by Tara Rose
They couldn’t keep her up here all winter. The cabin was too isolated and difficult to reach in deep snow. And snow left footprints. Footprints that might lead strangers to the cabin. Nevada couldn’t let that happen, but he certainly couldn’t hide her in the village. It was too risky. No. He had to get more concrete answers, and he had very little time in which to discover them.
Chapter Six
In her dream, Saffron was in her leopard form, running through fresh snow and over frozen creeks. She could feel the bitter wind on her whiskers and the icy slivers on her paw pads. She inhaled cold air, but instead of burning her lungs the way winter wind did when she was human, this time it brought healing powers that gave her renewed hope and strength.
She didn’t know where she was, but she knew she was safe. Whoever, or whatever, had been pursuing her had lost her scent. She was out of danger. A magnificent cougar with dark eyes appeared at her side, gazing at her with lust and love. She didn’t know how she knew in her dream that it was Nevada, but it didn’t matter, the way things like that never mattered in dreams. She simply accepted that it was him.
The scent of human male reached her nose, and she and Nevada both turned toward Landon, dressed in heavy clothing and wearing a ski mask, but his eyes gave him away. She’d know that color of blue anywhere. He was wearing cross-country skis and holding poles, and somehow with those he was able to keep up with them as they began to run again.
It was exhilarating. She was with both her mates, and they had outrun their would-be captors. They were on their way to a place where no one could hurt them ever again, and Saffron had the rest of her life to spend with Landon and Nevada.
Something sharp and loud, like the click of ancient locks or the movement of thick chains pulled her from the dream and into a dark place. She shook her head, trying to return to the snow-covered mountains, crisp air, and her mates, but a voice was calling to her, taking her away from the safety and security of her dream.
Nevada. But where was he? He was no longer in her dream. She couldn’t find him.
“Where did you go?” Saffron sat up, looking around wildly, only to burn from embarrassment as reality came flooding back to her. Had she said his name out loud? She had no clue.
Nevada perched on the edge of the bed, watching her warily. “You were dreaming. Are you all right?”
She glanced down at her left wrist as a feeling of utter hopelessness washed over her. So much for dreams. “What do you think? Would you be all right if you were me?”
“I brought you fresh bread.”
She stared at the loaf he held in his hands. It smelled delicious, and her traitorous stomach growled. “Why?”
“Because we haven’t checked the food supply in here for a while and I didn’t want you to get sick eating rotten food.” He rose from the bed and walked toward the kitchen. She thought about following him, but decided it hardly mattered. She was done begging him to let her go.
She heard him pulling out what sounded like dishes and glasses from a cupboard. Had he been carrying something else as well? She couldn’t remember. “I’m waiting for my mother to return from town. We’re looking for an old book that will give me the answer as to whether or not you’re telling the truth.”
When he returned to the main room, he carried a plate with the bread on it, two glasses, and a bottle of wine. What did he plan to do? Get her drunk? “What book?”
“Do you know an Ute text whose title translates roughly as ‘The Alpha Legend’?”
She shook her head.
“I’m not surprised. We tend to keep it among ourselves, but I would have thought your grandmother had known about it.”
“She may have, but not necessarily told me. There was so much she didn’t have time to teach me.”
He placed the bread, butter, and wine glasses on the table next to the bed. Then he took a seat on the edge of the bed again and took a corkscrew out of his pocket. He opened the wine, pouring them each a glass. “Will you join me?”
“Why? Do you think getting me drunk will help? I have no secrets to tell you, Nevada. I’ve already told you all I know.” He almost smiled, and her heart did a weird fluttery thing. Saffron averted her gaze before he could see her reaction. “What’s so important about this book you mentioned?”
He handed her a glass, and she took it but didn’t drink. “It’s a text that explains the legends surrounding alpha cats, starting specifically with the one they called Sleepy Cat. Are you familiar with that legend?”
She nodded. “Yes. The snow forms the shadow of a cat on Sleepy Cat Peak. When the snow melts early, the cat goes down into Passion Peak, angry because he was early awoken from his slumber. It had something to do with the original settlers of that town, right? But no one there still believes in that, do they?”
This time, she couldn’t deny that he was smiling, and she really wished he wouldn’t do it. He was so damn beautiful, and her entire body was tingling now, as if she’d stepped too close to electrical wires. Why did he have such a visceral effect on her?
“Drink your wine. It’s very good.” He took a sip and closed his eyes for a second. Why did he have to be so damn sexy? This would be easier if she wasn’t physically attracted to him or dreaming about him and Landon being her mates.
She finally took a sip, and it was really delicious, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. It warmed her entire body, so she took another sip. He put down his glass long enough to butter a slice of bread, and she admired his hands as he did so. They looked strong but moved delicately, as an artist’s would do. She wanted to ask if he drew or painted but didn’t want him to think she cared that much about his everyday life. He was her captor, not her newest friend. She had to keep up her guard.
