A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing (Welsh Wolves) (20 page)

The tranquilizer sped through his system and his muscles gave out. He growled as the female knelt beside him. The male returned moments later. A covering was put over his nose so he couldn’t bite, then a heavy weight went around his neck.

Bright pain burned through his skin as the collar pressed into his fur and he couldn’t stop a whimper from escaping.

“The doctor was more than willing to tell me all his secrets. That little bit of silver in the collar won’t kill you, but it will hurt like a son of a bitch, burn that pretty fur right off your neck.”

She stood up and stepped back.

“I can take it off. It’s your choice,” she hissed. “You’ll either change back or you’ll be my bitch.”

Chapter Eleven

“
You’re
not going.”

“I am going.” Kieve raised his chin and met the hard stare of the man who seemed to control this little group. Micah. The Alpha. Kieve had learned that from the bit of research he’d done on werewolves that morning. True, most of it had been in the form of romance novels because there wasn’t a lot of
actual
information available about werewolves, but they had been very informative.

Dex put his hand on Kieve’s arm. “It’s okay. We’ll go get Reese and bring him back.”

Kieve shook his head. He didn’t understand it, but something inside him screamed to go with them. He couldn’t wait around like some heroine waiting for her man to return home safely.

“I’m going.”

“Not if I chain you up in the basement,” Micah growled.

“Ooh, sounds like something I might like,” Dex laughed.

It was all Kieve could do not to roll his eyes, but Dex’s teasing eased the tension in the room just a bit.

“This is wasting time,” Micah said. “Wait here. We’ll be back.”

“I’m going,” Kieve insisted.

“You won’t be able to keep up,” Maddock said.

“I’ll ride with one of you.” It seemed so simple.

“We weren’t planning on driving,” Dex said.

“You’re just going to—” The truth hit Kieve like a brick. “Oh! You’re going to—”

Dex blinked and looked innocently back at him. “What?”

“You’re going to do that thing that Reese does. You’re going to turn into wolves.” He glanced at the little circle of friends. “All of you.”

Rhian shook her head. “Not me. But I’ll provide aerial support.” As she finished the words, a clap of thunder shook the walls.

Weather witch. She’d said she was a weather witch.

“Reese told you?” Micah demanded, the edge to his voice drawing up protective instincts in Kieve he hadn’t expected.

“He didn’t have much choice. I saw something I shouldn’t have.” That wasn’t specifically the truth, but he wasn’t going to let Reese get in trouble for telling him their secret.

“Then you understand that you’ll just be in the way. We’ll handle this.” With that, Micah spun around on his heel and stalked toward the door. Dex patted Kieve’s arm and followed after Micah and Maddock. Rhian came closer, not touching, but standing there, offering silent support.

Before the three men reached the front door, it popped open and Chance walked in.

“What’s happening?” he asked in a solid, business-like voice, his stare locking onto Micah.

“We know where Reese is. We’re going to get him.”

Chance’s eyes widened for a moment.

“You found him?”

“Found his cell,” Dex offered.

“Which he was next to about ten minutes ago.” Micah huffed out a breath and Kieve couldn’t stop the shiver racing down his spine. “The longer we wait, the farther he could be away from the place.”

Chance shrugged. “Great, I’m there. I’ll call for back-up on the way.”

“No—”

Kieve didn’t let Micah finish. “Perfect.” He stalked forward. “I’ll drive. Dex, Maddock, you ride with me. Micah, you go with Chance.”

He kept moving, not even slowing when he heard Dex’s giggle. Shit, he hoped they followed or he was going to look damn silly. On the other hand, he’d seen the location on the map. He could just drive there himself.

His truck and a late model sedan were the only cars in the parking lot. Kieve stalked across the gravel pad. As he reached for the driver side door, the passenger door popped open. Kieve watched Dex hop into the cab. He opened his own door and followed suit.

Dex moved to the middle as Maddock crowded the three of them into the front seat.

“Dude, you better hope we find Reese,” Dex said as Kieve started the truck and pulled forward, waiting for Chance to get behind him.

“I do,” Kieve answered sincerely.

“Naw.” Maddock shook his head. “You’re going to need Reese to protect you. Nobody pisses off Micah like that and lives.”

Kieve chuckled. He thought Maddock was joking. He
hoped
Maddock was joking, but he wasn’t exactly sure.

