Morgan (10 page)

A red light began flashing on the monitor next to Samson’s head. “Does this mean you’re not going to be eating?” Samson said coldly, pointing at the flashing screen.

“Fuck,”
Michael
said. His fingers sped over his keyboard. They all waited in silence as Michael worked. A few minutes later the large center screen showed the face of a solemn reporter holding a microphone. Michael turned up the volume and they all listened as the reporter told of the grisly discovery of a murdered nurse from the emergency department of McLaren-Greater Lansing Hospital. A picture of the deceased nurse flashed on the screen, as well as a number to call if anyone had any information regarding her brutal slaying.

Ben’s cat went wild inside him. His claws erupted from his fingertips as his control over his rage slipped. He looked over at Cameron and saw he was also waging a similar battle with his cat.

“That was the nurse who was looking after Morgan,” Cameron said. Ben knew Cameron was in better control of his cat than he was. Ben was still incapable of speech.

“Then we can assume our location has been compromised,” Samson said. “I’ll alert Cooper.” Samson ran silently from the room.

“Why was that nurse killed?” Morgan said, her voice barely above a whisper. Ben scented guilt and fear from his mate.

“This is not your fault, Morgan,” Michael said. “I noticed you didn’t search for any information on your father today.”

“No, I didn’t. Sister Vincenza said my mother was terrified of him. My mother had a cast on her arm and bruising on her face when she gave us to the Sister. She told the Sister that she needed to keep us hidden from him because he had evil plans in place for our future. Once I discovered my mother had been killed, I focused on finding Bethany. I needed to make sure she was safe.”

Morgan lowered her head and shuddered as the scent of her guilt grew thicker still. “I got the impression my father was a bad person. I kept getting blocked when I searched for Bethany and it became a bit like a battle to me. I kind of got caught up in it. That was you?”

Michael nodded.
“You’re very good, but I managed to keep you from finding Bethany. I did, however, expand my search to include your father. His name is Artur Petrov and you were right in thinking he’s not a good person. He lives in Moscow and I suspect he arranged for your mother’s murder, even if he didn’t do it himself. I also fear he’s the one behind your attempted kidnapping and that nurse’
s murder.
”

Ben steadied Morgan as she swayed on his lap. “You couldn’t have known he was searching for you, too,” Ben said. Her heart rate was now dangerously high, her breathing shallow.

“I did this,” Morgan said, her voice so soft that Ben barely heard her. “I’ve put Bethany in danger, her baby, that nurse. I caused all of this when I went to Sister Vincenza for information about my mother.”

“Would you rather not have found us?” Ben said. “Would you have us live our lives without our mate? Would you rather Bethany never met her sister?”

“No,” Morgan answered immediately. She turned in his arms and lay her head on his chest. Ben relaxed as Morgan’s heart slowed and her panic subsided. “I’m very tired.”

Ben stood, holding Morgan close. He had no idea where they could take her.

“Is there somewhere we can all stay with Morgan?” Evan asked Michael. “We don’t want to leave her tonight.”

“Bethany has already made up the guest room for you. It’s the third door on the left at the top of the stairs. It used to be Jason’
s room
. It has a big bed and its own bathroom.” Michael stepped closer to Morgan and tipped her chin up until she was looking at him. “I was searching for Bethany’s family, too. I would have eventually triggered the same alert you did and Petrov would still have come for her.”

Ben knew that to be the truth. Michael was not merely placating Morgan. As he made his way upstairs, his blood ran cold as he considered what might have happened to Morgan had they not rescued her before Petrov sent his men to the hospital. He obviously wanted her badly and was willing to kill to get her.

No matter what his plans were for his daughters, he was not going to succeed. Ben and Cameron had been training for months to be soldiers and, one day, enforcers for the pride. They would be all the more deadly now that it was their mate they were protecting.

