Cry of the Pride

by Lacey Thorn

  Aleksy shook his head and pulled the sheet up over them, tucking it under Lyra’s arms so it would stay put. He watched as she blinked her eyes open and glanced toward Tony.

  “Lyra, this is Tony Sandoval.”

  She nodded her head. Is he your friend?

  “Yes,” Aleksy answered.

  Tony lifted a brow. “Are you two communicating in your head? Because that’s really rude when there’s someone else in the room.”

  Aleksy felt Lyra smile against him.

  I like him.

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Aleksy warned. “He’s a pain in the ass ninety-nine percent of the time.”

  “I know you’re not talking about me,” Tony said, walking over to them and sitting on the other side of the bed. He moved so he leaned back against the headboard, crossing his ankles and lifting his hands to cup the back of his head. “I’ve saved his ass more times than I can count. He loves me, Ms. Esponetti, but don’t be jealous. I’m pretty sure I’m not his type.”

  Lyra laughed, and the sound warmed Aleksy’s soul.

  “So, what have you told her about everything?” Tony asked then glanced over at them and cleared his throat. “Never mind. I’m guessing words weren’t the top priority once you woke up. Which, by the way, you look amazing. Seems the big guy’s little antibodies healed you up. Side’s good? Bones all healed?”

  Lyra nodded.

  “She’s healed,” Aleksy answered.

  “I…can…hear…” Lyra’s words were slow as if she were uncertain of the sounds she made.

  Tony reached into his pocket and held up a packet containing earplugs. “Guessing that’s why I was ordered to bring these up” He held them out to her, and she gingerly reached forward to take them. Tony captured her fingers, giving them a squeeze. “I’m your friend, too. You can trust me.”

  “I can vouch for him,” Aleksy agreed. “He’s also someone who can help us figure out your question.”

  “What question’s that?” Tony asked.

  “Lyra’s never heard speech before.”

  Tony nodded and lifted his hands out to the sides. “That would make sense since she’s been deaf.”

  “No.” Aleksy shook his head. “She’s never heard anyone speak, but she can understand every word we’re saying.”

  Tony glanced at Lyra, and she nodded.

  “Hmm, I have my suspicions, and we’ll discuss those in more depth once you’re up and around. For now, just understand there’s something inside you that’s helping you understand. At least, that’s my guess.” Tony’s face softened. “You look tired.”

  Taking a beating will do that to you.

  Aleksy heard the humor in Lyra’s voice, but he didn’t feel it. He felt rage. His gaze met Tony’s, and Aleksy could tell his friend sensed his thoughts because Tony’s gaze turned lethal.

  “We will hunt down and kill every one of the men who hurt you. I swear it to you. Blood for blood. Bone for bone. They will suffer.”

  “You…sound…like…him…” Lyra said, patting Aleksy’s chest.

  Tony shrugged. “We’ve been accused of sharing a brain once or twice, but nothing you can prove.” His gaze flicked between Aleksy and Lyra before settling on her once more. “Now, what can I tell you? Hit me with all the questions, and I’ll answer them to the best of my ability.”

  “Did you reach Ephraim?” Aleksy asked.

  “Wily bastard is already close. Said he sensed you’d need him, followed your spirit trail or some shit like that. I’ve been around you guys for a long time, but that man scares me. You don’t leave a trail of any kind. I still think he has a tracker on you somewhere.”

  Aleksy shook his head. “There’s no tracker. He’s a unique man. If he says he followed some trail to me, then he did.”

  “Who?” Lyra asked.

  “Orsai Ephraim,” Aleksy told her. “He…saved my life. Put me back together and healed me. He’s…” He paused not sure how to describe Orsai to her.

  “He’s family,” Tony finished.

  “You’re my family,” Aleksy argued.

  “And don’t you forget it,” Tony agreed. “But Ephraim’s blood. Literally. Our boy here was left for dead when he was born. Ephraim found him.”

  What happened to you? Lyra’s head tilted toward him, her gaze filled with concern.

