Divided Loyalties-epub (16 page)

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“You are not going.”

Christa crossed her arms and pinned Hayden with a hard stare. “If you think you can just throw around orders like I’m one of your soldiers, you are mistaken. I’m your mate, and you need to trust in me.”

She was beyond pissed. Hayden had come to her and asked if there was a way she could find out where Vance was hiding. After thinking about who might be still alive that she could call, she jumped at the chance to bring the rogue bastard down.

Once Hayden said she wouldn’t be going into the field, she was seriously wondering why she was thinking about completing the mating bond.

And she was thinking about it. Right after he answered a few questions.

Yet, how could she mate him if he didn’t trust her to fight by his side?

She turned away from him with every intention of going to MoonRiver, grabbing Brenna and Bryce, and leaving, forgetting she’d ever fallen in love with the stubborn wolf. Let them fight their own damned war.

Hayden wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her close. “You admitted you are my mate. You’ve accepted it.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that you don’t trust me.”

He let out a soft growl and nipped at her earlobe. “I trust you. That’s not the issue.”

She twisted out of his arms and turned to face him. “Then what is the issue?”

He stepped forward, closing in the distance between them. Running his knuckles down her cheek, he said softly, “I can’t bear the thought of losing you. This is a kill order. Vance will know that when he sees the Trackers. It will become a battle to the death. I can’t…don’t… want you to be a part of it.” He leaned his head down so their lips brushed. “I love you, Christa. Bond or no bond, you are already a part of my heart.”

She froze and blinked at him. Tears stung the backs of her eyes as glee rose up in her chest and, with it, hope for a future with a man she’d grown to love over the last few days. Twining her fingers in his hair, she tugged him closer so their lips pressed together.

Hayden snaked his arms around her and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue inside her mouth. She moaned and tightened her grip in his hair, wanting more.

Hayden broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. Closing her eyes, Christa savored the moment because, in less than an hour, they were going after Vance. And she was going.

She had to see for herself that he was taken care of once and for all.

“I love you too,” she admitted softly. She’d been unsure until he said the words. It was as though something inside her had clicked, or just woken up. Some would say it was crazy to love someone after just a few days. Yet, there was a solid connection between her and Hayden. She felt it when she was near him and when they made love.

She’d never been so close to anyone since her sister died.

Meeting his gaze, she smiled and said, “I’m still going.”

“Christa,” he growled out in warning.

She stood her ground. “I need to do this. I need to help the Pack, show them that I can be trusted, that I’ll put my life on the line for them.”

He stared at her for several moments before finally letting out a heavy sigh. “You will wear Kevlar.”

Her smile turned into a grin, and she rose up on her toes to kiss him. “Deal.”

Hayden pulled out his cell and handed it to her. “They can’t trace mine.”

She took it and nodded. It made sense. If Shield suspected her of lying, they’d trace the number. Hell, they were going to trace the number regardless.

Unsure if any of her old contacts were human, or even alive any more, she dialed the hotline they used for emergencies. She held Hayden’s stare as she listened to the ring tone, her heart racing.

“State your ID and emergency.”

Without a second thought, Christa gave the information as though she was still in their system. “5643. I need to speak to Vance. I have information on the rogue shifter pack, Ashwood Falls.”

Hayden raised a brow, and she almost smiled.

“Hold please.”

A moment later a male voice, one that made her heart skip, spoke. It must have shown in her facial features because Hayden straightened. “Christa. It is good to hear from you. I have to admit, I’m a little shocked you are alive.”

Shit. He knew.

Damn it. He wasn’t supposed to take the call.
Think, Chris
.

“I escaped. The attack on the den took them by surprise, and I was able to get away.”

Her gaze still on Hayden, she shrugged. It was the best she could think of at the spur of the moment. Not giving him too much time to respond, she steeled her back and said, “I need a pickup.”

“Of course.”

