“I am from a different pride, one who still live by the old ways,” she informed him, hoping this pride wasn’t like her home one. “I arrived at the Shaw pride about a month ago, and I trained with the females who are used as protectors of the alpha’s home when the Guardians are away.”
“You do realize the solstice is for males only, right?” he asked.
Jade’s heart fell. He didn’t need to say anything else. She could see it in his eyes. He was a polite male, but that was probably where things were going to end with her search. “I think I have my answer, alpha. You do not let females fight, correct?”
“Ms. O’Connor,” he sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m assuming Talon Shaw has the same reasoning why I do for not allowing a female to fight. It’s just too dangerous for the males.”
“You two should be best friends,” she gritted out. “I appreciate your time, but I must be going.”
“You are more than welcome to stay here for the night,” he offered, standing from his seat. When she mimicked his pose, his eyes roamed her body a little longer than necessary. “I have a room available here, and I would love to have you as a guest for dinner.”
The way he looked at her made her panther snarl. The alpha was assessing her as an object, and Jade didn’t like it. It was best if she left as soon as possible. “I appreciate the offer, but I must be going.”
She stuck out her hand to shake his, and when he took her hand, he tugged a little too hard, pulling Jade to his chest. “Are you sure you can’t stay? Maybe my pride would be a good choice for you, regardless of your unattainable request.”
“I would suggest you let me go, alpha,” she warned. When he did nothing more than look down at her, past her eyes, to zero in on her breasts, Jade took matters into her own hands.
“Ow, you bitch!” he snarled when her knee came up, making contact with his balls.
“Don’t ever touch a female who knows how to fucking fight,” she snarled and turned for the door.
Only she didn’t make it far before three males grabbed her, taking her to the kitchen floor. She fought them, getting one of them in the shin hard enough to make him go to his knees. The other two secured her hands and feet as she tried to scramble toward the door. The cool tile beneath her face did nothing to stop the beast inside her from pushing forward.
“You really fucked up,” one of the males growled. “You have attacked our alpha, and you will pay the consequences.”
“Oh, so, I should’ve let him manhandle me?” she spat. “Fuck you!”
“Put her in the cells!” Mack screamed as he limped toward her. The knee to her neck kept her from shifting, but it didn’t keep her from fighting.
Jade jerked one foot free, swiping it out as hard as she could, taking the first male to the ground for a second time. The one holding her feet cursed and wrapped his arms around her again, securing any movement.
“You are a fighter,” Mack observed. She bared her thickening fangs at him, but she didn’t have a chance to say anything else before Mack reared back and kicked her in the face, making the world around her go black in an instant.
Chapter Seventeen
It’d been three days, and Booth was going insane.
Jade hadn’t been heard from, and Talon said he had felt no distress from her. The one thing that was a flaw in their magic and essential makeup was when accepting the blood from a new alpha, the old one didn’t know.
Talon couldn’t tell where she was, and he had sent Booth home with no more than an offer to let him go find her. He’d sat at his kitchen table for hours weighing his options.
It didn’t matter anymore that he didn’t want a mate. After being without Jade for the last few days, he realized he was a fucking idiot. It didn’t help that Savage was sitting across from him, reminding him of that fact.
“When are you going to get your head out of your ass?” Savage scolded, taking a sip of his beer.
“She doesn’t want me,” he snapped. “Remember how she just left when I gave her the option?”
“You should’ve touched her, Booth,” Savage retorted.
“Oh, that would’ve gone over well,” Booth growled.
“Afraid she’d kick your ass?”
Booth had to laugh at that one. Jade was skilled, and with only a year’s worth of training, she was better than some of the Guardians he knew.
Savage was right.
He should’ve touched her instead of letting her go. It would’ve been safer for her in the long run. Not knowing where she was killed him. The last thing he wanted to do was show his temper against any of the other males. The doc was sure to sedate him if he did.
Booth felt the push of power from his alpha. His body jerked, his beast pushing for release as he dropped to the ground. Footsteps sounded around his ringing ears. His canines thickened and his face began to shift, but the sound of Talon’s voice stopped him from shifting.
“Jade’s in trouble, Booth,” Talon growled. “You have to take a team and go to Dallas.”
“What?” he snarled. “Is that where she is?”
“Booth, you need to go now,” Talon demanded. “She’s being hurt by a male there.”
His body swayed as he came to his feet. The words of his alpha were sinking in, and he couldn’t believe Jade would be hurt because she was so fierce.
Storm grabbed him by the elbow and started running toward a truck where Axel and Diesel were waiting. Once the last door closed, Storm punched the gas, tearing down the long driveway. Malaki opened the gate as they were approaching, and they sped off as the sun was setting to the west.
Booth is coming for you. Be strong and fight, Jade.
She’d finally called out for Talon once she awoke. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the basement of the home, but she did know it was approaching dawn by the small window in her cell. Her body was wrapped in a scratchy, wool blanket, and thankfully, she was still fully clothed.
