A Cougar Among Wolves (7 page)

Parched, she shook her head to dispel the longing and struggled to regain her focus.

Water, she had heard water. The cascading falls beckoned her. She inched her way out from between the brothers and headed over to the cool pond. She scooped a handful and drank it up, however, the sweet nectar barely moistened her crusty mouth. She was on the cusp of dehydration. She glanced to her slumbering cave mates. Sure they were still sound asleep, she slipped out of her jeans, T-shirt, and undergarments, and she stepped in. Refreshment washed over her, after the initial shock of the cold. She sucked in a deep breath and dove into the pool. She swam peacefully and headed to the cascading falls.

She sat under the spray and allowed the weight of the water wash away her fatigue.

“Good morning, beautiful,” a voice called out.

Klaya gasped, and covered her exposed breasts. “Uh, good morning.” She glanced 41

over to find both wolves at the edge of the water, sporting naughty smiles.

“Don’t worry.” Seth chuckled and slapped his brother’s arm. “We won’t peek.”

“Speak for yourself.” Rogue’s penetrating gaze lingered and caused a stir deep inside Klaya’s core.

“Stop it.” Seth cuffed him in the back of the head and they both spun around to grant her privacy.

Klaya’s heart pounded. “Thank you.” She swam over and stopped at the edge. “I didn’t think this out very well.” She could easily climb up the chiseled rock steps, but her clothes lay some distance away.

“That’s why we brought you a blanket.” Rogue held the gray material up at his side with the other hand clamped over his eyes. “Still not looking, I swear.”

Would they look? Or, more importantly, did she want them to? Uncertain, but mildly entertained by his repartee, she climbed out of the water, humiliation saturated her.

“Again, thanks.” She snatched up the blanket and wrapped it around herself. “All covered up.”

“We didn’t mean to surprise you.” Seth turned around with crinkled brows. “We’re glad to see you up and about.”

“How long was I out?”

“The whole night.”

“Talk about embarrassing.” Unconscious and vulnerable were two things she never liked to be.

“No need. We thought it might be awhile.” Seth held his leather jacket in his hand and slipped it around her shoulders. “The water is pretty cold; we should get the fire built up.”

“A warm fire would be nice,” she offered through chattering teeth.

“You must be starving.” Seth said.

“Now that you mention it, I am.”

“You dry off and get dressed. We have a surprise for you.”

“Oh?”

Next to the blazing fire, Klaya snuggled under the extra blankets and happily gobbled up the steaming meat. “I can’t believe you caught venison for me.” She devoured it as 42

though she had been starved for a week.

“We needed to keep ourselves busy. Old Seth here was driving us both crazy with worry.”

“About what?” Her shoulders tensed. “Did the hunters return?”

“No, he was worried about you,” Rogue teased and punched his brother in the arm.

“We both were.” Seth gnashed his teeth at Rogue then faced her.

Klaya closed her eyes and absorbed the energy around them. A blissful calm resonated through her body. She opened her eyes with relief. “I feel safe. I’ve never experienced anything quite so powerful before. It must be this cave, it’s vibrating with energy.”

“Klaya, forgive me for asking, but, what happened to you and your brother?” Rogue’s voice softened.

“Dude?” Seth smacked his arm with a tsk. “She told Ryker enough.”

“No, it’s okay, I should talk about it, or at least try to.” She put her plate down and sat cross-legged facing the wolves.

“Only if you feel ready.” Tenderness filled Seth’s eyes.

“The truth is, we had been out at the cabin for so long, with no problems, the attack took us by surprise.” Her chin quivered at the thought she could have saved Griffith’s life.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it,” Rogue conceded.

“I do.” She patted his thigh. “Not too long after we left, our clan had scattered to the forests. We were being hunted.”

“By what?”

“First, by our alpha, but, after he died, others were hunted by humans. We never knew who or why. We found a place out in Keystone and settled on new territory. We heard over the years, the clan had died off. Some disappeared, others were murdered, but we never found anyone who could tell us what happened.”

She stared at the fire as her thoughts slipped into the past.

“Gee mentioned you and your brother saved a wolf from our pack before?” Rogue watched her.

“We did.”

“Who was it?” he persisted.

