by Aubree Lane
There was always a choice. Ice had simply made the wrong one.
“Your grandmother said you were the last of your kind and that perpetuating the species was your primary goal. If you weren’t interested in having the cubs shift, you could have dropped them off at the Silverton zoo. They would have been well cared for.”
“In captivity!” Ice bellowed. “Park your booty in that chair with your backside towards me. I don’t want what I’m about to tell you to become suspect.”
With one last scrape across the floor, Jessie spun the chair around and sat down.
“First off,” he began. “My grandmother is off her rocker. She lost the ability to shift a long time ago and has been trying to figure out a way to get it back ever since. To the best of our knowledge, we are the last of our kind. I believe inbreeding has brought about our own demise. I’m resigned. When we die, it will be the end of our species.”
“That’s a little tough to swallow,” Jessie countered. “If you’re reconciled, why did you lure me into the mine? I got so high from whatever you tossed on the fire, I nursed your cubs.”
“The little one was on the verge of death,” Ice said, pleading for her understanding. “He’s my cub. I had to try to save him. If he had been allowed to stay with his mother, his chances of survival would have been much better. Derek took that option away. Panther milk is good, but my offspring are not ordinary. They need human milk to thrive.”
Mother’s milk was available at any breast milk donation center and formula could be purchased at the grocery store. Ice was wading in it deep. Jessie kept her mouth shut and waited to hear the rest of his dribble.
Ice settled against the bars and continued his explanation. “But feeding on it doesn’t guarantee success. Lizzy was one of my grandmother’s warped experiments. That old witch kept her chained up for almost a year. Derek impregnated her, but Lizzy miscarried in her last trimester. Marigold wasn’t interested in the baby. She was after the milk Lizzy produced. It was sickening to watch that old woman suck on that poor girl’s breasts. The torture that psychotic bitch inflicted didn’t stop there. Other cubs were brought in to enjoy the feast. Lizzy was nothing more than a pump to my dear cousin and grandmother. It’s no wonder she lost her mind. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I set Lizzy free.” A low chuckle rumbled deep within his chest. “Granny blew a gasket after she heard the news. The stroke was a blessing in disguise. I caged her in that rehab facility the moment I had her doctor’s referral. She’s been there for quite a while. If I have my way, she’ll never get out.”
• • •
CADE TAPPED THE monitor of the live security feed streaming in from the cellar below.
“What do you think, Gracie? Is he telling the truth? I want to castrate the man, but the information regarding Lizzy has basically confirmed his story.”
Gracie’s tired eyes closed. “The Guardianship has been monitoring his family for quite some time. He’s not telling Jessie the whole story. Snatches of information won’t cut it. It’s second nature for him to keep his secrets, but if he expects to live, he will have to do better than this.”
Lizzy’s parents, Zack and Mable, founded the Guardianship shortly after their daughter came down off the ridge. Too many people had witnessed the Foster kids shifting for her wild story to be dismissed as the rantings of a troubled young woman.
The secret society was only known to a chosen few. Gracie had been one of their first recruits. The campfire tale she told her second graders, warned the community about the strange mountain lions up on the ridge. Her special knowledge made her the perfect candidate to help with further recruitments.
Cade was privy to the group’s existence. He was a hunter, but he didn’t care for their extremist attitude. The day his daughter showed up at the hospital confused and battered, he realized he couldn’t stay neutral any longer and came down off the fence.
Gracie pushed the button on the microphone. “Ask him why he attacked Derek?” The retired teacher giggled like one of the second graders she used to teach. “I always wanted to do that. It makes me feel like a secret agent.”
It was just one of the things Cade loved about her. Gracie was tough as nails, but every once in a while, her inner child showed through.
Jessie’s head twitched when the teacher’s voice came through the earbud. Cade hushed his girlfriend, and they settled back to watch the exchange.
