Black Seduction (4 page)

Angela straightened, shifting to pierce him with a defiant
expression. “There was a time when I’d kill to protect Natasha,” she told him.
“And I would today, if she would see her mistake. No one in Colony would ever
curl their lip at her, I’d see to it, but only if she stops this.”

“I’ve heard jaguars are agreeing to sell themselves to
humans.” The disgust in Ran’s tone was obvious. Several small strands of hair
fell loose from the short ponytail he always wore at the base of his neck, and
his sharp features looked even harder when Raul turned to look at him. Ran’s
attention was on Angela though. “What do you know about what is going on?”

“About the same as you, it sounds,” she admitted easily. “I
need to find out though. If there’s any chance of preventing those males from
heading out of here, I’m going to make it happen.”

Before Raul swung around to face her, Angela moved to the
door.

“No,” Raul ordered. “Attacking and killing our own kind
won’t stop this. Humans already know about us, plans are already made. If we
attack and stop them from leaving Colony, humans will then see us as unstable.
They will attack.”

“Then humans will die,” Rafe snarled.

Raul glared at his littermate. “What kind of fight would
that be? Would we attack another species simply because they don’t have honor?
Their downfalls aren’t our problem.” He glanced over at Ran as he tried to
figure out the best way to handle things. “This isn’t our battle, not anymore.”
He sliced his hand through the air, finalizing the argument. “We’re leaving
tonight, before the disgrace clouds Colony with its disgusting stench.”

“Where are you going?” Angela stiffened, the pointed look
she bestowed on him earlier on the mountain tightening her expression once
again. The look in her eyes stated clearly she wasn’t budging unless she
decided she wanted to.

“The rain forest,” he said quietly, unwilling to argue with
her in front of his littermates.

He didn’t have to.

“What do you mean, where are we going?” Rafe demanded,
moving to stand in front of her. “My littermate reeks of your scent.”

His hostile energy wouldn’t fall out on Angela though. Raul
stiffened, ready to toss his brother aside if he got too mouthy. Rafe ignored
him, putting his fists on his waist and giving Angela an interested once-over.

“Raul put his mark on you.” Rafe lowered his voice, looking
deadly as hell. “I never thought you were like some of the other females.”

“Rafe, leave her alone.” Ran stepped in and stood next to
Angela. “It’s bad enough for her with her litter torn apart. We have each
other.”

Angela put her hand on Ran’s arm, and Raul swore Rafe
growled under his breath. It didn’t surprise him his littermates would already
be protective of her. Their scents were wrapped around each other, strong and
fresh, bonding them together. They would attack anyone to protect her, just as
they would to protect him. But that they would challenge each other for her
honor. It filled him with pride. This was what a litter was all about.

“Angela has us too,” Raul informed them, garnering curious
looks from his brothers and a wary one from Angela. He reached for her, pulling
her against him and securing his hands at the small of her back. “We need to
know who is leaving and who is staying.” He glanced down into those deep, green
eyes and his cock stirred. “Besides the Hunters,” he added.

“I’ll go sniff around,” Rafe said quickly, grabbing the beer
Ran had opened and downing it. “I need to burn some energy anyway or I won’t
stop running when we hit Central America.”

Raul didn’t say anything when his littermate bounded out the
door. It was best to let Rafe work off his aggressive nature in his own way.
Rafe wouldn’t turn stupid, at least he hadn’t shown that cub side of him for a
few years now.

“Maybe I’ll trail him,” Ran suggested, focusing on the back
of Angela’s head and then offering her an easy smile when she twisted against
Raul and looked at him. “Rafe is hot-headed and quick to bare his claws, but
he’s got a big heart. Usually his growl is fiercer than his bite.”

“That’s how it is with most males,” Angela purred.

Ran actually blushed and blessed her with a cub-like grin.
Angela shifted again and her ass brushed against Raul’s cock. It was rock-hard
in the next second and he was damn glad she stood in front of him. She also
stilled quickly.

“Not all,” Raul whispered, lowering his head and pressing
his mouth against her thick, smooth hair.

Ran chuckled. He reached out and touched Angela’s cheek.
“His growl is worse than his bite too,” he told her, and gave Raul an impish
grin.

