by Zena Wynn
Reyna’s form blurred at his side. Between one heartbeat and the next, she’d morphed from warm female companion to a snarling, screaming, ravaging beast. She launched herself at Alvaro. Pandemonium erupted.
Everyone rushed forward, talons and fangs bared, ready to protect the High Lord. It didn’t matter Reyna was his Heart’s Blood. She and her species were an unknown element and obviously a threat. Due to his negligence, they were unaware of the underlying issues.
“Stand down,” Tariq ordered sharply, even as he rushed forward in a burst of speed to intercept the leaping cougar. He was fast, damn fast, with preternatural ability. The Felini male was quicker.
Jorlan shifted on the fly, catching Reyna mid-body. The force of the impact knocked them several feet away.
“Give them room,” Tariq ordered when several of his masters made moves, their intent to restrain one or both felines obvious.
“What the hell is going on here, Tariq? Who is that women? Why did she attack me?” Alvaro demanded to know.
Though Tariq had instigated this, he didn’t have time to deal with Alvaro now. His concern was for his Heart’s Blood. Her side of the bond had completely shut off, but Tariq didn’t need the link to know what was in her heart. Pure hatred glowed in those feral, golden eyes. It’s focus? Her father, Alvaro.
She kept trying to get to him. The male Felini blocked all her efforts. They fought in a flash of fur, teeth, and claws, almost too fast for even his enhanced senses to track. Tariq tried talking to her, hoping to calm her fury. The fact he couldn’t feel her didn’t mean she couldn’t feel or hear him.
“Mi corazon, Reyna, I’m sorry. I should have warned you of my suspicions and not sprung this on you. Please, calm yourself and let us get to the bottom of this.” Tariq repeated his plea mentally and aloud, hoping one would get through.
“Suspicions about what?” Alvaro asked. “How does this involve me?”
His focus on Reyna complete, Tariq ignored his friend. The male cougar had her bleeding, heaving form backed into a corner when suddenly he shifted and knelt before her. “I’m sorry, Kitten. I know how much you must be hurting right now, but it’s the truth. Your mother loved your father. Everything you’ve been told about what happened between them was a lie.”
A stunned hush fell on the assembly as those gathered finally realized something significant was occurring. His Heart’s Blood shook her head and even furry, everyone could see her shock and confusion. As this truth sank in, all could see the devastation it caused.
One minute Reyna was there. The next she was gone. She hadn’t even needed to shift back to her humanoid form to teleport. Tariq was highly impressed. His Heart’s Blood was a force to be reckoned with. They were an excellent match, a sentiment he’d be sure to tell Reyna once she’d had a chance to calm.
Jorlan turned to him, his gaze wild. “You have to go after her. They’ll kill her!”
“Would someone kindly explain to me what just happened?” Alvaro demanded.
“Who’ll kill her? Didn’t she return to her lair?” Tariq asked sharply. He hadn’t been able to follow the conversation between her and Jorlan, though it was obvious they’d been communicating telepathically.
“The main pride in Arizona. Reyna’s gone after Isabella to demand answers. If the elders discover Reyna in the den, they’ll kill her. It’s why Isabella sent her away,” Jorlan said, his voice urgent.
“Isabella is dead,” Alvaro said, sounding shaken.
Tariq cursed and paced restlessly. “I thought she’d gone to her lair to lick her wounds. I can’t track her when she’s in her feline form. Can’t get a fix.”
Jorlan crossed the room to grab Alvaro by the shoulders. “You have to take us to her. You can use your bond to track Isabella.”
Alvaro’s olive complexion turned a sickly gray. “She’s dead, I tell you. You think I wouldn’t know if my Heart’s Blood was alive? I saw the proof with my own eyes,” he said raggedly.
A sudden thought struck Tariq. “What form was she in, humanoid or feline?”
“Her cat form,” Alvaro said dismissively. “What does it matter? You think I wouldn’t know my Heart’s Blood no matter which form she took?”
“You told me yourself. We can’t read the Felini when they’re in their feline form. What if it wasn’t her you saw?” Tariq asked, believing he was on to something.
