by Aubrey Rose
“Nonsense?” he snarled, his fist tightening around the leash. Apparently that’d been the wrong thing to say. “It’s nonsense to want her killers found? It’s nonsense to expect them to be held accountable for what they did to your daughter?”
“How will hurting this cat bring us closer to those things?” She kept her tone even, but Jizette could sense anxiety and grief radiating off the she-wolf.
“Don’t you know who this is?” He jerked the leash upward, dragging Jizette to her feet. She glanced at the woman then quickly averted her face. “This is Maddox’s little sister. If he knows she shares my bed, senses her panic and humiliation as I… work through my grief, he might get off his lazy ass and investigate the crime!”
Jizette started to object, but Lane raised his hand, the warning undeniable. Her swollen lip still stung from his last response to one of her objections. He’d been a bully even when he didn’t have an audience. She’d get nowhere with him now.
Still, this was the first she’d heard of Enya’s murder. She was pretty sure Maddox knew nothing about it either. She needed to send word to the new joint council, let them know Izak had a new victim.
“This is wrong, Lane,” Enya’s mother tried again.
“I’ve heard enough out of you, woman. If Maddox ignores me, I’ll send Jizette back to him one piece at a time.”
Horror washed over her because he meant every word. Grief had driven him beyond reality to a place where there was only pain.
“Maybe a fingernail first, then a finger, or maybe…” His words were swallowed by a howl so drenched in sorrow Jizette ached for her tormentor.
The pack took up his cry until it echoed off the cabins, an eerie chorus of misery. She looked around as the circle slowly closed in. Bile rose in the back of her throat. She’d seen bloodlust before, but this was the first time the blood they lusted for had been hers.
She tugged against the leash, damning the suppression collar. Her lion-self would have no trouble managing a pack of wolves, even bloodthirsty timber wolves. But as a human, she was basically helpless.
Which didn’t mean she was going down without a fight!
She widened her stance and tossed her head, sending her hair behind her shoulders and creating a distraction. Her breasts jiggled and, predictably, gazes shifted to her chest. Men!
“Back off!” a deep male voice snapped with authority. “This is not going to happen.”
Refusing to let the interruption draw her focus, Jizette kept scanning the crowd.
“Where’s Cassin?” The question came from somewhere on her right.
“My father is not your concern at the moment. I am.” The interrupter was still behind her, though his voice sounded closer now.
“This woman is mine by right of Replacement!” Lane shouted for all to hear.
The newcomer stepped into her peripheral vision. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but the rest was a blur of gold-toned skin and darkish hair. Did she dare turn her head and look?
“Replacement?” He chuckled. “We haven’t followed keeper codes for decades. Try again.”
Yet another man threw his opinion into the cluster. “Technically, the keeper codes are still in effect. Replacement is within his right.”
“The alpha has spoken. Lane keeps the cat!”
Unable to contain her curiosity, Jizette dared a glance to the side. The two men facing off looked so much alike they had to be related. The younger one had colorful strands threading through his thick dark hair — gold, copper, and bronze. They were as unusual as they were beautiful. The older one’s hair was entirely dark brown.
“This doesn’t need an audience,” the younger one said without taking his eyes off the older. “Send them away.”
“Leave us!” Two words from the alpha dispersed the crowd.
“May I speak?” Jizette aimed the question toward the alpha without making eye contact.
“You have no voice here.” Lane raised his hand, but the alpha’s son caught his wrist.
“Enough.”
“You can leave too.” Lane jerked his arm out of the son’s grasp.
“Kage stays and the cat may speak.” The alpha was starting to sound impatient.
Kage? What an odd name. She wanted to thank him for sparing her another stinging slap, but knew it would only infuriate her volatile captor. “I don’t know how to address you,” she told the alpha.
“My name is Cassin.”
“She is not worthy of your name!” Lane shoved her to her knees and forced her head to the ground, his fingers digging into the back of her neck. “Speak quickly and then be silent.”
The sudden blast of his loathing made it hard to breathe. “Maddox… knows nothing of the latest tragedy.” She paused to fill her lungs with air and steady her voice. “Even so, it’s likely we know who did this.”
“Let her go, Lane. I want to see her face.”
Lane’s fingers squeezed — a punishment or warning she couldn’t be sure — then he shoved against her as he stepped back. Jizette ignored the provocation and slowly raised her head. Kage stood beside his father, their expressions so similar it was almost comical. They were both handsome, with high cheekbones and firm jawlines. Kage was a few inches taller and still possessed the lean physique of a man in his prime. Cassin was stout, his gaze less fierce than his son’s.
“Explain,” Cassin prompted.
“We have a rogue.” Suspecting the reprieve wouldn’t last long, she dove right to the heart of the matter. “He has committed similar crimes in our territory.”
“If he has done this before, why is he still alive?” She met Kage’s gaze and awareness arched between them, hot and electric. His eyes gleamed like sun-warmed honey, intense, yet caressing.
Lane growled and jerked her leash. “Stop eyeing him!”
