Claiming His Lioness (Shifter Wars)

by Kerry Adrienne

  One thing they could all agree on.

  Deep Creek was worth saving.

  Chapter Seven

  Lara paced and swished her tail, fur standing on end.

  The lions needed to come up with a way to stop the pipeline before it was running oil.

  I wonder if the humans in Oakwood will protest if I arranged it? She panted. Will it help the cause? The thought of another war, another enemy, was exhausting, but whatever it took, she would support her pride.

  She needed to see more and maybe talk to Cara. The shifter had no business working for the humans and Lara wanted to know why she was. The dark of evening would conceal Lara and maybe allow her to get close to the encampment. If the humans were gone, it meant the pipeline was even closer to fruition. She scanned the trees. No animals in sight. No humans.

  She’d waited till evening to slip out because she worried that Mason would tail her. She didn’t need his help—or his bossiness. If he knew she was going to Rockglass Lake on her own, she’d never hear the end of it and she would fill him in on what she discovered later.

  He and Marco didn’t seem to trust her as much as Max had. That was their loss. Either they’d realize the warrior she was, or they wouldn’t.

  She trotted toward the lake, savoring the warm, soft ground under her paws. She’d not yet told the twins about what she’d sensed about Cara. It had almost been like Cara spoke to her directly, trying to get her to see that she was a shifter, too.

  No point in telling Mason and Marco until she knew what was going on for sure. The woman was a shifter, but Lara couldn’t sense what type. Nor did she know why the shifter was hiding out among humans.

  Cara was the key to a massive puzzle that might involve more than oil.

  She neared the lake and slowed her pace. Nose in the air, she took in a deep breath, sniffing for any hint of human. She was too far away from the campsite, and she didn’t smell them at all.

  Good.

  Though it was dark, the waxing moon lit the path in blue, and the night creatures hummed and buzzed and hunted in the underbrush. She now sensed a hundred animals around her, none close by. Everyone stayed far away from the lioness on the prowl.

  For good reason.

  Power surged through her and she panted as she scanned the near darkness. Nothing in her sights. The forest seemed to hold its breath as she searched and she savored her command.

  She crept through the bushes and underbrush till she reached the edge of the human encampment. They were still there, gathered around one of the blazing fires. They’d been camping for several days, minimum.

  It didn’t make sense. If the humans were building an oil pipeline, why were they still out in the woods? Why weren’t they across the park border in offices and conference rooms? Maybe they were still surveying the land, though the map looked complete.

  Lara was going to have to get closer to find out.

  She nosed through the bushes, sticking her head through and listening, straining to hear any conversation from the men seated around the nearest fire. Though faint, the voices carried up into the woods where she was.

  She listened to them complain about the food, the insects that buzzed around the lake, and the hard ground they had to sleep on. She and Mason had been right. These humans weren’t used to camping.

  Her ears pricked as conversation turned to the pipeline.

  “We’ll push into the park by next week,” one man said. “We’ve already cleared the first hundred yards. Pipe is arriving in three days and we’ll have that laid quickly.”

  “How long will it take to get across the park? Fully operational?”

  “Depends. Right now, the path goes across a couple of treacherous areas, but most of the way should be uninhibited. As long as we don’t run into problems, it should be a fairly straightforward build.”

  “And the animals?”

  Lara noticed that Cara was the one who spoke up.

  “We’ll take them out or capture them if we can, and then you can do what you want with them. We can’t have wild beasts interfering in the project or endangering our workers. We’ve got a team of hunters to help out, if you need them.”

  Lara let out a low growl. The humans were more of a risk than she’d even imagined. The bear had been right. The humans would shoot animals in a national park. What wouldn’t they do?

  It didn’t make sense. Cara should be standing up for animals, not sending them to their slaughter.

  A heavy darkness dropped onto her as a sting shot through her hindquarters. Her vision clouded, then blacked. The world spun, and she laid her head down to avoid throwing up. What the...

  “We’ve got a mountain lion over here!” The voice sounded far away and underwater.

  * * *

  “There’s no reason to hurt her.”

  Lara opened her eyes, then shut them again. She tried again, but her eyelids weighed a ton and her mouth was so dry, she could barely lick her lips without feeling the skin split. She moved her tail. Yes, it still worked though it felt like an anchor chain made of iron.

  Whatever was in the drug she’d been hit with, it was no joke. She didn’t remember a thing after laying her head down on the ground. How long had she been out? And where was she now?

  “She’s a danger to our men.” A man’s voice spoke up. “We can’t have wild animals hanging around. You know that. It’s a risk we can’t afford if we want to get this pipeline up and running.”

  “I’ll take care of her.” Cara’s voice was calm, cool.

  “We’re waiting on the wildlife vet to arrive. He’ll euthanize her. She won’t feel a thing. It’s humane.”

  Lara jumped up, hitting her head on the cage roof. Euthanize! Her heart slammed, and she tried to turn around in the cage, but it was too small. How the hell was she going to get out of this predicament? She pawed at the cage door, but it was locked from the outside. No way she could escape unless the door was opened for her.

