The Baby Shift- Wisconsin Read online

  “So, this child is an elite shifter?” Even as he asked, Kean knew it was true. It would seem Roy may have suspected too.

  “Yes. If our intel is correct, he’s the first successful genetically engineered shifter. The Boon are clever though - getting the same government who oppose them to fund their Bio-mod program. The FBI caught wind of it too late, but it’s no wonder they want the child for themselves now. As for the Boon, they’ve lost their oblivious sponsor. The FBI were hot on the doctor’s trail, yet they risked a meeting with him. They are desperate. If they lose the child, then they lose everything.”

  “The Boon don’t like losing,” Kean said, finding it hard to believe he had been a part of something so dark.

  “No, they don’t. You’ll be safe in that house – at least for a few days until I can get your new identities ready and arrange for an extraction. But we have to get that child out of there. I’ll send a team to extract him tomorrow.”

  Kean sighed. “And how am I sure you wouldn’t abandon us here after you and your resistance get a hold of the elite shifter?”

  Carl voice had no visible emotion as he said, “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

  Chapter 4

  Lara woke to two pairs of eyes staring at her. One was that of a full-grown man with a thick blonde beard and the other was owned by a wide-eyed infant. Kean was sitting on a chair beside her bed with the baby in his arms and a baby-feeder bottle in the child's mouth. Both had their eyes fixed on her when she stirred awake.

  “How’s the arm?” Kean asked.

  “Better,” she said. “Much better.”

  “Well, I went to a nearby store today,” he said. When he saw the shocked expression on her face, he added, “the baby needed new diapers. Don’t worry, I was careful. They followed us to Roy, I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

  “You couldn’t have known they’d be on to us so fast,” Lara said.

  “Doesn’t matter now. What matters though, is that I changed the baby’s diaper, and now it’s time to change the dressing for your wound.”

  She smiled. He really was sweet when he wasn't shooting at people or mowing them down with his teeth and claws. She asked, "did you speak to your friend last night?"

  The expression on his face bothered her. He looked like he was still trying to come to terms with something. “Yes,” he said. “I did.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “I’ll tell you while I dress your wound,” he said, carefully placing the baby beside her on the bed.

  When he finished narrating his conversation with Carl, Lara could feel her head threatening to explode with the influx of information it had only just received.

  "A few hours ago, I was nothing but an ordinary waitress with a very ordinary, if not shitty life. To be thrown into all these now. I just don't know what to say," she said, shaking her head.

  He was just applying finishing touches to the new bandage he had placed on her injured arm. “That’s the thing about life and time. It only takes a second for everything to change.”

  “Yes. One moment you’re thinking everyday thoughts like when to quit your job and the next you’ve been shot and stuck in a house in the middle of the woods with a super baby and a shifter who would make a terrible nurse, by the way,” she said, giggling.

  He laughed. “That last part hurt. I think I did a great job,” he replied, placing a hand on the flesh around the dressing. It was a light touch, but Lara felt something electric course from his fingertips to the pit of her belly. She stared at him, unable to utter a word.

  He noticed her stare and their eyes fixed on each other. Lara sucked in a sharp breath as his head moved closer. Hers involuntarily moved an inch forward. It was almost like she was drawn towards those lips lying between his blonde beard. She wanted him, and she never knew just how much until now. Their lips were inches apart now. She opened her mouth slightly.

  The sound of a phone ringing cut through the tension so suddenly she nearly fell off the bed. “What’s that?” she asked, even though she knew it was a stupid question.

  He took out the phone from his pocket and placed it on his ear. Lara sat there, watching as he made a set of vague remarks, mostly in the affirmative. When he was done with the call, he stood in front of her and said, “That was Carl. A team is waiting to extract the child and take him to Kentucky. I’ll have to carry him on foot. Circle around to make sure I’m not being watched and then head for the pickup point.”

  “Okay. Do I need to do anything?” Lara asked, surprised at herself for feeling left out.

  “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll come back for you.”

  This time, however, she wasn't so sure his words were true.

  The shed stood in on an open field of grass, surrounded by trees and shrubs that seemed to have grown around from over a decade of neglect. The team from Kentucky were waiting for him in there, according to what Carl said when he called.

  A few meters from the wooden door, Kean glanced around. There was no one in sight. He had to admit that Carl had done a great job in guiding the resistance. They didn’t seem to take any chances.

  Holding the baby in one hand, he opened the door and walked into the dark interior of the shed. It appeared to be empty except for some barrels and wooden boxes. Kean took another step forward before he saw it. It was a bullet hole on the wooden wall. Someone had pushed a box to cover it from view, but he could still see the top portion of the small circle on the wall where the sunray passed through. Something wasn't right.

  Kean spun. At the same instant, a figure jumped out of the shadows beside him. It was a man holding a pistol. He stretched out his arm to shoot Kean point blank in the face. Kean brushed the arm aside and struck him hard in the stomach with a knee, sending him to the floor.

