by J. C. Diem
Blushing as bright red as her hair, she gave him her number then tried to hide her grin when they returned to us. “Youngsters and their uncontrollable hormones,” Tompkins muttered beneath his breath then heaved himself to his feet. “Let us know if we can be of any assistance,” he said to Mark then the pair walked to their sedan.
“Kala is going to be pissed that she missed seeing you score a date,” I said to Flynn with a grin.
“She’ll get over it,” he replied, but he looked doubtful. We both knew she would be upset that she’d missed out on this.
“Did anyone answer the nightclub door when you knocked?” Mark asked Reece.
He nodded unhappily. “The Rex refused to meet with us. Apparently, he doesn’t allow werewolves into his club.”
“Or wereconstrictors,” Flynn added.
I looked up the road at the nightclub to see someone peering at us through one of the upper windows. It was a female and she was naked. Her expression was almost vacant, as if she couldn’t quite form a thought.
“I’m going in there and I’m bringing her out if I have to shoot every last shifter in the building,” I said decisively and stood.
Reece was in front of me in a flash. He put his hands on my shoulders to stop my headlong rush. “You can’t take them all on alone, Lexi.”
I knocked his hands away and stepped around him. “Watch me.”
Flynn was at my side before I could take more than a few steps. “You won’t be alone,” he promised. Cursing quietly, Reece hurried to catch up to us. Mark was right behind him with Zeus bringing up the rear.
Reaching the nightclub, I banged on the metal door hard enough to make the sound reverberate up and down the street. It was snatched open by an irate werelion a few seconds later. Clad in a black leather vest and tight black jeans, he stared down his nose at me disdainfully. Standing six feet tall, he was lean but well-muscled. His hair was blond and hung to his shoulders. Icy green eyes glared down at me. “I already told you, no werewolves are allowed in the club!” His voice was deep and commanding and had no effect on me whatsoever.
He was half a head taller than me, but I didn’t find his size intimidating. I glared up at him and he was the first to falter. “Get out of my way,” I ordered. His eyes widened in surprised alarm when he was compelled to obey me and stepped aside.
The smell of alcohol predominated when I entered the building. Beneath that was the much more pungent odor of felines. A long hallway led to a set of stairs at the end, but my attention was captured by the gigantic room to our right. I wasn’t old enough to drink and this was my first visit to a nightclub. A long bar stretched the length of the wall at the back of the room. Bar stools were tucked neatly against the bar. Black leather couches and chairs were set in small groups. It was more intimate and cozy than I’d expected.
With my curiosity satisfied, I turned to the bouncer. “Where is Kala?” He’d followed us down the hallway and was wringing his hands anxiously.
“The cougar is in my bedroom where she belongs,” a languid voice said from the end of the hall. I turned to see a lion descending the stairs. His feet were bare and his legs were encased in jeans that were tight enough to showcase an impressive package. He was shirtless and sculpted abs were followed by sleekly muscled arms, chest and shoulders.
The werelion was a picture of male perfection already, but his face was so handsome that it would have taken my breath away if we’d been the same species. He’d been standing in the shadows last night, but I recognized him as the shifter who had bamboozled Kala.
“I take it you’re the boss of this club?” I said.
“I am Cole, the Rex of this pride,” he corrected me. “How did you get past my guard?” He flicked a glance at the bouncer. “Well?” he prodded. “I don’t see any injuries on you.”
“I’m an alpha,” I said by way of an explanation. “He’s not.”
“You might be an alpha,” Cole said and moved in closer to peer down into my eyes, “but you are a wolf and we are lions. You have no power over us.”
“You’d be surprised who Lexi has power over,” Flynn said wryly.
“Explain yourself,” Cole demanded imperiously. While the females of his pride might find him charming, I found him to be arrogant and annoying. At first glance, he looked like he was in his thirties. Now I thought he might be several years younger than that.
