She turned back to the pipeline. So much for having a life with her mate. She’d always been doomed to remain alone. An outcast. Still, the past weeks with him had been the most magical of her life.
They’d have to do.
Would things have been different if her mother hadn’t abandoned her? And now Cara would be alone again, too. Lara didn’t have a lot of love for the tigress but if they’d had time, she was sure she would come to care for her sister.
Now, it was too late.
She stuck the large round magnets to the pipe and whistled out through her teeth. The magnets would hold the bomb to the metal and provide the spot where the greatest impact would occur. The device clicked into place, the wires sticking out like Medusa’s snakes. Bria’s device was ingenious.
Too bad Lara had broken it.
Lara wouldn’t know how it turned out. She’d die instantly. The thought was some consolation, though she’d never imagined this was the way she’d go out.
The wires arced blue sparks when they touched, and she held them together, waiting on the automatic countdown to begin. The LED display began to count down.
Fifteen...
She pictured Mason standing tall in front of the lions, power rolling off him in waves. The lions all turned to him for advice and leadership.
Thirteen...
Mason in the woods, foot caught in the bear trap. His face strangled in agony, his head in her lap.
Eleven...
He kissed her, his lips soft against her own, his tongue caring and loving, showing her the path to nirvana.
Nine...
Holding hands in the forest, under a canopy of honeysuckle and pine, the butterflies dancing through the sweet-smelling breeze.
Seven...
Running as lions through Deep Creek, the damp earth fresh in their snouts and soft under their paws.
Five...
She bit back the urge to drop the wires. The image of Mason’s smile, his eyes shifting from brown to green as he stared into her soul.
Three...
Mason moving inside her.
One...
“I love you.”
Heat and impact hit her full force.
* * *
Mason screamed. The rush of air from his lungs was complete and painful. Lara. What the hell had happened? Had she gotten away before the explosion? Or had she been blown away with the pipeline? He knew he should’ve been the one to plant the bomb. It should’ve been him.
He should be gone, not his beautiful Lara. The bomb’s concussion had set his ears ringing.
He held on to the rough tree trunk, steadying himself against the wave of nausea that rolled over him.
“Lara...” Oh my gods. Oh my gods.
Mason ran into the clearing toward the pipeline, stopped short when Marco grabbed him and dragged him back.
“We have to get out of here,” Marco said. “After hearing the bomb, they’ll be here any minute.”
Mason held his head. This couldn’t be happening.
“Lara!” Mason couldn’t see anything but the flash of the bomb. What the hell had happened? Where was Lara?
“We can’t wait on her. We have to go. She knows where we’re meeting. She’ll find us.”
“What if she’s hurt? Where is she? Oh my gods...”
“Mason, we have to go now or we’ll all die. The humans will kill anyone near this scene.”
“No. I’m not leaving without her.” Mason lunged away from Marco.
He ran through the smoke, coughing and trying to see any sign of his mate. Where was she? The pipeline looked as if it had been ripped open. Shards of metal lay around him everywhere, and he picked through the rubble toward the pylons. The shattered pipeline looked as though a giant metal flower had bloomed from its side. No sign of Lara anywhere.
Had she run? She must’ve armed the bomb and gotten away when he wasn’t looking. That had to be it.
He couldn’t lose her.
“Mason, we have to go,” Marco called to him. “Now!”
He ignored his brother and peered around what was left of the pylons. Lara wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She was gone.
Why didn’t she come to him?
“Lara!” he called.
No answer.
He fought back tears and anger. If the humans hadn’t built the stupid pipeline, none of this would’ve happened. Lara would be safe in the pride. It didn’t matter what Shoshannah said, was saving Deep Creek worth losing his mate?
Marco grabbed him. “We’re going. Come on. Lara will find us.”
“How do you know she doesn’t need us? What if she was thrown and is hurt.”
Raised voices sounded from the forest.
“The humans are coming. We can’t risk being killed or captured. I don’t see Lara. I’m sure she ran.”
“I hope you’re right.”
His heart aching, Mason winced. Marco was right about one thing, he couldn’t let the humans capture him and ruin the plan they had. That would mean Lara had risked herself for nothing.
He wouldn’t let that happen. If he had to take out every single AllOil employee with his bare hands, he would. He growled, a half groan and half strangled cry.
Mason allowed Marco to drag him away from the shattered pipe. His head spun, and he held his face in his hands as he moved through the forest. He hoped she was safe, running away as planned. She’d know to rendezvous back at the pride compound. If she was stunned from the blast, she might get lost.
If she got turned around, she could run right into the humans.
Maybe he and Marco should search the woods. Human voices grew louder. Maybe five or so men, probably workers left to keep an eye on the pipeline.
He fell to his knees. Please, gods, let Lara be okay.
“Mason!” Marco tugged at him. “Come on.”
“Go!” he yelled back. “I want Lara. I can’t leave her out here.”
The smoke billowed in great puffs of gray in the dark night. He couldn’t scent her. Or sense her presence at all. Even the mating bond was nowhere to be found in his psyche. How could she have just disappeared?
