Lost & Found (A Lost Ones Novel Book 1)

by Khristine Stain

  Koda the man and wolf had been afraid to let her go… He had been ready to kill anyone who came near her. The wolf refused to listen to reason for so long. He buried his nose at her neck where that Cursed bastard hadn’t cut her and scented her heavenly scent.

  The putrid odor of the two bastards was all over her. His teeth clenched into a vise; how he wanted this night to never happen. It was his fault. He let her go with the cologne espionage thinking it was merely payback for something.

  Dae was definitely the vengeance type, even if Dae would have been a full human, Koda knew that she wouldn’t rest until she got some kind of retribution of her own choosing had she felt wronged. And Koda had wronged her. He should have told her all along what those bastards were.

  It truly was a mistake that could have taken her away from him forever. He should have known Dae was calculated in her schemes. She played people for the outcomes she desired and almost always got what she wanted.

  Sometimes he worried; his mate was so devious it was scary.

  How his wolf wanted to bathe in the Cursed’s blood. Koda the man allowed the other shifters to chase his prey while his wolf demanded that he rip their throats out. Koda shook his head.

  There was only one left to hunt down. Dae had already taken one out with a sharpened screwdriver to the heart right before his eyes. Koda swore he didn’t know how to breathe in those seconds as Dae stood drenched in blood, still ready to fight. Some of it was the Cursed she had killed but most of it was hers.

  Raphael called to let him know that the other Cursed got away. Gods he wanted to search him out. It was an internal battle between vengeance which was his and his wolf’s and his mates safety. Her safety won out, he couldn’t leave her alone for a second, well or not. He was deathly afraid she would disappear at any moment.

  Koda never thought he could die until the moment he thought Dae might die. In those seconds, Koda feared death for the first time in his life. Not his but hers. If Dae was gone, Koda had no reason to exist.

  Didn’t she get that? She was his only REASON! Why would she risk herself like that? What the hell was wrong with his mate and why did she carry sharpened screw drivers and throwing knifes? Was she insane?

  She had three knife wounds. THREE KNIFE WOUNDS!!! The one in her shoulder could have easily been right through her heart if those bastards wanted it. It was luck that it missed her heart. The wound on her neck could have been ALL THE WAY THROUGH!! Koda’s throat tightened and his chest ached at the thought of how much worse it could have been.

  Dae scented the most perfect scents as she buried her nose into the soft pillow. Why didn’t her pillows smell this good? Must be the fabric softer. Dae opened her eyes to see two beautiful once blue almost black eyes staring back at her.

  She was propped up on pillows and had some scratchy things attached to her throat all the way down to her right elbow. Dae hated scratchy crap. Dae went to remove it but those beautiful eyes in that beautiful face contracted in an even more beautiful expression…

  “ARE YOU CRAZY?? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLLED???” Koda yelled at his mate, mentally gone. Elvis had left the building.

  “No, I’m not crazy! Why are you yelling, ARE YOU CRAZY?” Dae’s throat felt a little sore but nothing that was going to bother her for long.

  “You left me!” Koda accused not being able to hold it back. Dae left him; she finagled her way to escape him. Did she hate him that much?

  “Yes, I left to do things that needed to be done!”

  “You needed to get yourself killed! That was pressing enough for you to LEAVE ME?!”

  “Why are you screaming, you damned abominable snow bastard?! I’m going to have to leave you one day Koda, I DON’T LIVE HERE!” Dae felt her throat burn as she yelled as loud as her vocal cords allowed.

  Koda stopped yelling and pulled his hands down from gripping his hair. Koda realized she was right. Dae didn’t live here. She hadn’t accepted him as a mate nor did she even know what the word mate meant. Koda’s rational self argued over Koda’s heartbreak.

  “You could have been killed.” Koda said as calmly as he could. He still ended up growling it out.

  “Did you ever think it was just my time to die?” Dae spat out at an obscenely angry Koda. Ok, he had to come get her. Big freaking deal. Next time he didn’t have to bother.

  “Do you hear yourself?!” Koda growled and yelled simultaneously.

  “At least I know what they want now! Your ‘wait & see’ plan sucked hairy animal ASS! Don’t get mad at me because my plan actually worked.”