  “See? She’s vicious. You don’t want to come up against that in the dark.”

  Lara wanted to scream, but a growl came out of her mouth. If she shifted into a human, she’d risk all the shifters in Deep Creek. She pushed against the door with her head. It didn’t budge.

  “She’s not vicious. She’s scared.” Cara came closer. “Settle down in there, missy. You can’t escape, so just relax or we’ll have to give you another shot. I doubt you want that.”

  Something in Cara’s voice made Lara think there was an underlying intention, but she couldn’t be sure. It didn’t matter. If Lara didn’t find a way to escape, she’d die.

  “She sounds vicious to me.” The unseen man’s voice was stern. “Don’t matter. The vet will be here in the morning to take care of her.”

  “No. We aren’t euthanizing her. Mountain lions are protected species. You need to let me handle her, as my contract with AllOil says.”

  “You only get the animals if they aren’t threatening the men directly. It’s up to me to decide what we do with animals we capture.”

  “It isn’t. She’s in a cage. No risk to you at all. Let me take care of her.”

  “As long as you do it before the vet gets here. Nothing is going to stand in the way of getting this line through the park. Don’t get in my way, or you’ll regret it.”

  “That sounds like a threat.”

  “It’s a statement of fact.”

  Cara peered into the cage. “She’ll be out of your hair by morning.”

  “Fine. We need to move this oil. I know that. Time to get the hell out of this place and get busy.”

  “We’re leaving? Thank god. I’m ready to be done with the camping. I’ve had enough dirt in my food to plant a garden.”

  “We’ve gathered all the data we need. Time to move on and start building.”

  Lara hissed. If she got her pa
ws on that woman, she’d tear her to bits. Shifter or not, Cara had chosen her side and it wasn’t the right one. Lara would make her pay.

  “Good.” Cara stepped back from the cage.

  “I’m going to crash now. It’s been a long day. Come on, let’s leave that creature alone. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if it got out. I can’t stand animals.”

  Damn right. I’ll tear you to shreds. Lara hissed again.

  “She’s scared.”

  “She’s the devil’s spawn.”

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous...”

  The voices trailed off with the footsteps, and Lara was alone. The cage, too small for an animal her size, smelled of other creatures and residual fear. She pushed her nose against the cage door and peered into the dim lighting.

  What now? How would she escape? She leaned on the door with all her weight, but it didn’t move. She needed someone to open the door from outside. She wasn’t going to be able to break out.

  From the pungent scent of the fires, she estimated she wasn’t far from the camp. Through the cage door she saw a Jeep and some type of truck parked nearby—though the men had told her and Mason that they’d hiked in. How they’d gotten the vehicles so far into the forest was a mystery. Maybe they’d come down one of the trails. There weren’t any roads.

  Another cage, empty, was stacked on the truck’s tailgate. It wasn’t any larger than the one she was in and wouldn’t be enough room for any bears the men caught. Then again, she wouldn’t wish her current situation even on a bear.

  She had to get out and warn the others.

  Her body ached from the drug and she wanted to rest so her head would clear. She circled inside the cage, realizing there was no food or water, then lay down on the cold metal. She never should’ve come out alone, knowing the danger. Her head throbbed, and she laid it on her paws and panted.

  Mad at herself for being impulsive, she growled and grumbled. Her growls weren’t going to set her free, though. She hated to admit it, but she needed help from someone other than herself to get out of this predicament.

  That sucked. She’d always taken care of herself.

  One by one, the campfires burned out, the odor wafting up the hill to her cage. She dozed, careful not to drift off fully. The air cooled from summer evening heat to the chill of midnight mountain nights, and far away the howl of a wolf broke the silence. Lara lifted her head. Not even a shifter wolf she could call to. Hungry and thirsty, she sucked in a deep and ragged breath. She’d really screwed up this time.

  She might not get out of this alive.

  Footsteps sounded, and she pricked her ears. She sniffed.

  Cara.

  Lara growled.

  She was still unable to tell what kind of shifter she was. Lara sniffed again and bared her teeth. She sensed fear rolling off Cara as she approached. Good. She should be afraid.

  “Listen, lioness. Instead of sending you to the shifter research lab like I’m supposed to, I’m going to let you go.” Cara bent close to the door, out of reach. “But you need to let your people know what’s going on out here. I’ll be waiting to hear from your pride or any other shifter groups that might contact me with a plan. We have to stop this pipeline from destroying Deep Creek.”

  Lara nodded. Cara was afraid of the humans, not her. And she was working on the inside. For whom, she didn’t know, but Mason would be glad to know they had someone to get information from. She’d make a point to find out what the hell the lab was and why they were researching shifters.

  As long as Cara was telling the truth.

  Right now, all Lara wanted was to get away. Back to safety. She’d been a fool to investigate on her own.

  “Be really quiet, and don’t come around the construction site. These men will shoot you. They don’t know about shifters, obviously, but they’re afraid of wild animals and they won’t let anyone get in the way of their progress. Understand? Stay away from the construction until we can figure out how to stop it.”

