Sanctuary (A Hunted Novel Book 1) (27 page)

“Then why send
us
away?” Nate asked through gritted teeth.

“Eden, Xander, and Callum aren’t a priority for the council right now,” Charles spoke up. “Sending you away is to keep you safe and also so they have some chance at a rescue,” Charles explained.

“No one is going to look for them?” Nate asked in disbelief. Xander’s parents were council members too. Surely they would fight for a team to search for their only son.

“Ray’s betrayal, his ability to kidnap your mother, and breach our defenses has put everyone on high alert. People tend to worry about themselves in a crisis. Besides, the majority of the council believes Eden and Xander are already deceased. Xander’s parents included,” his father sighed.

“And what do you think?” Nate challenged.

Charles licked his lips, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Your mother believes there is hope for them, and neither of us would send our only son out on a dangerous rescue mission if we thought you were searching for a body.”

“What will you tell the other members of your council?” Tess inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.

“That Nate insisted on searching for his sister, and you are searching for other members of your family,” Patrice filled in with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Nate began, picking up Tess’ hand and entwining their fingers. “We’ll leave and search for Eden, Xander, and Callum—and anyone else we can find. But you’re going to confirm that we are bonded to the council. We can’t hide it forever, and I don’t want to. We need to get past our prejudices and worry about the threat looming over our heads.”

“You’ll be in danger,” Patrice objected. “You’re a fool if you think our position can keep you safe forever.”

“What’s the difference from being in danger here than out there?” Nate growled. “It’s even worse out there. Yet you’ll send me out like its nothing.” Not that he wouldn’t willingly leave the safety of Sanctuary anyway. He and Tess were the only hope Eden, Xander, and Callum had. They had to leave even if only for a short time.

“Hunters are one thing,” Charles started. “It’s the enemy you don’t know that you have to worry about. I never would’ve thought anyone would harm Caroline or Eden. But someone cut the brakes on Caroline’s car. Then made adjustments to make it appear like a tragic accident.”

Patrice sighed heavily and shook her head. “It wasn’t just Caroline. There was a young couple years ago that stumbled upon us by chance. What were they a snake and a bird?” Patrice asked, turning to Charles who nodded. “One day they vanished. Everyone assumed they left, but a few weeks later, we found their bodies in the woods about a hundred miles from here. Whoever murdered them did a fine job of making it appear like hunters. The only tell that it wasn’t hunters was the dried blood under their fingernails. It was wolf blood.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” Nate persisted. He wasn’t hiding their relationship.

“I know,” Charles replied. “They’ll find out some time Patrice. If we tell them once they are gone, they can have time to adjust to it before Nate and Tess return. And we’ll have to show them that we have bigger threats to worry about.”

Patrice pushed back from her desk and stood up. “Fine. You should be on your way. The compound is being locked up tight. Best leave while you can,” she seethed. Patrice walked to the corner and opened her filing cabinet drawing out a manila folder. She opened the contents then handed it to Nate. “Here is all the information we have on Hunter facilities. It isn’t much, but hopefully it will help. There is one other thing we need to discuss,” Patrice sighed, turning her attention to Tess. “Nate mentioned that you both thought there was the possibility of hunters and humans working together. Dustin and Thea have been helpful in investigating the attack on your pride. After researching the fire at the farm, your father and I believe that humans and hunters have in fact formed an alliance. We don’t know how deep the connection is, but given the extent they went to in Washington, it’s safe to say higher levels of government are working with our enemy. Please be safe,” she said softly, tapping him lightly on the shoulder as she passed.

“There’s one other thing,” Tess began, shifting slightly in her chair.

“What?” Patrice growled.

Tess licked her lips, turning her attention to Charles. “Sanctuary is vulnerable. It doesn’t have to be. There are hundreds of shifters here. Most of them are capable of fighting. Train them. Please.”

Patrice seethed as she pursed her lips. “I’ll see what we can do,” she agreed.

“Thanks, Mom,” Nate replied getting up. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Take care of each other,” Charles nodded at them.

