by Marilu Mann
Opening the closet door so forcefully that it bounced off the wall, Carly dove in. She moved several boxes, muttering under her breath. Finally! She jerked a small box out with a satisfied crow.
“I don’t think this is what Dad meant when he said I might need this thing.” Carly laid the pistol on the bed, trying to remember what she had done with the ammunition.
Snapping her fingers, she grabbed the gun up and went across the hall. “Where is that damn lockbox? I know it’s in here somewhere.” She tossed things aside in her rush. Finally! Carly’s fingers trembled as she loaded the weapon that had belonged to her grandfather. Her father had insisted on giving it to her when she decided to return to New Orleans.
Carly had only fired it twice but she remembered enough about it to load it with hands that only shook a little. She went back downstairs with the pistol tucked securely in her hand. Listening for any noise, she paced between the kitchen and the living room as she waited for something to happen.
Chapter Seven
The darkness had just begun to lift. Tony stopped just at the edge of the front steps to sniff of the air around him. His keen cat eyes narrowed as he sought out who had come to try to harm his woman. The man knew she wasn’t really his, but the cat had already claimed her—scented her as his. His nose told him that Micah stood guard at the back door.
He could hear Carly inside the condo and hoped she’d have enough sense to stay put. Another sniff and he growled low in his throat. She had a gun. Foolish human. He’d told her that only silver would stop one of his kind. He made a mental note to get her a supply of silver bullets. Tony swiveled his head to the left as he focused on the row of hedges that separated Carly’s condo from the property next to it. There was definitely a creature there.
Tony crouched down low as he stepped off the small landing and into the shadow of the building. He stayed in the shadows as he slunk his way to the corner of the house. He could smell the intruder. It was definitely canine and male. But the scent markers were unfamiliar.
This was not Slade. He’d sent someone else to do his dirty work. Tony narrowed his eyes so that the faint light still in the sky wouldn’t reflect his eyes to alert whoever was in the hedge. He sensed Micah moving up on his left. Tony slowly gathered his body into a crouch as he prepared himself to spring. His tail twitched in anticipation as his quarry moved. Bunching his muscles, he waited for the exact moment the intruder sensed that they were watching.
There was a brief movement in the hedge and Tony leapt forward. He felt more than heard Micah moving up on his left as he landed on the back of the smaller animal in the hedge. They struggled in the bushes. Tony growled and the wolf answered him as the two of them fought. Viciously sharp canine teeth sunk into his foreleg, sending searing pain up his arm. Still, Tony grabbed his assailant just below the neck rather than snapping him in two. Tony didn’t want to kill him—he only wanted to find out who this shifter was.
Once Tony held the stranger under his claws, he glanced over at Micah to see him regain his human form. A strange wrinkling of Micah’s aura told him what was about to happen. Tony watched as the wolf beneath his paws changed to a startled man. The surprise on the now-naked human male’s face made Tony grumble in his throat. Only he and a few others had ever seen this unique ability of Micah’s—this skill from Micah’s grandfather’s side of the family was feared by other shifters. All shifters inherently mistrusted anyone who could control the forms of others. But Tony knew that Micah was judicious in his use of this rare power. He trusted Micah to only force the change when absolutely necessary.
Tony held his feline form and kept his grip on the other shifter. He heard Micah moving closer and growled low in his throat as the man below him continued to struggle. Tony flexed his claws on the man’s shoulders as Micah stepped in to try to identify him. Tony’s snarl kept the other man from bolting.
“Cutter. Tony, this is Cutter Bristol. Slade is not going to be very happy with you, Cutter. You’ve screwed up…again.”
“Fuck you, Micah.” Cutter’s voice sounded like he was talking through a mouthful of ground glass. Tony growled low in his throat and applied pressure to the man’s back. The swift intake of breath was the only indication he gave that he was experiencing any pain at all.
