Emerson’s stomach immediately soured. She swallowed hard as Ronin said, “Kat, you should go with them.”
“We’ve talked about this already. I’m staying,” Kat said.
“I should stay too,” Emerson said. “I can fight, Kat. I killed those shifters on the mountain.” A shudder wracked her body at the memory of their blood in her mouth. She was grateful for Clay’s touch when he took her hand under the table.
“It’s safer for you not to be here,” Kat said. “Wilson can’t kill you if he doesn’t know where you are.”
“It doesn’t feel right,” Emerson said. “Just leaving you here to fight my battles while I’m safely tucked away. If something happens to you tonight, Kat, I…”
“Nothing will happen to her.” Ronin’s face had turned serious, and his voice was hard.
Kat reached across the table and squeezed Em’s arm. “Honey, this is what we do, remember? We keep people safe. Let me do my job. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Emerson said.
Chapter 20
“Terminator, this is Wrecker. I am in position.”
“Copy, Wrecker. Destroyer, are you in position?”
“Copy, Terminator. Destroyer is in position.”
“Copy that, Destroyer. Uprising, are you in position?”
“Copy, Terminator. Uprising is in position.”
“Team leader, this is Terminator. We are in position.”
“Copy, Terminator. Hold your positions,” Alan said. He rolled his eyes before glancing at the man next to him. “Who the fuck gives these guys their code names?”
Derek grinned at him. “You know they all got drunk one night and decided to give each other what they think are badass names.”
Alan snorted. “They’re all idiots.”
“True, but they’re great at killing.” Derek scanned the front yard of the jaguar shifter’s house from their vantage point behind a large oak tree in the neighbour’s yard. It was almost two in the morning, and even with the streetlights, darkness shrouded the jaguar’s house.
“What are you looking for?” Alan said. “And why the fuck do you smell so nervous?”
Derek shrugged. “Just looking for more of their security.”
“You’re a human,” Alan said. “You can’t see shit in the dark.”
Derek just shrugged again. “Maybe I don’t have the night vision that a leopard shifter like you does, but I’m not completely fucking useless.”
“Never said you were, don’t be so sensitive,” Alan said. “Besides, the only security is the one sitting in that car over there.” He pointed to the blue, non-descript car parked across the street. “And that motherfucker’s been asleep since one.”
“He could be faking,” Derek said as he squinted at the shadowy figure in the front seat.
“I can hear that fucking cheetah snoring from here,” Alan said. “There isn’t any security around the house.”
“Lots of places for them to hide.” Derek studied the thick trees that bracketed the back and left side of the house.”
“Are you forgetting,” Alan made a face, “that the entire team, except for you, are shifters? They would have smelled them when they were getting into position. All they’re smelling are human females.”
“You don’t think that’s a little fucking strange?” Derek said.
Alan let his annoyance show on his face. “No, I fucking don’t. These motherfuckers living here,” he pointed to the neighbour’s house, “could be human females. Or a bunch of human bitches could have had a picnic in the fucking woods earlier today. What the fuck does it matter? Even if they had human females watching over those two bitches in the house, they don’t stand a chance against us.”
“There’s a guy too. A shifter,” Derek said.
“A fucking bird shifter,” Alan said. “Terminator caught his scent earlier when the asshole took the garbage out. Bird shifters are fucking useless. He might as well be a human.”
He glanced at Derek. “No offense.”
Derek grimaced. “Whatever. Just remember that Granger’s secretary killed two shifters, so maybe she and her sister aren’t that helpless.”
“They’re asleep in their beds, secure that this idiot,” Alan jerked his head in the direction of the sleeping cheetah shifter, “will keep them safe. We go in. We use the dart guns to suppress their shifting. We kill them, we leave. Simple.”
Derek glanced at the gun in Alan’s hand. “It doesn’t bother you that you’re using a suppressant on your kind?”
“Better them than me,” Alan said. “Let’s get this fucking done.” He pressed on the device in his ear. “Terminator, this is Team Leader. Operation Jaguar Roast is a go.”
