Kya's King (Sanctuary)

by Becca Dale

  She moaned and arched into his touch, greedy for his caress. He explored lower, nibbling down her throat. His tongue teased and taunted until she could do nothing beyond quiver for more. “Love me, Ja. Please.”

  “I can never tell you no. Why is that?”

  “You can’t say no because you’re a horny tomcat, Ja, but I’ll thank you to get off my sister.” Ryan’s deep voice shattered their private cocoon as he shone a flashlight into their eyes.

  Ja laughed and eased away from Kya. He rolled to his feet with a ready grin. “What the hell are you doing here, ya overgrown bastard?”

  “Looking after her. Did you expect anything less?”

  “It would have been nice if you’d kept her home where she belonged in the first place.”

  Ryan chuckled. “As if I could have. Ever tried to actually stop Hannah from doing something? It’s pretty close to impossible most days.”

  Kya snorted and sat up. “I’m right here, you know. You two can stop talking about me any time.”

  Ja knelt beside her. His fingers brushed the scratches on her cheek. “You love being the center of attention and you know it, little one.”

  Her hand covered his, holding him close a moment longer. She caressed the tiny puncture scars on his wrist, marks she had put there when they made love. She couldn’t seem to resist biting him, his taste and reaction made her hot every time. Unbidden tears burned behind her eyes, but she blinked them away. She wanted to throw her arms around him and beg him to be careful, but he did not need to carry her fear into battle. “I still want you to stay.”

  “I know, but this is one argument I can’t let you win. If I don’t come back, I want you to run. Disappear with our little one so Rork won’t ever find you.”

  She shook her head. “You had better come back.”

  “I’ll do my best. Now, promise.”

  She crossed her fingers behind his back and prayed he wouldn’t hear the lie in her voice. “I will do what I have to do.”

  “Good.” He lifted her knuckles to his mouth and kissed them gently. “Be safe, Kya, my love.”

  She couldn’t speak around the lump in her throat. You too. Come back to me. Don’t leave me all alone.

  Ja picked up his backpack and disappeared. She stared after him, desperate for a last glimpse of his broad shoulders.

  Ryan bent and lifted her against his chest. “Come on, let’s get you back so Grant can take a look at you.”

  His solid strength did little to appease the anger and frustration streaming through her head. She settled against his shoulder with an irritated sigh. “Why does he have to be so damned pigheaded?”

  Ryan chuckled softly. “If he wasn’t, he’d never survive you.”

  Fear and worry returned to override her anger. “Why didn’t someone go with him?”

  “I tried. Grant and Jake did too. Actually, I think every man at the sanctuary offered to help.”

  “Why would he refuse back-up?”

  “You know the answer to that, Hannah.” Ryan stared forward using the narrow path as an obvious excuse to avoid looking at her.

  The baby wiggled and she caressed the precious bump as tears threatened. “He left you behind to watch over us.”

  “He loves you. I can’t fault him for that.”

  The entire compound full of men, wolves, and cats would have followed her arrogant warrior into battle if he had only bent enough to accept. Pride and concern for their safety made him rather face his enemy alone than take a guard off his family. She shifted to stare over Ryan’s shoulder into the darkness where Ja had disappeared. She wanted to curl up and bawl, but anger returned to stiffen her spine. “If the stubborn idiot doesn’t come back to me alive, I’ll kill him again myself.”

  Chapter Thirteen—A Fresh Start

  Two weeks passed before Hannah stopped crying at night. Then she lost all patience. Yes, Ja had told her to wait. Yes, she trusted him to handle the situation. Yes, she was pregnant and crabby and starting to swell like a damned balloon and scared shitless, but none of that mattered. Her gut told her something had gone wrong, and she couldn’t wait anymore. Her daughter fluttered and Hannah rubbed the precious mound. “Don’t worry, baby. Mommy’s going to bring Daddy home.” She gathered a flashlight and her pistol and stuck them into a shoulder sack before slipping from her cabin.

  “Going somewhere, Hannah?” Ryan’s deep voice met her before the door had fully closed. He and Jake stood a mere five yards from her front door.

