Page 4 of Thayne
“There are still two guards on the roof, I can hear them clomping around up there like two fucking elephants.” Naked man was right. I could hear them up there bitching to each other about how they needed to take a piss. The guy holding me signed something to the naked giant and then I found naked guys eyes on me.
“He says his name is Thayne and wants to know what yours is. I’m Baron by the way. There, you happy?” Baron huffed as he started signing again.
“Now how do you plan on getting us all out of here? There’s a helluva lot of us and only one of you.” Baron asked while I looked up at Thayne and my animal gave another happy yip at him. How was I going to tell him my name? Wait, could he really read my mind? Thayne looked down at me briefly, giving me a grin. Oh shit, he could read my mind! Thayne’s body shook as he laughed. My fox swiped at him in annoyance. My name is Scarlett; Thayne ran his fingers gently through my fur as he signed to Baron with his other hand.
“Nice to meet you Scarlett. Now can we get the fuck out of Dodge already? I want to get as far away from these fucknuggets as possible.” Baron looked a little peeved but I was enjoying Thayne’s attention too much to really worry about him, or anything for that matter. Just having his fingers on me made me happy.
Oh that’s nice Thayne baby, keep doing that and I’ll roll over and show you my belly baby.God can you stop thinking with your vagina for once. Why do you always have to be so naughty?Because, A. he’s hot and B. it’s fun. Stop being such a prude he’s our mate.
I was so busy arguing with my animal that I didn’t notice that we were moving until we were at the back door. I’d seen and heard the guards go in and out of the door several times. As we stepped through the doorway, I noticed one of the guards bound and unconscious on the floor. My fox growled, ready to pounce, but Thayne stopped us, pointing towards the door on the opposite side of the room. Huffing out a dissatisfied sigh my fox curled into Thayne’s body more.
Baron grabbed the unconscious guard’s shirt and pants and yanked them on. Neither fit but at least he wasn’t naked anymore. My fox gave a slightly disappointed huff and Thayne gave a low growl of disapproval.All right big man I’ll be a good girl.Thayne gave a nod of approval before turning back toward the exit door.
As we got to the door, Thayne turned around and looked at all the shifters in the room. There were at least fifty of us, if not more. This was clearly a bigger job than he anticipated. How was he going to get us all out of here without getting caught? He looked down at me uncertainty marring his brow. Suddenly a look of determination passed over him and he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
I watched as his fingers flew across the screen before his face lit up with a smile. Did he have a partner helping him? Was he messaging another female? That thought made me give a little growl of my own and swat him with my paw. Putting the phone back in his pocket he turned to Baron signing in quick succession.
“Slow down kid, your fingers are a little fast for this old guy. I haven’t used sign language in a hot minute so repeat that last part.” Thayne slowed his fingers down a little and Baron nodded in agreement to whatever it was that he was saying.
“When will he get here?” He said he, so not another female. Okay good I could live with that. Inside my fox did a happy little mental flip. After they finished talking, Baron turned to the rest of the shifters in the room.
“Okay ladies and gents, here's what’s going to happen. Thayne’s buddy Raiden will be here shortly with a large cargo truck. They will take us somewhere safe until we can change back.” There were a few growls, groans, and squeaks from around the room as Baron turned back around to us giving Thayne a nod. Thayne seemed pretty satisfied with the response as he nodded back at Baron.
After about five of the longest minutes of my life, Thayne pushed open the back door to reveal a large horse trailer attached to an equally large truck backed up to what looked like a loading dock. A very tall man with sandy blonde hair and baby blue eyes came around to the back of the trailer looking grim. When his eyes glanced down at me still in Thayne’s arms, he arched a brow at Thayne questioningly. Thayne simply shrugged and turned around to start ushering the shifters into the back of the trailer. It wasn’t long before everyone but me and Baron were loaded up.
“I’ll get them back to Colton as quickly as possible. You sure you don’t want some help with these fuckers? I’m itching for a fight.” Raiden offered eagerly to both Baron and Thayne. They both shook their heads no.
“I could take the little fox back with me.” Raiden suggested. Thayne growled and Raiden put his hands up. “Alright, fair enough I wouldn’t want anyone but me taking care of my Savi. I’ll see you back at the ranch.” Right as Raiden got to the door of his truck, shouts rang out from the roof. Raiden didn’t even hesitate; he jumped in the rig, fired up the engine, and peeled out without a backward glance.
Thayne
The menon the roof were closing in fast; we needed to get moving. Motioning for Baron to follow me, we made our way back inside to intercept them. I could hear my little fox’s mind going a mile a minute and for the first time in a long time, I hated my lack of speech. How were we going to communicate? What mate wanted someone they couldn’t talk to easily? My own insecurities came roaring back as I chanced a glance down at Scarlett. Would she really be able to accept me as her mate once she was in her human form?
Baron waved his hand in front of my face interrupting my pathetic musings. It wasn’t necessary to get my attention and I was pretty sure he knew that already but he did it for show. Whatever his ability was, he didn’t want to reveal it to me and as long as he continued to help, I gave zero shits what it was. After some signing, again I was pretty sure it wasn’t necessary and more for show, we agreed to lie in wait for the remaining guards in the storage room. The door leading into the storage area was centrally located and we could see it from any angle in the room.
