mywolfprotector (26 page)

Wolf Town. The remaining guardians were waiting for them to get inside before shutting down the lights. None of them could have been more unprepared for the convoy of vehicles that quickly raced up the road. Before they knew it, they were surrounded.

At the same time, several men stepped out of the forest, heavily armed with rifles. One of them stepped forward, his rifle directed at Carole Anne. “I want all the Guardians to step out and join your queen, here. Unless you want to see her shot,” he yelled, loudly.

Ivan growled, his eyes glowing menacingly. “Who are you, and what the hell do you want with

us? Put the guns down, before you get hurt.”

The man laughed in response. He was dressed in black from head to toe, his face darkened to

help him blend in with the night. “Our rifles are filled with silver bullets, asshole. One wrong move out of you, and we will fill these women full of them.”

Connor, Hunter, and several other guardians cautiously stepped out of the air tower control

building. They overheard the man's words and knew the situation was dangerous. As guardians, there number one concern was protecting the royal family. It was a job they took seriously, even if it meant their own lives in the process.

“Let them go,” Connor said, his hands held up in the air. “Any business you have here can be

dealt with by me.”

“Shut up, Guardian,” the man replied. “The boss is coming, and he'll be telling us what to do.

Not you, and you better get used to it. If you even leave this place alive.”

They moved to stand beside Ivan, Elena, Carole Anne, and Taylor. Several men rushed into the

building, weapons raised. It was apparent to all that they weren't strangers when it came to abductions.

A man got out of a jeep, leisurely making his way over to them. He was tall, powerfully-built, his shoulders held back and ramrod straight. Horror quickly dawned on her when she realized who it was. He stopped several feet away, his smile cold and calculating as he greeted her. “So Taylor, we meet again. Miss me?”

Taylor swallowed hard, refusing to let him see the fear that nearly choked her. “Fuck off,

Carlos,” she replied, her voice strong despite her terror.

“Interesting you should mention the word fuck. If memory serves me right, you seemed to miss

the fuck I had scheduled. Don't worry, though. According to my charts, it won't be long until your next ovulation.”

Taylor's eyes moved to the other wolves around her. “Let them go, and I'll willingly come with you.”

“No, Taylor,” Ivan hissed out. A soldier stepped forward, holding a long, metal rod. He jabbed it into Ivan, hitting the flesh of his neck. Immediately, he fell to the hard ground, convulsing across its surface. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, adding to the nausea churning in her stomach.

Carlos ignored him, staring at Taylor with his rodent shaped eyes. “I would have thought you'd be glad to see me, especially with the drugs wearing off. You're past due for your next injection. It's interesting that you aren't ill by now, but maybe they don't wear off as quickly on you. Lucky for you, though, I brought it with me. Step over here now, or your friends will suffer for your disobedience.”

Taylor knew well that Carlos didn't make false threats. She stepped away from the group and

moved next to him, her expression revealing nothing. A man in a lab coat walked up, quickly

administering the injection into her arm.

“Very good,” Carlos drawled, smiling with satisfaction. “You've caused quite a bit of problems, Taylor. Because of you, we've had to scramble to set up a new facility. Our new accommodations aren't quite as grand as the ones you were used to, but you won't notice. You'll be kept chained to my bed, so you won't be seeing much of the sights, I'm afraid.”

Taylor watched Ivan, relieved to see him sitting back up. The skin on his neck was raw and

oozing, but he refused to give them the satisfaction of showing any pain.

“You sick bastard,” Connor growled out. His anger was completely at odds with his generally

jovial personality. “What kind of man has to chain a woman to have her?”

“The kind you don't want to fuck with,” Carlos ground out in response. He turned to the man at his right. “Get this vermin caged up. I don't want to see them again until we get back to New Mexico.”

Connor moved, his actions so fast that it took her mind a second to process it. Before the guards knew it, three of them were lying on the ground, their throats slit from the knife he'd pulled out of his hidden sheath. Another guard shot him, but it didn't stop him from grabbing a fourth and breaking his neck.

