Tagging Her Lynx (Alaska Lynx Clan) (15 page)

Back
and forth, she cut a path over the land. Afraid that she'd miss the minutest
sign left behind, she retraced her steps with the hope that something would
jump out at her. Nothing did.

Heartbroken,
she sat back on her haunches. How did he disappear without leaving a part of
him behind? He didn't spray or stamp the area the way the Lynx did when
frightened. She shuddered and lowered her head. Granger never would have grown
scared. He knew his position and excelled at his skills.

"Darren?
I'm sorry too. I know he's your only family member left."

"No."
He stepped up beside her and lay down.
"We aren't alone. We have each
other."

"Where
are the vehicles?"

"We
drove them back to Fairbanks."
He sighed.
"Don't
worry, we searched them thoroughly."

A
rabbit hopped into sight, froze, and stared over at the two cats lounging on
the snowbank. Chloe lay her head down. Neither of them moved to give chase.

"I
don't feel like leaving."
She mewed and twitched
her ears.
"I know he's not here, but I feel him. I can't explain it."

"Maybe
it's the babe. He—or she—connects you to your life mate."

She
rose to all four legs, stretched, and took a few steps.
"I suppose. Thank
God the little one isn't making me sick right now."

"You're
in your lynx. That probably helps."
Darren walked with her
back toward the cabins.
"Although next week I doubt you'll be able to
shift. The baby will grow very fast in a short time."

She
snarled.
"So I've heard."

They
must have spent more time sitting around than Chloe realized. The sun headed
down on the horizon, putting the time at early afternoon. It grew dark earlier
and shortened the daytime hours.

From
the corner of her eye she spied a movement that stopped her in her tracks. She
studied the area to the left and behind her, but nothing caught her attention
again. She sniffed the air, catching a scent that was neither animal nor human.

Purring
under her breath, she jumped away from the tracks and stopped again. That's it!
Why didn't she think of this before? Why didn't any of them? Granger was alive
because they drugged him the same way that man had drugged her.

"Darren!"
She ran to catch up.

He
cocked his head.

"Where
exactly did those men plan to take me in the car the day they caught me? Where
do they live?"

He
shook his head.
"They wouldn't have kept you in their house. The risk
that animal control would get wind of it and arrest them would be too great.
Alaska state laws are strict on poaching."
He purred.
"They'd
take you back to the lab in Juneau."

She
laughed inside. This is what they'd all missed earlier. Relief bubbled inside
her stomach and calmed her fears.
"Want to take a car trip?"

"I've
got a better idea. You wanna fly?"

Chapter
Fourteen

Chloe
laid her head back on the leather seat as the plane came to a stop. She inhaled
through her nose and let the breath out slowly. It'd taken four days to set
their plan into motion, and the time had finally come to bring Granger home.

"How
are we doing on time?" Darren slipped off his seat belt and turned toward
her.

"We've
got a half hour. I've checked my watch every minute for the last hour."
She smiled. "I can't believe how long it took to get here."

"Alaska's
a big state, but not stopping in Anchorage helped. The airport there has too
many regulations," Darren said. "They frown on people not actually
having a license to fly the friendly skies. I'm just glad that you paid
attention to your brother's lessons."

She
reached over and squeezed his hand. "What if…?"

She
couldn't finish the question. Her hope of finding Granger at the lab was the
only thing that kept her going the last few days. She spent two days in
Fairbanks visiting the Alaskan Fish and Game officials, contacting animal
control, and setting the sting operation in motion.

She
rubbed her belly. The baby's growth amazed her.
I'm going to find your
daddy, little one. Hang in there.

This
morning her jeans couldn't be buttoned, and she had to borrow an old pair of
Granger's. The pants gave her more room than she needed, but the swollen lump
in her lower belly kept the waistband from sliding below her hips.

"Let's
get out and wait across the street. There's a tourist shop that we can pretend
to browse while we wait for animal control." Darren opened the door and
jumped out onto the frozen lake. "Keep your hood up. We don't want the
hunters to recognize you."

"I
know." She pulled the fur-lined hood over her head and tightened the
string. Her nose was still visible, but it hid her other features well. She
reached out for Darren. "Let me hold on to your arm. I don't want to slip
and fall."

The
wind off the nearby ocean whipped at her parka. Hooking her arm through his,
she plastered herself to his side for support. She kept her gaze on the ground
and walked with him into town.

Of
the many lakes in the area, Darren chose the one closest to the lab. It would
make walking the few short blocks more comfortable given her pregnancy.

"Granger?
Are you here?"
She paused to wait for an answer, but
no low, husky voice answered her.
"Hang on, my mate. We're coming. Your
family will find you."

Chloe
stayed at the front of the store across the street from the lab, peering
through the large glass window. Darren worked his way farther back, buying time
for them to hang out unseen.

They
had one chance to get inside the lab, and they'd do nothing to blow it. The
Lynx had hoped for a solution like this to their problem for years. It would
put an end to the hunters. At least until new ones popped up.

Her
relationship with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had come in handy.
Reporting the illegal hunting and capture of her animals from the wildlife
refuge bought her and Darren a way inside the lab to examine the animals and
have the department shut down the operation.

She'd
lied through her teeth, but it ultimately worked, and the hunters deserved
every punishment they received.

How
to get Granger out without anyone noticing was something she'd figure out after
they learned his whereabouts.

