Sylvia surged to her feet. “We should—”
She shook her head. “I have to go. I don’t have a choice. You saw how violent he was to that man. If I run and he catches up, which there’s no doubt in my mind he would hunt me, he might hurt the girls. I can’t risk that. At least I have a chance fighting. I’m desperate. No one can love Maia and Neve as I do, and I’ll kill to protect them, especially from that skank.”
“I suppose you’re right. Do you need me to do anything?”
“Please, it’s an imposition, but can you watch the girls? Normally, Coreen would but…”
“Of course, and it’s not an imposition. Go. We’ll be here until you get back, victorious in solidifying your position as the real alpha’s son’s wife.”
Deja chuckled. “That’s a mouthful, and don’t let anyone hear you say that. I don’t want Karl to have an excuse to come after you. You’ve been loyal to all of us, way more devoted than many of our own kind. Thank you, Sylvia.”
She swiped a tear from her eye. “Stop sounding cryptic. The sooner you go, the sooner you return.”
“You’re right.”
The sickness in the pit of Deja’s stomach didn’t ease until she headed toward city hall. She compared Karl’s summons to the effect Heath had on her when he pulled her to him. Heath generated a hunger in her, a desperate longing to be with him, an ache that was all sexual and no sickness. He had power over her being to make her want him. She knew when he used it, and he had only ever done so when he didn’t realize the ability existed.
City Hall seemed deserted compared to how it had been when she’d been there not an hour earlier. More blood stained the floor of the gathering room, but just as she’d suspected, the injured hadn’t gone to Sylvia’s office. They’d slunk away somewhere, maybe to their houses, but more likely they had shifted and taken to the woods to heal.
A couple women were cleaning the floor, their expressions downcast. A few men stood at the other end of the room from where Deja came in, talking in low tones. She made no attempt to hear what they said and figured they were Karl’s supporters rather than his opposition. The door to the offices opened, and Karl stepped through, followed by Tina and then two guards, Scott not one of them. She hoped he was okay since he’d let her leave.
“There you are, Deja,” Karl said. “You know I didn’t give you permission to leave.”
She met Tina’s cold glare with one of her own but directed her words to the alpha. “I needed to get my kids to safety. With all the fighting in here, they could have been hurt.”
“Your kids, huh?”
She gritted her teeth, hoping the emphasis on your had been a figment of her exhausted mind. He must obey the ancient laws as much as anyone, or they wouldn’t be in this position.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” He snapped his fingers, a new habit that grated on her nerves. One of the women brought him a bundle of clothing, and he tossed it to Deja. “Change. Although I imagine those won’t last long if you two decide to shift during the fight.”
She turned to go to the back.
“Right here,” he growled, and she bit down on the impulse to tell him to kiss her ass if he thought she was putting her body on display for him and his boys. Instead, she held her head up high but changed as quickly as possible. This was it. No turning back now and no Ward or Heath to stand in the way, protecting her. As she and Tina met in the center of the floor and circled each other, she began to think about the other woman’s life. Tina always stood alone. She seduced men and had affairs, but none of them offered to make her their mate. No one stood between Tina and danger and fought for her. While Deja had no family, it seemed as if she’d always had Heath by her side. First they had been friends, then lovers, and then mates.
Why am I feeling sorry for her now when she wants to take away what’s mine? “You’re not taking my family, and even if we have to fight all night, I’m going to beat it into your head to stay away from us.”
“Big words, Deja,” Tina quipped, “but it’s you who is going down.”
Tina’s normal garb was anything tight to show off her curvy figure and big breasts. Today was no exception, but the lycra material meant she could move without a problem. She hitched her shoulders and rolled her head on her neck while moving about on the floor with bare feet. The long blonde hair hung in a heavy braid down her back. Unlike Deja, who’d been caught up in too much craziness over the last few days to get training from Scott, Tina appeared ready and eager. Deja refused to be taken down. She’d make up for skill with tenacity.
