6. Aiden

Chapter six

Aiden

Five Days Earlier

I stood frozen to the spot as I watched my mate run to her car and leave. I wanted to chase after her, but I was so shocked that I hadn’t reacted immediately, and then by the time I had recovered, I came to my senses and remembered where I was. I couldn’t go after her because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself or her. Not that the attention wasn’t already on her. She would have been here for only one reason, and it wasn’t good.

Cursing under my breath, I remained calm and continued my charade as a guard. I knew we could track her down so it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her. As the hours ticked by, more people came and went from the “clinic.” I wanted to warn all of them but knew I couldn’t. If we were going to take Parote down and find my sister, I had to maintain my cover.

When five o’clock rolled around, and the last patient left, Parote came out. “You can leave. We’ll be moving locations, so your services will not be needed tomorrow. We will be in touch if we need you again.” He went back through the door without waiting for a reply.

I left and broke all sorts of laws, rushing home, desperate to start the hunt for my mate. “Get on the computer; I need you to find someone,” I ordered Hollis as soon as I walked through the front door of the house we were renting.

The big bull shifter jumped up and lumbered over to his impressive computer screens knocking shit off end tables and shelves as he went. He really was a fucking bull in a china shop.

“Who am I looking for?” he asked.

“She was small, with white blonde hair and bright blue cat eyes. She must have been one of Parote’s first appointments because she was already in the back when I arrived,” I replied, bracing a hand on his desk and chair as he started typing.

“What’s going on?” Roman asked as he and Theodore entered the room. “She’s my mate,” I replied.

“Oh, shit,” Theo said. “Yeah,” I agreed.

We were all here because Parote had preyed on someone we loved, and we were trying to find them. Find them and stop him from continuing to take advantage of paras. It was bad enough that I hadn’t seen my sister in five years or even knew if she was still alive, but now he had my mate in his clutches, and I refused to let him take her too.

“We’ll find her,” Rome assured me, squeezing my shoulder. I shrugged the wolf shifter off but nodded. Rome’s best friend had fallen victim to Parote, and he blamed himself for not seeing how vulnerable his friend had become to be taken advantage of.

“What is taking so long?” I demanded.

“It’s not like I can press a couple of buttons and give you what you want,” Hollis growled, turning red. Hollis’ older brother fell into Parote’s web of lies several years ago and disappeared without a trace. It took years for him to figure out that Parote was involved, and he has spent all of his time since learning everything he could about the operation.

I mentally kicked myself for prodding him. He was quick to anger and even quicker to calm, but that was usually after he smashed something to bits, and seeing as he was sitting in front of costly equipment we needed to monitor Parote, we couldn’t afford a tantrum.

“Sorry,” I replied. “I’m just anxious. It killed me to let my mate leave, and then I had to fucking stand there all day knowing she was out there and in trouble.” That did the trick, and Hollis’ face returned to its natural color as he calmed down.

“I understand,” he replied. “I’m filtering the implants to those activated today. Since it’s been a while since your mate’s appointment, it shouldn’t take much longer to find.”

I looked at Theo, our resident scientist and vampire, to distract myself. “Are you going to be able to take that implant out when we find her?”

Theo’s situation was a little more unique. He never discussed precisely how old he was, but we knew he must have been well over a hundred. His daughter, a Dhampir, had gotten involved with Parote, but not in the way the others had. She had been involved with him romantically, and we suspected she was one of his first victims. Theo held little hope that she was still alive and had dedicated the rest of his life to taking Parote down.

Personally, I felt it would be easiest if he simply killed the good doctor, but that wouldn’t get the answers or closure for the hundreds of families affected. That and he was a slippery fucker. It was a lucky break that I got a part-time gig with him. I hadn’t understood how a mere human could pull the wool over so many paras’ heads until I saw firsthand the cult-like devotion his followers had for him.

Parote didn’t have nefarious plans for all of his patients. Many, especially in the early days of his operations, came to work for him. He had given them something that filled a hole inside of them, and they worshiped him for it. And those who made waves weren’t seen again. His end game, however, was still unclear. What was the point of all of this? Was there a point?

“Remove it, no. But I believe I can disable it,” Theo replied. That would have to be good enough.

“Found her!” Hollis exclaimed. We all moved closer to his screen as he read from her file. “Mia Randolph, age twenty-two. She is a Ragdoll shifter and works as an analyst for something only referred to as the Guild in her file. His notes say that she’s desperate for more and to be taken seriously as a predator.”

Mia Randolph. Hollis flipped through her file, and several candid photos of her taken from a distance scrolled on the screen. In almost all of them, she was smiling, and her eyes sparkled like she had a secret nobody else knew but her.

“She’s pretty,” Hollis murmured.

