by Rose Haven
“You know, I’ve always loved it out here,” Cat said, “the world seems...I don’t know...bigger somehow away from the cities.”
“Me too,” Diana said. “I remember taking trips to the four corner canyons with my parents when I was little. Everything was so big and bright. I could have stayed there for days and been completely happy.”
“I miss it,” Cat admitted.
“Why did you leave?” Diana asked. She had been to the Pueblo several times. And while the reservation itself was not most people’s idea of paradise, the land around it was so beautiful and rich, she knew if she had grown up in such a place, she would do everything she could to stay there.
“That’s a long story,” he said reluctantly, “the short version is, I got into a huge fight with my dad when I was eighteen. Went away to school and never went back.”
“But...you said you still had ties there,” Diana remembered, “you were allowed to do digs.”
“I’ve kept in touch with my Grandfather,” he said, “he’s still on the elected council. But I haven’t been back to the Pueblo in over twenty years.”
“Does it feel strange going back now?” Diana asked.
“I didn’t have time to think about it to be honest,” Cat answered. “You sort of came out of nowhere.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t intentional,” Diana answered wryly.
Cat looked over at her and smiled softly.
“You should get some rest,” he said gently, “it’ll be a while before we get there.”
Diana nodded, leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.
It seemed to Diana that only a few minutes had passed before she awoke to the sound of raised and slightly panicky voices.
“We can’t go that way!” Charlie was saying, “I’m telling you it’s a trap!”
“Well, we can’t come in from the east either,” Cat answered him, “Amanda said, they’re waiting for us there.”
“They could have tricked her,” Charlie said.
“You know that’s not possible. If Amanda says they’re there, that’s where they are.”
Diana blinked wearily and looked out the window. The sun was moving low towards the canyons in front of them.
She knew those canyons. They were the ones near the Zuni Pueblo. They were almost there. She must have been asleep for at least an hour.
“Good morning,” Cat said smiling at her, “Well...afternoon, I should say. We’re going to have to take a little detour.”
“We don’t have to, Cat,” Charlie said, “I’m telling you. The pueblo’s just ahead. Even if they are waiting for us, we can take them. There won’t be that many.”
"Charlie," he said, "my leg is wounded, you're a mess and Diana can't do anything."
"That's not true," Diana said defensively, "you said yourself, I'm supposed to be an ultra-powerful...deity, aren't I?"
"Diana," Cat said, “all I said was you have her blood, what we call the Alpha blood inside you, but you haven't been trained yet. You can't do what we can."
“But…” Diana began.
“I’ve made the decision,” Cat said. With that he turned off the road leading towards the Pueblo to a smaller side street heading north.
“I’m telling you,” Charlie said, “we’re heading into a trap. Dude, you know this is Navajo territory.”
“And I’m telling you,” Cat said, “I trust my sister. If this is the way she tells us to go, this is the way we’re going.”
Diana looked in the rearview mirror and saw Charlie shake his head but he didn’t protest further.
Neither did Diana. Instead, she looked out the window at the desert brush that surrounded them and thought about what Cat had said.
‘Diana can’t do anything.’
She had put in a defense because she didn’t want it to be true. But the more she thought about it, the more she really considered her situation, the more she realized that Cat was right. She couldn’t do anything.
Not only could she not turn into a cougar the way Cat and Charlie could, she couldn’t even fight the smallest and weakest human possible, let alone a large animal.
She had taken a self-defense course once in college. To say that she was far behind the other women in the class was an understatement. The instructor had even had to get her special gloves to make up for her weak wrists.
The idea of taking on anyone or anything stronger than a plush pillow man was laughable to her.
Still, the idea of being completely helpless now, the idea of being entirely dependent on someone else, made her even more terrified.
Diana had always liked to be in control of things. That was why she had never experimented with drugs and rarely drank, even though her college peers had done both.
She simply did not enjoy the feeling that she had lost control of the world around her. Now the whole world it seemed, was spinning out of control and she could hardly stand the fact that there was nothing she could do to stop it.
They drove straight down one side street then turned down another then another. Each one seemed narrower and more dust filled than the last.
“It’ll take us another hour or so to go around this way,” Cat told her finally, “you might want to get some sleep.”
“Well, apparently I miss important tidbits when I fall asleep so, I’ll stay awake, thanks very much,” Diana quipped.
“You didn’t miss anything important,” Cat answered.
“Really, Cat?” Charlie chimed in from the back seat, “she’s a smart girl, you really think she’s not going to see through that lie?”
Diana looked in the rearview mirror and gave Charlie a grateful half smile. She couldn’t help but feel that, for some reason, Charlie gave her much more credit than Cat did. No matter what Cat had said about being drawn to her.
“Okay,” Cat said finally, “what do you want to know that you think you missed?”
“Who are these people who are supposed to be waiting for us on the road to the pueblo?” Diana asked.
“Even Amanda’s not sure,” Cat said.
