by A. C. Arthur
“He’s a Rogue. What do you think he’s doing out here?” Caprise retorted.
X didn’t bother to turn back and look at her. She was a shifter, she would know a Rogue when she scented one. He just wondered if she realized how easily she was slipping into their lifestyle, despite her reservations about it.
“We haven’t had Rogues in Perryville,” Bas said, his anger apparent. “They’ve been doing some trafficking in New Mexico, but no sightings here.”
“Until now,” Caprise added once more.
A loud roar, followed by a human scream, stopped their words. Bas shifted first without preamble. He was a golden cat, from his dusky gray eyes that had transformed to look as sparkly as a red-gold coin and his fur that was picture-perfect yellow-gold with the most perfect black-and-brown rosettes. But that was the end of the picturesque jaguar. When he opened his mouth, roaring a message to all in hearing distance, there was no mistaking his lethalness.
X didn’t hesitate another second but ripped through his own clothes with a shift that cracked bones and stretched muscle until his six-foot-long almost black cat was running up the rocky terrain behind Bas. His rosettes were black, blending in with his coat without close inspection. His eyes were a muted green, his night vision excellent, instincts on point as he ran the unfamiliar terrain.
Rogues were near, there was no doubt, and blood had been drawn. All bets were officially off.
Caprise watched the two cats in front of her. She witnessed the seamless shift from human to beast and felt a tugging deep in her stomach. All around she sensed activity. From behind there were more guards still traveling in human form, running as fast as they could to catch up to them. Beyond there was Bas and X, sleek jaguars using their clawed paws to grip the hardened red rock that formed the buttes they traveled between. It wasn’t easy; this wasn’t the jaguars’ natural terrain. Then again they weren’t natural jaguars.
She continued on foot, feeling the movement inside her but ignoring it. One of the guards had slipped her a gun as they’d left the shelter of Bas’s resort. He had no idea if she knew how to use it or not; nobody did really. But Caprise had trained extensively during her time away. She held an eighth dan black belt in tae kwon do, had mastered shooting on an open and enclosed range in her first year’s training, and had taken boxing classes for almost a year before returning to her love of dance. She was as limber and detail-oriented on the dance floor as she was agile and deadly in the fighting ring.
This gun was a little heavy in her hands. It was a Sig, and she preferred the lovely Glock 19 she owned and stored in her room at Havenway. If she’d known this trip would be a violent one she would have brought it with her. Instead she was risking twisting her ankle as she ran up and down these rocks with only her brown Coach Bonney Sneakers—even in combat she had the cutest shoes—instead of a pair of sturdy boots.
They were ahead of her by a couple of feet, cats moving much faster than her human legs, but she kept her night vision trained on them, watching their every move. And that’s when she saw it, before either of them did.
They were moving along the Boynton Canyon hiking trail. Caprise knew this because she’d spent her day reading the travel brochures in their room. Along the trails was packed dirt with trees splattered here and there, red rock jutting upward as if to break free of the flatland. Bas and X had just circled a butte when another roar sounded. The sound was different than what they’d heard before. Another cat probably. And it had come from behind the guys, just a few feet in front of Caprise.
It was a cat, a large one with teeth and flanks as long and muscular as Bas’s and X’s. This was a trap. While Bas and X chased the cats ahead, this cat would corner them. Caprise raised her arm, aimed the gun to shoot, but the cat darted down from the rock. She began to run, cursing as she went. She’d never catch it on foot.
The shift took her completely by surprise. Her human mind was thinking of another plan, her fingers wrapped securely around the gun in her right hand. As she took her next breath the gun hit the ground; so did her arms that were now strong front paws, her legs pulling up the back of her own sleek yellow cat. The chuffing sound came next, a clearing of her throat just before she roared so loud she thought the canyon itself was shaking around her.
Her padded paws hit the dirt, kicking up dust as she went. Strength and training had her going up the side of a butte to where she’d spotted the lone cat. When she saw him he’d stopped again, standing at the very edge of the butte, most likely looking down at Bas and X. Caprise had never battled with a cat before, never had any reason to, until now. Her body moved seamlessly through the night air as she charged the cat, opening her mouth to bite at its back just as she landed on top of it.
The element of surprise propelled them both over the edge of the butte, but Caprise held on, her teeth piercing through the thick fur and tough underlying skin. She tasted blood but would not let go, even when they thumped to the ground. Her flanks ached, jaws were locked as they rolled over, the other cat trying to get a grip on her.
Then it was pulled away, her teeth free of its prey. She growled in protest as two other cats battled the one she’d taken down. It was Bas and X, she knew, and she paced with the anger steadily brewing inside her. When the Rogue cat was still and dead as the night, X turned to look at her, his green gaze piercing and reprimanding through the night’s darkness.
Caprise did all she could do at the moment: She growled again, lifting a front paw and swiping it in his direction. His cat lunged forward, stopping directly in front of her, his own teeth bared, a disgusted chuff coming from his mouth. She roared back, then decided he wasn’t even worth the time. Her cat turned, running into the canyon without looking back.
