by Lacey Thorn
Table of Contents
The Liger’s Mark
The Liger’s Mark Copyright © 2015, Lacey Thorn
Book Description
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
The Holloways Series
His to Bear Exclusive Excerpt
About the Author
Dear Readers,
Also Available from
ResplendencePublishing.com
The Liger’s Mark
An Awakening Pride Story
By Lacey Thorn
Resplendence Publishing
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www.resplendencepublishing.com
Gems of Romantic Fiction
The Liger’s Mark
Copyright © 2015, Lacey Thorn
Edited by Delaney Sullivan and Liza Green
Cover Art by Les Byerley
Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146
St. Augustine, FL 32080
Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-871-8
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Electronic Release: May 2015
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
The Avenging Angel…
Gabriel is the man his people need, an avenging angel who brings death to those who torture and massacre shifters. He never planned to take a mate, but once he does, it takes everything he has to walk away. She wears his mark, but for now, that’s all he can give.
A Woman Alone…
Abandoned at birth then shuffled between foster homes, Kenzie knows what it means to be unwanted. Even adoption didn’t make her feel loved when she was booted out at eighteen. She’d expected her mate’s mark would give her a place to belong…and someone to whom she’d belong. It didn’t. She was marked, mated then discarded.
Mine…
The mark awakens things long dormant inside Kenzie and sends her on a journey for answers. She won’t stop until she learns the truth, even if it tears her world apart. She’ll find the ones who left her to stand alone when they should have loved her. She’ll start with her mate.
This one goes out to all the Awakening Pride fans! Thanks so much for loving this series as much as I do! You guys are amazing!
Xoxo
Chapter One
Kenzie barely held in the groan as she came awake with a surge of adrenaline. Her shoulder ached, most likely from where the bastards had caught her with the dart they’d used to knock her out. Her hands were tied, stretched high over her head, but there was something soft against her back, and for some reason, her feet were free. She was also naked. She was doing her best to take everything in without alerting them she was conscious yet. Fuck! She only prayed they hadn’t found Zane and Diane.
Kenzie had been the one to persuade Diane to leave with her before they’d met with their alpha leader, Tah, or his second in command, Reno. Their pride of cat shifters and humans were very aware of the hunters searching for them, but Kenzie hadn’t expected to run into a full party of them while searching for a feral Zane. At least, she’d been a good distance from where she’d left Zane and Diane when the hunters had darted her.
“I’m telling you; we’ve found her.”
Kenzie focused on the voice. Who had they found? Christ, had Zane and Diane come after her? The entire pride would be devastated if they lost Diane. As their only doctor, Diane was needed. As Zane’s mate, she was irreplaceable. Losing her would destroy him and cripple the pride. Kenzie couldn’t allow it to happen.
“She’s the one. The mark is on her hip exactly where we left it.”
There was a brief pause, and Kenzie wished she could hear the voice on the other end of the phone call.
“I’ll bring her in. We’ll head back tonight. Send another team to take out the rest of them. A discovery like this is too important to risk. She takes precedence over everything else.”
The door opened and closed, and she fought to keep her breathing even, her eyes gently closed instead of squeezed tightly shut.
“She’s awake.” The masculine voice spoke by her head, closer than she’d anticipated. Her senses were off. There must have been something more than a tranquilizer in the dart they’d hit her with.
His hand reached out and pinched the side of her breast, and she sank her teeth deep into her lip to hold the cry of pain inside. She needed to concentrate and find out who else they had. Why the woman was so important to them that they’d leave without trying to get anyone else?
“Open your eyes, you fucking animal!” The words were jeered at her while he used his hands to inflict more pain—pinching, slapping and punching at her until she couldn’t hold in the groan.
“Stop.” The voice she’d heard speaking on the phone ordered, but another punch caught her on the side of the temple. “I said enough!” the phone man yelled, and Kenzie blinked open her eyes in time to see the man with the cruel hands hit the wall.
“Since when do you care what happens to a fucking animal?” the hard hitter demanded as he pushed away and came back at the other man.
“Do you have a problem following orders? I told you to stop. You will not touch her again.”
“The hell I won’t.”
She watched the two face off, gently tugging at her hands. If she could get free, she might have a chance. She couldn’t shift, but she wasn’t helpless. Groggy, achy, definitely off balance from the drug they’d hit her with. She wasn’t going down without a fight. She skimmed her gaze around the cabin they had her in. There was no one else there. Where was the woman he’d spoken of?
A roar split the air outside, and there was no mistaking it. Kenzie tensed. That was Zane. Oh, God! Both the men paused, and the hitter turned back to her, taking advantage of his opponent’s distracted state and slamming his fist into her side.
