BK 3 - Chapter 28 - Unwelcome Surprise
Cat, Kitty, Aiden, Thatcher, and Janel looked at the man who had made Trey stop in his tracks. At first, they thought their eyes were deceiving them. They hadn't seen him in over twenty years. Thatcher didn't give the man time to react. He raced over, grabbed him, and pulled him to where their group stood with his hand firmly over the werelion's mouth.
"Derrick, what an unpleasant surprise. I heard you'd crawled under a rock after my sister Sonya died." Trey spoke through clenched teeth. He never forgave Derrick for kidnapping Cat in Monterey all those years ago. Thatcher slowly removed his hand but didn't loosen his grip on Derrick. If he tried to shift, he'd kill him instantly and not think twice about it.
"I knew you wouldn't leave well enough alone once you got your mate and daughter back. Raul thought you would all be on your way back to California by now. What exactly is your plan here?" Derrick glared at Cat. Her lion Saira had ripped his leg off, and even though the wound had healed quickly, he couldn't grow a new leg. Now he was a damaged werelion with a prosthetic.
"We didn't have a plan other than to kill everyone inside that has anything to do with this." Trey gestured around the room at the decaying bodies and fearful people. He looked at Derrick through narrowed eyes.
"What are you doing here? Are you helping them with trafficking and mutilating our own kind?" Trey asked while taking a step closer.
"That's none of your business, but let's pretend I am helping them. There's a lot of money in experimenting on shifters. Why should I care what happens to them? If you think about it, there's no way to convict us. The majority of humans don't know we exist, so we can do what we want to shifters with no consequences." Derrick shrugged his shoulders as the entire group stared at him with hatred.
"We should have killed you in Monterey. That will be rectified now." Trey glanced at Thatcher, who broke Derrick's neck before he even had time to register what Trey had said.
"Hopefully, that's our only surprise. What do you want to do now?" Cat asked while watching Thatcher throw Derrick's body on the pile of decaying ones in the corner.
"Let's get the people that are still alive out of here. Take them to where Emily and the others are waiting. Move quickly." Trey answered as everyone grabbed a shifter and ran out the way they'd come. Cat carried a girl who looked about twelve. She couldn't even open her eyes, but she was breathing. When they reached the others, they looked at the captives in horror.
"What were they doing to them?" Emily asked while taking the girl from her mother.
"We're not sure, but we wanted to bring out all of those still alive before we go any further. Keep them hidden out here with you." Cat answered before running back to the warehouse.
When she went back inside, everyone that could be rescued had been removed. All that was left were the bodies. Unfortunately, none of the animals could be saved. They were all dead or almost dead from whatever had been done to them. Thatcher and Trey put them out of their misery even though it pained them both. Neither liked killing innocents.
Once everyone had returned, they walked to the door that Derrick had come through. Trey listened to see if he could hear anything on the other side. There was talking, but it sounded muffled. Trey slowly opened the door and peered out. There was what looked like a kitchen on the other side. No one was in that room, but all that separated them from where the men were talking was a curtain. Trey quietly shut the door and turned to the group.
"There's a kitchen between us and the men. When we go out, I want to get a look at their locations before we attack. I need you all to be prepared to fight. Shift if you need to; just don't let anyone capture you or stick you with a needle. Try to stay in pairs so you can help each other. Do you have any questions?" Trey looked around at everyone. His eyes fell on Cat, and his heart ached. She was his everything, yet they always seemed to be fighting with someone trying to take her away. That ends today. He wasn't letting another person touch his mate. She came over and took his hand.
"Let's get this over with." She said, kissing his cheek. When Cat spoke like that, he always melted. She was never one to back down, no matter how hard the fight might be. Trey squeezed her hand before opening the door again. The kitchen was still clear, so Trey motioned for everyone to follow him.
When he got to the curtain, he peered through the slight gap and saw several men sitting around a table where a large black panther was strapped down. He saw Cole inject something into the animal, making it roar in pain. With all the blood on the floor, Trey knew it was the same panther that Thatcher and Janel witnessed coming out of the woman. The animal whimpered a few times before it died.