Damn him. He was being too quiet and too calm. She shook her head at Hayden and hoped he understood that she was trying to tell him Vance wasn’t buying it.

“I’m not far from the Blue Ridge checkpoint. I could meet you there.”

Vance was silent for a few moments before responding. “Very well. See you soon, Christa.”

Cold dread crept up her spine as the call disconnected. She handed the phone back to Hayden with a shaky hand. “He won’t be there.”

Movement at the doorway made Christa shift her gaze to Luna. The Alpha had her arms folded over her chest and her lips were pressed into a hard line. “Then you will have to allow whoever picks you up take you to him.”

“Hell no!” Hayden whirled around to face his mother, his body tensed for a fight.

Luna unfolded her arms and walked toward them. “What choice do we have? If we had something personal that belonged to Vance, we could have Addyson or Will read the object.”

“I’ll do it.” Christa pushed past Hayden to stand in front of his mother. If she was going to gain respect from the rest of the pack members, she had to do this. After all, this was her Pack now too. At least it would be once she completed the bond with Hayden and became his bonded mate.

Ten minutes later, Christa was in Hayden’s Range Rover heading to the pick-up location that was a mile from the checkpoint Shield used for emergencies. It was a small cabin about a half-mile off the main road and used to store supplies and serve as a pickup location.

Hayden hadn’t spoken to her since they’d left Ashwood Falls. Instead, he just growled as Dane fitted her with the wire and tiny GPS they’d use to track her.

“This is the only way to get close enough to Vance,” she said softly, hating the silence between them.

Hayden let out a sigh. “I don’t have to like it.”

“If it make you feel better, I’m scared too.”

He took his hand from the steering wheel and reached over to cover her hand. Giving a gentle squeeze, he glanced at her briefly. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

She linked her fingers with his. “Promise. I’ve trained for this.”

There was silence again as Hayden pulled off the road and parked the SUV. He turned to her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her hard. When he pulled back, he ran his thumb over her lips. “Just say the word, and I’m there. Don’t take any risks.”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Promise.” She wanted Vance and the rest of the rogues stopped just as much he did, but she wasn’t stupid. “This is a team operation. Once they take me to Vance, I’ll give the signal.”

He gave her one last quick kiss before releasing her. “Now go before I drag you back to the den.”

Christa opened the door and hopped out of the Range Rover then jogged off into the forest. A few yards in, she tested the two-way wire system. “Dane?”

“Gotcha. Everything’s good.”

Here goes
. She took off to the east toward the cabin.

It was a thirty-minute hike to the checkpoint, and when she spotted the small cabin, her heart started thumping in rapid beats, and her palms became clammy. She stopped a few feet from it, still hidden by the trees that surrounded it, and took calming breaths to slow her heart rate.

When she was in control of her emotions again, she walked up the three steps to the porch and knocked on the door.

A moment later, Jonathan, a solider she’d worked with a number of times over the years, answered. He frowned when he saw her and stepped aside to allow her to enter the cabin. He didn’t say anything until the door was shut behind him.

“They are watching the place.”

Christa nodded. “I expected no less.”

Jonathan met her gaze and stepped closer to her so there were only a couple of inches of space between them. “You know this is a trap. He plans to kill you.”

Fear burned in her veins despite the fact that she already guessed that Vance would most likely kill her, or try to. “I know, but he’ll have a fight on his hands,” she whispered, hoping Jonathan understood what she was trying to say.

He stepped back and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Like a good prisoner, she turned around so he could cuff her hands behind her back. Just as he clicked the second cuff into place, she felt him press the key into her palm.

She bit her lip to keep the smile from forming.

Jon leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I hope you have a plan.”

No longer able to fight the smile, she released her bottom lip. “When do I ever not have a plan?”

“Right. Let’s get this party started.” He nudged her to door then opened it.

