by J. K Harper
Not everyone in the group had known about those caches. Derek had known because he managed to get himself in with the higher-ups. Mainly the asshole Nefarious, who hadn't been captured. He was the smartest one, which wasn’t really saying very much. He was the only one who knew all the secrets, though he'd shared bits of information with the few he'd tapped as his captains, as he liked to call them. While the Nefarious Desperados had abandoned this ramshackle, frankly disgusting little collection of ancient, abandoned settler cabins and nasty old trailers that had been left to rot by previous owners, they likely wouldn’t abandon its little hidey-holes. She’d caught their faint scents, saw their tracks. She thought if she waited long enough, at least one of them would come back.
She was right.
Her sharp hearing caught the sound of voices down the trail. Lowering herself even closer to the branch, fiercely trying to meld into it, she held every inch of her magnificent feline body still. How had she thought her cat was a terrible thing? Badass kitty was amazing. She was strong, she was deadly claws and fiery screams, she was tenacity and power Marisa had never known in her human life.
Now, working as one with this side of her, she was going to kill the bastards who still held her brother.
She would take pleasure in killing Nefarious, the particularly nasty, insane psycho who’d been the one to turn both Derek and her into monsters.
A monster of a cat she now appreciated with every inch of her being. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to make him pay for doing it against her will.
The murmur of male voices grew louder. She hardly breathed, her sight fixed on the end of the path. There. Two men came into view, striding along the path with empty backpacks strapped on. Good.
She’d done the numbers in her head after the bridge battle and figured out there probably were about fifteen of the original outcasts that got away. Much as she knew she made one hell of a formidable warrior, she had to be very cautious about taking on all fifteen at once.
But just two of them, in their human forms? Easy peasy. She’d drop one of them with a swift clock to the head then force the other one to show her where they were keeping Derek. And even if one turned into his animal, she felt confident in herself.
After all, she was one hell of a badass kitty.
She recognized both of them. They weren’t the top dogs of the pathetic outcast group, but they certainly weren’t friends of hers. Easy pickings. She waited, silent as a shadow. Foolishly oblivious, the two men continue to loudly stomp down the path, their conversation as they neared her revealing a crude appreciation for females of any species, preferably if they were doing exactly what either of these two men told them to do.
Marisa’s lip curled almost of its own volition, but she stayed utterly still.
Closer.
Closer.
She hunkered so low into the branch it seemed as if she could’ve had pine sap running in her veins. Snow-tipped needles of the fir tree shoved into her hip and her ribs as she waited, soundless. Almost not breathing.
They were right below her.
“So then this dumb fucking cunt says to me—augh!”
Marisa dropped out of the tree like a stone tossed into water. Halfway down she opened her mouth to roar out a hair-raising screech that had the men screeching in return as they yanked their heads back to look up, eyes wide in sudden terror.
Too late.
Marisa plowed into them, smacking directly down onto one, whacking him sharply on the back of his head with a giant paw. He instantly went limp and fell onto the snowy trail, unconscious. The other man had been knocked off his feet but was quickly scrambling to them, trying to scuttle away like a crab.
Gotcha now, you sick jerk. Badass kitty hissed. Long, low, and dangerous.
Marisa crouched then launched at him, paws spread, claws outstretched, her yowling mouth open in a rictus of terrifying doom.
Even though the guy was also a shifter, not to mention halfway to insane, she’d managed to surprise the shit out of him. Clearly, he was a coward at heart. He shrieked in terror, whatever animal that claimed him instinctively leaping into his eyes with a glow that came too late.
Marisa landed on top of him, smacking them into the ground with a strength that knocked the air out of him. As he floundered beneath her, frantically trying to fill his suddenly empty lungs, she bent her head and opened her jaws directly over his throat. Daring him to do more than try to take a breath. He struggled beneath her but didn’t fight her. He simply tried to breathe.
As soon as he caught his breath and lay gasping like a floundering fish beneath her, otherwise not moving, Marisa backed off and shifted to human. Standing naked in the snow, completely uncaring that his eyes immediately went to her breasts—like her, he too had recently been human, so the casual nudity of shifters could still make him leer—Marisa’s amazing, powerful badass kitty stretched a horrifying smile across her face.
Hissing through her teeth, she snarled, “Show me where they are. I’m here to get my brother.”
18
Riley edged over the top of the hill, keeping his movements slow so he wouldn’t be spotted. But Derek beckoned to him, gazing fixedly down below. “They don’t pay attention. Most of them are too far gone to be aware of anything but what the sainted leader tells them to do.” Cold bitterness ringed his words, the first time Riley had heard anything aside from worry about his sister or a generalized shaky grasp on the moment. “The only ones that might pay attention are the ones that were born shifters. But they’re too damn cocky in their own assholeness to really care much either.”
Riley pulled up next to Derek, conscious of Quentin, Abby, and Slade moving up on his other side. Behind him and also spread out far to the other sides, he was aware of the many others who also crept silently through the woods to peer down at the stronghold of the outcasts. Cortez, Haley, Shane, and Jessie were flanked just a few feet off to the right, also tense with anticipation. After Jessie had taken the cubs to school and called in “sick” to work, she'd met everyone else out here. Her bear was eager to rumble.
