by Eliza Gayle
Now his mate wanted to go after one? Hell to the no. Except he'd barely been able to get two words out before she'd fled the house half-dressed and raring to go. Fortunately she'd opted not to shift and make a run for it and instead came back inside for the keys to his Jeep.
As she grabbed for the ring of keys hanging near the door, he grabbed her hand and stopped her before she could take them and disappear.
"Seriously, Kitty. I need more of an explanation on why you are going out in the dead of night while a storm dumps more snow on our mountain. Can we take a moment to breathe so you can explain instead of going off half-cocked?"
"I told you. I think the pregnant cougar I met at Dark Moon has been kidnapped. We've got to tell someone. Bhric at least. My money's on him for the father."
Damn Bhric and his band of merry fucking hybrid shifters. They didn't just run the Dark Moon Roadhouse in the neutral zone. They had their hands in nearly everything. If all the clans weren't more careful, he'd end up in total control.
"C'mon, babe. It was probably just a dream. If Bhric is the father of that baby, I don't know a shifter alive who'd be willing to touch that woman, let alone kidnap her. He's a scary dude. Not to mention a white cougar is more than capable of taking care of herself. They're killing machines."
Kitty placed her hands on her hips and speared him with a dark look. "I know what a dream feels like and that wasn't it. Something is going on and I have to do something."
Rafe shoved his fingers through his hair and stared at his mate. He loved her so damned much it hurt, and if her instincts were going off this strongly then he had to believe something had gone very wrong. "Fine. But how about we call him first?" He scooped up his cell phone from the night stand and started to search for the shifter's number.
"Look, if you want to stand around making phone calls, that's fine by me, but I'm leaving. If I can't make it up the mountain in the snow, I'll shift and get there just fine by foot."
Rafe only wasted a second or two staring at her before he shoved his legs into the jeans lying across the bedroom chair. If he didn't hurry, he had no doubt his woman would attempt to leave him behind. "Jesus Christ, Kitty. Are you always going to be this stubborn?"
"Being stubborn is what keeps me alive. That's probably not going to change."
He froze at her words. He probably didn't want to know the full extent of what that meant, but he planned to get to the bottom of it anyway. Just as soon as he got her to sit still long enough to talk to him about it.
"Hurry, Rafe. I have a bad feeling we're running out of time."
He shoved his feet into shoes and tossed a sweater over his head before plucking the keys from her fingers. "What kind of details can you give me?"
"I don't know. I felt fear as if it were my own. And the baby's heartbeat sounded erratic, like the mother's fear was transferring to her."
He didn't know how to process that. She made it sound like she'd sensed the child more than the shifter. But that was impossible. That kind of telepathic ability did not happen among shifters in the womb. Ever. And because it was such a complicated ability, only a few shifter mates managed that kind of connection.
They raced through the door and jumped into the vehicle. The snow had eased and only a gentle flurry floated through the air. The smell of freshly fallen snow, with a crisp, clean scent called to the wolf, making him want to shift and run. It would have made a perfect night for some shifter romance. He sighed and turned the key until the engine roared to life.
There was also something to be said for four wheels that had no problem making their way through whatever elements he chose to drive through. Mud and snow just happened to be two of his favorites. He tossed his phone at Kitty. "Here, call the number for Bhric and tell him what you told me. The least we can do is give him a head's up before we crash his place."
He shoved the Jeep in reverse and turned the vehicle around quickly. As much as he would like to savor the pristine moment of a new winter night, the tension radiating from his mate was starting to agitate his wolf. If he didn't occupy them both with the arduous trip up the mountain, he'd end up doing something crazy, like kidnapping his woman into a he-man cave where he could keep her protected from anything bad ever happening to her again.
Rafe pressed his lips together to keep the bark of laughter from slipping out. If he ever tried to coddle Kitty or hide her away, she'd find a way to kick his ass on the way out. Every indication from the incredible woman sitting next to him was she knew perfectly well how to take care of herself.
