by Abigail Owen
Zula shook her head. “I tried that. With Kyle Carstairs.”
He snorted. “You tried it with a psycho who I’m sure planned to double cross you. The people we can put you in touch with are trustworthy.”
She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “How could I ever trust a cougar?”
“How could we ever trust someone who’d been responsible for such loss of life?” Tieryn spread her hands in appeal. “But I think, in the interest of both our people, it’s worth a try. Don’t you?”
Shane looked at Tieryn with new respect. Politics and persuasion were not his thing, but Zula seemed to be considering her words. Tieryn seemed to have a latent talent for persuasion.
Zula drummed long, tapered fingers on the arm of her chair as she considered them. “Bring me Rick Delaney’s head. And maybe we can talk.”
Tieryn shook her head. “Starting a truce with murder is perhaps not the best way to go. Open negotiations, and we’ll figure out what to do with Rick together.”
“You’ve just stripped me of several pieces of important leverage. And there’s a goddess who won’t be pleased about one particular loss.”
Shane and Tieryn exchanged a glance. Did that mean the others had gotten away?
“If you agree to stay here, with me, as my guests, then I will consider your suggestions.”
No way. He was not going to use Tieryn as a negotiating tactic. Before he could say anything, she reached over to place a hand on his thigh. His muscles jumped under her touch. Then she glanced at him and gave the gun he still had trained on Zula a significant look. He knew what she was saying. Shoot her again so they could get out. He didn’t know if he could. The first time had been sickening. To aim a weapon at the woman he loved and pull the trigger, praying that it didn’t harm her…did he have strength to do it again?
She turned back to Zula. “If we stayed without discussing this with our people first, they will assume we are your prisoners. Much like murder, possibly not the best way to open their eyes.”
“I can’t let you go,” Zula murmured, as she crossed her legs. Maybe the woman was missing a few marbles.
“If I promise to return as your guest after I talk with my people?”
Shane kept his expression neutral even though his gut reaction was a hell no. He gripped his gun, ready to act.
“I won’t let you go,” Zula said.
He caught the subtle change in her choice of words.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” Tieryn said. She squeezed Shane’s leg. “Now.”
He raised the gun, aiming at her head for the second time that day. It didn’t get any easier. His gut clenched with the thought of what he was about to do, even though it had already been successful once.
“I’ll come back,” Tieryn said to Zula.
He fired.
He felt himself fade away, and that now familiar tug to the back of his neck tried to yank him out of his body.
“It’s too late.” Zula’s voice followed them, like the echo of a ghost, as Tieryn pulled them both out of there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Noise all around Tieryn pulled her out of the black hole of sleep. Who was screaming?
“Open your eyes honey.”
Tieryn tried to obey, but her eyelids had been sealed shut with super glue. At least, that’s how it felt.
“That’s it, Tieryn. Come on.”
She frowned. That wasn’t Shane talking this time. He’d been there each time lately. Shane.
Her eyes flew open, and she struggled to sit up, but her body was sluggish and unresponsive. Firm hands pushed her back down.
She looked up into Gage’s green eyes. Panic burst through her. Where was she?
“Hey there,” he smiled. “You’re okay.”
She shook her head. “Sh—” Her lips were uncooperative at forming words. She tried again. “Shane?” she slurred.
“He’s here. You got him back safe and sound. You’re in the medical wing of the Keller Compound. He didn’t want to leave you, but he was ordered to report to the Alphas.”
The medical wing. That explained the screaming and the scents of bleach and antiseptic that burned her nose.
“The others?” she croaked.
“George and Mac found us and got us out of there.”
Relief pounded through her. Were they all back safe and sound? It didn’t seem possible. She closed her eyes and tried to form all the questions swirling in her mind into some semblance of coherence.
“My parents?”
She knew the answer before Gage said a word. The sympathy in his eyes was all she needed to see. “Neah’s fine, but your dad… As soon as he saw your mom, he went nuts. He shifted and used himself as a shield to get the rest of us out of that cell. JoLynn’s done everything that she can, but he doesn’t look good.”
Tieryn swallowed around the cotton wool filling her mouth. “I’ll take a look at him in a minute.”
“Take your time.”
Her chin jutted out stubbornly. “I can help.”
“You can’t help anyone if you pass out first,” he pointed out.
She wrinkled her nose. “I hate it when you get all logical on me.”
He chuckled. “Water?”
At her nod, he hopped up, she assumed to go get her some. Tieryn struggled to sit, trying to calm the panic churning her stomach. She swung her feet over the side of the bed, noticing with odd detachment that her heavy boots had been removed.
With determination, she pushed up out of the bed, padded across the wood floor on bare feet, and drew back the window curtain. Her limbs felt like they were weighed down with all the sand in the desert she’d been in, but she ignored that. She needed to find her dad. A quick search revealed that he wasn’t in any of the curtained areas. Eventually she found him in one of the private, long-term care rooms, all sorts of tubes and wires sticking out of him and the quiet beep of the machines monitoring his vitals.
“Dad,” she whispered.
He looked awful. No outward signs of a fight, but he was pale, and he struggled for breath with every rasping inhalation.