Jorlan shook Alvaro, hard, gaining his attention. “We don’t have time for this. Isabella’s alive but if we don’t reach her soon, this time they really will kill her.”
Tariq remembered Alvaro’s warning about the Felini elders, whom he’d unwisely assumed to be no threat. If Reyna really had gone to seek answers from her mother, she was in grave danger. Heart pounding in fear, Tariq added his persuasion to Jorlan’s. “Alvaro, the time to question is later after we’ve assured the safety of our women. Please, I beg you. Test the bond with your mate.”
Tariq felt sick. He’d contrived to bring Reyna and Alvaro together. If he lost her now after barely finding her, he’d never forgive himself.
Before his eyes Alvaro managed to pull himself together and show exactly why he was the High Lord Master of the western portion of the North American continent. Wrapping his power and authority about him like a cloak, Alvaro shook off his confusion and astonished disbelief and leveled a steady gaze on Jorlan. “You will tell me what this is all about. Everything.”
“Yes, anything. Just hurry,” Jorlan said.
Alvaro’s gaze lost focus as he searched inwardly for a link. For a moment, sheer wonder transformed his features. “She’s alive!”
A second later he was gone, taking Jorlan with him.
Tariq said to Conall, “Arm a core group of our best men and follow me.”
Then with Alvaro as his link, he went after his Heart’s Blood.
Reyna appeared before her mother Isabella and shifted into her humanoid form. Gasps and cries of alarms from the other queens sounded as they took in her wild, bloody appearance. “You lied to me, Isabella. My father is not dead.”
Isabella’s beautiful face leeched of color. “That’s a lie.”
“Jorlan said you weren’t raped. You and my father were mated. Is that true?” she asked, still in that same calm, dead voice.
The rumbling murmurs of shock and disbelief caught Reyna’s attention. She turned on them. “Out! Everyone get out!”
When they hesitated, she used her telekinetic power to lift one of the queens and toss her out the door. The rest scrambled after her. Using her mind, Reyna slammed and locked the large mahogany doors behind them.
Isabella stared at Reyna as though she’d never seen her before. “You have no idea what you’ve just done. You must leave. Quickly now, before the elders arrive.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you answer my questions.”
Reyna glanced around the room she’d rarely been allowed to enter. Like her mother, the room was everything that was feminine. Soft color, vases full of vibrant flowers, and comfortable lounging couches filled the room. The floor was covered in plush beige carpet.
Her mother had been lounging on one of the couches when she’d arrived, wearing one of the jewel-toned caftans she preferred. Now Isabella sat straight on its side, her face a blend of complex emotions Reyna couldn’t decipher. But then, Reyna had never been able to read her mother. All she knew was the other Felini queens loved their cubs. Their lives revolved around the nurturing and protecting of said cubs. Isabella had never loved her, could barely look at her, and now Reyna wanted to know why.
When she’d believed herself to be the result of a violent act perpetrated upon her mother, Isabella’s aversion to her offspring had made sense. To see Reyna was to see and remember the male who’d attacked her. That he’d been punished for his heinous crime made no difference. The only wonder was that not only had Isabella carried her to term, but she’d allowed her unwanted cub to live after its birth. A decision, given Isabella’s lack of
feeling for her, Reyna had questioned many times in her young life.
She stood over Isabella, her mother’s mirror image with the exception of her freaky silver eyes. Eyes Reyna now knew without a doubt she’d inherited from her father. The male who hadn’t raped her mother. The male whose only crime, if Jorlan could be believed, was loving her mother and taking Isabella as his mate.
Isabella slowly rose to her feet so they stood eye-to-eye. Reyna realized her mother was no longer the formidable presence she’d always believed her to be. She didn’t feel the least bit intimidated. Maybe because Reyna had finally realized and accepted there was nothing she could do to gain her mother’s love and approval.
“I don’t know what this is about, Reyna, but you need to go. Your presence is not welcome here,” Isabella said coldly.
“If you refuse to tell me the truth, Isabella, I’ll be forced to ask Alvaro,” Reyna returned in a voice just as icy. She was no longer a child to tremble in the face of her mother’s disapproval.
