"So we wait," Lindley said, taking a seat next to his alpha. "And then we try to stop them."
* * *
“We need to get across the river,” Priscilla whispered. “That’s where they’re keeping your friends.”
Kyla leaned around the tree trunk at her back. Lights flashed in the night as shadowed figures crossed windows, open doors, and headlights. The whole place buzzed with the activity of angry hornets hell-bent on finding and stinging whoever kicked over their nest.
Too bad those someones included her, Sage, and Priscilla. Also too bad they were blocking the only bridge in the tiny town.
“How?” she asked.
“Wait,” Priscilla said. “Help should be coming.”
“We’re too exposed,” Sage whispered. “They’re going to find us and make us go back.”
Her scent soured with panic. Kyla reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You’re out past your bedtime, Sissy.”
They whipped around. Kyla’s eyes widened to recognize the lion who’d picked her up in Heatherglen. Both his eyes were black and he carried himself like he’d taken one heck of a beating.
“And you got yourself into a little scrape, Galen,” Priscilla straightened her shoulders. “We need across the river for the Crowleys.”
“Fuck that. I agreed to get you out. You. You didn’t say anything about your extra baggage, but I’ll take them, too, because fuck Jasper and the consortium.” He shook his head. “The river is too much.”
No. They were so close. Kyla’s lioness rumbled a protest inside her and a tiny whine escaped her throat. She couldn’t just exchange one Levine for another. She needed both Sage and Lindley to make it out on the other side with her. They were her people.
“Please,” Kyla said, stepping forward. “They have my mate. I can’t leave him here.”
Mate.
The word resounded through her head with its utter truth and sense of rightness. He was her mate. Maybe always had been, certainly was now. She wanted his claiming mark, to wake up to him every day for the rest of her life. Cubs and disagreements over what to have for dinner and socks three feet from the hamper right along with knowing she had someone at her side no matter the good and the bad. She wanted the whole shebang with Lindley.
There was no leaving him behind.
Galen eyed her sharply. Even under the beard, she could see his jaw tighten. One moment passed into another until he finally cursed and broke their look.
“Fine,” he growled. “But if we get caught, it’s on you. Given the chance, I will cut you loose and get the others out.”
Kyla swallowed hard. “Deal.”
He led them away from their hiding spot, throwing an arm wide before they rounded the corner of the building he led them toward. Kyla’s heart pounded hard enough to hear the thud, thud, thud, before he motioned them to hurry after him.
He ripped open the back doors of a van parked in the open bay of an old auto shop. “In,” he ordered. “Not a single word, you understand me?”
All three nodded, and he shut the door.
Sage sat stiffly on the bench seat, hands tightly clasped together and her eyes locked on the floor. She swallowed back a tiny mewl when the engine turned over and the van started to move.
Minutes that felt like hours passed before the van slowed again. Kyla couldn’t see into the front, but she heard the whine of a window lowering.
“What’s doing, Zarro?” someone asked.
“Here for more prisoners,” Galen said gruffly. “We’re moving them, aren’t we?”
The other guard snarled. “Yeah, we. No one told me you Zarro fucks were involved.” He spat on the ground. “Good for nothing traitors.”
“And yet, I’m the one doing the work while you stand around with a clipboard.”
Silence hung between them. Kyla imagined both males were glaring at one another, waiting for the other to blink.
“Let him through!” the guard yelled to someone else.
The window whined and they started to move again.
The smooth road turned bumpy as they left behind paving for mud and ruts. They rocked and jerked into one another until finally, that too, stopped and a door chime sounded.
The door was yanked open and Galen gestured for her to jump out. “Straight through the woods, that way.” Galen pointed to a spot through the trees. “Get them out. Find us, if you can. I’ll try to enlist some extra help.”
Kyla jumped out of the back. Her neck prickled from unseen eyes, though she couldn’t see anyone in the night. No eyes shined back at her, no immediate scents but her companions. Still, she felt watched. “Thank you,” she told Galen.
“Wait,” Sage said before the door closed. “I’m going with you.”
“Stay here, Sage,” Kyla insisted, but she’d already jumped out of the back.
“That’s my brother,” Sage answered with more strength than anything else she’d spoken all night. “I can help.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Galen growled, shutting the door and deciding the matter for them.
He hurried around to the driver’s door and left them behind.
“Let’s go,” Kyla said. She jerked her chin toward the trees Galen pointed out. “We can do this.”
She did more than hope. She believed. The shaking in her hands and the churning in her stomach and the discomfort rolling through her inner cat were lies. Lies and more lies intended to drag her down. She was done living life on her knees. She had to keep moving.
One step carried her into the next. Then she was jogging, Sage right beside her. Even then, she couldn’t outrun the eyes in the darkness.
Her heart jumped into her throat when Sage grabbed her hand and pointed.
Nearly hidden in vegetation, was the door to a cellar.
She ran, heart still in her throat. Her lioness slashed at her to let her loose, let them get there even faster. She kept the beast locked down as she closed the distance and pounded down the stairs.
And there he was.
“Kyla—Sage!” Lindley jumped to his feet as she rushed for the bars. “What are you doing here?”
