Falke’s Renegade

by Anna Leigh Keaton

  “I’m not going there. Are you crazy?”

  The safest place for you is with your family. Not even Durchenko would dare to attack with the odds stacked against him. He is a killer, but he is also a coward, running instead of facing a fair fight.

  “Why the river?”

  I know his tactics. I can’t walk through the town like this, but the river offers cover for me to get close enough. I should be able to pick up his scent and track him. I will find him, Heidi, and stop him, but I must know you are protected.

  “So you think I should just dump you out alone and lead him to my family?” She shook her head as she checked the mirror to see if anyone followed. “I won’t do that.”

  Her passenger growled. Be reasonable.

  “I am. I’m getting you the hell out of the populated areas of town, because none of us can afford to have anyone witness a cat fight. This is how I protect my family, our way of life.”

  Her cell phone rang, so she flipped it open and steered one handed. “Hello?”

  “What’s going on?”

  Axel didn’t sound pleased.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Don’t make me come after you, Heidi.”

  “You know as well as I do, Ax, that I could never make you do anything.”

  “Impertinent—”

  “Besides, I’m not asking you to go anywhere but to your own home to protect your mate and kids.”

  Her brother’s growl was testimony to his agitated state.

  You’re putting him in a tight bind, Javier said telepathically from his perch on the passenger seat.

  She cast him a glare for having sided against her.

  His nature is to protect his mate and children, but as a single younger sibling, you are—

  “Not his concern...or yours,” she snapped. “I’m a grown woman who can make decisions for myself. I’m headed home. It’s remote enough that if there is a confrontation between you and Durchenko, the public doesn’t have front row seats. It’s familiar territory for me, which is an advantage. And I’m not endangering anyone else in my family.”

  Her dads had happened to be at Axel’s house visiting with the grandbabies when Beth showed up at the Outfitters with Heidi’s enigmatic message, so they weren’t home where they could be caught in the crossfire. As soon as she’d filled him in on the danger, Axel sent Torsten and Sindre to his home to help guard Dakota and the kids until he got there. Beth, Kelan and Reidar had already left for Axel’s to join the others. Only he and Gunnar remained at the store.

  Axel wanted them to meet up with him to be safely escorted to his home, so Javier could brief them further on Durchenko and the dangers posed by the rogue shifter. Of course, Javier had to go and agree with him—with one exception. Javier wanted Heidi to go, but he didn’t plan on joining the Falke family. He wanted to go on the offensive and find Durchenko himself.

  And I don’t wish to endanger you. Being with the rest of your family is the wise choice.

  Damn alpha egos. “Says you, but I disagree.” She wasn’t prepared to let Javier get himself killed, so wherever he went, she would go. Even he had admitted Durchenko would not be likely to attack if they were all together, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be patient and wait them out. They couldn’t hole up at Axel’s forever.

  If she was lucky, Durchenko would come after her and Javier alone. She could be there to watch Javier’s back, and her family would remain safe.

  “Do what?” Axel’s tone held more than a fair share of agitation.

  “I was talking to Javier.”

  Both man and cat started talking at once, but she cut them off. “Stop! Listen. I’ve made up my mind, and nothing either of you say is going to change it. Javier knows Durchenko won’t attack the Falke family all together. The last thing we want is for him to decide to return when we least expect it and are unprepared. If the only chance we have of drawing him out is to be alone, I’m going home. Axel, you have your family to protect. Javier is with me. He’s healthy, and so am I. We can protect each other.”

  She hung up and stared at the road ahead as she drove home...and ignored the big snarling cat beside her.

  * * *

  Lev studied the lock at the back of the animal clinic and decided he didn’t give a shit about finesse. The clinic had been open an hour before, but now it was closed. He cursed himself for the impatience that had led him to enter the clinic. Montero must have scented him and raised an alarm. Still, all was not lost. He knew Montero well enough by now that he’d bet the fortune in his Swiss bank account that the arrogant shifter wouldn’t hide behind a woman’s skirts.

  Lev forced the door open and looked for any evidence of a security system. Finding none, other than some kenneled, yappy mongrels and a very annoying bird, he went through the place unhindered and easily found what had to be the vet’s office.

  He took a deep breath and hissed when he caught the scent of the shifter who’d become his biggest liability the past couple of years.

  The old lady had lied. There was a big cat being treated at the clinic after all. The scent left no doubt to the cat’s true identity, but he wasn’t present now. And there was much more than a lingering jaguar’s aroma.

  Leave it to Montero to stumble across more shifters.

  Did Javier know them? Doubtful. More likely their encounter was mere coincidence.

  He picked up a picture of a female—the veterinarian he assumed—kneeling beside a collared puma. “How adorably domesticated.”

  No relation to the Montero family, obviously. They were not of the same race, his nemesis and these American shifters.

  How many? At least one or perhaps two males. He’d picked up on a mix of old scents during his earlier visit—faint and difficult to distinguish amid those of all the animals at the clinic. But there was a feminine scent, stronger and uniquely shifter in nature, that he found the most astonishing. It had to belong to the absent veterinarian since it permeated the room.

