TUCKER: Valley Enforcers, #3 (21 page)

I could only stare at him with wide eyes. “Yes. He said they took the twins and that –”

“I heard.”

“What?” If my bladder wasn’t threatening to explode and a rusty, jagged piece of the cage wasn’t threatening to break skin, I would have pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. “That’s not possible.”

“Later, Emily. There’s no way to know this place isn’t bugged. I’m not talking shop with you right now. I shouldn’t have even shifted, but they already saw you.”

“Don’t blame this on me!”

His large hand touched my knee comfortingly. I almost jerked away, but the contact felt nice. “I’m not blaming you, Emily. My training is the only thing that kept me in form. Besides, you look like you’re two seconds away from crying. Where did your spunk go, Red?” He was teasing. I could deal with teasing.

“Kind of hard to be optimistic when you narrowly avoided being groped by some psycho who wants to sell you to the Russians.”

“Who knows, maybe we’ll end up with the Chinese.” Reid smiled and cocked an eyebrow at me, daring me to say something. When my mouth only opened and closed like a guppy out of water, he shook his head. “We’re not going anywhere but home. I promise. I guarantee, my family will be here by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.” He moved his hand up and covered half of his mouth. It appeared casual, but I knew he was shielding his words from prying eyes. “Landon narrowed in on these guys yesterday. One of them was out doing a patrol – drunk, mind you – and my brother spotted him. The guy got spooked by something and Landon couldn’t tag him or follow him back, but they’ve got the beat on them. Militant survivalist group or something.”

There was a flutter in my chest – hope. I knew the Silver family would put all of their resources into finding their son, but I didn’t know how close they were to resolving the issue in the first place. There were a plethora of survivalist groups in Montana, but they were never localized near bigger cities. They remained in pockets of untouched land, only making appearances when causing mischief.

A hardcore survivalist group robbed a pharmaceutical distribution center the summer before, making a big splash in the area. The company Shawn worked for handled the case, but he wasn’t allowed to tell us anything. He never was. I almost preferred it that way; I didn’t want to know what kind of dangerous work he was doing, even if it was behind a desk.

Not like Tucker
. My breath hitched, and I tried covering it with a cough. Tucker would have never let himself get captured. He was calculating and smart, trained for battle. He would know how to keep it together, even if he was stuck in a cage. One night we stayed up talking about his work; he thought it was mostly boring, but the stories he told me made my heart swell with pride. I heard his voice in my head,
“My Alpha says boring is good, but it makes for a long ass shift.
” He told me all about how he got the scar on his face and about a situation with an accomplice to some crazy scheme got out of control. I could see it in his eyes; he was disappointed with himself when it came to work, but his strength lifted me up.

I was suffocating, but he showed me how to breathe.

I was more hopeful than I had been that I’d have the chance to tell him the words myself, but I wasn’t going to risk it. I didn’t want the weight of my destiny on his shoulders. I didn’t want him to go on thinking that he shared the space of my heart with anyone else. The fates made Tucker for me, but I would have picked him without their help.

“Hey Reid.”

“Yes, I will take you out to dinner after heroically rescuing you from this dingy ass pit. No, I will not throw you down and make sweet love to you right now.”

He managed to make me laugh, despite our circumstances. I leaned forward, resting my head on my knees. “Stop; this is serious. If for some reason something happens –”

“Don’t talk like that, Emily.”

“Listen to me. I know you have the attention of a goldfish but this is important.” When I knew I had his attention, I continued, hating the way tears rimmed my eyes. “If something happens, find Tucker Dawson and tell him I’m sorry and I love him. Tell him it’s only him, and I’m so fucking sorry that we never got to make our mating official. He’s a bear shifter from the Stoneclaw Clan in Brown Bear Valley.”

I watched the emotions change on his face. “I didn’t know you had a mate. Congratulations, Red.” The inkling of hurt I saw was gone, and the playful part of the youngest Silver son was back. He nudged me lightly. “Guess you and I won’t be riding off into the sunset after all, yeah? I should probably stop staring at your boobs, too.”