“Jaguar Roast,” Derek snorted.
Alan ignored him, scowling when there was no response in his ear. “Terminator, this is Team Leader. Respond. Over.”
The seconds ticked by, and an uneasy feeling slid into Alan’s guts. “Uprising, do you have eyes on Terminator?”
“Team leader,” the voice was unfamiliar and tinged with sardonic humour, “this is Pretty Bird. Uprising can’t take your call right now, but if you’d like to leave a message, I’ll make sure he gets it.”
“What the fuck?” Alan said as the scent of Derek’s surprise washed over him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“I told you… Pretty Bird.”
His heart doing double time, his leopard growling and snarling, Alan said, “Destroyer, Wrecker, do you have eyes on Uprising and Terminator?”
“Negative,” Wrecker’s voice said into his ear. “We do not have… “
A loud growling filled Alan’s ear.
“The fuck is that…” Wrecker’s voice went high and pitchy with fear. “Jesus Christ, is that a fucking polar bear? Destroyer, behind you! Watch out… fuck!”
Wrecker’s voice cut out, and Alan’s leopard roared to be free. He held it back grimly as he barked, “Wrecker! Destroyer! Do you copy? Answer me, goddammit.”
“Gee, I wish they could, but Big White and Papa Bear are having a talk with them about why it’s always a terrible idea to work for the bad guy,” the man’s voice drawled into his ear.
“Fuck!” Alan snarled before glancing at Derek. “You take the left side of the house. I’ll take the right.”
“Tell Little Red Riding Hood over there to watch out for the Big Bad Wolf,” the voice in Alan’s ear said.
“Alan?” Derek said before a large grey wolf leaped out of the darkness and landed on Derek with a heavy thud, knocking him back into the dark shadows of the neighbour’s house. Derek made a high-pitched scream before falling silent.
“Here, kitty, kitty. Incoming, sweetheart,” the man’s voice in Alan’s ear was high and mocking.
Alan spun around, staring wild-eyed at the cheetah shifter from the car. He was already halfway across the road, his big body swelling as fur sprouted from his skin. Alan’s leopard fought for control as Alan raised the dart gun and fired at the cheetah shifter.
Like all cheetahs, he was incredibly fast. Alan muttered a curse when the shifter dodged to the right, and the dart missed its intended mark. Alan’s leopard howled, and he let it push its way to the front, his muscles flexing and swelling as dark golden fur covered his body.
Before Alan could fully shift, the cheetah shifter leaped and landed on him with a bone rattling thud, knocking the dart gun from his hand and driving him into the oak tree. His skull bounced off the trunk, pain sliced across the back of his head, and darkness descended.
“Alan. Wake up. Time to open those pretty eyes of yours, sweetheart.”
His head aching, his mouth bone dry, Alan blinked open his eyes. He stared at the bird shifter crouching next to him. He had reddish brown hair and tattoo-covered arms bulging with muscle. The bird grinned at him, revealing a deep dimple in his left cheek. “Hey there, sweetie. How do you feel?”
“Wha’ the fuck… where are the others?” Alan sat up and then tried to stand, freezing when the bird shifte
r pressed the muzzle of the dart gun against his forehead.
“Shh, sweetheart. No moving now, or I’ll dart you again.”
“Again?” Alan said. For the first time, he realized he couldn’t feel his leopard. The panic growing inside him, he called for the beast, moaning low in his throat when nothing happened. His leopard yowled in misery, but the sound was muffled and distant.
“What have you done?” Alan said.
His cat yowled again as the bird shifter tapped him on the forehead with the gun before pointing to Alan’s thigh with the dart lodged in it. “Just gave you and your boys over there a chance to test out your boss’s new toy. Because I’m fun like that.”
Alan looked to his right. His men were lined up in a neat row in the shadow of the jaguar’s house, their backs pressed against the wall. Derek was the only one without a dart in his leg, and he stared accusingly at Alan before Alan’s gaze skittered to the four men and one woman standing close by.
