Noah (Rise of the Pride, Book 10)

by Theresa Hissong

  Occasionally, he would touch Noah’s back to keep him steady on his feet. The panther would pause when needed, but he didn’t ever stop. It didn’t matter the terrain; Noah was always there.

  The forest at night was quiet. The air was crisp and cool, but it wasn’t as cold as he would’ve thought. Little animals moved about somewhere off to his left, but it wasn’t anything Landon needed to worry about. The only predators were the panthers, and Noah wouldn’t let anything get to him, anyway.

  A purr started, bringing some sound to the eerie darkness. Landon looked down and noticed he was stroking the animal’s back. As he ran his fingers through its fur, Noah didn’t stop their walk. He kept going, guiding Landon as if he were without sight.

  Up ahead, he saw the lake as the canopy of trees opened up, bringing in more moonlight. The night wasn’t crystal clear, but the few clouds in the sky moved quickly past the only light source he had.

  When they reached the water’s edge, Noah’s panther turned toward him and ran his head under Landon’s hand. He didn’t know what the beast wanted, and he figured if it was calm, then so was Noah.

  Landon dropped to his knees and leaned back to sit on the backs of his legs. He was eye to eye with the beast, but he had no fear. With the light of the moon, Noah’s amber eyes were clearer…more understandable than before.

  “You fascinate me,” he admitted as the panther closed its eyes and nuzzled into his palm again. “I know you can hear me, and from the look in your eyes, I know you understand me.”

  The panther gave him a nod and used his paw to pull Landon closer. He rearranged himself so he could sit cross-legged beside the beast. They sat there for the longest time, watching the reflection of the moon on the water. He didn’t need to speak to Noah’s human side to be content.

  He rested his head against the panther’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “It’s beautiful out here. You can see better than I can with your panther eyes. I bet it’s even more stunning in your form.”

  Noah’s beast tilted its head just enough to rub against Landon’s hair. The purring resumed, and they sat there for the longest time. It wasn’t until they arrived home that Landon realized he’d never once been cold on their long journey.

  Noah shifted once they arrived home, ignoring the discarded clothes he’d left on the porch. His mind was on his mate, and he wanted to prove to him being a panther wasn’t so bad. During their walk, his beast wanted to run and climb the trees, but Noah held him back. He’d heard humans didn’t have excellent vision at night, and the last thing he wanted to do was break the connection they had during their walk.

  “Our strength is twenty times that of a human,” Noah began as he stalked his mate. His rough tongue rolled over his bottom lip, stopping to touch the pointed tips of his canines. The beast inside him wanted to change Landon, and he wanted to do it tonight. “We taste and smell things a hundred times better than a bloodhound, and when we scent something, we program it to memory. If we lock on a scent, we will recognize it for the rest of our lives. Shifters can see in pitch darkness as if it were daylight. We can hear things from a far distance, too.”

  “You’re a predator,” Landon reminded him. “That’s the nature of your beast.”

  “It’s bred into our human bodies, too,” Noah corrected him.

  “So,” Landon began, keeping his eyes locked with Noah’s. He noticed how his mate was trying his best to ignore his hard cock as they stood in the living room discussing Noah’s beast like it was nothing more than a regular conversation. “I have a unique scent?”

  “I locked it in my memory the first day I was tasked to be your Guardian in the hospital,” Noah admitted. “I would scent you when you were walking in the woods with Olivia, and sometimes, I would shift and watch over the two of you from a tree branch.”

  “That’s not creepy at all,” Landon teased.

  “I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Noah replied. He reached for Landon and moved the male’s hand to place it on his bare chest; right over his heart. “You were mine the first time I saw you.”

  “You saw me at my worst,” Landon announced sadly.

  “And I still stayed there.” Noah knew the carving on Landon’s back still bothered him, even when they were intimate with each other. Noah never commented on how Landon preferred the room to be in darkness when they mated.

  “My scar will forever remind me of the time I was held captive by the cartel,” Landon sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. If I become a panther, it’ll still be there.”

  Noah knew the decision wasn’t taken lightly. Landon had his reasons for staying human, and they were good ones. Noah was selfish, and he knew that, too. He wanted the male to be just like him.

  “You scar will only remind me of the day I found you,” Noah promised. “My beast knew you were mine from the first time I laid eyes on you. We didn’t see the scar…we saw the beautiful human who needed our protection while he healed.”

  “You are a great warrior, Noah.” Landon took the lead and cupped Noah’s face, kissing him softly on the lips. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you being there while I slept. I was afraid they’d come back for me or Cole, and I didn’t want to sleep. Once you arrived, I was able to heal, and I don’t think I will ever be able to repay you for that.”

  “You shouldn’t have to repay me,” Noah replied, shaking his head. He reached up and ran his finger over his mate’s dark hair, tracing the shell of his ear and only stopping when he got to the mating mark. “You are mine, and I take care of what I’ve claimed.”

  “I want to claim you in your ways, too,” Landon admitted after a long pause. “It’s only fair to you.”

  “You have your own free will, and I won’t pressure you into making a decision anymore.” Noah’s finger slipped from the mating mark and his hand landed at his side, giving Landon the space he needed.