“Can you be serious for two minutes, Reid?” I scolded. “How are you so chipper when we were kidnapped? Do you have no concept of danger?”

He frowned, his eyebrows lowering to cover his near black eyes. In a whispered and harsh voice, he said, “Of course I understand danger, but how can I protect you if I’m shaking in my fucking boots? I’m afraid, too, Emily. I have faith in my family, but that won’t keep those scumbags from coming in here and putting a bullet between my eyes before holding you down. I know everyone thinks I’m an irresponsible fuckup, but I know what I’m doing. Would you prefer me to be snot nosed and crying? A stone faced jerk who tells you that there are two guards outside our door, and one of them keeps looking at you like a sick fuck? Or would you rather have me keep your mind off everything until we’re free and
you
can tell your mate those words instead of having me parrot them to him?”

Reid Silver continued to shock me. I didn’t have much faith in my ruling family as a whole; there was too much evidence that they only catered to their own needs, leaving the rest of us to deal with high pack dues and the grunt work of their business. Reid, the playboy with dangerous eyes and a love of fast cars, was their saving grace. Who would’ve thought? So instead of saying anything and letting my twisted tongue make things worse, I leaned over and kissed his cheek before resting my head on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Reid.”

He cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, careful of his positioning. “If anybody comes in, don’t talk to them. Keep your eyes to the ground. I won’t let them hurt you, Emily. You have to trust me. Promise me one thing, though.”

“Depends on the thing,” I replied slowly.

“Invite me to the wedding.”

I smiled against him. “Done.”

My comfort only lasted a few short minutes. The sound of the scraping door pierced the otherwise silent night. I tensed in Reid’s arms, but he held me tighter and whispered for me to stay calm. Easy to say, impossible to do. I made the mistake of looking up, regretting it the moment I did. The person who entered wasn’t the apparent ring leader.

“This ain’t no love shack. Opposite sides of the cage.” He used the butt of his gun to hit the top of our cramped quarters. The rattling was loud, and my sensitive ears hated the noise. Within seconds I got a splitting headache. He squatted and leered into our space, showcasing a mouth full of missing teeth. “Go on! Get to opposite sides. Or you want me to tie you down while I fuck this sweet little thing? You into watchin’?”

“You touch her and you’re dead.” The cold tone of Reid’s voice held promise and hate. I knew he would never hurt me, but it made my wolf go on alert.

A wad of spit landed at our feet. “You sure about that, lover boy? Boss man says I can’t kill ya, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make you beg for me to finish you off.” He put his rifle on the ground and materialized a knife and a Taser. Despite my best effort, I couldn’t hold back my frightened squeak. The guy’s eyes left Reid and traveled over me while his dirty tongue flicked over his lips. “I like em’ scared, wolf girl. Makes me harder when you kick and scream.”

The hate flowing from Reid was suffocating, and I could feel him struggling to keep himself controlled. “I’m going to rip your throat out if you don’t step the fuck off.”

The man pointed the Taser at Reid and went to unlatch the cage. “Get over there before I make you, you freak.” I watched in slow motion as his finger flexed over the trigger of the Taser, unable to stop what was about to play out. I felt Reid’s muscles flex with a shift, triggering my own wolf’s response.

Just as quickly as things seemed to stop, they sped up again. The probes of the Taser buried into Reid’s chest. His body jumped and tensed next to me, and I tried to hold him stable as he grunted in pain. The guard, satisfied with himself, chuckled and took a kneeling step inside the cage. And then it happened. I thought the noise was my body reaching its breaking point, exploding under the pressure of the situation. The look on the guard’s face told me he heard the noise too.

An explosion. Shouting.

“What the fuck?” My nameless captor stepped out of the cage, exchanging the Taser for his rifle. He took his eyes off of Reid and I to adjust his vest, mumbling something about propane tanks under his breath.

Reid was in no condition to be my savior; despite the electric shocks he took, he was all action. Taking the distracted guard by surprise, he shifted part of his body and took a swipe at the guy’s throat. He swung around, knife in hand, but it was too late. I shielded my eyes, but not before I heard the gurgling noise or saw the blood spurt out of his neck like a faucet.

