Читать книгу Sexy Beast III - Morgan Hawke - Страница 8

Anton checked Keisha’s seatbelt as the pilot went through his pre-flight list. He was new, though he’d come highly recommended by their copilot, a quiet man who’d flown for Anton a few times in the past. The copilot checked to make sure all their bags were properly stowed for the flight to San Francisco, passed out bottled water to each of them, then took his seat in the cockpit beside the pilot. He reached back and closed the door between the cockpit and the cabin, giving the passengers privacy.

Listening with only part of his mind to the sound of the engines warming up and the women’s voices, Anton sat across the aisle from his mate and fastened his own belt. He hadn’t slept well the night before. His dreams had been uncomfortable yet meaningless vignettes that woke him over and over in a cold sweat. He couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right, that they should not be making this trip, but Keisha was so excited to be going Anton couldn’t have said no for anything.

He’d never been one for premonitions. His dreams were merely manifestations of his own concerns. Keisha was right. He really did worry too much.

She and Xandi chattered like a couple of schoolgirls. Anton sipped his water and bit back a tired grin as he listened to their stream of laughing conversation. It never ceased to amaze him how two women who shared the same house, and quite often the same bed, could still find so much to talk about.

Sitting directly behind Anton, Stefan reached over the seat and touched his shoulder. “Relax, bro. The girls will be fine.”

Anton covered Stefan’s hand with his. “I know, but one of us needs to worry.”

Stefan laughed. He sat back in his seat and tightened his belt. “Well, knowing you’re on the job will give me a chance to relax. Wake me when we get to San Francisco.”

“I’ll do that,” Anton said. Then he settled back in his seat for the flight to California. He actually felt himself begin to relax as the powerful Hawker 1000 blasted into the air. The corporate-sized jet he’d purchased a few years earlier was one of the best and safest on the market, and Keisha’s doctor had assured him she would be fine traveling in such comfort. His mate was right. If he couldn’t find something to worry about, he’d make something up. With that thought in mind, Anton finally closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

Keisha’s voice in his mind was the first solid inclination of things gone terribly wrong. Anton? Are you awake? Something’s wrong. I just woke up, but we appear to be flying east, not southwest.

Startled awake, Anton shook his head. He felt as if he’d been drugged when he glanced out the window. The sun should be to the left of the jet. Instead, it shone brightly through the starboard window, practically blinding him. Stefan! Wake up. We have a problem.

What’s up? Stefan’s mental voice sounded groggy.

Did you drink any of the bottled water?

Yeah. Finished mine. Why?

It appears we’re heading the wrong direction. We’ve all been asleep. I believe the water was drugged. Do you think there’s a chance we’ve been skyjacked?

Shit. No wonder I’ve got a headache. Can you read the pilot? I don’t recognize him, but the copilot’s flown with us before.

Anton held up his hand for silence and closed his eyes in concentration. Then he turned around and stared at Stefan, experiencing, for the first time in his life, a sense of pure terror. He narrowed his mindtalking to Stefan alone. It appears Secretary Bosworth’s plan for a Chanku breeding farm did not die with him. There’d been fear, even after Bosworth’s death, that more of his group might still exist. Still, Jacob Trent and Baylor Quinn had been unable to find tangible evidence.

Now, unfortunately, Anton feared the group might have all the evidence it needed…and then some. What better target than two pregnant female Chanku?

He and Stefan, of course, were expendable.

Keisha’s angry mental voice slammed into Anton’s head. He spun around to catch her looking daggers in his direction. What the hell’s going on? Why are you talking over our heads? Xandi and I are not children.

Anton sighed. I know, my love. Old habits. Plus, I didn’t want to alarm you until I knew for certain. I think the water we had was drugged. All of us have been asleep, something which rarely happens when we fly. I believe we’re being kidnapped. I want you and Xandi in the back of the plane. Grab all the blankets and pillows you can, just in case we have a problem. I want you to try and contact someone at Pack Dynamics. They may be using something that will jam your cell phones, but possibly your combined mental voice will reach another of our kind. Let them know what’s happening. Stefan and I need to have a talk with our pilot.