“Your father is here, for one. He recognized me as soon as they brought me inside, then stuck me in a room with Sage. As if we weren’t going to conspire our way out of imprisonment.” She scoffed, then shook her head. “None of that matters. We need to get out of here. Now!”
“Keys,” Sage muttered. “We need keys.”
“Keys,” Kyla repeated. “Where can we find keys?”
“Little idiots,” a deep voice growled in the darkness.
Boots clunked against the stairs. Each step rattled down Kyla’s spine and shook free the spindly scaffolding she’d built up over her time with Lindley and his pride. Roland was there, coming for them. Blocking their escape.
Next to her, Sage paled and shook like a leaf.
No. They were so close! They couldn’t go back.
Sage backed away from the steps, lip trembling. Kyla twisted around to protect her and keep Roland away.
Roland backhanded her without a second glance.
Kyla blinked at the ceiling, spots dancing through her eyes. Noise erupted around her. The snarls of other shifters were almost as loud as the roaring in her own head.
Sage shrank away from her father, panic written across her face in her wide eyes and clenched jaw.
Roland prowled toward her, low burr on his tongue. “You always were like your mother. Weak. Pathetic. Blubbering from one mess to another. Neither of you could quite cut it as the alpha’s mate.”
“Leave her alone,” Lindley snarled.
Roland smoothed Sage’s hair, then grabbed a fistful and hauled her to her feet.
“No,” Sage whimpered. “Stop.”
Roland swung his head to Lindley. “I told you I’d do the same to her as that wretched mother of yours. But I’ve changed my mind. This one, I want to take slow.”
Claws punched out of his fingert
ips. With a snarl peeling back his lips, Roland dragged the sharp tip across Sage’s throat.
Sage gasped and danced in his grasp, but his hold didn’t change. The scent of blood spiked in the air as droplets appeared along the line.
Kyla pushed to her feet. Red colored her vision. Her lioness wanted to fight and make the man bleed.
He and his kind weren’t in charge anymore. They didn’t get to tell her what to do, where to go, who to serve. She handled her own fate, thank you very much. And she was done with their shit.
Their blindness opened her up to friends and allies they couldn’t comprehend. Lions and bears—and yeah, somehow even a tiger leaped through her cat’s chaotic sendings—were on her side.
Roland was all alone.
“Stop,” Kyla demanded.
She was proud her voice only shook a little and even prouder that she didn't drop her eyes when Roland's attention swung to her. The slight hint of surprise that flashed across his face was something she'd never forget in the final moments before he finished her off.
He made a mistake not checking how close to the cell he stood.
Lindley reached through the bars with a silent, menacing snarl etched over his features. He grabbed hold of Roland’s shoulders and yanked him hard against the metal. The first blow staggered the man. The second sent him to the ground.
Roland didn’t move where he fell.
Kyla met Lindley’s eyes, then dove for the man. Her lioness whined and paced when his chest rose and fell. Her hands shook as she turned out his pockets. Any second. Any freaking second. She’d die of a heart attack if his eyes popped open while she had her hand stuffed down his pants.
She pulled a set of keys from his back pocket and scrambled away from his prone body.
“Please work,” she chanted, trying first one, then another in the lock. “Please, please work.”
The fourth key turned inside the lock and the door creaked open.
Lindley pulled her close to his chest and gave Sage a little shove. “Move,” he ordered, arms thrown over both their shoulders to offer himself as a shield.
Trent dashed up the stairs first, going to four legs the moment he reached the top. The massive lion stood guard while the rest of them hurried out of captivity.
Up the stairs. One step. Two. Five. Only three more.
Sage burst into the night first. Kyla took the last step and stumbled forward when something yanked her around.
“No!” she screamed as she watched Roland haul Lindley back into the dark maw of the cellar.
* * *
Roland raked claws down his back. Pain, horrible, blinding pain, twisted through his system to explode in his brain.
Lindley locked eyes with Kyla and let go of her fingers. “Run!” he ordered.
He closed his eyes on Kyla and Sage disappearing into the night and let his lion take his skin.
The beast flowed out of him with all the hot fury he’d contained from the first time his father struck him. The rage had built and built, fed on a steady diet of pain and failing to protect his mother and sister from the monster in their midst.
His lion roared for the fight. The beast wanted blood and death. Roland deserved nothing less.
But there was more to him than the darkness spawned by Levine hatred. More than the need for blood and battles and coming out on top while making someone else small. He didn’t need to play Roland’s games to win. Kyla had shown him that.
He had to get them out. Get them free and safe and as far from Roland as they could get on one planet. He'd throw gobs of cash at anyone close to space travel just to put extra light-years between them and the asshole determined to bring them all down. Kyla and Sage mattered more than the burning desire for vengeance.
But he wouldn’t deny the fight right in front of him.
Lindley swiped a heavy paw against his father’s face and roared at the yelp of pain that followed. He was on him in an instant, trying to bury his fangs in the fucker’s neck, but a quick jerk back left him with too much mane and not enough jugular.
Roland lunged forward. He rose on his hind legs at the last second and wrapped him in a tight hug. A roll of his body took them both to the ground with a thud.