  Kean could sense more movement on either side of him. They were all coming out of hiding now. He launched himself forward, wrapping his body around the baby and going shoulder-first. They opened fire immediately. The bullets missed him by inches as he smashed through the door and back into the open. From the footsteps he heard, he knew they were running after him. So, he ran as fast as he could. There were more gunshots and more bullets flying past. It was only a matter of time before one of them struck home.

  He broke out of the woods and into the open road. They were right behind now, only separated from him by a thin layer of shrubbery. They would pounce on him any moment now, yet he kept running and almost got run over by a car that drove right in front of him when he tried to cross the road. It stopped a few feet further from where he stood. Lara stuck her head out of the window.

  “Get in,” she ordered.

  Kean was only too happy to oblige. As soon as he and the child were safely on the seat beside her, she shot the car forward. His pursuers came out of the bushes to see their prey escaping in a car. They tried to shoot at them, but the car was already too far off. Kean recognized one of them as one of Sergio's bodyguards.

  He turned to Lara once they were safely out of sight. “They will send men after us. I saw one of them memorize our plates.”

  “I’ll try to avoid the major roads,” she said. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “How did you know...?”

  She said, “Carl called on the phone you left behind. His men were ambushed by Boon agents at the pickup zone. There was a shootout, and only one managed to escape.”

  “I could kiss you right now,” Kean said, bursting with gratitude.

  “Let’s leave that till after we are safely out of this city,” she said with the most seductive half-smile he had ever seen.

  “And where are we heading?” he asked.

  “He gave me directions to a new rendezvous point - this time for all 3 of us,” she replied.

  Kean smiled. Just then, something caught his eye from the back seat. He turned to see a sale of groceries on the seat.

  He laughed. “You stole this car, didn’t you?”

  “Guess I learned a thing or two from you in the last 24 hours,” she said.

  Kean would have laughed if he hadn't noticed the red car driving into their road from a junction they only just drove past. He could see the four men in the vehicle staring intently at them.

  “They are after us,” he said.

  She glanced at the rear-view mirror. “That’s a much faster car than this piece of stolen junk. I’ll drive as fast as I can. We’re only a few minutes away.”

  “No. We have to lose them first before going to the pickup point. They could compromise the entire plan if we let them know where it is,” he said.

  “There’s no time for that,” she said. “You think I saved your ass back there by being careful?”

  Kean nodded. “I hope they have men to protect us at this new rendezvous point.”

  She smirked. “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked. As if in reply to his question, there was a sudden loud sound coming from above them. Kean looked up to see a black helicopter circling a clearing just a few hundred meters away from them.

  “That’s our getaway ride,” she said.

  He turned to her. “Lara, That helicopter will need time to land. Time we obviously don’t have on our hands. If the men behind us shoot down that helicopter, we lose everything and everyone.”

  “What do you suggest we do?” she asked.

  “It’s what I must do,” he said staring at her, hoping she would understand that there was no other way except for what he was about to propose. “Slow the car down,” he said, pushing the baby into her free arm while she had to hold the steering with the other.

  Lara looked at him like he was insane. “Are you trying to... No. There has to be something else we can do. You don’t have to do this.”
r />   “I got you into this mess,” he said. “Now, I’m getting you out.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. The car slowed. Kean opened the door and closed his eyes as he let the bear out of its psychological cage. The agents were right behind them. He jumped out of the moving car.

  Even as he fell, the bear had already taken over. He rolled on the hard road, but his thick fur protected him from any injury. Kean managed to right himself. Then he leaped at the red vehicle as it attempted to drive past him. He broke through the front window and clawed at the driver. His sharp claws slashed the man’s throat open, and the car spun out of control.

  They all crashed into a tree by the side of the road. Kean fell to the hard ground with a loud thud and a painful roar. He felt something snap in his rib cage just before the sharp agony hit him. The other passengers were also hurt by the crash, but two of them regained consciousness. They struggled to get out of the car while Kean lay on the ground, unable to move.

  It took them only a few minutes, but they managed to get themselves out, blood trickling off various parts of their bodies. Kean's vision was blurred as he watched them advance. One of the shifted into a large wolf and the other into a coyote. Kean silently decided this was how it would end: eaten by canines. They were only a few inches from their helpless prey when a third animal appeared from behind them.

  At first, Kean thought it was the other Boon agent who was unconscious, but when he saw the creature dive at them, he knew that wasn’t it. It was a tiger - the largest he had ever seen. The battle between the animals was more of a slaughter than anything else. The tiger ripped them in half with the power of his jaws and claws. Once they were undoubtedly dead, it walked forward to stand beside Kean. Then it slowly transformed into a man crouching over him.

  Despite his blurred vision, Kean could recognize the long red hair and playful smirk anywhere. “Carl,” he muttered, too tired to say anything else.

  “You’ll be fine buddy,” Carl Stevenson said. “You’ll be fine.”

  Chapter 5

  “A few fractured ribs. Thankfully you didn’t receive this injury as a human so you should be fine in a few days,” the paramedic said.

