Guardian's Mate

by Jennifer Ashley

  Rae flushed scarlet. Her reaction to him had been unashamed but now she looked everywhere but at him.

  Zander found her sudden shyness cute. She’d been beautiful rising to his touch, gray eyes half closed as she wrapped herself around him.

  Zander’s frenzy immediately flared, his cock going stiff. He was never going to make it. The Graveyard had been a good diversion but now the sun was high, the seas calm, the boat rumbling along at a nice pace. He figured the only way he’d cool down was by letting Rae try to kick his ass.

  “Just a warning,” Zander said as Rae unsheathed the bright curved blade and he raised the bamboo one. “If you drop that sword overboard, I’m throwing you in to get it.”

  * * *

  For two days, Miles steered them through the waters along the coast, treating Rae to sights seen only by tourists on cruise ships or the fishermen who plied these waters.

  The tall majesty of Glacier Bay curved down to become green and brown mountains and coastal inlets. This long stretch was still Alaska, Miles told Rae, a thin finger of land between the Yukon and the Pacific.

  Miles wanted to put in at a town near Juneau for fuel and supplies, which started a long argument between him and Zander.

  “I don’t want Carson anywhere near land,” Zander growled. “Not until we’re well out of his reach.”

  They stood in the pilot house where Miles had glued himself—he rarely came out except to use the head, and then he asked Rae to keep an eye on Zander while he did so. Miles slept in the wheelhouse, as the benches could be turned into bunks. He’d even made friends with Jake the Snake, whose favorite place was curled up on the front windowsill.

  “If you run my boat dry, I’ll go back over to Carson’s side,” Miles rumbled in return. “You want us to run out of gas in a stretch of nothing? How hidden will you be if we have to be rescued?”

  “I don’t trust him,” Zander said, scowling. “Carson would find a way to contact someone—he’d yell out the window if he had to.”

  “Tranq him while we’re in the harbor,” Miles suggested. “We need oil and to fix a couple things. You banged things up out there.”

  Zander shot Rae a glance where she stood looking out at the grandeur of the scenery. “What do you think, Rae? You have the most to lose. I’m good at keeping myself away from Shifter Bureau but I’m much more worried about you. They’ll go after your whole Shiftertown if you’re caught out here.”

  Zander’s dark eyes held plenty of rage, and not a little worry, but Rae knew they couldn’t simply sail the boat until it wouldn’t go any farther.

  “We could try talking to him,” Rae said.

  Both men made derisive noises. Miles shook his head and said, “He can be a wall.”

  “And I don’t want you anywhere near him,” Zander finished.

  Zander had become extremely protective of Rae in these past few days. He would deliberately step away from her when they drew too near each other, as though having a certain amount of air between them would keep the mating frenzy at bay.

  Didn’t work. Rae felt crackling sparks of need whether they were in the same room or not. That need urged her to find Zander and continue what they’d started. She’d had casual encounters with Shifters before, especially right after her Transition, but this was different. The gripping hunger wouldn’t release her—she knew it was only a matter of time before they gave up and went for it.

  If she and Zander did relieve their itch, would the frenzy then cease? Letting them get on with their lives?

  Rae didn’t know because she couldn’t think beyond that. Even now, when Zander included her in the conversation, she could only drop her gaze to his big hand, wanting its warmth on her skin.

  “Miles,” she said, dragging her attention back to the discussion. “Let me have the key to Carson’s cabin.” Miles had taken charge of the keys once they’d been under way.

  Zander’s voice took on a sharper note. “I said, you’re not going anywhere near him.”

  “Not where you’ve locked him in. I mean his cabin,” Rae explained patiently. “Where he slept before you came along. Where he keeps his stuff.”

  Miles seemed to understand and handed over the key ring. Rae closed her fist around it, thanked him, and started below.

  “What are you up to?” Zander was a step behind her as Rae started around the deck for the door to the cabins. His warmth cut the chill and flared her need for him to life.

  “Figuring out what Carson’s deal is,” Rae said as she ducked inside and headed for Carson’s cabin. “We can’t keep him tranqued or locked up forever.”

