Untamed (19 page)

T
ara cocked her head. “Jokes on us, right? Did you get off on the fact no one knew your secret?”

The SUV swerved off the road, but Tara never
loosened the clutch on her gun or lost Ethan’s gaze.

Brody threw the SUV into park
and turned in the seat. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She shook her head and
cocked her brow. “Don’t you want to know who the man is that is supposed to watch your back while fighting these lunatics?”

Rick placed his palm on Tara’s
hand, covering her gun. “Tara, are you trying to piss off the wolf?”

 
Ethan chuckled. “Honey, if you knew anything about my kind, then you’d know there’s only one type of bullet that can hurt me.” He tilted his head. “And you don’t have them in your gun.”

Rick held up his
hands. “Okay, everyone needs to calm down.”

Tara held Ethan’s gaze. “It makes sense if you think about it.” She bit her lip. “We have special gifts.” She tilted her head at Ethan. “Yours isn’t just mental…it’s physical.”

Brody threw his door open, got out, and started pacing in the front of the SUV. Rick followed.

Ethan sighed. “How did you find out?”

“Lydia saw the fight in her vision. She saw you shift into a wolf and save everyone.”

Ethan nodded at Tara’s belly. “
Sounds like something I’d do. I can’t have that babe growing up without his daddy.” He glanced over his shoulder at Brody. “He doesn’t know yet, does he?”

Every nerve in Tara’s body was strung into tight knots. She hadn’t counted on Ethan knowing about the baby. How was that even possible?
She shook her head. “How do you know?”

“Wolves have a keen sense of smell
, and pregnant women give off a different signature smell.”

“Are you the only one?”

“No…there are more, some in this town. Do you think it was coincidence that both Gracie and Rick, who can sense gifts, keep picking up on an underlying vibration when they’re at the restaurant in town?”

Tara’s brows dipped
, but she didn’t answer. She’d heard them both mention that something felt off when they were at the restaurant, something that neither one of them could put their finger on.

“The owner is a shifter. He’s done surprisingly well at hiding it from the locals. But I knew. I smelled it on him
the first time we ate there.”

Tara was speechless. Shifters
, wolves, others…how did one mentally deal with that reality?  Tara shook her head from her thoughts as Ethan slipped out of the SUV and moved toward where Brody and Rick were talking. Brody stopped pacing and tightened his fist. Tara’s eyes widened as she jumped from the SUV and moved between the men who were about to come to blows. She knew Brody’s temper and he looked ready to explode. Regardless of what Ethan was…he would still be the one who saved Brody’s life, and she needed him. It was the only reason she’d outed him.  They all needed to be on the same playing field. Hiding secrets would get them all killed.

She placed her palm on Brody’s chest. “He’s still Ethan. He’s still our friend, and he’s on our side.”

Brody glanced from Ethan down to her. “We can’t trust him.” He pointed at Ethan. “He should have told us.”

Tara cupped Brody’s face. “I trust him
, and you trust me.” She glanced over at Ethan. “We have to put this aside and deal with it later. If we don’t move, then Veronica is going to get away before we can stop her.”

Brody’s gaze searched hers before he nodded. He pointed at Ethan. “When we get back, you’ve got some explaining to do.”

Chapter 19

Tara had a million questions to ask Ethan. She wanted to see him shift. She wanted to know what it felt like
. She wanted to know everything, but it would all have to wait. They parked along the tree line a half a mile away from the warehouse. The plan was to go in on foot and try and catch them off guard. It was a stupid plan, one that made Tara’s stomach do flips, or was that the baby? They tried to move quietly and quickly to where they knew Veronica was hiding.

Brody placed his palm on her arm and stopped her from walking out into the clearing. He pulled her behind a tree
into some bushes, and she went down to her knees. Male voices carried on the wind to their ears. She gripped her gun tighter. “How do we get her to come out?”

Brody
nodded at Ethan and whispered, “Wait here.” He held Ethan’s gaze. “Don’t let her move from this spot.”

Brody and Rick disappeared moments later. “This is a bad idea. She’s not stupid. She’s going to know that we’re coming back for her.”

Ethan held his finger over his lips. He maneuvered his body in front of hers and pressed her back into the trunk of the tree. The male voices that had been talking got louder. They were coming closer. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She hadn’t been in combat. She took a deep breath to slow her breathing and calm her nerves. Her nose twitched, and she silently cursed. Her hand flew to cover her mouth. Her allergies had picked the worst possible time to rear their ugly heads. She should have known. Yet here she sat, underneath a pine tree. She could almost see the yellow pollen falling down on her head. She clenched her eyes closed and dug her nails into Ethan’s arm.

He glanced back at her. His eyes widened. His mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. The asshole looked
as though he was silently cursing her. He turned back around and lifted his gun. This had the potential to go bad real quick. If she sneezed, their location was blown. The operation was blown. There would be no more sneaking up on them. She heard a grunt off in the distance, but she was too afraid to look. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to stave off the sneeze. “Achoo.”

