Mate Claimed

CHAPTER THIRTY

Eric reloaded the tranq gun Graham had found as fast as he’d ever done anything, and shot the next dart straight into the tiger. The tiger roared and collapsed to the floor, but he didn’t fall unconscious.

The tiger shifted instead into a large man, with an immensity that rivaled even Shane’s. He had a strong face covered with unshaved whiskers, eyes that remained golden yellow, and hair, while matted with blood, showing the orange and black streaks of a tiger.

Eric stared at him a moment before another wash of pain cramped him. The tranq gun slid from his slack grasp, but Graham grabbed it, loaded another dart, and pointed the rifle at the tiger.

“Who the fuck are you?” Graham demanded.

The tiger remained slumped on the floor, watching them with angry eyes. “Twenty-three. I told her.”

“She said humans…created you?”

“Yes.”

“How? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.”

Eric barely heard them. He crawled to Iona, who’d reverted to human form in her slumber, her beautiful limbs tangled on the floor and covered with claw and bite marks.

He’d seen her eyes before he’d shot her. Feral. His beautiful Iona. Eric had feared so much that her beast would take over, and now it had. Because she’d been fighting to protect him.

He lay down beside her and gathered her into his arms, burying his face in her neck.

Help me, love.

The mate bond warmed him, and the pain receded the slightest bit. The touch of a mate, her scent, that’s what healed.

He loved her, a love he’d fought and denied. Eric had told himself his craving for her was his mating hunger, or his loneliness, but he knew now that it was all her.

He’d fallen in love with Iona the moment he’d seen her months ago, she sitting in the corner of Coolers in that sexy blue dress, impatiently tapping her straw into her slushy drink. Her lovely face, her lush black hair, and most of all her clear blue eyes had wrapped around him and stolen his heart.

If Iona had taught him anything over the months, it was that true love wasn’t selfish. Iona had loved her mother and sister enough to hide her Shifter nature so they’d be safe from it. She’d fought her craving for Eric for them.

When Eric had more or less forced Iona to accept entry into Shiftertown, she’d embraced his family without hesitation. She could have hated them, fought them, derided them for being what she didn’t want to become.

But Iona had viewed them as individual beings and accepted them each for themselves. She’d loved his sister and his son, formed a camaraderie with Diego and Xav, and had willingly helped bring Cassidy’s daughter into the world.

Iona had stood up to Graham, she’d protected Eric, and she’d been down here fighting like a demon in this strange human place. Fighting, protecting—not cowering in a corner in terror, as she had every right to.

Eric loved her for all that, and also for her laughter, her quiet sense of humor, and her strength.

He stroked her hair. “I love you, mate of my heart.”

Iona’s eyes cracked open, the lovely blue untarnished by any feral red. “Eric?”

“Love.” Eric laid his body over hers, trying to pour the warmth she’d given him back into her. He kissed her, her warm lips parting for his.

“Eric.” Iona’s eyes widened in alarm. “Cassidy. She’s upstairs with Amanda. We have to help Twenty-three. The humans are doing some weird experiments, stealing DNA and things. We have to…”

“Hush now.” Eric kissed her again, silencing her.

“You shot me,” she said, a spark of anger in her eyes.

“I had to, love. You were going feral.”

Anger fled, and concern returned. “Are you all right? Is the pain still there?”

Iona touched him as though searching him for hurts, even though her own body was bloody with claw wounds. But her touch stilled the throbbing pain inside Eric and, at the same time, brought one interested part of him to life.

“I’m better,” he whispered.

“Are we going to get the hell out of here anytime soon?” Graham asked from where he still trained the gun on the tiger.

Iona struggled to sit up, pushing her long hair back from her face. “We have to take him with us. I promised.”

The Tiger Man, still awake, regarded her with groggy eyes. His body was scored with dozens of deep gouges, but still he looked like he’d be willing to go another ten rounds.

“You want to take him?” Graham asked. “What the fuck is he?”

Iona got to her feet. Eric decided that watching her long legs unfolding in front of him, all the way to her fine, tight ass, was a wonderful thing. “He doesn’t deserve to stay here and be experimented on,” she said. “I came down here to free him, and I guess getting free triggered his fight-or-flight instinct.”

“You think?” Graham growled.

“She’s right.” Eric sat up, not minding being right next to Iona’s fine legs. “No Shifter deserves to be a guinea pig. He comes with us. Tranq him if he gets unruly.”

“But what are you going to do with him? Take him to Shiftertown to steal our females and threaten our cubs?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Eric said. “Have faith, Graham. Leaders need that.”

Graham kept the tranq rifle firmly aimed at the tiger. “I swear to the Goddess, Warden, you are a piece of work.”

“Argue later. Find Cassidy now. Where is she?”

Iona reached down for him. “Upstairs. I’ll show you.”

Eric’s heart lightened as he put his hand in hers and let her pull him to his feet. Mated. They’d help each other, always.

“Bring him,” Eric said to Graham, the strength of command returning to his voice.

“Whatever.” Graham scowled at the tiger. “We need to find some clothes to cover that semitruck between his legs.”