“I need to say goodbye to my family before I go,” Tess insisted as she stood. “They’ll want to know what is going on. Also, I would like to be able to speak to them whenever we call.”

“I’ll see to it,” Patrice inclined her head.

Nate wrapped an arm around Tess and escorted her to the door. He turned back; giving his parents one last look before exiting.

“That went well,” Tess murmured as the door clicked shut behind them.

“It could’ve been worse,” he teased. “She’ll come around.”

Tess quirked her brow up at him in challenge. He’d be the first to admit that it would take some work and a lot of time, but his mom would come to accept Tess.

***

“I
don’t understand why you have to leave,” Thea whispered as she hugged Tess tightly.

Tess smoothed her hand over Thea’s back. It was hard to explain to her siblings. They’d only found each other and were already being separated again.

Tess met Nate’s gaze. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. The male werecats stared at him intently. All of them surprised that a wolf had claimed their alpha’s youngest daughter. Not to mention the fact that she and Nate were bonded. “Nate needs to find his sister. If we don’t go look, then no one else will. Eden saved my life. She’s a good person. I need to help him with this,” Tess explained. They didn’t need to know the whole truth. If she told them that their lives were in danger at Sanctuary they would want to leave. Right now, Sanctuary was the safest place for them. Thea and Audrey were in no condition to be on the run.

“Be safe out there,” Thea murmured, squeezing her again before finally releasing her death grip.

Tess put on her best smile. Thea had enough to worry about. The baby would be coming any day. Thomas stepped in front of Thea and took Tess’ hands in his.

“You sure you don’t want someone else to come with you?” he asked concerned.

“We both know you don’t want to leave Audrey,” she stated the obvious. “Nate and I will take care of each other.” That was the truth. She trusted Nate with her life.

“He better take care of you,” Theodore threatened, jabbing Nate who still stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to Tess,” Nate announced loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Good. We don’t let our baby sister go off with any old wolf, so you better make sure you bring her back safe and sound, and in the same condition you borrowed her in,” Theodore joked.

“Stop it,” Tess groaned, shoving her older brother. Theodore was the jokester of the family, and he made sure everyone knew it.

“We should get going,” Nate said, pushing off the door and pulling their bag up onto his shoulders. They’d packed a few things, mostly Nate’s. She still didn’t have much in the way of, well anything. Something Nate promised to remedy.

Tess wrapped her arms around her siblings one last time and told her goodbyes. She’d be back soon. That was a promise she intended to keep.

Five weeks later

T
ess groaned and stretched as she blinked her eyes open. The headlights of the truck bounced across the road as they jig-jogged up the hill towards Sanctuary. She sighed, smiling. Five long weeks on the road had been nice, but she was eager to meet her nephew. Thea had given birth four days after her and Nate had left on their quest for Eden. She’d wanted to come home, but Thea, being the sensible older sister, told her that her mission was too important to come back.

It pained Tess not to be with her family. But they were safe, and what her and Nate were doing was critical. She turned in her seat and stared back at the three sleeping children huddled together. A lot of the intel Patrice had given them had been abandoned houses and factories. But last night, they’d stumbled onto an active compound, and had rescued the three shifter children in their backseat.

“They haven’t made a peep since we hit the road,” Nate whispered beside her.

Tess turned back and met his gaze. She slipped her hand into his open palm and closed her eyes.

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing tiny circles across her fingers.

“Yeah.”

“You ready for the meet and greet?” he asked, his lips quirking up into a grin.

“Your mom seemed very high-strung when you told her we were coming,” she replied.

“She worries. It couldn’t be avoided,” he said, peering at the three bear cubs in the backseat. “We can’t keep looking for Eden and everyone else with these guys. They’re children and have already seen and endured far too much for their young age.”

Tess closed her eyes. The eldest of the three cubs was nine. Her stomach twisted, and nausea curdled in her belly at the thought of what had happened to the youngsters. They weren’t even old enough to shift yet. That didn’t happen to puberty. So, why did the hunters have them? What could they possibly want with children?

