Whispered Loyalties

by Aliyah Burke

  This woman was dynamite in a petite package. She barely reached his shoulder yet there were times he wondered if they ever got into a fight, would he actually be able to come out the victor.

  “Whisky straight.”

  The bartender gave him another smile and batted her fake lashes. “Thirsty handsome? You’ve not finished that drink yet and I’m not off my shift for another two hours.”

  “Not for you, darling. My friend is coming to join me.”

  The brunette frowned, shrugged, and slid the required drink over. He’d just paid when her scent hit him. His fangs slid free and his cat roared with male leopard possessiveness. He noticed he even had his left hand digging into his thigh in an effort to control himself.

  “Canine,” he said by way of greeting, even as he slid over the tumbler of whisky for her.

  “Leopard.”

  He tipped his head toward the drink at her slight hesitation and she reached for it when a large hairy hand closed over her wrist.

  Keane wanted to rip the man’s arm off and beat him with it, but he knew that would be an insult to Tora who was one hell of a fighter and a lieutenant, a top lieutenant, in her Pack. She wouldn’t be happy if he interfered. So, despite every instinct screaming for him to defend his mate, he sat there like he didn’t have fucking care in the world.

  “Remove your hand, bear.”

  “Nope, I think you may be just the thing I need before my night is over. Besides, you don’t want to fuck the cat over there, they lick their own balls.”

  The bear angled his head and smirked at Keane. The man shook his head.

  “What? Not going to fight for your woman?”

  He picked up his glass and swirled the liquid around in it a moment. “She doesn’t need me to fight for her. She’s perfectly capable of dismembering you all on her own.” Even though it galled him not to claim her as his own, he didn’t. She didn’t need any distraction of focusing on his statement.

  The bear looked down at her, and it was down, for this man was near seven feet. The smirk in his eyes didn’t last long when she exploded into action, no warning, no growls, no bearing of teeth. Nothing. Just stillness then action. Deadly action.

  Although he’d been expecting her attack, he never seemed to remember how fucking fact she truly was. A blur of deadly accuracy of claws and teeth.

  She jammed her hand up and her feet left the floor, to assist in the power behind her thrust. Fist to the hard jaw of the bear, the animal stumbled back, and she was on him before he could move. She slashed and cut everywhere she could reach and soon, the bear was on the floor, bleeding out from the numerous cuts she’d inflicted.

  Honestly, this was over before it began and the large bear was bleeding and bent over the bar, not even able to shift as he lay in a growing puddle of blood. His own.

  God, this woman made him hard.

  Keane met the gazes of two other bears who looked to interfere his need to protect his mate raged fiercely through him and only his knowledge of her ability kept him in his seat. Even so, he had to wrestle with his cat for control.

  “Let’s not go further before more blood is spilled.” Leopard owned his tone, emphasizing the threat.

  Tora never glanced at him. He took it as a win, she trusted him at her back. Truth was she probably didn’t care, she’d fight them all without hesitation.

  “Did you see what she did to Robert?” one of them thundered, his hump rising along with his anger and agitation. “What do you have to say for yourself? Answer me, bitch!”

  “Tora,” he muttered low enough he knew she could hear. Then again, so could the other shifters.

  She stilled and watched the others. Behind her, he allowed his fangs to drop and his claws began to extend as well.

  “Don’t do this, boys. We all know he brought it on himself.” He kept his seat. Bears were wicked fast when they wanted to be but his cat was quicker. A few more called her names and Keane narrowed his eyes at the accusers. “Mind your tongue.”

  “Thought she wasn’t yours,” another chimed in.

  “She’s one I trust and I will fight at her side.” He unfurled his longer body to stand behind her, she never looked at him, her expression could have been carved from marble.

  He shifted slightly, making sure to keep track of the ones behind them as well. Tora angled the other way a tiny bit, still not making any sound. The blood plipping from her blade to the floor made more noise than she did. She wasn’t even breathing hard.

  “We outnumber you.”

  “Yet you saw what she did to Robert. Alone. I am here under orders of my Alpha, Juan Rendón and I back her. Let us leave and there will be no more bloodshed. Try to stop us and all bets are off. You also may be able to save him if you let us go.”

  “Get out,” one by the door growled. “Don’t slow down and don’t stop.”

  “Let’s go.” He brushed his fingers along the small of her back, merely because he needed to convince himself she was fine and hadn’t taken any damage. She moved at the pressure and he trailed her. Right to her vehicle and climbed in on the passenger side when she unlocked the doors.

  She didn’t speak, even as she turned over the engine and pulled away from the bar, not speeding. The bears watched them the entire way until they rounded the far bend.

  He closed his eyes and thought back to the day when they first met.

  “What are you doing here, leopard?”

  Keane looked up at the low cultured voice and had to hide his visceral reaction. She was staring at him like she hadn’t yet decided on gutting him like a fish or fuck him until the moon stopped rising over the horizon.

  Personally, he’d prefer the second option.