She hurried to his side and lifted her hands, holding them first over his heart and lungs, then over his head. She did her best to touch those dark places that represented damage, but she couldn’t penetrate them. Her hands started to shake with her effort even as her heart sank with the knowledge that she couldn’t save him.
Her father was going to die, in hours, maybe a day or two at most, and there was nothing she could do.
She stopped, curling her hands into fists in impotent rage. At first she directed that rage at the woman who’d taken him, but her conversation with that lady ran through her mind in a repeating loop. Slowly, her rage turned on another.
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her father’s rotund form. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear. She placed one last kiss on his cheek then turned away, purpose in every stride.
“Tieryn?” Gage stood at the door, waiting, watching.
“Where are the Alphas?”
He tipped his head in question. “In the room where you told them about your second power. Shane’s about to—”
She strode past him, pausing in the curtained cubicle to pick up her crossbow, which she’d noticed on the floor. She had no idea how it’d got there, but didn’t much care.
“Tieryn?” Gage asked again. “What’s going on?”
“There’s something I have to do.”
Gage followed her through the twists and turns of the hallways in silence.
She could practically feel his concern, but ignored him. She set an arrow in her bow and cocked it. She slammed through the doors into the room and aimed directly at Rick Delaney’s heart. “You bastard,” she said in a low, controlled voice. Cold intent backed the rage inside her.
“Tieryn?” Andie stood up. “What’s going on?”
She didn’t even spare her a glance. “He’s the reason my father is going to die.”
>
“No, honey,” Andie said in a soothing voice. “Paul’s a hero. He was injured trying to save the others.”
Tieryn jerked her head. “No. This started a long time ago because of Rick Delaney.” She glared at him now.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he growled.
“You murdered the leader of the African lions. You started this war. I intend to end it, starting with your head on a platter.”
She fired, but her arrow lodged in the wall because at the same time he sprang at her, shifting midair. A cougar’s sharp scream ripped from his throat. A now familiar buzz jolted up her spine. Tieryn calmly pulled an arrow from her quiver. She disappeared mid-process of setting it in the bow…then reappeared several feet back. Nausea rolled through her, and spots danced before her eyes, but she was aware and still furious.
Her adversary was easily located. Delaney was crouched in the spot where she’d been standing, ready to spring, having faltered when his target became thin air. As soon as she materialized, he lunged. A form, blurred by speed, slammed into him from the side. Another cougar.
Shane.
The two animals rolled, gained their feet, and faced off—teeth bared, hissing their warnings. Before their fight could begin in earnest, several more cougars, including Jaxon and Gage, shifted and piled on top of both of them. Andie grabbed Tieryn’s arm and pulled her out of the way, and she let her. At the same time, she finished setting her arrow, but she waited to aim, unwilling to accidentally shoot someone else.
The scuffle was short-lived. After a moment several stark-naked men stood before her. Shane, able to control himself, shrugged off Gage and Jaxon. But two of the Alphas held Rick’s arms as he continued to struggle. Andie had let her go.
Before anyone could stop her, Tieryn was across the room and held the crossbow to Rick’s forehead.
He stilled, though a growl ripped from his throat.
“I should kill you now.”
Something about the cold intent in her voice and face must have penetrated Delaney’s brain, because he stilled, eyes widening in fear.
Pure fury slammed through her in an adrenaline-filled rush. Her heart pounded in her ears and air pumped out of her lungs in harsh pants. But her hands were steady as a rock.
“Tieryn, baby…” She’d never heard Shane use that tone before—soothing and tentative. There was an underlying fear there. For what? Her?
“Stay back,” she snapped without looking around. “I’m a good shot,” she said to the man whose life was in her hands. “But even a novice wouldn’t miss at this range. I suggest you stay very still, because I would happily put an arrow through your Cro-Magnon head.”
“I won’t move.” He was trying to placate her. His body quivered as he strained against his holders, and anger battled with the fear in his eyes. She wouldn’t back down. Not yet.
She raised her voice so every person in the room could hear. “This man is responsible for everything that has happened to our people.”
“She’s crazy—” Rick scoffed.
She pushed the arrow so that its point cut into the skin of his forehead, and he closed his mouth with a snap.
“Can we talk about this while you don’t have a deadly weapon aimed at him?” one of the Alphas asked. She couldn’t identify which because she had her gaze trained on Delaney.
“Put him in a locked cell, and we’ll talk.”
“I’m not the one who attacked an Alpha without issuing a challenge first,” he said.
“No. You’re the one who killed the leader of the African lions and then expected the rest of your people to deal with your mess. Every death at the hand of another shifter is your fault.”
The rage started to build again. Her father lay dying in the medical wing because of this man.
“How do you know this?” She recognized Jaxon’s voice.
Shane spoke from behind her. “We talked to the lioness now leading the prides. They offered Delaney a partnership—share his lands with them, and they’d pay in diamonds and help defend against the wolves who’d started becoming a problem about that time. Instead of making the deal, he killed her father.”
“Lies,” Rick hissed. “You’d say anything for her. Anyone can see you’re in love with her.”
