The Mercenary

by Johanna Rae

  The Mercenary

  Therian Secrets, Volume 1

  Johanna Rae

  Published by Johanna Rae, 2013.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  THE MERCENARY

  First edition. July 27, 2013.

  Copyright © 2013 Johanna Rae.

  ISBN: 978-1386207771

  Written by Johanna Rae.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  Glossary of Terms

  About the Author

  For the angels hiding near me

  Chapter 1

  Luke’s shirts gave a loud crack as they flapped in the night breeze, capturing Jodie’s attention before she could register any other sound. Getting out of the car with a frown, she glanced back at the little white cottage. Why hasn’t anyone brought in the laundry, where are the guys?

  The illuminated kitchen, visible through the frilly café style curtains, appeared to be the only lit room. That did not imply an empty house, someone had to be there. She grabbed her satchel and marched straight past the lavender and fuchsia bushes, toward the baton-framed porch. In her mind, Jodie had already compiled a list of things to say to them as she clomped up the steps and approached the back door.

  Striding into the living area, footfalls echoing on the hardwood floor and hair trailing out like a long black cloud behind her, Jodie felt more than prepared to let them know exactly what she thought about the state of things. She had been working her ass off and didn’t have time to do everything. Is it so difficult to bring in two loads of laundry?

  Jodie’s brother Luke and his best friend Zach sat at the kitchen table next to the window, in full view of the clothesline. To their left lay the well-preserved, old-fashioned kitchen, overflowing with dirty dishes and the remnants of the meal from the night before. Jodie turned back to Luke to give him her opinion on the matter and realized that he was hideously drunk. Zach’s apologetic look did nothing to sate her frustration.

  “You were supposed to be watching him!” Jodie exclaimed with less control than she had hoped.

  “I’m sorry Jodie.”

  Though sincere, he could not meet her gaze. Zach’s usual infectious smile and warm brown eyes had vanished. Instead, he presented Jodie with a full head of brunette curls dipping his face to hide the guilt-laden expression. If his pout deepened any further, his bottom lip would be on the floor. It almost seemed pitiful.

  On a good day, Zach’s boy-next-door charm turned heads, and he had just the right amount of sex appeal without seeming unattainable. For Zach, everything always seemed to happen the way it should, bad luck did not befall him. He always knew what to say and never got this embarrassed.

  “What happened?” Jodie asked, unable to shake the maternal instincts that had started kicking in.

  While she waited for Zach to answer, she stole a look at her brother. Filled with disappointment, Jodie’s classic beauty reduced to thinly pressed lips and a green flecked olive stare. So drunk that he hadn’t even noticed her presence, Luke failed to move a muscle. The vapor of liquor hanging over him made her gag and Jodie struggled to see beyond it.

  Although also tall, dark and handsome with an athletic build, Luke’s eyes were a luminous green and he lacked Zach’s curls. He and Zach had been friends since they were six. They’d done everything together, including sports and had just missed out on representing New Zealand in the world swimming championships. Far more reserved than his best friend, Luke had been shy around girls, happy to stand in Zach’s shadow. Though competing in triathlons never stopped being a big part of Zach’s life, Luke gave it all up when the super-gorgeous ‘Mara’ managed to seduce him. Once Mara dug her hooks in, Luke’s willpower crumbled.

  Luke married her two years after high school against the advice of everyone they knew. By the time Luke turned twenty-three, they’d had two kids together. Now at twenty-six the illusion of happily ever after had passed. Though Luke admitted he knew about the affairs, he loved Mara and the kids and had been prepared to continue the pretense of a happy marriage. He hadn’t even told Mara that he knew, but something about that last affair had been different. Mara ran off with the guy, taking six year old Grace and three year old Rose with her. Luke had been a broken man after that.

  It killed Jodie to watch Luke’s slow decline. The brother she idolized had slipped away, leaving a mere shell of his former self. His interests and friends vanished one by one, until nothing remained.

  Since Jodie and Luke’s parents were on a three-month trip around Europe, she’d been landed with a huge burden of responsibility. Extended family didn’t play a big part in their life and Luke’s sensitivity needed to be handled delicately. While a hell of a nice guy, Zach had never been cut out for that. He cared but he just didn’t understand.

  Jodie insisted that Luke move in with her until their parents got back. The idea had been good in theory, but two days later when he’d depleted her liquor supply, Jodie began to see the scale of the situation. The next night he’d gone to a bar. After the fifth day of out-of-control drinking, she’d called Zach. Between them both, they’d been struggling with Luke for more than a week.

  “What happened, Zach?” Jodie repeated, so overwrought with the situation that she could not bring herself to sit down.

  “He said he wanted to take a shower,” Zach mumbled with the downcast eyes of a disobedient child.

  Jodie paced the floor wringing her hands and then stopped to stare at him in disbelief. “...And?”

