Damon sighed in relief as he climbed out of the car. He closed his eyes for a moment, just taking deep breaths and trying not to lose what little he had in his stomach. The drive down to Cairns on that damn Gillies Highway had done a real number on him. It was the last thing he needed on top of the events of today, but here he was. Damon opened his eyes and took in the massive building before him.
Guards stood at attention at set stations outside. However, the property wasn't properly fenced. Damon wondered just how quickly they'd had to pull this place together. It was obvious they hadn't had the time to custom-build something, with the various regulations on the building industry and having to cyclone code in this part of Australia. It did look kinda hospital-ish. He wondered if it was an old abandoned place they'd just upgraded to suit their particular needs. Anything was possible.
He turned at the sound of doors slamming from the other car carrying the ASSES agents.
"Follow us," Woods said as they headed towards the entrance.
He and Grant exchanged looks over the roof of the car before they fell into step behind Sullivan and Payton. Damon fished his ID out of his pocket to show the guard on the door like everyone else was. The guard had obviously been apprised of their arrival. He spoke into a radio on his shoulder, and moments later, the large front doors opened.
Damon took in everything he could as he trailed behind the others. They led them through to a large conference room where even more men and women were standing around discussing the morning's operation. The majority seemed happy with the events that had transpired. A couple of people kept quiet, but the rest sat and stood with grins on their faces, their tones excited. Damon really hoped he could throw a spanner in their works. He looked forward to seeing their reactions if he could pull off what he had planned. Introductions were made to more people than Damon could possibly remember, so he didn't even try.
His wolf wanted him to shift and show these assholes what it meant to be dealing with one of his kind. Damon had to fight his animal for control. No way would letting his animal free help their situation any.
Four large televisions hung mounted on one wall with the lunchtime programs running, one each dedicated to the four major channels in Australia: Nine, Seven, Ten and the ABC, all of which were muted with closed captions on. All Damon needed was a treadmill set up in front of them and he'd feel like he was back at the gym in Brisbane.
Massive whiteboards with maps were situated along the right-hand wall, pictures of men and women hung up according to certain areas. Damon's stomach felt like lead as he walked over and looked at them all.
"Impressive, isn't it?" one of the nameless new guys said as he walked up beside Damon.
All he could do was grunt in agreement. Damon wasn't sure he could keep his tone civil if he spoke, and he damn sure knew anything he said wouldn't be what the guy wanted to hear.
"It's hard to believe these creatures actually exist. Seems like something more out of a horror movie than real life."
Damon grunted again and nodded his head, his gaze riveted on the picture of Kieran tacked to the board. If they'd hurt his mate, nothing would save these people from his vengeance.
Sullivan clapped him on the back, startling Damon. He laughed and nodded toward a passage. "Come on. They're letting us watch one of the interviews."
Damon nodded and followed along. He noticed Grant stayed behind. He wondered if Payton was planning on showing him a different one. Young led them down a passage to a bank of elevators, where they went up two floors. Another white passage, and they entered another room. This one was like the ones people always saw on TV. A large glass mirror was on the right, looking into the room beyond. Two men sat at a small bench with recording equipment and laptops at their fingertips.
In the other room, there were two agents sitting opposite a man Damon recognised from that morning but couldn't place his name. Was it seriously only this morning that everything had gone down? Damon felt like he'd lived a week in just the last several hours.
"What do you want from me?" the man asked, the sound easily coming through the small speakers mounted on the walls.
"We simply want to ask you a few questions."
"And you couldn't have done this over the phone? I have a business to run. If I lose that due to whatever the fuck this is—" The man stopped to wave his hands around the room. "I'll sue the fucking government. I worked goddamn hard to open my bakery, and I'll be fucked if I'll let you take it from me."
"If you cooperate, that shouldn't happen, Mr. Morgan."
"Cooperate my ass. I bake desserts for a living. What could you possibly want to know about that? I suppose I could give you my recipe for the perfect pavlova, but it is a family recipe, and you would have to promise not to share it."
Damon wanted to grin, but he held it back.
