by Ruby Madden
She prayed that wouldn’t be the case. Prayed they’d both end up with their white knights in shining armor, but she’d already learned that fate was a fickle bitch. She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. She had a mate now. Something she’d sworn the fates would never give her. Her mind escaped the present to go back to the night before when Ryland had held her in his arms and she’d felt at peace for the first time in years. And loved. How she had felt loved. She knew those memories might have to sustain her for years to come.
Standing in the frigid air, she was grateful she hadn’t blurted out her feelings. How she wanted him, the joy she felt in his presence. They’d had mind-blowing sex, but they hadn’t mated. Yet she couldn’t deny the connection she felt. She’d been unable to prevent that.
“Well, well, well. Who do we have here? And all alone.” A voice from her nightmares sounded in the shadows behind her as a hand clamped around her upper arm.
Emma’s cat growled at the man’s touch. Now that she knew Ryland’s touch, any man’s touch was abhorrent. This man’s touch was toxic.
“I’m here to make a deal.”
The man stepped closer, hoping to intimidate her with his size no doubt. He didn’t know what intimation meant until one was surrounded by a roomful of bear shifters. She smiled, thinking of how protective all of the Blackwoods had been of the two cat shifters. Shifters they did not know, had never met before. She and Abby had been accepted by the family simply because they were important to Ryland and Ryker.
Ryland. Her cat screamed at her, trying to pull her away, to make her leave. Now. Smelling the rank scent of the male, she longed to obey her cat. But she couldn’t. Abby’s and the bears’ safety was more important than her own. She’d lost her mother. Her father had been beaten and was probably dead. She would not lose her sister, her mate, or Ryland.
The Panthera wouldn’t kill her. He needed her too badly. But he wouldn’t hesitate to use Abigail to force her obedience. Or Ryker. Or Ryland. She needed to end this once and for all.
“Where’s that sister of yours?” The hand on her arm tightened.
“Someplace you’ll never find her.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that, sweetheart. Cause the Panthera has a hankering for a double helping, if you know what I mean.”
Emma shuddered. She knew exactly what the man meant. But there was no way he was getting his hands on Abby. And if she had her way, he’d never lay a hand on her either
For once, having no scent should work to her advantage.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Hey bro, want some coffee?” Ryland greeted his brother as he walked into the kitchen. It was still dark out, still the middle of the night. They both wore knit pajama bottoms and damn big smiles. He’d left Emma sleeping soundly in their bed. It had taken everything in him to let her rest. When she’d refused to tell him what she and her sister were hiding, he’d wanted to go all caveman on her ass and fuck it out of her. Instead, his bear had calmed the man. Oh, he’d fucked her all right, but as gentle and loving as a bear caught in the throes of mating could be.
“Damn, that smells good.” Ryker scrubbed his hand over his face. He looked as if he’d spent an almost sleepless night, too.
For a few minutes, the men drank their coffee in silence. Then, Ryker put down his mug and opened the fridge, pulling out ingredients for an omelet. Working in silence, the brothers made breakfast.
“So when are we gonna go kick some cat shifter ass?” Ryland buttered the last of the toast and sat it on the counter.
Ryker snorted.
“What bro, you didn’t get names and locations out of your girl?” He smirked as he turned around. Not that he’d had any luck with Emma either. But it’s been fun to try. Today, they would get to the bottom of the trouble—and eliminate it. “I thought for sure that last set of screams would have—”
Ryker’s bear growled, warning Ryland to back off.
“Easy, man. No disrespect intended.”
“Where is my sister?”
Ryland turned just as Abigail launched herself at him, the anger rolling off her a force to behold. He was surprised she didn’t shift mid-jump. He caught her easily enough, trying not to hurt her, but it was damn difficult when she kept trying to claw his eyes out.
“A little help here.” Damn, were the Sorenson sisters overprotective or what? He couldn’t say much since he’d covered Ryker’s back more than once.