  “If I become a panther and my business fails, what am I going to do?”

  “You are always welcome here,” Noah answered. “Harold obviously needs help, and you did a fine job of operating on Savage and Booth.”

  “What does Harold say about that?” Landon bit his lower lip as his brain tossed around the idea.

  “I’m sure he would welcome you as his partner,” Noah replied. “We can always go talk to him tomorrow about your change and the apprehension you’ve been having about the clinic.”

  “I think that would be a good idea,” Landon admitted. “My dream has always been to care for animals. I guess changing from a vet to a shifter doctor isn’t as different as I thought.”

  “No, it’s really not.” Noah smiled and pulled Landon to his lips. “Now, let’s spend a few hours lost in each other before I have to leave for work.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next afternoon, Landon slipped out of the home he shared with Noah while the male still slept. He’d contacted Harold earlier in the day and requested a meeting when he was available.

  Noah might be angry with him that he went on his own, but it was something he needed to do. Having Noah there could possible censor him when he asked the pride’s doctor the questions that had been rolling around in his mind the past few weeks since he and Noah finally became a couple.

  As he approached the healer’s home, Harold opened the door to greet him. “Come on in, Landon.”

  The lack of a handshake wasn’t so weird to him anymore. Shifters showed their affection with kind words and friendly banter. When he mated Noah, he was told not to touch anyone, because there was no knowledge if he would be in pain should he have skin-to-skin contact with an unmated male. Cole hadn’t tested the theory either. Most nights, Cole wore special gloves while working the bar.

  Obviously, there was a lot the shifters still didn’t know about same sex matings, and he wondered if there were others out there like them.

  “You wanted to talk?” Harold asked once he closed the front door. “We can go into my office if you’d like.”<
br />
  “Yes, please,” Landon replied. “I would appreciate it.”

  The office was small, but it fit the healer’s needs. The walls were wood paneled, and from the looks of it, this small room might’ve been there for a lot longer than the main house.

  “So, what’s going on?” Harold asked once he took his seat behind a desk overrun with medical books and charts.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the change,” Landon stated, clearing his throat when he felt a lump form.

  “Are you considering it?”

  “Yes,” he sighed, looking at his lap. “Noah wants me to change, but I’m concerned for my business. I’ve been told that animals don’t react well to shifters.”

  “That is true,” the healer nodded. “We tend to scare them.”

  “If I change, and my patients have a reaction to me being a shifter, I will lose my business. I’ve worked hard to overcome a lot of things just to make my dream become a reality.”

  Harold sat back in his chair, the springs creaking as they moved. “There’s no real way to know what will happen after your change.”

  “That’s why I’m reserved,” Landon replied, remembering what Noah had suggested. “Noah suggested I work with you if you are willing to take me on.”

  “I didn’t think I would need help a few years ago,” Harold sighed, “but since the war has started, I’ve been swamped with injuries. Your help the other night saved me, and I appreciate that.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I could use you around here,” Harold admitted. “You would need to work with me on the shifter’s human anatomy before I would let you do any major surgeries, though.”

  “I wouldn’t even think of working on one of them without the knowledge,” Landon admitted. He was honestly excited about the opportunity to learn something new. “I know my way around an animal’s body, but I will need to study the larger cats before I’d be comfortable doing major surgery on them, too.”

  “So, what do you want to do?” Harold asked, steepling his fingers in front of his face so he could tap them against his lips. The doctor was in serious thought.

  “If I change, I would love the opportunity to learn about your kind,” Landon admitted. “It would take some time, but I’m willing to put in the hours.”

  “What if your patients are at ease with you being around them?”

  “I would still like to shadow you and learn,” Landon promised. “I can do both.”

  “Then when do you want to start?” The healer stood from his seat when Landon said he wanted to start immediately, but he had something he wanted to do first. Harold gave him a knowing smile and showed him out the door.

  The crisp afternoon air pushed him to hurry back to the cabin he now shared with his mate. He felt better having a plan for either direction his life would go once he told Noah he was going to agree to the change.

  Taze broke away from the agents to head out on his own mission. The office where Calla worked was in one of the nicer areas of town. When he arrived, he parked behind the office building adjacent to hers. He donned his black hoodie and shifted his eyes to see in the darkness.

  The building was just like the rest in the complex; two story, dark red brick. There was one entrance at the front and one in the back. He knew they’d have security cameras and alarms on the building, but he needed to scent the place for wolves.

  Since Calla worked late into the night sometimes, he didn’t want those bastards anywhere around her. She’d stopped her training, and while he knew she was tough, not training would make one’s muscle memory forget the proper way to defend itself.

  Tabor was keeping Murdock busy for the next few hours. Lucky and Storm were searching the area where the group of twelve Gadaí had been found forcing their blood on human females. Agent Murdock had told them to leave the area alone since it’d been cleaned up, but Tabor, and the pride, questioned his order.

  If he doesn’t want us there, that’s exactly where they should be.

  Taze put his back to the exterior wall of the business and let his panther’s senses take over. He scented a few men’s colognes and Calla’s own natural scent. His panther pushed at his skin and his human cock throbbed as they pictured the beautiful female in both their minds.