It was a tiny sneeze
; nonetheless, she heard the trampling of leaves as men ran toward them. Ethan squeezed off a shot, then another. An alarm sounded in the distance. Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “We’ve got to move.”

They kept their head
s down and moved quickly through the brush until they were positioned off to the side of the front of the building. He’d stopped her in an alcove of trees and brush. He pushed her into the middle of it and started stripping off his shirt.

Her eyes widened
, and she couldn’t move. She couldn’t pull her gaze away from Ethan. Was he about to shift? He dropped his shirt, kicked off his shoes, and unbuckled and unzipped his pants then discarded those too. She shouldn’t have noticed, but she did. Ethan Jacobs was a boxer man. She covered her eyes when he reached down to take those off. She peeked through her fingers, not wanting to miss his transformation from man to wolf. He had his back to her, and his nice firm, tanned ass was all but in her face. Yet she still didn’t look away. Only a second ticked by before she watched Ethan blur in front of her eyes. She heard his bones crack and move as he morphed into a huge black wolf.

He glanced back at her crouched position. He bared his teeth
, maybe in warning for her not to move, not that she could have if she wanted to. Tara gripped her gun tighter in her hands.

“Nice
wolfie wolfie,” she whispered.

Ethan
whipped his head back around as more shots rang out in the distance. From where they were hiding, she could now see Rick and Brody as they exchanged fire and were surrounded by four guys. They each took out one before dropping their guns and reaching for their spares. Brody’s hand came up empty. The asshole in front of him smirked even when Brody lifted his hands as if in surrender.

Tara
leapt to her feet, pointed her gun at the jerk, set him in her sights, and pulled the trigger. The man holding the gun on Brody dropped to his knees.

Brody’s gaze flew to the tree line. His brows dipped
, and she knew in that instant he was pissed that she’d taken the shot. It wasn’t as if she could have conjured him a gun and handed it to him. He was too far away for that. Four more men came at them from around the building.

Tara’s fingers tightened in Ethan’s fur. “You have to go help them. They’re going to die.”

Ethan nudged her back with his snout. He vaulted away on powerful legs, away from her toward Brody. He landed on a guy’s back and dug his sharp claws into his flesh. Blood spurted onto his fur as Ethan bit down on the guy’s neck and tore at the flesh. Brody had rolled to the ground and picked up a fallen revolver. From his position on his back, he aimed and took out three more. Even more guys came from around the other side of the building. One fired as Brody pushed to his feet. Ethan jumped in front of Brody and took the bullet that would have hit Brody in the chest.

And then
, just as quickly as it had started, all of the men stopped as if in a trance. They lowered their weapons. Even Ethan stopped attacking, though continued to growl. His barred his sharp fangs at the only person who was moving. A woman was walking toward them. Not just any woman but the woman from the bar, the same woman that had been hitting on Brody. The bitch who had kissed him.

She walked toward Brody and ran her red
-painted nail up and down his chest. “You certainly underestimated me if only three of you came.”

Veronica ran her hand
over Ethan’s fur. “Well, well, well… this is a surprise.” She leaned down and ran her hands over the wolf’s head. “Did you miss me?”

Did you miss me?
What the hell?
Why wasn’t Rick stopping her? Why wasn’t he absorbing Veronica’s powers? Tara’s gaze flew across the scene as she frantically searched for Rick. He was on the ground. His shirt was covered in blood. She didn’t know if it was his or not. His eyes were closed.

Tara’s hand flew to her mouth. “Crap, he’s hurt.”

Veronica moved toward an unconscious Rick, lying on the ground. She placed her palm on his chest and tilted her head. “Your gift, my sweet, is unusual.” She licked her lips. “I’m going to have fun playing with you.”

Tara had heard enough. Her heart raced as she lifted her gun and waited for just the right shot. Veronica rose to her feet and turned toward the trees
. Even at a distance, Tara noticed the psycho narrow her eyes. Almost instantly Tara felt the probing in her mind. “Not this time you bitch.”

Tara’s body immediately shimmied and flashed into the void. There was no way in hell Veronica was getting into her mind. Tara wouldn’t be controlled like the mindless men Veronica currently controlled.  Tara re-emerged standing between Brody and Veronica.

Tara couldn’t contain her smirk. “Bet you didn’t see that one coming.”

Tara lifted the gun and
pulled the trigger. Not once but twice. The first shot hit Veronica in the chest and she stumbled backward. The second shot was to her head. Veronica collapsed where she’d been standing.

Brody and Ethan looked to be shaking off whatever hold Veronica had
over them. None of Veronica’s men moved. Each of them was looking at Veronica in disbelief. Tara conjured a machine gun and stepped out of the trees. Brody and Ethan were still outnumbered, and she didn’t like the odds. She moved to Brody’s side and handed him the gun before conjuring another one.

