Whispered Loyalties

by Aliyah Burke

  She cocked an eyebrow. “If I think about it? Like I’m a child and need to study and agree with the teacher?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then I would suggest you pick your words more carefully, leopard.” Her words were rough as she forced them past her lips.

  He didn’t back from the challenge in her tone, if anything hunger sprang up in his own gaze. Keane moved closer and yanked her head back, claiming her mouth in a brutal kiss.

  She bit at his tongue when he pushed it into her mouth. His cat rumbled a warning even as he skimmed a hand up beneath her long sleeve shirt to find the waiting skin below. With his other hand, he cupped her between the legs and rubbed.

  Legs shaking as an orgasm washed over her, she latched onto him, nails digging into his muscles. Seconds later the cool air hit her skin and she realized he’d just torn off her pants. As the broad head of his cock nudged her, she widened her stance, not caring. Not about anything other than this moment with him. Not the cub, not the danger, and not the clothing. She had more jeans.

  He surged inside her with a single powerful stroke, hard enough to push her up on her toes. Keane pinched a nipple as he lifted her and took her to the counter where he put her. He left her mouth and put them forehead to forehead.

  “Open your heart to this, Tora. It’s the truth and I’m never letting you go.”

  “If that’s a proposal, you fucking suck at it. Do what you’re good at and fuck me, leopard. Make it quick because you said we have to leave and there’s a cub sleeping here.”

  He bared his teeth at her yet didn’t move from where he sat buried to the hilt within her core. She snapped hers in return. Needing him to move. She clenched her internal muscles and gave a wicked smile at the ripple of desire across his face.

  “Come on, leopard. You know you want to fuck me.”

  “I want to do so much to you, Tora. Not only do I want to fuck you, I want to mark your body with mine, show the entire world you are mine. Have you smell like me so no one dares look at you. I want you sitting on my face coming hard as I push my tongue deep inside you. I want you screaming my name without giving a damn of who can hear you because trust me they will hear you.” He pulled back a bit and she tried unsuccessfully to draw him back in to her. “Most of all, I want you to look at me the way your Alpha’s look at each other. That’s what I want from you, Tora. Can you give me that?”

  “No promises.” She tried again to pull him back deep. She couldn’t.

  “Promise me you’ll try and we will work through this together.”

  “Yes.”

  His smile wasn’t enough of a warning. He slammed home and she keened loud and strong as he did what she’d wanted him to do. Fuck her. He cupped the back of her head, not letting her look away from him. If this was the branding bit, she was screwed because she didn’t want to look away. Not at all. In truth, she wanted to do the same to him, make it so no female looked at him or if they did, they knew he was taken. Knew he was hers.

  “Yes, canine. I’m all yours. Bite me,” he whispered seductively in her ear. “Take what I so freely offer.”

  Her fangs slid free and she clamped down on his shoulder. His leopard echoed through her, his roar shaking her teeth but he didn’t fight, allowed her to hold him in place. Inside her, his cock pumped ropes of his seed into her.

  She came once more and he held her to him. Until the tremors stopped and they were both there breathing hard, neither moved. She released him and licked the wound, wanting it to heal. He waited for her, when she pulled back. Keane only allowed her to get so far.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite you.”

  His gaze soft and yet, not, watched her back. “Yes, you did. You know deep down it was what had to happen. You marking me was precisely what needed to happen and when you’re ready for me to do the same, I will.” Keane smoothed his hand down the side of her face. “Now that we’ve woken the cub, let’s get cleaned up and ready to go.”

  Tora didn’t want to. She wanted to go to bed and start over. His gaze darkened. “Don’t look at me like that, canine. We have to go, and those eyes are telling me to take you to bed and go a few more rounds.” He touched the tip of his finger to her nose.

  “At least it’s not just me thinking that,” she admitted.

  “Never only you, Tora.” He kissed her again, this time encouraging her tongue to dance with his.