  From Zander’s growls, he obviously could, but he went quiet as Rae unlocked the large room that belonged to Carson and went inside.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Rae wasn’t certain what she was looking for but she wanted to know more about Carson. He didn’t strike her as the same kind of hunter as the shotgun-toting men and women who roamed the world, wanting to “bag” an un-Collared Shifter. Carson was a bounty hunter, turning in Shifters breaking the rules to Shifter Bureau for reward. Some people—like Carson—were fanatic about keeping Shifters Collared and controlled.

  Rae found the cabin painfully neat, lacking any personal touches. Carson’s bunk against the wall was little bigger than the cot he slept on in the storage room, the blankets and sheets tucked tightly in, the pillow stored in a cabinet above the bed.

  Nothing that could possibly be moved by the ship’s motion was loose. Everything was stowed, clamped, or fastened down. Not a book or a photo was in sight, every horizontal surface bare.

  The room was nothing like the messy jumble of Zander’s cabin on his smaller boat. Rae thought about the junk Zander had strewn everywhere, including the little talismans to enhance spells. She still didn’t know what he used those for.

  Carson was the exact opposite. Spartan, austere, cold.

  “No one is this neat,” Rae said decidedly. “No one human, anyway.”

  Zander leaned one shoulder on the doorframe and watched her. “What do you mean, no one human? If you think he’s not, you’re wrong. Scent doesn’t lie.”

  Rae shook her head. “I meant human in the sense of having any feelings whatsoever. I can’t imagine Piotr living like this.”

  “That’s true,” Zander rumbled. “Piotr has a warm, comfy house with a wife who loves him. Lucky bastard.”

  Rae sat down on the bed and began going through the cabinets nearest it. They were all locked but the keys she’d taken from Carson opened them.

  Two of the cabinets held books and maps, one a laptop. All these were about the business of running a ship. Rae opened the next cabinet and said, “Aha.”

  “Aha?” Zander sat down next to her, taking up all the space between them. “What aha?”

  Rae drew out a photograph in a frame. It was of a woman, fairly pretty, with dark hair and eyes and a smile that held more warmth than anything in this room. If she smiled at Carson, the man had something inside him he kept buried deep.

  Under the photo, which Rae handed to Zander, she found a small metal box with a lock and an electronic picture frame. The box was only a few inches on a side, the padlock tiny. None of the keys on the ring fit it.

  Zander lifted the box from Rae’s hands. “What are you hiding, Mr. McCade?” he asked and broke the lock with his thick fingers.

  Rae felt Zander’s breath on her cheek as they both bent over the open box. Inside lay a ring—an unadorned gold wedding band. Rae lifted the wedding ring, examining it, but it was plain all the way around. No inscriptions.

  “Look at this, Little Wolf.” Zander had clicked on the picture frame. He swiped through a series of photos, most containing the same young woman in the printed photograph. One had Carson and the woman together, Carson smiling, his gray eyes full of warmth. Zander slid his arm around Rae’s waist as they studied the pictures together. “Is this human enough for you?”

  “Who is she?” Rae touched the photo of the man and woma
n pressed together and looking happy about it.

  Zander brushed a kiss to Rae’s hair. “I say we go ask him.”

  * * *

  Carson looked up wearily as a key scraped into the lock of his prison cell. If it was the bear coming to give him more food, he’d throw it in the big man’s face.

  Only Zander had been coming down here—obviously he didn’t trust Carson not to overpower the other male Shifter or to talk Miles into letting him out. Carson knew he couldn’t fight a man who could shift into a polar bear—but he could annoy Zander as much as he could, biding his time until he got out of here and hauled the lot of them to Shifter Bureau.

  Carson hid a start of surprise when he saw the young woman, Rae, in the doorway behind Zander. Neither held a tray of food. The big sword was strapped to Rae’s back, the hilt rising above her right ear. The sword was broken, Carson had seen, but even a broken blade could kill.

  His heartbeat sped, his battle-ready nerves coming alert. Had they come to kill him?

  Rae seemed a bit tenderhearted for a Shifter—or maybe she was just squeamish—so his death might not be a violent one. Carson wouldn’t put it past Zander to give him an overdose of tranquilizer. Problem solved. Carson would slide into sleep and total oblivion. Just like Viv.

