“Anyone not in agreement with Colony prospering will die.” Robert looked from Raul to her, and then at Ran and Rafe. He glanced up and down the street and spotted others hedging closer, sniffing out the trouble and deciding if they should interfere. He raised his voice, speaking louder. “No more will jaguars slink through the mountains. Never again will we run from our homes because humans have made the land uninhabitable. As of tonight, we go on the map as the most powerful predator on the planet. From this point forward, every species alive will be at our bidding.”
Rafe and Ran growled, positioning themselves to leap. But Angela moved faster. She darted around them, fearing tonight was the night of reckoning. There wouldn’t be any talking out this situation. One side would win and the other would die.
“By selling ourselves to humans and doing their dirty work?” she yelled. “We aren’t making ourselves the best species on the planet. We’re turning ourselves into slaves, killers who will wipe out scum humans decide shouldn’t walk this planet. Do you really want us to be at the mercy of humans?”
She glared at Robert, and even though she saw Devon’s huge, dark frame lunge at her from the side, the cries from other jaguars on the street, yelling their support and confusion, distracted her a moment longer than she had. She ached to hear who defended her, to know once and for all where each litter stood. Devon plowed into her, forcing the air out of her lungs and hitting her with a stinging impact that sent her flying sideways.
She didn’t hit the ground though. He scooped her into the air, sending her legs flying out underneath her like a rag doll. Angela landed on his shoulder, her stomach immediately churning from the stench of his emotions and body sweat.
She twisted, kicked, pounded and scratched. Devon didn’t react. He took flight, starting to run down the street with her flapping like a rag doll on top of him. It was as if he won a round and raced through the streets, showing off his prize.
“Put me down!” She was no fucking trophy, especially not for this asshole.
He grunted, or possibly laughed, but simply tightened his grip when she twisted. If she changed, he would too. And she wouldn’t be able to overpower Devon in her fur, not when he was already holding her. He would kill her instantly.
And death wasn’t on her itinerary for tonight.
Glancing up, she stared at the street behind her, and at Raul, Rafe and Ran who quickly gained distance as they chased after them. There were others too. Litters were everywhere, running toward them or watching, but everywhere. They were right earlier when they said Colony wouldn’t be the same after tonight. But she thought it was her littermate’s actions that would destroy everything, not hers.
Raul gained speed and the determination and anger lining his dark features were terrifying. Her blood sizzled in her veins, igniting fire that rushed down her spine and made it damn hard not to transform into her fur. So much aggression and fury were too much for her human body to handle.
“You aren’t going to ruin our chances,” Devon howled, his growl fierce as he cut off the road and raced between two homes on the outer edge of Colony.
“I haven’t ruined your chances,” she screamed, turning to try to pound his head, do anything to make him drop her. “But I won’t be part of your insane plan to turn us into killers for hire.”
More than just Raul and his littermates chased them, and she wasn’t sure they were all running to help her. It would be a bloodbath. They wouldn’t have to worry about humans. They would destroy themselves.
“There will be no opposition to our plan. This isn’t a fucking democracy,” Devon growled, pinching his nasty fingers painfully into her skin as he continued running.
Her hair flew over her eyes. She twisted again in spite of Devon practically squeezing the life out of her with his powerful biceps. When she looked up through watery vision, fighting to see through strands of hair that hindered her vision, not even the darkness blocked her view of Raul’s hardened look. He was so close she could reach out and touch him.
And she tried. Devon actually managed to run faster when they hit the incline. And if he gripped her any harder, he would break ribs.
Where the hell were they going? Into the mountains? If so, possibly she could escape in her fur. Racing over the rocks and losing him would be a hell of a lot easier than outrunning him on flat ground in the valley.
Others obviously thought the same thing. In spite of the dark, and her hair falling over her face, she spotted several drop to all fours behind her and leap onto the rocks as their torn clothing fell to the ground around them. There was no way of knowing if they were trying to help rescue her or assist Devon, knowing she would be more agile on the rocks since she was smaller and lighter than he was.
There wasn’t any way to free her hands and move her hair from her face. She tried until she was sure she would break her own bones if she continued. But staring into Raul’s determined expression as he raced behind them, confusion warred with fear inside her. Raul was honor-bound. If anyone risked being killed, he would fight to save them. No matter who they were. As much as she wanted to believe he raced to protect her because he cared for her, doubt still plagued her.
Devon leapt onto a rock, and she lost sight of Raul. “No,” she screamed, and then felt air leave her lungs when he jumped again and her middle crushed down against his shoulder. “Raul,” she cried, although she doubted anyone heard her.
A large black shadow leapt over the top of them. Angela barely noticed it before it flew out of her line of vision. She twisted furiously, enduring the piercing pain that ransacked her body from the urge to change and the restriction of Devon’s arm crushing her midsection. Breathing was almost impossible.
Devon came to a quick stop, almost throwing her forward. At the same time Raul slammed into Devon’s backside. Angela felt the pain of the scream as it wrenched from her throat. Hands were on her, yanking her from Devon’s arms.
Devon stumbled forward, cursing loudly. At the same time, a jaguar screamed its outrage. Angela could barely turn around as she was sprung free from her human prison.
