Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1)

by Serena Simpson

  “Yeah. I think they do it to all the soldiers. I had forgotten until I could almost taste the toxin they were using on you. It all came back. Hopefully, whatever Rath shot them up with will help,” Dai said.

  “Stay Leza, it’s not that bad here. You’ll be safe here,” Rim said, still not believing what he knew.

  Tane roared trying to put Leza behind him, but she clung to his chest.

  “She’s mine.” His voice was deadly.

  He put her in back of him and headed to the door. The others followed him keeping watch on the men in the cages.

  Rath led them back to the entrance they came through only to be greeted with more soldiers when they exited the building.

  Dr. Baker was standing there with a grin on his wrinkled face. “I knew you would come for her. I told them that, but they thought I was too old to know better. Leza, my Leza I am never letting you go again.”

  “Kill them and take her to my lab,” he ordered the guards.

  “Dr. Baker, thank you for coming out. Leza thought she wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye to you.”

  Dr. Baker’s chest puffed out at Tane’s words as if he really believed he meant something to Leza.

  “What Tane was trying to say delicately is that I plan to kill you for every touch of your hands on my body.” She smiled at him as the guards cocked their weapons.

  Rath looked around taking in the guards before looking at Tane. “It’s your op.”

  Tane nodded and took in the guards. Their faces were hard. He searched for signs of fear but there was none. A weapon seemed to be the only thing they needed to feel secure.

  “The other guards are dead, but you don’t have to be.” He’d give them a chance. He didn’t know them, they could be decent wanting nothing more than to do their jobs and go home to their family.

  “Doesn’t work like that for us. We knew what we were signing up for when we took this job. It’s your life or ours, and we’re not ready to die,” one of the guards said.

  Tane nodded and started to lift his hands. He reached for his knife and threw it at the guard who spoke. It struck deep into his chest. He fell, his gun going off as his finger pulled the trigger on his way down.

  *~*~*~*

  Chaos broke loose as guns were fired. Bodies hit the ground. Leza ignored everything that was happening and trained her eyes on Dr. Baker who had separated himself from the violence surrounding them.

  She stalked him as he took big steps backwards. There was nowhere for him to hide unless he made it to the tree line.

  “Run, little rabbit.”

  He ran, stumbling to turn around and made a mad dash for the trees. She moved to go after him but her skin hurt. Her clothes were too tight. An irritation was growing until she began to claw her way out of what she was wearing.

  She dropped to the ground allowing the wind to soothe her. Her body doubled over and she clutched her stomach feeling a burning.

  I’m dying. Her animal laughed at her as it panted, fighting her. You’re not. Let me out.

  She flexed her fingers letting them turn into claws. Let me out!

  She rolled up onto her hands and knees as her back arched and her spine broke. The pain brought a whimper to a throat that seemed incapable of making human sounds.

  Her torso changed, rounded. Her arms and her legs broke and reconfigured. Fire covered every inch of her until she was flat on the ground panting as the fire retreated leaving her a new body.

  Looking around her vision had changed. She tried to look at herself. She was in the body of an animal, a sleek cat, lithe and graceful. She wasn’t even in the driver’s seat although she could be if she wanted to. Her animal moved shaky at first. Then better as if she did this every day. They walked until they were running heading toward the woods.

  The wind rustled the fine hair on her body making her want to stop and enjoy the pleasure of it. The wind tickled in a way she never felt when she was in skin. Her hearing was acute. The sounds of her prey stumbling through the woods came to her in an instant. Her whiskers twitched and she ran in the direction of her prey. Today would be the last time he ever humiliated or sexually assaulted a female. The feel of her muscles contracting and expanding as she ran floored her with amazement. The quietness of her body as it went through the trees not making a sound on the downed branches underneath her paws was exhilarating. She could change, her human side crowed.

  The thought of changing had scared her, made her think if ever her body truly shifted any humanity left in it would be gone. She was wrong. Her heart that beat in her long lean body still held love, compassion, joy and friendship as well as the age old demon that wanted to kill those who hurt her or others. She was just as human, maybe more so because now she could do something other than idly sit by as the wickedness of the world marched past her.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Leza’s powerful legs pumped as she hunted Dr. Baker. Her animal would find him and reveal herself before fading back into the darkness of the trees. His fear was in her nostrils as she played a game of hide and seek.

  “Leza, please. You were always my favorite. My special girl.” His shaky voice pleaded from the shadows.

  If she could have snorted in this form she would have, instead a long hiss of disdain came from her animal. The horrors and the lies she suffered at his hands played through her mind.

  He hurt us. Yes, she agreed with her animal. The only justice was to put him out of his misery. Their misery.

  She revealed herself. He was leaning against a tree panting hard. When she roared he looked up, fear crumbling his face before he began stumbling through the darkness again.

  End him! Her animal cocked its head before agreeing. The playful mode of casual terror peeled away and she began to stalk him in earnest, death on her mind.

  Cornering him was easy. He was leaning against another tree, a stitch in his side as he bent over. Lifting his head, he looked into her animal’s eyes and there was no compassion there.

