by Kyle, Celia
Ricker stuck to the wall, his heart rate and breathing even as he moved toward his destination. The shadows cradled him, hiding his progress.
Fifteen feet down the hallway opened to the home’s entryway. To his left lay the front entrance and, to his right, the grand staircase leading to the upper floors. More importantly, just beside the stairs there was the path to the kitchen and, ultimately, the basement.
He just had a few Freedom members to get through first.
Ricker scented the area once again, tasted each fragrance and cataloged them. A lion stood watch just outside the front door. He was weak, easily overtaken if necessary.
He didn’t want it to be necessary.
If anyone died this night, it’d be Alistair due to his position of leadership in Freedom, along with those who stood in his way while he hunted for Madison. The others could be rehabilitated. At least, that’s what the council desired.
He kept to the wall, steps not making a sound as he crept along the hard surface and toward the back of the house. A glance at the front door revealed that the guard still hadn’t spotted him. Good. He hoped to at least get into the compound undetected.
The shadows of the stairs enveloped him as he neared his destination. At the open entrance of the kitchen he lowered to a crouch. He pulled a tiny mirror from a pocket. Easing it along the floor, he inched it into the doorway, making out the shapes occupying the room.
And make them out he did. His deep inhale confirmed what he saw. Two males, both wolves, sat around the kitchen island, cups of coffee steaming before them. They were silent save their breathing and Ricker settled in to wait, thankful for the council’s recent invention that masked his scent from others. He’d neutralize the wolves…at the right time.
It didn’t take long.
The scrape of wood against tile signaled one of the males rising and the thump of footsteps neared him. He only had an instant to subdue the guard.
The man stepped around the corner, cup at his lips as he sipped at his drink and it was all the distraction he needed. In one fluid movement, Ricker gripped the man’s head and gave it a fierce twist. His inner tiger lent him a bit of strength to make the killing quiet and fast, the coffee cup hitting the carpet with a muffled thud.
He caught the wolf’s weight and lowered the body to the ground, stretching the male straight against the baseboard and out of sight.
One left.
Ricker dared a glance into the room and found the other wolf still sitting on his stool, back to the door and he rolled his eyes. Hadn’t Alistair trained the men in any way?
It was no fun killing stupid people.
He edged forward, hands at his sides and loose, ready to dispatch another. It took two steps and a wrenching pull to eliminate the wolf, and Ricker ignored the pang of guilt that came with every kill. It seemed to magnify and weigh down on him more and more with every death.
Ricker navigated the kitchen with ease and found the entry to the basement without a problem. He paused long enough to listen for any other surprises and heard no one, so he headed down the dark staircase and found…nothing.
Oh, the area was dusty with worn furniture scattered about as well as some electronics, but otherwise, it was completely empty and didn’t appear to have been used recently.
Did Alistair not realize…
Well, he hoped the polar bear had no idea about the bolt-hole entrance to his “impenetrable” compound.
Ricker strode to the brick wall and stared at the stones. To the casual observer, it was simply a decoration for the room, a faux finish that was meant to be pleasing to the eye.
It also happened to be a door.
With care, he pressed a handful of bricks, in precisely the order described by the bar’s fox. While he’d gotten the plans from the city, the handy-dandy code came from the bartender. Thank God for pissed off women.
The wall opened with a soft whoosh. Cool, stale air wafted over him.
Ricker had a feeling the weight of guilt would be nearly debilitating before the night was through, but to save a sweet, innocent Sensitive, it’d be worth every slice of pain.
9
“To err is human, to love is divine. But fucking with a chick that grows fur and claws is a mistake. Show ‘em how big that mistake can be.” – Maya Josephs, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride who, regardless of the ginormous belly, is happy to show off her claws.
Jasper hadn’t taken Maddy. No. He’d leered at her, promised that she’d enjoy his company someday, but he had a craving for his sweet Elise.
The fucker would die. Painfully. Twice if she could manage it.
She was pretty sure Carly had found some voodoo witch priestess chick after the fuck up with Alistair and Andrew. Andrew had sold Carly out to Alistair and then he’d been killed by the Freedom leader. Carly had wanted to bring Andrew back so she could kill him again. Slowly. With lots of tourniquets so she could cut off bits and pieces without him bleeding to death.
Apparently, being kidnapped turned cute bunny shifters into blood thirsty beasties.
Maddy was proud of her.
As soon as she saved herself from her current kidnapping, she’d get with Carly on how to properly torture and dismember a hyena.
Maddy padded to the door and pressed her ear against the hard surface. The cat helped her send tendrils of power flowing into the hallway. Her beast had been so close and ready to pounce that it took barely a thought to leap into action.
Instead of being stuck wandering the hallways, her mind flitted through walls, touched and stroked each shifter she encountered, hunting for knowledge about their location. More importantly, Elise’s location.
Her earlier encounter with Alistair’s men hadn’t given her the opportunity to dig through their heads. She needed to find a very, very weak mind. With luck, she could drop a lovely thought into the shifter’s brain and that person would wander over to check on her. With even more luck, release her.