“They do still believe it,” he said. “The Sleepy Cat legend, I mean. At least, some of them do. That’s what my family does for money. We make and sell merchandise with the Sleepy Cat logo that we designed from Ute symbols. It’s been updated a few times over the years, but all the literature we have printed up still talks about the ancient legend found in the texts.”
“You go down into the town?” That surprised her. She’d been raised to avoid humans and their towns as much as possible.
“My grandfather and several others from our village go there every day. My mother and I go once in a while.”
“What does all this have to do with me?”
“Sleepy Cat is only part of the legend. The rest of it speaks to the alpha cats, but only three kinds. Leopards, cougars, and jaguars. It also explains the special power that melanistic cats have.”
“Which is why the Rosens are after me. Is that what you’re saying? They know about this book?”
“I don’t know if they do or not.”
“Is there more than one copy?”
“Yes. There are many copies, but it’s not known outside of shape-shifter societies.”
Saffron shifted her weight on the bed. She was fascinated now, and her earlier resolve not to show him too much emotion dissipated. This was one of the things she’d loved to do with Topaz. Listen to the stories and legends of her people. “What else does it say. Please tell me.”
“Lots of things. There are spells, warnings about interaction with humans, and details of how and why in certain circumstances alphas are allowed to share a mate. It even describes how tribes with more than one alpha cat in them should function. But the heart of it surrounds the importance of panthers, or melanistic cats, and what their presence in a tribe means.”
“You mean like me.”
“Like you say you are, yes.” He took another sip of wine as his dark eyes twinkled with amusement.
“You still don’t believe me.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.”
She let his comment go for now because she wanted to learn more about the legend he was describing. “What does the text say about black cats?”
“It says they exist in cougars, leopards, and jaguars, but
that they’re very rare. In fact, if you look it up online today, the human scientific community disagrees whether a cougar can truly be melanistic.”
She took another sip of wine, and now her body not only felt warm and tingly, but she no longer wanted to lash out at Nevada. It was nice to just sit and talk with him for the moment. Under better circumstances, this would be quite pleasant, and almost romantic. Saffron mentally shook away those thoughts as she placed her glass at arm’s length on the table. She buttered a slice of bread and bit into it, holding back a moan. It was delicious, but she didn’t want to tell him that either. “Why are the black cats so important to the legend?”
“Because anything that rare is worth hunting, if you’re the wrong kind of people.” His voice had turned hard and angry, but she didn’t think it was directed toward her. “And because the legend says if two mates are both melanistic, their cubs would be more powerful than any other shifters, male or female.”
Saffron watched his face carefully as she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. She wished she hadn’t told him that her parents and Topaz had both been black cats. “It sounds like you know everything that’s in this text, so why are you searching for it?”
“Because there’s more. I read the entire thing when I was much younger, but there is something in there I need to know word-for-word, and I don’t remember it that well. Neither does my mother.”
A shiver ran up and down Saffron’s spine. She finished chewing her bread before she spoke, watching him carefully. Every time she came to the conclusion that she could trust him, he said something to make her think again that she was wrong. But surely if he had wanted to tell her uncle or the Rosens where she was, he’d have done so by now. Unless he was simply playing a game with her, trying to get more information before he turned her over to her uncle or the Rosens. “What do you need to know word-for-word?”
“An incantation. It’s the way to tell if a shifter is melanistic without them shifting.”
Saffron shook her head. “Take me outside and I’ll shift for you. Then you’ll know.”
“We’ve been through this, Saffron.” He took a large sip of wine, draining the glass, then refilled it. He topped hers off as well, even though she’d barely touched it. “I’m not letting you shift so you can run. There’s too much at stake.”
“Like what? Are you planning on exploiting what I am? That makes you no better than the men I ran from.”
“What? What the hell did I say to make you think I’d do that?”
“You just told me about an ancient text you’re searching for that will prove to you I am what I say without me having to shift. What other reason would you have for wanting to know something like that?” The fear was back, but this time instead of immobilizing her, it made Saffron angry. She wanted out of here right now.
“Did it ever occur to you that I have a stake in this as well?”
“No, it did not.”
“Well I do. Would you like to know why?”
“You’re telling me secrets about yourself? Why would you do that?”
“It’s hardly a secret. I’m sure you’ve figured out that Landon is human, right?”
“Yes, of course. I can smell it on him.”
“But you sense something else in him, right? I saw it in your eyes, Saffron. You know he’d not quite what he seems.”
She glanced at the comforter. How had he known that? “What is he, then?”
Saffron could feel him watching her, so she lifted her gaze to meet his. He stared at her for a long time with a scowl on his face, and she could see the emotions crossing it. What was he so reluctant to tell her about Landon? And if he hadn’t meant to reveal it, why bring it up at all? She was tired of these games. “Are you going to tell me what he is, or not?”
“He was born to what you were—two parents who are black cats. But he can’t shift. He’s human. That made him a target when he was younger, and it makes him hunted now.”
