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I blushed, embarrassed and wanting to hide. I didn’t want those handsome men to look at me, the disfigured Daphne. Oh, how I wished I had never gotten the scar. Things would have been different then; I wouldn’t even have been here in the first place.
“That woman, hand her over,” the voice of the curly-haired man sounded commanding, and his words shook me all the way to the bear in my soul. I recognized the voice as one an Alpha would use.
Out of the two men I figured the taller one would be more of an Alpha. The leaders of sleuths were usually the strongest bears, and the size of a bear usually corresponded with the size of our human form. Yet, this smaller but swift guy was undeniably a sleuth leader, or else he wouldn’t have been able to use that kind of voice.
His eyes were full of fire, and he looked terribly on edge. I glanced at the other guy. I gasped, observing that he looked furious too. Why did the two want me? Would it even be better to go with them instead? What guarantee did I have that they weren’t worse criminals then the ones that surrounded me right now?
Victor laughed in response. “I found her first. So she’s mine.”
A growl erupted out of the chests of the curly-haired man and the other one too. I shook, terror getting ahold of me. I instinctively knew a fight would break out any minute now, and it would be a bloody and violent one.
A moment later, the clothes on the newcomers’ human forms ripped as they shifted into their animal counterparts.
Victor waved at the men who were behind me. “Take her away to Fort Torres,” he must have been an Alpha too, because his voice now had the same booming tone that rejected any questioning.
Victor and the six guys next to him shifted into their bear forms. Growls and sounds of rage could be heard as the seven of them launched an attack against the other two guys but I wasn’t able to watch the battle unfold as two of the guys behind me suddenly grabbed me, each under one arm, and suspended me in the air.
“Hey! Let me go!” I screamed and kicked, but my boot connected only with empty air.
The guys didn’t care for my efforts and easily carried me off with them, running past the fight, and around a bend in the road where a military vehicle stood. Its back was fashioned into a cage for criminals.
Even though I was cursing and trying to make their job of carrying me as much of a pain in the ass as possible, the men still succeeded in carelessly throwing me into the prison at the back of the car. They then jumped into the front of the car, one in the driver’s seat and the other in the passenger seat, and we took off.
“Help! I’m being kidnapped!” I yelled.
“Shut your mouth!” was the only reply I got in return from the guy in the passenger seat.
Indeed, the island that was simply called paradise had prepared a warm welcome for me.
Chapter Two
Gabriel
I dodged an attack from one of Victor’s goons, throwing my big bear body to the side. I was up against four enemies. They surrounded me, their claws coming down to attack. One scraped my hind leg, making me groan in pain. I much preferred fighting in my human form where I could be armed with my two daggers and move swiftly on my feet. I was slower as a bear, even though I could hit harder. I wouldn’t stand a chance against a group of bears as a human anyway, unless I was armed with an assault rifle or shotgun, otherwise I would be mauled to death.
It seemed, however, for Esteban and myself, that the odds weren’t in our favor today. I spared a glance to the side to see my best friend and cousin attempting to put his claws into Victor’s hide but failing as the other two bears acted as the asshole’s protection. They were working in a trained combat formation, flanking Ban.
Suddenly, Victor made a leap at Esteban, and the two rolled right and left, biting and clawing at each other. Although Ban’s bear was the largest in our sleuth, Victor was even bigger. He had the upper hand against Esteban, overpowering him with his strength. This situation didn’t look good at all! I needed to get to his side! I wanted to help him, and I wanted to hurt Victor too – to repay him for what he’d done to our family. Oh, how I would enjoy seeing his blood – his – life seep out of him!
I took a step in his direction but groaned in pain when one of the bears I was supposed to be fighting got me in the side. I deserved that hit; I hadn’t been paying attention.
Another bear moved in from behind and clawed at my back. I had to focus! Before I could gather my wits, one more issued a blow at my front legs. I went down, and that opening was all they needed to pile up on me. Excruciating pain was all I felt as their claws raked over my hide.
But none of the attacks were directed at any of my vital points. The hits brought me agony, but they weren’t lethal. Had Victor ordered them not to kill us? Was today not the day I would part with my life?
Victor growled, and the bears stopped attacking me. A moment later I heard them running north, in the direction of the castle that Victor called his own. Relief washed over me. They hadn’t finished us off. I didn’t want to die, and especially not now when I suddenly felt… an overwhelming attraction towards that woman.
Esteban and I had to save her! We had to go to Fort Torres and rescue her! I didn’t want to think what kind of plans Victor could have in store for her. The villain had a harem of women, and chances were he wanted that beautiful bear shifter to join it. Everything in me rebelled against the thought of her being with someone else.
I didn’t even know the woman’s name, and yet in my heart I had already claimed her. She was mine! I would kill Victor if he laid a hand on her but right now I was lying on the road, bleeding and bruised. For a while, until my wounds healed, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. Luckily bear shifters had quick healing abilities, so in half an hour I would be good to go again. I raised my head to see how Esteban was doing. He was lying not far from me. His fur was bloodied, but he raised his head and we shared a glance.
I let out a relieved sigh. He wasn’t dead either. Come to think of it, the fact that Victor had played around with us this way was somewhat insulting. He didn’t see Esteban and me as enough of a threat to kill us but that underestimation of us was a good thing too. When we went to Fort Torres to save the woman, we would surprise him. We would have to take the members of our bear clan, Santuario, with us. Then our numbers would be almost even, and the fight wouldn’t be as one-sided as it had been a moment ago.
For now, I had to remain still until my wounds closed. I caught Esteban’s gaze again. He was trying to get up, but his feet continued failing him. He must have suffered injuries to his legs. Fury burned in his eyes; he still wanted to fight. That fierceness was so like him. Normally I would have been amused by his rage. His berserk tendencies actually tended to give him the upper hand in a fight. But right now he needed to lay still.
I shook my head; such a human gesture for a bear. I tried to relay to him with my eyes that he should keep resting. We had been together ever since childhood, Ban being my older cousin. Thankfully, he understood my message. He grumbled, unhappy about not being able to follow Victor and his goons, but his fury eventually subsided. I was glad we could communicate even without words. I loved him as my brother.
Half an hour went by as we rested on the road, our wounds closing. They were far from fully healed though, when I shifted back to human form. The urge to go after the woman to save her returned in full force when my physical pain stopped being so overwhelming. I needed to discuss with Esteban what it was exactly that I was feeling.