  “Thinking about it. Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

  He reached to take the bag with her pistol off her shoulder and tossed it into the bushes. “Damned right I have a problem with it. I’m pretty sure Dr. Ferris will, too.”

  “I will what?” Grant walked around the end of her cabin and joined the boys. Four other young men followed him. The felines, Seth and Greg, were the only ones missing from the family group.

  Jake stepped aside to allow Grant a clear shot at Hannah. “We figured you’d have a problem with letting her leave.”

  Grant shook his head. “Normally, I would, but she’s right. Ja should’ve returned by now.”

  Jake scowled. “You can’t let her go off alone like this. I’m going with her.”

  Grant lightly smacked the flat of his hand against the back of Jake’s head. “We’re all going with her. Go get changed.”

  With hoots and hollers of excitement, the boys hurried around the corner of her cabin. Less than a minute later, six very large wolf-men returned. Ja had told her that her brothers were shifters, but she hadn’t seen them in their in-between state before.

  Ryan was easy to pick out. His natural dark coloring and size translated to the truly enormous black wolfman leading the pack. Jake, too, was fairly easy to recognize. He was so damned skinny he looked more like a coyote than a wolf, and his usual exuberance showed in his tail.

  Hannah giggled. “I think your entire butt wags, Jake.”

  The skinny wolfman grinned.

  Ryan moved to stand protectively beside her. “Your turn, boss. We’ll keep her here until you get back.”

  Hannah stared at the older man. He had always seemed so ordinary despite his extraordinary capacity to care for others. “You, too? Am I the only one around here who doesn’t know all this?”

  “No. Harry doesn’t know because he can’t shift.”

  “Harry and Lynn, you mean.”

  Grant chuckled. “I didn’t say that exactly.”

  “Really?” She tried to picture Harry’s plump wife as a shifter but couldn’t come up with an image beyond a ground hog or maybe an overweight rabbit. “I’m obviously in my own little world.”

  Jake laughed a wolfish chuckle. “I’ve always said you’re thicker than a brick, Hannah.”

  “At least I’m thick somewhere, Jake. You’re skinnier than a popsicle stick.”

  “That’s not what she said.”

  “You wish!”

  “Enough you two.” Grant patted Jake’s head before he left for his cabin. “Give me a minute. I’ll meet you at the front gate.”

  * * *

  Hannah’s human form worked as a handicap as they moved through the forest and over the mountains. Her feet hurt and she could not move fast enough to stay with the boys. Jake shifted fully to wolf and ran ahead at one point to see how much farther they had to go. He returned an hour later. His sides heaved and his tongue lolled from the side of his mouth. Found ‘em.

  Grant motioned for the young wolf to sit down. “How far? Hannah can’t take much more.”

  Seven miles or so. Sounds like their planning a lynching party tonight. The whole place is filled with cats, though most are hiding their true colors right now.

  Ryan sat down beside Jake’s lanky form, offering the younger animal a shoulder to lean on. “How many?”

  Thirty, maybe forty tops.

  Hannah glanced from the exhausted Jake to a very worried-looking Grant. “Is Ja the guest of honor at the festivities?�
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  Jake looked down refusing to state the obvious and nausea swept over her in a fear-driven wave. Oh God, don’t let me be too late. Keep him safe just a little longer. The small group that had seemed nearly invincible as they left the compound suddenly appeared ragtag and unprepared for such a formidable enemy. “Anyone have a plan on how to get him out of there?”

  No one said a thing.

  She had dragged her friends and family into a situation they couldn’t win. Panic rose in her throat and she tried to swallow it down as she sank to a large rock and buried her head in her hands. “What was I thinking? I didn’t even bring my gun.” Her head swam with images of the ones she loved dead or dying. Bracing her arms on her thighs, she faced the group. “We can’t go in there like this. They’ll eat us alive.”

  Grant shook his head with a scowl. “I don’t think so. It seems to me that most of the clan is in second form right now. You’ll blend right in.”

  “But if it comes to a fight, I’ll lose.”

