by Abigail Owen
She’d only given him half of the answer. Only Jaxon could know about her father’s plans to try to oust the current leaders. Finally she expanded further on her own history.
“I am my father’s only offspring. My mother, his wife, was killed by a pack of wolf shifters when I was ten.” Andie swallowed, the memories of that encounter as fresh as the day it had happened. After that, wolf shifters were the only thing that really scared her. Them, and Kyle Carstairs.
“He never mated again, even casually. My father wanted a boy, and he raised me like one. I was taught to fight in both my forms from the time I could walk. When I showed aptitude for it at a young age, he was so proud, and my training focused solely on those skills. As I got older, he added strategy, defensive tactics, systems, and so forth. The fighting came naturally, but I worked my ass off to learn the rest. If my father were to die, I should’ve taken his place as Beta. Not that Carstairs would ever accept a woman. He barely tolerates me in the role I have as it is.”
If A.J. was surprised, he didn’t show it. A female Beta was almost unheard of, but it did make sense. The Beta of the pack was typically the military leader, which explained her extensive knowledge and the fighting skills she’d demonstrated so far. Not to mention her stealth in entering his compound unnoticed.
“Kyle Carstairs tried to force you to mate with him, didn’t he?” he asked.
Andie clenched her jaw, anger sparking in her eyes. “Not just mate him… marry him. He came away a lot worse than I did,” she said in a low voice. “I fought him off, but I still had to leave. I couldn’t let Kyle Carstairs force my father or the dare into an untenable position. And no way in hell would I ever mate that rat or marry him.”
“From everything I’ve heard, there are a lot of strong fighters in the Carstairs Dare. Couldn’t you go to any of them for protection?”
Andie shook her head. “It’s not as it seems to be here. Their Protectors and Commanders back them up in the fear and pain bit. Remember that cougars don’t naturally interact in groups. In our dare, at least, that’s resulted in a completely dysfunctional society. You stick with the program or you die. You try to go to another dare, you die. You question, you die. And it’s hard to know exactly who is with Walter and Kyle, and who is just living scared. Going rogue is an option that a few have taken. But the wolf shifters and other pack-related shifters out there… at least a dare offers safety from them.”
A.J. nodded his understanding. Thirty years ago, the cougar shifter population had been in danger of being completely wiped out. Other shifters who moved in packs, like wolves, African lions, and even coyotes, had slowly been picking off the shifters who were loners, like cougars and tigers. The threat they posed was why cougar shifters had gone against their nature and formed the Shadowcat Nation in the first place.
A.J. leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “You’re going to ask Keller to marry you, aren’t you?”
A rare blush flamed up her cheeks. But she held his gaze and nodded. “They’ll figure out where I am eventually and—”
“Enact the Lyons Treaty forcing us to extradite you back to your own dare or risk full on war,” he finished for her.
She nodded. “I know I’ve put your dare in an ugly spot, and I am sorry for that. Truly. But I couldn’t think of any other way. And I’m a Strategist.”
After a long silence he said, “You wouldn’t have to marry the Alpha. Mating anyone in this dare would make you a full member with no extradition rights.”
Andie’s training kicked in as she caught a tone in his voice. Something wasn’t adding up here. A.J. was keeping something from her, and it had to do with Jaxon Keller. She forced a mischievous look, trying to play along. “Why? Is Jaxon Keller hideously mangled or something?”
The corner of A.J.’s mouth tugged up in a small smile. “I guess you wouldn’t know what he looks like, would you?”
Andie shrugged. “Not really. Only the Alpha and the Alpha’s Council are allowed to know the other dares like that, who their leaders are, and sometimes their Specialists.”
“Cougars are naturally secretive,” he murmured.
“Exactly. By descriptions I’ve heard, I’d say he looks a lot like you.”
A.J. cleared his throat. “I’m much better looking.” He winked.
She rolled her eyes, tired of being played. “Or you are Jaxon Keller.” She tipped her head and waited for his reaction.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”
Mental note, don’t play poker with A.J. Damn. That told me absolutely nothing.
He wasn’t going to give her a straight answer tonight, so she’d drop it for now. But that didn’t mean that she was no longer suspicious. Just that she was patient.
“I can offer Jaxon Keller an alliance with my dare through our mating if the Carstairs are ever unseated.” Come on, Dad, she silently tacked on. “If he still decides he doesn’t want me, and some other member of the dare steps up, I will accept that.”
“You’d tie yourself permanently to a man you neither know nor love? And a cougar shifter at that. We don’t take mating with marriage lightly here. Our animal natures are far too solitary.”
Andie leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “I know. But my only other option would be to go rogue.” She did have other contacts she could try. But why put even more people in Walter Carstairs’s sights?
“I can last against the pack shifters out there for quite a while, I think,” she shivered at the thought. “But not forever. And they wouldn’t be my only problem. You don’t know Kyle. He’s maniacally obsessive. He won’t let this go. He’s given up on Hannah only because she and Nick are Fated Mates, which puts her completely off limits. Not to mention she’s under her brother’s protection. That, and his attempt last year was too public. I gather he got slapped on the hand by other Alphas of the Nation for that stunt.”
