Whispers of Darkness (The Deadwood Hunter Series)

by Rachel M Raithby

  Caden managed to get free and raced towards Lexia only to receive a knife in his side. He whined and spun around, trying to avoid the huge male Hunter that had just launched himself at Caden. The Hunter caught his back legs sending him rolling to the floor. He heard a roar and the sound of splashing water, his gaze swept the bank but Lincoln was gone.

  “Caden!” Lexia’s voice cut through his heart, so frightened; she sounded like a lost little girl.

  Her voice sent a wave of rage through him, increasing his strength, igniting the bloodlust of his beast. When he’d reached her she’d pulled free of the men carrying her, and she scrambled away, her injured leg dragging.

  “Where’s Lincoln?” she yelled at him, dragging herself up against a tree and leaning against it. “Where’s my freaking JEANS! MY BLADE?” she screamed at him as he landed onto a Hunter.

  Lexia smiled as Caden took out the Hunter that had held her legs. She suppressed a shiver at the memory of his hands touching her naked skin, and groaned as a fresh wave of pain rolled from her hip. The pain had lessened now but she couldn’t take any weight on her leg. Looking around Lexia counted seven Hunters left and she couldn’t see Lincoln anywhere. Caden was in trouble; two men hand landed on him, their bodies crushing the leopard’s body to the floor.

  “Lincoln!” Lexia yelled. She heard a commotion in the river and that’s when she saw him. Her panther was thrashing about in the river, a Hunter on his back dragging him under the water.

  Lexia’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes glancing around again. Caden needed help, Lincoln needed help, and she was the only one around. Her eyes caught the glint of a red ruby and she pushed off from the tree she’d been leaning against, wincing at the pain in her hip every time she moved it.

  As she picked up her blade Lexia realized she had to pick which cat to help. Lincoln’s head was completely under the water now and Caden had been backed to the river edge, snarling and hissing at the four Hunters before him.

  “Forgive me, Caden,” Lexia whispered as she forced her body to move, felt the rush of her Hunter power flow through her veins as she dived into the water.

  The river was freezing, instantly numbing her muscles making her limbs feel heavy and drugged at they cut through the water. The Hunter on Lincoln’s back turned in surprise as she dived onto her. Lexia drove her blade through the woman’s chest, knocking her off Lincoln. The Hunter female wrapped her hands around Lexia’s throat, dragging her under the water. Lexia kicked her legs to stay above the water but her left leg was too weak and she went under, swallowing water. Lexia pulled her blade back and stabbed the woman again, the water around her turning red as blood seeped from the woman’s chest, but she still kept her hands around her throat and as Lexia’s lungs burned for oxygen, her vision started to fade.

  Lexia felt the Hunter’s hands leave her suddenly and she used the last of her energy to reach the surface, sucking air into her lungs. Lincoln had ripped the Hunter from her and he now padded his paws through the water towards her, Lexia desperately tried to keep herself above water but she was just too weak. The water had completely frozen her body making her brain foggy and she couldn’t even feel her legs anymore. She sucked in a breath as she went back under, her arms flailing above her desperate for something to hold onto. Her hand clasped wet fur and she dragged herself above the water. Lincoln started to swim towards the edge.

  “Thank you, pretty panther,” Lexia whispered as she clung onto him.

  There was a growl and a splash to her right and Lexia whipped her head around to find Caden falling into the river. A Hunter jumped in after him, sword in hand.

  Lexia reached the bank and let go of Lincoln. “Go! Go help him!”

  Lincoln growled as he pounced up the river bank and Lexia scrambled up on her hands and knees, rocks and gravel grazing her naked skin. Hands took hold of her and pulled her up from the bank. Lexia pulled away, wilding swiping her blade in front of her.

  The Hunter stood above her laughing. He was huge and his shoulders were twice as wide as Lincoln’s, his face wide with a lumpy crooked nose that looked like it had been broken numerous times.

  “Come here, little girl” he sneered, dodging Lexia’s blade as it swiped at him far too slowly. “Give up will you, you’re out numbered and injured.”

  “Never!” Lexia spat, forcing her frozen, dead legs to stand and driving her blade into his chest.

