by Eliza Gayle
They hadn’t spoken since they’d gotten back on the highway, and the miles of blacktop passing in front of them lulled her toward sleep. The place she feared the most right now. One of two things would happen, and neither appealed to her at the moment.
Dreamwalking with Lucas, although unlikely since he was wide-awake behind the wheel, or some alternate version of reality that accompanied her degenerative mating period.
The curse of the female psychic. The stronger her power grew, the worse it seemed to affect her at this point. She doubted he knew, since it was the one secret or weakness her clan did not want revealed.
Thank God. That’s all she needed. Him mating with her out of pity or worse. Her shoulders shook at the mere thought.
So she fought sleep, despite the exhaustion setting in. Maybe a little catnap would work. She laughed at her own pun, glancing furtively to the side to see if Lucas watched her. His profile looked set in stone. He stared out the front windshield, unmoving, his mouth set in a grim line. She wanted inside his head but he’d firmly locked her out. Whatever he was thinking would remain private for now. She let her eyes slide shut. Even he had to sleep sometime...
What does Lucas want from me? He’s forcing me to his home. For what? He must think if we mate he’ll be able to control me. Will he take advantage of me again? I need to come up with a plan before we get there.
If his clan catches me there, they will claim me and I’ll never be allowed to return home. God forbid if he has any brothers or close pride mates, I’ll become a sex slave to them all.
Good thing I’m a trained soldier. They may be stronger thanks to their supernatural cat powers, but they still have no idea who they’re dealing with.
No man is going to claim me and have me slave to his every need. My mother put up with that for so many years. That will never be me. Didn’t she realize I was there when he took her over and over again until she nearly died from it? Why didn’t she try to take us away?
A deep feline snarl sounded from somewhere behind her. I have to run, I have to hide. Now...
The car stopped and Kira snapped awake. Her thoughts were cloudy and she couldn’t seem to focus. Only one thought lingered. Must get away, find a place to hide. Don’t go with him anymore.
Need to run.
Lucas opened her door and she stepped out of the car onto the soft, muddy ground. The dirt was red, reminding her of the red clay of North Carolina. Home.
Looking up, she noticed they’d parked in front of a small cabin nestled in the trees at the base of a mountain. The color and texture of the structure blended with the terrain, creating a natural camouflage, probably preventing anyone from spotting it at a distance. A good spot to hide.
“Where are we?” Just then she noticed a tall, handsome man approaching them, and she nervously looked at Lucas. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she took a couple of steps backwards, sinking into the mud.
“This is my home.”
The other man moved closer, a grin splitting across his handsome face. That kind of good looks probably got him whatever he wanted and left a string of broken hearts behind. When he came within reach, Lucas pulled the man to him for a friendly hug.
“Lucas, it’s about damn time you got back here.” The stranger turned to her and drank her in like a fine wine. Slow and careful. “And who is this you’ve brought with you? A present for me?”
“Hardly, asshole. Kane, this is Akira. Akira, this is Kane, my youngest brother.
“Half brother actually, which explains why I am so much better looking than Lucas here.” Kane’s response and smile were lost on her as an illogical fear gripped her, squeezing in on her like an inescapable vise.
21
At the word brother, Kira’s heart rate had sped up and her face clouded in obvious distress. She jerked her hand away from him, turned and without uttering a single word, ran into the woods.
“Kira, what are you doing? What’s wrong?” She didn’t answer and he looked at Kane with an incredulous face and just shrugged.
Kane laughed. “Having trouble keeping your women nowadays, big brother? You must be turning into a really scary guy if they're desperate enough to take off running through the woods.”
“Shut up and take this inside. I’ll be back in a minute.” He tossed Kira’s duffle bag to his brother and took off in the direction she had run. As he left the drive, he heard Kane’s mocking laugh behind him.
Has was so going to paddle her ass for this.
Kira. He spoke, pushing into her mind. Her panic and fear pushed back at him. What the hell is going on? Why are you running away?
I—I can’t let you claim me. I won’t be like her. Ever.
Her? What? Her response may have confused him, but it was her panic that crawled along his skin, scaring the hell out of him. Babe, what are you talking about? Her? What her?
She didn’t answer and he sensed nothing. In fact, it was as if she’d disappeared or, worse, didn’t exist. He reached for her with everything he had and got nothing. Fear clutched his heart and his beast roared forward, demanding control.
He dropped down on all fours and in a blink of any eye, he’d shifted. He’d catch up with her quicker this way, not to mention his senses were sharper for tracking. He sprang onto the overhanging cliff and began his search.
Lucas suspected something was terribly wrong. A shiver worked along his spine. So far he couldn’t identify the danger but he trusted his instincts to know when something wasn’t right.
Continuing to push his mind, he searched for her, trying to make a connection. He’d lost her scent a while back, which made no sense at all. She’d only had a minute or so head start, how could she have just vanished, scent and all?
The forest was deathly still, giving him the universal sign of something terrible gone wrong. He crossed through the shallow stream, looking for signs of disturbed vegetation along the bank or broken debris, anything that would give him a trail.