Xandi grabbed Stefan’s arm as Keisha did the same to Anton. Be careful, Keisha said. Her amber eyes glittered with tears, but she had a look of such resolute power, Anton took strength from her touch.

Keisha glanced toward Stefan. Both of you. More than our lives depend on your success. Anton noticed both woman cradled their bellies protectively, most likely without even realizing what they did. Keisha kissed him hard and fast before she turned his arm free.

Anton helped Keisha out of her seat and nodded to Stefan as the women moved silently to the back of the plane. Stefan quickly slipped out of his clothing and shifted. By the way, Anton. You do know how to fly a jet, don’t you?

But of course. Moving quietly, he gestured to Stefan to stay out of sight. There was no doubt, from the conversation he’d managed to glean from the pilot’s thoughts, that the men were heavily armed with both live ammunition and tranquilizer darts.

Taking their captors alive was not an option. Nor was discovery. Anton glanced back at Keisha and Xandi, who were carefully strapping themselves into the rear seats. God how he loved her. His heart stuttered with fear, not for himself, but for his mate and their unborn daughter. He would die before he would allow anyone to take a single member of his pack, but if anyone touched his mate, harmed his child…Anton’s nostrils flared and his chest swelled as he gave the anger free rein. He took strength from it, felt it literally burning in his veins.

With a single harsh breath, Anton turned and stepped to the doorway. He tried the handle. Locked. He should have guessed. The jet was modified for security with a locking door into the cockpit…one that locked independently from either side. He rapped sharply on the door, but, as he expected, got no answer. Flying at elevation, there was no reason for a pilot to worry about his passengers escaping.

Anton stepped back from the door, touched one hand to Stefan’s furred shoulder for more power, touched the door with the other, and concentrated on the lock.

Electricity snapped. Sparks flew. The acrid smell of burning wires filled the cabin. Anton’s hair stood on end, and he felt the current flowing through his body, flowing from the wolf who was his lover, his friend, his packmate. It flowed from Stefan, filling Anton and growing exponentially as it passed through his mind to the circuitry within the locks on the door.

Suddenly the door burst open. The copilot rushed through, his pistol aimed straight at Anton. Before he could fire, the wolf charged, grabbed the man by the throat, and threw him to the deck. There was a sickening crunching noise as the vertebrae in his neck shattered. To be on the safe side, Stefan bit down, clamping his powerful jaws around his target’s windpipe without drawing blood.

Paralyzed, with a broken neck, the copilot could only stare in horror at the wolf who killed him. Anton grabbed the gun and rushed through the door the minute Stefan nailed the copilot. As the pilot turned at the sounds of the attack, Anton shot him just above the heart.

The hollow-point round tore a hole the size of a dinner plate out of the man’s back. He was dead when he hit the deck.

Unfortunately, so were most of the controls on the jet.

Anton shoved the pilot’s body out of his way and slipped into his seat, but he realized his error the minute he glanced at the myriad dials and graphs, all of them blank. His burst of mental power had fried the circuitry in the cockpit as well as the lock.

He checked the radio. Dead.

They were losing altitude quickly, though the plane dropped in a downward glide rather than an out-of-control spin. Whether the controls had locked in position or the auto-pilot might still be functioning, if only marginally, was anyone’s guess. Anton had no idea where they were. Clouds blocked the view to the ground. Stefan ran into the cockpit, tugging on his jeans as he entered. “What’s happening?”

“Radio’s out, we’re losing altitude. Still have some engine power. I need to find a place to set down. Get the girls cushioned with anything soft you can find. Pile it around them. I want you back there with them in case I really fuck this one up worse than I already have.”

“Anton, you did not fuck up anything. Those bastards are responsible. But I’ll give you this—get us on the ground in one piece and I’ll never bitch about being the bottom again.”

Anton swung his head around to look at Stefan. The fool was grinning ear to ear. He leaned down and kissed Anton on the mouth, hard. “I’ll take care of the girls,” he said. “You land this sonofabitch.”

“Tell Keisha I love her.”

“Don’t worry. She knows. But I’ll remind her.” Stefan turned around and headed back to the women, still talking. “We’ll try and get word to the Pack. If stress helps power a message, we should be able to reach them with no trouble at all.”