  His eyes widened but he never faltered. Slapping his hand across Lexia’s face, she fell back to the floor, her blade staying in his chest.

  “Bitch!” he spat, reaching for her.

  This is it, Lexia thought, this is how it all ends. She scrambled backwards but it was no use, his hand reached for her throat, gripping it hard and lifting Lexia off the floor. Her legs kicked feebly as her airway was cut off, her nails scratching at his hands.

  Lexia looked over at Lincoln but he was too busy to help her. As her vision started to fade and the cruel hunters laugh echoed through her head she saw another leopard run through the trees.

  He was wider than Caden and his dappled fur had a sprinkle of grey through it. His dark brown eyes locked with hers as he leapt onto the Hunter gripping her throat.

  Caleb, she thought as she hit the ground.

  The huge Hunter didn’t go down easily; it took both Lincoln and Caleb to bring him to his knees as Caden ripped out his throat. Lexia scrambled back as he hit the ground and the three cats turned, fanning out in front of her, growling and hissing at the four Hunters left.

  Lexia felt her heart swell with warmth towards the three cats crouched in front of her, protecting her. The three of them roared together moving as one; clashing in a fury of claws and blood, it was hard to make out what was going on in front of her. They’d become a mass of fur and skin, splatters of blood, the sound of gurgled screams and tearing flesh, swipes of swords and sharp deadly claws. It felt like an eternity watching, heart in her throat, but the fight was over in a matter of seconds leaving behind the torn dead bodies of Hunters and three alive but injured cats.

  Lincoln shifted and dropped to his knees.

  “Linc!” Lexia gasped, crawling over to him.

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Shush, I’ll be okay,” he wheezed.

  Caleb and Caden shifted, too.

  “I think we should move now,” Caleb ordered.

  “Agreed. Can you walk, Linc?” Caden asked.

  “Can you?” Lincoln laughed, standing and looking over his cuts.

  “For a while... Please tell me you brought some first aid, Caleb,” Caden replied.

  “No, everything is in the Jeep I hid along route 90. When you never showed I started to look for you and then I heard Lexia screaming, I just shifted and ran.”

  “It’s a good job you did,” Lexia answered, taking hold of Lincoln’s hand as he held it out to her, pulling her to her feet.

  “What the hell happened?” Caleb asked.

  “Let’s talk and walk,” Caden said.

  “Can someone pass me my jeans and boots first? I’m freezing,” Lexia said.

  Caleb was nearest, so he picked up her jeans. “Do I want to know why you’re half undressed?”

  Lexia scowled at his amused face. “Yeah we decided to have a quickie while being hunted by killers!” she snapped.

  “Lexia went over a waterfall, dislocated her hip. That’s why she was screaming.”

  “Ouch!” Caleb laughed.

  “If you weren’t naked I’d be putting you on your ass, Caleb!” Lexia huffed.

  “Leave her alone,” Lincoln growled, pulling Lexia back up now she was dressed. She hobbled over to the huge dead Hunter and pulled her ruby covered blade from his chest. Wiping his blood on her jeans she slid it back into the side of her boot. “Right I’m ready to go, not that I can walk very well.”

  “I’ll help you,” Lincoln said, taking a step towards her and then swaying. Caden grabbed him before he fell.

  “Caden, is he going to be okay?” Lexia asked.<
br />
  “Yeah, he has a concussion from the river and that gash isn’t helping. Let’s get moving, when we are in a safer spot, I’ll have to find something to bind up our wounds. Here, Lexi lean on me, Caleb help Linc.”

  A growl rumbled up Lincoln’s throat. “You have no clothes on and you want to touch my mate?”

  “Oh for God’s sake Linc, rein in the beast. I promise to keep my eyes up,” Lexia snapped.

  The four of them slowly made their way into the forest away from the river. Caden had his arm wrapped around her as she put her weight against him. Lincoln had his arm draped around Caleb’s shoulder. He reached out and took hold of Lexia’s hand, she looked to him and smiled, squeezing his hand.

  They walked like that for a while until the forest started to grow dark and a bitter cold wind picked up, freezing them all to their bones.

  “We should stop and build a fire, looks like we are camping tonight,” Caden said.

