Cravings (Fierce Hearts) (5 page)

Booker sorted through the papers and then held up one to read. “Conclusion. These testing markers indicate a ninety-nine percent probability that Casey Mitchell and Kennedy Novak are full siblings.” Booker looked up from the paper to smile. “There’s more. But first I want to say welcome to the colony, Kennedy.”

She looked down at her hands neatly folded in her lap. Thoughts and implications rumbled through her. She couldn’t catch her breath. She looked to Asher. He winked, and instantly, the calm traveled through her, lulling her frantic nerves. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

“There was never any question about your acceptance into the colony. Whether or not you were my sister, you were one of us.” Casey cleared his throat and centered his gaze on her. “I know it’s not as simple as just saying welcome, sis. It will take time to get to know one another as the were-lynxes and people we are. But I hope in time my home will feel like your home and all of us will feel comfortable to you.”

Booker spoke up. “One thing I want to add from the sibling DNA test. It says here that relationship markers for siblings can be hard to prove conclusively unless the two individuals share a distinctive trait that is uncommon in the general population.”

“Snap!” Asher’s smile stretched across his face, wide and genuine. “You’ve got that were-lynx thing going for you there.”

Kennedy felt Asher’s nudge energy pull out, and she was left with her own perspective and inclinations. The ones she’d developed over the years working with her parents and her trainers, Thing One and Thing Two, as she liked to refer to them, actually Gordon Day and Patrick Cook. No matter what anyone said or did, she had to learn to rely on her own assessment of things. To do that, she’d have to get close to the others in the colony, maybe even pretend if she had to that she trusted them. It wouldn’t be easy, especially with Casey. She suspected not much got past his keen instincts.

Her gut clenched. She had to find her way or she’d never, ever be truly free to make her own choices about her own life.

She walked to the kitchen window. If she dared, she would open it and grab big gulps of chilled air. From the window, she could see the sun setting low . Brilliant pinks and purples streaked the sky. Leafless tree branches swayed in the wind. Nature called to her. In all the years of her previous life, it was nature that kept her sane.

When she turned back to the room, her eyes met those of Casey, Lara, Asher, Shaun, and Booker. It startled her, but she couldn’t blame them for having concerns. “I’m just going to get some fresh air for a minute.” Without a coat, she quickly stepped out the back door.

The brisk temperature smacked against her skin. It was just what she needed. She walked farther into the darkness in Lara’s small, fenced patch of nature behind her apartment. Earthy scents of moist earth and fallen leaves wafted around her. She breathed it in deeply, letting it soothe her and blank out the impending challenges she faced.

A snap broke the silence, startling her. The darkness around her did little to cloak the figures she saw creeping toward her, thanks to her superior, were-lynx vision. An impulse to shimmer raced through her, but there wasn’t time. She readied her fighting skills, striking an offensive pose.

From the scent, she gathered these were human males, but their scent was unfamiliar. She saw two figures march toward her, and she instantly raised her leg to swipe across the first one’s gut. He moaned and bent over, but not for long. From behind, a third figure wrapped a hand around her mouth and an arm around her neck, dragging her toward the fence gate.

Kennedy let loose a scream, but the man’s hand muffled the sound. She kicked him hard in the shin, and he hollered. The distraction of her kick loosened his hand across her mouth, and she screamed, loud and piercing.

Nanoseconds passed, followed by Asher’s explosion out the back door in his bobcat form, teeth bared. He leaped onto the man holding her captive, growling low. Even in his bobcat form she knew him, knew his scent. His light brown fur dotted in dark spots blurred by as he attacked her assailant.

With barely a tick of a second, Casey burst out behind Asher, also in his cat form. His dark-spotted, golden fur and cream underbelly were unmistakable. Yowling and spitting, Booker pounced on one of the men. Lara came at her and pulled her out of the commotion, while Casey growled and snapped at the remaining man.

The man who had been holding her managed to back away from Asher long enough to call out to his team. “Retreat!”

“No!” Kennedy hollered. “Who are you?” She turned to Casey and Asher. “You can’t let them go. We need to question them.” Fury and helplessness ripped through her. She sunk to the ground.