  He was up and off the bunk as soon as Rae turned around the photograph of Vivian and held it out to him.

  “Don’t touch that.” Carson snatched the photo from Rae but stopped himself in time from hugging it to his chest. “It’s none of your damned business.”

  “Who is she?” Rae asked.

  Her gray eyes held concern. Carson hardened his heart, remembering that Rae had tricked him at first, pretending to be human.

  Looking at her now, Carson wondered how he’d not seen she was Shifter. While not containing the thinness that people considered beautiful these days, Rae’s body was lithe and strong. He’d watched her through the high window practicing with the samurai sword on deck, seeing how she quickly learned her balance and how to use momentum as well as strength.

  The Collar that winked on her throat brought home the fact that she was Shifter and illegally out of her Shiftertown. She’d not trick him again.

  “I said,” Carson answered Rae, “none of your business.”

  “Better tell her.” Zander’s voice was deep and big, like the rest of him. The bear sometimes behaved like a crazy idiot but Carson clearly saw that this was an act. Zander was careful, watchful, knowing everything that went on around him. He turned his assessing black eyes on Carson now. “She’ll pry it out of you if you don’t. Rae can’t leave anything alone.”

  “Is she your wife?” Rae asked. She held up the gold ring Carson kept locked away when he was on missions so he wouldn’t lose it.

  Carson’s vision filmed with red. They had broken into his personal belongings and touched the things he held most dear. He lunged at Rae and found himself stopped by Zander’s strong arm.

  “Give that to me,” Carson snarled at Rae.

  Rae, to his surprise, handed over the ring. “I didn’t realize you were married. What happened to her?”

  “See what I mean?” Zander asked. He’d trimmed the goatee on his hard face, which brought out the firm lines of his jaw. No Collar was around his neck but anyone who didn’t realize this man was Shifter was a fool. “She’ll keep on until she gets what she wants.”

  Carson had no intention of talking about Vivian with these outlaws but he heard himself saying in a harsh voice, “Yes, she’s my wife. She’s in a coma.”

  The concern on Rae’s face turned to sympathy. Surprise flickered in Zander’s eyes. “Seriously?” he asked. “Aw, man, I’m sorry. That sucks.”

  “Don’t pretend you care,” Carson returned. “Shifter filth like you put her there.”

  “Shifters did?” Rae asked him, her eyes widening. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. I witnessed it.” Carson’s jaw was so tight it ached. “I couldn’t stop it.”

  He needed Zander to let go of him. The bear-man’s hand held a lot of heat and that heat seemed to be leeching through Carson’s body, weakening him. The last words came out trembling and broken.

  “Easy,” Zander said, his voice quieting to something almost gentle. Carson found himself guided back to the bunk though he didn’t remember wanting to go there.

  Carson sank to the cot, holding the ring tightly between his first finger and thumb. He remembered when Viv had started to slide it onto his finger in the church, then laughed at him because he’d fumbled and made her drop it. Carson even now heard the clink of gold on the church’s slate floor and Viv’s laughter.

  He wrapped one arm around the photo and then realized Rae was sitting on the bunk beside him, the sword’s hilt near him. The crosspiece was old, soft silver, Carson saw, covered with some sort of writing.

  Zander remained standing, not about to give Carson the chance to run. Rae said in her gentle contralto, “You’re hunting Shifters to try to find the ones who hurt her?”

  “I think he’s taking it out on any Shifter,” Zander said to her. “Odds are he’ll get to the right ones eventually.”

  “Stop telling me my motives,” Carson snapped. “Shifters are dangerous and need to be confined. Or killed. For what they did to her, I will gladly wipe them off the face of the earth.”

  “Would your wife want you to do that?” Rae asked.

  Carson looked at her, stricken. This woman is a wolf, for fuck’s sake, he told himself. He’d seen Rae become a leggy black wolf, running around and around the deck like the hounds of hell were after her. It had been almost amusing, watching her run and jump, working off whatever was making her itch, before he’d reminded himself she was a wild and dangerous creature.

