Animal Senses Book 14 - Virtue

When asked to do more to help the teams track down those responsible for the abduction and imprisonment of their kind, Calla agreed without hesitation. She takes a chance when she has the opportunity to get closer to the traitors who betrayed their clan. It...

Chapter 1

Calla took the shirt off the rack and turned around, so her back was to the sales associates. “How much longer am I supposed to wander around this mall?” she whispered.

“A woman that doesn’t like shopping?”

“Shut up, Beck. Not all women like shopping.” Eaton’s voice came through the earpiece.

Calla smiled. “I like shopping. But I’ve been here for three hours now.”

“We’ll switch you out with Quinn when she gets here, Calla. You’re doing great.”

Calla turned around and put the shirt back on the rack and picked up the two bags. They’d suggested she buy some things to make it less suspicious. If anyone was watching her, she probably looked very suspicious because she spent more time looking around instead of looking at the stuff for sale.

“Go down to the food court level and see if you can spot anyone out of place,” Beck told her.

Beck, Eaton, and a few others were outside watching the entrances of the mall while she wandered through it, watching for a man who was a traitor to all of them. He was part of the reason Asher and Journee had lost their families. He was the reason Zain didn’t have one, and Illias was scarred. He was the reason she had volunteered to help find him.

She smiled at an excited little boy who was racing ahead of his mother. It had taken two months to track down the area he was in. In that time, the new US Alliance Headquarters was up and almost running. She’d gone down to visit with Zain and Oaklyn after the holidays and been allowed to help the reno team break down some walls. There was a training center set up on the second floor, with rooms for trainees or trainers to sleep in. The third floor was all offices, and Zain and Oaklyn turned the top floor into their home. She was so happy for them. After she’d heard about Zain’s life, she’d cried and then gotten so mad that something like that had happened. She’d asked Jesse if she could have a more active part in the fight to find and stop all involved in the ring that now spanned most of the globe. Now, here she was doing just that by wandering around a shopping mall.

She went down the escalator and scanned every direction as she did. “What am I supposed to do if I do see him?” She hadn’t even asked that.

“If I were there, I’d pull his spine out through his mouth.” Devin Addison growled.

Calla looked at her feet and tried not to smile. She didn’t blame him, but she’d never heard him like that before.

“We need him alive, son. That’s why you’re not there.” Shepard Addison said.

Calla stepped off the escalator and moved over to the left of it, trying to decide a direction. Sighing, she went over and sat on a bench and looked around. How was she supposed to know who was out of place? Had any of them ever been in a shopping mall before? Everyone looked, dressed, and acted differently. She looked down the hall that she figured was likely for a janitor’s room or supplies. She should have played the part of a cleaner moving freely through the building. No one would look twice at her then.

When she turned to check out the other direction, she saw two men walking quickly with a shorter man between them. Her heart jumped into her throat. She’d studied the picture enough to know she was looking at the man they were looking for.

“I see him.” She looked at the nearest entrance. It was from the parking level. “I think they came up from the parking garage.”

“Do not take your eyes off him,” Devin ordered.

Calla stood up and picked up her bags and then pulled her phone out of her pocket. The best way to blend in was walking while staring at your phone, she thought. “They’re going down past the food court area, to the hallway at the—” She looked around for the entrance signs. “—North parking lot.” She kept walking, trying to decide if she should follow them.

“What’s in that hall?” Eaton asked.

“Checking layout,” Dane answered.

Calla kept going. Did she go down the hall or just hang around at the end of it? What if there was another exit not marked?

“Three doors. One to the outer hall to the North Exit. One is storage, and the last one is staff area.” Dane informed them.

Calla stopped at the end of the hall and looked down it as they went into a door. She counted the doors. “There are four doors in this hallway. They just went in the second one on the left.”

“My schematics has three,” Dane said.

“Sir. It’s Nate. Sorry to break into this line, but we finally tracked down who owns that mall. It’s hidden with dummy corporations and was tied to Tomas…”

“Shit.”

Calla looked behind her and then back down the hall. “I’m going to go see if I can figure out what’s behind that door.”

“Calla—Luka, and Quinn are on their way in now. Just go see if it’s locked and wait for them.” Eaton told her.