  He pulled a small gun from the waist of his pants. “Today we die together.”

  She jumped at him as he tried to raise his hand to point at her. Landing on his stomach, she swiped at him while she took his neck in her mouth biting down and shaking her head until he stopped moving.

  Backing off, she stood over him and looked down at his lifeless body. Feel regret, she pleaded with herself. All she could see was her waking up tied down to a table as he informed her everything she ever loved, he killed. Her precious pets the only thing living that reminded her of her parents, and he killed them.

  Then the picture of his hands moving over her body in the name of science and government made her want to scrub her skin over and over. There was no remorse. Maybe she was the monster he claimed her to be.

  She turned around to walk away and ran into Tane and his men. They were looking at her, not shocked or disgusted, but with pride in their eyes.

  “Your panther is beautiful.” Tane’s voice held an edge of awe to it.

  She opened her mouth in a roar. A panther, huh? She liked it.

  “You’re sleek with a beautiful black coat. And you’re graceful and playful. I watched you. You were fast when you went in for the kill. You’re not a monster, Leza. He had enough time to ask forgiveness, beg for a second chance, anything. He had the opportunity, and he wasted it. He died for what he chose to do. You were simply the instrument of justice.”

  Tane, her Tane. He knew exactly what to say. She went to him and rubbed up against his legs. Visions of them roaming the woods together formed in her mind, but they had to go. Looking up at him, her body turned towards the SUV.

  “You’re right, we need to leave.”

  He turned and began to run. She kept pace as the others ran with them until they reached safety. She hunched down and wondered how to change back.

  “Picture your human body and relax.” The voice that instructed her was foreign to her.

  Closing her eyes, she pictured her body. Electricity f
lowed over her as her body broke apart and reshaped itself.

  A male she didn’t know was standing there holding a shirt and a pair of pants that she gratefully took.

  “How did you do that?” Jay asked curiosity lacing his voice.

  “If you live long enough and embrace who you were meant to be, you’ll be surprised at what you can do.” Rath’s voice was indulgent. “You need to leave now.”

  “What about Rim and his men?” Leza felt like she hadn’t spoken for years.

  “They will have to follow their own path. I have done all I can do for them. What comes next is up to them. They have a real chance thanks to you, Leza, for stirring their animals

  She nodded and slipped into the back seat of the car. Tiredness was weighing her down.

  “Come with us,” Tane issued the invitation.

  “Not now. I will see you again. Fate has seen fit that our paths will cross again.”

  Rath stood to the side as they piled into the car. Dai took the driver’s seat pulling off after the last door shut. He watched Rath who was there one second and gone the next.

  “Who is he, Tane?” Jay asked.

  “I wish I knew.”

  Leza stretched out laying her head on Tane’s lap and closed her eyes falling asleep as they followed the path through the trees back to the road.

  *~*~*~*

  A happy little hum went through Leza as she stretched. Her head was pillowed on Tane’s leg right next to his massive erection. She moved just a little so that her cheek would brush it.

  Tane gave a little growl that made its way through her body to touch her secret places. Mmm, this was nice, she liked the feeling. Her lower lips were tightening inviting him. Her heart was wide open and ready for him to claim her, to lock her soul up in his and never let her go.

  Now they had time, something they didn’t have before. She arched her back like the big cat she was and managed to rub against him. His fingers splayed over her stomach burning holes through the shirt she wore and intensifying her desire for him.

  “Hold still, She cat,” he whispered lowering his lips to her ears.

  She bit her lip to stop the soft chuckle from escaping. She would give him She cat. With a quick plant of her feet against the seat of the vehicle and a twist of her back, she turned over so her face was now buried in his crouch.

  His sudden inhalation of breath combined with the muscles over his abs rippling almost did her in. Ignoring the fact that the boys were in the front seat and suddenly very quiet she took her fingers and stroked the length of his material clad cock. With a devious smile, she leaned over and placed her mouth around him and sucked just a bit.

  A long hiss of pleasure came from his lips as his hand wrapped her hair, shaking as he fought for control. He pushed her head down trying to get her closer to his cock.

  “Smells like pheromones and sex in here.” Dai’s voice emerged thick.

  “I’m jealous. Are you jealous?” Jay asked Dai as he sat with his hands folded in his lap trying to hide his reaction.

  “You can’t be jealous, that’s Tane mate,” Dai responded casting Jay a sideways look.

  “I’m not jealous of Leza. I’m jealous Tane got somebody to rub his…”

  Dai gave a big guff of a laugh. “Well, when you put it that way. Hell yeah, I’m jealous.”

  “Good to know. I didn’t want to be the only one with blood in unexpected places.

  Dai reached down to adjust himself as discretely as possible. “You’re not the only one.” The quiet confession came from him.

  They pulled off the main highway into a medium town looking for a gas station.

  Leza raised her head looking out the window. This place was quaint not small enough to scream everyone knows your secrets, but not big enough to proclaim you are nothing but a number.