Washington, DC
Seth left Athena’s at a little after four in the morning. He’d been a part of the last guard shift watching the place for Rogues. Of course they were there, selling their drugs and conducting a strip joint business just as they’d suspected. He, along with a good portion of the guards, wanted to go in and kill, walk out and be done. But the FL had given other orders. They were only to watch, not touch. Something about too much attention swirling around them right now.
That entire statement had struck Seth as BS. They were Shadow Shifters; they moved in the shadows in this city just as they did in the Gungi. Nobody knew of their existence, and nobody ever would. He hated that the FL was tying his hands. Hands that at this very moment itched to shift, his cat all but begging to be let loose to run.
He also missed Caprise. She’d only been gone for two days and he felt like he hadn’t seen her in an eternity. That was crazy since she was the commanding officer’s sister and as cordial as a Rogue on coke. But she was fine as hell, an older woman that Seth had fallen for the moment he’d laid eyes on her. His hope was to guard her body so well she’d one day want to share it and the rest of her life with him. Others would call him a fool for thinking along those lines; that’s why he’d kept those thoughts to himself. However, secrecy didn’t make them less relevant.
She was across the country with X, another badass commanding officer whom Seth didn’t want to cross in any way. That’s why he’d taken Caprise to meet him when she asked. His two goals in life were to move up the ranks in the newly formed Stateside Assembly and to one day become an FL of his own Zone. That goal could be fast-tracked if he and Caprise mated. Or vice versa, he thought with a smug smile as he walked to his jeep.
He was about two steps away when he heard the chuffing sound. Stopping instantly, Seth tuned in to all his senses. There was a cat in this alley with him, a big, strong-ass cat with blood on its mind.
“Its showtime, baby,” Seth mumbled with excitement. He’d just grabbed the hem of his shirt, about to rip it over his head so he could shift, when he was knocked down.
His body and face hit the ground with a painful thump. Defenses kicking in, he rolled over instantly to face his assailant but was in no way prepared for what he would see.
&
nbsp; This cat was huge, easily weighing more than 250 pounds and probably longer than seven feet, even though he couldn’t see beyond the big-ass head full of white fur and crystalline blue eyes glaring down at him. No, the teeth definitely took precedence: All of them were more than two inches long, dripping with spittle down onto him.
Seth’s cat reacted instantly, his own teeth elongating, claws emerging from his fingers, body ruffling with fur … then the first bite came to his left shoulder. He yelled as pain rippled through his body. The next bite was to his side, and Seth’s cat struggled at the halfway point with his human screaming and writhing in pain. Whatever happened after that was a total loss since the world Seth had once known, the dream of becoming FL and mating Caprise Delgado, faded into an abyss of darkness.
Chapter 16
Sedona
“You can slow down now,” X said from about three feet behind Caprise.
She was perfectly naked as they moved through the canyons, which made him thankful for the night. Before he’d followed her, Bas had shifted, handing him some extra sweats one of his guards had been carrying. So at least his bottom was covered. He held the top for Caprise, if she’d stop to accept it.
She’d been on the move since leaving the group about twenty minutes ago, and he’d been right behind her. For the first ten minutes he’d decided she needed to come down from the adrenaline rush of shifting. If Caprise didn’t want to be lumped in with their shifter community it stood to reason she hadn’t taken her shifter form in a while—and most likely she’d never been involved in a battle with another shifter. Yet tonight, she’d done both. Her emotions were liable to be all over the place right now. And even though he was the last person to be on emotion-control duty, X was determined to be the one to see her through this.
The innately sexual look in Bas’s eyes as he’d seen her cat in action said the FL was definitely interested in what he saw. A female was fair game until she was mated, and while X and Caprise had enjoyed each other sexually, neither one of them was even considering the mating part. Hell, X didn’t even know all the details to shifter mating and all that ceremonial BS Rome and Nick had gone through. And he wasn’t rushing to sign up for any type of Shadow Shifter mating class to learn.
At the same time, he didn’t want Bas even entertaining thoughts of touching Caprise. Bas was a womanizer, there was no kind way to put that, and it wasn’t all just reputation as Rome had endured. It was the cold honest truth. If ever there was a shifter who abhorred even the thought of being tied to one woman for any length of time, it would be Sebastian Perry. Just one more concrete reason why Bas’s ogling of Caprise needed to be checked—immediately.
She kept walking right into the dark canyon. A breeze blew by and for the first time, X realized she could actually be chilly. So instead of speaking again he closed the distance quickly, pulling her arm so she’d have no choice but to stop walking and turning her to face him. With his other hand he thrust the shirt at her, an air of déjà vu surfacing. “Put it on,” he said forcefully.
Of course since it was Caprise he was speaking to she rolled her eyes before yanking the shirt from his grasp. Another man might have had the decency to turn away while she dressed. But X had never claimed to be like any other man. He watched, with great interest, as her arms stretched upward to slip the impossibly large sweatshirt over her breasts.
“Better now?” he asked when he was certain he could speak without his voice cracking like some punk-ass little boy.
Why the sight of her naked never ceased to arouse him, X had no clue. He’d seen this body a couple of times already. He’d touched her, fucked her, he should be so over it. And yet here he was, standing in the middle of some damn healing canyon after they’d killed three shifters, with a hard-on that was quickly growing painful.
