Jeremiah managed to not only get inside the White River Wolves compound, but also slip into the hospital unnoticed, with the help of a special pill the General’s scientists had developed that masked his scent. He also had one that helped block the ability of psychics to slide inside his mind and another that altered the perception of anyone he gave it to. He avoided using the last one, because he hated the thought of messing with anyone’s head. Also, it was still in the testing phase and had really screwed up some of the test subjects, causing them to kill themselves. But the first two pills he used on a regular basis. It was how he managed to stay one step ahead of RARE when they were hunting him earlier in the year.
He found what had to be Rikki’s room. Her scent was there, even though it was faint, making his cock immediately stand to attention. Jeremiah groaned under his breath, pushing down on the annoying prick, hoping to ease the discomfort. He didn’t have time for a distraction. There was too much at stake right now.
The bed was made, the room clean. Rikki may have been there, but not for a few days. Fear began to fill him at what that might mean. Where the hell was she? Alive, or…he wouldn’t let himself continue that thought. His mate was not dead. He would know it. He would feel it deep down inside.
“So, she’s okay?”
Jeremiah stiffened at the sound of a female voice right outside the door. Shit. He’d been caught up in his own thoughts, missing the fact that someone was near.
“Well, she should be fine to spar. Just watch her closely. Her wolf is strong, and from what you are saying, she’s very angry. You need to be careful who you give her as a target to take her aggression out on. If it is someone she doesn’t know very well, she could hurt them. She won’t have any reason to pull back.”
Jeremiah’s eyes narrowed at the conversation. What was going on?
“How long will everyone be at Angel’s? I would like you to bring Rikki back here afterwards so I can do another exam. I’m sure she’s fine, but it’s better to err on the side of caution.”
Rikki. She was at Angel’s. That was all he needed to know. If she was there, that meant she was fine. Safe.
“I know. That woman is so stubborn. Just try to get her here.”
Yes, his Rikki was stubborn as hell, and so damn beautiful his dick was pulsing at the thought of her. The scent that was all hers still in the room aggravated it even more.
“Okay. Love you.”
Jeremiah waited for a long moment until he was sure whomever had been on the other side of the door was long gone and he slipped out of the room. He couldn’t wait for them to come back to the hospital. He only had about four more hours before he needed to get back on the road. Fifteen minutes later, he was back in the Hummer and flooring it to Angel’s, his thoughts on his strong, sexy mate. Damn, he needed her. He didn’t know how much longer he could stay away.
He made it in record time, parking five miles away and hoofing it through the woods that surrounded the area. Confident they wouldn’t be able to sense him with their psychic abilities, or scent his presence because of the pills he’d taken, Jeremiah got within half a mile of the farm before climbing up to the top of a tree and settling in. He was on a hill and had a direct view of the farm below him. Removing his backpack, he took out a pair of binoculars, anxious to see the mate he would do anything for. He paused, briefly having the presence of mind to inhale deeply and make sure he was alone, then put the binoculars to his eyes. It took him a moment to focus them in, and then his eyes widened at the frenzied fight that was taking place below him in front of the barn. Holy shit! If the female wolf was the one the person in the hospital had been talking about, she was right. Not only was the wolf angry, but she was fighting against a huge male for all she was worth. And she was winning.
The team surrounded them, but were keeping their distance. As Jeremiah watched, Nico quickly shed his clothes and shifted, and then he jumped into the fray. The female wolf, her fur full of beautiful brown and black colors, let go of the first threat to take on the new one. Jeremiah tried to get a better look at her, but she was moving too fast. Who the hell was she?
Finally, pulling his gaze from the dizzy speed of the fighting wolves, he slowly tracked his way around the circle, looking for his Rikki. She wasn’t there. He frowned, looking again, and then skimmed the binoculars over every portion of the farm that he could see from where he was. She wasn’t in sight. Maybe she was in the barn?