“Exactly!” Charlie exclaimed from the back.
“But she knows they’re there. She also knows that they’re Navajo,” Cat added.
“You said she can’t be wrong,” Diana pressed, “how is that possible?”
“Because her charm is connected to mine too,” Cat said, “she can tell when I’m in danger even when I can’t.”
“So...it’s a sibling thing?” Diana asked.
“It’s a twin thing,” Charlie called from the back seat. Diana turned to look at him with wide eyes.
Charlie stared back at her confused for a moment before looking to Cat in the driver’s seat.
“You didn’t even tell her that?” Charlie asked, “Jesus, Cat. What have you told her?”
“I’ve told her what she needs to know,” Cat cut in throwing Charlie a warning glare in the rearview mirror.
"Really? Have you really told her everything?" Charlie called out skeptically.
“Charlie…” Cat growled threateningly.
“You can’t protect her from everything,” Charlie pressed on undeterred, “eventually, you’re going to have to tell her.”
Bam!
Diana gasped as she was suddenly jerked forward from what felt like a hit to the back bumper of the car.
She felt Charlie’s body hit against her back seat and she cried out in pain as he impacted her shoulder.
“What the fuck?!” Charlie called out.
“Are you ok?” Cat asked Diana. She reached over to her left shoulder and rubbed it gently. She winced realizing it was still extremely tender to the touch.
“I...I think so,” she said.
Cat looked back in the rear view mirror for the source of the impact.
“We’ve got company,” he said quickly before pressing down on the accelerator and speeding up considerably.
Diana wanted to turn around to see what sort of trouble Cat had seen in the rearview, b
ut the moment she tried to look over her left shoulder, she gasped and nearly cried out as she tried to turn her head.
She gritted her teeth but Cat turned and looked at her with concern, none the less.
She knew that she should feel flattered that he was concerned for her. She should be thankful that someone was looking out for her in this strange new world.
But Diana had always been proud almost to a fault. She did not like having to be rescued. And she certainly didn’t like feeling helpless.
Bam!
She felt herself jerk forward once more. This time she did cry out as the strain in her shoulder stung her and she now felt a new twinge in her neck.
“You’ve got to speed up, Cat!” Charlie cried from the back, “he’s still right on top of us,”
“Get down, Diana,” Cat said as he pounded his foot on the gas and the Mercedes sped ahead at what felt like more than one hundred miles per hour.
Diana leaned down in her front seat cringing against the horrifying pain in both her shoulders.
“I don’t want to say I told you so…” Charlie called from the back.
“Then don’t!” Cat said pressing down on the accelerator once more.
The car was now going so fast that Diana was sure she was going to be sick or pass out or both. She buried her head between her knees and closed her eyes against the pain.
“More coming on your right,” Charlie called out.
She felt Cat swerve to the left side of the one lane road just as the sound of metal scraped closely against the passenger side door just inches from where Diana sat.
“What’s going on?” Diana asked.
“Now’s not the time for questions,” Cat called to her against the roaring accelerator, “just make sure you stay down.”
“Cat, look out!” Charlie shouted.
Diana, unable to stop herself, sat straight up in her seat to see what had caused the outcry.
She screamed as she say a large black truck speeding towards them on the road and Cat slammed on the breaks of their Mercedes.
Diana lifted her throbbing arms to protect herself from the coming impact. She turned her head and closed her eyes as she heard the glass of the windshield crash and break. She felt the stinging shards cut her already wounded arms just as the car jerked to a stop.
Diana kept her eyes closed for a few moments. Her bloody arms still covering her face protectively.
Eventually, she opened her eyes slowly and looked to Cat in the driver’s seat. His face was cut and bleeding. But his eyes were open. His body was tense as though he were a dog who had just sensed a predator. She could almost see the hairs on his neck standing to attention.
“Wait here,” he told her keeping his eyes focused on whatever was outside the window.
He took the talisman out of his shirt, ran his thumb across it and then turned back to Charlie.
“You stay here too, Charlie,” he said.
“Cat, come on,” Diana heard Charlie say, “You’re going to need me to…”
“I need you to get Diana to the reservation,” Cat said fiercely. “I’m leaving the keys in the car. If I give the signal, you know the one, drive straight there. Don’t stop for anything.”
There was silence for a moment then Charlie heaved a sigh.
“Ok,” he said.
Cat then unlocked the door and moved out.
Diana kept her head between her legs for about one minute before she peeked her head over the dashboard.
She had never been one to play the good little damsel in distress.
What she saw was, by now, so routine that it should not have shocked her. She gasped none the less.
When she looked up, she saw Cat surrounded by what looked like an army of multi colored cougars...
