by Jory Strong
This world was far removed from that one. And whatever his reason for fathering her, she didn’t think she’d serve his purpose here.
But here offered a measure of safety, of peace, as long as she kept the amulet on.
And temptation, a small voice whispered in her mind, her body tingling with pleasure at the memory of Aryck on top of her, his cock thrusting against her stiffened clit as his tongue fucked in and out of her mouth. If they hadn’t been interrupted . . .
She wet her lips. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized even though the answers she needed were in Oakland, and remaining near Aryck would only lead to pain, she couldn’t leave, not when she had an excuse to remain. “I’ll stay and share what’s in the journal with you.”
“Good.” Phaedra rose to her feet. “I need to speak with Koren.”
Rebekka remained seated. She clamped her thighs together, but instead of easing the throbbing in her clit and swollen labia, it seemed to intensify her awareness of them. Until Aryck she’d never viewed herself as a sexual being. She’d suppressed all desire, not wanting to be turned on by witnessing carnal acts she knew degraded and slowly killed something inside those she loved and considered her friends.
She touched the place where the tattoo was hidden beneath her clothing. She’d thought to save herself, to use her virginity as a way of proving she was no prostitute. But that assumed she would find a man she could trust with both her heart and her body, someone she could share her life with—her secrets.
How could she think she’d find that now? Who would want a demon’s child? A healer whose gift could also bring death on an unimaginable scale?
Need rippled through her at remembering the hungry look in Aryck’s eyes. Why not take the pleasure he offered?
Because I don’t think I can keep my feelings separated from my body, she admitted, a chill invading as she imagined Aryck seeing the tattoo and knowing what it meant, then turning away from her in disgust because of it.
A small hand holding a bouquet of purple flowers appeared in front of Rebekka’s face, jerking her from her thoughts. She turned her head slightly and saw the Tiger cub standing on the other side of the log she sat on.
“For making me better,” Caius said.
Rebekka took the flowers, holding them close to her nose and inhaling. “Thank you.” She patted the log next to her. “Would you like to sit?”
He looked down, shifting from one foot to the other before finally mumbling, “I have a favor to ask.”
She reached over and took his hand. His nervousness crept up her arm and settled into her chest. “Ask.”
Blue eyes looked at her through shaggy, white-blond bangs. “Will you go with me to meet the Tiger?”
Her heart turned over in her chest. Of course Caius would want to meet Canino, someone who was like him.
“Do you know where he is?” She hadn’t thought about Canino since arriving at the Jaguar camp.
“Yes.”
“Let me put the flowers in the cabin and my shoes on and we’ll go.”
They found Canino sunning himself on a huge flat-topped boulder next to a small pond. He yawned widely, revealing his canines. A roar followed when Caius ducked behind Rebekka.
“Can you ask him to shift?” Caius whispered, trying to keep his voice low enough so it wouldn’t carry to the Tiger.
Sudden guilt burdened Rebekka’s heart, casting doubt and making her question whether or not she’d done the right thing in agreeing to stay here longer instead of returning to Oakland and the Weres who needed her there. “He can’t change form.”
“Oh.” Caius edged out from behind her. “It doesn’t matter.”
Canino stood, body rigid, lips pulling back in a silent snarl.
Caius retreated behind her again.
Despite the show, Canino’s emotions didn’t register against Rebekka’s senses as a threat. They were more like those of a cranky, solitary male whose nap had been interrupted and who intended to go back to sleep unless his unexpected visitors were committed to staying.
There was a tingling of curiosity directed at Caius as well. A touch of sadness that made her wonder how Canino had come to be held in the maze, and if he’d lost a mate and offspring in the process.
Rebekka turned long enough to put an arm around Caius and maneuver him so he stood in front of her. Anxiety and the desperate desire to be accepted vibrated through his small body.
She leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of his head, sending the same waves of calm she used with injured wildlife to soothe him. “Aryck told me if it weren’t for you, the other cubs would be dead.”
Caius’s chest swelled and he stood a bit taller. “He did?”
“Yes. You were amazingly courageous to do what you did for them. Now introduce yourself to Canino. He won’t hurt you.”
The Tiger chose that moment to charge.
He came at them fast and Rebekka jumped, her pulse skittering despite her belief he wouldn’t attack her.
Caius froze in place, making only the tiniest of sounds.
At the last moment Canino veered, nearly knocking Caius and her over with the rub of his side before padding back to the rocks and stretching out again, tail twitching and curling against the stone like a striped question mark, as if asking, Well, what are you waiting for?
“Go on,” Rebekka said, cupping Caius’s chin and tilting his face upward so she could place a kiss on his forehead.
The cub pressed against her, soaking in the affection. Rebekka’s thoughts strayed to his mother, locked in her grief over the loss of her mate and failing the son she’d created with him.
It took several moments for Caius to gather his courage and determination. Finally he stepped away from her and shed his clothing with the same unconcern over nakedness she was used to in the brothels.
His change wasn’t as fast or graceful as Aryck’s had been. It was accompanied by mews of pain before it was done.