The tiger growled as he got to his feet, but he was finished attacking, Eric saw in his eyes.

Eric walked up to him. The tiger made another soft snarl, but Eric didn’t flinch. “We’ll help you, my friend. But you obey me.”

The tiger looked down at him, as tall as any bear Shifter, a glint of defiance in his eyes. He pointed at Iona, never taking his gaze from Eric. “I follow her.”

Eric felt momentary surprise, but then, it wasn’t so surprising. Iona had been seriously kicking his ass, she had promised to free him, and Tiger had heard Iona insist on making good on that promise. Small wonder this lone Feline would consider Iona his alpha.

“Works for me,” Eric said lightly. “Iona, lead the way.”

“And I follow you,” Graham said from behind the tiger. “With this.” He gave the tranq rifle a loving stroke.

Tiger eyed him not in fear but irritation, and turned to let Iona lead them out.

The building remained quiet as they followed Iona up the stairs. It was the middle of the night, yes, but the humans hadn’t stationed any guards on this building apart from the one outside the front door. The walls were thick, the basement deep, and apparently no sounds of their battle had reached the guard.

Eric wondered. When he’d been brought to Area 51 for experiments, he’d not been in this building, but a smaller one, with plenty of humans and military guards swarming it. This was an old building that looked as though it hadn’t been used in a few decades, one guard, no backup, silence.

Iona told them about the lab upstairs and the people she’d knocked out. She calculated about twenty-five minutes had passed since she’d done that.

“How about we go up and tranq them?” Graham suggested. “Give us another hour or so?”

“We get Cassidy first,” Eric said, a little distracted by the fine shape of Iona’s backside as she led them upward. “If Reid can take us all out of here quick enough, we might not have to worry about them.”

Iona shot Eric a curious glance over her shoulder, not yet knowing about Reid’s gift. She said nothing, however, as she led them out of the stairwell into a deserted corridor. They reached a door with a broken handle, which Iona opened into a hospital room.

Eric’s blood boiled hot when he saw his sister stretched out on a bed, her hands and feet shackled in place. A mound of clean suit on her chest emitted a little coo.

“Eric!” Cassidy cried in relief, then her voice strengthened. “Let me out of here so I can kill whatever humans touched my cub.”

Eric went quickly to her, leaning to embrace her in joy and relief. His embrace encompassed Amanda, who opened her infant eyes and burped.

Cassidy relaxed under Eric’s touch, then she looked past him and stiffened. “What is that?”

She lifted her head to study the tiger, who stood uncertainly halfway inside the room, Graham still fixing the rifle on him. Tiger Man’s gaze went to Amanda, and he drew a long, shuddering breath.

“Cub,” he said, then his voice filled with sorrow. “They took mine.”

“You had a cub?” Iona asked, shocked.

The tiger nodded. “He died.” His gaze moved hungrily to Amanda again. “Can I see?”

Graham’s hand tightened on the rifle. “Careful, Iona. Why did you bring him in here anyway?”

“Because I think he can help break the bonds that hold Cassidy. Have you noticed how strong he is? He’s like a super Shifter.”

“Come over here,” Eric told the tiger, who still looked at Amanda. “Stay sane, or Graham gives you two shots. Easier on me if you’re asleep.”

The tiger man nodded. He came forward slowly, moving like a Shifter trying not to startle anyone. His golden-eyed gaze remained on Amanda, the sorrow on his face heartbreaking.

Cassidy watched him come, expression guarded, but she was letting him. Iona followed, her fingertips on her lips, the compassion in her warring with her protectiveness. Eric knew that as much as Iona felt sorry for the tiger, if Tiger made one wrong move toward Amanda or Cass, Iona would be on him, probably even faster than Eric was.

Tiger Man reached the table, stretched out one blunt finger, and touched Amanda’s downy hair. He swallowed, his eyes softening.

“Can you break these?” Eric asked, touching a cuff.

The tiger studied them, then he hooked his fingers under the metal and tore upward. Cassidy cried out in pain, then the cuff broke from its bolts and clanked to the floor. Cassidy snatched her hand away and shook it hard.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

She clenched her teeth while the tiger broke the other cuff, then the ones on her ankles. Cassidy sat up, cradling Amanda, anger making her strong.

Eric put his arms around Cassidy again, lending whatever strength he could, then he kissed her, took up the equipment Xavier had given him, and started taking photos of the room.

Both Iona and the tiger watched, mystified, as Eric hooked the camera to the sat phone the way Xavier had shown him and dialed the number.

“Xav,” he said when the man answered. “Send these to Reid and tell him to get his dokk alfar ass out here.”

“Xavier’s there?” Cassidy asked, leaping down from the table. “Where’s Diego?”

Iona picked up one of the phones she must have stolen from the researchers, smiled when she got a signal, and handed it to her. Cassidy punched in a number with one thumb and eagerly lifted the phone to her ear.

Eric heard Diego’s voice loud and clear. “Who is this?”

“Diego?” Cassidy said.