  “I’m going to freeze to death overnight,” Lexia said through her clattering teeth, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as Caden lowered her to the floor.

  “I’ll make the fire, you see to him before he passes out,” Caleb said, walking off into the trees in search of firewood.

  “How do you feel?” Caden asked, kneeling in front of Lincoln.

  “Fine!” he snapped.

  “Linc!” Lexia rasped.

  “Fine, I feel like fucking shit! When did you start being the one who didn’t get as hurt?”

  Caden laughed at his friend. “Just luck, my friend. I think you should shift, you have always healed quicker in panther form.”

  He nodded and looked to Lexia, she scooted over to him and pressed her lips to his. “I love you,” he breathed into her mouth.

  Lexia moaned as he dipped his tongue into her mouth, her frozen body being warmed with desire.

  “Knock it off, you two.” Caden laughed.

  “Speak to you in the morning,” Lincoln whispered against her mouth before shifting.

  Lexia watched the lights stretch out over him. She’d seen him shift many times now but still, it took her breath away every time. To her his light as he shifted represented everything he was: goodness, warmth, gold so bright and brilliant, it took her breath away.

  She smiled at the black panther before her; he rubbed his velvet soft head against her and then turned to Caden with a soft growl.

  Caden had no medical supplies, hell he had no clothes to even rip up other than Lexia’s and he didn’t think she’d appreciate being naked for the night, they had fur after all. He looked through the trees and picked every broad leaf he could find, which wasn’t easy in a forest mostly full of pine and spruce trees. Ripping a few vines from the ground, he returned to Lincoln and started to bind up his wounds.

  “You’ll have healed by morning, I think,” he murmured.

  Caleb came back, arms full of twigs and branches. “It’s bloody freezing,” he muttered, letting the wood fall to the ground.

  “Hurry up and get the fire going then! I’d like to dry my clothes before I’m an icicle,” Lexia said. Lincoln pressed closer against her. She bent and kissed his head. “My own personal fur blanket.”

  Caden sat down, his back to Lexia. “Hey Doc, you’re bleeding.”

  “Hmm,” he murmured.

  “Go get some more stuff and I’ll fix you up.”

  “I’ll be okay, Lex.”

  “Not good enough! I got that bullet out which means I’m practically a doctor now, so shut up and shift!”

  He looked at her over his shoulder and laughed. “Gouging a hole into my shoulder does not make you a doctor!”

  “Hey, I freaking stitched you up and everything! You’re still alive! It’s okay, Doc, I get it. You’re jealous ‘cause I’m stealing your special ‘patch us up every five seconds’ role. Now shift.”

  Caden smiled while shaking his head. “Lexi,” he whispered before shifting.

  “Sweet leopard,” she murmured, running her hands through his fur, “let’s fix you up.”

  Lincoln growled next to her, bumping her with his head. “Don’t worry baby, you are still the prettiest cat I’ve ever seen.”

  Lexia started to laugh when the panther hissed, his lips pulling back over his teeth, he nipped at her before dropping to the floor in a sulk. “Sorry, I forgot. You’re the prettiest, deadliest cat I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’ll give the man a complex,” Caleb muttered.

  Smiling, Lexia pushed Caden’s skin closer together and started to bind leaves to the wound to stop the bleeding. As she was tying the vine into a knot, something cold and wet landed on the end of her nose.

  Rubbing her nose, Lexia tipped her head up as more cold drops landed on her face. White flakes drifted slowly down from the sky, landing and melting on the ground.

  Caleb swore at the sky. “I best move this under a tree. If it gets heavier, it will put the fire out.”

  The cold wind whipped around her making Lexia shudder. “I’ll be lucky if I survive the night,” she whispered, wishing she had at least some dry clothes.

  Caleb glanced at her. “You’ll be fine, I’ll have a fire going in no time.”

  She said nothing but moved back further until her back was against a tree trunk. Lincoln and Caden sat on either side of her, their fur and body heat warming her a little. Sitting watching the flakes of snow slowly increase their speed, she tried not to let her mind wander to the dark thoughts she could feel lurking at the back of her mind.