“That’s sex,” Anton said, gritting his teeth. “Not stress.” He grabbed the stick and watched as a cottony wall of clouds engulfed the jet.

Ulrich Mason stared at the computer screen, but his mind was on his daughter’s wedding, less than two weeks away. He hoped he didn’t break down and cry walking Tia down the aisle. Though it wasn’t really an aisle, he thought. Not if the wedding was held on the beach.

Damn, he wished Camille could be here to share this day. At least her baby girl was going to get married, just as his late wife had wished.

He shook his head, grinning. Camille usually got her way. Even now, over twenty years after her death, she still called the shots.

A frantic pounding on the front door brought Ulrich out of his daydreams and leaping to his feet. He raced down the hallway and threw open the front door.

Anton Cheval’s personal assistant stood on the porch. The little man’s uniform was rumpled, his dark face stricken. He appeared to tremble uncontrollably.

“Oliver? My God! What’s the matter, man? Come inside.”

Oliver grabbed Ulrich by the forearms. “Mr. Cheval. All of them. His lady Keisha, Stefan, Alexandria. They are missing. Their plane was late.” He stopped to catch his breath. “I checked with the airport. They filed a flight plan and should have arrived hours ago. There’s no sign of them anywhere. You must help me find them! Please!”

Shannon wasn’t sure what state they were in. With plenty of time left to make it to the wedding, they’d meandered a bit, checking out the back roads and small towns, following a path of no actual plan beyond their ultimate destination. San Francisco was that way, and they’d get there eventually, with plenty of time to spare for the bachelorette party and the wedding.

The weather’d been unseasonably warm, so they’d stayed to the northern routes, circling the southern shores of the Great Lakes, enjoying the ride. They’d found this tiny motel in the depths of the forest somewhere in Minnesota—at least Shannon thought it was Minnesota—and while it was early yet, they’d started out before dawn and the dark woods looked so inviting they’d decided to call it a day.

Shannon giggled as she tugged off her helmet and shook out her sweaty hair. She wasn’t about to admit to the guys just how much fun she’d been having, hanging on to Jake all morning on the back of his big BMW GS, her clit vibrating with the powerful engine, her breasts pressed against Jake’s leather-clad back.

She could get used to this, really fast.

The best part had been the last couple of nights, with both Jake and Bay rubbing her feet, her hands, her butt. She sighed as she followed Jake inside the motel office. The forest loomed all around them and the day was clear and cool.

Already her pussy clenched in anticipation.

Jake signed the receipt for their room, handed the slip back to the clerk, and held out his hand for the room key. Shannon couldn’t help but notice the dreamy-eyed gaze from the young woman behind the counter and the way she sighed when Jake smiled in thanks.

If he weren’t already hers, she’d be drooling over him too. Jacob Trent was gorgeous no matter what he wore, with his sun-streaked brown hair curling around his collar and the cocky sparkle in his amber eyes. In black leather motorcycle gear, he was sexy enough to make any warm-blooded woman drool. Right now, Shannon’s blood practically boiled.

He tossed the key in the air, snatched it in his fist and grabbed Shannon’s elbow. “How about a run? Do you think Bay’d be up for it?”

The door closed behind the office and the starstruck motel clerk as Shannon and Jake walked out into the brilliant sunlight. She laughed. “When is Bay ever not up?”

Dressed in jogging gear, the three of them headed out from their motel room, following a well-traveled path into the forest. Once beyond sight of the motel, they dipped into the thick brush and cut cross-country until they found a small meadow where they could safely undress and shift. They tucked their clothing beneath a shrub, disguising everything with the branches, shifted to wolven form and took off at a full run. The woods here were thick and cool, the air was damp and filled with scents, and the game appeared to be plentiful. Racing beside and just behind Shannon, his wolven paws tearing clumps from the thick humus coating the forest floor, Jake kept his nose to the ground and his senses alert.

They ran for miles at a fast, easy pace that covered the ground without effort. Still, it was much too easy for Jake to get sidetracked by the gorgeous she-wolf he followed. His alpha bitch. Would he ever get used to the fact she’d chosen him above all others? Not that he’d given her all that much chance, but Bay had been there before they mated, and he certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes.