  “Don’t pretend to understand Viv,” Carson said rapidly, before he could answer, No, she wouldn’t. Viv had more compassion than anyone he’d ever known. She’d seen good in Carson when no one else in the world had.

  “I promise you,” Zander said, “not all Shifters are like that. If you tell me about them, I’ll help you track them down. Could have been ferals.”

  “You’d turn on your own kind?” Carson had to blink to bring Zander into focus. His eyes were wet for some reason.

  “My kind doesn’t put innocent women into comas,” Zander said with a growl

  “If Shifters did this, then they need to be stopped,” Rae put in. Her eyes held the same determination as Zander’s. She might be Collared but it hadn’t killed her spirit.

  “What can you possibly do?” Carson asked in disbelief. “You’re breaking the law just by being here. You took over my boat, you’ve flouted every Shifter regulation . . .” He broke off and swallowed. “You can’t do what I can.”

  “Oh, you’d be surprised what we can do,” Zander said. “We’ll hit land soon. You sit here and think about whether you want us to help you, or run off and summon Shifter Bureau. Depends on how bad you want these guys that hurt your mate.”

  His mate. Carson supposed that in Shifter terms, Viv was his mate. Carson wanted to find the Shifters that hurt her, would do anything to give them back every pain they’d made her suffer.

  Carson said nothing, only clutched Viv’s picture to his chest and shoved the ring back onto his finger, where it belonged.

  “Rae,” Zander said. The man held out his big hand, half turning to the door. When he looked back at her, Zander’s eyes sparkled with something besides brute strength and wildness.

  He was in love with Rae, Carson realized suddenly. Whether Zander acknowledged it or not, Carson knew exactly what the look meant, having seen it in his own eyes often enough.

  Before Rae went to Zander, she laid down the electronic picture frame that held Carson’s many photos of Viv. She stood up, gave Carson another look of sympathy, and walked across the small room past Zander. She didn’t take his hand but her swift glance at him as she slid out the door confirmed it. Her feelings for Zander were just as strong.

  Zande
r let her go, fixing Carson with his long stare. “More than pictures in that, isn’t there?”

  There was. The small drive inside the photo frame held files of all Carson’s research into Shifters and notes on his search. He couldn’t read the files until he could transfer them to a computer or his phone, but they were there.

  “How long have you been looking?” Zander asked him.

  Carson saw no reason to lie. “Nearly two years.”

  Zander’s brows went up. “I admire your tenacity. With any luck, your hunt will end soon. But your mate might not be any better, even so.”

  As that truth smacked Carson between the eyes, he wanted to rise up and beat the hell out of Zander. But Zander wasn’t saying anything Carson didn’t already know. He made himself sit rigidly, wishing Zander would go the hell away.

  Zander studied Carson a moment longer then walked out and closed the door. The lock clicked into place.

  Carson didn’t care. He touched Viv’s face with his blunt fingertips, lay down on the bed, and cradled the photo to his chest.

  * * *

  Rae heard Zander come up behind her as she leaned on the railing on deck, watching the beautiful mountains slide by their port side.

  Zander’s broad arms landed next to hers, the T-shirt he wore pulled and tugged by the wind. “You okay?” he asked her.

  Rae hid a shiver. “The poor guy. This must be horrible for him.”

  “And yet, he’s going to take it out on Shifters,” Zander said. “I saw that in him. It’s what I would do if something happened to . . .” He trailed off, turning to focus on the rolling green and black mountains of the coast. “I’m going to make sure he targets the right Shifters and leaves the rest of us the hell alone.”

  “How are you going to find them?” Rae asked. “If un-Collared feral Shifters did this, they might be anywhere. Or dead. Ferals don’t last long, from what I hear.”

  “They can be resilient,” Zander said. “Remind me to tell you about a feral I once cured.” He gave a shudder. “That was brutal.”

  Zander wasn’t joking—his face was drawn with memory, a haunted look in his eyes. If Zander’s healing ability made him experience the same pain as the Shifter he cured, then he must have taken on the uncontrolled, raw insanity that made a Shifter feral. Rae wasn’t certain exactly what happened inside when a Shifter went feral, but it couldn’t be good.