Tieryn tensed at his accusation but refused to show how affected she was by those words.
“At this point, it’s your word against his,” Andie said. “Holding a crossbow to his head isn’t helping.”
The fury that had precipitated her actions was already cooling. Tieryn knew Andie was only offering logical advice. She glanced at Jaxon, silently asking if he’d hold Rick. He tightened his grip.
Slowly, Tieryn backed away, but she kept her bow aimed at his head. When she was a safe distance back, she lowered her weapon. Hands reached out and took it from her now limp fingers. Shane stepped between her and the big Alpha who was still being held.
“Now,” Andie continued. “What proof do you have?”
“Zula is the leader of the lions,” Tieryn said without taking her gaze from Rick who she could still see over Shane’s shoulder. “We offered to negotiate a treaty. She asked for Rick Delaney’s head as a peace offering.”
“So you decided to give it to her?” Michael Perez, the Peruvian Alpha, asked.
She shook her head. “No. We refused, although we promised that he would be dealt with.”
“Dealt with? You think you can deal with me, little girl?” Rick shouted. He craned his head, trying to find support from any of the other Alphas. “Can’t you see they’re lying?”
“What possible reason would we have?” Tieryn asked. “Upheaval in our Alphas would be the worst thing for our people.”
“What does she want in return?”
“She wanted us to remain there as her…guests,” Shane said. Like her, he didn’t remove his gaze from Delaney, his shoulders bunched, hands fisted at his sides. “But I don’t know that her offer still stands since we left rather abruptly.”
“I will go back,” Tieryn said.
Shane’s knuckles whitened. “The hell you say,” he snarled over his shoulder.
“If it means no more killing, I will do what I must. They’ll never be able to harm me. My Survival ability will ensure that.”
“They aren’t lying, about any of it,” Sarai’s voice interrupted.
Tieryn pulled her gaze from Rick and discovered the Seer standing inside the doorway. When had she gotten there? Beside her were Paulla and Eduardo, the other two Seers. “Sarai?” Andie asked. “Have you seen something?”
“All three of us have,” Paulla said.
“Tieryn is telling the truth, about all of it. We’ve seen it,” Eduardo added.
Rick glanced around, his eyes frantic as every Alpha turned his way with doubt or censure written across their faces.
“I’m not the only one,” he stated in a low tone.
Without warning, he shifted and ran headlong for the window. It broke under the force of his massive body. Several people ran over to watch Rick’s two-story drop. But cougars all have an instinctual awareness in the air and an uncanny ability to leap.
Andie whipped out her cell phone and barked instructions on his capture at whoever was at the other end.
Shane and Tieryn exchanged a shocked glance. They had not expected any of that. Jaxon stepped forward. “We obviously need to discuss everything that just happened.”
He threw Tieryn an apologetic glance. “You threatened an Alpha with a lethal weapon. I’m afraid we need to lock you up until we figure out what to do with you.”
“No—” Shane started to protest but stopped when she put a hand on his arm.
She addressed Jaxon. “My father is dying as we speak.” An audible intake of breath hissed through the room. “Can you handcuff me to his bed? I want to be at his side.”
“I think that’s doable.” He waved William forward. The rough-looking Protector took her gently by the arm.
Shane moved as if to follow, but Jaxon stopped him. “We need you here, Shane, to go over this thing with the lioness in detail. You too, Gage.”
She could see Shane was torn. “Stay,” she murmured.
He nodded, and she allowed William to lead her away.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Shane watched them lead Tieryn away, never so conflicted in his life. He knew he was in love with Tieryn. He also knew he’d made a promise. He couldn’t let Brenna down, not after years of planning and waiting, not now when he was so close to avenging her death. No matter his feelings for Tieryn, he could never be good for her. Not in the way Gage so obviously was. If she married the Beta of her dare, she was guaranteed a place in the home she’d grown up in, surrounded by the people she loved. Even if he could let go of his need for revenge, she couldn’t end up with him. The Reynolds Dare was no longer his home. No way could he stay there long term. So she’d end up with a drifter. Tieryn deserved better.
But then she’d gone and attacked an Alpha and his protective instincts had kicked in hard. No way was he letting Rick Delaney anywhere near her in a fight. Just the hint of harm coming to her had fear and adrenaline pumping through him like a drug. And he’d known. He’d known that he’d never feel easy unless he was the one protecting her.
Now he stood in the hall just outside her father’s room in the medical wing. The smells of rubbing alcohol and antiseptic couldn’t completely override Tieryn’s floral scent drifting through the cracked doorway. He could see the back of her head as she stood vigil over her father. She hadn’t moved since he’d been standing there. And he’d been there a while.
He’d said his piece to the Alphas. If he were a betting man, he’d guess that Rick Delaney was about to lose his position and that they’d drop any charges against Tieryn. But it was hard to say what the Alphas would decide. He only knew that if they did charge her, the likely punishment was exile. And he’d go with her.
But with Andie and Jaxon in there, he very much doubted that outcome, which meant she’d be going home soon. With Gage. Without him.
