And now on a full moon, their one night to hunt, she was out there in the woods somewhere. Scowling, he scented the air as he paced the parking lot. To the east. About a mile and half of trail and forestland separated the parking lot from Pride lands. And that was where she had gone.
“Damn it all to hell,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Tell me about it,” Zane said.
A new voice joined in on the conversation as Glenna McGuire came walking up. “I’ve called a couple of our people from Search and Rescue. And Casey got a hold of all the rest. Everybody knows the hunt is off for the night. Nick and Marie will be out here within a half and hour and we can start looking for her.”
At least it had been Glenna that found the truck. That wasn’t chance, either. She’d taken this job specifically so that they could make sure the park was emptied out on hunt night. Up until now, the only thing she’d had to do was chase out teens who came to the park to make out.
Oh, they’d had hikers get lost before. It was a big park and a popular one, but they hadn’t had the bad luck to lose a hiker on hunt night.
And Duncan couldn’t get rid of this niggling feeling—she wasn’t just out hiking.
Kennedy was looking for something.
Or someone.
“You’re sure the word got out to everybody?” he asked tersely.
Glenna lowered her head slightly, a simple gesture of deference. “Casey said she got messages to all of the family.”
“What about the twins? Did they get a message or did somebody actually talk to them?”
Behind him, Zane groaned. “Now wouldn’t that just be perfect…”
Duncan glanced at him, jaw clenched. “Yeah, wouldn’t it?” Jerking his phone from his belt, he accessed the phone number for Douglas and Deacon McGuire, Glenna’s first cousins. They were related to Duncan and Zane loosely, cousins several time removed.
They were also eighteen and raging bundles of hormones and hungers. The Change usually hit right when puberty was hitting, sometimes a little later in the males. And the first few Changes were spent in solitude, with nobody but parents on hand to make sure the young shifter was in control.
Douglas and Deacon had been hit hard with the Change, a little late for their kind, just last summer. Ever since, they’d been like live wires, growing a good foot in a year, going from quiet, polite boys to young men that loved nothing more than a good fight, a fast car, and pretty girls.
They were good kids, Duncan knew, but they were wild. When Barbara answered the phone, he could tell by the tone of voice there was a problem.
“They aren’t there, are they?” Duncan asked flatly.
Barbara McGuire said shakily, “No. I’ve been trying to call them, but if they’ve already hit the hunting grounds…Duncan, they wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
Duncan really wished he could be so sure. That was why the Pride hunted together, to give the young ones a time to adjust to their fledging abilities without risking anybody getting hurt. “Don’t worry about it,” he said quietly, hoping his voice wasn’t as easy to read as hers was. “We’ll find them.”
“The hiker that’s missing, has he shown up yet?” Barbara asked.
“It’s a woman. And no. I have to go—we need to find her.” Before the twins did. If she saw the two cougars, already bigger than the natural cougars, she’d panic. Panicking around predators was bad.
Very bad.
He met Glenna’s eyes as he hung up his phone. “You stay here until Nick and Maria get here. When they get here, you three split up. We don’t come in until we find her. And if you run into the twins, call for me.”
He met Zane’s eyes and gestured toward the forest with a jerk of his head. “Let’s go.”
Ooooohhhhh…
Kennedy awoke with a whimper, reaching up and pressing a careful hand to her head. It came away sticky. “Not good,” she muttered. Slowly, she stretched the rest of her body, taking stock. She bit back a cry when her ankle screamed in agony. Twisted at the least, possibly broken.
Bright moonlight filtered down through the canopy of the trees, casting enough silvery light that she could see up the slope she’d fallen down. As she pushed upright, she twisted her upper body a little. She’d hit her head on that rock—she could see the dark stain of blood on it even in this dim light.
“You should have stayed where you were,” she muttered. This far off any recognizable trail, it was going to be even harder for anybody to find her. Panic started to settle in and she fought it off with grim determination.
So she was lost. She’d been through worse—much worse. There was no way she could make it up that hill just yet. It was too dark to see well, and with one more accident, she may not be able to make it up that hill at all.
“So I’m stuck here for the night,” Kennedy said. “I can handle this.”
Hysteria threatened to bubble up and overwhelm her, but she ignored it. “It’s your fault you’re stuck here—you can handle this.”
She undid the pack from her hip and located the small flashlight in it by touch. Kennedy also pulled out the small bottle of Tylenol and popped a couple. Fortunately, her trip down the hill hadn’t knocked her water bottle loose and she still had two small nutrition shakes in the pack. The chilly night air was going to be the worst part—well, that and the odd noises that always sounded at night.
She had to move though. There were rocks gouging into her from all over and Kennedy felt too battered already. No way was she sitting on a bed of rocks all night. Scanning the area around her with the flashlight, she decided on the towering pine about ten feet to her right. It would move her that much closer to the hill in the morning and there didn’t look to be as many rocks that way.
At first, she tried to stand, but the pain in her head was making her sick and she couldn’t bear to put weight on her right ankle. How undignified. She sighed morosely as she basically dragged herself the ten feet. Once over there, she used her hand to clear a small area free of pinecones and pine needles and then placed her back against the tree trunk.
