Scent Of A Mate: League Of Gallize Shifters

by Dianna Love

She deserved to know the truth, that he could not be saved.

  He would never meet a female such as his camp sister. Not even the Guardian knew how to find these Gallize women, from what his sister had told him. She explained that becoming Rory’s mate saved that jaguar from a mating curse some witch had forced on Gallize shifters a long time ago.

  His sister pleaded with Gan to gain control of his tiger so he could mate. She said, based on what Rory had told her, Gan would not have much time because he became a Gallize so late in life.

  Even if a woman would want a man with a crazy tiger inside him, few could accept the power he now possessed. He would not kill some woman just to save himself.

  All these things had run through his head for over two weeks in Wyoming.

  How could he tame a tiger that understood their life would be short? He had not told his tiger, so the animal might not know.

  Or, as usual, the tiger would not accept Gan’s words.

  Scarlett’s phone had been quiet, but it started ordering her to follow directions again.

  “Where are we?” He listened to the mechanical words, but none of them made sense. He had to learn what the words meant if he hoped to find his way north soon.

  “I’m getting off in Johnson City, Tennessee. Then we’ll have about fifteen miles of backroads heading east. The house appears to be on the south end of Holston Lake, just below the Virginia border. The lake is located in both Virginia and Tennessee.”

  He listened to her phone and watched how she followed directions. If he rode with her a few times more and she played her phone, he could figure it out.

  Twenty minutes later, she drove down a gravel road that ended at a house built of logs. Beyond that, moonlight danced over a lake.

  Scarlett stopped short of reaching the house. Her eyes flicked back and forth quickly, taking in everything from side to side.

  Gan asked, “What is wrong?”

  “Nothing exactly. I’m trying to decide if I can get you inside without Jazlyn seeing you.”

  “Why?”

  “She knows I figured out why she took off without me. If she sees you here, she’s not going to be happy with me.”

  He scoffed. “Is only fair. You are not happy with her.”

  “Yes, but she’s the only connection I have to Fayth right now. I don’t want her delaying contact because she does not trust you.”

  “Should trust me. I help escape.”

  “I know that makes sense to you, Gan, but that woman has been through a lot just to stay alive. She’s being hunted to be thrown in a titanium pit where she’ll die a horrible death. On top of that, one of my contacts betrayed her and I’m betting the Pagan Nomads were behind that failure,” Scarlett said in a glum note. “She doesn’t know who you are aligned with and is probably worried you’ll call your people in without me knowing.”

  He held his empty hands out. “I have no phone. You have phone. Not my fault if they come.”

  Scarlett waved her hand, dismissing his words. “They’re not coming. I cleared taking this vehicle and your boss knows you’re with me. We’re good. Let’s just go and hope she doesn’t wait long.” She got the truck moving again and parked in front of the garage.

  Opening her door, she turned and asked, “You said the key would be behind door number three, right?”

  “Yes. Where is this door?”

  “I’ll show you.” When she got out, she wrangled her loose pants up and climbed three steps to the porch. Once there, she studied the outdoor furniture decorated with flowery cushions and various pots filled with different plants.

  Gan followed her gaze to the flowers and leafy plants. Where was this door?

  Then Scarlett stepped off the porch and strode out into the yard.

  What was she looking for? He stayed with her.

  She cast a long look across the land on this side of the house where large trees with big limbs must offer nice shade during the day. After standing there a moment, she moved to a garden under the tree closest to the house and seemed to find what she’d been hunting.

  Stepping carefully around delicate plants, she dropped to one knee, staring at rocks.

  Lifting one the size of a small melon, she turned it over and pinched a small black box free from a hole on the underside. She grinned up at him. “The key.”

  “That is not door.”

  “Saying the third door meant to look in the third place I would expect to find a key hidden by most humans.” With the rock back in place, she stood up and returned to the porch. “The first spot is under the welcome mat, which is a terrible place to hide a key. The second spot is under a flower pot, another bad idea.”

