Break Her Fall

by JoAnna Grace

  Ah, shit! The leopard sneezed and hissed. Her nostrils burned. Whoever had left the envelope coated the area with pepper. Smart and annoying.

  The cell phone rang again. Amilynn shifted to clear out her nose, conjuring up leather pants and a thick leather jacket in case she needed the protection. Damn, her nose burned. She picked up the package and opened the end. She flipped open the burner phone and her stomach dropped to her knees when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

  “Hello, my pet.”

  Ami clenched her eyes and jaws. “Brian. So chicken shit of you to drop by.”

  “You have something of mine,” he growled into the phone. “I want it back.”

  Ami’s keen eyes searched the woods around her. Even in human form, she could climb and jump. She grabbed the package and went into the trees for cover. “Would that be Myra? You’re welcome to come scrape her brains off the wall if you want. I’m sure they’ve dried by now.” She hopped to another branch and followed the tracks away from the envelope. They were smaller. Her spy had shifted and, judging by the size of the print, gone into his bear form.

  Brian roared on the other end of the line. He too was a mountain lion, a massive one. “You fucking bitch. You’ll pay for that dearly.”

  “I’ve paid more than my fair share at your hands already. I’m done.”

  “You’re right, my pet. You are finished, or you will be by the time I’m done with you. God, I’m hard just hearing your voice. How I’ve missed you, Amilynn. I sent you a gift, my pet. Look in the envelope.”

  Amilynn pulled several pictures from the envelope. She thought she might be sick. Her stomach rebelled as she stared at images of her family. Kasey in his high-rise office, Vivian on a street, looking over her shoulder, Conall in the mountains, hiking alone, Ty and Melissa holding hands on the back patio as they visited with Pack members, Sampson and Bianca at the grocery store, Nate and Tom at basketball practice at their school. The final one had bile rising in her throat. It was a series of shots depicting Ami and Ezekiel lounging in the sun together, kissing and smiling at each other.

  “Do you see what I see?” Brian chuckled, dark and evil. “I see you betraying me with that wolf. I see everyone you love with a bullet through their brains just like you did to Myra.”

  “You didn’t take these pictures. You couldn’t get close enough.” Her brain filtered through every packmate and soldier she knew. Ones who could have taken all these shots and not been noticed or out of place.

  “So bright. You always were my best student. Everyone has a price, Amilynn. Even the all-mighty Kasey Blackburn’s moral teachings can’t overcome some people’s simple greed.”

  “I guess Sampson didn’t purge the ranks enough after Alias and his mess.”

  “You really should’ve taken a hint, my pet. You, Melissa, and Vivian don’t belong to Blackburn any more than a sheep belongs to a flock of birds. Trace will deal with Melissa and Vivian, but you . . . you belong to me. And I will have you once again, or I will kill everyone you love, starting with the twin brats and ending with their bastard brother.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Tonight, you will come back to where Myra attacked you. Alone. If my men scent or see anyone else, I’ll—”

  “Kill me. I got it.”

  Brian huffed. “Not quite. Say hello, Martin.”

  Ami froze. Her heart jackhammered in her chest. Brian had already taken his collateral.

  “Amilynn?”

  “Martin,” she said, hugging the phone to her ear.

  “Amilynn, don’t do it! Don’t come, Ami. He’s insane—omph!” Martin’s raspy and broken voice cut off with the collision of fist hitting flesh. Ami knew the sound well.

  “Don’t. Hurt. Him,” she snarled at Brian.

  “His treatment depends on you. I have eyes everywhere. See you tonight, my pet. We have unfinished business.”

  “You’ve got that shit right, asshole.”

  “Careful, Amilynn. You know how your fighting side turns me on.”

  The line went dead and Ami stared at the lifeless phone. It took her a full ten minutes before she could find the wherewithal to move. Her brain felt paralyzed and she couldn’t make her body comply.

  Brian had Martin. Brian had eyes on her family, possibly her, even at this moment. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill Martin, or anyone else, for that matter.

