mywolfprotector (31 page)

Alexander nodded, leading Carole Anne to the front door. Elena gave her a smile of

encouragement before they followed him in.

“Just remember, Taylor, I'll be right here with you. You don't have to be afraid of him, anymore.

He won't get the chance to do this again. It's all over with. Carlos has no power over you, or anyone else, ever again.”

“I know,” she replied, swallowing hard. It was easier said than done. She couldn't have done it without Marrok by her side, supporting her with his natural and easy strength. Her eyes met his, taking in the wild, masculine features that were so dear to her. She took his hand with her smaller one, grasping it tightly as he led her to the front door.

Marrok's eyes were cold as he stepped into the house, his expression harsh and drawn tight. He locked onto Carlos, immediately. The other man blanched in fear from the chair he was tied to. His evil deeds had caught up with him. It was time to pay the piper.

Taylor moved through the door behind him. Her hand felt cool and clammy in his own, but her

outward appearance gave none of her fear away. Pride rushed through him. His mate was strong and loyal, a true gift from fate.

Carlos was in the center of the room, his hands tied neatly behind his back. Alexander and the others watched him silently. After a moment, the king walked forward to rip the tape off of his lax lips.

Carlos flinched and whimpered in agony.

Alexander crossed his arms as he stared down at him. His expression was unrelenting when he

said, “Commander Carlos, your crimes against us are numerous. You've held countless shifters against their will, torturing and murdering as you please. We've got a bone to pick with you.”

Carlos swallowed tightly, locking his lips together without replying. He looked away, his flaccid skin set in hard, stubborn lines. He was refusing to answer, but the guardians would have ways of making him talk.

Alexander leaned over, pushing his face directly in his as his multicolored hair swung forward.

He was animalistic, his powerful frame pulsating with an energy that everyone in the room could sense.

In a cold whisper he said, “I wouldn't recommend attempting to hold out. We've got teams outside, rousing your captives from the stupor you placed them in. When they come to, they will be thirsting for your blood.”

“You're going to kill me regardless of what I do,” Carlos spat out, as he glared back at him.

“Why in the hell should I talk?”

Alexander stood back up. “Because this animal is a bit more humane than you are. In my hands,

I'll make it quick and painless.” He threw a thumb back over his shoulder, gesturing to the front. “If you don't cooperate, I'm bringing them in. They will prolong it, wanting you to pay for the years of torment you put them through. Who knows? Maybe they will give you an eye for an eye, keeping you alive for years as they practice what you preached.”

Carlos trembled, despite the condescending look upon his face. “Fine, I'll talk. Are any of the guards that were with me still left alive?”

Alexander and Ivan exchanged looks. “Well, there was that one,” Ivan said to his grandson,

right before a man's scream echoed in through the front door. “Never mind.”

Carlos squealed in rage. “How dare you?”

“How dare you?” Alexander roared back, his eyes flashing in rage as he gestured at Carole

Anne. “You chose to do these things to innocent people, you chose it and made it happen. There's no way anyone could ever make you suffer enough to equal what you've done to others. The question is, does it all end with you, though? Or were you working with others, ones with far greater power than you could ever have?”

His words enraged the bound man. “Nobody could ever have greater power than I do. My

family is the brains behind this operation, and we've always been. It started a hundred years ago when a female shifter decided to leave my grandfather for one of her kind. He spent his life tracking down and destroying you ungodly shifters, disposing of the bodies to make sure others didn't find out about you.

He took no chances, not wanting your existence known on the off-chance you'd find alliances within the human race. Then, the work passed to my father, who began the first research facility.”

He stopped and laughed, his eyes flashing cruelly. “My father was a military man clever enough to manipulate those around him. He was able to secure the funding, but the government wasn't

completely aware of what the funding was for. My father told them it was for the exploration of the caverns of New Mexico. He performed the study and completed it, officially. The government never knew of what we really built within the mesa. With our money, we were able to continue it. I followed in his footsteps, joining the army and working my way up. Upon his death, I took over. My own

military connections allowed me to find the right men to staff it.”

