“You’re scared?” Maya asked, and she nodded.
“I’ll be okay.” She squeezed her mom’s hand, but refused to say anything more in front of Warden, knowing he would inform her mates about anything she said.
She laughed, stepping into the main room. Lacey was dancing around the room with her vampire costume on. “You’re a goon,” she said, running after her with everyone laughing.
“Okay, I give up.” Dee fell to the ground and shook her head. “You were always faster than me.”
“And I always will be, little girl,” Lacey teased her even though they both knew she was older then her. Time seemed to slip away as the women laughed and shared stories about her mother, but when Dee glanced up to see, it dark outside she frowned.
Jumping up, Dee reached over her mom and grabbed the phone. It was 9:00 and her mates had not come for her.
“Stupid!” She flung the phone across the room. “Never trust anyone!” She disappeared from the room and reappeared in downtown Los Angeles.
So be it! Dee would wait for no one again. She checked her weapons and made sure they all were there. There were two houses that Dee hadn’t checked the last time she’d been here. There was no time like the present to do so. Dee was ready to kill anything that got in her way.
“Not so fast!” her mother placed her hand on her arm.
“The first rule to hunting is never go alone. Let’s go kill the pest that keeps screwing with our lives,” her mother snarled. “I couldn’t bring everyone, but the three of us will be able to do some damage.”
Not trusting her words, Dee nodded and headed off to the first house. It appeared as everything was quiet, nothing stirred outside and the ground hadn’t been disturbed since the last time she checked. “This one is clear.” She pointed to the marking shed left, but they still went through the house, setting up more singles if they did move into this house.
Leading the way, Dee stalked toward the last house on this side of town. She stopped three feet to the side. Sure enough two of the traps she’d left were gone. Someone was inside or had been. Signaling her mom, Dee crept to the side window, the one she’d left cracked open for just this purpose.
Using her new powers, Dee opened the window without a sound. She jumped up and was crawling inside the window when she was lifted up and placed back on the ground next to Talhrn.
His gray hair blew behind him and power radiated all around him. One by one, the men inside were brought out by warriors she’d never seen.
There was nothing to say, so she turned to leave, but Marquis blocked her way. Todd was behind her. His legs spread and his arms crossed over her chest glaring at her. She tried to disappear, but nothing worked.
“Release me now! You have no right to keep me here,” Dee snarled and glared at Talhrn.
He faced her head on. “You are our meru!” He shouted shaking the windows in the foreclosed houses around them. Everyone around them turned to stare, but she didn’t back down, the hurt and anger too strong.
“NO. I’m. NOT...You gave up that right when you didn’t show up and blocked me in your head, all of you did. Go find one of your own to mate with, because it’s obvious I’m not good enough for you three.” She screamed louder than him as she reached back to swing at him, but Marquis latched onto her and held her tight.
***
She was beautiful when furious. Never had any woman turned him on as much as his woman did, but right now he had a major problem. One that would only worsen, when they dealt out her punishment.
He nodded to Marquis and they all reappeared in a stadium- like hall. His warriors had seen and heard her attack on him. If he was going to get his men back in control then there was no alternative.
His woman would have to be punished in front of his men, made to be an example of how to control their woman. He nodded to Marquis who strapped her naked body down over the spanking bench.
Lifting her head, Dee looked around. Her body shook and she whispered. “You do this...”
Marquis placed a ball gag into her mouth stopping her words. He stepped behind her and ran his hand down her ass cheek. “When I first saw you there climbing into that window...knowing there were men in there who could kill you... In all my life I’ve never known such terror and I won’t have it again. If I have to tie you to our bed, so be it. You have earned 25 swats for your behavior and 5 strokes for trying to hit me.” He nodded to Marquis who started the spanking.
He would deliver the strokes with the whip and afterward, Talhrn just hoped she would forgive them. The three of them had been so caught up in moving of their belongings, the preparation for the ceremony, and the death of Janek’s sister that each of them had forgotten their meru until Akaos appeared in front of him, furious.
In all his years, he’d never seen his friend so angry. When he finally could speak and inform him of what angered him, all he thought about was getting to his woman. The three of them had hurt her and now...with each stroke of the whip, tears fell from his eyes.
There were no yells, cussing, but he could see the little tremors as she cried. No one in the audience said anything. The tension was fierce.
He knew the women in the stands were glaring daggers at him, but punishment was and would be brought back into their world. How could his warriors keep their hearts safe, if they were putting themselves in danger every time they turned around?
Lives of the warriors were dangerous enough, without having to worry if their woman was safe or not. He threw down the whip and unbuckled Dee. He carefully lifted her in his arms and carried her to their new home where he placed her on their bed, stomach down.
“Don’t move.” He took the cream Todd handed him and started to rub it on her sore red skin.
There wasn’t one open mark on her body, but she would be sore. After making sure every mark was covered in medicine, he released her powers and she shifted immediately to that of the cat.
She curled up onto the bed and inside their Little Kitten fell apart. He knelt by the bed, as did Marquis and Todd, and tears rolled down their faces as they listened to her scream inside.
