Jayson's hackles rose with possessive jealousy. He didn't want to leave Broden, Archer, and Airen alone with his mate. His animal was pitching a hissy fit. Thankfully, his human side was in control and he shoved his panther down onto his ass. His beast had nothing to be envious about because Broden and his brothers were already mated.
He turned to find his brothers glaring at the three men hovering over their mate. He stepped in front of them to block their view. "She'll be fine. They have no interest in our mate. They have a woman of their own." He walked closer to his brothers, clasped their shoulders, and squeezed.
The tension eased from their muscles and they sighed before they followed him out into the waiting area.
"Who is she?" Tatum asked, caressing a hand up and down Pixie's back as she tried to regain control.
"She's our mate."
"I got that," Tatum said, "but who is she?"
Jordan stepped forward. "There was nothing in the car."
"What?" Jayson frowned.
"It was empty. No purse or anything else to give us a clue as to who our mate is," Jordan explained.
"What about registration papers?" Jenson frowned.
"The glove box was empty, too."
"I could get one of the Louis brothers to run the plates," Tatum suggested.
"You can't," Pixie said as she turned in Tatum's arms and faced Jayson and his brothers. "You need to wait and ask her what's going on first."
"Pixie's right," Jenson said. "We want to earn our mate's trust. We can't do that if we start digging into her life without her knowing about it."
"I agree," Jordan said.
The door to the exam room opened and Archer meet their gazes with a stoic expression, but Jayson could see how tense and angry the man was. His hands were clenched into fists and he was grinding his teeth. "You can come back in." He spun on his heel.
Jayson and his brothers hurried after the bear shifter. A soft moan came from his mate. "Pixie, can you come in here please? She's starting to wake up," he said in a soft voice, knowing that she would hear him.
He hurried toward the end of the bed and gazed down at her bruised and swollen face. She tensed and then tried to roll off the bed. Jayson grasped her shoulders to prevent her from moving any further and hurting herself. "You don't need to be scared, baby. We won't hurt you. We're trying to help you. The doc's already taken some X-rays and is looking at them as we speak."
Pixie shoved Jordan aside and said too quietly for their mate to hear, "Y'all need to back off. You're terrifying her."
Jayson moved around toward the wall and leaned against it between his brothers. Pixie walked closer to the bed. "I'm Pixie. You don't need to be scared anymore. You're safe here."
"W-where am I?"
A shiver of need raced up Jayson's spine at the sound of his woman's soft, husky voice. He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to ignore the way his cock was pulsing and twitching as it filled with blood.
"You're in Ambrose, North Dakota." Pixie glanced at Broden as he walked toward the foot of the bed. "This is Doctor Broden Higgins."
"Can you tell me your name, honey?" Broden asked in a low voice.
"Kenzie."
Jayson frowned, hoping she'd add her surname, and sighed when she didn't.
"Are you allergic to any medications, Kenzie?" Broden asked.
"Not that I know of."
Broden nodded. "That's good. I'm going to insert a cannula in your hand to give you some fluids and some pain medication. You're slightly dehydrated and as well as being very bruised, you have a couple of cracked ribs."
"Okay." Kenzie licked her dry lips and then winced.
"What happened to you, Kenzie?" Pixie asked in a soft voice.
Kenzie closed her eyes and sighed. Jayson's anger surged front and center when tears leaked from under her lids and down over her bruised and swollen flesh, but once again, she remained silent. If it wasn't for the hitch in her breathing and the tears seeping from her eyes, he would have thought she was asleep.
Broden frowned and shook his head, but he kept his mouth shut.
Jayson wanted to probe his mate for more information, but knew now wasn't the time. He and his brothers needed to earn her trust as well as prove to her that she was safe with them. Whatever hell she'd been through had made her wary, and rightfully so.
His panther was going crazy again because they could all smell the pain and fear emanating from the pores of her skin. Hopefully after Broden had treated her, the scent of her pain would diminish.
He just hoped that she didn't decide to take off once she was feeling more herself and could move without hurting so much.
Chapter Two
"Where the fuck is she?" Decha roared.
"I don't know," Feng Jin, Decha's second, replied. "We've looked everywhere but the slut's disappeared." Feng was getting worried. Decha, his boss, was getting angrier by the second, but he wasn't the man he was worried about. He was scared shitless that the Triad leader he'd sent the picture to, was going to come gunning for him and his superior.
Aiguo Lei was even nastier than Decha was. In fact, he made Decha look like a helpless little mouse. Lei had moved to America years ago to attend college and had loved the freedom and the country so much, he'd stayed. Lei had attained a degree in business and had made a name for himself, but it was the illegal pies he had his fingers in that had given him his renowned name. Lei was the head of the northern half of the American branch to the Triad, or Chinese Mafia, and was very bad news. If the fucker found out the woman he wanted to complete his collection was missing, their lives would be over.
"How the fuck did she get away?" Decha Hong combed his fingers through his hair. "She was out cold and too injured. Did someone help her?"
Feng shook his head. "They guys have been searching all night and day. One of the idiots left his keys in the ignition. She stole his car while we were all dealing with the other shipment of women."
"Shit!" Decha thumped a fist onto the desk. "Please tell me you didn't send that photo of the slut to Lei?"
Feng swallowed nervously. "I can't."
"Fuck! I want every available resource out searching for that cunt. How long do we have?" Decha asked.
"A couple of weeks at most," Feng replied. "The Triad leader wanted me to send another photo of the bitch once the swelling had gone down and she'd healed up some."
Aiguo sighed with relief. "That's something at least." He rubbed his chin as he thought. "We try and find the cunt, but if we can't, I want you to snatch another woman off the street who looks similar to the bitch. Lei won't know about the substitute since she was so injured."
Feng nodded to placate his boss and while he knew he should have told the man paying him the big bucks that wouldn't work, he kept his mouth shut. His contact in the Triad had asked him all about the bitch and he'd answered. He had no doubt that the leader's man had already done a background search on the cunt and found photos of her on social media sites. He should have kept her identity a secret instead of passing over her credentials and how Decha had gotten his hands on her. He was going to put every man they could spare on looking for that slut. He'd also make sure he had a means of escape set in place because if the shit hit the fan-and it was highly likely it would-he needed to get away fast. There was no way he was going to end up getting killed when he was just following orders. If anyone was going down, it wouldn't be him.
"Search for the car," Decha ordered. "There is no way she hasn't left a trail behind, especially with all the CCTV's and digital tracks people leave. Get Jung to set up alerts on the bitch. I want her back here by the end of the week."
Feng nodded again, spun on his heel, and hurried out of the office. He'd do everything he could to find the woman, and in between time, he'd start emptying his bank accounts and acquiring false documentation. If things didn't pan out, he was going to head to Australia and start over.
Kenzie was still in pain the next time she opened her eyes, but at least she wasn't feeling sick to her stomach, and she thought the fever she'd had was gone. When she forced her eyelids open, she was glad that she could see more and suspected some of the swelling had gone down, too. She didn't realize the neck brace had been removed until she turned her head without any hindrance. She was surprised to see three men sitting in chairs against the wall, with their heads leaning against the plaster. They looked as if they were sound asleep.