At the deepest part of the stream, the frigid water lapped at his furred belly as he picked up speed, determined to find her. When his paws cleared the water and landed on the rocky embankment, he found her, or at least her trail. After several minutes, he reached out for help.
Kane, something is seriously wrong out here.
What? What do you mean?
I’m not sure, but I sense Akira is in grave danger. Everything is too quiet. I have her scent and I’m headed for the river right now.
I’m on my way, brother.
Lucas continued to follow her trail. He had picked up an additional familiar female stench that struck true fear in his heart.
That bitch from the lab had followed them somehow and she’d managed to get a hold of his mate.
Whoa, where had that come from? That damned word kept popping into his head. He had to quit thinking of her as a mate. She wasn’t his. Yet, considering everything that had happened over the last two days, he realized he wanted more from her. How much, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t ready to let her go...
If that bitch Lara hurts Kira, I will kill her. Then the real hunt would begin because he already knew someone else was pulling her strings, and he had a pretty good idea who was responsible. His enemies underestimated his patience. In time, they would all get what they deserved.
She’s in my woods now, and it’s payback time.
He snarled at the anticipated pleasure before he put his muzzle to the ground and picked up speed. They were close. Akira, hold on, baby. I’m coming.
22
Kira slowly opened her eyes. Her stomach rolled. She lay still, trying to clear her fuzzy thoughts and settle the nausea enough to move. Where was she? She pulled at the edges of her memory for an explanation.
One minute she was in Lucas’ car, the next running from Lucas in sheer terror. Her only thought to get as far away as possible. Against a cougar on home turf, she didn’t have much of a chance. He’d follow and find her. Her only chance at survival had been to get to the river
where she could mask her scent.
Something had stopped her. A tree...no, not a tree. She’d run into a person, a woman. Kira focused harder on the memory and grabbed aimlessly at her neck. She remembered the stinging pain of a needle being plunged into her neck. She’d been drugged by the...her vision cleared...the bitch from the base.
Time to get the hell out of dodge. When she attempted to move her arms and legs she couldn’t go more than a few inches. She lifted her head and found herself sprawled out on a flat rock with her wrists and ankles bound.
Before she could think any further about her situation, a sudden heave in her stomach forced her to roll her head over to the side and throw up. Her gut cramped as the pain from the drug she’d been hit with rolled through her system.
“What’s the matter, honey? You got a weak stomach?” The female voice was so heavy with sarcasm Kira wanted to turn and smack her. She craned her neck farther to the side and caught a glimpse of camouflage clad legs walking around her. Kira couldn’t speak with her mouth so dry and parched. The woman knelt down to her level to look her in the eye. “Not to worry your pretty little head, this will all be over soon. When Lucas finds us, I’ll recapture what belongs to me and you’ll no longer be needed. Although, I bet you would be a lot of fun for him to play with.”
She had no idea who the crazy bitch referred to but she’d bet her last dime or moment of sanity she wouldn’t like him.
Contemplating the implications of the woman’s words, Kira quickly began calculating her options. After all, this was what she was trained for. She averted her eyes and glanced around the small clearing searching for reinforcements. She saw none. Lying on a rock across the clearing from her was some sort of metal ring and what looked like an electric baton. Probably a stunner of some sort. Who is this woman who thinks all she needs are a few weak weapons to capture a man like Lucas? What a fool.
She struggled to sit. Not an easy feat when trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Focused now, she easily functioned through the pain, but she knew the smart move would be to fake incapacity. That would lull her captor into a false sense of complete control, and buy her more time to plan and eventually get away. Rash actions were not Kira’s way. For optimal success, if given the opportunity, she always devised a plan.
“What do you want with Lucas?” she meekly asked the guard.
“Ah, would you really like to know?” She smiled at Kira with a sick twist to her face and a strange gleam in her eyes. “How much do you care for him? Enough to save his life?”
Kira considered her question. She did care for him. To what extent, she wasn’t sure. He was her mate and, like him or not, love him or not, she didn’t want to see him captured again.
“Care for him? Are you crazy? I barely know him.”
The woman’s dark head snapped up and she studied Kira’s eyes, as though searching for something. “I hear lies. He broke Clan rules for you, didn’t he? He shifted to save your life. Obviously he wants to protect you. So trying to hide your feelings at this point isn’t very clever. I guess I expected too much from you.” The woman’s face turned to disgust. “No challenge here whatsoever.”
Rage swelled inside Kira, twisting deep in her gut. “Touch him and I will kill you.”
“Ahh, now that’s more like it. Still worthless, but more what I expected.” The woman snarled as she stomped to the other side of the clearing. Kira didn’t like the look of pure hatred in the other woman’s eyes. She needed to tread carefully or risk provoking more crazy from this woman. Unfortunately, her hands were still bound and she had yet to come up with a plan for freeing herself.
What was taking Lucas so long? Had he come after her? What must have went through his head when she took off running at the word brother? Kira hung her head. The psychic breaks were getting longer and more frequent, making it difficult to convince herself she was exaggerating or even just plain making up scenarios in her head to frighten herself. With every new episode they got more realistic. She pondered how much longer she had before her mind succumbed to the darkness. Weeks? Days?
