chapter Eleven
Maria jumped out of her seat. The other test-takers looked up and around in irritation.
“You need to sit down,” the proctor said.
Maria remained standing, watching the truck speed up and out of the parking lot. She turned around, blindly afraid, and made for the door.
“You can’t leave until the break,” the proctor said, rising and following her.
“I have to. This is an emergency.”
The man looked annoyed. “If you leave the room, you’ll need to turn in your test and forfeit your fee.”
Meaning she’d have reschedule the test for who knew when and save up more money for the fee. But someone was busy abducting Connor, and all thoughts of tests, university, and the rest of her life went away.
“Sorry,” she said. She shoved her incomplete test at the proctor and ran out of the room.
Outside she stared at the parking lot from which Connor had disappeared in dismay. He had her cell phone, and she was in a building whose offices were shut up for the day, and the campus was deserted, everyone here today focused on testing. The proctor might have a phone she could borrow, but he’d decidedly locked the door after she’d run out. She needed a phone and needed it now.
An ordinary person might have given up. But Maria had grown up in a tiny town with few luxuries in the middle of a desert, and she’d learned to be resourceful. She started jogging down the street, heart in her throat, wishing Ellison was with her, and knowing she needed to find him.
***
Ellison held down his sister’s wolf, growling at her. He was dominant. She needed to obey.
Deni snarled and fought. She’d woken up out of a bad dream this morning, confused and forgetful again. She’d charged out of her room in wolf form, attacking Ellison as soon as he’d walked in the front door after standing guard over Maria all night.
Deni and Ellison had fought a silent battle on the floor for a long time before Deni had suddenly gone limp, giving up. Ellison had carried her back to bed and turned to get dressed again to go with Maria and Connor to where she’d take her test, only to discover that Deni had been playing possum.
As soon as Ellison turned to leave Deni’s bedroom, Deni had come out of the bed and leapt onto his back. He’d heard Connor and Maria drive away while he’d fought off several hundred pounds of wolf.
Will and Jackson had already left for the day, their jobs starting at first light. Ellison and Deni battled it out alone, she too strong and swift to give him time to call for help.
Ellison pinned her with his large wolf’s body, Deni swiping with claws and teeth, a mad light in her eyes. Both their Collars snapped sparks, the pain biting Ellison deeply.
This was insane. And heartbreaking. One day Deni would go too far and seriously injure Ellison or her own cubs, or Ellison would have no choice but to kill her.
The idea sent a wash of pain through him at the same time he staved off her attack, she trying to rip out her older brother’s throat.
The phone pealed into the rumble of growls and snarls. Deni jerked, her attention diverted, but Ellison didn’t dare let go of her to answer it.
He knew, though he didn’t know how, that the person on the other end was in danger. Jackson and Will were out there, neither wanting to stay home from jobs they liked. Connor was out there too, with Maria . . .
Ellison tried to get up. Deni used his distraction to attack, jaws open, fangs bared.
Ellison caught her as he shifted, hands digging into her fur, swung her around, and threw her across the room.
Deni tumbled, howling, and crashed into the wall. Before she could get herself up again, Ellison dove for the phone.
“Ellison.” He heard Maria’s panting relief, and his fears skyrocketed.
“Where are you?” he said, his voice guttural. “What’s wrong?”
“Connor. I couldn’t stop them. I was taking my stupid test. He was waiting in the parking lot for me because I was nervous . . .”
“Wait. Stop. Tell me.”
Maria drew a long breath and told him in simple words what had happened. “I’m at a convenience store at Congress and Ben White. What are we going to do? We have to find him.”
“You stay right where you are. I’m on this. Aw, shit.”
Deni crashed into him, yanking the landline phone out of the wall. The phone went dead, Maria’s voice vanishing.
Deni’s eyes were red, the feral in her taking over. Her Collar shocked more sparks deep into her, but the pain didn’t slow her down.
They fought out of the kitchen and to the living room, Ellison trying desperately to stop her. He’d have to knock her out somehow and get away from her. Connor needed help now.
The back door banged open. Ronan charged in, already throwing off his clothes, and became a giant Kodiak bear before he hit the living room.
Seriously hit it—the doorframe broke and a table full of Deni’s knickknacks went over. Deni rolled away from Ellison and faced this new threat.
Ronan roared, a colossus enraged. Deni laid her ears back and bared her teeth, ready to fight. Her stance told Ellison that she expected her brother to join her in beating back the intruding bear.
Ronan raised a paw to knock her senseless. Ellison jumped at him, instinctively defending his sister, his pack.
Ellison’s leap ended on Ronan’s massive paw. The Kodiak tried to pull his punch, but the blow smacked Ellison head over tail to land him on the couch. The couch broke into a pile of wood and stuffing, Ellison’s wolf buried in the debris.
