Scent of Salvation coe-1

by Annie Nicholas

  Susan tried to yank her hand away but the pale female’s strength outmatched hers. What kind of marking were they discussing?

  Ahote ducked his head. “Very well.” He bowed and took Susan’s hand, rubbing it against his warm cheek by his ear. “I’ve a good place for shifters like Sorin.”

  Kele heaved an impatient sigh, rolling her eyes. “We’ll go to my quarters.” She snatched Susan’s hand from Ahote. “Shoo! You’ve made your mark.” Then she led her away from the grinning male, climbing the stairs to the second level.

  Something light and oily covered Susan’s wrist. She showed it to Kele. “What is this?”

  “Ahote’s mark.”

  “I assumed that much, but how does it work?” The scientist in her still existed. Fear hadn’t chased her curiosity away.

  “You carry his scent. It tells other shifters he’s willing to fight for you.”

  The blood drained from her head, pooling in her heavy feet. “I don’t belong to him now, do I?”

  “Dark Moon, of course not.” She laughed. “That would make it too easy for the males to claim a mate. Could you imagine?”

  Susan could only stare. Not really.

  Sighing, Kele took Susan’s marked hand. “It only tells other males that he’s interested in you. If you want to be approached by others, then just wash it off. I thought it safer for you to bear some sort of mark for the time being.”

  “I don’t want any males. How do I announce that?”

  “Then keep it on. Ahote is dominant enough in the pack that most won’t challenge him.”

  “What do I do about him?”

  Kele gave her a sly look. “You don’t want him?”

  “It’s not that. He’s very nice looking but—but we’re not even the same species.”

  Her smile grew wider. “Trust me. I’ve know Ahote all my life. That won’t matter. If you want my advice, make him work for it if you’re interested in a lover. If you want more, go looking for someone else. He’s too full of himself.” They climbed two more sets of stairs to the top level. “We need to tend to more important matters than your love life. My parents will find out about yours and Sorin’s presence very soon. It’s in your best interest to be frank with me. Tell me about the blue light, and we’ll present your story in the best manner.”

  Kele crossed a hanging bridge that swayed.

  Susan took a couple of steps then clung to the rope. The ground appeared much farther away from above than it had from below. Inching one step at a time, she kept her gaze straight ahead. Sweat trickled down her back in a steady stream until her shirt clung to her skin. She hummed the circus tune as a distraction until she crossed the length.

  Kele tapped her foot as she waited by the entrance to a cave at the far end of the terrace.

  Susan hurried to catch up. Glancing inside the room, she found some civilization but not the kind she’d hoped for. The chamber was carved in pale stone with elaborate pictures covering the walls done in bright-colored paints. Most depicted hunting scenes.

  Once inside, Kele closed the door and lit a few candles, then settled on the large cushions lying in a pile by the farthest wall.

  Dark dread, which had been clinging to Susan since her arrival to this world, lightened a little. Books—wonderful, leather-bound books—filled a shelf. Susan’s fingers twitched to flip through the pages. “Is this your room?”

  “Yes. I study and mix medicines in here.”

  “So you’re the healer?”

  “Yes. My parents thought it wise if took up a trade since…” Her solemn eyes darted away. “I can’t shift.” She patted the fur next to her.

  Susan straightened her dirt-smudged lab coat before accepting Kele’s invitation to sit. “Is that common?”

  “No, but I didn’t bring you here to discuss my problems.” She leaned in closer and trapped Susan’s gaze. “Did the Goddess send you?” She tapped her nose. “Don’t bother lying. We can smell it.”

  A blush warmed Susan’s cheeks. She’d lied to Sorin at the Temple. He’d probably known. Why should she care? He scared the bejesus out of her. “The truth will be difficult for you to handle. Hell, it’s difficult for me to handle.”

  Something hard bit into Sorin’s wrists. His hands were so numb he couldn’t sense them moving when he attempted to make a fist. Metal rattled as he jerked his arm. He hung from chains.