Her mother’s already ashen face turned red. “Where did you hear that name?” she said fiercely, reaching out to grab Reyna by the shoulders. “Answer me!”
Reyna knocked her hands away and put distance between them. Years she’d waited for her mother to touch her, to hold her, even in the most casual of ways. Isabella’s touch was no longer welcome. “I told you, he’s not dead. You lied to me.”
“That’s a lie!” Isabella cried. “Ragnor said—”
A heavy fist hammered on the door. “Isabella, open this door at once!” The doorknob rattled violently.
Isabella’s expression turned to one of stark fear. “You must go. Now. Quickly. If Ragnor discovers you here, he’ll destroy you.”
Reyna scoffed. “After all the lies you’ve told, you expect me to believe you? I want the truth, Isabella, and I want it now.” She’d had over twenty years of being unloved and unwanted. She deserved to know why.
“There’s no time,” Isabella said frantically, her panicked gaze locked on the door trembling under the force of the blows being bestowed upon it.
“Isabella, open the door!” Ragnor bellowed.
The air shifted and Alvaro materialized in the space between Isabella and Reyna. How fitting, Reyna thought, as the memory of him had always stood between them.
“Alvaro?” Isabella questioned. “Is it you?”
“Isabella, my love. You’re alive!” Alvaro said and caught Isabella up in his arms.
Isabella was laughing and weeping at the same time. She kept touching Alvaro—his face, shoulders, and hair—as if to assure herself he was really there. Alvaro had his face buried in Isabella’s mane. Reyna could hear him muttering low, passionate words in her mother’s ears. The look of love on Isabella’s face was so intense, Reyna had to glance away.
Her gaze landed on Jorlan. His expression was one of pity and remorse. He held out an appealing hand to her. “Reyna, I’m sorry. I know how you must be feeling.”
“You knew,” she said dully. All this time he’d known and said nothing.
Jorlan let his hand drop. “Yes, I knew the truth of your birth. There were reasons why I couldn’t tell you. Will you let me explain?”
She looked at her parents, in a world all their own, still locked in each other’s arms. Once again Reyna was on the outside looking in. The anger, sense of betrayal, and hurt all drained away. She felt isolated, disassociated from it all. The cold numbness invading her heart spread outward to engulf her whole body.
Turning to Jorlan she said, “It doesn’t matter,” and let the icy cold take her away.
Jorlan yelled, “Reyna!”
Tariq caught her crumpling form before it could hit the floor and swept her up into his arms. He’d felt it the minute Reyna had shifted forms. Their link had blasted wide open. He’d been with her during the confrontation with her mother, and felt her pain and the ice of her fury. Switching trajectories mid-teleport, he’d locked onto her through their bond, determined to reach her side as soon as possible.
Jorlan rushed to her side. “Is she all right?”
“Shock and blood loss, I believe. She needs medical attention,” Tariq said. His men materialized and quickly spread out around him. “Secure the room and deal with whoever’s pounding on the door.”
“It’s my father,” the woman who must be Isabella said. Jorlan’s bellow had caught the lover’s attention, interrupting their joyous reunion, and they’d rushed over to see what the commotion was.
Alvaro grinned, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Cold fury glittered in the orbs. “Let him in. I have a few things to say to him.”
“Conall, whatever Lord Alvaro needs, make sure he receives. Protect the High Lord as you would me. I’m taking Reyna to my quarters so she can be tended to,” Tariq said. His gaze never left the precious bundle in his arms as he issued his instructions.
Tariq knew the physical damage to her body could be fixed with a simple blood transfusion. She’d lost blood during the fight with Jorlan, and expended energy she didn’t have to make the leap to the Felini compound here in Arizona. It was no wonder she’d fainted. She was at the end of her rope.
What worried him was the emotional toil tonight had taken. The jolts to her fragile psyche had been more than Reyna could bear. To deal with it, she’d withdrawn deep inside herself. So deep, Tariq didn’t know if he’d be able to reach her.
“I’m coming with you,” Jorlan said. “You’ll need me.”
