Shattered Restraint

by Cassandra Lawson

  The door swung open, and he was pretty sure she’d expected him based on the way she pulled him into the room and glared.

  “Why are you here?” Claire demanded quietly. “Not the settlement—here in my room. I know you came to break out the shifters, but I’m not involved with that.”

  “I’m here for you,” Cam said as he wrapped his fingers around the back of her delicate neck, marveling at the strength she possessed.

  Claire shuddered under his touch. “You can’t be here,” she said, her voice firm despite her obvious arousal.

  Cam inhaled sharply. “Neither can you. Nate told me Roger is suspicious of you.”

  Rather than acknowledging his worry, she snorted. “Roger is suspicious of everyone.”

  “And you are important enough to make him even more dangerous if he suspects you’re betraying him. He’ll kill you, but not before making you wish you were dead.”

  “We both know I’m safe until after the meeting in Fangri La,” she argued.

  “What if they delay that meeting again?” he asked, releasing her neck because he needed to move away from her before he lost control and they ended up fucking instead of talking. Fucking was a bad idea. Fucking would definitely lead to him marking her.

  Claire stepped away, refusing to look at him.

  “They’ve already delayed it again, haven’t they?” he asked. To his way of thinking, the assholes in Fangri La were hoping the vampires in this territory would fight it out so they wouldn’t have to make any decisions. Then they could punish the winners. From what Cam had been told, the council wasn’t fond of Connor’s methods for dealing with humans and worried that there would be an uprising if Connor didn’t keep the humans under control. The council also thought Connor’s wood nymph mate should stay in Fangri La. Cam knew Connor would never go for that.

  “Tell me the truth,” he ordered, and he was surprised when she complied instead of biting his head off.

  “They’ve pushed it out another six weeks,” Claire admitted.

  “Do you even believe this meeting is going to happen?” he asked.

  “No,” Claire said with a frustrated sigh. “Don’t think I don’t know the danger I’m in, because I do. We’re working hard to bring Roger down in a way that won’t result in too many deaths. There are a lot of innocent people living here. Most of the families have no idea what’s really going on, making it hard for us to get them safely out of the way.”

  “Let someone else take him down,” Cam practically begged. “No one will blame you for leaving now. Nate is the one who told me how to find your room. He also told me to take you with me for your own safety.”

  “Roger murdered my parents,” she said softly, and Cam gave in to the temptation to gather her in his arms. “Either that or he ordered their deaths. He did this to get me to help him. How can I leave and let him do that to someone else?”

  “You’re right,” he said. “If I thought it would help, I’d kill him myself.”

  “Killing him isn’t enough,” Claire said, pulling away from him. “If he dies, there are plenty of other people just like him to take over. We’ll have a huge civil war on our hands. Those that take over will blame the born vampires and run off to Fangri La to beg them for help.”

  “Then what are you planning?” he asked.

  “We’re working on it,” she said.

  Cam fought his temper. Letting Claire put her life at risk was killing him. His instincts told him to protect her, but it was her strength that had drawn him to her in the first place. The mate he’d chosen was not going to leave just because it was dangerous. She certainly wasn’t going to leave because he ordered her to. Turning away, he tried to get his fear, and his need to dominate her, under control.

  Claire’s hand settled on his shoulder. “I can’t be with you, Cam.”

  He flinched as if she’d struck him, but he didn’t turn around.

  “Are you going to say anything?” she asked.

  “You will be with me,” he said slowly.

  “So, I’ll be with you because you demand it?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

  Cam spun so quickly she didn’t have time to react. One arm wrapped around her waist, and he used one hand to hold her head in place for his kiss. There was nothing gentle or coaxing about this kiss. This wasn’t romantic or loving. This kiss marked and claimed. He bit her lower lip and drank in her gasp of surprise. Their tongues met, and she clawed at his shirt. He cursed that shirt which prevented him from feeling the sweet sting of her nails on his flesh. Then again, that might be enough to push him over the edge.

  When he finally pulled back, he had to keep his hand around Claire’s back for a few moments while she regained her balance. Both of them were out of breath, and his cock was throbbing.

  “You’ll be with me because it’s what we both want,” he rasped out before releasing her.

  Claire said nothing until his hand was on the door. “Cam?” she called after him, and he stopped without turning toward her. “No matter how much I want you, nothing can interfere with what I’m doing.”

  This time, he looked at her, flashing a sad smile. “I know. That’s one of the reasons I can’t let you go.”

  On those words, he walked out the door to meet the others.

  Cam was approaching the tunnel entrance at the same time as his brothers and five cougars. Three of the cougars still looked slightly weakened by the tranquilizers, but were strong enough to move on their own.

  “How’d it go?” Cam asked.

  “Much easier than I’d have expected,” Jase admitted. “There were only two guards, and the cougars handled them when they smelled us approaching.”

  “I’m almost disappointed with how easy things were,” Cord said.

  “We planned it that way,” Nate explained. “The guards are older ones who are completely loyal to Roger. This way, they’ll be telling the truth when they say the cougars took them down and escaped.”

  “I can’t believe the guards were in the room with them,” Zane said.