  “Rock is third place?”

  “Not for sure, but a lot of people like hiding their keys in a fake rock.” Returning to the porch, she unlocked the door. “No alarm, but I would have been extremely disappointed if Jaz had set me up to open a house with security alarms.”

  “Still not make her good friend,” Gan qualified. They had saved the wolf shifter and she ran away. How could she do that after Scarlett had risked her life for the woman?

  “Actually, she is a good friend,” Scarlett countered. “She did something very special for Fayth eighteen months ago as a favor to me and now Jaz was there for Fayth when her world crashed and I couldn’t be. Jaz put herself and her freedom at risk just trying to get in touch with me.”

  “She had no phone?”

  “Not normally. It’s not as if she has unlimited funds even for a burner phone, for one thing.”

  “Burner phone?” He had so much to learn.

  Scarlett explained how someone could buy a phone at a store and never connect to the phone services that would allow law enforcement to track the phone. Then she explained tracking with a GPS.

  “Jaz has lived off the land for years,” Scarlett continued. “I have no idea what she does for money, but I’ve told her time and again that I would give her cash. She refused and said not to expect to hear from her again.”

  “This is friend?” he asked.

  “Yes. She didn’t want to put me in a tight spot with the law and figured if we never spoke I’d be safe.” Opening and closing closets, Scarlett kept searching the house as if memorizing everything about it as she spoke. “Jaz said Fayth didn’t escape with her phone. Neither one of them would have the number for the backup phone I had hidden in my vest. My current primary phone was crushed by the shifters we fought. The first thing I normally would have done as soon as I started using a new phone would be to call Fayth’s number and leave my new one, and make it sound like a spam call.”

  “What is spam call?” Gan followed her as she looked through the downstairs.

  She circled the backside of a comfy looking sofa and stood at the large window, which looked out into a yard and dock on a lake. “Someone you don’t know calls your number to sell you something. Fayth knew how to get the new number out of the message anyone else would dismiss. But now even she doesn’t have this number. Jaz wouldn’t let her call my voice mail service. There’s being careful, then there’s Jaz. I can’t fault her. She’s managed on her own a long time, always looking over her shoulder. She put her life on the line to help Fayth and find me.”

  Leaving the window, Scarlett headed for the kitchen at the other end of the huge room.

  She said, “I’m thinking Jaz told Fayth to stay dark while she was gone looking for me.”

  “Dark?”

  “Like radio silence. Don’t call and risk being tracked to wherever they’re hiding. Fayth is not cutout to deal with threats and will do whatever Jaz or I tell her.”

  Scarlett paused at a dark stone counter in the kitchen. She lifted a piece of paper from the polished surface.

  He made a guess. “Is from friend?”

  “Yes. She says she’ll come to see me between twenty-four and thirty-six hours after I arrive.”

  “Why wait?” The Guardian had given him three days. Gan wanted to get whatever Scarlett needed taken
care of then be gone before his time ran out.

  Turning to him, Scarlett said, “Jaz will come here at some point to watch and be sure we haven’t been followed or your people don’t show up to grab her.”

  “She waste time,” he groused. “We need help Fayth now.”

  Scarlett cocked her head at that. “I agree. I want to find Fayth like yesterday, but what is your hurry?”

  He should have kept his thoughts to himself. He had to be careful not to lie. “I have three days. What if she waits too long and Guardian wants me back when you are busy helping Fayth?”

  Her eyes narrowed as he spoke.

  He had not lied, but it was a muddy truth.

  After a moment of the staring match, she said, “We’re good on time. Let’s put together one bag out of what’s in the back of the car and grab showers, then eat. I’m starving.”

  His stomach rumbled at that moment. One thing he’d learned was to not allow the tiger to get too hungry.

  Resigned, he agreed. “Yes, we eat.”

