“What are you waiting for? I said whip him,” the suit ground out.
“Yes, sir,” the guard replied.
“You’re being disciplined for not saving the asset from being abducted even though you were locked in a cage.” The guard’s voice sounded a bit skeptical. He still lifted the whip and brought it down on Rim’s back.
“Again. Harder until I tell you to stop.” The suit sounded like he was getting off on the scene before him.
The guard raised his arms and whipped him continuously as Rim stood there taking the pain until his legs finally gave out and his body slumped and still he didn’t cry out.
“Enough,” the suit finally called.
The scene changed. Now Leza’s dead body lay on the ground. Tane was close to her but he was tearing Rim apart slowly making it last. To the left and the right were Dai and Jay who were taking apart the rest of his crew. The scene ended with Tane laid out over her body and Dai and Jay looking haunted.
The scene disappeared and Leza fell hard on the hood. Tane reached over and caught her making sure she didn’t roll off.
“Go ahead,” Rath said softly. “Shoot her.”
Chapter Thirty
Leza stared at Rim. There was no way she could change fast enough to be on him without taking a bullet to the chest. If what Rath showed them was true, it would be a deadly bullet to the chest. Instead, she pushed herself away from Tane because she wouldn’t put his life at risk. She would die so he could live.
No, she didn’t want to die. There was no way she could ever justify her life as meaning more than his. In fact, he was her life. Her reason to live.
“Don’t make her wait for death. Shoot. You’re simply prolonging your death. You’re tired and so are the males who follow your command. They want to be put out of their misery. Give them peace, give it to yourself. The ones who will suffer will be the living, but we already know that.”
Her eyes were glued to the gun in Rim’s hand. She followed it as he raised his hand, watched every shake and shudder as he aimed it at her heart.
One shot please, she silently prayed. Make it fast and clean.
“I’m so sorry, Tane.” Moisture rimmed her eyes for what she was going to miss. His smile, the sexy way his teeth clutched her bottom lip, that intense look he got in those beautiful eyes when he was thinking.
“I’m not letting you die.” He prepared his body to jump in front of hers.
“Please Love,” her voice sounded tortured. “I can’t live without you.”
“I’m sorry.” That came from Rim. His voice was shaky.
“Sorry for what? That you can’t handle being a shifter. Or sorry for the fact that your obviously beta and not alpha. I still don’t know what your crew sees in you,” Leza replied.
She sucked in a deep breath of air and took Tane’s hand one last time squeezing it tight. “I love you.”
Every eye turned to look at Rim as he began to tighten his finger on the trigger. Leza turned her face to look at Tane because she wanted him to be the last person she saw.
The loud noise of something hitting the ground caused her to look in Rim’s direction. The gun was on the ground in front of him and he was on his knees. His body had sagged but his shoulders were shaking. Was he crying?
“Rim?” She made to slide off the hood but Tane’s hands pulled her back.
“Rim, are you all right?” She couldn’t just ignore him crying. Turning her head, she looked at Tane imploring.
He gave a deep sigh and let her go. She slid off the SUV and walked over to him taking her time. Maybe this was all an act to kill her and hopefully live through it. It’s not like she had a reason to trust him. Her feet acted as traitors as they continued to take her to him.
She kicked the gun away to give herself a fighting chance. Placing her hand on his shoulders felt like she was locked into a private prison with him. His pain was real and it came out to capture her, threatening to never let her go.
He looked up at her with haunted eyes.
“Sorry,” the word was so low that she almost didn’t hear it. “The guards are close. You and your crew, they need to leave now if you want to make it out alive.”
“What about you and your crew?” she asked him rubbing his shoulder.
He shook his head but didn’t say anything.
“Are you crazy? Why would you just roll belly up and die.”
“What else can we do? Look at us. We’re so messed up none of us knows what to do.”
“Well here’s a start, live. Live! Rim, you owe it to yourself and your crew.”
She flashed him a small smile before she backed away. He was still on his knees when she climbed into the SUV.
“So we’re a crew now,” Jay said teasing her.
“Sounded good at the time,” she flashed her teeth at him.
They laughed while she looked out the window at Rath.
“Who are you?”
He gave her a huge smile. “I’m Rath, could have sworn I introduced myself earlier.”
She shook her head and then turned her attention back to Rim. “What’s going to happen to him?”
“In roughly three minutes I’m going to give him a memory that will drive him crazy. It will also force him off his knees and make him run like the devil is chasing him. His crew will follow and they will get the chance at a life they all feel they don’t deserve.”
“Why do you care?”
“Why do you?”
She opened her mouth to reply but Rath was gone. Rim screamed, stood up and ran. His crew was right there with him following him.
Tane turned the key and took off in the opposite direction gunning his way through the wild field.
*~*~*~*
Two days later…
Everything had changed. Leza took a look in the mirror of the hotel room they were in. Their destination was still a secret although Tane did tell her they were coming closer to it. The heaviness that was riding her shoulders disappeared. She no longer thought they were being followed. As far as being top of the most wanted list that probably changed when Rim and his crew made a run for it. Soon the government would be running thin, pulling its agents in so many different directions.
The red dress looked incredible on her. She couldn’t wait to dance the night away in Tane’s arms. He promised to take her to the hottest club in town.
It was funny to think about her old life. The life where she didn’t go out to parties or clubs. She was too consumed by her job and doing it well to really think about going out. Then there was the fact that she used to be a loner, but now she had Tane and his family had become hers.
