The injured male turned his pain-laced eyes on Kade. “My alpha paid two million dollars for that kid. He’s got paperwork signed by the Council. As of yesterday, she’s ours.”
“Two million dollars,” Lena squeaked.
The lion shifter glanced over his shoulder. “Freaking bargain if you ask me. That cub is one of the last unmated white lion shifters alive. My pride leader wants to pair her with his son.”
“I don’t give a shit how much your alpha paid for her. She belongs to my pride and I am not selling her to anyone.” Kade stepped closer and leveled his hardest glare on him. “Do you understand me?”
The other male cringed. “Look, man. If I don’t come home with that kid, Jeremiah is going to kill me. She’ll eventually be the alpha’s mate and live a good life and—”
Kade muttered under his breath about stupid people then moved so fast the shifter didn’t have a chance to block the punch. The snap of bone and the male’s pathetic scream echoed in the hall. Kade grabbed him as he fell and slammed his body into the wall a few times before releasing him. He slumped in a boneless heap on the floor.
“Let’s get out of here before management calls the cops,” Kade ordered.
Devin stepped into the elevator but Lena wiggled in his arms. She stretched her arm out. “The locket.”
Kade snagged it and shoved it into his pocket.
The doors swooshed closed and he glanced at Kade. The concern on his face matched what Devin felt. The shifter Council, the group of elders from all the animal groups, acted as their government. They were supposed to be the final voice in conflicts, not make deals with any one particular family. And they sure as hell weren’t supposed to condone the sale of women or children. The human government had put an end to that horrific practice a century ago.
He pushed the unease away. Nothing good would come of the worry. They’d deal with Jeremiah and his fucked-up pride when and if it became a problem. Finding Molly came first. It’d be damn hard to protect the preschooler from threats if they didn’t have her in the first place.
The doors opened and they stepped into the basement parking level.
He scanned the floor, looking for trouble or stray humans, and settled his gaze on Lena’s car. Slashed tires now added to the scratches and dents marring the once shiny paint. He didn’t care about cars but even he felt bad over its sad condition.
“My car!”
Kade peered over his shoulder. “Sorry, little human. I couldn’t take the chance you’d run again.”
Devin clamped his hand over her mouth before she pissed off his alpha. Kade generally had endless patience for innocents. Lena, however, had yet to prove her worth. Crawling into the backseat of the ’Cuda, he trapped her struggling body with his, forcing her to lie down.
Heat radiated from her body and a few beads of sweat dotted her brow. He frowned as he studied her face but didn’t see a reason for it. Only a growing desire that matched his flared in her eyes.
“Settle down, my little wildcat.” He shifted so his erection pressed against her thigh. “Your squirming is arousing me. Makes me want to tame you.” He pressed his lips to her ear. “You don’t want to trigger those instincts while Kade is in the car. Do you?”
She stilled and stared at him with wide eyes, her pants warming his palm. She shook her head.
“That’s my girl. Feel free to test me later…when we’re alone.” His breath stirred the tendrils of her hair and her rich smell wafted to him. He licked the rim of her ear. “Okay, baby?”
She nodded. The scent of her desire mixed with her personal fragrance. Although he loved her reaction to him, he didn’t want Kade to share in her sweetness too. He waited until they merged onto the highway before easing back.
The white robe gaped over her torso. His eyes followed the path down from where the terrycloth barely covered her breasts to her stomach. She quickly covered her bare sex with her hands. While he had plenty of time to look there before she did, the horrible mark left on her smooth skin captured his attention. Blood once again ran in angry lines from the cuts and reddened flesh puffed around the gouges.
Concern tightened his throat, made his cats tense. He touched her belly near one of the cuts. She flinched and his shame choked him. “Oh, Lena, what am I going to do with you?”
“Let me go,” she suggested as she righted the robe.