  There was no fighting the beast on his decision. Taze knew Calla was his, and his fucking panther needed to get onboard with the fact she wanted nothing to do with him. The female was so damn independent. He wanted her to be free to do what she wanted, but he also wanted to wrap her in bubble wrap to keep her from harm.

  The female had come to the pride a broken shell of a youth, but with time and a lot of training, she’d come out the other side stronger and smarter. He was proud of her for working on getting her law degree, and he hoped someday they’d be able to use her knowledge to stand up for pride rights. As it was, the Guardians and Protectors were certain they were being used in some form.

  Talon was right to let them go out to save the human race. With the discovery of the new drug on the streets and alphas popping up all over the country to form groups of Gadaí to pull off their illegal activities, it was imperative they help.

  The problem with the government’s laws was that no matter how they kept the alphas in prison, they wouldn’t stay there. A caged animal would fight its way out. They always did. The concern over the prison system wasn’t relayed to the FBI. All of the shifters knew if they found the alpha, he would have to die. Shifter law was put into place for a reason, and they were going to live by that first…the human laws second.

  The stronger scents around him must have belonged to the others who worked in her building. There were other ones that were faint, and he disregarded them since they were probably customers. He didn’t scent anything out of the ordinary, but he wouldn’t leave her place of work unprotected.

  Taze produced a small camera from his pocket and placed it in the hedgerow across from the front door to the offices. He pulled the app up on his phone and dialed in the location, satisfied it would show him if anything out of the ordinary happened while Calla was at work. He placed a second camera close to the back of the building to record the back exit. Once he was finished, he returned to his truck and tried his hardest not to check the damn app every five minutes for the rest of the night. He’d rely on the motion sensors to notify him if there was trouble.

  Noah awoke mid-afternoon with his mate spooned up behind him. Reaching back, he absorbed Landon’s warmth and closed his eyes, hoping they could stay like that just a little bit longer.

  They didn’t get to see each other much, but when they did, Noah and Landon spent most of their time together, learning everything they could about each other.

  “Are you going to wake up?” Landon asked as he pressed his lips to the back of Noah’s bare shoulder.

  “Maybe,” Noah teased, pushing his ass back slightly so he could feel his mate’s cock as it hardened. “Depends on why you want me to wake up.”

  “I have something I want to talk to you about,” Landon stated. Even though his voice was soft and welcoming, Noah caught a hint of uncertainty mixed in with his words. “I’ll go make some coffee first.”

  “Wait, don’t go,” Noah called out as Landon climbed from the bed and pulled on his gray sweatpants. It did nothing to hide the semi-erection his mate was sporting. “Let me help you with that first.”

  “No, I can’t be distracted today.” Landon winked and left the room to head toward the kitchen. He could hear his mate rattling around in the kitchen, and after a few minutes, the scent of fresh coffee crossed his nose.

  A look at the clock told him it was nearing five, and he reluctantly rolled out of bed to take a shower. He kept looking for Landon to come into the bathroom and join him, and was disappointed when the male didn’t show.

  After dressing, he found Landon at the counter pouring two cups of coffee. “What’s going on?”

  “Have a seat,” Landon said, indicating the chair Noah sat in regular
ly.

  “You’re starting to scare me, Landon,” Noah finally admitted. He’d worked himself up to the point of having an anxiety attack in the shower, wondering what his mate had to say. “Did something happen today while I slept?”

  “Well…kind of,” Landon hedged, finally taking his seat after adding cream and sugar to his coffee. “I don’t want you to be mad at me, but I talked to Harold this afternoon.”

  “I’m not mad.” Noah held back his excitement, because that meant Landon had actually considered the change, right? Maybe? “What did he say?”

  “We discussed the change,” Landon began after taking a sip. There was a crinkle in his left eye that Noah had never noticed before. “We also talked about me possibly assisting him.”

  “And?” Noah pushed.

  “He wants me to shadow him and learn about your kind,” Landon admitted. “Well, I guess I should say, ‘our kind’.”

  “Our kind?” Noah asked, his eyes going wide. “You mean…?”

  “Yes, Noah,” Landon nodded. His heart began to race, and his beast pushed at his skin with the realization of what was being said. “I’m going to go through the change.”

  “You know you don’t have to do this for me, right?” Noah shifted so he could take Landon’s hands into his. “I’m a selfish asshole, and while I want this, I want you to make the decision on your own. You had a life before me, and a business. Gods, Landon! This could really hurt you.”

  “I doubt I’ll lose my business,” Landon replied. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this afternoon. Should my ability to care for animals change, I can always hire a veterinarian to care for the patients and still own the business.”

  “Okay.” Noah liked what he was hearing. His beast snarled and paced in his mind, demanding they do the change now. “When do you want to do it?”

  “Tomorrow,” Landon replied. “I’ve had Sophia cancel all of my appointments for Saturday and Monday. I know I probably won’t be able to go into work until mid-week, but we can deal with the appointments later. My night nurse is going to stay there to watch over the three animals we are caring for overnights. She didn’t ask me why I took the time off, and I love that woman for being so easy to work with.”