Dellan in his cage… pacing.
Horvan would hold Rael all night if it would keep his mate from being distressed.
Chapter Nine
RAEL HAD no idea what had awoken him so abruptly, but his chest felt constricted and his breathing labored. His heart was racing too. Beside him, Horvan slept soundly. Rael sat up, running his fingers through his hair.
Dellan. Something’s wrong with Dellan. Not that he had any idea if their link extended over so great a distance, but it was the most likely explanation. At least Rael had the means to check on him.
He eased himself carefully out of the bed, trying not to disturb Horvan. Through the closed door, he could hear snoring. Rael crept over to where he’d left the laptop on the chair. He grabbed Horvan’s robe from its hook on the back of the door and put it on. Lord, it drowns me. He snuggled it around him, sat in the wicker chair, and opened the laptop, glancing over to see if its light bothered Horvan. When it became obvious nothing short of a nuclear bomb was going to wake his mate, Rael logged in, straining to read the password Hashtag had given him.
The sight that awaited him stole his breath. Dellan was not alone.
Rael lurched out of the chair and scrambled onto the bed, the laptop held precariously in one hand. He shook Horvan’s shoulder. “Wake up!”
“Whaaa?” Horvan blinked and rubbed his eyes. Within seconds he was alert. He sat up quickly. “What’s wrong?” Voices from the living room told Rael he’d woken the others too.
Good. They need to see this. “Get in here, all of you,” he yelled.
“I do not wanna watch, okay?” Crank grumbled groggily. The door opened, and the three men stood there, blinking, wearing nothing but shorts. “What time is it?”
“You need to see this. There’s something going on,” Rael said urgently.
The men piled onto the bed, everyone peering at the laptop.
“Wait—who the fuck are they?” Roadkill demanded.
Beside Rael, Horvan stared at the screen. “What’s going on in there?”
Rael had no clue. Two men stood at one end of the cage, outside the glass, holding on to a naked girl who was struggling, clearly extremely reluctant to be there. She threw back her head, her mouth wide, her long hair flying. Rael caught his breath when one of the men opened a small tin the size of a tablet and removed a hypodermic needle. Another man appeared from off-camera, grabbed the girl’s arm, and held it out, keeping it immobile.
“What the fuck?” Horvan sounded as agitated as Rael felt.
The man with the needle removed a tiny vial from the tin, then slowly transferred the liquid to the hypo. The girl was held fast by the other two, and, disconcertingly, her legs were shaking.
Rael couldn’t tear his gaze away from the screen. Around him, the voices of the others rose in alarm.
“What is that stuff?”
“Never mind that—what the hell are they doing there? And why is she naked?”
“What sick fuckery is this?”
Dellan was at the far end of the cage, watching the proceedings, crouched by the pool of water, his tail thrashing from side to side, his head low.
“Is he scared?” Horvan asked.
“I can’t tell!” Rael felt so fucking useless. Then he gasped as the man wiped the girl’s wrist before emptying the contents of the vial into her arm. She was still struggling, but the other two held on to her tightly. “Dear Lord.”
“God, I wish we had sound,” Hashtag complained.
“Why? Watching this is bad enough.”
Rael had to agree with Roadkill. The man with the small tin put it away in his pocket, his gaze focused on the girl.
“He’s waiting for whatever they’ve injected her with to take effect,” Horvan said quietly. Roadkill murmured in agreement.
Fuck, this was agony, staring at the screen, rigid with suspense. All Rael could hear was the others’ breathing, so loud in the quiet room. No one spoke for what seemed like ages, all of them seemingly waiting for something to happen.
“How long has it been?” Crank asked.
“About ten minutes,” Roadkill replied. “But I don’t think—”
“Look!” Crank shouted. “Look at the girl. She’s gone really still.”
A horrible thought slowly dawned in Rael’s mind, and when he heard the hitch in Horvan’s breathing, he knew he was right.
“She’s naked because they’re waiting for her to shift,” Rael said in a monotone.
Seconds later, the man with the needle opened the cage door, and together, the three men roughly shoved the girl inside. Dellan’s mouth opened, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light, and Rael knew with every fiber of his being that their mate was roaring. The girl dropped to all fours, and moments later, there stood a tiger, its eyes locked on Dellan.
“They forced a shift. Whatever they gave her forced her to shift,” Horvan concluded. His voice quavered.
“Is that even possible?” Crank demanded.
“If you’d asked me that yesterday? I’d have said no. But what else could it be?”
Dellan and the tiger circled each other, and the hairs stood up on the back of Rael’s neck. “I know why they’ve put her in there. They want them to mate.” Ice slid down his spine. Rael buried his head in Horvan’s chest. “I can’t watch this.” Yet he was unable to stop himself. He twisted his head to watch Dellan follow the tiger around the cage, never more than a couple of inches from her. She lay down and rolled onto her back, four heavy paws in the air, and Dellan nuzzled her exposed belly and neck. And when she rolled over again to lie facedown, her back legs stretched out, her body submissive, Rael knew he was right.
Dellan stood over her, straddling her body, licking at the scruff on the back of her neck with long flicks of his tongue.
Don’t! Rael screamed in his head. Don’t do it! Fight it. She’s not your mate.
He thought he’d gotten through when Dellan stiffened, his head raised, the female apparently forgotten. Dellan sniffed the air, glancing around the cage. Then he went back to licking the female.
When he lowered his backside, his legs trembling slightly, Rael knew whatever connection they’d had was broken. He looked away. “No. I don’t have to watch this.” Horvan’s strong arm tightened around him, and Rael inhaled his comforting scent.
Horvan stroked his hair gently. “All over now,” he said in a low voice.
Rael jerked his head to stare at the screen. Sure enough, Dellan had retreated back to his tree, and the female tiger headed for the cage door. The men were clearly shouting at her, and it wasn’t long before she shifted back. Quickly, they opened the door and pulled her from the cage. One man threw a garment at her, and when it became clear she wasn’t capable of dressing herself, another man did it for her, pulling the robe over her head and covering her body. All of them disappeared from view, out of the camera’s range, and it was all over. Even Dellan casually licked the pad of his left paw like nothing had happened.
“We’ve gotta get him out now,” Rael said through gritted teeth. The others stared at him like he’d lost his mind. Horvan’s expression resembled theirs.
Rael lost it. “Fine. If you won’t help me, I’ll fucking do it myself.” He went to clamber off the bed, but several hands stopped him.