Carly tried to kick out at her. She rolled Carly over and when
Carly opened her mouth to scream, Maggie shoved a gag into her mouth.

“I’d let you scream, but it turns me on. I don’t think you
would like that, chickie, would you? Wouldn’t want Maggie to show you a better
time than Tony did.”

The chuckle that accented the words chilled Carly as did the
fingernails the woman scraped down her arm. Carly imagined that she meant what
she said. If she was against Tony, then she was probably with Slade. Carly
forced herself to relax, but it did no good as Maggie quickly slipped something
else around her ankles. Only when Maggie pulled her upright did she see that
they were plastic flexi-cuffs like the police used.

“That’s good, chickie. That’s very good. You won’t be
hurt…much. We want Tony. And if we have his mate, we will have him. You’ve got
his scent all over you.” Maggie scooped Carly up to toss her over her shoulder.
She moved to the balcony doors.

“But before we go, there is one little thing I need to do.”
Carly gasped as Maggie reached back to yank off the gold pendant. She casually
tossed it on the floor. Then Maggie carefully sniffed the air. Carly assumed it
was assure that she was the only shifter around.

Maggie kicked open the French doors to step out onto the
balcony. She jutted a hip out to close the doors then leapt to the ground.
Carly oofed as the pain of the woman’s bony shoulder drove deep into her gut.
She refused to show the pain or fear in any outward way. Bad enough this bitch
could smell her. All she had to do was to wait for Tony.

A man—Carly assumed another shifter—met them at the alley
gate. Maggie tossed Carly onto the floor of the car like a sack of flour. Sliding
on to the seat next to her, Maggie put her feet on Carly’s neck to keep her
down. Time seemed to be moving slowly. She felt nothing but shock. Micah had
been injured and now Tony was in danger. She was the bait. She had to think. A
quick shake did nothing to clear her brain, but it did earn her the female’s
hand clamping the back of her neck.

“Maggie, need help?” The male’s subservient whine grated on
Carly’s ears.

A snarl from the blonde
holding her down was his only answer. Carly realized that he thought she was
trying to fight this Maggie person. She might have laughed if she wasn’t so
scared. But fear was her leading emotion. Not so much for herself as for Tony.
What did they have planned for Tony?

For one brief moment,
Carly wondered if this was “kidnap the doctor month
”
or something.
Surely twice in one month was enough. The car slid to a stop. She knew it had
only been a few minutes. What were they doing now?

Her question was
answered by another car sliding up next to them. The man turned to look at her
as Maggie got in the new car. She crooked a finger at Carly.

“I can either come get
you, chickie, or you can be a good girl and get in yourself. Please be bad. It
would do me good.” The green eyes narrowed as Maggie bared her teeth.

“Right, you stupid bitch.”
Carly glared at her as she tried to talk through the gag.

“Oh dear, silly me. I
forgot I’d left you gagged.” A razor-sharp knife gleamed in the blonde’s hand
and Carly flinched as cold steel slid across her cheek.

“What I said was, ‘Right,
you stupid bitch. My feet are still tied’.” Carly’s head rocked from the blow
she knew would come but it gave her a small sense of dignity to know she could
evoke a response from this witch.

Maggie rolled her eyes. “As
if I am stupid enough to untie you. That only happens in movies where the
villain gets caught for doing something stupid.” She leaned close to Carly as
she hooked her arms with her own. “I am the villain, but I’m not stupid. Now
get your easy-to-break human ass over here.”

Carly yelped. She knew
she was lucky her shoulder hadn’t popped out of the socket. As she rolled over
on the seat, Carly noted the darkly tinted windows and the leather seats. Made
her think of old gangster movies. That irrelevant thought made her laugh
softly.

“Pretty sure of
yourself, ain’t you, chickie? Think Tony is going to charge in for the rescue?
Maybe he’ll be smart and ignore you. Let us have you. We could keep you for a
pet. The way you humans like to keep pets. How would you like that? Hmm?”

Maggie’s hand tightened on
the wheel. She focused on the road, but kept one ear cocked on the human. Tony’s
pet human. That’s all she was. Slade was wrong about this. Tony wouldn’t come
after her. Not after his other human pet had been killed. Maggie had done that.

Choose a human over her?
That choice meant Tony could try to put her intestines back in by hand. She had
watched him try to do that with the last one. The one he thought he would
marry. Maggie snarled again as she remembered what had happened after that.

The puny human had
breathed her last as Tony had screamed out his fury. It was bad luck that
Charlie happened to check out the scream. Tony had literally torn him to
shreds. It had been brutal and fast and over before Maggie really knew what was
happening. There hadn’t been enough left of Charlie to even give to the gators.