Joy filled Rebekka at having the white Tiger cub with blue eyes brush against her legs and purr like a giant kitten. She knelt, scratching his neck and behind his ears. “Go. I’ll stay for a while.”
Rather than invade Canino’s space, Caius padded over to the edge of the pond. He swiped at the water. Pounced on fish or shadows or nothing at all, making Rebekka smile.
Curiosity got the better of Canino. He leapt from his resting place and landed with a giant splash, then swam over to stand in the shallow water and shake next to Caius.
With a laugh Rebekka picked up the cub’s discarded pants. She folded them as she walked over and claimed Canino’s place in the sun.
Contentment came with the feel of the sun’s rays against her skin, lowering her guard so a daydream crept in. Of Aryck and a little boy who looked just like him.
The Watcher
TORQUEL en Sahon took flight as Rebekka drowsed in the sun. This daughter pleased him greatly.
Her strength lay not only in her gift but in her compassion for others. She was a survivor, and yet it hadn’t hardened her.
There was worse to come now. Death that couldn’t be prevented.
For the first time he wished he could call a halt to her testing and reveal himself to her. He wanted to acknowledge her with the writing of her name in the Book of the Djinn.
He couldn’t. Despite his standing in the House of the Cardinal.
This test of value to the Djinn wasn’t Rebekka’s alone.
Torquel landed on a branch close to where the shaman, healer, and pack alpha stood near the challenge circle. He ruffled red and black feathers as he settled to listen.
“It won’t anger the ancestors if she remains on our lands,” Nahuatl said, and Torquel smiled inwardly.
There were ties to the Djinn among the Were ancestors, just as Djinn blood ran through many of the alpha lines. It had been diluted over time, but it still manifested in the ability to speak mentally to those sharing a family bond, to shift form quickly and have greater endurance.
The alpha’s expression didn’t change but Torquel could read Koren’s tension. He worried for his son’s fate yet he was trapped by duty to the pack. “How long do you need?”
Phaedra pursed her lips. “A day, perhaps two, to memorize what’s in the journal. That assumes she won’t be called away to heal or her voice doesn’t fail her from reading the passages.”
A muscle twitched in Koren’s cheek. “Two days. She leaves our lands sooner if you finish before then. She remains longer only if it’s absolutely necessary.”
Wolf howls drifted into the clearing from nearby, a song of woe and entreaty that rose and fell without cessation to become a haunting melody.
It brought Aryck to his father’s side. “Go,” Koren said. “Choose two others and take them with you.”
Torquel let his physical form dissolve in a swirl of air that made the oak leaves rustle softly. So Caphriel’s moves in this game begin to play out.
Seventeen
ARYCK couldn’t stop thinking about Rebekka. Her scent, her heat, her soft, lush body as it lay beneath him.
He’d intended to wake in his furred form to avoid temptation and another argument about the outcast. But whether it was beast or man that initiated the change as he slept, the moment he’d awakened and felt her against him he’d wanted her more than he’d ever wanted another female. He’d felt whole, his two Earth-bound souls in perfect harmony.
It broke no laws to couple with her. The trouble lay in what could happen afterward, what lengths he might go to to keep her, and how quickly he would be made outcast because of his actions.
His stomach knotted at the prospect of facing his father or a new enforcer in the challenge circle. Of being brought to the ancestors’ attention for judgment, though he could be cast from the pack by the alpha’s word alone.
What made worry congeal in his gut was suspecting the Jaguar might not care. It hated being away from Rebekka, had raged and clawed and fought to dominate until the wolf song brought unity to human and Jaguar souls. And still Aryck felt edgy. Out of sorts.
He wanted to finish what they’d begun. He could no longer deny the need driving him, leaving him constantly hard and aching. Nor could he pretend he would be able to give her care over to Levi, not without paying the price and becoming rogue, the separation between human and Jaguar souls nearly irreparable.
When he wasn’t thinking about tearing away the barrier of her panties and thrusting into her, he was remembering her words and questioning his beliefs about outcasts. What if not all of them had been judged by the ancestors? What if sometimes they were simply the product of genetics, as Rebekka claimed?
Fear expanded in his chest at the image of her heavy with his child. That was what the Jaguar’s choosing of a mate meant. But what if their offspring weren’t pure of form?
Aryck pushed himself to go faster, trying to outrun the questions and the implications. Instead new ones found him.
Was he being tested by the ancestors? Or did they want to bind Rebekka to the Jaguars?
The pack knew of her existence only because of the ancestors. And while there were others who had the strength and ability to retrieve her, they’d ensured he was the one sent.
Deep inside his psyche the Jaguar purred in approval at the thought, absolutely convinced she was meant to be its mate. Fear lost its grip on Aryck’s heart, though there was no time for further contemplation.
The wolves came into view. Five of them paced in their furred forms while their leader stood, legs apart in buckskin trousers with knives strapped to his thighs.
They were trespassing well within Jaguar lands. It was a challenge that wouldn’t have gone unanswered previously. But coming on the heels of what happened to the cubs, their song containing such heart-felt entreaty allowed an opening for peace rather than violence.
“You dare much,” Aryck said, meeting the Wolf’s gaze and holding it.
