Secrets Of The Alpha 2: (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (His Secrets Series) (9 page)

“And why is that?” Nathan asked.

“Well, do you know many werewolves?” She asked, and Nathan shook his head in frustration.

“Is there anyone in particular you are researching this for, Ophagia?” I asked. She didn’t look up or even flinch.

“I’m just curious, that’s all,” she said.

“Well, if you find anything concrete, I want to be the first to know,” Nathan said. I could hear the determination in his voice. Ophagia shrugged as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to let anyone in on her findings. Fran looked at me, worry written all over her face.

“Winnie, can I talk to you?” she asked before she walked to the corner of the room. I walked over to her as the rest of the people continued chatting.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I looked at her.

“Don’t tell him anything,” she started.

“Tell who? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Nathan. All he wants is to go back to his family. He wants the cure,” Fran explained. “I just wish I wasn’t such an idiot for falling for him,” she added in a soft voice.

“You’re not an idiot,” I started and then shook my head. “Okay maybe you are,” I said smiling.

“But then again, so was I, and now look at me. Vincent and I are set to be married…that is if we live long enough.” Fran smiled at me.

I suddenly noticed Nathan grab a steak knife from the counter. My immediate instinct was to fling myself at Vincent, to protect him.

“Did anybody hear that?” Nathan asked, knife in hand.

Chapter 9

His eyes were darting back and forth as if he was looking for some unseen villain. I shook my head and so did Ophagia and Penny.

“I didn’t hear anything either,” Fran pointed out.

“I heard it too,” Vincent said as he stood up. Nathan dropped the steak knife and looked up at Vincent.

“We can’t bring knives to a gun fight. Muse, where are your guns?” He asked. We all shook our heads, giving him the answer that he least wanted. There were no guns on the Muse mansion.

“I don’t own any guns,” Vincent finally said, confirming his fears. Nathan looked like he had just been told that the sky was made of Jell-O pudding.

My heart was pounding hard against my chest as the two men ran to the window.

“Shit,” Nathan said under his breath.

Fran took my hand in hers, and her grip was getting tighter by the minute. What I couldn’t see was that there were a number of black SUVs driving up the road leading to the house. The vehicles stopped at the gate but only briefly before we heard a series of explosions. Whoever they were, they were literally bringing down the walls and gates so that they could get in. Even from where I was, I could see the big cloud of smoke that was rising in their wake.

“This cannot be happening again,” Fran said in a whisper.

Suddenly, Ophagia jumped up and ran to the side of the stairs. She began hitting the wall, and I could have sworn that the old woman had finally gone crazy. The knocking she was doing seemed to be systematic rather than a frantic pounding. She did it a number of times, and when the wall gave way to a secret door opening to a secret hallway, we all gasped.

“How did you…” I started before she put her hand up.

“Don’t ask. Just walk,” she said in an authoritative tone. “Just follow my lead,” she said as she walked into the passageway.

We all did as she asked, Vincent being the last to come through. Ophagia led us down to a staircase that took us below the mansion. We walked down and a few minutes later, we were at another wall. She knocked on the wall again, and another door opened. She then turned on the lights as we let ourselves into what seemed like a makeshift lab. There were ceiling high shelves with old books and what looked like half-done experiments. I looked around the place and raised an eyebrow.

“What is this place?” I asked. “Where are we?”

“I live here,” Ophagia said as she walked to a table.

“You live
here?”
I asked in surprise, and she nodded without turning around.

“How did you think I am always around when you need me?” She asked as she looked at Vincent who looked as surprised as the rest of us were. He suddenly burst out laughing.

“Okay, the basics. The bathroom’s right down there, there’s the kitchen if any of you need anything to eat or drink… and I only have one bedroom, but I think the couches and futon will be more than enough to make us comfortable,” she said.

“Thanks, Ophagia,” I said in a soft voice.

“So is there anything about secret doors in that big book you had buried your nose in earlier?” Vincent asked. I was having a hard time understanding how he was able to remain so lighthearted considering there were murderous people just upstairs.

“I don’t know, maybe. If there is, I am yet to locate it,” Ophagia said lightly. I smiled and then turned around to look at Nathan who looked like he was about to lose his mind. I had never seen anyone on edge like he was at that moment.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be safe here,” I said as I looked at him. “They would never think of coming here.” But Nathan was shaking his head, as if he didn’t believe me.

“I’d really love to be optimistic. I would, but you don’t know my people….you have no idea what you are up against,” he started. “We are all trained to read into situations really, really fast, and we don’t get fed until…unless our recall is absolutely one hundred percent,” Nathan went on explaining. He looked at Vincent and then at Ophagia and sighed.

“If there is anything in that book upstairs that might give them a clue to where we are, then we should be expecting guests.”

Penny sat down on the futon and shook her head.

“I should have just stayed at the health center,” she said as she rocked back and forth. “I would have been safe, and I could have had a good pension, and….” Her voice trailed off.

