by Maddy Barone
“You’re awake at last,” the man said, wrapping his arm more tightly around her middle. “I was worried.”
She forced herself to not claw at his arm. “Who are you?”
“Your mate.”
“Kit?” She craned her head to peer over her shoulder at him in the dim light. Yes, she could see traces of the lion man who had kidnapped her. The caramel colored hair that fell past his shoulders and his strangely bright, yellow-green eyes were familiar. The wide mouth with the gently curved lower lip and the soft shape of his face were not. He looked too young and soft to be the cat creature who had hurt her, and stolen her.
“Yes,” he said, sounding pleased. He bent his nose to the nape of her neck and inhaled deeply, just the way Uncle Taye did to Aunt Carla sometimes. “You slept such a long time.”
His tongue touched the side of her throat, licking up to her jaw. Panic sent her into a frantic scramble to get away from him. “Let me go!”
The happy pleasure died from his face, replaced by something dark. His arm clamped painfully over her waist, yanking her back. “No,” he said flatly.
“You have to! I’m freezing.”
“I’ll give you sex. That will warm you up.”
“No!”
She kicked and clawed, trying to get free, but it was hopeless. He looked slender, but he was as strong as a wolf warrior. He wrestled her face first into the blankets and crushed her beneath him. Her flailing arms failed to hurt him, no matter how hard she tried to strike the man trapping her under his weight. When he spoke, his voice sounded regretful.
“You prefer rough sex? But you’re so easily broken. Wouldn’t you rather cuddle?”
“Get off me!”
Her voice was muffled against the blanket. She struggled to buck him off, but she couldn’t budge him. Were his hands actually fumbling to pull her panties down? How did he dare to treat her like this? She had never felt a man’s bare body pressed against hers. Even Rob hadn’t taken off her clothes in his father’s stable. It made her feel horrifyingly vulnerable, and that helpless feeling sent fury surging through her.
“Stop!” she screamed. “Kit, stop it right now!”
His teeth fastened on her shoulder, near her neck, with a growl that vibrated through her like a drum in a parade. Or maybe that was her heart pounding? His teeth hurt, but the pain was drowned by fear as he managed to pull her panties down her thighs. When he tried to shove her legs open the panties snapped taut, preventing her legs from opening more than a few inches
“Stop, Kit!” Olivia hated the tears that fear and desperation forced into her voice. “Please!”
The skin and muscle of her shoulder throbbed when his teeth left her. His breath blew in hot, furious pants over her ear and neck. She should have thought to say please sooner. It had worked before.
Olivia struggled to lift her mouth from the blanket. “Kit,” she began, and then realized her “please” hadn’t been what stopped Kit.
A shadow blocked the sun from the front of the cave. Kit’s weight left her in a silent bound that put him between her and the cave mouth. Olivia jerked her panties back up and fumbled to pull one of the blankets free to wrap around herself to hide her nakedness. Kit didn’t seem bothered by his nakedness, but it was clear he was bothered by the faceless, black silhouette at the front of the cave. He snarled something in that slurred language, his voice so distorted by his rage that Olivia couldn’t decipher the words. The shadowy figure said something in calm reply. Olivia blinked with surprise at the feminine voice. When Kit snarled again, the woman’s voice rose to a whiplash of command.
“You brought a female to our pride? A human female?” the woman demanded.
At least, that’s what it sounded like to Olivia.
“Mahmade.”
Kit’s voice was a low, dangerous growl, his body crouched as if ready to spring. Behind him, Olivia cast her eyes around for her clothes. Her jeans and shirt had never seemed to be protection before, but right now she was agonizingly aware of being vulnerable without them. She saw them folded a few yards away, and her knife was a beautiful thing, peeking from under her shirt.
“You, human girl.” The woman’s voice was as confident and commanding as an Alpha’s. Was she the cats’ Lupa? “Come here.”
“No!” screamed Kit. “Mahmayde sday wid me!”
He was nuts. Only a crazy man would scream at his Alpha female like that. Olivia edged toward her clothes, flicking a cautious eye between Kit and the woman, desperately wanting to be dressed before the Lupa exploded.
“Girl! I said come here.”