  Jake snorted. “You’ll lose if you try to confront Rork one-on-one no matter what form you take, Hannah.”

  “So, I’m screwed either way. If I allow my fears to control me, Ja will die alone and in vain.”

  Grant growled as he circled the group in agitation. “Damn it. You should never have been left without a mentor.”

  A mentor for what? What was he talking about? Truth hit her as she sought answers in the animalistic faces around her. I can shift. The realization opened her eyes to possibilities she hadn’t considered. Ja always fought and trained as a cat. His lean muscles grew stronger and more agile. His claws and fangs became lethal weapons. She could never be as powerful as he was, but she stood a better chance of holding her own in wildcat form. As a human she remained weak and vulnerable. Too bad she didn’t have a clue how to make it all happen.

  Rising to pace up and down the narrow path, she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Sometimes when her emotions ran high, when Ja pissed her off or drove her nearly insane with desire, she could sense the cat beneath the surface but how the hell did she call it out?

  “Hannah?” Grant stopped her restless pacing with a hand on her arm. “What are you thinking, girl?”

  The entire group stared at her, waiting for answers. “Will it hurt the baby if I shift?”

  One of the boys she didn’t recognize shook his head no. “My wife did it all the time during her pregnancies. The pups suffered no ill effects.”

  Her hand shook as she patted the baby for strength. “Then can you guys teach me what I need to know? Is it the same process for you?”

  Ryan shrugged. “Basically. Except you can’t freeze halfway. At least I’ve never seen it done by a cat. It’s all or nothing, I think.”

  Jake leaped forward and nudged against her leg with a wolfish grin. All you have to do is want it, Hannah.

  She laughed and rubbed his ears as his entire body wagged. “I want it. I’m scared half to death, but I have to do this.” Turning to find Grant, she tried to smile reassuringly. “You’ve guided me in everything else for the past few years. Wanna be my mentor on this one, too?”

  As Grant nodded, the boys closed in with a unified howl, surrounding her with brotherly love and support. The weight of uncertainty eased but did not disappear.

  Jake moved aside and Grant stepped up to face her. “You’re sure?”

  Hell no! The ground shifted beneath her. Dizziness threatened and receded. Cupping the precious mound of her stomach, she drew a deep breath. No matter how scared she felt or how inadequate, she could not allow her little girl to grow up without a father because her mother had been too afraid to save him. She nodded. “Let the insanity begin.”

  The boys all chuckled and Grant hugged her tight before he kissed her forehead and joined the circle. “All right, Hannah. You might want to sit down at least this first time. It could hurt a little.” A collective grunt rumbled among the boys. “All right, it will probably hurt a lot.” His eyes wandered over her jeans and Henley. “If you like those clothes, you should take them off as well.”

  Hannah blushed but he and the boys turned their backs, offering a sense of privacy behind a wall of support. She quickly undressed and folded her clothes into the crook of a nearby tree. Naked, she located an area relatively free of branches and rocks that she could injure herself on during the change and sat down. She pulled her knees to her chest and crossed her ankles in front of her privates so the boys couldn’t see much. “Now what?”

  Grant faced her and nodded, approvingly. “Okay, now close your eyes and focus on your muscles and bones. See them change in your head. Feel them grow stronger. Visualize your teeth lengthening. Call your true self forward.”

  Hannah tried to do as he instructed but nothing happened. She stayed the same, naked and foolish. She peeked through one eye to see if she had changed and missed it, but she remained weak and hairless. “It didn’t work.”

  Ryan chuckled and squatted beside her. “Don’t give up yet. Most of us grow up doing this from our twelfth year forward. Give yourself a break.”

  One of the giants, Donny, she thought, though he bore little resemblance to the shy young man she knew, turned to smile at her. “Think of your true name. Sometimes that helps. Focus on what you feel or think when Ja calls you Kya.”

  Hannah closed her eyes again and focused on Ja’s animal image, his sleek muscles and black coat gleaming in the sunlight, his sharp canines moist and dangerous, his rough voice calling her name. Kya. You belong with me. You’re mine. Don’t leave me, Kya love.