Shaun stood in the kitchen doorway and beckoned Kennedy inside. Lara pulled Kennedy to her feet and offered an embrace, but Kennedy just stood there, her shoulders drooping as she tried to understand. She watched Casey and Asher trot back into the apartment, while Lara directed her inside and sat her down in the kitchen again.

“Kennedy, surely you know who those men were. We let them go because we’re not ready to interrogate them. Plus, Booker is following them.” Her voice was gentle, but an edge to it let Kennedy know Lara was trying to reach her with logic.

“So you know they’re from The Nexus Group?”

“Of course. It’s been more than two weeks, and the group hasn’t done anything overt to get you back. We’ve been keeping an eye on you because we expected this or something like this.” Lara sat back in her chair and sighed heavily. “Kennedy, there is so much I want to say to you, learn from you, but I don’t want to push you. We need information. Yes, it would have been great to interrogate those men and get some answers. But—”

“They wouldn’t know anything, and they’d resist answering any question. I get it.” She flopped her arms and head onto the table.

“You must be exhausted. Why don’t you lie down for a while before dinner?”

Casey, Booker, and Asher, fully clothed and in human form, walked into the kitchen.

Booker shook his head. “I lost them soon after they took off. Sorry, guys. Kennedy, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry to cause so much commotion. I hope none of you got hurt.”

Asher slanted his head toward her. “You have nothing to apologize for. They caught us all off-guard.”

“That’s right. You did nothing wrong. Get some rest.” Casey touched Kennedy’s head and smiled. “I’m going to take off. Michelle will have dinner ready.”

Kennedy didn’t look up. The mention of Casey’s fiancée reminded her of all the new people in her life and completely overwhelmed her.

Asher spoke up. “No, I don’t think this girl needs rest, I think she needs release.”

That thought lifted Kennedy’s spirits as swiftly as igniting a match. “We can do that?”

“Hell yes.” Asher's eyes sparkled.

Lara eyed him, then shared a look with Casey.

“Yes, that’s a good idea. You go with Asher but do not stray too far from him,” Casey said. “This attack tonight confirms what we believed to be true. That the members of The Nexus Group have had you under constant surveillance. All they had to do was wait until the right moment when you were alone. Apparently they underestimated your ability to fight them off. They won’t do that again.”

A mixture of concern and interest emanated from Casey’s golden eyes and landed on Kennedy. It had an effect on her. Just as seeing Asher in were-cat form stirred a feeling of kinship in her, the emotion in Casey’s eyes was at once discomfiting and comforting.

“I understand.”

“Good. There are so many things to talk about for you and me. But this DNA test was a detail we needed to get settled.”

Asher shifting from one foot to the other didn’t miss Casey’s attention.

“Okay, go already,” Casey said. “Be safe.”

“Absolutely,” Asher promised. “Casey, I need to talk to you soon. Maybe after our run? It’s important, I think.”

“Sure. Just come up to the house when you’re done. Take your time. In fact, why don’t you drive to my house? There’s plenty of running room there, and if something threatening happens, Michelle will feel it. I’ll be close enough to help out.”

“We’re taking off, too.” Booker and Shaun waved and walked out to their car.

Lara touched Kennedy’s shoulder. “Have fun, Kennedy.”

“Thanks,” she tossed over her shoulder as Asher ushered her out the door.

She climbed into his truck and pulled the seatbelt across her body while he turned the ignition, backed out onto the road and drove away. “Michelle will feel it?”

Asher laughed, a hearty, full laugh that filled the cab with optimism. He pulled the truck over to the side of the road and turned to face her. “Now that your identity is cemented, you’ll learn all sorts of things about each one of us in the colony. Michelle has psychic abilities and is highly sensitive to emotions of others. I can nudge. Casey can see through solid objects. Lara and Booker have a healing touch. Asia is telepathic with animals. There is a lot of variety.”

Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know much about being a were-lynx or anything about belonging to a colony.” She dipped her gaze to her lap. “My mom—I mean, Kathryn Novak—said I didn’t need to know anything about were-cats, since I was the only one.”

Asher gave her a sideways glance and shook his head. “Welcome to the new world, Kennedy. I think you’re going to like it.”

He pulled the truck back onto the road, and Kennedy’s mind swirled with thoughts. “I could use a new world, a better life. The one I’ve been living haunts me like a beast.”