  “I was born in a hunter’s lab,” Aleksy told her then snorted. “Though born isn’t really the word I’d use to describe my arrival. My mother was captured when she tried to rescue my father from a group of hunters—men who wanted to kill him,” he explained at the look in her eyes.

  Like the ones who wanted to kill me?

  “Yes,” Aleksy confirmed. “They killed him and took her with them. I’m told that because she was pregnant, they wanted to study her. She was tortured and killed. They took me from her while her body was still warm, made an incision to check out and tinker with my insides then discarded me with the day’s garbage.”

  “Thankfully, there was a watcher inside. She managed to get Aleksy to Ephraim.”

  “Watcher?” Lyra asked.

  “That’s me and mine,” Tony answered. “We’ve been around as long as your kind have been. Shifters and watchers go hand-in-hand. We…watch for lack of a better word. At some point, we stopped passively observing and took a bigger role. We began infiltrating different groups of hunters. Stepping in when we could to protect shifters, and keeping records of everything along the way.”

  She shook her head. “Not…my kind.”

  Tony glanced at Aleksy. He knew Tony had suspected Lyra didn’t know or the other man would have told her he thought her animal was the reason she could understand the words she heard.

  “We haven’t covered that topic yet.” He’d mentioned a few things, but then they’d been making love, and it had all fallen away as he’d lost himself inside her.

  Tony cleared his throat and lifted his brows as if to point out the obvious in the room. Aleksy and Lyra were both naked under the sheet, and the smell of sex permeated the air. Tony didn’t need to be a shifter to understand what they’d been doing rather than talking.

  “I see,” Tony said. “Let me give you a little background, Lyra. Legend tells of a time when a tribe of nomadic people lived on the African plains. They were strong and fierce warriors, taking only what they needed from nature and always giving back. The Great Creator smiled down on the people and decided to give them a gift to show his pride in them.

  “Each member of the tribe would be blessed with a spirit guide who would share their form and allow them to shift at will from animal to man. They became the paka watu or cat people. The tribe leader accepted the spirit of the lion and lay the foundation for his pride. They kept it quiet, understanding the need for secrecy about what they had become, but it didn’t matter. Betrayal came from within the pride. Hunters came and wiped out many of them, including the leader. There’s more to the story. Two sons, one the hero and one the villain. Two wives, both loved, and a third woman, scorned. Always gotta watch out for those. They’ll screw you every time. Anyway, legend says they scattered under the order of the youngest son, a man named Tau. Their animal sides were repressed and often lost through generations. Shifters lived normal lives, never knowing the secret that lay within them. Such as you, Lyra.”

  She tensed against Aleksy, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

  “I bet you’ve spent your whole life feeling different, and I’m not speaking of your previous lack of hearing. I’m talking about that sense of other deep inside you. One I’m willing to bet you were warned to ignore.”

  Lyra gasped and pushed slightly away from Aleksy.

  “How?” she asked, eyes wide.

  “Because I’ve seen it a lot,” Tony answered. “We both have.”

  Aleksy nodded when she looked at him. “Too many of our kind have been taught to repress what they are, to ignore the call of their beast. Too many have no clue who and what they are. It makes them easy for the hunte
rs to pick off. We try to find them first. To help them. Protect them.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, we were sent to find you. Tony got word there was a shifter in Chicago that one of the hunters we’ve been after had taken an interest in. Marcus Blane.”

  She shuddered, and Aleksy pulled her close again.

  “He’s been under the radar for too long,” Tony added. “We went on alert when he resurfaced.”

  “We came for you as soon as we had an idea of where to look,” Aleksy vowed.

  She put her fingers against his lips.

  I know you did. I ran. You were there to save me, and I chose to run. That’s on me. You’re not responsible for what happened to me.

  “I will make sure Marcus Blane and those with him pay for it though,” Aleksy promised.

  “We will,” Tony agreed. “But we’ve got another situation to handle first.”

  “What?” Aleksy growled.

  “Remember when I encouraged you to go to Oklahoma, meet the members of the new pride that’s forming?”

