Tory's voice broke. She had been all business before, but he could feel her pain just as he could feel his own.

"Jacks, please bring her back. Ryleigh means a lot to us, to me," said Tory.

Choked up himself he managed to grunt, "Will do. She means everything to me."

Chapter 41.

Ryleigh woke up and even in her drug induced haze she knew that she had woken to her worst nightmare. She was in a cage. Not just any cage, but in the same cage her incubators had kept her in as a child. The two-people responsible for putting her there were arguing a few feet away.

"Oh, I see you're finally awake, Jennifer, welcome home."

"Don't call me that Julius," Ryleigh said. "Jennifer died a long time ago, and she is not coming back, no matter what you do."

"What do you think of your new home?" Julius questioned. "Well, it's not new; more like new and improved. Declan doesn't know about this one. So, if you believe that your new Daddy is going to ride in and save the day, you'd better think again. Mom and Dad never did think big enough, and they talked way too much. It's a good thing that I don't have that problem. Don't you agree, Jennifer?"

Julius walked around her confinement, running his fingers along the bars.

"Just so you know, no one knows about this place. I had your cage moved years ago," he revealed. "Anyone who knew about this is either dead or has simply forgotten. When you had Mommy and Daddy put away, I had the lab dismantled and moved, just for you because I knew that you would be coming back some day. So here is what is going to happen, you are going to do whatever I tell you to do, because if you don't, Eli and the rest of my staff have some rather unpleasant plans for you. But please do act up, you remember our games when we were children. Mommy always lets me decide your punishment. I miss the time we spent together. Don't you? I made some improvements to your room just for this occasion. Would you like to see? Oh, come on, Jennifer. Aren't you just a little curious?"

"No matter. Your opinion doesn't count anyways. Eli is the one that gave me the idea," Julius said, motioning towards Eli. "You see, those animals that you have become so fond of have some rather exciting extracurricular activities. They are really into the whole BDSM scene. And since I kind of like the idea of seeing you bound, gagged, and whipped, I furnished the room just for that purpose. Remember how much you used to like the whips when you were younger?"

Ryleigh was terrified.

"What, are those actual tears in your eyes?" Julius taunted her. "d.a.m.n sister, you have gotten soft in your old age. When you were younger, it took much more to bring those out. Or are you crying because the man you finally spread your legs for is a beast that likes to do the very thing you stand against? What Jennifer, didn't you know the bear you have been with, the bear you have spread your leg for, likes to beat his women?" Julius chuckled to himself. "Ironic if you ask me. The great and mighty leader of The Holly Group seeing a man that gets off on beating a woman. That little agency of yours will be destroyed I will make sure of it. The press likes a good story after all. Wouldn't it surprise people to learn that the almighty Declan Quinn condones such behavior in his men? His sanctimonious a.s.s won't be able to handle the bad press. If you really think about it, it's a win-win for me; two birds with one stone, all that. I can take that b.a.s.t.a.r.d down, and he won't have the resources to find you."

"After a while, when the press dies down, I will have my guys take him out permanently along with all those animals he employs, such fun," Julius said with a demented look in his eyes. "But that is neither here nor there. You do deserve it after all the trouble you put me through. After all, Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be in prison if it weren't for their little mistake, namely you. I told them that pets needed to be put down when they misbehave, but they wouldn't listen. They only wanted the money their little pet could provide. They had me. Why that wasn't enough, we will never know. But now you are going to be my pet, and my pets get beaten when they don't obey."

My G.o.d, the guy was a psychopath the only thing that was remotely good about the situation was Ryleigh knew a team had Julius under surveillance. As soon as Jacks made the call, they would come after her. She was sure of it. Jacks wouldn't give up on her, even if he had been p.i.s.sed. She knew it down deep in her soul. Jacks would find her, and Julius and Eli would pay for what they were going to do to her. She just had to get through whatever they planned until then.