  When the fire was crackling and spitting, lighting the now darkening night, Lexia pulled off her wet jeans and heavy wool jumper that had stretched from the weight of the water. Ignoring the protest from her hip, she stood and walked near the fire, hanging her clothes over a low branch.

  Lincoln lifted his head, his golden panther eyes glowing. Lexia turned to him and smiled, pulling the silk slip she’d had on under her clothes as low as it would go.

  “Yes, I already know you don’t like me showing off my body! Just be pleased I slung on a jumper and jeans before coming to find you this morning,” Wrapping her arms around her chest, she sat under the tree and waited for her clothes to dry.

  That night Lexia fell asleep curled up on the cold hard ground with Lincoln’s warm panther body curled around her back, his head and front paw resting on her chest. Caden lay over her legs, his tail curled over her stomach and Caleb near her head, protecting her face from the bitter wind that had picked up. The cats warm heavy bodies kept her warm, protected her from the flakes of snow that managed to make it through the tree branches above them. The snow had started to settle with nightfall, covering the forest in a white blanket.

  As she drifted off, Lexia couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in her stomach, could no longer ignore the voice that whispered in her mind, you can’t outrun your fate forever. She prayed that this wouldn’t be the last night she’d fall to sleep safe in her panther’s embrace, surrounded by people who cared for her, but no matter how hard she prayed she knew she was running out of time. She knew she’d be seeing her mother again soon.

  Chapter 32

  Lexia opened her eyes to darkness. As she stared above her and her eyes adjusted she could just make out the tree branches above her now straining under the snow that had settled on them. As the minutes ticked by, Lexia realized she couldn’t feel much of her body. She wiggled her toes and bit back a whimper as pain shot through her joints. Lifting her head as far from the floor as she could, Lexia saw why she couldn’t breathe. Lincoln’s panther body lay across her chest, his head nestled next to hers. She dropped her head back with a moan and twisted to look at him.

  His eyes were closed in sleep, a soft purr leaving his mouth. She smiled and then twisted her head the other way seeing leopard fur. She couldn’t make out if it was Caden or Caleb but she guessed it was Caleb as a further wriggle of her legs confirmed another cat covered her legs and she was certain her possessive panther wouldn’t want Caleb on her.

  Pulling he
r arm free, Lexia uncurled her frozen fingers from their tight ball and stroked Lincoln’s head. “Linc, Linc move, I can’t breathe,” she whispered to him, her fingers running between his eyes.

  His nose scrunched up a little but he never moved.

  “Lincoln! You are crushing me.”

  She felt a rumble against her chest and then he moved down her body, causing Caden to hiss and reposition himself over her legs.

  Lexia dragged in a deep breath, her ribs expanding painfully. She pushed up and leaned back on her elbows. Now she understood why the cats were covering most of her body; snow had fallen thick and fast overnight covering the cats’ thick fur and dampening down the fire. It smouldered now, a low glow coming from the center of the pile of blackened, cracked branches.

  A gust of wind whipped up the snow, swirling it around Lexia. She shuddered, turning her face away from the wind. Even with the cats covering her she knew she was too cold. Her body was numb, each tiny movement caused pain to shoot through her joints. She needed to get up and move before she froze to death. But for a second she considered just closing her eyes and letting sleep claim her, she was so tired and the last twelve hours had put her already weak body through too much.

  Sighing she thought, I best get up or I’ll freeze to death in my sleep.

  Lexia managed to sit up and immediately Caleb curled into the spot she’d been laying on, his lean body wrapping around her back.

  Lincoln growled as he slid from her stomach and into her lap, knocking Caden.

  “Linc, I need to get up, I’m freezing to death here,” she whispered to him. “Cade, hop off my legs, will you?”

  When neither cat made a move, Lexia pulled one leg free, a breathy whimper leaving her as her knee cracked. Caden got up with a hiss, his back arching while his paws padded the ground. She laughed as he spun in a circle and curled into a ball over her remaining leg.

  “You’re just a bunch of house cats!” Lexia laughed with a shake of her head.

  Lincoln shifted, his naked body pushing her back into Caleb. “Who you calling a house cat?” he murmured, crushing his lips to hers.