“Time’s a’wasting,” Gray states. We leave the meeting room and head out to our vehicles. Those on their bikes will park roughly a mile away and shift so that they can get into place. We’ve got a few prospects driving the cages, and they’re busy gathering blankets and supplies because we have no idea what we might face once we get there.
As I sit on my Harley, I can feel my leopard pacing. Each day that has passed, he’s grown more insistent that we do something, but until Aces found where the women were being held, I refused to let him roam free.
“Knox?” Pidge’s voice is quiet as he reports in. I don’t want to think of my brother, who is as round as he is short, standing around naked while he talks to me. Not enough eye bleach in the world to remove that from my thoughts.
“Go ahead, Pidge.”
“Seen five men go inside but haven’t seen them come out. Two are shifters, the rest are human.” Fuck! Shifters are involved in this heinous crime? Luckily, we have the stuff needed to ‘dull’ our scents so that other shifters won’t realize what we are until it’s too late. Guess it pays to be in the business we are, because that shit has gotten us out of quite a few tight spots over the years.
“Got it, Pidge. Thanks, brother,” I reply. I quickly inform my brothers so that we can be prepared to deal with the shifters. Gray grabs the special cuffs we use so that they can’t break free; if at all possible, we plan to turn them over to the shifter authorities to be dealt with properly. No human jail cell will hold them, so once we call the cops, we’ll have to make sure any signs of them are eradicated.
I nod to Wooly and Mammoth, who quickly coat themselves with the lotion we use then shift. They’ll provide the distraction we need and hopefully, all five men will come outside to see why two bears are tearing shit up. If not, there are enough of us to handle the others. I watch them lumber through the woods we’ve set up in and make their way to the small, nondescript cabin in the woods. Manic, an otter shifter, is out in the lake that’s at the back of the property in case they decide to escape by water. He’s already disabled their boat, and several more of my brothers are hidden in case they’re needed.
Now we wait.
Jayda
“Come on, bitch, get a move on,” Ortiz yells. I stumble, pretending to be weaker than I really am, and end up knocking him into the wall. At least his partner, Arumba, isn’t here. Ortiz is human and I’m hoping whoever they got to help them is as well, since even in my weakened state, I should still be stronger than two humans.
“Sorry, so sorry,” I mumble, righting myself. I try not to grin when I see the blood running down the back of his head where he caught the corner of the doorway. Guess that’ll leave a mark.
“Stupid cunt,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. I hear the whistle of his hand before I feel the impact across my cheek and taste the blood from my busted lip. I’m the first one they’ve come to get and I focus on my breathing so that I can be ready when the time comes to do damage.
Oh, we’re definitely going to do some damage, my leopard growls out.
Ortiz continues to jerk me around, practically shoving me up a set of stairs. Once we’re at the top, he grabs my arm and pulls me down a hallway and into another room. I glance around and have to work hard to keep my jaw from dropping. I used to watch a show on cable and the main character had a murder room where he disposed of people who escaped the law. Each surface is covered with heavy plastic and there’s a stainless steel table bolted into the floor in the middle of the room. A table off to the side has a bunch of tools and there’s a man standing there, sharpening a knife on a whetting stone. “This the first one?” he asks Ortiz once we’re fully inside and the door is closed.
“Yeah. We gotta make her shift first. You sure you know what you’re doing?” Ortiz questions.
“Been skinning animals since I was old enough to hold a knife,” the other man replies. “You get her to shift and I’ll take care of the rest.”
I glance out the window and see an owl perched on the windowsill. When I catch his eyes, he slowly shakes his head and I realize that he’s not just a bird, he’s a shifter. I blink, hoping he realizes that I know he’s there. When he blinks back, my shoulders relax slightly. It’s time to let my leopard out. “Don’t try any funny business, bitch,” Ortiz snarls as he moves behind me to undo the lock on my collar.
I remain silent, my posture one of defeat. It won’t do for either of these men to know what I’m planning ahead of time. Once I’m free, I can feel my leopard straining to take over. The man with the knife waves it in my direction and says, “Go ahead and shift. I’ve got a lot to do today.” Bastard.
Closing my eyes, I allow my leopard to come forth. As my teeth elongate and my limbs turn into paws, I relish the slight increase of strength that washes over me, and grin when I catch Ortiz stumbling backward. Guess he wasn’t aware of just how big I would be. I shake my head and growl at both men. Let’s see them get me on that table now, fuckers!
“Get her!” Ortiz yells as I move around the room so I can keep my eyes on the two men.
“You didn’t think this through very well,” the other man states.
“How else are
