Saved by Wolves (Shifters Meet Their Mate Book 1) (19 page)

They left Monroe writhing in the dirt, and set off after Kirra.

***

“T
hat has to be it,” Ash said, pointing at a huge, sprawling compound to the west. “Henderson Biotech.”

Marcus hooked an arm around the trunk of the tree they perched in and leaned out, squinting, trying to make out details in the fading light. There was a main building—a heavy, squat concrete monstrosity—in the middle and three smaller ones around it, with more possibly hidden from view. A tall barbed-wire fence surrounded the whole lot. Guards in distinctive green-and-yellow uniforms manned the large front gate and the smaller side one, stopping vehicles and checking credentials before they let anyone in. Other guards patrolled the fence, inside and out.

They studied the layout in silence, looking for weaknesses or any sign of Lash or Kirra. Jackson and Daisy waited below, Daisy resting with her back against a tree, eyes closed, Jackson pacing back and forth in front of her, rubbing his temples and the back of his neck when he thought no one was watching. Marcus felt the start of a headache of his own building and knew a cell tower or power lines were close.

“Well?” Jackson demanded.

“It’s locked down pretty tight,” Marcus said. “Guards all over the place, and we’d need to watch them for days to pick up on any gaps or weaknesses.”

“We don’t have days. Kirra could be in there now, needing our help. We knock a few heads and jump the fence. Simple,” Jackson said.

Daisy cracked one eye open. “Yeah, a simple way to get your brains scrambled and give us away. Place like that, the fence’ll be electric.”

“Well, what’s your plan?” Jackson said, slamming his fist into the trunk of their tree. Marcus tightened his grip as the tree swayed. The closer they got to human lands, the darker Jackson’s mood—not cheery to begin with—turned. When they’d lost Kirra’s scent at the edge of a highway an hour earlier, he’d thought Jackson would lose control of his inner Wolf. She’d obviously gotten into a vehicle—by her choice or not, they didn’t know.

“Not doing something stupid,” she said, gaining her feet. “We don’t even know for sure that she’s headed there—or was captured. Is there anywhere else she might have gone? Family? Friends?”

“I think her sister is her only family, and she never mentioned friends,” Marcus said.

“What about her stuff?” Daisy pointed to Kirra’s backpack, which was in a pile with the others. “Anything in there?”

Marcus and Jackson exchanged a look. “I don’t know,” Marcus said slowly. “We never looked.”

“You never looked?”

The incredulity in her voice had him drawing his back up. “Of course we didn’t look. It would be... invading her privacy.” That and it hadn’t even occurred to him.

Daisy shook her head and opened the bag, drawing items out. “It’s a nice thought, but if one of my mates was in trouble, I’d say screw privacy.” She set a few items of clothing to the side, added energy bars to the heap, and then hummed in satisfaction. “And we have a winner. Passport, driver’s license...” Her voice trailed off as she pulled several more out of the pack. “Well, this is interesting. According to these, your girl lives in Idaho, New York, and Florida. And her name isn’t Kirra. It’s Samantha Wells, Janet Bloomington, or Virginia Armstrong. And her sister has just as many names and addresses.”

“That makes sense,” Ash said. “She’s on the run. Human governments can track people by their ID, so having fake ones is smart.”

“Yeah, but useless for us. She could be anywhere.” Daisy stuffed everything back in the bag.

Jackson rubbed his chin. “No. She wouldn’t have left those behind, not if they would help keep her and her sister safe. She’s still here. You and Ash track Lash. We can’t risk having him tell the humans Kirra is here.”

“You think he’d do that?” Marcus asked.

“He was going to turn her over to them, so yes.”

“Yeah, but he’d have to explain that he lost her. I don’t see Lash doing that.”

“That makes it even more important to find Lash and... delay him,” Jackson said. “We can’t have him get to Kirra first. They’ll get Lash, and we’ll go to the lab and find Kirra.”

Ash leaped to the ground, landing lightly on the balls of his feet. “Let’s go... delay him, then,” he said, tilting his head at Daisy.

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”

Marcus joined them on the ground, and they split up, Ash and Daisy backtracking to pick up Lash’s scent while he and Jackson headed directly for Henderson Biotech and the lab.

***

“H
ere’s another one,” Marcus whispered, nudging an unconscious guard with the toe of his boot. Close up, the yellow-and-green uniforms were even more garish.

