Claimed by the Beast(19)

She nodded. "The first drawer, he put them there."

Marcus rose to retrieve the keys, glancing at the contents on the  counter of the lab. He then turned back to her, his face serious,  noticing the bruises on her arms, her legs, her neck. "What did he do to  you?" he asked, his voice tight. He knelt before her and unlocked the  cuffs.

She started to cry again at his question and once he had freed her from  her bonds, he gathered her to him and rose to his feet, lifting her into  his arms.

"Shh, baby. You're okay now. Shh … "

"I'm cold," she said against his chest. He looked down at her, taking  note of her body as it shivered, and he wondered if the shock of being  kidnapped by that creature, not to mention what he would have done to  her while he held her captive, was just now dawning on her. He bent to  gather the blanket and wrapped her in it.

Elijah came down the stairs. "Is she okay?" he asked Marcus.

Rachel lay against Marcus chest, her eyes closed, her hands wound tightly around his neck.

"I don't know what he did to her," Marcus said, looking at her,  imagining how afraid she would have been, how helpless. Guilt swept in,  punishing him.

"I'm sorry, baby. I should never have left you alone."

She only hugged him tighter.

Elijah looked around the lab. He opened the refrigerator and took out  some vials. "I'm no scientist," he said as he read the labels. "What the  hell was he doing?"

"He had made some sort of serum. Had injected himself with it. You saw  what he turned into," Rachel said. She looked up at Marcus. "I can stand  on my own. It's okay."

He looked down at her as if he didn't understand.

"I want to go home. I want to get out of here before he comes back," she said as he set her on her feet.

"She's right, we should go before he …  it …  returns."

"We need to figure out what he was doing," Elijah said.

"I know what he was doing. But he wasn't alone. Well, he worked alone  but there was a man he spoke to. A Dr. Dennison. He was angry with  Lance."

Marcus watched her, not liking the intimacy of her using her kidnapper's first name.

"Lance Weston?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, that's right. He was on his way out to deliver a sample of what he  was working on. I don't know why he came back. Maybe he had taken the  wrong vial."

"So he created something to become one of us?"

She shook her head. "No, that seemed to be a side effect he was trying to understand. He wanted it to stop."

Elijah looked through the desk and gathered up the notebooks there.

"He's sick. I think he was trying to cure his Parkinson's," Rachel went on.

She turned to Marcus and flushed red. He realized she only just saw that he, Elijah, and she were all naked.

"There are some clothes in that closet," she said, looking away.

Elijah opened the closet door and took out two pair of jeans and  t-shirts. He tossed one set to Marcus who stood close to Rachel,  unwilling to move too far from her side. The men got dressed and Elijah  looked again in the closet. "I don't think there's anything here in your  size. Here, put this on for now," he said, handing Rachel a sweater  that fit her like a too big dress.

"I tried to call you," she said, looking at Elijah.

"I saw that. Listen, I think we'd better get out of here while we can."

His saying that and the sound of cars outside came almost simultaneously.

"Let's go. Out the back," Marcus said, lifting Rachel, momentarily  surprised at her resistance. It must be because of what she had just  gone through, he though. He ignored it and kept hold of her, carrying  her with him. He glanced out one of the front windows to watch three men  in dark suits approaching the front door before they slipped out of the  back and into the cover of the woods. From there, they hid and watched  as the men circled around back. When they saw the state of the back  door, they all pulled out weapons and one dialed someone on his cell  phone.                       
       
           



       

"Let's go," Marcus whispered to Elijah, his eyes still on the men who now scanned the woods.

Elijah nodded, walking backwards a ways, the three of them disappearing into the woods.





Chapter Thirteen





Rachel stood under the hot water of the shower. Her head hurt and she  was bruised all over. But what bothered her the most right now were her  feelings over seeing Marcus. Her reaction to him had not been what she  had expected.

It had taken them some time but they had reached her house, hastily  packed a bag and before she could think, Marcus had loaded her into the  car and the two of them had driven well into the night. He had just  checked them into a roadside motel not twenty minutes ago and was now  out picking up something to eat for dinner.

She had told them everything she knew, including the link between her  kidnapper and the men who were responsible for the kidnapping and murder  of Marcus and Elijah's family. She hadn't been able to meet Marcus'  eyes once during the entire time though and she couldn't understand it.  Shouldn't she be happy he was back? Wasn't this what she wanted? What  she had been waiting for?

She switched off the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. It must have  been the effect of everything that had happened in the past few days  that she wasn't thinking straight.

A knock at the bathroom door startled her. "Rachel?" Marcus asked.

"I'll be right out," she said, confused.

He didn't say anything but she knew he felt it too. Her reaction was  off. Wrong. In fact, she wasn't sure she could even go along with the  plan they had decided on.

Elijah had gone back home, not wanting to leave Kayla and the baby  alone, afraid the creature would pick up their scent somehow and come  after them. Rachel had agreed, not wanting to bring Kayla or Clarissa to  her house. Knowing he knew where she lived, she couldn't put them in  any danger.

They had discussed the other danger, that of this Dr. Dennison and the  men who had come to the house. This had to be dealt with. What they  thought was behind them was not behind them at all. One of the men  responsible for the murders of the wolf pack was still very much alive,  even if they weren't certain of the extent of his involvement. There was  only one thing to do at the moment and that was to get out of town.  Rachel fully believed it was her only choice. She just didn't know how  she was going to do it with Marcus. The brothers had determined their  plan and neither had asked her opinion. That part made her angry. She  knew they were thinking of her safety, but it still irked her that he  could walk back into her life and just decide something as important as  this for her.

But that wasn't at the heart of the matter. She didn't trust him not to  leave again-that was the problem. And she couldn't go through the  heartbreak of losing him for a third time. She wouldn't survive that.

She wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror and looked at her  reflection. That was it; that was her problem with him. He had left her  once involuntarily and once of his own free will. How could she believe  he wouldn't do the same this time?

She pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, brushed her long dark hair  and wound it into a messy bun to keep the wet length off her back. She  took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door to face him.

"Rachel," he said, turning to her.

She wondered if he had been having similar thoughts given that his  expression looked as heavy as she felt. His eyes, usually golden, were  darker now, shadowed. Rough stubble covered his square jaw and his dark  hair had grown a little longer, his body seemed taller and bigger. She  looked at his thick, muscled arms, his big hands, then back up at his  face. The attraction she had always felt for him hadn't faded, not even a  little.

But the hurt took precedence now. "You never even called just to say you  were still alive," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

He took a step closer but she shook her head and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. I thought I was doing what was best for everyone. I was in a bad place, Rachel."

"You were in a bad place? What about Elijah? What about me, Marcus?" she  asked. "Or you thought we were in good places, he and I? Hmm?" She was  unable to keep the accusation from her voice.

Marcus hung his head. He didn't have an answer.

"That's all. You have nothing to say. Damn you, Marcus. I mourned you not once but twice!"

He looked at her, anger momentarily overshadowing the guilt she saw in  his eyes. "I don't know how many times or how many ways I can say I'm  sorry. I was wrong, what I did was wrong. But I'm back now, Rachel. And  I'm going to make it up to you, I'm going to take care of you."