by PJ Schnyder
“Only, I’m not some girl! I'm not even normal, Adam! I’m too new to be an adult and seen too much to be a kid. I won’t fit, and they don’t have the skills to fix me without breaking me some more! It’s not their fault!" She drew a ragged breath, swallowed a snarl. "All I’d do is make them dirty.”
Tears fell, scalding her cheeks. She looked down, saw the two jaguars behind Adam, and retreated a few steps. She couldn’t bear to see what they thought of her. The few bits and pieces that had healed at the bonfire shattered again.
“Friends.” Her voice cracked on the word. Even to her ears, she sounded broken. “I can’t even be friends. I’m sorry.”
She turned and ran into the night.
Adam took a step after her, but the boys shifted back to human form, pulling the tattered remains of their clothes around their bodies.
“Adam, wait.” Cal called out.
He turned to face them, snarling. His anger didn’t target them anymore, but it still burned and he needed to go after her.
“We didn’t know, Adam.” Liam hesitated before approaching him, eyes cast down.
He tensed for a moment and then let his shoulders drop. “Like she said, I didn’t tell you. And the girl is so strong, she can look so damned normal, you wouldn’t know. ”
“Yeah,” Cal agreed, stepping up to stand with Liam. “We didn’t know you’d called a claim on her.”
Adam lifted his head lightning fast, baring his teeth.
Liam ducked his head slightly to show he intended no challenge, but he spoke his mind. “With all due respect, Adam, why didn’t you hold her? Why did you leave her with strangers when you knew she still hurt?”
He didn’t, couldn’t answer them. His inner cat pressed too close to the surface and agreed with the juveniles. He shouldn’t have left her. Hell, his cat wanted to stake a claim on her. But she wasn’t ready, damn it. He did the only thing he could—turn away and track the object of his turmoil.
Chapter 6
Mackenzie stalked forward, focusing on putting each foot down on the trail so she wouldn't trip and fall over her own feet again. The last thing she needed was to give Adam another reason to be amused by her. He'd follow her, she knew. Even if he’d been disgusted by her behavior, he would follow her to keep her safe, because he wouldn’t—couldn’t— abandon his duties.
“Duty.” The word stuck in her chest, making her breath catch. Her inner cat squirmed, frustrated.
Adam thought of her as a responsibility and a newbie, a kid. Mackenzie wrestled with her attraction for the handsome shapeshifter. She had to admit, for the most part, she didn't know how to handle the urges taking hold. She'd been spitting mad, and then she'd come on to him.
“Smooth, Mac.” Muttering and moving, all she could do. “About as smooth as shattered glass.”
In a lot of ways, he’d been correct comparing her to a kid going through puberty all over again. And round two proved to be as equally embarrassing as round one had ever been.
Fantastic.
She didn’t plan to give him the opportunity to turn her down again. She wanted to chew on her hair and hide. The cat inside her head writhed in displeasure, wanting to claw at the male who’d spurned her. Not a bad thought.
And the boys, Liam and Cal—the last thing on their minds after all the dust settled would be friendship.
"Friends." Desperately unhappy, her chest squeezed around a hollow space where her heart used to be. "I can't even make friends."
It stung to admit it, but Adam had a point. He'd been right to make her go to the bonfire because she hadn't made any connection to the people who lived in pride territory yet. She needed to get to know people. She couldn't go back to the loneliness that had driven her to Van in the first place. She'd have to venture out more and make an effort to learn about the members of the pride.
Before she knew it, her steps had taken her down the trail and to the front of the guest house. Mackenzie stepped up to the front door, reaching out to palm the front security panel, and froze.
Scent rose up around her, a strong musk hinting of earthy things hidden in hot, steamy shadow and under it, the faint touch of rot. She knew the scent, the only individual's scent she had learned without a doubt, before she'd even been Changed.
“Van,” she whispered. His musk rose up around her, suffocating her.
She didn't look around, didn't look into the trees around the guest house, knowing he would step into a gap between the trunks so only she would see him. He had always been there in the city when she turned around, at the very moment she looked out a window or across a street. Time after time, he had found a way to step into her line of sight, so only she would know he was there and watching.
Trembling, Mackenzie kept her eyes on the door. It came into sharp focus and she knew her eyes were turning gold as the pupils morphed into slits. Behind her, the sound of footsteps came and she crouched down in a tiny ball, hoping to ward off the inevitable.
“Kitten?” Adam's voice came from behind. Relief washed through her in a wave so fast, she gasped at the shock of it.
And then came his sharp, coughing growl. She couldn't stay blind to the danger, her cat made her turn to see what came her way.
He stood a few feet away, his amber eyes slitted and scanning the area as he breathed deeply. Every exposed muscle in his neck and forearms stood in sharp relief, tense and ready to explode into motion. Fury radiated from him, infinitely more dangerous than the anger she'd seen a few minutes earlier.
“Adam.” Her broken whisper would reach him, she was sure of it. Dangerous, yes, but she wanted to run to him and crouch in the shelter of his strength. Only, she couldn't. Her fear froze her in place.
