by Jane Jamison
“To help me? You mean like how Liz helped me by stealing Mason away from me? Or how Mira hooked up with the Fairland men and moved in with them, leaving me alone at Miss Kitty’s? Bullshit. I don’t need their kind of help.”
What help would that have been, anyway? Both Liz and Mira had left her alone, each of them moving in with the men they’d found to love, men who loved them back. They’d forgotten about Kit as soon as their lives had changed. If they hadn’t, they might have seen the blackness growing inside her. If they’d stayed close enough, they might have helped her fight the anger off. Instead, they’d concentrated on their lives and pushed Kit aside.
As much as thinking about her friends hurt, she wouldn’t allow the men to trick her. Yes, Mira and Liz had abandoned her, yet she couldn’t blame them for long. As much as she hated to admit it, she would’ve done the same thing.
No, she’d already forgiven Liz and Mira. It was men who had fucked things up, and it would be men who would have to pay the price.
“Now remember, boys. Don’t go calling out for help. If you do, then whoever hears you is going to have to die. You get that, right? We can’t have someone telling others, can we?”
She didn’t expect them to answer. They never did.
Several low barks had her whirling around to find Daisy, her chain hanging from her collar, standing at the barn’s entrance. Her ears were back as she continued to bark at the men. “Shut the fuck up, damn it. How’d you get loose again?” Grabbing hold of the chain, she jerked the dog along behind her and stalked toward the house. “This blows. Now I’ve got to deal with you before I go to work at the diner. Fuck.”
She closed the barn doors then placed the long wooden bar in front of the doors. Wrapping a chain around it, she locked the bolt with one of the keys on the ring hanging from her belt. She ignored the men as they called to her, asking her to come back and talk more. But talking wouldn’t change her mind. The course of her life, and theirs, had already been set. There was no turning back now.
* * * *
Charlie kept hoping Kit would come back. Yet he knew she wouldn’t. She never came when they called unless it was to threaten them for making a racket.
After being locked inside the cage for more than four days, they still hadn’t learned her routine. They never heard a car, which meant she’d either taken time off from her job at the diner or she’d parked the truck away from the house and barn, not giving them a chance to hear her come and leave.
She’d made it clear enough. If they called out, someone might die. They couldn’t take that chance. Their only hope was that someone would arrive while Kit was gone and find them in the barn. But the Higram ranch was farther away from town than most ranches. The nearest neighbor was more than three miles down the road.
She’d tricked them all. She’d exposed her real self to them, but she’d kept up her sweet façade for the rest of the town. To everyone else, she was the pretty waitress at the diner who had come to town with Mason Hartley, only to have him tell her she wasn’t the one. As far as everyone else knew, she still didn’t know that Lonesome was a town of shifters. But she knew, all right. She knew.
“We have to do something,” said Win as he straightened his tattered clothes. “We can’t let her keep us here like fucking zoo animals.”
“I’m all ears, if you have any ideas.” Mars slumped to the ground next to their friend John. He picked up a steak and sniffed it.
They’d eat. They had no other choice. They had to keep up their strength and hope a way to get free would come. Or help. Why hadn’t anyone noticed them missing?
Charlie gripped the bars harder. His lion roared inside him, demanding it be set free as it had done every day since he’d awakened inside their prison. But, for once in his life, Charlie was afraid of his lion. If he let it take over, would he be able to regain control?
“Someone’s going to come looking,” added John, his hands clutching the ground beside him. “If not for you guys, then for me.”
“You weren’t due to go home until next week. Why would they bother looking for you until then?” Charlie spoke, then gritted his teeth. His lion snarled, tearing at his insides.
“My sister will get worried.”
“Did you tell your sister why you came here?” asked Mars. “That you wanted us to change you into a werelion?”
John had found out what they were one night when the men had gotten so drunk that they’d blurted out the truth. When John hadn’t believed them, Mars had grown frustrated enough that he had to prove it. Even as his brothers tried to stop him, Mars had shifted, exposing not only himself but Charlie and Win.
Naturally, at first, John had been frightened. But after Mars had returned to his human body, John had grown fascinated, asking question after question until the sun had finally risen and they’d all fallen into an exhausted sleep. The next night, John had talked them into changing him as soon as he could come to Lonesome and check out the town of shifters. “No. Of course not. She wouldn’t have believed me, anyway.”
“She would’ve wanted to see the proof just like you,” added Win. “And you didn’t want your sister to know, did you?”
John ducked his head. “Not until I’d gotten used to being a werelion. Maybe then.”
“She knows where you are. At least, that you came to Lonesome to visit friends. But, again, she’s not expecting you home until next week.” Charlie tugged on the bars, gauging their strength. They were, as Kit had said, strong enough to resist a lion. Even a shifter lion.
“Yeah. I know. But we got really close after our parents died. We talk almost every day and now it’s been four days since I called her. She should be getting worried by now.”
“That doesn’t mean she is,” added Mars. “Or that she’ll come looking for you. She might think you’re having too great a time and not want to barge in on us.”
