A Lion for Christmas (2 page)

Chapter One

Chase looked up and grinned at his captors, they thought he was going to break. They had no clue who they were dealing with. Granted he was gonna need some therapy when this was done, but so would they.

“So back to your mothers,” Chase said through his bloodied lips and grinned when the
Shifter
in the corner growled at him. He had been making jokes like this for weeks. It usually pissed one of them off enough that they left and someone new came in. Then, it started all over again.

“Listen here you fucking asshole. You are going to tell me what I want to know. The boss said we could do what it takes to get you to talk. He is bored with you,” the other
Shifter
yelled at him.

“Good, I am bored too,” Chase said and spit on the ground. “I can tell you that… one plus one, equals two… I can tell you that your breath smells like onions… I can tell you that when I am sleeping I sometimes get the worst boner.”

The man threw up his hands, turned to the table, and pulled out the electrical devices they had been using to torture him. “Fuck this, I am gonna get him to talk.”

The man grinned, walked forward, and Chase sank into his dream again. The man was there he could feel it, and for some reason Chase could talk to him, it made him feel better when the man appeared. Chase only had to look inward to see if he would appear.

‘
Hey,
’
Chase said slowly.
‘
Can you hear me?
’

Crispin paused and looked around the room
. No one had heard that, he was sure of it. His mate was trying to talk to him
.
Crispin held up a hand and reached out with his mind, ‘
I am here!
’

The other men
remained where they were, until the men Logan summoned began filing into the room slowly and quietly.

‘
Oh
,
good
.
I thought I was going to have to go back and pay attention to the four stooges. They are pulling out the big guns
,’
Chase laughed.

‘
What does that mean?
’
Crispin demanded.

‘
You know, I think you should lighten up a little, I mean you are not the one who they are torturing.
’
Chase grimaced and Crispin felt
a
jolt
as it went
thr
ough
his mate.

‘
Shit,
’
Crispin swore.

‘
Right, that’s what I thought. Anyway, do you think
that
maybe you could like rescue me? I am kinda thinking this is the last time they are going to be doing this.
’
Chase laughed again,
‘
I have kinda pissed them off.
’

‘Maybe you should keep your m
outh shut
,
mate
,
until I get there
,’
Crispin ground out.

‘
Mate? Huh? Wait who is this, you are real?
’
Chase asked.

‘
Duh, y
eah
, I am right above you with Blake and the others, we will be there soon, stop pissing them off
,’
Crispin yelled.

‘
Well shit, I don’t know if you are real or a figment of my imagination
,
but I will go ahead and try
,
” Chase
sighed and Crispin lost the connection.

“They are torturing him right now!” Crispin yelled at the room.

Blake paused and then said, “We need to move, let’s get things organized.”

Crispin would always be grateful the
Wizard
King did not question him in that moment.

They were sure the door below was what they were looking for
. T
hey each scoped
it
out a few minutes ago. There was definitely magic around the door. The building across the street was empty also
, so
Logan had his lead Guards making a makeshift base over there. Someone had to remain behind
,
in case the
re
was a
need
for
help. The door was going to lead them somewhere; they had to be able to get help if needed.

The five of them stood and argued for the last few minutes about the logistics of what they were planning on doing. Entering the Rebel’s lair was both risky and a little foolhardy. C
rispin
was going no matter what; he was really just waiting to see who was accompanying him.

Blake planned to use his more powerful magic, to open the doorway
, which would
allow
them
to enter
. There were going to be teams of six moving in. Blake argued with Crispin about the Royal Kings being in on the mission itself, Logan and Ian argued that Blake could blast
t
he door, but then he was to retreat to headquarters. Many of the Guards had communicators that would allow them to listen in
on
the mission. Crispin refused, and told him no matter what he was going. Blake just threw up his hands.

“Logan, let the Palace know that we are going in with the Guards
,
” Blake said and stared at his brother who laughed.

Logan knew his brother would never let another King go into a situation like this by himself. They had too much to lose if they captured or killed a King.

“We are gonna be in deep shit with
M
a
,
” Logan said
and t
hen looked at Ian who looked pissed
off
as well.

“Well, that’s a given, I suggest we all just put our communicators on the table and walk away. Or she is going to be here with us, in like a New York minute
.
”
Ian said
,
rolled his eyes
,
and pulled his device out of his pocket
,
“
I am assuming that for some reason, since I am the only human, I
’m
supposed to stay behind?”

The communicator was
similar to
a cell phone b
u
t a lot cooler.
They
could see tiny little people in the center when they answered. If
held
correctly,
they
could also see into the room where the person was standing. Ian loved playing with it, he said it was like Skype magnified. The good part was it had a tracker on
it
, so Bria, Blake and Logan’s mother, would send Ryker, their father to come and get them. It was the way she was, and their father would come, because he could kick ass with the best of them. Ryker and Bria were the former King and Queen of the
Wizard Stratum
.

