Omegas in Love

Vanguards - 4

by

Annie Nicholas

To my husband and sons who keep supporting my long hours at the computer.

Chapter 1

Sex got better with time, and being with Katrina these past two years had proved it. Tyler twisted in the cramped bathroom stall as Katrina squeezed in against him and closed the door. An electric shock of pain shot along his nerve–he’d jarred his funny bone against a metal bolt that held the faded fiberglass walls together. “It’s too narrow in here. I can’t maneuver.”

“That is half the fun.” Katrina whispered with her Asian accent, then undid his zipper.

His pain vanished.

She knelt in front of him and pulled his waistband below his hips. His cock had thickened when she’d asked him to follow her to the restaurant’s bathroom after lunch, so he was already erect. She caressed him, her delicate hands confident in their movement.

Never, in a thousand years, would he have guessed they’d be in this position one day. He took a shaky breath and leaned his weight against the cool wall behind him. They’d grown so close, he couldn’t imagine a future without her.

Leaning forward, she licked her ruby red lips before wrapping them around his shaft. At a slow, easy pace she swallowed him.

Time stopped. Mesmerized, he couldn’t pull away his gaze. Her thick lashes formed crescent moons when she closed her eyes and stroked her tongue against him. So soft and smooth…

He moaned and it echoed in the closed-in space. Cutting the sound off in a gasp, he leaned his head back against the stall. “Everyone in the restaurant will hear me, Kat.”

Ignoring his protests, she withdrew from him, then slid his cock farther down her throat, sucking him into a moist, warm haven.

Bracing the stall as if it were caving in, he remained on his feet, even though his knees threatened to give out while her rhythm became more demanding. Oh God. Short of breath, he struggled with his inner wolf-like beast. Its presence rose, threatening a shift. “Kat…” He tried to warn and whisper, but it came out more like encouragement.

The beast part of him loved Katrina as much as the human did and it wanted to participate. However, public shifting was forbidden by his alpha.

The scent of Katrina’s beast filled his nose. Shit. She was close to shifting as well. Things became more aggressive when her wolf-shifter nature joined them in sex, which would be great at home, not in a fucking public bathroom. His afternoon was going to get very, very complicated if he didn’t tone things down.

She grasped his ass and dug her long nails-turned-claws into his skin.

All his reasoning ability crumbled with the pain–oh–the pain. It turned into searing pleasure. His internal wires must be crossed somewhere for him to love the claws.

The door to the bathroom creaked open and Tyler swallowed a groan. He almost had an aneurysm.

Footsteps followed, with the sound of unzipping.

Katrina didn’t stop, or even slow down. Having someone else in the room didn’t appear to bother her. She’d changed so much from the time he’d met her, from a shy, frightened girl to a confident, strong woman. Well, she’d smack him for calling her a woman. They were both werewolves in the Vasi pack, far from being human.

He listened to the male use the urinal.

All the while, she sucked hard and fast.

Unable to breathe or move, Tyler remained silent until the stranger washed his hands and left. “Oh my God, Katrina, I’m so close.” He pulled himself from her mouth and lifted her onto her feet. In a frenzy of hands, he slid her red silk dress over her hips and she pulled his pants lower. Eager to be inside his mate, he didn’t waste time with her panties and tore them off in an act of what he called He-Manism.

Nothing about him would make anyone think He-Man. All one hundred and fifty pounds of curly, red-headed male made them think Ronald McDonald. Never mind that he could bench press a car in his beast form. Werewolves might be legal citizens now, but not many tolerated them, so he kept a tight lid on his secret identity to keep his job.

Why a beauty like Katrina even paid him any attention still amazed him.

She trapped his face between her hands and gazed at him with her dark, tilted eyes. “Take me, Tyler. Make me yours.” Hot damn, she could read his mind sometimes.

In his suit’s jacket pocket was the engagement ring he wanted her to wear. That would truly make her his. Lifting her by the hips, he pressed his cock against her clit and rubbed. He could make her climax this way–he’d done it before.

She gripped his shoulders and the jacket seam popped. “Fuck me.” Her voice was husky with desire. She never swore in public, but those rules didn’t exist in their bedroom, and apparently, public bathrooms.

With a thrust of his hips, Tyler entered her in one hard shot. Wet and tight, her pussy enveloped him.

She cried out and it echoed in the small room.

Buried inside his mate, he didn’t care if the whole building heard. He pumped, allowing Katrina’s velvet to stroke him. The stall creaked and rattled. He caught her delicate mouth in a kiss, her taste a mixture of need, love, and sake.

Sweat trickled along his face, making his curls stick to his skin. A passion this strong, a love this fierce should tear him apart. In and out, in and out, he thrust until her secret muscles clenched even tighter around him.

“Oh Tyler.” She moaned against his lips.

He brought her this pleasure, his touch that she craved, and his name she used. Nothing could have made him feel more–more male.

Harder and faster, he plunged inside. Panting as if running a marathon, clothes pasted to his sweaty skin, he helped her find her release and milk him of his.

He arched his back when he came.

Katrina rode his climax, her strong limbs wrapped around his body until she slowed, then sagged against his shoulder.

Catching his breath, he leaned his sweat-soaked forehead against the cool wall by Katrina’s head, sandwiching her. “If I win another Rube Goldberg contest, can we do this again?”

She laughed, drawing him in for a chaste kiss. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” It was all he could think to say. Every year Chicago held a small Rube Goldberg contest. He’d competed since high school. Developing over-engineered machines that performed simple tasks, usually involving a chain reaction, summed up his life. Finally winning left him empty. His true contest lay in convincing Katrina to marry him. She was the ultimate prize.

She’d blown his mind when she’d suggested a tryst in the men’s room. A huge step for her to be so open about her sexuality. She’d been so abused by her old pack. He thought he’d never get through those barriers. Then one night, two years ago, she’d knocked on his bedroom door and told him she wouldn’t live in the past anymore.

That he, Tyler McCoy, was her future. Unbelievable, even now.

Setting her down on her feet, he tugged at her hem and fixed her dress. He picked up her torn panties. “I don’t suppose you want these?”

She laughed. “Keep them as a souvenir. Just do not pin them on the bedroom wall like last time.”

Exactly where he wanted to display them. They truly were a perfect match.

“I am going to wash in the ladies’ room.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of the bill.”

She rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “I’ll meet you outside under the archway.”

It didn’t take long for him to clean and dress–no amount of work could make his red hair look tame–but paying for their dim sum lunch took forever. He stood at the register as Katrina walked by and pinched his ass for good measure before stepping out of the restaurant.

Stuffing his credit card and receipt into his wallet, Tyler stepped onto the main street of Chinatown.

An antique red archway covered the entrance to the tourist trap to keep evil spirits away and good luck in. Sticking his hand in his jacket pocket, he rubbed the small, velvet jewelry box he’d placed there earlier today. He could use all the luck he could get–just because Katrina was his mate, didn’t mean she’d agree to get married.

Raised in an all-wolf-shifter community in rural Mongolia, she didn’t think like American shifters. Like him. He took a deep, shaky breath. Marriage was a foreign ritual to her.

He’d chosen this location not just for his superstitions, but for its significance. Katrina worked in the area, a place where the old Asian world met the new, as an interpreter for some of the local companies.

She waited under the arch, facing him, her delicate eyebrows furrowed. An Asian man he didn’t recognize spoke with her.

Facing the stranger’s back, Tyler could only see his short black hair and long fall trench coat.

A sharp stab of jealousy drove him to quicken his pace. He couldn’t help it. As a shifter, possession was nine-tenths of the law, and Katrina belonged to him.

Passing half a dozen souvenir shops offering cheap trinkets, Tyler trotted along Wentworth Avenue. Katrina’s raised voice reached his ears, but he couldn’t understand Mandarin. He growled low in his chest. His mate didn’t yell often.

Three other men broke from the crowd and surrounded the arguing couple.

Tyler’s heart rate took off like a locomotive on a downhill slide. He smelled shifters. Non-Vasi shifters on their territory. Surrounding his mate.

The Asian stranger grabbed her arm and yanked her into his embrace.

“Hey!” It took every ounce of Tyler’s control to keep his beast from busting out on the tourist filled streets of Chicago’s biggest attraction. He shoved the stranger from behind, knocking Katrina from his arms.

She stumbled and landed hard on the ground. Tears stained her cheeks. The cold wind blew strands of long, black hair across her face.

“Get your hands off her.” He bent to help her, but the stranger blocked him. Straightening, Tyler glared at Katrina’s assailant and met a cold, dark stare.

His beast rose closer to the surface and clouded his thoughts. She belonged to him and this male thought to block his way. The only solution was to tear this asshole limb from limb. “Get out of my way.” He spoke each word separately and clearly to get his point across.

“This is none of your concern.” The stranger spoke with a thick accent like Katrina’s.

“You’re on Vasi territory. Anything that happens here is my concern. And she belongs to me.” Tyler pointed to Katrina, then back to himself.

“Chinatown is not Vasi territory. Never has been and never will be. And this female mated me before she ran away.” Crossing his arms, the stranger planted himself in front of Tyler. “She still belongs to me and has never been yours to take.”

Tyler’s jaw hung as if on broken hinges. He shot her a questioning look, but she stared at the ground, not meeting his gaze. Katrina hated to speak about her past. Now, he knew why.

She wiped her face, huddled on the ground, and didn’t deny a thing.

Every bit of joy in his life lay with Katrina, but truth’s claws dug into his heart. He didn’t know which hurt more, the lies or the way she hunched on the ground, submitting to this stranger like an omega all over again.

One of the surrounding males took her by the arms and assisted her to her feet.

She took a step toward Tyler, reached out her hand, and spoke his name in a tone laced with regret. Tear-filled eyes pleaded with him.

Fuck shifter laws. Fuck this stranger. And fuck any territory he stepped on. No one would make him give her up. “I’ll ask politely one last time, buddy.” Tyler’s glare challenged the stranger. “Let her go.”

The Asian trailed a look down his thin body and back. “Or what? You will sell me insurance?”

Tyler relaxed his hold on his beast.

It burst from his body in a spray of clothes and blood. Bipedal, he towered over the unknown shifters.

Cries from the humans crowding the street filled the air. Not everyday a lanky redhead exploded into three hundred pounds of teeth and claws. Werewolves scaring the locals only caused the pack trouble, but this was an emergency. His alpha would just have to take it out of his hide.

With a full back-handed swing, Tyler knocked the stranger out of his path to Katrina.

The man who had helped her to stand snatched her away into the panicked crowd.

As if waking from a nightmare, she shook her head, then kicked and screamed until they were swallowed from his view.

Leaping after her, Tyler was intercepted midair. He hit the pavement with a bone-crunching impact. Air rushed out of his lungs while stars whirled around his head, yet he still managed to roll from the attack. He might not train like Eric, his alpha, or Robert, his beta, but Katrina had forced him to learn the basics of keeping his hide intact.

He jumped to his feet and faced his opponent. The dark, cold eyes of the unknown Asian male stared back from the face of the beast who’d attacked him. His companions had shifted, too.

Impending death confronted Tyler. Three shifters against one were terrible odds, especially for a shifter who worked as a real estate agent.

The streets had emptied quickly and the faint sound of sirens reached them.

Stalking away, the stranger didn’t even give Tyler a backward glance, although the other two prowled closer.

In the distance, he heard Katrina scream his name. Tears sprung to his eyes at the cry. He was supposed to protect her. A vise squeezed his chest. Breathing became difficult around his breaking heart. Red became the only color he could see.

His opponents coordinated their attacks and jumped him together.

* * *

Katrina attempted to transform into her wolf-beast form as Chen’s guard dragged her through the panicked human crowd. Her beast didn’t respond. Sharp claws of fear tore into her heart. What was wrong?

Her beast used to cower like this in the past when faced with Chen, but they’d grown so much since escaping to America. It only took one moment in her old alpha’s presence and they’d lost all they had gained. No, please no, she needed to connect with her beast and fight.

She looked at her true mate a last time as he stood in his red tinged magnificent form against Chen and his pack mates. Their gazes met and she reached for him, hoping one day he might forgive her secrets.

If only the past would have remained buried. No one knew of her life in China–she wanted the depravity forgotten. Her best friend, Sugar, had once told her to build a wall around the haunting memories, and she had. Now, Chen, her worst nightmare, showed up here, halfway around the world.

What did an alpha of a large shifter clan want with the lowest of daughters of her birth pack? She’d been nothing but garbage to him. There must be other females with the same pure shifter blood as her. Chen could mate and torture one of them. What made her so special?

She struggled in the guard’s arms, twisting and turning until she sank her flat, human teeth into his neck.

With a cry, he pulled her off by yanking on her long hair, then slapped her across the face hard enough to rattle her thoughts. Such hits had been common in her youth but it had been years since anyone had laid an unkind hand on her. Limp, she wasn’t difficult for him to carry and take away from Chinatown. The place where she’d met a misfit pack of omega shifters. The place she’d felt most at home. The place where Tyler had kissed her for the first time.

She cried out his name one last time as loud as she could. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he’d come for her.

Chapter 2

The floor rocked under Tyler while he tried to sleep. Cracking his eyelid open, pain roared as the light speared through his pupil. A miniature marching band paraded inside his head, going round and round. Every inch of his body ached as if Daedalus, his vampire trainer, had used him like a punching bag.

Damn, it was Eric’s bachelor party all over again. Maybe he was recovering from his own party?

No.

He’d never asked Katrina to marry him. Why not? His stomach somersaulted when he made a sharp turn. Rolling onto his side, his lunch came up in a heaving never-ending wave. It didn’t taste any good the second time around. He coughed and cleared his burning throat. “Gross.” Someone patted his back, but he didn’t recognize the voice. “Let it all out, man.” The stranger gagged. “Open the windows, Aaron, before I die back here.”

Wiping his chin, Tyler looked around. White metallic walls that had seen better days surrounded him. A worn burgundy carpet covered the floor with a brand new puke stain next to him. “Where am I?” Blinking, he tried to clear his vision.

“It’s okay. We’re taking you home. You should heal by tomorrow.” A double-headed man knelt by him.

Heal? So, not a hangover after all. Had he been hit by a car? He sure felt like road kill. “Who are you?” He tried to sit up, but his back protested. With a groan, he slumped back down. Rubbing his forehead, he found a lump the size of a baseball.

The man hovered over his face, appearing younger than he sounded. “I’m Tony. Aaron and I saw the whole thing. Dude, that was un-freaking-believable.”

Apparently, he’d done something impressive.

“We came to help with the fight, but they ran off. Did they ever lay into you.”

Help? He sniffed and recognized Vasi shifter in Tony. “I was in a fight?” As soon as he asked, he remembered. “Kat!” He sat bolt upright and fought the vertigo. “We need to go back. They took my mate.”

Tony slipped an arm under his shoulder as he wavered. “She’s gone. We chased them to a truck, which took off.”

Gone. The pain cleared Tyler’s head. “You let them go?”

“We couldn’t leave you bleeding on the street with the cops on the way.” Tony frowned. “And we’re not exactly built to take on trucks.” He gestured to his thin Asian body.

Tyler glanced at the driver, Aaron, and identified him as one of the Vasi omegas who followed Robert, his roommate, around. His close friend had started a support program for them.

Tony was new to him, though.

The van accelerated around a corner. A high pitched squeal accompanied them. Tyler slapped his hands over his ears so his drums wouldn’t burst. It drilled into his sore brain.

The Asian shifter shrugged and offered an apologetic smile. “The fan belt needs to be changed.”