He growled again and looked straight at her, capturing her in his glare. He reached out a hand and spoke with quiet thunder. “Mackenzie, come here.”
The paralyzing fear fell away with his summons, and she stood, taking the few steps separating them, placing her hand in his.
He gave her hand a sharp tug, catching her up into his arms in an instant and started running through the woods. She clutched at his shoulders, too shocked to protest and too frightened to fight. Squeezing her eyes shut, she hid her face in his neck.
Her breath sounded harsh in her ears. Her heart beat erratically, pounding wildly counter to his running stride. Van's scent clung to her nose, lingering in her lungs until she could taste him. Adam's fierce grip grounded her, keeping her from falling over the edge of madness and panic. He held her to him as he carried her away from Van, away from her horror.
After what seemed like an eternity, the rhythm of Adam's run changed as his legs gathered under him and an inadvertent scream rose up in her throat as he launched them upward in an incredible jump. Her breath left on a rush as they landed and launched again, higher up into the branches of a huge tree. They landed on a platform, far above the ground.
Adam strode through a set of glass doors and into a living area. Dropping her unceremoniously on a couch, he pointed at her. “You. Stay there.”
The command took hold. She wasn't going anywhere.
He turned away, punching a code into a video console.
“Adam?” A man's face came up on the screen. “I thought you were showing around your new charge?”
“Change in plans,” he snapped. “I need a backup detail. The stray found her, Marcus. He found her and marked the guest house with his stench.”
The man's face hardened. “I'll send Mack and two Sentinels to your place to collect her and a detail of Enforcers to the guest house to track him. Where do you want the girl?”
“She's staying here.” There would be no debate. It was a done deal.
Silence fell for a moment, two. “Are you sure?”
“We're deep into ride territory here, and the bastard will have to come through my security to get her.”
“All right.” Though slow to agree, his alpha didn't question the decision. “Mack and the others will supplement your personal se
curity perimeter.”
“I want a report from the Enforcers at the border of the territory.” Adam wasn't finished. When it came to protecting her, he would be doing a lot more. Blood would spill. “I want to know how he got past them and how he found the guest house.”
“I'll be over with Mack and the others.” Marcus sounded neutral over the video conference connection. “You stay with the girl. Understand? Rein in your temper and give her calm. The last thing she needs is you running rampant.”
“Yeah.” Adam cooled, but with fury simmering at the edge of his control. He hit the console and ended the call.
He turned back to Mackenzie. She sat where he’d commanded her to stay, curled up on the couch in a frightened ball. Pale and drawn under her honey complexion, her eyes wide as she watched his every move. Strung tighter than a violin string, she could be ready to snap at any sign of attack.
He cursed himself and struggled to center himself, to give her the calm she needed. “He can't get to you here, Kitten.”
She didn't say anything, only waited, staring at him.
“I won't hurt you.” He offered the promise, reaching for a gentle tone.
She began to tremble. Those huge, liquid brown eyes glistened as tears welled. His heart tightened at the sight. The jaguar inside him was torn between the desire to hunt down the danger to her, ripping the other cat to shreds, and curling around her to provide the soothing comfort she needed.
“Van,” she whispered. “It was Van.”
“You recognized his scent?” He moved slowly, kneeling down on the floor in front the couch.
“Like b-before.” Her eyes still wide, stared unblinking, dilated with shock. “I don’t know what he did, but I could always smell his musk. Even as a human, he made sure I'd be able to smell when he'd been in a room or at my door.”
Part of Adam wanted to roar his anger and part of him hurt desperately at her pain.
“He was always there.” Caught in the remembered trauma, she whispered bits and pieces of her nightmare, more than she’d told him before. “No one else saw him but me.” She choked out a laugh and it wasn't entirely sane. “At first I was flattered. I thought it mysterious and…darkly romantic. I was fascinated.” She began to tremble more strongly. When Adam held out his hand, she gripped it until her knuckles turned white. “We went on a few dates. He seemed interesting, magnetic.”
“A dominant male can be very compelling to females.” Adam filled the silence when she paused.
She stared up at him with eyes blinded by memory. “He said he loved me. He said I was his. His to love, his to possess.”
“He should have given you a choice.” Adam put the force of truth behind his words.
She went on, still caught in the past, speaking to the room rather than talking to him. “If he had waited a few more dates, I would have fallen head over heels for him. I would have done it if he had asked. I was stupid.”
“No,” Adam replied so firmly she blinked and stared at him, really saw him with those sad, dark eyes. “It wasn't your fault. He exerted a power you weren't equipped to resist.”
“You said dominant males can be compelling.” The storm in her eyes dissipated. Piece by piece, she put herself back together again before his eyes.
He gently squeezed the small hand still clutching his. “That you resisted at all says something about how strong you are. That it took that much time to win you tells how much of a challenge you were.”
“But he didn't wait.” Her face crumbled. “He took me and ripped me. He held me and told me how much he loved me and…” Her breath hitched and her voice strained to a higher pitch. “His claws, he used his claws.”
“Shh.” He soothed the panic away as best he could, letting her continue, but keeping her panic from spiking out of control.