Her heart was in shreds and her mind almost splintered. “Little Kitten, hear me, please. We were coming for you, but time is different here and with the move, the preparations for the ceremony and the sentencing of the woman who hurt you, we just didn’t realize the time. I swear on my life we would never intentionally hurt you.”
She said nothing, but the screams in her head quieted and at first he’d thought Dee had fallen asleep. “You’ve broken the one thing I gave you, which I gave no one, my trust. I don’t see how there can be any us. The bond is not completed -find someone else.” She broke the connection, refusing to look at either of them.
“There can be no other, Little Kitten. We will rebuild that trust I promise, if it takes a lifetime, we will do it.” He reached up to have her flinch.
“Are you that scared of me now?” Only silence greeted him and his hearts crumbled.
“I hate to interrupt, but her mother will not leave until she speaks with her daughter,” Akaos snapped behind them.
The three of them rose and turned to see Maya in cat form. “She won’t come out of her cat form, she’s so furious. All of the women are. The men at the house say each one of them is in their cat forms. If it weren’t for the shields, the humans would be hunting them as we speak. Their cries fill the night.” Akaos ran his hand through Maya’s fur. She snarled, but didn’t move.
“I had no choice. The men saw her as she tried to strike me. Do you think I wanted to punish her when we’ve hurt her so bad?” he yelled and fell into the chair against the wall.
“With this new responsibility, every single person will be looking at us for guidance. Our shields to the other worlds are in a mess, anytime someone could slip onto our world without us knowing it! Something had to be done and I’m afraid I was the only one the Tetraheros would deal with.” He sighed and looked over at Dee, shocked to see her staring at him.
“I’m sorry, Little Kitten, so sorry. Go on up, Maya. She needs you. Come, Akaos, while you’re here we might as well go over the shields.” He got up and was about to leave when he stopped.
“I won’t embarrass you again in front of your men. I don’t know if I can work past what you’ve done, but...we’ll see.” She said from the bed in her human form. She was dressed in a big flannel nightgown almost daring him to strip her of it.
“Just stay in the room with it please.” She relaxed and nodded.
Chapter Fifteen
Dee placed her head in her mother’s lap and sighed. “For once, can’t things be easy for me? I’m so tired. How am I going to trust them? I feel as if my heart has been run through a meat grinder and served up raw.”
“There are no answers, Dee. I have a feeling that our lives are always going to be hard. Living with three men would be hard on anyone, but these warriors truly believe that they have to protect us from everything.” She ran her hand through her hair.
“I did learn from Akaos that if we are hurt, they feel our pain ten times stronger. That’s one of the reasons it’s so hard for them to ever let us go out there and place ourselves in danger. The thought of us hurt or helpless destroys their ability to function as warriors. In a way, we are their Achilles’ Heel. We can bring them down where none others can.”
“I’m glad you’re going to be here with me. I have a feeling I’m going to need someone around or I’d go stir crazy. Have you been given a tour yet? All I’ve seen is the stadium, twice now as a matter of fact.” Dee winced and rubbed her back end.
“No, they don’t want us going out of our homes without one of them. It’s one of the many rules we’ll have to try and figure out how to get around it,” her mother snarled.
“I hate being kept a prisoner and Akaos knows this. Going back and forth isn’t going to work. It takes too much energy. On top of that, they could lead the enemy here with each transfer.”
“Are you going to be there for the ceremony? It’s not every day your man becomes king.” Her mother slid her fingers through her hair, not saying a word, allowing Dee to work through her emotions.
“I’ll be there,” she said, but that didn’t mean she’d forgiven them. That would take time. She sat up and sighed.
“What time is the ceremony? I guess I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to wear. I wish they’d let us wear something.”
Her mother snorted. “I have a feeling that will never change, so we need to get used to it. At least we never cared what people thought about our bodies, but think of some of the humans if they ever got stuck with a warrior. Have you heard anything about Dan? I haven’t been allowed to see him since the change.”
She shook her head and got up off the bed looking around the room. “None of them tell me anything. In the beginning, I could hear what they were thinking, but they’ve blocked that now. You would most likely get more information from them than I can.” The room was bigger and it had two windows which was weird since they were buried underground.
Shoving the curtains back, Dee screamed and jumped back. “What the hell?” Some strange looking creature stared in the window. One licked the window and she shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Marquis shouted, appearing in the room followed by the other men.
“What is that?” She pointed at the window and he laughed.
“Sand is my pet. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you,” Todd told her and opened a door she hadn’t seen.
The creature was almost as big as she was in her cat form. It had dark purple fur, fangs that hung out of its mouth and its eyes were blood red. It snorted almost like a pig as it drew closer.
“This is Sand. I found him on one of our trips to the outer planets. His mother had been killed and he would have died. Talhrn agreed we could keep him. We each take turns feeding him. Give me your hand so he can smell it.” Todd hugged the creature, then took her hand into his and lifted it to Sand’s face.