  What was his damage? She would have let him in on the plan had he been smart enough to realize how good it was. But as usual nobody could see the pure genius of it except Dae.

  Ha! Dae almost laughed at her attempt to bullshit herself. The truth was she didn’t want him around. She knew Koda could help, and with Raj to distract Iya Dae had no excuse for her half-cocked plan except for not wanting him there to help her because she knew he wanted to be there to help her.

  Old habits…

  But Koda would have definitely wanted to change the plan up so she would be in less danger. Maybe that would have made things different but Dae was sure her stalkers wouldn’t have been so care free with their intentions if they suspected a trap. Still, Dae knew Koda wouldn’t have said no to the suggestion of his assistance. The sad part was Dae didn’t even think she would have had to ask him. And Dae feared that the most. It made Dae start to feel guilty.

  Godsdamn emotions!

  “You call that a plan? That wasn’t a plan Dae, it was a suicide mission!”

  “Potato, tomato. It still worked. I know what they want now.” Dae said victoriously. Dae did get something out of her asinine plan. In the end, she was the champion –of the world!

  Somehow, Dae knew Koda wouldn’t find that as amusing as she did. One day somebody would appreciate her strategies’ and brand of humor.

  Koda’s eyes were black the nights sea. Wow, he had such pretty eyes.

  Did Dae actually believe she won something with that insane vegetable argument?

  “What do you think you know? Tell me how you think anything came of last night except for you being stupid enough to get yourself almost killed!”

  Dae growled and it hurt something terrible but there was no way she was going to let this behemoth of a man scream at her like this. No one asked him to do shit for her. Dae would rather have died in that damn alley then hear this shit as soon as she opened her eyes.

  “I know that they didn’t want me because I’m stupid like you say or special or because I know some great secret. Their just sick bastards and I was a target for their disgusting games. But since we didn’t know shit before and now we do it looks like your batting a big fat zero to my homerun.”

  Dae’s eyes looked pained as she sat up glaring at him and Koda regretted losing his temper. He was going to find that Cursed bastard if it was the last thing he did. He scented the light tinge of fear Dae felt and knew she was suppressing the rest. He wouldn’t have even realized it unless he knew her so well. Not well enough to stop her from almost killing herself, he mentally corrected.

  Koda was at the bed before Dae could react and grabbed her in a hug. His warm body wrapped around hers before she could protest. Dae found it felt so good in his arms that she didn’t want to.

  “Please don’t, please don’t do that to me again… please…” Koda sounded so sad as he whispered into her ear. Gods he smelled good! Dae rubbed her face into his neck and thought she might stay like this for the rest of the day. His warm hands stroked her back as he kept whispering in a voice so defeated Dae felt something in her splinter. Dae’s eyes itched and her chest felt heavy.

  Then Dae’s rational self kicked into gear. Ok, he was sad because he found her bloody. That scares some people. That explained the pain and fear in his scent. “Please let me go now Koda.”

  Koda felt the words before she said them as her body stiffened. Koda let her go and slipped awa
y from the bed. He felt a glimmer of her and then he felt nothing. When was she just going to let him in? He only wanted to hold her.

  Damn stubborn ass hybrid.

  There was a knock on the door and Dae finally realized she wasn’t in her bed. She was in Koda’s bed. Dammit! She wanted to move but was quickly getting tired again.

  “Come in.” Koda said in a defeated voice. Damn him! Dae was too exhausted to fight all these emotions she shouldn’t be having.

  Raj stood in the doorway as Iya walked in. As soon as Dae saw Iya she felt happy. Iya was safe, it wasn’t just a dream. Man, blood loss really does do crap to your thinking brain. Dae remembered the zoo animals and thought she saw Raj naked. Why her dream self wanted to imagine Raj naked she didn’t know.

  Deep down, Dae admitted she really wanted to see someone else naked. It was ok to admit that to herself as long as it wasn’t to anybody else. Dae was sure many women wanted to see that man naked. And look! Dae was still alive and kicking. She didn’t drop dead at all from doing or feeling something a normal person would do. Dae even kind of felt like a weight was lifted off her chest.