  She handled moving clothes they needed and weapons into one bag that had to belong to Vic, based on scent, then grabbed her vest and shoved it into the same duffle. She left the other bag that smelled of that wolf called Adrian.

  Back in the house, they climbed the stairs to find two bedrooms with a bathroom built between them.

  Farther down the hall a doorway opened into a large bedroom with a very big bathroom.

  He followed her into the large bedroom, claimed it. “I use this one.”

  “No. Who made you king of the hill?” She carried the bag into the bathroom, yanked out a change of clothes, and shoved them at him. “You saw that first bathroom. I’m sure it works, too.”

  She shut the door in his face.

  His tiger made a sound Gan had not heard before. The animal snickered at him.

  Gan grumbled to himself and turned back to the first bathroom he’d passed.

  Maybe life without a woman would not be so bad.

  Chapter 17

  Near Erie, Pennsylvania

  Robert strode through his sprawling home, sharp strikes of his boot heels setting off sparks of energy. The walls rippled ahead of him as his power drove forward, sending a warning to every being it reached.

  Never cross a Power Baron who considered draining the life force of a foe nothing more than sport.

  Doors to his library flew open before he reached them.

  Lights above flickered.

  He slowed and caught his breath.

  The exquisite gilt bronze-and-crystal chandelier created by the master Pierre-Philippe Thomire could not be replaced. Duplicating the original would have no value. Robert had purchased the magnificent piece for his mistress just before the artist died in 1843.

  Humans had such short lives, but they could be useful.

  Pulling his power back in check, Robert entered the room where heavy mahogany bookshelves lined two walls. A granite fireplace fifteen feet across and rising to the twelve-foot ceiling held a roaring fire. Comfortable leather seating nestled in the center of the room, but those would not be used this evening.

  They were meant for quiet evenings with favored guests.

  To the side of the seating area in the wide walkway to a wall of books he’d collected over two hundred years stood his new second-in-command.

  At twenty-six, Kenneth held an erect pose, showing off his six-three height and considerable build. He made a much better first impression than Tantor.

  An arm’s length behind him waited a surly thirtyish looking man, who had lived almost a century in hiding until shifters came out.

  Where Kenneth’s lean build spoke of disciplined training with weights, the shifter’s thick arms showed off muscles on top of muscles.

  Two additional guards in black-and-gold uniforms matching Kenneth’s, bookended each side of his guest.

  Robert strode forward, observing the man with an indignant expression. He asked, “Is this the tiger shifter?”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Expecting the usual “yes, sir,” Robert gifted Kenneth with a slight smile of appreciation.

  Wise young man that he was, Kenneth did not move a muscle to acknowledge receiving a prized acknowledgement. He stepped aside, allowing Robert to take his place in front of the tiger shifter known as Lincoln.

  Lincoln’s golden shifter eyes glowed as if on fire. “I’m here just so I can tell you I am not one of your flunkies to be called to you. You Power Barons signed agreements, blood treaties from what I heard. We don’t screw with your people. You don’t screw with shifters. I don’t give a shit what you do to humans. They’re all a nuisance as far as I’m concerned.”

  Robert allowed him to continue his dribble even as anger over Lincoln’s disrespectful tone slid onto the faces of his guards.

  With no immediate consequence, Lincoln became comfortable, shifting his weight as he crossed his arms. “You have exactly one minute to say what the hell you want then we’re done.”

  Thank the power of the universe the man finally shut up. Few things were as welcome as silence after that earful.

  Robert lifted his watch into view as if the time mattered.

  It didn’t.

  Lincoln heaved a deep breath, letting everyone know he was being imposed upon.

  After exactly fifty-eight seconds, Robert took a second read of his watch.

  Lincoln’s frustration hit a new level. “Enough already. What the fuck do you ...”

  Robert murmured softly and lifted his hand with his finger and thumb making a circle.

  Lincoln paused to stare at him with confusion. Then his mouth opened wide, so wide his eyes were tearing. His hands trembled where they were still stuffed inside his folded arms. He made strangled noises.