  He listened to the many voices surrounding him. They echoed slightly as if he dangled within a great cavern. Laughter flitted over the noise. He must be displayed in the pack gathering room.

  Forcing his limbs to go limp, he tried not to attract attention. The Payami had taken him prisoner and would try to ransom him, but his pack had nothing.

  Painful cramps seized his shoulders but he ignored them, pushing the discomfort back in his mind where he shoved all his past abuse. Only the dead felt no pain. As long as he endured this glorious sensation he was alive. His useless father had taught him this.

  He cracked his eyelids open and checked out his surroundings. Many members of the pack lounged in the room playing games, conversing and drinking. Thick carpets lined the cave floor and plush, colorful pillows supported the shifters in comfort. Sorin had never seen such luxury. The excess burned his senses.

  “You’re awake.” A dark-haired male stepped into his sight with a tankard of ale in one hand and a pretty omega female in the other. He whispered in her ear.

  She gave him a shy smile. Her gaze trailed over Sorin’s nude form in an appreciative way, and then she hurried away.

  Such female interest would have given Sorin some pleasure in time long past, but he bore too much responsibility now to allow even that little bit of enjoyment.

  The dark shifter watched the pretty omega wiggle through the crowded room before returning his attention to Sorin. “I was wondering how much beauty sleep you were going to need. With that scar, I would have guessed more. I almost had that nice little female convinced to follow me into the back of the cave. It’s dark and private there.” He winked.

  Sorin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Muscle spasms ripped through his arms and they trembled. “Get on with it, pup. What are your alpha’s demands of my pack?”

  “Pup? Is that the best you have?” The male bowed. “I’m known as Ahote.” He rose. “And I don’t know the answer to that question. You’ll have to ask him.”

  The trembling eased in Sorin’s mucsles as his blocked the pain and allowed it to pass beyond his awareness. “Then let’s be done with it. I don’t care for your name or any other introductions you might have.” He had to return to his pack. His absence wouldn’t usually alarm them since alphas led the hunts but they needed him. Now.

  He was not his father and would never abandon them. Peder would return with the flowers at least. Working his tongue around his dry mouth for moisture, Sorin broke eye contact with Ahote and scanned the room. “Where is she?”

  “Who?”

  He kicked out toward the overconfident idiot and jerked against the chains. “You know exactly who I’m asking about. What did you do to the hu-man female?” If they harmed her, he didn’t care how powerful this pack was—he’d find a way to tear them down. She belonged to him, straight from the Goddess.

  A huge grin spread across Ahote’s smug face. “You like her? Too bad—she bears my mark now.”

  Snarling, Sorin yanked at his restraints until something tore in his shoulder. He sucked in a sharp breath and relaxed the tense muscles in his upper body. He was playing right into this pup’s hands. He had to act smarter. So what if she bore his mark? It couldn’t be a permanent thing. They’d only met today. It could be washed off. She’d been sent to save him—his people.

  He cleared his throat. “I want to see her.” Make sure she wasn’t being misused. As a stranger to this land she wouldn’t understand shifter culture. The dominance games his people played confused those of other races. He’d witnessed how she arrived at the Temple. No one here had. They’d never understand how
special she was.

  “You’re not in any position to make demands, Sorin.” A familiar voice spoke to his left.

  Sorin swung his head to glare at Inali, the Payami’s alpha. “Let me go. I only crossed to claim what was mine. Your hunters had no right to take her.”

  “An unmarked female on my land? Sounds like she belongs to me now. You have no defense for breaking our laws.” Inali’s blue eyes bore into his. He’d been alpha for a long time and had known Sorin’s father at his worst. There was no love lost between their packs.

  If only the other alphas would give Sorin a chance to prove himself, they’d see his pack had changed.

  Sorin swallowed a growl and offered Inali his most reasonable expression. Dealing with his father had taught him how to control his temper. Arguing with Inali would only bring violence and waste more time. “Very well, believe what you like. What do you want for my freedom and hers?”

