“I will find her if you don’t let your emotions get in the way. I got this.” They returned to the SUV and jumped in.
Driving for hours in silence, they came to the end of a road. “We need to get out. From what I saw on the map and from what my instincts tell me, we will have to look for the house. It doesn’t show up anywhere on this map. All that’s showing are miles and miles of forest and not homes. Not unless they are hidden somewhere,” Tracker said to Hunter.
“Get me to the lake. He will be somewhere near a lake,” Hunter said with a hopeful voice.
“What are we to do about the SUV and motorcycles?”
“We’ll need them to out run that lion.”
“You mean?”
“Yes. You will have to learn how to ride it, or you will have to out run him.”
“I think I can out run him. He’s an old lion,” Tracker said as he stepped out of his clothes.
“You have been misinformed. Where did you get your information? Lions can live for fourteen years, but a lion shifter isn’t old until he’s eighty. That lion shifter is a matured lion and he can out run you or me and has the strength of your father, mine, and Uncle Drayton.” Hunter said.
“He’s no match for the two of us,” Tracker said raising his hard arms and making a fist. Tracker possessed the confidence of a young unseasoned werewolf. He made a show of flexing his muscles where his tattoos were prominent and on display. “Like I said, he’s old compared to you and me.” Hunter just shook his head. He didn’t like wasting words or time with Trackers boasting.
When Tracker stopped talking and began shifting, Hunter was ready. “Which way?”
“To the east,” Tracker said rushing behind Hunter. There was no way Tracker was as fast as Hunter. His breathing grew loud, his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he tried to catch him. He wasn’t built for running, he was built like solid steel. Huge chest filled with muscles.
Wilder was the quickest of all the brother’s and Hunter is Wilder’s son. Finally Hunter stopped to let Tracker catch up. “We have been running for miles. I hear nothing but a water fall,” Hunter said not breaking a sweat.
“You said get you near water. The lake will be somewhere around here,” Tracker said breathing in and out. This time Tracker took the lead because he smelled embers of burning wood. Hunter smelled it too.
It wasn’t long before they reached the lake house towering over a lake. Built with tall redwoods and surrounded by pine trees making a carpet with their dry rustic dead leaves. “It’s as you said. Near a lake.”
“Quiet, Tracker.”
“He can’t hear us and smell us.” Tracker reached into his pouch and handed Hunter a spray. Hunter gazed at it and shook his head.
“It’s pine. What?” he said responding to Hunter’s doubtful gaze. “I told you I got this. He would expect us to smell like an animal and I wasn’t sure what kind dwell in this forest.”
“OK. Now can we kill that lion and get Haley out of there?” They crept closer to the house. “Haley is here. I smell her,” Hunter said. He became cautious because he didn’t see anyone. His mind told him that the lion shifter was using Haley as bait. They waited and didn’t see or hear any movement coming from the house.
“What do you think is happening, Hunter?”
Hunter exhaled. “He wants us to go in there. It could be a trap, but that’s just what I’m going to do. You can come or you can stay. I don’t know if I can win this fight even with both of us on him. But I have to try. I promised Haley I would keep her safe. I made a pledge to her when I asked her to marry me. It’s not whether I have to go in there.” He looked at Tracker not with fear. He knew no fear. That was lost when he shed his childhood as a pup and became a yearling in Alaska. “I alone have to go. You don’t have to,” Hunter said giving Tracker a way out.
“I’m a Samsa werewolf. We don’t shy away from a fight. We embrace it. If this doesn’t kill me, it will make me strong.” He hit Hunter on the shoulder with a closed fist. Hunter braced himself for the blow because he knew the power of Tracker’s arm.
Tracker the first born of Lycell had grown taller and muscular of his six sons. His strength had increased every day because of the regiment Lycell put him and the others under. They were cutting down trees, building structures as pups, tracking, chasing, and bringing down a moose when they were young.