“Interesting tattoo you have there, Cutter. Is that new?” Micah indicated the tattoo on the back of Cutter’s neck which was eerily familiar. Tony looked closer, realizing that the mark bore resemblance to a swastika. The shifter didn’t move or say anything. He simply stared at them. “So, Cutter, Slade has you doing his dirty work these days? Curtis would be so proud.”
“Shut up, traitor. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Things changed after you left. Curtis would have had you as Alpha if you hadn’t left. But you did leave so you don’t get to say anything about the pack. Now Slade is my Alpha and I answer to him.”
Tony tightened his grip on Cutter, causing him to inhale sharply again. Tony could smell the blood welling out of the other man’s shoulders where his claws were holding him. He snarled again as the warm coppery smell rose to meet him. Tony could feel the “other” waking, he knew his animal was closer to the surface than ever before.
The tension in the man under him increased. Micah moved again, ready to intervene. Micah pivoted at the sound of a door banging open behind them. Tony knew it wasn’t another shifter coming up behind him, knew it was Carly.
“Get back inside, Doctor. We’ll handle this.” Micah stared down at her completely unconcerned with the fact that he was standing in Carly’s front yard as naked as the day he was born.
“What are you doing? That man is bleeding. Can’t you stop him?” Carly gripped the old pistol but her attention was riveted on Tony and the man he pinned to the ground. Tony’s rear claws had dug furrows in the ground beside the man, his forepaws clutched at the man’s shoulders where blood welled. Tony’s teeth grazed the other man’s throat. The horror in Carly’s face turned to anger.
“Let him go, Tony. Let him go. He’s just a man. You’re hurting him.” Her voice shook.
“Doctor, you must go back inside now. Let us do what must be done.” Micah took his attention off the man briefly but it was long enough for the other man to regain his ability to shift. A flash and a shimmer sparkled behind him as Cutter found his animal again. Then it was a flurry of teeth and claws as Tony and Cutter started fighting in earnest.
Micah scooped Carly up as though she were a child and ran toward the house with her.
He pushed her through the door and growled at her, “Stay inside. Lock the door. Do not come out until we come for you.”
As soon as he heard the lock click, Micah jumped off the steps to run back toward the other two men. He knew better than to try to get between them. Micah could smell the blood. He could hear the two of them growling and the sounds they made as one or the other sustained an injury.
Tony outweighed Cutter when in animal form but Cutter had much more experience in fighting. In a pack you didn’t get anywhere unless you could fight. If you were interested in getting anywhere, that is.
Tony still ripped into Cutter, but pain had to be hampering him. Micah could see blood where Cutter had bitten deeply several times and Tony’s sides heaved like a bellows. Cursing under his breath, Micah took a step forward then stopped. Tony would win if he didn’t let Cutter have the edge of Tony worrying about the woman.
“She’s safe, Tony.” Micah chanced speaking.
Tony looked up at the sound of Micah’s voice. Cutter took advantage as he bit savagely into Tony’s shoulder, twisting his neck to pull fur and flesh out. Tony yowled, releasing Cutter. Relinquishing his hold on Tony, Cutter scrambled out from underneath him and took off, crimson dripping from his wounds. Tony started to give chase but Micah’s voice called him back.
“Let him go. I know where to find him.” Micah watched the big cat as he limped back toward him. The serpentine movement Micah had always associated with big cats seemed acc
entuated in Tony. Tony limped to a halt in front of Micah. He panted open-mouthed before sitting down to lick over the spot where Cutter had bitten his shoulder.
The wound was deep but not life-threatening. Blood mixed with the black fur on Tony’s shoulder where Cutter’s teeth had ripped into his flesh. Micah knew that type of injury, had sustained a few in his time. It would ache, even after Tony healed it by shifting a few times. Twisting his neck, Tony cleaned the jagged edges, hissing softly when he hit a particularly painful spot.
Micah could see the muscle just at the deepest point of the bite. Fur matted under the flow of blood as Tony cleaned the spot. Finally the bleeding subsided enough for him to turn his attention to his other injuries. Another similar bite marked the back of Tony’s neck. The tentative movements told Micah that Tony had strained several muscles.
