Cadence was running. Her feet slipped on the leaves, causing her to stumble. She righted herself and kept running.
He wasn't far behind. She could hear him, his paws pounding on the forest floor. His breathing, heavy and snarling, sounded so close. Heart pounding, Cadence changed direction, hoping to throw him off. But he just veered across, his paws scrabbling across the leaves. There was no chance to escape him.
Cadence couldn't breathe. She had never run so hard in her life. But fear kept her going. No way was she going to let this beast catch her.
Something hit her in the side, knocking her off her feet. She hit the ground, her head glancing off a tree, and she lay dazed with a heavy weight on top of her. Cadence opened her eyes to see the beast on top of her, his mouth open in a vicious snarl, his teeth shining and dripping with slobber. He lowered his head.
Cadence screamed.
#
The banging on the door shocked Cadence into consciousness. It took a moment for her thoughts to get together before she realized where she was. In her own bed, in her apartment, and she was safe. She wasn't a little girl in the woods, running from the enormous lion, being tackled and ripped apart by those large teeth and claws.
It was just a dream.
She wished it was.
The door shuddered as it was banged on again.
"Cadence?" The female voice was muffled. "Cadence, are you okay?"
Her heart still hammering, Cadence slipped out of bed and went to the door, turning the lock. Her roommate and her boyfriend were in the hall. Both of them looked concerned. Cadence blinked and tried to squint in the sudden bright light from the landing.
"Belinda. Dorian. What's wrong?"
"We heard you screaming." Belinda Chandler was frowning. "We thought you were being attacked."
Cadence realized that she had been screaming out loud and blushed.
"Sorry. I had a bad dream."
"Another nightmare?"
Belinda knew all about the nightmares. Cadence had had to explain when she moved in three years ago that she tended to have nightmares from a traumatic experience in her childhood. That was after she spent a straight week having the same nightmare and Belinda had threatened to kick her out. She had been sympathetic and allowed Cadence to stay, offering her support when needed. They had bonded after that.
"You could say that." Cadence muttered.
She realized her pyjamas were stuck to her and Belinda's boyfriend Dorian was watching her curiously. Blushing to the roots of her dark hair, she darted into her room and opened the second drawer in her dresser.
"That nightmare with the lion again?" Dorian asked.
He had moved in shortly after Cadence and had had to be told about Cadence nightmares. He was nice enough but Cadence caught him watching her a bit too much and it made her nervous. Belinda was head over heels for him but Cadence wasn't so sure about Dorian's feelings towards her. He was far too quiet.
"You mean that shifter." Cadence picked out a fresh pair of pyjamas and shut the drawer. She closed her eyes as she was assaulted by her nightmare again. "He...he was stalking me again. I couldn't get away. He ripped me to pieces again."
But he never got that far in her dreams. Somehow she managed to wake up before that happened. Cadence could feel the teeth ripping her flesh, the pain paralyzing her body. It wasn't something she would forget easily.
Belinda entered the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, her short blonde hair sticking up at odd angles. Dorian stayed by the door, leaning on the doorframe with his corded arms folded. Dressed in only a pair of boxers with his bare, broad chest on display, he looked magnificent.
If only he didn't have such an inscrutable look whenever he looked at her, his dark eyes too dark for her liking.
"Maybe you should talk to someone." Belinda ventured.
Cadence rolled her eyes. They had had this conversation before.
"I know what you're going to say and the answer is no. I'm not talking to a shrink. I'm not crazy, Belinda."
"I never said you were. It's just to help deal with the nightmares. She has these amazing techniques to help calm night terrors."
Belinda was a paediatric nurse and worked with children who had suffered trauma such as abuse. She knew a lot of people who specialized in working with terrified children.
"In case you haven't noticed, Belinda," Cadence said as she laid her new pyjamas on the bed, "I'm not a child."
"It's for everyone, not just for kids."
"It worked for me." Dorian said from the door. "I haven't had nightmares in four months."
Six months before, Dorian had ended up in hospital after a vicious attack. He had been nearly ripped apart. He had claimed he had been mugged and beaten up but Cadence knew he had been attacked by shifters. Dorian denied it and it hadn't escaped Cadence's notice that his wounds had healed up pretty quickly.
He had been infected and Dorian refused to talk about it. How Belinda was getting him to deal with the trauma was beyond her but Dorian acted like it had never happened. Cadence wondered when he was going to explode from trying to ignore the attack.
"Well, it might help with your nightmares but I don't think it'll help me. Nothing has helped in the last sixteen years."
What she had witnessed that night had become a recurring dream for her. For nearly every night since she was eight years old. Her parents had tried to sort her out but Cadence refused.
They thought she was broken and wanted to 'fix' her. Cadence wanted to report a crime and nobody believed her. She had been accused of an overactive imagination from a young age. No one was going to believe a little girl.