In that moment, sanity flooded back into Deni’s eyes. She rose and flowed back into human form, her face ashen. “Ellison!”
She rushed to Ellison and put her arms around him, stroking his fur, while Ellison lay stunned, trying to catch his breath. Ronan subsided, watching them both anxiously.
“I did it again, didn’t I?” Deni asked, her voice broken. “Ellison, what are we going to do?”
The question was a serious one. Shifters who went mad, and who were aware of their madness, sometimes took what they thought was the easiest way out for themselves and their families.
Deni’s hopeless look worried Ellison. At the same time . . . Connor.
Ronan shifted back to his human form, a huge, muscle-bound, naked man. “Sorry, Ellison. You OK?”
Ellison climbed out of the ruined couch, shaking foam rubber out of his fur. Deni rose to her feet, finally noticing the overturned table and broken door. Her expression turned to dismay. “Ronan.”
Ronan flushed. “Hey, I said I was sorry. I’ll fix it. I promise. We need Ellison though. Right now.”
“Why?” Deni fell into the nearest chair, folding her arms across her stomach. “What happened?”
Ellison shifted back to human form. “Connor’s been taken,” he said grimly.
Deni leapt to her feet again, her strength returning. “Oh, Goddess. By that Bradley guy?”
“How did you find out?” Ellison asked Ronan. “He contact you?”
“Maria did. She called Sean when your phone went dead. Sean sent me over here to find out what was up with you.”
“Goddess,” Deni said again, stricken. “Go, Ellison. Find him. I’ll be fine.”
“Come with us,” Ronan said to her. “We might need you.”
Deni hesitated, which made Ellison’s heart churn again. A few short months ago, Deni would be the first out the door, ready to fight. It wasn’t like his sister to hold back.
“What if I . . .”
“Go insane on the kidnappers’ heads?” Ellison asked. “I’m not worried about it. Come on, Den. What if they had Jackson or Will?”
Deni’s eyes went flat. “Let them try.”
“Good girl.”
“Hurry,” Ronan said as he grabbed his clothes. “Dylan’s waiting, and Liam. They’re ready for war.”
“Go with them,” Ellison said to Deni. He caught his sister in a rough hug then released her. “I’m not coming. I need to find Maria.”
Ronan looked worried. “Do I have to tell Dylan that?”
“I’ll tell him,” Deni said. “Ellison’s right. Maria will be terrified, and Ellison can’t leave his mate stranded. Dylan will have to suck it up.”
Ronan ushered Deni, who was pulling on her sweats, out the door. “I dare you to say suck it up to Dylan.”
“He understands about mates and cubs. They come first.”
Ellison dressed as quickly as he could then headed for his motorcycle. Deni, back to herself again, herded Ronan across the street, and Ellison’s blood warmed in spite of his worry.
Mates. Deni had recognized the mate bond when she saw it. Ellison knew, that after all this time and so much loneliness, the mate of his heart had found her way to him.
***
Maria’s relief when Ellison dismounted his motorcycle in front of the convenience store made her knees weak. Maria dashed to him, and in an instant, his strong arms were around her, Ellison sweeping her up into his warmth. Maria buried her face in his neck and hung on.
“You all right?” Ellison asked.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Connor . . . It was awful. They just took him!”
“I know. We’re on it.”
“But why take him? He’s a cub, but not in human terms, not like Olaf.”
Ellison went silent, and Maria raised her head to find his gray eyes troubled. “I admit, I don’t know. But we’ll find him.”
His expression was somber, but his arms were strong around her. So good to be able to lay her head on his shoulder, for him to understand her burdens, to share them, to fight with her.
“Hey!” A voice sounded across the convenience store’s tiny parking lot. “Shifters aren’t allowed here.”
Maria turned around, hot words on her lips, but Ellison stopped her. “Never mind. Let’s go hunt for Connor.”
Maria clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t like the convenience store clerk’s sneering expression, but now was not the time to fight this battle. After they found Connor, she’d come back here and say rude things to him.
Ellison helped her onto the back of the motorcycle. As she had only yesterday, Maria wrapped her arms around him and let him carry her away.
She realized after Ellison had made a few turns away from the convenience store that they were not going back to Shiftertown. He rode them down to the warehouse area they’d visited yesterday morning, with its empty back lots that might as well be in the middle of nowhere.
Ellison stopped in the open space in front of Pablo Marquez’s warehouse. Guys working on two high-end cars gave Maria and Ellison warning looks as they left the bike and went inside.
Pablo Marquez sat at his desk in his office, tapping a laptop’s keyboard. “I already talked to Dylan,” he said before Ellison reached him. “I don’t know where they took Connor, but I suggested some leads. You can go away now. I’m busy.”
Ellison walked steadily to the desk and stopped in front of it, doing nothing but standing there. “You know where Clifford Bradley is,” he said. “Don’t you?”