“Where are you taking me?” Tyler leaned on Tony. The world had stopped spinning, but Aaron’s driving didn’t help the nausea or pain.

“Home, I said.” His packmate stroked his back as shifters did for comfort. “The alpha will find her.”

Their alpha, Eric, would help him tear apart the city to find Katrina. They were more than pack. He and Eric were part of small family, living together in the brownstone. However, where did they start searching for his mate?

The truck carrying Katrina could be anywhere. His heart shriveled and the hollow space in his chest echoed with her loss. Nothing but her return would ever fill it.

“Hey.” Tony shook him. “Don’t give up, dude. I’ve seen those assholes before.”

Tyler winced and grabbed his wrist. “Where?”

“They came to Chinatown last night and took the back room at the restaurant where I bus tables, but I never got close enough to get shifter vibes. Wish I had, now.”

“You didn’t know.” Tyler groaned as he got to his knees and glanced out the windshield between the two front seats. They were close to home. “I need some clothes.” He’d exploded out of his suit when he shifted into beast form. Ah, shit. Squeezing his eyes shut, he punched the back of the passenger seat gently. The ring had been in his pocket.

It didn’t matter, not with Katrina missing. He’d buy her another. First, he needed to get her back. The sound of a zipper drew his attention.

Tony pulled clothes out of a sports bag. “They’re my workout clothes.” He held out the wrinkled pile. “Better than nothing.”

Glancing at his pale skin and lean body, Tyler resisted the urge to cross his legs and arms over his nudity. Better to wear second-hand, stinking garments than walk from the van naked. The last thing he needed was to be arrested by the police for indecent exposure.

Unlike humans, the shifter community couldn’t depend on law enforcement. Even if he called in Katrina’s abduction, they’d make all the right noises and fill out all the right forms, however, he’d probably never see her again. The case would get chalked up as shifter politics, a don’t-get-involved zone.

Tyler yanked on the outfit, embracing the pain. Without it, grief would drown him.

The van stopped with a jerk, flinging him to the floor. Moaning, he untangled his arms and legs from Tony’s.

“Oh my God.” Fear filled Aaron’s words and sent a shiver down Tyler’s back.

He rose to his feet and squeezed between the front seats to get a better view.

An ambulance was parked in front of the brownstone. The front door hung askew as if kicked in.

Tyler stepped out of the van, clinging to the passenger door to stay on his feet. His stomach dropped as if on a bungee cord. Someone had attacked their home. Clutching his side, he shuffled along the sidewalk, past the human neighbors who whispered at the sight of him. He couldn’t give a shit.

Police tape blocked his way while paramedics carried out someone. He wanted to throw up again. A small figure lay flat, strapped to the stretcher, a stiff collar around her neck, and a tube coming from her mouth. The medical professional compressed a bag to help her breathe. Blond curls sprung at odd angles off the victim’s head.

Dearest Virgin Mary, he didn’t seem capable of speech. He wanted to wake from this nightmare. If not for Tony’s support, he would have fallen.

The paramedics hurried to the ambulance, shouting out medical terms to each other.

Sam, another of his roommates, dashed out the front door. “I’m going with her,” he shouted at the paramedics, then spotted Tyler at the edge of the crowd. “What happened?” He paused in front of Tyler, eyeing him head to toe.

“I’m okay. Take care of Sugar.” He tried to keep breathing. Sugar was their token human. She owned the brownstone. She wouldn’t have stood a chance in a shifter fight.

Sam glanced at the ambulance, then back at him. He nodded and climbed into the passenger seat of the vehicle.

“Are you sure that was Sugar?” Aaron’s young voice shook.

“Yeah, Spice is our alpha. You would have sensed her presence. Her twin is only human.” The remaining Vasi, who lived in the brownstone, were escorted out wearing very little, which meant they had shifted rapidly through their clothes. Most bore scratches and bites. Daedalus, their vampire trainer and Sugar’s fiance, wasn’t among them, since the daylight confined him. Tyler hoped the locks Daedalus placed on the inside of his coffin had kept him safe during the attack. The pack had enough tragedy for one day.

Cringing, Tyler didn’t want to be around when they told the ancient vampire what had happened to Sugar. She was the center of his universe and he’d been trying to convince her for the past year to cross over. She wouldn’t be so injured if she’d taken his offer. This would only cement Daedalus’s resolve.

Tyler understood Sugar’s desire to stay human. He’d never been given a choice. Some mongrel had made it for him years ago, just after he’d graduated from high school. Since then he’d been struggling to find normal, and almost had it until this afternoon.

“Wait in the van,” he told the boys. “We may still need your help.” Before bending under the blockade, he braced his ribs. Who knew what would happen next. Best to keep as many Vasi around as possible.

An officer intercepted him.

Tyler raised his hands, then pointed to the house. “I live here.” He was dead on his feet. All these strangers streaming in and out of his home meant he probably wouldn’t get to sit down.

“He lives here.” Robert’s declaration carried over the low din of noise and confirmed what he’d just said. His packmate, champion of Vasi omegas, waved him over.

The young officer removed a notepad from his pocket and wrote down Tyler’s name. He instructed him to stay out of the house and remain with the others until they made their statements.

Counting heads, Tyler noticed someone vital missing. He limped toward Eric and Robert.

The whites showed in Eric’s eyes; he panted as if he couldn’t catch his breath, and a sheen of sweat covered his skin. “The bastards took Spice.”

Tyler’s aching ribs turned into a cage of ice. Deep down inside, he knew her absence meant something bad.

Fuck.

“Where’s Katrina?” Eric barked the question.

Tyler winced at his rough tone. “Gone. We were attacked on the street in Chinatown. An Asian pack took her.”

Only then did his alpha really look at him. “Stay quiet, don’t tell the cops. Not yet. We need to get out of here ASAP and start the search.” Eric ran a hand over his face, then glanced at their newest pack member, Esther. “Stay with Daedalus until nightfall. Make sure he doesn’t go vigilante until we’ve more information.”

She nodded. “I know how to take care of vampires.” Esther used to be a slayer. She batted for the monster’s side now that she was one.

“Gather the pack, Robert. I’ll need them once I know where to attack.”

“Got it.”

Taking a deep breath, Eric glanced at Tyler. “We’ll get them back.”

Two females of their pack had been taken and another hurt, all from their inner circle of friends. “How bad is Sugar?”

“Bad. Sam will call with details as soon as he knows something.” Eric gave Esther an impatient look. “We need to go.”

She waved to an older officer, tears suddenly streaming from her eyes. “Can we make our statements now? He’s hurt.” She pointed to Tyler. “We’d like to take him to the hospital and also check on our–” Sobbing loud, she cried into her hands, her shoulders shaking from the effort.

Robert gathered her into his arms.

“Let me get the paperwork and I’ll process you myself.” The compassionate policeman left.

Esther glanced at them, determination replacing her tears. Her ability to change faces always unnerved Tyler. He needed an honest woman…but Katrina kept secrets, didn’t she? Their relationship was founded on lies.

The ex-slayer left Robert’s arms and approached Tyler. “Don’t bring up Chinatown. Tell them you were in the basement when the other pack broke in. You ran out after them and were attacked. It’ll explain why you weren’t in the house, and get us out of here faster.” Esther wore a hard shell on the exterior, but Tyler suspected it was an act, just like the crying. Only Robert knew the real Esther, his mate.

They gave their individual statements as strangers entered and exited their home. Tyler’s heart drummed the whole time. He wove his lies like his pack wanted. It amazed him that the human’s hearing couldn’t catch the sound of his anxiety.

At last, they were cleared to leave the premises, but not the city. The police would call them once the house was processed.

Esther stayed, waiting for the vampire to wake, and Robert left to gather the pack.

Climbing into the van, Eric settled on the floor of the vehicle.

“This is Tony, and the driver’s Aaron.” Tyler sat across from the younger shifter, trying not to grimace from the discomfort in front of his alpha. They’d both been omegas of different packs once, but Eric had found an inner strength that still eluded Tyler. Their compasses didn’t point in the same direction anymore.

“I know who they are.”

“Really?” Tony stared at Eric with something close to worship.

The alpha gave a weak smile. “Sure, I may not know everyone in the pack personally, Tony, but I know everybody’s name.”

Aaron started the van. “Where to?”

“Just drive around the block while we compare notes and figure out our next move.”

The vehicle lurched forward and Tyler swallowed the pain. He healed at shifter speed. An hour ago, he couldn’t have sat like this on his own.

“We were attacked by an Asian pack as well.” Eric glared at the floor. “Can’t be a coincidence. What happened in Chinatown?”

“They confronted us on the street. They treated one of the males like an alpha. He kicked my ass and took Katrina.” He omitted the stranger’s declaration about being Katrina’s mate. The truth was branded to Tyler’s heart and stung too much. Admitting it meant he believed the asshole. Once he found Katrina, then maybe the pain could be soothed.

“The alpha attacked you, but not me? Then it can’t be a territory thing. Do you think this is Katrina’s old pack? The one she ran from?”

“I know it is. She knew him. He must be her old alpha.” The abusive one, the ass had used her like an object, passing her around to other males. How could they be mates?

Eric bowed his head, staring at the floor. “Why are they here? Why take Spice?”

“Katrina’s never told me much about her past. I know she’s from Northern China and raised in a pack. They turned her into a shifter at sixteen. With her being submissive and female, I assume the rest was bad.” He leaned his head against the wall. Maybe he knew more than he thought?

“Do you think they’re trying to get a foothold in America by taking control of Chicago?” Eric asked.

“A foothold? They already have one.” Tony said.

That was right! The stranger had said something similar. How Chinatown had never belonged to the Vasi.

Tony leaned forward, a frown creasing his forehead. “Chinatown’s always been divided between old-country and new. The old world packs have ties throughout this country.”

This information gave Tyler a seed of hope. “Then we need to go back to Chinatown and question people. Someone’s got to know where they’re hiding.”

Tony shook his head. “It won’t work. They won’t talk to you.”

“What the fuck? What do you expect me to do? Sit here and let him hurt her?” Tyler never shouted. He was the jokester, the one people turned to for a laugh or a good time. “I want that bastard dead.” His beast rose close to the surface, the change a millisecond under his skin. “I–I want to mash his face into the ground. Pound the living crap out–”

The air squeezed out of his bruised lungs as Eric pinned him to the van’s wall. Stars flashed in his eyes as if the paparazzi were in the vehicle.

His alpha’s eyes glowed amber, his beast responding to Tyler’s. “Shut. Up.” Eric breathed heavy, their faces too close for comfort.

Tyler’s beast retreated at lightning speed, and cowered. Unlike his animal half, he didn’t have that option. He had to stay and face their pissed-off, half-crazed alpha.

“We.” Eric knocked Tyler against the wall again for emphasis. “Are in no shape to be in public.” After a long, shaky exhale, Eric released his hold on Tyler’s neck and eased away. He cleared his throat and rested his arms on bent knees. “Robert will lead the search until we can get our shit together.” He hung his head, letting his chin rest on his chest. “Tony, who will the people in Chinatown feel comfortable talking to?”

“Me.”

Chapter 3

A bell rang in the distance. Its inconsistent rhythm, as if riding on waves, jarred on Katrina’s nerves. She opened her eyes and stared at an unfamiliar wall. The paint had once been white, but time and abuse had dulled it to a miserable shade of gray. The scents of dust and mold greeted her awakening senses. She wasn’t home. The hard floor under her back provided no comfort or warmth.

Turning her head to the side, she found a female lying next to her. Katrina rolled onto the balls of her feet, crouching low. Something tightened around her neck.

She reached for her throat and touched a solid metal collar. Reflexively, she swallowed.

A chain ran from her collar and she followed it with her gaze. It was bolted to the wall. Secured like a rabid dog? She’d been having lunch with Tyler. She’d wanted to surprise him. She’d been so proud of him for winning…

Chen.

She pressed her hands to her stomach, trying not to vomit. He’d found her.

He’d revealed the truth to Tyler. Chen had told her love they were mates. Why couldn’t the truth stay hidden? She hadn’t made that choice. It hadn’t been a true mating. She’d been forced.

As a useless, submissive female, her only function was to breed. Only her bloodline made her valuable. At least, that’s what she’d been taught and believed until she met the Omegas. She rubbed her lower abdomen to ease some cramps.

Katrina crept closer to the other female. The scent of fresh blood grew stronger when she approached. Upon closer examination, she noticed tangled, strawberry blond hair. She rolled the female on her back. Katrina’s heart went into suspension.

Spice, the alpha female of the Vasi pack. Her lips and left eye were swollen. A cut on her forehead bled and had turned her hair from platinum blond to strawberry. Katrina wasn’t sure what to do. Calling nine-one-one wasn’t an option.

That dirty bastard must have attacked the Vasi. He’d hurt her alpha female. She brushed the hair from Spice’s face.

Chen remembered Katrina as submissive, but she’d changed during recent years. Let him try to hurt Spice again and discover how feral she could be. Deep inside, she called for her beast. She’d shift and guard her alpha until she woke, then they’d fight their way out of here. She reached deeper, searching…

Nothing happened.

She couldn’t sense her beast. Cold claws of panic strangled her. Katrina grasped the metal collar and yanked. Panting, she tried to find her other self, her animal twin. Nothing responded. Empty. Alone. She cried out, a desperate, weak noise echoing in the deserted room, then collapsed to the floor.

A bitter taste coated her tongue. Silver. He must have made her ingest silver, poisoning the connection. Ever since they’d become legal citizens, it was illegal to incapacitate shifters like this.

Lying on her back, Katrina stared at the ceiling. Her fingers slipped from the collar. The Vasi would come, if not for her, then for Spice. Katrina curled close to her friend. How would she explain this when Spice woke?

Life in rural China, in the mountains, was hard even for shifters. They stayed isolated from humans in small villages so they could keep the bloodlines pure. Shifter babies were born human, but they all got turned in their adolescence. She’d never even considered staying human–that option wasn’t available to anyone born in a pack.

She recalled the day her parents sold her to Chen’s father.

Pressed against the wall, she curled in a corner of the bedroom. Nothing could jump her from behind and she had a good view of the door. A thick rug lay under her knees, softening the cold, wooden floor. She ran her fingertips over it. Silky and thick. Her birth pack couldn’t afford such luxuries. She’d never even seen a rug until today.

A large futon lay on the floor at her right. She didn’t hold any false pretenses of her role. Her pack had sold her for breeding. Whoever said beauty was a gift wasn’t born a shifter. It had only given her grief.

Her parents had delivered her to this strange pack. She knew they weren’t given a choice, but that didn’t ease the betrayal.

Pack came first.

She’d be mated to the alpha’s oldest son, Yul. As a child, her friends would whisper stories of soulmates. A shifter tale they wanted to believe. Katrina knew the truth, though. Daughters of pure bloodlines made babies for the highest bidder.

They provided her with a nice bedroom, a small writing desk and a chair. This was more than she’d had with her pack. Her mate could be a nice man. She didn’t even care about him being handsome. She’d give him babies and maybe he’d fall in love with her. Was this too much to ask?

The sliding door to her room cracked open.

She stiffened, unsure what to do next.

A pair of dark, cold eyes met hers. The hungry stare punctured her soul.

He slinked into the room. “You’re more beautiful than I expected.”

“Yul?” She knelt and bowed her head to the floor in submission, as she’d been taught since birth.

“No, that is my brother.” He whispered as he slid the door closed behind him and locked it. “I am here to save you by making you mine.”

