by Lacey Thorn
“I’m terrified.”
Reno didn’t have to ask why or what. He knew. There was only one thing that had the power to make Tah afraid.
“Abby.”
Tah nodded, though Reno hadn’t made it a question. “The baby is growing too fast. Her body can’t keep up. She’s depleted and exhausted. Hell, even Diane’s worried about the toll this pregnancy is taking on Abby.” Tah shifted his shoulders as if he carried the weight of the world on them. He lifted his hands and cupped them behind his head. “I’m terrified of losing her.”
“What does Abby say?”
There was no humor in the barked laugh Tah gave. “She says everything will be fine.” He turned to face Reno. “But I see the dark circles, the weariness and fatigue stamped on her face. She barely sleeps, and when she does, she’s restless. Her back aches constantly. She’s getting bigger, yet she’s losing weight. I can’t lose her. I won’t survive that.”
“Diane’s keeping a close watch on her, right? Seeing her every day?”
Tah nodded. “And the Professor checks on her constantly. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve walked in and caught them with their heads together. He hasn’t said anything, but I can tell he’s worried too.”
“I’m here for you,” Reno said, reaching out to grip Tah’s forearm with his hand. “Anything you need. Anytime.”
Tah sighed. “I know. I trust you and Logan more than anyone.” His gaze met Reno’s, and there was such sorrow in it Reno almost took a step back. “And yet I let you down. I hurt you, and for that I’m deeply sorry. I questioned your judgment, and that could have cost you the love of your mate.”
Reno shook his head. “She’s right. You did what you thought you had to.” He still felt a rumble of anger stir inside him, but pushed it deep. There was no room for anger or guilt between him and Tah.
“I want to talk to her some more. I’d like to hear anything she has to say about the Blanes and what it was like growing up there. And the glow she sees. I want to find out more about that.”
“You have an idea what it means,” Reno said. Another statement.
“I do.” Tah nodded. “It’s just a theory. I’d like to call a house meeting and pull everyone in, see what she sees.” He started walking again, and Reno followed with him. “That means Finn and Murphy. Can you handle that?”
Reno sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll try to hold myself to one punch.”
Tah snorted a laugh. “Remember we need them. And they were following my orders. You can’t forgive me and not them.”
Reno nodded but said nothing. He knew Tah was right, and yet he still wanted to kick the shit out of Finn and Murphy—out of both of them. Finn, who’d eavesdropped then tattled as if they were in grade school instead of grown fucking men, and Murphy who’d jumped right in to help contain Amia. Reno still wasn’t sure what all had happened before he’d gotten down there.
“Feel the urge to shift yet?” Tah asked.
Reno knew he was changing the subject to get Reno’s mind off of what had happened.
“I do, but I don’t,” Reno said. “If that makes any sense at all.”
Tah laughed with genuine humor this time. “Believe me. To me, it does. Christ, how long did we spend out here with me trying to figure it all out. I wanted to, but I didn’t.” The smile that crossed his face was way too happy for Reno’s liking. “The Professor’s been asking about you. He wants you down in the lab for tests. Blood, saliva and semen.”
Fuck! No wonder Tah was happy. Now he had someone to take some of the Professor’s interest off of him. He had no problem recalling the way the Professor poked and prodded at Tah. Hell, the little man had even ordered Tah to get in touch with his inner kitty and shift already. Reno was not looking forward to dealing with the Professor from this side of the fence. He turned his head to say something to Tah and caught the look of absolute delight on his friend’s face. Well, fuck. If thinking of Reno dealing with the Professor and all his endless demands eased Tah by giving him a good laugh, then Reno would take everything thrown at him. Tah had far too much on his mind.
“I’ll deal with the Professor,” Reno grunted. “As long as he doesn’t start shoving me out the door with commands to shift already.”
Tah laughed. “When the time’s right, you’ll know. I’ll admit, I was a little worried about you at first, knowing the toll it all took on me. I had such a hard time with it. The whole thing almost shut me down permanently. But I think we were wrong about some things. It all happened fast for me, at warp speed even. The Professor thinks it had more to do with my mate being in her fertile period than with anything else. You’ll have to deal with that when it happens with Amia. The beast just takes over, and all you want to do is fuck your mate. You’ll spend the entire time hard as steel and ready to go. She’ll be just as ready for you.”
“I remember all those stops on the way here,” Reno said. “I remember how annoyed I was.”
“Just wait,” Tah taunted. “You’ll get to experience it firsthand some day.”
“I haven’t used anything,” Reno admitted. “Talking to you. Seeing Abby. I’ve done nothing to protect Amia from getting pregnant.”
Tah nodded. “I’m not sure I could have. The thought of anything between my skin and hers? No fucking way. We were both so sensitive at the time. The only touch we could stand was each others.”
“Diane or the Professor have any thoughts on it?”
“Both of them think it has everything to do with the animal and a need to bind your mate to you. Has Amia noticed any changes since you bit her?”
“Not that I know of, but it’s only been a few hours.”