  Aleksy nodded.

  “No need to go to Oklahoma. Seems we’ve got a group of them on their way here.” Tony’s gaze dropped to Lyra. “The leader says your mate sent out an SOS.”

  “Lyra?” Aleksy questioned.

  How would I have sent out a cry for help?

  “I heard you,” Aleksy told her. “I heard you in my head, asking me to come to you and save you. I saw where you were as clear as if I were seeing it through my own eyes. It’s how we knew exactly where to find you.”

  Tony nodded in agreement, though he only heard Aleksy’s side of the conversation.

  I pictured you and the man I saw in the club. When I was… When they were… I pictured the two of you when I was hoping someone would save me.

  “I heard you, so chances are he did, too,” Aleksy commented.

  “Speaking of hearing you, I really want to know more about how you were able to connect with Aleksy before the two of you were officially mated. How could you connect with Utah Pearce, the leader of one hell of a pride, while he was in Oklahoma and you were here? I’ve never heard of that happening with another shifter. I have so many questions for you, but first you need to get prepared.”

  Prepared?

  “Prepared for what?” Aleksy questioned, echoing her thought.

  “One of the shifters heading this way is Reno Esponetti,” Tony stated, gaze on Lyra. “Your brother.”

  Chapter Eight

  Lyra was ready to pass out and wake up all over again. Shifters, hunters, watchers, mates and now the mysterious brother her captor had tortured her for information on. Oh, and the tiny fact that, after a lifetime of hearing nothing, she was now overwhelmed with the sounds around her. She had an animal inside her that her mother had warned her to ignore, which was most likely responsible for her ability to understand what everyone said. Plus, the huge man she’d originally run from was suddenly her safety net.

  Crazy didn’t begin to describe her current existence.

  Aleksy had dressed and gone in search of clothing for her, assuring her he wouldn’t be gone long. His cock had still been hard, the smell of sex still ripe in the air. And she wanted him. Even now, with everything she’d learned floating in her head and generating more questions, she wanted nothing more than to crawl back between the sheets and feel Aleksy surge within her.

  How was it possible to feel so much for a man she’d just met? They were mates, and she didn’t refute that. Hell, she couldn’t with how he made her feel. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally. He calmed her, grounded her and made her feel…safe. And alive. More alive than she’d felt in too many years to count.

  She’d always been a loner who’d craved her privacy, a woman who never stayed in one place for too long, not wanting to put down roots. Reality had certainly ripped the rug out from under her feet. Now, she had a mate and a brother and apparently, an alpha of a pride she knew nothing about but who had appeared to her and heard her call for help.

  Tony wanted to know how she’d managed to reach both Utah Pearce and Aleksy while she’d been held by Blane. The sad truth was she had no idea. She’d pictured them both in her mind and sent out a call. She’d never expected them to hear it, though she was glad Aleksy had. She dropped her hand to her side, rubbing over the reddened flesh there. She’d be dead if not for Aleksy. Even now, her wound was still in the process of healing. She doubted there’d even be a scar when it was done. Forty-eight hours. That’s all the time it had taken for everything her captors had done to be repaired.

  She lifted her hand and touched her fingers against the mark Aleksy had left on her, the spot where his canines had pierced her skin, the place that was more permanent than any tattoo she could obtain. Especially since he’d returned to it over and over again when they’d had sex, licking, sucking and biting. It should terrify her, but it didn’t. It made her hot…and wet, something that was completely unexpected. She’d assumed she was asexual. Then Aleksy Costas had walked into her life.

  She closed her eyes as she pictured him. The man was beautiful, though she wasn’t sure she’d tell him that. She was tall for a woman, just shy of six feet, but Aleksy made her feel dainty. She guessed him to be somewhere around the six foot eight mark, maybe six nine.