With a shake of her head, Katrina banished the memory of meeting Chen. Some things were best forgotten.

Next to her, Spice moaned, then sat bolt upright, ripping out of Katrina’s clasp.

The sudden movement left Katrina breathless. She couldn’t help being in awe. Her alpha–who’d only been a shifter for less than a year–carried so much power. Sometimes survivors were much stronger than those born to shifter parents.

“Where the fuck am I?” Spice brushed her blood-matted hair from her face, then pulled at the metal collar around her neck. “What the fuck?” Scrambling to her feet, she stumbled as she struggled with the restraint.

Katrina watched, too exhausted and frightened to stop her.

“I–I can’t sense my beast!” She screeched her frustration. It split the air and Katrina’s hearing.

Covering her ears, she pulled her knees to her chest and curled into a ball. The raw sound reflected her terror. It shattered the bare threads of what courage she had gathered.

Spice knelt in front of her, panting, then pried her hands from her ears. “What’s happened? The last thing I remember was the sound of a crash at home. I walked out of my bedroom…” She shook her head with a look of concentration. “Nothing else.”

Chen’s pack must have attacked Sugar’s brownstone. Who had been there during the attack? Katrina clenched her eyes shut. Were any of them left alive? “It’s all my fault.” She rocked back and forth. She never should have run away from Chen. “All my fault, my fault–” A sharp slap stung her cheek.

Her eyelids popped open and she gazed at her furious alpha. Katrina deserved it. Chen had attacked the Vasi because she’d run away from him. The Vasi had been kind enough to give her a home. Spice should beat her to a pulp. Laying flat on her stomach, she submitted to her.

“Katrina, snap out of it.” Spice shook her. “Come on, where’s the person who stabbed me in the fucking heart with her claws? I need you.”

“They’re here because of me.” She moaned, pressing her face to the floor. “I ran away.” She repaid all their kindness with betrayal and pain. Her cramps were a bad sign. Chen’s timing couldn’t be coincidence. God, she didn’t want to bear his pups.

Spice stroked her hair. “We knew.”

“I was mated to their alpha.”

The petting stopped. “We didn’t know that. You were their alpha female?”

“No, of course not.” She wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “Only for breeding purposes. I come from a very pure line of shifters, which is important in China. Things are done differently in the east.”

“No shit.” Spice helped Katrina to sit facing her. “Why can’t I shift? Is it these collars?”

Katrina met her alpha’s gaze. She expected contempt, or at least anger, but Spice’s face was pale and she chewed on her bottom lip. “Your beast is still there. It’s a silver-tainted drug they’ve given us, which stops the shift.”

“How long does it last?” Tearing at the metal collar again.

“I don’t know.” Katrina grabbed at Spice’s hands as her nails gouged the tender skin of her neck. “Careful. You’re making yourself bleed.” With a tight grip, Katrina pulled her hands away. Her alpha never lost control to fear. To anger, yes, but the terror in her eyes unnerved Katrina.

“I can’t stand being held captive.”

She gripped Spice’s hands. No words of comfort came to mind. They’d be lies and Katrina had lied enough for a lifetime.

The door to their room swung open.

Both of them jumped and faced their captors.

Two large Asian males stepped inside, followed by Chen. His presence sucked all the oxygen from the room.

Katrina cowered. For a fraction of time, her heart stopped beating. The memories she’d thought buried and gone sprung fresh in her mind.

Being passed around like a whore when she wasn’t in heat. Then during her fertile periods being the focus of Chen’s horrid ideas of intimacy.

This crazed male had killed his own father and brother to become alpha of his pack as a teenager, before he’d even been made a shifter. To keep his power, he’d taken a huge risk and endured the same fast shifter infection like Spice, getting stabbed in the heart so the virus could seed quicker and root faster.

She’d been made to witness this ceremony.

The room shrank and she felt exposed with nowhere to run or hide. She missed Tyler and wanted his warm, reassuring presence, his strength, and his love. But he was better off without a lying, two-timing whore.

Spice blocked Chen’s direct path to Katrina. “What do you want with us?”

Chen circled Spice, stepping over the chain connected to her collar.

Katrina’s stomach rolled with nausea when she recognized his heated interest.

“So, this is the Vasi’s alpha female.” He tracked a finger down Spice’s arm. “Attractive.”

She shrugged it off. “What are you doing on our territory?”

“Taking back what’s mine.” He dismissed Katrina with his hand and eyed Spice from head to foot. “With interest. I’m making an example of your pack. No one steals from me.”

“They did not steal me. I ran from you.” Katrina stood on shaky legs, facing her demon. Fear gnawed at what little courage she owned and would reduce her to a submissive dog again if she let it. She hated the old Katrina and didn’t want to change back. “They should not be punished for my behavior. They don’t even know anything about my past.”

Chen grabbed her by the collar and yanked her close. “No matter to me. If you weren’t so pure of blood, I would have slaughtered you on the streets of so-called Chinatown.” He sneered his words into her face, his breath minty and sharp, before tossing her to the floor.

She hit with a force that rattled her teeth. Leaning on her elbows, she tried to focus her vision on Chen, but three of him loomed over her. She blinked and shook her head.

Spice shoved him away. “Leave her alone.” Some strength from her beast still present even with the drug, she truly was special among shifters: White of fur, pure of spirit, and vicious like a mother protecting her pups. Spice deserved her title as alpha.

Katrina narrowed her eyes as she glared at Chen. He didn’t.

Without effort, Chen spun around Spice and captured her from behind, pinning her arms. He pressed his body against hers so his groin met her ass. “You, my pet, are my prize.”

Chapter 4

Sugar’s rapid heartbeat beeped on the hospital monitor. It drove Tyler crazy, sounding like a frightened trapped animal. His beast wanted to hunt the delicate flutter and put an end to it. Sam, another of his roommates, sat in a chair across from him. He stared at nothing, lost in his thoughts.

Her injuries were so bad she needed a ventilator, which had gotten her a room in the intensive care unit. A long tube extended from her mouth connected to the machine that breathed for her. Matching black eyes almost made her face unrecognizable. Hell, she even had tubes coming from her chest, draining blood.

The sight had devastated Tyler when he’d first walked in. Now, he kept his eyes from wandering over her, unable to process the anger and frustration the sight caused him. Those emotions fed his beast. The last thing he needed was to shift in public again.

Bad enough Daedalus would go apeshit when he saw Sugar in this condition. Eric had decided they should wait for news at the hospital and keep the vampire from ripping the medical staff apart. He’d sent Tony to Chinatown to speak with the elders of the community.

They had no leads to find their mates, so they rallied around the only survivor, the frailest of their small family. Shifters could do a lot of damage to a human, and whoever hit Sugar hadn’t held back.

Night reflected in the hospital window. Slouching in his hard plastic seat, Tyler watched the flickering light of a plane fly across the sky. The fleeting beacon blinked in time with Sugar’s heartbeat. Life as a shifter was savage. No place for a human. They never should have convinced her to let them into her home.

Heavy footsteps rang outside the room, announcing Daedalus’s arrival. “Shut up, Eric. I need to see her first, before talking to any healer.” He strode in, followed by their alpha, fury pulsing from his body as he loomed over Sugar’s unmoving form.

The air grew heavy and Tyler’s throat constricted. He didn’t want to witness this but he couldn’t pull his gaze away from his mentor. The Nosferatu never pushed him to learn how to fight like he did the others. Tyler wanted a quiet life for himself and Katrina. Daedalus respected that wish. What a fool he’d been to refuse the training–his mate could have been sitting next to him instead of in the hands of a monster.

Reaching out for her, the ancient vampire’s hand hovered over hers for a second before grasping it. “Why is she tied to the bed?” His sharp question wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular.

Tyler cleared the cobwebs from his throat. “It’s to protect her from accidentally pulling the tube from her throat.” Normally, he’d be tempted to make a joke so everyone could have a laugh. But nothing seemed funny anymore.

“She might wake up?” Daedalus knelt by the head of her bed, pressing his face on the mattress close to her. The tube kept them apart. With a fingertip, he brushed her cheek, staring at her face as silence strangled the room. Tyler had never seen the vampire so distraught. Breakable.

Sam lifted his head from between his hands, but didn’t look at Daedalus. “They’re keeping her asleep so she can be comfortable. That’s all the doctor will tell us. We’ve been waiting for you.” Tyler knew Sam blamed himself for Sugar’s injuries. He was her shadow during the day, her protector, his unofficial job in the pack. Her Sigma.

Brushing a matted curl from Sugar’s face, Daedalus rose to his feet and faced Tyler. “Eric told me Katrina’s old pack is responsible for this. What do you know?”

The question stabbed Tyler in the gut. He was just as much in the dark as everyone else. Worse, his so-called soulmate had never confided anything in him. He’d wanted to push her to tell him about her past, but they’d found her in such a terrible state that he feared she’d return to her shell again. What an idiot he’d been. “She’s mated to their alpha.”

The truth hurt more then he’d thought possible.

Resting a hand on his shoulder, Eric squeezed. “It couldn’t have been a true mating if she ran from him, Tyler.”

“Why didn’t either of you mention this possible threat?” A visible tick twitched on Daedulus’s cheek. Three werewolves should be able to contain one vampire if he lost it, but he wasn’t a run-of-the-mill bloodsucker. Nosferatu warriors could do some serious damage on a supernatural level.

“I didn’t know until today.” His voice cracked from the strain of not yelling as he faced off with the Nosferatu who could mash him into pudding if he wanted. “You’re not the only one who wants to find these bastards.” Rage erupted inside Tyler, almost tearing him to pieces.

God help those shifters when Tyler found them. He would tear out that alpha’s heart and swallow it whole. The wish surprised him. Daedalus, Eric, and Robert were the warriors. Tyler was…well, he was a real estate agent.

Eric pressed between them and drew Tyler away. “No death wishes tonight.” He whispered as they retreated from the pissed-off Nosferatu.

A gentle knock on the door broke off their conversation. The woman entering wore a white lab coat. “I’m Dr. Jotan. I’m taking care of Sugar. Which of you is Daedalus Pal Robi?” She glanced at each of them.

The vampire offered his hand.

To her credit, Dr. Jotan didn’t flinch at shaking it. She acted as if bald, incredibly pale vampires strolled through the hospital nightly.

Maybe they did? They were legal citizens. Who’s to say that some of the night staff couldn’t be undead?

“She’s been seriously injured. Whoever attacked her crushed her chest and broke several of her ribs, bruising her heart.” She led Daedalus to a chair and with a gentle hand guided him to sit. The vampire sank like an anchor. “Sugar’s lucky to have survived the trip to the hospital. At this point, with such a crushing trauma, nothing surgical can be done. We have to wait and see, support her lungs, and let the medicines work.”

“Will she live? That’s all I need to know.” Daedalus rubbed his chest where his heart didn’t beat.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry, and I’ll keep you updated with any changes.” She turned to leave.

“Wait. I have a question.” Tyler stepped forward. “Has anyone tested her–” He glanced at Daedalus then at the doctor. “I mean, was she bitten or scratched by the attacking shifters?”

The vampire’s eyes narrowed while the armrests he held squealed in protest.

“There are no signs of the lycanthrope virus in her system. She’s still human.” She rested her hand on Daedalus’s shoulder. “If Sugar has any family, they should be called to come to see her.”

All the warmth vanished from the room. Just the steady beep of the monitor made any noise.

Rubbing his temples didn’t relieve the growing ache in Tyler’s head. He wanted to hit something, tear things apart, and howl at the sky.

They were good people. They helped the weak, guarded the humans of Chicago from predators, and lived full lives. What happened to karma? Where were the fairy godmothers to make things right?

He glanced at Daedalus. The emotional explosion hadn’t happened.

The Nosferatu pulled his cell phone from his back pocket of his jeans. He scrolled through a screen. “I have a few calls to make.” With those words, he left.

From the blank expressions on Eric’s and Sam’s faces, Tyler wasn’t the only one surprised.

“Who the hell could he be calling?” Sam pushed off the chair and paced the room. “He should be staying by her side.”

Eric scrubbed his hands through his hair. He looked like he shared the same stylist as Albert Einstein. “Not everyone deals with things the same way. Maybe he’s calling another doctor?”

A phone rang and they all checked their cells. Eric had the call. He spoke quietly, then hung up. “Robert’s with Tony. Someone gave them an address to check out.”

Hope heralded through Tyler’s body like a wave of warm water. “Let’s go.” He crossed the room and heard Eric tell Sam to stay with Sugar.

“Where are you going?” Eric caught him at the elevator.

“I can’t stay here. I’m going with you.” The doors opened and they rode to the lobby.

Eric leaned against the wall, his head hung low and his shoulders bent. “There’s going to be fighting.”

“I know.” He couldn’t meet his gaze. The sting of the comment too sharp on his battered soul. Over the past two years, Eric had matured from super geek to ultra alpha. Tyler gazed down at his own slight frame. Nothing had changed. Why did Katrina want him?

“You haven’t trained much, Tyler. I don’t want to rescue the girls and lose you in the process. Let me, Robert, and Esther go.”

All those chances to learn to fight and he’d blown them off, always thinking that there’d be other options besides violence. Now, all he wanted to do was tear Chen’s head off with his bare hands. “I’m going. I’ll stay back, even in the car if you insist, but I need to be there.”

Eric shook his head and sighed. “All right, but you let us take the lead. And listen to what we tell you.”

“How do you stay so calm? I feel like I’m going to lose control any second.” Tyler stormed out of the elevator when it opened, and exited through the front entrance of the hospital. “Every second that passes, I can’t help but wonder what he’s doing to her. What if he’s hurting her or worse–”

“Enough.” Eric grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. “Don’t you think I’m wondering the same?”

Yanking his arm out of his alpha’s grasp, Tyler rounded on him. The ability to control his beast cracked and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men wouldn’t be able to stuff his beast back inside of him again.

Sensing the change about to take hold, Tyler scanned for a hiding spot. They stood in the open parking lot right in front of the hospital, with humans entering and leaving the building.

Eric dragged him kissing-close. “Easy, Tyler. Look at me, I’m your alpha.”

All he could manage was a nod.

“Don’t shift. Breathe. Deep and slow. In…and…out.” The calm words seeped into Tyler’s bones. His beast recognized Eric. His will was law. Only a true alpha could command his pack with his spirit. Humans couldn’t understand this power. The ingrained need to obey went marrow-deep.

Tyler released a shaky breath through clenched teeth and clutched at Eric. Sweat drenched his t-shirt.

“Good. Breathe again. We’ll find her. We’ll get her back.”

Taking another breath with stiff lungs, Tyler struggled with comforting his beast. It didn’t believe they would. He sobbed once–he didn’t believe either.

Eric gripped him harder, the intensity of his wrath barely contained in his body. “When we find those bastards, we’ll let our beasts out to feast.”

His alpha’s promise soothed Tyler’s turmoil more than the commands. The beast backed off and curled up to watch. Until today, it had been years since he’d lost it in public. He leaned his forehead on Eric’s.

“Get a room.” Someone shouted from a group of college boys strolling through the parking lot.

Tyler met the stranger’s gaze. “Jealous?” He raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t help it, habit took over, and he laughed even if it wasn’t heartfelt.

“Shit, Tyler.” Eric pushed him away. “Let’s go before I leave you here with Sam.”

They drove in Eric’s new white pick-up truck. Nothing more could be said about their misery, so they stayed quiet.

Tyler slouched in his seat, his knees bent against the dash. He stared outside at the dark city.

