by C. A. Salo
"It?” her rescuer asked with a raised brow.
"My lord?” she asked in response.
"Oh shit,” Rafe growled as he sneezed and then sneezed again. “Gods, do you have a cat, woman?” He sneezed over and over again.
"Her clothing has been removed. You would have sneezed like this before hand,” the warrior beside her suggested as the other lifted a hand to his nose.
"Crap,” he groaned as he sneezed again.
The feline in her wanted to scatter when a narrowed green gaze turned to her way. Her heart battered the inside her chest, making it difficult to breath. Her mother had been right. Damn. What the hell was she going to do in a house full of werewolves?
"I'm telling you, Morgan, there's something not right about that one.” The allergic one said in their ancient language as he sneezed again, then backed up quickly and exited the room.
"Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked calmly.
Alexis trembled and her mouth went completely dry as she shook her head. There was no way in hell she could have spit out any kind of an answer. She recognized the language they'd spoken a moment ago and could no longer deny that she was surrounded by Lukos. Oh Gods, if she told him who she was, or rather what she was, he'd tear her apart or offer her to his pack.
She knew now, he was the Alpha and she was in a whole lot of trouble.
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Chapter Two
Clearing her throat, Alexis held Morgan's gaze. “Do you know when my clothing might be ready please?"
"I'll have my housekeeper check. Excuse me. I need to attend to some matters."
"Oh, um, okay.” Alexis lowered her gaze from his direct one.
The moment the door shut behind him, she jumped up and began looking through armoires and drawers for clothing. She found her books, which was good because she didn't want to leave them behind. Grabbing a pair of his black jeans, she stepped into them, adding a belt to make sure they stayed around her tiny waist and folding the hem.
To take a look at the outside of the house, she unlocked the window next to the armoire and smiled when the latch opened beneath her hand. She stuck her head out and breathed in the night air laced with the scent of lukanthropos, then quickly judged the second-story distance to the ground. The beast within bristled, but she controlled it as she turned to continue her search for a shirt. She opened another armoire and stepped back as her gaze swept over dozens of sex toys and everything needed to go with them.
"Wow, talk about knowing how to play.” She tilted her head at what looked like a rock climbing harness. “I wonder what that's for."
Checking above his bed, Alexis smiled, and a naughty giggle left her lips. With a shake of her head, she shut the door and went to the next one. Finding a variety of black T-shirts, she chose one. Her eyelids fluttered as his scent drifted to her sensitive nose, and she caught herself moaning.
"Shit.” She tossed the cotton tee on and grabbed a pair of black socks. My God, everything the man owns is black.
She found her sneakers and slipped them on, then stuffed her books in the pack she'd found during her search.
"Why is nothing ever easy for me?” She sighed as she opened the window wider. “Just once, that's all I ask.” Her foot was on the ledge when her conscience struck. Rushing back to a small writing table, Alexis wrote Morgan an apology for taking his clothes and promised that she'd return them.
A smile lined her lips as she climbed out the window onto the ledge. Nose flaring with a deep breath, she glanced to the left and right. There was no other way down. Damn, didn't werewolves believe in fire escapes?
With another long drawn out sigh, she jumped. The tumbling of her stomach sent adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her lips parted from the euphoric feeling as she landed on the balls of her feet, one knee down, barely touching the ground, fingers arched on the soft grass. Alexis looked up, her altered gaze narrowed, and frowned as rain started to fall.
"It figures.” She grumbled before jumping up and taking off across the lawn.
* * * *
Morgan strode to the command center, his cock finally settling down from Alexis's nearness. He knew they were connected, but he hadn't expected the rush of lust. And her behavior was odd to say the least. Why would she want to leave a safe environment so quickly after the incident in the park?
Stopping in front of a closed door, he pressed his hand against the cold surface of the palm reader while a retinal scanner passed over his eye. The door slid open silently, and he stepped inside. “She's being tight lipped about something."