He pulled his truck onto the two-lane road heading away from town. The phone’s location had been in the middle of freakin’ nowhere. It wasn’t going to be easy to sneak up on the place.

“Don’t scare him, Maddock.” Dex slapped his boyfriend’s arm then shifted in his seat to look at Kieve. “Micah is big and cranky, but he probably won’t hurt you. You’re Reese’s mate.”

“Mate? What does that mean?” Kieve couldn’t stop his heart from pounding. In the books he’d skimmed that morning, he’d seen the term over and over. It meant different things.

But the way Dex said it, “mate” sounded like a fairly serious, fairly permanent term. Not that he was against that. It just seemed a bit sudden.

“Oh, it means his wolf likes you.”

Maddock scoffed. “It means a bit more than that, baby.”

Kieve’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel, waiting for Dex’s explanation.

But the smaller man said nothing.

“Well?” Kieve finally demanded. “What does it mean?”

“It’s nothing. It’s a good thing. Reese will explain it to you.”

Kieve opened his mouth to ask another question about “mates” but decided that was a discussion for when they weren’t trying to rescue his lover.

“You sound like you might know who grabbed Reese?” Kieve glanced at Dex. “It isn’t just this guy Jason?”

“I don’t think so. Reese and Jason were held in this lab where they did experiments on them.”

“Because they were werewolves?” Kieve figured the more times he said it, the more it would become real.

“Yeah. The doctor seemed to be trying to find a way to transfer the werewolf traits to humans.”

“Can’t you just bite someone and turn them into a werewolf?”

Kieve looked at Dex, long enough to see the other man grin. “No. Doesn’t work that way. You’re either born a werewolf—” He nudged Maddock with his shoulder as if reminding the other man of a shared story. “Or you’re not.”

“So, you think this doctor is back and trying to grab Reese again?”

Dex shook his head. “The doctor’s dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me.” Dex actually turned green at whatever memory was playing in his mind. “No one loses that much blood and survives.”

“If it wasn’t the doctor, maybe Jason has taken over?” The kid seemed a little too twitchy and nervous to be an evil scientist, but what did he know?

“That doesn’t really make sense,” Maddock pointed out. “If Jason was one of the other captives, why would he start experimenting? He’s already a werewolf.”

“There was an assistant,” Dex said. “To the doctor.”

“Maybe he survived?” Kieve suggested.

“She.”

“What?”

“The assistant was a ‘she.’ Reese never mentioned her name. He just called her the ‘blonde bitch.’”

The image of that woman—Diana Shepard—popped into Kieve’s brain. Now there was someone who fit the image of an evil scientist. Or at least the blonde bimbo who stood next to the evil scientist wearing a low-cut blouse and micro-mini skirt.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I think I met her.”

“What?”

Before Kieve could explain, Dex’s phone rang.

“Yes? We’re getting close.” Dex pointed to the next turn-off. “Got it. Okay. Okay.”

He pulled the phone away and tapped the screen. “Chance and Micah are about to explode. We’re about a mile away from where Reese’s phone was found. Let’s pull over.”

“Just a little farther.” Kieve kept driving. Trees lined the road, breaking only when a road went off to the north.

“Is this it?”

Dex looked at the map on his phone. “Yeah, about a half-mile down that road.”

Kieve guided the car to the side of the road and stopped.

The sedan pulled up behind him. Before it had even stopped, the passenger door was open and Micah was out, storming toward the truck. He passed around the truck bed and stalked forward.

Kieve’s door was yanked open and Micah filled the empty space. His eyes glowed—freakin’ glowed! The big man curled his fingers around Kieve’s shirt and dragged him forward.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten around me. I’ll—”

Dex reached over and swatted at Micah’s hand. “Let him go. He’s Reese’s mate. You can’t hurt him.”

“I don’t care who he is,” Micah growled through teeth that looked way too big for his mouth. The grip on his shirt tightened and Kieve felt his body being lifted. “And if you tell anyone about our existence—” The low snarl filled the cab of the truck and skittered down Kieve’s spine warning him Micah was deadly serious. “I’ll find every member of your family, rip out their stomachs and snack on them for lunch.”

A shiver raced down Kieve’s spine. Instinct told him Micah wasn’t exaggerating.

“Okay, yecch.” Dex again slapped at Micah’s hands. “Let him go.”

Micah growled one more time then released Kieve. He plopped back down on the seat.