Jackson felt for a pulse. “Still alive.”

As if to confirm his words, the man stirred and groaned, raising his head, eyes threatening to open. Jackson clipped him on the side of the head with his fist, and he dropped back, dead to the world.

They’d stumbled over the first two guards as they’d approached the fence east of the main gate. Marcus had thought they were dead at first, but they were alive, just out cold. Not a mark on them. And no weapons. They were positioned just outside the range of the surveillance cameras and floodlights sweeping the compound and surrounding area. Kirra must have drawn them to her somehow. Smart girl. Maybe too smart. The idea of her blithely going around, now armed, putting herself in danger, made him flash hot, then cold with fear.

“She’s making her move soon,” Jackson said as he dragged the guard further from the fence, into the trees nearby. They’d lose the cover of the trees in another few hundred feet—the compound was outside of Davidston, off by itself, edged by trees on one side and open on the others. “With this many guards down, someone will notice.”

Marcus caught a flash of movement to their left, maybe a hundred feet away, at a point where the tree line butted up against the fence. Kirra. He ran, biting his tongue to keep from calling out to her.

She was reaching out... about to grab the fence... the electrified fence...

“No,” he howled as her fingers wove through the chain links and clamped down.

S
parks flew, lighting up the air above Kirra’s head and then making their way along the fence like dominoes.

Marcus skidded to a halt beside her, Jackson right behind him, and reached out a shaking hand. She was still holding the fence, as if she couldn’t let go. Was she...?

Her head whipped toward him, then suddenly she was in his arms. He hugged her back, but didn’t get a chance to say anything before she slapped a hand over his mouth and stepped back a pace.

“Keep it down. There are two guards over there,” Kirra said, hooking a thumb to the left. “We’ll be lucky if they didn’t hear that.” Annoyance and impatience rode her voice, but not fear. Her dark hair was tangled and tied back with a piece of string, her jeans were ripped across the knees, a handgun was tucked into her waistband, nestled in the small of her back, and she smelled... ripe. 

But she was okay. Marcus sagged with relief, and caught himself just as he was about to lean on the fence for support.

“It’s fine,” Kirra said, patting the fence. “I shorted it out.”

“You... you...” He couldn’t seem to form words.

“I manipulate energy, remember? This was easy.” She looked up at the barbs on top of the fence, ten feet up. “It’s the next part that’ll be tricky.” Her focus was absolute—not quite the grateful reaction to their rescue that he’d expected. Of course, they hadn’t really rescued her, more like followed the trail of her destruction. Despite the hug, maybe she was still upset that he hadn’t been able to stop the alphas from taking her.

“Why didn’t you wait for us?” Jackson asked, crossing his arms.

Kirra’s full lips turned down at the corners, and she held up a hand, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “One, I wasn’t sure you were coming. Two, I knew that Lash and Monroe would be after me—”

“Just Lash,” Marcus interrupted. Kirra raised a brow, but continued without missing a beat.

“—and three, I didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. And four, I guess, was that I had no idea how to get back to your place in the woods, and even if I had, your alpha would have just turned me back over to the Cats.”

“No,” Jackson said. “We wouldn’t let him.”

“Un huh,” she said, clearly not convinced. She did blame them. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. We need to get to that building over there.” She pointed to the largest building. “Unless the layout’s really changed, Francesca will be in the lower level.”

“What about the lights?” Jackson asked. “Can you take them out, too?”

“I could, but that would be like waving a flag and yelling, ‘We’re breaking in!’ No one will notice the fence is off because who would be dumb enough to touch it to check? If the lights suddenly all go out, though...”

Kirra tugged up the sleeves of her windbreaker, and using the toe of her boot wedged into one of the fence links for leverage, she began to climb the fence. Jackson’s hands around her waist stopped her before she made it halfway.

“You stay here,” Jackson ordered. “We’ll find Daisy and Ash—they’re tracking Lash—and get your sister.”

Kirra reached down to try to pry his hands away. “Yeah, that’s not happening. You’ll need me to get into the building. Plus, I know my way around. And there’s no time to wait for Daisy and Ash. We’ve got to go now. I... uh... knocked out a few guards on the way here, and someone’s going to notice they’re missing soon.”