“Take my hand, Red.” Reid’s voice was strained but soft as his body came into view. I wanted to grab his extended hand, but I was frozen in place. A cold sweat made my skin crawl, and I felt like I was in an icebox. “We have to go. I don’t know if that’s our cavalry, but we have weapons and a chance to escape.” When that didn’t work, I felt myself being tugged out of the cage. I looked up at Reid, taking in the bleeding holes in his chest from the now discarded Taser probes. He attempted to smile, but it was more of a grimace. “I can’t carry you and protect us. You good?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer. There was another explosion, this one close enough to bathe the room in a bright flash of white. The floor felt shaky under my feet, but I pushed myself up and followed Reid. I could see the lifeless body of the guard at our feet as we stealthily moved to the heavy metal door. It would scrape and squeak when we opened it, but there was no turning back.

Reid pushed on the door, alerting anybody nearby of our escape. And then we ran.

Tucker

It felt like a piece of my heart was missing as I sat in the brand new recliner with Echo warming my feet. I didn’t even want to lift my eyes from the tiny hole at the bottom of my shirt. I’d see Shawn, eyes glued to his fancy laptop. His wife and Amanda on the loveseat, quietly exchanging glances every so often. Justin and Kate, ignoring their sexual tension for their best friends. He was glued to his phone, relaying messages from Deacon in the absence of information from the Silver Shadow Pack. Emily’s father paced the room with expensive whiskey in hand, and her mother stared at those damn photobooks like they were her only connection to her daughter.

Just sitting helplessly while my mate was out there was the worst fucking thing to experience. I was torn; both the human and bear parts of my soul wanted to go to the dark woods and sniff her out while the lone speck of logic in me told me to stay put. What kind of man – what kind of
bear
– sits by while his mate is in danger?
One who is man enough to know that he can’t help. Who has enough faith that she’ll be returned in one piece.
My best friend’s words echoed in my head. How could I have faith in people I didn’t know? I knew I couldn’t blame myself for what happened, but that didn’t stop me from playing every possible scenario in my head. The what-if’s were already driving me crazy.

“Deacon says they’re moving in,” Justin announced to the room before wincing, knowing the severity of his mistake the moment he opened his mouth.

“How does he know?”

“Who are they?”

“Are they okay?”

The chorus of questions and voices didn’t help my splitting headache. Echo popped her head up, like she knew what we were talking about.

Shawn pushed his laptop to the side and crossed his arms. “Explain.”

Deacon was getting information from Moxie, an agent of the Council who headed a tactical team that carried out special operation missions. We worked with her in the past, and she was a high school friend of our Protector, Lexi. Her team wasn’t affiliated with the Silver Shadow Pack, but she had insider information and was feeding bits and pieces to my Alpha who relayed them to Justin. It was entirely frowned upon and probably illegal, so Justin was supposed to keep everything hush-hush. He apparently didn’t know the definition of low key, though.

“We have connections to a SPAT group.”

“What’s SPAT?” Amanda asked.

Before I could answer, Shawn cut in. His puzzled eyes flashed between me and Justin before he responded, “Shifter Protection Agency and Tactical Team. They work for the Council.” There was a beat of silence. “It’s sensitive material and highly classified. A SPAT sect shouldn’t be relaying private information.”

“And how do you know that?” Justin countered, eyebrow raised.

“I just do,” He sneered.

I had a feeling Shawn knew more than he was letting on. Emily said her big brother worked for a security company and wasn’t allowed to talk about his job. She didn’t even know the name of his employer or his official job title, just that he seemed to be doing well for himself. Was he a SPAT member? Was he working Emily and Reid’s case? Wouldn’t he be on site with his team? Whatever the case, it didn’t appear that Shawn worked for Joe Blow staring at a video monitor all day long.

“Shawn,” May chastised softly, crossing the room to put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Not now, okay?” She looked over at Justin. “Did your friend tell you anything else?”