  Kean was being examined on a mat placed beside the helicopter. Lara and Carl stood beside him while the pilot and another man made preparations for taking off.

  “I’m not coming with you,” Kean said to Lara.

  "Why?" She asked in shock. Kean could still remember the intense relief on her face when Carl brought him to the helicopter alive.

  “I want to take Roy’s place. Help the resistance here in Wisconsin.”

  Carl said, “are you sure? That’s a difficult job. They were times when even I feared that Roy could not handle it. Wisconsin is rotten with Boon corruption.”

  “I owe it to him to continue what he was trying to do here. I can get the resistance as much intel as I can, and I will.”

  Carl smiled. “Thank you, old friend.” He handed him a phone. “I’ll be in touch. We found some moles in our organization that I’ll need you to help me track down. They are the reason the Boon found out about Roy’s safehouse, and they caused the attack at the last rendezvous point.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Kean said.

  Carl nodded, then he walked away to instruct his men.

  “So,” Lara said nervously, “you’re really doing this?”

  “Yes. Carl will take care of you and the kid until you’re ready to start a new life away from all this crap for good.” He placed a hand on her cheek.

  “He’ll need a name,” she said, staring at he the child who was smiling up at them for no reason. “He’s not the object they think him to be.”

  “Roy,” Kean said, smiling back at the child.

  Lara nodded. “Roy.”

  Kean arrived at his new home on the outskirts of San Madura. It was more of a hideout than a home for the meantime, but it was something to build on. He decided he would stop by a nearby store the next day.

  For now, he needed to rest. The pain on his ribs was nowhere near as bad as it was, but it still throbbed. He took off his shirt and lay on the couch in the living room. Then he slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

  The knock on the door brought him out of his slumber. Kean rose and walked to the door as slowly as possible, trying to listen for any odd or threatening noise outside. He turned the lock and opened the door.

  She had a shy smile on her face when he saw her. “Lara. What are you still doing here?”

  “I didn’t leave with Carl and Roy. This may sound crazy, but I want to stay and help the resistance...with you.”

  Kean felt the warmth begin to spread through his heart. “But your life. This isn’t for you.”

  “All my life, I always felt I could be doing more. I’ve seen a lot in the last 24 hours. I’ve seen enough to know that there’s a lot to be done and very few people ready to do them. Let me help you, Kean. Don’t you want me here?”

  Kean stared at her. He had never wanted any woman more in his life. He did not reply to her question, however. Instead, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her inside. Their lips met as the door closed behind her.

  Kean tasted even better than Lara had fantasized. His lips were full, and the slight ruff of beard around them only served to amplify the sensations she was feeling. The tip of his tongue rubbed gently against her bottom lip, causing a moan of pleasure to escape from her lips. He placed his hands on either one of her legs and lifted her off the ground.

  As he carried her into the living room, their mouths were still interlocked, yet she felt rather than heard him grimace. Her passion-soaked mind remembered the injury he picked up while trying to save her earlier that day.

  He placed her on the couch then ran his mouth down her neck to the space in between her boobs. “I’ve wanted to do this from the day I set eyes on you,” he whispered, helping her take off her blouse and then her skirt.

  “You mean when you held a gun to my head and stole my car with me in it?” She whispered back before snapping her teeth playfully beside his right ear.

  He pulled off the red panties she was wearing while she unhooked her bra. Next was his shirt, which he hurriedly pulled off as if his life depended on it.

  Lara’s heart was pounding hard and fast as he traced his mouth down the soft flesh of her neck to the space in between her bare breasts. He cupped each of her soft mounds and squeezed slightly, flicking each nipple with his thumbs.

  Her thighs were already dripping with her juices and the hardness of him, which she felt through his pants only served to arouse her the more. His mouth swallowed one of her nipples, and his wet tongue gave it sensual torture like no other. When he let go of her breast, he shifted his attention straight to her flaming pussy.

  At first, it was a finger; touching, teasing, probing. Then came two fingers, grinding hard against her clit as they pushed in and out of her with ease. Then the fingers disappeared an she felt them replaced with something else. Kean's tongue was flexible and precise. He licked around her pussy walls before going into her. She felt her body stiffen when he circled his tongue around her clitoris. He began to suck on it, and that was when she lost it. He body rocked back and forth with the orgasmic wave that flowed through her.

  "Oh! That was...!" She could not find the words to describe what she just felt. He wasn't done with her, however. In the throes of passion, she had not noticed he had taken off his pants and undergarment. She did see him position his beautiful rod at the entrance to her pussy.

  “Wait,” she said, and he did. “You’re hurt. Let me do it.”

  Lara rose and pushed him back, so he was sitting on the furniture. She placed her knees on either side of him and her ass on his thighs. They looked in each other’s eyes for what seemed like minutes, lost in wonder and awe.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but she shoved her left boob into it, effectively shutting him up. She was not ready to hear anything from him other than moans. So, she moved, slowly taking his upright cock inch by inch.