“We’re not here to discuss Lexi’s talents,” Mark said and received an affronted stare. “We have more important matters to talk about.”
“I will decide what is and isn’t important, human.” Cole said the word as if it was an insult. To him it probably was.
“We don’t have to explain anything to you,” I told him coldly. “We want Kala back and we’re not leaving without her.”
“You can’t have her. I have sampled her body extensively and have found her to be an acceptable companion. She’s mine now.” His tone had turned even more arrogant.
“Let me put it another way,” I said and drew my gun. My favorite handgun was lost in the tunnels beneath Lilydale, but the backup Colt .45 would work just as well. “If you don’t bring her to us, I’m going to blow your brains all over the floor.”
I knew almost immediately that it was the wrong approach to take. His nostrils flared in rage and he sent out a mental call to his kin. In seconds, we were encircled by a pride of angry lions.
₪₪₪
Chapter Eighteen
“You were saying?” Cole said smugly when his kin had us surrounded. Most were unarmed, but some were pointing pistols and rifles at us.
“You heard me.” My anger was growing by the second and his arrogance wasn’t helping. “Kala is part of our pack. You have no claim to her.”
He drew himself up to his full height. “Your pack? I see a human, two wolves and whatever the hell he is.” He pointed at Flynn. “It is my right as a pure blood Rex to claim any female feline that I wish.”
“Even if the female already belongs to another pride?” Mark asked.
That threw Cole for a moment before he regained his poise. “I wouldn’t have been able to claim Kala if she already belonged to another Rex. The fact that I could call her to me proves that she wasn’t already bound by anyone.”
“Wolves don’t control their females like lions do,” our boss explained. “Let Lexi prove that she is Kala’s alpha. You’ll see that she has a prior claim on her.”
“No.” Cole shot that suggestion down immediately. “She is mine.”
My anger increased to a rage so intense that it made my hands shake. “Bring her to me. Now.” My voice had deepened to a commanding growl. The bouncer’s eyes glazed over and he obediently turned and trotted towards the stairs.
“Mason! Get back here!” Mason ignored his rex’s command and disappeared up the stairs. “You cannot do this!” Cole snarled at me. “The cougar is mine! I have claimed her and bedded her. She is my creature to do with as I will.”
My rage turned white hot and pain flared inside me. “If you say one more word I’ll end you right now,” I grated. Worried whispers came from the crowd.
“What’s happening to her?” one lion asked.
“She’s changing,” another replied in fright.
“That isn’t possible! The full moon is still three weeks away!”
Mark and Reece rushed over to me as my fingers lengthened into claws. Flynn stepped up and put his arms around me from behind, steadying me both physically and emotionally.
“Calm down,” Reece said in a soothing, yet commanding voice. He’d proven before that he could control me and he exerted his will over me now. “Control your anger.”
I tried, but when Kala walked down the stairs, naked and covered in still healing scratches and bite marks, my rage boiled over. I shrugged Reece and Flynn off and leaped at Cole. I punched him in the face and he went down like a sack of potatoes. His kin leaped to defend him and I tossed them away as easily as if they were children.
Agon
y coursed through me when my spine popped and my jaw lengthened. My howl echoed around the club and the lions fled, leaving their rex dazed on the ground before me. Dropping my gun, I fell to my hands and knees and waited for the rest of my body to transform. When it did, I was going to kill every last lion that I saw.
A shot rang out and a different kind of pain tore through my left thigh. Turning, I saw Mark’s still smoking gun pointing at me. “Fight it, Agent Levine,” he said, reminding me that I was human, not a mindless killing machine.
Shocked that my own boss had shot me, my rage eased. I drew in a shaky breath as my body returned to normal.
Cole had scrambled as far away from me as he could get and cowered near the stairs. “What the hell was that?” he asked shakily when I collapsed onto my side.
“Lexi is…different from most shifters,” Mark told him.
“No shifter can change unless it’s a full moon,” the rex said, stubbornly ignoring the fact that I’d just come very close to doing so. “It isn’t possible.”