The lights brightened the room, and Ryleigh got the first good look at what Julius had been going on about. She knew that she was in serious trouble. It looked like a deranged s.e.x shop. One wall contained d.i.l.d.os and vibrators of every kind, on the other every impact device Ryleigh could think; whips, crops, canes, and paddles. Those were just the ones Ryleigh recognized. Ropes, chains, zip ties, cuff, and manacles lined the other wall and right in the center was a St. Andrews cross. The psycho even had someone paint fake bricks on the walls to give it a real dungeon feel. There were other pieces of furniture, all with the same purpose, but Ryleigh was focused straight ahead. Thank G.o.d, she had lost her virginity to Jacks because Ryleigh's nightmare was about to get much worse. Julius and Eli planned to rape and beat her into submission. She needed a plan, and she needed one quick. She would not let these men take her back to the nightmare that she lived as a child. Instead, she would keep Jacks close to her heart and hope that she made it through this in one piece. They could hurt her, even use her body, but she would never break and give in to these men. Jacks would save her. She knew he would, and she would survive for him.

Cutting Julius's rant off Ryleigh asks, "So Eli, are you going to let him call you an animal? I would think you had more pride than that. What is he offering you? It had to be pretty big for you to betray your team, break your oath, and make enemies of not only one, but two of the most lethal men I know."

"Shut the f.u.c.k up you little c.u.n.t," Eli barked. "If you had just let me put the f.u.c.king IUD in, we wouldn't have the d.a.m.n problem. You would have been sterile, Jacks would have dumped you and moved on to a more appropriate mate; one that isn't a mutt. You and the first batch were all failed experiments. We should have put you down when we had the chance. But no, Senior the sanctimonious a.s.s just couldn't let that happen. He had to get involved when he heard what the Abernathy's were up to. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d couldn't mind his own business. He pushed for the raid, and his superiors listened. My a.s.sociates weren't in the position to take you out then, but we are stronger now. We have been working for years to get Franklin's f.u.c.king list. There are women out there that can give us guaranteed Shifter babies, not wishes and hopes. I am not going to let you a d.a.m.n mutt mess with my race's future."

"Jacks will search for me he will find you. If he doesn't, my dad will. How do you feel out dragon fire Eli?" she said, mocking Eli.

"That's not going to be a problem, Ryleigh, because right about now everyone thinks that I am dead right along with the rest of the Alpha Team," Eli countered. "You see, before I left, the base kind of exploded with all the guys inside. It was kind of spectacular if I do say so myself. No one, not even Shifters, could survive that type of explosion."

Eli continued his rant.

"Jacks isn't going to be able to control his bear, and the enforcers are going to have to put him down. Which is really kind of sad because Alpha genes are exactly what my species need to rise up and rule. His cubs would have been exceptional, but you had to go and ruin that, too didn't you? As for your dad, he is going to think Julius took you, just like I planned. He will come after him, not a dead man. Problem solved. Now tell me where the hard drive is. I have a date with destiny and I'm not going to be late."

"What are you talking about Eli?" a concerned Julius asked. "We are in this together. You came to me with this plan, and I followed all your instructions. We are going to make money off of Jennifer and use her until we are sick of her, and then when we are done we are going to kill her. That's the plan; not Declan coming after me."

Eli turned to Julius.

"Shut up you f.u.c.king sniveling little brat," Eli snapped. "I can't believe that I had to stoop to your level. You disgusted me, and that was never the plan. You are just the distraction to keep NAC off my a.s.s while I got Franklin's hard drive. The sociopath recorded everything. My a.s.sociates and I will know where all the females are. That was the plan, not your demented little revenge. Once we have the list, we can pair the women with suitable mates, putting my race in the power position."

Eli focused on Ryleigh again.

"So, I suggest you start talking. It wasn't in the car or with your stuff, and I am really getting sick of this s.h.i.t. If you talk, I will make it quick, unlike the plan your perverted brother had. But to show you a little good faith, I will take care of one of your nightmares for you."

Ryleigh was shocked. She didn't like Eli from the start, but she gave the jerk the benefit of the doubt. How had he fooled Jacks and the rest of the team for so long? He was evil to the core. Ryleigh could also tell that he was lying. He wasn't going to make any of this easy for her; he hated her and what she stood for. His words kept on playing on in her mind: mistake, failure and mutt. She knew if Eli had his way, she wouldn't make it through the day. Ryleigh wasn't deluded enough to think that Eli would ever show her any kindness.