"No one's—" She pulled the phone from her ear and glanced at the screen. "No signal. I don't know why we even bother with these things out here. They don't work at least half the time."
He lifted his shoulders. "Better than nothing the other half of the time."
"Probably better this way. He might be surprised to see us show up this late, but I'm not sure this is the kind of news he wants to get by phone."
"Maybe so." Rafe scanned the road making sure he didn't veer from their path. The snow was much deeper the higher they climbed.
"Thank you for believing me."
Despite his acute hearing, he barely heard her words. "Has something like this ever happened before? You seeing something without, you know, seeing?"
"A few times. But I'm not sure how comfortable I am talking about it."
"Kind of too late for that. We're about to storm the Dark Moon and tell Bhric his baby momma has been kidnapped. He's probably going to want some evidence."
"You don't think she's his mate?"
"Did he smell mated to you?"
"Well, not that I go around smelling mated shifters, but now that you mention it I don't remember getting a 'taken' vibe from him."
"Maybe cats don't have as strong a sense of smell." He didn't even have to turn to pick up on the spark of anger his words caused. "Down, girl. I imagine your sense of smell is quite good but we are different species you and I. Do you think you know everything about wolves?"
She laughed. "I know you smell funny sometimes. Isn't that enough?"
"Har har," he said. "Now tell me about these visions."
Kitty shifted left then right on the seat next to him. A glance in her direction and his nose picked up on her heightened anxiety.
"C'mon, babe. We're mates now. There isn't anything you can say that will change how I feel about you." It was true too. He'd fallen immediately for her when she'd literally landed on his doorstep hanging onto life by a tiny thread. She'd been attacked by some of the women in her clan who'd sought revenge. But his Kitty had nine lives at least, because despite the women's poison tipped claws, she'd survived and gone on to stand up to the alpha of his pack and pretty much everyone else who thought she'd be easy prey.
"I don't know how to explain it. There were times when bad things were happening and my only out was with my brain. At first it was nothing but things I made up in my own imagination, but then I started seeing a few things before they happened in real life."
"So you have some psychic ability."
She shrugged. "It's nothing like Lucas's mate. She comes from a clan full of women with strong psychic abilities they learn to control at an early age. This is more erratic and random. I never know when it will happen and it's actually pretty rare."
He reached over and stroked Kitty's thigh. The tone of her voice had changed as sadness rolled through her. The need to touch his woman speared into him. This wasn't exactly the right place for a conversation like this. They needed to be alone and naked in bed where she felt safe and cared for. She didn't like to admit it, but she took as much comfort in his protection as he did in providing it.
"Maybe we should talk to Simon about it. If anyone would have a clue, it could be him. He always has his nose in some book learning some new skill that might help the pack. He loves a good puzzle." And as Rafe's best friend and second in command, he could be trusted with medical information about his mate.
"I thought your beta's sp
ecialty was infertility."
"It's what he studies the most because it's what the pack needs to solve. Unfortunately, it's proven to be frustrating for him. So he takes on other experiments for his hobbies."
"Look." Kitty pointed through the windshield in front of them. "Oh my God, is that Bhric?"
Rafe turned his gaze back to the road and slammed on the brakes. The tires locked up and they started to slide. "Dammit." He twisted the wheel in the opposite direction and prayed for some traction. All he could do now was stare at the red eyes of the creature standing in the middle of the road. He wasn't sure what to call it. Wolf? Jaguar? Something else? He was twice the size of a normal wolf with dark fur over half his body and grey on the other. This wasn't the first time he'd come across the owner of the Dark Moon in his shifted state, and he'd not been eager to do it again.
Slowly, the Jeep came to a stop a few feet from the animal. Bhric's lips parted and his snarl sounded deep and throaty. Rafe growled. He carried his mate, and the other man's actions threatened her safety.
"Oh for cripe's sake. We don't have time for this." Kitty jumped from the Jeep and rounded the hood before Rafe even cleared the door.
