Trace's Temptation (RARE Series, #3) (2 page)

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N
ot a lot scared Trace, but waking up naked and chained to the wall in a cell in The Dungeon scared the piss out of him.  Struggling to his feet, Trace tested the thick, heavy chains that held him.  They were wrapped several times around his chest and down both arms.  Even with his shifter strength, there was no way he could break them.  He was surprised they had gone to such measures to restrain him, and fear slowly started to seep in that maybe his father knew more about Sophia’s side of the family then he had let on in the past.  Because Trace’s shifting ability did not come from his father. 

Peering intently into the darkened room, Trace reacquainted himself with the area.  There were a total of 10 cells, similar to jail cells, including the one Trace was in.  Only two of the others held hostages.  One was a man, and from what Trace could tell, he would not be there much longer.  Someone had done a number on him.  He lay just inside the closed door of the cell, blood covering his body.  He was missing one ear, an arm and who knew what else.

In the other cell directly across from Trace was a woman.  She was huddled in the corner with her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs.  Her long, straggly dark hair covered her face.  Trace could sense the terror that filled her.  Slowly, as if sensing his eyes on her, the woman raised her head and looked directly at him.  Her soft, brown eyes were filled with fear and despair.  Tears ran down her dirt covered cheeks.  She still wore clothes, unlike Trace and the other unfortunate man in The Dungeon with them, but they were torn and filthy.  The woman watched him for a moment longer, and then sighing deeply, she rested her forehead on her knees and started to rock back and forth.

Letting his gaze wander away from the woman, Trace continued casing the room.  He wanted to familiarize himself with the area before his captors returned.  The table they strapped their prisoners to for interrogation and torture was to the right of his cell.  The wall beyond the table was covered with their torture devices.  Trace’s eyes widened as he took in the number of weapons on the wall.  It looked like they had added a number of toys to the mix since he had last been there.  Fuck.  This was going to hurt.  He had no doubt when his father’s men came for him, they would use everything they had to try and break him.

Trace stiffened when he heard the door at the top of the stairs open.  Bright lights filled the room right before he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  As he watched, the bastard from the jungle appeared at the bottom of the stairs and made his way over to Trace, two men following him.  Catching his father’s scent, Trace growled, just barely holding back from baring his fangs. 

Opening the door to Trace’s cell, Titus walked in and stopped in front of him.  With a smirk, he chuckled.  “Not so tough now, are you?”  Slamming his fist into Trace’s jaw, Titus laughed again.  “You are mine now.  I own you.”  Pulling back an arm, Titus let his fist fly again, filling Trace’s mouth with blood.  With a snarl, Trace spit the blood into Titus’s face. 

“Enough,” a deep voice ordered as Titus raised his fist again in fury.  Trace knew that voice.  It was from the nightmares of his past.  A voice he would never get out of his head.  A voice that had commanded many men to be beat and tortured, many women to be raped and violated.  As his son, Trace, had not been exempt from any of it.  Not only was Trace on the receiving end of his father’s fists many times, but Perez seemed to take pleasure in ordering his men to kick the shit out of Trace on a regular basis.  Eventually, Trace had learned not to defy him.  Then Trace became the giver of the beatings instead of the receiver.  However, one thing Trace had never done was rape another human being.  He would have made his father kill him first before being forced to violate another person in that way.

“So, my son has finally come home,” Philip Perez said snidely.  “Unfortunately, he did not bring with him what he took from me.”  Entering the cell, his father stood before him, pure hate in his eyes.  “I want what you took from me,” he growled.  “Where are they?”

Trace refused to say a word.  There was no way he was giving up his mother and sister.  He knew if his father got them back, they would suffer horribly.  Trace refused to let that happen.  His mother and Starr had been the one constant thing in his life that he could always count on.  After the beatings had taken place, they would slip into Trace’s room.  His mother would tend his wounds while Starr sang softly to him.  If his father had found out, both Sophia and Starr would have been punished.  But that did not stop them.  There was no way Trace was going to allow his father or his father’s men near them.

“Fuck you,” he growled fiercely.  “You might as well kill me now, because I will never tell you where they are.”

