Juneau Heat (18 page)

He and
Kotori had gone against everything they’d planned from the moment they met
Shiya in person. They intended to win her heart and draw her family in. They
were the ones ensnared, falling in love with her and claiming her as their
mate. Kotori declared she would never come before family, but he’d left his
people’s side to be with Shiya at their cabin while hers had the run of Juneau.
When the time came for them to follow through and hold Shiya to lead the other
Keiths into a trap, they’d returned her to her suite and backed off. Now this!

A banging
started on his office door, and his receptionist called out, “Dr. Rider, are
you okay? What was that noise? Birk?”

He ignored
the woman, his focus on Kotori. His best friend’s eyes were all black, and his
canine teeth hung past his lips. Birk knew Kotori held on to rationality by a
thread, because Birk felt the same. “Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure.
I tracked her partway out of Juneau. She’s not alone. A half dozen others are
with her.”

“She could
have joined them voluntarily.” Birk struggled to keep his head on straight. He
didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but when Kotori charged into his office and
claimed Shiya had been taken, he had flown into a rage before using his head.

Kotori
growled, his voice thick as if he forgot how to form words. “Are you coming or
not?”

Birk stood
up. “First we check her suite. Then we track her. If someone does have her,
they will die at my hands.”

They left
the office without explanation to his staff and jumped into his SUV. All the
way to Shiya’s place, Birk thought over the situation. If Shiya’s own family
had her, why would they bother? They had to know where to find him and Kotori.
They weren’t in hiding. Kotori had sent his grandmother to the mountains where
many of them lived anyway, and Birk had no one in Alaska. So why didn’t the
Keiths just come? Hell, they could have picked him up at the vet hospital, and
Kotori at his offices, with some semblance of an excuse.

Well, it
didn’t matter why. What mattered was getting Shiya back.

“We
shouldn’t have left her,” Kotori complained. “She’s ours, and we should have
kept her at the cabin.”

“Contrary
to what we want, we have to think about Shiya’s happiness. She’s not strong
enough to be our mate, and we couldn’t hold her prisoner forever.” He squeezed
the steering wheel beneath his grip and felt the materials giving way. He
forced himself to calm down.

“Where she
is, I go.” Kotori’s simple logic attested to his giving over to his animal
side.

“Can you
adjust to San Diego?”

“I can.”

Birk sighed
and soon pulled up to the private entrance to her suite. He hadn’t set a foot
outside yet before he picked up the scent of several men—and a woman. He took
the steps two at a time and checked the door. The knob twisted in his hand
without hesitance, and he walked in. Two people stood inside the small living
room, guns in hand. Birk narrowed his eyes at them.

The man he
recognized as Shiya’s ex-boyfriend. Behind him, Kotori growled on seeing the
human they hated most.

The woman
looked so much like Shiya, Birk’s chest constricted in pain. She smelled
similar as well, but he easily picked out the difference. He kept his face
expressionless, but his friend had no such control. He sensed Kotori coiling
for attack, and Birk held up his hand to hold him off—for now.

“Where is
she?” he demanded.

The woman
raised her chin. He caught no glimpse of fear in her eyes and smelled none
either. He had to give her credit for that. This must be Shiya’s sister. He
didn’t recall her name and didn’t care to. All he wanted to know was where
they’d taken his mate.

“You have
three seconds to answer me before you die.”

The woman
waved her gun. “I guess you don’t see this weapon, huh? Don’t come in here
threatening me. I’ve dealt with your kind before, and I’ve put them down more
times than I can count. As far as I’m concerned, you’re nothing but animals
that look like people.”

Kotori
sprang forward, but Birk caught him just in time. He felt like his arms would
be torn from the sockets keeping a grip on Kotori, but he managed it. The woman
went on.

“However,
my sister seems to care about you, and I love her more than anyone on this
planet. My brother’s wrong for kidnapping her, and I want her back, so I’m
happy to send you into his trap. As long as Shiya’s okay. But if you get her
hurt, if you cause even a scratch to mar her skin, I will pump your ass so full
of bullets, you will beg me to die.”