"Figured that out did you?” Rafe, his second in command, chuckled then started sneezing. “Man, please step away from the Alpha."
Morgan glowered at him. “Are you catching my meaning? You're allergic to felines, and we both know there is no cat around this house or these grounds."
"So our little guest has some kitty in her? That's ridiculous,” Rafe said as the house alarm sounded.
Always one to consider the safety of his pack, Morgan had the alarm activated on all entrances to the manor so they would sound off in the control room only. The panel lighted up to show where the breech occurred. His room.
Punching his code into the main system, Rafe blinked at the monitor. “Holy shit, did you see that?"
Yes, I did. His pulsed raced as Alexis landed gracefully on his lawn. “She's not a vamp. We know that for damn sure."
"Well, she's not Lykan, fae, draco, nor a renegade huntress. Who else could make a jump like that?"
"I'm not sure.” Morgan watched as she turned toward the sound of dogs howling their release then back to the stonewall surrounding his property. She grabbed a vine and vaulted to the top. Then she was gone. “Her eyes. Get me feedback and zoom in on them."
"Morgan,” Rafe said as he brought the picture up. “They look like ... cat's eyes."
"Impossible.” Morgan looked closer at the frame on the computer. “How the hell can that be?"
"I've never heard of cat people."
"Neither have I,” he whispered. “But I'm going to find out."
Turning from the room, Morgan strode outside, his nostrils flaring, sniffing the air. He caught her scent and took off after her, amazed at the speed she was traveling. Faster than his own accelerated run. Another enigma surrounding his beautiful damsel.
* * * *
Alexis didn't breathe normally again until she was in her apartment with the door bolted. Leaning against the heavy wood, her gaze locked on the three-story window and she slid down the door.
"Oh Gods.” She hated when she had to let the beast in her come out. Then again, better to let her out when she needed the extra strength than be caught in a bad position.
Sighing heavily, Alexis crawled across the bathroom and started the water for a hot bath. With the steam, his scent floated to her nostrils again. She took off the shirt and brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply. Her pussy creamed and her nipples tightened. How wonderful he smelled. She didn't care if he was a lukos. When he was near, all her senses went wacky and her body ached for release.
Her mother's presence jolted her back to reality. “Go away, Mother!” Alexis snapped.
"You fight who you are. You should have sensed him and his kind the minute you met. He is the Alpha of his pack, Alexis. You cannot be with him, I forbid it!” Cleo snarled.
Alexis clutched the shirt to her chest. “What the hell are you talking about? We just met. The man protected me in the park from a damn huntress."
Her mother rolled her eyes.
"Wait a minute. Mother, what have you seen?"
"I've seen nothing."
"I know you better than that. What have the Fates decreed?"
"Ask them yourself,” Cleo snapped, her wavy blonde hair sliding over a shoulder, her brown eyes sparkling with discord.
"I will."
Cleo laughed cruelly. “You can't, you stupid child. Not until the Gods allow you to take a mate. Which hasn't
happened yet, has it?"
"If the Fates decreed something to you, you're supposed to tell me. If you don't, you'll suffer the repercussions."
"The Fates couldn't give two shits about me. After all, I'm not their little chosen one."
Sarcasm and jealousy dripped from her mother's words. Cleo never liked the fact that when Alexis was born, all the attention of the Gods had gone to her daughter. Alexis had no control over what the Gods did, but she knew her mother was hiding something important and it had to do with the man she'd just left.
"I'll be with whomever I want so leave me alone.” Alexis buried her face in his shirt.
"Alexis, you cannot. You are to be the next guardian after your grandfather."
"I'm not meant to be a guardian,” she cried as she rose. “I never have. I don't even want what I have."
"You should be proud to come from such a noble line."
"Don't talk with such certainty, Mother. I have more pride in my line than you."
"You are speaking out of turn,” Cleo snapped.