“You’re an ass!” was her heated retort.
X chuckled because for one scary-ass moment he thought she might actually cry. Her bottom lip had quivered when she turned back to face him and her forehead looked a little furrowed. And she was a female—whom he’d discovered were prone to emotional fits after battle. But he should have known better.
She was in his face in about two seconds, her bony finger poking—with a little discomfort—into his bare chest.
“You do not fight for me! I can handle my own. And I had that cat. I would have taken him down without your help,” she yelled.
After she’d finished and gulped in air for a breath, X grabbed the wrist of the offending finger and pulled. For good measure he grabbed her other wrist and looked her right in the eye.
“I interrupted because I didn’t want him to roll over and kill you,” he told her.
“I had him!”
X nodded in agreement. “You did.” She’d also had a good portion of his self-control as he’d watched both cats tumble over that butte falling about ten feet to the ground. “But I’m not used to watching females take a fall like that. And I’m definitely not used to seeing you in that position.”
“I can fight in any form,” she told him, yanking at her arms for him to let go. “I can take care of myself, whether it’s from a cat or a … I … I mean…” Her voice trailed off.
Then she did look away, her head down, wrists still trapped by his.
“I know you’re a fighter, Caprise. But that’s not what this is about, is it?”
“No,” she said, her head snapping back around at him. “It’s about you not trusting me enough to handle myself.” She huffed.
Okay, X could accept that. Nothing would stop him from taking down a kill. That’s how jaguars operated. And despite her earlier denial, Caprise was a jaguar. And if he wasn’t mistaken—which he really didn’t believe he was this time—Caprise was about to have some type of breakdown. X still prayed for no appearances by tears, but pulled her close to his chest, kissing the top of her head.
“You did good out there. Even though I told you to stay behind me.”
“I don’t have to stand behind you or any man.”
X waited a long moment, giving her a minute to catch her breath, to clear her mind, which he knew was whirling right about now.
“You want to tell me about the man you did stand behind? The one who hurt you so bad you’re throwing stones at me every chance you get.”
She remained still. X admitted to himself that he could have been wrong. This could have been about something totally different. But no, he wasn’t. From what he did know about females there were only two things that could get them this worked up—family and/or a man. And since Nick was the doting older brother who had been trying his damndest not to even yell at Caprise, X was betting on the latter.
“Why should I tell you anything?” she asked quietly.
“You don’t have to,” he told her even though right at this very moment he wanted her to tell him more than anything else in this world. “But it might help.” Again, hypocrisy almost choked him. But X had good reasons for keeping his trap shut about his past—good goddamn reasons.
“And Caprise, I have to be straight with you about this. I’m going to find out sooner or later. You could save us both some time by just telling me who the guy was that was stupid enough to fuck with you.”
Her head shot up at his words. “And what are you going to do? Go shoot him with your big gun? Or show him your teeth and scare him until he pees in his pants?”
She had a sarcastic tone, most of the time. Now was no different, but it kind of made X want to laugh. Was this how she pictured him? The man that handled things with violence. If so, she wasn’t exactly wrong. His plan was to find the bastard and snap his neck—okay, no, he wasn’t going to snap the guy’s neck, but he was going to make sure he’d never mess with Caprise again.
“I’m going to handle the situation, that’s all you need to know.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, all you need to know is there was a man and now there isn’t. It’s been over for a really long time.”
“But judging from hi
s texts to you, he’s not on board with that decision.”
“That’s not him,” she said, and the scent of her lie almost suffocated X.
That alone made him just a little edgier, if that were possible. “Then who is it?”
She shrugged. “Wrong number.”
“Wrong answer, Caprise,” was his response.
* * *
“So what did Hernandez have to say after your overnight ultimatum wore off?” Bas asked several hours later when they were in his office.
X and Caprise still hadn’t said more than two words to each other. But he had received an email from his office with the information on the phone number trace he’d done before leaving DC. The results weren’t good, but at least they gave X a place to start looking for Caprise’s stalker. Unfortunately, it would circle him right back to Athena’s.
“He wrote down some dates—I guess for when meetings occurred—and some amounts that he knew were exchanged. I’m going to take all the info back to DC and work on it from there.” That wasn’t all that Hernandez had told him, but it was all he planned to tell Bas for now.
“Intel from Comastaz came in just before you arrived,” Bas said.
He sat back on the chocolate-brown couch that was across the room from his desk. After the early morning they’d all had, coming back to the room to get some food and some rest had been first and foremost. And instead of the cat X had seen a while ago, he was definitely looking at the man now. He wore cream-colored linen pants and a matching shirt; his shoes were some type of loafer, something X would never try to squeeze his feet into. But on Bas it looked right, as if these things were made for this man. Whatever, X shook his head and took a seat in a chair across from him.
“What’s going on there? You thought it might be a leak or something,” he said, recalling their conversation from a few weeks ago about the government-owned lab in Sedona.
“It’s not good. We were able to get a shifter inside, sent him in as a rep from a waste management company. He found some interesting emails on one of the computers.”