  Amilynn jumped from the branch and landed in a crouch on the forest floor. She scanned the area before she took off in a dead run through the woods to the alpha house. She crossed the meadow and burst though the side entrance doors closest to her room.

  “Ami, whoa, where’s the fire?” Sampson said with a lopsided grin on his face.

  She slid the envelope behind her back and leaned against the wall as if to catch her breath. “Uh, I, uh, was testing out the leg, you know.” She slapped her right thigh. “Finally got clearance from Charles, so I thought I’d work it out a bit. Got excited.” She huffed and puffed, her fluid adrenaline making it difficult to breathe.

  Sampson’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded. “Okay, well, dinner is almost ready. Go get cleaned up.”

  “Great. Yeah. I’m starving.” She blew out a breath and waited for him to turn away before she stood, letting the envelope drop into her waiting hand, and dodged into her room.

  You’re upset about something, pussycat. I can feel it. Ezekiel’s voice rang in her mind, a calm sea compared to the storms within her.

  Ami walled up her emotions and guarded the thoughts she didn’t want him to see. I went for a run and I think I pushed my leg too hard. I’m disappointed. That’s all.

  I’m on my way home. Why don’t you soak in the tub in my room?

  Okay, caveman. Come to me when you get here.

  You don’t have to tell me twice, pussycat.

  Amilynn closed off as much of her emotions as she could. Ezekiel couldn’t know about her phone call from Brian. He couldn’t know about the meeting.

  Wasn’t it just her luck to find her mate, to fall for him, and to lose him so fast? Amilynn didn’t deserve the happiness Ezekiel brought into her life. She loved him too much to see him die at Brian’s hand and, even if that meant sacrificing herself, she would keep him safe.

  She stuck the pictures, the envelope, and the cell phone in a trunk at the foot of her bed. If she only had a few hours left with her family, she was going to make it count.

  Ami packed a bag of her things and slipped to the bottom floor, down the corridor, and into Ezekiel’s suite. When she opened the door, his scent filled her nose, and her cat purred. Ezekiel’s room was as masculine as its inhabitant. It featured navy blue walls and stainless steel finishes. His bed was a platform hanging from the ceiling by four thick chains. At first glance, Ami thought it was suspended, floating. She bent down to find supports underneath. Good. They were going to need all the support they could get. Her leopard flicked her tail in anticipation. After dinner, she would slip down here and set the stage for a romantic evening. She was going to love Ezekiel into exhaustion so that he would always have a fond memory of her.

  If there was one thing that would piss Brian off, it would be showing up with Ezekiel’s scent all over her, oozing from her pores. Brian thought at one time that Ami was his mate; he’d claimed her, much to the terror of her leopard. Now she would show him that only Ezekiel had ever claimed her heart and her leopard.

  Settling into her hot bath, Ami closed her eyes and waited until her sexy wolf arrived. He stopped at the bathroom door and crossed his big arms over his chest. Ami’s body tingled as Ezekiel’s eyes traveled up her legs, up her chest, and met her stare.

  “You’re so beautiful, Ami. It’s heaven just to look at you and know you’re mine.”

  Amilynn’s heart stopped. Over her lifetime, many men had called her beautiful. So many that she failed to believe it anymore. She’d gone deaf to the words. Yet, looking into her mate’s eyes, feeling his passion in those words, sensing his de
sire through their animal bond, Ami actually believed him, believed that she was beautiful to the one man on this planet whose opinion mattered more to her than any other’s.

  How was she ever going to walk away from him?

  Ezekiel was no fool. Something was going on with Amilynn and he knew it. His father called him earlier and told him about seeing Ami run from the house in leopard form as if she were chasing someone, then acting weird when she returned. Sampson had good instincts because, not ten minutes later, Ezekiel felt Ami’s fear rise up. He tried not to intrude, to let her have her privacy—until Vivian called him.

  “Listen to me, Z,” Vivian said. “Get your ass home and don’t let her out of your sight. Ami has something on her mind. She has no sense of self-preservation if it means protecting her family. She’ll walk right into Brian’s hands.”

  “Over my dead body,” Ezekiel growled. He wouldn’t put it past Ami. Not for a second.