"No, I'm speaking the truth, and you don't want to hear it because you know it's the truth.” Her chest heaving, Alexis met her mother's gaze. “You promised yourself as the next guardian, not I. If you didn't want the job, then you shouldn't have said you'd do it. But you thought it would be an easy way out of your punishment from the Gods, didn't you?"
Her mother rolled her eyes again.
"It's no one's fault but your own that you got into trouble.” Alexis shook her head. “By the Gods, Mother, Val doesn't even want you. The only way he can let you out is if he takes a mate. Why do you have to be such a bitch to everyone? Step up to the plate, Mother, because I am not doing it for your selfish reasons, and Val knows this."
"You little bitch. You think you're so much better than us just because Hera blessed you at birth. How quickly you forget who birthed you. Don't fool yourself, Alexis. You would have started the change the minute more than three lukos neared you. Their levels of testosterone are higher than a mere human male."
"I'm aware of that Mother, and I am better than you. The great Goddess knew this. Do not bother me again. I don't have the strength to keep arguing with you.” Alexis swiped a hand across the mirror, making her mother's image disappear, then slid back to the floor. She brought Morgan's shirt to her face again, inhaling his scent. Her eyes fluttered shut.
For some reason, the man's smell calmed her, and after dealing with her mother, a good calming was just what she needed. A smiled lined her lips, how strange that an Alpha of the lukanthropos would have such an affect on her libido.
* * * *
From outside on the fire escape, Morgan's gaze followed Alexis as she swiped her mother away and sank to the floor. His nostrils flared with a strange scent that lingered long after the image of the woman disappeared. Well, they knew who and what he was. It was time for him to find out the same about her.
Taking off, he headed back to his manor where he hoped his historians had answers.
* * * *
"What the hell do you mean you don't know?” Morgan yelled as he paced his den the next morning.
His junior historian, Ned, stood still as Morgan worked out his anger. “There's nothing in the journals that describes what you've seen and heard, my lord."
"What about the elder's journals?"
"I cannot access them, and Viktor is out of state."
Morgan growled as he turned to look at the man. “Not good enough."
"My lord, I am sorry, but there is nothing else I can do. I have heard of something outside the journals, though ... a mythical creature."
"Ned, you are a damn mythical creature."
"No, I mean mythical, old, before us even, or close to it. If what you said is true about Hera blessing her after her birth, then we are in way over our heads. There may be no records of her kind at all. They may have been destroyed, like Atlantis."
"Tell me what you're thinking.” Morgan's patience was growing thin.
"She could be a few entities. Let me go research it,” Ned answered as he ran out of the den.
"Damn, why does he do that?” Morgan snapped, his eyes burning slightly as his vision became electromagnetic and tinted his sight red.
"Because it's geeky and exciting to him, and he needs to research to make sure,” Rafe tossed in from his seat on the black leather sofa.
"It pisses me off."
"He's probably getting all worked up over nothing. The woman was most likely used in one of the human's genetic experiments they like doing so much."
"Then how do you explain her mother's face in the mirror?"
Shrugging a shoulder, he replied, “Technology?"
"It's not technology, Rafe. It's ancient, primordial even.” He could sense the essence of beginnings within her. This was more powerful than he'd been led to believe.
* * * *
Jolted from a deep sleep when something touched his leg, Morgan jumped naked out of his bed, claws out for defense. “What the hell?” he bellowed. “What the fuck are you doing, Kasha?"
The slender female smiled at him seductively from the foot of his bed. “I want you, my lord."
Retracting his claws, he stood there as she slinked around to his side of the bed to run her fingers down his naked chest. Grasping her wrists when she went to handle his cock, he met her gaze steadily. “You need to leave."
Morgan knew she wanted to mate. She was in heat. But he did not mate with females in heat, not vaginally anyway. He wanted no pups running around until he mated for life. Any other time, he would have taken her anally as she was happy to offer. Of course, that was before he had met Alexis. The little kitty not only piqued his interest, but she had his dick standing at attention with only a glimpse of her beautiful golden eyes and hot body.