“I’m so sorry that’s happened to you.”

The warmth in his voice touched her. Maybe he really did care about her. But unease troubled her heart. There was so much she didn’t know about these cats.

• • •

On the drive to Casey’s house, Asher made few attempts at conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he took in Kennedy’s reaction to the passing city and eventually to the rural countryside. The stuff that went down at Lara’s apartment was heavy. Frightening, no doubt. Getting out into nature would be a good antidote to that mess.

It was getting harder to stay detached from her. Her dark hair lying against her shoulders and down her back smelled like flowers. His fingers itched to feel her beautiful skin, to run them down her curves. Her slim body, even as strong and agile as she appeared, drew up in him a desire to protect her, to eliminate all the sorrow and pain he detected in her eyes.

He swallowed hard over the need that rose in his gut. He wasn’t lonely. His relationships with the cats in his colony were solid. But that was braided with instinct as much as heart. Of course he’d dated, but that was just sex. Sex was nothing to dismiss, but his need remained untouched. No. The need that cut him, burned in him since he’d been rejected by his parents and his two brothers was something good friends couldn’t touch.

Asher drove up the short lane that curved into Casey’s driveway. Kennedy jumped out, excitement glowing in her fine-boned face. Her soft brown eyes glimmered in the darkness.

“This is amazing.” Her gaze followed up the tall trees to their tops. She spun around, her head tipped back to take in the treetops, and deftly jumped on top of a large tree stump. “I could get into living in a place like this.”

“You haven’t seen the house. It might be a dump,” he teased, mesmerized by Kennedy.

She laughed. It made a joyous tinkling sound that bubbled up from her chest. “I doubt that. Is Casey here?”

“You tell me. And no fair checking the garage.” Asher knew Casey was inside the house. He could smell him. He’d also seen him drive by while he and Kennedy sat in the truck talking on the side of the road. But Kennedy needed to start integrating her were-lynx side as a part of her and use her skills as a matter of fact.

He watched her, fascination narrowing his focus on her. She seemed to draw inward, pulling in the scents around her. Then her eyes flew open. “Yes. He’s inside. I don’t recognize the other scent. Is it Michelle? She’s human?”

He started stripping off his T-shirt. “I told you. There’s plenty for you to learn.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to shimmer. We can leave our clothes in the truck.” He stopped unbuckling his pants. “Is this a problem? I should have told you. I’m not shy.”

She unzipped her jeans and let them fall to the ground. “I’m not shy either.” Her smile lit up his heart.

Geez, I need to run, and now. Before things get really embarrassing.

He tossed his clothes into the back of the truck and shimmered—an effortless shift his body did naturally—just as Kennedy folded her clothes and added them to the pile in the truck. She stood motionless, her body coaxing him to shimmer back into human form and kiss all the places that beckoned. She laughed again, then shimmered.

He chuffed, motioning with his head toward the forest behind Casey’s house. They took off side by side, the scent of her more distinctly were-lynx now, driving his senses into a tailspin.

He trotted at a comfortable pace, escaping into the darkness. With their heightened vision, the darkness did not present an obstacle to a full-on run. A sliver of a moon lit the sky with a muted glow. Above the bare tree limbs, clouds drifted in the night sky. Asher let all his senses feed on the nature that surrounded them. He turned to gaze at Kennedy and pleasure in the appearance of her cream-colored fur dotted in dark brown. Sleek and muscular, she kept his pace without getting winded.

She turned to face him, chuffed, then sped off in a fast gallop. Her agility impressed him. He picked up his pace but let her keep the lead and enjoyed watching her leap over logs and through stands of tall grasses. She was elegance in motion. And by her exuberance, he suspected she was enjoying this run to its fullest.

A flash of adrenaline burst through his body, and he sped off at a full-out run. His feet hitting the ground and racing so effortlessly erased any thoughts of danger lurking from The Nexus Group. Kennedy’s approaching footfalls whispered up around him, filling him with a new kind of euphoria. Were-cat to were-cat, a different kind of closeness welled up inside him. There were no words to fill an awkward silence. No distraction from what had happened to him with his family or what Kennedy went through to consider. Just pure nature and instinct with one of his kind.