Tony had been totally
out of control that night. She had dutifully reported that to Slade. That
report was what had them all in this mess now. Slade thought Tony might be one
of the old breed, the berserker type. It made Tony a problem that needed to be
taken out so the Turn Skins could get on with their agenda. Maggie could live
with that. Any shifter who thought he was too good to have sex with her
deserved to die.

* * * * *

Slade paced restlessly
as he waited for Maggie to return with Carly. He knew Maggie wouldn’t fail, no
matter what her own feelings about how important Tony was or wasn’t, she would
do what he told her to do. Slade ran his hands through his hair then grinned as
he pulled it back into a tight braid in preparation for the upcoming fight.

He knew Tony would come
after Carly since he had been watching them from the shadows as they made love.
Even though Tony had been vulnerable then, Slade was a firm believer in letting
the condemned man enjoy his last few hours on earth. Slade growled low. It
certainly had appeared as though Tony had enjoyed himself.

Slade shook his head, he
couldn’t understand such an attraction for humans, they were so fragile. Not
like shifters, shifters could take more, give more. And they didn’t expect
messy emotional attachment. No one would ever find him wrapped up with a female
like that. It made a man stupid. Made him weak. Made him make mistakes. Slade
grinned. He certainly hoped it made Tony very, very stupid.

Slade’s eyes narrowed as
he heard the car pull up in front of the house. He sat back and smiled as he
waited for them to come into the large main room. He focused on the outside and
heard a car door slam then the sound of footsteps. Slade turned his head toward
the door as he allowed his power to burn through his eyes. He knew they would
glow yellow in the dim light in the room.

The door banged open.
Maggie pushed Carly into the room in front of her. Slade’s smile widened. Carly
wasn’t totally in control, no matter how calm she appeared. He smelled her rush
of fear the moment she saw his eyes glowing at her from the corner of the room.

A low approving growl
sounded from Maggie as Slade drew himself up to his full height. His power
rippled through him. He knew even this poor human could feel it. He softly
whistled “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”, just to see Carly’s eyes widen.
The scent of fear that swirled from her aroused his animal even more.

Slade stepped forward
slightly. Maggie wrapped herself around him. He grabbed her hair in one hand,
pulling her head back. She answered his savage, punishing kiss with the
immediate fury he expected from her. Slade kept his eyes on Carly as he
practically devoured Maggie. Carly stared at him. He could hear her puny human
heart pounding.

Slade released Maggie so
quickly she nearly fell. She growled deep in her throat, but quickly subsided
at his warning glance. Maggie wrapped her arms around him from the back. She
raked her nails lightly across his bare chest as Slade stared at the human in
front of him.

“Hey, Doc. How’s it
going?” His voice curled around her low, nearly seductive.

Carly had to swallow
twice before she could answer him. “Why have you brought me here?”

Slade laughed a
particularly unpleasant note. Maggie nipped at his shoulder and he reached back
with one hand to stroke down her side. “Because we want Tony to come after you,
Doc. Why else? We can’t get the big kitty without a kitty treat, now can we?”

Slade stepped away from
Maggie motioning her to stay put. He walked slowly toward Carly then around
her. She flinched when he leaned in close to sniff her. Slade reached out
slowly and picked up a handful of her hair. He let it slide through his fingers
then leaned in closer and sniffed her again.

“So? How was it, Doc?
Your first experience with a shifter. Did you enjoy it? You certainly seemed
to. Did you know you still have his scent on you? Every shifter within a mile
knows you’ve fucked the kitty. Was he good?”

Slade’s voice lacked
volume but he knew every other shifter in the room had heard every word. He
watched as she swallowed hard again then yanked her head back much as he had
Maggie’s. He relished her cry of pain. “I asked you a question, Doc. How was
it? Was it good for you?”

Carly couldn’t stop the
tears that leaked from her eyes. He knew that he and Maggie scared her. A hint
of admiration hit him when he realized that she knew they would kill her but
she still stood tall.

Any other human—hell,
any other shifter for that matter—would have fallen to their knees begging for
mercy by now. Slade leaned closer to lick the side of her face, catching her
tears on his tongue.

“You
are
sweet to
the taste, Carly. Maybe I should just give you to my wolves—see how sweet Tony
thinks you are after they’re through with you.” He laughed as she pulled away
from him. He knew how to intensify the color of his eyes and hit her with the yellow
gleam. “Oh, please run from me, Doc. I haven’t enjoyed a good chase in a long
time.”

