by Aliyah Burke
She was a tracker and a damn good one, she’d return to where they parted company and go from there.
“Tora?”
She blinked a few times before it sank in that she’d called Casimir. “That turned up nothing. The few leads that were given, didn’t pan out. I have a few more things I will check.”
Her Alpha didn’t speak for a moment and she didn’t press just waited. It wasn’t uncommon for him to try to better figure out what he wanted to convey with his words. Dyana had done wonders on getting him to not be so rash.
Her fangs slid from her gums once more until she noticed and retracted them.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m driving, nothing more.”
“You know that I know when you’re lying, right, Lieutenant?”
A slight reprimand fell as he used her title and she bared her teeth. A sure sign of her agitation, she didn’t argue with him, didn’t debate his decisions. His word was law, her law. Unless it was to deliberately put himself in danger, that she’d ignore all day every day and twice on Tuesdays. “I need a few days, is all.”
“Nightmares again?”
“Yes.” Of a whole different kind this time.
“Stay in touch.”
That was all he said before he ended the call to her. Part of the time, she wondered if he didn’t just send her out because he knew she wanted to be on the move. While she loved having somewhere to call home and come back to, she preferred to be going. It was safer that way.
One didn’t tend to form attachments.
At least not until your life intersected with Keane.
Damn brain and it’s unwanted commentary.
She pushed hard until she reached where she and Keane had parted ways. Leaving her vehicle idling, she hopped out and stood in the middle of the desolate road, allowing her wolf to race up to where they were one yet unmerged in the sense she still retained her human form. Something else she’d learned to do as a child for survival. While shifter ears were impressive, wolf hearing trumped it. She’d learned to bring her beast so close the fur could be felt on the under side of her skin, her jaw burned as the fangs wanted to lengthen and allow her muzzle to protrude.
Tora couldn’t scent him anymore, not that she’d expected too, days had gone by and surely any lingering scent of him had been washed away either by rain, dew, or just time. Didn’t mean there wasn’t a trail though.
She crouched and allowed her hand to hover over the asphalt where he’d been on his bike. Tapping her animal, she searched through all the stinky scents of vehicles until she picked up on the faint, ever so faint, smell of the leather on his bike as well as the specific type of oil he used in it. A smell she’d learned well the time she’d been with his Clan.
She might not be able to track his scent, but oil stayed around long after human or shifter smell vacated the area. Now that she’d locked onto it, she pushed back up to her feet and lifted her chin and breathed deep.
In her mind’s eye, she had a string from her to him now. Or at least his bike. And where that was, she could work from.
Hang on, Keane. I’m coming.
It bothered her that this pain pushed through her. Keane was a warrior nearly unmatched by what she’d seen. So if he had been taken down, it was a large group or they caught her leopard shifter seriously unaware.
She shook her head and asked her vehicle for more speed, ignoring her mind, heart, and soul’s statement that Keane was hers. There wasn’t room for anyone in her life other than her Pack. And even then, it was mostly Casimir, and she tolerated the others.
Generally speaking their kind, needed and craved touches from others, it was especially noticeable in the young ones, but she was different. She didn’t seek it out. Occasionally she would take one from her Alpha but she didn’t seek it out.
Now she wouldn’t push away one of the cubs but even they seemed to know to head to others first. The Pack didn’t know all about her childhood aside from what their Alpha had shared and she didn’t find it any of their business. She did her job, was good at it, and stayed mostly away from the others. Even in a pack, she was a true lone wolf.
All of that was different with Keane, she loved his touch on her body, it soothed something wild and untamed within her. That same thing that right now, raged out of control with her need to kill and maim.
The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and she struggled to pull her fangs back into her gums.
As she drove, she slowed at intersections and sniffed the air, latched onto the special scented oil from his bike. When it turned, so did she. If the smell vanished, she would pull over and work methodically until she picked it back up.
Hours blurred until she stopped at the top of a hill, overlooking a road down into a valley that was the start of Pride lands. But it wasn’t just lion’s that she smelled, there was something else. Something that triggered a locked memory in her mind, and had a full shifted snarl tearing from her mouth.
Shit was about to go down.
αβ
Keane stirred, muscles screaming in agony, and stilled. His nose overrun with the rancid scent of rotten flesh and trash. Within him, his feline, hissed with anger and frustration. Through lowered lids, he saw his black boots had been removed as well as his socks and his ankles were bound. So were his hands, behind his back and pressing against his chest was a spear tip.
“Shift and you die. We know you are leopard and we have that lined up directly to where your heart will be if you shift.”
Prying his eyes open proved more difficult than it should have. He spied a trio of men leaning against the wall of the small shack he was held in. They were large, wolf shifters, he could smell their taint from where he lay.
“What do you want?” His lips were cracked, and the words didn’t want to pass them but he forced it. Needing to know all he could.
“We thought we’d ransom you. And find out what you know about any eagle shifters.”
