Fast and the Furriest (12 page)

Then she was off, new claws delving into the earth and kicking up dirt while she raced across the den’s lawn toward the forest. She picked up Ares’s trail with ease. The crisp scent of the forest coupled with his natural musk drawing her into his wake. Branches and bushes were demolished by his race into the trees, and deep furrows marked his steps.

There were other impressions in the dirt. A much smaller set of paw prints. A set of boot prints here. Another set there.

Boots. Not paws. Not feet.

Boots and more than one set.

With a scared, shifted tigress in the forest.

Dear God, no.

Another roar followed by a hiss came from her right and she changed direction, heading for the sounds. More rapid pops.

If there were men with Claire, Zoe hoped she got there first. Otherwise Ares would kill them for even getting near his baby sister.

Her tiger was intrigued by the idea and wondered what they’d taste like.

I am not turning into a man-eater, bitch
.

It wondered how Zoe felt about becoming a woman-eater, then.

Fucking cat.

It wanted to point out they weren’t currently fucking, but it’d hold its tongue since they were busy.

Zoe snarled at the feline, and it refocused on their path, on racing around trees and dodging bushes in an effort to get to Claire as quickly as possible. Another roar, deeper and filled with rage, drew her to the left. She veered in that direction, knowing the sound came from her mate. And where her mate was, his sister would be nearby.

She pushed herself faster, to increase her speed and ignore everything in her way. She didn’t dodge. She went through.

Zoe burst into a clearing, digging her claws into the earth in an attempt to halt her progress while she took in the mess before her. The banging pops she’d heard were from guns. The footsteps in the dirt did belong to men, four of them to be precise. Three carried guns while the fourth held a knife, the blade glinting in the moon’s light. That male crouched in front of Ares in an obvious challenge while the other three held their weapons pointed at her mate.

Ares, still on four feet, stood at the base of tree. His sister cowered within its branches.

Four against one. She scanned the clearing. No, it’d been five against one. A dead man lay nearby, sightless eyes facing the moon.

She’d have to ask if he’d come back as a tiger, or if he was really dead-dead.

Ares snarled, and she snapped her attention back to him. That’s when she noticed a few other things about her mate. Like the slice to his shoulder, and the bleeding wound on his flank. The way he favored his front paw.

He’d raced to Claire’s rescue, not thinking about himself, and gotten hurt.

Zoe’s tigress reacted to that—strongly. The anger formed a small ball within her stomach, turning and twisting, gathering her rage and feeding the flames of her fury. It slowly consumed her, twining and circling her. And it wasn’t just her anger that rose. It was lust as well—bloodlust. She wanted their life-giving fluid to run freely across her tongue, proof the males suffered for what they’d done.

None of the strangers spotted her, their attention still focused on her mate, which gave her the element of surprise at her disposal. Yes, they formed a loose half-circle around Ares, but it was jagged and uneven, one male standing close while the others were staggered. Which meant the male in the center was outside the vision of the other three.

Easy pickings.

Zoe crouched low, her cat pushing forward her hunting instincts as her muscles bunched and body tensed. Adrenaline flooded her veins, and saliva pooled in her mouth. Hunt. Feed.

She edged closer, her gaze missing nothing as she split her attention between her mate’s fight and the vulnerable male. She would snatch him around the throat, drag him backward, and snap his neck.

Then she would bathe in his blood before giving the others the same treatment.

She couldn’t wait.

She took another slow step, calm settling over her despite the riotous craving for blood that filled her veins. A third step took her closer still. Then a fourth…

A sharp movement in front of her target snared her attention for a moment, and she caught her mate’s glare, his fury palpable in the blood-ridden air.

What happened next surprised the ever-living hell out of her. She’d never truly believed Ronnie’s stories about mates and yet Are’s voice boomed within her mind, the psychic link from their mating snapping into place.

No one can die.

Nice sentiment.

She ignored him.

The fifth step put her where she needed to be. Her muscles bunched, legs tensed, and she struck. She rose to her hind legs, increasing her height. Instead of falling forward onto him, she dug her claws into his shoulders and yanked him backward. In one smooth move, she had him beneath her, a terrified male staring at her with wide eyes.