Eli lifted his gun and pulled the trigger, shooting her pseudo-brother right between the eyes.

Chapter 42.

Dang, the man showed absolutely no emotion for just killing a man in cold blood. Ryleigh knew the men on the teams were trained and had done their fair share of killing; they were soldiers. What she wasn't prepared for was the gleam in the man's eyes after he had done the deed. Eli didn't have a good bone in his body.

"You know, it's really kind of sick. If you stop and think about it, I just did you a favor," Eli declared. "That f.u.c.ker wanted to f.u.c.k you; his own sister. And then he wanted to watch me f.u.c.k you, no way was that happening. You are disgusting, but he got hard at the thought, go figure. Do you know that he wanted to make sure there was blood? At least you will die knowing he went first, right? Just consider it my present to you. Now, where is the hard drive? I'm not going to ask again."

Ryleigh knew that she only had minutes, but she wanted to know why. The men of Alpha Team and her Dad had respected this man; lived with him. He had to have some good in him, didn't he? Yet he killed them. Oh G.o.d, Cash and the others were gone.

"Why Eli?" Ryleigh pleaded. "Why would you have killed them for some information that we don't even know for sure contains anything? You were like brothers; all the guys told me that. You all were a family, and you just killed them without a second thought, why? There had to be another way."

Eli was losing it. His eyes were bright. Ryleigh wanted to believe it was because his animal was surfacing, but she had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't it. The man was insane; a fanatic. He wanted his race to be superior, and Ryleigh threatened that.

"Come on. Out you go," Eli said, opening her cage. "Don't try anything, Ryleigh. I will shoot you. But time for a little fun, don't you think? You will tell me where that drive is, but please keep it to yourself for a little while. Julius went to all the trouble of creating this dungeon, might as well get some use of it."

Ryleigh fought, but the drugs were still affecting her, and Eli managed rather quickly to get her attached to the St. Andrews cross.

Walking over to the wall of impact items, Eli asked, "What do you think we should start with? Julius said you were especially fond of the Cat-O-Nine, but I prefer the kiss of the bullwhip. What do you say? Not that I really care what you think, but we can pretend, right?"

He came back with the whip and ripped the shirt right off Ryleigh's back.

"Ah, I see you have experience with the whip as well, but maybe I can make it better for you. I am a professional after all," Eli declared. "Do you know how long I have been waiting for this, Ryleigh? I should really be thanking you. I have had to play the Boy Scout for so long. Now that my cover is blown, I can do what I really want to do; hear a woman scream in pain, not pleasure. Safe, sane and consensual: that is what the guys are always preaching. It made me want to puke. Human women and mutts like you should not have a choice in what happens to them. You are just holes to relieve some pressure, nothing more. Since you fall into that group, this should really be fun. Too bad your f.u.c.ked-up genetics didn't include Shifter healing abilities. If it had, we could do this over and over again, until I got sick of the sounds of your screams. Granted, that could take a while. But let's do a little experiment, shall we?"

Walking back, he took his first shot and Ryleigh screamed. Eli had hit his mark with expert aim. Ryleigh could feel the blood running down her back. Memories of her childhood a.s.saulted her. Knowing she couldn't lose it, she withdrew into herself, picturing Jacks and all they had been through in such a short time. She had to believe that he would find her, and she would do everything in her power to survive until that happened. This wasn't the first time a s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.d had decided to cause her pain. She got through it before, and she would get through it now.

"Ah, yes. I do love that sound. Tell me, pet, how does that feel?" Eli taunted.

The word "pet" pulled her from her safe place. She hated that word. Deciding to give it one more try and give her poor back a bit of a reprieve she asked, "Why Eli? They loved you. You were their brother."