As soon as they stepped off the last porch step, three Shield officers that she’d seen before in passing, but never worked with stepped out from the trees on the opposite side of the house. With them were two very large mutants and a man she’d never seen before.

As they got closer, she realized the man was a shifter. A feline of some kind. She knew that because his eyes looked like those of a cat. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder then Jon’s. A moment later, the forest faded away as she felt as though she was being pulled through invisible jelly before everything around changed to a stone room.

Dizzy, she tried to make sense of what had happened. Her stomach churned as if it was about to give up everything she had consumed in the last twenty-four hours.

She took deep breaths and steadied herself. Peering around the room, she frowned. It wasn’t a room, but a cell.

The shifter nodded to Jon to come with him. Jon complied, following the male out the cell’s glass door.

Once alone, she ground her teeth. “Hayden?” she whispered.

“Here.” His rough reply sent chills across her skin.

“Please tell me the GPS is working.”

Alec cut in, surprising her. Had they moved to MoonRiver while she was talking with Jon? “I got ya. The teleportation throws us for a moment. Dumbass bastards are twenty miles outside of Ashwood.”

She rolled her eyes, to no real effect. There was no one here to see her. Fiddling with the key in her hand, she moved it around until she could get it into the keyhole. “How far away are you guys?”

“Five minutes,” Hayden growled.

Just then she heard footsteps coming from down the hall. “You need to make that two minutes. Someone is coming.”

Her cell door
swished
open, and Vance walked in. She swallowed the fear that threatened to rise and kept her hands behind her back.

“Hello, Christa.”

The bastard thought he was so smart.

“Do you know that I’ve known about your true nature for a while?”

He shrugged and leaned his back against the door. “You were always too smart for your own good. Where are those brats of yours?”

She stiffened involuntarily and hated that she showed him how much his words affected her. “The twins are no concern of yours.”

He pushed off the door and stalked toward like the animal that lived within his soul. His leopard flashed in his eyes as he moved. She forced herself to remain standing in the middle of the room.

When he stopped inches from her, he smiled, but there was no humor in that smile. There was an evil that crawled over her skin like a million tiny ants. He reached out and stroked her cheek with his fingers. She jerked away, which only pissed him off.

He grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her head back. “Your thoughts betray you.”

Realization filled her at his words. “You’re a telepath?”

He laughed. “No, but my Alpha is a mindbender. I can draw from the telepathic side of his ability.”

Her fear from earlier shifted to anger then to a rage she hadn’t felt until the day she’d seen her sister’s dead body. Rick might have killed Mary, but it was the rogues—ones like Vance—that were responsible for her death.

She brought her foot up and slammed it down on his toes then swung one arm around to slam a fist in his nose while her knee connected with his balls.

Vance screamed and fell to the ground.

Christa ran out of the cell and down the hall, expecting to be ambushed by rogues and mutants, but none came.

When she rounded a corner, she ran into someone. Startled, she swung at him, only to have Jon grab her hand. “Chris. It’s me.”

Heart pounding, she peered into his eyes, unsure if she should trust him. “Let me go.”

He released her wrist and stepped back. “Come this way.”

“Why?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Because the mutants will be upon us in two minutes.”

Without waiting for her reply, he grabbed her wrist again and dragged her through the maze of hallways.

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t look back at her. “We’re getting the hell out of here before it blows.”

“What?”

They came to a door at the end of a corridor. Jon kicked it opened and pulled her out into the evening air. They made it about fifteen feet away from the building before it exploded. Jon pulled her into his body and turned so he covered her as they fell to the ground.

She felt the heat from the fire as it washed over them. Tears stung her eyes, and she screamed until she no longer felt the heat.

Her heartbeat hammered in her ears as silence filled the night around them. She nudged Jon, who still lay over her, protecting her from the blast, but he didn’t move.

Oh God. “Jon? Please wake up. Damn it!”

She heard footsteps, and she started to panic. Breathing became hard, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She hadn’t even said good-bye to the twins.