Instead of running,
Carly sank slowly to the ground. Her head fell forward as her whole body shook
with fear and to his surprise, anger. Slade watched as the human did what he
expected. She caved in. He knew begging would come next. He grinned toothily
when Carly looked up at Slade with tears in her eyes.

“Please, just let me go.”

Something flickered
through his eyes for a moment then he crouched in front of her. “Sorry, Doc.
You’re going to bring me what I want. You should have just stayed out of
things.”

Then the human did
something he didn’t expect. She slammed her head into his. He jerked a fist up
to punch her down, but held back. He smelled the blood before it ran into his
mouth.

“You little bitch. If I
didn’t need you to get Tony here, I’d take you out now.” Slade rumbled as he
got to his feet, wiping the blood away from his nose. “Take her upstairs.”

He turned away as Maggie
approached Carly to yank her to her feet. “Oh and, Maggie? I want her in good
shape. I might just give her to the pack later tonight after we take care of
Pantera so no damage, you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Maggie snarled
softly as she slashed through the thick plastic around Carly’s ankles then
propelled Carly out of the room in front of her. Slade picked up the carafe of
water Maggie had brought him. He drank it quickly. He was always thirsty before
and after a good fight.

There was a faint
aftertaste to the water but he thought that must be from the blood that still
dripped from his nose. Little bitch. In spite of the fact that she’d garnered a
little admiration from him for her guts and willingness to stand up to him, he’d
make her pay for that. He’d make her watch Tony die.

Tony pulled his car to a
stop outside Carly’s condo. He felt slightly off-kilter as he glanced at the
front door. He wasn’t sure what her reaction to him would be in the clear light
of day. Last night and this morning had been incredible. Not just incredible,
spectacular, stellar even. He gave up. He just knew that he wanted a repeat
performance. Hell, many repeat performances. Smiling in spite of his worry
about Micah, he got out of the car and headed up the walk.

Suddenly he lifted his
head to sniff the air around Carly’s place. Not only was Carly not there, but
another scent lingered near the condo. Tony ran for the door. He’d told her to
lock it, surely that had been enough. He’d convinced himself that she hadn’t
returned his calls because she was at work. Then he’d worried that maybe he had
felt more than she had last night. What if he’d left her alone and his enemies
had come?

He would find out and
then tell her how important she’d become to him even if she didn’t want to hear
it. He also wanted to make sure she was okay. He knew now that Micah would make
it but it had been close there for a few hours. Tony knocked and waited for her
to answer. There wasn’t any sound from inside, nor any more scent trails.
Reaching for the doorknob, he felt his heart start to pound when it turned
easily.

Empty and dark. There
weren’t any lights on and that other scent lingered everywhere in the condo. This
stronger citrus scent betrayed its owner. Maggie. Expelling his breath with a hiss,
Tony ran to the bedroom then out onto the balcony. Maggie had been here. But
had she been here when Carly was here or had she been here before or after?

Where was Carly now? The
hospital? Maybe she’d been called in and she was safe at the hospital. Tony
whirled again to get to the phone and that’s when he saw it. Carly’s pendant
was lying on the floor just inside the French doors. He knew she wouldn’t have
dropped it there, the pendant meant too much to her. Tony dropped to his knees
as he picked it up.

Seeing the broken chain,
he clenched his fist around the pendant. The pendant dug into his palm as he
fought against the surge of anger that raced through his body. Carly was in his
enemy’s hands. Tony used her phone to leave a message for Nolan. Then he took
the short way out—over the balcony.

There he stopped dead.
The prints he found in the ground here were too deep. Someone else had jumped
and they had been carrying additional weight. Tony’s mind froze on the image of
a body. Honey wheat hair spilling down the back of a brazen blonde named
Maggie.

Suddenly it was crystal
clear. Slade had sent Maggie after Carly. That was the only answer to the
puzzle of why Maggie had been in Carly’s home. He fought the urge to shift. He
had to stay in human shape. Had to. The pendant being left behind hadn’t been
an accident—it was Slade’s calling card for Tony. It meant Slade was calling
his hand. Tony closed his eyes, ordering himself to think.

He realized he was going to need help. Hitting the car at a
dead run, Tony flung the door open. He grabbed the cell. Starting to dial Micah’s
number out of habit, he swore violently when he remembered that Micah couldn’t
help him this time. He flung the cell to the other side of the car.