Micah flashed a warning look at Kieve then stepped away just as Chance approached.

“So, tell me what you’ve got. Micah told me not to call for backup.”

“We’ll handle it,” Micah said.

“Kieve thinks he met the woman who snatched Reese,” Dex said, peering around Kieve’s shoulder.

“What?”

“A couple of days ago, I had this woman show up at my house. I’d put an ad on Craigslist when I found Ree—” Dex’s nails bit into Kieve’s lower back. “Uh, Fido, saying I’d found a wolf-hybrid. A couple of days after I brought Fido back, she shows up at my house.” He looked at Chance, hoping the cop would understand. “I didn’t put my address on the announcement. Just my phone number.”

“But she found you anyway.”

“Yes. She described Fido exactly, kept asking about his owners, and where I’d taken him.” He shrugged. “She seemed a bit...off.”

“So, you have a strange woman looking for a dog.” Chance shook his head. “I’m not sure how that translates into Reese getting kidnapped.”

“Well, Fido is his dog and Fido’s missing as well,” Kieve offered weakly, looking to Micah for some help with that one. Chance clearly didn’t know about their special abilities.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Chance said.

“You have to trust us,” Micah interrupted. “What do we know about this place where you saw Reese’s phone?”

“I looked it up on the map program.” Dex handed his cell phone to Micah. “The satellite picture looks like it’s a building in the middle of a field.”

“No way to sneak up.” Micah showed the phone to Chance.

“Maybe I could just drive up,” Kieve suggested. He could feel the weight of multiple stares. “No, I’m serious. I drive up like I’m lost, that distracts whoever is in the building and you guys come in from the back.”

“What if they just shoot you when you drive up?” Micah asked, his tone indicating that he didn’t particularly care if that’s what happened.

“Unlikely. Even bad guys know how inconvenient it is to get rid of a body.”

Dex jabbed Kieve in the ribs with his elbow. “You’re good at this kind of stuff.”

“I watch too much TV,” Kieve muttered.

“It might work,” Chance added. “We’ll slip in around the back.” He pulled out his phone. “Just let me call a few—”

Micah smacked the phone out of Chance’s hand.

“We’ll handle it.”

Chance pulled himself up to his full height and faced Micah. Chance was in full-on “cop” mode, but Micah looked every bit the Alpha werewolf Kieve was suspecting him to be. This could be an ugly showdown.

“You’ve found him. Now let me take care of it.”

“He’s our friend.”

“I can’t just go in there without back-up.”

“Then you don’t go in at all.” The words flowed out of Micah like a heavy, wet blanket, pulling every bit of will from Kieve. He had to obey.

Kieve watched as Chance wilted then jerked back to standing, his eyes flashing confusion.

“But—”

“You and Maddock and Dex, take the back,” Micah commanded. His glowing eyes drilled into Kieve’s brain. “We’ll take the front.”

For a moment, Kieve thought Chance would protest but Dex and Maddock jumped out of Kieve’s truck and hurried around to Chance’s side, giving the cop little opportunity to resist.

“Let’s go.” Dex looked at Micah. “Give us fifteen minutes to get into place and then head to the front door. We’ll cover the back.”

Kieve blinked and stared after Dex. He seemed so flighty, but when it came to taking care of the people—uh, pack?—around him, he was strong and confident.

Maddock and Dex started down the road and within moments, they were gone, disappeared into the tree line with Chance.

Leaving Kieve alone with Micah.

The lump in Kieve’s throat felt like a boulder. He swallowed, trying to clear the tight sensation.

“Are you ready?” Micah asked, his voice low and dangerous.

“Weren’t we going to give them fifteen minutes?” Kieve asked even as he slipped out of the driver’s side.

“Do you really want to leave Reese in there for another fifteen minutes?”

Kieve shook his head, the reaction instinctive. He didn’t know what was happening to Reese, but he wanted to save the other man any pain that he could.

“Then let’s go.”

Kieve rolled his shoulders back and looked toward their destination. A small rise in the terrain made it impossible to see, but that would give them a little bit of cover as well.

Strange, cracking snaps and pops sounded to his left and Kieve couldn’t help but look. He’d heard the noises before when Reese had changed, but this was different—faster, more violent. Within seconds, a large black wolf stood beside him. A pile of clothes tossed in a casual mess sat next to the animal.