by C. T. Adams
“Concentrate.” Lucas’s voice had taken on a new timbre. There was a confident, almost feminine quality to it. “I can feel the ability in you. You think it’s a minor talent, but it’s stronger than you believe. Bind to your patient, let him fill your consciousness. Become one.”
The words sparked a memory. She had bound to the Foster woman, but for some reason she was hesitating now. Why?
“Don’t question reasons or motives,” said the warm voice now inside her mind. “Just let go and make him whole. Trust yourself.”
Was that it? Was she not trusting her own abilities? That wasn’t fair to Adam. He’d given himself to save another, just as she would. She had to give him her best, no matter what the outcome.
With a breath of thought, she gave herself to the magic. Letting go of her conscious mind, she let warmth fill her and then sent it into him. An answering spark grabbed onto her magic like a lifeline, pulled her so suddenly and completely into the wolf on the ground that it took her breath away.
If healing Mrs. Foster had been a pleasant, slightly sensual experience, then touching another Sazi—an unattached alpha male wolf—was erotic enough to make her entire body swollen and tight.
“That’s normal,” said the voice, which had manifested and was now floating in the darkness as the image of a slender woman in a physician’s white lab coat, with ice blue eyes and pale, almost ghostly hair in a ponytail that reached her waist. This must be Lucas’s wife Tatya. She laughed lightly. “You’re allowed to enjoy the process.”
Cara could barely think through the sensations that were pounding her body with the need to touch, and be touched. Her skin ached and she could feel wetness between her legs when she shifted. A gasping whisper escaped her. “I can’t concentrate. I can’t do this.”
“You don’t have to concentrate. Just trust the magic—give yourself to it.” A pause then, and as though reading her panicked thoughts, “Don’t fear this, young alpha. Fear can ruin him; even kill him. I can feel he’s very weak. He doesn’t have much longer. He needs to draw on your healing magic and, through you, on Lucas’s power. You’re merely the conduit until you’re better trained. Reach out to him, find his mind—bring him back to consciousness. Then his body will do the rest.”
She nodded as she stared at the concerned doctor in her mind. She knew Mrs. Santiago was correct. She couldn’t afford to let her own fears of intimacy with a stranger kill a fellow Sazi. “What do I need to do?”
Tatya began to fade as she spoke. “Touch him. Let your hands roam the wounds. Your magic will know what to do. Seek his mind and pull it to you.” She disappeared, leaving only a spot of golden color that surged forward until she was surrounded by it, filled to brimming with energy and light. “Capture his heart and keep it safe until you can find his mind. Please hurry—”
Even as the voice faded, Cara could feel Adam’s heartbeat slowing, his breathing getting more labored. He’d lost too much blood and couldn’t manufacture enough to fill his heart with the wounds still open and bleeding. Setting aside her fears, Cara threw herself into the magic like a swan dive off a cliff. She lowered her hands to his body, nestled her face in his neck ruff until she could smell fur, fresh pine and the tang of musk over the metallic scent of blood. She reached out with magic and mind, calling his name out over the ravaged landscape of his body. “Adam! Where are you?”
Cara let her hands roam his body, healing flesh, muscle and bone. The golden glow kept her mind fresh and alert, despite the aching pleasure that wracked every inch of her body, threatening to take her to climax. As her hands moved to his belly to close a wound that was nearly wide enough to spill his intestines onto the ground, she felt a small answering pleasure as she brushed his sheathed cock.
Maybe there’s another way to find him.
She’d never tried to actually use one talent, the hereditary curse of her family. It was an ability some women in her ancestry had used to become wealthy and powerful. But to her, it was something to be shunned. She’d used every method available to tamp it down—keep it from ruining her life as it had her madre’s. But with Adam’s life at stake, she had to use everything in her arsenal. She reached out for the moon, felt the growing thread of power of it just behind the sun. She opened her scent glands to the moon magic with a mental command and felt even Lucas’s hand on her shoulder tense. He might be mated, but it was difficult to ignore the scent of an alpha wolf fully in heat. She dropped lower, until she was touching the full length of Adam’s wounded body, and then put her neck next to his nose until he couldn’t help but draw in her scent with each breath—the scent of a female Sazi ready to be bred.