Wise advice. With one glance Kage had made her skin tingle and her body stir. Now was not the time to entertain inappropriate notions, however fleeting. “The rogue is hiding like a coward. We know he’s in the mountains northeast of our village, but without keeper technology, it’s almost impossible to find one isolated cave.”
“Why have the keepers refused to help you?” Cassin asked.
“The leopards wanted to deal with it internally.”
“Understandable,” Kage muttered.
“What sort of cat is the rogue?” Lane sounded a bit bored.
She shot him an annoyed glance, but he was looking at the pack alpha. “He’s a tiger.”
“Well, Jizette” — Lane stressed her name, making it sound patronizing —”there are a couple of problems with your theory.” He looked at her then, so she quickly lowered her gaze. Gods, she hated these games. “I scented at least two men on Enya and they were both Barbary pride lions.”
“That’s not possible.” She knew every member of her pride. There was no way any of them had done the things he claimed.
“You see!” Lane turned back to his alpha. “If we can’t convince this frightened pussy that her kind is capable of evil, how are we going to convince the pride leader to turn over one of his own?”
“He has a point.” Cassin crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his son.
Kage moved toward her, his features expressionless. “Can you identify individual cats by their scent?”
“It depends on the cat.”
“No!” Lane dragged her to her feet again and started backing away. “She’s not going near Enya. I won’t stand for it.”
Kage looked at his father and the air around them rippled with telepathic communication. She couldn’t discern their thoughts, but there was definitely an exchange. Sure something was about to happen, she didn’t resist Lane’s hold. She watched the other two carefully, waiting for their next move.
“Think about what you’re doing.” Kage matched Lane step for step, subtly steering him to the left.
“I’m taking my hostage to my cabin. You have no right to —” The sentence ended in a groan as Lane’s body je
rked against her back then went slack. For no apparent reason, he collapsed on the grass at her feet.
She spun around and found a mountain of a man looming before her. Was he a wolf-shifter? She didn’t think they grew this big.
“Thanks, Bear,” Kage muttered as he disentangled her leash from around Lane’s wrist.
From his wildly curling hair to his bewhiskered face, the name couldn’t have been more appropriate. “Is Bear a nickname, or something more significant?” If he was a bear-shifter, he was the only one she’d ever seen.
He just smiled and looked at Cassin. “What should I do with Lane?”
“Take him to his cabin and keep him there until I tell you to let him out.”
“You got it, boss.” He bent and slung Lane over his shoulder as if he weighed no more than a child.
“He called you ‘boss.’ Is he part of your pack, or —” Cassin and Kage started laughing so she shut up.
“It shouldn’t surprise you,” Kage told his father. “Curiosity goes hand-in-hand with cats.”
“So it seems.”
“What should we do with her?”
“I’m standing right here,” she felt compelled to remind them.
“As if we could forget.” Kage’s glance was filled with humor, not impatience. “It’s not just Lane. The whole pack is out for blood.”
“Why don’t you take her with you?”
Kage made a choked sound. “You think that would be less dangerous than leaving her here?”
“I’m trying not to be rude, but —”
“Can you contact your brother telepathically?” Cassin turned to her suddenly. “Let him know you’re unharmed and safe?”
She paused. Which answer would benefit her more? The truth had always served her better than lies, so she stuck with what she knew. “I’m out of range.”
“Perfect.” Cassin smiled at his son. “Maddox will have no way to verify anything I tell him. We can still use her to motivate her brother. He doesn’t need to know I’m full of shit.”
She gasped. “That’s almost as bad as letting Lane —”
“We can still take you to his cabin if you’d rather be raped.”
She hated to be interrupted, but Cassin’s challenge found its mark. “I see the wisdom of your thinking.”
“I thought you would.”
Approaching her slowly, Kage unfastened the leash and stuffed it in his pocket. “If you can identify who did this, everything else is moot.” He motioned toward a cabin slightly larger than the others.
With that goal firmly planted in her mind, she fell into step behind the men. They were both dressed in jeans and flannel shirts, which made her feel even more exposed. To their credit, neither had looked below her chin during the entire conversation, or at least while she was looking at them.
Cassin opened the door and escorted her into the cabin. It appeared to have a variety of uses, meeting hall, office, infirmary — and morgue. She shivered as Cassin led her to the sheet draped body on a table in the back corner of the room. Poor Enya. No one deserved to endure the things her mate had described in graphic detail.
Death surrounded her like an oily cloud, shot through with terror and pain. Jizette covered her mouth with her hand and fought back a violent stomach spasm.
“Can you detect the scents or do you need the body uncovered?”
Cassin was trying to be gentle, but she needed to be as far away from this nightmare as physically possible. It was taking all her effort not to throw up. She held up her hand and breathed in through her mouth, providing oxygen to her brain without saturating her nose with more evidence of the atrocities.
She had to do this. If she could identify the villain or villains this could end right here. Pouring energy into her shields, she blocked out all external emotion and slowly inhaled through her nose. Death. Fear. Hopelessness. And lions. Holy shit! They were right. Lions had done this. She leaned closer and grew bolder, knowing better what to expect. Each detail her brain identified only compounded her disbelief.