  He lifted a single black brow and watched her near, her stride nothing more than natural seduction. A small coiled package that was now on leopard land. His fangs descended as he noticed some of the other males, watching her with renewed interest. It wasn’t often that their species slept together but it wasn’t unheard of.

  From the looks she garnered from some of the men, that was precisely on their minds. It took all of his training to not growl at the other men to keep them away from her. He didn’t have that right. No one did, as far as he knew. Okay, so what he knew about her could fit in the palm of his hand with a lot of space left over.

  “What are you doing in leopard country, canine?”

  She held his gaze, skimmed him and blinked. Had she spoken her thoughts she couldn’t have been more obvious. He wasn’t worth anything to her.

  Keane pushed to his feet. He towered over her, her diminutive size not taking away at all from the power and danger he sensed hovering right below the surface.

  “Following orders from my Alpha.”

  Keene “Ranger” Patrick watched her near. She had no wariness about her, at least none that was displayed. Or able to be scented. Not that he blamed her. People simply didn’t piss off the Alpha of the Tatra Pack. Casimir Lars was not known for his kindness.

  “Need an escort to my Alpha?”

  His Alpha Juan Rendón wasn’t typically one who liked to have canines in his face. He waited for her to give him an answer as he looked her over. The left side of her head was shaved short, a braid was on top of that feeding into her hair. A few scars played into the odd designs that were there. The rest was glossy black with a streak of iridescent deep green along the bottom of the braid.

  “The general direction is enough.” A slight pause. And he swore she was mulling over words previously given to her. “Unless your Alpha would prefer not have me show up without an escort.”

  He brushed off his hands and wiped them on the thighs of his jeans. “I’ll escort you.”

  Her single shoulder lift let her opinion on the matter known, she didn’t dispute him on it. As he gestured for her to follow him off to the left, he noticed the other men watching and dismissed them as easily as she did him. There wasn’t any small talk as he led her to Juan’s office.

  He knocked on
the frame and waited for his Alpha’s low voice. “Enter.”

  “Visitor to see you, Alpha.” He stepped to the side and made it so she had to brush by him in order to enter the room fully.

  Again, her actions were strictly businesslike. He met his Alpha’s gaze and lifted a brow in silent question. He wasn’t going to ask him on the private link and didn’t get offended when Juan, flicked his hand in his direction.

  He dipped his head in a show of respect then left the two of them alone in the room. As much as he wanted to sit there and listen in on the conversation, he made his way back out. This was his one day off. He didn’t have watch or any duty to pull on the boundaries.

  Keane climbed into his car and made his way to the local bar and took his usual place at the back. He ignored all the humans there as well as most of his pack. He wasn’t there to keep the peace, he was there to enjoy a drink.

  Three hours later when he was ready to leave, that entire outlook changed. He looked up as she slid into the booth across from him, those big guileless gray eyes watching him unerringly.

  “Get everything taken care of, canine?”

  “Almost.”

  He nudged his beer bottle toward her. Without any hesitation, she picked it up and drank. As she placed it back on the scarred table top, she started to rise.

  “Where are you going? Didn’t you just get here?”

  “You or someone else.”

  He was out of his seat in a flash not even pretending to misunderstand. “No need for anyone else. Let’s go.”

  When he woke up the following morning, he was aware of two things. Make that three. One, he was still out in the woods, naked. Two, he was alone, his partner had vanished all without waking him. And third and most important, he’d met his mate.

  A small bump in the road snapped him back to the present. He peered at her, her expression the same. Unflappable.

  And I have to explain to my Alpha what I just did.

  “What the fuck was that about?”

  Chapter Two

  Tora skimmed her tongue over her teeth as she drove. It wasn’t the first time she had anyone else in her vehicle, but it was the first time she’d had the leopard shifter Keane in there with her. He took up more than his share of their shared air. The man had a presence that she’d never encountered before with another. At least not on such a level.

  She didn’t slow down, just mulled over her words before she spoke. “He thought he had the right to touch me.”

  “I don’t mean that, I’m glad you did that, although I must say I wanted to. I mean what were you doing there?”

  Tora narrowed her gaze. “That’s not what you said, you asked what the fuck that was about. I responded. He touched me without my permission and paid the price.”

  She felt more than heard his rumble of discontent. Marking her path, she slowed and turned off the main road on a side one that didn’t appear to get very much traffic. The ruts and holes were enough to make her slow to second, but her Jimmy didn’t have any problems handling what was tossed at it.

  The man beside her didn’t say anything further but she had no doubt he had turned that intense feline focus onto her. Damn felines. She pulled off the side road to the spot she’d already picked to sleep at and backed in, so if she had to race out, she could. This was natural for her to set up like this. While the spot she had selected to camp out on didn’t belong to any set Pack, Clan, or any other group, there wasn’t any way for her to know what the bears may do. She was still close to them and if they wanted revenge, they would come for her.

  She killed the engine and climbed out, instantly tipping her head up, allowing the sunshine penetrating through the trees to hit her face. Eyes closed, she listened to the birds. They would be the ones to alert her if trouble was inbound. Those and the wolves. Even when she was alone, she wasn’t truly ever alone.