“Fucking animal has a friend,” he sneered.
She screamed as he grabbed her hair and jerked back her head. The edge of a blade touched her skin just as another roar rocked the air. Not Zane. This one sent a shiver down her spine. This one set off a ripple in her core that had her gritting her teeth to hold back the claim she wanted to make.
“I said leave her alone!”
The next thing she knew the knife was gone, leaving only a small cut on the left side of her neck. She struggled against her bonds, but her eyes were on the two men. It made no sense to her. They were both hunters, yet they fought each other when even she could hear the roars coming from outside, and the human screams. What the hell was going on?
The door flew open, and she blinked as she took in the huge liger that padded inside. His mouth opened, teeth flashing as another roar sounded, and the power of it shot straight to her womb. Adrenaline surged through her, and she fought to push her claws out, to free herself.
The scuffle stopped, and both men fa
ced the liger, but they were no match. It was over far too quickly, leaving only corpses on the wooden floor. The liger turned his head toward her, mouth opening, but it wasn’t a roar this time. It was a purr—one she was more than willing to return.
“Release me,” she demanded, but it came out softly, her voice thick with desire.
The liger inhaled, its aqua gaze glowing. She closed her eyes briefly, squeezing her thighs together as lust struck like an electric jolt straight to her clit. She forced herself to look and found a man before her, bigger and more beautiful than she’d ever imagined. She knew he was hers. Finally, she’d found the one person who would never leave her. Something inside her held back the claim she wanted to make. She felt it, like a flutter of her senses, as if the animal she could never reach was beating against a locked door.
“Your name?” she asked, needing it as if it were a lifeline.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel. It sank deep into her soul, filling places that had been empty for too long.
“My hands,” she said, tugging at her tied wrists until his gaze moved there.
He shredded her bonds easily, and before he could pull back, she was on him, arms wrapped around him, biting down on his chest, attempting to claim him in a way he couldn’t deny. God help her, some part of her sensed he might try to deny her.
He gritted his teeth, holding back the growl his chest rumbled with as she sucked his skin into her mouth, frustrated with her inability to leave her mark and claim him as any other shifter would.
“You can’t be mine,” he stated, voice rough and deep, but his hands held her close.
“Mine,” she countered, reaching for his hair and pulling his head down for her kiss.
She meshed their lips, pressing and fighting for him to let her inside. Why was he denying her? Denying them? She nipped hard, biting his lip forcefully enough to make him groan, and still, he refused to open. She ran her hand down his torso and wrapped her fingers around his rock hard cock. He might be fighting the mating, but his body was primed and ready for her.
He groaned louder as she stroked him, mouth finally falling open, and she flicked her tongue inside. He stiffened against her, his whole body tensing until she feared he might break. Then it was as if his control snapped. She found her back pressed to the mattress once more, but this time her mate was over her, moving between her thighs. His cock nudged her slick folds, lodging at her opening and with a growl, he plunged deep.
“Damn you,” he said with a harsh grunt as she panted and clung to his broad shoulders.
This was what she wanted, what she’d prayed a lifetime to find. Her mate. She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him against her as he thrust. He had one hand cupped at her hip while the elbow of his other arm rested beside her head. His fingers gripped her hair as he rode her. His head was tilted back, lips wide as if even in taking her he fought against her. Why was he holding back?
“Mine,” she said again and let her teeth find the reddened mark she’d left on him. She sucked at the skin again, and he jerked in response. She bit down, frustrated with her inability to pierce his skin like she craved to.
Another rumble sounded from his chest, and he tugged her hair until her neck was arched toward him. His lips whispered along her flesh, a light caress that had her begging for more.
“Please,” she sighed. Wanting this. Needing this.
“He cut you.” The rumble was dark, erotic and had her channel clenching around his pistoning cock.
“Do it,” she ordered, though it came out sounding more like begging even to her.
His tongue licked over the wound, tasting her, and she swore fire leaped inside her at the slick caress of his tongue over the spot the knife had scraped. She arched into him, pressing her neck more firmly against his mouth.
“Do it,” she ordered again.
A fiery ache ripped through her womb again, and she finally realized what was happening. The shot. Her body was starting to respond to the shot the professor had given her. Though it would still be a few days before she went into full heat, she felt the changes the shot was forcing in her body. She undulated, using the grip of her arms and legs to curl up into him. Then she did something she swore she’d never do for any man. She softened, relaxing her neck and whimpering her need to him, submitting to anything he wanted. As if he’d only been waiting for that, he struck, canines sinking deep just where she longed for them.
