Cry of the Pride

by Lacey Thorn

  Aleksy glared at Nathan before looking around for Tony.

  “He left to make some calls,” Nathan offered. “He should be back soon.”

  “What are you doing here?” Aleksy snapped as he pushed from the bed and walked across to the mirror. His shirt was gone, and he took in the already healing skin on his side. It was puckered and pink, healing slower than normal but still healing. Another shifter might not have had the same luck. Most didn’t carry a primal beast within them always. Aleksy lived with the fact his beast could take over at any time, turning him into a beast of instinct instead of a man of thought.

  Some shifters could be drugged into a primal state. The lucky ones were able to overcome it, usually with the help of their mate. The not-so-lucky ones remained locked in the form of their beast forever. Aleksy was different, whether from something hunter scientists had done to him before casting him out with the garbage as an infant or if it was from the shifter blood transfusions he’d received once he’d been rescued. He figured it was a combination of both. Really, it didn’t matter what caused it. He was different, even from his own kind. He healed three times as fast as other shifters. He was bigger, faster, his senses keener. All those things together made him terrifying even to those he thought should accept him.

  “Waiting for answers,” Nathan replied.

  “Well, go get them. Don’t let me hold you up.” Aleksy was tense. He needed to find Lyra.

  “From you, asshole,” Nathan snapped, walking toward him.

  “I’d suggest you keep a wide berth right now,” Aleksy snapped back. He was restless, the beast riding him hard.

  “Want to tell me about those freaky eyes of yours?”

  “Heterochromia,” Aleksy said by rote, repeating what he told anyone brave enough to ask about his eyes, each one half-blue half-brown. Heterochromia was the phrase human doctors had coined for it. The truth was something far more terrifying for humans to comprehend.

  “Didn’t know that came with fangs, as well,” Nathan countered.

  “I don’t have fucking fangs,” Aleksy snarled.

  “So you’re not a vampire. Good to know. What are you? And spare me the bullshit excuse about to fall from your tongue. I saw you change in that fucking alley before Tony got there. I’m not sure exactly what I was looking at, but I know it wasn’t human.”

  “And you still followed me here?” Aleksy taunted. “Courageous, aren’t you?”

  “If you wanted to kill me, I’d be dead. We both know I’m not the enemy. You trusted me in the bar. I’m trusting you now. Besides, we both want to find Lyra and help her.”

  Aleksy couldn’t hold back the growl of warning that filled his chest when the other man mentioned his mate’s name.

  “Then there’s that,” Nathan said, cocking his head to the side. He was either a brave man or a fool. Aleksy would reserve judgment until he’d had more time to take the man’s full measure.

  “You don’t want to get involved in this,” Aleksy warned. “People die.”

  “You don’t say?” Nathan scoffed. “I’ve seen death pretty fucking close and personal. I’m still here. Always felt like there was something missing, something more I should be doing.”

  “Jesus, don’t make me your fucking mission,” Aleksy muttered.

  “Fuck you,” Nathan yelled. “I’m talking about Lyra. Let me tell you something about our girl.”

  Aleksy was in Nathan’s face before the man could say anything else. His hand wrapped around Nathan’s neck, the man dangling from his grip, as Aleksy snarled inches from his lips. “Mine. Not ours. Never ours. Mine, and I’ll kill the men who took her. Shred their skin from their bones with my bare hands. The same as I’ll do to any man who tries to stand in my way. Or one foolish enough to think he has any claim on what belongs to me.”

  Nathan was turning purple, his hands clawing at Aleksy’s grip.

  “Fuck me,” Tony said as he entered the room. “I can’t leave you alone for a fucking moment. Put him down. Now.”

  Aleksy glared at his friend.

  “Now,” Tony ordered again with all the confidence of a best friend sure of his safety.

  Aleksy snarled in Nathan’s face once more then dropped him. The other man landed hard, his legs giving way. He hit the floor with his ass and sprawled backward. Aleksy turned, prowling the room as he tried to gain some visage of control while Nathan coughed and wheezed behind him.