"We don't want your pavlova recipe, Mr. Morgan."
"No? Okay, umm... What else could I tell you? Oh. I know. The secret to the greatest chocolate mousse you've ever tried?"
This time Damon couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped. Sullivan glared at him.
"Oh come on. That's fucking funny. You can't blame the guy."
"Mr. Morgan, we're not interested in any kind of culinary information," the other man stated. "We're here to get information about shifters."
"You mean like from the movies? I did watch that Twilight one. Tommy made me. But there were wolves in that, I suppose. Is that what you mean?"
Damon had to give it to him. This guy was great.
"Not in the movies, Mr. Morgan. In real life."
The man snorted and then started laughing. "Are you telling me I was shot with God-knows-what, abducted from my friend's house, and dragged to wherever the hell I am so you could ask me about something that doesn't exist?"
"We have reason to believe that it does exist."
"Then I think someone is pulling your leg, Agent. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go home. I have a business to run, and my employees will be worried about me."
Neither agent said a word as they stood up and walked out of the room.
"Hey, where the hell are you going? I want out of here!" Mr. Morgan stood and tried the door. Unfortunately for him, it was locked. He banged on it a couple of times but to no avail. Finally he started pacing the small room, cursing to himself.
"Let's see if they're having any more luck in the next room," Young said as he stepped past Damon and opened the door. They wandered a few meters down the hall and entered a room on the opposite side.
"Ahh," Young said. "I'm glad we caught this interview."
Damon looked into the room. There was a woman sitting at the table, her blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, her lips and eyes perfectly done up. She tapped her long coloured nails away on the top of the table. Opposite her were a man and a woman in suits.
The woman picked up a cup with a straw and took a long drink.
Damon nodded to the mirror and the woman beyond. He'd never seen her before. "Who's she?"
"She's the reason we're here today. This is Ms. Stacey Carr."
Damon stilled as his eyes locked onto the woman who was the cause of all this. Why one of their own would think it was a good idea to show themselves to the government was beyond him.
"Ms. Carr, thank you for coming in again today."
"Sure. And call me Stacey. Ms. Carr reminds me of my mum, and I'd really rather not think of her." Stacey ran her tongue over her lips, leaving the bright red lipstick gleaming in the harsh light of the room as she sucked on the straw once again before she placed the cup down.
"Certainly."
"So, I held up my end of the deal. What about you? Is Marcus Holland going to be mine again?"
"We just need a few more details from you if possible."
"I've already told you everything. I'm not sure what else I can give you. You promised me if I told you all I knew about being a shifter, then I could have Marcus again. I don't even care about the kids. Did you know he has kids?"
She glanced at the officers. They pulled opened a file and looked down at it.
"Yes. It says here twin boys, age, three-and-a-half years old."
"That's good, right? They have to be out of nappies by now. I don't think I could wipe their asses."
"Stacey, why is it you want this man so badly?" the woman asked.
"Because he's supposed to be my mate. Mates are fated, don't you know? They're gifted to us. I was happy with Marcus. We were going to be married, as only men and women can in this country. Then that man came along." She spat that last bit.
Poor Marcus. Damon felt sorry for him. How anyone could be so homophobic in this day and age was beyond him. Damon supposed as long as the government continued to deny equal rights for the LGBT community, people would still think it was okay to discriminate against them as well.
"What happened?" the guy asked.
"This Brian seduced my man and tricked Marcus into claiming him. Once the mating bite has been given, only death can break it. I was so angry. I tried to break their bond. But instead, my Alpha banished me from the pack. I had to leave home. I lost everything. I haven't been able to find another pack to take me in since. That's when I decided to come to you for help. I figured if anyone could help me, it would be the government."
Damon didn't know this Marcus and had no idea what had actually gone down, but by the looks of this woman, she honestly believed everything she was saying. Knowing personally how strong the mating pull was, Damon doubted there was any way Marcus would bite and claim any but his fated mate.
"Where did these twins come from, do you think?"