I could have sworn she was crying. I couldn’t blame her. This was not a situation I would have wished on anyone. Even for her, someone who had apparently been through this so many times before, everything seemed to be weighing down on her.

Fran was leaning on the kitchen counter looking at Nathan. I could see that she was terrified, but the look in her eyes gave it away. She might have been terribly scared at that moment, but the way she was looking at Nathan gave it all up. The poor girl was smitten. And Nathan was looking at her in a very familiar way, almost like he was giving off the same vibes. It was not until then that I realized, the attraction between them was not just one sided. Nathan felt something too.

Vincent walked up to me and took my hand.

“Don’t worry, baby. We’ve been through worse,” he said in a low voice.

I forced out a smile and nodded. He was right. We
had
been through so much more worse situations than what we were in at that moment. I saw Ophagia walking into another area of the property, and we followed her in there. I couldn’t help but wonder just how big this place was. It seemed like every time I blinked, there seemed to be more room. We watched as she started a fire and then began handing out small pouches.

“What is this?” Penny asked as she looked into the pouch.

“Gunpowder,” Nathan said. I almost gasped.

“Gunpowder? What are we going to use it for?” I wondered out loud.

“Yeah, it won’t be very useful without guns,” Nathan said as he looked at Vincent. We could all hear the criticism in his voice as he talked.

“Dear Lord, would you all be a little optimistic? Just what do you think the fire is for?” Ophagia asked, sounding a little irritated. “At the end of each pouch is a short string. If anyone comes through that door…” Nathan rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you mean
when
they come through that door?” he asked sarcastically.

Ophagia shrugged.

“The minute anyone comes for us, light the string and throw the pouch at the enemy,” she continued unfazed. “We might not have guns but we do have firepower,” she added as she looked at Nathan.

I looked at her and then at Vincent. I couldn’t help but wonder if that plan was even workable. Something inside me was telling me that should probably trust what Ophagia was saying. Her plan may have very well been fool proof. I took a long deep breath. I was about to voice my support for Ophagia’s plan when Nathan suddenly held up his hand and then pressed a finger on his lips. He looked like he’d heard something, something that the rest of us hadn’t heard. I looked at Vincent and noticed that he had also heard something. He was looking around, trying to listen. Penny looked up, and I could tell that she was as scared as were the rest of us, but she was doing a very poor job of hiding it.

“What? What’s going on?” She whispered, and Vincent looked at her unimpressed. His look said it all.

“Winnie! Winnie my dear, are you down here?” We heard someone call out. Vincent looked at me, and I shook my head. I immediately recognized the voice. It was that phony acting agent.

“Winnie! It’s Gloria Darling,” she called out again.

Vincent shook his head at me. There was no way she could be trusted. Especially when she was the reason Vincent had been whipped and shocked so many times. The animals that had captured us had been so quick to blame her disappearance on Vincent. But now more than ever, I couldn’t help but think that Gloria was just another sleeper agent Nathan’s people had sent after Vincent. A means to an end of some sorts. Get to the girlfriend, and you can get the man. I felt so stupid to have trusted her.

I can’t believe I actually thought she would help me out with my career,
I thought as I unintentionally squeezed Vincent’s hand. I looked at him, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was apologize. Apologize for being naïve. Apologize for being a fool when I met people like Gloria and Lou Jameson. I should have known that they were all pawns in some sick game. I took a long deep breath and blinked back a tear. I could feel my heart beating so hard in my chest, I was almost sure everyone could hear it.

“Winnie, please answer me sweetie,” Gloria called out again. This woman was determined if anything. “If you are down here, would you please come out and see me? I have some important news for you.” There was a long silence before she spoke again. “It’s concerning your career. I know you will be really excited to hear what I have for you.”

This time it was my turn to shake my head. Was she really doing this? Using the one leverage she had against me to get me to bend to her will? Vincent gave me a sorry look. I wasn’t sure if he was thinking the same thing I was, that he should have killed her when he had the chance. But there was no way of knowing that Gloria could have been one of
them.
She was an old sweet woman. Who could have ever suspected her? Nathan was listening to the footsteps and held up seven fingers. I looked around the room and shrugged. There were six of us there, but we were up against people with extreme training. People with guns, and here we were, Penny scared out of her mind while the rest of us held pouches filled with gunpowder unsure of how we were even supposed to use them. I didn’t think we stood a chance. Not against the interrogator and her people.

“So this is not working for you, huh?” Gloria’s voice seemed to be getting closer and closer. “Fine we’ll do it your way,” she said. I breathed in deeply. I knew that could only mean trouble.

“Be a dear and try not to make any sudden movements, okay? I’ve got a pistol, and trust me when I tell you, honey, that I will use it,” she said.

I sighed, and Vincent squeezed my hand reassuringly again. I hated the situation we were in. It was literally a life or death situation, and right about now, death seemed a little more promising than getting out of here alive.

“Nathan Hughes!” This time the voice was different. Higher than Gloria’s. But I knew this one too. I had to listen to it for days on end as guards tortured Vincent. It was the interrogator.