“She’s stunning,” I corrected. The last entry in her file was an mp4 file, and I growled as it began to play. It showed Mia lying on an examination table at the clinic with Parote sitting beside her.

“Subject number three-one-seven, Mia Randolph, Ragdoll shifter. Two hours after administering the drug. Activating implant directives.” Parote typed a code on his laptop, and Mia’s eyes snapped open. “Switching to voice control,” Parote said, pushing the laptop away and turning toward her. “Mia, get off the table.”

Mia’s face remained blank as she did as she was ordered. “Wonderful. Stand on one leg.”

Again, she did as ordered.

Parote grinned. “Mia, remove your shirt for me, please.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I growled as I balled my hands into fists. “With my bare fucking hands.”

Rome went to touch me again, and I bristled and snapped at him with my teeth. I could feel my honeybadger simmering just below the surface. Anything could cause him to explode from my body, and then they’d have an even bigger problem on their hands keeping me from destroying everything around me, including them, if they got too close.

Rome jerked his hand back and glared at me. “Calm the fuck down, Aiden! You’re no good to us or your mate if you don’t.”

I focused on the screen and willed my beast into the recesses of my mind as Parote gave his next order to Mia.

“Come sit in my lap.”

I swear to fucking God, if he violates her, I will hunt him down and kill him now. I watched, powerless, as Mia did as she was told, utterly oblivious to the liberties he was taking from her. This was far worse than we had thought and the first time we had seen documentation

of him using the implant in this way. We knew it tracked and monitored his patients, but we didn’t know he could also use it to control them.

Parote trailed his fingers across Mia’s stomach as she settled in his lap. “Oh, the things that I could do to you without you ever knowing,” he murmured more to himself than to the camera. “Mia, put your shirt on and lay back on the table.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. If Parote was having her redress, that had to be the end of it,

right?

Once Mia was lying down again, he gave her one final command. “Sleep.”

Mia’s eyes fell closed, and Parote pulled his laptop back to him. “Subject response excellent. No hesitations were found. Deactivating implant directives. Will proceed with a memory test.”

Parote closed the laptop and stood, leaning over Mia as he gently shook her awake. Her eyes fluttered open sleepily, and she looked around in confusion.

“How do you feel?” Parote asked. “Fine,” she replied. “Did it work?”

“You will gradually see improvements as the drug works through your system, but according to the monitor, yes, it is working,” he replied with a smile. “Why don’t you try something simple, like bringing out your claws? Go on,” he encouraged when she didn’t immediately try. “Concentrate.”

Judging by her demeanor, she had no memory of his last five minutes with her. We watched as she held her hands in front of her. It took a few seconds to work, but soon, her nails extended into dagger-like claws.

“Good job!” Dr. Parote praised.

She flashed him a million-watt smile as she retracted them again. “It’s actually working! Thank you so much!” I groaned as Mia sprung from the table and hugged Parote. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Dr. Parote smiled at her, and while the smile seemed kind, I could see the evil behind it. “Go and live your best life, Mia. You deserve this. I’ll be in touch.”

Mia left the office, and Parote turned to the camera. “Subject three-one-seven’s preliminary tests have all passed. Will monitor her development and proceed with phase two.”

The camera cut off after that, and none of us spoke as we let the ramifications of what we had watched sink in. With this implant, Parote could have control over countless paras, but they wouldn’t even know it.

“Tell me that there is an address in her file and you’ve hacked into the GPS,” I said. “Yes, on both counts,” Hollis replied.

“Then let’s go get her,” I stated, turning to leave.

“Hold on,” Rome said, blocking my way. “We need to have a plan before we go in there.” “She’s my mate,” I growled.

“I understand that, but you’re missing a very big detail,” he replied. “And what the fuck would that be?” I sneered.

“She doesn’t know that,” Theo said quietly from my side. “You were able to recognize her, but she wasn’t able to recognize you. I suspect that’s due to the implant. If we go in there half-cocked, and she doesn’t know you’re her mate, we will cause more harm than good.”

“You said you could take care of it,” I argued. He exchanged a look with Rome, and I turned to the wolf expectantly, but it wasn’t him who spoke.

“She’s also our best chance of getting close to Parote and taking him down once and for all,” Hollis said apologetically.

“You can’t be fucking serious!” I fumed. “You want to use her? Absolutely not. Over my dead fucking body!” I tried to push past him. I wasn’t scrawny by any means, but compared to the others, I was noticeably smaller, so I didn’t get far.

“I’m not saying we’re going to use her, Aiden,” Rome said calmly. “All I’m saying is we need to think this through and have a solid plan. You aren’t thinking rationally, and I understand why, but we have to keep our cool about this.”

When I continued to try to push past him, he wrapped his arms around me tightly. It was more of a hug than a restraint, but it was effective.