Two of the men were massive. Alan figured they both had to be close to seven feet, if not taller. The third was the blond cheetah shifter from the car. Alan inhaled in the fourth man’s direction, but he’d lost all of his shifting abilities and caught no scent from the man. Still, he had to be the wolf shifter who’d attacked Derek. The woman was one of their targets – the sister of the bitch jaguar who killed Randy and Thomas.
“How?” he croaked. “We should have smelled you, should have -”
“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it, sweetheart?” the bird shifter said. “Was it witchcraft, was it alien technology, maybe it was -”
“Ronin,” the female jaguar cut him a look, and the bird shifter grinned.
“Sorry, Kitten.” He turned back to Alan. “How do you hide a wolf shifter, a grizzly bear shifter, and,” he glanced up at the giant blond man, “an enormous Canadian polar bear? That’s what you want to know, right?”
Alan swallowed hard. His leopard’s mournful muffled cries made him jumpy and a little unhinged. “Yeah, that’s – that’s what I want to know.”
“Simple, really,” Ronin said. “We ask their pretty little human mates to rub them down with their clothing. Or maybe they rubbed them down with their pretty little -”
Both the grizzly bear and the polar bear made warning growls deep in their throats. Ronin grinned at them. “My apologies, boys.”
Ronin winked at Alan. “Big White and Papa Bear don’t like anyone to talk about their ladies. Hell, even look at their ladies. You get what I’m saying, right?”
When Alan didn’t answer, Ronin cocked his head and studied him in the dim light coming from the quarter moon. “You know what I’m going to do, Alan? I’m going to let you and your boys go on back to your master with your tails between your legs. Well, metaphorically speaking, since not one of you can shift for a while.”
He grinned at Alan’s moan of dismay. “Cheer up, sweetheart. It could be worse. It could be permanent, right? Anyway, I’ll let you go because I’m a nice guy and because I don’t want to hose an ocean of blood off the front lawn.”
He leaned closer to Alan, the smile on his face fading away. “Look at me, Alan. I need you to look me right in the eye, sweetheart.”
Alan stared into Ronin’s steely gaze. Fear made his balls shrink, and his breath escape his lungs in a harsh rush as the look on Ronin’s face turned to that of a cold and ruthless killer. “If you ever go near my lady or her sister again, I will kill you and your entire fucking family. Do you believe me, Alan?”
Alan nodded. Ronin leaned in until he was only inches from his face. “I’ll need to hear you say the words, Alan.”
“I believe you,’ Alan whispered.
The coldness dropped from Ronin’s face and the grin popped back into place. He booped Alan on the nose and stood. “Good. Now, you and your boys get outta here, ya big dumb dope.”
Alan staggered to his feet, staring warily at Ronin and the others. His men clustered in a loose circle at the lawn edge, all with the same look of weary defeat Alan knew was printed all over his face.
“Oh, one more thing, sweetheart,” Ronin called as they started down the street. Alan turned, swallowing hard when Ronin’s grin turned cold again.
“Tell your boss we’re coming for him.”
Chapter 21
Emerson stared blankly at the television in Clay’s apartment. Some old sitcom played but neither she nor Clay watched it. It was just noise for the sake of noise. It was close to three in the morning, and she felt like an overstrung violin. Not even Clay’s hand gently kneading and massaging the back of her neck worked to relax the tense muscles.
Her worry for Kat and the others was the only thing she could focus on. Not even her usual overwhelming desire to fuck Clay the minute she was alone with him could penetrate the thick fog of fear that coated her. Fully expecting Clay to seduce her, she was surprised when he hadn’t tried to coax her into his bed as soon as they arrived at his apartment.
He’d been the perfect gentlemen, even making her a cup of tea before leading her to the living room to sit on the expensive leather couch and watch meaningless television. She’d curled into him, grateful for his solid presence and his touch. But as the hours ticked by, her stomach grew tighter and tighter, and her worry built until her jaguar paced restlessly within her and demanded in a constant litany to return to Kat.