There was a time she was so insecure about her body. Too small she used to think. Who wants someone who looks like her? Too much back pain. There were a thousand things she thought were wrong with her until she met Tane. He showed her there were a thousand and one things right with her.
“You ready?” Tane walked behind her so she could see him in the mirror.
He was wearing a sexy purple shirt. It hugged his chest giving her just enough of a view to let her and the rest of the world know his chest was hard and defined. The desire to strip it off of him was real. The shirt was tucked into a pair of beautiful grey pants that were cuffed. Cuffed. She had a secret fetish for cuffed pants. What she wanted to do on her hands and knees wouldn’t get them anywhere except to a bed.
“I’m ready.” She turned around and walked into his arms kissing him. He took her hand and walked her outside. They commandeered the SUV for the night.
He opened the door for her before jogging around to the driver’s side and getting in.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I’ve run into a few advertisements for this new underground night club that’s supposed to be nice. Dress to impress is what I keep hearing about it. I thought you might like something like that.”
“Shouldn’t we go get something to eat first?”
“I heard the place has a kitchen wi
th the best food in town. If you want we can go somewhere else first.”
“No, I want to give this a shot.”
“Perfect.” He shot her a smile as he drove a little faster. The city feel passed by giving way to suburbia. Somewhere between suburbia and rural he stopped.
Before them was a glitzy night club with a parking lot full of cars. Tane circled around finding the only spot opened that was almost in front of the front door.
“That’s a good sign.” He parked the SUV and got out to open her door.
“Or they’re expecting us,” Leza said after he left the vehicle. She slid into his arms when he opened the door like a gentleman. They walked to the club hand in hand.
“ID,” the man at the front door said.
“I don’t have any,” Leza said.
“No worries, hands. Yours too,” he said to Tane.
A small electric current shot through her hand making her look at the bouncer with worry in her eyes.
“You passed. Welcome.”
Leza’s eyes went wide when they walked in. It wasn’t what she expected after having been to the first Other club she was in. This one came with all the bells and whistles. It was sleek on the inside, giving you just enough light to see, but not enough to be harsh.
If a human walked in they would complain about it being dark but she could see perfectly in the dim lighting. The bar sat high on a platform and seemed to be stocked with every type of alcohol known to mankind or maybe she should say shifter-kind.
Tane showed her to a table before he went to the bar. He came back with a peach daiquiri easy on the alcohol for her and a beer for himself. She took a small sip not wanting to get brain freeze.
With a smile he took her to the dance floor and pulled her into his arms slow dancing with her. She could feel his obvious need as he ground into her.
When they got back to the table, the male from the first Other bar was sitting in a seat.
“I took the liberty of ordering dinner for the two of you.”
Tane’s eyes darkened. She placed her hand on his chest.
“Thanks. The name is Leza and this is Tane.”
“Your mate,” the male stated.
“Your name is…?”
“You may call me Talon.”
“How did we end up at an Other club, Talon?” Tane held out Leza’s chair before he took a seat.
“It seems you’re to be welcomed into the family.”
“The family?” Leza inquired.
“We’ve been watching the shifters the government has been making for a while now. Do they live or do they die has been the question?” Rath spoke standing beside Talon.
Leza shook her head because he hadn’t been there a minute ago. He placed the chair in his hand at the table and sat. A waitress came out with four plates of food before giving them a smile and walking off.
“It looks good.” She looked at the food with appreciation.
“Wait till you try it.” Talon lifted a bite to his lips.
“As Rath was saying. Your fate was up in the air. The two of you became the test. Either you would pass or fail.”
Tane ate in silence before turning to Leza with a casual look. “Love, did you take some internet course and forget to tell me about it?”
“I meant to tell you I had my fortune read. It said something about fighting for my life and possibly killing anyone that annoyed me.”
Tane nodded thoughtfully. “I do like the last part.”
Talon and Rath laughed low and deadly.
“The test was an easy one.” Rath took over. “What would happen when you were put in a situation that threatened your life.”
“Rim was going to kill me. I didn’t find that situation easy.”
“Still you were willing to sacrifice your life for your mate. Your mate was willing to allow you your own choices even though all he wanted to do was stand in front of you.”
“So what does any of this mean?” She took a deep breath because her panther was telling her to claw them.
“It means you’ll live.” Both males stood up.
Rath smiled sending chills up her spine. “You’ll see us again.”
They flashed out of sight without even turning around.
She looked down at her empty plate. The food was good, the dance was even better, but all she wanted to do was leave this place.
They were on a journey to the place they would call home and she wanted to get there. Decorate the house. Scream at the males about taking off their shoes. Spend endless nights in Tane’s arms. She could do without dealing with Others who had more power than they needed.
Tane took her hand and they left the nightclub to find the parking lot empty.
“Let’s make a pact,” Tane said as Leza climbed into the SUV.
“Tell me.”
“We stay as far away from Talon and Rath as possible. We avoid Other night clubs. We go to our new home and forget the rest of the world exists.”
Leza reached over and shook his free hand. “Let’s not forget the part where you love me forever.”
Now it was time to find their new place in the world and live the life that had been denied them. She reached over and placed her hand on his leg.
“Forever, Love.”
Back matter
I loved writing this story. The characters got in my head and wouldn’t let me go. Even now they are whispering to me, telling me there is more to come. If you love these characters the way I do, please let me know!
Connect with me
You can find me at my website
I’m also on twitter at @serena789books
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Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1) Page 19
