Shaelan paced toward the back of the cave and looked at Rayne and Kelsey, looking as annoyed as she felt. “I can’t believe they left without a word.”
“I can,” Rayne said softly.
Kelsey nodded. “It’s pretty much their M.O., but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.”
Billie adjusted the laces in her shoes as she hugged her knees into her chest. “I just hope they get out safely.” She glanced to the entrance. “Why didn’t…Jake?” Kelsey nodded. “Go with them.”
Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Kelsey dropped her hands and then rolled her eyes. “Gotta leave someone here to keep us under house-cave arrest.”
Rayne groaned. “Look how well that turned out last time.”
“Right,” Kelsey mused quietly.
Shaelan decided if she had to wait, she may as well be distracted. “What happened?”
Kelsey sighed and sat down. “Your life isn’t the only messed up one.” She glanced to Rayne, who nodded. “Aside from the secret of what we are…”
Shae slid down the wall and looked from one to the other. She could see the emotions changing in their eyes as they thought about it.
Rayne grimaced. “It’s a very tangled web to explain it all from the start, so we’ll just say there is an organization of criminals…” She tipped her head and looked at Shaelan. “A mob-like family. Really bad.”
Shae nodded. “I just spent two years off the mountain for school, so I understand. A crime family.”
Kelsey’s head bobbed a few times. “Okay, so this supreme family of asshats abduct shifters and enslaves them. As their goons, muscle…whatever…” She pointed to Rayne. “She was engaged to the head of the family before she escaped.”
Eyes wide, Shae glanced at Rayne, only to see her nod.
Rayne waved it off. “I could write an entire book about my ordeal. We’re getting off topic here. Gage and Devin left us under house arrest at Kelsey’s while they ran off to save the day.” She rolled her eyes in a dramatic way. “These guys show up asking for directions.” She grinned. “Your mountain is easier to navigate then the roads at Gage and Kelsey’s place.”
“True.” Kelsey laughed. “So, we end up abducted by these two guys.”
Shae and Billie both gasped.
“Until…” Kelsey pointed to Rayne. “She shifts and threatens to bite this guy’s…” She cleared her throat. “…bits off.” She started giggling.
“Long story short,” Rayne continued, “leaving us under guard didn’t work out that well for them last time.”
Jake appeared in the entrance, his arms crossed over his chest. “Which is why no one is going to go in or out of this cave until they…”
Brock came barreling into the cave, knocking Jake out of the way. He tossed Nona’s medical bag toward Shaelan. “You’re going to need this.” He leaned on his knees for a second and huffed a few times trying to breath.
Shaelan grabbed the bag and got up. “What’s wrong?”
He waved his hands and swallowed, still trying to breath. “Nona is on her way…but she says they’ll get here before she can.” He straightened and looked around. “I need blankets,” he squeaked. “And some shoes.”
Rayne scrambled up and held out the blanket she’d been sitting on. “What happened?”
Clutching the blanket to his chest, he blew out a breath. “Jerome beat the bejesus out of one man…” he tapped his chest a few times. “I threw up in my mouth when I walked in on it.” He gave Shae a distraught look. “I couldn’t blow my cover…so I just distracted him enough to leave.” He took the shoes Kelsey held out. “They’re carrying him here.” His eyes grew large. “I have to get this to them.” He waved Jake out of the way. “Faye and Marilyn have the whole village in motion to keep them occupied, so they can get here,” he called out over his shoulder then was gone.
Shaelan’s heart was beating so loud in her chest, she couldn’t catch her breath. “We should…”
“No,” Jake hissed. “If you girls go running to them, it’s going to distract them.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “They’ll be focused on every sound, scent and breeze around them right now in order to get them back here as fast as possible.”
“You should go help them, Jake.” Kelsey rushed over to him. “We won’t move from this cave.”
Rayne nodded. “At least go watch their backs until they can get here.”
He rubbed both hands over his face. “I don’t even know…”
Shaelan snapped out of it. “I can point you in the right direction.” She clutched the bag to her chest. “Please, just go watch and make sure Jerome doesn’t come after them.”
Billie was on her feet. “You have to go help.”
Jake looked from one to the other, indecision plain on his face. “If I leave you and…” He looked from one to the other again. “Shit.” He pointed a finger at Kelsey. “No one leaves this cave.”
She nodded. “Go.”
Shae ran to the entrance and pointed. “Head that way. There’s a ridge you can watch from. They’ll be coming from the East.”
He went by her. “Stay in the cave. I won’t survive an angry Cal.”
Shae watched him running until the long grass swallowed him up. She turned and looked at Kelsey who was pulling her shoes off. “What are you doing?”
Kelsey paused and looked at her. “Going to climb a tree to keep watch.” She shrugged. “I do that better as a cat.”
Billie shook her head before Shae could reply. “A tiger?”