Stacey glanced at them, her brows furrowed. "I have no idea. I figured they adopted or got a surrogate. Where else do kids come from when two guys are involved?" She looked confused by the question. Damon let out a relieved breath that she didn't seem to know the biggest secret they were keeping.
"Okay. And this Ben Taylor is in charge of everything?"
Stacey nodded. "Yes, every group is called a pack, just like wolves in the wild. And just like them, each pack has a leader and a second in charge. These are the Alphas and Betas. There is one man, though, that is top dog in all of Australia. So if there are two packs warring over something, he steps in and resolves the dispute. That man is Benjamin Taylor. I think he took the spot from his dad. I've never met the man, but I've heard he's huge. Like six-and-a-half feet tall or something."
"Surely this man won't be too happy with you for telling us this."
Stacey furrowed her brow again, then picked up her drink and took another long pull on the straw, then licked her lips. "I expect not, but hopefully he'll understand it was in the pursuit of my mate."
Damon doubted that. Ben was pissed, and he didn't think anything was going to change that.
"Come on, let's see if we can sit in on one of the interviews," Young said as they headed out of the room again. Damon and Sullivan followed along.
* * * * *
Kieran's head ached like a bitch. He groaned as he tried to sit up. His stomach rebelled, and Kieran thought he just might lose what little he'd eaten for breakfast that morning... yesterday morning? He had no idea how long he'd been out for. Hell, he had no idea where he was.
He glanced around the small room. There was nothing but a cot, a bucket, and a tray with some water and a granola bar on it. Seriously? Where the hell was he? And what if he needed to go to the loo? There was no way Kieran was shitting in a fucking bucket.
He couldn't hear anything through the walls and closed door. The light overhead was dull and barely lit the room. He wondered just how long in advance the government had been planning this to have such a place readily available.
Keys scraped in his door, and Kieran stood, wanting to meet whoever it was on his feet.
"Come with me please," said a tall, burly man dressed in black with a scowl on his face.
"The fuck I will. I'm a goddamn Australian citizen, and you will fucking treat me as such. I've done nothing wrong. I demand you release me at once." Kieran clenched his fists to keep his wolf from coming forth. His animal was pissed at being locked in a cement cage.
The man snorted. "You're a fucking animal, and you'll come with me, or I'll lock the door on you and forget you exist at all. You're not the first animal in these cells, and you won't be the last."
Kieran wondered just what he meant by that. Could they be holding members of Max's pack here?
Part of Kieran wanted to roll his eyes. He could easily take the man, but he had no idea where the hell he was, where everyone else was, and just how many guards they had located around the place. He reluctantly nodded and stepped forward.
"Try anything funny and I'll have no regrets about pumping a round or two into you." The guy held up a gun. It looked like the same type all the cops shows had these days, a glock, Kieran thought.
It looked identical to the ones used in the raid at Ben's house. Kieran nodded. If the headache Kieran currently sported was anything to go by, he really didn't want to get hit with another one of those darts anytime soon.
He was led down a series of passages and through more locked doors similar to the one he'd come out of. Kieran wondered which of his friends were behind those doors or whether it was someone that he didn't know. God knew how many of their people these guys had kept under surveillance. He did hear the scraping of nails on concrete and concluded that at least some of the prisoners had to be in shifted form. He just hoped they'd come in that way and hadn't shifted in front of these assholes. They went down in a lift, then through more white passageways—seriously, did these people not understand the meaning of the word colour?— until they finally came to a stop.
He was shown into a room on the left. When Kieran was waved inside the empty room, he didn't feel like sitting at the metal table, so instead he paced. The longer he paced and remained trapped in this room, the more his wolf wanted out. It was never a good idea to cage an animal. Did these people not know that? If they suspected them of being shifters, what good was this doing? Maybe they were hoping someone would break and shift so they could confirm their information.
That person wasn't going to be Kieran. He wasn't going to be the one to let his Alpha down.
The door finally opened, and Kieran looked up. His heartbeat quickened when Damon walked into the room. Kieran took an involuntary step forward before he could stop himself. Their eyes locked. Damon seemed just as surprised to see Kieran as he was to see Damon. Two men followed his mate inside, and they all headed to the opposite side of the room together. Kieran's blood boiled.