His mouth dropped open, his chest expanding as he took a breath, and Zoe silenced him the only way she knew how. Her cat took over, jaw opening wide, and she lowered her head over the stranger. Her massive fangs found the vulnerable flesh of his throat, and she bit down, enveloping him in death by tiger bite. She pressed until her fangs met bone and then she pushed farther, not stopping until the telltale snap of bone reached her sensitive ears.

Pride filled the cat.

Disgust filled the human.

Then another pop from a gun split the air, the sound followed by an agonizing roar. It was one filled with pain and fear, and her attention was once again drawn back to the siblings. To Ares, rushing the male who’d gotten his hands on… Oh dear God, one of the men got Claire’s tail.

Ares threw his own order out the window. He’d told Zoe no one could die. It still applied somewhat. No
one
would die
.
It wasn’t only one human who wouldn’t leave the clearing. None of them would go free.

They dared—
dared
—to enter his forest, accost his sister, mate his sister against her will…

He’d watched his mate dispose of one of their attackers, leaving him to face three. He let his cat free, let it do what it did best—hunt and kill. He didn’t care who died, he didn’t care what happened to their bodies.

They would pay for polluting his home.

Ares’s human mind was furious Zoe disobeyed him, that she’d chased after him and risked herself by attacking one of the humans.

His inner tiger told him to shut the fuck up. It was overjoyed at her actions, proud of her strength and speed. The animal knew she could handle another male, which left him with the final two.

One with a knife.

One with a gun, his free hand yanking on Claire’s tail.

He would die, but not first. For now, Ares would incapacitate him and force him to release Claire.

Which was why he spun away from the male holding the twelve-inch blade and zeroed in on the idiot who dared to touch his sister. He opened his jaws widely, saliva dripping from his elongated fangs.

Before the human sensed his intent, Ares struck, clamping his teeth on the stranger’s forearm. His teeth easily slipped into his flesh, parting the skin and muscle like a hot knife in butter. The initial wave of blood was a splash of sweet turned sour, the fear staining the delicate notes of the blood.

The male’s scream rivaled a female’s—high-pitched and eardrum-shattering. The stranger released Claire, but Ares held onto him a moment longer, grinding his teeth together harder. He wanted the male to suffer greatly before Ares finally ended him.

Another pop from a gun, then two. One struck the tree truck, sending bark and wood raining down on him while the other slammed into his shoulder.

Agony ripped through him, snatching his very breath, but the tiger pushed the hurt from his mind. They’d freed Claire momentarily, but their adversaries lingered.

He spun to face the approaching group. Or rather, duo.

But it would not be a duo for long, not when his mate crouched low behind the trailing attacker. Bloodlust filled her eyes, and she licked her red-stained muzzle as her body prepared to leap and take down one of the men who’d threatened their pride.

So much pride consumed him, and anticipation drowned out any lingering pain. The cat roared its approval at what was to come, excited at the prospect of defending their pride.

Then his connection to his tigers reverberated, the strands that connected them all strummed like a guitar string, announcing… something. He reached for the others, his strongest males, and found them near.

Braden, Hawke, and Flynn raced over the ground, running nearer and nearer. How far had they traveled? How close were they?

The answer came in a blur of orange and black, a massive body pouncing from the bush and tackling Ares’s target in a single leap. Braden rolled across the ground with his prey, and Flynn did the same with Zoe’s intended victim, snatching the joy of another kill from beneath her claws.

His mate even pouted.

He would find her something to kill later.

Ares sought out Hawke, knowing he’d seen the male, to find him beside a whimpering Claire, his sister cowering and curling into his body. Ares looked within himself and sought the objection to any male being close to Claire, but his cat was actually pleased with Hawke’s actions. The male comforted one of his pride mates.

While also snapping at the human who sought to get away.

Ares surveyed the area, glancing at the other two tigers and their prey. He tilted his head, listening to the sounds around them and identified each one with ease. The only echoes missing were the sound of two heartbeats.