“Kill you?  Oh, I am not going to kill you,” Perez sneered.  “But by the time I am done with you, you will wish you were dead.”  Turning to leave, Perez turned back once he reached the bottom of the stairs.  “Proceed,” he ordered his men before leaving.  As the door at the top of the stairs closed, the men unhooked the chains holding Trace to the wall and roughly shoved him towards the table.  Trace fought as they wrestled him onto the table, hooking the chains to the four corners. 

Hearing a gasp, Trace turned his head to see the woman had risen to her feet and was standing with her hands clenching the bars.  No, he would not allow her to be punished because of him. 
No.
He pushed the word gently into her mind. 
Sit back down. 
He ordered.  The woman’s eyes widened in shock.  Slowly she moved back against the wall and sank back down. 

Please,
Trace heard a female voice in his head. 
What can I do to help you?

There is nothing you can do,
he responded, yanking on the chains again. 
I will be fine.  Just be quiet and don’t draw attention to yourself.

Why are they doing this to us?  Why?
she asked. 

Trace growled, his eyes on the men as they picked their choice of weapon to begin his torture. 
You don’t know why you are here?

No,
the woman said. 
They came in the middle of the night, killing my parents and brother.  They took me and my little sister, Sari.  They put me down here, but I don’t know where Sari is.  I haven’t seen her since we got here.

How old is your sister?
Trace asked.

Fourteen,
the woman responded.  Dammit.  Trace fought harder against the chains, but there was nothing he could do.  He knew why they wanted Sari.  He didn’t understand why they were keeping the woman down in The Dungeon, but his sick fuck of a father was keeping Sari because he liked young girls.  The woman in the cell looked to be in her twenties.  The fourteen year old was what Perez preferred. 

“You like the woman, do you?” Titus laughed cruelly, as he walked back over to the table.  “Maybe I will let you watch later while I take her.”  Trace stiffened right before Titus struck him with the tire iron on the knee, sending excruciating pain in his knee and up his leg.  The beating started then, Trace taking blow after crushing blow.  He heard the woman’s screams in the background.  She was yelling at them, telling them to leave him alone.  He did not have the energy to speak to her again and tell her to stop.  He just prayed they would not turn their attention to her after they were finished with him.

When the pain was too much, he blocked it out by bringing thoughts of his mate to the surface.  His sweet, innocent, beautiful Jade with long blonde locks of hair and dark green eyes.  He needed to get back to her.  He would withstand whatever pain and agony he had to, so he could return home to his mate.  Before he lost consciousness, he could have sworn he heard Jade’s voice,
Trace, where are you?
 

~

J
ade lurched into a sitting position on the settee where she was resting.  Struggling to erase the fog from her mind, she glanced around to get her bearings.  She was sitting on her mother, Angel’s back porch.  Jade was still in shock that she had been reunited with her mother after being kidnapped and held by the General for the past twenty years.  She could not believe she was finally away from that bastard.  Three months ago, Jade had been rescued by RARE from a prison in Arizona where the General held her.  Not only was she reunited with her mother when she was rescued, but she also met her mate, Trace.  Closing her eyes, Jade pictured Trace.  He was so gorgeous.  Several inches taller than her slight frame, he was powerfully built with wide shoulders and a stocky build.  He had dark, smooth skin, and was sexy as hell.  She shuddered as she remembered his dark eyes that seemed to see into her soul.  For the first time, Jade had lost sight of the ultimate goal she and her brother, Jinx, were working toward.  For a few hours, the only person Jade had been able to think of was Trace.  Until he left her, then the screwed up mess of a life she led seeped quickly back into her consciousness. 