He also knew Cutter would be in worse shape because Tony had bitten him very deeply several times as well as gouging him with those sharp claws. A wolf couldn’t match a cat in that department. Tony’s head suddenly swiveled toward the house. Carly stood on the steps.
“Stupid human,” Micah barely got the words out before Tony coiled his muscles and bounded past Micah. He stopped right in front of Carly and roared. Carly jumped and pulled the trigger of the pistol. The shot rang loud as the bullet plowed into the ground. All three of them could now hear sirens.
Obviously one of Carly’s neighbors had called the police during the fight. There wasn’t any more time for foolishness. Tony shook and changed. Picking Carly up, he took her inside, leaving Micah to follow and close the door.
Tony carried Carly into the living room, yanked the pistol out of her hand and threw it across the living room. He tossed her on the couch then grabbed her shoulders in a fierce grip. He glared at her with eyes still gold and his voice growled out.
“Have you completely lost your mind? Don’t you understand what could have happened to you? We have fangs, Carly. Fangs and claws and human flesh is too frail to stand against them. You never should have come outside.” He gave her a slight shake.
Carly didn’t even have time to draw a breath before he kissed her. Tony took all of his anger, all of his fear and all of his frustration out on her in that kiss. His mouth was hard against hers as he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. He felt himself grow hard knowing she could feel him pressing against her stomach.
“Damn you, I could have lost you.” Tony growled as he kissed her again, just as fiercely as before.
Micah cleared his throat. He had managed to pull his jeans back on before he heard a car pull up out front. “We have company.”
Tony’s head whipped around, his body still reacting to the fight and the fear of losing Carly. He suddenly realized what he was doing. He levered himself up off Carly, knowing nothing he could say would matter at this point. He picked up his pants and flipped his hair over his shoulder.
Carly pulled herself to an upright position on the couch with a dazed expression on her face. Tony jerked at the sight of the dark stain on her shirt. Immediately he moved back toward her, noting her small move away from him. It hurt, but he knew it was best that she feared him. She had to fear him to be safe.
“Are you hurt?”
“What?” Carly looked up at him in surprise.
“There’s blood on your shirt. Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” Tony had his hands on her shoulders again. Carly shook her head slightly.
“No, it’s yours. You’re bleeding.” She reached toward his arm where the blood still seeped from the bite he’d sustained.
Tony shook her hand off as he pulled his shirt on. “Go upstairs and get a clean shirt.”
When she simply stared at him, Tony growled and pulled her to her feet. “Go, Carly. Now. That’s the police pulling up outside. Get out of that shirt or there will be more questions than any of us want to answer right now. Go!”
Carly ran up the stairs to change out of the shirt. She stared at the red stain for a moment then threw the bloodied shirt in the trash. Her hands shook so she took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Carly heard the doorbell as she came to the top of the steps. Micah opened the door to the two uniformed officers just as Carly started down the stairs.
“No, Officer, I don’t know what was making all the noise. It came from the hedge out there. Dr. Chambers and I had stepped outside but we didn’t see anything. We were just about to call you when we heard the sirens.” Micah glanced over his shoulder at Carly. “This is Dr. Chambers. It’s her condo.”
“Ma’am. Are you okay? One of your neighbors was a bit concerned, said she thought you might be having some trouble.”
“No, thank you. Everything is fine. I heard something outside but I have no idea what it was. I think it might have been some of the feral dogs that are left from Katrina.”
“Do you mind if we take a look around, Doctor?” One of the officers stood on the top step, already shining his flashlight into the hedge.
“No, of course not.” Carly stuck her hands in her pockets to keep the men from seeing them shake. Micah gave her a slight nod of encouragement. There was no sign of Tony. Micah stepped aside as the first officer came into the house. Micah made sure he kept his hands in plain sight as the two police officers looked around the living room and kitchen.
Carly glared at him for a moment as she asked with her eyes where Tony was. Micah simply glanced up at the roofline of the condo. The second officer was walking around in the yard with his flashlight sweeping in front of him.