Marco pulled him deeper into the woods.
A thick noise grated the air and within a minute, a helicopter hovered over the pipeline. The spotlight mounted to the front shone down on the ground around the pipe, visible in the distance. The bomb had done its job—the pipe looked like it had been bent into two pieces and fragments of metal showered the ground.
If oil had been flowing, the result would be a major disaster.
A photograph of the catastrophe would grace the front page of all the papers and show in full color on news websites around the world in the morning.
He hoped it was enough.
For now, finding Lara was the most important thing.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I can’t believe she’s gone!” Mason held his head. The wind wheezing through the trees was enough to drive him crazy. Everything in Deep Creek reminded him of Lara. She’d been alive just hours ago and now the world was an empty place.
His beloved Deep Creek felt so sterile without her.
They hadn’t found her body.
“I’m so sorry.” Marco squeezed his shoulder. “She saved us. She’s a hero.”
“She didn’t have to sacrifice herself. How will I ever go on, knowing my mate is dead?” The ache in Mason’s head intensified.
“I don’t know, brother.” Marco sighed. “I just don’t know.”
“I need to be alone. Please go.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You’re distraught.” Marco scanned the woods. “I don’t want to leave you alone out here, especially with the humans crawling over the place.”
“Wouldn’t you be distraught?”
&n
bsp; “Of course I would.”
“I’m going for a run.” Mason checked his shoelaces. “In human form. I need to think.”
“I’ll go with you.” Marco stuck his hands in his pockets. “Though I’m not really dressed for running.”
Mason faked a smile. “I’ll be okay. Just a mile or two then I’ll come back. Meet you at home tonight, okay?”
Marco paused then nodded.
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”
“I promise.”
* * *
The cave was cool and dark with no bears in sight. Dampness seeped into Mason’s psyche and he headed straight for the lake. He was determined to find out from Shoshannah why his mate had died.
Why she’d let Lara die.
Was she the great sacrifice Deep Creek needed to save itself?
I thought I was the one to bring the great changes. It should’ve been me. The guilt that overtook him was like a great wave of nausea, cresting on his heart. He could’ve been the one to set the bomb. Whatever had gone wrong, he should’ve been the one to die.
Not Lara.
He stepped into the lake room, alight with the blinding white glow that meant Shoshannah was there. She hovered on shore, a few feet from the ground, her form a gorgeous purple-striped white tiger.
He gasped. He’d never seen her as a tiger, and she was stunning.
She turned her head and let out a low growl. “You’re here.” Her voice echoed across the water like a million tiny bells ringing a funeral dirge.
“Shoshannah.” Mason approached. “Why?”
“Mason, my child.” Shoshannah’s tigress spoke. “You’ve come for your mate.”
“I’ve come for answers. Why did this have to happen? We did everything right.” He tried to shield his anger, fisting his hands and breathing slowly. In and out. It wasn’t fair to take it out on Shoshannah. She hadn’t caused Lara’s death.
“Only the gods know why things are as they are.”
“We tried to save Deep Creek. Isn’t that what we were supposed to do?”
She nodded. “It’s been a hard road.”
Mason noticed a person lying on the ground under Shoshannah’s light.
Crumpled, lying on her side, was his mate.
Lara!
He ran to her, falling to the ground at her side. He held her head in his hands and the tears flowed as he realized this might be the last time he saw her.
Ever. Fate was cruel.
Her parted mouth looked almost alive and aside from a scrape on her forehead, she looked untouched by the bomb. Her dark hair trailed over his arms and he remembered another time he’d felt her hair on his skin.
Never again.
He pushed her hair aside and bent to kiss her. Sobs racked his body. The pain was unbearable, and his lion wailed.
When his lips touched hers, he realized...she was breathing.
Was it possible she’d survived?
“She’s alive!”
“Yes.” Shoshannah’s tigress now paced on the rocky shore. “She lives. Her sacrifice saved Deep Creek, and she will enjoy the fruits of that.”
“But how? The bomb detonated and she was gone.”
“Tawodi saved her.”
His heart thumped and his head pounded. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Lara was alive!
“How is that possible? Tawodi is an old woman. She couldn’t carry Lara.”
“Tawodi flew in before the bomb went off and shielded Lara with her spirit shell.”
Shoshannah ducked her head. Was the tiger crying? Low moans came from her and she cocked her head, her ears turning.
“Oh, thank the gods! Where is she? I have to thank her.”
Shoshannah sighed. “She is there.” She pointed with her muzzle, her whiskers twitching.
Mason saw another form lying on the shore. Was she...
“Yes,” Shoshannah spoke before he could finish his thought. “She sacrificed her own life so that Lara could live. The bomb took her away.”
No. It couldn’t be. Tawodi was so important to Deep Creek. And she’d saved Lara from death.
“She will be remembered.” His voice strangled as he spoke.
So much sorrow in Deep Creek.
“Yes. Her spirit is flying high over the forests and mountains now. She is free of her earthly shell, free of the constraints that held her.”
Mason stroked Lara’s cheek. “How did they get here to the cave?”