  “That’s exactly what she’s afraid of. Brian is making his move and he coming after Ami. I guarantee it.”

  Ezekiel slapped his steering wheel, damning the red light that held him back. “I can feel her right now. She’s angry and trying to shut me out.”

  “Sampson said she was hiding something when she returned earlier. Get her out of her room and I’ll slip in to see what I can find. She’s going to run. I can feel it.”

  “Tyrone—”

  “No,” Vivian snapped. “Not a word to Tyrone until it’s time. Let’s see if she can lure Brian out.”

  “You want to use her as bait?”

  “It’s exactly what she’s trying to do. I know my best friend, Z. She’ll slaughter them.”

  Ezekiel could hardly believe that now as he sat on the edge of the tub and looked down at her sleek, sexy body. He had to give her credit; Ami was a good actress. She smiled and teased him. He asked about her day and she told him the truth as far as he could tell. Charles came to visit, she shifted for the first time since her attack, she and V went for a run, and here she was. Nothing about her venture into the woods, nothing that would make him worry. Ami strung him right along, protecting him from the truth. God love her, his fierce woman would walk right back into the hands of a true psychopath just to spare him and his family. And to think, she labeled herself as selfish.

  “You know, Doc Charles gave the all-clear.” Ami’s lips curved into a seductive smile. Ezekiel felt the effects of that smile right down to his cock. Ami sat up in the tub and ran a wet hand over his jean-clad leg. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me anymore.” Ami bit her bottom lip, and Ezekiel ran his hand down her cheek. His blood boiled and his jeans became a strangling barrier between him and his mate. She turned him on quicker than anything he’d ever experienced in his life.

  “Pussycat, are you trying to seduce me?”

  Ami’s hand rubbed over his crotch. “Not trying. Succeeding,” she purred.

  Ezekiel stood and kicked off his shoes under the watchful eyes of his mate. Amilynn licked her lips when he removed his jeans and boxers. “It makes a man feel mighty powerful when a woman looks at him like you’re doing now.”

  “I’m wondering how good you taste.”

  Ezekiel ripped his shirt over his head and stood naked before her. The lust in her eyes gave him courage he’d never had before. “Funny, I’ve been wondering the same thing about you, pussycat.”

  Ami crooked a finger at him and patted the edge of the tub. “Sit.” Ezekiel obeyed, his wolf more than willing to submit if it meant Ami’s lips around his cock.

  That was exactly what he received. Amilynn knelt and lowered her mouth to slip around him. That talented mouth that he loved to kiss had him panting within minutes. She sucked him deep and hard, stroking with her hand to aid in his pleasure. He buried his hand in her wet hair and rocked his hips in time with her head.

  “Ami, oh fuck, that feels good.” He let his head fall backwards and got lost in the sweet heat of her mouth.

  His leopardess dragged one hand down his chest and reached around to cup his ass, letting her claws come out just enough to add a tingle of pain to his pleasure. His thighs tightened, an orgasm coming on hard and fast, threatening to overtake him before he could get inside her the way he wanted.

  Ezekiel wasn’t careful as he yanked her hair back and looked into her flushed face. He could barely breathe as she met his eyes and licked up his cock with a final stroke. “Your turn, pussycat. I’m going to eat you up, then fuck you down.”

  It didn’t take much to lift her and trade places. He buried his head between her thighs and lapped up her up until she screamed his name, shattering in his mouth. Delicious, his wolf said in agreement. Ami collapsed against his shoulders, panting and sated. He wasn’t done.

  “Now, bend over.” Ezekiel had her on her hands and knees in the bathtub and pushed inside her swollen heat.

  “Z,” she moaned, stretching out a hand in front of her to brace herself on the wall. He set a fast pace that had water splashing out onto the floor. She was tight and hot, wrapped around him like a damn vise.

  His woman had been created to fit him; he was convinced. Nothing should feel this good—it was impossible, improbable. How could anyone live through the pleasure, how could anyone survive something so earth-shattering good? He had no idea sex could take him skyward, leave him floating in the clouds, drunk like a madman.