  The scent of other shifters threw a wrench into his plans, but Montero would more than likely want to distance himself from them as well. And yet, the man’s honor would demand he first make sure the vet who’d helped him was safe. That might prove to be his undoing. If Lev could find them, catch them alone...

  The woman might know about shapeshifters, might have shifter blood in her veins, but she was still a mere woman. Montero, even injured, was the true threat...and target. He could not have recovered fully, not if he was still here in this village in the wilds of Washington State.

  “After I take care of Montero, I’ll enjoy some time with you,” he told the woman in the photograph.

  In all his travels, Lev had never encountered a female shifter, although he’d heard rumor of their existence. The stuff of legend and fantasy, he’d thought, until now. As a lone male, he would definitely make the effort to get better acquainted with her as soon as he’d handled the other nuisance.

  Turning toward the desk, he browsed an appointment calendar. Mostly business-related notations, nothing of vital interest, until he thumbed through several stacks of papers and envelopes. On a couple of unopened letters, the address was different than that of the clinic.

  Heidi Falke.

  Smiling, he pocketed one of the envelopes.

  * * *

  The big house was eerily silent. It wasn’t often that no one was home. The silence was even worse when fear rode her hard. Heidi locked the door then made the rounds, checking all outside doors and windows, especially those on the second floor where Kelan, to this day, liked to sneak in when he’d been out and up to no good in the middle of the night. The boy would never grow up.

  Heidi came back downstairs to find Javier posted at the dining room window overlooking the driveway. His right ear twitched when she passed him, but he remained
vigilant. She headed for her fathers’ den. Normally, she would never enter without their permission. This had been her dads’ private domain her entire life, probably since they built the house. Only her mother had enjoyed free access to their sanctuary.

  But today was different. Today, the life of the man she loved was in danger. She crossed to the massive safe on the far wall and used the combination she’d memorized as a kid. The door clicked open and she tugged the heavy steel to reveal an array of firearms. Everything from a tranquilizer gun to a rifle with enough power to drop a half-ton bull moose in its tracks. She opted for the .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, because it was hers, a gift from her dads for her sixteenth birthday. She’d spent endless hours becoming a crack shot with it. She was better with the handgun than any of her brothers, who preferred shotguns and large caliber rifles. They teased her about being Dirty Harry, or Dirty Harriet as Kelan liked to call her. She reminded them every time that Dirty Harry used a much larger weapon.

  She loaded the revolver and the extra cylinder, then put the spare in her jeans pocket. She checked that the safety was on, and was about to shut the gun safe when she decided to leave it open, just in case.

  What do you think you are going to do with that? Javier demanded when she entered the dining room.

  She didn’t answer, just set it gently on the table, pulled out a chair and lowered herself into it. Her stomach fluttered. She had no doubt she could shoot anyone or anything who endangered Javier. Her brothers went hunting every fall, bringing home enough venison to fill the freezer for the year. She fished. That was all. Cold, slimy fish.

  But she’d never actually shot a living, warm-blooded being of any kind. This man who’d killed Javier’s family was a shifter. One of her kind, not just human. Until a few days ago, she hadn’t known others like them existed. Today she was in love with one and contemplating the murder of another.

  Heidi? Javier padded near her. He looked at her with those beautiful eyes. This is not your fight. I must fight him myself.

  “And if he shows up here armed? You said he’s a coward, so why do you think he’d give you a fair fight?”

  He believes I am injured. He would not seek me out otherwise. He has been running for two years.

  “You are injured.”

  I am healed.

  “You’re as stubborn as my damn brothers.” She shoved up from the chair and paced to the window. “You wouldn’t sit back and let me be killed.”

  A car is coming. He shoved her away from the window with his big head and peered outside.

  Heidi grabbed her weapon and flipped off the safety.

  It is your brothers.

  Resetting the safety, she pointed the handgun down. When the doorknob rattled, she let Axel and Gunnar in.

  Axel glanced at her weapon and shook his head. “Go to the den.”

  Gunnar shut and relocked the door as she glared at her oldest brother.

  “No.”

  “Go!” He pointed down the hallway.

  “Fuck you, Axel. I’m not leaving Javier’s side.”

  Both her brothers stared at the weapon, obviously trying to decide if they wanted to disarm her or not.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she said between gritted teeth. “You know I know how to use it, and if you think—”

  He is here.

  Heidi’s gut tightened, and cold prickles popped out on her skin.

  Open the door for me.

  “No.” She jumped in front of the solid wooden door, spreading her feet in a shooter’s stance, the .357 held between both hands, pointed at the ceiling. She’d take care of the killer. She had the gun. She knew where to shoot to kill, and she had the skill to do it. “You’re not going to do this Javier.”

  Chata...

  Tears burned her eyes. “Does it matter how it ends as long as it ends?”

  “Sis,” Axel said softly, holding his hand out to her. “He is alpha. Don’t make him fight you for his right to avenge the death of his family. You know I would do the same, and so would our dads and each of our brothers. It is our way.”

  Her gut told her not to move. Nothing good could come of this. Fear burned her throat and eyes and made her stomach tumble with nausea. “It’s not my way,” she said desperately, but she stepped away from the door and lowered her hands to her sides, the revolver loose in her grip. Gunnar took it from her.