“Easy, Abby.” Ryker lifted his mate off his brother and gathered her in his arms. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
“Emma’s not here.”
“Damn it to hell,” Ryland roared, racing down the hallway to his bedroom. The heavy wooden door thudded against the wall as he burst inside.
The bed was empty. No curvaceous mate waited for him to return. He yanked the covers off as if she might be hiding beneath them. He’d planned on serving her breakfast in bed and now she was gone. He couldn’t catch his breath. “What the fuck?” He stalked into the adjoining bathroom. Empty. No Emma.
He walked back out, his eyes wild. “She’s gone.”
“Okay, let’s not panic.” Ryker soothed his hand over his mate’s back feeling the terror that was coursing through her. And Ryland. Thanks to the military, he’d seem some scary shit in his life, but he never wanted to feel the mind-numbing fear his twin was feeling right now. “We don’t know that she just didn’t go for a run. Maybe she needed some space and went outside.” Wasn’t that what most shifters did when they were upset and needed some time alone? “We’ll find her. I promise. I’m going to call Quinn. He can help us hunt and Paige can stay here with you.” He turned away to make the calls.
Ryland caught hold of Abby’s shoulders, resisting the urge to shake her. Even though terror tore through him, he could never harm a woman. Especially his mate’s sister. “You have to tell us the truth now, Abby. No more fun and games.”
He was referring to the antics he and his twin had been up to last night. They’d known there was a hell of a lot more to the story then their father being beaten. The brothers had tried to build trust with their mates and coax out the information. Granted, they’d used sex as a way to make them talk, but everyone had enjoyed it.
Now there wasn’t any more time.
A large hand clamped on his shoulder. It offered both comfort and a warning. He let go of Abby and stepped back. He thought she’d fly immediately into Ryker’s arms, but she stood tall, clenching her hands at her sides.
“Tell us, baby,” Ryker urged.
Abby knew there was no holding back. Not anymore. “The Panthera of our pride has been after our family for almost two years.”
Ryland partially shifted. His eyes glowed and his hands sported the wicked looking nails of his bear.
“Why?” Ryker wanted to pull Abby back into his arms, but knew she needed to do this on her own. She was a strong shifter, a strong woman.
“Because of her lack of a scent.”
“Damn it to hell and back, what difference does it make if she has a scent!” Ryland roared.
“That still doesn’t explain why the Panthera was after you, baby.”
“My mother and father had always tried to hide the fact that Emma had no scent of her own. We’ve been wearing the same clothing and staying close to each other all of our lives. Shifters are leery of anything or anyone different. They were afraid someone would kill her.”
She took a deep breath and continued.
“Somehow, the Panthera discovered Emma had no scent and he went a little insane. He told my mother and father they had to give her over to the pride. To him. He was going to breed Emma to other cats. He was hoping to produce an army of shifters who had no scent.”
Abby’s announcement stunned both bears. Even though shifters lived and worked among humans, some shifters were corrupt and evil, just like the Panthera of the women’s pride. Shifters kept other shifters in check. Strictly off the reco
rd, and behind the scenes, of course. If shifters were born without a scent they could easily escape the Shifter Council’s justice.
“You keep saying us? Why did the Panthera want both of you?”
“He thought Emma would obey him if he had me as leverage. And because he wanted to fuck the twin cat shifters.”
“And you’re saying Emma went back there?”
When Abby nodded her head, Ryland couldn’t contain his bear. The pop and tear of muscles announced his animal’s arrival.
Ryker drew Abby away, letting the seven foot, two-ton bear bellow out his pain in privacy.