She had worn a denim button down earlier and, when she’d gotten hot, tied it around her waist. Now, as she untied the knot and worked it free, Kennedy said a silent prayer of thanks. It wasn’t a blanket, but it was something over her bare arms.
Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the tree, calling herself ten different kinds of idiot.
“Serve you right if one of those damn cats did show up right about now,” she muttered.
Seconds later, her blood turned to ice in her veins as she heard a peculiar, high-pitched scream.
It sounded again seconds later, and it sounded closer. Should have kept my mouth shut…
That wasn’t a scream.
It was a cougar.
Duncan froze in his tracks as he heard one of the twins screaming into the night.
He threw back his head and screamed back, issuing a summons. Of course, the twins were notoriously arrogant and they didn’t like to answer to anybody. Not even the leader of the Pride.
“Damned kids,” he swore hotly as he swiftly stripped out of his clothes.
Zane eyed him grimly. “She’s not too far.”
“They are closer than we are.” He couldn’t hear her, which meant she wasn’t trying to run, thank God. But he smelled one thing that really bothered him.
Blood…
He just hoped the twins had enough control to recognize the difference between an injured mortal woman and acceptable prey. He stood naked in the moonlight for mere seconds as the Change started. He bit back the scream of agony as his bones broke and realigned, going through the Change in utter silence. The second he could breath again, he took off running through the woods.
In this form, his sense of smell was sharper and he smelled not just the blood, but the sharp spicy tang of her fear. It spiked and he knew she had seen the cougars.
He screamed into the night once more as he crested a sharp slope. Staring down it
, he saw the twins.
They were circling around a massive pine tree, totally preoccupied with what they saw under it.
Powerful muscles bunched and he jumped, taking the downward slope with swift powerful leaps that landed him in between the twins. He faced the one closest to him, glaring at Deacon with fury.
You were called.
The cougar cocked his head, studying his leader. We smelled her—she smells good…
Duncan caught an undertone that had him seeing red. They weren’t talking food. Another hunger.
Yes, she did smell good but he wasn’t a cub in rut. And he wouldn’t allow anybody in his Pride to scare a woman. Get back. You will return home and pray that I calm down before I talk with you again.
Come on, Duncan. She smells so sweet…That was Douglas and Duncan whirled on him. The cougar was staring at Kennedy and Duncan could have wrung the fool boy’s neck as he sensed the power rising in Douglas.
If you Change, I will beat you bloody.
That got a reaction. Both of the twins turned their heads and studied Duncan with wary eyes. Duncan bared his teeth at them, snarling once more in warning. You will leave—now.
Their big feline bodies slumped, heads and tails hung low, as they turned and silently padded away.
Duncan didn’t bother to watch them leave as he turned and stared at Kennedy.
He was prepared for her terror, braced for the screams he was certain would start at any second. He was even ready for her to run, if she wasn’t hurt too badly. He’d have to act then, guiding her away from the twins and toward Zane.
What he wasn’t prepared for was the amazement he saw in her eyes.
She stared at him with sheer incredulity. Her lips trembled and her eyes gleamed bright. “Sweet heaven…I was right.”
Duncan moved a little closer, trying to see where she was wounded. The smell of blood was old, but he couldn’t see any injury. There was no denying it was her blood though. One thing he could see—her right ankle was swollen, more than twice the size it should be. He cast a look up the hill and he could see the path of disturbed earth—she’d tripped, fallen…maybe she hit her head.
He growled a little in his throat, disgusted. So she wasn’t going to be able to walk out of here and likely had a head injury. Not a serious one, he guessed. If there were any kind of internal bleeding, he would smell that. And she looked a little too aware, her eyes too clear, for the head injury to be serious.
Duncan hoped.
From the corner of his eye, he saw her reaching out toward him and he sidestepped, growling a little at her.
You have no sense, he thought darkly, wishing he were in human form so he could yell at her. Out hiking…alone…didn’t tell a damn soul where she was going to be, and she was trying to pet him. A real cougar would probably take her hand off.
Well, no. A real cougar wouldn’t have come this close to her, unless it was to make a meal out of her. Cougars didn’t hunt humans, but she was alone and injured—that was enough to taunt any predator that was hungry enough.
Turning away, he started to pace wide circles around the tree, trying not to look at her too closely. As he heard her pushing to her feet, Duncan turned towards her with a soft growl.
Of course, she seemed oblivious. Ether she didn’t realize he presented a threat, or that damned head wound was affecting her judgment. Well, he was still assuming she had a head wound.
As she started toward him, he decided it was definitely the latter. Her bad ankle hit the ground and she went white, slamming out a hand to brace her weight against the trunk of the tree. She weaved for a second and he waited for her to sit back down.
Didn’t happen though. He heard it as her breathing sped up, as her heart started to race. Just as her eyes started to roll back into her head, Duncan pounced. She collapsed and he caught her weight with his body just before she would have hit the ground.
He heard the soft whisper of air behind him and cocked his head around, staring at Zane darkly.
“Having fun?” Zane asked politely, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Damn it, will you get over here and help me? Duncan thought sourly.
