The Liger's Mark

by Lacey Thorn

  “Is that it?” Holt asked, and Kenzie glanced up to take in the rundown home before them.

  She inhaled deeply and scented the shifters who lived there. If they weren’t the ones she was searching for, maybe, they’d have a better idea of where to go next. She refused to give up. She would find them, no matter how long it took.

  “This is the place,” Kenzie said, taking a look around as Holt put the car in park and turned off the engine.

  A man appeared on the porch before either of them had moved from the car. He had a rifle cradled in his arm. There was something about him, and Kenzie felt a tremor of excitement go through her. She thrust open her door and stepped out onto the dirt driveway.

  “Ya’ll are trespassing,” the man said. “This is private property. You need to get back in your car, turn around and head back the way you came.”

  “A mutual friend sent me here,” Kenzie said, keeping her body shielded by the open door though it wouldn’t offer much protection if he decided to shoot.

  He inhaled then gave her a funny look. He inhaled again. “What are you?”

  “Shifter,” she said. “Same as you.”

  He shook his head. “Not the same.”

  Kenzie sighed. She’d been getting that everywhere she went. She didn’t know if it was her emerging animal or something to do with her mating with Gabriel. Whatever it was, the scent brought questioning looks and uncertainty.

  “I’m looking for someone,” Kenzie said instead of addressing his comment. “I was told you might be able to help me.”

  He lifted a brow but said nothing. Kenzie could hear Holt mumble an obscenity under his breath and echoed it in her thoughts.

  “There was a family here. Cougars. Have you seen them?”

  “What do you want with them?” the man asked.

  “I just want to talk to them,” Kenzie promised. “They knew me when I was just a baby.”

  Something in his eyes caught her attention, a flare of his nostrils that he tried to hide as he pulled in her scent again. He opened his mouth then snapped it closed.

  “Please,” she said. “I just want to speak with them then I’ll leave.”

  “Just a chat?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I have some questions I think only they will be able to answer for me.”

  “Your friend human?” the guy asked.

  Kenzie nodded again. “Yes. He’s with me. He’ll wait in the car.”

  “Hell, no he won’t,” Holt yelled.

  “No,” the man said at the same time. “He comes in with you. Tell him to leave his gun in the car.”

  “I’m not going to do that,” Holt said as he opened his door and stood.

  “I have women and children in there,” the man informed him.

  “I have a woman to protect, too,” Holt said, nodding toward Kenzie.

  The guy glanced between them and shook his head. “She’s not yours. I can scent you on her, but it’s more of a mist, like a perfume or cologne. Your scent isn’t the one mingled with hers, rising from her skin.”

  Holt glared.

  “He’s my friend. He only wants to make sure I’m safe,” Kenzie offered.

  “Then leave the gun in the car. You’ll both be safe here. I give you my word.” The man stepped briefly out of sight, and Kenzie could pick up the sound of something opening and closing. He moved back unarmed and held out his hands to them.

  “He could probably shift and take our throats out regardless,” Holt muttered.

  “Some friend if he lacks faith in your animal’s ability to protect you,” the man jeered.

  Kenzie almost snickered, but she wasn’t willing to share the fact she’d never shifted. If the man was picking up on Gabriel’s liger scent, he’d believe her to be something greater than what she was. Though she found it strange that her mate’s scent could overpower her emerging animal, it was the only thing that made any sort of sense. She’d thought the time apart would have neutralized the smell of him on her skin.

  “Leave it in the car,” she ordered Holt and was happy when he obeyed without another comment.

  He knew what it was like to work with shifters, though. Knew how keen their hearing and other senses were. There would be no sneaking in a gun without it being discovered.

  Holt placed his gun on the seat then grabbed the keys. Kenzie pulled her holster from the small of her back and placed hers on her seat also.

  “Just the two of you?” the guy asked.