Kelsey nodded.
Shaelan went over and stood there shaking her head. “A tiger would stand out here like a flashing sign.” She looked from Rayne to Kelsey. “So would both of your hair colors, without shifting.”
Billie nodded, then took a deep breath. “I’ll go. I can shimmy up that tree outside.” She looked to Shae. “I live here. No one is looking for me, so I’m invisible.”
Kelsey huffed out a defeated breath. “You’re right. We’ll stand in the entrance, and you can call down to us.”
Rayne went toward the entrance. “Hurry. My heart isn’t going to beat properly until I can see those men are safe. All of them, including my own.”
Calum stood and traced the landscape with his eyes, watching for any sign of movement. He couldn’t scent anything, but that wasn’t surprising with his nostrils filled with the scent of stink weed and blood.
He glanced to see Brock helping Marc get some shoes on. That was a smart call, grabbing something for their feet. When he’d run over this rough ground, he’d only been inside for a few days and filled with too much rage to feel anything. These three men had been in a hell of a lot longer. They’d been drugged, underfed and their muscles were so sore from sitting, they were barely able to navigate. He didn’t know how long Chad had been missing, but he knew his two clansmen had been gone close to a month now. Gene had vanished first and that was about six weeks ago…
Chad’s moaning had Calum looking over at him. He didn’t know the man, but he knew his clan leaders. Hopefully Chad was the only missing from that family, because there were no more captives inside.
When Brock and the guard had flung the door open, dragging Chad between them, Calum had to hold Gage back from attacking the guard. Brock quickly explained that Jerome was on some sort of rampage and took it out on him. He didn’t need to wonder what the rampage was about. Chances were Jerome knew all about the people that had come up the mountain to get him and hadn’t been able to find hide nor hair of them since. Calum had this nagging thought that kept about how long would that last? They couldn’t stay in the cave much longer.
Gage and Devin moved Chad to get the blanket under him, another good idea on Brock’s part. With almost every part of him swollen or bleeding, they’d had to stop constantly, because they were causing him more pain trying to get him to safety. With the blanket, they could use it like a stretcher and carry him. It was still going to hurt but would minimize any further damage.
Gage nodded to Devin, and they lifted it together. Chad moaned, but quieted once they had him off the ground. Marc and Dale got up on unsteady legs and started walking slowly beside them. He turned to look at Brock, who was sweating and covered in blood, as he stood watching them leave. “You need to get back. Grab a shower, fast.”
Brock nodded, then turned eyes full of misery and guilt toward him. “I feel like a coward for just letting Jerome leave.”
“His day will come.” He motioned in the direction of the village. “Get back and make sure Marilyn doesn’t do something stupid.”
He clasped his face between his palms, his eyes huge. “Oh my god, I have to get back.” He waved a hand at the men walking away. “I’ll come to the cave later.” With that, he took off running.
Checking as far as he could see, Calum assured himself no one was looking for them, yet, then turned to head back to the cave. He caught up to them quickly.
“How much further?” Mark asked, sounding winded already.
Calum didn’t like how the gash on his ribs looked. It had been stitched up and had healed over, but the fact that it was there, reminded him they’d been in chains and unable to shift. “At this pace, half hour or so.” He checked behind them again. “Some pretty rough climbing ahead.”
Mark nodded. “We’ll make it.” He checked over his shoulder before looking back to him. “Thought I was hallucinating when I saw you.”
Calum grinned. “I don’t doubt it.”
He stumbled. Dale reached out to steady him. “So, you just on vacation in the neighborhood?” Marc asked, trying to lighten the air around them.
Dale released his arm and smiled over at Calum. “He was inside with us.” Marc looked at him. “Saw him in the showers a few days ago…or I think it was a few days ago.”
Calum paused and let them go ahead while he looked carefully across the terrain. He didn’t know what Marilyn was doing to buy them time, but he hoped she pulled it off. Turning around, he went to check on Chad’s condition, as he hadn’t made a sound in several minutes. His chest was moving, so he supposed that was good enough for now.
“Cal?”
He turned to look at Dale. He looked like he was going to pass out at any second. “You okay to walk?”
Dale nodded. “From here to China if it means I’m free, damn right I am.” He huffed out a breath. “That’s ah…” He glanced at his neck. “Quite the mark on your throat.” He smirked. “You take some personal time since I saw you last?”
Gage snorted. “The elusive Calum is caught.”
Dale shook his head. “That’s what I wondered.”
Marc paused and leaned on his knees for a moment. Dale paused beside him. “I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” He stood up slowly again. “I look forward to meeting the woman that took you on, Cal.”
Calum looked at the angry scar on his abdomen. “Were you awake when they stitched you up?”