THE END
Cougar Romance
The Secret
Secret Shades of the Alpha Blood Series Book Three
Paula Knight
Cougar Romance: The Secret
Chapter One
Diana stared at what looked like more than a dozen cougars staring straight at the little Mercedes where she sat. She could feel every ounce of blood in her body rushing to her pounding heart. Cougars on all sides of her it seemed, paced back and forth, keeping their eyes locked menacingly on the car; on her. It was as though they desperately wanted to jump, to attack, but some invisible source was holding them back.
“Get down,” she heard Charlie growl at her from the back seat. Diana gasped again as he grabbed the back of her neck and forcefully pushed her below the dashboard and out of sight. Diana turned to glare at him but to her surprise, he wasn’t looking at her.
His eyes instead, were fixed on a point right in front of them. She knew he was watching Cat.
Cat who, for some unknowable reason, had wandered out to face this animal army alone. Without asking for help from Charlie, without even consulting her.
He had made himself perfectly clear, and now it was clearer to her that no one intended to consult her on anything. She was feeling more and more like a pawn in a larger game. Like she had absolutely no control of her own destiny. The one thing Diana hated most.
Now, she felt her skin begin to itch with a need to act. To do something constructive. To help herself.
She tried, as hard as she could to think of what she could possibly do. She came up empty and she nearly felt tears of frustration beginning to form in her eyes, as they always did when she couldn’t think her way out of a situation.
Eventually, she couldn’t take the suspense anymore. She had to know what was happening out there, if only for her own sanity.
When she peeked her head over the dash, she could see Cat speaking with another tall, middle aged man. Clearly Native American with long, braided black hair and small dark eyes.
Diana could swear that the man had not been there before. However, knowing now what she did about what Cat and Charlie could both do, she reasoned this should have come as no surprise.
She looked sideways to Charlie, ready either to duck or to fight him if he tried to push her down again. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her. His eyes remained locked on the group in front of them.
Diana looked down and noticed that he had one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the gear shift. Clearly, willing to take off at a moment’s notice.
It was less than a moment before Cat came back to the car.
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked eagerly.
“They want to see her,” Cat responded without as much as a glance at Diana. That was the last straw. She was sick and tired of being treated like an inanimate object.
“Well if they want to see me,” Diana said loudly and pointedly to Cat, “then they can all sure as hell change back and come over here.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to make demands of them,” Cat said, finally turning to Diana.
“If it’s me they want to see,” Diana said fiercely, “I think I should be the one to make that decision.”
“Either way,” Charlie said. He hadn’t taken his hand off the steering wheel or the gear shaft, “it looks like we’re going to have to give them some kind of answer.”
Diana looked out the front window and saw the tall man walking, menacingly towards them.
Well, she decided, if Cat and Charlie weren’t going to give her control, she was just going to have to take it.
She sat up straight, opened the passenger side door, still shaking like a leaf at the sight of the various colored mountain lions, and stepped out, walking slowly towards the man in the front of the group.
It was not a moment before Cat, speedily moved to her side.
“What the hell are you doing?” he whispered harshly to her as they continued moving towards the man.
“They wanted to see me,” Diana said without looking at him, “it only seems right that I should face them.”
“Diana, you don’t understand,” Cat began.
“Only because you won�
�t explain,” Diana spat back.
“You don’t realize,” Cat continued as though he had not heard Diana, “they only want you so they can…”
“I’m Diana Grant,” Diana said loudly, cutting Cat off as she reached the Navajo man, “I understand you wanted to see me.”
The old man looked her up and down with an almost amused smile on his lips.
“So,” He said in a deep, menacing voice, “you think this is your great Salt Mother?”
“I know this is the Salt Mother,” Cat said almost defiantly.
“And how do you know that?” Diana nearly jumped and turned around at the sound of the new voice.
A young man, who looked several years younger than her and much younger than the man in front of them, though otherwise very similar, now stood directly behind her. Only a moment earlier where this boy now stood, a brown mountain lion had stood in his place.
“I know because of the prophecy,” Cat said. Diana opened her mouth to ask which part of the prophecy he was referring to. She still hadn’t heard the whole thing.
“Your prophecy you mean,” the older man said, “our Navajo legend says something different.”
“She’s supposed to have white hair,” the boy behind Diana said, “and she’s supposed to be much older.”
“Yeah, well, that’s why you weren’t entrusted with the true prophecy,” Diana heard Charlie say. She turned and saw him walking towards them from the Mercedes.
As he did, several cougars, gave small growls and moved menacingly towards him. This did not seem to faze Charlie who strolled casually to Cat and Diana.
Cat turned to him and held out a hand to stop him.
“Charlie, please,” he said, “let me handle this.”
“Your friend has a big mouth,” the older man said staring beyond Diana and Cat and looking directly at Charlie, “if he’s not careful, he could lose it.”
“I’m sorry,” Cat said, “it’s been a long day…”
“Oh, don’t try to explain yourself to this Navajo asshole, Cat,” Charlie said fiercely, “they know full well this is the Salt Mother. Otherwise they wouldn’t have sent their cronies to try and kidnap her.”