“I don’t understand how this could have happened.” She moved to the nearest window and heaved open the heavy pane, breathing in fresh air to cleanse her nose and settle her mind. “I detected two Barbary pride lions and a tiger, which means Izak could still be involved.”
“Why do you want Izak to be involved?” Another challenge from the perceptive pack alpha.
“I don’t want him to be involved. It just makes sense that he is.” Turning from the window, she leaned her hip against the wooden sill. “He’s the only one I know who is capable of this sort of violence.”
“And yet you said it yourself, two Barbary pride lions participated in her violation.”
She nodded, acknowledging the fact. “I can’t explain it, but —”
“No more excuses. Can you identify the lions or not?”
Cassin was all business now. Her status as hostage had just been reinstated. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“And I’m sorry for what your brother is about to go through, but I think we both agree that it’s better than the alternative.”
Tension returned to her belly and she licked her lips. “Let me talk to him, let me -”
“He will move heaven and earth to have you safely returned to his side. He will search night and day, tear his own pride apart, until he can deliver Enya’s killers to me.”
“He’s an honorable man. He will search without thinking I —”
“If his honor were enough, Izak would be dead by now.”
Cassin might have a point, but it would sure as hell be nice if he’d let her finish a sentence once in awhile!
Kage watched the exchange with silent amusement. His father knew how to push buttons like no one else. The little cat was doing better than most, but she was starting to simmer. He reached over with both hands and unlocked the leash from the loop on the suppression collar. She lifted her hair and looked at him with hope in her eyes.
“Sorry.” He tossed the leash to a nearby table and shook his head. “The collar stays. I can’t worry about you bolting on me where we’re going.”
“Where are we going?”
He’d never seen any eyes quite like hers — gold flecks swimming in a sea of vibrant green, luminous and hypnotic. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You should have left her on the leash. It would have reinforced your role.” His father smiled, and Jizette’s lips parted as if she would question his meaning. The little cat was way too fond of questions.
“Let me worry about my role. You worry about your pack. All hell is going to break loose when they realize you let her go.”
“Are you letting me go?” There was that hope again.
“In a manner of speaking.” His father grinned. “My son is going to escort you on the adventure of a lifetime. Doesn’t that sound better than what Lane had in mind?”
“I’ll let you know once he admits where we’re going,” she muttered as she fiddled with the hem of her flimsy skirt.
Kage didn’t have to picture her naked. At this angle, he could see every swell and hollow of her lithe young body. The ridiculous garment was knotted high on her sleek hip, exposing the entire length of her toned thigh. She had long, strong legs, the kind of legs to wrap around a man while he buried himself balls deep in her snug heat. She was a cat! He couldn’t think of her as a sexual creature. Sexual relationships within the same species were complicated enough.
“So, tell her, Kage. It’s not polite to keep a lady waiting.”
Lady? Among the cats, she was damn near royalty. “We’re going into the city.”
“Into what city?” She looked from him to his father and back.
Kage couldn’t help but smile. Her expression was so open, so… charming? He better pull it together and fast. They weren’t going on a date. They were about to venture into the most dangerous environment on earth, at least for morphs.
“We’re going beyond the walls.” He waited for his words to sink
in before he asked, “Haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like out there, beyond Alpha Colony?”
Chapter Two
Jizette felt herself gape, so she snapped her jaw shut. “Of course I’ve wondered what it’s like beyond the walls. That doesn’t mean I want to risk my life to find out. There are real guards on those walls, and those guards have been authorized to shoot anyone trying to escape.”
“Escape?” Kage arched his brow as his gaze searched hers. “I was told the guards are there for our protection.” His ironic smile assured her he didn’t believe the propaganda.
“We both know better.”
“Come on.” He held out his hand. “As much as I’m enjoying your current outfit, it’s a little inappropriate for where we’re going.”
Heat suffused Jizette’s face and she fought the urge to cross her arms over her breasts. “I’m lucky Lane allowed me to cover myself at all. He originally intended to present me to the pack naked and on my knees.”
Sadness crept over Kage’s expression, but he didn’t comment. He nodded to his father and said, “If we’re not back in a couple of days, I’ll send word.”
Sunlight warmed her face as they stepped out onto the wide, wrap-around porch. The settlement was nestled in a wide river valley with pine-covered slopes adding dramatic contrast to the rustic scene. The air was fresh and cool, the overall impression deceptively peaceful. No one would have guessed a public rape had been averted moments before.
“Lane said I was his by right of ‘Replacement.’ What was he talking about?”
Kage descended from the porch and headed across the front yard, obviously expecting her to follow. “It was one of the original keeper codes. Most all of the morph communities have established their own set of standards to replace DOMA’s codes of conduct.”
“I understand that, but what did the code allow?” She had to quicken her pace to keep up with his long stride.
“Replacement allowed a wronged party to demand, or take, something of equal value from the party that wronged him.”
“An eye for an eye sort of thing?”
“Basically. The problem with the code was it created more problems than it solved.”
