15. Chapter 15

Gaelynn paced the living room. On her third trip toward the deck, she stumbled to a halt. Stretched across the entire length was a polar bear, jaw slightly open, his upper lip flapping as he breathed.

She slid the door open and stepped out, hands on her hips. “You can come in, you know.”

Connor raised his massive head and blinked sleepily at her.

She grinned and booped his nose. He was just too cute.

“Did you… just boop the nose of a thousand-pound polar bear?”

She spun around with a squeak and launched herself into Behemoth’s arms. He hugged her tight before setting her on her feet.

She shrugged. “He’s cute. And when else am I going to get the chance to boop a bear’s nose?”

He growled at her. “You can boop a bear’s nose whenever you want. As long as it’s my nose you’re booping.”

She giggled. “Are you jealous of a nose boop?”

“I’m jealous of every touch from you that I don’t get.”

She leaned against his chest and kissed his jaw before reaching up and touching the tip of his nose. “Boop.”

“You two are disgusting. Go to your room.” River’s voice carried to them as she moved down the hall to her temporary room.

“Aren’t you moving out?” Behemoth called after her.

She raised her middle finger over her head before she disappeared. Connor lumbered to his feet and ambled off the deck as Behemoth steered her back inside.

A pang of disappointment hit her when he maneuvered them onto the couch. His eyes shuttered and the quick grin he’d given her when she booped his nose was gone. “How’d it go?”

His eyes looked into hers as he answered. “Ghost got the evidence needed to link Garrison to The Level. Brandon and his main lackey are gone.”

She didn’t ask him to clarify how they were gone. “And a link between The Level and Matthew?”

Behemoth shook his head. “River tried, but he wouldn’t talk beyond saying they used the cult to facilitate shipments through a third party. Ghost didn’t find a paper trail.”

She inhaled until her lungs stretched. “I guess it’s time for plan B.”

She felt his chest rumble beneath her hand. “I don’t like plan B.”

“I know. I’m not a super fan myself, but we need proof.” She framed his face with her hands. “I can do this.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked beneath her fingers. “I know. I just hate that you need to.”

She nodded and focused on a tree outside. “I’ve been a hypocrite.”

She felt him shift beneath her, but he stayed silent.

“I was so worried you’d try to control me, and I ended up trying to control you.”

When she looked at him, his brows were scrunched in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“Every time you were called out, I wished you didn’t go.”

“That’s reasonable.”

“No, I wished you wouldn’t go because I didn’t want you doing what you do. But that’s not fair. You’re good at what you do. You help people. You make a difference. I’ll still worry, but I can’t keep you from that.”

“You never made me feel like I couldn’t.”

She barked a short laugh. “Oh, I was working up to it and I think you know it.” She sighed. “I think maybe I need to let you have a bit of control, and I think maybe you need to let me have a bit of control. We can meet in the middle, right?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

He nodded. “And I trust you. That’s all we really need, I think. Trust.”

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. “Trust.” He nodded under her lips and she smiled. “And sex.”

He grinned. “Definitely sex.”

“Plan B will wait for morning. Take me to bed.”

She squeaked when he swooped her up so fast her belly flipped. Then he spent the rest of the night making her clench, and sigh, and swoon.

The phone rang, the vibration on the bedside table an incessant buzz piercing into her bubble of sleep. Her hand shot from the covers and snatched the device, pulling it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Jane.”

She shot upright, all thoughts of sleep banished with three words. “Matthew? How do you know this number?”

Behemoth’s warm hand rested on her lower back, a soft growl wrapping her from behind. Not interfering, just present.

“Oh, I know a good many things. I know the company protecting you killed an associate of mine last night. I know you’re na?ve enough to believe the hulking beast who laps at you like a puppy is in love with you.

“I know better. He’s using you, Jane. You’re just too blind to see it.”

She swallowed, her tongue thick in her mouth. Hearing his voice took her right back to when she was under his thumb. She reminded herself he was nothing. He had no control over her. He couldn’t force her to do anything.

Her sympathetic nervous system disagreed, the fight or flight instinct kicking hard against her. Her first instinct was to run. To grab her small bag and disappear.

But she’d decided not to run again. She wanted to stay and fight. She wanted to confront Matthew and get it over with once and for all. She wanted to live her life without fear, without having to look over her shoulder and wonder if she was being followed.

She wanted to be free. To live. To love.

So she steeled her spine, swallowed what she wanted to say, and answered, “Maybe he is, but how are you different?”

Matthew’s voice lowered to a hiss. “I care for you. I want the best for you. I’ve only ever wanted what’s best for you.”

“Best for me?” She laughed without humor. “How can I believe you cared about anyone but yourself?”

“I love you, Jane. I’ve always loved you. Come home and let me show you how much love I have for you.”

Gaelynn guessed plan B would start sooner than expected.

Behemoth trusted her. He trusted her, and he trusted his teammates, who were stationed at various covered points around the Guiding Light compound.

The cab stopped at the entrance, and he watched the door open through the crosshairs on his scope. It took everything in him not to run to her when she stepped out and looked up where she knew he was hidden.