Slade huffed quietly, folding his arms in front of him as he stood rooted to the ground, also staring down. “That’s it? That’s the rest of the Nefarious Desperados?” His tone dripped scorn. “They’re not even remotely keeping an eye out. Clueless idiots.” He spat in disgust. Slade always itched for a good fight, but he liked it if the opposite side could at least put up a decent struggle in return. He was a regular on the shifter fight circuit when he wasn’t working. It was his way to blow off steam, as well as battle the demons of his own past. Any fight that started up, Slade was sure to happily wade into, fists or claws flying.
On the other side of Marisa’s brother, one of the local wolf shifters said, “I think we’ve got plenty on our side to take them all out. Quentin?” He glanced at the de facto leader of the Silvertips.
Riley caught the slight shake of his brother’s head out of the corner of his eye. “This is Riley’s rodeo today. We’re all here as backup for him. And to protect our clan and our town.” The steely note in his voice said nothing good would happen for the outcast shifters below.
Riley felt a quick wave of appreciation at his brother’s deferring the situation to him. Most of the shifters around here looked up to Quentin because he was a natural leader and in charge of the Silvertip Lodge and all its security concerns. But as always, Quentin was also a shrewd manager of his brothers. He wasn’t about to step on Riley’s toes. Since Marisa was somewhere out here too, Riley’s bear wouldn’t let anyone else take charge anyway.
“Hell yeah, we’ve got enough to take them out.” Riley half turned to survey the significant number of shifters that accompanied them. They numbered thirty or forty. He’d sounded the call to his family and then placed several texts to certain friends in town who were always up for a throw down, not to mention completely outraged after the surprise attack of the bridge battle several weeks ago. None of them much liked outcasts. Shifters
of all different stripes waited for his signal to attack.
His only slight regret was that Pix and Beckett were out of town visiting her family, which meant they didn’t have a dragon shifter on their side at the moment. The only other dragon shifter in town was a total loner who never got involved in anything. Riley didn’t even have the guy’s phone number. But he also knew there wasn’t a dragon shifter among the outcasts. Not to mention, as Derek had said, three quarters of them were mad as hatters. That made them dangerous, yes, but it also made them disorganized.
With the crew of healthy, strong shifters assembled here, they should be able to quickly take control of the situation.
And find Marisa, hopefully before she did anything brash like put herself in more danger.
Abby’s voice, sharp with the notes of her wolf just below the surface, murmured, “All right, Riley. Give the rundown again.”
He bared his teeth in a savage grin. He quickly detailed the idea he’d come up with: sending certain shifter types in flanking movements that would take the outcasts by surprise. It was much smarter than simply barreling down the hill.
As he quickly, quietly went through each maneuver, Slade happily cracked his knuckles. “Damn straight. I’m ready for a hell of a throw down. But hey, bro. Where’s your woman? We don’t want her to get caught in the crossfire.”
Haley, who also stood with arms folded as she stared down into the little valley below, snorted. “That girl has a kickass mountain lion in her. You don’t have to worry about her. She can hold her own.”
Jessie chimed in, “Especially now that she’s got some focus.” She glanced at Riley, a wild grin sliding across her face. She clearly was more than ready to shift into her bear and get down to brawling with the outcasts. “She might be impetuous, but she’s no fool.”
Cortez made an approving sound. “I agree. Good woman you’ve got there, Ri. Glad she’s with us.” His tone held deep meaning. He and everyone else had sensed the deep change in Marisa within the past few days. They’d sensed her renewed desire to live. To be happy. She was one of them now. Family. Clan.
A Silvertip, ready to fight to protect them all.
“Okay. Everyone ready?” Riley glanced from side to side, looking at his family and friends, all ranged out like a well-oiled battle team. It wasn’t as if full-on battles were really common around here, but shifters did skirmish now and then. Everyone was always up for a good brawl to help settle their animals.
He glanced off to the side, looking at the unknown but very welcome presence of other shifters. There had been some guests at the lodge who volunteered to come along once they got wind of what was going on. Nobody anywhere liked outcasts. Most guests at the lodge were there just to relax, but they were shifters too. Many enjoyed a fight as much as the next one.
This particular one should be damned epic.
“Let’s do it,” Riley said, letting his bear ripple through him to start the change.
Quentin’s low, urgent “Hold on” abruptly halted him in his tracks, making irritated pain shudder through him. “Riley, look. She’s down there. Marisa’s already there with them.”
Heart thundering, Riley looked. Sure enough, his beautiful mate strode from the woods right into the small outcast encampment, her mountain lion an impressive specimen of deadly beauty. She moved on her huge, silent paws behind the man who clearly was one of the outcasts as he walked slowly toward the others.
Swearing, Riley held still for a moment to watch her. Brave, stunning lion. She prowled fearlessly right into the outcast camp, seeming completely unafraid of being there. She was in control, almost swaggering as she followed the man into the group. Her head swung around, slowly eyeing each outcast shifter that stood there, sizing up each one, then dismissing him or her just as quickly with a disdainful turn of her head that said exactly what she thought of them. Every movement of her body was controlled. Smooth. Powerful. Riley thought his chest might explode with the swell of pride and admiration at seeing her like this.
