Wouldn’t she have taken everything? She was a paramedic— she’d have been prepared to find him injured. She could have used the extra clothing for bandages, the lighter to make a fire to keep him warm, and the knife for anything to make a splint to perform emergency field surgery. His mate wouldn’t have just rushed out unprepared. She was brave, but not reckless.
He sniffed, picking up her freshest scent trail, and followed it out of the cave. At the edge of the woods, it was joined by that of another human. Fury made his hackles raise as he realized that she’d been captured. He didn’t recognize the other person’s scent, but that wasn’t a surprise; it must be someone who’d started working for Apex since Shane had escaped a year ago or whom he’d never scented as a panther. Some shifters could scent people while they were in human form, but Shane couldn’t.
He let out a hiss of anger and concern when he caught sight of three emptied tranquilizer darts on the ground. Had someone actually shot her three times? Or had she managed to hit her attacker?
But both the scent trails led back into the woods; Catalina and her kidnapper were both on their feet. Shane puzzled over the darts, then gave up on that small mystery. The important thing was to catch up with them before they made it back to the base.
Shane followed the trail through the woods, moving as fast as he could. But in his heart, he was certain that he was too late. The sun shone bright through the leaves; he was hours behind them.
As he loped through the woods, he considered the best strategy. Infiltrate the base? Wait till someone left the base, ambush them and get their phone, call Protection, Inc., and then infiltrate the base? Shane liked that idea. He needed reinforcements, for sure, but he didn’t have to wait to rescue his mate till they arrived.
He sensed approval from his panther, both of the ambush and the infiltration.
Hiding in shadows, hissed the big cat, with the implication that it was always a good choice.
Then a jolt of cold terror made his heart lurch and his fur stand on end.
Protect Catalina, his panther hissed urgently.
Shane put on a burst of speed, even though he didn’t know what had gotten into him and his panther. He’d always known Catalina was in danger; there was no reason to think it was imminent right now.
Mates know, his panther told him. She’s in danger now. Don’t infiltrate. Don’t ambush. Just run!
Shane ran through the forest. He’d never heard before that mates knew if the other was in trouble, but he believed it. He could feel its truth in his bones.
The gray concrete of the base came into sight, so much less threatening from the outside than it was on the inside. Shane forced himself to halt, making a quick survey from the shadows of the trees. Given time, he could sneak in, ambush some guards, obtain clothes and weapons...
... but time was the one thing he didn’t have.
Shane became a man and walked out of the woods with his hands raised. He made himself go slowly, giving the guards monitoring the video feeds plenty of time to see him and alert their superiors. The last thing he needed was to be tranquilized.
Once he was within earshot, he called, “I surrender! Tell Dr. Elihu I’ll do whatever he wants, so long as he doesn’t hurt Catalina.”
By the time he reached the door, his message had been received and answered. The door slid open, revealing ten armed guards.
One, looking embarrassed, tossed him a jacket. “Tie this around your waist.”
If Shane hadn’t been so worried, he’d have been amused. He tied it on, concealing his nudity, and said, “I want to see Catalina.”
The guards didn’t reply. Instead, they began hurrying him along the corridors. Shane went with them, his nightmare replaying in his mind. Justin, gasping for breath in his arms. Catalina, dying...
The door slid open. Shane forced himself not to lunge inside and give some trigger-happy guard an excuse to knock him out. Instead, he took a single step forward.
The scene that met his eyes so exactly resembled his nightmare that Shane froze in the doorway. Catalina lay ashen and gasping on a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors, nurses, and machines. She was hooked up to so many tubes and wires that she seemed caught in some horrific spider’s web.
He’d come too late.
Shane bolted forward, forgetting the guards. His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears that he couldn’t hear the hum of the machines or the urgent voices of the doctors, but only saw lights flashing and lips moving.
Catalina’s eyes were open. Frightened. His mate was one of the bravest people he’d ever met, and she was lying there afraid and dying.
Shane sank down on his knees beside the bed and took her hand. It was limp and cold. Lifeless. The wires that attached to it were warmer than her skin.
“Hold on,” he urged her. “You’re strong. You can get through this. Fight!”
But he could see in her pallor and hear in her breathing that no amount of courage and determination would save her. Justin had been brave and Elizabeth had been determined and all of them had fought like hell, and it hadn’t saved any of them.
He couldn’t save her, but he wouldn’t leave her.