“Where?”
Birk snapped.

The man,
who hadn’t said anything, pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and tossed it
onto the floor. “There. We have a temporary compound set up. That’s where Shiya
is.”

Birk
snatched up the sheet and saw that a map had been printed on it. He stuffed it
in his coat pocket and pushed Kotori toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Kotori
strained against him at first, but gave in. He performed a U-turn in his
vehicle and, amid screeching tires, tore off down the street. He had a general
idea of where to find Shiya and was glad of the map. They could track her, but
knowing exactly where to go cut time.
Hold
on, baby. We’re coming for you.

The trip
would take several hours, but Birk intended to floor it all the way, even if
parts of the road made it unsafe. They had taken Shiya far away from
civilization to cover their activities.

“The map,”
Kotori said, and Birk handed it over. His partner studied it and then handed it
back. “I’m getting help.”

Birk
stiffened. “Do you want to drag your family into this?”

“Won’t you
do everything for her?”

“Of
course.” Birk would give his life for Shiya, but he had no one else to protect.
He considered it now and knew that if he did, Shiya would come first. His
animal side saw his mate as being above all else. Part of the reason he hadn’t
ripped those humans apart back at Shiya’s place for being a part of her
kidnapping was because the woman admitted to loving Shiya more than anyone. He
saw in her face that she didn’t agree with her family’s tactics. The rest would
not be spared.

“You’re
right. We don’t know how many there are. Don’t take too long. I don’t want her
to suffer a minute longer than she has to.”

Kotori
nodded, and Birk pulled to the side of the road to let him out. His friend
shifted into his bear form and took off running. Birk continued on.

Three hours
later, he pulled his car to the side of the road. The rest of the way would
have to be on foot. He removed his clothes and left them in the SUV. Then he
shifted and headed into the trees. Snow covered much of the ground out here,
and his claws and wide, flat paws allowed him to cut through it with ease.
Scents not natural to nature tickled his nose. He picked up the smell of
humans, a lot of them—and Shiya.

* * * *

Shiya
rolled over on the floor, wincing in pain. Her wrists had swollen and gone
numb. Since they dropped her in this joke of a cabin that had nothing on Birk
and Kotori’s place, no one had come back to check on her. She’d called out, but
nobody answered. Every now and then, she picked up voices, men snapping orders
and other conversations. The cabin she occupied was one of just a handful.
Tents occupied other spots, and she didn’t think they planned on staying out
here long. Just enough to slaughter an entire family. She needed to get out
before Birk and Kotori came.

Working her
bound hands to her butt, she wiggled to get her hips through the loop her arms
made. Tendons in her arms grew taut, and she paused to catch a breath. Sweat
beaded on her forehead, and she hadn’t even started yet. After what felt like
an eternity, she managed to get her hands down to her knees, and she rolled to
her back and sat up. Very slowly, she pulled her knees up to her chest. The
only thing she was thankful for at this point was that someone had taken her
boots and left her in her socks. She figured they did it to keep her from
running out in the snow, but then someone had locked the cabin door from the
outside anyway.

She lay on
her back and slid her hands down her calves as far as she could, then worked
one foot into her palm and through. Her muscles strained and ached. She took a
break, panting and moaning. When she managed to get the other leg through, she
stood up. What little rest she’d gotten after the marathon of sex with Birk and
Kotori had been sapped with this experience.

Voices
outside the cabin made her run behind the door. A key sounded in the lock, and
the latch gave. She brought her clutched hands down on the back of his head.
Her blow didn’t knock the man unconscious, but it was enough to land him flat
on his face. Shiya kicked the door closed and dropped on her knees in the
middle of the man’s back.

He groaned in
pain. “You bitch.”

“Right back
at you,” she snapped and kneed him hard behind the neck.