John kept his head down. “You could be right. But maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Lucky?” The frustration, the anger that boiled in Charlie broke free as he spun around to confront his friend. “Does it look like we’re fucking lucky? Is getting locked up in a damn cage what you call being lucky?”
Hold it back. You have to hold it back.
But his lion threw itself at the surface, rage fueling it. The tips of his fangs bloodied his gums. The world around him colored to amber. Fur spread over his skin in a rush of awakening nerve endings.
“Don’t do it, Charlie,” warned Win. “I shouldn’t have, and you shouldn’t. Not while you’re angry at John.”
John got to his feet. “No, Charlie, don’t. Stop.”
Charlie’s human mind understood. John had only undergone one transformation so far. As a new lion, he wouldn’t have a chance against Charlie’s bigger, stronger bulk. But Charlie’s lion didn’t care. John had challenged him, and a challenge had to be met.
Fully transformed, he lunged at John. And ran straight into his brothers, who had stepped in front of their friend. Charlie easily knocked them down, sending them landing on their backs, but hitting his brothers while they were still human was enough to shock him. Instead of jumping toward John, instead of doing what his lion demanded, he threw his body to the side, rolling away from the others. By the time, he’d made it onto his feet, he’d brought his beast back under control.
His breath hitched in his throat as he closed his eyes and forced the animal to obey him. For a moment, he feared he would lose the battle, but, at last, his lion submitted, sliding down inside him again. Fangs receded and flesh retook fur. By the time he’d opened his eyes, he had returned to his human body. His chest rose and fell as he tried to make his breathing regular again.
“I’m sorry.” He sucked in a hard breath. “I lost control.”
“It’s okay.” John had his back to the cage, his face pale, his voice a whisper.
“No, it’s not,” said Mars. “We don’t attack each other. Not like this.”
“He’s right, Charlie. You should
n’t have done it,” added Win.
“Are you hurt?” Charlie could barely get the words out. If he’d hurt his brothers or John, the regret would tear him apart.
“We’re fine.” Win chuckled. “You’re not that strong, man.”
It was a lie, but one that gave Charlie an out. “Good to know.” He looked to John. “I fucked up. Sorry.”
John had recovered enough to bring the color back to his face. “No problem. I get how it can happen.”
Not really, thought Charlie. You don’t have enough experience to know how bad it can get.
“Thanks,” said Charlie. He let out a long breath of pent-up air. “I can’t believe we fell for it. We should’ve known she was up to something.”
How had it happened? The answer was simple. They’d trusted her. When she’d invited them for dinner, including John, they’d hoped that they could talk to her and tell her that, as much as they’d wanted to have her be their one, she just wasn’t. They’d known it would be rough. She’d dated others around town and had been rejected. The last thing they’d wanted to do was hurt her. Instead, they’d walked right into her trap.
No one had seen the danger. No one had seen her change. Not even her closest friends. Not even them.
Win chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “But we did fall for it. She must’ve put a hell of a lot of drugs in that stew to knock out not one but four werelions. And she admitted to having help hauling our asses out here. Sure as hell surprised me to wake up in a goddamn cage.”
Charlie paced to the other end of the cage. “There has to be a way out of here.” He studied the ground. “We could dig out.”
“Nope. Remember how tough it was for Merle to build this barn? Damn rocks under the ground. He had to get construction workers out here to get it done.” Mars shifted to bring out his claws then dug into the dirt at his feet. It didn’t take long before he hit the stone under it.
Charlie knew as much. But he was running out of suggestions. He lifted his attention toward the ceiling.
“No use climbing out, either,” said John, as though he could read Charlie’s thoughts. “She even thought to put bars over the top. Damn monkey cage is what it is.”
“A cage that can hold four werelions is more than a monkey cage.” Charlie took hold of the bars and shook them again. They barely moved. Slowly, he turned to face the other men. “We have to find a way out. We can’t wait for someone to come looking for us.” He looked to each of them, his gaze holding a few moments before he moved onto the next. “If we don’t, we’re going to die in this damn prison.”
Chapter Two
Kit leaned back in the chair of Merle’s study. The rest of the house had remained unchanged since the older couple had gone to Italy, but she’d added several necessities to the study. She studied the three monitors in front of her that surveyed the area around the house. The fourth monitor showed several images coming from different cameras holding views that weren’t coming from the outside.
No one who knew her would’ve ever guessed that she was as intelligent as she was. She hadn’t finished high school, but she wasn’t a dummy. A determined girl could learn almost anything. With the help of a few nerdy guys she’d met online, she’d purchased a great surveillance system and had even installed it herself. She’d strategically placed several cameras in the barn so she could watch her captives from different angles. Microphones were there, too, picking up their conversations.
She smiled, delighting in the show when Charlie shifted and almost attacked John. Her smile widened as she listened to their lame talk about escaping. Not that they ever would. She’d taken all the precautions.
“That’s right, Charlie. You and the other three are going to die. It’s only a matter of when.”
Once the men had settled down, she finally glanced at the time on the computer and groaned. She was already late for work. Brisco, the owner of the diner, would give her shit about it, but he wouldn’t fire her. He liked her too much to get rid of her.
