by L. L. Raand
“I expected you sooner, Sylvan,” Michel said, intentionally dropping Sylvan’s title. If she was to protect Katya from Francesca’s wrath, everyone must believe Katya was nothing more to her than a host. A dispensable one. “I was surprised you weren’t here before I finished feeding.”
Sylvan ignored the insult and the taunting challenge. “Andrew, take Katya to the Rover.”
“The Vampire should pay,” Andrew growled.
Michel laughed, slowly caressing Katya’s throat. “And who’s going to exact payment? You? I can taste your hunger. Do you want to fight me or fuck me, Wolf?”
“Someday, Vampire, I will find you alone.”
“I remember watching you come while three of the Risen fed from you,” Michel said easily. “When you return, I’ll invite Adam and Christine, another of my guards, to join us. I’ll drain you while you fuck.”
Andrew lunged, but Sylvan easily restrained him, her hand tightening on his shoulder. Calmly, she said, “Do as I say. Outside.”
He shuddered under the command in her voice. He whined softly in the back of his throat, his wolf caught between challenge and his Alpha’s orders. He glared at Michel and held out his hand to Katya. “Come on.”
Katya’s grip on Michel’s shirt tightened. Michel murmured in her ear, “Go. It’s for the best.”
Sylvan studied Katya coolly while her wolf wanted to tear the Vampire apart. “Katya. Are you here of your free will?”
Katya shuddered under the fury in Sylvan’s voice but pressed close to Michel’s side, her chin up. “Yes, Alpha.”
“And before?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“She thinks she is free to choose,” Michel said, holding Sylvan’s gaze, daring her to make a challenge in Francesca’s domain. “She can’t tell the difference between thrall and desire.”
“So you say,” Sylvan said, but she sensed no fear from Katya. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you for betraying our alliance.”
“What makes you think I have?” Michel shrugged and stepped away from Katya. “Go with your Alpha.” She smiled coldly. “You were tasty, but not enough to go to war for.”
Katya’s chin shot up. “I am loyal to my Alpha. If you challenge her, I will stand by her side.”
“I have no need to challenge. I’ve already had what I wanted.”
Sylvan slipped her hand around the back of Katya’s neck. “Go with Andrew.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Katya turned from Michel, and Michel watched her go. The ache in her chest was unfamiliar, a sharp-edged pain that no amount of feeding was going to blunt. “Your wolves want what we give them, Sylvan. Why fight us over it?”
“I will not let you compel my wolves, ally or not.”
Michel said nothing, waiting until she sensed Katya leave the club, safe from the Risen who were feeding mindlessly from any available host. “Dawn is coming.”
“Take me to Francesca.”
Michel tilted her head. “As you wish, Alpha.”
Sylvan followed Michel back through the crowd to the bar where Drake and Niki waited. She kept her wolf on a short, tight leash. She wanted to tear Michel apart for touching Katya while she was imprisoned, but she’d read the truth in Katya’s eyes. Michel had not compelled her this night. Katya had gone to her willingly.
Are you all right? Drake inquired, Sylvan’s simmering rage forcing her wolf to pace and grumble. She eased a hand onto the center of Sylvan’s back, stroked the rigid muscles.
Sylvan shuddered, took a long breath, absorbed her mate’s soothing scent. Some of her fury settled. Yes. Stay close to me when we go downstairs.
Katya, Andrew?
Safe.
Michel held out an arm and bowed. “If you’ll come with me, my friends, the Regent will see you now.”
“Good.” Drake slung an arm around Sylvan’s waist and eyed Michel coolly. “Then we’ll see if we’re all still friends.”
Michel laughed. “The Regent is going to enjoy you.”
Sylvan growled, but Drake merely smiled. “I doubt that very much.”
*
Becca gripped the back of Dasha’s seat, peering out between Jace and Dasha into the forest. The Rover’s lights illuminated a narrow track, little more than a deer trail, barely wide enough to accommodate the SUV. The fortified vehicle bounced over rocks and fallen trees as they moved deeper and deeper into the mountains. Though the mountain terrain looked no different than the forests in Pack land, she felt as if she had crossed into a foreign land. Her skin prickled with foreboding. The eastern sky seemed lighter than it had moments before. They didn’t have much time. “Can you scent them?”
