Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

world to pay any attention to her. Whenever he did show her any attention, it was usually to berate her or to yell at her because he wasn’t getting the results he expected. Those rants usually ended with him threatening her life. Needless to say, instead of craving his attention, Jacqueline had learned to stay as far away from it as possible.
    Now, she had placed her trust in the hands of a man she knew nothing about all because he had saved her life. No one had ever cared enough about her to do something like that. Even her own father had used her as a human shield. That was the moment she knew she would die at the hands of the man if she didn’t do something to help herself. She was tired of feeling helpless and not in control. She was tired of following orders she knew were wrong and went against everything she believed in, all because she was afraid of what her father would do to her.
    Because of the drug she had created for her father, innocent shifters had been turned into nothing more than animals. All of that was on Jacqueline’s hands. The only way to make it right was to find a cure or antidote to the rogue drug. She knew she would never forgive herself for what she had done, but at least she could make it right, and in order to do that, she had to get away from her father. So far, so good. They had managed to escape the bunker without much incident. Now she had to get them to Arizona before her father caught up with them. She had no doubt the man knew they were gone by now and was tearing up the state looking for them.
    Jacqueline winced as she drove. She felt bad for the guards they had left behind because she knew her father would take his wrath out on them. They would suffer greatly before they died. She didn’t even want to think of what he would do to her if he caught her. His own daughter betraying him was something, she had a feeling, he never expected to happen. She knew the slaps across the face she was used to would feel like love taps compared to the torture he had planned for her if he ever caught her.
    Determined to not end up in his control again, Jacqueline drove toward her destination as fast as she could without drawing any attention to herself. The last thing she needed was to be stopped by the police. She constantly checked the rearview mirror as she drove, not only making sure they weren’t followed, but keeping an eye on Ben as well.
    She was beginning to worry about him. He hadn’t moved an inch since he had passed out, but at some point, as she was driving, his eyes had opened slightly. Jacqueline saw the amber glow coming from between his dark lashes and felt his stare. From what she knew about shifters, when their eyes glowed like that, it meant their animal was close to the surface. She didn’t know what kind of animal Ben was, but whatever it was, it had been watching her for the past hour and a half. Although it freaked her out a little, for some reason, she didn’t feel threatened or in danger from Ben or his animal.
    Jacqueline was beginning to think she was lost when she finally found the turnoff to Mitch’s house. “Whoever the guy is, he certainly likes his privacy,” she mumbled as she followed the narrow drive. It was over a mile long and surrounded by dense trees, and she was tempted to turn on her headlights, even though it was broad daylight outside. The driveway finally opened up into a clearing where a large house sat. She pulled up to the front and turned the engine off. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her, and Jacqueline rubbed her palms against her thighs in an attempt to wipe the sweat from them.
    She turned to look at Ben. “It would be real nice if you could wake up and talk to me right now. I don’t know if I can do this by myself.”
    Ben didn’t respond, but his amber eyes never left hers. Jacqueline took a deep breath and forced herself to get out of the car. Just as she closed her door and moved toward the back door to open it, she heard the door to the house open. Her eyes widened in instant recognition of the large blond man who stepped out onto the porch.
    “You!” the man shouted as he launched himself off the porch.
    “Oh, damn,” was all Jacqueline could get out before his large body slammed into her. All the breath left her body as they hit the ground, leaving her unable to explain anything to the man she assumed was Mitch. She wondered how she could have been so stupid to have forgotten there had been other people