  “Let’s stay for a night,” Leza said her eyes on Tane. “I need clothes. After that we can go have a meal where we are not being watched and end the night in a real bed.

  The smile she cast Tane at the last part was sheer gold. She knew what she wanted to do in a bed and it wasn’t sleep.

  Tane’s hand stroked through her hair before his chin jutted upward and his head moved in agreement. “All right, let’s stop and spend the night here.

  Dai’s eyes jerked upward until he was looking into the rearview mirror catching Tane’s eyes in a glare that shouted ‘are you crazy?’

  “If we aren’t being followed then taking the time to shop and relax won’t hurt. If we are being followed, then this will encourage them to make a move thinking that we are unaware.” Tane lifted an eyebrow challenging Dai.

  Dai shrugged and lowered his eyes hiding a smile. Leza raised her head and discreetly coughed into her hand hiding the laughter bubbling in her throat.

  She was sure Tane agreed to stop for her because although she didn’t say it she needed the break. A part of her was desperate to feel normal because she had just turned into a huge beautiful panther. Not some cute little cuddly animal either. She was bigger than any panther she ever saw at the zoo or on a wildlife video. If a hunter bagged her, he’d have bragging rights for the rest of his life.

  She was truly the monster they called her. Funny how she was glad her parents weren’t here to see this. Her mom though would wrap her arms around her and say ‘I don’t care what you are. You’re still my baby girl.’ Yeah that’s how her mom always rolled. Her dad would offer to take the government apart with his bare hands after he hugged her real tight and reassured her she was the prettiest princess on the face of the Earth.

  Neither of them would see her as anything other than their little girl. Now she wished they were here so she could hold them tight and cry her eyes out in the comfort of their arms. Wrapping her arms around Tane’s waist, she buried her head and allowed tears to roll for what was done to her in the name of science. One life for the many. She may not like it but that’s how the government justified it.

  Tane’s hand reached down. He strummed his finger through her hair caressing her scalp, making her feel loved and cherished. Just what her heart craved.

  With a lift of her head, she kissed his stomach conveying a thank you and a promise at the same time. She blinked her eyes and let the last tear fall. His fingers touched her face capturing it. He brought it to his lips and tasted it like it was a rich liquor.

  A smile crossed her face as she watched him validate her emotions and thoughts, both the good and the bad. He was worth whatever hell she would have to go through to keep him.

  “Hey,” Jay’s voice rang out. “Do you remember that time Leza was held in this facility that looked like a penal compound?” There was a slight smile in his voice.

  “I remember there was some flying dinosaur watching over it,” Dai chimed in.

  “Was that the place with the really bad food and service?” Leza asked hiding a smile in her voice.

  “That’s the place,” Jay’s voice raised. “Anyone remember what happened?”

  “We kicked ass and managed to get eaten by the dinosaur?” Dai speculated happily.

  Tane shook his head, “Nope that’s not what happened.”

  “We infiltrated the camp, released Leza, and got away without a trace,” Jay said, looking like he was the winner.

  “Nope,” Tane said with a shake of his head.

  “Well,” Dai and Jay growled at him. “What happened?”

  With a wide smile for all to see. “Leza turned into a badass panther and stole my heart for all eternity.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  She stole his heart forever. Leza was still walking on air or was that rainbows and sunsets and all the things lovers chased that she never dared dream about. Tane replaced Dai in the driver’s seat when they came into town. He drove around like he was memorizing the place until the found a quaint motel. One with two stories that consisted of rooms that opened up to the parking lot. He and Dai went in and rented rooms while Leza and Jay stayed in the SUV and joked around.
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br />   After that Tane told them to go and get the supplies they would need as well as anything they needed personally. Then he took her hand and said you’re coming with me. They ended up in a small clothing boutique. That was the moment she almost felt the need to sink to her knees and thank God for making every woman feel like she needed a store like this in her town no matter how small it was.

  He was amazing. Picking up outfits for her telling her how beautiful they would look on her. And the man loved some lingerie. She was sure she didn’t need as many bras and matching undies as she got. Truly she would have protested if his green eyes hadn’t turned dark and needy making her warm and wet between her legs.

  Heck, she had looked around the store wondering if the sales woman or the other customers could tell. Instead she found them watching him with expressions of need on their faces. The desire to kill and maim came immediately. Because she wasn’t a monster, she chose to walk up to him, hips swinging. Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him until his knees were weak.

  They call her a monster. If the looks those women gave her could do damage she would be dead.

  *~*~*~*

  She looked around the motel room. There was a huge king sized bed. This is the honeymoon suite Tane told her when he brought her in the first time.

  The room was done up in shades of gold a little too glaring for her taste but at least it was bright. There was a night stand on each side of the bed and a door that led off to a surprisingly nice bathroom. A large closet and a bureau for clothes. A side sitting area and a flat screen television on the wall, as well as a mini fridge.

  That was where she was now. Her head was popped into the mini fridge and her hand was hovering over a can of soda as she tried to list her reasons for not drinking it again.

  “Maybe you should ask your panther if you should drink that.” Tane was lying on the bed staring at her.