Her back hit the mattress as he took them both back down, teeth holding her tight as his cock owned her pussy with every hard thrust of his hips. Her whimpers turned to cries of pleasure as her body was flung impossibly high. She felt it, a merging of so much more than their orgasms. Lights flashed in her head and pain resonated, making her cry out. She felt something, a shift inside her and clung to consciousness as he whispered against her skin.
“I can’t have you. Damn you! My life isn’t my own.”
She wanted to claim him. Mine resonated in her mind, in her heart, but blackness pulled her under before her lips could form the word.
* * * *
The absence of her mate tore through her before she even opened her eyes. Zane and Diane were with her now, but any pleasure she found at their safety was overshadowed by the loss of her mate. Gabriel was gone, leaving her emptier than she’d been before she’d tasted him.
She sat up, holding the blanket to her naked chest as she glanced around, unable not to. “He’s gone,” she whispered but didn’t need confirmation of that harsh truth. He had left her. How? Why? Mates weren’t supposed to leave. Mates were forever.
She let Diane comfort her as she finally gave into the tears, but it was no use. They did nothing to alleviate the despair she held deep inside. Zane stepped out, and she dressed, needing to get away, to leave the memories and the cabin, the scents it held, behind.
Zane offered her a few moments of respite by letting her head out alone. She was grateful as she needed the time to collect herself, to deal with the surge of pain that filled her, making her ache as if she were splintering apart. Diane had fussed over her earlier, worried about the bruises on her skin. Kenzie knew those would heal. It was the wounds too deep for the eye to see that might destroy her.
It had been her intention to go back to the house, to find comfort in the arms of her friends. Holt would be there for her. He always was, even when she didn’t deserve him. Then she caught a scent on the wind and wouldn’t have been able to stop herself if she’d wanted to. She tracked her mate through the trees until she found the clearing, and the man waiting there.
Those intense aqua eyes of his were the first things to snag her attention. She’d never seen such color on another person. Then there was the wild mane of deep, golden blond hair with strands of white blond and orange-red weaved through. Broad shoulders and a wide chest, which only added to the intimidation of his six and half feet of height. Just looking at him sent a jolt of pure need through her and had her clenching her thighs and holding her breath. He pushed away from his easy slouch against the side of his SUV, gaze meeting hers as soon as she stepped forward. His feet were spread wide, hands on his hips as he watched her.
“You’re supposed to be safe with your group,” he stated, voice deep and rough, laced with anger.
“You’re my mate,” she countered softly, one hand rising to touch the mark he’d left on her skin. “And you left me.”
“I told you; you couldn’t be mine.”
“This says otherwise,” she said, tapping her finger against the spot on her left side where shoulder blended into neck.
He hung his head, looking momentarily weary. Then those sexy eyes of his met her gaze. “I didn’t think you existed. Never once in my life did I dream there was a mate out there for me.”
“There was,” she whispered. “There is. I’m right here. Why would you leave me?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I can’t have you, Kenzie. My wants are nothing compared to what I must do. I have responsibilities. Peop
le who count on me. My life is not my own.”
“You’re leaving me,” she said, the words choking her with emotion. “You’re my mate,” she said again as if he didn’t understand what that meant. “How can you leave me?”
He moved closer then. His larger frame surrounding her. He was so big, over a foot taller than her diminutive height, and it was easy to feel overwhelmed by him. No one had ever made her feel the way he did. She’d never had trouble remembering she was a fighter, a warrior, until him.
“I have no choice,” Gabriel gritted out between his teeth as he caged her against a tree. “I already told you. There are people counting on me. I have a job to do. If I don’t, people will die.”
“What about me? Your mate? I’m counting on you,” she argued.
“Zane promised he’d watch out for you. Tah swore you were family.”
“I need my mate. I’ve waited what feels like forever to find you.”
“I can’t have a mate,” he growled low in his throat. “Not now.”
His words. It was as if he’d stabbed a blade deep into her heart.
He groaned, head dropping to nuzzle her neck. “God, you make me want what isn’t mine to have.”
“I am yours,” she said.
His words made no sense. He was her mate. She knew it. Even now, she felt the bond forming between them. Soon, they would be able to sense each other’s emotions. There was no way he wasn’t feeling it, too.
“I can’t have you,” he whispered. “My life is not my own. I am the hand of justice. The executioner.” The words had a ring of practice to them as if he repeated them often. “I am the Angel.”
She jerked back, bumping her head against the bark on the tree as what he was saying registered. She knew who the Angel was. She’d heard his name whispered before, in both awe and fear.
“Take me with you,” she said but didn’t need to see the shake of his head to know his answer.