Calla nodded and quickly walked down the hall. She was sweating now, adrenalin coursing through her. She wanted her help to count for something. She was tired of being in the shadows. Pulling the scarf out of her jacket, she set it on the floor with the bags and went the last few feet to the door. She wasn’t lucky enough for there to be a window to look in. Reaching over, she gripped the doorknob, and it turned in her hand. “Unlocked.” She whispered. It couldn’t be some top-secret room if it were unlocked. She looked over her shoulder, hoping to see Luka and Quinn, but no one was there. Turning the knob completely, she pushed it open an inch and leaned to look through the space. There were crates and boxes stacked. That’s all she could see from this view. “It looks like storage of some kind.”

“Stay there. Don’t go inside.”

She nodded but opened the door a little further and leaned to look in. It was lit very well, but she could still see it was rows of crates stacked on top of each other. She could hear voices and leaned more of her body inside to listen.

Glancing back down the hall, she still saw no one. “I hear people. I’m going to slip inside and take a look.” Holding her breath, she stepped inside the door and kept her hand in the opening so it didn’t close completely.

“A quick one, and then get your butt back out of there, Calla.” It was Zain. She had no idea he was on the call as well. That made her feel better. He would know she was helping find the one that was responsible for his losses. She didn’t answer because she didn’t want to be heard.

It sounded like someone was arguing. She decided to see if she could see who. The team outside would want to know what was going on. She tapped into her animal and made sure her steps were smooth and silent.

When she reached the end of the row, she crouched down and leaned to see if she could see anyone. She was calmer than she thought she’d be doing this, but then again, her animal was a hunter, so it wasn’t too surprising.

The man they’d been searching for was standing there shaking his head and waving a hand around. “I don’t believe it. There’s no way.”

“I’m telling you, we went and checked it out. He’s gone.”

Calla kept her breathing slow and steady so she could hear them. Who was gone? More traitors?

Someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her. Steel arms held her by the waist.

“And who are you?” A man said in her ear.

Calla struggled against his hold and, in doing so, sucked in the scent of bear clan. Any other clan than that, and she could have broken his hold and got the hell out of there.

“Calla?” It was Eaton on the mic.

She leaned away from him so he wouldn’t see the earbud. “Put me down.” She growled loud enough that Eaton and anyone else on the call would hear her.

“Shit. Calla, get the earbud out of your ear. We’ll be there in sixty seconds.” Another woman said into it.

Calla slapped at the man’s arms and then reached up and quickly removed the piece from her ear.

“And what do we have here?” The traitorous wolf smiled at her.

Chapter 2

Calla stopped struggling and went lax in his hold. She wasn’t stupid. This guy was big and could crush her if he wanted to. “Put me down.” She tried to sound bored.

The wolf nodded, and the big one released her.

She glanced at him and then looked back at the traitor. “I didn’t think I’d actually find you.” She pushed her hair back from her face while she tried to think of a name she could toss out there to make them believe she was one of them. “I’m glad I remembered this place because people keep disappearing all over the place.” She nodded, briefly wondering I she could get the earpiece back in unnoticed. “Allen Dunlap is gone. Just gone.”

The man whose spine the prince wanted to rip out relaxed. “I know.” He glanced at the man beside him for a second, before putting his hand on his hips and studying her. “He told you about this location?”

She nodded and then rolled her eyes. “I’m here, aren’t I? He didn’t give me the exact location of this space. I’ve been wandering around these shops all day.” She exhaled loudly. “What is happening? Where is everyone going?” She stepped further away and whispered. “I went to Chicago…”

“See. I told you.” The man closest to him said.

She watched the short man shake his head. “There’s no way they got him. He’s probably hiding out and hasn’t had a chance to reach out.”

“I don’t know about that, boss. There were a lot of our kind roaming the area.”

The wolf shook his head. “That doesn’t mean it’s the Alliance. There’s a lot of us that don’t follow them and the king. They could be watching the place until he gets back. He’s disappeared a few times before. I remember my dad trying to track him down.”

Calla jammed the earbud in while they looked at each other. “So, what now? Is there a secret headquarters nearby? How many more of us are there?” She hoped Eaton and the others were hearing her.

“Hold. Let this play out.” It sounded like Raymond Hardy in her ear.