  Kenzie nodded. She wasn’t about to tell him she wasn’t supposed to know about the two tailing her and Holt. It was insulting that the men of her former Marine unit seemed to believe she’d lost her edge. It was nice to see Dusty and Reed alive and well since she knew Reno had included the duo in his original call for help. The fact they’d only turned up to babysit her and report back to Tah pissed her off. She was still debating if she wanted to keep ignoring them or tell them what was going on.

  “Just the two of us,” Kenzie assured him, shutting her door and moving around the front of the car.

  Holt beeped the car locked, tucked the keys in his pocket and joined her before they both approached the porch.

  The man inhaled again and shook his head. Finally, he opened the door and held it, waving them inside.

  The interior was dark, gloomy, as if all the sources of light had been covered to keep whoever was inside hidden. The scent of neglect filled the air, overridden by the fresh aroma of bacon grease.

  “My mother’s back this way,” the man said. “I’m Frankie. If anyone can help you, it’ll be her.”

  He led them to a room at the rear of the house. The first thing Kenzie noticed was the clean smell in the air. The windows were open, and the breeze carried the fragrance of flowers and dirt. A woman sat in a chair facing the window. Her skin was weathered bronze from the sun, her hair a curtain of gray and brown down her back. As soon as Kenzie approached, the woman looked up, and Kenzie knew she was taking stock of both Kenzie and Holt.

  The woman’s head jerked, and her gaze collided with Kenzie’s. In that one moment, Kenzie saw something sad, almost remorseful then terror took over.

  “Leave,” the woman said angrily. “You’re not welcome.”

  “Mother,” Frankie began, going to kneel at her side.

  “No,” she said, hand slashing through the air as she stopped him with that one word. “She’s not welcome here.”

  “You know who I am,” Kenzie said. Not a question as she could see the woman obviously did.

  “You are death,” the woman sneered. “To any who should fall in your shadow. I’ll lose no one else for you.”

  “What?” Kenzie asked, taking a step back into Holt. “What are you talking about? I’m searching for my family. That’s all.”

  “You have no family here,” the woman stated adamantly.

  “There was a family. Cougars,” Kenzie said.

  “You’re not a cougar,” the woman said.

  “Please,” Kenzie begged, but the woman just shook her head and shot a quelling look at her son. “Who did you lose?”

  Silence.

  “I’m looking for answers,” Kenzie said softly. “That’s all. Answers. No one will die for that.”

  The woman laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “Plenty already have. You should stay lost. Nothing good will come from your answers.”

  Kenzie’s heart beat faster. It was too late for that, but the woman didn’t need to know that. “You know who I am,” she said again. “Tell me. Please, tell me who I am.”

  The woman motioned to her son and gave a curt nod. He stood, and Holt tensed behind her. She reached her hand back, gripping his waist to try and assure him she was okay.

  “You touch him, but he’s not yours,” the woman said.

  “He’s my friend,” Kenzie said.

  “Where is your mate?” the woman asked.

  Kenzie kept her gaze on the woman, knowing Holt was watching Frankie as he looked through cabinets around the room, s
earching for something.

  “He’s gone,” Kenzie answered.

  “Not dead,” the woman said. “Though I feel your sorrow.” She inhaled again, this time doing nothing to disguise the gesture. “I’ll give you what I have, but you must leave and never contact us again. Frankie and his family are all I have left. I won’t risk them for secrets, which were never mine to keep.”

  “Secrets?” Kenzie asked.

  “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to know. I’ve seen the knowledge of it bring death more than once. I’ll warn you, though. Trust no one. Not shifter. Not human. There are those on both sides of the fence that would prefer only your corpse be found.”

  She heard Holt’s sharp inhalation and knew he’d be demanding more answers from her after this conversation.

  “I found it,” Frankie said and held up a box.

  “Give it to her,” the woman said.

  Kenzie took the sealed box Frankie passed to her and clutched it against her chest.

  “Take it and go. I’ve never opened it. I have no idea what’s in there. All I know is my sister and her mate asked me to keep it. My sister told me it was important, that someday the baby she gave away would come looking for answers. I was to give you that box.”