The GPS led them to a neighborhood close to Chinatown. All the old remodeled brick buildings were split into homes, industrial posh for the middle class. They passed the house slowly and parked farther down the street.

“I don’t see anyone around.” Tyler twisted in his seat to get a better view of the house. God, Katrina could be just a few buildings away as he sat here useless.

“Doesn’t mean anything.” Eric glanced at the parked cars on the streets. “I don’t see Robert or Esther.”

The skin on Tyler’s back crawled with thoughts of what could be going on inside, behind closed doors. He glared at his alpha. “Don’t tell me you’re going to make us wait for them.”

“Fuck.” Eric banged his hand against the steering wheel. “No.”

Tyler opened the passenger door to spring out, but was strangled by the collar of his t-shirt when yanked back inside.

Eric loomed over him. “Stay behind me. Don’t get killed, okay?”

“Got it.” He gave his alpha a friendly slap on the face. “I’ll follow and not trip you up.” Nothing was going to keep his scrawny ass from rescuing his mate.

Nodding, Eric released him and exited the truck. They traveled toward the house.

It felt like every home owner on the street peered at them through the curtains, the sparse street light casting deep shadows, hiding any number of enemies.

Tyler’s limbs trembled with contained energy. Zipping over his nerves, the impulse to fight became hard to resist. He called his beast to come closer to the surface so he could shift in an emergency. If things got physical, his beast would take over.

“Don’t just charge in,” Eric whispered.

“Why not?”

“What if we have the wrong address?”

“Oh.” That would be a one-way ticket to the pound. Shifter attacks had a zero tolerance with law enforcement. They’d get put down. “Crap. What do we do?”

Eric shrugged. “Knock.”

They climbed the stairs to the front door. The small lawn consisted of more weeds than grass, the lights were off, and Tyler couldn’t hear anything inside. Even with his shifter hearing. He glanced at Eric, who met his gaze and shrugged again.

Eric knocked on the door.

Tyler didn’t bother to wait. He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it with his shifter strength until the lock popped.

“What are you doing?” His alpha tried to shout and whisper at the same time.

“Breaking and entering, so keep it down.” He was wasting time, cooling his heels on the front step while Chen and his men could be escaping out the back door.

“What if this is the wrong house?”

Tyler stopped mid-step as he crossed the threshold. “Not thinking that far ahead right now, but I’m not hearing an alarm, so all’s good.”

A low growl rumbled in Eric’s chest.

Ignoring his alpha’s displeasure, Tyler entered the house. Nothing moved. Dark shrouded the first floor. He glanced around the corner and almost shifted on the spot when Eric grabbed his arm.

“Let me take the lead.” He shouldered past Tyler. “Watch our backs.”

Releasing his breath, Tyler followed farther into the house. The rooms were all empty. No furniture or pictures, not even a rug on the floors. He sniffed the air. Katrina had never been inside this building. As her mate, he could have picked up a trace amount of her scent. “Are you picking up any of Spice’s smell?”

“Nada.” Eric stopped whispering. “This place is a bust.”

“Doesn’t look like it’s been lived in for awhile. Why would they send us here?” His gut clenched with a little gasp.

“Run!” Eric barked, pushing him toward the door with all his might.

They raced for the entrance and tumbled down the stairs. Sprinting up the street as Esther’s car rounded the corner and drove toward them. They’d made it past two houses when a light flashed and a giant hand of kinetic energy swatted them. Flung off their feet, Eric landed in a roll, tumbling a few times. In contrast, Tyler crashed into Esther’s car, leaving an imprint of his face on her hood.

She slammed on her brakes and he slid off the cool metal to puddle in a tangle of limbs on the pavement.

Tyler lay on the street for a moment, his ears buzzing with a high-pitched tone. A cloud of dust particles washed over him. He blinked them from his eyes, unable to move his arms yet. “I’m not made for this kind of shit.” He felt the words in his throat but couldn’t hear them.

A few seconds later, sounds began to drift back in. Car alarms, people shouting, sirens–lots and lots of sirens–were drawing near fast.

Esther slipped beneath his arm and helped him stand. “We need to not be here.” She guided him to her vehicle.

“I’ll pay to fix that dent.” He pointed to her hood.

“Don’t worry about it.”

On the short journey to her car, Tyler spotted Robert assisting Eric. Flames reflected in Esther’s windshield. The house was on fire. “Damn, they tried to blow us up.”

Esther pushed on his head to make him duck, and shoved him in the back. Jumping in the driver’s seat, she waited for Robert to get in before putting the car in reverse. “We need to get out of here before the police cordon off a perimeter.”

“Shouldn’t be hard.” Robert texted someone on his phone while he talked. “Chicago PD can’t organize something that big, that quickly in the dead of night. They’ll need to call and get people out of bed and on the job.” He twisted in his seat and glared at them. “What the fuck happened?”

“The house went boom.” Tyler closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat. He listened to Eric explain their stupid reasoning for entering the quiet house. He’d almost gotten his alpha killed. Where would the pack be without Eric? From now on, he needed to think with his head, not his heart.

Eric sighed. “It was a trap. Whoever gave Tony the tip works for Chen. Send someone to find them. How are the other arrangements going?”

Tyler straightened in his chair. Arrangements?

“The airports, shipping yards, bus and train terminals are all being watched. We’re spread thin. Tony’s still working Chinatown with Aaron. I’m open for suggestions.”

Digging deep, Tyler ignored the ache in his chest. Where could he find out more about Katrina’s old pack? She rarely spoke of them. Her closest friends, Sugar and Spice, were both unavailable, and the Asian community just tried to kill them. Whenever Katrina seemed disturbed, she’d go talk with Sugar and sometimes him but… “I want to go home. I’ll need Tony to meet me there.”

“Why?” Eric and Robert echoed each other.

“He can read Mandarin, and Katrina keeps a diary.”

Chapter 5

Katrina shrank away from everyone in the room.

Trapped in Chen’s embrace, Spice struggled but couldn’t break free. He pinned her arms to her side as he hugged her from behind. His body pressed along her back in an intimate fashion.

The memories of being stuck in similar positions were summoned like a vengeful demon from a place Katrina had buried long ago. They scorched her mind, burning a hot trail of fear, degradation, torment, and hate…hot, sinful hate for Chen and his jackals.

Spice struggled in his arms, kicking and squirming. Not an ounce of submission in her demeanor. Weakened by silver, she couldn’t break free. However, she did swing her head back, connecting to Chen’s nose.

Blood sprayed and Chen released Spice as he wiped his face with a handkerchief. “I like feisty females.” He glanced at Katrina. “You should observe and learn. Maybe then you’d truly become my mate.” Tossing the soiled cloth to the floor, he cracked his knuckles while circling Spice.

She tried to keep him in her view, yet the chain tying her to the wall didn’t leave her much room to maneuver.

One of the guards moved forward, but Chen waved him away. “They’re just females. The boat won’t be here for another hour.” He removed his suit jacket and handed it to the guard, then loosened the top button of his shirt. “Only makes sense to take you here for the first time, on your own territory.”

“I’ll kill you before you can lay a hand on me.” Spice crouched low, widening her stance with her arms ready.

“I hope you try.” Chen mirrored her actions.

Panting, Katrina couldn’t find enough air to breathe. Her knees wobbled as the gates to her thoughts crashed. This was how it always began. The panic and the shutdown before she could hide in a mental cocoon of denial. She didn’t want to witness Spice’s rape, hear the cries or smell the terror. Her stomach rolled and she fell to her knees, vomiting the lunch she’d had with Tyler.

Tyler. Smiling, joking, happy male, she adored. Where was he? Did he search for her? He may hate her for betraying him, but he’d never leave her in Chen’s hands. No doubt in her mind about this. She watched as Chen rushed forward and caught Spice with supernatural speed.

Katrina couldn’t let this happen, not to her alpha, her family. Standing on legs made of noodles, she focused on her powerful prey.

Chen wrestled Spice to the floor, laying his body on top of hers while leaving his back exposed to Katrina. He’d never feared her, but she’d changed since living with Tyler. Her real mate loved her, supported her, and gave her claws.

Grabbing her chain, she raced to Chen and wrapped it around his neck, then snapped it with all her might.

He fell back, clutching at his throat and kicking his heels.

Spice didn’t waste any time. She crawled onto his chest and wound her arm back, punching him in the face over and over again before a guard shoved her off. The other pried the chain from Katrina’s hands.

With an ungraceful leap, Spice jumped the guard assisting Chen to his feet. They tumbled to the floor as her alpha scratched, bit, and kneed her way around the male. She was glued to him and it took the other guard to help pluck her off.

Battered and bruised, Chen grinned with a fat lip. “Nice.” He licked the trickle of blood from his nose. “Very nice.” Glancing at his watch, he sighed. “We’ll have to play more later.” He gestured to his disheveled men to leave them alone, and led the guards from the room. The door closed with a dull bang.

Spice and Katrina’s heavy panting filled the sudden silence. Clasping her alpha’s hand, Katrina closed her eyes. They’d stopped him, but for how long? Delicate chimes of keys clicking together rang in her ears. Her eyes sprang open.

Spice held a ring with five keys in her fingers and shook them again. “Did I ever tell you how good I am at picking pockets?” The sly grin on her face offered Katrina hope.

“No, but I am so happy you are.” Sitting on her knees, she took the keys as Spice knelt in front of her and held the collar still. Katrina’s hands shook. They were going to escape! The first key slipped from the hole and she had to try again.

The petite blonde laid a hand on her wrist. “Take it easy. You’ll get it.”

Freedom lay so close, she could sniff it. They’d flee this place and call the pack for help. She’d find Tyler and hound him until he forgave her. She’d prove her worth to him and never lie again, tell him all her secrets, and make him understand he truly was her mate. No other would ever do.

Inserting the key in the lock, she couldn’t turn it. Tears welled in her eyes. She tasted blood as she chewed on her bottom lip and tried the next one. The collar clicked when the key turned and Katrina exhaled the breath she’d been holding.

Spice ran to the door and turned the knob. “It doesn’t even have a lock.” She peeked out in the hallway. “All’s clear. No wonder they used fucking collars.” Returning to Katrina, she knelt on the floor. “Give me the keys.”

Handing them to her alpha, Katrina offered her throat so the collar could be easily accessed. Her pulse pounded in her ears.

Crouching close, Spice twisted and changed keys when it didn’t unlock. “How long before the silver wears off?” She tried another key, but it didn’t work.

“I don’t know. It all depends on the dose they gave us.” Sweat trickled down her back. Someone might check on them soon. “Hurry.”

Another key was discarded. “Fuck. I’m trying, Katrina.” She held out the keys. “Which one did you use?”

Sorting through the ring, she picked one. “I think this is it.” She cranked her neck back and gave Spice better access to the lock. Praying in her head to anyone who’d listen, she wanted out so badly.

“It’s turning.” Forcing the key, Spice pressed on her throat. “Shit, the key’s stuck.” Katrina had never heard fear in Spice’s voice until today. Tears streamed from her alpha’s eyes. “I bent the key. It won’t move.”

“Let me try.” She touched the cool metal with her fingertips around the key and lock. It was halfway and just needed a little more to go. She grabbed the end and twisted it. At first, nothing happened, then with a sharp crack the key broke. Katrina stared at the broken piece in her hand. Unable to find her voice, she glanced at Spice.

“Lean back.” She ordered. “Let me see if I can pry it out.”

“You need to run.” Katrina shoved her alpha toward the door. “Run now!”

“I can’t leave.” She wiped the sweat from her face. “We’re in this together. We’ll fight them off.”

“Foolish. Get help. Rescue me if I can’t get free.”

Spice’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t want to go.” She hugged Katrina tight. “I’m coming back for you,” she whispered. “Even if I have to invade China by myself.”

Katrina clung to her and fought to keep her courage. “Tell Tyler–” She had to clear her throat. “Tell him it’s okay to hate me, but I will always love him.”

Yanking away, Spice confronted her. “He would never hate you.”

“Please, go before they come back.” Before she lost nerve and begged her to stay.

A deep frown crossed her alpha’s face. She nodded and left.

Katrina sank to the floor. The cramps in her lower abdomen had worsened. Thank goodness Spice was a new shifter and had never smelled a female in Katrina’s condition. Her alpha would never have left her. Keeping secrets was her specialty. She grimaced. Chen would get the pure blooded heir he craved. She’d be in heat by morning.

Chapter 6

Their bedroom appeared emptier than this morning. Nothing was missing or moved, but knowing Katrina may never return left too many potential nightmares in Tyler’s mind. He couldn’t stay here without her. Every item in the room carried memories, which made her loss that much sharper.

He crossed to her side table and pulled the journal from the drawer. Sitting on the edge of their bed, the book weighed a thousand pounds. He flipped through the pages, spotting his name mixed within the Mandarin symbols. She had doodled a little heart next to it once. Her secrets were safe from him, since he couldn’t read any of it.

The leather bound notebook was a birthday present last year. Setting her thoughts on paper helped her deal with her past. She wrote in it on a regular basis, sitting on their bed with her knees bent, the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth.

Information in the journal could help rescue her. Reluctant, he offered Tony the link he had to his mate. “Skim through this. See if she gives any hints on where Chen would have taken her.” Disengaging his iron grip, he gave Tony the book.

The young shifter took it with greedy hands and sat on the floor, leaning his back against the wall. Tyler hated the way his hands flipped through the pages, jealous that he read Katrina’s private thoughts.

To keep from tearing the young shifter’s throat out, he left the room and paced the hallway.

Living with Sugar meant cramped quarters. Nine people in a brownstone, and only one of them human, should have stirred up more trouble than it had. Amazing they got along so well.

He and Katrina had chosen a basement bedroom when they’d moved in, because of the space. He recalled the day clearly.

“Angle it to the left more.” Tyler supported the mattress at the bottom of the staircase. It blocked his view of Katrina. The thing was so damn big. “It needs to get under that overhang.” How had he let her talk him into buying such a huge freaking bed? They were both rake thin, a double would have worked. But no. She wanted a king size.

Steering the bulk of springs and padding from the top, Katrina leaned it to the right.

“The other left, baby.” If they’d been humans, the weight would have been too much. However, as shifters, it didn’t strain them. Katrina’s steering, on the other hand, almost gave him a stroke.

“Okay, okay. I’m doing.” Katrina shoved the mattress to the left, in the process pinning his head to wall.

He grunted on impact.

Then with her unnatural strength, she thrust both it and Tyler through the bedroom door.

His feet couldn’t catch up to his body. Tyler hit the floor with a solid thunk. His teeth slammed together and he bit the tip of his tongue as the mattress smothered him. The surprise immobilized him more than the weight.

“Tyler?” Alarm drove Katrina’s voice to a higher pitch. Hurried footsteps down the stairs followed her cry, then the mattress was jostled off his body. His mate knelt by him. “I am so sorry. Are you all right?”

He nodded and grinned.

She giggled while helping him to sit. “I almost made you into a pancake.”

He loved it when she smiled and laughed. “Nothing sexier than a strong woman.” At less than a hundred pounds, her tiny body carried a lot of power.

A rosy blush bloomed across her cheeks. His chest swelled at the sight. After being together for a year, he could still fluster her.

Long, midnight hair fell over her shoulder, sweeping across his lap. He twirled a silken piece around his finger, reeling her closer until she straddled him.

Leaning forward, she gave him a tender kiss, a bare brush of her lips, soft and delicate, shy just like her.

Someone cleared their throat.

Katrina jumped from Tyler’s grasp.

