by Dana Archer
“Molly?” He waited. Didn’t get a response. “Answer me, little one. I need to know you’re okay.”
A dominant stared back at him. Molly—the little girl—was the one who held his gaze. Not her lioness.
She slowly turned her head and clamped her mouth over his tail.
“Molly, we have to go home. Lena is waiting for you. She’s worried about you, and when we get there, I want you to shift and hug her. She needs your arms around her.”
Nothing. Molly didn’t acknowledge him.
“You can’t stay in your lioness’s form forever, Molly. You’ll forget what it’s like to be a child.”
She hopped on to his back and bit at his shoulder.
He sighed. “Ignore me all you want, but I know Molly, the little girl, is listening to me. I won’t give up on you. I’ll keep bugging you until you shift.”
He stood, and Molly slid down his side, taking a good chunk of hair with her. He nudged her with his nose, then took a few steps. The cub didn’t follow. She stretched, spine bowing and tail swishing in the air. A full body wiggle shook her torso before she sprawled in the leaves as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Droopy eyes focused on him. She yawned.
Great. She wanted to nap while Lena was worried sick.
He stepped closer and gave Molly another nudge. She didn’t move. Okay. He’d seen lionesses carry their young all the time. How hard could it be?
After the third try, he decided there was a reason male lions didn’t do this. Molly kept squirming. Too afraid he’d hurt her, he couldn’t get a good grip. There was only one thing left to do.
He shifted and scooped the sleeping cub into his arms. It would take longer walking on two legs, but he didn’t have a choice, not unless Molly decided to wake up and follow along.
He stroked her head. The little bundle in his arms was adorable. He only prayed that the child would soon retake control.
If the Shifter Council or Shifter Affairs learned she had shifted, they’d send enforcers out to collect her. To have her evaluated. Studied. Who knew what they’d do to her. She was special, more so than even the Royals. She shouldn’t exist.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot Devin could do to stop the government, whether it was the human one or the shifter side. Except keep her hidden. If nobody knew about her, they couldn’t take her. It wasn’t the greatest option. But at the moment, he’d take any he could get.
Chapter 30
Devin glanced at the cub as they walked. Molly had woken after the first fifteen minutes, a little catnap, and leapt from his arms. He’d shifted and had been prepared to chase her, but she hadn’t taken off. She’d stayed with him, except the trek back to the road was taking longer than he would’ve liked. Everything amused her, and she kept stopping to play.
Her paws crunched on some dry leaves, enough of a distraction to halt her pace. She backtracked and pounced on the brittle pile. He dropped to his belly and studied her. She acted like a cub, not a child. The knowledge threatened to extinguish that flicker of hope for Molly’s recovery, but through his lion’s eyes, he saw more.
Molly was strong, not simply because of the aura surrounding her. It was her. She was a dominant. Given the chance, she’d be an alpha female of her own pride. A good thing, considering she housed the Leon spirit.
Questions surfaced, all involving Molly and the cowards who’d thought to play god. Those individuals who hated the Royals didn’t seem to care that Royals had never been given the option of whether they wanted to be “special”. They were born with a tie to the heavens. Not their fault. Not their choice. Not their sin.
And neither did Molly. She didn’t choose her fate.
If Devin had to guess, though, the Leon spirit had chosen her, merging with her in the way of a pride leader or pack alpha. That was what had saved Molly’s mind from shattering.
Somehow he didn’t think the witches or scientists would be happy with Molly or the Leon spirit’s choice. Actually, many shifters wouldn’t be either. Females had very few rights in traditional shifter culture. If word got out a female child would one day grow up to be the leader of her own pride, there’d be anarchy.
And if any thought to hurt her because of it…they’d die.
A growl rumbled his chest, his fury surfacing.
Molly paused in her play to peek at him. She didn’t cower. She looked from him to the woods around them, one lip raised in a silent snarl. Her tense body spoke of rage, not fear. He was glad, yet not. Her reaction bothered him. It wasn’t the response any child should have. She appeared ready to attack whatever threat hovered close. The sight angered him more, but he kept the emotion in check.