Frowning, Jade tried to remember her dream.  Or had it been a dream?  Had it really been Trace?  Was he in trouble?  The General had pumped Jade full of so many drugs to keep her gifts dormant that she was having trouble distinguishing what was real and what wasn’t.  Many of the drugs had been flushed out of her system, but until they were fully gone, there was no way of knowing.  Closing her eyes, Jade brought Trace to the forefront of her mind and tried to reach out to him.  Finding nothing but emptiness, she sighed deeply.  Either her mate was in trouble or her mind was playing tricks on her.  Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing which one it was.  Rising, she went to find Angel.  She had asked her mother several times about Trace, always to be told the same thing.  Trace was making it safe for Jade to be with him.  He would let Angel know when he was coming back, but he would be back.  That did not help Jade now.  Not if he was in trouble.  But unless she wanted to share her secrets with everyone, she would have to stand down and wait for Trace to return.  Since her secrets were not just hers alone, she was forced to stand down.  For now, she would just inquire about her mate.  But once she had her gifts fully back, she was going hunting.  Until then, she would continue to play the sweet, innocent Omega wolf.     

F
ive months later

Jade quickly ducked low and scrambled to the left, just barely missing the foot aimed at her face.  It glanced off her shoulder in a stunning blow.  She should have easily blocked it, but her mind was elsewhere.  Jade’s mate had left eight months ago and promised to return as soon as he was able to.  Not only had Trace not returned, but he had not checked in for over six and a half months.  From what Jade knew about mates, they were supposed to love and cherish each other above all else.  It was a bonding of souls and it happened fast and hard.  Being apart from a mate sucked ass and that was where Jade was right now.  Even though she and Trace had not fully bonded yet, Jade was having issues eating and sleeping and her emotions were all over the place.  One moment she was crying, and the next she wanted to beat the hell out of something.  That was not her.  Normally she had tight control over her actions and emotions.  She had to; she had secrets to keep and people to protect. 

Jade had been taught at a young age to keep a shield in place in her mind, guarding her thoughts and emotions.  It was necessary and over time the shield had grown so strong that no one was able to penetrate it.  Jade let others see only what she wanted them to see, which was why all of the RARE team members and the White River Wolves assumed she was an Omega wolf.  Not only was Jade fine with that assumption, she encouraged it without actually confirming it.  Jade was not an Omega wolf.  She was so much more. 

As Flame struck out again, this time with her fist, Jade decided she’d had enough.  She could not keep her mind in the game and needed to be alone.  There was no way Flame would stop unless Jade made her, though.  Flame had been on a mission for the past seven months.  She had been a prisoner of the General’s; a sadistic, evil bastard that had started a breeding program to make the ultimate army of soldiers.  The General paired men and women with specific psychic abilities or shifter traits.  Flame was not a shifter, but she had other psychic gifts.  She had been paired with Gideon, one of the General’s soldiers who raped her repeatedly until she became pregnant.  Several months later, during a rescue mission by RARE, Flame lost her unborn son.  Even though the baby was conceived under horrible conditions, Flame had learned to love him.  Now she made it her life’s mission to hunt down not only Gideon, but also the General and end them.  She trained hard, fought hard, and refused to give up.

Grabbing hold of Flame’s fist before it could connect with her face, Jade slipped her hands down and held tightly onto Flame’s wrists.  Dropping down quickly onto her ass, Jade stuck her feet in Flame’s stomach and used the power in her legs to flip Flame up and over Jade, landing her on her back.  Swinging around, Jade sat on Flame’s chest and shoved her elbow up into Flame’s larynx.  “Stand the fuck down,” Jade growled, letting her eyes go wolf and her fangs show.  “I’m done.”

Flame’s eyes widened in shock and she slowly nodded.  In all their months of training together, not once did Jade show the type of aggression that was radiating from her now.  An Omega wolf would never act forceful or hostile.  “Where did you learn that move, Jade?” Flame asked in confusion.  “Rikki never taught us that.”

Shrugging, Jade stood up and walked to where she had left her coat hanging on the peg by the door.  She and Flame were working out daily in the barn on Angel’s land.  Jade was living with Angel now, so it was a convenient place for her to work out.  Not to mention, it was also a dream gym.  It was equipped with cardio machines, a couple of punching bags, mats to spar on, and weights.  And it was heated, so even in January it was warm.  There was also a shooting range set up on the south side of the barn, and Jade was going to go take full advantage of it now.  After pulling on her coat, Jade grabbed the gun and box of bullets she had left on the cabinet next to the door.  Shoving the bullets into her coat pocket, she glanced back at Flame.  “I’m going to shoot for a while.  I’ll catch you later.”