She smiled and gave him a tiny nod.

She meant to reassure him. He didnt feel reassured.

He watched as the gate opened and Matthew emerged, followed by Elliot and a woman who would be tall if her posture wasn’t cowed and her head down.

It took everything in him not to pull the trigger when Elliot grabbed Gaelynn’s arm and shoved her through the opening. He imagined he could hear the gate snap closed behind her.

The compound spread over a city block. Two buildings had enough stories to rise above the brick wall that surrounded the entire thing, all other structures completely hidden. Gaelynn had drawn them a crude map of the layout. The central space was open and where Matthew held court in good weather. He eschewed a throne, but there was a raised dais only he was allowed on.

From there, paths laid in neat lines divided the space into squares. A long, low-slung roof defined the dining hall with attached kitchen. One of the taller buildings contained housing. The other was Matthew’s private residence and office. Gaelynn had snorted when she explained he liked to bring troublemakers into his top floor office and look out over the compound like a benevolent ruler while he meted out punishment.

The rest of the structures were storage or empty. She assumed they’d take her to the basement of Matthew’s building. They called it the pit, and it was a bare, cold space.

He could feel her anxiety through their mate bond, and he pushed calm and reassurance to her as best he could. It forced him to regulate his breathing and settle his thoughts.

It was a constant struggle. His mate was in the belly of the beast, and he was too far away. If something happened, he wouldn’t make it in time.

“I’m in.”

Ghost’s low voice over comms allowed him to breathe. Like his namesake, the wolf could move near undetected and had volunteered to follow Gaelynn inside the compound. He might be reckless with his own life, but Behemoth knew Ghost would do everything in his power to safeguard Gaelynn’s.

Elliot’s voice was the next to be heard. “You will speak to no one. You will be given a series of tasks to complete to prove your loyalty.”

“I understand.”

Behemoth’s heart clenched. She sounded small, and that wasn’t his mate. She molded herself into the box they put her in, and he wanted nothing more than to break her out and never hear the tremor in her voice again.

Matthew tsked. “Come now, Elliot. We’ve just gotten our Jane back. I think we can allow her time to adjust before imposing such strict rules.”

An elevator dinged. Would they take her up, to his penthouse, or down to the pit?

“Barbara, please help Jane settle in, would you?”

Matthew sounded pleasant enough, but the chords of an order were clear.

“Of course.”

Another soft, small voice. What sort of leader couldn’t handle strong women?

Another ding and Behemoth searched the top floor through his scope. He relaxed when the group came into view. Extraction would have been more difficult had they taken her to the pit.

Matthew swept an arm in a wide arc. “Please, make yourself at home. Barbara will stay with you until dinner. Elliot and I are needed elsewhere. You remember when dinner is served?”

Gaelynn nodded.

“Good. Make sure you dress appropriately.”

Elliot stood to the side, leering at her. “She needs to be searched.”

Matthew sighed as if he’d forgotten. “Of course. Barbara, see to it, will you?”

“Matthew I don’t think—“

The cult leader interrupted Elliot. “No, Elliot. We must preserve our lamb’s innocence. Barbara will see to it.”

Elliot grunted, but disappeared without further comment. Matthew stepped close to Gaelynn and ran a finger down the side of her face. Behemoth could see her muscles locked against the instinct to flinch. “I’ll see you soon.”

Relief flooded through him when he watched Matthew leave and heard the ding of the elevator signal both men were gone.

Barbara transformed in the blink of an eye. Gone was the meek, subservient woman and in her place stood a confident lieutenant with a sneer on her face. “Never thought you’d come back here.”

“Hello, Barbara.”

The other woman snorted. “Get on with it, then.”

Gaelynn sighed and started stripping.

Behemoth’s rage was swift and hot. He would kill his teammates for seeing her stripped.

Zeus’s voice stopped his murderous impulse. “All cameras off. Wasp, black your scope. Bee will let us know when to resume visual.”

He should have trusted his fellow shifters to understand.

He watched his mate undress with efficient movements. They knew this was coming. The microphone that allowed them to hear what she heard was the size of a grain of rice and attached to a few strands of hair near her scalp. They wouldn’t find it unless they ran a nit comb over her head.

She couldn’t hear them, but she knew they were there.

A sense of pride washed over him when she stood proud and naked in the middle of the room.

Barbara snorted. “You better hope you’re still as innocent as he thinks you are, girl.”

Gaelynn tilted her head. “What if I’m not?”

Barbara shrugged. “Then you’ll go from being a womb worthy of birthing his spawn to a lamb for slaughter.”

The older woman shoved a wad of beige fabric at her and she slipped the simple dress over her head. As it settled around her feet, Behemoth opened his comm. “Resume visual.”

Barbara handed her a brush. “Fix your hair. I’m not supposed to leave you alone, but there’s no reason we have to stare at each other.”

The sound of water running followed. He assumed she’d retreated to the kitchen. Gaelynn slicked her long tresses back into a severe bun and secured them. Then she gave a small smile in his direction. Still trying to reassure him.

He flashed his laser sight on the floor at her feet and felt love barrel down the bond.

Yes, baby. I’m here.