He bit back his automatic refusal over losing her. Letting her go would give them the required distance they needed. It was necessary, but it wouldn’t be possible, not yet. “I can’t, little human. I promised to bring Molly home. I don’t go back on my word.”
Lena narrowed her eyes. More sweat beaded her brow. It didn’t deter from the determination that hardened her features. The female was a fighter.
He met her gaze. Alpha to alpha.
“And I promised to protect her. I don’t break my promises either.”
She wore the look of a female shifter who’d rip the throat out of anyone who’d dare harm her cubs. Damn if that didn’t impress him too.
“Why do you care?”
With bumper-to-bumper traffic turning the highway into a parking lot, Kade turned around and dangled the locket Lena had insisted they retrieve. “I think this has something to do with your little human’s motivations.”
She reached for the necklace but Devin easily snagged it first. Engraved on the antique, oval locket was the word Sisters. He ran his thumb over the etchings, the grooves worn down as if the wearer had done the same thing hundreds of times before. Trepidation at what he’d find inside tightened his throat.
He opened it and studied the pictures inside. One side held Lena’s image and that of another female with the same big brown eyes. The other half’s picture was of a smiling platinum-blonde preschooler with a purple headband and pale-blue eyes.
“Molly is your sister?”
He glanced at Lena when she didn’t respond and cursed. Goose bumps covered her arms and legs. He slipped the locket over his head and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Hotter than before. Clammy. His heart knocked against his ribs.
“She’s burning up.”
She weakly shoved at his hands. “I’m fine.”
He wiped away the drops of perspiration with trembling fingers. He couldn’t make his freaking hand stop shaking. “Get us to a hospital, Kade. She’s got an infection.”
“That’s not possible. How are we going to explain her injuries?”
Devin gently tucked her shivering body next to his. He considered slicing a vein and feeding her more of his blood but decided against it. The amount she’d taken should’ve been enough. He’d fed her more right before she woke. “I don’t give a shit. She needs more help than I can give her.”
Kade captured his gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’re not willing to…”
Devin knew what Kade suggested—lick her wounds. Whereas his blood merely enhanced her body’s ability to heal itself, his saliva had special antigens in it that would actually fight the infection he suspected was causing Lena’s fever. Doing so, however, would make her his beloved human, a treasured and respected role only the dearest of humans held. It would also guarantee he finished the mating he’d started as he wouldn’t be able to keep the distance they needed.
“No. I’m not.” Devin ignored his inner animals’ snarls. “It has to be a hospital.”
Kade gave a small shake of his head. “You know we can’t risk it.”
Devin petted her hair in an effort to offer her some comfort or maybe it was an attempt to calm his nerves. It didn’t help. Her teeth started chattering. Fear for her brought his cats to the surface. Completely yellow eyes stared back at him in the rearview mirror. “The infection is hitting her too quickly to be normal. Something’s wrong.”
Once Kade advanced a dozen or so feet along the road, he yanked on the parking break and leaned over the seat. He reached for Lena’s hand. Devin hissed.
“I’m not going to steal her from you. I want to feel
how badly she’s burning up.”
He pushed his cats back and allowed Kade to take her wrist. After a moment, Kade gently rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I’ll call Verna.”
“Will the witch be able to help her?”
“If you’re not willing to do anything else, it’s the best I can do.” Kade shrugged and turned his attention back to the road where they once again inched their way forward.
Morning rush-hour traffic left everyone aggravated but after watching over Lena all night and now this, he could barely keep his cats under control. They paced inside his soul, whining softly whenever Lena flinched.
If something happened to her, they’d never find Molly and when was he going to stop using the cub as an excuse? This female’s suffering hurt him as much as it did her. So where exactly did that leave him?
“Tell Verna to hurry,” Devin bit out.
Chapter Five
Gwen Burnett urged Molly into a jog. She wanted to get them out of sight as soon as possible. Anxiety weighed heavily on her. Lena had said not to worry but Gwen did. Nothing would stop her big sister from fulfilling a promise unless she physically couldn’t which meant Lena had been captured. And if she had, how had she been able to use her phone to text?