The door burst open, admitting Ned who bouncing on his toes.
"I have it, my lord. I found out who, or rather what, she is."
"It's three in the morning, whelp boy,” Kasha growled.
"I am an historian, madam. That's more than you can say for being the pack bitch."
"Why you—"
Morgan grabbed her as she leapt at Ned. “Leave, Kasha,” he roared. “As historian, he outranks you within the pack. You know this.” Letting her go, he gave her a nudge, and she turned in a huff. “If you don't want to be the pack bitch, then stop fucking everyone when you're in heat and out, and don't appear in my rooms again, unless you're invited."
Kasha stormed past Ned, and Morgan shook his head to silence Ned until Kasha left and the door shut behind her.
"She's a Chimera."
"A what?” Morgan asked as he reached for boxer briefs.
"An ancient creature of Greece, a hybrid lion type of creature, female. There are several different images, some with lion's heads, manes and bodies, some having a snake's tail. Sometimes, she will look human to draw young men into her lair and then change fully to lion state—or a Griffin type being with wings—for the kill. The Greek hero Bellerophon was said to have slain one of these Chimera creatures while riding on Pegasus."
Morgan could have smacked him. The boy bounced when he talked, all giddy, like a pup just learning how to transform. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Morgan stopped him. “Too much coffee, Ned. Why do you think my little pretty is this Chimera?"
"It's the only creature I've found besides the Peruvian myths that make any sense. There is one way to tell."
Morgan looked at him, waiting. “Well?” he bellowed, impatient for the answer.
"She's a female, of course. Too much male testosterone near her, or canine, lukos if you will, can encourage the transformation in her, like a defense mechanism that just pops up."
"The kitty surrounded by the wolves.” Morgan smiled as a plan formed in his head.
"Exactly. But we have to be careful with her when she does change. She'll be volatile, especially if the transformation happens for defensive purposes. She'll want to strike out at anything she recognizes as a t
hreat, and she's an ancient, my lord. There's no telling what she can do or if she'll keep memories of you or anyone she knows when she's in her full state."
"She's fighting the use of her abilities. She didn't use them in the park when the huntress attacked, and here, as soon as she found out who I was, she took off like the pack was on her sweet little ass."
"Yes, and it's said that Chimeras only eat male flesh."
Morgan grunted. “Yeah, and we're only supposed to transform with a full moon."
* * * *
Morgan grinned as Alexis groaned on the other side of the door.
"Hold on,” she called out. “Who's there?"
"Morgan."
"Morgan? Morgan who?” she asked sleepily.
"The Morgan whose clothes you borrowed.” The door opened slowly, and he smiled when he saw his shirt on her sweet little body.
"I was going to return them,” Alexis whispered, shoving a wave of caramel colored hair out of her face. The shirt hem lifted high on her thigh. His cock began to thicken, and he shifted to relieve the discomfort.
"I know. I read the note you left."
"Then why are you knocking on my door at four-thirty in the morning?"
Morgan turned his head, calling out to Rafe, who handed him a box before going back around the corner with a sneeze. Morgan held the box out. “To invite you."
"Invite me where?"
"My house. Tonight. Six sharp. I'll send a limo to get you."
"I ... I don't know."
"Don't forget to bring my clothes.” He smiled, his gaze traveling down her form, his cock hardening painfully. “You can keep the shirt. I like seeing it on you."
Leaning in, he kissed her softly, sensuously. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. Alexis's pulse pounded in her ears as he claimed her mouth, nudging her lips open with his tongue, exploring and caressing her with its velvety softness. His other hand trailed down her back to the flare of her hip.
Nipping her bottom lip with his canine, he marked her with his scent, then suckled until the small wound stopped smarting.
"Wear your hair down for me."
Alexis opened heavy eyes as his broad back rounded the corner. Lifting her hand, she touched the spot on her lips where he'd nipped her. The muscles of her pussy tightened with want, and her panties dampened. “Ah, crap."