Maddy hadn’t really used that particular talent in a while, not since she’d convinced her aunt to hand over the cake bowl for her to lick. That tricked had earned her a stomach ache and a spanking to end all spankings.
Here kitty kitty…or beary beary…fuck it. Come here one of you ass-sniffers.
Her search went on, one mind after another, until she’d touched at least twenty-five and that was just within the general vicinity.
Fuck.
Panting, energy quickly draining from her exertions, she pushed on.
Another few feet, another few shifters and then…
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
A male, fierce and determined, had one thing on his mind. Finding her. A deep look into his thoughts revealed his motivation and she was relieved to find out that he wasn’t craving a quick tumble with a Sensitive chick. Nope, he was her Search and Rescue.
Thank God. She had been seriously losing faith in her favorite romance novels.
Hardcore.
Okay. She’d found him, now she had to get this insanely strong tiger male to her without risking his life in the process.
Here kitty, kitty…
The tiger in the male’s mind roared in displeasure and Maddy felt a sickening rage take over the animal. Apparently “kitty” was not a name the cat preferred.
Well, too fucking bad. She needed saving, damn it.
As pissed as the male happened to be, she still felt him move through the compound, his consciousness nearing her with each passing second until he stood before her door.
“Step. Back.” He bit off the words, growl in his throat.
Well, apparently kitty was pissed.
Goody for him.
She was angry, too, damn it. She’d tell him so. Eventually. Maybe.
Maddy did as he asked, placed six feet between her and the door, and waited. It didn’t take more than a moment for the tiger to break through the obstacle. He stepped into the cramped space, large body taking up the majority of the room.
Oh, heaven
on two legs. The tiger was just over six feet in height with long, dark blonde hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to encapsulate the room with one sweeping gaze. He had broad shoulders, a heavily muscled chest and thick legs. She could only imagine the wealth of power he held tightly leashed.
He was delicious. Like a popsicle on a scorching summer day and she wanted to lick him from head to toe and then suck on the wooden stick until she got all of the flavor and…
Dominance and fury filled the area and her body trembled with the need to cast her eyes to the floor and expose her neck in submission.
Then again…maybe not.
No. Fuck that. She was Maddy, hear her…something. Hear her not cower? Maybe?
Internally, Maddy gave the big growly guy the middle finger. Ha! Take that!
Externally…she turned into a pussy and lowered her eyes.
Yeah, she really needed to work on becoming a bad ass. One step at a time.
And then…oh, drop her to the floor and fuck her now…the tiger’s scent drifted toward her on the cool air and her body tensed.
The guy smelled like chocolate. Not Hershey’s. Nope, the high end, frou frou, spend-an-arm-and-a-leg-on-the-fucking-gold-box shit. And she knew without asking that it was the male’s natural scent and that he didn’t smell like her fave thing evah because he’d sprayed choccy cologne all over his body.
A deep shudder made its way through her limbs and arousal, hot and fiery, stole through her. The lioness was desperate to bathe in the man’s fragrance, lick him from head to toe and back again. Maddy wanted to rub against him, purr as she stroked him and begged for a single touch from the tiger.
Her pussy grew moist and achy, need growing with her every breath.
Oh, come to momma.
Her lioness was in full agreement. The cat rolled around in her mind, exposed her belly and wanted to give the man a purred invitation.
Maddy watched as the tiger’s expression shifted, changed before her eyes, from fury, down to “normal” anger and then slid into…desire.
She licked her lips and bit back a smile as his entire focus shifted to her mouth.
“Hi.” Her voice was husky, deep and tinged with need.
The male’s nostrils flared and his mouth parted, probably to taste the air, and she knew he’d recognize her arousal.
Sue her. She was a woman and he was one hunk of bend-me-over-do-me-now fuckaliciousness.
He opened his mouth farther and his single word broke through the silence. “Mine.”
Oh. Well.
Wow.
Then, before she could sputter a response or voice her disbelief since her cat hadn’t made a peep about mates, the she-bitch did some uttering in her head. Loud. Roaring really.
And it had one word on the brain. Mine.
Huh.
Look at how totally fucking accurate romance novels turned out to be! She was the damsel and her super-hunky lover was rescuing her.
Growly demeanor and overpowering dominance forgotten, Maddy took two steps and launched herself at the tiger. He caught her plump frame with ease, arms holding her and hands cupping the curve of her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist and plastered her mouth over his.
Well, for all of a second since, hello, there was Elise to save. Fisting her hand in his hair, she wrenched his head back, his growl telling her he wasn’t too happy with the interruption.
“Fucking later. Escaping now.”
The tiger opened his mouth baring his fangs, but a blaring siren cut off his words and they both froze. The stranger lowered her to her feet. He spun and placed his back against the wall as he tugged her toward the doorway, his body tense.
Yells, growls and roars echoed along the halls and she worried that her tiger’s presence had been discovered.
He paused near the portal and she watched him scent the air, his shoulders tensing even further. “Humans.”
“Fuck.”
She felt rather than heard his chuckle. “That’s one way of putting it, Kit.” He paused, quite for a moment. “We’ll use them to cover our exit.” He turned to her, eyes intent and full of a deadly seriousness. “You stay on my ass. Period. I will blister your bottom if you even think of doing anything I don’t tell you to do. Got it?”