  Canting his head, Robert asked, “You prefer your mouth shut perhaps?”

  The garbled noises got louder.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Robert pinched his fingers together.

  Lincoln’s lips smacked shut and stayed that way. His eyes bulged. He continued to shake hard as a leaf in a summer storm. A wet spot formed in the front of his pants.

  Shaking his head, Robert said, “That is no a pretty sight for a man, much less for an alpha tiger shifter.” He made tch, tch noises. “Pay me heed, tiger,” Robert started in a tone meant to broach no argument, even if the shifter could speak. “No one threatens me who does no pay a price. To end yar life would be a simple decision, but I’m no a simple man. I prefer to get more out of every action I take. Ya have one chance to spare yar life. As for reportin’ me to the Power Council or any government, what happened just now is slight compared to what you would suffer for makin’ a second mistake. I doona really allow anyone two.”

  Fury poured from Lincoln’s eyes.

  Shifters were not quick to comprehend. Ignoring the ridiculous threat in Lincoln’s eyes, Robert continued.

  “I understand ya have been raidin’ rogue shifter groups. I could turn you over to SCIS for that alone. Have you ever seen the titanium hole in the ground where they put criminal shifters? ’Tis no a nice place. Some die in the first forty-eight hours once the animal goes insane. I would insure ya survived.”

  Threatening to contact the Shifter Criminal Investigation Service extinguished the fury in Lincoln’s eyes, leaving behind what Robert had been waiting for. Fear.

  He chuckled. “So much bad can happen to a shifter caught breakin’ rules. And let us be clear. You are caught.”

  Walking over to a side table of gilded gold and marble, Robert opened his humidor. He chose a rare cigar crafted in Honduras, one of a very limited edition. Clipping the tip and lighting it, he strolled back to the mute shifter.

  “I will award ya the opportunity to make up for yar bad manners while in my home.”

  When Robert released Lincoln’s lips, the shifter coughed and gagged. Clearly not a connoisseur of thousand-dollar cigars.

  Once the noise subsided, Lincoln croaked out, “What do you want?�
�

  See? Communication was everything. When performed correctly, even a shifter understood how few words were required to have a productive conversation.

  Robert released the magic holding Lincoln’s body. “I understand the Pagan Nomads have captured a female shifter.”

  Lincoln gave him an indignant look. “Those jackals kidnap females all the time. As long as they don’t touch anything that is mine, I ignore them.”

  “Now ya can no longer ignore them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they have touched somethin’ of mine and ya will deliver her to me.”

  Chapter 18

  A hungry shifter is a bad idea.

  A hungry tiger shifter with questionable control is a disaster waiting to happen.

  Squatting, Scarlett dug through the freezer for something to go with the steaks she’d found. The people who owned this lake house had stocked it well. Guilt pecked at her, but she’d make good for this unavoidable intrusion.

  The microwave hummed, thawing the steaks.

  Corn! She snatched up the bag, stood to put the cobs on the platter, and jumped back.

  “Dammit, Gan! Don’t sneak up on me like that.” Her heart thumped wildly, but she had to be honest. The rise in her body temperature and rapid pulse wasn’t just from being surprised.

  Gan wore only jeans, leaving all that carved up muscle, shock of black hair, and sexy beard on display.

  She’d borrowed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from a bag in the closet. These fit her better than the oversized clothes she’d gotten from the go bags in Vic’s truck.

  “I did not sneak.” He folded his arms and gave her a cross look.

  Bulging biceps rolled across his arms with the movement.

  Her mouth dried at the sight.

  What was her problem? She’d had men in the past when she’d been in the mood for a night. This blasted tiger shifter chased her through dreams, turning her body inside out with need, and ... always talking to her.

  Much like the real one.

  She hadn’t really talked to anyone, especially a man, in so long. Actually, never with a man. Not like Gan, who said he liked her and wanted her happy.