Hunter and Tracker reached the deck of the house, and still no motion from within. But they both smelled the human scent. Tracker was ready to break down the door. “Wait. Let’s try this instead.” Hunter reached slowly and quietly for the handle and the door opened.
They stood back waiting for an attack that never came.
The doors wide where they both could enter at the same time, and they proceeded slowly. Hunter facing the front and Tracker at his back. “If he were here, he would be on us by now,” Hunter said his voice low.
The place is dark except for a light coming from a bedroom in the back of the mansion. They moved slowly to the room, stood to listen and then opened the door quickly. That’s when they got a whiff of Haley’s scent. Tracker picked up a towel lying in the bathroom on a bench. He handed it to Hunter.
Hunter brought it to his nose. “It’s her.”
He stood looking around at the bedroom. It was the master bedroom. Why was she in the Master bedroom? Maybe Katie had told the truth, he thought. Maybe she went with him willingly? The jealousy that plagued the werewolves in his family, wasn’t doing him any favors. It just made him weak with suspicion. He had to put that behind him. Werewolves aren’t jealous Hunter tries to tell himself. Those emotions are for men.
“Nothing here but clothes she wore. I’ll take them with me.”
“Where to?” Tracker asked.
“We’re going to San Francisco. Don’t ask any questions now. And we’re taking the motorcycles. This time don’t let me forget the bow and arrow.”
“Hey. I can’t do everything,” Tracker said raising his hands. He appeared disappointed because the shifter wasn’t there. He was just young enough where he wanted to test himself against Brian. Hunter was old enough and experienced enough to know that it was a good day.
A day where they didn’t come into contact with the lion shifter. Because if they did, it might be their last.
Chapter 17
When the car pulled to a stop, Brian stepped out and rushed to open the car door for Haley. She looked up at him. His deep set golden eyes searching her face in the moonlight.
“Thank you. I feel better now that I’ve eaten. I don’t know why I wanted a hamburger and a malt,” she smile broadly. “I had to have one. Have you ever had that feeling?” she said stepping out on to the driveway.
“Yes. I know that feeling,” Brian said his voice filled with intense desire. His hand unusually warm even though the night brought with it a fall chill. Haley shivered and he placed his long arms around her to usher her into the house. She felt nothing from his touch, but Brian felt it all.
The pleasure of having her near him brought on a floodtide of lust coupled with sweet agony. Having her near, but not being able to mate with her. Trying to hold back his animalistic tendencies and prove to Haley that he was as human as she is. This alone tested him. How long would it take before his nature take over and he would have her on all fours, her pretty young ass in the air before him, and he bending over her his cock quivering to enter her?
As the lion shifter stepped up to the stairs, he sensed that someone had been in the house. He stopped in his tracks. Haley looked around and up to him. She saw his eyes searching around and heard his intake of air.
But the smell of pine trees confused his senses. If it had been human or shifters trying to disguise their smell with that of an animal, Brian would have been on to them in a second. However, there hung over the home a thick smell of pine. Tracker’s method had worked. A closed smile rose on the lion’s face and he safely walked to the door.
If he had come back a half an hour earlier, he w
ould have met Hunter and Tracker.
Looking at Haley as he opened the door he said, “I have never felt more like a man than I have with you.” That could have been good and bad for Haley. Bad because he would do anything to have her and keep her. Good because she could reason with him. Show him that she was too young for him, and she would make him miserable.
“I’m tired. It’s probably that large hamburger. Have you ever seen anything that big?”
“No I haven’t.” He gave out a chuckle. Not a heavy one but an easy one she had seen come from her father. His laugh made him appear human to Haley. “That kid made it just for you. He liked you too. You’re a beautiful girl.”
The lion shifter placed ringlets of her hair behind her ear. He clutched her face in his large hands. “I want you, Haley. But I’m willing to wait. I need you to see that I’m not a beast. I’m a man.” But he wasn’t a man. He was an imitation of a man. A shifter pretending to be a man. It showed in his way of dress. Brian wore expensive suits and shoes and affected an easy manner. Not prone to violence.
