Pretty Baby [Wolf Creek Pack 7] (24 page)

It took more than the few minutes Tommy promised Elliot for them to reach the side of the large mansion that belonged to Philip Spencer. Between the lack of adequate hiding places in the massive landscape and the armed guards that patrolled the area, moving quickly just wasn’t possible.

Tommy flattened himself up against the side of the building and let out a silent breath. The need to get to Elliot was growing stronger, and it made Tommy feel edgy. His wolf was just under the surface, wanting out. He could barely keep himself from shifting.

“Elliot, is everything okay?”
Tommy waited several moments for Elliot’s response. When none came, he began to grow even more anxious.
“Elliot! Answer me, damn it. I’m going out of my mind here.”

There was still no answer. Tommy nudged Bishop and gestured to his head, shaking it to let the man know he couldn’t contact Elliot. Bishop nodded and hurried along the edge of the house to a set of floor to ceiling windows and double doors at the back of the building.

When Tommy peeked around the corner of the window and peered inside, his blood ran cold. Elliot was still inside the large study with Philip and Carl, only another man had joined them. He was carefully withdrawing blood from Elliot’s arm, a very unconscious Elliot.

Tommy started to growl then pressed his lips tightly together so he wouldn’t be heard by those in the room. The muscles in his arms went rigid with his need to tear into something, or someone. His mate was being threatened. Tommy never felt such an overwhelming rage before. Having a mate put a whole new spin on his ability to control himself.

Tommy almost snapped at Bishop when the man grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the window. He would have, too, if Bishop hadn’t started gesturing with his hands, a new plan forming as they stood there.

If Tommy understood things right, Bishop wanted him to stay and keep watch through the windows while he and Zacarius went around through another entrance then came into the study from inside the house. They would be effectively coming at the enemy from two sides.

Tommy nodded that he understood then turned his attention back to the window. He could see Philip walking around the room as he talked to the doctor. Carl sat unmoving in a chair by the fireplace.

Tommy frowned when he got a closer look at Carl. For some reason, Carl’s hands and feet were bound to the chair he sat in. He looked terrified, his face pale and pinched. It was not an emotion Tommy would have equated with Carl Douglas.

He forgot all about his confusion over Carl when the study door opened. Tommy expected Bishop and Zacarius to walk in, not two armed guards, an older woman with dark hair, and a young child. Tommy suddenly knew that he was looking at Summer and Tereza Morgan.

He also knew their plans had just gone to shit! The two females were supposed to be at another facility. Granted, they were brought in when Elliot came for his monthly exam, but one of the other rescue teams was supposed to get to the two women before now. The plan had been for their transport vehicle to be intercepted before it even reached the Spencer Estate.

Summer Morgan rushed over to where Elliot was sitting, slouched in his chair. Tereza started to run after her mother, but a quick hand of one of the guards landing on her shoulder kept her where she was.

Tommy could see the sudden panic in Summer’s face when her daughter wasn’t allowed to join her and knew something was up. There was something different about this visit. Tommy just couldn’t put his finger on what was going on until Philip Spencer walked over to the patio doors and opened them.

The man looked right at him.

“Would you care to join us, Mr. Nash?”

Tommy tried to hide his sudden fear by clenching his fists and drawing in a deep lungful of air. He didn’t know how Philip Spencer even knew about him much less that he was standing right outside the man’s home.

Tommy pushed himself away from the wall and followed Philip into the house. He could see the questions brewing in Summer’s eyes and gave her a slight shake of his head. She didn’t respond other than to turn her attention back to Elliot.

“Baby, if there were any time for you to wake up and shift, this would be it!”
Tommy shouted silently to Elliot.

Carl suddenly began to struggle, his face paling even more as the man grimaced in pain. Tommy glanced over at Philip when the man started making a
tsking
noise as he poured himself a drink.

“Tsk, tsk, Mr. Nash. If you have something to say, please say it to the entire room.”

Tommy felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Philip knew he was trying to speak to Elliot? How?

“Would you like a drink, Mr. Nash?” Philip asked. “I am told this scotch is a very good year.”

“No, thank you.”

“So polite.” Philip walked over to sit behind his desk.

“How do you know who I am?”

“I know about everyone in your little valley, Mr. Nash.” The man’s chuckle made Tommy tense even more. “Surely you didn’t think the Teacher would go into your valley to retrieve his little pet without having the place investigated first. I have files on every member of your little wolf pack, including my dear son, Elliot.”

“Elliot is not your son!” Summer screamed.

“Ah, but he doesn’t know that, now does he, my dear. And you’re not going to tell him or you know what will happen.” Philip took a small sip of his drink then set it back on the desk. He folded his hands together. “Elliot has just now reached his potential, and you will not mess that up for me, or you will not be allowed to see him.”

“His potential?” Tommy asked. He knew by the small smirk that crossed Philip’s face that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“You didn’t think that Elliot showed up in your little valley by accident, did you?”

“It was planned?”

“Of course it was.” Philip seemed so proud of himself as he related his news. “I knew the likelihood of Elliot mating with a female wolf was near to nothing. The poor boy is gay, you know. I had hoped by sending him to Wolf Creek Valley Elliot would meet up with one of you and I was right. He met you, Mr. Nash.”

“You couldn’t have known we would be mates.”

“No, that’s true, but I knew the possibility was there. If he hadn’t found his mate in Wolf Creek, I would have simply sent Elliot to another wolf pack until he did meet his mate.”