"You're mate is in trouble," she yelled. "Or, I mean, the woman who is having your baby is in trouble."
The animal blinked at her, shock clouding his eyes. In a barely noticeable flash of magic, he shifted, transforming from animal to a man of six foot plus height. The jaguar's pale spots they'd been unable to see under the dark fur, covered his human form on the left side of his body and scars on the other, but it was the complete nudity and obvious aroused state that pissed off Rafe's wolf.
Fuck.
Rafe grabbed Kitty and pushed her behind him. "Stay calm, Bhric. We've only come to help you."
"That would be great if I knew what the hell you were talking about." His voice came out like gravel stuck in a blender. His animal instincts were barely disguised by the human half of him. He'd heard them coming and he'd come out on the attack. Bhric looked past Rafe and stared at Kitty. "I don't know where you got your information but I do not have a mate nor do I have a girlfriend, pregnant or otherwise. So someone better start explaining what's going on."
Shit. Had Kitty been wrong?
3
Dean scrubbed at the scarred wooden bar and pretended not to notice the sudden pit in his stomach that felt like someone had hollowed him out. The air was sucked from the room by his latest arrival. He didn't have to turn to see who had entered his bar. Yet he still watched the tall, imposing figure approach from the corner of his eye. The last thing he needed to see today, or any day for that matter, was his brother, Bhric. Their last parting had not been all that amicable and Dean had expected many years to pass before they saw each other again. Not a mere two.
All night he'd been out of sorts as the hours dragged on, and a sense of foreboding left him strung tight and aching to shift. The moment he'd finally made last call, he'd sighed in relief. The beast inside him wanted free and now. His instincts were telling him something was wrong but so far nothing had happened to clue him in to what. Until Bhric walked in.
"We're closed for the night," Dean said.
"Good thing I'm not here for a drink then, brother."
Inwardly Dean winced at the exaggerated endearment, while managing to keep his features neutral. This wasn't going to be pleasant.
"There's nothing else here for you."
Bhric stopped directly in front of him and Dean caught his gaze. He tried to read the man he used to gladly call family and failed. They'd parted ways with so much bitterness and bad blood between them, it was all he saw when he looked at him.
A man who'd betrayed him by fucking his girlfriend and then not telling him shit until she turned up pregnant. Dean believed the baby was his from the beginning, but no one was sure. Until the day the bitch walked out announcing neither of them had fathered her baby.
"I didn't come here to ask anything of you if that's what you're thinking, bro."
"Stop calling me that."
"What? You think just because we had a stupid fight a couple of years ago it means we're not brothers anymore? That's fucked up."
"No, what's fucked up is you coming here in the first place. Last I checked hell has not frozen over and you're still not welcome in my bar." Dean turned his back on Bhric and started to wipe down the bottles of alcohol along the back shelf. The sooner he finished up here the sooner he could break free from whatever his brother wanted.
Looking at Bhric only made him remember their shitty past. Especially Brenda, his former girlfriend whose knife he still couldn't get out of his back.
"Well, you're in luck then. I didn't come here because I missed you nor do I have any desire to rehash our problems. I have news about your mate."
Dean jerked before going completely still. His mate. Dammit.
After weeks of searching for the elusive white cougar who'd invaded his mind and bed on Christmas Eve, only to walk out the next morning, he'd taken a break from the hunt. He'd come close many times, but the wily female remained just out of his reach at all times. She always anticipated his next move and recently she'd quit toying with him and the trail had gone cold.
He hated to admit he'd enjoyed their little catch me if you can type game but it was time to end it. He wanted her back in his bed—in his life. They didn't exactly have to obey the laws of nature every time she waved the mate flag, but the idea of finding "the one" intrigued him. Sex between them had been explosive and his thoughts were pretty much consumed by wanting inside her again. But he also wanted to know her. She'd already proven to be more than just a beautiful face and hot bod, he wanted to know more.
