by Smith, S. E.
I quiet, his cat gloated.
Just get us inside—without getting caught, he tersely ordered.
He felt the muscles of his cat tense before he easily sprang up, catching the sill with his front paws before pushing through the opening to land silently on the rug in front of the bathing unit. He immediately shape-shifted again so he could close the window to prevent any more heat from being lost. The last thing he wanted was a frigid draft of air to announce his arrival. Once he had closed the window, he moved to the closed door.
I’m in, he sent to his brother.
* * *
Vlad set a long case on the ground and knelt beside it. He shrugged the white backpack off his shoulders and set it down on the snow next to him. The white thermal suit he was wearing kept him protected from the sub-zero temperatures.
He unzipped the backpack and pulled out a pair of military-grade thermal binoculars. His buyers had spared no expense on the equipment he required for this job. He looked forward to collecting on this one and on the next one for her sister.
Adjusting the focus, he peered through the lenses. He was two hundred yards from the house, but it seemed like he was just two feet away. The house had several lights on, making the night vision option unnecessary. He moved his head and braced his elbows on the firmly packed snow so that he could keep his arms steady as he surveilled the house. He carefully studied the silhouette of a person sitting in a chair by the large sliding glass doors. He returned his field of vision back to the seated person. The telltale dark curly hair was all he needed to identify his intended target. She was where the information he’d purchased said she would be.
“Finally, my little prize tigress. I have finally caught up with you,” Vlad murmured.
Sitting back, he unzipped the long case, revealing the large rifle inside. He quickly assembled the rifle before pulling out the portable tripod. He lay on his stomach and looked through the scope.
He had only been there for a few minutes when he realized that something was happening inside the house. He followed the movements of a man near his target. He released a series of sharp expletives when he saw the man toss away a tiger who had been with the woman just a moment ago. His finger remained frozen on the trigger until he saw the man reach for a weapon.
Vlad squeezed the trigger. The woman was of no use to him if she was dead. He moved the scope to search for the woman. He froze when he saw not one, but two men for a brief moment. He didn’t recognize either of them, but they moved with power and grace. He didn’t like so many new players suddenly showing up in his game. He didn’t like it at all.
Pulling back, he silently packed up his equipment. It was better to retreat and attack another day than to end up like the man he had just killed. He had learned that lesson the day he received the scars that marred his face.
Chapter Nineteen
Minutes Ago:
Trescina rubbed her bruised throat and glared at the man standing in the shadows. She clenched her fist. The faint memories that had always been encased in a fog suddenly came into sharp focus.
She knew the memories were from her cat. Her primitive form retained the recessive memories of her connection with her mother while she was in the womb. Trescina remembered the gentle warmth of her mother’s love even as pain and grief tore through her.
“She loved you,” she forced out.
The man who was her biological father stared at her with indifference. Her gaze moved to his prosthetic arm before she looked away again. She had to get away from him and somehow alert Walkyr and his brothers.
“She was easily fooled and seduced,” he coldly replied.
Trescina’s lip curled. “You are a sick, twisted man. You had everything but you threw it away—for what? A metal arm and a miserably pathetic life,” she sneered.
She didn’t flinch when he took a step forward. He wouldn’t get what he wanted. She would never let him have the gem that meant more to him than she and her mother ever had. If the story that Walkyr told her was true, the very existence of their species depended on her keeping it safe.
“Where is The Heart of the Cat?” he demanded.
“Where the sun doesn’t shine. Why don’t you stick your head up your ass and see if you can find it?” she sarcastically retorted.
She sat back in her chair when he took another step forward and raised his metal arm to strike her. Her cat snarled and clawed at her to let it loose. She was having difficulty controlling it.
Release me, her cat snarled.
“Do not think I will spare your life any more than I would have spared your mother’s,” he threatened, slowly lowering his arm.
Trescina brushed her hair away from her face, then released a cry of pain when he suddenly reached out and wrapped his cold, metal fingers around her forearm. She struggled to break free, clawing at his fingers.
“The mark…,” he murmured, holding her arm at a painful angle to look at her wrist.
“It’s… it’s a tattoo… that I…,” she lied.
Another cry of pain escaped her when he began to squeeze her arm tighter. Dots danced in front of her eyes, and she was sure that the bone in her arm was about to break. She gasped in relief when he suddenly released her.
“I don’t need all of you, daughter. I am proof that a Sarafin warrior can survive without an arm, or his cat,” he informed her with a cruel smile.
Shivers coursed through her when it dawned on her what he was saying. He could no longer shift. Either his cat refused to come forth or he refused to release it. In essence, he was a man who was already half dead.
She cradled her throbbing arm against her chest and stared at him in horror. His face was twisted into a savage mask of rage. Her heart ached for his cat imprisoned inside him.
“Your time is up, daughter. I will use your bloody limb and tear this house apart until I find The Heart of the Cat,” he vowed.
“No, your time is up,” Walkyr replied.