His gaze going back to the crazy ass fight taking place, Jeremiah decided he was glad Rikki wasn’t anywhere near it. He didn’t know who the female wolf was that wasn’t afraid to take on two male wolves at one time, but he didn’t want his mate in the middle of it. He knew Rikki was strong, but there was something about the female below. She seemed half-wild, and when the males stepped back, she paused and raised her head. The pain and misery he saw in her dark brown eyes floored him. She was hurting so much.
Jeremiah watched the two males slowly start circling the female as she stood still, her sides heaving, her head lowered. She wasn’t done, though. He could tell by the way her eyes tracked the other two. Nico crouched, growling in warning, and she bared her teeth at him. No, she wasn’t done yet.
The female let out a loud howl and then sprang, tackling the other male wolf to the ground. She was on him, her teeth at his throat, when Chase rushed in and grabbed her around the middle, dragging her away and tossing her from him. Jeremiah could tell the White River Wolves alpha was mad as hell.
“Chase, no!”
He heard Angel’s loud cry of agony all of the way from where he was.
“Rikki, you have to stop!”
Rikki?
The female wolf snarled, turning to where Chase was now removing his jeans. Throwing back her head, she howled again, and Jeremiah could hear the pain in that howl. She was suffering and acting out in the only way she could. The beast inside of him came to attention, and he froze. Rikki?
The two male wolves shifted quickly, and suddenly Nico and Phoenix were standing protectively in front of the female, their hands raised as they tried to reason with the alpha. He was having none of it.
“She’s dangerous,” Chase roared. “If the two of you together can’t control her, I will!”
Jeremiah heard the anger in the alpha’s voice and felt something he hadn’t felt in years. Fear. Leaping from the tree limb he was sitting on to the ground below, he raced toward them. Rikki? No, it couldn’t be.
“She’s upset, Chase. She’s been through so much.”
Jeremiah could hear Angel pleading with her mate, but all he could think about was the wolf…and Rikki. Was it really her? And if so, how?
“She’s a fucking menace,” Chase snarled, as Jeremiah broke through the trees. “She’s going to hurt someone. She needs to be stopped. Now.”
Chase shifted and was on the female wolf before they could reply. She fought him, biting, tearing him with her claws, but she was no match for the alpha. In his mind, Jeremiah knew Chase was trying to protect the others, including his mate. A shifter would do anything for their mate. But once Jeremiah got a whiff of the female wolf, there was nothing stopping him. He had no idea how, but it was his Rikki! His claws broke free and he quickly shredded his clothes. Within seconds he and his bear had become one, and he was roaring a challenge to the alpha. He didn’t give a fuck who the man was. No one touched his mate.
“Holy shit!”
“Oh, my God! It’s a freaking bear!”
“Chase! Get away from Rikki! Hurry! It’s Jeremiah!”
Jeremiah heard them all, but he didn’t stop. A small trickle of blood could be seen from a wound in Rikki’s side, one caused by the wolf who stood over her, swinging his large head in Jeremiah’s direction. When the smell of his mate’s blood hit him, Jeremiah let out another loud bellow.
“That is one pissed-off bear!”
“You would be, too, if you saw your mate pinned to the ground and bleeding.”
“It’s just a scratch.”
“Still smells like blood. To a shifter, that shit’s potent when it belongs to his mate.”
“Jeremiah, stop!”
He ignored it all. He was on Chase, batting at him hard with a large paw, flinging the alpha away from the small female wolf. Standing over her, he roared his rage to all. Chase rose to his feet, snarling in anger as he began to advance toward them.
“Dammit, Chase. You need to calm down and back the hell off!” Angel yelled. “You are only making things worse. That’s Jeremiah, Rikki’s mate. He’s just protecting her, like you were me.” Angel ran between them, grabbing Chase, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck when he would have went passed her. “Stop, please.”
Chase paused, lifting his head and howling his anger. Jeremiah knew if the alpha wanted to get to them, he would, but after a moment, Chase rubbed his head against his mate’s arm, then pulled back from her. Shifting, he growled, “Get control of your mate, bear, or I will do it for you.”
Jeremiah bared huge fangs at him, snarling, his large claws digging into the dirt as he fought the urge to go finish what he’d started. The son of a bitch had hurt his mate. Drew blood. She’d been hurt so much in her life. She deserved better. Raising himself to his full height, he roared loudly again.