Sam stood in the hall, a cardboard box in his arms. “Mind if I watch?”

Tyler stretched to the door and slammed it shut.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Sam called, then chuckled. His footsteps faded while he went toward his room further down the hall. They’d be sharing the basement with him and Daedalus.

Before the mood vanished, Tyler rolled Katrina onto the discarded mattress and crawled on top. “Let’s break in the bed.”

“There are no sheets.” She ran her hands over the cool padding.

“So what?” He nibbled at her earlobe, reveling in her response as she pressed her body against his.

“Tyler.” His name left her lips like a soft moan, causing his cock to swell. If Sam interrupted them again, he’d pound the larger werewolf into the next county.

He undid the buttons of her blouse. The tiny things kept slipping out of his eager fingers. “Could you have worn something more difficult to undo? Maybe a straight jacket?”

Laughter bubbled from her and she pulled the blouse over her head, exposing a lacy white bra. Her nipples puckered through the fabric as if teasing him. “Do not give me ideas.”

Bending, he took a tight bud in his mouth and rolled his tongue around it.

She arched her back, trusting his hands to support her.

He unlatched her bra and ran his hands under it, massaging her perky, palm sized breasts, so perfect and soft. He couldn’t remember life before Katrina and he didn’t want to.

A touch on his thigh burned through his jeans. She traced a finger along his groin, leaving a trail of heat and desire.

His cock strained against his zipper. He guided her hand to the bulge and left it there, letting her decide the next move.

After the abuse she’d taken from her old pack, it had taken him forever to gain her trust. He didn’t know the details of her past and wouldn’t ask. She’d talk to him when she was ready.

She unzipped his pants and slipped her hand inside, caressing him in smooth, firm strokes.

His balls ached. He wanted to tear her clothes off and thrust inside her until she begged him to stop. He could never do that. Not unless she asked. It was too closely related to her past.

“Undress me,” she whispered.

He groaned. How did she read his mind?

With a few easy moves, he removed all her clothes, doing his best to not tear anything. She deserved someone better than him. Someone bigger, stronger an alpha who could fight for her, but she got angry whenever he mentioned it.

He kissed and licked her silken skin. “I want you so bad.” She tasted of summer rain.

Turning onto her stomach, she knelt in front of him in her favorite traditional shifter position. She didn’t flinch at his touch and it meant so much to him. Sometimes action said so much more than words.

Running his hands over her smooth ass, he bent and slipped his tongue between the folds of her pussy. The taste of her arousal slid in his throat like a sweet gift. Her soft moans were an aphrodisiac setting him on fire.

He lapped at her wet desire. The ache between his legs grew more demanding, but she needed to be wetter, more ready, before he took her. He pulled his jeans down and stroked his hard cock, easing some of the discomfort.

Pressing back, she raised her hips and spread her thighs, giving him better access to her clit.

On his back, he moved further under her. Swirling his tongue around the bud, her moans grew higher in pitch before he slowed the pace, then repeated the process.

“Enough teasing, Tyler.”

Smug, he traced a fingertip over the sweat beads covering her back.

She shivered. Sliding down his body to face him, she grabbed the collar of his dirty t-shirt and tore it down the front, peeling him like a banana. Her eyes had gone wolf and the sharp edges of her nails caught the skin of his chest. They left scratches that welled with blood.

A hiss escaped his lips. It burned…yet felt so good.

Licking his wounds, Katrina pulled off the remaining shreds of his shirt. He could sense her beast just below the surface of her skin. Katrina’s beast liked him. However, she rarely surfaced during sex. They usually hunted together or ran with the pack. The beast part of his mate’s soul was still hurting from past abuse but her appearance gave him hope.

With her unnatural strength, she yanked his jeans the rest of the way off.

His cock popped free and she straddled his hips, positioning her wet pussy over him.

Not needing more of an invitation, he grabbed her ass and pushed into her tight hole. Sweet velvet muscles clenched his shaft. He remained still, letting his cock sink deeper. Then with steady thrusts, he fucked her from below.

Katrina flung her arms and head back, rocking to his rhythm with a low moan.

Guiding her hips, he pushed in and in and in. Sweat stung the wounds on his chest and mingled with his blood. He couldn’t pry his gaze from her. The unfettered passion drew him like a moth to flame.

With a growl, she grabbed his shoulders and dug her claws into his flesh.

The pain was so intense, his vision faded. It made his pleasure more focused, leaving him vulnerable. His beast jumped into the driver’s seat. With a snarl, it took control. He twisted and pinned Katrina to the bed.

She responded with a snapping bite to his neck, clenching him with her teeth and her pussy.

Caught in an overload of erotic sensation, Tyler almost shifted, but he regained control of his mind. Not missing a beat, he continued to pump his hard cock into her core.

She lifted her legs over his shoulders, allowing him to thrust deeper with carnal need.

Breathless whimpers spurred him on. A wave of warm liquid caressed his cock as Katrina climaxed. Her pussy clenched around him, making control impossible.

Her secret muscles milked him, stroked his over-sensitized rod, until his seed poured from him. They howled together.

Exhausted, he dropped next to her, panting–

“I never realized how different packs are organized in China.” Tony’s voice snapped Tyler back to the present.

“What?” He stepped back into his bedroom, memories of Katrina still clinging to his thoughts.

“The Asian packs are run like the military. They fight over territories all the time.” Tony flipped a few pages. “An attack on us would seem normal for them.”

Tyler rubbed his forehead. “Then they’re more organized to fight than we are.”

“Yeah, but according to Katrina, we have more numbers. She writes about how their births are dwindling. Something about keeping their bloodlines pure.”

“I don’t get it.” Tyler leaned forward. “The bloodlines thing. I know shifters can make babies, but their children are human. What does it matter?”

“I’m born from shifter parents.” Tony set the diary on his lap. “They told me my transition would be easier, less chance of dying from the infection.” He shrugged. “Most American shifters are made, not born, so the culture is different. It’s more of a survivor’s club here than a way of life.”

“Anything about Chen?”

“No, but I found something that might have spurred his search for Katrina.” Tony found a page and read. “I will be going into season soon. I do not know how to explain this to Tyler. We never discussed having pups.”

Tyler sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “Read it again.”

Tony obliged.

“I’m feeling a little dense here, Tony. Help me out.”

“She’ll be in heat soon. Fertile.” The young male rubbed his neck, unable to meet his gaze. “Female shifters ovulate differently than humans. Once every few years, from what my mother told me. And it’s a sure thing.” He cleared his throat. “If–if someone mates with her during her heat, she’ll definitely conceive.”

Holy crap. Tyler sprung to his feet and paced the small room.

“I take it this is a surprise?” Tony closed the diary and slowly rose from the ground.

“Fuck!” For hours, he’d been on edge. Worried and frightened about Katrina. But…but this made it worse. Chen wanted to breed with his pure blooded mate. Worse, she hadn’t found him worthy enough to confide in him about her season. He roared at the wall as if under attack.

Tony carefully left the room, never turning his back.

How come Chen knew and he didn’t? Not for the first time, he wished the Vasi had more knowledge about their species. The Asian packs had more experience and history as shifters than his pack. For all he knew, they could calculate their seasons to the day. He ran trembling fingers through his tangled curls. Chen must have been watching Katrina for awhile to know when to nab her, which meant she’d be in heat soon. Weak-kneed, he leaned against the wall. What would he do if they rescued her too late?

A door slammed shut, followed by racing footsteps into the house. “Who the fuck’re you?” Spice’s voice carried to the basement.

Tyler tensed and sprang to his feet, taking the steps two at a time to the front entrance.

Spice had Tony pinned to the wall by the throat. Bless her.

Tyler snatched her around the waist and hugged her. “You’re alive.” Then he grabbed her wrists as she continued to choke Tony. “He’s Vasi. Let him go.”

She squeezed harder. “He’s Chinese.”

Using all his strength, Tyler pried her fingers off Tony’s neck. “Where’s Katrina? Was she with you?”

“Katrina?” She stepped away, releasing her hold.

The Asian shifter slid to the floor, sucking in air.

“She’s still in a warehouse on the docks. Number forty-five. You have to hurry. Once they find I’m gone, they’ll–”

“How could you leave her behind?” His voice echoed within their home.

Spice swallowed and looked away from him. “I couldn’t get her free and time–time was short. She told me to go…and that she loves you.” Spice clutched his hand. “We can go. Now.”

A horn honked outside and she spun to face the door. “That’s my cab. Do you have any money?”

Tony offered his wallet from his seat on the floor. “As my alpha commands.” He rubbed his neck, his voice raw.

She pushed it back at him. “Go pay.”

He left without another word.

Tyler pulled out his cell phone and dialed Eric. When he answered, Tyler didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Spice is here.”

“Wha–is she alright? Let me speak to her. Never mind, I’m on my way.” Eric spoke so quickly Tyler had trouble understanding him.

“Wait!” Tyler cried. “This will be the first place they’ll search if they want her back. I’ll send her to the hospital.”

“I want you and Katrina to come with her.”

Tyler licked his lips. “Chen still has Katrina, but Spice knows where.”

The silence on the other end of the phone lasted a moment. “Don’t go after her alone. Bring Spice and we’ll go with the pack.”

Tyler glanced at Tony as he walked back into the brownstone. “Yeah, sure. She’ll be there soon.”

“Tyler, promise me–”

Hanging up on his alpha and shutting off his phone, Tyler pointed to Tony. “Eric wants you to drive Spice to the hospital.”

“Hospital? I’m not that hurt.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Tell me about the warehouse.” Tyler touched her elbow and drew her aside. He needed her to tell him everything. If she clammed up and insisted on seeing Eric first, his rescue plan would fail. And if he told her about Sugar…she might not be able to speak at all.

“It’s mostly empty. There weren’t many guards because they drugged us with silver so we couldn’t–can’t shift. They chained us to the wall like fucking dogs.” She clenched her fists.

He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but he would be lying and she’d know it. No comfort there.

“I got the keys from a guard. When Katrina tried to unlock her collar the key br–broke. I didn’t want to leave her.” A tear spilled down her cheek. “The three of us should go now. We can take ’em.”

“No. Tony needs to take you to the hospital.”

Spice stepped into his personal space, jabbing her finger into his chest. A full foot shorter than him, she managed to loom. “Screw that. I promised her I’d be back. I’m not let–”

“Sugar’s hurt.”

She stepped away, her hands fluttering over her chest. “What?” She spoke in a small voice. “How bad?”

“She’s in the intensive care.” He gently pushed her to Tony’s waiting arms. “Go.”

“Is she dying?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“What?” Spice glanced at Tony, then back at him. She broke from the young shifter’s arms and grabbed Tyler by the collar, pulling him close enough to smell her breath. “Bring Katrina home.”

He kissed Spice on the forehead. “I’m not coming back without her.”

Chapter 7

Lying on the cold, hard floor, Katrina listened: distant rings of a buoy, irregular rhythm, dull and metallic…a vehicle outside creeping by the building, crunching gravel, heavy…cumbersome footsteps, slow, hard.

Moist scents of mold and dead fish filled Katrina’s nose. She kept her eyes shut tight. Hiding in the dark interior of her mind–forever, quiet, alone–eased her pain.

She could breathe, but the collar choked her freedom. Silver-tainted blood poisoned her beast and stole its presence. The empty room echoed her soul.

Running from Chen had broken an ancient treaty between her birth pack and his. Who knew what retribution Chen rained down on her parent’s people?

She’d accepted the help of the Omegas when she arrived in Chicago–in Chinatown. They’d been too small a pack to catch notice. After they grew, she should have left. Power drew Chen’s attention, and so did she. It was only a matter of time before he found her. But she’d been swept away by love.

Tyler wouldn’t ever take her back. She deserved no less for her betrayals. No hole existed that was deep enough for her to crawl into and disappear.

The door creaked open and someone entered. Quick steps approached her prone body. She didn’t have the will to even look. The sound of Spice’s empty collar clattered to the floor.

A heavy hand shook her. “Where did the bitch go?” The guard spoke in Mandarin.

Katrina fluttered her eyes open and gave him a secret smile. “She grew wings and flew away.”

He shoved her and ran from the room, fear clinging to his scent.

She laughed and savored the smell. Rising from the floor, Katrina stood in front of the door. Nothing she did would placate Chen, so she’d do her best to meet him as a Vasi werewolf.

Courage ran thin in her blood. Without her beast, without her mate, Katrina was a shadow. But people feared the dark. Somehow, she’d figure out how to instill that fear in Chen when he gazed upon her. One day…

Marching through the open door, Chen confronted her. Shades of anger darkened his complexion. “How did she escape?”

She seized her silence like a shield.

His guard showed Chen the collar. “It’s not broken. It’s been unlocked.”

Chen’s gaze fell upon Katrina’s choker. An evil grin transformed his angry snarl. He approached her.

Stiffening her spine, she stared over his shoulder at the blank, dirty wall. The strap of her torn dress slipped off her shoulder. She struggled with the urge to pull it back up, but that would only draw his attention.

He fingered the lock on her collar and laughed. “The key broke inside.” He trailed his finger from her collar, to her bare shoulder, then down her arm. “She abandoned you.” Chen glanced at his guards. “Spice will return to her home. Send someone to retrieve her. Kill anyone who interferes.”

“Leave them be.” She met his gaze and swallowed around a lump in her throat. “They didn’t steal me. I ran from you.” She stepped toward him, but the chain yanked her back and the collar bit into her skin.

“They sheltered you.” Chen’s glare burned. “You let them touch you.” Disgust dripped in his words. “You’re full of their mongrel stink.” With a full swing, he back-handed her cheek. The hard impact crushed her flesh against her teeth and her bottom lip went numb as it swelled.

Stumbling, Katrina stayed on her feet even though the room threatened to tilt on its side.

“You’re lucky you’re fertile, or I’d have given you to my armies instead.” He slapped her again.

The taste of salty blood trickled onto her tongue. She bent over and let it dribble to the floor in a small puddle. Her face throbbed in time with the drips.

She peered at him through her hair dangling in front of her face. “I will be in season soon. I can sense the changes in my body.”

“Don’t you think I know? Why else would I bother with you?”

“Leave the Vasi alone and I will be compliant. I will not fight a mating.” She straightened and faced him.

“But where’s the fun?” Grasping her shoulders, he pressed against her and licked the blood from her lips.

Nausea curled in a tight ball in her stomach. She struggled in his grasp, but couldn’t get away from his groping mouth. The same kind of abusive kiss she’d endured in the past, the same lips and hands… She couldn’t take it. No more. She bit him.

Chen howled, shoving her from his arms.

His lip slid from between her clenched teeth as he tugged it free.

Pressing his hand to his mouth, he glanced at his guard. “Have you collected the other females?”

Sharp fear squeezed her chest. “What are you doing?”

“Ensuring my bloodline continues. If you fail to produce a male heir, I’m sure one of them will. Your pedigree is more desirable, but the others come from a good, if common stock.” His grin grew wider. “You’ve grown bold since running to America.” With a hard grip, he yanked her hair, bending her head back. “I like it.”

“Set them free. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“You’re in no position to bargain.”

* * *

The Indiana Harbor Canal connected Lake Michigan to East Chicago. Lined with industrial warehouse after warehouse, it would have been impossible for Tyler to find Katrina without the address. Looming overhead, the half moon shone behind the steel mill, casting a concealing shadow where he parked his car.

With the collar of his jacket pulled up around his ears, Tyler crossed the street toward warehouse forty-five. Two huge commercial ships were docked in the canal, but only the farthest had any activity. A crane stacked cargo units onto the deck. Didn’t the docks ever sleep?