“I know you’re worried about her. I get it, man,” he said softly. “Just give me a few days.” I sagged in his arms. I knew he was right. We had to do this right; I just hated waiting,

knowing Parote had the power to control her however he wished. “Fine,” I finally said, pulling

from his embrace, “but all you get is three days.”

It took the rest of the day and all of the next for Theo to decide how he would deactivate the implant and for us to devise a solid plan to approach her. It all fell to shit, however, when that evening, the tracker showed her at a strip club.

“What is she doing there?” I growled.

“Maybe she has a friend that works there,” Hollis suggested as we watched the little dot that was my mate.

“I don’t like it,” I replied. “What if Parote is controlling her?”

“Just be patient and stick to the plan,” Rome advised. “We’re going to go talk to her tomorrow.”

I ignored him but didn’t argue. I was relieved to see the dot move away from the club until it stopped in an alley a few blocks away. Dread filled me. “We need to get down there. What if she is in trouble?” Or worse.

“Her vital signs are strong,” Theo pointed out.

I looked at the screen he was watching and focused on her heartbeat, watching for the first sign of trouble. It was a little fast but strong.

The others finally went to bed, and I sat in Hollis’ chair and watched the dot and her heart rate all night. What the hell was she doing there? It didn’t make sense.

“Have you been here all night?” Rome asked as he shuffled past me to the kitchen the next morning.

“Yes. Mia is still in the alley,” I replied.

“And you didn’t sneak out to check on her?” he asked in surprise. “I’m proud of you.”

I bristled at his praise but didn’t comment because I knew he didn’t mean it condescendingly.

He returned with two cups of coffee and handed me one as he pulled up a chair and sat beside me.

“You realize this changes things, right?” I asked, nodding toward the screen.

Rome sighed. “Yeah, I know, so much for the soft approach. I can’t find a reason for her to spend the night in an alley. Whatever is happening, we’ll have to move in tonight, grab her while we can, and figure it out later.”

“Why not now?” I asked.

“In broad daylight?” Rome replied, “Not wise. It’s even more of a bad idea to do it in public. We don’t know what’s going on right now. We’ll wait for her to go home.”

I paced the living room, glancing at the screens periodically while waiting for the team to return with my mate. Rome felt that I was too unstable to go with them. I didn’t agree, but either I stayed back voluntarily, or they’d lock me up. I would have liked to see them try, but I complied for the mission’s sake.

I returned to the computers and rechecked her location. They should be arriving at her house any moment. They timed it for sundown to hide their approach in the shadows.

When her dot started moving, I felt relief until I realized it was moving in the wrong direction. I monitored its sporadic movement, recognizing it as someone making sure they weren’t being followed.

“What the hell happened?!” I yelled when the guys returned. “She got away,” Rome replied.

“No fucking shit!” I exclaimed, gesturing to the screens. “I figured that much out for myself! How the hell did she slip past three of you?”

They exchanged looks. “What?” I asked.

“Well,” Theo said, “in an interesting turn of events, she’s our mate too.”

I stared at them dumbfounded, waiting for a just kidding that never came. “You’re serious.”

“Yep,” Hollis replied. “And now you know how she got away.” He sat at his computer and watched her dot moving around, similar to the way I had last night. The stakes had risen for them, and now they understood. “Where are you going, Kitty Cat?” he murmured.

“So now what?” I asked.

“We’ll try again when she’s not as freaked,” Rome replied, moving to the screens as well. “Mia isn’t going back to her house,” Theo advised.

“No. Not if she’s smart. We’ll have to monitor her, see where she lands, and then move in from there,” Rome agreed.

“Why is she at the mall?” Hollis asked.

We all pulled up chairs to watch her movements, and when the dot disappeared, we all shouted in alarm.

“Where the fuck did she go?” Theo asked.

“I don’t know,” Hollis replied. “Mia’s vitals are still good.” The map slid around like it was searching for her, too, and when it finally stopped, the dot was back; only Mia was now across town.

“That’s a neat trick,” I commented.

“She’s at a train station,” Hollis informed us. We watched until her dot started moving again, faster than average.

“Find out what train that is, and let’s get packed up,” Rome ordered, standing. I want to leave within the hour.

We followed Mia north to a crappy little motel in Washington, and after nearly a day without laying eyes on her, she finally emerged. While we waited for her, Rome and Hollis set us up in a new rental. Mia took a cab to a used car dealership, which made sense since she didn’t have a vehicle.

“We’ll take her when she leaves,” Rome said.

He was just as anxious as the rest of us to get her back to the house and get that implant deactivated. The longer it was still active, the more likely Parote would notice she wasn’t where he expected her to be. Everything seemed normal until the lights inside suddenly went out.