“Yes, ma’am. Just let me get dressed.”
“Hurry.” When Kit let out a bone rattling roar, the woman snapped in perfectly spoken English, “Shut up, Kit. You brought her to the pride. She’s my business now.”
As Olivia fumbled her way into her pants, she was transfixed by the sight of Kit growing several inches and hair sprouting over his back. His change was nothing like her brothers’. When the Wolf Clan let their wolves out, it happened in a blink. This transformation took over ten seconds, and the thin noise that came from Kit’s throat was pained.
The shadowy figure of the woman moved forward, emerging from the glare of the sun to reveal a woman as tall and broad as Aunt Glory, but with waist-length black hair and dark eyes in a harsh-featured face with thin lips. Her jeans and shirt were very tight, showing a lush body. She glared a cold challenge at Kit.
“Are you defying me, boy?” she asked.
The tone was gentle. So gentle it made Olivia shiver.
“Mah madte.” Kit sounded less angry, but still stubborn. “Oleeya is mah madte.”
“Girl, are you finished dressing yet?”
Olivia scrambled into her shirt, shoved her feet in her boots sans socks, and surreptitiously patted the hilt of her knife on her belt. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Follow me.”
With supreme indifference to the threat of Kit’s claws, the woman turned and walked out of the cave. Eyeing Kit uneasily, Olivia walked after the woman, expecting Kit to stop her. But he only fell into step beside her, growling a quiet rumble under his breath.
“Um, Kit,” she whispered. “Shouldn’t you get dressed?”
As she passed out of the cave, the warmth of the sun fell like a comforting blanket over Olivia. The comfort was shredded by the woman’s mocking laugh from a few yards away. “It’s nothing we haven’t all seen before. Hurry up, little human.”
Olivia followed, casting thorough looks around to memorize the terrain. They were on a rocky mountainside so steep that if she tripped, she’d slide thirty feet almost straight down. Nothing was familiar. She had no idea how to get home from here. There was a narrow ledge that went from Kit’s cave to another cave about a hundred yards away. The woman ran with light, sure feet along it, utterly confident she would not slip. Olivia took a deep breath and started after her, more slowly and carefully. She could feel the warmth of Kit’s body right behind her. Kit’s large, furry, naked body. Maybe, as the woman said, everyone had seen it before, but it made her uncomfortable. The wolves of the Clan tended to wear as little as possible, but they wore at least breechcloths when they were in human form. Kit wore nothing at all. It reminded her that only a few minutes ago he had tried to rape her. So why did he seem like a friend?
The other cave was larger than Kit’s, and dim after the bright morning light. A quick count told Olivia that there were about fifteen adults there, mostly men, and about a dozen cougars. A group of ten children were herded to the back of the cave at the sight of her. Olivia was relieved everyone was clothed in pants and shirts, although they were barefoot. Clearly, this cave was a living area, as there were piles of blankets scattered along the wall and woven baskets with lids beside the blankets. Were there other caves like Kit’s, where more cat people lived?
As she stood just inside the cave, every eye turned to her, and silence fell. In the quiet, the cry of a baby rose. The commanding woman folded her arm
s over her ample bosom and stalked forward to stare into Olivia’s eyes. Olivia let her eyes drop, so as to not challenge the Alpha female. She jumped when Kit’s arm curled around her waist and he leaned his hip against hers, but his warmth was oddly comforting.
“Kit has brought a little human girl to our pride,” the woman announced loudly. Her lip curled. “What do you all think of that?”
Little? Olivia wanted to argue. She wasn’t as tall as her cousin Victoria, but she was above average height for a woman. And she wasn’t a girl. She was nineteen years old, old enough that even her father and brothers agreed she could have suitors. The two suitors she’d had so far were boys she’d known all her life, and with her father sitting on the other side of the fireplace working on his carving with a large knife instead of his usual small chisel, they hadn’t dared to even hold her hand.
“She’s human.”
Scorn dripped from the new voice. Another woman came from the rear of the cave, looking ready to spit at Olivia. She was shorter and slimmer than the other woman, but with similar coloring and features, and with a bitter expression that scared Olivia. “I say we kill her.”