“Like I said,” Angela said smoothly, too confidently.

His littermates weren’t helping a bit in taming her. “Head
on out,” Raul said gruffly, ending this little exchange before it could start.
“Both of you be back by nightfall. We’ll be ready to head out then.”

Angela stepped out of his arms the moment Ran closed the door
behind him. “What exactly is going on here?” she said, walking away from him
and combing her hair with her fingers.

“Colony isn’t fit for us to remain here.” He focused on her
ass but smelled her wariness. She was aroused but cautious. Angela wasn’t stupid.
She would sniff her surroundings carefully, and when she gave her loyalty, it
would be strong and impenetrable. He prayed her love would be as strong.

“That’s not what I mean.” She shook her head and turned, her
gaze dropping down his body before returning to his face. “This. You and me.
Raul, why did you wait until now to try to mate with me?”

He didn’t smile. Her expression was so serious, so worried.
And as much as he ached to clear the distance between them, he crossed his arms
over his chest and held his ground.

“I have mated with you. You are mine.”

Her exasperated sigh told him she didn’t agree. He
considered ways of explaining how things would be.

“Angela,” he began quietly. “Think of the males you’ve been
with in the past. Lars Ramone when you were eighteen.”

Her irritated expression turned quickly to surprise, but
then she narrowed her gaze, opening her mouth to speak. She wanted to know him,
and she would.

“He took your virginity yet you wouldn’t talk to him the
next day. In fact, you attacked when he tried again. You left a nasty scrape
down the side of his face.” He shook his head, remembering her fiery defiance
blossoming so early in her. “Then a year later, it was David Hunter. You
actually left Colony to fuck him for the first time.”

“What were you doing? Stalking me?” she cried out.

“Just made sure you were safe,” he explained, willing to
ride out her irritation until she understood. “I didn’t stop him.”

“You kicked his ass three months later when he was talking
to Elisa Romero,” she countered, wagging her finger at him. “Just because he
talked to some female you were fucking, you copped an attitude. And now this,
insisting we’re mated and that I’m leaving with you.”

“I kicked his ass because he fucked Elisa and he was running
with you.” His voice was a bit too clipped, and he inhaled slowly, willing
himself to remain calm until Angela saw the way of it. “I’ve never been with
Elisa,” he added, his tone quieter, softer.

She let her gaze drop, it was obvious in her expression that
she was turning back time in her mind, replaying events. “All of that was years
ago,” she said without looking up. “And it doesn’t explain your actions today.”

“I’ve always watched you, Angela, allowed you to run, enjoy
being young. And I’ve always known you were meant to be my mate.”

“How did you know that?” she challenged, tilting her head
and piercing him with a disbelieving gaze.

She placed her hands on her narrow waist and puffed out her
chest. Her nipples were hard little pebbles and her breasts full and round. Angela
didn’t have any visible scars. Her tanned skin complemented her thick, long,
black hair and her green eyes. It was her sensual look that undid him, not the
strong scent she released that was now buried in his skin, or the lasting aroma
of his come on her body.

He cleared the distance, stopping inches in front of her and
lifting her hair from her shoulder when she didn’t back up or change her
stance.

“I knew it when you attacked Maria Gonzalez for lying about
being pregnant.”

Her jaw dropped and color washed over her cheeks. “It’s not
right to trap a male,” she whispered.

“Nope.” He wouldn’t tell her he had already smelled Maria’s
lie when she tried to tell him three years ago he had mated with her. “You
refused to mate with John Hunter when he started sniffing after you once his
littermate David finally took the hint you didn’t want him.”

She looked wide-eyed at him. “I never told anyone about
that,” she hissed. “John told you I turned him down?”

“You were standing outside the bar and he told you that you
were the best female in Colony and he would only be seen with the best.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

“I was sitting on my bike, just a couple of cars down,” he
explained. “If you looked, you would have seen me. I almost offered you a ride
home but knew it wasn’t time yet.”