Eli started spewing his hate, "You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h, they wouldn't listen. I tried to get them to stop helping the f.u.c.king humans, but they wouldn't budge. They thought it was the right thing to do. We are better than the human sc.u.m we are constantly helping. And you are the worst. You're not human, and you're not Shifter; you are nothing. Did you know that only five of the first batch of mongrels made it? We have been watching all of you for a very long time. Sweet Zoey is one I will personally miss, but at least she had a use until you got your hands on her. That girl could really take the whip. I guess training her from childhood helped with that. What do you think? You know, I actually got to spend some time with her about ten years ago, and I have never been able to forget her. She would bend so beautifully for me. The only disappointment was that she didn't scream until I f.u.c.ked her a.s.s, and then it was only a little cry. I knew if I had more time, I would have made her sing. But if wishes were horses and all that."

"You are sick, Eli," Ryleigh seethed. "She was just a child."

"No, Ryleigh, she was nothing; just like you, a pet, or more appropriately, a toy to be used and then thrown away when you are done playing. You know what the irony of this is? If you would have just listened and let me do the procedure none of this would have happened and for that fact only you are going to pay."

Eli paced around Ryleigh, as if circling his prey.

"It is your fault that I had to hurt them. We are better than you, better than humans. We are at the top of the food chain, not your fragile little humans. My species is stronger, faster, and healthier than any mere human. My people will prove that. I never could convince them to put you five down; it was really quite frustrating. They wanted to watch and see what would happen. Would your Shifter gene kick in, would you be able to have healthy children, could you produce Shifter children?"

He continued his rant.

"You see, my a.s.sociates like to watch. You have even met some, but were just too stupid to figure out that you were still an experiment. Senior made you feel safe. I can tell you that you were never safe. I could give you a complete dossier on all five of you mutts down to the day you start your cycles and what you had for breakfast. It's really quite disgusting. At least none of you have tried to procreate yet. My a.s.sociates were still very curious and had all these questions. They wanted those questions to be answered, but several of us see you like the garbage you really are. Kind of like how G.o.d takes care of his own mistakes, we should have taken care of Pandora's. But no, the powers that be wanted to observe the mongrels in their natural environment and all that. But I couldn't let you breed with my men. It wouldn't have been right. Jacks was too good for the likes of you. I heard them talking before you and Jacks left on that mission. Do you know that they think fated mates are real now? Can you believe that? Females are just the vessel. But maybe if we are able to make actual female Shifter, then that might change their minds. But fated mates, that is ridiculous and still the fairy tale it was meant to be. There is no proof; only speculation. Unfortunately, though, or fortunately for you, Ryleigh, you have now outlived your usefulness. I only need one thing from you and that the drive. My a.s.sociates are no longer interested in observing you now that you have decided to look where you shouldn't be looking."

With that, Eli continued his lesson, and Ryleigh screamed until she couldn't scream anymore.

Chapter 43.

The tracking device lead Jacks right to Ryleigh. It was magnificent tech. NAC, and The Holly group would benefit greatly from it. If one of their operatives were ever taken or lost, they could find them just like he found Ryleigh. Now he needed to get her out of there. He was standing within twenty feet of her, and it was killing him not to just charge there and get Ryleigh out. He had to be smart about this because backup was coming and he didn't know what he was walking into. He was just about to start the recon and that is when he heard it, Ryleigh's scream, and the bear burst right out of his skin.

Just when Ryleigh thought she couldn't take any more, the biggest grizzly bear she had ever seen crashed through the door going right for Eli. She knew that Jacks had come for her.

Eli shifted as well, but he didn't stand a chance against Jacks' bear. The giant grizzly had the smaller bear by the neck and within seconds it was over; Eli was dead. Ryleigh watched as his body shifted back to human form.

After a few minutes, Jacks changed back and said, "No a.s.shole, you are at the bottom of the food chain. Alphas always rule."

He seemed to be in a trance for a second but then quickly came back to himself when he saw Ryleigh.

"Oh, G.o.d, Baby, let me get you down from there," he cried, while releasing her from her constraints. "s.h.i.t, are you okay? I couldn't hold my bear back any longer when you screamed. f.u.c.k, are you all right? Let me look at you."

Jacks' eyes were still too bright and he seemed bigger than he normally was, but he was being so gentle, trying not to hurt Ryleigh further.