Even though we agreed to keep one of the guards alive long enough to answer questions, I had doubts on whether, once the fighting started, we could keep that agreement. Deciding it was best if I stayed in my human form, I watched as Baron transformed into his grizzly again. Shifts so close together could be taxing on a shifter. As Baron rolled his shoulders as he looked back at me giving a toothy grin. I knew he had nothing but vengeance on his mind. I had a feeling that I’d wind up having to save a guard for questioning.
Scarlett seemed to understand that she needed to be quiet as we got into our positions. Setting her down I ran a hand down her back in order to provide some comfort. Her fur was as soft as feather tips and all I wanted to do was to keep touching her. There was something soothing about just being able to touch her. My touch even seemed to calm her busy mind and give her comfort. Baron wanted me to send her with Raiden where she would be safer, but my animal refused. I was afraid he would force a change and attack Raiden if I didn’t keep Scarlett with us. As far as he was concerned, she was his and he was ready to claim her.
Just as Scarlett curled into her body staying close but leaving me enough space to maneuver, the minds of the guards came into range. I realized quickly there were more than just the two from the roof to contend with. Yet again, those old doubts and insecurities started to flare up as I realized she could hear them. Shaking off those feelings, I focused on the entrance to the storage room. The door flew open as six armed guards came rushing in.
It wasn’t great odds, but based on Baron’s reaction he was very happy to have more to play with. I had a feeling there were many layers to Baron’s twisted idea of what happiness is, but I didn’t have time to dissect them. Baron roared, causing all six of them to take a step back. The lead jackass yelled something and they all took a step forward.
Scarlett looked like she was ready for battle but I shook my head at her and pointed to the ground for her to stay. The guards were so occupied trying to gain control over Baron they didn’t even see me coming. The first one dropped quickly as I snapped his neck from behind before he could alert the others. Looking towards Baron, he had one of the guards dangling from his massive claws, his body limp, blood draining to the floor in a bright red river. I cringed as I watched him fling the guard to the floor only to grab for a second one.
The other guards started shooting at Baron but he was moving much too fast, even for a shifter, for the bullets to hit him. I hoped the guards continued to keep their focus on Baron as I made it to my next target. The guard in question was huddled behind a large cage, he was going from praying he made it out alive to declaring he didn’t sign up for this shit. Moving as swiftly as possible, I grabbed him by his throat and ripped it out. He looked startled for a second before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Three down, wait make that four, Baron was done playing with his newest toy by the time I looked at him again.
Looking around the storage area, I couldn’t see the remaining guards. Based on their scent they weren’t far from our location. Baron let out an angry roar as he started to sniff the air in big gulps. I suspected the guards could hear his inhalation, which was why Baron was doing it. Clearly, he liked to play with his prey before killing them. It was slightly unnerving, but given the circumstances we were in I wasn’t about to curb his enthusiasm just yet.
Just as I was motioning for Baron to circle around behind them there was a blur of black and gray darting across the cages before it dive bombed one of the guards. There was a flash of a gun going off followed by both Scarlett and the guard cussing their own stupidity. I didn’t even think before I was racing toward where she disappeared over the edge of the cages. All I could think was that I’d lost her before I even had a chance to have her. My heart practically beat out of my chest as I rounded the corner to where they were, expecting the worst.
Let me out! Let me out! I’m going to chomp that bastard.My animal was demanding to be released, but somehow I managed to control him. I was just as worried as he was, but I knew we needed a cool head to help Scarlett if she needed it.
Rounding the corner I saw Scarlett standing on the guy's chest, his hand trapped under her body. The gun was on the floor between his legs and there was a sizable hole in his calf. It looked like she landed on the hand with the gun and it went off on impact. The guard was crying while Scarlett looked from the guy’s calf to me with a look of disbelief. Letting out a relieved breath, I picked both the gun and Scarlett up, holding her close to my chest and inhaling her scent soothed my beast. He let out his own sigh of contentment as he settled down. Suddenly remembering the fifth guard, I looked over to where Baron had been headed just in time to see him finishing off the fifth guard.
Now it’s time to get some answers.My animal growled as we looked down at the last guard with far too much glee.I think Baron is rubbing off on you.Oh good, now I’m picking up bad habits from others besides you. The beast laughed in response and I rolled my eyes at him. Reluctantly I put Scarlett down and grabbed the guard up from the floor; even from inside his head the scream was loud.
As soon as Baron saw me dragging him out, he made a growling sound and started stalking towards us. Scarlett moved in front of me, her hackles up and her teeth flashing with menace. She was trying to defend me from Baron’s charge. Dropping the guard, I reached for her tail to pull her back but before I could reach her, Baron started what I can only describe as laughing. Inside his head, he was calling her a brave little girl, but his bear was full on, body shaking, laughing at her. Scarlett’s fox huffed before turning around and flinging her tail in the air, a clear sign for ‘fuck you’ if I’d ever seen one and I couldn’t help smiling. Baron shifted back and continued to laugh as he retrieved his borrowed clothes.