“No,” Dasha said. “They’re too far away.”
Jace grumbled uneasily. “I smell cat everywhere.”
Becca couldn’t sense Jody, either, and the disconnection frightened her. Jody had once told her she could find her if she were a hundred miles away—Becca didn’t have that ability yet, but usually, even when she couldn’t see her, she could taste Jody in her blood. Her absence was like missing a limb. She panicked for an instant, then forced down the fear. “Where are we?”
“Just crossing into Pride land,” Jace said. “They shouldn’t be far now.”
“Good. It’s almost morning.”
Dasha looked back at her. “If they have to take shelter out here, Raina should know the location of caves where they’ll be safe from the sun.”
Becca nodded. Vampires kept their vulnerabilities well guarded, even from allies. The sun wasn’t the only danger. Jody was still sensitive to the circadian UV cycle and wouldn’t be at full strength during the day. Lara and Rafe would be even more sensitive. They’d be somnolent, vulnerable and unprotected in enemy land. “It would be best if we make sure they get back to the Compound by daybreak.”
“Then we will,” Jace said.
“I—”
A loud bang rocked them and the Rover screeched to a halt. Becca flew forward, taking the full force of the impact on her right shoulder. Pain lanced down her arm and her hand went numb. A screaming roar filled the vehicle, and a huge cat jumped onto the windshield with such force it cracked.
“Ambush,” Jace yelled. A paw swiped through the open window and slashed the arm she threw up to protect her head.
“Becca, Claude,” Dasha shouted, “there are weapons under your seat. Stay in the vehicle.”
Jace and Dasha jumped out, and the air split with the crack of gunfire.
Claude pushed to the rear of the Rover. “Stay inside.”
“Wait—take a weapon.”
“I have no need for a gun.” He smiled the arrogant smile she’d seen at least once on every Vampire she knew, and then, he was gone. The doors slammed closed behind him.
Hands shaking, Becca tore open the latch on the bench seat and pulled out an automatic rifle. She’d never fired one, but it didn’t look all that complicated. A curved magazine was already attached to the underbelly. Above the trigger was a lever that she assumed was the safety. She pushed it down with her forefinger. The Rover rocked to the side as if hit by a freight train, and she fell to her knees. She wasn’t waiting inside like bait.
Taking a deep breath, she jerked up on the rear door handle, pushed open the doors, and jumped out. And came face-to-face with the largest mountain lion she’d ever seen.
The cat crouched, its wild green eyes fixed on her, its lips drawn back in a feral snarl.
Becca pointed the weapon, pulled the trigger, and prayed it would fire.
*
“Gunfire,” Jody said sharply.
“A mile ahead,” Lara said.
Raina rolled down the window, scented the air. “Cats, at least a dozen, moving south-southeast.”
“It’s a war party,” Lara said, “and they’re between us and Pack land.”
“We’re outnumbered,” Zahn said quietly, slowing the vehicle. “If I cut west, we might be able to circle around them.”
“No,” Lara and Jody said simu
ltaneously.
“Two wolves,” Lara said. “We can’t leave them.”
Jody’s chest tightened, fear icing her blood. “Becca is with them.” She turned to Lara. “Rafe and I will engage the main force directly ahead. You and Raina circle to the east and support the wolves and Becca until we arrive.”
Lara glanced at Raina. “Are you ready to fight again, big Cat?”
Raina snarled. “Every cat I defeat is one more cat I will rule. Let’s go.”
Lara shifted and Raina followed.
Jody pulled open the rear doors so Lara and Raina could jump out. “See that no harm comes to my consort, Warlord.”
My word, Liege. Lara followed Raina into the forest, her wolf happy to be hunting again by this new Alpha’s side.
Chapter Twenty-three
The recoil from the first round drove Becca back against the Rover. The repetitive Crack! Crack! Crack! was deafening, and the heat radiating from the housing brought tears to her eyes. Blossoms of scarlet bloomed over the big cat’s head and torso, and he fell, clouds of dark earth and pine needles mushrooming from the ground around him. She imagined she felt the ground shudder. She barely had time to draw a breath before another cat landed near the bleeding body, and then another, and another. Only a few feet away. She kept her finger depressed on the trigger. She couldn’t see the others, didn’t know if they were alive, didn’t know if she was alone.