She poured more magic into him and felt his body start to rouse. Everywhere she touched, flesh healed and awakened with pleasure. She let herself drop into his magic until they were one. Now she could see his mind, exhausted beyond belief. Even the scent wasn’t enough. Gritting her teeth, she knew what she had to do and accepted what the consequence might be. She reached forward and clamped her teeth deep into his furred neck and growled. A shock of awareness flowed through him from the new sensation—pain and pleasure combined, and he suddenly focused on her presence, turning to her in her mind and fixing glowing eyes on her with an answering growl.
Adam. I’m waiting.
Cara slowly moved out of his mind, willing his consciousness to follow her up to reality. He hesitated, so she bit him again, this time harder and released more pheromones. Finally, ancient instinct overcame his wounds and the weariness and he followed—not tentatively, but in a frenzied, heated rush that made her retreat in panic. This was the danger of her condition—men lost their minds and turned into full animals. They wouldn’t stop until they accomplished their goal. Every male in the area would fight and forcibly mate with her again and again until she was pregnant… or dead.
And she knew she would likely let them. Her mami Maria had welcomed them into her body without logic or reason. Cara still remembered waking up as a child, seeing Mami’s battered and bruised body, the memory of the night still so fresh in her mind that she wept as she prayed in the flickering light of the candles at the altar in her bedroom, asking to die rather than do it again. But she would do it again, every month. She remembered her sister, who was born as the result of such a night, telling her how Cara’s father, Jorge, had arrived, called from far away by Maria’s scent. She’d mated to the powerful alpha male and they married.
Maria had tried desperately to be true to him. But while he worked hard to make sure she was hidden away each moon, and fought the males when they would arrive, her mother often found a way out to take on the full pack. One month, the males got too rough and she didn’t come home. It wasn’t long after before her father started to train her to take over the pack, even though she was only a child of twelve and Jorge, Jr. was just six. While the men of the pack were horrified at their actions and remorseful beyond words at their inability to stop themselves, Jorge could never quite forgive them. They’d killed his wife. Rather than go on a rampage and slaughter them all, he moved to Houston, leaving Rosa to finish raising Cara and Jorge, Jr. The pack second, Paco, was put in charge until Cara came of age to take over. While she and Papi talked every week by phone, he didn’t visit often.
Because of what had happened to her family, Cara’d struggled against the condition as she reached puberty—kept herself away from men who might cause any reaction. Tried everything she could think of to change her scent. But nothing had worked, and she struggled against the heated looks and scents of the males in her pack on the moon, felt her own body nearly succumb. She’d only been able to avoid couplings by her speed and magic. She’d finally broken down in tears while dining with Ten Bears one night. Thankfully, he’d understood and found a mixture of herbs that had allowed her to live a relatively normal life for these past dozen years.
So this was the first time she’d given into the sensation, the first time she’d experienced going into true heat. She had one moment to feel terrified b
efore the wolf inside roared into her consciousness and… exhilaration filled her. Muscles awakened and an intense need filled her to the brim, turning her mind to fire. Her eyes were still closed, but she didn’t need them. The scents and sensations that surrounded her were so intense that every twitch of an arm or a toe brought amazing images. There were males here, one so close she could taste his scent on her tongue. She would have them all, but him first. His magic reached out to her, flowed around her body until every hair stood on end. A low whine escaped her, encouraging him, and his answering growl caused spasms low in her body. The male snuffled his nose into her hair and fought his way to his feet until he was standing next to her. She no longer noticed the press of rock into her palms and knees as his hot breath seared her cheek, and his leg bumped hers. No, not with fur. That wasn’t right. She willed the thread of magic forward, felt him shift forms until it was skin that brushed hers, not fur. But his mind was still the animal’s. He snuffled again and began a series of slow licks along her neck that shattered the last shred of her resistance. She was ready.