Olivia was almost glad of Kit’s arm clamping around her and the snarl twisting his feline face. “Oleeya is mah madte. Mine!”
“So you’ve said. Repeatedly.” The first woman’s smile was cruel. “But from what I heard at your lair, she doesn’t agree. Do you, girl?”
Death was in the air shuddering in Olivia’s lungs. “I haven’t accepted him yet.” She laid one hand over the arm clenching her waist. “I need more time to get to know Kit before I accept him.”
“Liar.” It was the second woman, the bitter one. “All you humans are liars.”
Olivia forgot about not challenging anyone. She drew herself up and glared. “I am not a liar!” Well, maybe a little bit of a liar, but only to save her life. “In the Wolf Clan, a man courts a woman to give her a chance to accept him.”
“But you aren’t his mate yet, are you?” The bitter woman pulled her pants off, and threw herself on a nearby pile of blankets, opening her legs so everyone could see her private place. Olivia felt her eyes stretch into wide circles before she jerked her gaze away. “Kit!” the woman bellowed. “Come service me. Now.”
Kit shook his head. His long hair brushed over Olivia’s shoulder. “I gih sex only to Oleeya. Candt change back human now.”
“I don’t care,” snapped the woman. “I demand you service me now.”
There was a gasp and a murmur at this. Another voice rose, and it was familiar to Olivia. The dark-haired man from yesterday pushed to the front of the people. Devlin. “Tricia, the rule has always been that whichever form you queens are in, your partners will take the same form to give you sex. Kit can’t take full cougar form, so you both have to be human. He’s too upset to change right now, but even if he wasn’t, he can’t give you sex. He’s mated.”
The first woman took a menacing step. “Dev, you’re coming pretty close to insubordination, aren’t you?”
Devlin held her eyes. “I am First Male of the pride. I was with Kit when he found his mate yesterday, and I believe the mate bond exists. I am not challenging you, Maria. I am upholding the laws of the pride. For Kit to service another female would be wrong.”
“Fine.” Maria’s smile made Olivia touch the knife on her belt. “If they’re mates, let’s see it. Service your mate, Kit, and we’ll all be witnesses to your bond.”
“I’m nah human,” Kit growled.
“Human enough to give the little girl sex. Do it, Kit. Prove she’s your mate and she lives.”
Tricia jumped up from the blankets, wearing only her shirt and a leer. “Your choice, Kit. Either give your mate sex or watch her die.”
Kit’s roar was cut off by a third woman, walking from the back of the cave with a baby in her arms. She was smaller than either of the other two women and her mouth was curved in a smile that didn’t have even a hint of a leer.
“Maria. Tricia.” The third woman shook her head. “Why taunt poor Kit like this? Leave him and his mate alone.”
“You always had a soft spot for him, Juanita,” spat Maria. “He’s brought a human to the pride.”
The curvy woman, called Juanita, shrugged and rubbed her cheek against the wavy wisps of golden brown hair of the baby in her arms. “She’s his mate.”
“Human,” insisted Maria.
“She probably wasn’t even born when the pride was slaughtered. She’s not responsible.” Juanita turned to Olivia with a smile. “Here, hold my son.” She plopped the baby into Olivia’s arms and ignored both Olivia’s stuttering protests, and the hisses from the other people in the cave, to fasten a cold stare on first Maria, and then Tricia. “This stops now. Kit deserves to find some happiness. His mate is off limits. I mean it.” She lifted black eyes to glare at everyone else in the cave. “No one bothers Kit or his mate or they answer to me.”
All eyes dropped, even Maria’s and Tricia’s. Juanita made a satisfied grunt and turned back to Olivia and Kit. She smoothed a hand over Kit’s feline face with a loving smile. “I’ll miss you as a lover, sweetie, but I hope you’ll be happy with your mate.” She picked up his paw and kissed it before turning to Olivia. “What’s your name?”
“Olivia Stensrud.” Holding a baby squirming to get loose was hard. He wasn’t really a baby, but not yet a toddler. He weighed at least twenty pounds, and bounced so wildly that she was afraid of dropping him. Juanita took pity on her and removed the child. She leaned close to say, “Be good to Kit, Olivia Stensrud. He’s special. Let him service you as soon as possible. Until you’re fully mated, the pride won’t accept you.”