Fucking werewolf.
But it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be working there much longer.
* * * *
Joy Ridder was doing her dead level best to not worry. But she was failing big time. “I’m telling you, Sarah, this isn’t like John. We talk every other day, but I haven’t heard from him in five days. Something’s wrong.” Joy looked out the window of her Dallas apartment and stared at the passing traffic as she held the phone to her ear.
“I always said you two were weird. What siblings talk to each other that much?” Sarah Whitcom was Joy’s best friend. Next to John, she was also her main confidant.
“Joke all you want, but I’m worried.” There. She’d said it out loud.
The silence on the other side of the call was telling. Sarah was trying to find another way to take Joy’s worry away. She wouldn’t find it. Not when Joy was as worried as she was.
“Maybe his cell phone died. Or he lost it. Or that little town, Lonely, doesn’t get good reception. There are a lot of other reasons why he hasn’t called. Like maybe he’s having too much fun to call his baby sister.”
“The town’s called Lonesome. And, yeah, you can come up with a hundred reasons why he hasn’t called, but I wouldn’t buy any of them. No matter what, he’d know I’d be worried sick by now, and he’d find some way, somehow to call me.”
“Okay, then, I can see I can’t win this argument.”
“It’s not an argument. I’m only trying to sort out what I should do.” She pivoted around and found herself staring at her worried expression in the dresser’s mirror. Her blue eyes were clouded with concern. Her brunette hair, usually clean and bouncy, hadn’t been washed in two days. Even the blue streak running through the left side of her hair seemed drab.
“Oh, bull. You already know what you’re going to do.”
“I do?” Yeah. I do.
“You’re going to go to Lonesome and find him. You just called me to get permission to do it.”
“I don’t need your permission, Sarah.” Yet, she had to admit she wanted it, if only to reinforce her mind that she was doing the right thing.
“No, you don’t, but you want it. Fine. Go to Lonesome with my blessings. But remember one thing.”
She smiled into the phone. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“When you end up barging into whatever man-fun thing they have going on, and embarrassing John to hell and back, be sure to tell him it wasn’t my idea.”
“But you’re giving me your blessing. Doesn’t that make you my partner-in-crime?” Joy held her phone against her ear and her shoulder as she grabbed her duffel bag out of the closet.
“Uh-uh. Don’t you dare play it that way. I will deny you ever mentioned it.”
“Like he’d believe you over me.” She began pulling clothes off hangers and tossing them, unfolded, into the bag.
“Sure, he will. He likes me more than you.”
“Maybe you should tell him how much you like him the next time you see him.” But when would that be? “Not a chance. He’ll come to me. You’ll see.”
Joy held back the urge to say more. Sarah didn’t concern herself with what anyone thought, but when it came to John, it was a different matter. Her friend had a big-time crush on her brother but had never acted on it. Loving the idea of having her best friend dating her brother, Joy had urged her to tell John how she felt, but Sarah had refused every time Joy had mentioned it.
“So, are you already packing?”
Sarah knew her almost as well as John did. “You know it.” Still worried, she felt better having talked to her friend.
“Just be careful, okay?”
Joy paused, surprised at Sarah’s anxious tone. “Of course, I will. But you sound like you know something. Did John talk to you before he left?”
“No, no. I don’t know why I said that.”
“Just one of your gut feelings?” Sarah claimed to have a sixth sense, but Joy had always doubted it. Then again, who knew what my
steries were real in the world?
“Kind of.” Sarah laughed, easing the tension between them. “Oh, hell, don’t go getting all weirded out. Just go. Join in the fun. It’s about time you met these friends of John’s.”
“That’s true enough. Yeah. It’s about time.”
John had met the Mesa brothers a few months earlier when he and a group of hunters had accidentally run into the Mesa men outside Lonesome. Although John hadn’t said much about them—which was strange—it was obvious that her brother had found them interesting. He said he’d just clicked with them. Then, when they’d invited him to Lonesome, John had jumped at the chance.
“Hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll be hot.”
Joy shoved the last pair of jeans into the duffel bag. “Yeah. Maybe I can have my way with all three of them.”
“Don’t go getting greedy. Pick one then give me one of the others. We’ll hang on to the third in case either of us ever needs a spare.”
“Good thinking.” She studied the clothing then started pulling her toiletries together, along with a hair dryer and shampoo. If she did get lucky and the Mesa men were hot, then she wanted to be prepared. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
“So you’re leaving today? Right now?”
Again, she wondered at the worry in Sarah’s tone. But there was no point questioning her. She’d only say the same thing she’d said before. “No time like the present. If I get moving, I can get there before dark.”
“Oh, I get it. You want to get there before dark just in case those guys really are sexy. Then you can have all night to see which one you want.”
“I wish.” She zipped up the bag. “But I would like to get there in time to find a place to stay. John mentioned a B&B once, but if it’s full, I’ll have to head back over to the highway twenty-five miles outside of town.”
“Maybe the Mesa men will invite you to stay with them.”
Joy swung her small purse over her shoulder then hefted the duffel bag into her other hand. “Wow. You really are an optimist.”