When most men dressed in jeans and flannel shirts in the area, he wore a pair of slacks and a dress shirt. His clothes weren’t ordinary. They were made of the finest silk and cotton. Brian never looked or felt relaxed.
What Haley admired about the werewolves, they knew who they were. They didn’t try to fit in with humans. The humans came to them and embraced them, and they welcomed the humans in and they kept the Samsas’ secrets. The secret that they were perhaps the last of the werewolf packs in the Americas.
The last hierarchy of true shifters. But they were coming back and they would be as plentiful and a force to deal with if Wilder had his way.
“I’m too tired. I feel like I will faint away,” Haley said. No sooner had the words fallen from her lips, her eyes fluttered and her lids closed, and she did.
When Haley woke, she was lying in the master bedroom with the lion shifter sitting by her side in a chair pulled close to the bed.
“I don’t know what to do. I could have taken you to a hospital, but it’s miles away and I didn’t want to risk moving you.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be OK,” Haley said to Brian who was confused by her sudden illness. He thought it had been the trek through the forest and the stress of everything he took her through. She glanced down. “I have nothing on. Did you do that?” Brian didn’t say a word, he tucked her in bed, stood and walked to the door.
Then he turned back and said, “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t take you without your permission and especially if you’re a reluctant mate. I want you to accept me. I want you desiring me and receptive when I make love to you.” The shifter suddenly remembered what it was he was going to do. “What would you like to eat for breakfast in the morning?”
“I like cereal and milk. Maybe some fruit.”
“Any particular kind of cereal?”
“Oh. Special K.”
“I’ll see if we have some. We should.”
Brian closed the door behind him and headed to the kitchen. He didn’t know what was in there. He had no use for that kind of food. Raw meat of any kind, especially beef would be in the fridge, because it was all that had been in his diet. He opened the large double door fridge. There was milk. He didn’t know if it was from a cow, a goat, or any number of animals but it was milk. Then he opened the pantry and to his surprise there were an assortment of cereals. He thumbed through the boxes and found Haley’s cereal.
His son had followed his orders to the letter. He had informed him that they would have human females as guests, and their diets were different from shifters. For some reason the son although just a cub had known what to buy. Maybe because he was closer to their age, Brian thought.
When he completed his check for breakfast items for Haley, he stood looking out at the lake and the moon light casting a white glow on the water. The night was calling to him and he had to obey.
Brian enjoyed roaming the forest at night. There was one reason why he disliked city living and living in a suburban area—very few opportunities to run free. When he left Haley sleeping, he knew where there had been a patch of dew berries. He would bring her the fresh fruit because the grapes and oranges in the bowl setting in the kitchen were over ripe and soft, and Haley wanted fresh fruit with her breakfast. And he wanted to make sure she had what she wanted.
Brian searched the forest happily and found the dew berries. He returned hours later to his lake house to find her sleeping soundly. After taking a shower, he stoked the fire and sat near it. He fell asleep watching into it, thinking he was at most peace in the forest, and with this young woman.
His eyes opened and there she was standing looking down at him. Why hadn’t he felt her presence? He questioned himself.
“Why are you sleeping there? A bed would be more comfortable.”
“Not really,” he said with a wide yawn and raising his powerful arms out to the side. “You know it’s not safe to stand over a...” Brian didn’t continue. He didn’t want to frighten her. He didn’t want her to know that if she surprised him for some reason, out of instinct, he may have hit her with one powerful hand and that would be the end to her.
Knowing this about himself he tried to control that predatory instinct in him.
Haley drew the need to control, conquer, and destroy out of him. She made him want to be a man and leave the life of a lion shifter behind. Leave his pride. Let the females take care of everything. They had all the money they ever needed. His sons would protect them. There was no need for him to be with them. He could start all over with Haley. This was the notion of a man in love not a lion shifter.
