Finding Chrissten: Legacy, Book 5 Read Free Page B

before Michael had brought the vehicle to a complete halt. He turned back and pinned Teague and Kevin with his dark gaze as they stepped out of the van. “You two stay with the vehicles. We can’t afford to lose our transportation.” His gaze seemed to soften as he looked at Neema. “You better stay with them to keep them out of trouble.”
    Hank climbed out and looked around, studying the terrain and the locals. Three tough looking dudes with tattoos and piercings on their faces started in their direction. Before Hank could do more than growl at them, Damek waved his hand and the men suddenly turned and went back the way they came.
    “Weak-minded idiots,” Damek grumbled under his breath.
    Hank suddenly had a new respect for the vampire. His power seemed limitless. He was damn glad Damek was on their side in this fight.
    The vampire suddenly whirled around. “Women are to be protected, wolf.” He disappeared in a blur only to reappear twenty feet down the road. “Are you coming?”
    While he’d been watching Damek, the rest of the pack had emptied out of both vehicles. All were ready to fight. Hank didn’t think Quinn could take another disappointment. He didn’t think he could either.
    Damek pointed at a dilapidated three-story building. It had probably been a single-family dwelling at one time. Over the years it had been remodeled into apartments. Now it stood empty and boarded up.
    Hank loped toward the side of the building and hurried around to the back. The rest of them could take the front. He wasn’t waiting. His heart started pumping faster when he saw a garage out back with a shiny new lock on it. He took a few precious seconds to glance inside the tiny window in the door. With his preternatural sight he could see a white van just like the one that had fled from the scene the last time they’d hunted for Chrissten.
    This was it. Hank could feel it in his gut.
    He raced to the house, senses flaring open. He forced himself to slow down and use stealth. No need to alert the bad guys to his presence. He ignored the secured back door and jimmied a basement window instead. The lock was old and rusty and gave easily under the steady pressure he put on it. He raised the glass slowly and listened.
    All was quiet.
    He grabbed the upper sill and slid his body through the small opening, landing sure-footed on the gravel floor. This part of the basement wasn’t finished and the musty stench of mildew and mold assailed his nostrils. He ignored the pungent odor and took a deep breath. The smell of garbage, urine and sweat seeped upward from the ground and outward from the wooden structure.
    He heard a squeak in the floorboard above him and knew the others were swiftly moving in. If there was a rogue werewolf in the building he would have heard the noise by now. Unless he was otherwise occupied.
    Hank’s lips pulled back from his teeth and a low snarl was torn from his throat. He was on the hunt. His body settled into battle mode, ready for anything. He reached out to his wolf, using every advantage at his disposal, heightening his senses.
    He knew he was alone but still moved carefully over the hard-packed ground toward a doorway. He slowly turned the handle and eased the door open, cringing when it made a slight popping sound. Years of damp had warped the wood, making it stick to the frame.
    A tiny sound caught his attention. A whimper. His head whipped around to the left and he noticed a door with two locks on it. Chrissten. It had to be her. The beat of his heart went from steady to a gallop in under a second as adrenaline surged through his veins.
    Before he could take a step toward the locked door a large male appeared at the far end of the hallway. He was a big fucker with broad shoulders and long brown hair. His scent reached Hank, igniting a molten fury inside him. It was a scent he knew well from Chrissten’s blanket, the one he’d taken from her last prison cell. Brian. The male who’d violated