  Lara licked the cage door and pushed against it.

  Cara slid the key into the lock and swung the door open, standing back so Lara could exit. Lara jumped down onto the ground and stared at Cara.

  Lara could kill her where she stood, and it was obvious Cara knew it. Yet she didn’t back away.

  Someone called her from the campsite and she looked away then looked back to Lara, eyes wide.

  “Go! Hurry, before they see that you’re gone.”

  Lara didn’t need to be told twice. She ran into the underbrush beneath the trees, careful not to make noise.

  She didn’t look back.

  Mason was going to have a fit when he found out what had happened.

  * * *

  Lara crossed her arms and stared at the twins. She wasn’t sure they understood the danger she’d been in at the camp.

  “They did what to you?” Marco rubbed his eyes.

  The early morning sun shone into Max’s office and the twins both squinted. Mason’s hair was a mess, he’d clearly not brushed it. Both were in T-shirts and jeans, and barefoot.

  Lara smirked.

  She’d almost lost her life trying to get information to save Deep Creek, and the guys had slept through it all in their big soft beds. Figures.

  “They captured me. Darted me.” She rubbed her backside. “I’m still a bit groggy and sore.”

  “How did you escape?” Mason leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on Max’s desk.

  “One man said that a veterinarian was coming this morning to euthanize me. But the woman, Cara, let me go.”

  “Why?” Mason twirled a pen in his fingertips. “That makes no sense.”

  “I don’t know. At the time, I didn’t question it. I just got out of there as quickly as I could. I heard them talking about a lab where she takes shifters they capture.”

  “The humans know about shifters?” Marco’s voice raised.

  “No, I don’t think they know that the animals Cara’s after are shifters.”

  “Good.” Marco’s face relaxed. “For a moment, I thought we had a bigger problem.”

  “It’s a pretty big problem as it is.” Lara stuck her hands in her pockets. “If she hadn’t let me go, I would be in the shifter lab right now.”

  “This lab is disturbing,” Mason said. “What are they researching?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

  “We’ll find out together,” Mason replied.

  “I’m going to make Cara tell me.”

  “Not on your own. We’ll do it together.” Mason ran his hand through his hair, making more of a mess out of it. “That was too close of a call. Don’t you know better than to run off half-cocked on your own? You almost lost your life!” He swung his feet down and leaned forward. “You could be dead now instead of here telling us about your escape. Or locked up being experimented on.”

  Lara bared her teeth. “I was trying to help.”

  “I can’t believe the humans think they can experiment on us.” Mason slammed the pen down.

  “It’s wrong.”

  “We’ll take care of it together.”

  “I can do it.”

  She’d go see Cara on her own if she wanted. Mason needed to understand that she cared about Deep Creek as much as he did. She’d do whatever it took to keep it safe. If that meant going to AllOil to meet with Cara alone, then so be it.

  “Do I have to spell things out for you? You can’t take on the whole group of humans involved in this on your own. Hell, I can’t either. We need to handle this as a group. A group with a plan.”

  “I wasn’t taking them on. I was going to gather information and return with it.” Lara sighed. Mason was right, and she knew it. Didn’t mean she had to admit it to him, though.

  “No one ever plans to get capture
d, Lara.” Marco spoke from the couch. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re okay.”

  Lara sighed. At least someone cared that she was alive. “Thanks, Marco.”

  “I’m glad you’re alive, too!” Mason grumbled. “I don’t know why you’d do such a stupid thing to begin with. It’s like you never learn from what happens.”

  “You’re one to talk.”

  “I wasn’t the one captured.”

  “It was a mistake. I was trying to help.” Damn, he was harsh. Lara fisted her hands.

  “You two calm down.” Marco stood. “We are on the same side. We need to remember that.”

  “Of course you’re right, brother.” Mason clasped his hands. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do to stop these humans.”

  “I’m going to see what I can find out about this lab she mentioned.”

  “I’ll help you research.” Mason went to the window and stared out. “Whatever information we gather, we can use against them.”

  “And how does Cara know about shifters?” Marco asked.

  “I can answer that.” Lara put her hands behind her back and paced. “She wants to meet with us. I’m not sure why. But I did find out something else that may be useful, and that will answer your question. At least I hope it’s helpful.”

  “What’s that?” Mason’s eyes widened. “Was it worth risking your life for?”

  “Cara is a shifter.”

  Chapter Eight

  Mason loved the time of day when the sun lowered to the peak of the mountain and began to slip beneath the ridge, sending out long rays of light across Deep Creek. The forest, bathed in the fiery colors nearing sunset, came alive as dusk approached.

  He sighed. So much to think about and not enough time to figure it all out. Decisions had to be made, and soon. Between dealing with Lara and her antics, the bears and wolves, and now the humans in Deep Creek, his brain was overloaded. And now he’d found out that a shifter was working among the humans.

  Stress raged inside him. He breathed in the cooler air of early evening, relaxing his muscles and stretching.