She stared at Nevada, searching his face for any sign he was bullshitting her, but found none. “I’ve never heard of a shifter cub that can’t shift.”
“They exist, Saffron. We have three living in our village. They’re born to shape-shifter parents but for some reason have no powers. It’s no different than some of the irregularities that humans are born with.”
“So, how do you know what he is then? Was he born here?”
He shook his head. “My mother and grandfather found him abandoned in these woods. He was nearly frozen to death. His own people had left him to die.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told them what happened, and he told them who his parents were. They took him out in the woods one day, and then they told him that because he’d been born without powers, he couldn’t live in their village among them. They thought he was an evil omen, so they left him here to die. They shifted and ran away, and he had no way to follow them or find them. Some animals do that in the wild, you know.”
She hugged herself as a shiver ran up and down her spine. What a horrible fate. And how must he feel now, remembering watching his own parents leave him like that? No wonder he was so loyal to Nevada and the people in the village. “Does he live in the village with all of you?”
“He did for a while, but when he grew up he wanted to live in the town and be among his own kind. However, since his family would kill him if they ever found him, my grandfather and I have sworn blood oaths to protect him. It’s our custom. He was born to cougars, after all.”
Saffron took a long sip of wine. To say she was stunned was an understatement. “Is that why I couldn’t tell what he is? Because he’s really not a shifter?”
“I don’t know. You didn’t hear me in the woods, either. That’s why there are times I wonder what you really are. Your powers should be more developed at your age.”
“Topaz said the same thing. She was trying to teach me how to use them without being noticed, so we were far behind.”
His frown softened a bit, and now the look in his eyes was almost sympathetic “Of course. You alluded to the fact that you weren’t raised in a household where you could openly be what you are.”
“No, I wasn’t. Not like you probably were.” Something occurred to her as he watched her face carefully. Dare she ask? “You don’t mention your father, only your grandfather. Is he still alive?”
“My father died in an auto accident, along with my grandmother, when I was an infant. I don’t remember them at all.”
Saffron wished she hadn’t asked. “I’m very sorry.”
“Thank you.” Nevada averted his gaze, but she caught the look of understanding in his dark eyes before he did. “I’d like to know more about your life, Saffron.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him. Not yet, at least. She needed to process everything he’d just told her about Landon. “So what happens now, Nevada? How long will you keep me here?”
“Until I find the book.”
“And then?”
“And then we wait for the full moon.”
“What?” Her pulse raced. The full moon was when Uncle Dennis could shift, but she hadn’t told him that. Did he know? Was he in league with him after all?
“I need the full moon to use the incantation on the stones. To prove you are what you say you are.”
“What stones?”
“Leopard jasper. Although, labradorite and lepidolite can also be used, but lepidolite specifically is supposed to prevent shifting. It has to be held against the shifter’s heart while the incantation is recited. I’ve never used any of them, so I’m not sure which one will show me what you are. I’ll use all three, just in case.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “You’re kidding, right? You’re going to wait two weeks just to perform a ritual with a stone, when ten seconds outside would give you an answer? What if I promise not to run?”
“Why would you do that?” His voice was full of exasperation, as if he were speaking to a child.<
br />
“You have all of my things. I’m not going anywhere without the only possessions I have. All I’ll do is prove to you what I am, and then I’ll come back inside here with you, like a good little prisoner.”
Saffron watched him with renewed hope. She didn’t want to run without her backpack, but she would if she had to. For a couple of seconds she thought he was going to agree to it, but then his eyes clouded over again and the scowl returned. “No. I think not. You’ll just have to wait two weeks, along with me and Landon.”
Chapter Seven
Nevada offered Saffron the last piece of bread, but she declined with a shake of her head. “Okay. So since you have nothing to do but wait, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here, chained to the ceiling?”
“I don’t know, Saffron. To be honest, I haven’t figured that part out yet.” He should unchain her. She couldn’t get out of the cabin, and seeing her in that bondage cuff wasn’t helping his inability to stop thinking about fucking her.
“I can’t think of anything else to tell you, Nevada.”
“Since it appears we have no secrets left to spill for now, maybe you can tell me more about Topaz?” He was trying to make her smile, but as soon as that thought took shape, he realized how ridiculous it was. He wouldn’t be smiling right now if he were in her place. He filled their glasses once more, waited until she’d raised hers, and then clinked his against it. “A toast. To cats.”
She almost laughed, but stopped it by biting her lip. He wished she hadn’t done that, because now all he wanted to do was kiss that mouth until neither of them could breathe. “Funny, Nevada. Really.”
“Why is it funny?”
“We’re both cat shifters.”
“I know. That’s why I’m drinking to us.” He took a sip, keeping his eyes on her face. Did she have any idea how pretty she was? The thought of two Rosen brothers fucking her at will made him sick to his stomach. He wouldn’t let that happen to her.
