Three Fur All (13 page)

Luckily Dawn had landed on the side, and her body had twisted enough that she wasn’t hit by any of them. It was obvious when she didn’t move right away she was hurt. Elliot shifted back and then poked him. Mika did the same.

“We have to get her out of there.”

“Yeah.
And we have to save October.” Mika glanced around and saw another set of footprints leading further toward the waterfall he heard deeper in the woods. “Try to get her out of there. Go back for help if you need to. Call in the pack. I don’t care at this point. I’m going after October.”

“Okay. But be careful.”

Mika nodded and ran off in the direction of the footprints. They led him closer to the falls. Then they stopped, and so did the trail of October’s blood. He examined the ground and again saw a faint split in the soil that shouldn’t have been there. Mika listened harder, and he thought he heard a hum that wasn’t caused by the water rushing over the rocks of the nearby river. He bent down and noticed a small branch that was shaped like a handle. He grasped it, and he was able to pull it back, revealing a door. In the darkness, he heard a loud and long howl pierce the night air. Elliot was calling in the pack. It didn’t matter to him anymore if the pack was coming and they punished him later. All that mattered was that October was going to be rescued and the man who stole her from them was going to be punished.

Before him was a staircase that led into a faint darkness. The overwhelming sense of danger washed over him, but he gritted his teeth and faced his fear to descend into whatever was awaiting him. He went down carefully, holding on to the railing, which was rotting away under his fingers. The stairs had been reinforced with new wood where the foundation was crumbling.
This has to be some cellar from an old house. I know they used to have houses back up here in the old days, but I never suspected anything like this.

When he reached the bottom, he entered a large room. Two hallways branched off the main room, leading left or right. Now that he was underground, he heard the hum of a generator. The air was heavy with the smell of the kerosene used to run it. Above him was a chandelier all lined with candles, and a rope that was tied off to the side, where someone would lower
it.
Underneath the chandelier were piles of wax from the candles. He sniffed and caught October’s scent. Lights flickered in the hallway, but none were in the great room. Mika caught the smells of other women who had come and gone through the room. He glanced around looking for a weapon, but saw none.

Mika looked down the left corridor and saw five doors scattered along both walls. Three of them were closed. When he checked down the right corridor, there was another large room at the end of the hall and only four doors on both walls. One was closed. He figured the open room at the end of the hall was where the generator was. He looked closer and saw more drops of blood going down the hallway.
Shit. She could be in any of the rooms
. He tried the left passage first. When he came to an open door, he saw an old mattress and a bucket thrown in the corner. Rusty manacles, like the ones used to bind October, hung on the walls. There was nothing strewn on the floor that he could use as a weapon.

He eased out of the room and passed the first closed door. He peered through the bars and saw a woman huddled in the corner. Mika tried the door, and she glanced over at him. A whimper left her lips.

“No more. Please.”

“Shh. I’m here to help you. But you have to be quiet, okay?”

He saw the hesitation in her eyes, but she nodded slowly. Her face was smeared with dirt. Her lip was swollen, and bruises adorned her arms. She wore nothing more than a red negligee, and that was torn. It revealed her legs, and he saw even more bruises. A pang of sympathy went through him knowing that October had to have endured the same treatment this poor creature had. It took everything in him to smile, press his finger to his lips, and then move away. As he inched closer to another open door, the stench was horrendous, like a dead animal. Inside were the remains of a woman strewn about the
room.
The wolf growled inside his head. In the two remaining cells, he found half-starved women huddled on the mattresses. Another was rocking back and forth. Her eyes were glazed over. Mika shook his head and made his way silently back toward the other end of the passageway. He made it to the stairs, when a large red wolf bounded out before him, lips pulled back, showing its teeth, with its eyes glowing red. Its claws were fully extended. Behind the wolf was the man who had kidnapped October. He was bare-chested and wore nothing more than a loose pair of gray sweatpants.

“My, my.
I thought it’d be the other one coming to look for her. You were as good as dead when I left you on the road. Guess you got some help.”

Mika glanced at the other wolf. It didn’t look familiar to him. Still, he wasn’t letting the other beast out of his sight. He inched along the wall and felt something scrape along his back. He glanced up the stairs, the only way of escape, and saw the deteriorating railing. He gripped it behind his back and pulled. It gave way a little.

“Where’s October?”

The other man smiled smugly. “You don’t have anything to worry about. She’s soon going to be all
mine
.”

He gritted his teeth and then pulled again, hoping the other two wouldn’t notice. He winced when he heard the groan of the wood. The wolf stepped closer. “She isn’t yours. If you did anything to her, I’ll rip your balls off.” He tugged again. This time the board came with him. He stepped forward at the same time the wolf sprang at him. Mika swung with all his might and hit the wolf across the skull. The wolf dropped to the floor, and the piece of rotten railing splintered into a thousand pieces. The kidnapper growled, but Mika kept on running, head down, and tackled him. They both went down to the floor. The landing knocked the wind out of him, but he straddled him and began to pummel his face.

The kidnapper grabbed the place where he had bitten him and squeezed. Bolts of white-hot pain seared his nerves, and he saw stars from the pain. The other man hit him again across the nose and broke it. Mika concentrated through the agony and poured all of his energy into shifting one part of his body. His hand twisted. His fingers thinned, and his fingernails sharpened. He slashed at the other man and caught him with his claws. The attacker staggered backward toward the center of the great room. Mika had gotten him across the chest, and he could see bone underneath. The other man looked down at his wounds and only smiled.

