Page 59 of Caught Bear Handed

“Stop talking in circles,” I managed.Thinking hurt.Breathing hurt.“Answer my question.”

“You’ve evaded us several times, Kayla Mitchell.It was very clever, and I have to admit, quite annoying, but it forced us to get more creative.”Mark paced in front of me.He had his hands behind his back—willingly, like he was taunting me because mine had been bound there.“Since you probably still think you have choices in this matter, let me tell you what they are.They’re quite simple.You cooperate, or we auction you off.Such a recognizable name will fetch a pretty penny on the black market.We’ll get the money out of you one way or another.”

Chills ran down my spine, laced with a side of pain.The rumors of the trafficking ring were true, but they weren’t just throwing hapless, innocent people into it.It was their way of punishing the opposition.

I had absolutely no plans to cooperate, but I had to stall.Beau should be here any minute?—

Seriously, where was he?

And this was a chance to get all the dark and dirty details about what was actually happening at the heart of this operation.Bellamy had been able to crack in, but since Mark and Mike had managed to best us at every single turn today, I had a feeling that they’d hacked into Sawtooth Security’s surveillance system too.

Gigi barked, and one of the wolves turned to growl at her.If they hurt her, there would be hell to pay.I’d make sure of it.

“Your bear isn’t coming to save you, Kayla.”Mark stopped pacing.“We tampered with the zip line equipment to make sure only one of you made it across the river.And we knew that the chivalrous fool would send you first with the best equipment, trying to play the hero.”

My heart sank.Beau not being here gave credibility to his claim, but my soul, my spirit, simply refused to believe it.

“Say I worked with you.”I kept my voice as even as I could.No emotion was safe, they’d all be used against me.“What would you want me to do?”

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me, wondering how Mark’s vision would differ from Barrett’s plan of having me go undercover.

Hell, where were those bears?!

Even in the darkness, there was no missing the way Mark’s face lit up.He didn’t think I’d go for it.He was definitely a shifter.Now that he’d let down his guard, I was picking up on those cues.He gave me an oily smile.“You’d give us access to your powerful Hollywood friends.”

The joke was on him if he thought I was powerful and influential…

You are.My wolf shut down that pity party right out of the gate.You have power over them.Look at what they went through to capture you.They wouldn’t do that if you were no one.

She was right.I might be cuffed and drained, but I had a hold over these men.These beasts.I had to use this to my advantage.

“Like who?”I asked.

“Obviously, we’d love to talk to your co-stars.Logan Mathis, Amelia, the rest of the cast,” Mark said.“If you hadn’t been such a rotten bitch when I attempted to date you, I would’ve had that already.”

He was lying to me.I knew for a fact Amelia had invested.What did he really want?

“Now that you’ve got an in with the Sawtooth pack, you’ve made yourself even more valuable.We’d love to tap intoThe Real WerewivesNetwork.EvenThe Mating Game.The audience potential is endless.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to question why he’d want to have access to our viewers, who were predominantly young and female but not necessarily wealthy.My stomach churned as it dawned on me.After they screwed them out of what money they had, they’d lure them in as trafficking fodder, promising them a chance to get closer to their idols.

“You help us, or we use you to our advantage,” Mike added.“It’s that simple.”

Gigi launched into a new bark storm and ran in the direction of the zip line deck.

Mike snapped his fingers, getting the wolves’ attention.“Get her,” he commanded.

“No!”I lurched forward, seeing nothing but red hot pain.I didn’t care what happened, I would not let those wolves touch one hair on Gigi’s head.

Then a roar shook the earth.

My bear was here.

“What the fuck?”Mark muttered as he turned to face my mate.

The rest of the men wore the same uniform of shocked expressions.They tried to kill Beau and they’d failed.Thank the moon and every single star in the sky.

But I hadn’t totally believed it until I saw Beau with my very own eyes.