There were portions of the room Trey couldn't see, and that made him nervous. He could see the skylight from where he was and locked eyes with Nina. He mouthed how many to her. She held up eight fingers. He could see six sitting at the table, so the other two were out of his eye-line. Trey looked back up at Nina and asked her where. She pointed to the two corners on either side of him. Pulling Thatcher to him, he whispered in his ear.
"You go left; I'll go right. Everyone else is at the table." Thatcher nodded. Trey turned to the group and mouthed, ready? They nodded.
Trey and Thatcher went out first, quickly killing the two men standing off to the side in opposite corners. The men at the table didn't have time to move before seeing lions and wolves coming at them.
"How are they alive?" One man asked, not realizing the animals weren't the ones they left for dead in the back. Their faces went white when they saw Thatcher, Janel, Vilma, and Trey amongst the animals.
"We know you. Raul said you went back to California." A short round man with greasy black hair said, trying to stand up on wobbly legs.
"It looks like Raul was wrong. Where is he?" Trey asked, towering over the quivering man. None of the men had weapons, so they all sat quietly at the table, looking nervously at the animals, circling them like they were their next meal.
"I don't know. He told us to stay with the scientist while he did his experiments. Raul doesn't have the stomach for this stuff." The only man willing to talk looked hopeful they would let him live if he told them the truth. Trey looked over at Cole, who was being held by Thatcher and Janel. He was unsuccessfully trying to get away. The more he fought, the more the vampires squeezed him. Trey wondered why he didn't shift if he was a werewolf.
"What exactly were you doing with the shifters?" Trey directed his question at Cole. The scientist glared at him.
"They're nobody's. Just a bunch of rogues and orphans that nobody wants. I can do whatever I want to them." Trey walked over to him and scowled. Cole began shaking.
"They're not nobodies. What about Lisa and Alex? What were you doing with them?" Trey didn't miss the gleam in Cole's eyes.
"They were special. I made them myself. I wanted to take their animals from them as soon as they arrived, but you robbed me of that. I planned to see what the bear and lioness would do when immediately separated from their human. The possibilities were endless. You'll pay for taking them from me," Cole spat at Trey.
"No, you'll pay first. Why don't you shift?" Trey asked.
"The bastard left me years ago. Said I was a disgrace to shifters. He was the disgrace. Always crying each time I killed one of them. Shifters don't have souls. We were made to be evil. I'm just living up to my destiny." Everyone in the room felt sick listening to Cole. Trey had heard enough.
"You're right; you don't have a soul, and now you don't have a life." Trey grabbed him from Thatcher and Janel. Bringing out his claws, he slit his throat before throwing him on the ground to bleed out. Turning to the men at the table, Trey walked over with the blood still dripping from his claws.
"Do any of you know what Raul's plan is?" He asked. They all shook their heads except for one who wouldn't make eye contact. Trey noticed and walked behind him, placing his bloody claws on the man's shoulder. Trey didn't have to say anything. The man was already shaking so badly he could hardly stay in his chair.
"He...he...sa...said something about going to California. I don't know why, but he said there were twins there." Cat felt her blood drain. Her twins were there, Jelena and Grant. Saira ran back the way they came from. They heard the men screaming behind them as the others killed them, but Trey was beside her.
"He can't get them," Cat said. They ran together to Emily.
"Mom, dad, what's wrong? Where are your clothes?" Emily asked her mom with concern.
"Give me your phone. I have to call home." Cat said, taking her daughter's phone the second it was out of her pocket while Trey put his shirt over her. The twins were staying at the group homes with Roger and Valerie. She tried Jelena's phone, but there was no answer. Same with Grants. She called Valerie next and felt relief when she heard her voice.
"Hello?" Valerie said into the phone.
"Where are the twins?" Cat asked anxiously.
"They're right here. We're preparing breakfast for the kids. What's wrong?" Valeria asked.
"Someone's coming to kidnap them. You need to get out of there. Take all the kids and leave now." Cat cried into the phone.
"We'll leave now. Cat, what's ..." Before Valerie could finish her sentence, there was a loud bang, and the phone went dead. Cat tried to call back, but it kept going to voicemail. She fell to her knees, screaming as she felt her heart being ripped from her chest.
