Pretty Baby(37)

Tommy almost snapped at Bishop when the man grabbed his arm and pulled  him away from the window. He would have, too, if Bishop hadn't started  gesturing with his hands, a new plan forming as they stood there.

If Tommy understood things right, Bishop wanted him to stay and keep  watch through the windows while he and Zacarius went around through  another entrance then came into the study from inside the house. They  would be effectively coming at the enemy from two sides.

Tommy nodded that he understood then turned his attention back to the  window. He could see Philip walking around the room as he talked to the  doctor. Carl sat unmoving in a chair by the fireplace.

Tommy frowned when he got a closer look at Carl. For some reason, Carl's  hands and feet were bound to the chair he sat in. He looked terrified,  his face pale and pinched. It was not an emotion Tommy would have  equated with Carl Douglas.

He forgot all about his confusion over Carl when the study door opened.  Tommy expected Bishop and Zacarius to walk in, not two armed guards, an  older woman with dark hair, and a young child. Tommy suddenly knew that  he was looking at Summer and Tereza Morgan.

He also knew their plans had just gone to shit! The two females were  supposed to be at another facility. Granted, they were brought in when  Elliot came for his monthly exam, but one of the other rescue teams was  supposed to get to the two women before now. The plan had been for their  transport vehicle to be intercepted before it even reached the Spencer  Estate.

Summer Morgan rushed over to where Elliot was sitting, slouched in his  chair. Tereza started to run after her mother, but a quick hand of one  of the guards landing on her shoulder kept her where she was.

Tommy could see the sudden panic in Summer's face when her daughter  wasn't allowed to join her and knew something was up. There was  something different about this visit. Tommy just couldn't put his finger  on what was going on until Philip Spencer walked over to the patio  doors and opened them.

The man looked right at him.

"Would you care to join us, Mr. Nash?"

Tommy tried to hide his sudden fear by clenching his fists and drawing  in a deep lungful of air. He didn't know how Philip Spencer even knew  about him much less that he was standing right outside the man's home.

Tommy pushed himself away from the wall and followed Philip into the  house. He could see the questions brewing in Summer's eyes and gave her a  slight shake of his head. She didn't respond other than to turn her  attention back to Elliot.

"Baby, if there were any time for you to wake up and shift, this would be it!" Tommy shouted silently to Elliot.

Carl suddenly began to struggle, his face paling even more as the man  grimaced in pain. Tommy glanced over at Philip when the man started  making a tsking noise as he poured himself a drink.

"Tsk, tsk, Mr. Nash. If you have something to say, please say it to the entire room."

Tommy felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Philip knew he was trying to speak to Elliot? How?

"Would you like a drink, Mr. Nash?" Philip asked. "I am told this scotch is a very good year."

"No, thank you."

"So polite." Philip walked over to sit behind his desk.

"How do you know who I am?"

"I know about everyone in your little valley, Mr. Nash." The man's  chuckle made Tommy tense even more. "Surely you didn't think the Teacher  would go into your valley to retrieve his little pet without having the  place investigated first. I have files on every member of your little  wolf pack, including my dear son, Elliot."

"Elliot is not your son!" Summer screamed.

"Ah, but he doesn't know that, now does he, my dear. And you're not  going to tell him or you know what will happen." Philip took a small sip  of his drink then set it back on the desk. He folded his hands  together. "Elliot has just now reached his potential, and you will not  mess that up for me, or you will not be allowed to see him."

"His potential?" Tommy asked. He knew by the small smirk that crossed Philip's face that he wasn't going to like the answer.                       
       
           



       

"You didn't think that Elliot showed up in your little valley by accident, did you?"

"It was planned?"

"Of course it was." Philip seemed so proud of himself as he related his  news. "I knew the likelihood of Elliot mating with a female wolf was  near to nothing. The poor boy is gay, you know. I had hoped by sending  him to Wolf Creek Valley Elliot would meet up with one of you and I was  right. He met you, Mr. Nash."