Her words escaped in the barest of whispers. “I remember how he held me and smoothed my hair from my face while I bled out.”
“You survived.” He prompted her to continue.
She laughed, the broken sound of it tearing into him. “Human police found us. There were too many and he ran. They took me to the hospital, but it was too late. The Change was taking over, and all they could do was tie me down to a hospital bed while I thrashed and convulsed and screamed." A pause, a tear fell down the curve of her sweet, melancholy face. "When my dad tried to comfort me, I almost crushed every bone in his hand.”
“Your father healed.” Adam gave her the only comfort he could think of, knowing the horror she must have felt hurting a loved one.
“Medicine is good enough to mend a crushed hand in a few days.” Bitter words, empty of life, spilled from her. “But not good enough to take the … the whatever it was out of my blood, my muscles and bones.”
“I can't take back the Change.” There was no good in avoiding reality. “And, I can't make you human again.”
“No.”
“I can protect you from him.” A commitment, he gave her his strength. “I can help you build your life, free of him.”
“He's not…right in the head.” She took a deep breath and eased the desperate hold she had on his hand. She didn't quite take her hand back though, and he didn't let her go. “He got past your Enforcers and into River Gap territory.”
“We underestimated him.” Inwardly, he cursed himself. He'd let himself get distracted by Devo and realized the stray, Van, must have sent the ex-boyfriend as cover to allow him to slip into the territory. The human unwittingly fulfilled Van's purpose perfectly, and they'd all fallen for it. “I'll meet with Marcus and we'll keep in mind this Van's insanity when we make our plans to catch him. We'll get inside his head somehow. He's on our territory now and we know the territory better than he could.”
She dropped her eyes from his and studied her hand, still held in his grip. “You could give me my hand back.”
He watched her with a steady gaze, admitting to both of them what he was only then realizing. “I can't quite make myself let go.”
The admission hung between them, and he took a moment to savor the feel of those slender fingers in his hold. The delicate strength of her hand, fitted into his palm and the softness of her skin under his fingertips. His chest tightened and he wanted to lean forward, pull her to him and wrap her in his arms.
“I thought I was too new, too inexperienced.” She paused. “Like a child,” she challenged him, a spark lighting the shadows in her eyes as she tugged at her hand.
He let her hand go, instantly missing the warmth of her in his palm. “You are.”
But, even to himself, he didn't sound so sure.
Chapter 7
Mackenzie walked slowly through Adam's home, considering the lingering warmth of his hand around hers.
Cleverly built alongside a huge tree, the house stood literally in the forests of River Gap pride territory. The care and the design of the home amazed her and wandering through it distracted her from the reason why Adam had brought her there in the first place..
Platforms supported the multi-level home, curving around the tree trunk. The huge branches surrounded the home, providing camouflage and perches for a shapeshifter in jaguar form. As high as it perched off the ground, no human could have reached even the lowest platform without some sort of assistance.
According to what he’d told her, security lasers had been installed all around the base of the tree and the surrounding area to form a secure perimeter around his personal domain. The motion detectors and biometric sensors detected any biologic larger than 50 kilograms. Anything, animal or person, not matching biometry records identifying them as one of the pride would be very, very dead. His security eclipsed the set up for the guest house. She understood then why he’d brought her here.
His home contained all the modern conveniences to be had in the cities. And yet, the overall feel of the place remained earthy, less structured. She hadn't noticed the difference as much in the design of the guest house. His home presented an open layout, each living space flowing easily
into the next without the modular feel of city apartments. When the plexiglass walls were set to zero opacity, it felt as though he lived directly within the trees.
She peeked into the bedrom, trying not to admit to be being drawn there because his scent was strongest. Masculine and luxurius at the same time, it provided the same comforting feel she felt around its owner. It took effort to turn away and explore other parts of the home.
Adam returned from the lower level, interrupting her wandering. “Are you hungry?”
Standing in the kitchen, she’d been exploring the eco-friendly appliances. She started to shake her head but instead her stomach grumbled. Grimacing, she admitted the obvious. “I could eat.”
He flashed a quick smile at her. “You'll find yourself eating a little more often than you used to, like I told your father earlier. And, you should. It’ll take the edge off and make it easier for you to stay in control of yourself.”
Striding past her, he opened a few cabinets and the refrigerator for her to see. “What would you like? I've got cold meats, cheeses and bread for a quick meal or I have the supplies if you want to put together something more complex.”
“I could cook.” She offered, eager to have something to do. “Comfort food sounds like a good idea right now. I could make enough for everyone.”
Four more shapeshifters had arrived a few moments earlier. He’d gone down to talk to them rather than bringing them upstairs for her to meet. It had taken her effort to sit and listen to the various voices, trying to identify the individuals. Even though he’d come back up, the others remained on the lower level. She could hear the muffled cadence of their conversation even if they kept their voices too low for her to make out the words.
“Food would be appreciated. We're doing more planning, and as soon as we’re done, they’ll start guard shifts right away. We might not have time to head back to get something to eat.”