  “Nothing.” Inali shrugged. “Your pack has nothing, and I haven’t met this female, who fell out of a blue light, to pass judgment. The idea of feeding another useless mouth doesn’t appeal to me though.” The Payami alpha turned his back on him.

  If Sorin weren’t chained, Inali wouldn’t ever have let his defenses down in front of him. “The Goddess might have sent her and—”

  “The Goddess abandoned us long ago when the vampires took over our people and our lands. If she did send this creature, then it’s best we just send her right back.”

  “If you don’t believe then just let us go.”

  “I plan to eventually, Sorin. But first I need to make an example of you. Maybe in a few days…” He glanced over his shoulder. “I have some females and males who wouldn’t mind taking some entertainment from you first. I believe your father was fond of such activities.”

  Sorin watched Ahote stiffen at the mention of the crimes his father had committed. “I’d apologize for my father’s actions if I knew it would ease anyone’s pain but I know first hand that words do little to heal.” Even though his feet couldn’t touch the ground well, he tried to straighten with some dignity. “I am not my father. Nor will I ever be.”

  Chapter Four

  Before Susan could explain anything about dimensions and gateways, the door to Kele’s chamber crashed open, and Susan jumped to the balls of her feet, prepared—to what, fight? Was she nuts?

  A female blocked the entrance, her muscular physique hinting at enough strength to twist Susan into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. The newcomer flung her black hair over her shoulder.

  Rising with grace, Kele straightened her dress before addressing the intruder. “Mother.”

  “Daughter, I heard you’ve brought home a stray along with the Apisi alpha.” The female’s stare drilled into Susan, her sneer far from welcoming.

  Susan’s breath caught in her throat. Black, soulless eyes ate her gaze. Her fingers clutched the lapels of her jacket as she pulled it closed. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and offered her hand. “I’m Dr. Susan Barlow.”

  The female shifter narrowed her eyes, nostrils flaring.

  Susan withdrew her untouched hand, then hid it behind her back and glanced at Kele. Maybe she should have sniffed her mother instead? She wished someone would give her the Dummies Guide to Shifter Society and a little time to study it.

  Kele’s mother crossed the room in two great strides and swung her arm.

  Susan did her best impression of a statue. She didn’t budge as the impact of the slap swerved her head to the side and dragged her gaze from mother to daughter. Both of them were flushed with emotion yet at opposite poles of the color spectrum—one dark as an oncoming storm and the other pale as the moonlight.

  The back of Susan’s heel caught the edge of the cushion and she landed hard on her back.

  The bitter flavor of blood swept over her taste buds. “What the hell?” She rubbed her jaw and glared daggers at the crazy woman looming over her. Just as quickly, she schooled her expression to something less threatening before she insulted the bigger shifter further. With the tip of her tongue, Susan explored her mouth. She didn’t encounter any big gaps, so no lost tooth. A small blessing.

  Kele’s crazy mother hovered over Susan’s face and bared her teeth. In beast form, her expression would have appeared fierce, but in human form it seemed terrifying. With an easy grace, she flipped Susan onto her stomach. A bony knee pressed between her shoulder blades, making her kiss the floor. Pain shot across Susan’s upper back and neck.

  “How dare you come into my den and not submit to me.”

  “She’s not a shifter!” Kele shouted. “You can’t expect her to know how to be polite.”

  Something ran over Susan’s hair, and the sound of sniffing followed. She tried to take a deep breath but the weight on her back made it difficult.

  The nutjob exhaled in disgust. “What is she?”

  “A human.” Kele peered at Susan’s throbbing face as she stroked her hair. “Please, I wanted to teach her how to behave before meeting you and father.”

  “Your father.” The bitch snorted. “It’s bad enough he’s entertaining a vampire and dealing with trespassing alphas. We don’t need any more vermin within the den.”

  Susan was jerked from the ground by her hair and dragged across the floor. Pain shot into her scalp while she scrambled to support her weight with her legs. “Let go. Let go.” The shifter world was more brutal than anything she’d ever experienced. Susan slapped at the crazy woman’s hands tangled in her hair.