“Ransom me? My Alpha won’t give you anything. And I don’t know a damn thing about eagle shifters.” They would have to kill him first, he’d never spill anything about Shira.
“We can smell when you’re lying, you know, just like you can us. And while you may be a good warrior for your Alpha, even you cats have your limits of what you can handle torture wise. Are you sure you want to test us?”
“You’d fucking torture me anyway so why would I tell you anything? If I knew, which I don’t.”
The one in the middle pushed away and walked toward him, steps confident and light given his size. Even had Keane not been restrained and hurting, he would recognize him as a dangerous adversary.
“What makes you think I know anything about eagle shifters?” He struggled to work some moisture into his mouth.
“There are whispers. Some are questioning loyalties amongst your Clan and others.” A shrug. The stained white wife-beater he wore, barely contained the heavy chest and body hair for this wolf. “Give it time, boy, you’ll tell us what we want to know.”
Not a chance.
“Pretty confident for three wolves who have a leopard tied up.”
He waggled a thick finger before his face, the dried gunk beneath his nails a mixture of blood and something Keane didn’t want to think about. “Don’t go tryin’ to get under our skin, it won’t work. We’re not young and dumb.”
Just old and smelly. Even with their age, he wasn’t fooled. Older shifters were often cagey as fuck because they’d learned so much over their years of living. And these three didn’t look as if they’d had an easy time of it.
They turned as one and headed out the door. When it opened, the wind blew in and with it came a scent he didn’t recognize. He didn’t in the sense he wasn’t sure what it was, but he did recognize the danger in it. Whatever that creature was, it wasn’t to be trifled with.
While he couldn’t go anywhere at the moment, it didn’t mean he had to sit there and do nothing. He thought about the man’s words and tried
to figure out who wasn’t loyal. He’d not heard anything about it, and he was fairly certain, was that an issue, his Alpha would have let him know.
Yet, the wolf shifter, watched him like it was someone he knew even if it wasn’t one of his kind. As if they’d spoken about a wolf who was going to betray one of their own.
Leopards don’t do that to our kind, but dogs are sneaky fuckers, I wouldn’t put it past them.
He had a love-hate relationship with the wolves. As a whole, he didn’t have a damn thing good to say about the lot of them. They could keep to their own and he would to his. However, that was before one of his best friends turned out to be a wolf shifter as did his mate.
Figures this would happen to me.
Keane tested the bindings on his ankles and gave a smile when the slight give was noticeable this time. His main concern was the spike directed at his heart. It had already pierced him and if he moved to much or, as they warned, shifted, it would go so much further into the deep chest cavity of his cat.
Within him, his beast roared with anger. It hated to be caged not that it liked threats any better than he did. While he wasn’t the Alpha of his Clan, he wasn’t a beta and he despised being out of play.
He couldn’t be reckless about this, not only was he surrounded by shifters who would hear him do pretty much anything, but he also didn’t have a clue as to where he was, so busting out wouldn’t do him a damn bit of good if he couldn’t get farther than a few steps.
Calming the beating of his heart, he used his ears to listen and his sensitive nose to move past the stench of waste to find out what else he could pick up on. Muttered conversations that didn’t give him any clue about his location or what he was doing there.
His offended nose couldn’t sort anything else other than the disgusting smell wafting about. He wasn’t sure how the other shifters did anything here, especially keeping them safe if you couldn’t scent anything beyond the stuff he smelled.
Then again, it could be where they put me. Perhaps it’s not all this way.
The door bounced open once more and he slowly opened his eyes to see a tall, built black man standing there. This one wasn’t as filthy as the others but he wasn’t clean either. The scent emanating from this one was that dangerous one he hadn’t been able to place.
“It’s time for the two of us to have a talk.” His voice, low and graveled, rolled over Keane, bringing with it a need to shift and defend himself. This man, who he knew was a shifter, set off every alarm bell he had within him.
His fangs began to descend and the man looking down on him, smiled showing off dirty teeth.
“I have that effect on people.”
And from the sounds of it, proud to do so. Keane waited, debating his options of survival if he did shift. Less than ten percent but he didn’t want to die tied up either.
“We talking here or heading somewhere else?” His leopard had leaked free, but Keane didn’t care.
“Oh, we’re going somewhere else. That blade stays right there though, so don’t get any ideas.”
He had plenty but kept that to himself. Keane didn’t struggle when the man lifted him from the ground like he didn’t weigh more than a five-pound bag of flour. With an easy jerk of one hand, the ropes securing his feet were removed.
What the fuck is he? Strength wise, he would have thought bear or elephant, but he didn’t smell either of those on him. As he could scent it was a shifter, he wasn’t hiding it like his friend Shira did, but for the life of him he couldn’t make heads or tails of what kind.
The stench lessened as he was escorted from the building, he’d been in. Eagerly he ingested the cleaner air, soothing the burn that had lingered.