Before anything else could happen, she felt something struggling to pull her away from the warm body next to her, just before the male’s teeth had time to close on the nape of her neck—to hold her still long enough to spin and mount her. She was already in position with head bowed, neck bared toward the hot, frantic breath, awaiting the feel of his weight. Her body was responding to the male’s increasing musk, swelling and lubricating. She needed more stinging of his magic… of his body, needed to feel him inside her… to finish. She fought the magic that held her from the male. But she gasped and her eyes opened wide when someone grabbed her shoulders, sinking fingers into her flesh deep enough to hurt. She felt herself lifted up bodily and was shocked awake when she hit the cliff hard enough to smack her skull.
“Cara! Come out of it! You need to get out of here.” Lucas’s voice was rough and his eyes too bright. “That was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Even I might not be able to hold him in full mating frenzy.”
She came fully back into her mind, realizing what had nearly happened… what she’d nearly caused. She crawled backward along the rock wall, away from the pair of wild-eyed males—one lunging against the magic that held him back. Lucas didn’t have an erection, but his nostrils were flared, and his fists were clenched so hard the knuckles were white.
She shook her head frantically, fighting the need to go back to them. She knew if she did, they would give in. They would take her as she needed to be taken. She turned her nails inward to bite into her palms, forcing her mind to clear.
Her voice still sounded thick with the hunger that boiled her blood, even though her human mind understood he was right. “It was all I could think of. It saved his life.”
Lucas nodded an acknowledgment, but still pointed toward the car. “Just get out of the area and figure out some way to get rid of that scent until we can get you back to the motel and my bottle of cologne. Use the rest of the water jugs to bathe if you have to. Avoid Will if you can. He’s a raptor, but I’m not certain he won’t be affected, too.”
Adam lunged against Lucas’s magic. He broke free enough to let out a low, needful howl. Cara turned and ran to her truck and… hope. If she wasn’t mistaken, the solution was in the glove box. She prayed she’d been as tired as she remembered the previous night. The narrow, winding deer trails through the cactus and mesquite quickly took her away from the cliff. Lucas was still managing to keep the illusion of clothing on her, but that didn’t stop the many spined plants from reaching out to rip at her hair and skin.
Another frenzied howl and an angry eagle’s screech, both sounding closer than before, cut the air as she reached the rock where she and Adam had rested earlier. Her steps faltered and she fought not to turn around and return to those who chased. Opening her glands was a double-edged sword because now her body wanted them as much as they wanted her.
But then a flash of light caught her eye. The sun had shifted enough that the water jug was no longer in the shade. It was enough to remind her why she was running. She grabbed it on the fly, feeling the heat of the water as it splashed inside the opaque plastic. It wasn’t boiling, but it would have to do.
She finally felt a measure of safety when she reached the truck and there was nobody following in sight, scent, or hearing range. The first thing she did was retrieve the keys she’d buried under a nearby yucca, and pour some hot water on an old oil-stained rag hiding under the front seat. She wiped the sweat, and hopefully the scent, from her skin. Then she opened the rubberized toolbox in the truck bed and put on her clothing, marveling at how close Lucas had managed to make the illusion to her actual clothing. It was only when she moved quickly that the two didn’t mesh. Grabbing an empty, discarded McDonald’s cup on the floor in the extended cab, she opened the glove box, prayed—and then nearly wept in relief. The plastic baggie with the herbal tea from Ten Bears was still there. No in-fusers in the desert, though, so she’d have to do it the old-fashioned way. She reached into the baggie and extracted an amount close to a teaspoon.
Then again, better make it a tablespoon today.
After putting the herbs into the cup and pouring in about half the remaining hot water, she put the lid back on and placed it on the dashboard to steep in the sun, rolled up the small gaps in the windows, locked the doors, and put her service revolver on the seat within easy reach. She stared out the window at the seeming calm of the hill country landscape, feeling the heat of the sun seep into her skin. It was only a matter of time before they made it back here, and she tried not to think about what would happen if Lucas couldn’t hold Adam back—or even lost his own battle and joined in the chase. Reinforced steel and bullets might not be enough to stop them.