“Time for what?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

“Time for us.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips over
hers. When he straightened, her lashes fluttered over her eyes before she
glanced back up at him. “I wanted you to see that we were meant for each other.
If events happened differently, I would have taken more time, let you come into
the knowledge on your own. But Colony isn’t right for us anymore. It’s time to
leave. And leaving without you isn’t an option. Nor would I have you running
with me and my litter and not be mated. That isn’t the honorable thing to do.”

“Ran and Rafe have flirted with me more than you have.”

“They’ve always protected you. Both of them have always
known that I wanted you for mine.”

“You’ve already told them this?” She looked surprised.

“There isn’t much we keep from each other. This is a tight
litter, Angela. And one that you’ll fit into perfectly.”

“How much longer?” Angela asked.

Ran glanced up from his work, his green eyes so similar to
Raul’s yet sparkling with a mischievous glint Raul didn’t possess. “Perfection
takes time, little female,” he purred, winking at her before returning to his
task.

Rafe paced the living room behind them. He was the antsy
one, Angela decided, who was ready to leap without question at the slightest
altercation. She looked over her shoulder at Raul, who stared out the back
door, which stood open and filled the room with the cool, night mountain air.
This was a good litter, and one she wished she could take her time getting to
know. In spite of Raul’s admission of caring for her for so long, it was all
still muddled in her brain. And with so much else going on, there wasn’t time
to sniff Raul out the way she wished she could, the way he had with her.

It didn’t take much sniffing to know he was easily the
best-looking male in Colony. His black hair hung straight just past his collar.
Broad shoulders and his barrel-like chest made him one of the larger male
jaguars in Colony. He held his hands on his waist, which was thick yet tapered
down from a muscular back. The jeans and t-shirt he wore showed off muscles
that rippled and bulged throughout his body. His tight ass and thick, long legs
added to the aura of power emanating from him.

Angela caught Rafe watching her, and took in his stance with
a quick glance. As tall and powerful-looking as Raul, Rafe also possessed the
distracting good looks. Something in the way he carried himself, in the dark,
piercing way he watched the world around him, made him look so different.
Shooting a side glance back toward Raul once again, she took in his powerful
stance, the way his legs were slightly spread and his hands on his hips, as if
he were the king of his mountain and simply deciding who would live or die that
night.

“Comparing notes,” Rafe whispered.

Angela turned, meeting his hard, green eyes. “Does that
bother you?”

“Not at all.” His grin was as cold as his stare. “I’d love
to hear what you find.”

Angela smiled back, ignoring Raul as he approached behind
her. “The female who wins your heart will kick your ass. I’m not sure there is
a female smart enough for Ran. And Raul…”

She paused when his hands came down on her shoulders. No
jaguar intimidated her—not male or female. She looked over her shoulder and
forced her heart not to pound in her chest when his gaze smoldered.

“Raul has it all figured out. His female will need patience.
Lots of it.”

Rafe snorted and Raul growled.

“I think I’ve got something,” Ran announced, his excitement
creating sparks of anticipation in the air.

Immediately Rafe and Raul closed in around Ran. Raul’s hand
slid possessively over her shoulder. She waited through the moments of silence
along with the others while Ran continued muttering, talking to the computer as
if he could sniff out the proper way to work the programs.

Raul moved closer behind her and his hard body pressed
against every inch of her backside while his fingers tightened slightly over
her shoulder. Her insides quickened, and drinking in a deep breath of air
didn’t help. In spite of the mixed emotions surrounding her, the way Raul and
her scent smelled so similar, an erotic combination of both their natural
aromas, made it damn hard to focus on matters at hand.

“I really can’t take all of the credit.” Ran leaned back in
his chair, folding his hands behind his head and grinning smugly. “If it
weren’t for some of the males bragging up their successes with communication
with humans, I never would have eavesdropped and learned about their website
and forum.”

“What did you find?” Raul demanded.

“It took awhile to find it. Angela helped a lot too. She
knew the name of the website her littermate’s been frequenting.”

“I just overheard her mention it a few times,” Angela said
quickly as a morbid thought created panic inside her. What if Raul chased her
down so quickly simply because he wanted to destroy Natasha? She hid her sudden
panic, refusing to allow the thought to develop, at least not for now.