“You knew about that, huh? Well, I have a pretty good idea how sick he is. I was there when we had to helicopter Hannah and Nick out. I saw the cats he sent after her.” Andie winced as his features hardened and a cold look settled over him.
Suddenly A.J. leaned forward and took her hands in his. “I’m not sure how we’ll solve this yet. But I do promise that I will help you.”
Andie was taken aback by the sincerity in his voice and the intensity in his eyes, but even more so by the urge she had to snuggle right into him and feel his strong arms wrapped around her. She knew she’d feel safe there. And she hadn’t felt safe in a long, long time. Maybe not ever. Not really.
“You don’t even know me. Why would you help me?” she whispered.
“I believe you.”
Andie opened her mouth to speak but stopped when he held up a hand. “How about for now we go on the assumption that we’re working together in this, hmmm? We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”
Andie couldn’t explain why, but it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders and placed squarely on A.J.’s. She let out a deep breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding and nodded her head.
A.J. grinned. “That doesn’t mean your tests are over though.”
Andie smiled back. “As I said earlier today, bring it on.”
Chapter 7
Jaxon waited just outside the main entrance to the compound. A wide set of stairs led down to the grass, and soft light spilled out of the glass doors behind him. Despite the fact that it was a moonless night, his keen eyes took in the surrounding grounds. His father had started this place when he’d been the first Alpha of the dare. Then he’d been killed in a hunting accident, and Jaxon had stepped up and continued to build. What he saw now was a beautiful and safe haven for the people under his care.
“You wanted to see us, boss?” William asked, as his Protectors and Commanders ambled outside to meet him. William was his strongest Protector. A rugged, rough-looking man with a jaw so square it looked as though it was made from granite. The man’s character was about the same.
Jaxon turned to face them. “Before I get to the reason I asked you to meet me out here, I want to hear your initial impressions of Andromeda Reynolds.”
Dylan, Pete, Charlie, and William all glanced at each other. Jaxon waited them out patiently, his expression neutral.
“She’s smart. She really knows her stuff,” Pete started. While a Commander, Pete was still well built. The scars on his face had been earned in battle with other cats. When it came to the military training of Jaxon’s forces, Pete was in charge.
He continued, “And she’s well trained. There’s no way she could’ve spouted off half of that stuff without knowing what she was talking about. She was well versed in their treaties, politics, leaders, training, weaponry… you name it.”
He looked at Charlie, his other Commander, who was their tactical expert. Charlie was relatively young, only twenty-one, and his playboy looks often meant that he wasn’t taken seriously. But Jaxon knew better. Charlie added, “She’s given us just enough to earn some level of trust. I did some digging today, and everything she said so far checks out.”
“What about you, Dylan?” Jaxon asked.
The tall, Viking-like Protector, one of the strongest cougars Jaxon had ever seen, rubbed his chin. “Well, a lot depends on what she told you today. We wouldn’t ask you to betray her confidence, but were her reasons for leaving her dare and asking for asylum here valid?”
Rage flowed through Jaxon at the thought of Andie being forced to marry Kyle Carstairs. He’d kept his opinions under wraps in her presence, and then he’d gone downstairs to the gym and pummeled a punching bag for a solid hour. Some of what he was feeling must’ve shown on his face, because his men shifted restlessly.
“They’re valid,” Jaxon muttered. “And I promised to help her.”
“If you believe her so much, then why aren’t you telling her who you really are?” William asked.
“It’s a reason that I can’t share,” Jaxon said. The Seer had been very clear about that one point. Andie couldn’t know he was the Alpha right away, even if she suspected. The Seer had been vague about when the right time to tell Andie would come, only saying that he would know. Jaxon hated playing such stupid games. But every single thing the Seer had told Nick had resulted in his being happily married to Hannah. Jaxon would listen to her warnings. “Andie’s got her guesses, but she’s not sure. I need you guys to help keep her off the scent for a while.”
All four men in front of him nodded, their confidence in him absolute.
“At least tell us if she was forced out, given the injuries you said she arrived with,” Charlie said. “Or is there a deeper reason, and she’s escaping?”
Jaxon pressed his mouth into a tight line. “The latter.”
“Which means that Carstairs will be looking for her,” Dylan pointed out.
“Given her skill sets, I’m guessing she did a decent job of hiding her tracks, but Carstairs is going to find her eventually,” Pete added. “You know he’ll demand to extradite. The Lyons Treaty gives him that right.”
“Well, we’ll just have to do something about that, won’t we?” Jaxon replied calmly
“You thinking of mating her to one of the dare?” Dylan asked.
Charlie raised his hand and grinned. “I volunteer!” He didn’t notice the scowl on Jaxon’s face as Pete elbowed him in the ribs. “What? You can’t deny she’s smoking hot.”
“Stop talking, dummy,” Pete muttered.
Charlie finally got a look at Jaxon and blanched. He held up his hands. “Sorry, boss. I didn’t realize—”
Jaxon reigned in his cougar with difficulty. He knew his eyes were glowing golden as he struggled to keep from shifting, but he managed to put his usual neutral expression back on. “Let’s just all assume for now that Andie is under my… protection.”