  “My daughter took too many liberties in offering you shelter. You’ll need to find another den to take you in.”

  At a loss, Susan yanked and squirmed but only made the pain worse. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kele leap.

  The petite blonde used her wiry strength to jump across the room and land on her mother’s back. The collision knocked them both to the ground in a knot of arms and legs.

  Untangling her limbs from the struggling shifters, Susan could finally elbow the bitch in the face. The impact made a satisfying crunch. She pulled back her arm for a second shot, but Kele grabbed her and half carried, half dragged her out of the chamber.

  “Hurry, we need to reach my father before she beats you into cinders.”

  Not needing any further incentive, Susan ran after her new friend. “Your people are crazy.”

  They tore across the rope bridge, Susan ignoring the height this time. What chased her would do far more damage than falling. Kele’s mother howled profanities, and they echoed inside the volcano’s interior.

  Susan cringed and glanced back. It wasn’t a matter of if Kele’s mother caught them, but more of when—then she’d have to kiss her ass goodbye.

  The dark-headed, crazy female crashed out of the chamber, splintering the wooden door in her enthusiasm, and took chase in her human-appearing form.

  Jumping down the stairs two at a time, Susan made it to the ground floor without breaking her neck. It was a miracle.

  Thirty-one years on Earth, and she’d never been chased or hit by anyone. Less than six hours in this dimension, and it had happened twice.

  A crowd gathered by the path Kele ran along. Some laughed and others rolled their eyes but no one helped.

  Pumping her long legs, Susan tried to keep up with the shorter Kele but the pale-haired shifter outpaced her.

  It wouldn’t be long before the mad shifter dug her nails into Susan’s flesh. She could almost sense Kele’s mother reaching out, the sharp edges of her nails tickling the hairs on the nape of her neck. Susan pushed her body to go faster. Her sides cramped. Her lungs burned. God, was she ever out of shape.

  From nowhere, Ahote stepped out of the crowd. A huge grin spread across his face, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Keep running. I’ll try to slow her down.”

  As she passed him, he slapped her ass like a fucking horse. The pain spurred her on. The crowd cheered but she couldn’t waste time to look around. Was it for her or maybe the crazy female chasing her? Insane p
eople!

  Kele ran into the vegetation that grew in patches inside the den, and Susan lost sight of her. Panic sent her heart into double time, and her pulse only slowed a fraction when she caught a flash of Kele’s blue dress between the plants. Susan ran after her. Over a fallen log, through thick ferns and across a spider web large enough to be classed as a condo. A large entrance in the side of the extinct volcano’s wall loomed ahead.

  Susan crossed inside and slid to a stop, dirt blooming into a small cloud around her feet. Panting, she leaned her hands on her knees and dragged in a deep lungful of air. The eerie silence in the cavern had her lifting her head.

  Shifters in human-appearing form congregated in small groups on cushions along the walls and around the large fire at the center of the room. It reminded her of a humongous family gathering. Games and cards were scattered on the low tables. Books lined one of the walls. Nice to know they did something other than try to kill each other.

  Everyone had stopped to stare.

  She straightened and tried to smooth her nest-like hair. Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled along her face. She clenched her fist so no one could see her hands shake. What did Kele first tell her? Control her fear or they’d be all over her? A little too late to remember.

  “Is this the troublemaker?” The deep voice came from a large shifter, who lounged among the multi-colored pillows. He motioned in her direction with a pewter cup.

  Susan glanced from Kele, who lay sprawled on her stomach before him, to the shifters surrounding her. Unsure of what to do anymore, it seemed safer to join her on the floor. No matter how degrading. Every fiber in her body shook in defiance as she lay beside Kele, but if it kept her alive…

  Crap, she didn’t even understand why Kele’s crazed mother wanted to rip her head off. All she did was offer to shake hands. Note to self: keep hands in pockets from now on. She glanced at the imposing male before them.