Carlos yanked her to him, inching back in the direction of the jeep he'd arrived in. Shots rang through the night, as Connor hit the ground, unmoving. Taylor held back her screams, but the horror of seeing his still body devastated her. She didn't want Carlos aware that his drugs were no longer working.

She watched helplessly as a tractor trailer pulled onto the airfield. The soldiers lifted the back door, revealing several silver cages. Taylor knew this routine well. They would force the werewolves in before gassing them into unconsciousness, leaving them no possibility for escape.

One of the soldiers kicked Connor hard before laughing. “What do you want us to do with this

dead piece of trash?”

Carlos smirked at the sight. “Leave him as a warning to the others. I want them to know we are aware of their existence and fear it. It just makes it so much more rewarding when we come back to collect them.”

The soldiers quickly forced the others in, closing the door and padlocking it after they had them in the cages. Nausea bubbled up her throat. She hated seeing the ones she'd grown to love forced into captivity. Her mind raced as she desperately sought a way to save them. “Where are you taking us, Carlos? After all, the facility has been destroyed.”

He pushed her in the direction of the jeep with a rough shove. “Surely, you aren't stupid enough to believe we wouldn't have a backup facility, are you? Even funnier, it's right there in New Mexico.

Nobody would ever dream that we have one so close, but that's the beauty of it.”

She stopped in her tracks before turning to face him. “Maybe I'd prefer you to kill me right now, rather than return back with you.” Taylor was bluffing, but she didn't want him to know it.

He laughed again, his dark, swarthy features cruel underneath the artificial lighting. He moved up until he was only inches from her face, staring her down. “I thought you might try a trick or two before we left, so I thought I'd better bring an incentive.”

He pulled a picture out of his shirt pocket, holding it up so she could see. It was an elderly couple sitting side by side in recliners, their faces lined hard with age. She couldn't make out a lot in regards their surroundings, except for the floor tile and sterile, white walls.

Taylor shrugged, looking back at him. “What has this got do do with me, Carlos?” she spat out.

“Those people are nothing to me, though, you've really sank to an all-time low by abducting elderly people.”

“Look again, Taylor,” he replied, his voice smug. “Take a long, hard look at the people we're

holding. They might have changed in the years since you were away from them, but I believe you're smart enough to still recognize them.”

Taylor peered closely at the picture, suspicious of what he was saying. A tiny seed of fear took root in her mind, growing as she carefully took in the features of the couple in the picture. It was all she could do to keep her face neutral and calm as she looked back at him. “Is that my parents?”

“Very good,” he responded, sliding the photo back into his pocket. “Indeed, it is your parents.

For right now, they are safe. Their ongoing safety depends upon you, Taylor. Go against me, and my soldiers will blow their heads off, guaranteed. Now get in the damn jeep. We've wasted enough time here, already.”

Her mind reeling with shock, she didn't put up a fight as he forced her cruelly into the backseat.

Her eyes flickered up briefly to the dark night sky, wishing for her mate. He wouldn't be charging in to save her now, at least, not anytime soon. It would take time for him to even discover what had happened, much less locate them.

Her blood turned to ice as she thought of her prior captivity. Marrok hadn't been able to find her the first time, and thirty years had passed her by. What if he couldn't find them this time? A trickle of cold sweat ran down her forehead. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, she'd never make it another thirty years in captivity.

Connor hadn't moved from where he had landed, more than likely dead. The truck holding the

other wolves pulled out, headed in the direction of the main road. For now, the others were safe, but it wouldn't last forever. Once Carlos got them into his new facility, they would suffer. He wouldn't settle for anything less.

It was her worst nightmare, come back to life. By staying here, all she had done was give him

some new toys to play with. It was all her fault that this had come to pass. Guilt pressed down on her, heavily. She didn't deserve anything more than the facility they were headed to, but she'd be damned if the other wolves were held, too.

Carlos sat down next to her, wrapping a heavy arm around her shoulders as they pulled off. “I

see you've gained quite a bit of weight,” he said, sardonically. “Personally, I prefer a slimmer woman, but who knows? Maybe it will add to your fertility.”