  Keane joined her at the back of the vehicle, those green eyes burning into her with a veritable mixture of sexual and proprietary awareness.

  “What about your bike?”

  He gave a shrug as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other if he got the custom Harley back. She knew better but let it go. They all had their secrets and reasons for doing what they did. Searching deep for another moment of peace, she shut her eyes once more.

  “I’m still waiting, Tora.”

  That he’d used her name instead of the familiar moniker, canine, had her opening her eyes once more.

  “You asked your question and I provided an answer. It is not my problem you don’t like what I had to say.”

  He moved closer, she didn’t have to be watching him to garner that bit of knowledge, hell, she didn’t even have to rely on shifter abilities for that. This was pure feminine awareness that informed her of this.

  “Acting as if I am not here doesn’t change a damn thing.”

  She exhaled, aware there wasn’t anymore dodging this. Besides, her Alpha would want her to make sure that she wasn’t ruining anything for the Silva Clan. He wanted as much defenses on their side as he could get, especially with his mate expecting their first.

  She shook her head.

  “What?”

  “Just thinking. I am sorry if my actions ruined whatever you were up there for.”

  He waved a large hand. That was the leopard, large. All over. And he put that knowledge to amazing use.

  “I was there for some other reason and it didn’t have anything to do with the bears.”

  She fell silent and watched him, with caution. He held her gaze unblinkingly.

  She wasn’t aware of too many leopards, aside from his Clan who she’d gone down to work with a bit however, her instincts were good. They were damn good and right now they were yelling trap. While she may not be able to see it right this second, it was there, waiting for her to be unaware and drop her guard.

  For the first time in her life, she wanted to push and prod, ask what he had been doing up there and that’s when she realized it was the trap. He was baiting her, waiting to see if she would ask more questions. She bit back her snarl, blinked, and turned away as if she didn’t have a goddamn care in the world.

  She wanted to run, get the stench of the bears off her. Get the stench of inside off her, allow her wolf to run free and to take pleasure in the outdoors as they were created to do.

  On the other hand, mindlessly fucking the leopard beside her was another option that held a great deal of merit. He moved into her periphery.

  “Come on, canine. Let’s run.”

  In the next second, beside her stood a large male leopard in his prime. The golden coat and dark spots calling to her hands to dig in and touch. He turned his large head and looked at her with those incredible eyes before he chuffed and gazed ahead once more, before springing off.

  Excitement pulsed through her and she didn’t think on it another second, just shed her human form and followed, her brindle wolf stretching out to run in silent companionship with the male leopard at her side.

  Animals fell silent as the two powerful predators pushed deeper into the wooded landscape. Not that either of them was actually hunting, animals weren’t dumb or foolish to do anything to grab their attention, should they suddenly be hungry for food.

  Her wolf howled happily within her and she smiled, pleased her beast had calmed down. The two of them kept an easy pace with one another. She wondered how fast he truly was but she didn’t race him, that wasn’t what she wanted from him.

  What do you want, Tora?

  Her brain asked as she soared over a fallen tree trunk landing with ease as the feline with her found the ground once more, further ahead of her. She could hold her own speed wise, but she hadn’t any chance to compete with this leopard when it came to leaping over objects.

  She wasn’t sure what she wanted but right now she didn’t have to figure any of it out. A cold stream rushed ahead of them and she drew up even as Keane launched himself over it as if stepping off a curb to land on the other side, not
even disturbing the deep stream.

  Tora lowered her muzzle, eyes on him across the way and drank. The large male turned to give her a side profile of his muscular body. It wasn’t fair that even her wolf found his leopard sexy.

  His ears barely twitched as he watched her, his tail flicking lazily behind him. Content he would wait for her, she walked into the deeper water and dropped below the surface, allowing the frigid liquid to penetrate through her coat. Launching up, she landed on the opposite shore and shook, water droplets springing away from her and gleaming in the sunlight that made it through the canopy.

  Snorting, she shook once more, pleased that the stench of the bears had been removed. She approached the leopard, carefully yet fearless as she did everything.

  He lowered his head, eyes bright and wild, much like the man when he was in that form. He yawned, showing her his sharp brilliant white teeth. Her wolf fought the urge to respond in kind, but she reined her in. She didn’t mind taking on those larger than her in a fight, but this wasn’t that, and honestly, she wasn’t sure what it was.

  Instinctively she shifted her weight when he moved toward her. There wasn’t any prelude to him moving, he just was. Statue one moment and action the next.

  A low deep rumble emerged from his throat and she felt it all the way to her bones. Keane lowered his head, rubbing it along her side, slowly, not pushing himself onto her and she relaxed. Seconds later water was closing over her head once more.

  Shoving up from the bottom of the river, she shook once more as she finally hit dry land. If a leopard could laugh, that’s exactly what he was doing at her. Laughing. Hard. She gave another full body shudder, expressing the rest of the water from her and lifted a lip in his direction.

  His cat flexed his claws and sprang up to the top of a fallen log before looking down at her once more then taking off. With a sneeze, she followed him, and they fell back into the easy rhythm of running through the trees side by side.