She swallowed hard, checking her phone for what felt like the millionth time. “They should have tried to attack them by now, right?”
“Maybe,” Clay said, his fingers working at a knot at the base of her neck.
“What if something’s gone wrong,” she said. “What if they sent too many men after them. What if Kat is hurt or dying or -”
“Shh, baby,” Clay said. “Your sister is okay.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “She hasn’t answered my last text, and it’s been half an hour. We should go back there. Take me back, Clay.”
“No, Em. It’s not safe.”
“She’s my sister,” Emerson said before a low growl slipped from her throat. “She needs me.”
“She has her mate and the others,” Clay said. “Plus, I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself. I know it’s hard, but try to relax and -”
Her phone rang in her hand, and relief flooded through her when she saw Kat’s number. She hit the answer button and put it on speaker. “Kat? You’re on speaker. Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Kat said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s done, Emmy. They showed up about half an hour ago, and we took care of it.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No,” Kat said. “We’re all fine. It was easy because they underestimated us.”
“How many did he send?” Clay said.
“Only half a dozen. All of them shifters but one. They had dart guns with the suppressant and,” Kat paused, “other guns as well.”
“You’re sure you’re okay, Kat?” Emerson’s stomach churned.
“Positive. I didn’t even leave the house.” There was something close to disappointment in Kat’s voice. “Only one of them even fired off a shot. He used the dart gun on Fenton.”
“Shit,” Emerson said. She’d only met the cheetah shifter a few days ago, but she hated that he was hurt trying to help her.
“I should say tried to use it on him,” Kat said. “Fenton saw it coming and dodged the dart.”
“Seriously?” Clay said.
“Yeah. Fenton’s a cheetah and fast as hell. We didn’t kill any of them. We darted all of the shifters with the serum and sent them back to Granger with a message to leave you alone,” Kat said.
“He won’t,” Clay said.
“Yeah, we know. But at least he knows he’s not dealing with a bunch of amateurs. It’ll give us some breathing room for a few days, I think. Clay, did you speak to your friend?”
“I texted her. No reply yet,” Clay said.
“Let me know when you hear from her. Emmy, ar
e you staying the night with Clay?” There was no judgment in Kat’s voice, and Emerson felt a surge of love for her younger sister.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll come back to your house in the morning.”
“Probably better if you stay at his apartment for now,” Kat said. “I have a meeting at the office at ten that I can’t miss, and I don’t want you here alone. Hell, I don’t want you anywhere alone at this point. Clay, you good with her crashing at your place?”
“You know I am,” Clay said.
Kat yawned. “I’m heading to bed. I love you, Emmy.”
“I love you too, Kat. I’m sorry for -”
“Don’t,” Kat said. “Don’t apologize. None of this is your fault. Good night, honey.”
“Night, Kat.”
Emerson ended the call and sank back into the couch, staring up at Clay. “They’re okay.”
“They are,” he said.
She leaned over and kissed him. He returned her kiss, and the chasteness of it quickly disappeared. Purring, she ran her hands under Clay’s shirt and traced her fingers across the hard expanse of his abdomen.
Now that Kat and the others were safe, she was almost desperate to be in Clay’s bed. She nipped at his bottom lip and purred to him again. “Let’s go to bed, Clay.”
She stood, and he took her hand, following silently to his bedroom. When she reached for his shirt, he caught her hands. “Emerson, are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’ll never be the man you want me to be,” he said.
She swallowed down her reply. Telling Clay he already was the man she wanted him to be wouldn’t make him believe it even though it was true. She liked him for who he was, and despite his past, she knew he was a good man. A good man who’d made mistakes but was trying to atone for them now, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Like him or love him?
Her jaguar purred and trilled. She was already entirely convinced that Clay was their mate. Emerson couldn’t deny that her feelings for Clay weren’t just as intense. Maybe she was making the same impulsive choices she’d always made when it came to men, but it didn’t feel that way.
Rise of the Jaguar Page 21