  “He must have climbed out the bathroom window. I realized after about ten or fifteen minutes, but by then he’d long gone. It took me four hours to find him and he was already in this state when I got there. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  Jodie sighed, defeat weighing upon her. Because of the sports training and events, Zach worked part-time as a security guard in the evenings. She’d assumed he would be the ideal baby sitter for Luke.

  “All right, it’s not your fault,” she conceded, fighting the tears that welled up in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry about the mess everywhere. I had planned to at least have the dishes done for you, but after this morning I didn’t dare turn my back.”

  Zach’s unzipped hoodie failed to hide the bruising around the base of his neck and Jodie’s heart lurched. Did that happen when he’d tried to restrain Luke?

  “I can’t let him turn into an alcoholic. What am I going to do?”

  As he looked up at her, Zach’s large dark eyes filled with sadness and regret. “Jodie, he already is. He started drinking a long time before she left. He didn’t have to quit his job to come and live with you because he got fired a month ago, after he turned up to work drunk.” Zach lowered his gaze again. “It’s happened before.”

  “Why didn’t you
tell me?” Jodie cried. Hot angry tears spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them away with hurried swipes.

  Zach gave a heavy sigh. “He begged me not to; he couldn’t bear for you to see what he had become. I honestly thought that if I got him away from all the things that made him turn to drink in the first place that he’d be okay, but he wouldn’t leave her. It was too late. I was too late.”

  “Shit,” she whispered, as her tough-guy act fell to pieces.

  Jodie looked back at Luke, her big brother and older by three years. HE should be looking out for ME. Isn’t that what big brothers are supposed to do? She had no experience with alcoholism and felt so unprepared for what she now faced. “He needs help Jodie.”

  “I know,” she admitted on a shaky breath. Zach put his arms around her and she sobbed into his chest.

  “He’s not going anywhere just now,” Zach began, taking charge because of her tears. “I’ll start on the dishes. Why don’t you go and bring the laundry in?”

  Luke had fallen asleep. His head rested on the sturdy oak table, eyes closed amidst a tangle of shaggy dark hair. Zach had a point; he’d be asleep for hours. Jodie dried away her tears and nodded. She wondered if getting stuck into some chores might help to clear her head. An epiphany might be too much to hope for, but maybe something would come to her.

  The wind picked up as Jodie stepped into the yard, whipping her long hair about her face. Trying to tuck it behind her ear, she couldn’t see a thing as she approached the clothesline. She failed to notice the mud sucking at her shoes when she crossed the soggy lawn. So lost in her own world, Jodie hadn’t registered the walk from the porch at all.

  As her vision cleared, she stared at the laundry in astonishment. Thin strips of ragged cloth moved back and forth with each gust, with the greater portion of fabric remains scattered all over the ground. Jodie stood rooted to the spot, not quite believing what she saw. This had happened since she had arrived home, while she stood right by the window in the kitchen. Zach and Jodie had been facing the yard, how could they have both missed this?

  Jodie knew there were some sick weirdoes out there and didn’t feel thrilled to have one of her very own. She couldn’t make up her mind whether she should pick up the ruined clothes or just make a mad dash back to the house. What if the creep is still out there?

  While she stood there lollygagging, a scrap of cloth caught her eye on the ground. My favorite little black dress! Without thinking, she bent down to pick it up. The squelchy mud held the footprints intact. Still stooped over, Jodie’s eye followed them all around the clothesline and back the way they’d come. Her gaze lingered on the native forest beyond the boundary for several seconds before she returned to the muck at her feet. Upon closer examination, Jodie decided that they were hoof prints but it didn’t give her any sense of relief whatsoever. What kind of animal has hooves that size?

  She dithered about, half-crouching, half-standing because she couldn’t make up her mind whether or not to run. Uncertainty knotted in her stomach and she felt a deep sense of foreboding. Jodie tried to tell herself the concerns were ridiculous, but she failed to believe it. Whatever had done this could be lurking within the protective cover of the woods. It may still be there watching her and whatever had done this could be no small beast.

  At five feet two, Jodie often gave the misleading impression that she was helpless. She liked to think of herself as fit and able. Standing rooted to the spot, trembling in fear was not her style. What do I have nearby that would serve as a weapon if I need it? Sucking in a breath, Jodie clenched her fists, her gaze sweeping the yard.

  Procrastination cost Jodie precious seconds. Before long, her choices had vanished, leaving her standing there unarmed and accessible from every direction. A truncated grunt sounded from behind, followed by a rumbling growl somewhere near the boundary fence. A threat on both sides, isolating Jodie and preventing an easy escape.

  Without warning, a huge pale grey leopard leaped over the back fence and bounded into the yard. Eyes bulging in surprise Jodie began to question her sanity, sure that she had to be hallucinating. Jodie knew she should run. Nothing could be worse than just standing there. Jodie couldn’t make up her mind what to do and since her chances of survival were disappearing fast, she dared to turn around.