  “Where is she?” Kenzie asked.

  “Dead,” the woman spat out. “Her whole family gone because of you. Now get out of my house and never come back.”

  Kenzie swallowed, her hands shaking as she gripped the box and turned. She saw a flare of surprise in Frankie’s eyes before she faced Holt and caught the anger in his. She gave a slight shake of her head and led him back through the house and out to the car.

  “What the fuck was that all about?” Holt demanded as he beeped the car unlocked.

  “I don’t know,” Kenzie admitted. “I think I’ll have a better idea once I go through this.” She jostled the box in her arms.

  “We,” he said. “I’m not letting you do this alone.” It was a subtle reminder of exactly who he thought should be here with her—her mate. “Where to now?”

  Kenzie glanced at her watch. It was still early, but she knew what she wanted. “Let’s find a place to stay for tonight.”

  Holt didn’t answer until they were both locked in the car, and he was heading out of the drive and away from the house.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and open it?” he suggested.

  She’d been thinking the same thing, but every time she lifted her hand to do just that, her stomach cramped. “I’m going to.”

  “Then why don’t I hear tape ripping? Get a move on!”

  Kenzie huffed in frustration and gripped the box tighter. There was sweat on her brow, and her heartbeat was accelerating.

  “Kenz?” Holt called, and she felt his glance dart briefly over to her.

  “Ahh!” she grunted in annoyance. What the hell was going on? Anxiety? Panic? She was a fucking Marine! Nothing had ever made her react in such a way.

  “Are you okay?” Holt asked. “You’ve gone pale on me.”

  “I have no idea what the fuck is wrong with me. Every time I try to move my hands to open this stupid thing, I get this sick sensation in the pit of my stomach. It’s like my fucking cat’s resisting.” She reached for the tape again and had to swallow the bile that rose in her throat.

  “Don’t make yourself puke in the car.”

  “Wuss,” she accused.

  “Hell, yeah. You know if I see that shit, I’ll be barfing, too.”

  She snickered but leaned her head back against the seat, inhaling slow and easy as she focused on calming her beast.

  “Any better?” Holt asked after a few minutes.

  “Little nauseous,” she muttered, breathing through her teeth. “I think I’ll wait for it to pass before I open this up.”

  She sat the box on the floorboard between her feet, and only then did the cramping start to subside. She closed her eyes, concentrating on what was going on inside her. The nerves weren’t hers. They belonged to the beast emerging inside her. For some reason, it didn’t want her looking inside the box, and its fear was intense enough to make Kenzie physically ill. She’d have to figure a way around it. One way or another, she was opening the damn box and getting the answers she needed.

  “I’m going to call Reno,” he said.

  “No,” Kenzie argued, blinking her eyes open in surprise.

  “Hear me out,” Holt demanded. “I heard what she said in there. Something’s going on. You’re mate’s not here to help keep you safe. I am, and I’m going to do it the best way I know how. I know how important this is to you, and I want you to have the answers you need. Hell, if I had any doubts before, they would have been gone after listening to that woman in there. I know you spotted Dusty and Reed tailing us. I told Reno you would. There’s no point in pretending otherwise. I think it’s time I call Reno and get a number for one of them. We’ll be stronger if they’re with us, and not just tailing us. I’m not letting anything happen to you. So unless you want me to turn this car toward Oklahoma, we add two more to our traveling party.”

  Kenzie was silent for a minute. Holt was right. Whatever was in the box had the power to get people killed. For the first time since leaving Colorado, she wondered if she should have gone alone and forced Holt to stay behind. If something happened to him because of her… It was a thought she didn’t even want to finish.

  “Call Reno,” she said. If nothing else, Dusty and Reed could help keep Holt safe.

  You are death for all who fall in your shadow.

  “My family is dead,” Kenzie said. “Because of me, of who I am.”