“All right. We got it, big guy.” His gaze swung to the redhead and he growled, low and deadly. “No one is going to lay a hand on your mate now that you are here. And, now, maybe she won’t feel the need to gut us all.”
His lip curled up, showing a large fang, and he growled again. Damn right no one was touching his woman. He would tear them apart, he didn’t care who they were.
“Jeremiah?”
Rikki’s voice broke through the red haze of rage in him, and he lowered his massive head to look down at her. Her beautiful brown eyes were wide in wonder, her dark hair lay in a halo around her head. She was so tiny compared to his bear, but she wasn’t afraid.
Slowly, she reached up and trailed a hand over the side of his head and down his face before tears filled her eyes. “You didn’t come back to me. Why didn’t you come back?”
He could hear the hurt in her voice, scent the pain she felt. So much of it. At that moment, he realized this was his fault. He was the cause of her anger, her pain, her fighting against the people she loved.
“I needed you,” she whispered. “It was so dark. So lonely. Where were you?”
Her suffering nearly suffocated him. He had no idea what she was talking about. Dark? What did she mean? And how was she suddenly a wolf? She was supposed to be a bear, dammit. His bear.
“Don’t you want me?”
Did he want her? Hell, more than anything in the world. Leaning down, he inhaled deeply. Her scent had changed some, which he knew was because of her wolf, but she was still his Rikki. Still his mate. Chuffing softly, he buried his snout in her neck, inhaling again. His.
“I need to put some clothes on,” Rikki whispered, pushing at him as she glanced furtively around. He growled, raising his eyes to look at everyone staring at them. “Please, Jeremiah. I don’t want them to see me like this.”
Surprised at the vulnerability in her voice, he lowered his body, covering hers with his, careful not to put any of his weight on her, as he growled in warning at everyone who was still standing there staring at them. Rikki was uncomfortable, and that upset his bear. Glaring at them, he growled again.
“Get Rikki’s clothes. And a bandage to coverup that cut until it can be cleaned,” Angel ordered, her hand clutching tightly to Chase’s arm. The shifter stood, tall and proud, his dick hanging out for all to see, and for some reason that pissed Jeremiah off even more. His mate didn’t need to see any other male’s junk. When Jeremiah growled again, his gaze on Chase’s lower half, Angel grinned. “I think he wants you to put some pants on, mate.”
Shaking his head, Chase leaned down to kiss her quickly before stalking over to where he’d left his clothes. “Fucking pants. Maybe he should be thinking about what he’s going to wear since he shredded all of his clothing.”
“I got him a pair of mine from the truck,” Steele said, striding over to where Jeremiah still crouched over Rikki, stopping a few feet from them to toss over the jogging pants. “Good to see you again, bear. I’ll never forget the way you treated me in Alaska. As if I were a person instead of a thing. Nor will I forget how you let us go, even giving us a means of transportation. I am in your debt.”
Jeremiah let his gaze roam over the man for a moment, before he grunted in acknowledgment. He remembered him. The assholes in the Alaska facility had taken pleasure in carving off his skin a couple of times a week, along with other experiments. He hated the way the shifter was treated and had shown him more than one act of kindness. Something he did to several of the prisoners when he was sure he wouldn’t get caught.
“Here you go.” It was the redhead again. He wasn’t sure who she was, although she did look familiar, but it seemed as if she were a part of the team now. She sat Rikki’s clothes down near them, along with a large bandage she must have gotten from a first aid box in the barn, before slowly backing away.
“Thank you, Flame,” Rikki said quietly.
“We’re going into the house,” Angel told them. “Meet us in the conference room once you’re dressed and ready.” They all left without another word.
Jeremiah watched them intently, waiting until the door to the house banged shut after the last one, before he looked back down at his mate. She stared at him, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears and something else. His mate was angry. Only, this time, it was at him.
Burying his huge head in between her shoulder and neck once again, he said a quick prayer that she would forgive him, and then shifted.