Jody! Jody, I need you!
Suddenly the ringing in her ears was the only sound. Then came a low growl, slowly growing louder. She stared at the automatic rifle. It had stopped firing. Why was that?
An ominous rumble made her heart tremble. She blinked sweaty grit from her eyes. A cat Were, its pelt the color of autumn leaves, crept toward her, its golden eyes insanely wild, its canines and claws covered in blood. She had nowhere to run. She slid her hand behind her, groping for the door of the Rover. If she could throw herself inside and get the door closed again before the cat followed her in, she could find another weapon. She found the handle. She depressed the latch—jerked on the handle. If she could just get inside. The cat launched itself at her.
Oh God, Jody, I am so sorry. I love you—
An earsplitting scream cut the air and a missile the color of sunlight shot across the clearing and struck the cat in midleap. Another cat, lithe and muscular, dragged the attacker down, biting and slashing. Becca sagged against the Rover for the length of a frantic heartbeat, then gathered her strength, wrenched open the door, and threw herself inside. Her knees howled as she landed on the metal floor, but she ignored the shooting pain. Pivoting, she reached for the door to buy a few seconds’ sanctuary.
Outside, just a few feet away, the golden cat tore through the other beast’s throat and blood fountained, showering Becca with its thick warmth. And then the victor turned to her with a snarl.
Becca leapt back from the open door and scrambled for the bench. Shoving the hinged seat upright, she pawed through the compartment for a weapon. Her fingers closed around a metal grip and she pulled out a handgun. An automatic. She really needed to learn to shoot, if she survived. Rolling over on her back, expecting to feel claws tearing into her at any moment, she fumbled for the safety, couldn’t find one, and prayed she hadn’t missed it. Finger on the trigger, she pointed it out the open back door.
“All right, come on, damn it,” she muttered. Waiting for death was so not her style.
A shadow blocked the swath of moonlight and the interior dimmed. She steadied her shaking arm with her opposite hand.
“I’d rather you didn’t shoot me, darling. You should probably save your ammunition in case we run into another nuisance along the way.”
Becca’s breath stopped. She was dreaming, or hallucinating. “Jody?”
The moonlight returned, a few stars flickered above the tree line, and Jody was beside her, gently taking the weapon from her hand. “It’s all right, you’re safe.”
“Are they gone?” Becca pressed against Jody’s side, peering into the slowly fading dark. “There were so many. They just…kept coming and coming.”
“They’re all dead, or will be soon.” Jody pulled Becca closer and buried her face in Becca’s hair. She finally drew back, carefully cupping her face. “Is any of the blood on you yours?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so. Scrapes and bruises. That’s all.”
Jody eased Becca toward the rear of the Rover and they climbed out. Becca ran her hands over Jody’s chest, her shoulders, her arms. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Jody’s grip tightened. “What are you doing out here?”
“I…” Becca rested her head on Jody’s shoulder. Adrenaline raced through her system, but she was exhausted. “I couldn’t stand waiting. It was getting so late, I was worried.”
Jody hissed, tucking Becca’s head beneath her chin. “Claude will regret letting you leave the Compound.”
“No!” Becca leaned back, brushed her fingers through Jody’s hair. “It’s not his fault. I wanted to come. Something was wrong. I could feel it.”
“What’s wrong is these mountains are crawling with feral cats. We’ve been fighting our way back.” Jody shook her head. “I doubt Sylvan had any idea what was stirring along her borders. If someone doesn’t control these cats, Sylvan will have another war on her hands.”
“Jody, look out!” Becca gasped as the golden lion that had fought Becca’s last attacker prowled across the clearing, headed straight for them. “The gun. I left it inside.”
“You won’t need it.” Jody slid her arm around Becca’s shoulder. “It’s Raina.”
From one step to the next, the cat shimmered into Were form. A wolf trotted out of the forest right behind her, its muzzle drenched in blood. Becca tried to see the shift, but it happened so quickly she missed the moment when wolf became Were. Lara fell into step with Raina.