  When the change came, it burned through her body with liquid fire. Flames shot through her limbs, softening her bones. Her hands shortened, melding into paws. Her spine bowed and elongated as her heart tightened, and blood thundered through her skull. Gripping her knees, she struggled to remain conscious while agony turned the world black.

  Screams surrounded her, in her head or aloud, she could not tell nor care. She caught the essence of her second form and jerked it forward. Power swelled her muscles and her mind embraced the feline within. When the pain receded, she slowly opened her eyes to the applause of her brothers. They moved closer and ran their hands over her long back.

  The baby kicked her ribs in a comforting bump that added to her confidence.

  Grant smiled. “You’re beautiful. Bravo, Hannah.”

  The human name sounded wrong as she tested her sleek new form. Kya.

  “Of course.”

  She walked around the boys’ protective circle pausing to acknowledge each one. She recognized them all. How could she have been so blind before? She’d been right about Ryan, Jake and Donny. That left Rip, the blue-eyed Casanova. The oldest one, Hank with his wicked smile. And last but not least, Jon, the nearly silent one.

  “What do you think, guys? Do I look royal?”

  Jake laughed. “Like a royal pain in the ass.”

  Rip shoved him aside. “Don’t mind him, Kya. You look amazing even for a cat.”

  “I do, don’t I?” Her legs shone a soft tawny brown in the light of the moon, and her muscles rippled as she moved offering a sense of power and sensuality. “How about if we go kick some butt? Anybody with me?”

  The boys lifted their muzzles to the moon, howling their consent.

  More confident than she had ever felt before in her life, Kya lifted her head and scented the air for Ja’s presence. Everything hit her at once. The stench of rotting leaves beneath the bushes, the musky-human odor of the boys frozen in half-stage, the overwhelming perfume of Grant’s aftershave—something she had never noticed before. Miscellaneous messages from across the miles floated on the breeze. Then she found him. The tinny aroma of Ja’s anger and frustration combined with something evil, and the cloying scent of terror floated beneath it all.

  Rage and fear gathered in her chest and pumped adrenaline to her limbs. He lived. That had to be enough. The simple thought became almost a mantra as she inhaled again and pinpointed her path. He lives. He lives.
He lives.

  Chapter Fourteen—Queen Kya

  Kya took off in Ja’s direction. Her feet flew over the rough terrain as she traced his personal fragrance across the miles. The boys followed but her only concern lie in finding her mate. She arrived at the edge of a clearing as two huge guards dragged Ja, in human form, before an older man. People and cats stood in a semicircle around the center of attraction. She growled low at the bruises darkening Ja’s chest and arms.

  The sound attracted the attention of a nearby cougar. He turned to stare. Golden eyes narrowed when he noticed the wolves behind her, but he did nothing to alert those around him. Did that mean he was on Ja’s side?

  The boys and Grant had crossed over fully to keep up with her. They slunk closer, silent but dangerous, ready to protect or assist in any way necessary.

  The cougar glanced at Rork again then slipped quietly into the trees toward their group. Kya?

  Kya nodded though she remained wary. The fact that he knew her name had to mean he had talked to Ja, right? Or it could be nothing more than a lucky guess.

  I’m Savarn.

  Relief flooded over her as Ja’s cousin identified himself, and she laid her head against the other cat’s with a sigh. Thank God. Kya stepped back embarrassed by her affectionate display. Am I too late?

  Not yet, though Ja won’t be happy to see you. Rork has demanded a public execution for Dar’s death.

  She looked over his shoulder toward the crowd gathered in the clearing. What’s the sentiment of the clan as a whole? Will I have support if I step into that ring, or am I going to my death?

  The cougar stiffened. If I said Rork has many supporters, what would you do?

  Did he think she would walk away if the odds were too high? Pray that we could win anyway. I can’t leave Ja at Rork’s mercy.

  Savarn actually grinned. Then you won’t be alone.

  Heady relief eased the pressure from between her shoulders. Can you show me where Rork’s people are?