Redeeming Rue AP4

by R. E. Butler

  Letting her head fall back, she closed her eyes and rinsed the soap from her body. Dawn would be here soon enough.

  After dressing, she rubbed her hair vigorously with one of the extra towels and braided it. She hadn’t ever willingly let anyone see her hair except for Dom. It had been a source of shame, the reason for her banishment. But as James had said, her secret was out now and there was no more reason to hide.

  She took a long look at herself in the mirror and walked out into the room. James and John turned to her, and they both held out their hands.

  “Let’s go meet your cousin and see what we can do about this situation,” James said.

  She didn’t take their hands. “Do you always try to fix everything, James?”

  He smiled wryly. “Yeah.”

  “I wish I’d met you a long time ago.”

  “Us, too, sweetness,” John said.

  She took their hands and they escorted her out of the room and to her rental car. She looked at the note from Gerarli that James tucked into his shirt pocket. There was a small map drawn on the bottom. The clan hadn’t been in Ashland long enough to know the street names, but she knew that the big square was the boarding house where the mountain lions lived, the trees were the woods, and the big X in the center of the empty space was the field where the clans had gathered for the bonding ceremony.

  She hadn’t seen her cousin Dag since she was a young teen, before her shift. She had no idea why James had called him, but maybe Dag could speak on her behalf. Maybe if she gave herself up willingly, Dag could promise to raise Dom for her and let him live. A little flare of hope filled her. Not hope for herself; she didn’t think she had an ice cube’s chance in hell of seeing another sunset, but she hoped that Dom would make it through this. She could plead his case, and maybe they would show him mercy. It wasn’t his fault that she’d broken the law. He was innocent.

  James and John were silent. She was okay with that. She wasn’t sure what she would say, anyway. They seemed oddly determined to help her, strangers or not, and she knew they believed she was their mate. She hadn’t even thought about it, really, because first she’d been in spy mode, and then she’d been in flight mode after they found her, and then…horny mode. Now she was wavering between terrified for herself and Dom and determined to fall on her sword to save her son. If only that would work.

  When James stopped the car at the diner, she got out and found herself staring at her cousin Dag and his brother Hanai. Dag’s mouth fell open.

  “Veruka?”

  Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes. Dag and Hanai stood under a light in the parking lot. She took a few steps, but old fears stopped her from coming too close.

  “Yeah.”

  In a heartbeat, Dag grabbed her in a bear hug that squeezed the breath from her lungs. “They told us that you were killed in a hunting accident when you were sixteen.” Hanai joined them, pulling her into the spill of light.

  Hanai touched her braid gingerly and frowned. “You’re albino.”

  The lump in her throat felt like it was the size of a fist. “When I shifted on my sixteenth birthday, my cat was white and my hair turned white when I changed back.”

  Hanai looked over her shoulder. “Why do you need our help? As long as she stays away from the clan, she’s not breaking any banishment laws. We can’t help her get back into her clan, if that’s what you’re asking. Gerarli is very old-school and will not lift the banishment.”

  James and John joined them, and they both put a hand on her shoulder. She felt bolstered by their touch. She didn’t really know her cousins all that well, and she was betting that James and John were wondering how Dag and Hanai were going to react to her news.

  “I have a son, and Gerarli took him.”

  * * * * *

  John listened to Rue tell her cousins the story of her life — the quick and dirty version — but it still unsettled him. A young girl, tossed out on her own for something she had no control over, eventually finding solace in the arms of a panther who tried to kill her when he discovered what she was, and then the years of fear forcing her to keep her and Domino apart from everyone so they could survive.

  “If I petition them, if you’ll agree, I think I can save him. I think they’ll let him live.” Rue was talking and John had zoned out thinking about how unfair her life had been. He focused and looked at James who was growling.

  “No fucking way,” James said, his voice snarling.

  Rue shook her head. “You can’t fix everything, James. Didn’t I tell you that already? This is done, okay? My life is forfeit because I broke the laws, but Dom is innocent.”

  “So you want to throw yourself on their mercy and hope they let your son live? Why don’t you want to fight?”

  “I can’t fight! They could torture him!”

  John scented her tears a second before she put her head in her hands. John pulled her against his chest, and she immediately wrapped her arms around him. Rubbing her back, he looked at Dag. “There must be something we can do.”

  Hanai looked grim. “There may be a way, but it wouldn’t be easy.”

  Dag looked at Hanai. “Are you thinking about the Rite of Dekray?”

  Hanai shrugged. “There is nothing else that will cover the breaking of banishment law outside of the Rite of Dekray, only blood will do.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rue asked. She didn’t move from John’s arms except to lift her head and look at the two males.

  Hanai said, “I’m going to my home to get my books, and I’ll meet you at the boarding house in an hour.”

  “I can’t go the boarding house. The panthers might see me.”

  “The party is over, and the clans have all returned to the field for the night.”

  James growled. “I want to know why having us go arrest him and his clan for kidnapping and getting Domino back isn’t the right decision? We can get all the deputies in here. Hell, the pride has several males who would scare the pants off anyone. We can get him back without anyone dying or bleeding.”