Over the next five minutes, Zane examined Kennedy while Duncan watched. He’d shifted back to human form and tugged on the jeans Zane had tossed at him. The rest of his clothes were folded neatly on the forest floor but Duncan wasn’t too interested in them right now.
“Is she going to be okay?”
Zane lifted one shoulder in a shrug as he finished wrapping Kennedy’s ankle. “She didn’t break anything, but the cut on her head is pretty nasty. She’s got a concussion, but I don’t know how bad. I wonder how long she was conscious.”
Both of them glanced to the south as they heard the others approaching. Nick and Maria stepped out of the trees, each one nodding politely towards Duncan before moving to kneel beside Zane. Zane moved aside, letting Maria take his place.
She was a volunteer member of the local search and rescue team, just like Nick—but her expertise was medical. She was also a paramedic for Pride’s lone fire department and the only female member of a fire department in the county.
She glanced at Kennedy’s ankle first and glanced at Zane with a faint smile. “You’d make an excellent nurse.” Maria was quiet while she probed the head wound, her dark brown eyes unreadable. Finally, she looked up with a sigh. “We need to get her into town. I don’t think she cracked her skull, but…”
Her voice trailed away as Kennedy moaned. Duncan moved closer and Nick automatically shifted out of the way as Duncan crouched by Kennedy’s other side, across from Maria. The thick fan of her lashes lifted and he found himself staring into bleary eyes.
Her voice was thick and hoarse as she whispered, “I knew you were real.” Then she sighed and her lashes lowered once more.
Maria muttered, “What is she talking about?”
Duncan met Zane’s eyes. He had a sinking suspicion that he knew what Kennedy was talking about, and judging by the grim look in Zane’s eyes, the other man knew, too.
Nobody but the men who were there that night knew what happened fifteen years ago. Well, them…and Kennedy.
The question, though, was just how much did she remember?
Chapter Three
For a minute, when she opened her eyes, Kennedy panicked. Her body ached all over, there were bright white lights shining down in her eyes, and she smelled the astringent scent of cleaners.
In a damned hospital—again.
Before panic could settle in, though, she remembered.
Shit.
Tripping over an exposed root and then lurching to the side. Before she could regain her balance, though, she’d started to fall. She had fallen hard, if her battered body was any sign. And her head…she groaned a little, reaching up and touching her fingers to the back of her head.
Vaguely, she remembered what happened after. One of them…she hissed out a breath. She’d seen one of those cats, a huge beast that looked just like an overgrown cougar. No. More than one. The bigger one had shown up right behind the smaller two. He’d growled at them. For a second, the smaller ones hadn’t paid him much attention, but then they’d run away.
She remembered that…then things got blurry. She’d been so excited and tried to stand up—then darkness.
Another vague memory—a man. Shirtless, crouching over her in the moonlight, and staring at her with unreadable golden eyes. Duncan Pride.
After that, just more darkness. Vague memories of a guy in a white coat shining one of those annoying little lights in her eyes, people shaking her gently until she woke up, more lights, questions, more questions.
“So you’re awake.”
She glanced over as the curtain surrounding her was pushed back and found herself staring into a friendly, cheerful face. “How do you feel?”
Kennedy licked her lips, shaking her head. “My head hurts,” she whispered softly.
“I’d imagine so—you’ve got a big goose
egg back there and a moderate concussion,” the woman said as she moved a little closer. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a simple ponytail and she had a brightly colored stethoscope around her neck. Her nametag read, Kari, RN.
“I’m in the ER?”
“Yes. Let’s check your temperature. I can get you something for your headache after I get your vitals.”
Headache…hell, that didn’t describe the pain shooting through her head.
Moments later, Kennedy was alone and she leaned back, closing her eyes as she tried to bring the hazy memories of the past night into focus.
You could have broken your leg…The throbbing pain in her ankle reminded her just how lucky she had been. Or your neck.
And she didn’t care—Kennedy didn’t give a damn, because she had seen them.
She had no proof and if she tried to tell anybody, not a single person would believe her. But it didn’t matter. She’d gone looking for them just to prove to herself she had seen them—that something had saved her from her stepfather fifteen years ago.
It was amazing, how good vindication felt.
“You look like hell.”
Her eyes flew open, her heart skipping a beat at the low, rough voice. Sheriff Duncan Pride stood in the doorway, staring at her with a scowl. Another memory swam up, the image superimposing itself over the man standing in front of her.
Oh, he was still scowling—but he wasn’t wearing a shirt and he was crouched over her while she lay on the forest floor.
And disturbingly—the echo of the words she’d whispered to him, I knew you were real…
Shaking her head, Kennedy made herself focus on Duncan as he stepped inside the cubicle and pulled the curtain closed behind him. She forced a smile at him and said, “I don’t feel much better than that.”
“You know your dad would have a fit if he could see you right now,” Duncan said shortly. “Cole would probably try to turn you over his knee.”
With a faint smile, Kennedy shook her head. “He preferred the more silent approach. He just wouldn’t talk to me for a day or two. Lisa, though…”
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