Now his brother had something to do with her and the beast inside him was about to break all the rules. This shit could not happen again.
Slowly he turned to look at his brother, his eyes narrowing and his lips curling back in a snarl. "What have you done to her?"
"So I was right. I knew she was yours the minute she came to me. I could barely scent it, but it was there."
She came to him? Dean lurched forward and grabbed Bhric by the collar and yanked him halfway across the bar. "I'm not playing games with you, dick. What happened?" The thought of his sibling with his nose anywhere near Niki threatened to send him over the edge. "I swear by the Goddess, I will kill you this time."
His brother raised his hands in surrender, a move that didn't fool Dean for a second. "I'm really not here to start a fight. This isn't like before. I want to help you."
Dean snorted. Fat goddamn chance. "Then tell me what's going on. Where is Niki? And why the hell were you smelling her?"
Bhric smiled. "Don't get your panties in a twist little brother. It wasn't like that. I simply have a better sense of smell than you."
Dean hissed, baring the animal's teeth that crowded his mouth.
"Okay, okay. No more jokes. She's gone missing. We have reason to believe she has been kidnapped."
"What?" Anger ripped through Dean bringing his beast to the forefront. His face changed, elongating into the box-like snout of his jaguar, his nails turned to claws and black hair rippled across his skin. "Why would someone kidnap her and who is 'we'?"
"You do know what she is right?" Bhric pushed against Dean, reminding him they were pretty evenly matched in strength.
"White cougar. So what? You think I give a shit about that? With our mixed lineage, I'm the last person who's ever going to discriminate against someone's breed."
"I doubt this is about discrimination."
He was losing his patience. "Then what? Who has her and where are they?"
"Finally, we're getting somewhere. Now be a good little big kitty and let me go."
Dean glared at his brother for several long seconds, letting the deep growl in his throat grow louder. He'd tried to rein this in for too long and it wasn't easy to put back in the human cage. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Instead of his brute of a brother, he pictured Niki the l
ast time he'd seen her.
She'd blown his mind with an orgasm that left him weaker than a kitten and all he could do was curl her into his arms as they faded into sleep. He remembered the Christmas lights glowing through the windows while the contentment of having found his mate overwhelmed him. He couldn't remember what he'd said, only mumbling something incoherent. He'd gone to sleep thinking about all the things he wanted to tell her and he'd woken up to a cold bed and another empty holiday.
The cat beast receded and he opened his eyes. Bhric had shifted away from him but remained wary. "Tell me," Dean said.
"Unfortunately, there isn't much to tell." Bhric scrubbed his face. "A few days ago she showed up at the roadhouse asking for a place to stay for a few days. Insisted on paying me a shit ton of money to not tell anyone she was there. I scented you on her that first night, but figured I'd give her some time and space before I asked about you. She's not exactly a friendly cat. Her people skills suck."
Dean nodded, remembering the fight he'd had to prevent not five minutes after she walked into this bar. "Yeah, she's feisty."
"Scary more like it. But if she was in trouble I wasn't about to turn her away. You and I have our problems, but I don't turn my back on family when they need me."
Dean snorted. The ugly words he wanted to throw in his brother's face were on the tip of his tongue but for the sake of his mate he swallowed them.
"For three days she stayed hidden in my place. I tried to pin her down a couple of times but could never find her, despite being certain I scented her. No clue how she manages to do that by the way. Then last night she disappeared completely. Nothing was out of place. No signs of anyone going in or out of her room, but she was gone. I tried to tell myself she'd probably decided to move on. It's not as if I knew a damn thing about her."
"But?"
"But I couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right. So I went looking and found a couple of unfamiliar prints out back that disappeared a few feet into the woods. Damned snow storm blanketed the area yesterday. I was about to round up a team to help me search. But then that damned Comyn alpha came crashing through my back forty with his Jeep and his new weird cougar-mate freaking out about having some sort of vision. Says your girl was kidnapped and pointed me in the right direction."