“Right. It still blows my mind that you were able to hold back on that. Be sure to ask Amia. My saliva changed everything for Abby. Or the mixture of my saliva and semen. Hell, being with me has changed her, and I’m not talking about the pregnancy.”
“You’re talking about the changes in her senses too. I remember discussing it briefly. I’ll talk to Amia. I should have thought to warn her about it. I lose my head around her. All I can focus on is touching her, feeling her.”
“Don’t expect that to change. At least it hasn’t for me,” Tah admitted. “Abby does have increased senses. Not as good as mine but better than normal. Plus it seems to have created a bond between us. I can feel her.” He rubbed his hand over his heart. “It’s like she’s a part of me, the best part.”
Reno should have never held back the impulse to bite Amia, to mark her. If he hadn’t, they might have shared that link, that bond Tah said he had with Abby, before they even got here. Then he would have known what she was going through while he’d been talking to Tah. He could have reached her faster. He rubbed his own chest. Were they linked now? Was that the reason for his sense of unease? Maybe it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with his mate.
“Smell that?” Tah asked, holding his hand up for Reno to stop.
Reno shook his thoughts away and focused on where they were. He inhaled deeply of the air around them, filtering through the scents until he latched onto the one Tah must have noticed. He’d smelled it before. In the woods outside the cabin he’d first taken Amia too. This had been what he’d scented when she’d tried to run from him, before he’d taken her and made her his. He hadn’t sensed a threat then, and he didn’t now. But whoever it was had followed them, and he hadn’t even realized it.
“We know you’re there,” Reno shouted. “I know you’ve been watching Amia.”
Tah lifted a brow but simply crossed his arms over his chest as he scanned the area around them.
“The sensor is going crazy here. I’m betting that’s your doing. You wanted to get me out here. Here I am.” Reno spread his arms wide and took a few steps forward.
One moment, there was nothing, then the rustle of leaves and a figure was landing in a crouch at his feet. He could feel the tension in Tah and held a hand up to his friend, asking him to stand back.
“Who are you?” But he knew. Somehow he knew exactly who she was.
“The one who’s been watching over Amia. I think she has a death wish. Or at least she did. Before you.”
“Why are you watching her?”
“Someone had to.”
“You’re Clara.”
She was startled, and it showed on her face for a brief second before she masked it. “More importantly, I’m not the only one who’s been following you.”
“The Blanes?”
Clara nodded. “If they’re not in Colorado yet, it’s only a matter of time.”
“How do you know this?” Tah stepped up, and anger emanated from him.
Clara took one look and total awe filled her face before she went down to one knee in front of him.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tah asked.
“It’s… I’m…” She breathed out roughly and hurriedly stood. “You startled me. That’s all.”
Reno gave her credit for trying, but he wasn’t buying it. He doubted Tah was either. She was hiding something, but one thing was clear. She’d obviously recognized Tah as an alpha leader. But was he her alpha?
“Who the fuck are you?” Tah demanded.
“I’m Clara,” she said with a shrug.
“I heard him loud and clear,” Tah said, nodding toward Reno. “Who are you, Clara? Where are you from?”
Tah glanced at him, and Reno knew his friend sensed the animal in her as well. Was she a member of the pride? One of the ones they’d read about in the journal? Could Clara be the first to find them?
“I think you better come back with us,” Reno said. He opened his mouth to say more and felt as if the earth beneath his feet quaked. In his mind, he heard Amia scream his name.
“Amia!” His roar shook the trees as he turned and took off back toward the house.
“What is it?”
He heard Tah yell, but he didn’t take time to explain. He had to get to her. His mate needed him.
He paid no attention to the burning of his muscles, the agony of his joints. He had to keep control, had to restrain the beast. His mate needed him. He could hear the pounding of feet behind him and knew both Tah and Clara followed even without looking. Finn was at the door as Reno reached the porch, and he took great pleasure in sending the other man flying as he tossed Finn out of his way and headed inside, toward Amia.
Reno immediately headed toward the door that led to the labs. She was there. He knew it.
“Reno!” Tah’s voice called behind him, but he paid it no mind.
“Get it out! Get it out!” Amia’s scream hit him dead center of his chest as he hit the stairs and had a roar leaving his throat.
He could see them through the glass. Amia was facedown on one of the exam tables with Logan leaning over her back, holding her down while Diane took a knife to her shoulder. The Professor was saying something, and Abby was nodding her head, one hand clasping Amia’s. He saw it all and yet saw nothing, felt nothing but his mate’s fear, her pain.
“Amia!” He roared her name and gave in to the burning of his flesh. Man or beast no longer mattered. All that mattered was reaching his mate and stopping her pain.
One moment, Amia was screaming for Diane to get the tracker chip they’d located in her out, and the next, all hell was breaking loose. Logan moved away with a murmur, his hands held out wide in front of him as the most beautiful white tiger she’d ever seen entered the room.
Diane gasped. “Holy shit!”
The Professor grinned. “ A tiger! I was hoping for a tiger!”
Abby squeezed her hand and whispered, “He’s beautiful. I knew he’d be beautiful.”
And still Amia couldn’t take it all in.