He wouldn’t be the first shifter to get caught up in the attraction they have for human females. Bain a powerful werewolf shifter had fallen for Adrienne the same way and it had cost his life.
Brian knew the way of humans. His conversation and speech wasn’t distinct from human speech. After all it wasn’t hard. He had fooled many over the years. No one would have thought he was a shifter. They thought only wolves were shifters. And the way he presented himself, dressed finely in his dark expensive suits, white shirts, silk ties, and Italian shoes, and perfect manners. Being a shifter and a lion shifter would be the last thing a human would think of him.
Some humans didn’t believe shifters existed. And the ones who knew, were either dead, or kept their secrets for fear of death.
Brian stood in the doorway of the bedroom watching at Haley sitting in a chair and he said, “I brought you some berries back for your breakfast. Follow me.” He stood waiting for Haley and smiling at her. He walked into the kitchen with Haley following behind him. “Sit. You are a guest but soon you’ll be over everything that’s mine.”
Haley cautiously sat at the counter isle. She didn’t want this. She had been forced into this and it appeared the lion shifter wouldn’t take no for an answer. Even as he had said that she could decide whether she would choose to be with him, he wasn’t planning to ever let her go, and she knew it.
She didn’t see him when he placed a bowl in front of her and poured the cereal into it. She didn’t see him when he poured the milk and placed a dish of berries near her. She was busy thinking about what the implications were. Consequences she hadn’t thought about which were never seeing Hunter again.
Raising the spoon to her mouth, and placing a spoonful of cereal in her mouth, she began chewing and then she cried out. “Oh. I can’t eat this.” Then she jumped from the stool and ran for the nearest restroom and held her head in the toilet and vomited all that she had eaten last night, and this morning.
With a flush face and sweating, she glanced up at Brian. “What was that?” Haley said her voice ringing with displeasure.
“You said you wanted cereal. It was cereal.”
She shook her head. “No the milk.”
“It’s just milk.”
“But what kind? It has this awful odor.” But that wouldn’t make her throw up so violently. And then it hit her. She was
pregnant. She had to think. Could she tell him? Should she tell him now? No. Now wasn’t the time to tell him. He would surely kill her but if he didn’t and she gave birth then he would destroy them. What is she going to do? She thought.
“I’ve always been delicate. You don’t want a woman like me. I’m not strong and I will cause you nothing but trouble,” she said trying to get up from her knees but wobbling. Brian helped her up and cradled her in his arms. He brought her back to bed and she lay there staring up at the ceiling trying to decide what to tell him or if to tell him.
“Can you eat something?”
“No. I don’t feel like eating at all. Just bring me some fruit juice if you have any.” He rushed to the kitchen and came back with a glass filled with orange juice.”
“You didn’t have to bring so much.”
“But I want to. I want to give you everything, and as much as I can.” Haley struck by Brian’s warmth smiled at him. He appeared to be satisfied with only a smile from her. When Hunter only wanted to get rid of her. It took so much for Hunter to realize that she loved him and wanted him. Now she’s pregnant and he hasn’t even bothered to come for her.
Haley wondered if Hunter had agreed to share Katy with his brother. Because she hadn’t heard anything, or the Samsa werewolves hadn’t stormed the mansion looking for her. Now she’s thinking they had thrown her away. Hunter’s father didn’t care for her. Wilder made that clear on many occasions. He saw her as a threat to their pack.
Wilder perhaps convinced Hunter that all was lost and that she was under the protection of Brian the lion shifter. What was preventing her from falling under Brian’s spell she questioned herself? He wanted her. He acted in a way that he is willing to give up everything for her. But she couldn’t ask him to abandon his pride with his wives and cubs. No more than she could abandon Hunter and his pups.
There was too much silence and she didn’t want to think anymore. Too much thinking and she would come to the wrong conclusions.
Moon Rapture Book 7 Page 10
