***
“Nora.”
Nora woke to the sound of Safir’s voice and opened her eyes to see him crouched over her. Relief spread through her and she threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. “Everything’s fine, everything’s fine,” he chuckled.
“Are you sure?” she asked him, studying him intently.
“Well it will be, only one of their scouts got away, but we were able to find out where they’re hiding. They have an entire pride trying to move into Lion’s Bay, they came all the way up from Oregon,” he said.
“So what will you do?” she asked him.
“Drive them out. If we have to take a couple of them out to do so then so be it. We can’t run the risk of having too many shifters and being exposed up here. We’re one of the few pure lion territories left,” he sighed.
“Have you considered that’s why they’re trying to move up here? What about being diplomatic?” Nora suggested.
“Now of days it’s hard to even trust your own shifter kind Nora, when I became leader of our pride I made a promise to protect our way of life. That’s what I’m going to do,” he said with finality and she fell silent. “We’re going to move in on them pretty soon, I wanted to come give you an update,” he said.
“Be careful, please,” she told him and he chuckled.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be a piece of cake,” he promised her and she gave him a long kiss before he stood up to leave.
“Do I get to come?” Cooper asked Safir almost eagerly.
“No, you stay here,” he said and Coop visibly deflated. Nora bit back a smile and watched Safir leave, she prayed like mad that he and the pride would all come back in one piece. Glancing outside she saw the sun was just coming up. She watched as Safir shifted, then darted into the trees.
“You know sometimes I wonder if he’s always going to see me as a kid,” Cooper almost pouted.
“Well if you think about it, he gave you…potentially, the most dangerous job. What if they do track me? On top of that it also means he trusts you a lot to leave me in your care,” she said and his eyes widened.
“Well when you put it that way…” he said and she chuckled. Nora got up and stretched. She wanted some coffee. But Cooper was suddenly right next to her and ushering her into the hallway. “Stay here, don’t go near the windows,” he said urgently. Before she could ask what was going on he was gone. She heard the front door open and close and her curiosity suddenly rose. She quietly tiptoed to her bedroom and went over to the window, it faced the back of the house, she looked out, but just barely.
Nora gasped when she saw three guys who she knew weren’t a part of Safir’s pride standing next to her garden. They were scanning the area and Cooper was nowhere to be seen. One of the men turned his head towards her, his eyes locking with hers for a brief second before she quickly moved out of the window. Nora’s heart was pounding as she held her breath, she quietly made her way back into the hallway. But a loud crash caused her to yelp. It came from the kitchen. Nora was trapped as the hallway didn’t lead to any exits, unless it was through a window. She moved into her bathroom and shut the door, quickly trying to get the window open. It was big enough that she could shimmy out. But it was hard to pull open.
“Nora!” she heard Cooper’s voice and her heart rate spiked. “Nora run!” he yelled and she heard more commotion out in the front of the house. She finally got the damn window open and pushed the rusty frame up enough for her to get out. Only when she fell out onto the ground she was met by two men with grim expressions standing over her. They had appeared from nowhere.
“We won’t hurt you if you cooperate with us. We don’t want to hurt you,” one of them said. He had a long scar on his cheek and hard features. The other had more youthful-looking features, but his expression was no less battle hardened.
“Oh crap,” she breathed. They reached down to pick her up off of the ground. She didn’t even attempt to fight; it would have been futile. They secured her wrists behind her back with plastic slip tie and hauled her away. The put her into a muddy Jeep and soon she was being driven away.
*****
“You didn’t hurt Cooper did you?” Nora asked tentatively as the two shifters sat silently in the front, the one with the scar was driving deep into the woods.
“Your shifter friend is fine, we simply made him immobile. Let him put up a fight for a minute or two then knocked him out,” the younger one answered her and she felt some relief for Cooper.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Just outside of Lion’s Bay, where your mate’s territory ends. There’s a small pocket of neutral land before the neighboring wolf territory. They frequent that area more than the lion shifters so our tracks are pretty much covered. Only a very gifted nose would be able to track us,” he said. Nora found it very odd that he was so forthcoming.
“Are you using me as bait?” she asked, needing to know what they planned to do.
“Yes and no. Just not for the reasons you think… Weston, our alpha, will explain things to you further when we reach the cabin.” A thousand questions ran through Nora’s mind. Canada had peaceful lands, all shifter territories were kept and boundaries honored. Why would another pride be trying to move into Lion’s Bay?
It took hours until they pulled up to what looked more like a compound disguised as a cabin to Nora.
“What is this place?” she asked. Her question went ignored as they pulled into the gravel driveway of the ‘cabin’; but the only resemblance it had to one was that the outer façade seemed to be made of logs. The place was huge, there was a bigger main building and several smaller cabins surrounding it. Not to mention the clearing was spotted with shifters on guard. Her captors pulled her out of the Jeep and walked her up the cabin steps to the front door where they were met by one man.
Nora’s eyes widened as she took him in. She had thought that Safir was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen in her life, but that was instantly changed. The shifter in front of her had eyes like golden caramel and a magnetic presence that demanded attention. His face was flawless, as if he was carved from marble; angular and resembling what she’d imagine a Greek god would look like. He had black hair that was pulled back into a bun and was only a little taller than Safir, but leaner than him in muscle.