They might believe her now.
She reached under the bed and retrieved her laptop. Now she was awake and too scared to sleep, she might as well get on with some work. Belinda saw the laptop and groaned.
"You're not going to stay up with that story again, are you?"
"I need to polish it." Cadence placed it on the bed and opened the bottom drawer of her bedside table, where her box file full of her research was housed. "I have some more research to do."
Belinda glanced at Dorian, who had a dark scowl on his face.
"Are you sure you want to go ahead with that story?" He demanded. "About exposing shifters as heartless killers? People know about shifters but everyone knows they're harmless and they're policed diligently."
"Harmless?" Cadence swung round on him. "Harmless? I saw a lion shifter tear a man apart! That's not called harmless."
Dorian's eyes glinted, his face half-hidden in shadow. With the light behind him, he looked somewhat menacing.
"There are a few rogues but they're always kept under control. You know that if you researched everything about them."
"Not well enough." Cadence snapped. "I'm going to expose shifters for the vicious animals they are. And that is that."
She picked up her pyjamas and pushed past him into the hallway, going towards the bathroom. She was going to change and then she was going to work on the story she had been focusing on for the last six years.
With what she had, it had changed from a simple article to a full-length book, a tell-all truth about shifters. It was her pride and joy and Cadence wasn't going to throw it away because people were upset about it.
"Leave it, Dorian." She heard Belinda. "She's not going to change her mind. She's been stubborn about that story as long as I can remember. Six years and she's not budged." She added bitterly.
Cadence turned. Belinda and Dorian were in the doorway to her room, both giving her wary looks. They thought she was nuts for pursuing something that should be left alone.
Shifters weren't exactly feared but her research could start a major panic. Cadence knew that but she felt people had to know, much to Belinda's chagrin. She believed things should be left alone.
"It's astonishing she hasn't sold it to the papers already." Dorian purred.
"You know I tried." Cadence shot back. "I was laughed out of the office and w
arned not to anger the lion Rex. He could accuse me of libel and defamation of character." She snorted rudely. "Ridiculous."
"If you have no proof then you can't accuse them of murder." Belinda argued.
"How about an eyewitness?"
Cadence had told Belinda about what she had witnessed and her intentions. Belinda had told her it would never have happened, not with the lion pride; they never went after humans. The Rex was very strict about that.
"You were taken to see a shrink back then, Cadence." Belinda pointed out. "Do you think anyone would believe you now?" Shaking her head, she took Dorian's arm. "Come on, Dorian. Let's leave Kooky Cadence to her work."
That had been a nickname Belinda had made up for her. They considered her strange for being so obsessed. Cadence gave them the finger as they walked away. Then she turned away and slammed into the bathroom.
She had no time to deal with her roommates. She had a lot more important things to do.
Jasper's limousine pulled up on the kerb and his chauffeur Mullen opened the door. Jasper climbed out and adjusted his jacket, his eyes shielded behind his black shades.
The heat was making him want to shed his jacket and walk in wearing just his shirt but he needed to make an impression. He had to show that he was a ball-buster, not lackadaisical in his appearance.
In his pride, appearance was everything. And that included when he was in contact with humans.
A smartly dressed woman in her mid-thirties was standing outside the building. She approached him as he took his briefcase from his chauffeur.
"I'll give you an hour's warning when I want to be picked up."
"Yes, sir."
Mullen got back in the car and drove off as the woman reached Jasper.
"Mr Webster?" She gave him a dazzling smile and held out a perfectly manicured hand. "I'm Jolene Jackson, one of the sub-editors."
Jasper looked her over as he shook hands, noting her firm grip. She was very pretty, her chestnut-brown hair curled professionally around her shoulders. She was nicely tanned, her eyes a startling blue. Her blouse was a vibrant pink with the buttons done up to between her breasts, revealing a generous amount of cleavage, and a black pencil skirt that ended too far above the knees, showing off her slender legs that ended in high heels. Jasper wondered if this was how she normally dressed or if she wore these clothes because she was meeting him.
It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with; women saw the dollar signs whenever he turned up and played for seduction. The play never interested him.
His lion was not interested in diggers.
"Where's your publisher? He was supposed to meet me."
"Mr Monkford's in a meeting with our sponsors. He'll be along later today to greet you." Jolene turned and beckoned him towards the front door. "If you'll come this way? I'll show you to your office."
They entered the lobby and walked across towards the front desk. Both of them signed in and were given passes by the security guard. As they walked over to the elevators, Jolene walked a little ahead, her hips swaying. Jasper could see it wasn't a natural sway. This was one either looking for a way to get a promotion or a way to get into his bed.