Kira...Kira, can you hear me? The faint sound of Lucas’ voice drifted through her mind. Faint or not, she heard him, which meant he was looking for her. The drug she’d been injected with had probably been the cause of their link being broken and now that it was wearing off, he was able to get through.
Lucas, stop! Go back! It’s a trap!
I know. Kane and I are approaching, but I think she is more than she appears, and it may take us more time than I’d like to get to you. You need to distract her.
I don’t know what her actual plan is, but it appears she’s waiting, probably expecting you to get here soon. As she responded to Lucas she turned her head and met Lara’s wary stare. She looked intense, suspicious, as if she knew something was going on. It sent chills up Kira’s spine and she looked quickly away. She was getting that odd feeling again, like outside the motel. Sensing something not right. As if she was missing something important right in front of her. She reached out, searching for a connection to the problem but was unable to pinpoint it.
She heard a woman chuckling and turned quickly to look back at her. She met the woman’s gaze, rage against hatred sizzling between them. Still she heard the chuckling.
Kira struggled again to sit up, considering she was still bound and partially naked. “Excuse me, but I need to go to the bathroom.” There had to be something she could do to distract her.
Kira watched the woman turn away from the weapons and simply stare at her. She wasn’t looking at Kira’s face so much as looking through her. Her eyes were glazed over and her dark pupils almost obliterating the rest of the color.
She looked down. With her partially bared breasts peeking through her torn shirt and the eery leer from her captor, Kira got a weird sense she was about to become some sort of twisted sacrifice.
Uh oh, Lucas, you better hurry up. I don’t like the look she’s giving me and my half naked body. She’s creeping me the hell out.
You’re naked?
She’d have laughed at his shocked tone if a loon wasn’t stalking her. Sort of. They didn’t have time to worry about the details of her clothing.
I’m coming baby, I’m coming.
Kira watched her captor move as fear threatened to engulf her. The woman picked up one of her weapons and walked over to Kira.
“Don’t think you can play games with me.” She grasped Kira by the hair, pulling her close, and clamped some sort of heavy-duty vise with what looked like claws attached to the rim around her left nipple.
Before her brain could register the effect she repeated with another on the right. Kira screamed loudly, tears springing to her eyes at the excruciating pain.
Leaning down, the woman wrapped one hand around her neck, choking off her air supply. Kira couldn’t speak. She couldn’t think. She didn’t have much time.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. How much pain you endure is completely up to you. You tell me what I want to know and it stops. You don’t tell me and well…” the woman shrugged letting Kira draw her own conclusions as the fire streaking across her breasts made her vision blur.
“Now tell me. Where is he? I know he’s close. Tell him to back off, or you die here and now,” she snarled viciously at Kira. “His surrender will come on my terms, not his.”
Kira tried to struggle but the pain was too intense. Black spots wavered in front of her eyes. The woman slammed Kira’s head against the rock, adding to the already mind numbing pain. This couldn’t be the end. She refused to go out this way.
“While you helped my cause immensely, I didn’t plan to kill you.” She bent closer. “Vengeance is mine.”
Fuck you, Kira mouthed.
Without warning, two big cats leapt from the trees above. The larger, midnight black one leaped on the woman’s back and its jaws clamped down on her neck. The woman’s eyes bulged in shock and silently pleaded with her.
Kira felt the weight of both the woman and the
cat pressing down on her and heard the woman’s neck bones crushing next to her ear. Without releasing its grip of the woman’s neck, the cougar pulled her off of Kira and threw her across the clearing in the direction of the other cat.
Kira gulped for breath as the cougar shifted back to his human form and she found herself lost in the blazing green and gold eyes of her mate. “Quick,” she croaked out, “get these off me.” She tried to wave in the direction of her chest.
“Keep breathing, Akira. This is going to hurt more.” Lucas deftly grabbed the devices and released her. She cried out. The sudden flow of blood rushing to the tips burned as much if not worse than the original pain of the device. Tears streamed down her face as she endured.
“It’s okay, baby.” He massaged the sides of her breasts with a soft, experienced touch. “It’s normal to be more intense when they’re first released. It will only last a few minutes. I promise.”
“Do I even want to know how you know that?”
“We’ll have plenty of time for me to explain.” He untied her hands and feet and threw the ropes into the woods. Their gazes locked on each other, neither able to speak and Kira knew she couldn’t possibly tell Lucas what she felt. Not now. Confusion swirled inside her. She needed him as much as she didn’t want to need him. If she were smart, she’d run as far and as fast as she could. This wouldn’t work…
Kira sprang into his arms, seeking the comfort and heat she so desperately needed. She threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his torso. From the waist up, the contact between them was mostly skin-to-skin, heat to heat, and the rest of his male naked flesh pressed against the thin silk barrier of her panties.
She banished the memory of her shorts being sliced from her body and the ripped and torn tank she still wore on her shoulders. Instead she forced her mind to focus on the more pleasurable wave of need and lust coming from Lucas and the haunted look in his eyes. They needed each other, needed to cling to the powerful emotions of burning heat driven by fate.
