This bit of info piqued Jasmine’s interest. “Why would you think they aren’t here?”
“A few days ago we heard the guards talking about another facility. We only heard bits and pieces, but one of the guys said he was getting transferred there.”
Holy shit. Apparently Arik had been a busy man.
A loud roar sounded from down the hallway and everyone in the room came alert. Male shouts and growls mixed with a woman’s screams.
“Another female must have gone into heat,” Cindy whispered.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!”
Jasmine’s heart rate increased as she recognized Javin’s voice. She got to her feet and ran to the door, pressing her ear against it. What in the hell were they doing to him? A tight knot formed in the pit of her stomach and she forced back the bile that rose in her throat. Tears tracked down her face as the horrible cacophony continued. She wanted to howl—beat against the door. Her friend was in trouble and she couldn’t help him.
Javin’s cries of retribution faded. Jasmine bit into her lower lip. Had they killed him? Another familiar male voice sounded as heavy footfalls approached their direction. A door near them opened.
“Put her in there. Arik will decide her fate when he returns. As for you two, you will be punished.”
It was the blond guy who had put her in here.
“It was Mike’s fault! He was the one who opened the door back up and beat her in front of the prisoner.”
“Shut the fuck up, Greg.”
“Silence!”
Their footfalls retreated and the room took in a collective breath of relief. Those assholes wouldn’t be entering this room.
“Who is he to you?” Chandra asked. “The man who was yelling.”
Jasmine turned to her as new tears tracked down her cheeks. “His name is Javin.” She turned and faced the door again. “I hope he’s okay.”
They had to make their move sooner than Shadeau wanted. He darted behind a building, sinking low to hide in the patchy fog that covered the ground. Jason was right on his heels. Darkness still blanketed them, but it would only be another hour before the sun rose.
Shadeau had hoped for more time to better plan this attack, but he discovered in a briefing meeting they planned to transport two males and all the females who had been bred this morning. Arik had left for the secondary location in the middle of the night. No one had told him about this other place before, so he had no clue where it even was. And he’d be damned if he risked them carting Jasmine off to some unknown place.
A foot patrol headed toward them. He flattened his back against the building and Jason followed suit. Luckily the two guards turned and headed east. Shadeau peered around the corner of the building. The coast was clear. He darted to the next building that would offer him cover, trusting his friend to follow stealthily.
Four other wolves had joined their ranks. Each of them had been tasked to take care of the guards in the towers. Eyes in the sky were too hard to hide from.
The door to the cell was in the open, but with the fog they would be able to belly crawl and stay somewhat hidden. Lucky for them Jason was scheduled for the next shift in the cell block and had a key to get in. Shadeau let him lead the way.
Yesterday in the woods Jason had told the whole tale of finding his mate. He’d been assigned to guard duty as soon as the females started coming in. At first he hadn’t thought it would be a big deal, but then
she
came in. He didn’t even know her name. Just knew that she was locked in room number four. The one time Jason tried to talk to her she’d attacked him. Shadeau couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t as if the situation exuded romance or anything. But they’d free her today, along with his precious Jasmine and the others.
Shadeau spied Jason’s position near the entrance and used it as his cue to start belly crawling. Cold, wet grass permeated his shirt, damping his chest. His jeans didn’t do much better as a barrier. He wasn’t bothered by the cold. His body ran hot as he prepared for the battle to come.
The fog swayed and moonlight glinted off the metal door as it swung open. Shadeau did a quick look around to see if the movement had caught anyone’s attention. Everything remained still. No cries of alarm came from the towers so the others must have done their jobs.
He moved faster, ready to be with his mate again. One thing was for sure, he didn’t want her out of his sight again for a very long time.
As he approached the entrance he could hear Jason talking to the guards down stairs.
“I couldn’t sleep, and Kevin told me that y’all got called in last night because one of the males went crazy, so I figured one of you might want to cut out early.”
“Yeah. It was crazy, dude. Greg was on duty and he let that female in to tend to the guy in room six. Apparently she was
servicing
him. Mike walked in on it and went off.”
Shadeau winced as he maneuvered to a squatting position on the first step. Mike was a crazy motherfucker. Been hit too many times in the head, that one.