Lindley scrambled, back legs kicking out, front trying to find purchase to heave himself out of the hold. Roland snarled and bit, claws digging in to keep him subdued.
A lioness jumped through the air, claws extended, fierce roar ripping out of her lungs. She powered straight into Roland, knocking them both to the ground and against the bars of a cage.
Kyla scrambled to her feet. She crouched low to the ground, fangs bared. Her tail twitched back and forth in an obvious dare for Roland to attack.
Lindley’s heart swelled with pride before terror seized his chest. They were too enclosed for a fair fight. He didn’t think he could get a clean swipe in without hurting his mate.
Roland didn’t have any such care.
He lunged for Kyla, then twisted around to land a smack on Lindley. Back and forth, he struck one before going for the other. Blood flowed from all three before Lindley was able to get between his father and his mate.
A hard shove of his shoulder knocked her back toward the stairs. She screamed in fury, the fight alive in her eyes, but he shoved her again until she finally made space up the stairs.
He followed on her heels with the roar behind him fueling his launch out of the cellar.
Lindley spun around as soon as he hit the night, chills rolling down his spine as distant roars filled the air.
Seconds passed in the standoff. More. Dangerous to stay. Dangerous to run.
Kyla paced right behind him, eyes on the darkness at his back. Badass little lioness, jumping into a brawl she couldn’t win on her own. Keeping her people safe. He’d never felt more proud in his life.
Roars growing louder, Roland shot out of the darkness. He landed next to Lindley with a thud, then jumped again onto his back. Claws raked down his sides, but Kyla was there, biting and slashing and ripping Roland off him the best she could. The murderous old lion lost his grip under her onslaught, then twisted around to land a blow against her face. Lindley roared his fury and charged before he could strike her again.
Then Roland ran.
He was after him in a second. Kyla followed him there, too. They flanked Roland, both trying to clip his back legs out from under him, but the bastard jumped and dodged and put on even more speed. His escape was close. Too close. Insanely close, but Lindley couldn’t give up. Not yet.
An engine revved up next to them. Dash swayed in the back and laughed wildly as he lined up his shot and slammed a tranquilizer round into Roland’s side.
Lindley pulled to a stop as other shifters charged through the darkness, some in trucks like Rhys and Dash, others on four feet. Some even dived into the fight on giant wings, screeching their challenges into the night.
It wasn’t dawn, but backup had arrived.
The two sides clashed together in a cacophony of snarls and yelps. Dash unloaded where he could, dropping lions where they fought, their animals melting away and leaving sleeping humans behind.
Roars filled the night as lions fought lions, giant birds swooped from above, bears darted through the trees. Lions were ripped from backs, thrown against trunks, cast into the dirt. The sounds of the battle were utterly deafening, but Kyla was by his side and nothing else mattered.
Then it was over.
Shifters limped. Some changed back, others stuck to their animal forms. The consortium lions, those that still lived, were pushed and shoved and herded into a clearing where headlights shined on them all.
Lindley let his lion melt away just as Kyla’s shape shimmered.
Kyla jerked upright. “We have to,” she panted, then tried again. “We have to warn someone. They’re going to attack the enclaves.”
He pulled her close. The hard edge of determination filled her scent. “Not anymore,” he assured her. “We win today.”
Chapter 27
Lindley watched carefully as Sage stepped through the door of the empty cabin and flicked on the lights. She hovered right on the edge of the threshold, chewing her lower lip, before turning to face him.
“You’re sure I can stay here?” she asked, eyes cast down.
“It’s yours as long as you want,” Lindley told her, shooting a look toward his own den.
The light above the door—useless as it was in the afternoon, probably hit accidentally when Kyla flicked the switch—beckoned him home as much as the inner push of his lion. He cleared his throat and turned back to his sister.
Fuck. She was like staring at a ghost. She’d always favored their mother, and that moment was no different. He hated it. Not how she looked physically, though it had been a sucker punch when she’d rushed down the stairs with Kyla.
The demure attitude was something else altogether. Eyes lowered, smelling like she was ready to bolt if he moved too fast, and thinking she didn’t deserve common decency set his teeth on edge.
Fucking Levines. Fucking consortium. He wanted to ride back out to their broken camp and dismantle every den, every meeting place, every cell until there was no place for them to hide. When they lost all their holes, he wanted to hunt the stragglers and give them a proper welcome back to the old ways they espoused—with death and destruction.
His lion circled through him. Lin was ready to yank on the beast’s leash and shove him to the dark depths of his mind, but only one sending flashed through his head.
Kyla.
“Don’t be stupid, stupid,” Sage said with a nudge and an ancient taunt from their younger years. “Go to her.”
Lindley blinked and sputtered. “But you—”
“I need time. Space.” Sage took a step back and spread her arms wide to take in the cabin. “I don’t know what to do with all this.”
Still, he hesitated. Her words rang true, but her scent was a complicated jumble of emotion. He rubbed at his nose with a frown. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured or unwelcome or hell, hurt in any way.
Savage Claim: Lion Hearts Book Two Page 17