His daughter’s voice came through loud and clear. “Derek is in the hospital. He says you attacked him.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Who else could it be? The marks on his body were made by a mountain lion. If Marigold can no longer shift, that leaves you.”
Gracie’s elbow nudged Cade’s rib. “Your girl is good. I hardly have to prompt her at all.”
He wrapped a loving arm across her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “That’s not surprising. She had you for a teacher.”
Gracie’s eyes turned warm and loving. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Marcus.”
“Good god, woman!” Cade replied in mock horror. “I know you want me bad, but this is not the time. You’re worse than those horny cats.”
His daughter’s voice came through the speaker in the form of a harsh whisper. “I can hear you. Would you please shut the fuck up?”
Grace reached over and tapped off the microphone. “Oops, my bad.”
• • •
JESSIE GLARED UP at the camera. Those two were out of control.
Getting back to the matter at hand, she said. “I’m waiting, Ice. How do you explain what happened to Derek?”
“I can’t.”
The cellar door opened and Grace and Cade descended the stairs.
The gray haired teacher twirled a tool in her hand. “I’m sorry. That is not a satisfactory answer, Mr. Foster. I’m afraid you’ll have to do far better than that.”
The caged animal removed his blindfold. “Well, if it isn’t my dear old teacher. I thought I caught your scent up by the mine. I’m surprised it took you so long to make an appearance.” Ice nodded in Cade’s direction. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Marcus.”
Jessie’s dad took the instrument out of Gracie’s hand. “I doubt you’ll be so pleased when you hear what we have in store for you.” Waving the tool in front of the steel bars, Cade asked, “Do you know what this is?”
The smile playing on Ice’s lips dropped. “It’s a bander.”
“And do you know what it’s used for?”
The shifter huddled with fear against the back of the cage and crossed his legs. “You can’t be serious.”
The school teacher picked up a tranquilizing gun and leveled it directly at his chest.
“Hold on!” Ice called out. “You can’t just chop off my balls.”
Gracie lowered her weapon. “We’re not. The last time we shot you full of tranquilizers, you shifted into a mountain lion. Those are the balls we’re removing.”
Jessie couldn’t believe the old school teacher had it in her. Pushing a second grader around was one thing, but taking on a shape-shifting mountain lion was quite another. She almost regretted being such a pill when she was younger. Besides being hilarious, the way the couple worked together was amazing. Gracie and her father were a team through and through.
Castrating Ice seemed a little overly dramatic, but the ploy was working. The man was awfully fond of his junk and his fearful eyes looked ready to make a deal.
Their prisoner held out a halting hand. “Wait!” Ice shrieked. “How about I agree to have a vasectomy? I won’t be able to procreate, but I’ll still be able to have sex.”
Gracie raised her gun and took aim. “My dear boy. That only solves half of the equation. We still need to know who the other cat is.”
Ice turned to Jessie and pleaded, “Jessie, baby. We’ve had some good times. Stop this insanity.”
The shape-shifting mountain lion had lost his freaking mind. Taking on the same flippant tone as her elders, Jessie smirked. “
I didn’t think being drugged and repeatedly having non-consensual sex foisted upon me would be all that enjoyable, but I was wrong. It was amazing. I especially loved it when the cubs chewed the hell out of my boobs. Maybe while you’re under, I’ll douse your chest with milk, and let them have a go on you. It’s a fantastic feeling, you won’t be able to get enough.”
Jessie did her best to sound sarcastic, but in reality, Ice made her feel incredible down in the mine, and although she regretted it later, nursing the cubs had been much more pleasurable than painful.
Upon hearing the extent of his daughter’s ordeal, her dad’s eyes narrowed in anger, and he stepped closer to the cage.
Ice cringed and cried, “I never had sex with her. I stopped. I admit, I lured her into the mine and threw my grandmother’s mixture on the fire. The cubs nursed, but I didn’t get my rocks off. I took her home and tucked her in bed completely intact.”
Cade looked at Jessie for confirmation.