Lara moaned, moving her head but not opening her eyes.
“I brought them.” Shoshannah paced the shore. “After the blast. I went to oversee what you were doing and arrived just as the bomb exploded. I saw Tawodi and Lara and whisked them here before the humans could come.”
“Thank you.”
“My duty is to all shifters. As it always has been, it always shall be.”
“You and Tawodi saved my mate. I’m ever grateful.”
“My friend is gone.” The white light dimmed.
“I’m sorry.” Mason didn’t know what to say. Tawodi had always been so special to all the shifters.
Shoshannah paced, her tail down in grief.
“You and Lara have an ongoing duty to Deep Creek. You must bring everyone together so that if another threat arises, you will have a solidarity to fight it. Tawodi was waiting for the day that all shifters would stand on one side.” Rainbows of light arched off Shoshannah and spread around the rocky cavern. “And you must wrap up the loose ends of this human incursion. They will leave now, I’m sure of it. You need to make sure they don’t return.”
The lake was the place of unity. The bears and lions and wolves would share the cave and protect Deep Creek together. Mason could see it, as clearly as he saw Shoshannah before him. Things would change.
“We’ll unite everyone. I promise.”
“Ma-son?” Lara whispered. “Where am I?”
He choked back tears and touched her cheek. His beautiful mate.
“You are safe.”
Epilogue
Lara adjusted her dress. She’d never have believed she’d one day have a wedding, much less a frilly dress and formal event. Not normally her style, but Cara had helped her. It was important to celebrate everything that had happened since Lara and Mason realized they were mates.
Mason had suggested they hold the ceremony at the waterfall, and since it was a beautiful early autumn day, the weather was perfect, with the sun slanting at an angle that bounced light beams off the rushing water.
With AllOil having withdrawn from the park completely after the news coverage of the march, the proof of bribes to local politicians, and the political fallout from the bombing, the park felt clean, scoured of all evil. The local politicians were working to make sure that no pipeline would ever cross Deep Creek again.
Lara lifted her face to feel the slight breeze. With her hair loose and flowers clipped among the strands, the wind tickled her throat and her lioness and tigress both begged to be released.
Soon.
The bears and lions had set out a dozen vases of flowers they’d gathered, and bees and butterflies swarmed over the sweet-scented air. A few squirrels scampered over the boulders at water’s edge, and deer drank from the cool spring. She couldn’t have had better decorations than what nature provided.
She grabbed her bouquet of colorful wildflowers and turned to her bridesmaids with a smile. Bria, Olivia, Alicia, Amy, and Cara had all gathered to help celebrate her wedding day and mark the beginning of her life with Mason. They were all so happy for her, and Lara’s heart filled with love for them. Everyone had accepted her tigress, and for the first time ever, she felt like she belonged.
“You look beautiful!” Alicia beamed.
“You’re positively glowing, Alicia.”
Alicia rubbed her stomach. “Little Tawodi is keeping me awake at night already, and she hasn’t even been born.”
Lara laughed. “Just wait. You and Marco won’t get any sleep once she’s here.”
Alicia grinned. “I’m so ready.”
“Kids are great, but tiring.” Olivia put her hands on her hips. “Powell is probably chasing our cubs around the park right now.”
“You aren’t kidding.” Amy winked. “Get it? Kidding?”
They all laughed.
“Twins are a lot of work,” Olivia said.
“One is a blessing for me.” Alicia smiled. “I couldn’t be happier. Today is a wonderful day for all of us.”
“It is,” Bria said. “I’m so glad the humans are gone.”
“With AllOil pulling their operations out of Deep Creek, I think we have a lot to celebrate, right, Cara?” Lara smiled at her sister.
She’d never have guessed that she and Cara would have so much in common. To think that she’d been jealous of her around Mason. She shook her head. Cara was a true friend and had proven that several times over since the bomb. They’d had time to get to know each other and start building their relationship. Cara had moved to Deep Creek, buying a little house in the lions’ compound, and seemed happier than she’d been when working at AllOil. She’d found employment at the natural history museum in Henredon—it was a perfect job for the tigress.
“We do have a lot to celebrate.” Cara took Lara’s hand.
Flowers in one hand and her newly found sister’s hand in the other, Lara beamed. Life was good. No, life was great.
Amy moved closer, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ears as the breeze lifted it.
“I still can’t believe that you two are sisters. What a joyful revelation after all the darkness in Deep Creek the last couple of years.” Amy’s voice lifted in a smile.
With her hair pulled back in an updo for the wedding, Amy looked like an angel. Lara’s heart filled. From no real girlfriends to a whole pack of them in just a few short months. Maybe she was cut out for domestic life, after all.
Naw, she was a warrior.
* * *
Mason stood at the white unity candle and pine-bough altar, watching Lara walk down the path to meet him and become his wife. The waterfall splashed in the background, and colored leaves swirled and floated like confetti on the water. Everywhere he looked, flowers bloomed, and people smiled. They couldn’t have decorated the land more beautifully than nature did.
Claiming His Lioness (Shifter Wars) Page 22