Trescina saw the weapon Raul was holding in his good hand. Her cat, already thirsting for revenge, tore through the fragile thread of her control. She released a guttural cry full of her grief and fear as she shape-shifted.
Her cat slammed into Raul. She locked her powerful jaws around the wrist of his remaining arm and bit down. He swung out at her with his metal arm, smashing his fist against the side of her head. Pain exploded through her, but she refused to release her grip until he dropped his weapon. His next blow caught her in the side, breaking several of her ribs and knocking the breath out of her.
Her body went limp when he grabbed her by the nape and flung her through the air. She would have landed in the other room if Walkyr had not wrapped his arms around her. She cried out when his hold tightened around her broken ribs.
“Pallu, kill him,” Walkyr shouted.
Trescina turned her head into Walkyr’s chest when she heard the sound of laser fire. She closed her eyes. Behind her, she heard the unexpected sound of glass shattering followed by a heavy thud. Raul’s harsh curse was cut short.
She turned her head when she heard Pallu shout out a warning. Walkyr pulled her through the doorway he had entered through and sank down against the wall with her in his arms. She struggled to shape-shift, ignoring Walkyr’s harsh warning to remain in her cat form.
“Ah,” she cried as her broken ribs shifted.
“You shouldn’t have changed,” he growled in frustration.
Her head fell back against his arm. “Who is shooting?” she moaned.
“It has to be a human. We do not use such weapons,” Walkyr stated, looking over at his brother where he had taken refuge.
“Cinnamon and Spice,” she fretted, looking up at him.
“They are safe. They are in the garage,” he softly reassured her.
“Pallu, see if you can discover who is behind this,” he said.
Trescina saw Pallu give a brief nod before he disappeared through the door leading to the garage. She tucked her face against Walkyr again. It hu
rt to breathe. She moaned when he gently lifted her in his arms, turned, and strode down the hallway to her bedroom.
He carefully laid her on the bed. She lifted a hand to her throbbing temple even as she tried to cushion her ribs with the other. Walkyr pulled the small device he had used to heal his leg from the utility belt at his waist.
“This is much better than the barbaric medicine of your world,” he said with a reassuring smile, gently pressing his fingers against her bruised neck.
Trescina nodded and closed her eyes. She could feel the soft touch of his fingers as he tenderly tilted her head toward him. A moment later, a feeling of warmth swept through her. Almost immediately the pain faded.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I was going to run,” she confessed, her eyes darkening with the emotion swirling through her.
“I saw that. Did you forget to tell me something?” he inquired with a hint of accusing sarcasm.
“Maybe. I didn’t know you well enough to share that I’m a shape-shifter. We haven’t even been on a first date yet,” she retorted with a shrug before she winced in pain. “Ouch, that hurts.”
“What is a date?” he asked.
She relaxed as the scanner began to work its magic on her broken ribs. Her eyes drooped. She didn’t know if it was because she had gotten very little sleep in the past three days, had an emotional and physical crash from the stress, or from the warmth of the medical device; but her eyelids were getting heavy.
“I’m crashing,” she murmured with a slight slur.
His warm chuckle sent a wave of calm through her. “It is the sedative patch I gave you. You should wake up in about five hours or so,” he teased.
“You’re a regular… comedian. Who knew they had those in…. space? Guess it is better than a knife to my throat,” she joked in a barely audible voice before she sighed and gave up the fight against unconsciousness.
The last thing she remembered was the tender caress of his fingers across her temple. “No, no knives, Princess. Only a man who can’t wait to take you on your first date—once I ask Riley or Tina what that is,” he replied.
A small smile unknowingly curved her lips, and her cat sighed with contentment.
This better than running, her cat finally admitted.
Chapter Twenty
Three weeks later:
Big Cypress Reservation, Florida
Trescina looked up from where she was wiping down the last of the cabinets in the fifth wheel that she was donating to a pair of love-struck stargazers who had been married forever—aka Willie and Nora.
“I can’t believe you are just giving us your truck and camper, Trescina. Are you sure we can’t pay you for it?” Nora asked, standing up from where she had been storing some of the canned goods for their next trip.
Trescina looked at Nora and shook her head. “No, trust me, I can’t take it where I’ll be moving. I’d rather give it to you and Willie,” she said with a smile.
Nora looked at her. “We didn’t do any kinky stuff in here if that is what you are afraid of,” she teased in response.
Trescina blushed. She had thought more and more about the ‘kinky stuff’ over the last three weeks. It didn’t help that her cat was pushing her to get over her reservations and just do it.
“I’m not worried about it if you did. It’s your camper now. I just don’t want to think about whether I’ve wiped over any spots where Willie may have had his bare ass,” she retorted.
“What is that about my bare ass? Nora, are you bragging about me again?” Willie called from the door.
Nora rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Only on the number of mosquito bites you can take,” she hollered back.