  Only when he stopped the kiss, did she realize he’d taken them back outside. The shower was there and he carried her with him beneath the spray. It took a moment for it to warm up, but she didn’t care. He was with him, holding her, and fucking her once more beneath the water.

  Dressed, she stood by the hood as Keane and Nahuel exited the building. She looked over them both, the cub had the makings of a powerful warrior if he got the training, he would need to control his beast. Then her gaze shifted to the man beside him. Keane Patrick.

  The man, according to him, who was her mate. He wore, they both did actually, the used clothing she’d had stored there. It fit him. A dark blue shirt and faded black jeans. She’d managed to get him another pair of heavy boots, aware he wasn’t exactly a tennis shoe wearing guy.

  Whether it was conscious or not, she had pulled similar clothing for the lanky cub, who even if he’d not realized it yet had latched onto Keane. The way he watched him told her everything. That was the one he trusted. Not that there was distrust when he looked at her but there was doubt. If it was because of her size, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t care.

  “Ready?” Keane strode up to her and planted a kiss on her lips as if it were the most natural thing for him to do in the world.

  “Yes.” She went to the driver’s side while he and Nahuel went to the passenger side. She’d put up the back seats so he would have a place to sit, but it was an odd feeling for her, to have people in her vehicle.

  Her wolf snarled low, she wasn’t used to having others in her space and was more than a bit territorial.

  “How long will it take us to get home?” Keane shut the door and buckled himself in.

  “A couple days. Is your Alpha sending someone to meet the two of you?”

  “No.” Keane’s tone was unflappable. “You’re coming back with us.”

  She narrowed her eyes and pivoted to look at him. his chiseled jaw was square and determined.

  “I have my own Alpha to report to.”

  “Mine said he would talk to yours. You’re coming with us.”

  “I’m not a pup to be dictated to, leopard, you’d do well to remember that.” She started the engine and drove away, struggling not to fling up the ground as she gunned the engine. The land didn’t deserve her frustration or anger.

  Instead of replying, he peeled her hand off the gear shift, placed a kiss on the back of it and released her.

  With a growl, she snatched it away and placed her hand on her thigh, hating how he could make her anger vanish just like that. The corners of his mouth twitched like he knew exactly what his actions caused within her.

  The ride wasn’t full of chatter, not that she was a talkative one, but the cub had withdrawn into himself and Keane finally gave up trying to make conversation with him. As she pulled up to a gas station, the leopard glanced over to her.

  “Want me to drive?”

  Her refusal dangled at the tip of her tongue but when she opened her mouth, out came, “Sure.”

  A shock for sure. Not just for her, but him as well, for his eyes widened slightly.

  They all piled out and she began filling up the tank as well as the additional containers while Keane and Nahuel wandered inside the convenience store.

  She’d just finished with that and had pulled the vehicle away from the pumps and to a spot closer to the entrance when a large SUV drove in, dark green with oversized tires. Tora knew the kind. Either country boys or hunter hicks. Either way, she wasn’t in the mood.

  A cry from a bird, had her stepping from their line of sight as t
he doors opened and the men piled out.

  A soundless growl pushed free as she watched, teeth bared. Eyes narrowed, she scented the air, frowning at the pungent smell of hyena. They ran for the door, the six of them and she followed behind them after confirming by scent there were no more to come from the vehicle.

  As she stepped inside, she flipped the sign to closed and locked the door behind her. Then she looked around for her men.

  αβ

  Keane turned the moment the scent hit him. Hyenas and they also carried that same lingering stench of the Komodo that had been around. Instantly, his fangs slid free and his claws pushed hard against his fingertips.

  Behind the group of large men, he noticed Tora slip in and lock the door behind her. He wanted to protect her, he couldn’t help it. Again, he was well aware of her abilities and talents as a top lieutenant, but she was his mate and it was his job, his and his cat’s to keep their mate safe.

  Their gazes locked ever so briefly before she returned all of her deadly focus on the group.