  “No, you can’t,” Dag said as Hanai nodded at them and walked briskly to his car. “If you show up with the police force, they will kill Domino immediately and scatter. They’re using our laws to justify killing. There was no need for them to hunt down Rue because she was watching the ceremony. They could have let it go. Gerarli is not known for his sanity. He rules his clan with an iron fist and no one defies him. He is standing on clan law, and no other clan will dare to stand up to him.”

  “You are,” John pointed out.

  “My clan is not like the others. We’re more progressive. And what we’re doing is trying to use the laws to get around the death decree. Hanai knows more about laws than anyone I’ve ever met. If he says there is a way to free Veruka and Domino, then there is.”

  “We need to get home and sort this situation out,” James said.

  Dag left in his own vehicle, and James and John got back into Rue’s car. She looked defeated. Her shoulders were slumped, and her eyes were filled with sorrow. John wanted to say something reassuring to her, but he felt entirely out of his depths. His cat was angry that she was upset, and he worried about how willing she seemed to just give herself up to her clan to be killed. He understood that she wanted to protect Dom, because he would go to the guillotine in a heartbeat for Jilly and Henry, but she seemed to be all about self-sacrifice without the fight, and he didn’t get that.

  James pulled into the gravel drive of the boarding house. There were lights on in some of the rooms upstairs, but for the most part things seemed quiet, inside and out. It was just after midnight, so they had a handful of hours until sunrise when they had to meet with her clan.

  John felt frustrated and a little angry. He’d never pictured his mate so willing to walk away from him. He didn’t care how noble it was for her to want to try to sacrifice herself for her son, because he wanted her to fight tooth and nail to live. For herself, for Dom, for him and James.

  He sn
agged her elbow when she got out of her car and towed her toward the house. James followed close behind. When she protested, he bent down and hauled her over his shoulder. Her breath whooshed from her lungs as she thumped against his back. He had always been the mellow, nice guy in the house, but her lack of fight about anything was pissing him off.

  He trudged upstairs, opened his bedroom door, and carried her inside. James shut the door and flipped on the overhead light as John flipped her down onto the bed.

  She sat up with a whispered snarl and punched him in the mouth. “Don’t you fucking ever manhandle me again!”

  His head snapped back with the force of her punch. His lip throbbed and he tasted blood.

  “It’s about time you showed some emotion,” James said.

  She clenched her jaw and her eyes flashed angrily. “There are kids living here. I didn’t want to scream bloody murder downstairs when you tossed me over your shoulder like a caveman. Besides, I knew you weren’t really going to hurt me.”

  John touched his fingers to his bottom lip and grimaced at the blood. He was unexpectedly aroused by her fierceness, though. He’d thought she was weak, but now he wasn’t really sure what he thought. Weak wasn’t a word he’d use to describe her now that his lip already swelled.

  “I’m sorry,” John said.

  She sighed and rubbed her thumb between her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I punched you. It was a gut reaction. I’m not normally violent, but this has been a bad day.”

  She stood suddenly and began to tug off her shirt. James looked at John in utter surprise, but John was too stunned to say anything. Under the long sleeved top, her skin was pale and perfect. She wore a dark sports bra that hugged her full breasts. She twisted the top in her hands for a moment and then turned away from them. It took John a moment to realize what he was looking at, and then it hit him — the brand. The scar spanned from one shoulder to the other. It was made up of thick, sharp lines. It wasn’t beautiful, and he doubted it was meant to be.

  He and James both stepped close to her, and their hands reached out at the same time to trace the edges of the scar. Even though it looked old, it was still rough around the edges. His heart squeezed at the pain it must have caused her.

  “Shit, sweetheart,” John murmured, turning her around and seeing the tears in her eyes that she was fighting.

  “They rubbed some kind of powder into the wounds that made it hurt worse. It took forever to heal, and it ached for years. They meant for me to remember I wasn’t welcome and that if I returned to the clan, they would kill me. They did this to me when I was just a kid. Do you think they won’t hesitate to kill my son? In their eyes, he’s an abomination.”

  John swallowed hard. “I thought you were giving up too easily.”

  She shrugged and hugged her arms around herself. “It may seem like that, but it’s the only thing I can think to do. If I don’t fight them, if I throw myself on their mercy, they may let him live.”

  James said, “Hanai seemed to think there was a way around dying.”

  She looked at him but said nothing. She stopped hugging herself and straightened her spine. John wanted to apologize for ever thinking she was weak. She wasn’t giving up; she was giving in to save her kid.

  “Why are you doing this?” Her brow raised slightly, her lips turning down.

  James put his hands on his hips. “You know why.”

  Her brow arched higher. “I don’t. All I know is that we kissed in the woods and then everything went to hell.”

  They both growled.

  “Don’t dismiss what happened. We followed you because you are our mate. You know it, but you’re just too stubborn to let yourself believe it because you’re too damn scared to do anything about it.” James snarled the words.

  Her eyes flashed. “I never said I knew anything. You’re good kissers, but I’m not about to drag you into the fucked-up-ness of my life. There is nothing waiting for me at dawn but the slim chance I can bargain for Dom’s life. Stop wasting your time on some fantasy that we’re meant to be together or some fated bullshit. It’s done. The clock is running out. Game over.”