  At the base of the porch steps, stood the largest boar Jodie had ever laid eyes upon. Nothing like a round pink pig from Farmer Joe’s homestead, this savage wild beast looked the size of a small horse. Elongated tusks curled out of its upper jaw and the coarse black hair that covered its body did little to hide the strength and muscle it possessed.

  If she hadn’t already been crouching, Jodie might have been seriously hurt when the leopard leapt right over her and headed straight toward the other animal. A lot of growling and grunting followed as the leopard swiped at the boar’s face. The pig attempted to defend itself, though the leopard’s size and strength proved more than a match.

  The fight continued though it became obvious that the leopard didn’t want to cause damage. Why would a leopard go after prey and not try to kill it? Jodie had never seen anything like it. It seemed more like a power play than an attack. The leopard wanted to assert its authority and the boar knew it. Do leopards taunt their food the way housecats sometimes do? Jodie wondered.

  All of a sudden, the boar retreated and ran off into the woods. The leopard approached her slowly as if planning its next move. Jodie stood there unmoving, as she had been for the past ten minutes. Still in shock, Jodie wondered what a leopard was doing roaming around in small town Redcliffe. The picturesque beach community resided hundreds of miles from the nearest zoo.

  The leopard continued to advance, taking his time.

  About an arm’s length away he stopped, pausing to sni the air between them. Lying down in front of Jodie, he never broke eye contact and she was too damned afraid to. When she refused to move a muscle, the leopard inched closer, keeping his pale furred form low to the ground. He appeared to be gauging her level of fear.

  His paw touched the tip of Jodie’s shoe and she startled. The leopard shuffled backward with alarming speed, dragging himself up into a sitting position. Not daring to breathe, she squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten under her breath. It’s going to be okay. I’ve just been working too hard, my brain has gone a little crazy, and none of this is real.

  Jodie opened her eyes and stared into the gaze of the leopard. The majestic animal sat at a calm, respectable distance.

  It watched her with intelligence, never missing a single tiny movement. It’s waiting for something, she thought. Jodie felt drawn to the animal, and couldn’t understand it. I should be paralyzed with fear, but I want to touch him. Why on earth do I want to touch him?

  It began to dawn on her that he posed no threat. More than capable of attacking or killing her, he had instead chosen the most submissive position possible. The leopard had protected Jodie from the boar, and if she didn’t know better, Jodie would have sworn he sought approval.

  Fighting her most basic instincts, Jodie closed the distance between them so that she could feel its breath on her bare skin. With jerky hesitant movements, Jodie leaned forward, reaching out to the enormous animal. Her hand trembled in fear and she shrank back twice before she stroked the fur on the side of its face. The leopard cocked its head sideways and yawned. Jodie realized then too, that he had taken the submissive pose to gain her trust. She crawled backward, never taking her eyes off the large cat.

  “Thank you,” Jodie said amidst a furious blush. She’d never felt so silly.

  The leopard licked at Jodie’s fingers. Suppressing the urge to recoil and yank her hand away, she managed to allow the bizarre event to continue. Bile rose up the back of her throat, every part of her body begging to run. Despite feeling certain she’d become a tasty snack for the beast, she could not pry herself away from it. After several minutes, the leopard got up and padded toward the woods. Just before it jumped the fence, the animal turned and growled softly.
Then it disappeared from sight.

  Jodie’s heart pounded in her chest, but she was alive. For a moment, she wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. Deep down she knew that she hadn’t, but leopards did not behave that way. Wild animals shouldn’t be roaming people’s back yards either. It was all too much to comprehend.

  Trudging back up the porch steps Jodie slipped inside the back door, bolting it tight before collapsing against the solid panel to catch her breath. Once again composed, she swept her hair over her shoulder and went to find Zach.

  “I would like to tell you what just happened in the yard, but I’m not sure I believe it myself.” She quipped in a distant voice that didn’t sound like her own.

  “Then you probably don’t want to know what happened here in the house while you were gone then.” Zach’s laugh sounded hollow and false.

  Jodie saw that he looked even more rattled than she did. Her pace quickened as she went to him, instincts kicking in and alerting her to further peril.

  “What...” She started, before realizing that her brother no longer sat at the table. “Where’s Luke?” The shrill edge to her voice showed just how close to breaking point she’d grown. “I locked him in the bathroom.”

  Jodie frowned, dark hair fanning out as she spun to look at the bathroom door. “You did what?”

  “He’s in the bathroom. I wouldn’t recommend going

  in there.”

  Something in Zach’s tone challenged Jodie and she didn’t listen. The need to see for herself overrode his warning as she charged across the room.

  “Jodie, no!” Zach yelled as she opened the door.

  Another boar burst out of the small space, grunting and snorting. Fortunately, Jodie had the good sense to get the hell out of the way. It bounded through the house in a frantic bid to escape, upending small tables and sending keepsakes flying. She glared at Zach.

  “What the hell is going on?” Jodie’s pitch escalated beyond intelligibility.