“Martin? I’ve got some blood out here.” The officer who had been inside immediately joined his partner outside. The two of them swept their flashlights over the ground under the hedge. One of them went down on one knee as he pulled up a patch of hair. “Dog. Looks like it was a couple of animals.”
“Doctor, we had a report of a gunshot. Did you fire a handgun?” The older officer was looking at her again. Carly spared Micah a brief glance before she nodded.
“Yes. I wasn’t sure what was in the bushes. I thought firing the gun would scare whatever it was away.”
“Doctor, you do know there’s an ordinance against firing a gun inside the city limits, don’t you?”
“Well, I guess I wasn’t thinking too clearly. It sounded like they were tearing each other apart.” Carly smiled slightly as she met the officer’s eyes.
“I’m going to have to write you a citation.” Whatever else the older officer was going to say was drowned out by the younger one’s exclamation.
“Holy shit! Martin, look at this!” The younger officer was kneeling on the ground with his flashlight trained on the ground by the hedge. “I’ve never seen a track this big.”
The older officer walked toward him with Micah and Carly right behind him. Micah tensed slightly as he saw what the two police officers were studying. There was the clear print of a large cat in the soft ground under the edge of the hedge. Micah glanced at Carly. She met his eyes with a slight shrug. The two officers were talking about bringing in a wildlife officer to identify the track.
“It’s a panther, I’m sure it is. There were some in Florida, you know? I bet one made its way over here.” The younger officer was excited by his discovery. Their focus shifted from Carly firing a gun to the possibility that there was a panther on the loose. “If this was a panther, he could have carried the dog he was fighting with off. We should call Animal Control. There’s a lot of blood here.”
“There’s no way there’s a panther loose in New Orleans. It’s probably a dog track that just got muddied. A big damned pit bull. That’s what it was.”
It was almost an hour before the two officers left. Micah had somehow convinced them not to call animal control and they had given Carly a warning in relation to the pistol. When they finally got back in their car and left, Carly stomped back into the house.
“Where in the hell is Tony?” She glared up at Micah and he simply looked past her at the staircase. Carly whirled around to see Tony descending as though he had j
ust been in the bathroom or something. She rushed toward him and shoved the sleeve of his shirt up to look at his wound for herself. “Where in the hell were you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. All better. Carly, I’m sorry about before. I was afraid something would happen to you.” Tony knew his wounds were already healed. He watched her face as she searched for any sign of the earlier fight. He reached out and touched her face, tilting her chin up so that she met his eyes. “Never get between two shifters when they’re fighting. You don’t realize how fast we can move.”
“Oh, I think I have a pretty damn good idea, now!” Carly took a deep breath and turned to glance at Micah then back at Tony. “I’m in this up to my neck, aren’t I?”
They both nodded and Carly sighed. She left them in the living room plotting how to protect her as she went to make a fresh pot of coffee. Carly had the feeling they were all going to need it before the day was much older.
* * * * *
Slade paced as he waited for Cutter to return. He knew he should have gone himself. What was Tony up to? Slade knew how Micah would react in a fight. He had plenty of information on Micah while Tony remained an enigma. Damn were-cats didn’t have a pack like the wolves did. They didn’t really have a leader, they just aligned themselves wherever they felt compelled to do so.
Tony had always been in the forefront with the cats, they all looked up to him. Some of the cats had joined the pack, taking the mark of the Turn Skins without a qualm. Those few Slade knew and knew what to expect from them. The rest were remaining decidedly neutral, which made him angry.
There was no neutral as far as Slade was concerned. If you weren’t with him, you were against him. Sure Tony was against him, Slade therefore he had to take care of Tony before anything else could be accomplished.
A noise from across the hall had Slade lifting his head to scent the air. He strode quickly across the room to throw open the door. Cutter came into the house through the French doors leading to the back gardens. Maggie, the Alpha Bitch, handed him a pair of jeans. The smell of fresh blood that swirled around Cutter had Slade’s eyes narrowing as he moved closer to him.