* * * *

Cameron and his brothers left their mate as soon as she was asleep. She hadn’t spoken a word to them. She had simply let them tuck her into bed before quickly succumbing to her fatigue. Cameron considered himself lucky to be the one returning to spend the night in bed with her.

Evan and Ben w
ere preparing to go on patrol wherever Cooper directed them. They’d heard their pride enforcer arrive a few minutes ago, along with his brother Dane, and Cameron was anxious to hear if they had any new information on Morgan’s father.

“I think we need to find out why this Petrov wants his daughters so badly,”
Cameron said
as he entered the large living room. He was surprised to find it filled with so many members of the Eminence pride. “The way his men manhandled Morgan in their attempt to take her from that cyber café seems to indicate that it’s not for a joyous family reunion.”

“I’ve just been saying the same thing,” Jason said. “He certainly wouldn’t have sent men to abduct her or have his men murder people for information on her whereabouts if his purpose was simply to reconcile with her.”

Cameron and his brothers were congratulated by the other men on finding their mate, and enquiries were made about her health before Cooper loudly cleared his throat. The room silenced immediately.

“Even though Artur Petrov will be coming here looking for Morgan, Bethany is also in danger once he recognizes her scent,” Cooper said. “We now have two safe rooms in Eminence, the original one at our ranch and another that has just been installed at Gabe’s.”

Cameron could see the sense in putting it on the Prentiss ranch. The Alpha’s home was in the far north of town, and the Prentiss ranch was on the southern border. Also, Jordanna’s blindness meant she functioned better in areas that were familiar to her.

Cooper told everyone what they’d learned so far and the pride dispersed immediately to start their assigned patrols. Cameron went back up to the room they were sharing with Morgan and quickly stripped off his clothes. His body was humming with excitement as he stared down at his mate’s sleeping form. He couldn’t wait to feel every inch of himself pressed up against her soft, warm body.

Shifting quickly, he stepped carefully onto the bed without disturbing Morgan and maneuvered his cat so that he was between her and the door. Even with the covers separating them, his cat purred with the simple pleasure of feeling his mate pressed against him.

He could see the bruises on her face and neck had faded already to a pale yellow, and knew they would be gone by morning. He would like nothing better than to get his hands on the bastard who liked to hurt women.

Cameron had no intention of sleeping. He planned on listening to the other pride members as they patrolled, and staying alert to any danger that may threaten his precious mate. Unfortunately it was only an hour later, at two in the morning, that Cameron’s worst fears were realized.

“I have an unfamiliar shifter sitting in the diner,”
Gabriel Prentiss said through the mental link the pride utilized when they were shifted.
“He’s a huge fucker. As tall as Finn, but heavier all over. Definitely feline in species. He has healing bruises and cuts all over his face. Someone has recently worked him over.”

“Has he said anything useful to Barry at the diner?”
Cooper asked.

Cameron had run into town on many occasions during their time in Eminence, and knew Barry, the night manager at the diner, was a
human
. He was also a nosy old bastard who liked to know everyone’s business.

“Our visitor speaks English with a strong Russian accent. He told Barry he was in town looking for his niece, Morganya. Apparently she’s in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and he’s been roughing her up.”

“He sounds a lot like the man Morgan described,”
Cameron said.
“Ben and I would recognize his scent from the cyber café.”

“Stay with Morgan, Cameron,”
Cooper answered immediately.
“Ben, shift and take a drive into town. Melanie delivered two of her delicious kaffir lime tarts to the diner yesterday. I believe there’s a piece left with your name on it.”

“I’ll leave immediately,”
Ben said.

“If Ben confirms it’s the same man, then I want you to find out what he’
s doing here
, Samson,”
Finn said.
“No one else is to touch him until Samson has completed his interrogation.”

Cameron snarled in annoyance at the Alpha’s edict. If this was the man who had already hurt Morgan, then he wanted to return the favor by breaking both of his arms. Then he’d tear his heart
out.

Ben walked into the diner only ten minutes after Gabriel had spotted the visitor. He didn’t have to take more than one breath before nodding a confirmation to Gabriel, who was waiting outside.