He pressed his thick lips to her ear, his tone lowering in volume. “I've been waiting a long time to have you beneath me, Taylor. My patience has paid off. Your body is going to immortalize me. By breeding with you, will be my genes in the first human/hybrid wolf mix to ever be carried and born. I'll finally get the recognition I so richly desire, and you will get the full benefit of my attentions. Just think... You'll be kept naked and chained, awaiting my pleasures anytime I decide to give them. Doesn't that excite you?”

Taylor gagged, unable to hold back the nausea bubbling up into the back of her throat. She

pressed a hand against her mouth, moving away from him as far as the seat would allow. With her supernatural sense of smell, she couldn't bear to be in close proximity to the stench of his pores. The cool night breeze helped, as she turned her face in its direction.

“Was that answer enough for you, Carlos, or did I actually need to hang my face over the side

and puke my guts out?”

His eyes narrowed on her as the soldiers in the front seat laughed mockingly at her words.

“Stupid bitch,” he bit out, his face angered. “ You stupid, stupid, bitch. I can see we need to up the dosage on your shots.”

“I just bet you do. You don't want a woman with any spark of life in her, do you? You want a

living zombie, someone without the ability to fight back. I'll tell you one thing, though. You can drug me all you want, but it won't never make you more of a man.”

“Give me the sedative, now,” he ordered to the soldier sitting in the passenger seat. He handed him back a long needle, filled with a yellowish-fluid. “Sleep tight, Taylor, and know when you wake up I'll more than likely be between your legs.”

She pulled away, but he wrapped his large hand in her hair, grasping it cruelly to hold her in place. Without any hesitation, he stuck the needle into the side of her neck, quickly pushing the plunger. The liquid burned as it flowed into her, but began to work, immediately. Carlos threw the needle on the side of the road, watching the drugs take effect.

Taylor fought to stay awake, but it was created to work on werewolves and humans, alike. Her

body flooded with a mixture of helplessness and hopelessness. It was her last waking thought as the darkness carried her away.

Marrok paced the confines of Alonzo's living room as the other men talked. It was nearing

dawn, but it didn't slow down the werewolves. They were finalizing their plans to move in and take control of Carlos. Their sources were certain that he was holed up in another section of New Mexico, one unconnected by tunnels with the prior one.

His wolf was antagonized. He couldn't shake the sense that something was terribly wrong, and

the physical manifestations from the stress were driving him insane. His skin itched unmercifully, his body twitching to shift. With each hour that passed, he grew more certain that leaving had been a horrible mistake.

Ignoring the men, he pulled the door open and walked outside. The night was cool, but it didn't ease the fire burning within him. He surveyed the land around him, taking in the red dirt and large mesa that stood hauntingly silent in the distance. This was where it had all begun... And where it would all end. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed the number for headquarters, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the guardian on duty to answer.

Alexander and Alonzo followed him outside. Alexander arched his eyebrow when he asked,

“What's wrong with you, Marrok? You've been on edge since we left the settlement.”

Marrok ignored them, staring at the phone with a thoughtful look when it automatically stopped ringing,unanswered. “That's strange,” he muttered, trying again. At their curious looks, he elaborated,

“Nobody is answering the phone at headquarters.”

Quicker than the human eye could have seen, Alexander snatched his own phone out. Pushing

the button for his home, he held it up to his ear as it rang. With his blue eyes flashing, he stared back at Marrok. “Nobody is answering at home, either.”

“Maybe your guardian had to take a leak,” Alonzo said, trying to ease the men's worry.

“It's something else,” Marrok insisted, his voice brooking no argument. “Dammit, I shouldn't

have left. There's something wrong at home, and we're stuck here in New Mexico.”

Alexander dialed the number for headquarters. It rang repeatedly before Hunter finally

answered. All three men heard the stress in his voice when he barked out, “Headquarters.”

“Hunter, this is your king,” Alexander said, his voice low and insistent. He didn't bother asking if anything was wrong. Instead, he said, “I need an update, immediately.”