Scents of the lake masked everything. He rubbed his nose. It would be hard to track Katrina. At least, other shifters wouldn’t smell him.

He walked around the warehouse looking for an unlocked door or window. His heart pounded an urgent beat. Gotta hurry, gotta hurry. Chen could be beating her right at this moment–No, he couldn’t think about it. He trailed his hand on the cool metal siding. She might be hungry, cold, naked–Stop! If he kept this up, he’d lose his mind and storm inside like a testosterone pumped idiot.

Be smart. They’d beat the snot out of him if he got caught. He hadn’t any delusions of grandeur, he never trained as a warrior. Neither could he sit around and wait for Eric and Daedalus, though. He didn’t have much in the muscle department, but he did have brains. Most of the time.

Katrina needed him. As her mate, her safety was his responsibility and he’d failed. Kicking down a door like his beast wanted wouldn’t save her. He needed to sneak her out.

He turned the corner of the warehouse and something in the dark growled at him. Doing his best impression of a statue, Tyler searched for the source with his eyes.

Out of the gloom stepped a huge-ass Rottweiler.

Tyler let out the breath he’d been holding. With shifters on the brain, he’d thought for sure it was Chen.

The dog growled louder, baring his teeth when it stepped toward him. He couldn’t see any collar through its dirty fur.

His beast stirred, ready for a fight. The last thing Katrina needed was for him to waste time shifting to eat a fucking dog. He glanced at the building.

A small window on the second floor appeared open enough for him to squeeze through. Sometimes being stick-thin had advantages. Wooden pallets were stacked against the wall. The idea brewing in his head would hurt like hell. But he didn’t have any options.

He charged the pile, the dog chasing after him, and sprang on top of the pallets. They wobbled when he landed and he wind-milled his arms to catch his balance. With his fingertips, he grabbed the roof’s edge.

Catching his breath, he assessed the path he’d have to take to get to the window. If the stack had been ten feet to the left, he would have been able to climb inside.

The dog barked and ran around the pallets, attempting to snap at him. Someone would eventually come to investigate the racket, even to just make the dog shut up.

Swinging like an uncoordinated monkey from the roof’s eaves, Tyler shimmied inch by inch over to the window. By swaying back and forth, he built enough momentum to hook a leg over the sill. He shifted his hands and made sure his long leg would guide his fall. Please, let this work. Then he let go. In free fall for a brief second, his balls tightened for impact. Good-bye future children. With a wheeze, he landed straddling the sill, and then slid to the floor inside the warehouse while he clutched his family jewels.

Tears blurred his eyelashes as he blinked them away. The pain eased enough to let him breathe. Had he made too much noise? The dog’s bark probably masked it. Hesitant, he got to his feet. When his balls didn’t fall off from the abuse, he tiptoed out of the empty room onto a catwalk that ran along the length of the building. It overlooked the large central storage area containing some wooden crates.

Quickly, he crouched and crawled to the stairs, descending before someone spotted him. The hummingbird beat of his pulse made him light headed, and anxiety gripped his lungs in an iron fist.

At the bottom, he pressed against the wall and listened.

Nothing.

Not a voice or steps. A scent lingered in the air. Weak, the smell could belong to any shifter. Tough to track.

Quiet as a phantom, Tyler crept deeper into the warehouse. Offices lined the wall, most were empty. Entering the last one, the air left his lungs.

Her scent filled the room.

But no Katrina.

She was gone.

Wavering hope destroyed, he stared at the empty, cold room. So close. He hung his head. They’d kept the most precious person in the world prisoner here. She must have been frightened, especially after Spice escaped, leaving her alone.

Something reflected the light on the floor. Liquid…He knelt by the small puddle and dipped his finger. Cool and smooth, it coated his skin. He rubbed it and sniffed. His bones turned to ice.

Blood.

Tyler eased down onto his stomach as he imagined Katrina lying there hurt, imagined her feeling abandoned and alone.

The puddle blurred.

Swiping his palm over his face, he removed the wetness. His beast howled for revenge and he’d get it. Standing on feet made of lead, Tyler wiped the blood onto his jeans.

Fury crawled around his gut on all fours until he was panting from the intense loss clawing at his heart. The blood confirmed his fears. Until then, her injury had only been a possibility.

The door hinge creaked behind him and he tensed. His beast jumped to the forefront of his mind. He spun around in time to catch a tackle to his chest.

Ceiling rolled overhead, then the floor skidded across his back, burning through his t-shirt. Something heavy rode his chest. He focused on it and recognized one of Chen’s guards, the one who’d carried Katrina away in Chinatown.

Wimp versus warrior–he didn’t need to be a genius to guess the end results.

Tyler used the force of his backward slide and turned it into reverse somersault. His assailant lost his grip. Not wasting any time, Tyler did what any skinny dude could do well.

Run.

He wouldn’t be of any use to Katrina dead.

The Asian werewolf followed, but hadn’t bothered to shift yet.

Tyler could almost sense the out-stretched hand reaching for him as he neared the exit. Not bothering to slow down, he smashed into the door while he turned the knob, sending it crashing open.

A surprised yelp from a familiar angry Rottweiler greeted him.

After a split second of what-the-fucking, Tyler took off, running to the right and followed the water’s edge.

The dog joined in the chase, barking.

Short of breath, Tyler glanced over his shoulder at the parade of kick-my-ass following him.

The Asian shifter had caught up to the Rotie, who growled and snapped. Drool hung like a rope from its flapping lips.

Without a skip, the guard growled and snapped back.

Snarling, the dog twisted into the shifter’s path, tripping them both into a tangle of limbs and teeth.

Leaping into a full out sprint, Tyler didn’t bother looking back as the sounds of conflict grew louder in pitch behind him. He’d escaped. A miracle.

Chapter 8

Tyler’s pulse pounded in his ears and made it difficult to hear. The fight between shifter and stray dog faded the further he sprinted.

Darkness blanketed the docks and made searching for another ambush tricky, which meant it also would make finding him difficult. Using the night, Tyler found a corner to hide in. Hands on knees, he fought to catch his breath.

He glanced around the edge of the building, trying to keep hidden. The Rottweiler limped back toward the warehouse and his attacker lay unmoving on the ground.

What the hell was he doing? Eric and Daedalus better arrive soon before they needed to add his funeral to their to-do list. He surveyed the shipyard. Katrina could be anywhere. Hope took a gondola ride down to his gut. He stared at the midnight water, waiting for inspiration. They’d brought her here for a reason. People didn’t come to the docks for kicks.

He needed the pack’s help, but they were spread thin across the city. How long before Eric could gather them?

His gaze wandered to the crane. It had stopped loading cargo containers on the farthest ship while he’d been in the warehouse. Kind of odd. The dock was empty of any activity. No trucks or dock hands moving around.

A memorable high pitched squeal set his teeth on edge, then faded. Tony’s van had made that kind of noise when he’d rescued him from Chinatown, something about a fan belt slipping. Sticking to the shadows, Tyler moved toward the sound. He scurried across open ground to the still crane, edging around to the other side, where he found Tony’s white van parked by the ship. Tyler stopped so fast he had to grab the crane for balance. He blinked a few times and closed his mouth. Where was the pack? His alpha and the vampire?

Tony got out of the driver’s side. The thin Asian shifter kept glancing over his shoulder as he made his way to the rear of the vehicle.

Leaning forward, Tyler couldn’t calm his racing heart. Exposed in the open, his pack mate could be attacked at any moment. Why would Tony come here without Eric and Daedalus? No other car followed him. Maybe they’d gotten lost?

About to step out of his hiding spot, Tyler watched as Tony opened the van’s back doors and carried out a struggling, tied-up Spice.

Time stopped. Betrayal bit into Tyler. Tony had been helping Chen?

Rescuing Tyler in Chinatown, helping read Katrina’s diary, and taking Spice to the hospital was all a hoax?

The tip about the empty house, which exploded, had come from him. God, they were so naive. But Tony smelled Vasi. He’d been at pack meetings. Could Chen have been planning this invasion for that long?

Tyler shook his head to snap out of it. No wonder Chen always kept a step ahead of them. He’d known where they lived, who Eric’s mate was, and moved Katrina from the warehouse before Tyler arrived there.

Taking a deep breath, Tyler strode to the van, behind Tony, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, dude.”

Tony jumped as if the grim reaper had just struck him. He dropped Spice to the ground in a heap.

She snarled around a gag stuffed in her mouth and tore at her restraints. Her eyes bulged as she gazed from him to Tony.

“Tyler!” The traitor spun around, sweat beading on his forehead. “W–what are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d be dead by now, packmate?” He spat out the last word and shoved the young shifter against the van. No one had ever tried to murder him before. “What are you doing, Tony?” He couldn’t shake off his disbelief.

Straightening, Tony met his glare. “I’m making a trade. Spice and Katrina are the payment.”

“What?”

“You’ve no idea what’s it like to be a shifter in another country. Hunted and feared. You’re spoiled with pack meetings and pretending to be human. Day jobs, cars, houses, credit cards, movies, restaurants…” Tony stopped and caught his breath. A tear streaked along his cheek. “My sisters were kidnapped by Chen’s pack a few weeks ago. They’ve forced me to help them or they’ll take my little sisters to China for breeding.” He swallowed, determination squaring his jaw. “I can’t let you have her.” He gestured to Spice behind him.

“You should have come to Eric. He would have helped.” Tyler glanced at the bruises on Spice’s face and didn’t think his alpha would be so generous now.

“Screw that, he’d start spouting off on the accords again. You think Chen cares about old laws?” Tony shook his head. “When he offered my sisters for Spice and Katrina…my parents…this is the only way.”

“You think Chen will keep his word?” He wanted to shake the younger idiot.

“I’m not stupid. My sisters are on that ship. I’ve seen them.” He took a shaky breath. “Leave, Tyler. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ll yell for help if I have to.”

“Don’t want to hurt me? You set me up.” Clenching his fists, Tyler glared at Tony. He wanted to pound his head in. He wanted to break his bones. He wanted…Katrina back.

“Set up? I didn’t–I mean, I told them you were coming…” His voice faded. “Oh.”

“A shifter was waiting for me at the warehouse, wanting to separate my head from my shoulders.”

Tony’s eyes grew wide. “I didn’t know.”

Spice rose behind him.

“I wouldn’t–” Tony shook his head.

The surprise must have shown on Tyler’s face, because the traitor wheeled around just in time for Spice to sucker punch him.

Knees wobbling, Tony flopped to the ground, out cold.

“Were you trying to talk him to death, Tyler?” She rubbed her fist. “Fuck, that hurt.”

“How did you–”

She lifted her left hand. Sharp, long claws had grown from her nail beds. “Robert’s been teaching me that trick of his. I can only grow the nails on this hand, though.” The sawed ropes lay in a tangle at her feet. “Help me carry him.” She took Tony’s legs as Tyler grabbed his shoulders. They placed him in the back of the van.

Spice shut the doors and locked them. “What now?” She glanced around.

He blinked. His alpha didn’t have a plan? Shit, that meant he was still making it up as he went. “Well, we’ll deal with Tony later.” He gazed at the dark ship. “I’m assuming Katrina’s on there.” No plan, no back up, and no skill, this was the worst rescue ever. “I had hoped Eric and Daedalus would be here by now.” He scratched his chin. “They don’t even know where we are.” Pulling out his cellphone, he turned it on. “Take the van and my phone. Get out of here and call them.”

“I’m not leaving you. I’m not doing this again.” She planted her hands on her hips.

“If they get you, Spice, they’ll have a bigger bargaining chip than just Katrina. They’ll have Eric by the balls.” He rested his hands on her shoulders and bent to make eye contact with her.

She opened her mouth, determination clearly in her thoughts, then it faded. “Shit on a stick, I hate this.” She shrugged out of his hold and hurried to the driver’s side door. “Come on, you’re coming with me. We’ll need to hurry. The ship might leave.”

“I know. That’s why I have to stay.”

Skidding to a stop, she spun on her heels. “Tyler.” A play of emotions warred on her face: concern, anger, confusion, until she frowned. “Get her.” She jumped into the van and a second later, the engine roared to life.

He couldn’t watch her leave. Instead, he sprinted to the side of the freighter, where a steel ladder was welded. Climbing, he kept praying nobody would see him. He jumped the side rail and hid between some of the cargo containers.

Short of breath, he sounded like a heavy breather crank call on a THX sound system. The cool metal stung his hot flesh. Deep down inside, he couldn’t blame Tony, but wished the idiot had come to them first. In a similar situation, Tyler might have done the same.

Tony’s sisters were on the ship with Katrina. That meant he had three females to rescue. He sighed. Shit, what next?

Katrina could be anywhere on this huge boat. He closed his eyes and inhaled through both his mouth and nose. Tasting the air, he started his search.

If he found her and they escaped, what would keep Chen from taking her back?

This could start a war. The casualties marched through his imagination. Humans would be caught in the crossfire. Shifter relations in Chicago would spiral back to the dark ages. The peace they’d fought to win and keep would vanish.

He came across a rope winch and ran his hand over the cool machine. The Rube Goldberg machine he’d won the contest with contained simple string strategies. There wasn’t much difference between string and rope. What if he took Chen out of the equation for good?

* * *

The cracks in the ceiling paint created an intrinsic pattern. Katrina followed the lines with her sight, trying to find a way out of the maze. Her eyes were the only thing on her body that didn’t hurt.

Chen hadn’t held back on the hits once she’d defied him.

She shuddered, then hissed at the sharp pain in her chest. Each deep breath stung. Her ribs were probably cracked. She couldn’t even shift to heal her injuries. It would take her at least a day to recover.

The pain distracted her from the growing need between her thighs, though. Thank goodness, for little miracles. But how long before her heat took control over her body?

They’d laid her on a bed inside a cabin on a cargo ship destined for China. She suspected the room was more for Chen’s future comfort than for her injuries. If only the ground would swallow her whole before he returned.

They’d left the collar around her neck without the chain, a reminder of her status as a dog, and locked her room door. She squeezed her eyes shut. All her tears had been shed. They didn’t do her any good.

The freighter would set sail soon, and all those who’d helped her wouldn’t be bothered anymore. She would return to China. A thousand terrible possibilities loomed in her future.

How pathetic that she couldn’t break out. Without her beast, she wasn’t any better than a human. Every time she reached for her animal self, she found nothing. She’d never been so alone. How did humans cope?

The doorknob twisted and rattled slightly. Someone snuffled on the other side.

Moving slowly, she sat on the edge of the bed, not wanting to appear weak when Chen entered. She swallowed the pain and tried to take strength from it. No more groveling. She was Vasi now. The old Katrina had died when she ran from Chen.

“Katrina?” A familiar voice whispered.

Her spine snapped straight. All her pain vanished while her heart did a pirouette into the sky. “Tyler?”

Chapter 9

Tyler leaned against the door at the sound of Katrina’s voice, as if he could pass through the metal. He had found her. Lightheaded, he took a deep breath. The lock didn’t appear heavy duty, just a simple thing to keep humans out. The muscles in his back and arm contracted while he applied pressure to the knob. If he broke it, the lock would go too.

It took all his willpower not to bust down the door, but noise would attract attention. Concentrating supernatural strength in his hand finally snapped the knob. Its shattered pieces tumbled into his palms.

He shoved the door open.

Katrina stood on shaky legs. The most radiant smile spread across her face like moonbeams and night skies.