Jake glanced in Bay’s direction, then concentrated once again on Shannon. Jake knew his packmate wanted her, knew Bay’d give anything to mate with Jake’s woman, to bond, but she was Jake’s. Only Jake’s. Bay respected that and honored their bond.

Otherwise, lover or not, he’d be dead by now.

Shannon spotted the buck first, an older animal standing near a small pond. It paused as if listening for a threat, but they’d caught it unawares and she leaped without breaking stride. Locking her powerful jaws around the animal’s throat, Shannon broke its neck with the weight of her body as she threw the animal to the ground. Bay and Jake moved in for the kill. The deer went still, dying without a struggle.

Shannon stood over the warm body, growling low in her throat, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. Jake and Bay backed off, caught up in her bloodlust, their tails low and ears laid back.

Watching her feed while his own belly rumbled, Jake felt nothing but pride. Damn, but she was perfect. His woman. Beautiful, wild. His. He glanced toward Baylor, saw the gleam in the other wolf’s eyes, and growled. Bay glanced his way, then tucked low to the ground.

A guy can dream, can’t he? Bay licked his lips but, like Jake, waited patiently for their alpha bitch to feed.

Any other time, after running and feeding they would have gone back to the motel to fuck and sleep and fuck some more, but the day was too beautiful for that, and the sky was such a perfect cerulean blue. Their blood was running hot from the kill. Shannon nipped at Jake’s shoulder, dipped head to paws in play, then whirled about and waved her bushy tail under his nose.

Okay, so he didn’t usually mate with her when Bay was nearby, purely out of masculine courtesy, but she was so damned hot and he needed her. Badly. He’d felt her leather-clad pussy against his butt all morning long and had fantasized about making love to her on the motorcycle, in the tall grass beside the road, in just about every motel they’d passed.

Hell, he wanted her all the time, wherever she would let him love her. Was there ever a time when he didn’t want to be inside her, buried in her wet heat? Wolf or woman, so long as it was Shannon.

Jake nipped her flank, pawed her shoulder, and received a teasing growl in response. Bay waited off to one side, head cocked, eyes shining almost green in the sunlight.

Deeply aware of his packmate nearby, Jake mounted Shannon before she could twist out of his way, thrusting fast and hard and finally plundering her hot center. His paws raking her shoulders with each deep penetration, he panted with a combination of bestial lust and pure physical effort. She planted her legs and he filled her, his wolven cock plunging deep, the huge knot sliding past her tight vaginal opening, locking them, tying them together.

He’d not linked, not yet. There’d been no need, so caught up had he been in the sensation of fucking as wolves, in the lush yet carnal act of animals mating in the forest. With his blood running hot from the kill, from the pure joy of racing through an ancient forest, he’d stayed totally within his own thoughts. Now, locked to his mate, Jake opened his mind.

Shannon was there: glorious, passionate, her body ripe and ready for his.

And Bay? Snarling, Jake whipped his head to one side and saw Bay behind him, his black coat glistening in the sunlight. Bay’s ears lay flat against his skull, his teeth were bared, and his paw was raised to rake Jake’s shoulder, to mount him as Jake mounted Shannon.

Jake should have growled, should have warned his packmate off. Should have, but didn’t. Couldn’t. Not loving Bay as he did. Wanting him so much. Jake planted his feet, clasped his front legs tightly around Shannon, seated his swollen cock hard and fast inside her, and snarled at Bay. He opened his thoughts to Shannon, then opened to his packmate, welcoming him.

And bracing himself for something totally new.

The sharp jab of Bay’s cock took Jake’s breath. He clasped Shannon tighter and felt her legs steadying them both. Once again, slower this time, Bay’s sharp thrust of his wolven penis took him deep inside Jake’s body.

The sensation was new, totally unlike a human penetration. Harsh and unforgiving, Bay’s erection slipped inside Jake, past nerves every bit as sensitive as their human counterparts. Bay’s thrusting body sandwiched Jake forcefully against Shannon, shoved his cock even deeper inside her heat. Still pulsing from his climax with Shannon, Jake felt the thick swell of Bay’s knot and knew his own cock was growing long and firm once again. His level of arousal spiked once more and his mind filled with the combination of Shannon’s lust, his own…and Baylor’s.