  “No,” Holt said. “She told you they weren’t yours. You’re not a cougar, Kenzie.”

  “I think she was just picking up on my mate’s liger scent,” Kenzie said.

  Holt shook his head. “No, she said your mate’s scent wasn’t strong. Whatever she was picking up on was coming from you. Fuck, I really wish I had your sense of smell so I could help you out more.”

  “You’re doing more than enough for me,” Kenzie said, reaching over to give his forearm a squeeze.

  Her phone rang. Both their gazes dropped down to it. Gabriel just wouldn’t give up. Kenzie hugged her arms around her stomach and looked away, glancing out the window.

  “He’s going to get tired of calling and show up at some point.” Holt repeated his earlier warning. “I’d make sure you’re ready for that.”

  Kenzie wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to face Gabriel. Not knowing it would only be temporary, and he’d eventually walk away again.

  “His life is not his own,” she whispered, too low for Holt to hear. The words weren’t meant for him. They were meant for her. A reminder of who her mate was, and the fact she couldn’t have him.

  Chapter Three

  Gabriel flung the phone away from him, a snarl ripping from his lips.

  “Damn, she’s got you twisted in knots,” Laura said.

  He bit back the comment lingering on his tongue as the scent of her pain filled the car. Getting to her hadn’t been easy, and the time he’d spent rescuing his mate and fighting his need to stay with her could have cost Laura her life. He’d almost been too late. Any further delay and she would have been just another dead shifter. If he needed anything to drive home the fact he couldn’t have a mate that was it.

  “Tell me again why you found it so important to leave before I returned,” Gabriel snapped.

  “Those reasons are personal,” she whispered and looked away from him to stare out the windshield.

  He knew something had happened when Laura had discovered a team of hunters in New Mexico and methodically taken them out. She was good. He’d trained her himself, as had his brother. There had been a change in her since she’d returned, and when she spoke of the carnage she’d left behind, he always had the impression there was more she wasn’t saying.

  “Those reasons almost got you killed,” he said. “Daniel has been going crazy.”

  Gab
riel ignored her weary sigh though he understood it. His brother Daniel had fancied himself in love with Laura since she’d followed Gabriel home and wormed her way into staying. She and Daniel weren’t mates though, and Laura refused to claim a lover until the one person meant for her arrived. His thoughts drifted back to his mate and a growl sounded in his chest before he could stop it. Kenzie was traveling with the man he’d smelled on her skin. Staying with him, allowing him to touch and protect her. Gabriel had no one to blame but himself.

  “We should be going after your mate,” Laura told him again. She’d been saying it since he’d found her, and she’d smelled the change in him. She’d been furious when he’d admitted he’d met his mate and left her behind to go after Laura. Though she’d understood the reasons, she’d still called bullshit and told him he was fucking stupid almost hourly.

  “I can’t have a mate,” he replied.

  “Your life is not your own,” she intoned, deepening her voice. Then she snorted. “I still call bullshit. Can’t no longer applies. You do have a mate.” Her tone softened then. “You can’t keep living your life for him, Gabe. He’s going to get you killed.”

  “My father has nothing to do with this.”

  She snorted again. “That self-righteous prick has everything to do with this, and we both know it. Him and his push to make Daniel the next Angel if you ever decide to have a life.”

  Gabriel ignored her comment, reaching for his phone as it rang and sparing a glance at the ID, which flashed on the screen. Not his mate, but someone else he could take his anger out on.

  “Tah,” Gabriel answered, not bothering to mask the deep displeasure from his voice. He was livid the other man had let Kenzie slip away and not immediately sent someone after her to bring her back.

  “I’m going to kill Isaac,” Tah stated without preamble. “Or one of the others will.”

  “What’s my father done now?” Gabriel demanded, barely containing a weary sigh.

  “He challenged a wolf shifter sent to me with a message,” Tah growled. “I’m sure the bastard would have killed the poor guy if Reno hadn’t been there.”

  “Is the shifter okay?” Gabriel asked.