“So you basically tortured us for fun?” Ivan hissed out, his powerful muscles bulging in rage. In fifteen years, Marrok had never seen him close to losing control. He was seeing it now, and it was impressive enough to make Carlos cringe back in his chair.

“Not just fun. I was going to create a whole new race of hybrid humans, sired from my very

own seed. They would have been trained and conditioned, answerable only to me. When the time was right, I would have moved through the ranks, elected to various government positions until I held the one I wanted. President.”

His dark eyes were alight with madness. “Then, with my own personal army, I would have

ruled the world. Every pure-bred shifter would have been destroyed, and finally, my grandfather would have been vindicated. You bastards don't deserve to breath the same air we do. You're nothing more than wild animals that need to be put down. You've destroyed the facility and taken all of my captives.

Because of you, everything is ruined.”

“You really had it wrapped up all neat and tidy, didn't you?” Alexander asked silkily, his voice razor sharp. “You forgot one thing, though.”

“Bullshit,” Carlos snarled out, “I haven't forgotten anything.”

“That's where you're wrong. All the eggs, sperm, and data you harvested from our kind is out

there somewhere, just waiting for another man to find it and pick up where you left off.” Alexander's voice lowered. “One day, some man will breed that army you were wanting, and it will be his seed to create it.”

“No,” Carlos screamed out, furious at the thought. Alexander had led him cleverly into the trap he'd laid, and he never even realized it. “Between the stupidity of my soldiers setting off grenades and your invasion into my facility, all of my specimens were destroyed. They weren't irreplaceable, though.

Once I had Taylor back in my hands, I would have recreated all of it.”

He relaxed, his expression smug. “Without me, there will never be a hybrid army. I'm the brains behind this operation, and I've kept it all locked tight in my mind. There could never be another as brilliant as I am.”

Marrok spoke up. “What made you pick Taylor?”

Carlos giggled, “I just lucked out with her. The lake was a popular place for us to find our test subjects. My father was in charge of the facility back then, and he was only interested in capturing supernaturals or women. He sent a group down to investigate, killing the human men. They saw Taylor leave with a man and followed him. In the end, they decided to take her as well. So they gassed his house and walked straight out with her, the man being none the wiser.”

“I wouldn't say that, asshole.
That man was me.”

Carlos looked at him, his expression full of speculation. “It's a pity that they didn't realize you were dual-natured. I would have enjoyed testing a specimen such as you.”

Marrok bared his teeth at him, trembling with the need to rip his throat out. “Why did you pick New Mexico?”

Carlos shrugged. “Why not? It's isolated, with an extensive cavern system underneath the

ground. It suited our purposes, perfectly.”

Alexander looked over his shoulder at Taylor, with a question in his eyes. The wolves had all

the information they needed. Taylor responded with a quick nod, her features set into a mask of relief.

The nightmare would soon be over for her, and she'd never have to fear that he'd do this to others ever again.

Turning back to Carlos, Alexander surprised them all when he said, “Release him.” Two

guardians moved to obey him without question, slicing the ropes free. Carlos stood up hesitantly, his expression caught somewhere between smugness and suspicion.

Alexander's lip curled up in disgust. “You make me sick. I've decided that I don't want your

blood on my hands, after all, so there's the door. Have at it. Unlike you, I don't have any desire to play God. It's not my place to determine a man's time.” To the guardians, he said, “Throw him out.”

Despite Carlos protests, the guardians pulled him to the door. The area outside of the house was alive with activity, with members of the New Mexico and Missouri packs helping to load supplies and the injured. They all stopped at the sight of the most hated man of both packs standing in the doorway, their eyes glowing with rage in the darkness.

“Get the hell out of here,” Clark growled, giving him a rough shove. He landed in the dirt face first, sliding along the rough, rocky ground. Flipping over, he hurriedly jumped up. His eyes were large and filled with fear as a growl from one of those outside tore through the silence.

