Lex closed his eyes for a moment and Ben felt Tegan’s absence so sharply he wanted to howl in pain.

“We’ll find her,” Templeton said, seeing Ben’s anguish.

“I knew it was too good to be true to hope you’d be safe just for once.” Lex kissed Nina who pinched his arm until he winced.

“Wow, wolf looks good on you. Tee will be pleased.” Nina winked before she hugged Ben. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Come to the safehouse. It’s not too far and Carla has a huge meal waiting. We can grab the call there as easily as here.” Templeton gave them directions and left with Jack.

They’d follow separately so no one would know they were all together. Ben had no doubt Pellini would be watching.

Lex took a quick phone call while Ben settled up and checked on Benoit.

Minutes later, Lex returned. “Come on. We’ll go to the hotel first. I need to check in with Cade and I don’t want to do it with an audience. Dave is supposed to meet us there shortly. Your stuff has been moved there. Benoit okay?” Ben nodded as Lex hustled them out. The nurse was pretending she didn’t see a darned thing and Ben waved and mouthed a thank you.

Once in the car, Ben leaned back and closed his eyes. “Do you think she’s alive?”

“Can you feel her through the link?” Nina asked. “Open up, reach out. It may not work but I can feel Lex when he’s out here and I’m in Seattle so distance won’t stop it.”

“I can do that? Why didn’t anyone tell…” He shut up and instead focused on the thread that held him to his mate. And she was there, soft, muted, but alive.

“Yes. Thank God, she’s…I can feel her presence. But it’s weak. Soft. I don’t feel pain. Do you think I could feel her pain if she was hurting?”

“I don’t know,” was all Lex said as he drove through the tangled Boston streets to their hotel.

“Hey there, red, how you feelin’?”

Tegan opened her eyes and stared up into the not-unfriendly face of one of Pellini’s wolves. He put a hand on her arm and kept her in place.

“Look, you have to keep it together or you’re dead. I’m doing everything I can but…you don’t want to end up like Gina. I’m begging you, I owe Lex my life so please keep your mouth shut. Don’t push him.” His voice was the barest of sound but she heard the urgency in it. The truth.

Swallowing, Tegan nodded slightly and he patted her arm before letting go.

Don’t want to end up like Gina. God, what had happened? Was she alive? What had Pellini done to her? Every bone in Tegan’s body ached and several of them were broken.

Why hadn’t they healed yet?

Tegan tried to reach out to Ben through their link. Was he dead too? Could she survive if she’d lost him? She never wanted to face that pit of loneliness again and the idea of not touching him again, of not hearing him call her red wolf or even of never seeing the way his forehead furrowed when he was pissed at her, filled her with despair for a moment.

But the flicker she felt, distant but there, alive and, she paused, lupine. If one of Pellini’s freaks had bitten him and forced the change would he hate her forever because of it?

No, he wouldn’t. He might resent it, but he wouldn’t hate Tegan for it. She believed it for all she was worth. He would find her. She’d make it out of there alive, she just had to start figuring out a gameplan starting with being docile if she had to bite her tongue off.

“I’m putting you back under. Trust me, it’s better this way. It’s been a day since Boston. Chicago…” were the last words she heard as she felt the sting of whatever he’d pumped into her and she fell unconscious again.

Ben sat straight up as they’d been driving west along I-90. “Shit. She’s, I think she’s awake or something.”

Jack was driving so Lex sat in the passenger seat with Nina next to Ben in the back.

Megan and Dave took the very rear. Lex turned to look over the seat. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been reaching through the link as often as I can. It’s been sort of, I don’t know, muted, muzzy. It’s sharper now. I felt her energy touch mine.” Ben kept his eyes closed as he concentrated on her. “She’s worried but planning. I can feel her resolve. Hurting.

Fuck. My bones hurt. She’s…shouldn’t she be healed by now? How can they let her hurt?” He slammed his fist into the seat and felt the leather and stuffing give under the force. Nina’s hand went to his neck and he felt calmer. Megan’s hand grabbed his shoulder and Dave took the other shoulder.

“Calm down, Ben,” Nina ordered softly. “You can’t help her like this.”

“She’s slipping away. It’s all soft again. Damn it.”

“We’ll be in Chicago in just a few more hours. We’re going to get to her in time.

Know that, Ben. She’s strong. Really strong. They’re probably keeping her drugged,” Lex said, pain clear on his face.

“Why is she hurting?”

“Do you really want to think about that?” Jack asked softly.

“YES! Would it be easier if I didn’t? Sure. But she’s my woman, I love her, I hate not knowing. I have to think about it so I can prepare myself and do the best I can for her.

This isn’t the time to hide my head under the sand.” Anger cleared Ben’s mind.