“The newbie didn’t have a clue what to do. He went for the tranq gun. Dude is gonna be out for a while. But Misha came down here when it was going on and he got pissed. Both of those guys are confined to their quarters until Arik gets back.”
“Damn,” Jason said. “That’s crazy.”
There was a pause in the conversation then Jason spoke again. “So, do one of y’all want to cut out early?”
Another pause.
“Sure. I could use some sleep.”
“Cool.”
Shadeau was ready. He pressed close to the wall trying to stay in the cover of darkness. The male climbing the stairs was looking at his feet. Once he was in range, Shadeau reached out, gripped the man’s head in his hands and gave a hard twist. Not even a small noise escaped the male’s lips as his body sagged and Shadeau caught his weight. With slow, silent movements he lowered the body to the ground and made his way down the stairs.
Jason continued to converse with the guard who was left. From the sound of it, they were moving down the corridor away from him. Jason had told Shadeau he could slip into the room straight ahead of the stairs and he would find a tranq gun inside. There wasn’t any point killing more people than they had to. Shadeau hoped there were plenty of tranq darts left after the scuffle they had last night.
He peeked around the corner and saw their backs so he sprinted across into the room. Lucky for him there were a plethora of darts and two guns. He loaded one and stepped out into the hallway. A look of shock covered the dark-headed male’s face.
Shadeau took aim and shot before the other guy could raise his gun. Bad thing about tranq darts is they take a minute to work.
Jason reached out and grabbed the barrel of the gun and shoved it in another direction. A loud crack filled the air and the bullet lodged in the cement on the opposing wall. Jason took the wolf down and held him until his struggles ceased.
“We need to hurry. The noise is going to draw people.”
Jason jumped to his feet. “Your girl will be locked in here.” He ran for the room at the end of the hall.
Shadeau followed, ready to hold Jasmine in his arms again. They’d agreed to free her first so that the other females who’d been kept alone wouldn’t freak out.
Jasmine heard the commotion and jumped to her feet. Was it finally Shadeau coming to free them? Gunfire erupted.
Please let him be okay.
The sound of the key sliding into their door put them all on alert. The door swung open and a tall muscular form of perfection filled the doorway.
“Thank God!” Jasmine ran to him, relief washing through her.
Shadeau wrapped his arms around her and his hands went to working on the chains as his lips locked with hers. Damn, he tasted good.
“Little less kissing and more moving of your asses please.”
Jasmine broke away from Shadeau’s mouth and looked over his shoulder. A man with short rumpled brown hair stood there with a gun.
The chains fell free of her arms and she groaned as she moved her shoulders, trying to work out the soreness. She turned to the women in the cell. “This is our ticket out of here, girls. Those of you who can fight, I need you at the rear or the front.”
Jasmine darted out of the cell and ran to the door where she smelled Javin’s scent. It was still locked. “You need to open this door.”
Jason unlocked the door next to the cell Jasmine had been in and a woman lay on the floor, unmoving. “We’re gonna need some of you women to carry this one.”
Piper and Chandra stepped into the room to retrieve the woman.
Jason turned his attention to Jasmine. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to free that one.”
“Bullshit! He goes with us, he’s my friend,” Jasmine stated.
Shadeau took the keys from Jason and headed to the cell where Jasmine stood and inserted the key.
Jasmine placed her hand over his as he started to open the door. “Let me go in. He was really bad last night, but he knows me. I don’t want him to lash out at you.”
Shadeau rolled his eyes, but stepped back so she could enter the room first.
Jasmine strode inside and her heart constricted. Javin had been beaten badly. He hung limp from chains that bound his arms behind him and manacles that surrounded his bloody ankles and kept his feet tied to the wall. She could see the slow rise and fall of his chest. Three darts protruded from his body.
“Jason, we need the keys for his restraints,” Shadeau stated.
Jasmine turned to look at her lover over her shoulder then refocused on Javin. Jason came in with the keys and went to work freeing him. Jasmine and Shadeau caught his weight as Jason loosened his binds.
Each of them took one loose arm and draped it across their shoulders and started for the door. The sight that greeted them had Jasmine cursing. Big blond asshole was standing in the hall with a gun trained on them.
Shadeau moved, letting Jasmine take on all of Javin’s weight as he faced off with their roadblock. “Misha, you might be able to take one or two of us out but you will lose your life in the process.”
“No! Please don’t!”