“Oh my God,” Becca murmured. “Raina. Raina killed the cat Were that was about to…” She steadied her breath, nodded to Raina. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Raina said.
Jody tilted her head to Raina. “It seems I am now in your debt, Alpha.”
“I’m glad you’re not seriously injured,” Raina said to Becca. She inclined her head slightly to Jody. She would have defended Becca in any case, but she was happy to have incurred the Vampire’s gratitude. She would need to call in that debt to secure her freedom, she suspected, and from what she had seen, this Vampire was influential and powerful.
Lara said, “I sent Jace and Dasha to secure the perimeter, but we should leave soon. Another raiding party could be near, and our reserves are diminishing.”
Becca looked around. The Vampires would need to feed soon, and with morning near, they could not fight a sustained battle. “Where’s Claude?”
“With Rafe and Zahn at our vehicle. He’s injured, but he’ll recover,” Lara said.
Guilt struck at Becca’s heart. “He wouldn’t have been here if I hadn’t insisted on coming.”
Jody stroked Becca’s hair. “He wouldn’t have been here if he’d followed my orders and kept you safe.”
Dasha loped up to join them and faced Lara. “We are secure, Centuri.”
“Good.” Lara didn’t bother to remind Dasha she was no longer centuri. The wolf Weres responded to her wolf as they always had. And with every shift, her wolf was stronger. “How many cats are alive?”
“One or two,” Dasha said.
Jody turned to Raina. “What do you want to do with the injured? They are your cats in your land.” She grinned viciously. “I wasn’t planning to leave survivors.”
Raina shrugged. For now, she had only the power the Vampire gave her. She was still too outnumbered to attempt an escape. Her cat protested, hissing angrily at the affront to her dominance, but she could not challenge. Not everything could be settled with teeth and claws, no matter what her cat demanded. “I’d like them to carry a message to the others. That I have returned and”—she smiled at
Jody—“I have powerful allies.”
Jody smiled briefly. “That remains to be seen, but…we might find an association to be valuable.”
“Let them live,” Raina said, “and leave the rest of the bodies where they are as a reminder to any other cats that we are not easy prey.”
“You have good instincts, Alpha.”
Lara said to Dasha, “See to it.”
“Yes, Centuri.”
Jody took Becca’s hand. “We need to go. The wolves will catch up to us when they have released the prisoners.”
Lara waited until Jody and Becca climbed into the vehicle before asking Raina, “Are you injured?”
“No, just a few scratches.”
“You think this will make a difference to the other cat Weres?”
“Cats resent authority, avoid group ventures, prefer to live and fight alone.” She shrugged. “But they also realize that to survive they need representation and protection, and if I can provide that, they will follow me.”
Lara grinned. “It seems that today you’ve proven you can do both.”
Raina regarded Lara steadily. She hadn’t fought alone. Lara had been both protector and comrade. They had fought as equals, as partners. “I had help.”
“And you will again, should you need it.” Lara met her gaze, saw cat and Were in equal measure reflected in the green-gold of her eyes. She would not let anyone shackle this warrior again. “We have to go back. But I promise you, you will not see bars again.”
“Then I have to trust you, don’t I?”
Lara took her hand, felt purpose fill her with strength. “You can.”
Raina looked down at their joined fingers. She was neither born nor bred to rely on another, but she made the choice to risk her future and the future of her Pride on a stranger who had been her enemy. “Then I will.”
*
Michel led them along the familiar route through the club, down a narrow passageway behind the bar, and through the heavily guarded security door at the far end. The stone staircase on the opposite side was steep, uneven, and lit only by flickering sconces at shoulder height. Sylvan had no trouble seeing and could have made her way in the dark even had she never taken the path before. But she had been this way before, at least a half a dozen times when she had sought Francesca’s company not because she desired her or the powerful orgasms Vampires bestowed with their bite, but because Francesca was powerful enough to drain her and quiet her wolf’s demands for a mate. But when her mate had found her, nothing could have prevented the claiming, and now she felt nothing as she neared Francesca’s inner chamber. Nothing except seething fury that her Pack was under attack and her wolves at risk. And somehow, Francesca was involved.