"You couldn't have known we would be mates."

"No, that's true, but I knew the possibility was there. If he hadn't  found his mate in Wolf Creek, I would have simply sent Elliot to another  wolf pack until he did meet his mate."

While Tommy was getting a lot of answers, Philips words were creating  just as many questions. "Why do you need Elliot to be mated?"

"My doctor," Philip said as he gestured to the man standing by Elliot,  "assured me that Elliot would be able to shift once he met and bonded  with his mate. I was very disappointed when Elliot didn't shift when he  hit puberty. Dr. Banning said that it may have just been Elliot's need  to be mated first. Apparently, that trait isn't uncommon with your  kind."

Tommy tried to keep his frown off his face as he glanced over at the  doctor. He was born a shifter, and even he never heard of anyone not  shifting when they hit puberty. He wondered if the Philip and the good  doctor knew exactly what they were talking about.

"So, we've mated. So what?"

"Elliot doesn't have the constitution to be a good little wolf like I  need him to be. He's too softhearted. You, on the other hand, I have no  doubt can be the perfect specimen for my needs."

"Me?" Tommy laughed. "And what makes you think I will do anything that you say?"

Philip very casually opened his desk drawer and pulled out the strangest  looking gun Tommy had ever seen. It might not have even been a gun.  Instead of a clip or cylinder, the object held several small darts with  vials of blue liquid attached to them. Philip pointed the gun at Elliot.

"Because, my dear boy, these little vials are filled with a special  serum developed by Dr. Banning. I've seen the effects that this liquid  does to a wolf shifter like yourself, and it's not pretty. I wouldn't  want to have to use it on Elliot."

Tommy was caught and he knew it. Either he agreed to do as Philip  wanted, or the man would kill his mate. There really wasn't any other  choice. Tommy growled low in his throat and lunged across the desk at  Philip, trying to place himself between the darts and Elliot.

Logically, he knew that he might be placing his mate's life in danger.  Hopefully, Bishop and Zacarius would reach Elliot before Philip could do  the man any harm. Illogically, Tommy had a deep need to kill the man  responsible for putting his mate in danger.

Tommy heard the gun go off just as he reached Philip, shifting into his  seven-foot-tall werewolf form, one that had only come out on a handful  of occasions in his entire life, usually when he was being threatened in  some way.

He clamped his large canine teeth around the arm with the gun in it and  ripped with all his might. He distantly heard screaming and tasted the  coppery flavor of blood in his mouth. Bone crunched, much to Tommy's  satisfaction, and flesh tore.

"Tommy!"

Tommy ignored the voice screaming at him and continued to tear into  Philip. He ignored the blows of pain he felt in his side and back as  Philip tried to fight back. He ignored everything but the overwhelming  urge he had to avenge his mate.

The screaming slowly faded. The buzz of noise in Tommy's head began to grow until it became the scream. "Tommy!"

Tommy dropped the bloody crushed arm from his mouth and turned to see  who was screaming at him. He expected to find Summer or maybe even  Bishop. He didn't expect to see Elliot standing behind him on all fours,  having shifted into his wolf form.

"Elliot?"

"Let him go," Elliot said into his head. "He can't harm us anymore."

Tommy turned back to look at Philip, shocked by what he saw. Philip  Spencer was still alive but just barely. His body was covered in blood,  his arm lying at an odd angle. Tommy knew it was broken. He didn't feel  any sympathy for the man.

Bishop was kneeling on the ground by where Philip had dropped, trying to  stench the flow of blood. Tommy was a little confused as to how Dr.  Jones was sitting on the other side of him, treating Philip's wounds,  until he noticed several other men standing in the room.

Tommy hopped down off of Philip's desk and jumped over to Elliot,  squatting down on the floor as his body slowly shifted back to his human  form. He stroked his hands up and down Elliot's white fur, looking for  any sign of injury.