His boss laughed. “Come on, Kitty your reward is upstairs waiting for you. Go and have some fun. This is nothing to do with you.” His boss took a step towards him, acting all confident like he was in charge, but Lance was not in charge anymore.
And before he could think about it, before he could talk himself out of it, Kieran’s fist crunched into his boss’s face, ending the life he had known since he was old enough to walk into the cage.
Chapter Three – Misty
Misty sat there, stunned, not from the slaps across her face, but from the vision of the man who had walked into the room, and was now pummelling the face of the guy who had hit her. Normally violence disgusted her, but today all she wanted was for someone to put an end to this nightmare.
She wanted to go home.
By now, she should have been at the border. Instead, she had been brought here, tied up, threatened, and then beaten, all for information on Darius, information she could not give up. Information she had never even known until her conversation with him last night. Her sudden release from her contract now seemed tied up in a world she didn’t understand, people moving her around as if she were a pawn.
Inside her head, her horse snorted and pawed the ground, anxious for the man who had knocked out two of the men and was now rounding on the short fat man, who was in charge. Scrap that, had been in charge, because now the room belonged to her saviour. She only hoped he was a good man, and wasn’t simply trying to take her and use her for his own devices.
Just as he seemed to have everything under control, the boss pulled a knife. Her heart jolted in her chest. She didn’t fully understand what it meant, but her horse was trying to tell her something. And then it clicked: he was her mate.
Of course, that was it, that was why he has here, he had felt it too. Felt her presence. She saw the glint of metal around his neck. He wore a collar, just like her. The collar stopped him turning into his other side. The collar marked him as a shifter in this human world.
The knife flashed, aimed at his ribs, but with grace and confidence, he jumped back out of the way. Then he jabbed a long arm out, hitting the boss in the face, sending him reeling backwards. But the short guy wanted to play dirty, and so waved the knife in front of him, backwards and forwards in a deliberate action, if for nothing else than to play for time.
And then she heard why. There was a shout from the corridor outside: reinforcements.
Her saviour heard the noise too, and acted fast, taking charge of the situation. In one swift move he grabbed the boss’s wrist, turning the knife on him and holding it under his throat.
“What now, Kitty?” the boss asked. “You ain’t getting out of here alive.”
“Want to bet?”
“You know I always win.” His boss sneered.
“Wrong, you only win because I win.” He bent the knife back a little more until it drew blood from the boss’s throat, a warning not to move. And then her rescuer’s eyes darted to Misty and he moved quickly, his one free hand going to her wrists, and he struggled with the knot binding her. It wouldn’t give.
He brought his knee up at the same time as he pulled the boss’s head down, and there was a sickening thud as the boss fell to the ground, knocked out. But before he could free her, the room filled with four other men.
She couldn’t breathe. They were going to die here. There was no way he could overpower all of them.
“Quick. They went that way.” He jerked his head towards the door. “I managed to get one of them with the knife, but they escaped.”
They believed him. She didn’t know what stunned her more, that he had the nerve to actually try to convince them that they were under attack, or that the men actually believed him. It didn’t matter, he had brought them some time, and now they had a chance.
Using the knife, he cut the rope, and then he hooked one hand under her arm and pulled her to her feet roughly. “Come on.”
“Where?” she asked, trying not to puke, her face hurt so much, throbbing where she had been punched, and she wasn’t sure if one of her ribs was broken from the car crash. “Which way do we go?”
“This way.” He dragged her through the same door the men had exited from, the thought of fainting slipping over her like a thick blanket, cocooning her from her fear and pain. But she had to stay awake, had to help them both escape. He had put himself in danger for her, and she couldn’t let him down
“But they’ll realise what’s happened if we follow them.” Her brain didn’t want to think logically, but she was forcing it to.
“We aren’t going to follow them, not all the way at least. There’s a window that leads onto the back alley. We’ll use that as an exit.”
“Wait.” She stopped, turning to look at him, “I don’t understand. What the hell is going on?”
“You’re asking me? Up until five minutes ago, I was looking forward to a nice evening of female company.” His expression was fierce as he looked at her. “And then you walk into my life.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for disturbing your entertainment.” She looked away, trying to reconcile the hurt inside her at the thought that he was going to spend the night with another woman. This was crazy; they had only just met. He meant nothing to her.
He’s our mate, that voice again, and she cursed it. Why had her horse decided to wake up now?
“You should be. I don’t know who you are, but I do know, once I get you out of here, you are going to run as far away from this place, and me, as you can.”
“I have to go to the border.” Didn’t he feel what was between them? Was his animal mute from the collar?
“Then that’s where I’ll take you.” He began moving again. They reached the window and he opened it, looking out, and down. “It’s a way down, but we can climb.”
“What?” She looked out of the window, they were two floors up; there was no way they could jump down there. Yet when the voices sounded not too far off, he hooked his leg over the ledge and held out his hand for her.