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“We never knew his name.” The recall of his beaten face and mangled body was a cruelty she didn’t care to relive. “We wandered outside of the Black Hills territory, trying to find a remote place, free of the scent of humans.” She shook her head to dispel the gnawing recollection of gun oil and tobacco scent. “One night, when we were on a hunt for food, we heard men tracking through the forest. They wore combat clothes and carried rifles. They were chasing something.”

Klaya slammed her eyes shut and sucked in a sharp breath. She pushed the brutal images aside so she could continue. “They had captured a man. They were doing horrible things to him. They had him chained, they used a cattle prod to torment him.”

“Why?”

“They’re sadistic bastards.” She shrugged and grimaced. “Sometimes I wish I understood their motives, but the truth is it doesn’t matter.”

“What happened to the man?”

“They put a tracer in his arm and finally made him shift. Then they set him free. The pricks were tracking him down for the fun of it. We found the device in his arm afterward and had to pull it out of his flesh.”

“Like you?” Seth let out a low growl.

A shiver snaked along her spine. “Yes, exactly like me…and….”

“You don’t have to, Klaya,” Rogue cautioned.

The heat of burgeoning tears filled her eyes. “I need to.” She sniffled through the dribble of grief seeping from her nose. “Griffith and I attacked the hunters and killed them. It was easy. They weren’t aware of us. The wolf was limping and couldn’t run.

Once the men were dead, we shifted to show him he was safe. I was amazed, he didn’t seem surprised that we were cougars. We got him to our cabin. The only thing he would tell us was that he was a friend of Gee’s. I sent word for him to come and help. We’ve known Gee for years....”

“Are you ready to talk about when we found you?” Rogue prodded carefully.

“I am.” She expelled a shaky sigh. “It was early morning; we had finished a long night’s hunt. We were exhausted.” She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. “I drifted off to sleep until the sounds of shattering glass and gunshots rang through the air.”

She sucked in a shaky breath, determined not to break down. Seth grasped her hand; his 44

touch sent an instant peace throughout her mind and body. Rogue gave a slight nod of encouragement.

She continued, “Griffith ran into my room to protect me. More gunshots littered the air, and pings of wood and plaster scattered down over us from the impact against the ceiling and walls. He said we had to get to the cellar trap door in the kitchen.” The words poured out; the images flashed through her brain like a movie in fast motion.

“He told me to run. I took off through the open bedroom door down the hallway leading to the kitchen. When I got there, I spotted a shadow of someone lurking behind the curtain of the open window above the sink.” Her stomach tensed. “I grabbed the wooden chair when I saw the barrel of a gun poke through the curtains. I snuck up to the side and slammed the chair through the window. A gunshot zinged past my head and the person dropped with a thud outside.”

She couldn’t swallow past the lump in her throat, but it was too late to stop. She had to say it out loud, for the first time since it happened. “I shoved the table over and pulled open the trap door in the floor. Griffith raced in after me and we ran down the wooden ladder and rushed toward the doors of the storm cellar which led to outside. Sunlight peered through the cracks.” The brief image slowed in her mind, the single moment of hope, and calm before all hell broke loose. “Griffith peered out the cracks of the door; there was movement upstairs. We couldn’t tell how many of them there were. He told me, if we get separated, to get my ass to Los Lobos. We propped the door open, scrambled up the concrete steps, and fled into the cover of the nearby forest.”

Heated tears spilled down her cheeks. The images burned bright in her brain as she relived the horrible event. “More gunfire rang out behind us.
Faster
, he yelled. I bolted through the opening of the trees and kept going. Griffith was close behind.” Terror shot through her as she recited the last moments. “Then, he hollered and I stopped and swung around to find my brother on the ground, bleeding. ‘Run, Klaya, run,’ he roared.” Klaya stopped. Her lungs ached with sorrow as she tried to exhale. Her hands shook, and her heart raced.

After a moment of silence, she tried to compose her racing thoughts. “He told me to keep going, but I….” She fought the vicious surge of grief to no avail. She sobbed as she tried to force the rest of the words out. “I couldn’t….”

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“You couldn’t leave him there.” Seth inched closer and cradled her cheek in the heat of his palm.

“No.” She trembled. “I tried to pull him into the forest, I begged him to shift.”

“Was he…?” Seth winced.