We watched as the salesman ran to the door and struggled to unlock it. The fear on his face was evident, and I understood why when I saw Mia stalking him. “What the hell is going on?” I asked in confusion.

“Not sure, but let’s cover the exits and prepare to move in if it looks like she’s in trouble,” Rome ordered.

Rome and I moved around to the emergency exit in the back while Theo and Hollis stayed at the front door. I didn’t know why Mia was hunting him, but I’d help in any way I could. When the door slammed open, and the man ran through, he didn’t notice us at first because he was looking over his shoulder.

Rome shifted into his wolf and growled at the man, who screamed and ran back inside when he saw the giant wolf blocking his path. Rome chuckled as he shifted back. “I don’t think he’ll try to come back this way again; let’s go back up front and see what happens.”

We got back to the front of the building just in time to see her kill the man. It was the hottest fucking thing I’d ever seen in my life. My timid little mate isn’t quite so timid. I could tell that the others appreciated the show as well. We had to wait a little longer for Mia to emerge from the building. I could see her pride as she approached the SUV she had been looking at.

Rome gave the signal, and we moved in. Hollis grabbed her from behind, and she shrieked and then immediately shifted in his hands.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, dropping her. We all looked at the strange little cat with dagger-like protrusions from her fur. Fucking Parote. I knew his fucking drug was the cause of this. Mia hissed at us and went to bolt when Rome dropped his leather jacket on her and scooped her into his arms.

“It’s ok, Danger kitty, we won’t hurt you,” he crooned. I gathered the papers she dropped when she shifted, and we returned to our vehicle. Rome and Theo got into the back with Mia still bundled in Rome’s lap, while I got into the front with Hollis.

Halfway back to the house, Mia shifted back. “Hello, there,” Rome purred. Mia struggled in his lap. “Let me go!” she demanded.

“No can do, sweetheart,” Rome moaned, “but that doesn’t mean you have to stop wiggling around in my lap.”

I watched in the rearview mirror as Mia froze for a few seconds and turned pink. She recovered from her shock quickly, and her renewed struggles intensified. My heart pounded, and I slowed down when Mia freed her hands and opened the door. She was so desperate to escape us that she was willing to jump from a moving vehicle to do it.

Before I could say anything, Theo leaned over and sank his fangs into her supple neck. Mia’s sharp cry squeezed at my heart, but the fight slowly died from her as Theo drank. When she passed out, he leaned back, his eyes glowing bright red from the feeding.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yelled, “You could have killed her!”

“She’s fine,” Theo replied. “I wouldn’t hurt her; she’s my mate too, remember?” I huffed as I stepped on the gas pedal, anxious to get her back to the house where she couldn’t hurt herself.

When we got home, Rome carried Mia into the room we had prepared. I hated that we had to put bars on the window and a padlock on the door, but until we got the implant deactivated and she accepted that she wasn’t in any danger, we couldn’t risk her escaping again.

He laid her on the bed gently, and then we all stepped back to wait for her to wake up. I knew her body would be working hard to replace the blood Theo had taken from her, and we wouldn’t have to wait long.

Mia moaned, and we watched as her eyes fluttered open to take in her surroundings.

She looked confused until she saw us and jumped to her feet on the bed.

“I know the Guild sent you, but you should check back in with them before you kill me. I finished my second job. I did good! I passed their test!”

“We aren’t from a Guild, Mia,” Hollis said gently, “and we aren’t going to hurt you.” We needed to figure out what this Guild was and why she thought they would kill her.

Mia didn’t register Hollis’ words as she knelt on the bed and clasped her hands together. “Please don’t kill me,” she begged, tears falling from her eyes. “Just give me a chance to prove myself. I can do this!”

Every instinct inside me screamed to comfort her, so I stepped toward her without thinking. Mia’s eyes widened even more in fear, and she shrieked moments before blades exploded from her skin, and her shriek turned to a scream of pain. Each embedded dagger had drops of blood at the tips, which were absorbed back into the blades. Seconds later, Mia shifted to her cat form and whimpered quietly before shaking herself and glaring at us.

The blades still stuck out everywhere, but the pain seemed to be more manageable in her shifted form. What the fuck did Parote do to her? This wasn’t normal, and it didn’t look like she had any control over it. Fear was the trigger, and the last thing I wanted to do was continue to scare and hurt my mate.

“Let’s leave her alone,” I said somberly. “We’ll try talking again in the morning, Kit. I promise you, we don’t want to hurt you. You’re safe with us, even if you don’t know it yet.”

We backed out of the room, leaving her in her cat form in the middle of the bed. Rome locked the padlock on the door as Theo pushed past me to the living room.

“I need a fucking drink.”

“I think we all do,” I replied, following him.