Worse still, as another spasm of pleasure between her legs made her gasp, she wrapped her arms shakily around herself and realized she might not even try to stop them.
Chapter 9
“WHAT IN THE hell happened to me?” Adam sat in a thinning band of shade next to the cliff face next to Lucas, staring with horror at the vicious gashes and bruises on his naked body. He looked like he’d been in the middle of a gang war and felt like he’d been hit by multiple trucks. His throat was raw and dry, as though he’d been screaming, but his mouth was filled with the sweet taste of peaches and sugary musk. Everything was fuzzy—the last thing he remembered was taking off after Cara to where a bird was attacking a young girl.
Said girl was now sitting on a rock nearby with her back to them, speaking in an unknown language. He could tell from Will’s frustrated expression that he wasn’t the only person who didn’t understand what she was saying.
“Trust me… you don’t want to know the details.” Lucas’s voice sounded tired; weary enough to have been in a pitched battle for days.
He looked around again, noticing they were missing a person. “Where’s Cara?”
Lucas let out a harsh sound, too bitter for a laugh. “Hopefully back in her truck by now, with the doors locked and the windows up.”
He furrowed his brow. The older man’s words held some deeper meaning, and it seemed like Adam should remember what he was talking about.
He’d just opened his mouth to ask when Will’s voice made them both turn their heads. “Lucas, I could use some help over here.”
Lucas nodded and rose to his, feet easily. Must not be as exhausted as he appeared. Turning his head, he looked Adam up and down. “Stay here if you’re not feeling up to moving around yet. You’ve been through a lot. But let’s give you some clothes so we don’t spook the girl any more than necessary.”
With a whisper of magic that smoothed against his skin he was suddenly wearing clothing… the simple jeans and top he’d worn when Lucas first saw him at the gas station. He watched Lucas walk the short distance to the others. After a few moments, Adam tried to brace his back against the cliff to push off and stand up, but his muscles screamed enough that he settled for rolling over, getting his knees under him,
and clawing his way painfully up the craggy cliff face until he was unsteadily on his feet.
Man! What sort of wringer have I been through?
He limped over to where Lucas was now listening to the dark-haired girl with a thoughtful expression.
“No,” he said, addressing the comment to Will. “You’re right. She’s not speaking Spanish, but there’s something about the syntax… I remember it, but it’s been a very long time” He held a finger up in the air and his expression brightened. “Wait! I remember now. I think she’s speaking a form of modern Mayan—maybe Yucatec or Hooashtlaan. That’s spelled H-u-a-x-t-l-a-n, just so you know.”
The girl suddenly smiled and locked eyes with Lucas. Adam was surprised she wasn’t hyperventilating after being attacked by a giant owl and hearing wolves talk. But who was he to argue? After all, she might have some Sazi in her family. The girl broke into a long, rambling speech, which Lucas listened to with concentration etched on his face. But then he shook his head and held up a hand to stop her. The scent of the girl’s frustration combined with a near pout that nearly made Adam smile. Lucas said one word, “Maa,” and then flattened his palm and moved it downward at an angle. It was a common gesture to Adam, one he’d used more than once to get the speaker of a foreign tongue to slow down so they could be understood.
She nodded and closed her mouth, but followed Lucas’s every movement with bird-bright eyes.
Lucas ran fingers through his hair and kept his hand on top of his head for a moment. “It’s probably a very good thing that you used a little persuasion on her so she’d think all of what just happened was a bad dream, Will. But eventually, we’ll need to find out more, since the birds are key to this mess.”
Ah. No wonder she’s so calm.
The older man paused and blew out a slow breath. “Wow, but it’s been a long time since I’ve spoken Yucatec. Okay, let’s start slow.” He fixed his eyes on the girl’s face and spoke a series of guttural tones, ending it with an upward tone that marked it as a question. “Baa ash k’aa waa aleek?”