Jade stumbled to her feet and grabbed ahold of a solid steel bar. Her eyes were blurry, and she realized she must have been sedated from the fogginess to her mind. Think, Jade. Think! She was in a cell much like something she saw in a movie once. The steel bars were thicker, though, and they were secured from the ceiling to the concrete floor.
“Hey! You piece of shit! Let me out of here!” she yelled, hoping one of those males would come down and get close enough to the cell.
Her beast snarled in her mind when the fog of the sedation burned out of her system. She wanted to shift, but she wouldn’t unless she had to. Jade was strong enough in her human form to take on one of them at a time. Three of them was too much. She might have lost that one, but the satisfaction of taking down the big male…twice, lifted a smirk from her lips.
Her stomach growled as she returned to the blanket. There were two other cells, one on each side of her own, and they were empty. There was no sign of anyone having been in them, but it made her wonder what the Winestone pride was doing with them. Usually, if there was a shifter who’d done something hideous, they would be put down on the spot. There was no need for cells.
“So, little cat, you’re awake,” a male chuckled as he entered through the solid steel door across the room.
“You going to let me out?” she barked.
“The alpha wants to see you,” he grunted. “If you act up or fight me, I will kill you.”
“I don’t want to see him,” she replied, stepping back when he produced a key to unlock the door. She saw her opportunity to get past him, but she didn’t know who was upstairs or how many Guardians were in the home. She’d bide her time for now.
“Too bad,” he snarled and grabbed her upper arm. This male obviously didn’t care if he manhandled a female.
She kept quiet, taking in every inch of the home as he drug her through. At the top of the stairs, a door led into a hallway. There were six doors, three on each side. Jade knew those doors led to bedrooms; she could scent a different male as she pass
ed each one. Great! The Guardians are too close to the basement.
The male shoved her as he reached the alpha’s office. Jade scanned the rest of the hallway, satisfied the room she was entering was at the beginning of the hallway closest to the front door of the home.
She hadn’t heard from Talon in a few hours, and she hoped the alpha wouldn’t sedate her again. It was important she stay awake so she could fight her way out. The land didn’t have a secured gate entrance at the road, ensuring she wouldn’t be stopped if she ran. Her truck keys were nowhere to be found. They must’ve taken them from her when they knocked her unconscious.
“Are you going to fight my Guardian, or are you going to sit here like a good female should and listen to what I have to offer you?” Mack asked.
“I’ll probably fight you,” she warned, jerking her arm from the male’s grasp. He was Booth’s size, and she took quite the satisfaction at remembering him as the one she’d dropped to the floor. If he wanted to go for a third time, Jade was all for another round.
“I want you to be my mate,” he stated, ignoring her.
“Excuse me?” she balked.
“I like your fight,” he said with heat in his eyes.
“That won’t happen,” she replied, leaning on her non-dominate foot. She was preparing herself to fight, and this small pride was obviously not aware of her preparations, because her move was missed by the male.
“Oh, but it will,” Mack snarled. “If you haven’t noticed, you are living in my cells.”
“Not for long,” she smirked.
“I brought you here to take my blood,” he said, standing from his seat. The male reached for the cuff of his shirt, popping the button so he could roll the material away from his wrist. Mack Winestone was serious.
However, Jade was not going to follow his order.
“You will take his blood, or I will force you,” the Guardian behind her grunted. She didn’t have a chance to respond before his hand tangled in her hair. The fist he made held her tight, but the sting only pissed her off.
The scent of the alpha’s blood turned her stomach, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to touch one drop of it. She knew what she had to do. If it wasn’t for her training with the Shaw pride, Jade would only know to use her strength to get away.
As Mack approached, she allowed herself a partial shift. Her beast knew to allow her canines to thicken, not for the purpose of taking Mack’s blood, but to call out to the alpha.
They’re forcing me to take his blood.
As soon as the thought left her mind, she pulled back on her connection, but not before she felt a surge of power from Talon. He never entered her mind to say anything, and she hoped they were close, but seeing as Dallas was a long drive from the Shaw pride’s land, Jade was going to have to find her own way out.
“Drink my blood and become my mate,” Mack ordered.
The male still held her hair, but the pain was nothing compared to the stench of the alpha’s blood. When his wrist reached her lips, she wrapped the fingers of her left hand around the wrist farther up from the bite, and her other hand took his palm.
But she didn’t bring it to her lips.
With the strength of a warrior, she brought her knee up as she shoved his wrist down, making contact. Mack’s bone breaking echoed through the room. The male automatically yanked his dangling hand from her grasp while the male holding her jerked on her hair.
“You bitch!” Mack yelled as he bent at the waist.
“You’re going to pay for that,” the Guardian warned, but a bubble of laughter left Jade’s lips as she reached over her head to grab the male’s wrists, bending and twisting out of his hold. He was left with a handful of her hair, but she didn’t care.
“Suck my lady balls, asshole!” she roared as she reached the office door.
Jade made it no more than three steps before another larger male turned the corner, obviously having heard his alpha scream out in pain. She dropped to her knees and slid across the tile floor, plowing into the male and taking his feet out from under him. With a curse, he scrambled to his feet, but Jade was faster, never missing a step as she reached the door.