She
had a sneaking suspicion that they must have drugged him. No way would he not
communicate with her. Bile rose in the back of her throat and left a burning
sensation she tried to swallow away. She ignored the other possible reason for
his not answering her.

"It
should be any time now." Darren brushed the back of her coat and stepped
around her. "I'm going to try one more time to get you to change your
mind… Will you please stay here and let me check things out?"

"No."

He
sighed. "Granger's going to kill me."

"Yeah,
he probably will." She turned, smiled, and squeezed his arm. "And you'd
let him too."

He
chuckled. "Yeah."

She
turned back to gaze out the window. A gasp broke through her lips, and she
blindly reached for Darren. Backed by the sheriff's department, a squad of
uniformed men moved in and surrounded the building.
Hurry, hurry…

"Relax,
sis." Darren's arm came around her back and supported her.

A
grizzly bear couldn't have moved her from the spot where she stood. The moment
it was safe to head across the street, she planned to fight her way into the
lab to search for the beautiful lynx whose heart beat inside her body. She'd
wandered lost the last four days without the man she loved.

"It's
sure taking a long time. What if they don't find any animals?" She
swallowed the lump in her throat. "What if the Lynx are wrong and this isn't
where they hold suspected shifters?"

"We're
not wrong."

She
nodded, willing herself to have faith in the clan that had welcomed her with
open arms. In the short time she'd lived with the Lynx clan, she learned to
trust them with her life. With Granger's life.

The
front door opened, but the man stepped back inside, letting it close again.
Chloe stepped in front of Darren, but he pulled her back.
Oh God, this is
killing me.

Suddenly,
a peaceful sensation flowed through her body. From the back of her head, over
her shoulders, and around her middle, soothing warmth spread, taking the
jitters out of her muscles. She pursed her lips and breathed out. She couldn't
shift. The baby was too big to handle the smaller lynx body.

She
snarled. Her lynx wanted out, and she was pissed off. The deep desire to lash
out and harm the hunters, the scientists—the evil people who harmed all the
Lynx in the past and now probably Granger—struck her hard. She needed to stop
the senseless killing of the cats.

Breathing
through the feelings, she kept her lynx under control. Thank God Granger taught
her how to control her body.

"It's
opening again."

This
time Darren dropped his arm and took hold of her hand. "Stay with me."

Hurrying
out of the store, Chloe kept in step with Darren's much longer stride. She kept
her face pointed away from the handcuffed men coming out the door in the
sheriff's custody and slipped inside.

"Hey!
Stop right there! You must evacuate the building." An armed police officer
held his hand up and stepped in front of them.

She
raised her arms and lowered her hood. "I'm Chloe Barrant from the Northern
Slope Wildlife Refuge. The animals these people stole were under my care. If I
may check the animals, I can tell you if they are the ones that the state
placed into my custody." She smiled and shook her head. "There are
two that I'm especially worried about—a young black bear missing his left ear
and a full-grown lynx. I'm not sure what shape the cat will be in, as he was
deathly sick."

Darren
stepped up. "It'll only take a moment, sir."

The
man motioned for them to stay, removed the radio from his shoulder strap, and
asked for clearance. The affirmative reply was quick, and the man stepped out
of their way, signaling them to come forward.

"Go
through the doors. The animals are caged, and until we assess what was going
down here, please don't tamper with any of the evidence." The man walked
them farther into the building and pointed them through to the other room. "Try
to make it quick. This is going against protocol as it is."

Chloe
hurried forward and through the back door. Two officers lifted their heads but
returned to their clipboards, documenting the animals. Her gaze flew over the
cages, and the ball of worry she'd swallowed the past few days came up and
threatened to choke her. Where was he?

She
walked along the aisle, turned, and searched the next aisle. Her heart breaking
with each step, she came up empty. She was so sure he'd be there.

"There!"
Darren pulled her along.

In
the back row, Granger lay on the bottom of a cage in his lynx form, unmoving.
She cried out and sank to her knees. Her fingers stretched past the metal
squares of the enclosure barring her from her life mate.
"Granger! Wake
up, Granger. We found you."

"He's
breathing, Chloe. He's alive."
Darren fiddled with
the lock while scanning the rest of the room.
"There's a back door over
there in the corner. It must lead to outside. The building isn't that big."
He slipped off the lock and placed it on the floor.
"Go distract the
men over there, and I'll carry him out."

She
rose to her feet. Darren reached out and grabbed her pant leg. She bent down,
ready to do whatever he said to get Granger out.

"Make
it good, Chloe. If we get caught…"

She
nodded, turned, and acted as if she searched the cages for a certain animal.
Her heart pounded so hard, the sound of rushing blood roared through her
eardrums, blocking out any sound that might alert the men to Darren opening the
cage.

"Oh
God!" She held her stomach with one hand and covered her mouth.

The
men whipped their heads toward her direction. She gagged and stumbled forward
right into them.

"Are
you okay, miss?" The older man grabbed her elbow. "Are you sick from
the smell?"

"It
smells pretty rancid in here." The other man waved his clipboard in the
air.

She
shook her head and unzipped her coat without removing the hand over her mouth.
She patted the lump under her shirt.
Come on! Help a pregnant woman.

"She's
pregnant, boss." The younger man put his arm around her and guided her
toward the door. "I'll walk you out, lady."