Under Sean’s Protection by Lisa Oliver

Chapter Seventeen

Cuffs, collars, and chains could not stop Sean from kissing his mate with more force and passion than any kiss he’d experienced up to that point in his entire life.

“You are as brilliant as you are beautiful,” Sean said as he kissed Kyle a second time, “and more beautiful than anyone I’d ever seen before. I had no idea you were an omega.”

Sean ached to have him right then and there, cuffs and all. He’d never had a problem with being tied up, at least not when it came to sex. But he knew it had to wait.

Again.

He watched as Kyle took in the room; he could see his mate piecing together what his wolf had done. Sean knew, if he didn’t say something quick, Kyle might never shift again and that would be a travesty.

“Kyle,” he said quickly, “Babe, pay attention to me. Your wolf did exactly what he had to do. I couldn’t have planned it better. I told you he would know what to do when the time came.”

“But I killed someone,” Kyle said, his voice shaky, tears in his eyes. “I did that. I killed that enforcer.”

“You didn’t.” Sean wished he had more mobility – his mate truly needed a hug. “Your wolf did all this. It’s complicated, I know, but it’s what had to be done. Remember, he also let one live. Ask yourself why.”

Sean gave Kyle a minute to look over at the enforcer by the bed, moaning in pain as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding on his arm.

“Because that’s what needed to be done,” Kyle said.

“Exactly,” Sean confirmed. “Now we have one of them alive and well enough to provide some answers.”

“Right,” Kyle said as he nodded as much to himself, it seemed, as to Sean. “Right.”

“What needs to be done now is to get me my arms and legs back,” Sean said. “Ask Lefty over there where the keys are.”

Kyle walked towards the enforcer by the bed, and Sean could see the new-found confidence in his mate’s stride, even as his cheeks were still damp with tears and his eyes were rimmed with red.

“Where are the keys, asshole?” Kyle said.

“No idea,” the enforcer answered through clenched teeth. “But I sure as fuck know where the first aid kit is. Would you mind?”

“He’s lying,” the doctor cried out from the corner. “The keys are on the other guy, by the door. The one without a neck.”

Sean spoke to the doctor as Kyle fetched the keys from the pocket of what was left of enforcer one.

“You did good, doc,” Sean said.

“I stalled and fudged things as much as I could. And for the record, young man, you weren’t administered a rabies shot,” the doctor said to Kyle. “I had no idea what such a compound would do to you, so I loaded saline into the syringe. Totally inert and harmless, but I knew it would play well on television.”

Sean looked at Kyle’s bite mark as he was unlocking the cuffs.

“I couldn’t fake the stitches, I’m afraid, but I’m glad you got them out right away. I did my best to keep them loose.”

“Like I said, doc,” Sean repeated as he got to his feet. “You did good.”

He quickly crossed over to where enforcer two was making a mess on the floor, picked him up by the neck, and held him high up the wall.

“Where is she?” Sean shook the guy for added emphasis.

“Offsite somewhere,” the enforcer said. “She left as soon as I told her you were near.”

Sean looked over to the doctor for verification. He shook his head and shrugged. Clearly, he knew nothing. Sean turned back to the enforcer.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“I was hired to bring in the kid,” the bleeding man said. “It was all planned to lure you here, so she could have you on her turf. I was told to bring you in once you arrived. That’s all I knew about the operation. Believe me or don’t, but I can’t fucking tell you what I don’t know, can I?”

Sean threw him to the floor. “Hand me the cuffs, will you, babe?”

Kyle gave him the handcuffs. Sean attached one end to the wounded wrist and locked the other around the heavy iron bed frame.

“You have two choices,” Sean said. “Do nothing and slowly bleed to death or try and drag the bed frame along with you. I reckon the weight of the bed will pull your hand right off, given the severed tissue and broken bone from my mate’s bite. But then, I can’t fucking tell you what I don’t know, can I.”

Sean threw the key out the open window, then turned to the doctor. “Show us around the place, will you, doc? Let’s see if we can figure out where that bitch got to.”

/~/~/~/~/

Kyle pieced together what was left from his clothes after shifting and followed Sean out of the room. A room he didn’t think he would ever leave alive. The doctor led them through the building, room by room, and Kyle kept his eyes and nose working hard, looking for any clues.

When they got to the dark studio - the room where the video was made of Kyle getting stitched up, and where they would have recorded his castration - a cold shudder ran down his spine. He grabbed Sean’s hand, and felt his fear ease as Sean’s fingers tightened around his.

“This is where she was broadcasting from,” the doctor said. “It’s where all the communication took place. I don’t know where else she could be.”

“How many vehicles are typically kept here?” Kyle asked. “I know I arrived in one, but I saw more than that from my window.”

“Two, three,” the doctor said, “I really have no idea. Like everyone else, I only did what I was hired to do, and didn’t make a habit of asking too many questions. If it wasn’t for the council’s orders I wouldn’t have worked with her at all.”

They stepped outside into the dark of the night. There were no streetlights around or anything else to take the brilliance away from the dark night sky littered with bright stars.

“I’ve never seen the sky like this,” he said as he looked around.

Kyle noticed Sean taking everything in. There were three cars parked in front and Sean was frowning. Kyle agreed it didn’t make sense – if one belonged to the enforcers, and one belonged to the doctor, that meant the third one belonged to Janelle, which meant she had to be somewhere nearby.

“Are there any other buildings on the property?” Sean asked the doctor.

“Just the pig pen,” the doctor said.

“Pig pen?” Sean asked. “It’s close by?”

“We all had to take turns hauling food scraps out there to feed the animals,” the doctor said. “There’s not much to it. A single pen with some straw, water line, four walls and a roof. Ferocious beasts, who’d eat anything in sight. Scared the shit out of me every time I had to go in there.”

Kyle suddenly remembered something. “On the TV, when she was talking about my dick,” he started to say.

“Sorry?” Sean said. “What was she saying about your dick?”

“She was talking to the council guy,” Kyle struggled to recall exactly, “and said something about me having a teeny weeny”.

Sean laughed. “Hardly! Did she get a good look at your cock?”

“Only as much as you did on the video she sent you,” Kyle snapped, frustrated Sean wasn’t listening. “That’s not the point.”

“As she was laughing,” Kyle continued, “I distinctly heard what sounded like a snort. I assumed it was just how she laughed, you know… how some people kinda snort when they get laughing really hard?”

Sean took a few steps out into the night.

“I can show you where the pigs are kept,” the doctor said. “Even with your eyes, it’s hard to see your way on this sort of night.”

“Thanks, doc, but it’s not necessary,” Kyle heard Sean say as he felt his mate’s hand grab his ripped shirt and pull him along. “I can smell the fuckers from here.”