“You may think this will stop me, but it won’t. We have other holdings. My partner will make sure the other girls will suffer for what you’ve done. You can kill me, but you won’t stop us.”

Mika stood over him and growled. The rage that burned in him nearly blinded him. It took everything in him not to tear at this man’s throat. “Where is she?”

“You must really love that tail. She’s by the generator, but be careful if you move her. The whole place could go boom. You really didn’t think that I was going to let you get away free and clear from this. None of you will get out of this alive,” the other
man
laughed.

Mika hit him across the face, and the kidnapper fell to the floor. Mika saw the other wolf was under the chandelier. He rushed toward the rope, and with one swipe, he cut it with his claws. The kidnapper looked up as the chandelier fell, pinning him underneath it. Mika waited for the dust to settle. When he did, the other man was still breathing. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth. Mika stood over him and raised his hand for the killing strike, but it was caught. He turned around, ready to snap at whoever had stopped him, and saw Elliot, covered in mud and scraped up. It appeared he had gotten Dawn out of the pit.

“Leave him. The pack is on the way. We want to make sure he gets justice for what he’s done.”

“What about the other one?” Mika asked.

His friend’s brows knitted together. “What other one?’

Mika glanced back to where the wolf had been lying. The body had vanished.
Fuck!
“His accomplice.
There was a red wolf just there.” He pointed to the pool of blood near the right hallway. “Didn’t you see him when you came down here?”

“No. There wasn’t anyone else. We
’ll find him
,
don’t worry
. Go get October and see if she’s okay.”

Mika nodded and ran down the hallway. He heard October’s distinct heartbeat, and it was hammering in her chest. When he got into the room, she looked up. The stench of the kerosene was overwhelming and made his eyes water. Piled in the corner were other buckets and a couple of shovels. He saw some other tools, but could only guess what they were for. His heart dropped when he saw his beloved. She was covered in bruises, and there was a gag in her mouth. Mika dropped to his knees and gently pulled the gag from her mouth. Her eyes were wide, and her lip was puffy from where she had been hit. Her arm was sliced open. She was pale, but she was awake. Her shirt had been ripped open, exposing her breasts, and there were superficial scratches running over her chest. She was tied to a pole. He reached for the ropes.

“Stop.
There’s a bomb.”

He glanced behind her and saw the thin wires lying on top of the loose earth. He followed the wires and discovered the generator was full to the brim. On the back side was a bundle of dynamite attached to a cell phone. There was a timer next to it with only thirty seconds on the display.
Oh shit.

He traced the wires back to a plate that October was sitting on. They had to get her out of there.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re not going to die in this place.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “You need to go.”

“No. I won’t leave you here. Did he bite you?”

“No.
Just the scratches.”

Mika nodded more to himself than to her. “Good. Then he didn’t infect you. Do you know anything about the other wolf, his partner that was with him?”

October shook her head. “No. I never saw his face. He was rougher with the girls. They screamed and died quicker. He came for me once, but the other got to him first and said I was off-limits. He got the left hallway. Sometimes I wished I was his so he would just let me die.”

“Shh. Don’t
worry
about it. I’m going to be right back.”

“Okay.”

Mika returned to Elliot, who was with Cooper. He saw other wolves opening up the cells in the right hallway, freeing the other women in them. The pack leader looked up at him. “You catch this one?”

“Yeah.
I thought I had his partner too, but he got away.”

The kidnapper chuckled and shook his head. For the first time, Mika saw how truly mad he was.

“You’ll never find him. And the best part of it is
,
he’s been among you all along.”

Cooper grabbed the other man’s face and pulled him closer. “What do you mean? Who is your partner?”

“I’ll never tell.”

Cooper gripped the man’s face and growled, “Tell me!”

The other man spit on the pack leader. He wiped the spittle from his face and then slugged him.

“Take him upstairs and let the others bring him back into town. Help bring the remaining victims to safety. Be quick about it. See they are cared for. The same with Dawn,” he said to Elliot. Cooper glanced at Mika. “Is your girl back there?”

Mika nodded.
“Yeah.
But there’s a bomb. I’m not sure I can move her.” He led Cooper back into the room at the end of the hall. October looked up at him with a hopeful light in her eye and a small smile.

Cooper glanced at her and then to the setup. He knelt down and picked up the wires. “This isn’t good. If we move her, the timer will be triggered.”

 
Mika stayed with her and kissed the top of her head.

“How much do you weigh?” Cooper asked.

October blushed and then glanced at Mika. “One thirty. One forty. I don’t know. I haven’t been on a scale in a while. You know, being a prisoner and all.”

The pack leader grunted and then left the room. Mika stayed behind and chuckled.

October glanced at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Just how you are with him.
He hates attitude of any kind.”

“Let me
guess,
he’s the type of guy who thinks he can look at someone and they will bow down and suck his dick, right?”

“Actually, I prefer a hand job rather than a blow job. Maybe when you get out of here, you can give it a try.” Cooper came back in carrying a woman over his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t substitute another life for hers.”

“Relax. This one was already dead. I’d say within the past hour or so. She seems to be about your weight. I don’t know how long we have, but when we switch, we have to run like hell.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” Mika asked.

Cooper shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m going off an
Indiana Jones
movie here. I’m not a bomb expert.

Samuel never showed up, and he’s the only one who had training with this kind of thing. We try it or we leave your girl down here.”

Mika glanced at October. “Do it,” she said. “I’m not going to die down here no matter what. He won’t get the better of me.”