  Nate grinned. “Roger really wanted to torture those shapeshifters, so he cut their sedative dosage. The guards were supposed to let him know when the cougars started to stir.”

  “Good thinking,” Cord said. “I expected more of a fight getting them out.”

  “Me too,” Jase admitted. “I guess things have to go according to plan occasionally.”

  “You aren’t out of here yet,” a vampire Cam didn’t know said.

  Nate was frowning. “Where’s Claire?”

  “Where do you think?” Cam snapped.

  “Sorry to hear that,” Nate said. “We’ll do our best to keep her safe.”

  Cord put a hand on Cam’s shoulder and waited until Cam looked at him. “Do you want me to help you bring your mate with us?”

  Cam blinked in surprise. “Yes, but she’d never forgive me.”

  Cord nodded and gave him a sympathetic look. Funny how the cougar leader was growing on him.

  It was tempting to take Cord up on his offer and go back for Claire. Instead, he stepped into the tunnel before he changed his mind. One way or another, he’d get that stubborn female out of here, and when he did, he’d spend a week inside her body.

  Chapter Fifty

  Quinn had been enjoying Danny’s computer for at least two hours, and she was pretty sure she could spend all day on it. Even though he’d shown her how to search for things and how to find the things he used frequently, she still didn’t know how to do much on it. There were some games that he said he used to play, but they all involved fighting with virtual characters and didn’t appeal to her much. Mostly, she enjoyed going through the pages of information about the rest of the world. Most places were much different than where they lived, and looking at the pictures gave her a better idea of what the world was like. In other areas, people traveled over large distances in airplanes. She knew about airplanes because many of the lynx she’d lived with had seen them before moving from Canada; som
e had even ridden in them, but not many. Most of the lynx who were fond of technology had stayed behind in Canada. While Max hadn’t liked leaving any of the lynx behind, he’d been unwilling to force people to leave their homes.

  At the moment, Quinn was reading something written by a person who lived across the Atlantic Ocean. This person claimed that the Moon virus wasn’t real. Her favorite line in the article said, “Vampires are no more real than Faeries or ghosts.” At least, the author was right about that part, just not for the reasons they believed. It was ironic that anyone would claim vampires didn’t exist when people traveled from other countries to Fangri La for the chance to meet real vampires. There was also the fact that it seemed many anti-aging treatments were made with vampire blood.

  A strange ringing interrupted her reading, and she looked around to try to figure out where it was coming from. Since it only happened once, she returned to her reading, until the ringing started again. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs, so she decided to investigate the origin of the strange sound. Danny had shown her around the house, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about ringing.

  At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and waited for the ringing to happen again. Before it did, there was a knock at the front door. Danny had told her people might come by to visit, so she figured it was okay to open the door.

  On the other side of the door, she found a curvy redhead who smelled Fae. This had to be the former Death Fae. Quinn tried hard to mask her excitement so she wouldn’t scare her off.

  “Hi!” the woman said with a smile. “I’m Kyleigh, and I just wanted to come by to make sure you’re doing okay. You know, make sure Danny left food for you and told you how everything works.”

  “Please, come in,” Quinn said as she stepped aside. “I’m so excited to meet you. I’ve never met anyone who helped souls before.”

  Kyleigh laughed. “I suppose you wouldn’t have since you’re still alive. Thankfully, I’m no longer responsible for that sort of thing.”

  “Zane told me you were released from your duties, but it’s still exciting to meet you,” Quinn said.

  “I’ve never met a mage, so I’m pretty excited too,” Kyleigh admitted.

  “Since I just found out I’m part mage, I’m not sure you’ll find me that interesting,” she said.

  “I’m sure you’re wrong about that. How are you settling in?” Kyleigh asked.

  Quinn shrugged. “It’s very different here. There are still a lot of things that don’t make sense to me. Just before you got here, there was this ringing, and I can’t figure out where it came from. It only happened twice, but I really want to know what it was.”

  “Danny didn’t really show you how everything works, did he?” Kyleigh asked, looking thoroughly amused.

  “He showed me how to heat up food, use the computer, and gave me a key in case I want to go out,” Quinn said. “I also learned how to use the shower.”

  “Then I suppose he’s doing much better than Ian did when I first got here,” Kyleigh said before walking to the front door. “Let me show you something.”

  Quinn followed Kyleigh to the front porch and watched as Kyleigh pushed something with her finger, and then she heard the ringing again.

  “Oh!” Quinn said excitedly. “That makes it much easier to hear when someone is at the door. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t know if someone came by. My hearing is pretty good, but nothing compared to the full-shifters’. Still, I really wanted to look at things on the computer upstairs, so I wasn’t sure I’d hear someone knock.”

  “You could bring the computer downstairs,” Kyleigh suggested.

  “But the chair upstairs is more comfortable,” Quinn said. “Would you like to sit down?”

  “Actually, I was hoping you’d go for a walk with me,” Kyleigh said. “My back is starting to hurt, which is still an improvement from puking all day.”

  “Is there some illness going around?” Quinn asked. As a rule, shifters didn’t get human diseases, but she wasn’t entirely sure if she could contract them since she was only part shifter. She’d never been sick before, but she’d also had little contact outside of the shifter clan.