He pushed aside the need for revenge and nudged her, hoping to reassure both cub and child. Pale blue eyes met his for a long moment before she turned her focus back to the leaves. He gave her another gentle shove and trotted forward. The pitter-patter of her paws in the nosiest path she could find assured him she followed. Although he didn’t like having her behind him, she refused to walk beside him. He didn’t worry. His animals were on alert.
Several minutes later, he stopped and dragged in a deep breath. The scent drifting on the breeze eased the last of his anxiety. Lena.
His beautiful female scrambled down the hill, Kade at her side. The edges of her jacket flapped open as she ran. Brown eyes met his then she turned her gaze to Molly. Her expression fell. Devin picked up the pace, but Molly ran. She scooted through his front legs and sprinted into Lena’s arms. His mate hugged her sister’s lioness close and stood, a look of defeat slackening her lovely features.
She forced a smile that never reached her eyes. “Thank you, Devin.”
He took his human form, then grabbed the pair of sweats Kade tossed him and yanked them on. There was so much he wanted to say but all he managed was a single nod, the sense of failure too deep to offer more.
Vader jogged toward them, fangs and claws bared, the scent of his rage sweeping out ahead of him. Devin’s cats reacted to the approaching wolf and hissed. The human side of him recognized the other male’s pain so Devin tugged on each animal’s leash, reminding them to behave. Each feline backed off.
Immediately.
Vader turned toward Lena. “Where’s Gw—”
Before he could finish, Molly bared her fangs. A baby growl accompanied the vicious display, and she jumped from Lena’s embrace at the approaching male.
Lena cried out, and Vader let out an ‘oomph’ as the cub connected with his chest. Devin rushed to Lena’s side while Kade moved around her and pulled a snarling Molly off Vader.
Devin choked back a curse. Lena had been cut by Molly’s claws. “Let me see.”
He gently lifted her arm and used a sharpened nail to cut the sleeve of her jacket off at the elbow. She grimaced as he tugged the material away. One deep slash ran down her forearm, despite the material covering it.
“Great, another scar.” Her tight voice betrayed her pain, the only outward sign. She looked past him to where Molly’s lion form huddled in Kade’s arms. The cub lifted her head and settled her blue eyes on Lena.
He glanced between the two, seeing the remorse and guilt written on their expressions, and shook his head.
“No, you won’t scar.”
He licked the wounds, laving the worst until it stopped bleeding. Her sigh assured him the numbing agent in his saliva blocked the sting.
“Better?”
Lena nodded, and he lifted her shirt, exposing the long scratch crossing over the white scars left on her belly.
“They have Gwen, don’t they?”
With the tip of his tongue to Lena’s skin, he lifted his gaze to hers. The distress reflected there was the kind that left its mark. He licked the small cut closed and inclined his head slightly.
“Do not blame yourself.”
Fire flashed in the chocolate depths of her eyes. “And who should I blame? I wasted hours.” She grabbed his biceps. “We could’ve gotten here in time to prevent this,
but we didn’t because I was too busy acting like a selfish brat!”
He carefully pulled her hands off his arms and held them between his. They trembled, and he hated the sign of her agitation. “The past cannot be changed. You made a decision and acted on it. There’s no sense beating yourself up over it.”
“So, I should shrug it off as a bad choice and move on? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Molly whimpered, and both he and Lena whipped their heads in her direction. The small cub cowered in Kade’s hold, only a pair of eyes peeking over his arm.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.” Lena rushed toward her.
Devin grasped her wrist before she made contact. She turned confused eyes to him.
“You need to be careful. She hurt you once already.”
“It was an accident.” Lena tugged her hand free. “Molly won’t do it again. She just got startled. Look.” She pointed toward where Vader stood next to Molly, petting her.
“Everything’s fine.”
