Falke’s Captive

Reidar knew Kelan was acting on instinct, protecting his mate, even though they’d yet to claim her, but Axel didn’t know that, and emotional outbursts wouldn’t do anyone any good right now. It damn sure wouldn’t help them find Sindre.

“Maybe she stayed in the vehicle,” Axel said, glancing at Gunnar who continued to sniff around an area that showed two tracks of burned rubber. Someone had peeled out of the alley in a hurry. “Got the other guy to help her. We all know she’s not here working alone.”

“I’m telling you it wasn’t her.” Kelan spoke through gritted teeth, and Reidar tightened his grip on his brother’s arm. It spoke volumes that Kelan didn’t try to yank free.

Axel glared at them, an expression the polar opposite of the worry in Dakota’s caring eyes. She stood with one hand on Axel’s arm, her other splayed protectively over a growing belly.

“It’s her,” Axel insisted. “You’re just too fucking blind to look at this objectively.”

“How can you be so sure?” Torsten asked, his gaze locked on Kelan instead of Axel.

“I just know.” Kelan refused to say more.

Torsten shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”

Reidar dared another glance at Torsten and spoke softly. “Because we were with her this morning.” Kelan stiffened beside him. Reidar looked back at Axel and Gunnar who now sat next to him, still in puma form. “We spent last night, all night, in her hotel room and in her bed, right up until about twenty minutes ago.”

“Goddamn it!” Axel pulled away from his mate and spun with both hands diving into his hair out of obvious frustration. “You tell us you’re going to deal with the threat to our family, and that’s the way you two decide to do it?” He turned back to point at them again. “Did it never dawn on you two dolts that she could be using you? Keeping you occupied while her cohorts kidnapped Falke?”

“You don’t know a—”

“Kelan,” Reidar said, stopping his emotional brother in midyell. “Arguing over this is not going to get Sindre back any sooner.”

I agree, Gunnar said. Whether or not the woman is involved is a matter to debate later. We need to find Sindre.

“I agree too,” Torsten said, standing up from where he’d been sitting on the back fire escape.

“Okay,” Reidar said, looking at him. “Fill us in. What happened?”

Torsten’s troubled gaze met his, and Reidar could sense the stress this was putting on his little brother. “Look, all I know is he wanted to take a quick shower before he shifted to Falke for the day, so I headed down before him to open up. He was supposed to follow soon after, and I left the back door ajar for him, but he never showed.”

“Okay. Did you see anything?” Torsten shook his head, but Reidar continued the interrogation.

The others might have heard it all already, but he and Kelan needed the details. “What about noises?

Did you hear anything?”

“Just some tires squeal.”

“When was that?”

“About five minutes after I opened up, but I had a customer at the counter. I didn’t get a chance to look outside.” Torsten was visibly torn with guilt, but Reidar tried his best to soothe the pain.

“It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s mine,” Kelan said, making Reidar and everyone else look at him. He took a second to look at each person and cat. “It’s not Beth, but if it is someone she’s working with, then we’ll stop them and get Sindre back. We know where they are, but we have to move fast.”

“I’m coming with you,” Torsten said, stepping closer.

“No,” Axel said, putting the full weight of his alpha position behind that one word. “You’re going to get Heidi and go to Dads’ and stay with them until all of this is resolved. They need to be protected too in case this is something more than I think it is. These people might not settle for one cat.” He looked down at Gunnar and then up at him and Kelan. “I’m going to go with you.”

No, Gunnar said at the same instant that Dakota grabbed Axel’s arm again. He placed his hand over hers.

“It’s final. They obviously can’t handle this situation on their own.”

That statement made Kelan and Reidar bristle, but for once Kelan made the wise choice and let someone else do the fighting.

Without raising his voice, Reidar said, “You have to think of Dakota, Ax. You have babies to worry about.”

“Don’t you think that’s what I’m doing?”

“You’d put Dakota through the stress of worrying about you? While she’s carrying your children?”

I’ll go. Gunnar stood up on all four massive paws.

“Like that’s gonna make it any better for Dakota,” Kelan said softly.

“None of this is going to make me feel better,” Dakota said, showing some of the spunk that won the hearts of two Falke men. “Not until Sindre’s back and everyone is safe again. Everyone! So stop all of this damn bickering and go find him.”

“Amen,” Torsten said, giving her a smile.

I’ll go, Gunnar repeated. You may be the family alpha, Ax, but none of you will succeed if you’re at each other’s throats and too busy arguing over this.

After a brief hesitation, Axel nodded, and Gunnar told Kelan, Get me some clothes. Reidar, bring your truck around back.

“Torsten can go get Heidi while Dakota and I lock things up here,” Axel said. “We’ll all meet at Dads’ place.”

Okay.

Reidar nodded and headed back down the alley, but before he turned the corner, he heard Axel tell Kelan, “Finish this.”

“So, now that we’re all dressed like trees, what’s the plan?” Gunnar wanted to know.

They’d changed into camouflage apparel taken from the store’s racks. But Kelan appreciated Gunnar’s willingness to let them take the lead. Axel wouldn’t have done that, but it was best if they worked together. And Kelan and Reidar knew more than all the rest combined. Where the lab was, what it looked like both inside and out. What Beth’s lab partner looked like. And they both were certain that Beth was not involved in this latest incident, but if her lab partner was to blame for Sindre’s kidnapping, that meant she might’ve walked into trouble after leaving them at the hotel.

Kelan continued to stare out the windshield as Reidar weaved his four-wheel drive pickup through the underbrush along the ATV track they’d gone up the day before.

“Sneak in, confirm Sindre is even there, and then rescue him,” Reidar said before glancing at Gunnar and then back to the trail. “You know, he might already have gotten away. I mean, if they leave him alone, he could do what Kelan did and get himself out of this mess.”

“I hope you’re right,” Gunnar said, “but if not…”

It was the not that worried Kelan and kept him silent. He’d tried to call Beth on her cell phone twice already, but she hadn’t answered. His gut told him something was seriously wrong. His fingers curled into tight fists.

When Reidar pulled to a stop at the fence, Kelan was the first to leap from the truck.

“Okay,” he whispered, thinking there was too damn much daylight. “The forestry’s base camp is about a hundred yards west of here, over that fence. We’re going to have to shift to get over it and then change back. We don’t know if they’re at the mobile lab or out scouting the area. Let’s keep it quiet.”

Reidar and Gunnar nodded, both stripping as fast as possible. Reidar was the first over the fence and kept a lookout, with Gunnar following next. Kelan tossed all of their clothes over the fence, shifted and made the leap over while Reidar dressed and Gunnar watched for trouble. Soon, with all three fully dressed in camo once more, Kelan’s brothers fanned out a few feet to either side of him, and they began their trek through the woods to the base camp.