“Don’t change until I tell you to,” Raul ordered into her ear.
She wasn’t able to meet his gaze. He shoved her into Ran’s arms and pushed past her, pouncing on Devon so quickly the large man fell hard into the jaguar in front of him. Skin and fur tangled as rumbling growls and human screams filled the air.
They were barely up the mountain, with no clear path, just rocks jutting out of the earth everywhere. The ground wasn’t even, and on two legs, keeping balance was distracting if not damn near impossible, especially when her legs quivered worse than a newborn cub’s.
Angela lunged forward, forgetting about Ran until he pulled her back against him. “Stay put,” he whispered in her ear, although his hold on her wasn’t half as punishing as Devon’s had been. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”
She shoved her hair out of her face and gulped in the frigid night air. It was the first time it dawned on her how cold it was outside. Even with Ran’s warm body pressed against her backside, it was suddenly so cold that she shivered uncontrollably.
Ran wrapped both his arms around her. “Don’t worry. Raul will be triumphant. He always is when he fights for something that matters to him. And you matter a lot to him.”
She shifted, glancing over her shoulder and up at his strong profile. “Trust me,” he said, not looking down at her.
She turned her head back to the fight, which grew with intensity by the minute. Did Ran know what he was talking about? She couldn’t picture Raul discussing her with his littermates, but they were close. Not anything like her and Natasha.
Ran rubbed her arms, and she worried he sensed her unstable emotions. There was nothing worse than someone viewing her as anything but strong.
But emotions poured into the air, angry and violent. It was hard to say whose emotions were the strongest. Everyone was tense, ready to drop to all fours if needed. Some already had. And the fight in
front of her was a mess of black fur and furious howls.
Devon changed, his clothes ripping off his body when he turned into a large black jaguar. Raul didn’t hesitate but ripped his shirt off and quickly unzipped his jeans.
Angela struggled against Ran. “Let me get his clothes,” she cried, twisting in his arms until he let her go.
The second she grabbed them, Ran lifted her backward, once again tucking her in closely against him.
Rafe shifted from foot to foot. “If that motherfucker drops one bit of blood from my litter, I’ll rip his throat out.”
Jaguars didn’t fight in packs. They were lone killers, and one of the deadliest beasts on the planet. Her kind could shatter a skull with their jaw, clamping down and ending a life with one powerful bite. In spite of feeling confident Raul would triumph over the larger jaguar, who was older and stockier, there were many surrounding them.
Would they jump in and attack once Devon fell?
Raul moved quickly and effectively, leaping on Devon and screaming his warning seconds before his long, deadly teeth flashed in the darkness. What moonlight there was flashed against the white incisors moments before they sank into flesh. Their black fur and the dark shadows made it impossible to see who hit the ground first. But the crash of bodies against the rocks shook the side of the mountain.
Raul raised his head. Devon lay still on the ground. The metallic smell of blood filled the air. Raul’s green eyes scanned everyone surrounding them, and the moment of silence didn’t last long enough. Someone leapt to the ground from a perch above them and sent Raul rolling down the rocks.
“No!” Angela screamed, freeing herself from Ran and running into Rafe’s backside.
“We follow his orders,” Rafe hissed, grabbing Angela before she could scurry past him and jump in to help Raul. “Let’s go, now!”
Angela didn’t understand. And Ran turned, meeting his brother’s gaze with a worried look that turned Angela’s stomach upside-down.
“What orders?” she asked, her mouth suddenly so dry the words barely squeaked out. “He didn’t give me any orders.”
“He’ll follow us.” Ran almost made it sound more like a question.
“You know he will.” Rafe sounded confident and already dragged Angela away from the others and deep into the shadows where larger rocks made the ground even more uneven.
“What are you talking about?” She struggled to free herself. “He might need our help.”
“No one in Colony can outfight Raul.” Rafe’s confidence increased, and at the same time, he dragged her around a corner of rocks and heaved both of them up to another ledge.
But all of Colony fighting against him, if that were to happen…
She didn’t want to think about it. And she didn’t get why Rafe continued to pull her away from the others.
“What are you doing?” She turned, pushing against his chest until she was free. “You wouldn’t fight to save your own littermate?”
But the moment she turned, Ran grabbed her arms and pulled her into a tight embrace. When she struggled, he clasped his hand over her mouth.
“Don’t bite, little cat,” he whispered, continuing to move with Rafe.
Were they both insane? Their litter didn’t strike her as one who would turn on their own. And Raul needed them. She let her teeth grow and tried biting his hand. Ran grabbed her hair and held her tighter, giving her a firm shake.
“Raul told both of us that if Colony turned on our litter, we were to take you and run to the next mountain south of us. There aren’t any humans there. We wait for him there. He’ll join us soon.”
His words didn’t sink in, and they made no sense. Why would they run to the next mountain? And who said Colony turned against them?
“He never said anything about this to me.” She continued struggling, baffled by their behavior. She doubted she was heard with her mouth covered and when she tried biting, they moved out of her way but kept a firm grip.