Dead then. Which left them with Claire’s mate only. Dammit, he wished he would have killed him before he managed to get ahold of his sister.

Ares padded toward the couple and called his human shape forward, demanding the cat relent and give power to his two-legged half. He needed a normal mouth, lips, and tongue. The tiger growled within his mind and finally released that iron control, allowing the change to roll through him like a gentle breeze. It was quick—it always had been, since he was an alpha—and he soon found himself on two legs, striding toward the couple.

Warm, damp fur stroked his leg, and then the scent—her scent—caressed him. It smoothed the rough edge of his anger and the tiger’s hunger, leaving a calculating, fierce male behind.

He soon reached his cowering sister and protective Hawke. He crouched, easing himself into Claire’s line of sight. “Are you okay?”

She whimpered and wrapped her tail around herself, tip flicking in agitation, and he sensed her rising distress.

“Okay, shhh… Okay.” He turned his head and caught Braden’s eye then Flynn’s. Both males abandoned their prey and came to him, their attention fixated on their alpha. “Take Claire back to the house. Guard her. Have the guards drop back and bring a few near the den. No one leaves. No one comes in.”

Or I will kill them.

Braden gave him a questioning trill.

Ares stood and toed the cowering male now whimpering and cradling his injured arm. “I’ll haul this one back with me. We can question him and then call the authorities. I want to know how this happened, so we can secure the vulnerability before others know of it and try to take advantage.”

Another inquiring sound, the male probably wondering how Ares would watch his back, his mate, and get the stranger to the den.

“Less than an hour old, and your alpha fem killed that one over there.” He gestured toward the dead male with his throat ripped out, gratified when his men were impressed with her actions.

Seeming to be satisfied with Ares’s explanation, the group herded Claire away, sticking close as they followed her home.

Which left him with a bleeding male begging to be left alone and a shifted mate who… looked like she’d like to eat the whimpering male just to shut him up.

Ares sighed. “As much as I would enjoy making him a late-night snack, we do need him to answer questions.”

His mate raised a single brow, and her voice drifted into his mind.
What about after you’ve asked your questions?

“The answer will still be no. Your human half would hate me if I let you eat him.”

Zoe huffed and gave him her back, nose in the air. Nothing said
I’m annoyed
better than ignoring someone.

“I’m not gonna change my mind just because you give me the cold shoulder.”

She turned even farther away and flicked her tail.

Maybe he would change his mind.

Later anyway. Because at that moment, their remaining attacker wiggled and crawled, trying to get away. “Oh no you don’t. I have plans for you.” Ares growled and stepped to the man. Rather than gut him, as he desired, he fisted the front of the male’s shirt to hold him steady and then let his fist fly. Ares’s curled fingers struck the man’s chin at the perfect angle, and then it was lights out. The male’s body went lax as consciousness left him.

“That’ll make carrying him back easier,” he murmured and then focused on his mate. “You ready?” She still had her back to him, but she nodded.

He’d take what he could get until they were naked and he had her clit between his teeth. She couldn’t stay mad if he was making her come. It was a scientific certainty.

Maybe.

Ares bent at the waist, grabbed the male, and easily flung him over his shoulder. The stranger’s arm still wept blood, but it wasn’t life-threatening at the moment.

“All right, let’s go then.” He had a cell with this guy’s name on it.

Zoe twirled her cell phone in her fingers—her
work
cell phone. It’d been the source of the tiger prides’ downfall and now it’d be their savior. Or at least a positive media spin.

“What are you doing out here?” Ares’s low murmur reached her a bare moment before his arms slipped around her waist. He stepped close, his front to her back, his large body blanketing her with his warmth.

“Thinking.”

Worrying.

God, she’d never been so scared in her life. Once the adrenaline fled and the cat relinquished control, the fear smacked her in the face. Regret was nowhere to be found, though. The tiger wouldn’t allow her to feel an ounce of remorse. They’d saved their mate and a member of their pride. Actions of a true alpha fem.