Bear's Claim (Bear Heat Book 3) (8 page)

There were three
receptionists on duty and they all widened their eyes at him.
“Aubrey? Well, Aubrey's shift would have ended by now,”
one of the receptionists said after glancing at her watch. “I
think she's gone home.”

“Did you see her?”
the other receptionist asked. “She always stops by to chat
with us before she leaves.”

“No. In fact, I don't
think I've seen her the whole afternoon.”

“That's funny.”

“Yeah. But...”

A group of elderly folk
approached the reception counter to make enquiries and Thor stepped
back to let the receptionists attend to them.

He backed out of the hospital
but he didn't go back to his car. Aubrey hadn't gone home. He was
quite sure of that. He could sense that she was still here in the
hospital somewhere.

He closed his eyes and let
his bear take over for a moment. His bear was tugging him towards
the open field behind the hospital.

Should he follow his
instincts?

His instincts had kept him
alive thus far. His bear could always sense danger and trouble. And
right now, his bear was telling him that his mate was in trouble.

Thor didn't waver. Reason
and good sense told him to search for her in the hospital, but he
would act on sheer instinct and impulse this time. He had held back
his feelings for Aubrey because his overthinking logical brain had
told him that it was best if he backed off and let her go. This was
no time to overthink anything. He had to get to Aubrey. And he had
to trust his bear to find his mate.

There was nothing but a wide,
overgrown field behind the hospital. Beyond that was the edge of a
forest. There were no buildings, no dwellings, no roads. There was
no reason for Aubrey to be traipsing through the woods.

But that was where his bear
wanted to go.

Thor waded through the field
and pushed into the woods. His bear knew exactly where to go. Thor
released his hold on his bear and let the beast rise to the fore, but
he didn't shift into bear form. He simply let his animal take over
his will and control his body. His senses were sharper, and he was
stronger and faster when his bear was dominant.

Thor dashed through the
forest, moving closer and closer to Aubrey. Her scent was stronger
now. But it was still faint, muted, like there was something
blocking her from him.

Where was she?

Was she in some sort of
enclosure?

Was she...underground?

He crouched and scented the
air closer to the forest floor. A growl rumbled from his throat.
There really was something under the ground.

Under the soil and leaves was
the scent of metal, medicine and blood. There seemed to be a chamber
hidden underground, and it was filled with electronic machines,
computers, sterile equipment. Thor could detect the faint scent of a
handful of live humans.

Aubrey was among them.

What was this place?

An operating theater?

A computer lab?

Thor shook his head. It made
no sense.

He took another whiff and
reared up.
Aubrey!

Her scent was much stronger,
clearer and nearer now. She was out in the open and she was coming
towards him.

He could scent her tears and
blood.

Thor roared and bolted ahead
at full speed.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Aubrey scrambled out of the
tunnel and kept running. She swiped furiously at her tears which
were blurring her vision. She had to get help. She didn't want to
leave Michael and Luke behind, but if she stayed, she would be dead.
And she couldn't help anyone if she were dead.

She tripped and fell over a
tree root, but she picked herself up quickly, ignoring the cuts on
her hands and knees. “I'll be back, Michael. You stay alive,
you hear me?” she whispered. With a sob, she got to her feet
and thought of her promise to Michael. She'd promised to go back for
him. He had helped her escape, and she didn't want to think of the
horrors Dr. Faizel would inflict on Michael once he discovered what
Michael had done.

Michael had managed to free
her from her restraints. He couldn't work himself free of his collar
and chains but he directed her towards a secret opening in a side
wall. “Go. Keep moving through the tunnel, and you'll emerge
in the middle of a forest. Run, don't look back,” he'd told
her.

“W-what about you? And
Luke?”

“I'll try to protect
him, for as long as I can,” Michael said, glancing at the
sleeping Luke. “But I don't have much time. Neither do you.
Now go.”

“I'll come back for
you. I promise!”

“Press that small
button in the wall and move quickly. You only have three seconds.”

With a shaky nod, Aubrey
depressed the knob at the corner of the wall and a narrow door slid
open. The instant she rushed through the opening, the door slid shut
behind her. If she had been just a second slower, her foot would
have been crushed by that heavy door.

Aubrey kept moving through
the narrow tunnel which seemed to go on forever. She finally tumbled
out of the tunnel, blinking and gasping, to find herself in the
middle of a forest. She had made it out. Now she had to get help
and make it back before it was too late.

Aubrey spun round, but all
she saw were trees. Which way should she go? She glanced back
fearfully at the opening of the tunnel which was well hidden by the
tall grasses and a large cluster of rocks. She just had to keep
moving
away
from the tunnel. Aubrey limped forward, dragging
her bleeding leg behind her. She had fallen on some rocks and there
was a deep cut on her leg.

She hoped that there weren't
any wild animals in these woods. The beasts would be attracted by
the scent of fresh blood. She didn't want to be eaten by a pack of
ravenous predators.

Eaten.

God, Michael had confessed to
eating his friend alive.

Aubrey whimpered as she
limped on as fast as she could. They were all in terrible danger.
She didn't fear Michael. But she was desperately frightened for him.

Michael was a victim, not a
monster.

She had to help him, and
Luke.

Aubrey heard a roar echo
through the woods and froze. It sounded like a bear. She stared
round frantically for a place to hide. What should she do? Climb a
tree? Lie down and play dead? Roar back to warn the animal away?

She turned and saw a shadow
moving swiftly between the trees. What was it? A bear? A wolf?
There was no time to scream. The beast would be upon her in a
heartbeat.