“Do you still want to keep Kala, or do you think it would be wiser to let us have her back?” Flynn asked the lion as he hunkered beside me and helped me into a sitting position. Reece should have been the one helping me, but he was staring at me as if I was an alien. He was even more deeply shocked at my close call than I was.
“Why don’t we let Kala decide?” Mark suggested. We looked at Kala to see her staring down at Cole dreamily.
“She’s in no condition to decide anything for herself,” I said wearily. “He owns her mind, body and soul.” I couldn’t stand for her to be exposed to the pride that was slowly slinking back to watch the proceedings. “Bring Kala her belongings,” I said to Mason. Still beneath my control, he headed back upstairs.
“Take the compulsion to obey you off her so she can think for herself,” Reece said to the rex.
“I don’t know how,” Cole admitted as he stood cautiously. “Once I’ve chosen a new companion, they remain with me forever.”
“You mean until you grow tired of them and pass them off to your lackeys,” I said in disgust.
Gingerly touching his jaw, he shrugged. “It’s our way. This is how we’ve always been.”
I picked up my gun and holstered it then Flynn helped me to my feet. He kept his arm around my waist. I wasn’t sure if it was to steady me or to keep me from attacking Cole again. Something metallic dropped to the floor. I looked down to see the bullet had just been expelled from my thigh. A few seconds later, the wound healed and I was able to stand unassisted.
“Do you have any suggestions on how we can resolve this?” Reece asked our boss.
“You could try strengthening your bond with Kala,” Mark suggested.
Mason returned and handed Kala her clothes. She made no move to take them, which fuelled my anger again. “What kind of sick perverts are you?” I asked harshly. “She can’t even think for herself anymore. You’ve turned her into a mindless sex slave!”
Cole had the grace to look sheepish. “Put your clothes on,” he said and she jerkily obeyed. Moving on automatic pilot, she dressed and completed her outfit by strapping her holster on and sliding her gun into place. Her jacket went on last and covered the weapon.
“Kala,” I said and she frowned at the command in my tone. “Come here.” Her head twitched towards me, but she didn’t take her gaze away from Cole.
Knowing I needed his help, Reece strode to my side and linked his fingers with mine. Our power surged and Kala turned to face us. “Come to me,” I ordered her and she haltingly moved towards us. She stopped a couple of yards away and swayed on her feet, torn between us and Cole.
“Give me your hand,” I commanded. Her arm rose, but she turned to stare at her rex. I bit down on her wrist and she sucked in a breath. Reece bit her next and she turned back to us.
“Bite me,” I ordered and held my left wrist out to her. Haltingly, she lowered her face then her teeth sank into my flesh. She bit Reece next and I felt her mind begin to clear.
Putting a hand to her forehead as if it pained her, she trembled from head to toe. Flynn put his arms around her and she sank against him. She looked over his shoulder at us and then turned to Mark. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“You are in my club,” Cole told her.
She stiffened when she heard his voice and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. “I know you,” she said and he flicked a smug smile at me. She straightened and pushed Flynn away then moved to stand in front of the rex.
For a moment, I thought we were going to lose her to him again. Then her arm went back and she punched Cole in the face as hard as she could. “That’s for holding me prisoner against my will!” she snarled, then kicked him in the stomach. “That’s for all the other women you’ve use as your sexual playthings.”
His breath whooshed out and he sank down to his knees. “But…you enjoyed it!” he gasped. He covered his face with his arms as she drew her foot back again.
“That doesn’t make it right,” she cried then kicked him in the stomach again. Still disoriented from being beneath his compulsion, she lost her balance and staggered. Flynn was there to catch her before she could fall. “You sicken me,” she said. “You’re supposed to be a ruler, yet you steal our minds and use our bodies like we’re nothing.”
“You’re lesser than us,” Mason said as if that made it okay. He was beginning to come out of the daze I’d put him under. “You aren’t pure born.”