All three men stared at her.

“What?” She put her hand on her hips. “It’s taken me months to get here—find here without getting snatched up. If you think I’m going back, you can think again. I joined the cause and—” She glared at the one that had grabbed her. “—there are a lot of others just waiting for me to give the go, and they’ll be here too.” She hoped the others were understanding her.

“Receiving, Calla. Don’t take it too far. We’re getting in place.” Eaton’s voice in her ear almost had her visibly sigh in relief.

“So—” She looked back at the wolf. “—is there someplace, or do you guys just hang out in a storage warehouse?”

“Everyone, hold. Let’s see if there’s more nearby.”

“Not close.” The wolf said. “We just check here to pick up deliveries and—” He motioned to her. “—followers.”

“Okay. So—” She looked around. “Who are we meeting?”

“You’re doing good, Calla,” Eaton whispered, making Calla wonder if they were already inside this space.

“We aren’t,” he motioned to the one who had grabbed her. The man walked by the shipping door. “We’re picking up some supplies.” He studied her. “What’s your name?”

“Calla—han. Missy Callahan.” Calla smiled.

He nodded. “As you know, I’m Leon.” His grin was cynical. “The next king of all shifters.”

She pasted her best smile on her face. “Great to finally meet you, Leon, or should I call you your majesty?”

There was a growl through the earbud, and she had no doubt it was Devin Addison.

The wolf chuckled. “Leon is fine. Until we figure out where Aiden took my uncle and kill him, I’m just Leon.”

“He took Shepard Addison. Where do you think Aiden’s hiding?”

“Hold. Let her play this out.” It was Raymond Hardy.

“I don’t know, but when we get back, I’m going to find out.”

Calla nodded. She needed to let Eaton know she was going with them. “Excellent.” She shrugged. “When do we leave? I’ve had all the shopping mall I can stand.”

“Be careful, Calla.” Was whispered in her ear.

“Do you have a phone?” Leon asked.

She snorted. “Yeah. Doesn’t everyone? Why?”

“It stays here.”

Not good. “You want me to leave my phone here?”

“Calla, this is not a good plan.” That was Zain.

“It’s so you can’t be tracked.”

Calla grinned. “You think I’m important enough to track?”

“She has a tracking chip. Let her do this.” The king said. “We’ll follow you, Calla.”

Leon shrugged. “Can’t take chances.”

The one that grabbed her started walking toward her with his hand out.

“Back off, Igor.” She pulled out her phone. “Let me transfer my photos to the cloud.” She gave him a warning look. “I’m not losing them.”

He stopped and glanced at Leon.

She opened the screen and typed quickly to Zain. “Track me. I’ll get word when I can.” Sighing, she turned the phone off, ending any contact she had with them. With a hard look, she held the phone out.

He took it, dropped it, and then crushed it with his heel.

Calla looked at Leon. “Happy?”

He smirked. “Yes. Let’s go.” He pointed to the other goon standing beside the boxes. “Grab a box.”

“You owe me a phone.” When the three of them had their back to her, she took out the earpiece and tossed it over her shoulder. She didn’t know if this was her best plan, but it was too late to go back now.

Chapter 3

“This is not good,” Zain said over the call.

Bear stood by the entrance to the hallway Calla had gone down. “Follow?” He glanced over his shoulder at Eaton, who stood a few feet away, looking like she was busy on her phone.

“Give them a minute more, and we will.”

He didn’t know Calla, other than a voice on the other end of the calls during ops, but he was still shocked she’d done this. She wasn’t like women from his clan. They were cautious and hesitant. While he stood there waiting, he had to wonder if he would have done the same. With a shrug, he decided he would have.

“Okay, Beck spotted the vehicle they’re in. Gideon, can you follow them? If they’re going someplace nearby, this will be a quick capture for us.”

“Gideon already left to follow,” Dane reported.

Eaton turned and looked at Bear and nodded. He checked that no one in the area was paying attention and followed Eaton down the hall. She pointed to the bags on the floor. “Grab her stuff. She might actually want what she purchased.”

Bear nodded and leaned over to grab the bags on the way by.

Eaton stopped at the door and pulled a tranq gun out of her jacket.