The Wolf’s lips tilted upward in a slight smile. “As did you when you crossed our lands with a human. Had it been left to me, you wouldn’t have been allowed to pass without losing fur, blood, and possibly your life. But wiser heads prevailed. Or so it would seem. We have need of the healer.”
So I was right, Aryck thought. Crossing Wolf lands he’d felt watched. He’d wondered at the ease of doing it. “Why do you need Rebekka?”
“A family group became suddenly ill. Seven of them in all, a mated pair with three of their adult offspring and two young pups. They returned to the village and began convulsing, then quickly lapsed into unconsciousness.”
“Poison? Humans from the encampment have driven into Wolf lands.”
“Our healer can find no trace of poison. And like your alpha, ours has decided to play a waiting game in the hopes the humans will leave after they’ve finished their salvage operation. We followed the tracks left by their vehicles but found no evidence they’d done anything but look for ruins to excavate.”
The Wolf’s answer felt and smelled like the truth to Aryck. He sought his father out mentally, replaying the conversation.
Turn the healer over to them if they will agree to two conditions. She must be returned to us after she is finished seeing to their sick. And both she and the Lion outcast must be safely escorted through Wolf territory when it is time for them to return to Oakland.
Three conditions, Aryck said, fighting to keep the growl from his mental voice. I will accompany her when she goes to heal the Wolves.
A long pause filled with disapproval followed. Three, his father agreed, voice terse.
Aryck conveyed his father’s terms. The Wolf didn’t hesitate to agree to them.
“Remain here,” Aryck said. “I’ll go get Rebekka.”
He returned to the cabin given to Rebekka. Entering after a knock, a smile formed at encountering Caius’s scent mixed with that of flowers.
Delicate purple blossoms drew him to the makeshift vase on the small table. He touched a petal with his fingertip, stroked its softness, and thought of Rebekka’s skin before turning away and leaving the cabin.
Around back the fire in the pit no longer held heat, though the smell of sausage grease lingered. His smile faded when instead of heading in the direction of Phaedra’s house or the small clearing serving as both formal and informal gathering place, Rebekka and the Tiger cub’s scents went into the woods.
It wasn’t dangerous, not this close to camp, but he didn’t like her wandering with only the cub for protection. He followed, his frown turning into a pulling back of lips accompanied by a low growl when he realized their destination.
Canino. He should have anticipated Caius would seek Rebekka out and ask about the Tiger male.
Remembering all the times Canino had bumped and rubbed against Rebekka as they traveled set Aryck’s teeth on edge. The Jaguar stirred, its desire to reach Rebekka melding with the man’s.
Aryck slipped into a lope. With no human form, Canino had been settled temporarily near a small pond.
The path opened up and Aryck saw Rebekka. She was sitting with her face lifted to the sun and her eyes closed. Caius was draped over her lap in tiger form, biting and batting Canino’s tail as it flicked back and forth.
A furious tide of emotion roared through Aryck. A swirling mix starting with the desire to mate but settling into jealousy as Jaguar and man both seethed.
He didn’t dare give in to the urge to shift forms, though he couldn’t stop himself from stalking toward her. On some level he knew it was perverse to want her to startle in guilt and jump to her feet, to hurriedly put distance between her and the Tiger. Without a human form, Canino wasn’t competition.
But knowing it didn’t change anything. Didn’t erase the image of her lounging n
ext to another male, a cub with them as though they were a mated pair.
It did nothing to calm him when she opened her eyes, offering a smile in greeting even as Canino rolled to his back and she casually scratched the big cat’s chest. If not for Caius lying across her lap, Aryck would have picked her up bodily and hauled her off. He had to settle for a terse, “You’re needed. Seven Wolves lie unconscious after suffering from convulsions.”
Caius scrambled off her lap and Rebekka rose to her feet, hand going to the pocket of her pants to touch the journal in a gesture Aryck was well familiar with. “I’m ready,” she said.
Two steps and she was within his reach. His fingers closed around her wrist and touching her, taking possession, soothed him, though not enough to keep him from meeting the Tiger’s gaze and baring his teeth in warning.
Canino yawned.
Aryck nearly shifted.
“We need to hurry,” Rebekka said, snapping his attention back to her.
The amusement lurking in her eyes broke the leash of his control. If she hadn’t hurried to keep up with him, he would have dragged her onto the path and out of the Tigers’ view. He managed a little more distance, so sound wouldn’t carry and bring Canino and Caius running to investigate. Then he trapped her against a tree, his hand pinning hers above her head, holding her in an open, defenseless position as his mouth slammed down on hers.
He’d agonized since Phaedra ordered him away from the cabin. But instead of pining for him, seeking him out, Rebekka had sought the companionship of other males. It was infuriating, challenging—
It was an excuse to do the very things he’d been fantasizing about.
His tongue battled hers. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her lower body tightly against his.
He ground into her. Rubbing his cock against her mound, her clit, until she smelled of pure, feminine arousal. Until she softened, whimpered, grew compliant and submissive.
The Jaguar urged him to take her to the ground. To use human fingers to rip and shred her clothing so it would never again be a barrier to mounting her, mating her.