Everyone turned to look at Chandra as she pushed through the small crowd of women. She strode right up to Misha. “Please. You’re not like them. You spared me. Please, let us go.”
Misha pulled his gaze from Chandra and focused on Shadeau. “What do you plan on doing with them?”
“Get them to safety.”
Misha lowered his gun.
Chandra closed the gap between them. “Come with us.”
Misha’s gaze went from Chandra to Shadeau and back to Chandra again.
“If you stay he’ll most likely kill you,” Shadeau offered.
Misha gave a tight nod.
Chandra ran over to help Jasmine with Javin.
Jason ran to the next door and opened it and continued down the line.
Females walked hesitantly out into the hall. Some cried with relief as they realized they were being saved from their nightmare.
“Jasmine,” Jason called as he stood in front of the final door.
Jasmine looked at Shadeau, confused.
“It’s his mate, and she’s a little wild.”
Jasmine approached and stood ready to talk to the woman as the door swung open. Light-brown curls stood out in an unruly mass from her head. Her brown eyes were wild as she plastered her back to the brick wall at the back of the cell.
“It’s okay. I’m Jasmine and we are here to rescue you.”
The female’s eyes glinted in the low light. Her wolf was really close to the surface. Jasmine walked slowly toward her. She growled, baring her teeth. Jasmine held her hands out to the side and averted her eyes, hoping to calm her. The growling stopped. Jasmine lifted her gaze and could tell the girl was confused. But the wolf had receded. “I’m here to take you home. No one is going to hurt you anymore.”
Shaking her head as if to clear it, the girl stepped forward slowly.
“That’s it. Come with me.”
Tears started flowing from her eyes as her steps quickened and she followed Jasmine out of the cell.
“We need to go,” Misha said.
“Wait!” Selena called out. “What about Kendall. We have to find Kendall.”
Jasmine turned to look at Misha and Jason. “The guy who tore up the cell?”
“He’s not here,” Misha answered.
“No. No! What did you do to him?” Selena pushed forward and shoved at Misha.
The girl was a little spitfire. Cindy restrained her and pulled the now sobbing girl back.
“They transferred him after he tore the hell out of that room. He was in really bad shape though. I’m not even sure that he made it,” Misha told Shadeau.
Shadeau gave a tight nod. “We have to move.”
They empted the supply room of darts and guns and made their way to the top of the stairs. There’d be no way to avoid being noticed with this many people and two of them disabled.
“What’s the plan?” Jasmine whispered to Shadeau.
He let loosed a half laugh. “Run like your life depends on it in a westerly direction. I left the van parked on a road about two miles from here.”
“That’s going to be one hell of a run with us towing two,” Jasmine said.
“Those of us carrying need to take the guns and go at our own pace. Jason, take the keys to the van. The other guys should be waiting there for us,” Shadeau handed them over, “and the rest of you shift and don’t stop until you’re at the van.”
The women started disrobing and shimmering light filled the stairwell as they started to shift. Jasmine stayed clothed along with Chandra.
Shadeau frowned in her direction. “Let me take him. I want you with the others.”
“This is no time to pull that macho crap with me. I’m staying. I’ve had enough time away from you,” Jasmine said with a smile.
Shadeau growled and placed a quick, fierce kiss on her lips then turned to Chandra. “I guess you’re set to stay as well?”
Chandra looked over to Misha who stood still and silent holding a gun and the woman they’d found unconscious. “I want to help.”
“Then trade places with me. Help Misha with the female,” Shadeau said. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” He faced Jason. “If trouble comes through those trees before we do, I want you to leave without us.”
Jason nodded then led the way out the door.
Jasmine and Shadeau matched their pace and started toward the trees at a good clip. They had let Chandra and Misha go in front of them. Shadeau shot her a look and she didn’t have any problems interpreting it. He didn’t trust Misha enough to have him at his back.
Wolves darted through the fog, a swirl of white left in their wake as they disappeared into the cover the trees provided. Jasmine thought she and Shadeau would make it to the cover of the trees as well, but then the alarm sounded.
Bullets zipped past their heads and they ducked down, but continued to run. The stress of carrying Javin weighed more heavily in this position, but she’d be damned if she dumped him. Shadeau growled and stumbled. Jasmine’s heart skipped a beat. He’d been hit. They couldn’t stop.