Marc ran a hand over the scar. “Not much, in a drug haze really.” He let out a shaky breath. “Had just gone ten rounds with a mystery cat in heat, so my head was fucked up before the sedative.” He started walking again after a quick glance behind them. “The old doctor lady was there, but someone else with a gentle demeanor put me back together, couldn’t tell you who though, as I had clouds and birds in my head at the time.”
Devin glanced at his side, then gave him a nod. “That would have been his mate.”
Marc’s mouth dropped open. “Your mate is one of them?”
Calum nodded. “Long story.” He ignored the chuckle from Gage and looked to see how much further they had to go, wondering how she was doing.
“Speaking of…” Gage paused and adjusted his hold on the blanket. “…think they’ve skinned Jake yet?” He started walking when Devin nodded. “I almost feel sorry, leaving him behind with four women to wrangle.”
Devin growled. “He better not be wrangling them.”
Calum froze when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Straightening he cursed silently. “He’s not.” He motioned to the top of the hill. “He’s standing right there.”
“What?” Gage snapped his head up. “How the hell is he watching them if he’s looking at us, nowhere near the cave?”
“Let’s just ask him,” Devin said when Jake started running toward them.
As Jake got close enough, Calum called out to him. “How the hell…”
Jake held up his hand to stop him. “Don’t ever leave me with them again.” He went straight to Marc and put his arm around him to help him walk more upright.
Calum looked up the hill. “Where are the girls?”
“In the cave.” He glanced at Gage hesitantly. “Kels promised they’d stay right there before they demanded I come help.”
Gage growled. “She’s going to give me a heart attack one day soon, just wait and see.”
Calum turned to look down the hill, to check they still weren’t being tracked. It grated on his nerves, constantly having to look over his shoulder. They needed to come up with a permanent solution, and soon.
Jake was still mumbling under his breath. “When Brock came running in with Nona’s medical bag and grabbing things, the girls damn near freaked out…”
“He ran from the village to there and back to us?” Gage asked.
Jake shrugged. “I guess.”
“Holy shit,” Gage said under his breath. “Fast.”
Turning back, Calum motioned to the top. “Let’s just get there. I want to be in the ‘no male’ zone before they come looking for us.” Chad lifting his hand caused them all to stop. Calum went over to him and leaned down. “What is it?”
“Scent…” Chad whispered. “Tracked us.”
Calum shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Marilyn and Brock said they had that covered.” He looked up at Devin’s curious look before straightening. “I didn’t ask…figured I wouldn’t want to know.”
“Probably that god damned weed they sprinkled all over our cells like potpourri,” Dale mused, more to himself then any of them.
As they reached the top of the gulley, Calum felt relieved. “Few more minutes now.” He went to go over and help with carrying Chad, when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. “Promised that they’d stay in the cave, huh?”
All the men looked in the direction he was looking to see Rayne, Kelsey and Shaelan running toward them.
“Son of a…” Jake hissed “Not your fault, Jake,” Devin said, not hiding the annoyance in his tone. “There’s not a man alive that can stop that force of nature, if they don’t want to be stopped.”
Gage growled.
Calum moved around to get to Shaelan before she saw the state Chad was in. She stopped in front of him and looked him over from boot to the top of his head, then smacked him hard in the center of his chest.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she hissed, then went by him to look at Chad.
“I’m sorry, maybe it’s the drugs…” Dale said in a quiet tone. “But did she just hit Cal? The Cal that even wild bears run from?”
“Yes, she did,” Marc said with a grin on his face.
Rayne came running over and went right to Shaelan. Her eyes flicked to Devin briefly. “Not a word, Devin Addison.”
Calum heard Devin’s teeth clacking together as he snapped his mouth shut. He was still standing where he had been, rubbing a hand over his chest where she’d smacked him.
Kelsey appeared and stopped in front of Gage and pointed a finger at him. “Bad,” she hissed, then looked to Shaelan. “What do you need?”
Shaelan was trying to look at Chad without moving him, mumbling quietly to herself. “Tell Billie to get out of the tree and get some water boiling. I’m going to have to clean this up to see the extent of his injuries. Then tell her to get Nona up here as fast as she can.”
Kelsey nodded, then took off back toward the cave.
“I’ll go help,” Rayne said and was running after her.
Shaelan looked Marc up and down, then Dale. “I’ll check you two over when we get there,” she told them softly before she turned to Calum. “Help them get him laying down, but not flat on his back, outside in the sun, the cave is too dark.” When he nodded, she turned and ran after the other two.
“Damn,” Dale whispered. “Those are your mates?”
Calum nodded.
“They’re like a whole bundle of feminine force that I wouldn’t want to deal with.” He glanced to Gage and Devin. “Good luck to you all.”
Shaking his head, Calum went ahead of them to find a good location to put Chad down. Later, when he wasn’t stunned and in awe of his mate, they were going to have a chat about her safety and it being the most important thing on the planet. In fact, the population of the planet was safer as long as nothing ever happened to her.