Page 59

Story: Hunter's Sky

Victor didn't hesitate, pulling the door open and rushing inside with Mo close behind him. Riley following. The laboratory was blindingly white, filled with advanced medical equipment surrounding a central examination table.

And there, strapped to the table with silver-lined restraints, was Zack.

"Oh god," Mo choked, tears immediately filling his eyes.

Zack looked barely alive. His skin was ashen, his body glistening with sweat. IV lines ran into both arms, connecting him to various machines that monitored his vitals. His chest rose and fell in shallow, labored breaths.

A woman in a lab coat—Dr. Mayer, Victor recognized from the photos—stood frozen by a computer terminal, her eyes wide with shock at their sudden entrance. The second doctor took one look and ran in the opposite direction through another door.

Riley moved incredibly fast, but the second he touched Zack's restraints, he hissed in pain. "Get these restraints undone," he boomed.

Victor's wolf surged forward, a ferocious growl tearing from his throat as he stalked toward her. "What have you done to him?"

Mo didn’t hesitate. He simply climbed on the bed and pressed himself to every part of Zack’s body he could reach. “I’m here baby. We’re both here.”

The monitors around Zack suddenly erupted in a cacophony of alarms. The steady beep of his heart rate monitor flattened into a single, continuous tone that pierced the air.

"He's coding!" Dr. Mayer exclaimed, professional instinct momentarily overriding her fear of Victor. "Get off him!" she shouted at Mo.

"No!" Mo cried, clinging tighter to Zack. "I'm not leaving him!"

Riley grabbed Mo's hand. "Let go, or I can't do this."

Victor was at Zack's side in an instant, tearing at the silver restraints with his bare hands despite the burning pain as the metal seared his skin. The restraints snapped under his desperate strength.

"Riley!" Victor roared at him, his eyes blazing red as his partial shift intensified. "Save him!"

Riley placed both his hands on Zack's chest and closed his eyes. The doctor screeched as wolves ran in and secured her.

Victor placed his hand over Mo's where it pressed against his own heart, and in his mind he reached out to touch Zack. The bond between them, though faint, still existed. Victor closed his eyes, focusing every ounce of his strength on that connection.

"Zack," Victor called, not with his voice but with his soul, pushing his energy through their bond. "Fight. Come back to us."

Mo seemed to understand instinctively what Victor was doing. He closed his eyes as well, adding his own strength to Victor's, calling to their mate through their shared connection.

Something shifted in the air—even as Riley sagged to the side, Daniel just managing to catch him.

The monitor gave a single weak beep. Then another.

"How are you doing that?" Dr. Mayer whispered, staring at the readings. "He was coding."

Riley heaved a breath. "Victor, Mo, get in next to him. Touch him." Riley took a shuddering breath. "It's not safe to make him shift."

Victor didn't need telling twice, and they got on the bed pressing themselves to each side of Zack. Zack's heartbeat slowly stabilized, each beep of the monitor growing stronger. His chest rose with a deep, shuddering breath.

"That's it," Victor encouraged, his voice thick with emotion. "Come back to us."

Asher, and a dozen of Raschid’s wolves, raced into the lab, quickly securing the doctor despite her shrill protestations of science and the greater good, but Victor drowned them all out, and kept hold of Zack and Mo. He heard Daniel and Asher clear the room, and then they dragged a trembling man in a white coat in there.

“I want all the drugs stopped immediately,” Daniel ground out, and practically threw the doc toward the bed. Hands shaking, the doc did exactly as instructed and removed all the IV lines. “Why can't he shift?" Daniel asked, looking at Riley.

Riley smiled weakly. "Because the baby's too far along."

Daniel frowned, but then tapped his earpiece and listened intently. “Understood. I’ll let him know.” Mo had yanked his out, wanting to concentrate on Zack. Daniel grinned. “Pearson was just about to climb into his helicopter to escape. Raschid shifted and got to him before they took off.” He paused, eyes sparkling with unrestrained glee. “He doesn’t have much of a throat left. Well, any really.” He glanced at Mo. “We’ve also found five shifters chained downstairs. Khloe’s alive.”

Mo gasped. “Alive?”

Daniel nodded. "They’re all being taken to an appropriate medical facility then a safe house while we sort out where they want to go, but Khloe’s in reasonable shape and will be brought to Hunter’s Creek as soon as the docs have checked them over.”