Tim paled and leaned back against the inside of the van. He shook his head. “No.”

Tiger nodded grimly. “They shoved the other human female into a cell with a Species male who had never been freed but he didn’t touch her. He could smell her mate on her and protected her as if she were Species. We’re hoping Brawn is the only male they have and that’s why they came after him. She should be safe if that’s the case.”

“Should be?”

Tiger hesitated. “They forced us to breed with our females. When we refused they would harm the female until we agreed to breed or they used drugs to send the male into a mindless state where he was left without option.” Tiger hesitated again. “If that happens and they use the drugs, your daughter would not withstand it well, if she isn’t killed. Our females barely survived a forced breeding. The males lose the ability to control or to think. Afterward the male will not even remember what he has done. He would not be responsible for his actions. You have heard of a date rape drug? This is similar to one only the male gets aggressive and his body is in torturous pain unless he breeds with a female. The drugs strip him to the animal inside.”

“I’m going to kill the assholes,” Tim ground out through clenched teeth. “You’re saying you think they took both of them to force him to rape my daughter?”

Tiger nodded. “He will not harm her if they don’t use the drugs and he will refuse to have sex unless they threaten to kill or torture her. Brawn knows we are trying to track him if they didn’t find the device. He managed to hide the coin tracking device we gave him long enough to get us to this area. He will do anything to keep her alive if he can.”

Trey softly cursed. “You know this guy well?”

Tiger nodded. “Yes.”

“If he’s forced to, uh, touch her, he won’t hurt her?”

Tiger gave him a sincere look. “He wouldn’t. Brawn is very resistant to touching a human female. He doesn’t hold interest in them. I am more afraid that whoever took them will use drugs. That’s my biggest fear.”

“Will he kill her?”

Tiger shrugged. “It would depend on whether they use the drugs. I told you how they work. He wouldn’t be responsible for what happens if he’s out of his mind.” Tiger studied Tim. “If that’s the case, it would be an accident if he killed or seriously harmed your daughter. He is a victim in this too. That is why you had to step down.” He stared at Trey. “If you can’t guarantee his safety from your men if they drugged him and the worst has happened, you need to say so now. Your task force will be removed from this mission. That’s why we insisted upon coming here with our own team of males.”

Trey looked grim. “On the drugs he’d rape her, wouldn’t he?”

“On the drugs he wouldn’t be himself. He would be mindless and in agony. It would be like someone injecting you with drugs that made you so crazy you would have no recollection of what you’d done. You would be in so much pain that it would turn you into a mindless animal. When you woke later you would be horrified if you had harmed someone. Do you understand?”

Trey nodded. “He won’t be harmed, no matter what. I give my word.”

Tiger nodded. “What about your men? If we find the worst will they react and just kill him?”

Trey sighed. “I’ll talk to them now. I swear we won’t kill him, regardless of the circumstances.”

“There is one more thing.” Tiger paused. “You remember the raid in Colorado on that testing facility we took down? We have talked to our recovered people. We did not rescue all of them. There are about two dozen males and one female still unaccounted for and we might find them there. They may have taken Tim’s daughter to another Species male to breed. You cannot kill them either, even if you find his daughter’s body inside one their cells. But, if another of my kind has harmed his daughter or if she was killed without the male being drugged, I’ll put him down myself. Some Species were driven mad and may be beyond saving.”

Trey nodded grimly. “Understood. I’ll give my men the heads up that this might be a bigger recovery than we thought and that no matter what we find, you are in charge of your people who are inside.”

Trey left quietly to go talk to his teams still searching buildings alongside the twenty Species males who had shown up to help them look for the missing couple.

Tim stormed out of the van and started to hit the exterior of the vehicle with his fists. Tiger calmly watched the dents appear inside of the van and understood the father’s rage. He stepped out of the command van and waited for Tim to calm. Eventually he did and Tiger saw the grief in the human’s eyes.

“Brawn will do anything to protect her if he can.”

“This is my fault. I took him to her house. I did this.”

“Mercile Industries did this by hiring vicious humans who have no regard for life. Hate them, Tim.”

He nodded. “We have to find my daughter and your man.”

“We will. The signal was lost in this area. It’s just taking time because there are so many buildings where they could be hiding. By morning we will have searched every single one and we’re pretty sure they are here. They would have destroyed the tracking device long before it led to this area if they were aware of its existence.”

“You can’t smell them at all?”

Tiger shook his head. “I wouldn’t scent them from outside unless I am close to a building and there is a breeze coming from their direction. Our males are with your teams, they are some of the best hunters we have and I have faith we will locate them. The waiting is the hardest, I understand, but we’ll know by morning for sure. You just need to hang in there.”

“This is my fault.”

“We’ve been over this.”

“I should have made her leave her house or gone home after my date. I should have made sure she was sleeping in her old bedroom. I—”

Tiger gripped his shoulder. “You would have died too if you’d been home. They were well trained to take one of our males. I don’t mean to offend you but we’re stronger and faster. If Brawn didn’t stand a chance, you wouldn’t have either.”

Tim’s voice choked with emotion. “I just want to get my daughter back alive.”

* * * * *

Brawn jerked awake when he heard a noise. His hold instantly tightened around Becca, who was curled in his arms. She breathed slowly, sleeping soundly. Her hand rested around his arm and he studied her face as he sniffed the air. No stench of his enemy offended his nose. They were currently safe from harm.

She was beautiful. He’d never thought he’d find a human so appealing but she was. She was so different from his kind. Her nose wasn’t flattened, just a cute bump on her face. The bones in her face were softer, not dominant. She felt small and fragile in his arms and he could break her easily if he wasn’t careful.

His body responded instantly when she shifted a little and her thigh rubbed against him. They weren’t even naked but just being close was enough to make his dick harden and lengthen between their bodies. He wanted to mount her again. Sharing sex with her was different and wonderful. She was so soft and tight. So wet, hot and fragile. He bit back a groan.

The memory of the sounds Becca made while he’d mounted her made his desire to take her again grow stronger. He physically ached to be back inside her but she’d been sore afterward and probably still was. He should have been gentler but she’d taken him so well that he couldn’t stop the need to feel every inch of his dick buried in the soft, tight heat of her sex, which encased him perfectly.

His shoulders burned a little where her nails had dug into his skin during their passionate encounter. He glanced down at the bite she’d left on his chest and mourned that it wouldn’t scar. She had delicate, flat teeth but they’d felt good when she’d sunk them in enough to cause slight pain. No female had ever marked him and he was glad she had. He only regretted the reminder wouldn’t be permanent.