~*~
The red truck flew along the deserted highway at an ungodly speed, the wide tires hugging the road. They were already in Florida, having traveled through the night. They had all agreed this was where Emma would have headed. Since she had no transportation of her own, hopefully, they’d get there first and stop her from making a terrible mistake. Abby had told them they rest of the story. About her mother’s death, the attempted abductions. The black claws of Ryland’s bear extended from his fingertips. The Panthera. He cursed the man to hell and back. If Emma was harmed…
He tried not to think of her and her beautiful eyes and her warm heart. How she felt beneath him, around him. The snarky comments that made his bear laugh. Painfully, he remembered every nuance of her taste. The soft skin beneath her ear, the hardened flesh of her nipple.
How could she have thought this was an option? To take on the Panthera by herself?
Because she didn’t believe.
She thought what they had was a fluke. She had no scent so how could his bear possibly bond with her?
He cursed his mate. He knew her cat had recognized him as her mate. Just as his bear recognized her. From what Abby had told him and Ryker, the man holding his mate was an egotistical bastard who thought the bears would never dare try to rescue Emma. The bastard didn’t know who he was dealing with—a pissed off grizzly with a mate to save. There was nothing more savage than a male shifter on the hunt for someone who had harmed his female.
He sought the fury of his anger. His fear. He let his bear take on those emotions; let the rage feed the animal’s instincts to hunt and kill.
His human side was struck by the awareness that he didn’t know his mate. Not like he should. He didn’t know her favorite color, her favorite food. Her favorite flower. Hell, he’d only just learned her last name. All he knew was that she was by herself, believing she had to face this insane son-of-a-bitch alone.
Never.
His mate would never be alone again.
~*~
Henry Jacobson, Panthera of the most feared pride in the southern United States, watched the female shifter struggle against the chains securing her to the ceiling. There was no way she could break them. Bigger, stronger shifters than her had tried. He circled her and she twisted and turned, trying to keep him in sight. The chains had enough give to allow her the illusion that she could control some aspect of their encounter. He inhaled deeply, smelling only the scent of sweat and blood that had accumulated over the years. The reports had not lied. The curvy cat shifter had no scent.
His mind raced with the possibilities even as he regretted he would never know the smell of her fear. He’d learned to savor the scent of a frightened woman. Wallow in it, allow it to ramp up his anticipation, stoke it for days, weeks, until the timing was right. It made the culmination of his possession unbearably sweet. That pure, godlike power when he took a woman, knowing she could do nothing but lay there and take it. Take him. Over and over again. He shuddered, imagining the pleasure he’d experienced when he released his hot seed into her virgin cunt. Their virgin cunts.
He had only one of the twins in his possession. But not for long. He wouldn’t even have to use this one as bait. He knew her sister and her so called mate would try to free her. To try to take her. He ran a finger over the black whip on the table, his favorite toy. In the meantime, if he couldn’t satisfy his hunger for her flesh with his cock, he could with his whip. He allowed a claw to extend and stepped in front of her.
“How long do you think it will be before your whoring sister comes for you, my sweet?” He leaned close and pushed her chin up with the end of his claw, allowing the tip to sink into her flesh. Just that small amount of blood heightened his lust. “Too bad your father won’t be coming for you. He’s dead by the way, in case you were wondering.”
She spat at him. He released her and wiped away the spit with the back of his hand. “Really, Emma. I thought you had more sense than that.” He grabbed the collar of her shirt. With a flick of his claw, he split the top in half, revealing her plain white bra. “Mmm, now this is sweet. So virginal.” He gave a little shiver as if the thought thrilled him. Another flick and the straps were cut. The heavy weight of her breasts caused the fabric to slip, revealing the top half of the creamy mounds. “Did you wear it for your so called mate?”
Emma’s head snapped up.
“Oh yes, my dear, Malcolm told me all about the arrogant bear shifter you’ve shacked up with.” He grabbed her between her legs. “I do hope you haven’t let him fuck you. If you have, there’s no point in keeping you for myself for a little while, now is there? I might as well start breeding you.”
Fear ran through Emma for the first time since she’d allowed herself to be shoved into the back of the beat up old truck. She hoped enough time had passed that Ryland’s scent had worked out of her system. Hoped that any lingering scent of sex the lion smelled he would attribute to the overall stench of the room.