“He was still alive, in terrible pain. The fear in his eyes was unbearable. I was kneeling at his side and a sharp sting pierced my neck. The next thing I remember, I was huddled in a corner,” she growled. “I don’t know where we were, some basement with concrete walls and no windows. There was a set of stairs leading up to a door. It reeked of death. Blood splatters all over the walls. The stench of must and shit stung my nose.

Other cougars’ scents littered the whole place.”

“There were others?” Seth whispered.

“They had Griffith strung up by the arms; they were beating him, slicing him. They—

” She lost the ability to breathe and gasped for air. “They…they….” Klaya shook.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now.” Rogue inched closer and scooped her up into his arms. He settled her into his lap and cradled her while she broke down.

Seth, right at his side, caressed her face, and whispered, “We’re here, Klaya. We’ve got you.”

“We get the picture. You don’t have to finish.” Rogue kissed her forehead and held her tight.

“They took their time.” She mustered her remaining strength, desperate to get it out.

“One held me from behind, another, at my side, forced my eyes open with his fingers.

They made me watch every evil thing they did to him. I can still hear his voice, his screams.” A bizarre calm washed over her. Numbness filled her limbs and her face. She lost all physical strength and her voice was barely a murmur. “I don’t know how long it lasted, but he finally gasped through bloody lips, ‘I love you, Klaya. Run. Run fast and don’t stop.’ He closed his eyes and went still.”

The brothers remained silent. Klaya placed her hands on Rogue’s chest, pushed herself up, and climbed out of his lap. She left the wolves sitting on the ground and paced around the fire. “The bastard who held me laughed in my ear. The second let go of my face and grabbed my arm.” She held up her left forearm where the fresh scar remained. “They sliced me with a knife and jammed something inside my skin. I tried to fight, but they 46

held me until he was finished. Then, they started to jab me with the cattle prod.”

Klaya glanced over to find the brothers side by side, their gazes locked on her. “They poked at me, like they did to the wolf we saved, and yelled and hollered. Some laughed—

there were maybe ten of them. They wanted me to shift, maybe because Griffith refused to, I don’t know. I wasn’t gonna give them the satisfaction.” She curled her lips. “I knew something they didn’t.”

“What?” the brothers whispered.

“I could still hear Griffith’s heartbeat.” A cackle slipped out of her mouth. “They were all focused on the helpless cougar in the corner, and Griffith slipped out of the chains behind them. He shifted and took three of the bastards out before they knew what hit

’em.” Klaya wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the shivers of despair. “He roared at me to run. We both knew he wasn’t going to make it out of there alive. He took out another one and I bolted for stairs. I don’t remember much afterward, I ran fast and hard. I shifted, and there were shots all around me. I remember a stabbing pain in my shoulder, and I dropped to my belly.”

“That’s when we saw you on the run,” Seth piped up. “On the edge of our territory.”

“The rest is a haze.” She shook her head.

“You crawled to a large oak tree and burrowed your way inside. We ran to you and found the hunters ready to shoot you down. You shifted after you hid.”

“I passed out.”

Rogue chimed in. “We took four of them out, but there were more.”

“I’m sure there were,” she scoffed.

“Did any of them talk about what they wanted?” Seth asked.

“They were too busy shouting and laughing. It was a sick game for them,” she snarled.

“With assault rifles and tracking devices, Doc thinks this was a high-tech hunt.”

Brown eyes arched his brows.

“Hold on.” Rogue stood up. “You said you smelled death in there?”

“I did.” She shivered at the memory.

“And other cougars?”

The rancid memory filled her palate, much to her distaste. “Among other scents, but, yes, it was distinctive.”

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“Could you place any of the other scents?” Rogue approached her.

Klaya squinted hard and tried to recall. She gasped and opened her eyes. “Wolf.”

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The residual shame of her emotional letdown in front of the guys had clung to her like wet clothing for days. Waking up in a cold sweat and screaming for her life the last few mornings didn’t make matters any less dramatic. Klaya had withdrawn and kept to herself. She hated how vulnerable she had become, and despised the fact she didn’t mind the guys’ unconditional support and attention through it all. For her to be held by the wolves when she tremored held a bitter sweetness she didn’t allow herself to overindulge in. The moment she became fully conscious and aware, she scampered off to the water to regain her composure.