The homes they passed were barely huts and he couldn’t see those looking at him, but he could feel them and smell their uncertainty, anger, and fear. Who the fear was directed at he wasn’t sure it was him, given he wasn’t feeling to much like any threat at the moment.
To the left, he spied his bike there, resting beside a beat-up truck. At least they didn’t destroy that. A small clearing appeared and was shoved to his knees, over a stump. The spike bearing into his chest, slipped in a bit deeper. His arms were secured, so he was not only straining against them but also having to support his weight so the sharp tip didn’t penetrate him further.
The shifter who’d brought him out there moved back so he could look at him. “You’re not an idiot so we both know you know what happens if you struggle, don’t continue to hold yourself up, or shift. No one can hold the position you’re in forever, so let’s start talking so I can get what I want from you.”
“If that’s your idea of a pep talk, you suck at it.”
“Your kind are always so brave, at least the adults. I mean, your cubs are as well, but they aren’t able to hold out as long and what I’ve found is you are so protective of them, you’re willing to bend your rules to save them.” Without looking from Keane, he waved a hand and another man stepped into view.
This one dragged with him a cub of no more than twelve. His protective instincts flew into a rage and the roar left him instantly. The cub lifted his head toward him, one eye missing and body riddled with scars. There was defiance in the sole blue eye and a spark of hope until he saw how Keane had been tied.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” he rumbled, claws extending into the stump he was before.
“I’ve heard that before,” the man replied. He ran a filthy hand down the face of the boy there, who flinched back until the man captured his chin. “I was right in how you prefer to protect your young instead of letting them learn the harsh ways of the world. This one has learned some things but he will learn that even though a full adult shifter is here, one of his own kind, he’s still not safe. Because you can’t save him.”
Can you hear me? He sent the call to the cub.
No response and the boy barely looked at him. He tried twice more with the same results.
Opening his mouth to respond to the shifter, he held his tongue as the all too familiar rumble of a vehicle reached him.
No! His leopard struggled even harder to get free. Not only was there a cub to defend, but that was his mate’s vehicle. If she were coming here of her own volition, it was bad enough but if they’d captured her, every last one of them would die before he stopped breathing. He kept his eyes on the boy who didn’t appear as if he’d heard the motor. Their captor did and it wasn’t expected.
Maybe she’s here by choice. Not that he was at any happier stage with that knowledge.
He tried to get the cub’s attention once more. Again, to no avail.
A door slammed and her scent wafted over him. Tora. His other half. His mate.
“I’m looking for the owner of that bike.” There wasn’t a shred of emotion in her tone.
Fuck, she’s come here for me. This is all my fault.
Chapter Five
Tora held the gaze of the tall shifter nearing her. She moved away from her vehicle and toward him, not concerned she looked like much of a threat. It was part of the reason she was so damn good at her job, most other shifters and regular humans underestimated her because of her size.
“That’s my bike.” The wolf shifter nearing her stopped, crossed his arms, and spat on the ground. “What are you doing looking for my bike?”
“That’s not your bike. I know the bike and the custom work on it. I want the man who it belongs to.” She struggled to rein in her bitch who longed to come out fighting. She’d still not figured out this tie between her and Keane but she wasn’t going to ignore it and leave him to whatever happened.
He licked his lips and gripped his crotch, lifting it in her direction. “This is all the stick you need to be thinking about between your legs.”
“Where is he?”
“What’s the leopard to you?” Another man approached from her left and she didn’t jump having known he was there the whole time.
“He’s not anything to me, but I have my orders.”
Once in the clearing, her eyes locked on him and fury vibrated in her blood. Outwardly, she showed nothing. She’d thought she’d smelled blood and seeing it proved she’d been correct. They were at a Y formation. She, Keane, and another who held a young cub hostage.
“I’m here for them.” She moved toward Keane, not looking at him any longer but focusing on the large black man across from her leopard.
“Them?” The man raised his eyebrows.
“That’s what I said.” She got to Keane and without dropping her guard, freed his hands after she busted the shaft on the spear so it wouldn’t go into him further. “Get up,” she muttered to him.
“You can’t take them.”
“The three of us are heading out.” She didn’t allow her tone to modulate. Tora shifted closer to Keane, wanting to touch him and make sure he was fine, but didn’t.
“Why don’t we see about keeping you instead?”
“I don’t like to fight Komodo’s but I have no problem killing more of them. Let the boy come over here to us.”
His smug features showed a brief moment of fear before he managed to smooth them away. “Tora?”
She blinked. “Come here, boy.” There wasn’t anyway for her command to be ignored. And the cub listened, head down and uncertainty emanating off him in powerful waves.
“The bike stays.”
“Fine,” she said. She listened to the birds above, telling her no one had messed with her vehicle and who and what they had to pass to get back there.
Keane looked in her eyes and she knew there would be an inquiry later about this but right now, he was on the same page as her. He took point, they had the boy between them, and she brought up the rear, walking backward, keeping an eye on the dragon watching her with a blatant mixture of loathing and fear.