“Uh,” Justin rubbed the back of his head. “Small group took them, identified by authorities as a militant survivalist group. Their acreage bumps right up against your clan’s land. It’s registered to a Thomas ‘Buck’ Welton. They are considered armed and dangerous.”

“Don’t tell them that,” Shawn snapped, shutting his laptop and standing up.

“You want me to lie and tell them your sister is at a puppy shelter or something?” Justin was toe to toe with Shawn. “Of course she’s with dangerous people. She was kidnapped.”

“Hey, stop.” Bill, their father, stepped in. His eyes were bloodshot and his gray speckled hair was standing on end. “Any information is welcomed. Why hasn’t Alpha Matthew made any contact with us?”

“He’s worthless,” Shawn huffed. “Just like the rest of his family.”

“That man signs my paychecks. He has ran your pack for years, just like his father did, and he is bringing your sister back. Have some respect.”

“I wish he was so damn noble. If Reid hadn’t been taken, I guarantee he wouldn’t have searched for Emily. He would’ve written it off as another loss to the unseen forces of humankind.”

“Hey! Hey, shut the hell up!” Justin’s normally cool and collected voice turned into a razor sharp blade as he bellowed into the bickering room. “They found them!”

I was on him before he even finished speaking, reaching for his phone. “Where?”

“She’s safe?” Tanya whispered.

“They’re both alive. I don’t know status or where they’re at, just that they’re alive.” He looked up from his phone, barring me with a steady arm. “We have to wait for the Silver Shadow Pack to contact us with further information.”

“Bullshit!” I yelled, giving up my quest to grab his phone. I reached in my pocket and began dialing Deacon. “I need to know where she is
now!
”

“We know more than we were supposed to. What the hell are we going to say if we show up, unannounced and uninvited, to their rendezvous point? Come on, man. You know better than this.”

Deacon picked up before I could pummel Justin for speaking the truth. “Tucker, I know what you’re going to say. No, I can’t tell you any more. No, I don’t have any information. Yes, I’m sorry. Your mate is safe. She’s alive. Keep your bear grounded and don’t come back until you have her and you sort your shit.”

“Your Alpha has a way with words,” Shawn grunted.

“At least he cares,” I tossed, itching for a fight.

Too bad Shawn seemed to hate his Alpha as much as his sister did. “Touché.”

The sound of a house phone made all of us shut up. For a half second, we were still and silent. Then Tanya jumped up and reached for the phone, cradled nearby on a side table. She didn’t have to put it on speaker for us to hear – with Kate as an exception. My nails dug into my palms as the flat voice told Tanya information we already knew; Emily was safe. They spared the gritty details and kept the call short, just giving their location.

She didn’t even have a chance to hang up the phone before I was jogging through the house. I had no idea where the pack facility was, so I had to wait for them to follow. There was no way I wasn’t going to my mate. I was done playing games. She was mine and mine only, and I was never going to let her go again.

I’d never been more thankful for snow tires and traction control. The near vacant parking lot was a solid sheet of ice. My truck whipped and fishtailed as I did a complete circle trying to get my speeding vehicle to a stop. Once I realized the location we were headed to was the main office of Silver Lumber, I passed the two cars in front of me – both holding Emily’s family members – and sped ahead. It only gave me a minute or two lead, but I
needed
to see her. I needed to see her first.

Justin flailed in the passenger seat, screeching about my driving abilities. I’d relinquish my license if it meant he’d shut the hell up. Once my truck stopped rocking, I didn’t even bother turn the thing off. Her family pulled into the lot just as I started my sprint to the glass door of the complex. Like a man possessed, I threw the door open and listened for a split second before running towards the noise. It was faint, but it was loud enough to follow. The closer I got, the more I could smell her.

Some bulky motherfucker in all black tried stopping me from entering the room. I shrugged him off and shouted her name. “Emily!” With the jackass on my trail, I kicked the door open. “Emily!”

I saw her and my heart stopped. Then I saw red.