Trescina listened with amusement as Nora and Willie flirted. She lifted her gaze to the window. Walkyr was standing outside talking to Willie and Nora’s son, Thomas, and Ron, Thomas’ friend. Her gaze softened when she saw him bend down to affectionately scratch Thomas’ dog on the head.
“Where are the tigers? It seems strange to see you without them,” Nora commented after Willie left to rejoin the men.
“They are enjoying their new temporary home,” she murmured, still watching Walkyr.
Nora came to stand next to her. “Where did you meet him? He’s a bit odd, but I like him,” she said.
Trescina chuckled. “We met by accident. He was searching for something called The Heart of the Cat and he found me instead,” she confessed.
“Well, I’d say that he found what he was looking for all along then,” Nora replied. Trescina leaned against Nora when the older woman wrapped an arm around her waist. “I forgot the new towels I purchased. They are in the truck. I’ll be right back.”
Trescina absently nodded. She reached up and pulled the chain of her necklace out. She played with the red gem. She furrowed her brow as she thought about what Nora just said.
I’d say that he found what he was looking for all along then…
Trescina parted her lips on a soft gasp. Of course! She excitedly lifted the chain off of her neck and looked at the gem again. This time, she really looked at it.
Turning it over in her palm, she saw that the gem had a slight crack. She rubbed her finger across the line. She blinked in surprise when a section of the gem opened to reveal electronic components. This wasn’t a precious jewel or a gem containing some magical power, it was man-made.
“It is a tracking device,” a woman’s voice behind her said.
Trescina gasped and turned. She stumbled backwards when she saw the ethereal woman made of gold standing in the middle of her fifth wheel. She took another step back when the woman looked curiously around her.
“I have never been in one of these. It is… interesting,” the woman murmured.
“Who… who are you?” Trescina choked out.
The woman’s expression softened. “I am Aikaterina. I gave your mother that device,” she said.
Trescina shook her head in confusion. “Why? They… The Sarafin think it is the source of all their power,” she said.
Aikaterina touched the device in her hand. “But you know the truth,” she murmured.
“It isn’t a stone. It is our own heart and the connection we have with our cat. It can only be taken away if we imprison ourselves with fear, hatred, or through our blindness and greed,” Trescina shared and then she frowned. “But then…why…?” she asked.
Aikaterina took the stone in Trescina’s hand and placed the necklace back over her head. “You will make a truly beautiful queen for your people, and Walkyr will be a strong mate to have by your side,” she said, gently touching Trescina’s hair.
Trescina narrowed her eyes and bit her lip. “What about Katarina? I’m trying to find her. I want her to come with me,” she said.
A mysterious smile curved Aikaterina’s lips. “Your sister has her own destiny to follow,” she replied.
“Mason is here. He asked if you are ready to leave,” Walkyr called from the door.
Trescina turned to look over her shoulder. “Yes, just a min…,” she started to say before her voice faded. She was alone once again. She lifted her fingers to the necklace again and smiled. “Yes, I’m ready,” she answered.
* * *
Six months later:
Orbit of Sarafin
A soft moan slipped from Walkyr’s lips. Trescina giggled and lightly ran her fingers over the bare skin of his chest. She leaned over him and pressed a kiss to one swollen nipple. He moaned again.
“I know you’re awake,” she said.
Walkyr’s lips twitched, and he opened his eyes enough to peer down at her where she was lying with her chin on his chest. She grinned at him. It was hard to believe that they had been together for only six months.
“I like it when you wake me up,” he teased.
She lifted her head. “No, you like getting up,” she retorted, sliding her hand down his stomach and hip before moving it ever so slowly toward the hard evidence that he was fully awake and aroused.
“You are aroused,” he murmured, his lips leaving a burning trail of hot kisses against her skin.
“I’m thinking of when you bent me over the back of the couch,” she breathlessly admitted.
This time the moan he released was much louder. Trescina’s legs parted when he pushed his leg between them. She instinctively raised them to wrap around his waist.
“Oh, yes, it felt a lot like this, only deeper,” she purred.
She lifted her hips when his bulbous head pushed against her. She knew what was going to happen, and just the thought made her wet and ready. She dug her nails into his skin and pressed her heels against his buttocks to drive him deeper into her welcoming core.
He rewarded her by thrusting deeper into her before pulling back and doing it again. Her cat went wild. Pulling him down on top of her, she bit his shoulder. She was immediately rewarded with another deep, intense thrust.
She could feel his cock thickening as his desire increased. Her body tightened. Teasing him awake had been enough foreplay to get her red-hot and aroused. She had noticed over the last week that just a look from him made her ready to find a secluded spot so that he could ease the ache inside her.
I in heat. It get much hotter, her cat happily informed her.
Now you tell me! she gasped as her body stiffened, and an intense orgasm spiraled through her.
“I will never get enough of you,” he gritted out between his teeth as he rocked his hips in the primitive dance of claiming and being claimed. “Goddess, but I love you, Trescina.”