Ice told the truth about the mine, but she wasn’t sure he was in the clear about what happened in Derek’s cabin. “How about that first day up on the ridge? Who attacked me? I’m no longer sure it was you.”
Guilt and defeat was written all over the shifter’s face.
“There’s another one of us. She knew what Derek had in mind and flew into a jealous rage. She’s been trying to give birth to a true shifter for years, but it’s not possible. I was the one who saved your life that day, not Derek.”
The admission of a third cat made sense. The animal she remembered fighting with Ice at the cabin was larger than the mountain lion glaring at her up on the ridge. At the time, she thought the cat was male, but looking back, it was entirely possible it had been a female. It was also possible that Ice’s beast flew over her head and saved her.
For Jessie, his version seemed plausible. Cade and Gracie weren’t so sure.
“Well, Pumpkin,” Cade said. “It’s your call. Do we castrate him or give him a vasectomy?”
They were leaving his punishment up to her. Jessie needed more time to decide. “How many more tranquilizing darts do you have left, Gracie?”
The old teacher shrugged. “I have a whole box full. Why?”
Jessie kicked her thumb towards the cage. “Trank him.”
The sound of Gracie’s gun echoed off the basement walls and Ice fell into a deep, deep sleep.
7
THE MORNING OF the Fourth of July found the Marcus family squatting at the best spot in town to enjoy the celebration. They had been staking out this same location since the family first came to Silverton.
Red Clay Park was the best place to see the fireworks, which would be set off later in the evening. The area they claimed had it all. Barbeque pits on one side, shade trees on the other, and a picnic table in the middle.
Water balloon fights and soaker races kept the residents cool during the heat of the day, and marshmallow roasting fires kept them warm after the sun dipped below the horizon.
Jessie sat under the trees in a dilapidated folding chair she remembered from her very young childhood. Her father must have repaired this same chair more than ten times since it came into his possession.
Sally relaxed next to her in a matching webbed lounger. “I’m glad your kids are here. I’ve missed them.”
Jessie had mixed feelings about her boys being in Silverton. It was a selfish move on her part, but missing them had become too much to bear. She hugged the daylights out of them when her ex-husband dropped them off. Scott even received a thank you hug for letting them come, but Jessie doubted any of them were safe.
“Look at your dad playing with your boys,” Sally chuckled. “He looks twenty years younger.”
Sally was right. Cade Marcus loved his grandchildren. The boys wouldn’t be here long, but by the time she got them back to their father, they would be spoiled rotten.
Her cousin nudged her arm. “I heard a rumor. Please tell me you aren’t dating Derek Foster.”
Derek’s wounds hadn’t been as serious as her assistant made them out to be. He still sported a black eye and had a cast on his arm, but his chest wounds were superficial. Stitches were needed, but none of the claw marks ended up being particularly deep.
If Ice had been the mountain lion inflicting the damage, he would have been thorough. This second rate hatchet job had been done by someone else.
Derek was taking his turn overseeing the cubs. For a fee, the public could climb inside their pen and get up close and personal with the animals. Jessie balked at the idea of the unusual cubs being fondled, but the town council overrode her objections. The idiots thought fundraising was more important than the cubs’ health or the safety of the public. All hell would break loose if Ice caught wind about how his cubs were being treated. Since that was not an argument Jessie could present to the uninformed council, she dug in her heels and refused to let the issue go. For no other reason than to shut her up, a compromise was reached and the full day of public handling was cut in half.
Jessie grinned sheepishly at her cousin’s worried face. “Dating is a strong word for what Derek and I are doing,”
Sally grinned and stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong. “So it’s just for the sex?” she inquired sheepishly.
Luckily, Derek was too busy playing up his injuries for that to be an issue. The reprieve wouldn’t last forever, but the Guardianship assured her the problem would be resolved with swift precision. Jessie wasn’t stupid. She had a pretty good idea what that meant. The group had a vast arsenal and a score to settle. Abducting Lizzy was the shifters’ first mistake, but involving Jessie in their quest for survival would be their undoing.