Marisa owned her space like the badass queen she was. A stunning, powerful, unstoppable queen.
The stunning woman he’d been meant to meet. The honor of which was all his.
He let himself marvel at her for another split second. Then, it was time to rally behind her. He snarled, “Everyone, go!”
With a roar, he let his bear fully take over and leapt down the hill toward his mate.
Marisa’s head snapped around at the sound of his voice. Her jaws opened wide as she let loose an echoing scream, ferocious joy and determination ringing through it. Then, she swung her powerful head back around, screaming at all the outcasts before her.
Screaming that their end was near.
Oh, hell yeah. His beautiful queen was in charge, and shit was going to go down.
Riley surged forward, the thundering sound of everyone all around him booming through the forest. He roared, a cry that was answered by his clan, his family, his friends. Marisa’s wild screeching rang through the air again and again, a sound of fierce joy and focused rage. His beautiful mate was ready to seek her vengeance.
Utter chaos had burst through the outcasts the second they realized they were under attack. They all shifted, revealing themselves to be mostly mountain lions, with just a few bears and wolves mixed in. Riley growled as he came ever closer. Their leader had clearly had a plan when he created his army of insane shifters.
He noted one of the outcasts stayed in human form, darting back into the small building that apparently housed them. He felt a snarl curl his lip. Coward. Although, he mused, the analytical side of his head spinning even as he still slammed down the hill toward them, that could be a recently turned one—one who was not far gone enough yet to thoroughly relish being taken over by his feral side.
A large body suddenly slammed into him from the side. It knocked him off balance, drawing another fearsome roar from his mouth. Swinging his head, he rose to his hind legs as the mountain lion that had attacked him bared its teeth and tried to leap on his back as cats did so they could grab their opponent by the back of the neck and hopefully break it.
Riley let out another roar. That would be the last thing this cat ever tried.
He met the crazed shifter head on, battling its outstretched claws of doom with his gigantic, equally lethal paws. Slamming the cat into the ground, he rolled and tumbled with the creature for several long seconds that felt like days. Getting one good look at the cat’s eyes for a moment, he saw nothing but sheer madness. Madness that could never be fixed. Screaming, the cat tried again to get to Riley’s neck and plunge its teeth into it.
Roaring, Riley rose to his hind legs then pitched downward. Swiftly, he broke the mountain lion’s neck. Quick, clean, merciful.
There was no time to stop. Whirling, he searched for Marisa. There, fighting another mountain lion, her paws and teeth slashing and biting like a furious whirlwind.
Most damned beautiful thing he’d ever seen. This was the woman he’d known she was deep inside.
Ready to always fight. To never give up.
His woman.
His mate.
Roaring out his challenge, he waded into the fray, determined to end every single one of the outcasts that had tried to destroy Marisa’s life and attack his clan. This time, there would be no prisoners.
19
The second Marisa heard Riley’s challenging roar, shock followed by an enormous thrill raced through her entire body as she snapped her head around toward the sound of his voice. Luckily, his fierce cry, echoed from the throats of dozens more shifters as they pounded down the snowy, forested slope toward the outcasts, also startled the man she’d forced to lead her back here. He froze in horror at the sudden wave of shifters bellowing toward them, giving her enough time to swing her head back and keep him in her line of sight before he did anything dumb.
There. A split second after he startled, he looked at her with a fierce, lunatic glare as his animal burst out of him. Another mountain lio
n, of course. Nefarious had made sure most of them were mountain lions. She hadn’t yet spotted him, but she couldn’t think about him right now. This cat right here was already lunging toward her.
She was prepared. Letting another savage scream rip out of her throat, one designed to terrify, she met his launch head-on by flinging herself right at him. The sudden move gave her the bare edge of advantage she needed. They met with a tremendous thwack in midair, both howling like demons as they fought one another for all they were worth. This one knew how to fight. Nefarious had made sure all of the outcasts knew how to fight.
Marisa screeched again in a surge of powerful disdain. She knew how to fight pretty damned well too.
She danced as one with her cat, the enormous joy at finally feeling completely at home in this body making her an unstoppable force. She parried every strike from the other cat, answering with her own swift claws. Focused on this fight, she let a part of her remain constantly on the alert for Riley’s voice again.
There. She heard a triumphant roar from him. He must have dispatched an enemy.
Snarling with renewed vigor, she whirled to try to get on the back of this cat, to plunge her jaws into his neck and break it. But he anticipated the move. They grappled before she suddenly lost her grip. Rolling and tumbling, she fought for her life. Despite his own ceaseless desire to fight and win, Marisa was much better than any outcast. Unlike all of them who had either been turned by force or shunned by their original animal group—or simply raised in an unhealthy manner—she now was at one with herself and her new adoptive clan.
None of the outcasts would ever dominate her again.
With another raging howl, she finished it, snapping the other cat’s neck. She only killed him because he'd so fiercely tried to kill her. She would no longer hesitate to save her own skin.