I thought Karma will always have her day, and it gets repaid three-fold. Then, Amon took off through the woods, and all I could think of was hanging on and dodging the branches and trees that bit at me.
I couldn’t afford to fall off the bear. I didn’t want to hurt the babies.
All I could do was to pray that Gage would find me in time.
18
Gage
The plans for the new security team were going great. We all met at the new house that was going to be our office. Jared and Alexander had already started on the extensive security system for the building. The great thing was that we would each have an app on our phone that would allow us to monitor what was going on at the building at any time.
This would come in handy if we were working on dangerous missions, and someone came to the building to try to attack one of us. We would only have to hit a single safety button that each room had, and every one of us would be notified that one of our team members was in danger. Cameras and voice systems would allow us to quickly assess the situation and determine what action we needed to take.
I told the guys, half-jokingly, that I needed to get one of these for Luka. She had been in danger twice since we met. Although to be fair, one of those times was the reason that we met. Perhaps I owed Jason a thank you. Or not.
Tiberius, a wolf shifter who had been a Navy seal, had contacts with the FBI and other organizations that would likely require our assistance in the future. Lucian, a dragon shifter who had been in the Army Rangers with me, had some contacts with businesses who would likely need our security services.
It looked like we would be up and running by the end of the month. We were all pretty stoked. The security team would give our lives purpose again. We had all been aimlessly running around before, but now we had a purpose and a way to achieve that purpose.
On the drive home, however, my mind was not on the business. My mind was on my beautiful bride. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have found her. I was positive that life was only going to get better from here. Everything in life was working out perfectly for me.
I was about three-quarters of the way home when I heard Luka’s voice in the back of my mind. She was calling out for help.
Once again, I found myself pushing my old truck to its limits. As I raced through the edge of town and up the side of the mountain, I wondered if Jason was stupid enough to come back. Had he been watching the cabin to see when I was gone? It seemed to me that some people just never learned.
I got to the cabin in record time. I did not see Jason’s vehicle, so if the threat was him, he had to have come in on foot.
I cautiously approached the cabin, and my heart sank when I realized that the threat was much worse than Jason. There was a mess of bear tracks around the front of the house with one set of human tracks mingled in—Luka’s. The front door was standing wide open.
Changing into bear form, I entered the house, calling out Luka’s name. My gut clenched when I got no answer. I went from room to room. Somebody had completely destroyed the house. The door from the closet at the entrance was torn off and laying across the couch in the living room.
All of the furniture was shredded, including the beds. Dishes had been knocked out of the cabinets and broken into tiny shards on the floor. Claw marks gouged the walls. Whoever had done this had been in a rage.
Hopefully, Amon had some control over his friends. If one of his followers hurt Luka because his friend was upset, I would hold Amon fully responsible, and Amon would pay for the crime.
I didn’t know whether I was more frightened or angry. Something inside of me told me that Luka was alive. My soul was still whole, so I knew she hadn’t been ripped away from me. I was satisfied to see that there were no signs of blood, so I could only assume that Luka was safe and had not been hurt in any way here, but I had to get to her before Amon or one of his friends did hurt her.
Surely, my misguided little brother was smart enough to know that no amount of familial bloodline would keep me from destroying him if he hurt Luka.
Racing toward the den, I try to figure out where Amon would take her. He wouldn’t dare go to another shifter’s territory, would he? He really couldn’t be that stupid, could he? Of course, he was stupid enough to pull this stunt, so perhaps he was that stupid.
Jacob and a few other of our clan’s security force were at the den waiting on me. They heard my call for help. I quickly explained the situation. Everyone agreed with me that it had to have been my brother who stole my wife. No one else had a reason to do it, and no one else would have been stupid enough to do it.
Jacob asked, “Do you have any idea where he would’ve taken her?”
I shook my head ruefully. “I have absolutely no idea. I just hope he wasn’t idiotic enough to go into another shifter’s territory. That could cause a whole host of other problems that we don’t really need right now.”
We had a large map of our territory on one of the cave walls, and we were studying it when a bear stepped forward. I recognized him as one of the bears who hung out with my brother sometimes. He was out of breath, and he had an assortment of leaves and twigs caught in his fur. He looked like he had been running for a long time.
“Excuse me, sirs and ma’ams,” the bear panted. “I was with Amon when he took Luka. He said he wanted to go visit her and talk to her. He didn’t tell me that he was going to kidnap her. I know where she is.”
The bear took a big gulp of air. He looked like he would pass out at any moment. He swayed, and, suddenly, he turned back into human form and fell to the floor.
“Someone get him some water,” I bellowed as a couple of us picked him up off the floor and put him in a chair.
“Can you show us where she is?” I asked urgently. I winced at the sound of fear I heard in my voice.
The young man nodded and tried to stand on wobbly legs. We grabbed him and helped him walk over to the map. He pointed to an obscure region at the very edge of our territory.