Tagging Her Lynx (Alaska Lynx Clan) (12 page)

In
pairs, the cats circled the camp, staying far enough away so their movements
would go undetected. Holding everyone back, Granger alone moved forward to
sniff out his mate. The putrid smell of the men masking her sweet scent made
his blood boil. He'd kill each one of the filthy pigs who dared to lay a finger
on her.

"Aningan."
He'd called her numerous times on the journey here, but so far she remained
silent.
"Come on, Chloe. Answer me. Concentrate. I know you can hear my
voice. Give me something."

Two
crew cab trucks and a Suburban were parked where the gravel road ended. He crept
under the truck, putting him within fifty yards of where the men gathered
around a bonfire. He doubted that they'd hear him approach over the crackling
of the flames.

The
men all seemed to be in good spirits, talking and laughing. They obviously were
not expecting him or the rest of the cats.

"Grange…"

He
scooted backward and behind the rear tire.
"Thank God. Are you okay?
Did they hurt you?"

Chloe
didn't answer right away. He held his breath. The fur at the base of his neck
stood up. Why couldn't she communicate with him?

He'd
trained her well to talk in any situation.

"Help
me."

"I
will."
He stepped out from under the vehicle.
"Where
are you? Can you see what's around you?"

The
wait for her response was killing him.
"Please, Aningan. Answer me. I
want to take you home."

"Home?"

"Yes,
sweetheart. I'll take you home. Just tell me where you are?"
He put a call out to the others to get ready and to tell them he'd communicated
with Chloe.
"The others are here too. We won't let them hurt you anymore."

"I
can't see a thing. I
—her breathing became heavier—
I
shifted and can't get my lynx back."
She moaned.
"I'm in a
cage, but…"

He
waited, but she didn't continue. Fuck! If she'd shifted, she'd not last long in
the harsh elements. He'd have to find her fast. Where would they keep her?

"Spread
out and find Chloe. She's shifted! We need to get to her now. Take anyone down
who tries to stop you."
He darted for the
first tent.
"Whatever you do, be careful."
Granger shifted.
"Darren.
Stay safe."

He
poked his head underneath the canvas cover over the back window on the tent.
Peering inside, he couldn't see any cages or shapes that hid a cage. Shifting
back to his lynx, he stilled. The lynx's ability to heal and warm instantly was
the only thing making it possible to shift out in the cold. No way was Chloe
outside. She'd not survive.

The
friendly conversation within the group died down, and the men grew quiet. He
curled down into the snow, shrinking out of sight. He'd like to rescue Chloe
without bloodshed first. Fighting the whole group would waste precious time
that Chloe didn't have right now.

"Give
me a second. I want to change and get these bloody clothes off before we take
the female to the lab." One of the men broke away from the fire.

Granger's
eyes narrowed. He stayed in position behind the tent where the man opened the
zipper and stepped inside. Inhaling, he didn't recognize the smell. The blood
didn't come from Chloe.

"Hey
George, I'm going to start the SUV. I don't want the shifter dying before we
get back." The man laughed. "Damn if that serum didn't shift her
right quick."

"Whatever."
Rustling came from inside the tent. "Go ahead and take her to the lab. I'll
catch up with you in the truck. Take Johnson with you."

Granger's
ears pitched forward, and he slunk on his belly along the snow to the side of
the tent. Two men walked away. The snow made returning to the parking area slow
for the humans.

"Chloe's
in the red Suburban. Get her out now. Two men are coming to take her back to
Juneau."
Granger sprinted for the snowbank to
make his way around the men.
"Hang on. We found you."

Running
fast and hard, he took the chance that the men would spot him and darted out
from the drift. He arrived at the back of the Suburban, shifted, and without
missing a step, jumped onto the tailgate.

Darren
followed him into the vehicle, shifted, and crouched naked beside the cage,
frowning. "She won't wake up, but she's breathing."

"Aningan,
I'm going to help you shift." He reached through the open door of the cage
and stroked her cheek. "Help me, Chloe."

He
closed his eyes and concentrated, but even with his ability to help others
shift, Chloe remained in human form. "Fuck!"

"Why
isn't it working?" Darren's body shook from the cold.

"I
heard them say they used some kind of drug on her to make her come out of her
lynx." Granger gazed over the seats and out the front window. "Jesus,
they're coming."

"Let's
carry her." Darren unfolded Chloe's legs and pulled them out of the cage.

Granger
waved his hand. "No. We'd never make it. Not in these temperatures."
He inhaled through his nose. "She's half frozen already, and there's no
way we would survive carrying her out in our human forms."

"I'll
go out and kill them. It'll give us a few more minutes." Darren shifted.
"Keep
working on Chloe."

"No."
Granger reached around his brother and closed the back door without shutting it
completely. "Jump into the driver's seat. I'll shift and take the
passenger seat. That way we'll both surprise them and take them out of the
picture. It'll be faster."

Granger
stroked Chloe's leg one more time, shifted, and bounded over the seats. He
crouched low so as not to give away his position.

The
moment the door opened, he'd slice the main artery in the man's neck. If they
got lucky, neither man would scream and alert the others.

"Hey
Grange?"
Darren purred.
"I think I found
our answer."

Granger
turned toward the driver's side.
"What?"

"They
left the keys in the rig."
Darren opened his
mouth and gave a lynx version of a smile.

"Shift!"
Granger's body stretched out on the seat, and he scrambled over the double row
of seats to the back.