“That doesn’t mean we exist just for your entertainment!” she said heatedly. “We have feelings and emotions, too. We laugh, cry and bleed just like you do. We deserve better than to be treated like we’re nothing.”
Female shifters had gathered at the top of the stairs to watch. Like Kala, most were bitten, but two were pure blood. Blond, sleek and beautiful, the lionesses hadn’t been ensnared like the other girls and they shared disturbed looks.
“Are you saying that pure blood werewolves treat their lesser females differently to how we do?” Cole asked. He climbed to his feet after sending a wary glance at Kala to make sure she wasn’t going to attack him again.
“Yes,” Mark said succinctly. “Their females are considered to be equal to males. Females can be in charge of a pack. The males don’t collect the bitten, or lesser canine species to use as their toys.”
Cole looked even more ashamed now. “I didn’t know that. We’ve always been this way.”
It didn’t matter how many times he repeated it, it was still wrong. “Then maybe it’s time you changed,” I said. “Everyone has the right to make their own choices. No one should ever have their will taken away from them like that. How would you like it if someone did that to you?”
Looking down at his feet, Cole pondered my words. He eventually looked up and met Kala’s eyes. “Make your choice, Kala. Do you wish to stay with my pride or do you want to return to your pack?” His lips twisted as he said that. Our mixed collection of shifters would never be a true pack to him.
Kala didn’t even need to think about it and answered immediately. “Get me out of here before I put a bullet in him,” she said to Flynn.
“If I can ever make it up to you for keeping you against your will, let me know,” Cole said to her back as Flynn ushered her towards the door. I couldn’t be absolutely certain, but he seemed to be genuinely sorry that he’d caused her distress.
Far more politely than I would have been capable of, Mark nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind.”
₪₪₪
Chapter Nineteen
Climbing into the SUV, Kala huddled against the door and closed her eyes. Zeus put his head over the seat and licked her cheek tentatively. With her eyes still tightly shut, she reached out and stroked his head. He whined softly, picking up on her distress.
“Why don’t you guys take a drive?” I said when we reached the house. My bond with Kala was still strong enough to sense that she didn’t want any men to be around her just now.
Mark nodded,
Reece gripped the wheel tightly and Flynn looked like he was on the verge of tears. They drove off as I helped Kala inside. She wasn’t hurt physically, but it seemed like she was falling apart on the inside. I helped her upstairs and she took a long, hot shower.
Wearing only a towel when she entered our bedroom, she dropped it to the floor and picked clothes from the dresser at random. Her wounds were gone, but it would take far longer for her to recover mentally from her ordeal.
Picking up on that thought, she uttered a harsh laugh. “You’ve got it all wrong, Lexi,” she told me as she sank down onto her bed. “Cole didn’t abuse me. He was a little rough, but he didn’t force me to do anything that I would have objected to if I’d had control of my own mind.”
“Then why are you so upset?” I asked as I sat across from her on my own bed.
“I know what it’s like to be with an alpha now,” she replied. “I also know how addictive it is. When I was with Cole, I couldn’t think of anything else but having sex with him.”
“So, you’re saying he was good in bed then?” I asked uncertainly.
“He was the best I’ve ever had and the best I’ll ever have,” she replied and burst into tears. “How am I supposed to sleep with a mere human again now that I know what I’m missing out on?”
I didn’t mean to snigger, but it slipped out anyway.
She glared at me in outrage and her tears petered out. “You think this is funny?”
“Um, kind of,” I admitted.
“I’m in agony here, and you’re laughing at me,” she wailed.
“I thought you’d been savaged by him,” I said in self-defense. “How was I supposed to know you were having the greatest sex of your life?”
“Why did you think he savaged me?”
“You were pretty scratched up.”
“Oh. I forgot about that.” She went silent then smiled nastily. “Did you see the look on Cole’s face when I punched him?”