Bear didn’t have a weapon. He was here to do the heavy lifting. He grinned as he followed her inside. Heavy lifting was his thing. When they got back from this one, he was going to talk to Jesse about staying with Zain and Oaklyn. He didn’t know if there were lion clans on the other side of the border, but he wouldn’t mind finding out. Zain and the king had plans to send teams from state to state to look for clans in trouble.

Bear moved silently behind Eaton. His cat was right there with him, ready if he needed him.

His mother was disappointed that he had no plans to come home, but she also understood. Being the youngest of four was hard enough. Having three older sisters try to rule his life was not something he planned to go back to. He watched Eaton move around the space, checking labels on boxes and crates.

“Whatever they were here to pick up, they took it all.” She put the tranq gun away and nodded to Bear. “We’ll meet up with Luka and Quinn at the West entrance and follow the tracker.”

Bear shrugged and turned around. He glanced at the bags in his hands and shook his head. Carrying bags for females was not new to him. He held them up and stuffed the scarf into one of them.

His cat rolled through him, and he froze. Bear stopped and looked around, wondering if he sensed something that Bear didn’t. When he saw nothing, he was just about to have a quick internal discussion with his animal about false alarms—when he scented something he’d never smelled before. Looking at the bags, he lifted them closer to his face and inhaled. His cat was right there with him now. Sweetgrass. He didn’t know if that was it, but that’s what popped into his head. Calla smelled like sweetgrass, and she was his mate.

“You coming?”

He blinked and looked at Eaton standing at the door. “Right behind you.” He watched her go out the door. Bear lifted the bags again and inhaled. “Yeah.” He lowered them and walked to the door. It was definitely his mate’s scent, and she’d just left with the enemy.

As the others were doing a quick planning session, Bear disconnected from the call and dialed Zain’s number.

Zain answered quickly. “Bear?”

“Yeah.”

“Is everything good?”

It was nice to talk to him again. Bear had gone home after Christmas and then helped at the factory for a month while they planned trips to start expanding into the States—with Aiden out of the picture, it was the perfect time. “Good isn’t what I’d describe what’s happening.”

“I can’t believe Calla went with them. Oh, wait, yes, I can.” Zain sighed. “Better than Amari, I suppose. She would have just maimed them.”

Bear couldn’t help smiling. Amari was something else.

“I’ve got the tracking up going, and all the tech team has it, so Dane is watching too.”

“It’s not that.” His animal was nudging him non-stop now.

“Why, what happened?”

“It’s Calla.” He could still smell that scent, even though the bags were in the van. “She’s my mate. I picked up the bags she had, and she must have been wearing the scarf because as soon as I smelled it—” He sighed. “I found her, Zain, and she just rode away with the most sought-after man since Aiden.”

“Oh-uh-wow. Calla?” Zain cleared his throat. “She’s pretty great—”

“I know. I’ve heard her on calls with the ops for months now. That’s not the problem.”

“What is the problem?”

Bear glanced over to see Eaton was getting into the van. “If anything happens to her—I’ll crush anyone involved.”

“As soon as they get wherever they’re going, we’ll get eyes on her, Bear. Don’t worry, she will be okay.”

Eaton looked at him.

“I have to go.”

“Patch back into the call. Gideon will update us as soon as he can.”

Bear started walking. “I will.” He hung up, put the earbud back in, and dialed back into the op call.

“Everything all right?” Eaton closed the door when he got in.

“Yeah.” Bear sat down and turned to see Dane staring intently at a laptop.

He looked at Bear for a second and gave a thumbs up. “Signal is strong.”

Bear sat back and settled in the seat. His cat was unimpressed with his carefree demeanor, but he knew if he didn’t keep control of his emotions, his lion would use that against him, and then they’d both do something stupid that could endanger Calla and the entire op.

They had enough names of those who organized things for Aiden Tomas and even some still involved who had worked with his father. One by one, they were going to track them down and shut them down for good. Leon was the first of many, and it was too important to so many that he was apprehended. Asher, Journee, Zain, and especially the royal family all needed Leon shut down.

Everyone on the teams knew the plan. Calla knew what was at stake, too, so Bear just had to keep it together until they got where they were going, and once she was clear—the king’s nephew was going to pay for his sins. If Leon’s younger cousin, the prince, had his way, it would be with his life.