How had he been so fucking stupid as to trust this man? He was working with the people that were holding them captive.
Kieran.
Kieran ignored the voice in his head. Instead, he launched himself across the table at Damon. "You asshole! This whole time you've been working with them!"
Kieran's attack took everyone by surprise, which was probably the only reason he was able to tackle Damon to the ground.
I'm not working with them. Listen to me, you stubborn ass!
Kieran punched Damon in the side, although it wasn't as hard as it could have been. Could have fucking fooled me.
They continued to tussle. A pair of strong hands on him tried to pull him off Damon. He continued to hurl insults at the man as they spoke through their link.
Haven't you ever heard of keeping your enemies close?
Kieran threw another punch that Damon easily dodged. He couldn't believe he was once again trying to hit his mate. But now that he'd started, he couldn't all of a sudden stop without it looking suspicious. Kieran snarled at Damon even as he listened to what his mate had to say.
We needed someone on the inside. I've set a plan in motion.
Oh, you have a fucking plan? he scoffed as he kicked out, missing by a mile as he was held tight and lifted off the ground—no mean feat either.
Hopefully I'll have you all out of here soon. Please trust me.
Why the fuck should I? Kieran screamed at him, all his anger and hurt coming through all at once.
Because I'm your mate, and I would never intentionally hurt you. I will fight to my last breath to get you released.
Kieran paused at that pronouncement. He didn't know if he could believe Damon. He wanted to, but after everything they'd been through, he wasn't sure. He had to hope the fact Damon was a shifter and would be right in there beside them if these people found out would be enough deterrent for the man to see his plan through.
God, he hoped it worked.
His heart was no longer in it, but Kieran continued to fight against the men pulling him from the room, yelling at everyone now, not just Damon. He wanted to make it seem as real as possible. Seeing Damon again had caused a tumult of feelings. His wolf was so happy, and so was Kieran—for a full second. Then that happiness had disappeared, anger had replaced it, and his fists had once again come out. Kieran really needed to stop doing that. He understood the situation was heightened with everything going on, and under normal circumstances there was no way he'd ever hit his mate. But that didn't excuse the fact he'd done it not once, but twice now.
Why couldn't he have had a nice, simple mating?
All he wanted was to meet the man for him, introduce him to his family, and live happily ever after. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently. No, he had to have a cop from out of town interested in arresting his best friends. Their relationship, if one could even call it that, being kept a secret, then the world practically blowing up because the government found out about shifters.
All the fight left Kieran as he thought of his family. He had no idea if they'd been captured as well, or if they were back home, worried about where Kieran and the others had gotten to. Fuck, what a mess. He'd only been Beta for a week or so, and he'd already failed his Alpha spectacularly. He was once again angry with his mate, and he couldn't help his family, his friends or his pack.
What about Tommy? he asked hastily as he thought about the task he and Damon had been issued by Kieran's Alpha.
He got away safely.
Kieran breathed a little easier knowing at least his Alpha's mate was safe.
They dragged Kieran into another room a few doors down and unceremoniously dumped him inside.
"Oh great, another colourless room," he bitched as he stared up at the ceiling from his position on the floor. He didn't really see any point in moving, so he didn't bother. Whatever Damon had planned, he hoped it happened soon.
* * * * *
Damon's afternoon crawled. Thankfully, Young and Sullivan didn't ask too many questions in regards to Kieran's attack on him. Damon's wolf hadn't been too happy with his mate attacking him like that, but there wasn't anything Damon could do to soothe the angry beast.
He'd sat in on countless interviews of people from both Ben's and Max's pack. So far he hadn't seen anyone that hadn't been at the house during the raid, thankfully. Which meant his mate's family was safe for now. Damon had heard Max say members of his pack in Victoria had been taken, leading Damon to believe there might have been facilities like this popping up in every state, since he hadn't seen any non-local shifters.