They circled until Karl shouted “Fight!” Deja didn’t see Tina move, but all of a sudden she found herself on the floor with the woman pinning her down. Tina released one arm to rear back a fist. Deja took the chance to grab the braid and yank as hard as she could. Tina screamed in pain, but she leaned up enough for Deja to flip their positions. Now Tina hit the floor, the breath forced from her lungs. A cry went up among the onlookers, whistles mixed in.
Deja wasn’t sure if they were happy with her move, disappointed, or just entertained either way. She didn’t have the time to speculate on them. Tina’s strength went beyond anything she had expected. While Deja thought she had the upper hand holding the woman down by her wrists, Tina twisted her arms, broke free, and shoved Deja so hard she fell backward and skidded a short distance away. Her head cracked against the floor with the loss of control, and pain ricocheted through her brain. Vision blurred, she tried sitting up and fell down again. Tina appeared behind her and put her in a headlock. Deja struggled to get free.
“I don’t even have to shift to take you down,” she teased. “Soon I will bathe the babies and put them to bed at night, and I will be the one fucking Heath.”
Deja gasped. “The hell you will!”
She scooted her butt lower and raised her shoulders. After freeing one leg from Tina’s wrapped around hers, Deja rolled to the right and let her body weight drag Tina to the side. At the same time, she flipped to her knees and shimmied around behind Tina so not only was she freed, but she forced the woman to fall backward onto the floor. Deja planted a knee in Tina’s chest, gratified at the grunt of pain.
“What were you saying?” Deja taunted. She punched hard and fast toward Tina’s stomach, but the bitch blocked it, the blow impacting bone in Tina’s wrist rather than muscle. This time, Deja grunted as the agony raced up her arm.
Deja went after her again and landed a couple blows before Tina flipped her off. They were back on their feet, dancing like boxers. Deja held her elbows close to her sides and protected her chin with her fists raised. She watched Tina’s eyes and looked for an opening. Despite all she did, Tina came in hard and fast and tagged her on the chin. Deja fell to one knee. The dizziness descended once again, and this time instead of waiting for her to clear her head, Tina came after her, landing blow after blow on Deja’s head. Darkness played at the edges of Deja’s visions. If she did nothing, she would fall unconscious, and now that she thought about it, did a knockout constitute a win, or were they fighting to the death? She hadn’t been present for the challenges Karl faced and didn’t know the specific rules outlined in the book given to Ward.
When Tina drew blood from her lip, Deja’s guard fell. Her arms grew heavy as if someone had placed fifty-pound weights on them. She slumped backward and hit the floor, unable to catch herself. Through a haze, she watched Tina coming at her. The evil woman smirked as she raised a foot ready to bring it down in Deja’s face. They were not playing games here. If Deja didn’t do something, the blood spattering the floor this time would be her own, and another woman would live in her house with her kids and her man. Hell to the no! That’s not happening.
Rolling to the side, Deja kicked at Tina’s knee, and the crack of bone breaking preceded a howl. Deja swallowed the bile in her throat and sprang to her feet. She leaped at Tina, cradling her leg and wrapped her hands around the woman’s throat. You or me. It’s got to be you.
A punch to her side k
nocked the wind out of Deja, but she held on. Another blow to her head sent her sideways. Her grip loosened, and Tina brought her hand up to twist Deja’s nipple.
“You bitch!”
Deja pressed a knee into the one of Tina’s she’d broken, but Tina only winced. She’d already started to heal. Deja pressed harder and at the same time squeezed with her fingers around Tina’s throat. If she could knock her out, maybe this nightmare would end.
When the spark dulled in her opponent’s eyes, Deja gave a small sigh of relief. The end was in sight. Soon she could put this behind her. Was there a rule for how often a person could be challenged? One could only hope. Deja focused and squeezed tighter. The gurgling sounds Tina made hurt her stomach, but she pushed on to finish what they’d started.
With feeble blows, Tina hit at her hands and face. Deja scarcely felt it. She smirked down at the woman. “What does your alpha blood mean now?”