Aubrey tried to back away but
the dark, hulking shape loomed nearer. She raised her arm to block a
blow that never came. Lowering her arm, she gasped as she stared
into a pair of mismatched blue and green eyes.

“Y-you...” she
stammered. “Thor!”

Thor took a step towards her,
and she flew into his arms.

“Aubrey! What
happened? You're bleeding!” He held her tight as she sobbed
and clung tightly to him. It took her a moment to compose herself.
She was being a baby. She shouldn't be bawling and blubbering and
being a wreck. She should be getting help for Michael and Luke. She
had to go back for them. Now!

“H-how did you find
me?” Aubrey blew her nose loudly on her sleeve and looked up
at Thor. “Ah, never mind that now. We have no time. You have
to come with me, Thor. This way! We have to save them!” She
began to tug at his arm.

“Who do we have to
save? You have to tell me what happened to you.” He gripped
her wrists, his eyes scanning the cuts on her limbs. “I'll get
you back to the hospital.”

“No!” she gasped.
“Not the hospital! The hospital Director is in on this!”

His frown deepened, but she
saw that he was listening intently to her. “What have you
uncovered, Aubrey?” His tone gentled. “Don't be afraid.
I'll help you. I'm on your side. I'll always be on your side.”

“I...I found out that
Dr. Faizel is working for a Mob boss, Alberto Birns...”

“Alberto?” Thor
breathed. “Alberto Birns has been harboring ambitions to take
over Ray Shapez's position as the number one Boss. He's been
scheming and plotting against Ray behind his back...”

Aubrey shook her head. “He's
not just scheming to control all the mobsters. He's scheming to take
on the law enforcement agencies as well. C-18.”

“How do you know about
C-18?”

“Michael told me.”

“Who's Michael?”

“Michael Lee. He's a
senior police officer in the Investigation unit. He's been
transferred to C-18 and he said he would be reporting directly to
Walter Nguyen.”

“Michael Lee is the new
deputy head of C-18. But he's been on long leave. His colleagues
said he submitted his leave application through the system, and no
one could contact him.” Thor's eyes flashed as he concluded,
“His leave application was faked.”

Aubrey gave a jerky nod.
“Michael said he was at the hospital for a routine checkup when
Dr. Faizel injected him with this drug and the next thing he knew, he
was strapped down on a metal table with wires all over him. He's
been Changed, Thor.” Her voice cracked as she gripped his arm.
“He's been drugged out of his mind and made into
some...weapon, he said. I don't know what he's been Changed into but
I've seen his claws and teeth. H-he can't shift. Not like your
Black Bears. He's...trapped! He's become a weapon for them.”

“For Alberto Birns.
He's using Michael to take out the crucial members of C-18. Alberto
is targeting the members of C-18, destroying them from the inside,”
Thor snarled.

“Yes. Michael
said...on the night of the murder, he was given an injection and
dropped off at Walter Nguyen's house in the middle of the night. He
walked into Walter's house and went to the bedroom. And he...he
killed the man, and...ate him,” she stuttered. “He
didn't want to. But he couldn't stop himself. He said he was
screaming in his mind, trying to fight whatever was driving him to
attack Walter, but his body just wouldn't obey.”

“Alberto has many
people working for him. He got someone to pick Walter's lock before
Michael arrived. And Michael was just...a puppet. I've heard of
this drug,” Thor said grimly. “The drug renders
someone's body unable to respond to the commands of his or her own
brain. Instead, someone else takes control of the target's physical
body, his muscles, nerves and cells. The one at the controls can
even direct the target's body to Change form and shape, if the target
has already had some shifter toxin injected into his bloodstream.”

Aubrey grimaced. “How...”

“It's like a computer
virus. The hacker injects a virus into your computer and takes
complete control of your computer. But the drug is still in its
experimental stages. It shouldn't...”

“Then Michael is
their...prototype, their guinea pig. And Luke...” She gasped.
“No, we have to save them! They're still down in the chamber.
Michael said he'll protect Luke, but...what can he do? He's alone,
and they'll torture him, kill him. Thor, you have to do something!
You have to get them out now!”

Thor took a few sharp breaths
as he squinted off into the woods. “I know where they are.
I'll be able to find them, but I can't leave you here alone...”

“Who says I'm staying
here?” Aubrey retorted. “I'm coming with you!”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

“I'll show you the way
to the tunnel.” Aubrey kicked up her chin imperiously. “You
won't be able to find it without me.”

Oh yes he could. But he
didn't want to tell her that.

He couldn't talk her out of
it. The stubborn little human insisted on leading the charge. She
was going to rescue those two trapped men. She wasn't going to
succumb to terror. Thor knew that she was scared and anxious, but
Aubrey didn't let her fear slow her down.

“Let's go get 'em!”

She began to stagger and
lurch through the undergrowth at a frenzied pace, shaking off his
attempts to hold her and support her. She had just escaped from a
horrific underground laboratory, but she was right now charging back
in.

“I'm fine. Stop asking
me if I'm hurt. I'm not the one stuck down there,” she
grumbled. “Hurry up! You're too slow! They'll be dead, worse
than dead, if we don't get them out now!”

Thor spoke rapidly into his
watch as he jogged to keep up with her. As he clicked off, he put
out an arm to stop her. “I've contacted the clan. The Black
Bears will be arriving soon, but you're right. Time is running out
for Michael and Luke.”

“So we'll be going in
first?” She bounced on the balls of her feet.

“No. Not we.”

“But...”

“No buts.”