  “Not sure what you said to set him off, but don’t do it again.”

  Aleksy shook his head at Tony’s admonishment to Nathan.

  “He shouldn’t be here,” Aleksy growled, his teeth feeling too large for his mouth. He was moments from a full-on shift that was sure to scare Nathan shitless.

  “Tell your kitty to take a chill pill,” Tony ordered. “We have shit to discuss, and I don’t have time for you to wrest control back from your animal.”

  “Where the fuck were you?” Aleksy demanded.

  “Tracing the trail the hunters left. I’ve got a fairly good idea of the area they’re taking her to, and we need to get our team together and head out.”

  “What did you find out?” Aleksy stopped, his entire being focused on Tony.

  “They’re going to torture her,” Tony answered softly. “Marcus Blane plans to send footage of it to the alpha in Oklahoma. Tah Pearce and his pride. She’s connected to their pack.”

  “Then why the fuck was she all alone in that bar? Where they fuck have they been while she’s been hunted?” Aleksy had heard about that pride. Tony had urged him to go and speak with them, to join them. Aleksy had known better. No one wanted someone like him, not long term. He focused on Tony again and saw something in the other man’s face. “What are you not telling me?”

  Tony worked for the Council of Watchers first. Aleksy knew there were things he didn’t share, just as there were things Aleksy kept to himself. It had never bothered him before. But then, it hadn’t involved the woman destined to complete him. Finding then losing his mate had changed everything.

  “I’m still gathering information. What I know now is that Pearce’s right hand is a shifter named Reno Esponetti,” Tony informed him.

  Nathan gasped.

  “What?” Aleksy almost roared.

  “Lyra,” Nathan said hoarsely. “Her name is Lyra Esponetti.”

  “I believe she’s his sister,” Tony stated.

  Then Reno would die for not protecting what he should have cherished. Aleksy would see to it.

  “There’s…” Nathan paused and coughed. “There’s something else you need to know.”

  “Here,” Tony said, handing a bottle of water to Nathan, who was still sprawled on the floor. “Drink this. It’ll help.”

  “Been choked by him before?” Nathan muttered, glaring at Aleksy.

  “Hell, no,” Tony said. “I’m not stupid.”

  Aleksy just shook his head. He wasn’t in the mood for banter. He needed to know where he was headed. His beast was ready to roll.

  “Where am I going?” he demanded.

  “We’ll head out in thirty minutes when the rest of the team gets here,” Tony answered. “And don’t try that primal bullshit with me. You’ll know when I decide to tell you.”

  “You keep playing with fucking fire, and you’re going to get burned, my friend,” Aleksy warned.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Tony promised. “Now, what do we need to know, Nathan?”

  Nathan shook his head. “Answer me first. What is he?” He nodded his head toward Aleksy and another growl surged up Aleksy’s throat.

  “Shifter,” Tony said, without missing a beat.

  “You’ve told him. Now, I get to eat him,” Aleksy said with a snap of his jaws, taking pleasure in the way the other man paled.

  “He’s a black liger to be specific,” Tony continued as if Aleksy hadn’t spoken.

  “Shifter?” Nathan questioned.

  “Yeah,” Tony said. “They’re fucking amazing. From man to beast, just like t
hat.” He snapped his fingers. “Off the charts senses. Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.”

  Aleksy watched Nathan, waiting for the man to show disbelief or fear. He showed only curiosity, which made Aleksy think the other man had seen a shifter before.

  “And you work with him?” Nathan asked.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Tony said. “Aleksy’s had my back more times than I can count.”

  “So how many are there? Like him?” Nathan questioned.

  “Like him?” Tony glanced Aleksy’s way, his expression turning serious. “None. Aleksy’s different.”

  “What makes him so different?”

  “How about we stop speaking about me as if I’m not in the same fucking room as you?” Aleksy bellowed.

  “Sorry,” Nathan said, seeming sincere. “Just curious.”

  Aleksy’s temper snapped. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

  Tony snickered. “I’ll remind you of that later.”

  Nathan glanced back and forth between them. “Ah, black liger. I get it.”