Their lust grew higher, spiraling with the intense sensations of the wild, building in their minds, one sensation upon the other. The link invaded Jake’s mind: the deeper Chanku mating bond that signaled a connection much more powerful than that of mere packmates. This was something higher, something beyond anything he’d ever experienced except his bond with Shannon.

His body trembled with the combined sensations—his wolven cock locked tightly within Shannon’s pulsing folds, Bay’s sharp claws digging into his shoulders, Bay’s penis jerking hard and fast within his ass. And more.

Something unexpected: There, on the very edge of climax, he caught another voice. Before he could single it out, orgasm took him, a powerful spike of energy that whipped through Jake, Shannon, and Bay. It lifted them, a dynamic pulse of energy combining hearts and minds, a synergetic cataclysm of power.

At the very peak, amplified by their release, was the sound of two unknown voices crying out in pain and fear. The unknown yet somehow familiar voices exploded into Jake’s mind, into Shannon and Bay, shaking all three with an intensity more profound even than their mating.

He knew. Though he’d never met them before, Jake knew who called out, who cried for help. Keisha and Xandi! Trouble! Somewhere over the skies, somewhere east of their Montana home. Find us! The cries echoed within their three-way link. Find us! Our plane is going down…

Scrambling to their feet, the three of them separated and shifted as one. Jake grabbed Shannon’s arm as she stumbled, holding out a hand to Bay. “Okay,” he said, fully aware his voice shook. Was it in reaction to the voices they’d heard or the most amazing sexual experience the three of them had shared in wolven form? He’d need time, later, to think about what they’d done.

“We all heard that,” Jake said. “We need to get back to the motel, call Luc, and see what the hell is going on.”

Bay stopped him. “He might not even know there’s a problem yet. Let’s see if we can reach them again.”

“Good idea.” Jake took a deep breath, then grabbed his packmates’ hands. After a few futile moments, he shook his head and laughed ruefully. “I guess it takes a three-way fuck to get any distance. Lord only knows how far away they are.” He paused, then glanced off into the distance, replaying what he’d heard. “Shouldn’t they be on their way to San Francisco for the wedding? Luc told me the Montana pack was planning on coming a couple weeks early. Why would their plane be going down east of Montana, not southwest?” He shook his head. “Makes no sense. C’mon. Let’s head back. I won’t relax until I talk to Luc.”

They shifted back to their wolven forms, melting seamlessly from human to lupine in a heartbeat. They’d run long and far and it took awhile to make it back to the clearing, change clothes, and return to the motel. There was no signal for any of their cell phones and the phone in their room was dead. Luc slammed the headset for the ancient rotary phone down in the cradle. “I’ll go try the office.”

Two minutes later, he was back. “Sign on the door says they’ll be back at five. We can’t wait that long.”

“I’ve got our stuff packed.” Shannon was already pulling on her black boots.

Baylor stepped out of the bathroom with their overnight kits. “Let’s go. Any idea which direction their voices came from?”

Jake nodded. “Due west of us, I think, but I can’t be sure. We’ll head that way, at least until we either find a phone or a signal for the cells. Damn, I keep telling myself I need satellite access.” He shook his head, staring at the useless bit of technology in his hand. “Once we get back on a main road we need to find out what the fuck is going on.”

After making a last minute sweep of the room to check for belongings, Jake followed Shannon and Bay out the door. He realized he hadn’t stopped shaking since Keisha and Xandi’s terrified voices had filled his mind. With a last glance at the funky little motel where they’d not even taken time to shower, Jake started his bike and followed Bay down the road.

Luc rolled his chair away from the computer, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. “There was a visual sighting, but it doesn’t make sense. A Hawker 1000 was spotted at about eleven this morning, Central time, near Bismarck, North Dakota, heading east. The pilot noticed the plane because he’s interested in buying one like it. He got the number off the tail. It was Anton’s.”