A flash of anger rose and fell away as Tina closed her eyes. When her hands dropped to her sides and she no longer moved, Deja let up, grinning. She struggled to her feet and wobbled about a bit before gaining a steadier stance. No one around her made a sound. They all stood there with their jaws slack. Good to know none of them had expected her to win. Yet, meeting Karl’s surprised expression gave her great satisfaction, and it was all she could do not to flip him off. He nodded and opened his mouth to speak. A gasp rose among the crowd, and Deja turned to see what their problem was. She had just a few milliseconds to see Tina rise up off the floor, shift, and come at her claws bared.
A swipe of the powerful tiger claw ripped her clothes to hell, but they didn’t stop there. The sharp talons tore into her skin and dug deep. Pain exploded from every corner of her body and flooded her mind. She went down knowing she wouldn’t get up again. The last thought that surfaced before she blacked out was that she’d lost her family. Now she was alone.
Chapter Seven
A few days earlier…
“Boss, there’s been another murder. This time…uh…are you alone?”
Heath swore and sat up. He liked to keep Deja out of the investigation into the murders as much as possible, because he didn’t want her to live in fear. They had enough to deal with right now what with Spiderweb. After seeing the pain she’d gone through at that organization’s hands, he had promised himself he would take care of her and not allow danger to come within her scope ever again. Not to mention he needed to make sure his girls were always safe. The fact that Scott asked if he were alone though, sent up his antenna. His deputy knew he’d gone to spend some needed time with Deja, and as much as he enjoyed making love to her, he wanted much more. He only hoped this latest murder wasn’t one of her friends.
“Who is it?” he snapped when he walked into the living room.
Scott hesitated. “It’s not about who it is. The problem is the scent we picked up.” Heath went cold.
“Where!” When Scott told him, he paused long enough to growl that he’d be there and hung up the phone. Rather than bother to get dressed, he stuffed his phone into the belt he’d had specially made to carry essentials when in his tiger form and slipped it over his neck. Moments later, he pounded the ground with heavy paws to get to the scene of the crime.
At an area two miles outside of Siberia, near a narrow spot of the river sat a clearing few of the locals visited. The water there wasn’t deep enough or wide enough to enjoy a swim, so not many enjoyed the solitude of the thick foliage and invisibility from the road leading out of town. Heath padded up not long after leaving his house. While he could have driven, the pent up emotion needed to be worked out, and this was as good a time as any.
Scott and a few others of his men, along with his dad, stood around talking. The section where the crime had taken place had been cordoned off with yellow police tape. Rather than take the pants Scott held out to him, Heath delayed shifting and sniffed around the area. He knew right off what Scott had hinted at and why he’d asked if Heath was alone.
He walked away from the body and suppressed the animal inside, at the same time willing the human to take over. His bones crackled and muscles stretched. In the beginning the change freaked him out, even drove him to thinking an abomination such as him should not walk the earth. Yet now, the process seemed natural, as ordinary as his next breath. He accepted who he was, and a big part of coming to that place was Deja—his reason for being.
He caught the slacks Scott tossed and shoved his legs into them. As he zipped up and closed the button, he frowned at Scott. “My nose isn’t deceiving me. That is Jake’s scent, isn’t it?”
Scott nodded. “Yeah, the human that used to live among us. It’s him.”
Ward strolled over. “He was banned from ever setting foot inside Siberia again, so why is he here?”
Heath returned to the body mutilated and tortured, a man he’d known to be one of them, not a guy who stood out, but one of his people nonetheless. “To be fair, this isn’t Siberia land. Still, he knew he risked his life to come this far.”
“Exactly,” Ward said. “Do you know where he moved?”
Heath nodded without looking up. “Of course. I’ve had a man watching him from day one.”
“You never trusted him?” Heath glanced at his father, and Ward chuckled. “He was in love with your mate. I don’t blame you. Besides, there’s no telling when Spiderweb would get a hold of him and use him against us. Call your guy. Better yet, go. I want Jake in front of me before the end of the week. He’s got a few questions to answer, and if I don’t like what he has to say, he will die.”