The tiger was Reno? Reno was the tiger? She’d known. Oh, she’d come to accept he was more than a man in her mind. But seeing it, seeing him. He took her breath away.
He turned and snarled at Logan, all sharp teeth and anger. And a woman jumped in front of Logan, crouching down at the animal’s level and doing a pretty good job of roaring herself. Everyone was stunned for a moment. Then Logan reached for her and jerked her behind him as he faced Reno.
“The tracker, Reno. We’re trying to get the tracker.”
Logan’s words didn’t seem to faze Reno, though. That big tiger head turned back toward her, but the neon blue eyes focused straight on Diane just as she managed to grasp what she’d been digging for and pull it free.
“Got it. I fucking got it!” she yelled.
Amia felt as if she might pass out. The girl. Was that Clara? She looked like Clara? Fuck, how much blood had she lost while Diane had been digging? She went a little limp on the table, and Reno growled, a thunderous sound that seemed to echo around the room. Those teeth turned toward Diane, and she saw the other woman gulp with fear as she took a hasty step away from the table and Amia.
“Reno.” Her voice was weak as Amia tried to call her mate’s attention to her. It seemed the strength and defiance she’d mustered when she told Diane to, “just do it already,” was quickly fading.
She was afraid of him hurting Diane, of him hurting anyone while in his current state. Was the man still in control in this form? Or did the tiger reign?
“Behind me.” A well-built black man with eerie eyes stepped in front of Diane, forming a solid wall of muscle between the doctor and the tiger. “Back off,” he said, and there was definitely something going on with his teeth as he bared them at Reno, not to mention the warm glow that surrounded him.
A lion’s roar filled the room, making her ears ring. The lion bumped the tiger with his nose, knocking him away from the table, away from Diane, Amia and Abby. The tiger struck back, one large paw catching the lion across the face and sending him back.
“Tah!” Abby screamed beside her, dropping her hand and moving as if she were going to put herself between the two beasts.
“Reno!” Amia said, her voice stronger.
His confession earlier filled her head as she pushed up until she could rise onto her knees on the table. It no longer mattered that the scars on her belly were revealed, despite the fact she’d made a point to keep her shirt on until she was facedown, no matter how awkward it made it to remove. Now, they no longer mattered. All that mattered was her mate.
You woke the beast, and now only you can control him.
The lion roared again. The tiger growled. The Professor grabbed Abby. Diane was trying to see around the man in front of her, and Logan waged a battle trying to keep the woman Amia would swear was Clara behind him.
And she shouted to be heard over them all. “Reno!”
The tiger turned to her, and those big, beautiful, neon blue eyes finally focused on her and only her.
“I need you.” She held her hand out to him. Soft fur met her fingers as the large tiger’s head brushed her palm. “Come back to me,” she whispered to him. She loved the beauty of the animal but craved the touch of the man.
Then before her eyes, he shifted, changed, until once more the man stood there, completely naked and aroused as hell.
She could hear throats clearing around them. Abby’s soft laughter and a lion’s displeasure as the room began to clear.
“Impressive,” she heard the Professor say as he was pushed out. “So impressive. Have you ever seen anything like it?”
Diane’s laughter joined Abby’s in the hallway, and Amia felt her lips twitch with a grin. She agreed that Reno was very impressive, though she didn’t think the Professor had meant it exactly like that. She shifted onto her ass on the table, spreading her thighs wide as Reno stepped between them. Before he
could speak, she beat him to the punch.
She reached out with one hand and buried her fingers in his hair, tightening them and jerking his face down to her. His eyes were still touched with neon as they met hers, and she told both man and beast the truth.
“Mine,” she stated and leaned in to nip his shadowed jaw with her teeth.
A growl rumbled up from his chest as she reached her other hand down to wrap around the hard stalk of his cock and give it a pump. The slow glide of her palm against his flesh had her pussy saturated and begging to be filled by all those hard inches.
“Mine,” she ground out and sunk her teeth into his full bottom lip. She met his gaze as she licked over it, tracing the seam of his lips with her tongue.
That growl rumbled again, and one corner of his lip lifted in a slight snarl. She almost laughed. She knew what he wanted from her, what he wanted to demand. She’d give him part of it, just a bit, until he gave her what she wanted.
She nuzzled into his neck, lowered her head toward his chest. She loosened her grip in his hair and stroked her fingers down his neck, over his shoulder, and along his chest, rubbing through the hair there. She looked up at him, loving the fire in his eyes, the desire and lust, the dominant male ready to conquer and claim. Her body surrendered to him, pliant and submissive. But her voice was strong.
“Mine.” She trailed her tongue over his nipple, squeezed his cock with her hand. “All mine.”
She took pride in watching his eyes soften, seeing the tension ease from his body.
“Yours,” he said and reached behind her to unfasten her bra. “All yours.”
She licked her lips, leaning back as he dragged the material off her arms and tossed it aside. His hands ripped the button and zipper open on her pants, and she found herself stripped and pressed to her back on the table. Her hips were tugged to the edge, and she wrapped her legs around him as he moved into her. His cock nudged her pussy then he pulled back and slid it up through her slick pussy lips instead.