Unless she hadn’t.
Gwen tugged on Molly’s arm to stop her and pressed a forefinger to her lips. She glanced around the hotel parking lot, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. What if she were walking into a trap? Although she’d known about shifters ever since her stepdad had started working with Shifter Affairs, she could never tell the nonhuman members of his unit apart from the human ones. There was no telltale sign of their species difference. Clues, sure. Only, lots of guys wore that dark, mysterious cloak and lots of men were tall, built and oozed sexuality. Unless they shifted, she’d have about as much luck picking them out by playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe.
Any of the huge men prowling around could be one. Hell, she hadn’t even known Vader, the man who’d rescued Molly from the medical facility where she’d been experimented on, was a wolf shifter until her stepdad had told her.
Panic sped her pulse. Her gaze darted around and when a guy caught her eye and started walking toward them, she froze. She glanced between Molly, who stared straight ahead, and the approaching man.
Gwen dropped to her knees next to her. “Molly, can you scent other shifters?” She didn’t answer. Gwen squeezed her hand, hoping to get through to the little girl. “Honey, please, I know you’re scared but this is important. Do you smell any other shifters?”
Molly didn’t look at her but she shook her head.
Gwen nibbled her lip. What was she supposed to do? The man’s brows furrowed. He quickened his pace and Gwen trembled, uncertainty twisting her gut. Lena’s voice came back to her. You can do this, Gwennie. I’ll lead the shifters away. You get our little sister to safety. We promised we’d do anything to keep Molly safe. That means from the scientists who want her back and from those lions who want to steal her future.
Gwen blew out a rough breath. She’d have to trust Molly and herself. They’d get out of this mess.
She stood, plastered a smile on her face for the guy who stepped up to them.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded and widened her smile. “Absolutely, I was just waiting for my husband to meet us but he’s probably running late.”
His expression fell. “Oh…well, if you—”
“Thanks, got to go,” Gwen stammered.
She grabbed the small bag with the supply of chemicals that would mask Molly’s scent and turned around. Trust herself. Yeah, she would and her first decision was to modify Plan B. She hurried with her sister’s hand clasped in hers back to her car. She had a better place to hide. She only prayed Lena would call her soon. If she didn’t… Yeah, Gwen didn’t want to think about that.
* * * * *
Devin paced the hallway of the small bungalow. The scents of lemon, lavender and clove drifted to him, the comforting smells doing little to cover up the stench of pain and blood hanging in the air. Lena’s suffering pressed in on him. His chest hurt with the weight of guilt and every whimper from the little female tightened the noose around him.
She had him twisted up in knots. Less than a day had passed since their paths crossed but the woman had crawled into his mind and taken up residence there. If she didn’t survive, they’d never find Molly. If by some miracle they did, the child would want her human sister. How would he explain to the cub he’d been the one to injure her? Hell, how would he survive without the brave, if not foolish woman, the female he suspected might be his one?
He didn’t want to lose Lena.
The thought took hold. His pulse kicked up, the first signs of a breakdown surfacing. Dizziness made the floor feel as if it were undulating and the walls seemed to press in on him. Black dots danced over his vision. He stumbled toward the door and pressed his nose to the doorjamb.
Although laced with agony, the calming signature he was fast becoming addicted to seeped into his lungs. The fog cleared. Sanity returned. He dragged in a few more deep breaths then pushed away from the door.
Molly. He had to focus on Molly or he’d lose it.
They still had no clue where the child was being kept. Kade and Xander had scoured the town but couldn’t pick up her scent anywhere.
His anxiety spiked. His strides quickened. Nothing was working out as expected. This trip to Delaware was supposed to be a quick retrieval. Instead, he’d lost an innocent and nearly killed a beautiful human.