  Gods she was tired. Then she realized she was staring at Koda. Ok, stop imagining the man naked now. Anytime. Iya came to the bed and sat.

  “Can we have a minute?” Iya asked the wolves. Holy molly the freaking wolves! Iya’s mind was still reeling off of Raj’s explanations. They were all wolves, including her best friend. And poor Dae, she didn’t even know.

  It all made sense in a crazy sort of way. It didn’t change anything; it was still Iya and Dae against the world. Except the world they thought they knew was a stranger now. As long as Dae was in it with her, Iya really didn’t care. It didn’t matter that Iya sometimes wanted to kill Dae, like after Dae did something really foolish and as dumb like Dae did last night.

  Dae was her sister whether she was a wolf, a jack-rabbit or a shifting fish. Did they have rabbit and fish shifters… and what about penguins?

  Koda did not want to leave. He was afraid Dae would disappear for good. His heart was breaking a little more every second.

  “It’s ok. I promise.” Iya turned to her sister’s mate to reassure him. Mate! Of all the insane crap, love was love. Iya was starting to believe these wolf shifters were all as insane as Dae. Iya shuddered at the thought.

  But what the wolves thought Iya was took the cake around the world in 80 days. Iya could accept the shifters. She could accept that her best friend, her family was a kind of wolf shifter. She could accept that Raphael, the sweetest bartender she ever met, was a black Jaguar. But the crap Raj said about what he thought she was? Raj had to be nuts to believe that she was a Nephilim. There was just way too much crazy rolled into one night.

  Iya didn’t say anything to Dae once Koda and Raj left the room silently closing the door. Koda had pretty much said it all. So Iya stared at Dae until the self righteous façade faded and the real Dae appeared. Dae didn’t believe all that crap she showed the world. Iya knew Dae realized how majorly she messed up last night.

  Dae looked down and felt the guilt in her gut. Damn emotions! But Iya didn’t say anything, didn’t bitch her out and didn’t even tell Dae she was a big dummy. Iya just stared at Dae with that knowing face until Dae’s resolve crumbled.

  Dae was an idiot sometimes and this was one of those times. Ok, Dae got it.

  Iya saw what she needed to see and laid down next to Dae’s good side. Iya took Dae’s hand and surprisingly Dae let her. Iya used her gifts to sooth and heal Dae. It was minimal anyway; Iya was exhausted from using her gifts before.

  They sat like that in silence until Dae fell asleep; her face pressed into Koda’s pillow regardless of how much her throat throbbed in protest.

  “HOW IN THE HELL DOES ONE ABOMINATION KILL THREE OF MY BEST WARRIORS!!” the Uktena bellowed. The sound of his growls reverberated against the cave’s walls.

  It had been a mistake all those years ago to let those Tribe woman live without making sure they carried no pieces of his people. It was an impossible scenario. How was he to know that one of those wretched Tribe women was his mate? He had been tracking down all those half-breed whelps for ten years. And the Tribe whores who escaped. Mates… he couldn’t believe it even though he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was the truth.

  His people, the true people, hadn’t had a living mate in over 400 years. Until ten years ago. His people’s women all died for one reason or another. And the rest of his people were slowly dying into extinction! And why? He had no answers.

  The Tribe called his people the Cursed. Cursed from who? His people were BETRAYED by the Great Creator! They even lost their ability to reproduce; their unmated women could never have been mother’s to teach their sons the true ways. Had they survived they would have been as useless as the humans were.

  Humans were lesser beings; they were only good to be slaves.

  The weakling in front of him asked “Abomination, Ulagu?”

  “Explain yourself!” The Uktena bellowed sending the small rock fragments clattering on his cave floor.

  “I am sorry Uktena; we did not expect that the one you seek knew we were after her. She had help from the jaguars, lions, jackals and the youngest of the Tribe’s whelps.”

  “That was your first mistake. The second was how you didn’t take care of the A-Gi-Na first so he couldn’t intervene. The third and dumbest one is lying to me now. The A-Gi-Na will pay, but not by your hand.”