Damn it. She was right. As much as Marcus wanted to side with Jackson and demand that Kirra stay back, stay safe, the safest thing for all of them would be to get in and out quickly.

“She’s right,” he said quietly. Jackson scowled, but released her.

Kirra made to climb again, but it was Marcus’s turn to stop her. “Not that way,” he said. “There’s razor wire at the top. You’ll be skewered.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No. I’ll go over and Jackson will throw you to me.”

“Throw me? That really doesn’t sound safer,” she protested.

Marcus studied the fence again. The razor wire was in eight-inch loops, positioned at a forty-five degree angle to make it even more difficult to climb over. Instead of even attempting that, he backed away from the fence, took a deep breath, and focused on shifting only his legs, feeling the muscles, bones, and tendons grow thicker, stronger. Then he took a running start and leaped, cleared the top of the wire with inches to spare, and rolled when he hit the ground to ease the shock of impact.

A spotlight swung in his direction, and he dropped flat to the ground as it passed by. As soon as it was safe, he stood, facing the fence, and held out his arms.

Kirra was staring, mouth agape, but Jackson didn’t waste any time. He picked Kirra up, told her to tuck her head, curl up in a ball, and hold her knees, and tossed her over the fence with a huge heave. Marcus had to back up to catch her. Her arms latched around his neck and her breath was loud and ragged in his ear.

Jackson landed in a crouch beside him.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Kirra hissed, letting go of his neck and getting her feet under her. She set off across the compound, aiming for the cover of the closest building to their right. They got there without being detected, and she led the way to the far corner of the building, hugging the concrete wall. At the corner, she pointed to a side door in the main building.

“That’s the entrance,” she said. A well-lit fifty-foot expanse of open space separated them from their goal. Marcus didn’t see any guards, but a security camera was mounted right above the door.

“They’ll see us coming,” he said.

Kirra dug into the pocket of her jacket and produced two round stones the size of a robin’s egg. “No they won’t. Which of you has better aim?”

Jackson held out his hand, and Kirra handed him the stones. Marcus stopped him before he could throw the first one. “What’s the plan once we’re inside?”

“We get in, find my sister, free her and anyone else we can, and get out,” Kirra said, stressing each step as if she were talking to a three-year-old.

“What about guards and workers?”

She shook her head. “I waited until people left for the day. There might be a guard inside, but that should be it. We’ll have to incapacitate him.” Marcus flicked a look at the handgun at her waist, and she shook her head. “Nonlethally.”

He’d have felt better with a more in-depth plan, but Marcus nodded, and Jackson took that as his signal to throw. The first stone hit the edge of the camera and bounced off, but the second shattered it.

They ran for the door, Marcus and Jackson keeping Kirra between them. Jackson tried the handle, but the door was locked. An access panel was to the right of the door. He turned to the side, ready to ram the door with his shoulder, but Kirra stopped him. “No need,” she said, placing her hand on the access panel and closing her eyes. She shuddered once, and Marcus swore he felt electricity vibrate in the air, then opened her eyes and stepped back. “Try it again.”

The door swung open on well-oiled hinges, and they slipped into the building. A stairwell lay immediately to their left, while a long hallway painted industrial grey stretched straight ahead, closed doors on either side at regular intervals. Long fluorescent lights flickered overhead, and the smell of bleach assailed his nose, blocking his sense of smell.

“They’re probably keeping Francesca in the basement,” Kirra whispered, heading straight for the stairs. “If we come across anyone, we need to keep them quiet.” She must have seen Jackson bare his teeth in a smile at the words, as she clarified: “Not kill them. Even if they do deserve it. We’re on a rescue mission.”

A locked, windowless, heavy-duty steel door greeted them at the base of the stairs. Marcus stepped to the side so Kirra could deal with the access pad.

Just as the lock disengaged with a click, an ear-shattering klaxon went off.

“They found the guards,” Marcus said.

“Or the broken camera,” Kirra said, grimly reaching for the door handle.

Jackson picked her up, set her to the side, threw open the door, and went through it in a rush, body angled to the side to present a smaller target. Through the still-open door, Marcus saw a guard in the hall beyond freeze at the sight of Jackson barreling toward him. The guard fumbled for his gun, but it was too late. Jackson took him down with a knockout blow that sent him flying into one of the doors that lined the hall.