  She could admit she was fascinated by his chest and the breadth of his shoulders. She loved the way he constantly cuddled her against him. She loved the smell of his skin, especially during and after sex. She loved the lush, dark locks of his hair, the feel of them between her fingers. But it was his eyes that captured her. They were sexy as hell. She loved the way each iris was split between brown and blue, the way the colors sometimes seemed to swirl. Then when they’d made love, each eye had settled on one color, giving him one blue eye and one brown. She had no idea what caused it, but she prayed it never changed.

  She shook off her thoughts and headed to the connected bathroom and the promise of a hot shower. Her plan had been to jump in quick while Aleksy was out of the room, but she’d been lost in thought. She slid the door back, started the water then stared as she took in the sound of it leaving the showerhead and hitting the tiled floor. There was something soothing about it. She stepped in before the temperature was where she wanted it, but she didn’t care. She needed to be in that noise, feel it surrounding her as the water cascaded over her.

  She stood directly under the flow, letting it pour over her face, saturate her hair and continue down her body. She blocked out everything else and focused on the water. The smooth slide of it over her skin. The heat of it. She opened her mouth, letting it brush over her lips, spill slightly inside her mouth only to spit it back out.

  She knew the moment she was no longer alone. Her nipples beaded, her sex growing slick from her lubrication, and she knew he was there. She didn’t move as the door was slid open, the cool air sending a shiver down her spine. Then Aleksy was behind her, his heat surrounding her as he crowded under the spray with her. He reached around her, his hands flattening against her stomach then gliding up to cup her breasts. His thumbs brushed her taut nipples while his mouth dropped to her shoulder, his tongue licking over the wet surface.

  His cock was a heavy weight against her back, and she leaned into him, trapping it between them, loving the way he felt.

  “Look at me,” he ordered, and she turned her head. His gaze held hers for a moment as if he were testing her thoughts or feelings, and only when he was satisfied did he move his mouth to hers. His tongue dove inside, brushing along hers and coaxing it into an intimate dance. His hands stayed at her breasts, and she slid her thighs together as she tried to ease the ache forming there.

  He slowly broke their kiss, one hand reaching out for a washcloth that hung on a bar, the other grasping a bottle of body wash. He dropped a kiss to her nose then began washing her, taking his time as he stroked the cloth over her skin. She was hyperaware of him, and she moaned when he squatted behind her and ran the material over her ass, his f
ingers trailing behind.

  He tapped her leg, and she turned, knowing what he wanted. Her breath caught at the look of pure desire in his gaze. He continued his slow washing, this time working his way up from her toes, up her legs, over her belly then each arm. He’d skipped over her pussy and breasts and those parts of her throbbed with need.

  He stood before her, his cock brushing her belly. She wanted to reach out and touch him, explore him, but her palms were flat on the wall behind her, and she was afraid of falling if she moved them. The man made her weak even as he made her strong.

  He discarded the cloth and poured soap into his hands before moving to her breasts. He rubbed over them, washing every inch before paying special attention to her nipples. He stroked them into harder points than they already were, pinching and tugging at them until her sex squeezed as it begged for something only Aleksy could give her.

  As if he knew what she needed, he slid one slick hand down and rubbed it along her folds. He was washing her, cleaning her pussy as if it were something he was used to doing. It should embarrass her. It didn’t. Nothing with him embarrassed her. Her body seemed willing to comply with anything he wanted, and the pleasure he brought was unlike anything she’d ever known.

  He detached the showerhead from above them and brought it down to her folds, turning it so that the soap suds were washed away. He rinsed his hand then opened her sex, exposing the bud of her clitoris to the force of the water and wringing a low moan from her throat. His thumb brushed over it, slowly, lightly. Then he rubbed his index finger over it with more pressure. Back and forth, he went, the gentleness of his thumb followed immediately by the harder touch of his finger.

  He leaned in to kiss her again, swallowing her cries. This time when he eased back, he went to his knees. In some part of her consciousness, she realized he’d reattached the showerhead, but her attention was focused on his face, the look in his eyes as he leaned in and ran his tongue over her clit. He moaned, as if his action brought him as much pleasure as it did her. Then he wrapped those firm lips around her and sucked. One finger slid back to her opening and thrust inside.