“Tell us what you found,” Raul growled, his baritone
vibrating through his fingers and sinking deep inside her. His aggravation
smelled stronger than her sudden sour emotions and she did her best to continue
hiding her frantic line of thinking. There would be time later to figure
everything out.

“Well, I cracked her passwords.” The sparks in Ran’s eyes
over his excitement made them appear like rare gems. “Again thanks to Angela
offering personal information about her littermate until we came up with the
right combination. The forum offered the most information and was the hardest
to break into. The stuff on here is enough to make a male want to curl his tail
between his legs.”

For the first time she could remember, Ran’s expression grew
sober. His excited smile faded and his eyes darkened, almost dulling as he
stared at his oldest littermate before lowering his gaze and meeting hers
momentarily.

“Seven males left Colony last week. Five of them returned,
which according to the posts here was a tremendous success.”

“What did they do?” Rafe asked.

“They ran to different locations. Each one of them was
assigned a target to eliminate. All targets were successfully terminated, and
all money paid for services was transferred into a house account. Apparently
though, two of the males were killed while eliminating their targets. It
doesn’t offer details.” He turned his attention to the laptop and pulled open
what looked like an invoice. He tapped the screen with his finger.

“What the hell is it?” Raul moved next to Angela and leaned
against the table where Ran worked.

“It’s an invoice for ten thousand dollars,” Rafe hissed
through his teeth, his fists hitting the table on the other side of Ran. “And
it appears to be for the use of Miguel Kalusian. Airfare expenses are also
included. Looks like he flew to Washington. They don’t even allow jaguars to
run to their kill but put them in airplanes, human flying cages,” he snarled,
looking as if the change would consume him any moment.

“Ten thousand dollars.” Raul made the words sound like
profanity. He straightened, combing his hair with his fingers while his face turned
into hard angles of outrage. “Print that for me and anything else you find on
there. That bitch is selling us out. And I doubt it’s for new fucking roads or
schools for our cubs.”

“I can print all of this, but there’s more. Five more males
left today. Apparently as soon as the kill is confirmed, money will deposit
into this house account,” Ran said, sliding out of his chair and taking the
laptop with him.

“An account that I’m sure my littermate has access to,”
Angela grumbled out loud, despising what her sister was doing to their kind.

Someone pounded on the front door and Angela jumped, the
small hairs on the back of her neck quickly standing to attention while her
teeth extended slightly. Sharp sparks shot down her spine, the change demanding
its right to come forth and protect her and those around her. She pressed her
lips over her teeth, watching warily while Raul moved to the door.

He turned to Ran. “Go hide the laptop. We won’t mention what
we’ve learned so far.” Glancing at her while whoever stood on the other side of
the door pounded again, Raul didn’t flinch but turned his attention to Rafe.
“Take Angela back to my room for right now,” he ordered sharply.

“If I’m a secret within your litter, then I’m leaving,” she
growled, glaring at his dark, intimidating expression.

Raul only took a moment to stare her down, but then turned
without further comment and pulled open the door. Rafe stepped in front of her
but she quickly moved to his side.

“Why did it take you so long to answer the door?” Devon Romero
practically filled the doorway as he glowered at Raul.

“I wasn’t in a hurry to have company.” Raul matched the
hostile growl, his vocal inflection changing slightly with his last words.
Obviously keeping the change under wraps proved a slight effort for him too.

Devon looked past Raul and his lips parted when he pierced
Angela with a nasty sneer. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled. His
anger was so thick, cutting it with a knife would only increase its foul
stench.

“Someone’s tapped into a personal website that belongs to
Natasha.” Robert Gustafan appeared alongside Devon, making his presence known.
His thick frame forced him to stand sideways as he pressed as close to the
entrance of Raul’s home as he dared. No male entered another male’s home
without consent, unless he wished to die. “Come here, Angela. Now. I’ll talk to
you outside.”

It was almost impossible to ignore Robert’s command, having
grown up knowing him as one of the head counsel leaders and dominating alpha
males of Colony. She hesitated though, their smells reeking so furiously with
outrage her instincts wouldn’t allow her to move. She opened her mouth, ready
to tell him there was no way she would go anywhere with him until he changed
his attitude.