Tony hit the steering wheel with a curled fist, pulling back
just in time to save himself from having no way to drive. He couldn’t chance
losing Micah. He was the one everyone would turn to if Tony died. And according
to Misty, Micah’s injuries were severe enough for her to worry about his
chances of survival.

Slamming the wheel again, Tony raged. His best friend
injured and the woman he loved missing—this was his fault. He should have
realized how desperate… Tony stopped himself. There wasn’t time for blame. He
had to think of the others first. Rubbing the back of his neck, he growled
again as he reached to retrieve his phone. He began dialing one who would help
him save Carly.

Snarling out terse orders, he detailed in short order what
had happened and what the next step was. Flipping the phone shut, Tony leaned
his head back for a brief moment. Slade wanted war—Slade was going to get more
than he bargained for this time. Tony knew that the phone call he’d just made to
Nolan would bring the best fighters in their group.
No
,
we
’
re
a pack
,
not just some group of shifters
.
And even though I am not
their Alpha
,
it
’
s time for me to step up
,
to take charge
.
I won
’
t allow the Turn Skins to dictate to those who don
’
t align
with them in New Orleans
.Tony heard the steering wheel creak and
eased his grip.

He started the engine as a shudder took him by surprise.
Fear was not a familiar emotion to Tony so he was shocked to feel his body
shake. Realizing time spent visualizing Carly being ripped apart by the Turn
Skins did him no good, Tony squeezed his eyes shut.

“Carly, I’m coming for you, kitten. Hang on. Just hang on.”

* * * * *

Nolan and Derik pulled the van to a stop on the side of the
highway. Tony had been very specific in his instructions. They were to wait for
the cats before going any further. Nolan glanced into the back of the van where
three other packless wolves sat.

They were ready to fight for Tony and Micah but none of them
had ever been in a real battle before. Nolan wasn’t sure of the outcome either.
He found his gaze being drawn to Derik, remembering other, better times with
his mate.

Derik smiled. They had left the pack at the same time but
neither was a stranger to fighting. They were battle-hardened compared to the
other three.

“We’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.” Derik’s voice was soft
but steady and sure—his hand on Nolan’s arm a comfort.

“I hope you’re right.” Nolan sighed as a car pulled up
behind him. He recognized Tony’s car. As he got out of the van to stand on the
shoulder of the road another truck pulled up behind Tony’s car.

All told, there were nine of them but they had no clue how
many they would be facing. As Tony explained it, the objective would be to get
Carly away from the Turn Skins in whatever manner they could, taking out as
many of the pack as they could. Three of the shifters were standing by the back
of the truck.

* * * * *

As Nolan and the other shifters gathered, Tony issued
instructions in a tone of voice that Nolan had never heard him use before and
in the manner of a general preparing for a major battle.

“The clearing is about one hundred fifty yards straight
ahead. They’ll be expecting us so find a place to take cover until you get my
signal.” The two shifters took off into the woods with their semiautomatic
weapons cradled in their arms. Nolan with his carload of people stood waiting
for Tony to tell them where they should go.

Tony’s mind raced like a moonshiner running from the law. Focused
totally on the fight at hand, he knew that Slade had to be defeated no matter
what they had to do to ensure that. That was why he’d enlisted the two
shooters. They would take out as many of the pack as possible if it turned out
to be a total ambush.

Though their weapons weren’t loaded with silver, the high-powered
tranquilizers had been very effective on shifters in the past. Tony’s objective
was to take Slade out himself and to get Carly to safety. He
would not
lose
another woman he loved to a shifter battle.

When he was sure everyone had gotten into position, Tony
drove around to the main driveway of the pack property. He’d been there several
times in the past when Curtis was alive, when things had been different for all
of them. Parking in the circular drive in front of the house, Tony made his way
around the side of the house to the clearing.

Maggie’s feral smile greeted Tony as he came around the
corner of the house. She stepped back so he could see Carly staked out on the
ground. Tony’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Carly. As he watched, Carly lifted
her head to meet his gaze. To his surprise he saw defiance and anger there. She
hadn’t given up.

At that moment, he knew the reality of finding his mate for
life and the very real possibility of losing her before he could tell her how
much he loved her. This human, this woman trapped by his enemies and still
ready to fight was definitely the one he needed. The one he wanted to spend the
rest of his life with. He wasn’t going to let Slade or Maggie or anyone else
cheat him out of that future.

Tony waited until he had Carly’s full attention then he
slowly winked at her. There was no smile on his face but he saw the ghost of a
smile in her eyes before they filled with tears. Tony shook his head slightly
then let the love he felt for her fill his own eyes. Carly inhaled deeply then
nodded at him.