  “You get nothing,” Aleksy yelled. “You need to get the fuck out of here before you end up dead.”

  “I’m not afraid,” Nathan yelled back.

  “Then you’re stupid, which is worse.”

  “Aleksy,” Tony admonished.

  “Did you tell him about the hunters?” Aleksy asked. “The men and women who plan to protect the world from us by stalking and killing every shifter they can get their hands on?”

  “I’ve seen death before,” Nathan reminded him.

  “Not like this,” Aleksy promised. “Women, men, young or old. The hunters kill everyone. Unborn children are ripped from their mother’s wombs and tossed out like garbage.”

  Nathan paled, shaking his head in denial.

  Aleksy kept speaking. “I was one of them. My mother carried tiger genetics. My father lion. She was taken by a group of hunters while she was pregnant with me. They ripped me from my mother’s womb, sliced my belly wide open to see if they could see the beast inside me then threw me out with the trash.”

  “Jesus,” Nathan muttered, looking as if he might get ill.

  Aleksy took no pleasure in Nathan’s reaction. It made him feel guilty for the outburst, which pissed him off more.

  “I survived.” With the help of a man who’d lost his wife because he’d saved Aleksy’s life. “Panther DNA saved my life, but it altered my genetics, changing who and what I am. There’s no balance between man and beast for me. I straddle both worlds at all times. Always the animal, no matter the skin I wear.” He flashed his elongated canines, knowing his eyes swirled circles of blue and brown, the blue of the man equally shared with the brown of the beast. It was what happened when one of his kind hovered on the brink of primality for too long. There were times when he shifted and feared the man would never return, that he’d be cursed to remain the beast forever.

  “All of that and you still trusted me in that bar,” Nathan murmured. “I won’t make you regret that.”

  He already was. Nathan seemed like a great guy. One whose death Aleksy didn’t want on his conscious.

  “And Lyra is yours?” Nathan questioned. “Why didn’t she come to you then?”

  A growl rumbled up from Aleksy’s chest.

  “Shifters can usually scent their mate as soon as they get near them,” Tony said. “At least, that’s what I’ve seen. They only mate once. For life,” he tacked on. “It’s a bond unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” He turned and faced Aleksy. “This woman is your mate?”

  Aleksy nodded, feeling the burn of unfulfilled possession blazing inside him.

  “Interesting,” Tony said, making Aleksy growl again. “And a complication I didn’t foresee.”

  “Enough,” Aleksy roared. “Tell me where they’re taking her.”

  “You’re not going in by yourself,” Tony stated. “Not this time.”

  “I’ll kill them. Every single one of them.” He crossed the room in three strides. “Stand in my way on this, and friendship won’t save you. Not this time.” He purposely repeated Tony’s words back to him.

  His friend didn’t even flinch.

  “We’ll get her. We’ll go in prepared and as a team. I just hope when she hears us fighting she won’t do anything to get herself killed.”

  Aleksy felt another growl building inside him. It seemed to be all he’d done since he’d awoken.

  “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,” Nathan piped up, finally pushing to his feet.

  “What makes you think that? How well do you know her?” Tony asked.

  “As well as anyone does,” Nathan answered, making Aleksy snarl. “Platonically speaking. Look, I’ve been around her for quite a while now. She’s a good person. Keeps to herself. Quiet. Too quiet. And I’ve made a habit out of being observant.”

  “Just spit it out,” Aleksy demanded.

  “She hides it pretty well,” Nathan said, “but I’m pretty certain Lyra Esponetti won’t hear you coming. Hell, I don’t think she hears anything.”

  “What?” Tony asked.

  “My guess is Lyra’s deaf,” Nathan said.

  Aleksy remembered her wide-eyed gaze, the way her mouth had dropped open and the beer bottle had fallen from her grasp when the vision had appeared. He heard the voice of the other man in his head again. The other man had told Lyra to come to him. Aleksy would bet anything she’d heard the other man, too.

  If she could hear the words of a stranger, she’d hear her mate. Either way, he’d find her, save her and mate her. She’d never leave his side again.