In three strides, he gathered her in his arms and squeezed tight. Nothing short of a crowbar would pry his arms from her.

Or her flinching at his touch.

He let go right away. She hadn’t reacted to him this way since they’d first met. Stepping away, he scanned her from head to toe. Torn dress, bruised face and limbs, her bottom lip swollen with a split. That bastard! She splinted her side as she moved toward him as if it hurt to walk.

“No.” The denial grated in his throat with contained rage. His pulse pounded behind his eyes. Had she already gone into heat? Was he too late?

Chen. Would. Die.

He’d tear that alpha’s heart out and eat it. Never had he wished harm on anyone until tonight.

Tears sparkled on Katrina’s eyelashes. “It’s not what you think. He only beat me.” She reached for him.

“Only?” He could barely speak. This time he gathered her in his arms gently. “I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you’re not.” She gazed into his eyes as she rested her head on his chest. “You will take me home. Let the warriors fight. I can’t lose you.” She sobbed once. “I’m so sorry.”

He gave her a chaste kiss. “We need to go.”

“Wait.” She whispered. “There’s something you need to know. I will be in my season soon. Very soon.”

“I know.”

Her shocked, confused expression was priceless.

“I had someone translate your diary.” He met her stare without shame. He’d have done it again if it meant saving her.

“The whole thing?” A deep blush crept up her cheeks then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Chen’s gathered other females. He’s going to do terrible things to them. We have to help.”

“First, I get you off the ship. Then I’ll come back with help.”

“I have to stay.”

“Katrina–”

She placed a finger over his lips. “It is non-negotiable. I won’t be separated from you.”

They could argue about this all night, but it wouldn’t get her home faster. “Fine. At any sign of trouble, you shift and run.” He turned toward the door.

“I can’t shift.”

“Shit, Spice told me. I forgot.” He’d have to stay in human form so she could keep up. “How long before it wears off?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fuck.” With a gentle hand, he guided her to the door. His acute sense of smell had led him to Katrina. She was his mate. He could recognize a trace of her scent, but strangers were a different thing. The ship was full of shifters.

They left the sleeping quarters and followed the stairs back to the deck where he’d set his trap by the rope winch. How would he lure Chen here?

They followed close along the cargo crates stacked on the deck three boxes high. Guards on the control deck came out to scan the dock once in awhile. However, they did it half-heartedly. Maybe they didn’t think the Vasi would retaliate? Or that Eric had died in the explosion? The reasons didn’t matter. It meant they could search the ship if very careful.

At the winch, he pointed to the rope, which traveled up to the top of the three-crate-high cargo stack. “By triggering this switch, it will pull those containers down on whoever is standing next to them.” He prayed it would work. Rube Goldberg machines were his hobby, but he’d never built one on this scale. Without testing it, anything could happen.

Faint voices got closer. Tyler backtracked, pulling Katrina along, until they reached a gap between cargo containers. They were both thin enough to squeeze into the tight space.

He pushed Katrina in first, then sniffed the air. They’d be downwind from the voices, so there was a good chance their scents would get mixed in with everyone else’s.

Pressed close together, Katrina’s small fingers entwined with his. He’d gotten her back! Another wave of relief washed over him. He leaned his forehead against the hard metal and listened as the guards drew closer.

They chatted in what must be Mandarin.

He sensed Katrina stiffen next to him. Glancing in his direction, her wide eyes danced with his.

The guards passed, too busy chatting to notice them.

Tyler made Katrina wait before letting her speak.

She whispered, “Those guards just placed two girls in an empty cargo container. They’re waiting to trade them or something?”

“They want to swap them for Spice.” Those girls must be Tony’s sisters. Since they were waiting on the unconscious shifter, that meant the ship wouldn’t be taking off anytime soon. “First, we need to take care of Chen. Once he’s out, we’ll have a better chance of setting the girls free.” The pack should be here by then.

“There are hundreds of boxes on this ship. We need to track where the guards have been before their scent fades.”

He wanted to slam his head against the metal container. “If I wanted to live dangerously, I’d cancel Daedalus’s NFL TV subscription.”

A grin bloomed on Katrina’s face, then she kissed his cheek. “I missed you.”

“The winch I showed you. If we get a chance to bait Chen there, we should take it. Prisoners or not, okay?” They didn’t have a chance in hell of getting off this boat alive.

She nodded.

He stroked her cheek. At least she knew he’d risk everything for her. “Let’s go.” They crept out from their hiding space and Tyler bent close to the ground, sniffing. The guards’ scent remained strong.

They followed the trail away from where Tyler had climbed onto the ship. This was a terrible idea. With Katrina unable to shift, everyone relied on him to defend them, a huge, massive, terrible, terrible idea.

He detected a trace of sour anxiety in the air. Sweat and fear grew stronger as they traveled along the length of the deck. Each cargo container stood well over six feet tall and at least eight feet wide. They could easily hold people.

The barbarians couldn’t even house the girls in a room.

* * *

Ignoring the pain with each breath, Katrina followed Tyler until he stopped at a container on deck level. Her stomach clenched and sweat beaded her skin even in the cool night air.

“The scent is strongest here.” He gestured to the sealed doors.

They’d found them. Knocking lightly, she spoke in Mandarin for someone to knock back. Her fear seemed amplified by the small amount of noise she’d made.

Multiple loud bangs answered her. She met Tyler’s concerned gaze. Someone had to have heard that.

Her mate took the padlock with both hands and braced his foot against the door. The muscles along his sturdy shoulders bunched and he twisted the lock back and forth until it broke. He was so much stronger than he thought.

Katrina lifted the handle and unlatched the closing mechanism. The metal door swung open on oiled hinges.

Two young Asian women swarmed out and into her arms. Their tear-stained faces said more than any words could. They complained about not being able to shift.

She didn’t have time to explain. They needed to get off the ship. Now. She faced Tyler. “Show us the way off.”

Tyler scooped her into his arms.

The pain blinded her. “What are you doing?” Her mouth could barely articulate through her clenched teeth.

“We need to hurry and you’re too hurt to run.”

She rested her head on his shoulder and focused on his face, ignoring the jarring hurt as he raced along the deck. The girls followed close behind. They looked so much alike, they had to be related.

Stopping by the rail, Tyler pointed over the side. “You speak English?”

“Yes.” The girls both answered.

“Climb down this ladder. When you get to the docks, stay together and run for the shadows by those warehouses. Hide until we or someone from the Vasi come get you.”

Tyler set her down. “Lead them. I’ll guard your backs.”

She shook her head. “I am not leaving you. They go first.” She leaned against his chest and watched the girls climb over the rail.

“Your turn.” Tyler guided her.

Someone behind them coughed.

Chapter 10

Tyler shoved her behind him while he spun to face the cougher. “Go, Katrina.”

She stumbled against the rail and grimaced at the jolt. The pain faded as she laid eyes on Chen.

He stood in human form, his hands clasped in front of him, leaning a little to the left. The evil of his presence sucked what energy she had left.

A massive beast dropped in front of them from the three-story container stack above them, landing next to Chen. Her heart jumped in her throat and choked her scream. She glanced at Tyler’s back, his presence steady and secure. He’d never desert her.

Chen waited until her gaze met his. “You can’t run.”

Her eyes went wide and she held onto the rail with a death grip.

He laughed.

They’d been caught. Now what? Slavery for her and death for Tyler.

Without warning her, Tyler shifted with painful speed. His clothes tore at the seams, exploding from his body, and fluttered to the deck. As the last of his bones snapped into place, his red furred beast stepped between her and Chen.

She stroked her hand over his back and stayed by his side. The ladder was just below her, she only needed to swing her legs over the rail, but she couldn’t abandon him. If he fought, so would she. They’d been separated only a day, but it had been an eternity in her mind.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his wolf eyes a brilliant green in the moonlight. It could be the last time they’d be together.

She pulled his face close, resting her forehead on his for a brief second.

A roar echoed over the dock and Tyler fell away from her grasp.

The guard had tackled him and they were airborne.

A dull gong rung in the air as Tyler’s head impacted the deck.

Katrina cringed. Reaching for her beast by instinct, she found nothing responded to her call. Useless. She wouldn’t go down without a fight. She turned her back on Tyler and faced her personal nightmare.

Chen’s dark stare never left hers while he changed to beast form. He shifted quick and easy. The midnight fur of his wolf was sleek and smooth, but his gaze held sharp edges.

Her chest seized as her body froze in place. She understood how prey felt. Flicking her gaze toward Tyler, she watched the guard pin her love to the deck.

Passing her, Chen approached her mate and aimed his claws for Tyler’s chest.

A scream tore from her throat. It seared her soul. She couldn’t let them hurt him. It was all her fault. She should be the one to suffer.

The shifters all turned toward her.

She pointed at Chen. “You’ll never have me.” Spinning around, she ran like the devil chased her. In way, he did. Pounding the deck in her bare feet, Katrina raced back to the narrow space she and Tyler had hidden in. The hot breath of Chen’s beast brushed her shoulders. She dived.

Pain shot through her chest. Cracked ribs protested and she couldn’t take in air. Sliding across the wet deck on her stomach, she watched Chen fly over her head and slam into the cargo. She rolled and scrambled until she spotted the hiding space. Her gaze traveled down the deck.

The winch.

Her stomach clenched. Could she make it before Chen caught her? Without another second of hesitation, Katrina passed her original destination and sprinted for the rope winch instead. Each breath caused a sharp stab in her chest. On weak knees, she leaned against the machine and twisted her head.

Chen was not far away.

She fumbled the switch on and it whined in protest. The rope went taut, the cargo containers above groaned, then metal squealed on metal before the top steel container dropped to the deck.

Katrina bounced with the impact. She fell to her knees, staring as the huge metal box balance on its side. It stood like a tower where Chen had been a second before. With a metallic creak, the cargo container toppled over the edge of the ship, crashing onto the dock.

That should catch the local authority’s attention. She peeked around the winch at where Chen had been. A crushed mass of flesh smeared across the deck.

Her stomach rolled and she blinked at the mess. She’d done it. Running her hand over her face, she leaned against the winch, then shut it off. Was he really dead? She couldn’t pull her eyes from the remains of his body. A spark of hope ignited.

She was free.

“You bastard.” She whispered. “I killed you. Me, your pedigreed dog.” A high pitched yelp carried from further away on the ship and snapped her back to reality.

Tyler.

She tried to jog, but her injuries wouldn’t let her. The adrenaline had faded and left in its wake a wave of agony. No matter her injuries, she needed to see Tyler with her own eyes. Without her mate, life wasn’t worth living.

Tyler had tracked her down. After all her secrets, her geeky, clown of a soulmate truly loved her like no one ever had. She didn’t deserve him.

Another howl cracked the night.

Hustling, she returned to the area where she’d left him. Blood splattered the deck. Her heart jack hammered. She should have stayed. He could be dead and she’d never told him how much–she never told him anything.

Her beast awoke inside of her in a tidal wave of animosity. It submerged her and they melded. Rejoicing at its return, Katrina gave it control and shifted in exquisite anguish as it exploded from her flesh.

Tyler needed her. She could almost taste his desperation. Tilting her head back, she let loose a howl, waiting for a response.

It came, weak and short, as if he didn’t have the breath to waste.

Dashing over the deck on all fours, she found them not far away.

The impact of their battle had moved some of the metal cargo containers, creating a dead end. Slashing at his body with his claw, the guard had Tyler pinned.

Katrina’s world condensed into that small space. The drip, drip, drip of Tyler’s blood was the only thing she could hear. Launching her body off the ground, she landed on a guard’s massive back and dug her claws into his flesh until her fingertips met his skin.

The guard reared back, exposing his throat.

With a heavy arm, Tyler swung and sliced his assailant’s neck.

The beast collapsed under her weight in a heap, but she only had eyes for her mate. He stumbled as he moved toward her, his fur matted with blood. Before he could reach her, Tyler’s legs buckled.

She rushed over and sniffed at his wounds, licking those bleeding too much.

He rubbed his muzzle against hers before slumping against to the floor and shifting to his human form. “Chen?”

Regretting her beast’s retreat, Katrina changed as well. “He’s dead.” She paused while assessing his injuries to kiss his forehead. “Your winch trick worked.”

He grinned and closed his eyes. “I knew it would.”

“Of course, you are Chicago’s Rude Goldberg machine building champion.”

“Rube.” He cleared his throat. “Rube Goldberg.”

She hid her grin. She needed to keep him conscious until help arrived. The cuts she could find appeared superficial, but his skin was slick with blood. She remembered long ago when they’d been attacked in their first apartment by the old Ayumu pack. Tyler had rescued her then. He’d hovered over her after she’d been hurt, taking care of all her needs. This time it was her turn.

She shoved her shoulder under his arm. “Lean on me.” They needed to get off this ship before anyone noticed them. She didn’t know how many from Chen’s pack came with him, but they’d return home without an alpha. With no heir to follow him, it would take decades for the packs to sort their territories in China. She’d be forgotten.

* * *

Arm in arm, he and Katrina walked to the ladder. The distance sound of sirens grew louder. He stared at the cargo container crushed on the docks. “Wow.” Then at the smear Chen had left on the deck. “That’s a mess.” He glanced down at the ladder and sighed. “Who gets to carry who down?” He smiled at his mate, who grimaced.

She was hurt. He could tell by the tightness around her eyes and the way she breathed. “Let me go down first, Katrina. That way if you fall I can break it.”

“Stop joking.” She hugged him tighter. “I am very worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” He really was. They’d won and he’d gotten her back, all by himself. Maybe a warrior did exist in him.

Tires squealed around a corner and she stiffened in his arms. Eric’s pick-up drove toward the ship. “Better late than never.”

Chapter 11

Hospitals carried the scent of blood and it was driving Daedalus mad. Sugar’s health stressed him out, which in turn made his hunger worse. Trapped in a vicious cycle, he eyed the staff as they came into his fiancee’s room. However, snacking on a med student would be bad.

The stiff, cheap chair provided for visitors gave him the impression the hospital didn’t want them staying long. Even the undead developed sore backs.

Why did he hesitate to turn Sugar? Sure, she would hate him, but then she’d have forever to yell, kick, and scream at him for betraying her wishes. Her present silence, lying in bed, reminded him all too well of her frailty. Being tied to life support only postponed her inevitable fate. Even if she pulled through, she would still die one day.

Leaving him alone for an eternity.

No one compared to her. Over the millennia, he’d known his fair share of females, yet none had ever made him consider following them to the grave. Without Sugar in the world, life didn’t seem worth fighting for.

A quick walk outside on a nice sunny day would fix his problem if Sugar passed.

Daedalus shifted on the seat, relieving a cramp. Dumbass. Falling in love was a huge mistake. Like a cancer, it rooted in his heart and grew out of control. Too bad there wasn’t a cure. No chemo or radiation to prevent heartbreak. His gaze wandered from Sugar’s still form on the bed to the covered windows.

Hospital maintenance had just finished nailing thick black plastic over them to prevent the sunlight from creeping in. Money could buy the best customer service. All protests about him staying at Sugar’s bedside disappeared with a nice donation.

He glanced at his watch. The funeral home would be delivering the coffin soon. With enough effort, he might resist the need to rest, like some of his older brethren, but he wanted a plan B in case he caved and needed to sleep.

Daedalus sensed Spice close by and steeled his expression. Her presence plowed ahead of her arrival into the room like a storm of grief and suffering. She didn’t need to know he endured the same emotions. She’d been through enough the last twenty-four hours.

Her swollen lip and black eye matched Sugar’s, her identical twin. “Any change?”