Dammit! Lena had slipped back into his thoughts. He stopped his frantic steps and stared out the window at the end of the hall. Focusing on the red and white flowers lining the driveway, he forced himself to think of something besides the crazy, gorgeous female messing with his peace of mind.
This house belonged to one of the human witches in Verna’s coven, which meant it came with a nifty spell hiding it from passersby. If someone looked straight at it, they’d see it and always remember it being here. Most of the harried travelers driving past would never notice the white clapboard home with its big front porch or the witches living inside. It made it an ideal place to bring an injured human when hospitals weren’t an option. The only problem—Verna wasn’t a doctor and Lena needed one. There was only so much their natural remedies and chants could do.
He spun at the sound of approaching footsteps, took in Kade’s straight back and the ticcing of his jaw. His apprehension rose once more. “Did you find out anything?”
Kade leaned one shoulder against the wall on the other side of Lena’s door—an attempt to look relaxed but the white-knuckled fists at his sides destroyed the pose. “Not much. I tried getting a hold of our contact at Shifter Affairs, but it went straight to voicemail so I called the main number. Once I dropped Lena’s name, the Shifter Affairs people clammed up. They told me to go back to Pennsylvania and they’d send trained task force members down to handle the situation. That this wasn’t a case for civilians and we should never have been called in the first place.”
“Since when did they start restricting us? Any time a shifter child is found, the humans alert the local pride. That’s common practice.”
Kade turned feline eyes on him, the golden orbs swirling with green and brown. “That’s what I said and they told me I could file a complaint.”
“Great,” he sighed. “So we’re on our own.”
“Looks that way.” Kade pinched his brow. “We’re also going to have to figure out what to do about Lena. If we report her injuries to Shifter Affairs—”
“No!” He panted. Silence stretched while he reined in his cats. The thought of losing Lena to anything or anyone pushed him to the limit of his control. “They’ll take her away from…us. I…” He blew out a rough breath. “We won’t be able to protect her if she isn’t with us.”
Kade stared at him for a long moment then inclined his head slightly. “So be it. We take care of her on our own. For now.”
He turned away to hide his relieved expression. “Did you find out anything about the humans Xander found murdered inside the home?”
“The remains of the older humans were Lena’s parents, but again, Shifter Affairs didn’t offer anything useful on them. Just the basics—age, address, phone number. That got me nothing on a web search and Xander was ordered off the property before he’d gotten the chance to snoop.” He paused and cleared his throat. “The dismembered one remains unidentified. My guess is that it’s Susan.”
While he hadn’t seen the remains, Xander had described their mutilated bodies. Devin’s assessment of the lion shifters had been right. They were sick and probably part of the growing number of single-shifters who’d begun to view humans as their playthings. Besides being cruel, their games threatened to expose all shifters, an inevitable event the shifter community and human government were trying desperately to postpone. It chilled him thinking of Lena suffering at their hands.
He cleared his throat, pushing the unsettling thoughts aside before he had to make a beeline for Lena’s door and another whiff of her scent. “What about Lena? Any info?”
“She’s single, works at the state museum and has one sister, Gwendolyn, but I can’t find anything on Molly. No adoption records. I called in a few favors outside Shifter Affairs. Hopefully, we’ll come up with more.”
Before he could ask anything else, the door to Lena’s bedroom opened. Devin pivoted to face the human witch, or as she preferred, Wiccan. “Is Lena okay?”
Verna closed the door behind her with a soft click. She looked him up and down. Creases formed on her brow. “That young woman should be dead but she’s got a strong will to survive. If she makes it through the night, I think she’ll be fine.”
Devin advanced on her, his hands clenching and releasing at his sides. “What do you mean, if she makes it? She has to live.”
Verna crossed her arms and raised one slender black brow. “If she’s that important, why did you bring her to me? I’m not a doctor, you know. Tend to her wounds with the gifts the gods gave you then take your beloved human and get out of my house.”
Beautiful Mistake: 2 (Royal Pride) Page 7