"Go!"
He shut the back door and turned toward Chloe as the engine roared to life.
"Get
us out of here!"

Darren
maneuvered the SUV around, the tires spinning out of control atop the packed
snow. "Where to?"

"Just
drive." Granger pulled Chloe out of the human-size animal crate and
cradled her in his arms. "Turn on the fucking heater too."

The
sight of the two men standing still with their mouths open almost put a smile
on his face. He pulled the wool blanket Chloe's captors used to cover the cage
and wrapped both Chloe and himself in it. He wanted to hear her voice and watch
the way the skin around her eyes curved up when she smiled. Her breathing
barely caressed his chest, and it worried him. Did the drug they gave her harm
her, or did she suffer from the extreme temperatures?

"Come
on, Aningan. It's safe now. No one will ever get hold of you again. I promise."

"Hold
on! The county road is coming up." Darren sped up.

Granger
braced his legs against the inside of the truck and pushed his back next to the
spare tire. The road crew in Alaska was notorious for plowing the main roads
and leaving a hill of snow blocking any access to the side gravel roads.

His
brother drove fast enough so that the SUV wouldn't get stuck in the mound of
snow. Granger's ass lifted in the air, but he held on to Chloe and cushioned
the landing. The SUV bounced and continued down the paved road. He wanted many
miles between them and the men he knew would follow. A big red Suburban wasn't
exactly easy to hide.

The
men would follow, hunt, and prey on them to get their prize back. All these
years of having no solid proof to examine, test, and mutilate, they'd be
desperate to get Chloe back.
Over my dead body.

"Granger?"

Chloe
moved her hand up, rubbed his arm, and let her arm fall again. His heartbeat
sped up, and he held her away from his chest. He needed visual proof that she
woke up.

"Oh,
Chloe." He smiled into eyes that blinked up at him in confusion. "Are
you in any pain? Did they hurt you anywhere?"

"I—"

"Granger.
We've got trouble coming."

The
vehicle slowed down, and Granger peered out the back window, expecting to see a
truck barreling toward them. He cocked his head. No car followed them.

Chapter
Eleven

Granger
whipped his head around and stared out the front window of the SUV. He wanted
to cringe at the sound of sirens piercing his ears. How the hell were they to
get out of here? Three naked people in the dead of winter riding in a stolen
vehicle… They'd get a one-way ticket to the nearest mental hospital.

Darren
brought the vehicle to a complete stop. "Better hurry and come up with a
plan, Grange."

"Fuck."
He gazed from the back of Darren's head to Chloe. "Let's try and get you
back in your lynx."

"Oh
God. I can't. I…I can't even lift my head." She closed her eyes and
groaned.

"Try,
Aningan." He laid her head back against his chest, closed his eyes, and
willed everything in his body to give her the strength to turn.

It
took all his might to transfer enough power to Chloe so she could shift, but at
last she moved in his arms. He opened his eyes and smiled. His hand stroked the
beautiful thick fur at her lynx's neck.

"Good
girl." He turned at Darren's cough.

"Shit.
He's walking this way. You've got about ten seconds to come up with a plan to
get us out of here." His brother's hand thumped repeatedly on the steering
wheel.

"Shift
and get back here." Granger moved from underneath Chloe, where she stood
waiting for instructions.

In
no time Chloe and Darren stood beside Granger, staring at him. He purred and
stretched out on the floor of the Suburban. Having the cop find no humans would
buy them some time.

"He's
going to see us."
Darren stepped over Granger and
paced.

Granger
flashed out his paw and struck him in the side.
"He's also going to
have to radio this in and leave the vehicle."

"What
if he doesn't?"
His brother stopped and stared.

Granger
licked his paw and ran it over his face.
"What do you think the asshole
is going to do? Come in and hold us on his lap? Take the cute kitties home to
his daughter?"

Chloe
giggled.

"You'll
have to excuse him, Aningan. I think he loses more brain cells with each shift."
He rolled onto his back, used both paws to pull Chloe down, and licked her
whiskers.
"God, you smell good. Feeling better?"

"Yes.
Almost perfect now that I'm back with you."
She lifted her head.
"I still love you, Darren, but Granger got you
with that one."

"You
talked to me."
Darren cocked his head and sat back on
his haunches.
"Did you hear that, Granger? Your mate is a true alpha
female."

"Ding,
ding, ding."
Granger rolled over and lay on Chloe's
back in a submissive hold.
"And the prize goes to…"

His
playful manners stopped at the driver's door opening.
"Hurry, crouch in
the corner and act scared."

The
cop stuck his head inside the door, gazed around at the interior, and backed
out, leaving the door open. Granger stretched his neck to look out the front
window, but the officer didn't walk back to his patrol car.

"Hurry,
out the front door!"
He led them over the seats and jumped
down to the ground the second the back door opened up.

Darting
off the road, they ran over the snow and didn't stop. With Chloe recovered
enough to shift, they could travel back to the Lynx clan with no problems. Once
surrounded by the other cats, they'd figure out how Chloe could have been taken
from underneath their noses and find a way to make sure it never happened
again.

He
never dreamed there were two groups that put them all at risk. The larger group
he'd known about, but the smaller one he'd never seen before the morning he
introduced himself to Chloe. It was stupid and careless of him to lump them all
together.

The
last couple of miles Chloe fell behind him and Darren. He slowed and circled
around to run at her side.

"Are
you doing okay?"
He kept Darren in his sight.