“Cassidy.” His voice flooded with relief. “Fuck.” He flowed into a long string of Spanish, while Cassidy laughed, tears in her eyes.

Then air displaced with a little bang, and Stuart Reid stood in the room. Iona let out a startled scream, and the tiger snarled.

Iona blew out her breath, hand on her heart. “I didn’t know he could do that. How did he do that?”

“Diego?” Cassidy yelled into the phone. “I’m coming home. With Amanda. You’ll be there, right?”

“I’m on my way, amorcita,” Diego said and clicked off.

Reid studied the roomful of Shifters, all naked except Cassidy in her hospital gown. His dark Fae eyes narrowed at the sight of the tiger. “Is that a Shifter?”

“Long story,” Eric said. “Time to go.”

“I can’t take you all at once,” Reid said. “One at a time, maybe two with the kid.”

“Start with Cassidy and Amanda, then. Make sure they’re okay and get back here.”

Reid went to Cassidy and put his slender arms around her, touching Amanda as well. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Eric grunted a laugh. “This from a man who can make iron bars turn to raining bullets.”

“That’s natural. Area Fifty-one is just weird.”

He flashed a look around, then light flared, and Reid, Cassidy, and Amanda were gone.

“I hope he hurries,” Graham said, while Iona and the tiger stared at the empty space in amazement.

“Before he does,” Eric said, “I want to find out everything I can about this place and exactly what they’re doing here. You.” Eric walked to the tiger, feeling his strength return, the pain nearly gone. “You are going to tell me everything you know, starting from the moment you first were aware of being here, and leaving nothing out.”

Iona dressed herself while Tiger Man leaned against the table Cassidy had vacated and told his story.

There wasn’t much to it, but Iona listened in dismay and sympathy. Tiger Man had lived in his cage most of his life, let out only when humans wanted to watch him shift or run around, or when they carried him off to other rooms to put needles and probes in him. They’d lock him into glass-windowed rooms sometimes to watch what he’d do.

Tiger remembered only bits and pieces of his life, which, if Iona judged aright, was about forty years. He remembered his Transition, the pain of it, during which time they’d given him a female they’d made for him to mate with.

He remembered only flashes of that, then they showed him the cub she’d brought forth, but the female had died having it, they’d said. The tiger had touched the cub only once before it was taken away from him. Later, when he’d asked, a human had told him that the cub had died.

There had been more Shifters here, Tiger said. When he’d been young, the facility had been full of people working—the place had teemed with them. What they’d meant to accomplish, he didn’t know. He’d stopped wondering the why of things a long time ago.

For the last about ten years, the place had been quiet. Most of the humans had gone away, the bodies of the dead Shifters gone, and the tiger had been left alone. Fed and watered, and that was it.

Then, about six months ago, some humans had come back and started poking at him again. Tiger hadn’t seen any other Shifters, but he’d been taken from time to time to the top floor and put through different scanners, tranqed, scanned, and probed again.

When Tiger finished his story, Iona folded her arms, shivering. Even Graham was quiet, his usual bluster replaced by angry sympathy. Eric watched Tiger with a stillness Iona had come to know masked deep rage.

“If he’s about forty,” Iona said, “then that means humans were doing the experiments before the existence of Shifters was revealed. The Shifters were outed only a little over twenty years ago.”

“I thought of that,” Eric said grimly. “The experiments they did on me weren’t here, but in a similar place. The humans that studied me knew nothing about us, were trying to figure out what Shifters could do.”

“So a different set of scientists?” Graham asked. “Doing Goddess knows what?”

“The people here were trying to make their own Shifters,” Iona said. “But they didn’t work. I bet when the Shifters started dying, not being viable, the program got its funding cut.”

“And started back up again?” Eric looked around at the old room. “This doesn’t look like a refurbished facility.”

Iona shrugged. “Maybe whoever started it again wasn’t forthcoming about exactly what he was doing in here. Told the government it was for weapons or something and then went back to trying to create Shifters.”

“Kellerman,” Eric said.

“I was just thinking that,” Graham said. “He’s up to something, that’s for certain. I’m betting even if he didn’t do this himself, he knows who did. He damn well knew my wolves had gone missing and why.”

“How about if we ask him?” Eric said, rage making his eyes hard green. “We have phones.”

Iona broke in. “If you tell him you’ve found this place, won’t he just call more guards out here to raid the building?”

“Possibly,” Graham said. “I was thinking about using a sneakier method. Make him need to come out here and see for himself.”

“How are you going to do that?” Iona asked in puzzlement.

“Give me the sat phone, and I’ll show you.”

Eric handed over the big phone. Graham took it and started punching in numbers. After a few seconds of ringing, Iona heard a sleepy human female voice on the other end say, “Hello?”

“Misty. Sweetheart. This is Graham. I need you to do something for me. Call Kellerman—no, I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night—and tell him you heard me saying something about checking out his place in Area Fifty-one. Yep, I said Area Fifty-one. Tell him you’re not sure, but I seemed excited about something. Got it? Thank you, sweetie. Drinks are on me.”