Looking back at Talhrn, he nodded as he talked to Akaos, but watched her carefully. Marquis stood to the right, never taking his eyes off her, but kept talking with Tesuss. Her mom slowly made her way towards them. “I don’t know about this.”
“You don’t even like my dogs,” she teased her mom, who rolled her eyes.
Not moving, the room grew quiet as the animal sniffed and nudged her hand. “What does he want?” Dee looked over at Todd.
“He wants to feed from you. When a Ghor takes the blood of his family, he opens up a link. You’ll be able to read him, talk to him inside your head. Will you allow him this?” Todd asked.
“You have nice eyes.” She turned over her wrist, a little nervous but trying to reassure the animal and herself. “And yes, I’ll feed him.” Dee looked down at the animal and flinched, trying not to yank her arm back as the creature buried his fangs into her wrist. She was lucky they were smaller, thinner than her cat, but after a few seconds something strange happened.
Talhrn was there beside her kneeling on her other side. He glared at Todd. “You should have prepared her skin, she’ll be bruised now.”
“I’m fine, it’s nothing compared to what you did earlier,” she defended Todd, but Talhrn wasn’t having it.
“No, he’s earned 10 strokes. You are not to feel any pain and he knows this.” He stood as if the subject was over, but she was about to rip him a new one when Todd put his finger to her lips.
“He’s right and I’m sorry. It’s one thing for a punishment, but this I could have stopped. Forgive me, Little Kitten.”
A small jolt of what felt like heat rushed inside her head, beads of sweat formed on her skin, and she took a deep breath. It wasn’t so much as talking to the animal as it was feeling the animal’s emotions. He was scared, but curious about her. Sand really wanted to play with Missy and Boo.
The animal was lonely. Releasing her wrist, Sand used his small silk-like tongue to seal the holes in her arm.
She stood petting the animal’s head. “There is nothing to forgive. You did nothing wrong as far as I’m concerned.” Dee whistled and waited, but her dogs didn’t come.
“Okay, where are my dogs?” She put her hands on her hips and stared.
“They are in their room. We kept them there since people were coming and going. We didn’t want them hurt while things were moved.” Both dogs came flying into the room and stopped when they saw Sand.
“Don’t even think it, Boo. He’s lonely and needs some company so you both be nice to him.” The dogs circled Sand and sniffed. Sand didn’t move at all and waited.
“Now all you need is kids,” a female said, coming into the bedroom. She frowned at her attire. “What are you wearing? You dishonor our rajah.” Dee was about to rip this woman apart when her mother stepped in front of her and snarled.
“Who the hell are you to talk to my daughter that way? And why are you in her bedroom?” She growled. Fur started to cover her skin and it was only a matter of time before she ripped the woman apart.
“Mom, it’s okay.” Dee tried to step up to her, but Marquis held her back and Akaos stepped in front of lady.
“Maya, pull the cat back in please. This is your daughter’s new companion and servant. I won’t repeat my request.” Her mother’s gaze lifted to his and she hissed.
“You are interfering with my daughter again...” She didn’t get another word out before Akaos wrapped his arms around her and disappeared from the room.
The girl looked down at the ground, nervous. Dee stepped forward. “I’m sorry my Mother got a little upset, but she is very protective of me. As for my nightgown…” She shrugged. “When I’m not feeling well or upset, I wear it. I would never wear anything out in the open to embarrass my mate. But if this is my bedroom? She turned to Talhrn who nodded.
“Then I can do what I want in here when I’m alone as long as I don’t harm myself. I also expect you to knock before you enter my room, if you are going to work here.”
Before th
e woman could say a word, Talhrn came up to her and put his arm around her bringing the lady closer. “Sena, this is my meru, Dee...”
He stopped and frowned. “Why are you hurting?” Talhrn stepped towards her, and Dee moved back.
“Little Kitten, come here.” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
Two steps and they were the hardest she’d taken in a long time. He’d actually touched the woman, putting his arm around her. The cat inside wanted to rip her head off.
“Keep her back, I don’t know if I can control the cat,” she hissed, looking down at the ground. “Maybe it would be better if she left.”
“There is no reason for her to leave, just because of your insecurities,” Marquis snapped and held out his hand to Sena.
She spun around and got into his face. “Ever since I’ve gotten here you’ve done nothing but egg me on. Well, if you want her so bad, so be it, then you fuck her, because you’ve just lost me, asshole. You won’t hurt me again, none of you will!” Dee was livid. Talhrn had once more stripped her of her power. She couldn’t even shift to her cat as the three of them surrounded her.
“Sena, would you please wait for us in outer room. We’ll be out in a few moments,” Talhrn stated, but never took his gaze off of her.
Being like her mother, the cat inside clawed to try and get out. It wanted to hunt and Sena was its target.
Dee fell to her knees, grabbing her stomach. Never had the cat been so furious. She arched as the tiger swiped at her back. “Stop, please.”
“What’s going on?” Talhrn fell to his knees beside her. Marquis ripped her nightgown from her body.
“She’s got claw marks running down her back.” He carefully tried to pull her hand away from her stomach, but she held on.
Dee's Hard Limits (Masters of the Cats) Page 12