“I’ll lower you down.”
She looked at his hand and then at the drop again. “It won’t work.”
“We have no choice.” He took her hand, and a small current of electricity passed between them. His eyes flew up to hers and she saw real fear there. “What is that?”
“Us. It’s us. You don’t get it, do you?” she asked.
“All I get is that until you showed up I had a life here. Now I’m going to be a fugitive from this mob.”
“Then come with me.”
“Across the border?” he asked, and shook his head. “They won’t want me there.”
“Please.” She needed to explain to him, but the voices came again. And before she had chance to say anything else, he took hold of her hand and, using his brute strength, moved her to the window, and then over the ledge, before lowering her to the ground.
It wasn’t close enough and she fell, her ankle buckling under her as she hit the ground awkwardly. She cried out, and then stood up, testing her weight on it. It throbbed, but she knew she had to run, but which way?
Next to her, he landed: graceful, lithe, and in one piece. “How did you do that?”
“I am light on my feet,” he said, taking one look at the way she was standing and lifting her into his arms.
“You’re a cat.” It was obvious to her, as plain as the glint in Darius’s eyes last night. Was there a connection? Even worse, was this a trap? Gain her trust so she would tell him everything? The more she thought about it, the more plausible that sounded.
“I don’t know what I am, other than a freak. And by the collar around your neck, I’m guessing you are a freak too.” He ran as if he wasn’t carrying her, swift on his feet, his eyes alert.
“Yes … since you mention it, I am, but I’m proud of my freakish nature.”
“Good for you.” His reply was cutting. “While me, I have no use for it other than to be the best cage fighter in the city, which I was until you showed up.”
“Great career choice. How much do you owe on your contract?” she asked, her head resting on his chest, his heartbeat lulling her into a false sense of security, because there was no way she was safe, not from the men chasing them, and not from this predator.
“I don’t have a contract.” They had reached the street now, and she knew how conspicuous they looked. Two shifters, one injured, running through the streets, were going to attract much too much attention. Plus, while he held her so close, she had no way to escape him either.
If that was what she was going to do. Damn, this was so confusing. Her horse, silent in her head once more, had said this man was her mate, but how could she be sure?
“You need to put me down.” She loosed her grip on his neck, although she longed to cling to him. Damn, she had it bad, or maybe they had drugged her. That might be it, because she had a strong feeling that if they weren’t mates, then she wouldn’t be able to stand the guy. He had an arrogance about him that didn’t sit well with her.
“OK.” He let her slip to the floor, supporting her weight just enough for her to begin to walk slowly on it. “I’ll take you to the border, but not on foot. We need to find transport.”
“I have no money; they took my purse.” She looked behind them. They couldn’t go back and get it. But at least they weren’t being followed.
Possibly because that was part of the plan. Well, she would play along with it, for now, and then try to make a run for the border at the first opportunity. “What do we do? We need to get there as quick as we can.”
“Wait, stop talking as if I was going with you.”
“Why wouldn’t you?” she asked, testing his story. “Why would you stay here if you don’t have a contract?”
“Because if I go to the Prime, I’ll be killed.”
“And if you stay here?” she asked, still not convinced.
He shook his head. “Like I said, I have a life here. Right now I should be in bed, fucking my reward.”
“And is that what you would rather do?” She stopped, making him look at her. “Tell me, you can feel it too?”
“I don’t know what I feel, except like a damn fool. I am not a hero, I’m not a knight in shining armour, I just want you out of my life.”
Trying to get my sympathy by playing the injured hero, good move, she thought. But for now, he was all she had.
Chapter Four – Kieran
He didn’t mean a word of it of course. The lure of the Prime had always been there, nagging at him. It’s what had drawn him here after Philippe died, like a forbidden treasure. And so he had become a fighter, instead of living the simple life of a European bum.
However, Kieran had been bought up to fear the Prime, to fear what was on the other side of that border. His guardian, Philippe, had always made it plain that they were on the run, that somebody was hunting them, somebody who would find them one day, and finish the job they had started when Kieran was a child.
Everyday Philippe had gone through the same routine of checking nobody was following them, that they never had anything on them that could be traced. They lived simply, travelling up through Europe taking on summer jobs, working on farms where no one cared that they were shifters as long as they worked hard. Kieran had enjoyed it, enjoyed the freedom; that was, until he understood what he really was. That he was a freak.
Philippe had kept the details from Kieran, had never told him what he was, and who exactly they were running from. Even on his deathbed, the only words of advice he could pass on to Kieran were to never go to the Prime, and never trust anyone.
Left alone, Kieran had struggled to make a living. Fed up of fruit picking and living a life on the road, he had been drawn towards the border between the human world and the Prime. Making a living street fighting, he had done OK, still keeping a low profile, moving around as much as he could, until Lance had taken him under his wing and made his life more settled. For the first time, Kieran had a home; for the first time he stayed in one place for more than a month.