No matter how hard she struggled, Ran and Rafe kept her with them and moved faster than she thought they would be able to with her protesting until they were at the top of the mountain. Angela could only watch, speechless, when Ran slowed, leapt up on some large rocks and disappeared only to appear a moment later with a large, very-well-stuffed backpack. Rafe stood next to Angela, the two of them watching as Ran adjusted the straps on his shoulders and situated the stuffed backpack in the middle of his back. Rafe stepped forward, helping until they had the pack secure. Without even a growl, they turned to continue their journey, as if this short respite to grab what she could only guess were supplies had been a well-planned-out part of their run. They didn’t slow as they descended down the other side. As the darkness increased and the silence around them grew, Angela kept looking over her shoulder. But she didn’t see anyone. No one followed them from Colony. And Raul wasn’t anywhere in sight. There were only the smells of the three of them.
“Don’t worry. He will find you.” Ran brushed her hair from her face and loosened his grip on her.
“I don’t get you two.” They were too far from Colony by now. If she ran from them, in her flesh or fur, they would catch her. “When did Raul make this plan you keep mentioning?”
“This morning, before he went to get you,” Rafe said without looking at her.
“He predicted all of this would happen this morning?” And obviously he was that confident she would go with his litter.
“It was clear terrible things were about to happen with Colony.” This time Rafe did look at her. “We would have left sooner, but he was determined to get you.”
She was silent for a moment. “He’s talked to you two about me?” she finally found the nerve to ask.
Rafe simply snorted.
“Angela, Raul’s loved you for years.” Ran’s words sliced straight to her heart.
If he died because of these two, she would see to their deaths herself.
Chapter Five
They leapt at him from every direction. Worse than cubs who were eager to pounce and fight, these were adults with claws fully extended and teeth bared for the kill. Raul threw one after the other to the side, flinging them like limp meat. He struck, sank his teeth deep into warm flesh and released. One after another.
And it was wrong. So damn fucking wrong. Half of Colony would die tonight. And for what? Greed? Craving something that would never happen? Or was it simply the blood lust running rampant, the urge to kill lodged deep inside them surfacing, burning with fever and making them all crazed?
There was only one way to stop it.
In the madness, he didn’t know where Angela was. His littermates would obey him though. They were honor-bound, just like him, and understood when he laid down the law. Rafe and Ran would protect Angela, and he would join them soon.
Leaping in the air to meet his latest challenger, Raul grabbed the male by his neck, making the puncture quick and merciful. The male’s artery gave way against his teeth. Blood poured over Raul’s tongue, clinging to his fur and filling the air with its fresh, pungent, metallic smell.
Raul threw the body and it landed against several other members of Colony. Everyone was in their fur, and the growls and heavy paws prancing over rock were louder than a fucking avalanche.
He lunged and stopped in front of several of them. Is human money worth dying for? he growled.
Raul stared into their cold and disillusioned eyes. Raising his head, he dared the next one to approach but wouldn’t attack. It was time to wash the blood from his paws and his coat.
It’s not my place to tell you what to do. Live with your dishonor, but it won’t be mine. He curled his lip, staring into cold glares of those he once called friends.
Raul and his litter would have nothing to do with killing humans, earning their money by shedding blood. This wasn’t the way of the jaguar, never had been. No matter the century or how modern times were, Raul would live by the same means his sire and sire before him lived. Off the land. The strongest
surviving.
He growled again, shifting his gaze from one to another. These were males and females he’d grown up with, hunted with, laughed with. But it was time to leave them and their demise. When no one else approached him, Raul turned slowly and began climbing the mountain.
It didn’t surprise him no one followed.
There were injuries. Raul worked his way up the mountain, knowing his littermates and Angela would be a good distance ahead of him. Anxious to catch up, he put some muscle into his efforts. Before he reached the top of the mountain, pain lanced down his right shoulder and into his front leg. The black-velvet sky surrounded him when he reached a wide cliff and stared ahead of him. He took a break in his trek, sitting on the flat rock that held just the slightest of inclines.
A long incision ran from his chest down his front leg. There was another puncture wound, which had hit dangerously close to his left lung. But close didn’t matter. As it was, the wound was simply an irritation. And other than a few additional scrapes, it appeared he would live.
What hurt more than the lacerations and puncture wounds was the intense heaviness weighing down inside him when he thought about Colony. The place was no more for him and his littermates—or for Angela.
Angela.
The years he waited for her, allowing her to come into maturity, enjoy her youth. He never stopped her from sniffing around other males, or other males from sniffing around her. Not once did he interfere while she changed from the hot teenage female into a sultry young jaguar.
If greed and deceit hadn’t destroyed their home, Raul would have handled matters with Angela differently, given her time to get to know him, showered her with his kill and won her heart. As it was, he prayed with time she would love him as much as he loved her.
I did the right thing. Raul growled, silencing the birds that flew overhead, and pulled his attention away from the thick blackness in the sky. He licked his wounds, cleaning them thoroughly and feeling the weight of exhaustion swell in his muscles. No matter his sudden desire to curl up against the rocks and sleep for a few hours, he needed to get to Angela.
Black Seduction Page 5