This sick son-of-a-bitch found the thought of a virgin more appealing than anything. And if he’d managed to grab Abby… she could just imagine the sick fantasies he’d had thinking he could fuck identical twins at the same time. Identical virgin twins.
Or were. She couldn’t allow the satisfaction she felt to show. She and Abby and certainly fucked up those plans by allowing their mates to have them. There had been no mating, thanks to Ryland’s restraint. The only way the lion could find out she was no longer pure and innocent was if he took her. And there was no way in hell that was ever happening.
Emma stood on her tiptoes trying to relieve the strain on her arms. Her shoulders burned and her arms felt like they were slowly being pulled from her body. The scent of several different cats filled the night air. There were also humans and other types of shifters in the building. She could smell at least one bear and several different wolves. Almost all carried the scent of fear. Except for the lion guards. Their stench was something she’d never forget. They were more feral cat than human.
She took a good look around the room, her cat vision burning through the blackness. She didn’t know where she was being kept. He was arrogant enough to have brought her back to Florida. They had certainly traveled far enough. She was still bruised and beat-up from the trip. The chains that held her hung from the ceiling. She was surprised he hadn’t chained her feet as well. Maybe that was for later.
Not that she planned on there being a later. She’d been willing to sacrifice herself for Abigail, but damn it, now she wanted a happily-ever-after. Maybe she should have trusted in her mate. Trusted in her mate to protect her.
Next time she would, but first she had to survive the tonight.
~*~
Abby followed Ryker and Ryland as they crept deeper into the Panthera’s compound in the Florida Keyes. The main house was basically a mansion surrounded by other equally impressive buildings—a garage, pool house, and servant quarters. She’d only been here once, when her mother was still alive. Guards were posted on the roofs and others patrolled the area. She had no idea where the lion might be holding Emma. But she’d never been one to run away from the monster under her bed. There’d been no need. The monster had always been real, a threat that had to be dealt with every day. Her dad had taught the girls how to conquer the fear and face it. His teachings had kept them alive and together for the past two years. Feeling asham
ed of her show of cowardice, she walked forward, trying to catch up with the bears, allowing her enhanced senses to help her find what she sought. It was time to end this. She wanted, craved, a normal life with Ryker. And Emma, despite her crazy scheme tonight, deserved the same happiness with her mate.
The brothers were no longer in sight and she realized she’d allow them to get too far ahead. That was when she saw him. He stepped from between two buildings, right between her and the bears.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the big sister.” He moved further out of the shadows and she could tell he was a lion shifter. The Panthera’s henchman. The man responsible for her mother’s death.
In animal form he’d be bigger and stronger than her cat so she quickly decided not to shift. Not yet anyway. She knew she could call out and Ryker would rush back to her, but it would also bring others. She realized all she had to do was buy some time. Once Ryker discovered she wasn’t behind him, there’d be one pissed grizzly charging her way. Was it wrong to get a little excited in such a shitty situation? She had yet to see her mate in his animal form.
“You’ve got nothing to smile about, bitch.”
“I beg to differ. I’m going to so enjoy seeing my mate kick your ass.” She took a step backward, stumbling slightly. She managed to stay upright and continued to move away from the threat. Help was on the way. Ryker would keep her safe.
Why the hell didn’t you realize that before you got lost, woman?
Abigail heard the deep growl of the bear in her mind. She managed to give him the mental finger. Quit grumbling, bear, and come rescue your mate. And I am not lost.
“I’m gonna so enjoy hurting you.”
The other cat strode forward, confidence in every step. Abigail knew what he was thinking. Here’s a chubby, weak-assed, female shifter he could take with his hands tied behind his back. Little did he know. She was not without skills. She certainly had enough to keep him occupied until her mate arrived. She might be a big girl, but that just meant she had more weight to put behind her punches.
