He shuddered and tried to ignore the possibilities. Sharon was gone. Taken by a madman who probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill her the first chance he got. He didn’t trust Sandhouse for a single second. Obviously the guy had lost his last marble. In fact, he had her unconscious. Undoubtedly his aim was to block her from communicating. And it was working.
But why? Was the Sojourn deputy so out of touch with reality he stooped to kidnapping a woman simply because he didn’t like the color of her skin or the people she chose to live with?
A flash of fur jumped in front of Jackson. Even though he’d known it would occur, it still took his breath away.
Cooper was truly magnificent. Larger than Sharon, and seemingly even larger than himself at the moment. He cocked his scruffy head at Isaiah as if questioning the man.
Isaiah pointed up the mountain. “Directly north. You should be able to catch up. My brother Wyatt is with them.”
Another spirit popped up out of nowhere. Jackson watched as Cooper stumbled to a halt, growling.
Isaiah leaped forward and put a hand on Cooper’s fur. “This one’s mine. It means you no harm. It will guide you. Relax. Follow it.”
Cooper stared at Isaiah for several moments and then nodded his large head and twisted to meet Jackson’s gaze.
“Go. Sharon needs you. Isaiah’s right. I can feel it in my bones. We’ll drive around to the other side of this section of the mountain and find you.”
Cooper nodded again and turned around. The spirit fled off in front of him as Cooper took off at a dead run. “What is he?” Cooper asked Jackson in his head.
“A bear.”
“Of course. A bear.” His tone was sarcastic even in Jackson’s head.
Jackson stared at the spot he’d last seen Cooper. The man took off so fast it made Jackson blink. The wolf shifters seemed to have more stamina than humans. Much more. He wasn’t a weak man, either. He worked out. Stayed fit. But nothing could prepare him for what he assumed the shifters were about to do. He spoke into the silence. “Do you freaky shifters have extra strength even in human form?”
Isaiah laughed. “I suppose in a way. Not really so much extra strength as the mindset that we can do the same things in human form as bear. It isn’t a reality. Just a mindset. We get worn out at times too.”
Jackson took a deep breath and wrenched open the driver’s side of Trace’s squad car. “I don’t know where you came from or how far you just ran, but get in he-man.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sharon’s head hurt like she’d been hit by a two-ton brick. She winced as she awoke, squinting her eyes and blinking in the darkness. Where the hell was she? And why did her head hurt so badly?
And what was that smell?
The ground shook beneath her, yanking her the rest of the way awake. She jerked to sitting and shivered. She was on the hard ground. Even though her eyesight was usually amazing, she could barely see more than the faintest specks of light coming from anywhere. Slivers. Not enough to ascertain where she was.
The Earth shook again, harder this time. A deep rumble climbed up through her body to make her fine hairs stand on end.
An earthquake?
She tried to shake the cobwebs from her mind and winced again at the pain. Everything was a blur. She couldn’t form a complete thought.
Suddenly she heard movement and realized someone was coming toward her.
“Hello?”
“Ah, you’re awake.” The deep voice belonged to a man. He crouched down in front of her and cupped the back of her head, almost lovingly, but something was off. “Sweetheart, you scared me. You’ve been asleep for hours.”
She couldn’t think. Who was this? Why didn’t she recognize the voice or the words? She licked her lips. Her mouth was so dry.
“Oh, right. You must be thirsty.”
Yes. She was.
The man held a water bottle up to her lips and helped her tip her head back to drink from it.
Sharon guzzled it, but he removed it too soon, making her whimper.
“Oh, sweet girl. There’s plenty. Don’t worry. But you need to take your pills. Here.” He pressed something to her lips. “Be a good girl. Open up. You can use the rest of this bottle to swallow them.”
She pursed her lips. What was going on? Something was off. Terribly off.
He chuckled. The sound was wrong. His breath was wrong. His entire body felt wrong. He acted as though she were his, but she didn’t believe it. She didn’t know his scent.
Right? Could she belong to this man she couldn’t place in her mind?
“My sweet, sweet girl, you need to take your meds. They will help with the headaches. You know that. Did you forget?”
“Where are we?” she asked, trying to get her bearings. She would give anything if her arms and legs would obey her and help her stand. Or better yet, shift. But she could sense that wasn’t possible. She was too weak. Tired. So tired.