Page 70 of Hers to Call
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Simon rushed back to the house, with Marcus hot on his tail. Zeke was coming out of the kitchen, his face worried. Simon had felt worry from Calita through their mating bond a few minutes ago and ran back to the house. Seeing Zeke’s face, his stomach dropped and his bear slammed against his shield around the animal. The smell of smoke was heavy on the air, the residual wisps of it rising from a trash can near the kitchen window.
“What happened?”
Zeke raked a hand over his shorn hair. “We got an alarm and rushed over. There was a small fire in that trash can by the kitchen window. The smoke was filling the kitchen when we ran up.”
“Where’s Cali?” he asked, his bear pushing against him.
Zeke’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t…”
Simon ran out into the back yard and screamed her name. He forced his body calm and took a deep breath, filtering through the scents on the night air. He growled as he caught both her scent and Becca’s in the woods. “Spread out and look for her, Becca too.”
He was panicked, but trying to keep it together. He pulled Gavin closer to him. “Call Nate, and get a crew together.”
There was only the scent of Becca and Calita on the air. The two women couldn’t have gone far, but what worried him was that he’d gotten Calita to promise him she’d never go too far from the house on this side of the property. What could make her go back on that promise?
***
Cali kept her body still, and her eyes closed. Her hands were tied behind her back, and a wooden floor was hard beneath her body. She blocked out the pain the position sent through her body and focused on the important questions. Namely, where was she? Last thing she remembered was a hand wrapping around her mouth. Who was it? And where was Becca?
“You’re awake, no need in pretending.” The voice was deep…familiar.
Fear was a hot lash through her body that sent her heart beat skittering. She cracked open an eyelid, and the guy who’d tried to take her a week ago stood over her, a smirk on his otherwise dark countenance. Besides the tilt of his lips, there was no amusement on his face. Just a resigned look that didn’t bode well for her. She searched her mind for his name, Simon had warned her about him. She struggled to push herself into a sitting position, but he put his boot to her stomach.
He didn’t press down, simply touched her with the tip of his toes. “Uh-uh. No need for all that.”
She froze, but eased her body back onto the floor, wincing as her weight came down on her arms tucked behind her. “What do you want?”
He cocked his head to the side, and moved back from her. He pointed a single finger into the air… “That. That’s what I want.”
Calita heard her name called from outside, faint, but getting closer. She recognized Simon’s voice, his panic seeming to bombard her already scared senses. Charles smiled at her and pulled her up by her hair. She screamed out and he laughed.
“Scream louder, Calita, your mate will come running all the faster.”
Her fear nearly paralyzed her, until she thought on all that she’d gained since she’d moved to Georgia. She wasn’t going to lose it, lose Simon. She wouldn’t go out the way she did last time. She reached into her back pocket and palmed the small knife Zeke had given her.
***
Simon held his hand up to pause the crew following him. The four bears behind him skittered to a halt, their ears perking. The only sounds in the surrounding forest was that of their breathing. Even the night animals paused as bear shifters filled their romping area in search of their alpha female. A short scream rent the air and Simon growled low in his throat. He turned and pointed at one of the female bears with him.
“Get Nate and his deputies.”
She nodded and took off.
He raised his nose and took a deep breath. “Calita,” he hissed, and charged forward.
He stopped at the edge of a clearing as he got a look at Charles holding Calita at her throat. The bears behind him sent up a chorus of growls.
The side of Charles mouth tilted up. “I’ve been paid to take your alpha female, Jacobs, but I can be persuaded to give her back.”
“What do you want?” Not that he had any plans to negotiate with the coward. He was only stalling until Nate could get there.
“My own land, for me and my mate.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you would honor any deal made between us when you’ve already forsaken the deal you supposedly made to kidnap my mate?”
“One of your bears is undermining you, don’t you want to know who?”