  John didn’t know what came over him at that moment, but he could see that although her body said hands off, her eyes were screaming for help, and he did the only thing that he could think of. He grabbed her roughly to him and claimed her mouth with his own. The slight pain in his lips was nothing compared to the searing heat that boiled up inside him when he touched her.

  He pushed his tongue past her lips and slid it along hers, tasting the sweet heady flavor of her mouth. He felt her fangs elongate as she began to purr, and he scraped his tongue on the sharp edge. She moaned softly, sucking on his tongue. His own fangs elongated as need rode through his body making his muscles squeeze his bones and his cock harden. Her head pulled back, and she scraped her tongue on his fang as he’d done and he had a sweet drop of her blood in his mouth before she released him with a gusty groan.

  James had fisted her hair and pulled her away. His eyes were flashing to the amber of his cat, and his fangs were elongated. He gave her head a gentle shake and a purr stuttered from her chest.

  “What are you?” James demanded.

  Her hands grabbed for John like he was an anchor, and he gripped her hips and pulled her against his erection. The world could end, and he wouldn’t loosen his hold on her.

  She whimpered and the soft sound snarled a little at the end. James tightened his hold, and her mouth opened wider, her fangs glinting.

  “Tell us what you are, Rue.”

  “I’m yours,” she answered as her eyes opened slowly. Her pretty green eyes were now a startling blue, so bright they almost glowed. “I know what I am, and I’m yours.”

  Chapter 9

  Rue felt as though she was going to combust. Could a person die from being touched by two males at the same time? She thought it was a good way to go, but the simple fact remained that they hadn’t done anything but kiss. Excellent kisses, but still just kisses.

  Fabulous kisses.

  Focus, damn it.

  James kissed her neck, and she felt his fangs press against her flesh. She gripped John’s arms, digging her nails into his skin as James ever so slowly sank his sharp canines into her neck. She swore her clit twitched. It hurt, but in the strangest way it felt amazingly good. He was marking her as his mate. They’d told her in the hotel that they followed her scent through their beasts, and it hadn’t mattered to her because she was terrified about Dom. But here they were, grasping at straws with her concerning Dom’s future and marking her as though they had their whole lives stretched out in front of them. Like they could wake up in the morning and make breakfast and lounge around all day while the kids played in the yard. She’d never known a normal life like that, even before she was banished.

  John’s thumb stroked down her throat and his eyes flashed to amber. James was still latched onto her, his fangs deep in her neck as he pressed his erection into her back. Damn, she wanted to be naked. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d had sex since she found out she was pregnant. Her need to keep herself and Dom’s identity a secret had meant that she had never even been out on a date, finding quick releases with random human males who hadn’t bothered to ask for her number. Not that she would have given it to them.

  John didn’t ask her if he could sink his teeth into the other side of her neck, but she wouldn’t have said no. He bent and kissed her neck so gently that it made tears spring to her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut as he bit her. They purred, extracting their fangs from her flesh and lapping at the fresh wounds.

  Ouch.

  James stepped from her back to face her, his hand above his brother’s on her side. “We’re going to get through this day, Rue. You’re going to live to watch the sun set tonight, and Dom will be with you. Then later, we’re going to go to bed together and mate for real, and tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of our lives. Are we clear?”

  She tilt
ed her head and looked at him. Damn, he was fierce. Sexy. Her cat rumbled in agreement. Her neck throbbed from their markings, and a strange sense of rightness settled over her. No one had ever wanted her like this before. Sure they were going on some kind of were-animal claiming instinct, but that didn’t make it any less powerful. If she stayed with them, she’d fall in love with them. It had only been a few hours, and they were already standing up for her and Dom more than anyone else she’d ever known. She’d told them her secrets. She hadn’t asked for help, but they didn’t care. They were all about taking care of her even though they had no idea what the dawn would bring. She wasn’t entirely sure herself.

  “Let’s hear what Hanai has to say first, okay?”

  James snarled. “Not okay. You’re not dying today or any other day.”

  She gave a snort. “I’m not immortal.”

  He bared his teeth at her. “You know what I mean. You’re not dying until you’re old and gray and have lived for a really, really long time.”

  She had only loved Dom before; she’d never been in love with a man, let alone been on the receiving end of so much attention and compassion. James wanted to control everything that was going on even though he didn’t know what was coming. John was a sweetheart with a soft side. He wanted her to be happy. They were perfect for her in different ways.

  She leaned into James and pulled John to her side. They surrounded her and she let herself soak up their warmth and compassion for a few minutes. Eventually, it was time to meet with her cousins. She put her top on and they left the bedroom.

  Hanai and Dag sat at the kitchen table along with Dionne and the males from Dag’s clan. Dionne rushed at Rue and hugged her. She leaned back and looked at her, a bit of anger in her eyes.

  “You should have called us when you were banished, Veruka! We would have taken you into our clan in a heartbeat.”

  Rue blinked at the sudden tears. “I was told I’d be killed if I wandered into panther territory again. I didn’t know if you would accept me or not. I was scared to trust anyone.”