Before he
could regain his faculties, she jerked his shirt up and grabbed the knife most
of Kasen’s men carried in scabbards on their back.

The
hunter’s knife cut through the plasticuffs, and she was free. She ignored the
painful surge of blood to her hands and wrists and grabbed Kasen’s man by his
hair, putting the knife up to his throat.

“If you
don’t want to get buried out here, you will help me, and keep your mouth shut.”

He laughed.

“What’s so
damn funny?”

He flipped
her onto her back and landed on top of her, an arm across her throat. The knife
fell from her hand and clunked onto the floor. The bastard shoved it away.
“Okay, should we try this again?”

She opened
her mouth to say something, but a growl cut her off. The door exploded inward,
smashing against the wall. A polar bear stood in the opening, seeming so out of
place yet so right where he should be. His baleful gaze bowled from her to the
man atop her, and Shiya could only imagine what he thought. She shoved the
idiot.

“Get off of
me before he kills you.”

Kotori
lunged at him, but he shoulder-rolled away and snatched his knife from the
floor. His crouch looked good, but Shiya knew it would mean nothing. Kotori was
in a rage. She sensed it, blown away by the connection.

“Kotori,
it’s fine. He didn’t hurt me. Calm down.”

“Don’t go
near him. He’ll kill you!”

Shiya
glared at her attacker. “Just be quiet.” She stepped in front of Kotori,
cutting him off from his prey. “Kotori!” She held her hands up, which turned
out to be a mistake. Her lover focused on the bruises around her wrists where
the cuffs had been.

Kotori
shifted into his human form and barreled past Shiya. He disarmed Kasen’s man as
if he were no more than a child and had him several feet off the floor by his
neck. He slammed him into the wall and squeezed his throat.

Shiya had a
flashback to Joe and rushed over to grab Kotori’s arm.

“Stop,
Kotori. Let him go,” she pleaded.

“You’re the
one who put those bruises on her?” Kotori demanded, as if he hadn’t heard her.
Another slam on the wall brought a stain of blood. Shiya’s stomach
somersaulted.

“He didn’t
do it,” she shouted.

Kotori
dropped the man to the floor. Shiya thought she heard a bone snapping when he
hit. When he didn’t move, she bent to check his pulse. Her heart thundered out
of control. Kotori had already killed him.

“Who?”

She
swallowed and looked up at her lover.

“Who?” he
repeated. He reached down and pulled her to her feet, but his touch was nothing
like what he’d done to Kasen’s man. Kotori’s grasp on her arm remained gentle.
She wondered at how he could go from strangling a man to handling her with
care. Her hands shook, and her knees seemed about to give at any second, but
she didn’t fear Kotori. What she did fear was telling him it was Kasen who put
the cuffs on. Her brother was all kinds of a bastard, but she couldn’t let
Kotori kill him.

“It doesn’t
matter. It wasn’t intentional.”

Kotori
narrowed his eyes and raised her chin. She shivered at the darkness she saw
there. “Anyone who hurts you does not get to live.”

Staring up
at him, all of a sudden, she knew the truth about what had happened to her
mother. One of them, her mother, or her dad, maybe Kasen, had killed the
shifter’s mate. The wolf that attacked Kotori had been defending his rights to
kill the man who had touched his mate. Kotori had only seen her bruises. If for
some reason she’d been killed . . . The shifters weren’t fully animal, but they
weren’t fully human either. They lived by their own rules, and she understood
why that would terrify humans who knew of their existence.

How would
she distract him from insisting she tell him? More growls erupted outside the
cabin, along with the clink of steel on steel. Kotori hadn’t come alone. He
shifted and started out of the cabin, and she picked up the knife to follow.
The makeshift compound was in an uproar. Polar bears attacked men in several
areas. Men in animal skin clothing and mukluk boots held small curved blades as
they fought Kasen’s men. Their darker skin and long black hair pegged them as
Tlingit, Kotori’s people.