“We are getting closer though. I can feel it. I want to get back on the road again as soon as possible,” Nate admitted. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “If that’s okay with you. I know you want to see your family.”

She shivered at the gesture. It was nice being out just the two of them. They’d learned a lot about each other, and their relationship had grown deeper. But he was right, she did want to see her family, and finally meet her nephew.

The nagging feeling from the night before returned, and she sighed. There had been other shifters at the facility, but they’d only been able to rescue the three cubs. Her and Nate had both noticed the unique animal scents. One of the captured shifters had been a leopard. The cats perfume reminded her of Terrence.

“Let’s stay the night. But I want to hit the road again in the morning. I can’t shake the feeling that Terrence was there too,” she admitted.

“You still think he was there?” Nate asked.

Tess nodded. “I do. And even if I’m wrong, there were other shifters there cats, snakes, wolves. We have to keep looking. Anyone that we can save needs to be rescued.”

“First thing in the morning then,” Nate agreed.

“I’m sorry we didn’t find Eden,” Tess whispered. “I could feel your excitement when you realized the facility was in use.”

A tick formed in Nate’s jaw. “It’s okay. We’ll find her. In the meantime, I can sleep good tonight knowing we saved three kids from whatever the hell it was they were doing to them.”

Tess closed her eyes, wishing there were something more she could do for him. Her presence brought him comfort. The deeper their bond grew, the more they learned. Not only could they feel each other’s emotions, but they could calm each other as well as alleviate pain when one of them was injured. That’s probably the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what else we can do? “We’ll need to come up with a game plan for the next time,” she acknowledged. “They cleared their prisoners out too fast. Next time, we’ll need to get the lay of the land better.”

“I have a few ideas,” Nate said as he slowed the car down. The lights shone brightly in the distance and Tess sighed at the crowd that was gathering at Sanctuary’s doors. They were home.

***

T
ess leaned forward, peppering kisses on Thad’s head. Another T name imagine that. Thea had insisted on continuing their parent’s tradition of T names much to Dustin’s chagrin, but when Thea decided on Thad after her father, Dustin couldn’t argue.

Tess didn’t care what the baby’s name was. The tiny infant was adorable.

His tiny blue eyes peered up at her and she smiled. Too precious. Maybe one day, in the very distant future, her and Nate would have their own little cat or wolf.

“How is everything?” Thea asked, taking the baby back from Tess.

“Yeah, how are things?” Audrey asked, getting comfortable on the couch.

“Good. Nate and I are getting closer to finding Eden,” she paused. Should she mention Terrence? No. No need to give them false hope. If she were wrong, it would only be a disappointment to her family. Not that they’d blame her, but they would get their hopes up. It’d be better to keep it to herself for the time being, at least until she had hard evidence.

“I’m sure you’ll find her soon,” Thea comforted. “Should you rescue Nate from our brothers?”

Tess followed Thea’s gaze and laughed. Nate sat at the kitchen table with Thomas and Theodore. Whatever they were talking about looked serious. Wonder what that’s about? Surely they weren’t giving him crap.

“I should probably get going,” Tess admitted. They were going to catch a late dinner with Nate’s parents in the mess hall.

“Will we see you again before you leave?” Thea questioned. “This little guy keeps me up all night. Feel free to stop in,” Thea giggled, nuzzling her baby.

“I will,” Tess assured, hugging Audrey, her sister, and Thad before going to help Nate. “You ready to go?” she asked, eyeing her brothers suspiciously.

Nate stood up and shook Thomas and Theodore’s hands before coming to her side. Wrapping an arm around her waist he waved.

“See you later,” Theodore and Thomas called.

“Bye,” she said. What was that all about? Maybe she’d misread, and they were getting along fine. They could’ve been talking about Eden. Eden was always a sore subject for Nate.

Nate waved at Thea and Tess blew a kiss at her sister as they left the room.

“I have to go check on something before we go to dinner. Do you want to head back to my room, and I’ll meet you there in a minute?” he pressed a kiss to her lips.