Jessie wanted to ease Sally’s mind, but changing the subject seemed far easier. She retrieved a small brown bag from under her chair, and asked, “Sal, would you mind watching the boys? I need to talk to Dad.”
Sally took the brush-off in stride. “I would be delighted.”
As much as she trusted her cousin, Jessie felt the need to reiterate. “Just you. Don’t delegate their care to anyone else, for any reason.”
The middle-aged spinster took another sip of lemonade. “Understood, Mama Bear. Derek won’t get within a hundred yards of them without you around to take him down.”
Jessie had only met a few members of the Guardianship. The way her cousin replied made her wonder if Sally had joined the cause. Her cousin didn’t seem the type, but she was privy to most of the town’s secrets. The lady possessed a formidable inner strength and was fiercely protective of those she loved.
Jessie cocked a questioning brow in her cousin’s direction and a sly smile quirked up one side of Sally’s face. That was all the reassurance she needed. The lady would not let her down.
Jessie caught her father’s attention and called out, “Let’s take a walk.”
Cade smiled and waved her over. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
She wasn’t sure of anything, but it was time. Jessie focused the all-knowing teacher glare she learned from Grace down on her children. “Cousin Sally is going to watch you for a few minutes. Do not give her a hard time. Do you understand me?” Fighting to maintain a straight face, she repeated, “Do not give her a hard time.”
The boys grinned from ear-to-ear. They let out a whooping screech and raced off towards their mother’s unsuspecting cousin. Within seconds, Sally’s lounge chair was tipped over, and she was on the ground fending off two exuberant towheads.
Cade laughed out loud. “You’re bad.”
“Yeah, we planned that,” Jessie agreed. “But look. Sally loves it.”
“And if she didn’t, you could say you told them to be good.”
There was no fear in that. Sally was always up for a good joke. Jessie stepped towards the road. “Come on, Dad. It’s time. I’ve put this off long enough.”
Her breath caught in her throat as they approached the street, and long pent-up tears welled in her eyes. Not knowing if she could make her feet move forward, she hesitat
ed.
Cade gripped her elbow and propelled her along.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m with you. Whatever happens, I’ll always be with you.”
They passed through the gates of the county cemetery and stopped in front of her baby brother’s grave. It was Jessie’s first visit.
She stared at the etched name above the date of his death, and wished with all her heart that she hadn’t caused him to break his fishing pole.
Her father’s words were slow and steady. “I know what you did. You told us rattlesnakes could choose whether to release its venom. You also said most bites were dry. In your eight-year-old irritating way, your reassurance kept Nathan calm. I read that pamphlet later. You knew baby rattlers don’t have control over their venom. The moment they’re startled, it pumps out. Those little suckers are far more dangerous than their adult counterparts, but you gave us hope. You sat next to your brother and bickered with him like it was just another day.” Cade closed his eyes and hung his graying head. “I can’t imagine how you maintained your composure with so much at stake. I was proud of you back then, but it’s nothing compared to the pride I have for the woman you’ve become.”
Jessie wasn’t sure she deserved her father’s generous accolades, but Nathan was an old guilt she learned to live with a long time ago. It was a new guilt that plagued her. Doubts about whether she did right by Ice kept creeping into her mind.
“Baby, girl,” her father said, interrupting her thoughts. “I know you think you have it all figured out, but Derek Foster shouldn’t be anywhere near our family.”
That was another accolade she didn’t deserve. Jessie had no idea what she was doing. “I’m keeping my friends close and my enemies closer,” she explained.
Cade wasn’t happy, but he understood. “We’ve all done that a time or two. The boys could be in danger though.”
On that point, they were in complete agreement. “The kids are only staying until tomorrow,” she explained. “They are much safer with Scott than they are here.”