Carlos took off at a flat run, his gait unsteady. His body was out of shape, unused to any true physical activity. He ran as if the very hounds of hell were nipping at his hills. Alexander, Marrok, and the others stepped outside to watch him, his movements as clear to them in the darkness as it would have been in the purest light of day.

Taylor held Marrok's hand, tears streaming down her face. He could feel her anxiety and knew

the cause of it. She was a victim from the monstrous acts committed by Carlos, yet, she was having to standby as he walked away a free man. He growled at her pain.

Ivan glanced at Alexander and asked the one question they were all wondering, “Are you really

sure about letting him go?”

In the distance, a black bear shot out of the darkness, his eyes set on the fleeing form of the human in question. He was large and fast, his broad body surefooted as it ran across the dark plains.

Carlos spotted him over his shoulder and screamed, giving his run all that he had. It wasn't

enough. The bear was gaining on him by the second.

Alexander smiled, but it didn't thaw the coldness in his eyes. He'd been grievously wronged by Carlos as well, put through hell when he'd found out his mate and grandparents were abducted. “I just said I didn't want his blood on my hands. That doesn't mean there aren't others out here, waiting to bathe in it. That's between them and God. I won't stand in judgment.”

The black bear lumbered up behind Carlos, overtaking him with one leap. The man screamed

loudly, the sound dragging on until ending abruptly. They all watched in horrified fascination as the bear opened his jaws wide and ripped his throat out. He didn't stop there. He continued to bite until his head separated from his frame, before giving his lifeless body a hard toss away from him.”

“It's done,” Taylor whispered in shock. “He's really dead.”

The bear shifted, leaving behind a black-haired, powerfully built male in his place. His

shoulders were broad enough for two men, his thighs as thick as small tree trunks, without an ounce of fat anywhere on his lean body. He reached down to the ground and lifted up the dead man's head, grasping it securely by the hair. Holding it up in the air in victory, he gave them a nod before turning to disappear back in the darkness.

The bear shifter had avenged the wrongs committed against him, although, he would never be

able to replace whatever losses he'd experienced. The wolves respected his bravery and understood his actions, silently relieved for the closure his act had brought them all. They turned away as the vultures moved closer to the body, able to scent their next meal easily in the darkness.

Taylor looked up at him, her eyes wide. “My parents were brought here, unless he was lying.

Has anyone found them?”

Marrok and Alexander looked at each other with a puzzled expression. They hadn't scented

anyone human when they'd arrived, and nobody had reported locating any. “I don't believe so,” he replied, gaining the attentions of a passing guardian.

“Have someone to check Happy Trails Village and confirm that a Mr. and Mrs. Moore are at

home and unhurt. Let us know something as soon as possible.”

“Will do,” he replied, pulling out his cellphone as he walked away.

“How do you know where they live?” she asked, her voice shaky. “I'm not even sure where they

are at after all these years.”

“I know because I'm the one that's paying for their apartment there, my love. After you came up missing, I learned everything about you. It didn't take too long for my sources to discover you were working yourself to death to support your parents, who had an addiction to alcohol.”

Taylor hung her head, embarrassed that he knew. He gently tilted her face back up to his before adding, “We won't be having none of that. There's no judgment to be found here among us. It's not your fault. I admire you for what you were trying to do.”

“What's happened to them since I was abducted?” she blinked rapidly, holding back the tears.

“There was nobody there to take care of them.”

“I was there, just not in person,” he stated gently, his eyes intent upon hers. “I knew you were my mate all those years ago. That means your parents are an extension of my family, and my

responsibility, as well. Once I realized the load you'd been carrying, I took it over. They have never went without, I made sure of that. I arranged for someone to meet with them, a professional that was able to help them. As they aged, I set them up in apartment in Happy Trails Village. They've been recovered from alcoholism for almost thirty years now, Taylor. Losing you was the catalyst that prompted them to change.”