She might be fun for a roll-around between the sheets but lately, he had been getting tired. His lion wasn't interested and that had seeped into his human side. They were fed up with women lying their way into his life. Honesty was a big thing for him and to not have it from the one woman you were supposed to trust didn't float his boat.
Jolene Jackson was losing the seduction before it even started.
They entered the elevator and Jolene pressed for the third floor. She stood close to Jasper, her arm brushing his. She had somehow undone another button on her blouse. Jasper could clearly see the white lacy bra cupping perky breasts.
He gulped and looked away. Not what he wanted to see on a Monday morning.
"How's Monkford taking my position? I hear he wasn't too happy."
"He threw a fit. But he's accepted it. Just." Jolene smirked. "He doesn't like the idea of a multi-billionaire shouldering in on his paper and taking charge on their terms."
"I'm here to shake up the paper, that's all. I've managed to do it with various news outlets through North America. I've also done it in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa." Jasper smiled at his memories of South Africa, roaming in surroundings that had his lion jumping for joy. "It's not something to be sniffed at, Miss Jackson."
"I've heard about your reputation." Jolene looked over him, her lips parted in a saucy smile and her eyes flickering over his body, stopping pointedly at his crotch. Jasper didn't feel anything. "I have no problems with you being my boss, Mr Webster. But some of the senior staff might object. They don't like change very much."
"Tough. They're going to have to deal with it."
Things went his way or no way at all. That was how it was with him. He gave no leeway at all. Not when it came to business and certainly not when it came to sex. It was his way or the woman could walk out.
Well, that was how it had meant to be. That had dwindled lately.
The elevator doors opened and Jolene led the way out, turning to the right. The elevator opened out into an open office space where there were crammed at least three dozen desks. People rushed about with papers in their hands or sat at their desks tapping away furiously at their computers. There was enough activity and noise to make Jasper's head spin.
Except at one desk. A dark-haired woman with curves that made Jasper's mouth water sat leaning her chin in a propped-up hand. She was staring at an article on her laptop, twirling a pen in her fingers. Dressed in a summer-yellow dress that followed every line of her body and her hair held back by a simple clasp, from her profile, she looked stunning.
Instantly his lion lifted its head. It sniffed the air for a second and then roared. Jasper could smell it, too. He knew that scent. It said 'Mate'.
Of all the places to find his mate, he had to find her in one of his places of business.
"How many staff have you got here?" He asked as they traversed the outside of the desks.
"Nearly three hundred. We're divided into categories and area of expertise. This floor is for the reporters who go out and find the juicy details, both junior and senior. The sub-editors and copy-writers are on the next floor." Jolene reached the office at the end of the room and turned to grin at Jasper as she opened the door. "And this is your office here."
Jasper went through, giving Jolene a wide berth as she tried to stand too close to him, and found himself in a spacious room with a large desk and leather swivel chair. The decor was red with leather and black furniture. It looked like a room in a house, not a chief editor's office in a newspaper place.
"Hmm."
"We've redecorated it for you." Jolene said proudly.
Jasper looked round. It wasn't really his style. He would have been happy with simple. This was too over-the-top.
Silently making a note to talk to Monkford later, Jasper took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack by the door. Then he looked through the huge window that overlooked the other desks.
"Are all the reporters currently on assignment?"
"The majority of them are." Jolene closed the door and came to stand beside him, her breast brushing blatantly against his arm. "Whoever's not out in the field will be polishing up their articles ready for tonight's edition."
Jasper searched through the moving heads, trying to find his mate. She had to be there; with that yellow dress she tended to stand out. He found her, still at her desk. She didn't appear to have moved, just stared at her computer with a small frown between her eyes. Olive skin, blue eyes, large but soft mouth and a mole on her chin.
She was lovely. Jasper felt his cock hardening and forced his body to calm down. Now was not the time. Not when Jolene was standing right next to him; he didn't want to give her the wrong impression.
"What about her?" He pointed at his mate. "Long dark hair, yellow dress. Curves like the Venus de Milo."
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Jolene looked where he was pointing. Her mouth curved in a sneer.
"I don't know about the curves but that's Cadence Steel, one of our junior reporters. She's been working for us for three years and she has barely given us anything decent yet." She snorted. "Stupid bitch asked for a rise and promotion to get better work but was told she was lucky to have a job. How she hasn't got fired is beyond me. I'd have fired her on the spot."
Cadence. Jasper liked the name. It suited her. His lion was growling, wanting to meet her. He turned away and walked round behind his desk.
"I'd like to speak to her. Could you ask her to come in?"
"Sure." Jolene smirked. "I hope you can give her the marching orders."
Jasper gave her a sharp look, making her smirk slide off her face.
"I'll decide that, not you." He said coldly. He sat, effectively dismissing her. "That will be all, Miss Jackson."
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