“Once I’ve dealt with the situation here, I’d like to return to your clutch, stay, and get to know my daughter,” Alvaro said.
Isabella clutched his arm, her concerned gaze on Reyna’s unconscious form. “Please take care of her,” Isabella begged. “She’s all I have.”
“You have me now,” Alvaro reminded her, placing his arm around her waist and gathering her in close.
Isabella smiled at him, happy tears still gathering in her eyes to fall down her cheeks. “You’re right. I do.”
Tariq didn’t know how Reyna would feel about her father’s presence in their home, but he and Alvaro had been friends too long for him to deny his request. “You know you’re always welcome. That welcome extends to your Heart’s Blood, as well.”
“Thank you,” Alvaro said. He reached out a trembling hand to brush a smudge of blood off Reyna’s cheek. His eyes were full of wonder. “I don’t have to tell you what discovering I have a daughter means to me.”
No, Alvaro didn’t.
Unwilling to waste any more time, Tariq nodded brusquely at Alvaro. To Jorlan he said, “Grab hold,” and took his blood mate home, where she belonged.
Tariq landed in his chambers, issuing commands. “Security, disengage.”
Enrique, bring the doctor to my quarters. Tell him to bring his transfusion equipment. Lord Alvaro will be returning shortly with his blood mate. Please ensure someone is waiting to see to their needs. Also, I have the Felini male, Jorlan, with me. He needs clothes and food, and have one of the guest chambers prepared for him,” he telepathed to his second.
Your Heart’s Blood, is she…?
She’s fine, Tariq responded, willing it to be so. She’s unconscious and needs blood.
There was a short silence. Then Enrique said, Doctor Silas is on the way. I’ll personally see to the other items on your list. Keep us informed, please. We’re all concerned.
Thank you, I will, Tariq said. Heading straight for the bed to lay his precious burden down, he told Jorlan, “The doctor’s on his way.”
“She’ll need something to wear before he arrives. Reyna’s uncomfortable with nudity,” Jorlan warned.
Since the Felini male prowled at his side with no concern for his own lack of clothing, Tariq figured that made his Heart’s Blood even more of an anomaly among her people. He changed his trajectory and carried Reyna into the bathroom.
“Look inside the closet and grab one of my dress shirts. It will have to do until we can get her clothing that fit
s,” he said.
Mi corazon, I need you to open your eyes and look at me. Come back to me, my love.
Reyna didn’t stir.
Sighing, Tariq decided the least he could do was make her comfortable while he waited for her to regain consciousness. Jorlan returned with the requested item while Tariq was still figuring out the logistics of bathing an unconscious woman. The Jacuzzi tub, the size of a small pool, was too large for his purpose, though Tariq supposed he could rest her against the side while he splashed water on her.
“We need to wash the blood off so we can see the extent of her injuries, but I don’t want to put her in the tub,” he told the Felini.
Jorlan set the shirt down on the vanity, opened the glass door to the shower, and stepped inside. “Hand her to me. I’ll rinse her off and hand her back to you to towel dry.”
Tariq didn’t want to release his Heart’s Blood, even knowing what the male proposed made the most sense. Reluctantly he said, “Get the water going to the desired temperature first and then I’ll give her to you.”
Jorlan played with the pressure, adjusted the heat level, and when he was satisfied, held out his arms. Tariq passed her over. “She shouldn’t be too scratched up,” the male murmured, watching the blood stream off. “I restrained my cat as much as possible. Most of the bleeding seems to be coming from this cut at the hairline near her temple.”
As he watched the male care for his Heart’s Blood with all the tenderness of a father with his cub, Tariq realized there was much that happened tonight he needed to understand. This male was closer to Reyna’s heart than any other. If anyone knew all the dynamics of what had occurred, this one would. “What happened? Why’d she go ballistic and attack Alvaro? I knew she felt no love for her father but didn’t realize she actively hated him.”
Though Jorlan didn’t look up from his self-appointed task, he sighed heavily. “As the humans would say, this entire situation is one big clusterfuck. The whole pride, including Reyna, believes her conception was the result of an assault on Isabella. Only Isabella, Isabella’s father Ragnor, and I know the truth.”