“You don’t have to handle her so roughly, you’ve already tied her hands,” he said in a smooth deep voice. Nora was even more taken back, he had an almost middle-eastern accent. The shifters let go of her arms and she stumbled forward a little, mostly out of clumsiness. He caught her by the shoulders and set her right on her feet. “I’m Weston,” he said, introducing himself with an almost friendly tone.
“I’m Nora…” she said awkwardly and glanced around at Weston’s pride milling around, keeping their eyes on the trees.
“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk some?” She nodded and he reached behind her. The tie suddenly came loose and her hands were free. “I’m sorry about all of this by the way. I’m only trying to get your mate’s attention,” Weston said.
“I think you’ve already gotten his attention, you got it when you sent scouts into his territory,” she said as she followed him into the cabin. He led her through the surprisingly cozy front room and to the kitchen. Where he gestured for her to sit at the round kitchen table.
“I mean I want him to come to me eventually. He won’t come guns blazing if it risks hurting you. I only wish to speak with him,” Weston explained.
“So why didn’t you just come alone and approach him calmly?” she asked him, her eyes tracking his movements around the kitchen, he was making coffee for the both of them.
“I couldn’t leave my pride behind in volatile lands. I don’t know if you’ve heard or if your mates know, but the longtime dormant and ornery dragon shifters are banding together. Forcing other shifters to be on alert. Everyone’s sticking to their own kind and getting jumpy at every little thing. We had our own land and lived among
wolves and bear shifters peacefully. But just like that people who I thought were trustworthy started to turn on us. The closest pride of lions I knew of was Safir’s in Lion’s Bay. So the pride ran up to Canada in hopes of integrating with Safir’s shifters.”
“So you just want…a safe place to live for your lions?” Nora said. Weston nodded.
“Yeah, but things are so peaceful up here any step out of the ordinary and alarms are raised. Safir’s reacting as I thought he would. Without much reason…” Weston sighed.
“You speak as if you know him?” she said and watched him pour the fresh coffee he brewed into two cups.
“I know of him,” he said with a shrug. He sat down, sliding a cup over to Nora. She took a sip only after he did.
“So what…are you just going to wait until he finds this place?”
“Yes, once he stops attacking my shifters and realizes that we really just want to talk.” Weston’s tone hardened a bit and Nora could see that he hated having his shifters in harm’s way.
“It’s a bad plan…Safir is hard-headed sometimes,” she said.
“Well that’s an upside of having you here, you can help us out,” Nora took another sip of coffee and tried not to think about what would happen if she refused to give them any sort of intel on Safir.
*****
“I know this isn’t exactly…ideal. But it’s the situation we’re in,” Weston said with finality to his tone. “Will you be willing to cooperate with us? For the sake of my pride and Safir’s? It’d be senseless if we’re forced to keep at each other’s throats.”
“I don’t know what information you want on Safir, but I’m not willing to put him in a compromising position,” Nora said almost cautiously.
“I’m not trying to harm Safir or his pride, you have my word on that.” Weston moved his chair closer to Nora’s and she leaned away from him slightly.
“If you’re from Oregon how come you have this compound here?” she asked him. He set his coffee cup down and she realized she was very aware of his every movement.
“I’m friends with the wolves on the other side. They agreed to let us stay until we found a diplomatic solution with Safir.” Weston shifted in his seat, a brief look of annoyance crossing his features for some reason unfathomable to Nora.
“So you’re really keeping me here until Safir stops fighting you all and comes to talk?” she felt a bit exasperated already and it showed in her voice.
“Yes, it may move a little faster if you can tell me how to best appeal to Safir,” Weston’s eyes were trained on hers and she found his intensity more than a little disarming.
“You already have me; he’ll try to fight his way to me. I’d say…just tell your guys not to fight him, make them move forward and retreat, confuse him. I know it’s dangerous, but try having them approach the territory in human form. Letting Safir and the pride know you just want to talk,” Nora gave the best advice she could. She didn’t know much about shifter politics, especially since there was always peace in Lion’s Bay.
“That’s easier said than done. My shifters aren’t going to leave themselves unprotected…” he mused.
“That’s the best I’ve got,” Nora said with a small shrug. “Unless…I don’t know why don’t you try calling a human who can talk to him?” Nora waited for Weston’s reply, he simply looked at her as if she were crazy.
“You’re kidding; don’t you know that lion shifters don’t own phones? Those things are actually harmful, not just annoying.” Nora quirked an eyebrow at him, she didn’t know that much about it.
“When in close proximity to that noise it messes with our ability to concentrate enough to shift. Why else would we choose to live in tiny towns in the mountains or in plains?” Nora held up her hands in surrender.
“Sorry, I was just trying to make suggestions Weston,” she said with surprising sternness to her voice.
“Alright…I’ll come up with something then. Are you tired? They didn’t hurt you did they?” he asked her, his eyes travelling the length of her. She felt like squirming under his scrutiny, she didn’t like that he made her feel all…warm.