Heath hitched his shoulders. “Trust me, if I don’t like what he has to say before I bring him here, he won’t make it this far. Too many of our people have been lost. I won’t lose another, and I will not have Deja and the girls afraid to leave the house.”
“Agreed.”
“Boss, I’ll go with you as back up,” Scott offered.
Heath flared his nostrils. “I don’t need back up against a human. No, you stay here and keep an eye on my family. They are not to leave your sight. Got it?”
Scott dropped a fist to the ground with his head bowed. Heath ground his teeth. He didn’t know who had started this level of showing respect to the alpha and his son, but he hated it. They were all men—well, sort of. Someone had once mentioned to an old law about how the alpha and his second should be revered, but Heath had dismissed the nonsense. Now he wondered if that buzz and Tina’s book were connected. Either way, Ward had never questioned the practice.
“Got it, Boss,” Scott said. “Ted and I will handle everything here. That fucker won’t think of showing his face while we’re on the job.”
Heath didn’t bother telling him that the killer had shown his face plenty while they were all there, and he had to get to the bottom of it soon. Lately, he’d been considering abandoning Siberia and taking Deja, Maia, and Neve far away, but he couldn’t leave his brothers or Ward, who he’d just met for the first time two years ago. Ward would never leave Coreen or their people. Heath cared about all of them, but not above his three girls.
“I’m going now. I’ll go back to the house and let Deja know. Then I’m gone.”
Ward grabbed his arm before he could shift. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell her about Jake. You know he was special to her.” At Heath’s frown, he added, “like a brother.”
“I know. I hadn’t planned on telling her. I’m going.”
“Be careful, son.”
Heath scarcely contained his anger. He knew driving up to the apartment complex two and half hours away from his home in Siberia, Texas he wouldn’t like what he found. Scanning the area, he threw his truck into park and stepped out of the vehicle. Another deep breath brought him several identifiable scents, but he reserved judgment until he gained access to Jake’s place. The open staircase at least meant he didn’t have to wait for someone to let him into the hallway. He walked up to the third floor, all the while taking in the scents and listening. A couple people
moved around inside their second floor apartments, but when he reached the third floor, silence reined. He listened outside the door and could pick up nothing. A knock and ringing the doorbell didn’t bring results.
“Haven’t seen him around for a few days.”
Heath froze and then turned around. The man across the hall from the only other apartment on that floor stood on the landing, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. Heath wished he’d stayed inside or better yet was not at home so he could break the lock. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” The man leaned a hip against the railing. “Maybe he went to visit his lady friend this time.”
Heath must have looked like he would attack at any second, because the man stumbled back toward his door. Trying not to sound threatening, Heath pushed between his teeth, “What lady friend is that?”
“Uh, are you a friend?”
“The best.”
“I have to go!” With that, the man disappeared inside his apartment and slammed the door. Heath listened and determined the human did not watch him through the peephole. He turned back to the door and tried the knob. Metal snapped within the mechanism as he turned it. He tried opening the door and sighed in relief that the deadbolt hadn’t been used. His strength didn’t extend to breaking that without a sharp kick, which would be too noisy.
He stepped inside and stumbled over a sofa cushion. More lay around it on the floor, each torn to shreds as if from a knife. In every spot, papers littered the area and furniture had been overturned. He made his way to the kitchen and then to the bedroom and bath. Each one resembled the living room. Someone had ransacked the apartment.
Heath stood in the bedroom staring at the unmade bed. Then he walked back to the living room. He was not mistaken. His wife had been here. As far as he knew, she should not have known where Jake lived. He never told her he’d had a man watching Jake, and his guy hadn’t informed him of her visit either. The anger stirring in his gut flamed to rage, and he jerked his cell phone from his pocket. The call went through but passed straight to voicemail. He gritted his teeth. No matter. The distance was not far.
Tiger Betrayed Page 6