  Chapter Four

  Lyra couldn’t move. Every inch of her throbbed with pain. She prayed to pass out just to escape it, but luck wasn’t with her. She’d made peace with the fact she was going to die, but they seemed in no hurry to finish her. Instead, it was as if they wanted to see just how much pain she could withstand.

  She bled from multiple lacerations. Her nose was bruised or broken. It was hard to tell. She had several ribs that were broken or cracked. Her right wrist had snapped when she’d strained against her bonds. One eye had swollen shut from repeated hits.

  She had no clue what these men wanted. She’d lost her ability to focus on them, which rendered her lost in silence though she felt the vibration of noise along her skin. She’d screamed. She felt the rawness of her throat, the pull of her seldom used vocal chords, and she prayed for a trickle of water to ease the ache.

  She had no clue how to satisfy the man called Blane. She had no brother, no family at all since her mother’s death. As for the cat he wanted to see? She’d never had a pet. She’d fed a few strays on the streets, but she knew those weren’t what he was referring to. Hell, she’d make up an animal side if she could communicate with him. She’d done a good job of hiding her deafness from people, and now, she was paying for it. Her captors had no clue she couldn’t hear their taunts. She felt their blows, though.

  She needed to break free. Somehow. Some way. She needed to figure it out. Her body was ready to cave, but her spirit was unbroken. There was warmth inside her, an urge to do…something. It was as if a promise of safety whispered somewhere within her. She couldn’t find the way to it. So, she held tight to consciousness, even as she prayed to lose it. She felt the press of something inside her, the thing her mother had urged Lyra to repress. It wanted free. It promised relief, but Lyra was too scared to give in.

  She thought of the two men she’d seen earlier in the night. The giant who’d framed the doorway of the bar and the apparition who’d appeared across the room from her. She’d felt a connection to both. The one who’d stood in the doorway had scared her on a whole other level. He’d appeared untamed, awakening a sleeping part of her she’d thought forever lost. She’d felt a sexual pull for the first time in her life, and it had sent her running. Especially when he’d stared at her as if she’d been the one he’d walked in searching for then mouthed one word at her. Mine. She’d wanted to be his,
and it had scared her. She was a loner. No friends. No lovers. It was the way it had to be.

  What if she’d gone to him instead? Would she still be in this predicament, or would he have protected her? She wanted to laugh at the thought of anyone protecting her. She’d been on her own since she’d been a child and her mother had been taken from her. She’d learned to count on only herself. She needed to remember that. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should have formed the same word with her lips and sent it back to him, staking a claim she had no right to want.

  She pictured him clearly, the jeans and straining T-shirt that did little to conceal the man beneath. The way he’d owned the place from the moment he’d walked in. He had power. She’d felt the snap and crackle of it radiating from him. If he were here now, with her, she doubted any of the men with her would be standing. He wouldn’t allow it. He’d shield and protect her, and as much as the idea horrified parts of her, it also acted as a soothing balm.

  She let her gaze scan the room. He’d kill these men who were enjoying torturing her. Her blood might be the first spilled, but theirs would be the last.

  She pictured the other man. The one who’d been there yet not there. There’d been something about him that had made her want to follow his directive. She’d wanted to brave the dance floor and go to him. The shock of hearing his voice in her head had nearly knocked her on her ass. Then it had made her want to cry. She’d never heard a voice before. Not even her mother’s, which made her question again if she’d heard the words he’d spoken in her head or somehow managed to read them on his lips.

  She’d come into a world that had always been silent for her. She knew the vibration of sound, felt it along her skin. Her mother had taught her to read lips by having Lyra cup her mother’s face while she spoke, her avid gaze glued to her mother’s mouth. Every time Lyra had signed it was too hard, her mom had responded by pushing her harder, saying Lyra had a special affinity for lip reading. Her mom was right. Lyra had found it simple. She hadn’t realized how easy until her boss at the bar had seemed so surprised at how effortlessly she read lips. He’d quoted some statistic to her that only about thirty percent of deaf people could lip read.