The humid air hit her face as she sucked in a needed breath. The end of the property was easy to see, but she wasn’t free of the pride yet. Pulling in all of the power she used that day to run from Booth, she jumped off the front porch and ran. The two Guardians were far enough behind her that she knew she’d be free in a matter of minutes, but she had nowhere to go, and getting her truck was out of the question.
The two-lane road that ran in front of the pride’s land led to the main highway, but the run would be over two miles. There were fields to one side, the corn only in the early stages of growth. It wouldn’t give her enough cover to try and hide there. On her left, homes dotted the area, but she wasn’t as trusting anymore about knocking on someone’s door. She’d learned her lesson the hard way.
With a glance back, she saw one of the Guardians still chasing her. The other one was nowhere in sight. She allowed a partial shift when she saw a truck barreling up behind the male. The Guardian jumped into the bed and the roar of the engine reached her ears as she found a heavily wooded area.
I’m free of the house, but these Guardians are chasing me.
There were no trails here to guide her way. It was obvious this area had been untouched by humans for many years. Vines and low shrubs hindered her from running in her human form.
Booth is an hour away.
She stripped off what clothes she could as she ran, hating the fact she had to drop them along the way like a trail of breadcrumbs as to her whereabouts. She needed her beast more for the ability to get through these woods without being slowed down. Jade knew the males were close, but she needed to put more distance between them.
Her beast held a roar as it took over her human body. With her powerful claws, the beast could climb trees and jump longer distances. The burn in the animal’s legs was nothing compared to when she was human. No matter how much the panther insisted the human part of her mind recede, Jade needed to be aware of their surroundings.
The woods opened up to another field, the corn stalks no higher than the panther’s shoulders. Across the field, there was another wooded area. The heavy panting coming from the male behind her pushed the beast to run across the field, not caring about leaving the corn stalks pushed over as the animal fled for safety. Another glance back and the truck had stopped but the male driving never got out.
Where are you, Jade?
Talon’s voice echoed through her mind, but she couldn’t tell him anything. All her panther was focused on was finding a hiding spot.
I really don’t know. I’m too busy running from this Guardian.
The push of power from her alpha gave her the needed boost to get through the area, stopping when she came to the edge of a lake. There were boats passing, but she couldn’t yell out for help. Instead of taking to the water, she ran to the west, sticking close to the shoreline when she could. The sounds of the male trailed off the faster she pushed herself.
As the woods thickened, she cursed to herself. There was no way she could keep the distance between them through the area. That male was going to find her and kill her before Booth could arrive.
A pain in her side was the only warning before a large panther tumbled her to the ground. Her beast bit into the panther’s hind leg, fighting for its life. She wouldn’t let this Guardian take her back to the Winestone pride to become that old male’s mate.
Her body shifted underneath the animal, coming to her feet as quickly as she could. The Guardian didn’t shift to human, lunging for her throat, but Jade delivered a blow to the side of the cat’s head, stunning it enough to make it stumble. “Your pride needs to train better.”
The panther snarled and rose to its feet, planting them shoulder width apart. She jumped to the side when it rushed her again, but the blow she delivered didn’t hold any weight, allowing the panther to turn on her
. She yelped when its canines sunk into her shoulder, blood immediately spilling from the wound.
Her panther didn’t wait for permission to shift again. The beast roared as it latched onto the other panther’s throat, biting down with enough force to elicit a high-pitched scream. The Guardian’s beast kicked and scratched at her, the cuts from its claws drawing blood on her panther’s legs. She knew to hold her ground, refusing to release the male. She called out to Talon one more time, telling him she was by a lake close to the Winestone’s pride. His response gave her hope.
Booth is searching for you.
The Guardian kicked her leg out from under her, but she never released him, knowing she had him with the deadly lock on his neck. Jade’s panther had had enough of the game, tearing out his throat before his feet could get purchase against her animal’s body again. With a snarl, she released the male’s body and it fell with a thump at her feet.
I killed one.
Her human body formed on the ground next to the lake. She knew she should go looking for Booth, but she was too exhausted. Her beast wanted to shift again, but Jade fought it to catch her breath. The wounds would heal with time. The only one that would need to be repaired was the one to her shoulder. The bite wound was deep and it hurt, but not enough she couldn’t fight should the other male find her.
I need a location to tell Booth where to find you.
Jade rolled to her side, leaving the dead male panther at her back. The lake was huge, and she could see several boats. There was a boat launch directly across from the area she was in, but there was nothing to identify exactly where she was located.
There is a boat ramp directly across from the forested area I’m in. If you’re standing on that dock, I am in the cove.
Talon shot back with instructions to stay in place. She didn’t care to move, and with her arm being on fire from the bite, she knew she should shift a few times to repair it while she waited on Booth to arrive.
The thought of seeing him again sent a need through her. She’d left him, and he probably didn’t want to see her outside of Talon’s orders to save her from the pride. There was no other reason for him to be there.
Booth (Rise of the Pride, Book 9) Page 13