  Our mate, our mate pleases us, his wolf said, just as drunk as he was. She can make us feel everything deeper.

  Amilynn clenched around him and erupted into a sound that was half human, half leopard. Her claws dug into the wall, scraping the paint. Hell if he cared; that was some sexy shit. He pounded into her harder until they both grunted and gasped in a drawn-out orgasm that had him seeing double for a second.

  Ami’s shaking body slunk into the bath water and he collapsed right beside her.

  “Oh . . . my . . . God.” She panted the words, turning her body to snuggle into his chest. Just for his own kicks and giggles, Ezekiel reached down and flicked her clit. Her whole body spasmed and quaked. “Ezekiel, no, oh God, I can’t come again. I’ll—Oh, shit.”

  Ami bit into his chest, and he sucked a breath through clenched teeth. She rode out the orgasm, bucking against his palm. Her fist pounded on his chest. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?” She sucked on his nipple and clawed at his chest like the pussycat she was.

  “You’re not the only one whose experience can benefit this relationship,” he said with a cocky smirk.

  Ami met his eyes and he saw her cat staring back at him. His wolf rose to meet her. She rolled on top of him, her legs on either side of his. Ami kissed him like it was her last night on earth, deep and passionate, over and over until their lips were swollen and slick.

  He didn’t know how long they lay in the tub, making out and worshipping each other with a desire that couldn’t be contained or sated. The water was cold by the time they pulled away from each other.

  Ezekiel cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, Amilynn. Everything about you makes me love you more.”

  A smile that could make the stars jealous stretched across her face. Her cheeks reddened and her eyes sparkled with affection. “I love you too, caveman. I never thought it was possible for me to find a love like this and I’ll do anything to protect it.”

  That was exactly what he was afraid of.

  VIVIAN SEARCHED QUICKLY. The longer she stayed in Ami’s room, the heavier her scent would be. She sniffed every single item, looking for something that didn’t belong. Right off the bat, she noticed the shades were drawn over the windows. Amilynn never blocked out the sunlight, which led Vivian to believe Ami must’ve felt threatened. Vivian was careful not to cast a shadow over the windows. There were supposed to be sentinels guarding the house, but who knew?

  Finally, her cat said as it picked up on the smell of ink and metal and . . . pepper? Yup. Pepper. Underneath a quilt in the trunk at the foot of Ami’s bed, she recovered an envelope. Inside were pic
tures and a cell phone that logged only one call from an unknown number. Had to be Brian.

  She flipped through the pictures. “Damn it.” Vivian’s tiger hissed and clawed inside her. They had stalked everyone in the alpha family, even the twins. Some were taken from close proximity to the house. These pictures were all Amilynn would need to be goaded into action.

  Vivian let out a string of profanities that would’ve made the devil blush. She placed everything back in the envelope and put things back to normal. She got the hell out of there and tracked down Kasey. Brian had an accomplice in their backyard and someone was going to pay dearly for that betrayal.

  Kasey was in their suite, reading over some paperwork. He sat in his wingback chair and, as always, he stole her breath. She shook her head and focused on her mission. “We have a problem.” She pulled down the shades of his windows, glancing across the meadow to the tree line.

  “Kitten, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He stood and gripped her shoulders.

  “Brian sent Ami pictures of everyone in this family. Different times, different places. Some were taken from our own backyard. He’s here, Kasey, in our territory, stalking our family.” She hesitated before admitting, “I was followed the other day.”

  “What?” he growled.

  “When I came to town to deliver those papers. I went for a walk in the shopping district and I felt them surrounding me, stalking me, letting me know they could attack at any moment.”

  “Vivian.” Kasey’s face paled. He pulled her into his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me this immediately? Goddamnit, I can’t think about what could’ve happened.”

  “They’re watching us in our home, Kasey. Even the twins.”

  He shook his head. “I do rounds every morning religiously. If another feline was near the house, I would’ve scented them. Even if they used a high-powered lens, they’d have to come in range.”

  “Then you have a wolf with a camera in his medical pack.”