“Not in the last hour.”

Sugar wore her curly, blond hair long like he loved it. The thick, heavy waves fell to the middle of her back. Her twin cut her hair short, making the curls tighter and out of control.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Spice held her sister’s hand. “Eric just called. He has both Katrina and Tyler. They’re in the emergency room getting patched up, then heading here.”

He nodded. The monitor continued to beep in time to Sugar’s heart. After spending the whole evening here, the rhythmic noise faded into the background, yet his gaze still drew to the machine. Maybe he feared that it would stop without his notice? He closed his eyes.

“What are we going to do?” Spice whispered her voice hoarse.

“I don’t know.” The sheets on the bed rustled. He glanced across the room where Spice had twisted to face him.

“What do you mean? You always have a plan.”

“Not this time. My only option would go against her wishes.”

Spice clutched Sugar’s hand to her chest. “She’d hate you.”

Sighing, he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I know. That’s why she’s still human.”

Spice chewed on her lower lip and winced. “What if I make the decision for you?”

He raised a non-existent eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Displaying her hand for him to view, she grew claws from her finger tips. “I could make her pack. She’d live and wouldn’t blame you.”

He tilted his head to the side and frowned. “I know you’ve offered to infect her before today.” Spice had a good heart. However, she could drive a vampire to pray. She’d never liked him and thought her sister too good for a vampire. “I also know Sugar refused. She’d hate you instead.”

She blinked away tears. “We’re twins. She’d eventually forgive me. We share a special bond.”

“She wants to stay human.”

“And you’ll sit there and watch her die?” She let go of her sister’s hand and stood with her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and shifted again on the uncomfortable plastic chair. His plans weren’t anyone’s business. Hell, he didn’t know if anyone from the vampire council would respond to his request. “But you can’t make her a werewolf. In her state, she would never survive the infection.” He stared at his boots, not wanting to give anything away. “Just be patient. Let the doctors work their magic medicine.”

“Fuck that.” Spice reached for Sugar.

Before she moved an inch, he made it across the room and grasped her wrist. “Don’t make me break it.” He wanted to shake her. Bad pup. The original Omegas trusted him, but Spice had vampire issues. “I love your sister and have her best interests at heart.” On impulse, he brought her clawed hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. “Please, trust me.”

Brows drawn together, she slid her hand from his. “Fine. A little more time.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Am I interrupting?” Robert’s glance darted around the room. “Do you have a minute, Daedalus?”

Nodding to Spice, he followed the beta from the ICU to an empty waiting area and sat across from him.

The werewolf leaned forward, his eyes glittering. “I finally traced the email’s source.”

“What e-mail?” Daedalus rubbed the spot above his nose that ached. “Do we have to do this now? Can’t you deal with it?”

Robert’s mouth fell open. “I guess, I can.”

With a heavy sigh, Daedalus slumped in his chair. “This place is getting to me.” He gestured to Robert to continue.

“The email you had me trace, the one Esther got doubling the price on your head. You know, the one that sent an arrow through my chest?”

The tension in Daedalus’s shoulders doubled. “What did you find?” The slayer, Esther, had given them access to her professional email account so they could track the assassination contract on him. She’d shed her old life when she’d become a werewolf and part of the pack. Her obvious commitment to Robert was the only thing that kept Daedalus from making her dessert after she had tried to kill him.

“You’re going to get pissed. I’m warning you.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Robert. I’m already pissed.” He chuckled without mirth. Bad things always happened in threes. This sounded like it would be number two on his list. What next? “You don’t get to my age without making enemies. Spill it.”

“I know, but I want to keep my head attached to my shoulders.”

“Robert!”

“Pal Robi, inc.”

“Shit.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “Fuck.” Staring at the announcement board behind Robert on the wall, Daedalus couldn’t move, like the planet’s gravity surged all of a sudden.

“Do you know who in the company would do this?” Robert whispered.

When vampires had become legal citizens, twenty years ago, he’d started the security company and named it after himself under orders of the vampire council. As Prime of the Northeastern America, he needed an excuse for prowling the area.

Pal Robi was his company, but the money and power flowed from above him. Just because humans had finally acknowledged their existence didn’t mean they’d abandon their ancient political structure. The council still held sway over the world, the humans just didn’t know about it.

“I’ve a few ideas.” Sugar’s health would take priority. What if he’d led his enemies to her? What if they came for him again? The best defense was an offense, any true football fan would agree with him. He needed a plan, but most of his resources came from Pal Robi.

Daedalus’s ears picked up the sound of alarms ringing in the ICU with his keen hearing. Spice’s muffled voice climbed higher in pitch and volume. “Something’s wrong.”

“No shit. Someone in your company is trying to kill you.”

“Not that. With Sugar.” He stood and rushed back to her room.

Robert followed without question.

Chaos flowed in organized groups of humans wearing scrubs rushing in and out of Sugar’s room. A huge red cart was pushed through her door as Spice hurried out.

She dashed to his open arms and hugged him tight. “She’s dying. I can’t…” Thrusting away from him, she met his gaze. “You have to turn her. Now.”

He broke eye contact and stared at the mass personnel in Sugar’s room. “I can’t.” What was left of his unbeating heart ached just as bad as the night he’d died and became vampire. He caught a glimpse of a small pale hand on the bed.

“This ain’t the time to grow morals, vamp.” Spice grabbed his shirt and pulled with her shifter’s strength.

The seams protested, but he didn’t budge. “Nosferatu are incapable of changing humans to vampires. They all die.”

She dropped her hands at her side. “What?” Twisting, she glanced at the room. “Then what are we going to do?”

Gathering her small frame into his arms, her body identical to his female, he rested his head on hers. “Have faith in your sister. She wants to live. I can sense it. She’ll survive this.” She had to. Help wouldn’t be here for at least another day.

He stretched out his power and slipped into her mind like he’d been doing intermittently since he’d arrived. As before, it was still. Quiet. His ribs turned to ice. Gentle and tender, he searched for her. A soft cry, distant and frightened, called out. He plunged deep, lost in the dark, not caring if he ever found his way out.

A gleam of thought shone far away. With every ounce of strength and power in his unsalvageable soul, he latched onto Sugar. Threading himself into her essence, a moment of warmth spread into him like sunshine and days at the beach. He’d forgotten–

As if tied to a bungee cord, his mind snapped back. His knees buckled and hands caught him under his arms. He blinked, finding Su–he sighed–Spice holding him. “I’m fine.” Straightening, he glanced into the room.

The doctor stepped out. “She’s gone into what we call ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome. Her lungs have become stiff with the trauma. I’ve put her into a coma to allow the ventilator to do all the work.” She moved over to allow the red cart to be parked by Sugar’s door. “We’ll keep a close eye on her. All this trauma makes her at risk for throwing blood clots and stroke.” Then the doctor left, giving instructions to a nurse.

Spice wheeled around. “What do mean you can’t change her?”

“Nosferatu are a different breed of vampire.” A headache pounded in his temples. Rescuing Sugar’s soul took a lot of effort. “Look. Now’s not the time for details.” Drained of energy, he drifted to Sugar’s bedside and brushed a stray curl from her face. That precious moment in her mind when they’d touched souls…he’d forgotten what it felt like to be alive.

Chapter 12

A new door hung in the main entrance to the brownstone. Someone in the pack had repaired it for them and Eric had given Katrina a new key. As she stepped over the threshold, the air left her lungs. The damage, so much of it, made her home a disaster area.

Chen’s men had violated the brownstone, attacked her small family, and almost killed her best friend. May that bastard rot in hell with demons picking on his bones.

Seeing poor Sugar and Daedalus had given Katrina a reality check. Her injuries and Tyler’s were minor in comparison. Their troubles easily fixed. They’d survived a horrid day and found each other once more.

Tyler limped inside and closed the door. He contemplated the mess. “I really need some shut eye. Can we clean tomorrow?”

“Yes.” She snuggled against his chest, absorbing the solid strength of his body. The doctor in the emergency room had eased her pain with medicine. By morning, she’d be healed. Without it to distract her, she could sense her season escalating. “I want to sleep.” But she doubted with her growing need she could. How could she broach this subject with Tyler? He looked beat.

“Come on.” He tugged her.

Following a trail of debris, Katrina descended to the basement, but detoured into the bathroom they shared with Sam, and turned on the shower. Tossing the remains of her dress into the trash, she stepped under the icy water. Its clean scent washed away the faint stink of fish clinging to her body, and cooled her aching desires.

Just a quick wash. She stepped out, wrapping a thick towel around her. It didn’t hide the bruises and scrapes on her face. She’d been beaten before. Never this bad, though. The collar was still around her throat.

She grabbed it and yanked. The silver in her blood stream had worn off so her beast loaned her strength. Bending slightly in her hands, the metal dug into her skin. A trickle of blood slid along her neck, slipping over her shoulder.

“Stop!” Tyler barged into the bathroom and removed her hands. “You’re hurting yourself. Let me do it.” He caressed her face, then positioned his fingers around the tight collar. The muscle along his jaw bunched with focused strain as he pulled the locked ends apart. Sweat beaded on his forehead, then the collar clattered onto the tiled floor.

She stared at the shattered remains. Not a prisoner anymore, not a slave, or a dog. Her breath shuddered as she exhaled.

Tyler sported a fresh black eye and his bottom lip hung in a swollen pout.

Tracing a finger along it, she whispered. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Chen.” She swallowed around a tight ball in her throat. “When I came to America I wanted a fresh start. To forget…”

He kissed her fingertips. “If I’d really wanted to know, I would have asked. You’ll talk when you’re ready. I trust you, Katrina.”

“Even now?” A vise squeezed her chest.

Resting his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Yeah, but you’re taking the universe out of context when you begin talking like that.” He opened his eyes; amusement twinkled there.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. The weight of a thousand suns lifted from her shoulders. “I love you so much. I cannot even express it.”

“Express it by letting us get some sleep.” He kissed her nose. “I love you more.”

Pressing her face against his, she sighed. Sleeping at home with Tyler, her small slice of heaven wrapped in curly red hair and freckles.

* * *

Lying on his side, Tyler admired the graceful line of Katrina’s back as she sat on the edge of the bed.

They’d taken a nap but he wasn’t ready to leave his comfortable spot. He traced his finger along her spine.

Shivering, she glanced at him over her shoulder. The spark in her gaze stirred him.

“I haven’t welcomed you home yet.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “And how would you like to welcome me?”

He placed his hands behind his head. “Let me think.”

Laughing, Katrina tore the blankets off him. “While you’re thinking, I am going to occupy myself.” She ran her hand over his already stiff cock.

“Oh, yes.” He closed his eyes and pulled her onto his chest. Her scent had changed. It was heavier with something exotic mixed in. “That’s an excellent idea.” Slipping his fingers between her thighs, he smiled when he found her pussy wet.

Her silken hair brushed his shoulders as she pressed soft kisses on his face. “I’m in heat now.”

“Is that what I smell?”

“Yes.”

“I like it.” He took a deep breath through his nose, savoring the aroma.

“This will make us parents. Are you sure?”

Was he ready to be a father? Running his hands over her legs, he settled Katrina over his hips. “Never been more sure of something in my life.”

The kiss she planted on his lips tasted of sweet relief. Slow and gentle, she explored his mouth.

Knots in his shoulders untangled and the aches vanished. Melting into the king-sized bed they’d once struggled together to carry, Tyler pressed his cock into her pussy.

She leaned into him, rocking her hips back and forth to ease him deeper.

Luscious velvet wrapped around him. Tight and hot. He groaned. Sliding deep inside her, he waited a moment before dragging back out. Each time Katrina tried to increase the speed, he slowed her down. Easy and smooth, in no time he had her digging her nails into his flesh.

“Tyler.” She whispered his name just above his lips.

He opened his eyes and met her dark, hungry gaze.

Her pussy clamped around his cock. Eyelids fluttering, she parted her lips and arched her back. She was breathtaking.

His climax tackled him and shut down his brain. Savage bliss took over him and he thrust into her pussy, letting his hot seed fill her.

Panting, she rolled off of him. “You should welcome me home like this every day.”

“Is that a request?” He chuckled.

“No, a demand.” She kissed his cheek, then sat on the edge of the bed.

“Where are you going?” He tried his best not to whine. The bed was so warm and her body so soft. They really should stay there. A bucket of scorpions dumped on his bed wouldn’t make him move.

“To Chinatown.”

Tyler catapulted into a sitting position. “Are you nuts?”

“No, I need to check on those girls from the freighter.” She gazed at him, her weary face pleading. “I’m worried.”

So much for being selfish and content. He crawled out of bed on aching limbs and found a pair of clean underwear.

It didn’t take them long to dress and drive to Chinatown. Tyler called Robert for Tony’s address. He parked the car and Katrina paid the meter, then they strolled under the ancient archway.

The usual vendors weren’t around, the stores appeared empty, and only one soul walked the avenue with them. A full-out shifter street fight could put a damper on tourism.

The other person drew nearer and stopped mid-step. He glanced over his shoulder and started to retreat.

“Tony?” Tyler was happy his voice sounded more surprised than furious. At the moment, he didn’t know what to feel.

The young shifter nodded, but wouldn’t meet his gaze. He stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked at a stone on the street.

“Did your sisters make it home?”

He glanced at Tyler. “Yes.” His eyes wandered to Katrina. “They told me you rescued them.”

She nodded and gave Tyler a who-the-hell-is-this look.

Offering her a crooked smile, he took her hand and led her to Tony. “Katrina, this is Tony.”

She studied him. “I remember you from the pack meetings. Jiao and Li’s boy.”

Tyler noted the dark bags under Tony’s eyes. His shoulders sagged as he tried to meet their gaze.

“You can spread the word that it’s safe. We took care of Chen. The rest of his pack left with the ship. Eric made sure of it.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, we know. He dropped my sisters off on the way back to the hospital.” The shifter shrugged. “I have to leave the city for a year.”

“Why?” Katrina looked back and forth between them.

Tony cleared his throat. “Punishment for being stupid.”

“I’ll explain later.” Tyler offered Tony his hand. “Good luck, man. I might have done the same thing if I were in your shoes.”

Tony took his hand and shook it. “Thanks.” He smiled. “You both look like shit. Go home and heal, everyone’s fine.”

“That’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all day.” Tyler guided Katrina away. He couldn’t believe twenty-four hours ago they’d been here having lunch.

Katrina stopped and stared at the spot where Chen had confronted her. The spot where Tyler had wanted to propose.

God, he’d lost the ring when he shifted in his clothes. Nothing remained of the shredded suit he’d been wearing. The street had been cleaned of yesterday’s debris.

The sunlight peaked from behind the clouds and glinted off something between the cobblestones.

Disbelief kicked him in the balls. Could it be? He released Katrina and knelt to pick it up. Left in the dirt, the ring seemed intact. How it got here from its box inside his jacket pocket, he’d never know.

“What is it?”

Tyler faced Katrina, still kneeling, and offered her the ring. “Will you marry me?”

Tears sprang to her eyes as she clasped her hands over her mouth.

“I wanted to spring the question yesterday, but we got interrupted. This is the ring, still here where I shifted.”

She burst out laughing. “There could be no better omen, Tyler. Of course, I will marry you.”

His heart throbbed. He slid the ring onto her finger then stood, scooping her into his arms.

Their love never needed testing. Forged of trust and respect, it would last forever. Yesterday had proved it. What didn’t break them only made them stronger.

Content

Omegas in Love
Vanguards - 4
by
Annie Nicholas

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12