Devin maneuvered his body between Lena and Molly. “Yes, but I don’t want to take a chance it’ll happen again.” He crossed his arms, leveling a firm look on her. “What if she nicks an artery next time?”
She dropped fisted hands to her sides. “And? You’ll save me, and it’ll give you an excuse to finish our bond. I meant what I said earlier. I will not risk losing you.”
“I would save you before your life was threatened. That’s a nonissue. What I want you to understand is that while Molly is in her cub form primal instincts rule her. Until she shifts, she’s a threat to you. Molly, your little sister, might not mean to hurt you, but her cat very well might.”
Kade cleared his throat, stopping the conversation. “Did Xander go after Gwen?”
Devin nodded. “She’s been hurt.” Lena gasped, and he quickly added, “She walked away so that suggests it wasn’t anything life-threatening. Her injury will slow the bear shifter down and give Xander the chance to catch up to them.”
Lena swallowed hard and straightened her spine. He could almost see her locking down her emotions. “Good. Then, they’ll be back soon.”
“Hopefully, but we’re not waiting here. It’s late, and it’s starting to rain.” He held up a hand. “No arguments. We need to get Molly out of the elements and see if we can’t convince her to shift back. Vader can stay here until they get back.”
“Dante arrived a little while ago. He already took off after Xander.” Kade tilted his head in Vader’s direction. The male, who’d been staring at Lena with a guarded expression, glowered and stormed toward the parked car. “I am not putting Xander and Vader together.”
Lena glanced from Kade to Vader’s retreating back. “What’s their problem?”
Devin took Lena’s hand and followed Kade out of the woods. “Bad blood.”
Questions sparked in her eyes but that was the only explanation she’d get. He’d brought up enough unsettling memories for one night. Besides, no matter where the fault lay, his loyalty would always remain with Xander.
Chapter 31
Lena watched the first rays of the sun brighten the sky. Streaks of red and orange blended with the bluish-gray and caused a splash of color to greet the world. She loved sunrises, often woke for the sole purpose of enjoying the living palette that painted itself over the landscape. Today she barely acknowledged the wonder of another day. All she could think about was how many hours had passed since the SUV carrying her family had crashed and what hell Gwen had endured over the span of time.
They’d arrived at Maggie’s lodge almost an hour ago. In that time, she’d stood on the sidelines and listened to Devin and Kade try to convince Molly to shift to no avail. After Molly had fallen asleep, they’d moved on to discussing the medical facilities where Molly had been kept. As soon as Kade had started relaying the horrors of what had occurred there, Devin had ushered Lena out. She hadn’t argued either. Although she’d heard the stories firsthand from Molly, she didn’t need a repeat.
Shifters weren’t the only inhabitants in those atrocious places. With Gwen missing, Lena couldn’t help inserting her sweet sister’s image in place of those victims. Thinking of Molly there was bad enough. It gave her nightmares, the kind that made her curl into a ball, clutching her stuffed jaguar, and yanking the covers over her head.
Only knowing that the Leon ancestor had shielded Molly—physically and mentally—from all those horrors had stopped Lena from losing control completely.
But Gwen didn’t have anyone to protect her.
The door clicked closed, and Devin’s scent wrapped around her, cocooning her in a blanket of evergreen and moss. The rapid beat of her heart slowed, and the anxiety that had grown the second she’d left him in the kitchen with Kade eased.
Twenty minutes, that was all they’d been separated—it could’ve been years. He’d only been a few rooms away, yet she couldn’t stop wondering if he was still close by. If he was alive. Determination rooted her to the spot by the window when all she wanted to do was go back to him. He had needed time with Kade to discuss Gwen’s situation. Goodness knew she wouldn’t have been any help. Guilt stopped her from looking at the problem logically.