“Got it.” She whispered, fear and anger warring within her. She was all about getting out alive, so she’d ignore his ordering her around. Yeah, she wasn’t keen on being captured again, but the man didn’t have to be so growly.
Plus, she really hoped he was exaggerating the whole “blister” thing since she was intent on disobeying him the second they got down the hall. She’d touched enough minds to know the layout of the compound and exactly where the hyena had taken Elise.
So, yeah.
Her mate headed right after leaving the small room, moving fast and sure down the hallway, free hand clutching a gun. His long strides ate up the path and Maddy practically jogged to keep up with the man.
Had she mentioned she didn’t “do” exercise? And that she had uber short legs?
Huffing and jiggling, Maddy kept pace with the big cat, eyes scanning the various corridors as she sent tendrils of her powers through the space. With the alarm, she wasn’t sure if Elise was still with Jasper or if he’d hauled her somewhere else.
Found you!
Apparently even the threat of invasion didn’t deter the piece of shit.
At the next split in the hall, two men came tearing around a corner. Maddy wasn’t sure if they were human or shifter and, apparently, it didn’t matter to her mate. The tiger raised his gun and released a handful of shots, the deafening sound echoing off the concrete walls.
Her mate distracted, Maddy took her chance. She jerked her hand from the male’s grasp and broke into a run, desperate to find Elise. She wasn’t leaving without the timid fox. A roar followed her, but her lioness lent her strength and speed. Her short legs ate up the ground, bare feet slapping against the smooth surface.
From memory, she navigated the twists and turns, shoving men aside, ducking their grabs as she raced toward her destination. The heavy thud of the tiger’s steps grew closer with every breath, but she was determined to save the woman, come hell or high water. Or crazed shifter.
Another turn, through a cavernous room and to the other side. Men fought around her, grappling, tearing into flesh, the blood of humans and shifters alike assaulting her senses.
And still she ran. Another fifty feet. Then twenty-five. The door was in sight.
The lioness shoved to the fore, shifting Maddy’s bones, gifting her with wicked claws, elongated fangs and furious strength. The fox’s emotions called to her in a desperate plea for help, the woman dying a little more with every passing second that she was alone with the hyena. Maddy hit the door at a dead run, ramming her shoulder into the steel and the frame gave way with a squealing protest.
Adrenaline fueled her rage. She recovered in an instant and took in the room in a lightning fast sweep of her gaze.
The sick male hovered over a nude Elise, her trembling body nearly as pale as the sheet under her small frame. The man’s jeans barely clung to his hips, ass bared, and he swung his attention to her with a snarl.
“What—”
Maddy didn’t give him a chance to utter another sound. As if she’d grown wings, she flew at the male. Arms outstretched, she hauled the piece of shit from the Sensitive and threw him against the wall, his head colliding with the hard surface with a resounding crack.
She followed him to the ground, teeth bared, and closed her mouth around the male’s neck, sinking fangs into him until she hit bone. Then, she pushed deeper.
The hyena tried to shove her away, hands digging into her shoulders, but she refused to release the predator. Not when she had him where she desired.
His attention focused on her mouth, she brought her claws between his legs and wrenched the flesh she found from his body. It took one grasp and pull and he’d never rape another again.
One
last swipe along his inner thigh and she severed his femoral artery.
Have fun bleeding out, fucker.
Whining and whimpering, the male released Maddy’s shoulders and turned his attention to stemming the flow of blood from his body.
He’d be dead by the time she left the room with Elise in her arms.
Maddy took a single step toward the cowering woman and the tiger burst into the room, face a study in fury. His cheeks had sharpened and stripes of orange and black covered his arms.
He growled deep and the sound was quickly followed by a snarl as he neared her.
Maddy ignored him. He was her mate and she figured he’d focus on getting them to safety before he got to blistering her bottom.
“Come on, Elise. Time to go.”
“Ma-Maddy?”
Maddy nodded. “Yes, sweetheart.” Wiping her hands on her pajamas, she then leaned down and snagged the woman’s shirt from the ground, thankful that it hadn’t been coated in the hyena’s blood. “Here, Elise. We gotta get.”
A soft gurgle and sickening squelch came from behind them, but she ignored the sound. With the big cat in the room, she didn’t think they were in any danger and if Ricker was the cause of the noise, she didn’t even want to know what he’d done to the hyena.
“Y-you’re covered in blood.”
“It’s all his.” She dropped the shirt over the woman and tugged it down. It barely covered her ass, but it’d have to do. They seriously needed to get on the road. Grabbing Elise’s hand, she turned toward her mate. “We’re ready.”
Without a word, the tiger seized her hand and then went to the door. He scanned the hall and stepped into the passage. Maddy stayed on his heels, Elise’s hand in hers, as they navigated the compound. Around one corner, then another, they twisted and turned through the space. The male fired on those that approached, leaving the bodies where they fell and Maddy didn’t have even a twinge of sympathy for them. She knew their intentions, their emotions and desires nearly choking her, and she didn’t have an ounce of pity.
Sliding around another corner, the tiger wrenched a door open and shoved them inside.