"Jacks, it's okay. I'm okay, really, I'm okay," she said weakly.

Then Jacks looked at her back.

"Oh, Baby, I am so sorry what did they do to you?"

He was looking at her back, and Ryleigh knew what he was seeing. The fresh marks that Eli left weren't the only thing on her back. As a child, if she didn't perform for the incubators, they allowed her instructors to discipline her to make her compliant. She decided she would tell him, but not now and not in this place.

"Jacks, can we please leave; I'm okay I promise I knew you would come for me, I felt you. But, please, can we get out of here?" she begged.

Before Jacks could answer, Cash and two of The Holly Group members ran through the door. Cash looked a little worse for wear, but he also looked p.i.s.sed. When his eyes finally landed on Jacks and Ryleigh, he looked relieved, and she couldn't help but run to him.

"Cash, oh Cash. He said he killed you. Are you okay?" Ryleigh said, somewhat relieved. "What about the others? Please tell me we didn't lose anybody."

Cash was choked up but managed to reply, "We are all going to be okay, little sister. Wyatt has a nasty b.u.mp on his head, but he is going to be fine. Your family is safe and worried about you."

Jacks pulled Ryleigh back into his arms where he needed her. He couldn't help but shiver; he could have lost her. Had he even been a second slower... Jacks just could not imagine his life without this wonderful, caring woman in it and he would make sure that he never came that close to losing her again. But right now, he needed to get his woman out of this place. He would fight her demons for her past, present, and future.

"Come on, Baby, let's get you out of here," he said, picking her up in his arms.

"Cash, can you guys contain the scene? I am sure the authorities will have questions, but I don't want Ryleigh to be in here any longer than necessary," Jacks said.

"You got it, Alpha," Cash replied. "Police, and EMTs ETA is two minutes. We got it handled. Get Ryleigh out of here. Dude, you could have at least left me a little of that f.u.c.ker. He tried to kill us and then tried to hurt my family. A little payback would have been nice."

"No time," Jacks added, "the bear took over, and that was it. I'm going to get Ryleigh checked out and call Senior. We should be able to wrap this up pretty quick. Make sure you download and scrub the video from their surveillance equipment. I don't think the rest of the world is ready to learn about Shifters or what we can do. Once we finish up here, Ryleigh and I are heading home. Let's have everyone meet back at home base in 72 hours."

"Roger Alpha. 72 hours," Cash replied.

Jacks made sure that the EMTs checked Ryleigh out, and they gave their statements to the authorities. He knew it all went far too smoothly and figured that Senior had pulled some strings. The paramedics had cleared Ryleigh; the wounds on her back were superficial and only one required a couple of b.u.t.terflies to close it up. She would be sore but she would survive, and that was the most important thing.

He and Ryleigh had a lot to talk about, but he knew everything would work out. While the paramedics were finishing up, Jacks spoke with Senior. He was chomping at the bit to talk to his daughter, but Jacks put him off by asking for her hand.

He could have sworn the man was choked up, but he quickly masked it and said, "You know what's going to happen if you don't treat her right?"

All Jacks said was, "Yes, Sir. I would expect nothing less."

After all, the burn of the dragon fire wouldn't even compare to the pain his bear would inflict if he ever let Ryleigh down; she was his life.

Once the police released them, Ryleigh asked, "where to, Jacks?"

"Let's go home, Ryleigh," Jacks suggested. "I thought that I needed to talk to my Dad and Grandfather, but I don't. You are my mate, Ryleigh. I know it with every fiber of my being. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, you are going to marry me, but we are going home now."

"And where would that be, Jacks; your home or mine?"

"Our home, Ryleigh; Alpha Team's home base in the Upper Peninsula. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Nope, I heard it's really pretty all the way up there and I just so happen to love the snow. But Jacks, aren't you supposed to ask me to marry you? You just told me I was marrying you. I might not know much about how relationships work, but I do know the guy is supposed to ask the girl to marry him, not demand it.

"Nope, just semantics. Let's go home, Baby."

Chapter 44.