Raul spoke before she could. “She’s not going anywhere,” he
growled. “What the hell is this all about? You come to my den, stinking up my
air with preposterous accusations. What do you want with Angela?”

“We’re checking all the dens.” Devon straightened, obviously
feeling the importance of his call. “It’s imperative all litters cooperate with
Colony right now or severe measures will be taken. There aren’t many jaguars in
Colony with computer skills sharp enough to break into a password-protected
website. But if they already had the password—a password that didn’t belong to
them—that is a crime comparable to theft.”

“Cooperate with what?” Raul asked, obviously ignoring the
rest of Devon’s accusations.

“There will be no challengers right now.” Robert puffed his
chest out, reeking of his own self-importance. “Colony is at a shifting point
and any rebels will be silenced.”

“Silenced?” Raul stepped forward, growling and suddenly
looking larger than he did a moment ago.

“Get out of the way, Raul,” Devon growled, his incisors
pressing against his human lips and making them twist in an odd shape when he
sneered. “We’re going to talk to Angela, and you’re not going to stop us.”

“Like hell!” Raul leapt so quickly he became a blur.

“Raul!” Angela screamed, and darted toward the doorway,
feeling her bones bulge against her human muscles.

She jumped to the side when Rafe flew out the door, jumping
onto the mound of male flesh and muscle while screams and fierce howls suddenly
violated the night.

Raul showed amazing strength, considering he attacked two males,
both of whom were older and stockier than he was. His favor was youth, pure
aggressive power. And it wasn’t one on two for very long. Rafe jumped in to
assist his older littermate. She barely made it out the door when Ran was right
behind her, practically pushing her to the side. He dove into the air, ripping
his shirt off and tossing it to the side as the howl that escaped his mouth
wasn’t quite human.

Angela’s insides burned. The words exchanged were
terrifying, revealing the truth surrounding Colony as being so much worse than
she guessed at first. And it was almost impossible to stomach it could be
worse.

“Your litter will die tonight,” Devon howled as he managed
to jump to his feet and square his shoulders. His hands were fisted and his
face not quite human. Cheek bones curved differently now, pressing his nose out
a bit farther. Outrage filled the air and made it nearly impossible to keep his
less-aggressive form.

“Do you think you can decide the future of Colony and the
rest of us will belly-up to your sick ideas?” Raul sounded so calm that it made
him appear more terrifying. “You don’t speak for all of us, Devon. And you sure
as hell don’t speak for my litter.”

“Anyone not in agreement with Colony prospering will die.”
Robert looked from Raul to her, and then at Ran and Rafe. He glanced up and
down the street and spotted others hedging closer, sniffing out the trouble and
deciding if they should interfere. He raised his voice, speaking louder. “No
more will jaguars slink through the mountains. Never again will we run from our
homes because humans have made the land uninhabitable. As of tonight, we go on
the map as the most powerful predator on the planet. From this point forward,
every species alive will be at our bidding.”

Rafe and Ran growled, positioning themselves to leap. But
Angela moved faster. She darted around them, fearing tonight was the night of
reckoning. There wouldn’t be any talking out this situation. One side would win
and the other would die.

“By selling ourselves to humans and doing their dirty work?”
she yelled. “We aren’t making ourselves the best species on the planet. We’re
turning ourselves into slaves, killers who will wipe out scum humans decide
shouldn’t walk this planet. Do you really want us to be at the mercy of humans?”

She glared at Robert, and even though she saw Devon’s huge,
dark frame lunge at her from the side, the cries from other jaguars on the
street, yelling their support and confusion, distracted her a moment longer
than she had. She ached to hear who defended her, to know once and for all
where each litter stood. Devon plowed into her, forcing the air out of her
lungs and hitting her with a stinging impact that sent her flying sideways.

She didn’t hit the ground though. He scooped her into the
air, sending her legs flying out underneath her like a rag doll. Angela landed
on his shoulder, her stomach immediately churning from the stench of his
emotions and body sweat.

She twisted, kicked, pounded and scratched. Devon didn’t
react. He took flight, starting to run down the street with her flapping like a
rag doll on top of him. It was as if he won a round and raced through the
streets, showing off his prize.