“Have you seen her fight yet?” Dylan asked. Dylan was his peacemaker, so Jaxon knew the change of subject was deliberate.
Jaxon grinned and rubbed a hand around the back of his neck. “A little. Don’t underestimate her is all I’ll say.”
“Put you on your ass, didn’t she? Impressive,” William guessed.
“Ha. I’d like to have seen that.” Pete chuckled.
Jaxon raised a single eyebrow.
William grinned. “Wait… you let her. To feel her out? Or to hide your identity as Alpha?”
Jaxon shrugged. “Both. I’ll be having you guys help me test her out tomorrow morning. I’m satisfied with her physical levels, but I want to see what she can really do in a fight… which brings me to another matter, and the reason I asked you to meet me here. As beat up as she was, she still managed to get by our entire defense system last night. The only reason I caught her is because I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
He left out the fact that some kind of hidden instinct had led him to the room at that time. He’d watched as a shadow had stealthily made its way over the wall, past his guards, up the tree, and eventually through the window. He hadn’t known until she stood that the intruder was a woman, and that she wasn’t in her animal form. Only the best shifters could use their mountain lion skills while still human. That alone had him intrigued.
Then he’d gotten a good look at her in the light of the hallway. She was a pocket Venus – tiny but with curves. Attraction had slammed into him. Hard. He’d had an instant image of her incredible long, dark hair spread out over his chest in silken streams as she slept. His distraction had given her the opening to sling him to the ground, but seeing his opportunity to further disguise his identity, he’d gone along with it, not trying to win the skirmish.
To his men, he pointed out how exactly she’d come in. “Now, how is that possible?”
They looked at each other and then back at him. “We can certainly take a closer look at our setup,” William said. “Likely we’re good for larger-scale attacks, but perhaps we have some holes when defending against a single invader. But I suspect the best way to shore up our defenses is to ask Andie how she did it.”
Jaxon nodded in tense agreement. He’s already decided on that course of action, but he’d wanted his men to come to the same conclusion on their own. They took pride in their work, but more than that, as cougar shifters, they were easily provoked. They were more likely to take advice from Andie if they asked for it first.
“We’ll have her walk us through it tomorrow night. And the following night, I want her tested on patrol,” he decided.
“That’s a pretty ruthless schedule. She’ll be exhausted,” Dylan commented.
Thinking back to her tireless run this morning, Jaxon smiled. “I suspect she can handle it.”
“I hope we can,” Charlie joked.
Jaxon ignored him. He had every confidence that his men could deal with anything he threw at them and more.
“For tonight I want the guards doubled. Keep the current shift on the same schedule, but put the new shift on a randomized schedule,” he ordered.
“You got it, boss,” Dylan said.
As they walked back into the compound, Pete turned to him. “What do Nick and Hannah think about this?”
Jaxon shrugged. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Nick yet. He’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Andie is staying in Hannah’s room for now.”
Pete’s eyebrows shot up. “Hannah agreed to keep your true identity a secret?”
“She’s not thrilled about it. But her words were, and I quote, I’m keeping confidences on both sides.”
Pete stopped walking. “Somebody’s going to slip up eventually. And I don’t get the impression that Andie is the type of girl to take a deception like that well. Better it come from you than someone else. Especially if you intend to marry her.”
Jaxon clapped a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “This is a necessary lie. But I know you’re right. I don’t intend for it to go on for too long.”
Jaxon looked across the group of his closest friends. “5 a.m. tomorrow morning at the sparring mats outside. Come
ready to really test her out.”
None of his men complained. They simply nodded and then walked off down the corridor. For a moment, Jaxon debated checking up on Andie. He had her confined to quarters in Hannah’s room. They needed to keep her presence under wraps. The fewer people who knew of her existence here, the less likely word would leak back to Carstairs.
Instead of giving in to his urge to see her, he headed back to his office. He had a lot of work he’d neglected today while dealing with Andie, and that pile would only get higher over the next couple of days. Although he suspected that thoughts of a feisty little brown-eyed witch were going to keep him from being as productive as he would like.
Chapter 8
Andie grinned, despite her split lip, and lightly bounced on the balls of her feet as she tried to gauge where William was going to strike next.
She hadn’t been surprised when A.J. had shown up at Hannah’s door at the crack of dawn again and led her out to the sparring mats where the men she’d met the day before had stood waiting. She’d barely kept from rubbing her hands together in anticipation. It’d been a long time since she’d sparred with new people who didn’t already know her moves well. But instead of showing her glee, she tried to look serious… even slightly nervous. No reason to let them know how much she loved this.
Andie had trained to fight in both her forms all of her life. Not only that, but she was good at it. She’d learned to use her small but agile body to her advantage. She was fast and could bend in ways most men couldn’t. She never went for the power strike, choosing instead to knock her opponents off balance and then come down on them hard using gravity to put some heft behind her hits. Or bind them up in such a way that when they went down, they couldn’t get back up.