“East?” Tia grabbed a map off the desk. “Where would that put him? How fast do they go?”

“Over five hundred miles per hour, with a range of thirty-four hundred miles. They could be anywhere.” Luc Stone, Tia’s mate, stood and leaned over her shoulder to study the map. “Oliver said they were scheduled to leave Anton’s private air strip at ten this morning. Shit. You’re right. They could be anywhere, but unless they refueled, they’re on the ground somewhere by now.”

“Oh, God.” Tia shoved her fist in her mouth. “What if they’ve crashed?”

Tinker McClintock looked up from his set of maps. His usual smile was gone, replaced by a look of grim determination. “This is Anton Cheval we’re talking about. He’s okay.”

Luc focused on Ulrich. “You’re sure Bosworth is dead?”

Ulrich nodded. “The secretary is definitely dead. However, his program may live on.” He turned toward Tinker. “Contact Jake and Bay. See what you can find out about their hunt for any of Bosworth’s cronies. Lisa, you see if you can get hold of AJ, Mik, and Tala. We need to pull everyone in on this. If Bosworth’s program is still functioning, the Montana pack could be in much more danger than we suspect.”

Lisa glanced up, frowning. She felt like a fifth wheel here among all the established agents of Pack Dynamics. As the newest member, she was still learning the names of the players. “Who’s Bosworth?”

Tia got up from her desk and came over to sit by Lisa. “He was part of the President’s cabinet, the head of Homeland Security, but in many ways he was a rogue.” She glanced toward Ulrich Mason, and Lisa sensed both fear and pain in Tia’s thoughts. “He kidnapped Dad a few months ago. Anton and his packmates helped us rescue him, but even though he was a member of the President’s cabinet, the man was horrible. He wanted to create a breeding farm for Chanku. We’re not really sure exactly why…maybe merely to prove our existence…but there is some concern he wanted to breed shapeshifters to work undercover for some secret branch of the government.”

“Isn’t that what Pack Dynamics is doing now? Working undercover?” Lisa glanced at Tinker, her mate, but he was buried in computer printouts. No help there.

Tia nodded. “Yep. But we do it of our own free will. Not because we’ve been bred and trained for some specific purpose.” She flipped through a Rolodex on the desk. “Here. This is Mik’s cell phone and here’s AJ’s. Looks like we don’t have Tala’s in the file yet. You should be able to get hold of one of the guys. Let Luc or Dad know if you reach them.”

Tia went back to her computer. Lisa held the two small white cards in her hand. AJ and Mik were her sister’s mates. The sister she hadn’t seen in over ten years. She blinked back tears. It was one thing to know she would meet her brother and sister for the first time in all these years at Tia’s wedding, but this wasn’t how she pictured her first contact with her sister. Lisa wiped her hand across her streaming eyes and picked up the phone. It’s not about you, Lisa. Get over it.

She tried AJ’s number first. There was no answer, but she left a message for him to call headquarters. Taking a deep breath, she punched in Mik’s number.

Tala swam slowly to the surface of consciousness, aware of a heavy weight across her thighs and a moving pillow beneath her head. As she blinked her way into awareness, she realized she’d fallen asleep still sucking languidly on AJ’s lovely cock, with her head pillowed on Mik’s fabulous butt. AJ sprawled across her legs, pinning her to the bed.

His flaccid penis lay beside her cheek. She leaned over and licked him, a long, slow stroke over the soft crown. She suckled the smooth skin between her lips and ended with a swirl of her tongue at the tip. AJ slept on, but his cock slowly elongated, pressing against her mouth.

It was a marvelous way to awaken; if only she didn’t have to pee. The room was still dark and she had no idea what time it was. Easing herself out from under AJ’s body was tricky, but Tala managed to roll him aside without waking him. Mik merely grunted when she carefully clambered over his body and slipped off the side of the bed.

As far as motels went, she’d give this one a ten.

The sex tonight had been magnificent.