Max's interview had been one to watch. He'd enjoyed seeing the people in the room with him shrink back repeatedly. From what Damon had seen, Max wasn't a bad man. But anyone who'd had their pack torn apart like he'd had reserved the right to be fucking pissed, and that's exactly what he was.
Ben had sat there with his arms crossed, much like Corey had done the previous day, refusing to say a word. After nearly an hour they gave up.
Damon was on his way back to the conference room with Sullivan and Young after their failure. Emotions mixed and swirled within him. He hated seeing men that he hoped to one day be able to call friends locked up and interrogated like they were criminals. Only by the quick actions of his mate was Damon able to maintain his cover instead of being in there with them. Thoughts of his mate brought a whole slew of emotions to the forefront that he couldn't deal with right then.
As soon as they stepped inside, Damon scented the food.
"Oh thank Christ, I'm starving." He headed to a side table that had been set up with an array of wraps and rolls, along with some muffins and juices. Damon grabbed a plate and started loading up. He hadn't eaten since that bite of the apple this morning, and that was a bloody long time ago. The sun would be setting shortly.
Sullivan and Young followed his lead, then they found empty places as the table.
"What's the consensus?" one of the men at the opposite side of the table asked as he looked around at everyone. Damon couldn't remember the dude's name, but he didn't care.
"Well, we know for a fact they exist. We've seen this Carr woman turn."
Damon didn't usually hit girls, but for Stacey Carr, he'd make an exception.
"So why do they deny what we know?"
"Maybe because of the way you've gone about things," Damon said around a mouthful of food. He noticed Grant on the other side of the table nodding, which really surprised Damon.
"What do you mean?"
"Really? Look around you. Where are we? If you were in their place and had your home raided for no reason, been shot with tranq darts, abducted, and transported to God-knows-where all for merely living your life, wouldn't you be a little reluctant to answer any questions put forth to you?"
The room went quiet as his words sunk in.
"But they can't be trusted," someone said.
"Why not?" Grant asked.
"They're dangerous, stronger than us."
"And they've also been living amongst us peacefully for years, if not decades. The only difference now is that we're aware of them," someone else piped up.
Damon was glad to see he wasn't the only one who thought this whole matter beyond a joke.
"We really don't know anything about them, only what that woman has told us. Surely it wouldn't hurt to study them."
"Are you kidding me?" Damon said as he slammed his fist on the table.
"What? It's the only way we learn things, by studying them, maybe running a few tests."
"This is a human being you're talking about. You can't just take away all their rights and make them a lab rat for your own fascinated interest."
"Who says we can't?" a woman asked. "And they're not human beings. If they were human, then they wouldn't be able to shift into anything."
"How do you even know they can shift?" Woods asked. "All you have so far is the say so of one woman, and who knows, she could have a problem with these people for one reason or another. How are you planning on proving that they can actually transform into animals?"
"We have more than just one woman. Her intel led us to several packs." She flicked through a file, then flung photo after photo across the table. "Do you really think we would be here right now without proof?"
Damon stilled. He wondered if this was Max's poor pack.
The room went quiet for a moment as they all stared at the large photos showing various stages of the shift from human to wolf and back again. Then the room exploded with noise as everyone started talking at once. The voices started to get louder and louder as people tried to talk over the top of everyone else, trying to get their point across.
Damon sat back and just watched. He wasn't about to try to talk with all these others going at it. The sound of the door slamming open had him looking behind him to see what was happening.
Another nameless woman came racing into the room. She paused for only a moment at the sight of half the people on their feet, yelling at one another across the table. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out one of the loudest, shrillest whistles Damon had heard in a bloody long time. The room instantly stilled, all eyes going to her.
She reached over and picked up the remote off the end of the table.
"You all might want to watch this." She unmuted the television, and all eyes then turned to the TVs mounted on the wall. A woman reporter stood with a family gathered around outside a house. Across the bottom of the screen read the words: Exclusive interview with Alexander Holland, a shapeshifter.
"What the fuck is this?" someone said as others too voiced their confusion.
Damon sat back and watched.
God, he hoped this was the right thing to do.