Devin stepped behind her. Warmth radiated along her back first, then his breath stirred the tendrils of her hair. Thick arms wrapped around her waist. He nuzzled her cheek, the only way she could describe the gentle, nudging, circular caress. It wasn’t something a human would do, but Devin wasn’t human. That undeniable fact made their relationship challenging to say the least. Complicated was more like it, and also something she didn’t want to deal with, not while tragedy loomed over them.
Too bad life wouldn’t stop so she could wallow in self-pity or worry.
But she didn’t have to deal with it alone.
She had a mate. A part of her she’d never known she was missing. She covered Devin’s hands and drew them tighter around her.
“Why?”
Devin released the lock of hair he’d been toying with. “Why, what?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He rested his chin on her shoulder. She didn’t know how he could pull off such a thing—the man was over a foot taller than she was. He did, though, and his contented sigh told her he enjoyed holding her this way.
“You need to be more specific. I should’ve told you many things sooner than I had.”
She turned in his embrace, ran her hands over the expanse of his chest, and studied his expressive face. “About what would happen if I die.”
“I wanted you to pick me willingly. Because of how you felt, not out of guilt. I already made one decision that would affect your life. It seemed wrong to coerce you into one that would affect you for an eternity.”
On the one hand, his silence was noble. On the other, he’d acted selfishly. “Didn’t you think about what I would experience if I’d lost you?”
He rolled his shoulder. If he hadn’t been holding her waist, he’d be rubbing at his neck too. She’d watched the sign of his nerves too often over the past few days not to know it for what it was.
“You want honesty.”
“That’d be nice.”
More of the shoulder rolling preceded a long, weary sigh. “I was more concerned about what you’d experience if I soul-bonded us than any longing you’ve might encountered in another life.”
“Excuse me? I thought you wanted to protect me. My mental well-being is part of that. In another life—”
“There are different forms of love, Lena. Some are based on friendship, some on familiarity, others on obligation. Love, the deep and complete kind true mates can experience, isn’t necessary for happiness. It’s a gift, and sometimes it’s best left unwrapped.”
She understood love wasn’t black and white. Part of her still loved Vader and Rick. The hurt they’d caused her only changed it, dimming it, and leaving her with a well of sadness.
“Had I not walked into your life, you would’ve met a human and lived out your life with him. You w
ould’ve been happy, maybe had a minivan full of kids and dozens of grandkids.” He covered her heart. “But you still would have been my true mate. You simply wouldn’t have known it.”
“But I would have always felt incomplete.”
He nodded. “Just as I’ve been for three centuries.”
“Then why would you want to experience an eternity of that? I know I don’t.”
“Do you remember when we were on the plane and I said I wasn’t whole?”
“Yes.”
He tapped a single finger to his skull. “Here. I’m not sane.” He snorted. “Actually, I’m probably a breath away from being labeled feral.”
“I’ve spent the last few days with you. You’re not crazy. Stubborn and possessive, yes. Not crazy.”
He grinned, but the smile held no warmth. Sadness tinged it.
“That’s because I’ve been with you. The truth is my mind is shattered. But I’m different around you. Your touch. Your scent. Your voice. Everything about you has kept me together. You’ve gathered the pieces of my broken mind and built them up around you.” He brushed his thumb over the corner of her mouth. “Before you, only stubbornness and my obligations kept me functioning. That’s all it was, too. I didn’t live. I moved through life, always fighting my crazed cats and their instincts. Even in sleep, I suffered. Not any longer. You’ve healed me. Given me peace.”
She didn’t know what to say. His revelation made her feel special and wanted, everything she’d always wanted from a man. It also broke her heart.
“Once we soul-bond, my unstable cats and my splintered mind become yours. You’ll never escape them. You’ll be forced to share every moment of pain with me.” He held her face in his hands. “That is why I didn’t tell you, and that is why I would’ve walked away. I thought it’d be kinder to you to allow you to live with the longing, than suffer in my hell.”
The ying-yanging emotions she’d experienced near him after the attack, the inability to focus, the jealousy, the possessiveness—they were his. She’d shared them because of the piece of his soul she carried.