Her hair was matted and wild and dried blood streaked down one side of her face. Her skin was naturally pale, but it was splotchy and red. She was wearing a man’s shirt – plain white and barely long enough to cover the space between her thighs. A starchy looking blanket was wrapped around her body. I should’ve been concerned about all of those things; I was, but I was more concerned with the owner of the arm draped over her shoulder. He wore only a pair of loose joggers, and the mix of blood and dirt on his body was a good indication that the man cozying up with my mate was Reid Silver.

I took two steps in their direction when I felt myself being held back. “Get the fuck off me before I tear you to shreds!”

Emily pushed away from the guy, letting the generic emergency blanket fall to the ground. She shook her head at whoever had a grip on my arms while she raced towards me with a slight limp. “Stop! Let him go.” I thrashed against them, my body swelling to accompany a shift. They gripped harder. “He’s my mate!”

Her admission calmed me. Or maybe it was her arms wrapped around my torso. I cradled her to my chest, marveling at how fragile she felt against me. Arms finally free from the faceless guards, I pulled Emily against me and smothered a myriad of kisses to her frizzy hair before holding her back and running my hands over her face. I was doing my damnedest not to cry, but my vision was going blurry. I couldn’t continue my examination in front of everyone, afraid of what I’d do or say. I kissed her forehead, tasting the mixture of blood and sweat beneath my tongue.

And in a room full of mostly strangers holding the most precious thing in the entire world, I nearly wept the one word that brought my bear to his knees. “Mine.”

“Yours. Only yours.” Her tired green eyes looked up at me, sparkling with tears. “I’m so sorry, Tucker. I’m sorry for everything –”

“Em, I was an ass. I was jealous and –”

Our reunion was cut short by an older man with tan skin and hollow eyes. His gray peppered hair was slicked back, styled like a Wall Street banker. It was the end of January and nearly one in the morning, but he was dressed in an impeccably pressed suit. He had a natural arrogance to him, and within seconds of his arrival I felt the dominance that only an Alpha could have.

“A bear on Silver Shadow property? Can’t say I’m surprised, Emily. You’ve given me nothing but a headache these last few months.”

I wanted to wipe the pompous frown from his face. “Watch your mouth.” As an afterthought, I added, “Sir.”

He sneered, coming to a stop beside us. I bristled under his stare, hate tingling through my system. He lingered on the scar that ran along my face. “Sir? I’m Matthew Silver, Alpha of the Silver Shadow pack. My family has carried this pack for –”

No wonder half of Emily’s family hated the prick. I rubbed a reassuring circle into her skin before stepping away from her body. I missed her warmth the second she was gone. “I don’t give a shit who you are. Being an Alpha means you care about your subjects. That includes giving them some fucking space when they encounter something traumatic.”

“Traumatic? Hardly. If Reid wasn’t so infatuated with her, neither of them would have gotten into the situation in the first place. Your name, son.” He opened and closed his hand like he was waiting for me to hand him something tangible. “Hurry, now. I’ll get it eventually. The Council will hear about this act of disrespect.”

I’d been itching for a fight for hours – days – and he was begging to get his ass kicked. I flexed my fist, hoping Emily would forgive me when we were both banished from our respective communities and forced to life a nomadic lifestyle as rogues. “You haven’t seen disrespect yet, asshole.”

Emily’s fingers wrapped around my wrist. “Tucker, stop.”

At the same time she spoke, the shirtless boy wonder crossed the room. He shoved his dad, robbing me from the release I desperately needed. “Back off, Dad. Jesus fucking Christ, can you not be a self-entitled prick for two minutes? That’s all I’m asking.”

Another suit stepped between them. He looked like he could be Reid’s twin. “This is not the place.”

“How are you okay with this? With him?” Reid scoffed. He ran a hand through his hair. “Your head is so far up his ass that you don’t even see it. He won’t pick you, Landon. He won’t pick either of us.”

Another joined the group. He was older and resembled the stony faced Alpha the most. “Of course you’d bring this up now, Reid. At least make me
want
to feel guilty about bleeding you tonight because I am going to enjoy making you cry, you little shit.”