Sharp Change(32)
He opened the van door and allowed her to sit inside. There was one large man to her right and another to her left. She assumed it was to ensure her cooperation.
* * *
Chase and his men were located on a cliff overlooking his house. It made it easy for them to watch what was happening without being scented by the enemy.
His heart had frozen for a moment when the hyena had taken a whiff of her scent. He should’ve told her about her condition, but he knew that keeping it from her would prevent her from lying and then getting caught from it.
Through his binoculars, Chase had seen Sophia say something. The man had stared at her and then opened the door to allow her inside.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, Chase watched the van take off. He contacted one of the five teams he was working with.
They made their way slowly down the cliff, giving the vehicles ahead of them enough room not to call attention to themselves.
His eyes never veered off the van carrying his mate. He listened to the voice through the walkie giving updates on the roads and exits their target was taking.
He was going to spank Sophia’s delectable ass for putting herself in this kind of danger. Grinding his teeth, he focused his body into combat zone. Everything inside him cleared of all emotions other than aggression and cold-blooded calculation.
* * *
The black van carrying Sophia arrived at a small building that sat on an empty lot. There was nothing in the surrounding area. She peered at the dilapidated green structure and shuddered. She hoped they really had brought her to meet up with Tryx, or she was sure this was all going to have been for nothing.
Taking deep breaths helped her keep her calm. The man who she had spoken with opened the door for her to exit. He tightened his hold to keep her from falling on her face, and she gave him a small smile.
Inside the building there were two men. They opened a door and motioned for her to go down the hallway.
So far she had counted six men in total that Chase and his team would have to get rid of.
Slowly making her way down the dark, dank passage, she came to a large room with multiple windows. It had the look and feel of a basement but was just a regular room. The plastic covering the windows was what gave it the dark dungeon feel.
Realization dawned that she was at the same place she had seen in the video. She gazed around the corner of the dingy room and found Tryx gagged and tied with a chain to a chair. Next to her, a big man stood by and kept watch over Tryx. Sophia walked until she stood a few yards in front of them and stopped.
“Dr. Reese, it’s so good of you to join us.” The man was clearly a hyena shifter with his whiny voice, but he had to have a rat in there somewhere because his kind of ugly face didn’t happen naturally.
She didn’t care what anybody said, not even a mother could call that cute. He had beady, red eyes and a pointy nose. His big ears really didn’t help him with his attempt to look mean.
She would have laughed at how ridiculous his face looked had it not been for the gun he held in his hand.
“Yes, well a promise is a promise. So I am ready when you are. Just let her go, and then we can go to my lab.” She hoped he didn’t get a whiff of her, although from what she knew, rats had an amazing sense of smell.
“This here is a dangerous animal, Dr. Reese. I couldn’t possibly let her go.” He stared at her, and she wanted to slap the leer off his face.
“Look let me talk to her. I promise you I can get her to behave if you give me a second alone with her, and if she does, we can take her with us. If not, then I guess you can just let her loose after you get what you want from me.”
She looked at the man with the biggest, most innocent eyes she could muster.
The man jerked his chin toward the video camera in the room, and she turned to look. Once he saw that she’d noticed their every move was being recorded, he continued walking. He got to the door and stopped. At the entrance, he told her there would be someone watching the cameras in case they thought to escape. He told her he would unlock the chains when he returned if he believed the wolf would really behave.
Sophia knew he lied. He continued out of the room and locked them inside.
She moved to stand in front of Tryx and removed the gag from her lips.
“Sophia, what are you doing here?” Tryx sniffed her and horror filled her face. “Does Chase know you’re here?” she hissed.
“Shhh, yes he does.” She whispered so low she knew only Tryx could hear her.
“How could he let you come here as you are?” The pixie wolf growled in anger. She muttered how stupid her cousin was for such an intelligent man.
“What are you going on about? Be quiet and listen. Here’s the plan. Chase and his guys are probably outside now. We’re going to be good little girls until they get us out of here, and if the need arises then I’ll shift and help him out.”