  The Uktena lifted his hand and let his Serpent Spirit into the weakling that was groveling before him. The Uktena saw this weaklings fear as the Serpent approached, the wide eyes that knew a fate worse than death was coming.

  His Serpent Spirit snaked into the weaklings eyes and invaded his body, slinking from orifice to orifice. The Serpent loved to play. The sorry excuse for a warrior convulsed as his Serpent Spirit ate his soul from his body. When the body was hollow, his Serpent Spirit returned to his arm where it laid waiting for its next meal.

  The Uktena absorbed the energy from the Serpent Spirit’s being into his eyes. For a time, this warrior soul would curb the Serpent’s desire for souls. He and the Serpent Spirit had a mutually beneficial relationship. He gave the Serpent souls and the Serpent gave him its loyalty. He was the only one who could control the Serpent Spirit. His father before him tried and died at the Serpent’s strike.

  His father’s reign had been a long one, but the wolf was a fool. His father trusted where the Uktena was wise beyond his years and trusted no one. Ever.

  No one even knew that a few of his concubines escaped. His people thought he killed them, which he had done many times once he became bored. Humans were so easy to kill anyway. A little rough play and their lives were over. Not like Sa’dyah. She was… magnificent.

  The Uktena growled in anger. The second he realized she was gone he should have went after her himself, but he was blinded by emotions. She infected him with them so he didn’t let anyone near her cage. And look at what that got him! She was gone; he had never been able to find her. It had been over twenty years and he still felt a pain in his chest. But he knew she was alive; he felt her inside the blackness of his soul.

  Sa’dyah had asked him once what his name was. He didn’t even remember his born name… he called himself the name of the Serpent Spirit he wore on his right arm for so long.

  Wretched human emotions!

  Sa’dyah should have stayed in her cage where she belonged!

  The Uktena’s eyes itched and he ripped the throat out of the dead warrior before him. The weakling’s dead blood drenched his hands and the Uktena howled into the cave as the sound bounced around into an echo of anger, betrayal, and grief.

  No one knew why he needed the abomination or that she was his lowly whelp. No one would know either. There was no way he would allow such a thing life while his Sa’dyah was gone from him!

  He felt his golden eyes become moist and howled until he shifted into the massive multihued wolf form he preferred. As he ran, he
thought of Sa’dyah…

  Twenty-two

  Dae felt like crap the next time she woke up. She woke up alone; Iya left the room sometime while she slept her healing away. Dae debated whether or not to feed herself or shower first. Her stomach was close to seizing with burning hunger pains as Dae got up out of the bed she’d been laying in for Gods knew how long.

  She knew she would have some ‘splainin to do and she was not looking forward to it. She wondered how Iya would take it all. Iya was normal, not abnormal as was she. Would Iya be scared of her? Dae hoped not. Iya was really all she had… Dae forced those thoughts out of her head.

  There was no use worrying about what ifs. She had to deal with what was. Good or bad, this was life.

  Koda’s bed was huge and luxurious. His sheets were so soft and his scent was all over them. Dae would make it a point not to get used to sleeping there. She was not going to keep kicking him out of his space; it just wasn’t right. She walked to out of the room to go to the room she shared with Iya but was surprised to find the door locked. That was strange. Dae heard music but no conversation from –ohhhhh.

  Dae would definitely be sleeping on Koda’s couch from now on.

  “They’re occupied. Your toiletries are in the bathroom and your clothes are in my room.” Koda said in a monotone voice. He sounded so lifeless it sent a pang of pain to Dae’s chest. She really messed up. Crap.

  After Dae cleaned her mouth thoroughly, she went to get some food. If she didn’t Dae feared her stomach might grow sharp teeth and eat its way out of her abdomen in its pursuit for sustenance. Dae came out to be bombarded with the scent of food. Dae was frozen in front of the table laid out with tons of aluminum containers which she knew was filled with different kinds of pastas and more pizza pies than she could count.

  The table was overflowing with food.

  Dae didn’t know what to do, she knew Koda was behind this; it could be his sick way of paying her back for not being a good prisoner in orchestrating her escape. Not that Dae had ever caught Koda doing anything more devious than rubbing his scent on the doorway she slept against, but Dae wasn’t putting anything past him.