“Yeah,
as if
would stop her. When I make this call,
D
ad will be here in minutes
,
”
Logan snorted
,
held out the phone
,
and called the Security Department.

Ryker answered, “Of course, you are calling to tell me that you will all be a safe distance from the action, correct?”

Logan laughed, and looked at his brother. “Figures, um yeah, we are totally going to be across the street.”

“Good, I will tell your mother
,
who is standing right here, listening. And your sister
,
who is standing across the room with her arms crossed and frowning
,
” Ryker said with an amused tone in his voice.

“Yep, we are walking across the street. However, you do need to tell the envoy to the
Shifters
their King will be going in after his mate, of course
,
after all of the Guards go in
,
” Logan said.

“I will inform them. Let us know when it is done!
”
Ryker said and disconnected before his mother could talk.

“That went well, we are going to get our ass chewed when we get back aren’t we?” Trent laughed.

“Uh, yeah!” Blake said and slapped his brother on the back.

They talked
a
bout the logistics of the entry, and by the time they were done, Ryker was walking up the stairs. “Snuck out the back door, we have about an hour before she notices I am not getting the supplies she asked for. Sasha is covering for me, and she says she is offended she was
n’t
allowed to come. You are gonna have two pissed of
f
Witches
to deal with when you get home.”

Crispin waited and watched as the
Wizards
argued for a moment, then he finally just waved his hand and turned to Trent, the only other
Shifter
in the room. His
Shifters
were coming in with him, soon there would be wolfs, bears, and more cats.

“We shifting or not?” Trent asked his King.

That was the weird part. Ian was a human,
who
Blake found when Ian was
accidently
brought her
e
by the Rebels
’
leader
,
Dion
. He
brought
Ian
to the
Wizard Stratum
after being in the
Human Stratum
trying to drum up Rebel supporters. Dion wanted Blake, he wanted to be the
Wizard Stratum
King, and was more than ready to kill in order to get it. For a time
,
Dion pursued Blake
.
H
owever
,
he disgusted Blake. Dion was a whiny little weasel,
who
had the ‘little man syndrome’.
Crispin would eat him for lunch if he found the little bastard.

Now Dion was trying to take the leadership by force, with the intention of moving from one
Stratum
to the next, overthrowing the Kings, and then he was going to the
Human Stratum
,
to
take them over, making them slaves.

Sick plan, for a sick man
,
thought Crispin
.

Part of Dion’s plan had been to take Blake’s Second
in Command
, Chase, and find weakness
es
he could use
, i
ncluding their friendship. Chase had been taken weeks ago; no one knew what kind of shape he was going to be in when they finally found him. Crispin was well aware of this and he had planned for it.

Trent was Ian’s best friend, when they went to the
Human Stratum
;
Logan discovered Trent was his mate. When they returned, Dion attacked the Palace hoping to kill Ian, but Trent got in the way, and
ended up
being bitten
by a Rebel Wolf
Shifter
. He was changed and the rest as they say was history. Crispin was called and
now
Trent belonged to the
Shifter Stratum
, technically, but he lived her
e
.

Crispin hoped his mate would realize that he would
n’t
be able to do the same. He was going to have to move to the
Shifter Stratum
, and take his place at Crispin’s side, as the King
’
s Consort. He
could
worry about that later when they got his mate out.

Crispin looked at the men he considered friends after the last few weeks and nodded. “The Guards go in,
and
Trent, you and
I will shift
.
Then you
three
will follow. Stay behind us until we see what we are facing
,
” Crispin said.

“Agreed,” Blake nodded and looked at his mate.

He was the only on
e
human, and the only one whom would stay behind. There was a command post set up
across the street
, just as they had said
.
Ian would go there. He was not happy about it either. Ian felt like he could handle himself, so he was pissed at his mate and best friend for insisting he remain behind.

“I will
be
waiting across the street with my dick in my hand
. Ma
ybe I will bake some freakin cookies or something. You know
,
since I am so delicate and all
,
” Ian said dryly and then looked at his mate.

Blake laughed and shook his head
,
“
Whatever, keep the communicator handy in case we need a medical unit. Mom already has the room ready, but I want to be on the safe side.”

Ian rolled his eyes and then walked to his mate, and kissed him before f
o
llowing the Guards out. They set up across the street with back up. There were more Guard
s
and
Shifters
waiting in case they needed them.

Since all this began, they had to shut down the transport, between
Stratums
. Only those who had specific permission were allowed to go back and forth between
the
Stratums
. Blake’s sister
, Sasha, was
the
R
oyal who cont
rolled the transport coins, so without her approval
there was no getting anywhere
.
All of the Kings of the different
Stratums
were here, on the Palace grounds, even the
Troll
who w
as
smelly and slept in dirt.

Finally, they were ready, Crispin stood in the front, a
s
they looked at the doorway they were about to enter. His mate wa
ited
beyond the door, there was no getting around it; he was going to kill anyone in his way.