“I think I’m tired, yeah…” she said, wanting out of Weston’s company. She couldn’t believe she was feeling the slightest bit attracted to Weston; he was her captor no matter how nice he was about it. Plus, she had Safir coming for her, and he would. She’d be safe with him soon.
“I’ll show you to one of the rooms,” he said and stood up, waiting for her to follow suit. He put his hand at the small of her back to lead her away from the kitchen and she flinched.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. No one here will,” he said. His eyes were trained on hers and she could see that he was sincere. She simply sighed and glanced away from him while he led her to the kitchen stairs. It led up to a hallway on the second floor and Weston continued to lead her to the second door on the right. The bedroom was quite spacious when Nora glanced around inside. There was a TV, fireplace and even a reading nook near the large window looking out at the forest.
“There’s a bathroom through there. If you want pajamas or anything else, just let me know and we’ll see what we can find. Also if you get hungry, feel free to go downstairs and poke around the kitchen.”
“Really?” she asked him. He was giving her access to the kitchen that had knives which would be a way for her to defend herself should she want to escape.
“Yes really. By the way, I’m fully confident in the fact that you won’t get very far with a butter knife in these woods patrolled by lion shifters and the occasional werewolf,” he actually smiled at her, smirked really, and Nora simply bit her lip to keep from firing some quip at him.
“Alright then…” she said and walked over to the unlit fireplace.
“I’ll be downstairs should you need anything or suddenly have any more information,” he said and with that he was gone. Nora took a deep breath and paced the bedroom a little bit. She wanted Safir, she wanted to somehow talk to him at least. Tell him to stop being such a hothead and go talk with Weston so she could go home. After a while Nora sat down on the bed and stared out the window. She could see the shifters patrolling the clearing. She wondered just how big Weston’s pride was. Safir commanded thirty shifters and that was considered a large pride. But Weston had guys protecting that compound and giving Safir the run around. She figured at least he was telling the truth then, if he had more shifters than Safir he could easily overrun Lion’s Bay.
Nora startled when she heard a knock on the door, it was opened before she could even say anything and one of her captors walked in. The one with the scar.
“Clothes and…a toothbrush. You’re welcome,” was all he said as he dropped some folded clothes and the brand new toothbrush onto the bed and left. That was strange, to say the least, but she was glad that’s all he’d come to her room for.
*****
Throughout the next several days Nora was at Weston’s compound, she had nothing better to do, so she got to know the shifters. They were all surprisingly well-mannered and nice, they were also all male, which was strange. She knew a few female lion shifters in Safir’s pride. She also reluctantly got to know Weston, who wasn’t a bad guy at all. Weston didn’t think very highly of Safir’s intelligence though and that was he and Nora’s only point of contention.
“Honestly if he hasn’t found you and it’s been this long…I don’t know what else to do,” Weston was frustrated, he’d just gotten back from venturing into Lion’s Bay, trying to draw Safir out himself.
“I take it things haven’t gone so well?” Nora said. She was sitting in her room, reading a book she found in the small library about the shifter species. It was an interesting read. She never knew that shifters were a natural anomaly of nature. She always thought they were some sort of experiment.
“No and the longer we stay here; the more tense our wolf friends get about having us in the neutral zone for so long. I mean for Pete’s sake, it’s Safir’s neutral zone a
s well, he should have thought of this place by now!”
“Calm down Weston. Would you be thinking clearly if your mate was kidnapped and you had no idea where she was being kept, not to mention had outsiders running around in your woods?” Nora asked him and he took several breaths to calm himself down.
“The two of you are mated? I thought you were simply dating?” he asked her, his focus suddenly shifting from what he was upset about.
“What does it matter, it’s the same thing…” she said slowly. He stared at her for a long time before he sighed heavily.
“I suppose he’d be a bit off his game, but…this is getting nowhere fast,” Weston sighed. “What if he… moved on from you? Would he do that?” Nora recoiled slightly, offended by Weston’s question.
“No he wouldn’t, he wants to marry me…” she said, though insecurity was a bitch and struck at the worst times. She faltered and fell silent, wondering for a brief second if Safir had given up on her, for the sake of his shifters.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Weston said, his voice was closer to her and she glanced up to find him standing directly in front of her. He sighed again and sat on the floor, cross legged.
“It’s okay…I guess I’m feeling the pressure too, I want to go home already,” Nora sighed. Weston glanced away from her and she saw the guilt in his eyes.
“Do you think he’ll listen? Do you think he’ll let us stay?” he asked her, his head still turned.
“Maybe, I mean…I’m sure I can try and persuade him to listen,” Nora said and Weston’s head whipped around so his gaze could meet hers.
“You’d help us? After we kidnapped you?” he asked incredulously.
“Why not? You all don’t seem so bad and really you just want a safe place for your shifters…and by the way, are there any female lions in your pride?”
“They were killed off…before we fled north,” he said sadly. “Like I said, things got bad.” Nora was horrified to hear that. It was like the other shifters were trying to make his pride extinct.
In the Arms of the Dragon Princes Page 120