“Uh.” Olivia blinked. She didn’t want the pride to accept her. She wanted to go home, where her family would surround her with love, and where no man could get within fifty yards of her without her brothers bristling like the wolves they were. “Thanks.”
Juanita leaned in to press a quick peck to Olivia’s cheek. “You two get out of here now. Take your mate back to your lair, Kit, and get to know her better.”
Kit didn’t say a word. He picked Olivia up, tossed her over his shoulder, and ran out of the cave back to his own.
Chapter Four
The Rocking C Ranch outside Fort Irwin, Colorado
Dan Stensrud, who answered most commonly to the name Tracker, shifted his grip on the shovel he was using as a lever to pry the boulder out of the stream. Tami was right. If any more debris collected around the boulder, the stream that watered this pasture would be completely dammed. The rock had to go. He nodded to his son Parker. “On three. One.T…”
The clang of the ranch house bell, muffled by distance, kicked his heart into overdrive. Two clangs, a pause, and two clangs. Trouble at the house. Tami wouldn’t ring the bell without good reason. He released the shovel and ran for his horse. His son was two steps ahead of him. The boy hadn’t learned yet to hide his feelings; fear was plain on his face as he threw himself into the saddle. Tracker had to remind himself that all his children were adults now, even his little girl. At twenty-one, Parker wasn’t a boy. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t plow hell to keep them safe. He drove his horse into a gallop.
Tami was on the porch, arms folded tightly around herself. Their older son, Taylor, along with his cousins Colby, Matt, and Red Horn, ran in their wolf forms from around the back of the house. Tracker slid off his horse before it stopped.
His mate was controlled, but he could smell her worry. “Tracker. Olivia’s horse came in a few minutes ago. Olivia didn’t.”
For one second, Tracker stopped breathing. During that single moment, Taylor, Colby, Matt, and Red Horn shifted to human.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Tami.” Colby’s face was almost identical to his father, Taye, at age twenty-three, down to the dimple which wasn’t in evidence right now. “She’s fine. I bet she got thrown and she’s walking back right now.”
Taye’s son was doing what the Clan always did to soothe a worried mother
. Tracker didn’t bother to tell Colby that Tami didn’t need empty words to comfort her. His mate was strong enough to take anything life dished out. “Where’s the horse?”
Tami pointed toward the barn. “The rifle’s still on the saddle. So is her canteen.”
It took Tracker only a minute to thoroughly sniff the horse. The sweat of terror lingered on the animal’s neck, raising sweat on his own neck. He jerked his head at his kin.
“Colby and Taylor, let your wolves out. Red Horn, stay at the house in case Olivia comes back. Matt and Parker, saddle up.”
“I’m coming too.” Tami’s voice was quiet but very firm.
Tracker nodded at his mate. She deserved to come.
Seventeen-year-old Red Horn fidgeted. “Don’t you think Aunt Tami should stay here?”
Tracker fixed a stern eye on his cousin Stag’s youngest boy. “She’s coming with us.”
As Parker and Tami hurried to saddle horses, check their rifles, and fill canteens, Tracker suppressed a smile when Matt cuffed his little cousin’s head. “You oughta know better than to try to keep a mother from her only daughter.”
But the urge to smile died. His only daughter was missing, and that was no reason for smiling. His wolf, usually a timid critter content to sleep, was silently howling inside him. That wolf loved Olivia almost as much as he loved their mate. Tracker gave Tami a long steady look, wordlessly promising her they would find their girl, and mounted up.
The horse’s trail was plain enough. Even someone with no trail experience could have followed the animal’s flight up the path. From behind, Tracker heard his son, Parker, mutter, “What were you doing so far from the house, Livvy?”
With every step his horse took along the rocky path, Tracker’s heart tightened. If Olivia had been thrown, they would have seen her walking home by now. Either she was hurt or … He swallowed, keeping his face impassive out of habit. He’d seen no sign of strangers. There was nothing to indicate Olivia had been stolen. He glanced at his mate and knew she was already thinking the same thing. Tami knew firsthand the evil men could visit upon a woman. His wolf forced a whine past his throat.