  Kyleigh smiled and shook her head. “That’s what I thought at first. Turns out I’m just having a baby.”

  “Oh!” Quinn said, finally noticing the slight roundness to Kyleigh’s belly. If she’d known Kyleigh better, she would have noticed the difference in her scent right away. “How far along are you?” she asked.

  “Only about three and a half months,” Kyleigh said with a happy smile. “Thankfully, Ian is out on patrol today, or he’d be following along behind us. Ian can be more than a little paranoid.”

  “Let me grab the key,” Quinn said before looking around for it. Honestly, she’d had no intention of going out, so she hadn’t paid much attention when Danny had shown her where it was. Then she spotted it on the small table in the front room. “There it is!”

  Kyleigh helped her lock up the house, and then they started walking.

  “Is this your first baby?” Quinn asked.

  “Yes,” Kyleigh said. “I never expected to have children because I never expected to be released from my obligation to the Fae.”

  Quinn nodded. The Fae controlled all things related to the afterlife, and Kyleigh would have been under their rule. From what Quinn had heard, the Fae didn’t make a habit of releasing anyone from their obligation unless they found a replacement.

  “First babies are scary, so that’s probably why your mate is nervous.”

  “This isn’t his first,” Kyleigh said in a sad voice. “He had a wife and daughter who were killed by humans.”

  “Then I guess he’s got even more reason to be paranoid,” Quinn said.

  “Yes, he does,” Kyleigh agreed. “Of course, knowing he has a good reason doesn’t make me want to smack him any less.”

  Quinn grinned. “I can see how you might feel that way. I’ve heard Ian can be somewhat less than friendly most days.”

  “That’s a very polite way of saying he’s a grumpy pain in the arse,” Kyleigh said.

  “Where are you originally from?” Quinn asked because she couldn’t place the slight accent.

  “Ireland,” Kyleigh replied. “Although, I haven’t considered it my home in a very long time. I guess that’s good since I can’t go back there.”

  Quinn knew the shifters sometimes traveled across borders in their animal form, but no humans or vampires had been allowed to enter other countries since the original Moon virus outbreak. Humans traveled from other countries to the main vampire city, Fangri La, for the chance to meet real vampires. Clearly, the author of the article she’d been reading before Kyleigh’s visit had never been there.

  “Where are we headed?” Quinn asked.

  “The training center,” Kyleigh explained. “I figured you’d enjoy watching Danny spar.”

  “I do like watching him fight with my cousins,” Quinn admitted.

  “That’s right. Danny’s been with shifters,” Kyleigh said. “So, I guess he’s been doing quite a bit of sparring there.”

  “It’s not normally that bad, but my cousins knew Danny when he was human, so they have a lot of fun testing his strength.”

  “I’m surprised one of them hasn’t shown up yet,” Kyleigh said thoughtfully. “Actually, I’m just surprised Zane hasn’t shown up yet.”

  “One or all of them will be coming,” she said. “They’re taking care of some shifter business, but they promised to update us on the outcome.”

  The training center was a large three-story building, and Quinn heard classes of all types being taught in many of the rooms they passed.

  “How many fighters do they have here?” Quinn asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Kyleigh said after some thought. “They’ve been training more because they keep getting called out to help other areas. Also, their enemies have been making a lot of trouble for the born vampires, and they’re preparing for war.”<
br />
  “I never realized how many problems existed between the vampires in this area, but that’s probably because I’ve been isolated from it most of my life,” Quinn said. “My uncle was not at all happy when he learned I’d come to this settlement before.”

  “I’ve heard he’s kind of scary,” Kyleigh said.

  “A little,” Quinn said with a shrug. “Not quite as much as most people think. I’ll admit that I’m glad he found out about my trip to this settlement after he met Danny.”

  “Why’s that?” Kyleigh asked.

  “He was too busy trying to convince me to take Danny as my mate to worry about anything else,” Quinn explained.

  “I guess he convinced you,” Kyleigh said.

  Quinn hesitated.

  “Sorry,” Kyleigh said. “I assumed you were his mate, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “I don’t know what to call Danny,” Quinn admitted. “Things are complicated.”

  “Some men need more time to admit to their feelings,” Kyleigh assured her with a hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s not that,” Quinn insisted. “Danny’s been trying to make our mating official. He acts a lot like a shifter when it comes to mating. We’re guessing that has to do with the shifter blood he’s been given since his change.”

  “So, you aren’t ready?” Kyleigh asked.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Quinn admitted. “There’s this part of me that really wants Danny to claim me as his mate. There’s also this part of me that’s looking for something more. Not like, he’s not enough, but like we need to do something more first. That probably sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

  “You aren’t a full-blooded shifter,” Kyleigh remarked after some thought. “I’m part Fae, so I have some extra abilities, and I can sense the struggle within you. It’s possible that there will be times, like this, when your mage side needs more time to accept something. Struggles of this kind aren’t uncommon for half-breeds like us.”

  “I never thought of it as a struggle before,” Quinn admitted. “I hated the half of myself that was human, and I wanted desperately to embrace my shifter side.”