The clock in the bathroom blinked midnight. She used the toilet and washed her hands, staring blankly at her tousled image in the mirror. Her long hair hung in thick, dark tangles to her waist and her lips were swollen from kisses. There were pale bruises on her breasts, and her nipples glistened deep red from all the sucking, licking, and pinching. She rubbed her palm over one and the tingle went straight to her core. There was no doubt at all; she looked like a woman well and truly loved, and her body ached in the most wonderful places.

Still smiling at herself, she’d turned away and started back to bed when Mik’s phone rang. He’d left it in his overnight bag in the bathroom. Not wanting to awaken the guys, Tala answered it.

“Hello?”

She waited through a long silence. Then a voice she’d not thought she’d hear again until she’d got to San Francisco said, “Mary Ellen? Is that you?”

“Lisa?” Clasping the phone to her ear, Tala slid down the wall to the floor. “What are you…?”

“My God. Mary Ellen…Tala. They said you’re Tala now. Look, sweetie, I want to talk to you so badly, but there’s been a horrible emergency. Are Mik and AJ there?”

Tala nodded, realized Lisa couldn’t hear her, and choked out a strangled “Yes. I’ll get them. What’s wrong?”

“I’ll fill you in later. Right now I’m giving the phone to Lucien Stone.”

Luc? Shit. If Luc was in on this it must be an emergency. Scrambling to her feet, Tala ran back into the bedroom. “Guys, wake up. Something’s happened!”

Mik was on his feet reaching for his phone before she’d gotten the words out of her mouth. AJ rolled over and off the bed, alert, as if he’d been waiting for Lisa’s call. Both Tala and AJ immediately keyed into Mik’s thoughts.

Anton Cheval and his mate, Stefan Aragat, and Xandi…all of them were missing: their plane either hijacked or downed. Tala realized she’d clasped AJ’s hand in hers. They drew close and his arm came around her shoulders. He squeezed her in a comforting hug.

Lord help her, all she could think of was Lisa’s voice. Damn, she’d missed her sister so much. Ten long years. She didn’t even know the members of the Wyoming pack but she’d loved Lisa with all her heart. After their father’s trial for murdering their mother, after all the tension and stress within an already totally dysfunctional family…they’d shattered. Each had gone their own way, had been lost in their own hell.

She knew Lisa had taken her shot at happiness with her mate in San Francisco, and knew also that Bay was part of a successful ménage in Maine with Jacob Trent and Shannon Murphy, but they’d not all been together since discovering their Chanku roots. Not for over ten years.

Tala shivered, listening to Mik’s terse replies while he talked to Lucien Stone, remembering Lisa, wondering about all the years they’d lost. Wondering as well, and worrying, about those who were missing: the Montana Chanku, the four everyone spoke of with voices laden with awe. She slipped her arm around AJ’s waist and held tight to one who loved her.

“I’ve left messages on all three of their phones, but they must be in an area that’s out of service. I’ve been trying to get them all afternoon.” Damn Jake and his harebrained idea to come west on the bikes. Tinker rubbed his fist over his eyes. It all felt like a nightmare. Nothing could happen to Anton Cheval. Not to him or his beautiful lady or their packmates. Anton was the key to all their mysteries, the one who always had the answers.

Where the hell was he now?

Lisa appeared and grabbed Tinker gently by the arm. “Mik, Tala, and AJ know, and we’ll hear from the others soon enough. Sweetheart, you need to sleep. Worrying won’t help. Even Oliver finally went to bed. Come with me.”

Tinker looked around Ulrich’s messy office and realized he’d been talking to an empty room. He leaned over and kissed Lisa’s forehead and then wrapped his arms around her slim waist. “Anton won’t let anything happen to Keisha. Not if he’s still alive. I think that’s what scares me so much. The man is so powerful, so brilliant. We need him. All of us do, and I’m scared to death something terrible has happened.”

Lisa reached up and cupped Tinker’s cheek in her palm. Her voice was husky, filled with emotion and love. “Have I told you lately how very much I love you? Now come to bed so I can show you.”

Tinker gave in. He was exhausted, sick with worry, and terrified all his fears might be true. Lisa offered peace. She was his refuge of calm within chaos, the pacemaker that steadied his racing heart. He followed her down the hall to the guestroom they’d share tonight with Luc and Tia, thankful once again for the lovely lady who owned his life.