  “Stay behind me,” he ordered to Nahuel, sweeping him behind him with a hand motion.

  “Are they here to take me back?”

  Fear streamed from the boy and Keane shook his head. “They’re not going to succeed if that is their foolish attempt. I swear I won’t let them take you.”

  “There are six of them.”

  “I know.” He tossed a small smile to him before focusing on the two in the front, keeping the ones trying to flank them in view. “Something I can help you with?”

  How the fuck did they find us so fast.

  “Time to come home, boy,” one said, sending a stream of tobacco to the white floor.

  “He’s not going anywhere with you,” Keane growled.

  Either the hyena didn’t understand how much danger he was in or he just didn’t care, for his dumbass continued forward. “Look man, we can come to some agreement about getting you another but this one, the boss man likes him to much to part with him. Let him come with us and we won’t have to hurt you.”

  “Keep coming and I will hurt you.” His claws began slicing through his flesh. “This boy is under the protection of the Silva Clan. You push this issue and I will forget it’s just about him and remember that your kind tried to kill me.”

  “There are far more of us than there are you.”

  “You hyenas, not very smart are you. In fact, at this point in time there are only two of you left.”

  The leader snapped his head around to see only one other beside him standing there. The others were dead but she’d not drawn blood because that would have given the others a head’s up of what was going on.

  His face contorted, partially shifting into the wild animal he was. His laughter grated on Keane’s nerves, but he didn’t let down his guard for a moment. Locked gazes with the hyena, he waited for the dog to make the first move. It did. Another round of ear-splitting laughter and it lunged at him.

  Compared to his leopard, it was remarkably slow, and he blocked his forward progression and threw him away, sending the heavy body into shelving and eventually to the floor. Then he was after him in a rush. With a single rush of preternatural speed, he was on top of the shifter before he came to a complete stop.

  One hand around the slaver’s throat, he bared his teeth, canines extended, and his eyes were one hundred percent leopard.

  “How did you find him?” The tips of his claws sank into the man’s neck beneath him.

  For all his bucking and struggling, he couldn’t throw Keane off him and his knees had imprisoned his arms so there wasn’t anyway for him to rip at the leopard anyway.

  Sputtering a few times, the defiance went out of his eyes rather swiftly. Hyenas weren’t known for their bravery.

  “Tra...tracker,” he gasped.

  He tightened his grip. “Where?”

  The shifter shook his head, eyes beginning to bulge from lack of air.

  Another crash yanked his attention from the one he had under him. Keane snapped his gaze up in time to see the last scavenger fall dead to the ground. Tora’s expression was blank like usual, she was an emotionless killing machine. Or so he’d believed until he’d slept with her.

  “You good?” He barely managed to take his gaze from his wolf and put it to the jaguar who watched Tora with more fear. Keane noticed she didn’t move closer to him, just held her ground there.

  “Yes.” Nahuel’s tone wasn’t all that confident but he wasn’t crying and he hadn’t run, so that was a win.

  “I need you to tell me where the tracker is in him.”

  “Kill me. A death by you is better than one by him.”

  “Kill him and be done with it, we need to get moving.” Tora’s voice penetrated his thoughts.

  “What about—”

  “Not necessary.”

  He may not understand but he did trust that woman, so he listened and ripped the throat out of the man beneath him and stood only to bend back down and wipe his hand off.

  Keane stepped away from him and beckoned to Nahuel. The cub listened but had a hard time meeting his eyes.

  “Pointless for us to keep running if he’s just going to send more after him. We have to get rid of the tracker.”

  She nodded. “I know. I’ll find it and you can take it out. Not sure the cub is ready for me to be wielding a knife on him yet.” She looked to the boy who was already taller than her. “I am not going to hurt you, but I need you to hold still for me.” Tora didn’t move until he gave a silent agreement.

  “Go get some medical supplies, leopard.” She didn’t look at him when she issued the command, just walked around the jaguar cub.