Brody waved the gun
, motioning for the remaining men to drop their weapons and move against the wall. Tara conjured handcuffs and handed them to Brody. She took the machine gun from his hands and watched as Brody cuffed all of them. Ethan moved to her side. He was a man again. She glanced down at his body, and this time, he was fully dressed.

He took the machine gun fr
om Tara, and she hurried to Rick’s side. His head was lying against a rock that was soaked with blood. Tara glanced up at Brody. “I have to teleport him back.”

Brody stopped with the cuffs. “You told me it’s not safe.”

Tara felt for Rick’s pulse. It was faint. “Lydia told me before I left that I was going to need to teleport someone because it was a matter of life and death. She tried to assure me that everything would be okay.”

“You’re e
nergy is depleted. I can tell just by looking at you.”

“I have to try.” She didn’t have time to convince Brody. S
he couldn’t wait any longer. Rick’s pulse was weakening. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around Rick’s limp body, gripping him tight. She closed her eyes and tried to relax as she felt the shimmy under her skin. “I can do this.”

She felt the suck and pull that she associated with teleporting. She tried to keep her mind on the bed that she’d woken up in. She wanted a safe
, soft landing to avoid hurting Rick. She tightened her hold around his body, reassuring herself that he was still with her. When she felt as though she was being pushed out the other side of a tube, she tried to open her eyes to no avail. She tightened her hold on Rick, afraid that if she let go, he might suffer a worse fate.

She could feel she was laying on something soft but she couldn’t see. She moved to open her mouth, no sounds came out. She could hear the scurrying in the room, she could hear the voices. Someone was prying her fingers open and just as quick Rick’s warmth was pulled from her grasp. A rolling motion overcame her. A pain shot through her stomach. The baby! Oh god, no. She felt moisture on her face. Not my baby. Not like this. The pain shot through again. She wanted to scream; only her lips wouldn’t move. Her head started spinning. The blackness was tickling her subconscious. She was being pulled back under. Slowly her senses became dull until she let go. She quit fighting her mind as exhaustion sucked her under. 

She felt some type of
warmth spread through her stomach even though she couldn’t open her eyes. The warmth moved through her body up to her head, clearing the black fog that held her captive. Tara forced her eyes open and sucked in a breath. She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dying. She felt the softness of the bed under her body. Her gaze flew around the room as she moved to sit up. A hand stopped her and gently eased her back down.

“You did it. You saved him.” Lydia smiled down at her.

Jamie was already moving to the other side of the bed. She moved to Rick’s side, rubbed her hands together, and then held them palms down, hovering above his body. She closed her eyes. Her hovering stopped over Rick’s head, as if she’d found the spot she needed to concentrate on. Tara’s hand moved to her stomach.

Lydia handed Tara a bottle of water. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be al
l right.” She leaned down and whispered, “You and the baby are going to be just fine.”

Tara sat dazed as she watched Jamie work her magic. At some point she’d moved from the bed
, out of the way and into a chair across the room. Slowly her functions were coming back to her. She knew she was going to be alright. She’d done it, she’d done the one thing that she’d never thought possible. She carried another body through space.

After an hour of watching Jamie work on Rick, the General had
suggested that Cathy take Tara back to the base to get showered and rest now that the threat was removed. But she didn’t leave, not at first. She’d waited until Brody had called in his update. She wouldn’t leave without knowing he was okay.

Brody called in
explaining the rest of the team was going to be awhile, considering all of the men they’d captured and the cleanup from Veronica’s mess.

Cathy didn’t ask questions on the drive back. Tara kept her gaze out of the window, not
wanting to talk about any of what she’d learned just yet. Her brain was still trying to wrap around the fact that shifters were real, that she was pregnant, and that she’d just taken a life.

Cathy parked the SUV and leaned back in the leather seat. “Want to talk about it?”

A tear slipped down Tara’s cheek as she closed her eyes. “Nothing will ever be the same again.”

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what is going on.”

“I’m pregnant,” Tara whispered into the silence. She opened her eyes and turned toward Cathy. “I don’t know what to do.”

Cathy reached for her hand and squeezed. “We’ll figure this all out.”

Tara’s chest tightened. It felt as though the walls around her heart were caving in, crushing her.

“You two will work things out. You just need to talk to him…and tell him about the baby.”

Tara lowered her head. “I will.” She pulled the door handle and pushed the door open. “I have to get my life back in order first. I need to deal with the fire at the restaurant and see if they’ve found Mary and my money.” She stepped out of the SUV, walked to the security door, and placed her palm on the reader. She glanced back at Cathy. “I just need to go home for a few days and wrap my head around everything.”

Cathy followed her to her room. “You better not be running.”

Tara pushed her door open and turned to her best friend. “I’m not running. I’m an adult. I can handle this.” Tara placed her palm on her belly. “I need two days… just to get some things situated, and then I’ll be back. By then I’ll have made some decisions, and I won’t be a basket case when I tell Brody.”