“How utterly fucking touching,” Slade’s voice came from Tony’s
side. Tony turned his head to see Slade coming toward the clearing. “Maggie, I
thought I told you to put her upstairs.”

“I thought she’d rather see her lover one more time. I’m
sorry, Slade.” Maggie tilted her head down as Slade approached her. Slade never
took his eyes off Tony as he approached Carly.

“Well, I suppose that’s okay. You don’t mind if Carly joins
us, do you, Tony? I’m sure she’ll see a much better show here than poor Shelly
saw last night.” Slade watched Tony carefully.

Tony’s eyes narrowed as he walked toward the clearing.
Cutter and several other members of the pack spilled out of the house to take
places around the clearing. He calculated his odds of a fair fight as slim to
none. His lips curled back as Slade joined him in the middle of the clearing.

“You probably don’t realize what an honor I’m showing you,
Tony. Normally when someone wants to get to me they have to fight their way
through the pack. It’s the natural order of things, you know? The strongest
ones survive. But since you’re not pack and they’d never accept you as Alpha, I
don’t feel the need to make you face anyone but me.”

“Do you plan to talk all day or are we going to fight?” Tony
calmly pulled his hair away from his face as he unbuttoned his shirt. Slade
chuckled as he unbuckled his belt.

Maggie moved closer to Carly, then pulled her up into a
sitting position so she could see what was happening. Re-staking Carly’s hands
out to the sides, Maggie drew Carly’s attention to the circle. Leaning closer
with a smile on her face, Maggie whispered, “It’s a shame one of them won’t
leave that circle, isn’t it? Slade has such a fine body—I’d hate to see him
lose. And Tony, well, you know more about him than I do, don’t you, Carly? Tell
me, does he know how to use that body of his?”

“Go to hell.” Carly shook. She knew it was stupid to chance
antagonizing the other woman but she couldn’t help herself. Fear overrode her
good sense. Maggie laughed as she moved back to the perimeter of the clearing.

Carly couldn’t take her eyes off the two men standing naked
in the center of the circle. She knew Tony’s body so well now. Her gaze went to
Slade as he and Tony began to circle one another. Slade was taller and heavier
than Tony. Carly could see the tattoos on his chest, arms and on his left calf.
Because Slade had pulled his hair into a braid she could also see the tattoo on
the back of his neck. Carly took a deep breath as a murmur of unease went through
the crowd.

Slade and Tony both suddenly stopped to scent the air. Tony’s
eyes widened with delight even as Slade cut his eyes to Cutter with fury
embedded in them. Shooting a glance at Jack, Cutter took a deep breath as Micah
limped into the area around the clearing. He didn’t step into the circle, he
merely stood in the grass. Tony stared at him with a slight smile. Slade chose
that moment to attack.

Tony landed on his knees, spitting out blood from the force
of Slade’s first blow to his face. Leaping to his feet with a growl, Tony
swiped out with one hand and the fight was on. The Beta males of Slade’s pack
shouted encouragement to their leader as the two men fought in human form.

Carly wondered if they would change soon. Would they fight in
animal form? She shuddered. The damage they inflicted now seemed horrific even
to her hardened medical eye. Punching, kicking, scratching, biting—they fought
like animals though they were still human. She felt like she watched one of
those extreme fighting matches, only this one wouldn’t end with one of them
tapping out.

Carly knew tears streamed down her face even as she tried to
think of a way out of this mess. Pulling ineffectively against the ropes
holding her down, she looked up in surprise as a shadow fell over her. Dropping
to her knees, Maggie laughed at her struggles then whispered to her.

“You don’t have to worry, Carly. I made sure Slade will
lose. I gave him just enough poison to slow him down at a critical moment so
Tony can kill him.”

“What?” Carly looked at her in shock. She tried to assimilate
what Maggie had said. Maggie had poisoned Slade? Why?

She heard Tony’s yowl and glanced at the clearing again. The
familiar black cat rolled with a huge gray wolf. They tore into one another,
blood and fur flying. She felt a hand on the back of her neck as she was turned
to face Maggie again.

“That’s right. I poisoned Slade. You see, I want him dead
but I’m not going to let Tony win either. I’ll kill you now while they’re
fighting. Then when Tony kills Slade he’ll think he’s won, only when he sees
your poor dead body he’ll know he really lost.”

Maggie laughed as she pulled a switchblade knife out of her
pocket. Carly shook her head slowly as Maggie flicked the knife open. A shout
from some of the males watching the fight distracted Maggie and drew Carly’s
attention.