While Tommy was getting a lot of answers, Philips words were creating just as many questions. “Why do you need Elliot to be mated?”

“My doctor,” Philip said as he gestured to the man standing by Elliot, “assured me that Elliot would be able to shift once he met and bonded with his mate. I was very disappointed when Elliot didn’t shift when he hit puberty. Dr. Banning said that it may have just been Elliot’s need to be mated first. Apparently, that trait isn’t uncommon with your kind.”

Tommy tried to keep his frown off his face as he glanced over at the doctor. He was born a shifter, and even he never heard of anyone not shifting when they hit puberty. He wondered if the Philip and the good doctor knew exactly what they were talking about.

“So, we’ve mated. So what?”

“Elliot doesn’t have the constitution to be a good little wolf like I need him to be. He’s too softhearted. You, on the other hand, I have no doubt can be the perfect specimen for my needs.”

“Me?” Tommy laughed. “And what makes you think I will do anything that you say?”

Philip very casually opened his desk drawer and pulled out the strangest looking gun Tommy had ever seen. It might not have even been a gun. Instead of a clip or cylinder, the object held several small darts with vials of blue liquid attached to them. Philip pointed the gun at Elliot.

“Because, my dear boy, these little vials are filled with a special serum developed by Dr. Banning. I’ve seen the effects that this liquid does to a wolf shifter like yourself, and it’s not pretty. I wouldn’t want to have to use it on Elliot.”

Tommy was caught and he knew it. Either he agreed to do as Philip wanted, or the man would kill his mate. There really wasn’t any other choice. Tommy growled low in his throat and lunged across the desk at Philip, trying to place himself between the darts and Elliot.

Logically, he knew that he might be placing his mate’s life in danger. Hopefully, Bishop and Zacarius would reach Elliot before Philip could do the man any harm. Illogically, Tommy had a deep need to kill the man responsible for putting his mate in danger.

Tommy heard the gun go off just as he reached Philip, shifting into his seven-foot-tall werewolf form, one that had only come out on a handful of occasions in his entire life, usually when he was being threatened in some way.

He clamped his large canine teeth around the arm with the gun in it and ripped with all his might. He distantly heard screaming and tasted the coppery flavor of blood in his mouth. Bone crunched, much to Tommy’s satisfaction, and flesh tore.

“Tommy!”

Tommy ignored the voice screaming at him and continued to tear into Philip. He ignored the blows of pain he felt in his side and back as Philip tried to fight back. He ignored everything but the overwhelming urge he had to avenge his mate.

The screaming slowly faded. The buzz of noise in Tommy’s head began to grow until it became the scream.
“Tommy!”

Tommy dropped the bloody crushed arm from his mouth and turned to see who was screaming at him. He expected to find Summer or maybe even Bishop. He didn’t expect to see Elliot standing behind him on all fours, having shifted into his wolf form.

“Elliot?”

“Let him go,”
Elliot said into his head.
“He can’t harm us anymore.”

Tommy turned back to look at Philip, shocked by what he saw. Philip Spencer was still alive but just barely. His body was covered in blood, his arm lying at an odd angle. Tommy knew it was broken. He didn’t feel any sympathy for the man.

Bishop was kneeling on the ground by where Philip had dropped, trying to stench the flow of blood. Tommy was a little confused as to how Dr. Jones was sitting on the other side of him, treating Philip’s wounds, until he noticed several other men standing in the room.

Tommy hopped down off of Philip’s desk and jumped over to Elliot, squatting down on the floor as his body slowly shifted back to his human form. He stroked his hands up and down Elliot’s white fur, looking for any sign of injury.

“You are okay?”
Tommy asked.
“The dart didn’t hit you?”

Elliot shifted in the blink of an eye then shook his head as he reached for Tommy. “No, I’m fine. Dr. Banning stepped between me and the dart.”

“Dr. Banning?” Tommy said out loud as he gathered Elliot up in his arms and turned to look at the fallen doctor. He was being treated by Zacarius and Devlin. He seemed to be alive, but in a lot of pain.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, it would seem that there is more to the good doctor than meets the eye.” Zacarous pointed to Carl, who was growling and struggling wildly in his chair. “I believe that Dr. Banning and Elliot’s friend, Carl, are mated somehow.”

“What?”

“It’s true,” Dr. Banning wheezed. “Carl is mine.”

“Carl? Attack us in the alley Carl?”

“He had no choice,” Dr. Banning whispered. “Philip threatened to kill me if Carl didn’t bring Elliot home. Why do you think he had Carl tied up before Elliot arrived? He was afraid that Carl would attack him.”

“I can understand that,” Tommy snorted.

“Please, let him…”

Tommy watched the doctor for a moment, seeing the pleading in the man’s eyes, then turned to walk over and release Carl. Before he did, he leaned in real close to Carl so the man didn’t miss a word he said.

“Touch Elliot in any way and I won’t care what you were forced to do. I will kill you faster than you can blink. Do I make myself clear?”

Carl nodded. Tommy snapped the ropes tying Carl down. He almost fell back on his butt when Carl pushed past him, racing across the room to kneel next to his mate, taking the man into his arms.

“Guess they are mates.” Tommy chuckled as he climbed to his feet. “And as happy as I am for you two, I still have questions and I want answers.”

“Can’t that wait?” Carl shouted, a tear falling down his cheek. “Can’t you see he’s in pain? He could be dying.”