His success in the cage gave him confidence, made him train harder to make himself invincible, so that one day he would never have to fear whatever lurked in the Prime. And this was the very reason he is carried on fighting for his boss for the last five years instead of going home. Always telling himself he wasn’t ready, always fooling himself, putting it off for another day, another month. Another lifetime.
Kieran knew that if this woman hadn’t walked into his life, he would have carried on doing the same thing, fighting until it killed him.
But at least that would have been a death that he chose himself. Now it seemed as if his world was being pulled apart, his life pulled from under him, and he had no choice in his actions. He was caught up in something he didn’t understand, with emotions he didn’t think he was capable of experiencing rushing through his body when he touched her.
And worse, for the first time since Philippe had died, he felt scared. Not for himself, but for her.
“Damn it.” He cursed his luck.
“Please,” she said, her hand on his arm. “Tell me what’s wrong. You are a shifter, you have no contract, so why stay here and be treated like crap.” She moved her hand up to stroke his face, flinching as he felt the connection between them, like an electrical current, where her skin touched his.
He flicked his head back, breaking the contact. “I like it here, why would I cross the border? It’s full of even more freaks. This is all I’ve known. Over there, that is a world that does not exist to me.”
“Why?”
“Look, we don’t have time to stand here spilling our sorry stories out. You want to go to the border, I’ll take you. But then you walk across it and out of my life.” He was firm, his voice cutting in its harshness.
She shook her head, and laughed, but it contained no humour. “You’re scared.”
“I don’t care what you think.” But he did. The part of him, the beast that was like a shadow in his mind, was trying to tell him it mattered a great deal what she thought of him. What she thought of them.
“Of course you don’t.”
“Look, we need to move. I know these people. Whatever it is you know, they will stop at nothing until they get what they want.” He began to walk across the road, and for a moment he thought she wasn’t going to follow, but then she did, hobbling along painfully on her injured ankle.
“You’ll have to slow down a bit,” she said. “There’s no way I can keep up with you at that pace.”
He slowed, wanting to go back and help, wanting to pick her up, and carry her again. He’d enjoyed holding her against his chest, feeling her weight, her warmth, against him. Somehow he was beginning to feel like some romantic idiot, not the hard cage fighter that he had been only half an hour ago.
As they walked, he kept a lookout for anyone suspicious who may be following them, but there was nobody. But what he did know was that they could not walk to the border. She’d never make it with her injured ankle.
“Do you have any money?” he asked.
“What, you want me to pay you to take me to the border?” she asked.
He could tell by the look on her face that’s what she thought he meant, that she thought so little of him she expected him to want payment. “No, I’m just trying to figure out how we can get there,” he said. “There is no way you can walk there, and my wallet is back there with the rest of my life.”
She stopped walking, resting her weight on her good leg. “You are right, the only thing I can think of, is if I call my employer, the guy who owned my contract, and ask him for help.” She looked down at the ground, as if contemplating something. “Is that what you want? Me to call Darius?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, taking a step towards her, pulling himself up to his full height, making her cower in front of him. But then she took a deep breath and looked straight into his eyes, and he knew right then that she was the perfect match for him, full of courage, but he had to forget about that.
> “What do I mean?” She placed her hands on her hips. “What I mean is I think this is all a setup. I don’t think you really rescued me. I think you just want to know what I know and you thought this whole charade would gain my trust and loosen my tongue.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He frowned, looking at her, trying to work out what exactly was she was accusing him of. “Right, I get it. You think this is a different way of trying to get the information out of you. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know anything about you, I don’t want to know anything about you, I just want you out of my life.”
“Then just walk away. Go on. Just leave me. I can get along without you.” He stood looking at her, wishing he could just walk away, but the thing inside of him wouldn’t let him. That left him with one choice: get her to the border.
“We’ll steal a car.”
Chapter Five – Misty
“We’ll what?” This was going from bad to worse, but unfortunately it hit her that he was right; with no money and with her injured ankle, they were stuck unless she phoned Darius. There was no other way for them to get to the border.
“A car—you know, one of those things you drive.”
“Can you drive?” she asked. “Because I thought freaks like you, freaks like me, aren’t allowed to drive. Aren’t allowed to get a licence, because we aren’t human.”
“I grew up where they didn’t care so much about those things. I used to drive the trucks on the farms, this shouldn’t be too different.” He was walking away from her now, looking at all the different cars parked along the street. He was looking for the right one to steal, and that left her with a tough decision. If they stole a car and got caught, she could kiss goodbye ever going back to the Prime.
No, that wasn’t right: if they stole a car and they got caught, wouldn’t the authorities just throw them back across the border? Like a sack of garbage. They didn’t like shifters over here, and if they didn’t owe money, they would just get rid of them. They certainly wouldn’t be put in prison, because that would be to class them on the same level as humans.
Fighting A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 3) Page 2