  A few rows over, he picked up a few things and watched her. She circled Nahuel four times, occasionally leaning in a bit closer and sniffing but she never touched him.

  When she finished and stepped back, she met his gaze. “I know where it is. Do you want to do it here or on the way?”

  “Where is it?” He stood beside her, hands full of antiseptic and bandages.

  “Back of his left thigh near the top.”

  Nahuel frowned. “I thought they had just cut me again for no reason. I didn’t know they’d put in a device.”

  “Do you want me to take it out, Nahuel, or would you rather have her take it out?”

  He flashed an almost guilty look to Tora. “You Keane.”

  Tora took the supplies from him and set them near the boy’s feet. “I’ll watch the door.”

  “Is she angry?” he whispered when it was the two of them.

  “No. Tora is one hell of a woman to have in your corner, Nahuel. I know you have no reason to trust most wolves because of what you went through, but she is one you can trust and not just because she’s my mate.” He gestured for the man to expose his leg and dropped to his knees beside him.

  “Did you always trust her?”

  “She came to our Clan as we were trying to figure out some things and she helped us. I learned real fast to trust her. She is a top lieutenant in her Pack. She will protect those weaker than her or those she is duty bound to protect.”

  He saw the healing mark and pressed around it, grateful it wasn’t too deep.

  “So it’s her duty to protect me?”

  “I think she actually likes you. Hard to tell sometimes but it’s there. This is going to hurt.”

  “I’ve sustained worse, just get it out of me.”

  One claw extended and without another word, he ripped into the mark. Nahuel hissed in pain but didn’t cry out. Keane was proud of him. With the small hemostats he pulled from the medical kit he’d found, he removed the tracker and set it down before working quickly to stop the blood flow and get the kid okay.

  Attaching the last of the butterfly bandages, he pushed to his feet, using a wipe to clean the blood off his hand.

  “I’m not stitching you because it will heal on the road. You’ll stretch out in the back and lie on your stomach.”

  “Okay. What happens whe
n we get to your Clan?”

  Keane smiled at him as he gingerly drew up the rest of his pants covering the injured leg. “Easy, we find a home for you to live in and get you integrated into the Clan. Which means school, new clothing, homework, all that fun stuff.”

  “Am I living with you?”

  The question threw him. “I’m not sure. We’ll see when we get there.”

  Dejection apparent, the cub hobbled to the door, moved past Tora who stood there and walked to the vehicle. Bending at the waist, he swiped the tracker and moved to her side.

  “What should we do with this?”

  “I say you send them on a merry chase. Wrap it in bread and give it to a bird.”

  “I love the way your mind works.”

  She flashed him a small smile, dropped some money on the counter and walked out. Keane saw the store clerk unconscious behind the counter as he pushed through the door. He tossed the bread and smiled when a bird swooped down to grab it and take it away.

  Good luck tracking that down you fuckers.

  As he got to the vehicle, he found Tora making sure that Nahuel was comfortable before she sat in the passenger seat. Claiming the wheel, he stole a quick peek to the cub back there, who looked like he was sound asleep.

  “Thank you.”

  Tora shrugged as he shifted and pulled away from the station.

  “This is where you say you’re welcome.”

  “Why?” Her tone was pure question, no hint of sarcasm or joking.

  “Because I’m thanking you for having our back.”

  “I always have your back, leopard. You never have to thank me for that. And I’ll always have your cub’s back as well.”

  His cub?

  He couldn’t deny how nice that sounded.

  Chapter Seven

  The cub’s appearance was only slightly shocking this time. He’d been coming closer to her when Keane wasn’t around or was sleeping. They would be getting to the Silva Clan tonight. They’d stopped in the middle of the wilderness to take a break from traveling and to eat.

  Keane had gone off stating he would be back soon. She figured he needed to let his cat out to run. She understood that, but her wolf could deal with being cooped up. Survival had dictated she learn that. However, if the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t turn it down.