Ben’s cat wanted to rip the man apart for brutalizing his mate, but Ben kept his beast in check. They needed to know what Artur Petrov’s plans were for his daughters. Knowledge was power, and Ben wanted all the advantages he could get when it came to protecting his mate.

“Hey there, Barry. I hear that there’s a kaffir lime pie on the menu that’s to
die
for,” Ben said. He strolled over to the bar and dragged out a stool a few seats away from their quarry. Gabriel would be alerting the rest of the pride and Samson would be here momentarily to take the shifter to jail.

“Sure is,” Barry said. “I think I ate nearly one entire pie myself last week.” He patted his ample stomach as he put a mug of steaming coffee in front of Ben before turning and entering the kitchen area. “
A la mode
as usual, Ben?”

“Make it a double scoop,” Ben said casually. “I’ll run a few extra miles tomorrow to work it off.”
As far as Barry
was concerned, Ben was a deputy-in-training for the Eminence sheriff’s department. As were half the trainees in Samson’
s combat course.

The humans in Eminence would remain oblivious to the existence of shifters and still benefit from their protection. It was the way it had always been and Ben was here to ensure it continued that way. The safety of his entire race, let alone his mate and their future cubs, depended on it.

“Sneaking out for more pie, Ben,” Samson said. Ben shook his head as he turned and smiled at the huge man. There was a bell over the door, the floorboards all creaked, and Samson probably weighed in at two hundred and fifty pounds. How the hell he managed to move with complete silence just defied logic. Samson hadn’t entered alone either. Gabriel, Cooper, and Hunter were
all st
anding behind him. Ben knew he had a lot still to learn if he ever hoped to be as good as any of the shifters in front of him.

“Caught me, boss,” Ben said. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

The stranger at the counter stiffened and stood so quickly that his chair tipped over. Ben went to intercept him as he raced for the door, but found the stranger was already in Samson’s grasp. Samson had one of his arms around the much larger man’s throat and his arm twisted up behind his back as Samson held him immobile.

“Sorry, Barry,” Hunter said, picking up the stool and tucking it under the counter. “There’s a warrant out for this guy. He’s wanted for questioning over an attempted kidnapping in Michigan.”

Ben saw Barry nod his head as he walked out from the kitchen with Ben’s pie in his hands and a puzzled expression on his face. Hunter kept the story close to the truth and Ben could see the sense in that. If Barry saw anything on the news of the kidnapping attempt or the
murders in Lansing, he
’d understand why they’d taken the man into custody.

“You want me to box this for you then, Ben,” Barry said, his tone grave. “
Hunter
’s probably going to want you there to see how they question this fellow.”

“
Thanks, Barry.
”

Samson had the shifter outside before Barry had finished speaking. Ben waited impatiently for his pie and then left to meet the others before they started the interrogation on Petrov’s man. He didn’t want to miss a word of what the man had to say.

Hunter and Dane had sent any human employees home for the night, so the sheriff’s station was now filled with only shifters. The man was held in the station’s steel-reinforced interrogation room with thick chains holding his manacled hands to a solid metal link that was cemented into the floor.

Ben noticed the prisoner’s blazing yellow eyes as he joined Finn and Cooper in the viewing room adjacent to the interrogation cell. The shifter was furious at being caught, but the scent of his fear was also heavy in the air. Ben had followed the acrid smell from the diner. This man might work for Artur Petrov, but he was only loyal to him out of fear for the man.

“Has he said anything?” Ben asked, squeezing the words out past his rage. His cat was close to breaking free, it wanted to hurt this creature who had treated his mate with such callous disregard.

“Just growls and threats in Russian,” Cooper answered. “Samson has translated. Apparently he’s been questioning our parentage and feels we should be trembling in fear for what awaits us if we don’t hand over Petrov’s whelp.” Ben growled loudly as he lurched toward the door.