  Javier touched her hand with his muzzle and licked her palm.

  Footsteps on the porch. A knock.

  Axel pushed Heidi behind him, and Gunnar took a defensive position next to the door, flicking off the revolver’s safety before reaching for the doorknob.

  “I love you,” Heidi whispered, but she didn’t know if Javier heard, because just then, a deep voice, foreign and snide, came through the door.

  “I tire of this cat and mouse game. Montero! I know you’re in there. I never took you for a coward to hide behind a female...or another cat’s tail. Have you turned beta, old friend?”

  Javier lunged toward the locked door with a roar the likes of which her brothers could not produce in their catamount form. In the blink of an eye, Gunnar opened the door, and Javier shouted telepathically, I am not your friend, pendejo.

  “Then come out here and face me. It’s what you’ve wanted is it not, ever since the day I put your stupid brother and his bitch out of their misery? You know the cartels gave me a reward for the death of your brother? He’d been a thorn in their side for far too long. And to think, all of this could’ve been avoided had he merely accepted their money.”

  Oh, God, Heidi thought as she watched for the impact of the man’s words on the jaguar. Javier stood so still, almost frozen in place, but his claws were out and his ears back. She wanted to run to him, to wrap him in her arms and make the pain go away. She wanted to scream at the bastard to shut up.

  She took a step toward Javier.

  Heidi, don’t. Axel’s words, whispered in her mind, stopped her in her tracks. Don’t disgrace him. He must do this alone.

  With tears welling, she remained behind as the jaguar stepped through the doorway. The man outside laughed as Javier limped out onto the porch.

  Had he reinjured himself?

  Alarmed, Heidi shoved Axel out of her way in time to see the stranger shift into the form of a big-pawed snow leopard. The most horrendous cat scream she’d ever heard chilled her blood, making all the hair on her arms stand on end.

  Stay out of this, the snow leopard told them with a vicious snarl.

  “Your fight with him is no concern of ours,” Axel called out.

  Javier took that chance to leap at the snow leopard, showing no signs of weakness in his hind leg this time, but Durchenko reacted quickly with a swipe of massive claws at Javier’s side. When she would have rushed out onto the porch, Axel wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pinning her to his chest. “No, Heidi.”

  The snow leopard made horrible sounds while Javier growled and roared, the battle more vicious than any she’d witnessed between her brothers over the years. The two cats snapped and bit, their long fangs ripping into each other. They gouged with claws, the snow leopard aiming repeatedly for the jaguar’s weakness, his hind leg. They moved so fast, so furiously, if not for the drastic difference in their coloring, she would never be able to tell them apart.

  A sob ripped from her soul when Javier cried out in pain as the leopard gripped his right foreleg with sharp teeth.

  And then, if by some unseen force, the two cats flew apart. The leopard turned on its heels and dashed into the undergrowth at the side of the house. Javier sprinted after him, and they both disappeared.

  Heidi jerked away from Axel and ran outside onto the porch, but they were gone. She couldn’t even hear them in the woods. Turning back to her brothers, she said frantically, “Go after them. P
lease. Help Javier.”

  Both brothers shook their heads.

  “It’s his fight alone, Heidi,” Gunnar said.

  “Go after them. Please,” she begged, grabbing the front of his shirt as tears dripped down her cheeks. “Make sure he’s okay.”

  Gunnar wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug she tried to fight. “Shh, sis.”

  The tears came, and she slumped against her brother.

  * * *

  Javier was right behind the bastard as they wound through the undergrowth, heading deeper into the forest. He would not get away, not this time.

  His memory returned in a rush, and he knew why he’d been in the woods to be shot by Heidi’s friend. He’d been chasing Durchenko. Just like this.

  He ignored the pain radiating from his injured foreleg. Durchenko had tried crushing it between his teeth. Though he hadn’t succeeded in disabling him, it hurt like hell and was obviously fractured. His hind leg ached from the strain he put on the limb so soon after the shooting. But Durchenko must’ve realized Javier wasn’t as weak as he might’ve appeared at first, because the bastard darted when the fight had just begun.

  The snow leopard was much smaller, so it was easier for Durchenko to maneuver under and around fallen trees, boulders and the thick underbrush. But Javier was determined, and just as they reached a small clearing, he made the leap and landed on the leopard’s back, digging his teeth into the back of Durchenko’s neck.

  The smaller cat collapsed onto the ground and practically somersaulted tail over head, knocking Javier loose. In a flash, he switched direction, grabbing Javier under the chin with his teeth at the same time, scoring his underbelly with sharp claws from both hind feet.

  Using his front claws, Javier gouged at Durchenko’s face and neck and sides, shredding skin and fur, fighting for his life. The leopard had his windpipe, and he felt blood pouring from his stomach.

  A picture of his brother, disemboweled on their bedroom floor, came to his mind, and the anger that surged through him gave him enough strength to throw himself to the side. The leopard screamed in pain as Javier dug his claws into the bastard’s belly, and with his last bit of strength, Javier tore out Durchenko’s throat with his teeth.