Forbidden (13 page)

Like Alek and others in the family, Cindee worked Luna Lake's suicide hotline. Tammy was a frequent caller. She'd lost her whole family in New Mexico to the snakes. Though cougars weren't terribly pride oriented, most of Tammy's family had been human. To see them terrorized and slaughtered just because Tammy wasn't alphic … Alek couldn't even imagine the feeling of helplessness. At least the family members he lost had been able to fight.

He sighed, knowing it probably was Tammy—she'd been close to the edge for some time. “Even if it is Tammy, she's not Tammy anymore. She's not alphic. How would she manage a full shift, in the daylight, even this close to the moon? You know as well as I do that if she's gone rogue, her magic has gone wild. The person you knew is gone and if we don't stop her, people will die. Maybe us, maybe some innocent tourist the next town over.”

Cindee seemed to gather herself, raising her chin and flipping her hair back. She wiped her tears away with the back of her arm. Her eyes flashed with determination and the moist, thick scent of her sorrow turned cool and metallic. “Okay. You're right. Let's do this.” As she leaped toward the door, her form shimmered with energy. She landed on the concrete stoop in wolf form. “I'll go west. You make sure she doesn't make it to the road.”

Alek reached inside for the part of him that was wolf. It wasn't so much pulling the animal out as opening the cage that prevented him from taking that form permanently. He remembered the first time he shifted … the pain as limbs broke and reformed into new shapes. Now it felt like a spring uncoiling, easing the constant tension. Color dissolved from his view as the world shifted to a million shades of gray.

He turned and looked at wolf-Claire. She was smaller than him, but the power that glowed from within those pale eyes was startling, despite the leaking blood that was already marring the fur next to her ear. His gaze flicked to the ground, where her bandage lay, coiled. “So what's the plan?” Her voice was curt, tight, professional, but her scents didn't match. She was still mad at him, but there were other emotions that filled the air. He couldn't sort them all out, which wasn't going to make coordinated action any easier.

He let out a light snort to clear his throat, which caught her attention. “Look, I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't mean to screw things up for you. I got distracted and I shouldn't have. But I can't afford to have you at less than your best out there or questioning things I say to keep you safe. You don't know the area or the rogue. I do.”

Claire looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head a couple of times before padding past him to the door. He could almost taste the beat of her heart as her magic slid past his. It scrambled his brain for a few seconds. She scanned the distant line of trees in a slow arc. “Maybe you are sorry. Maybe you sabotaged me intentionally. But you're right that it doesn't matter. I'll work with you because you have knowledge. But don't presume that means I can pretend nothing ever happened. I'll be sniffing for lies or threats.” She bolted out the door, headed east, forcing him to race out after her.
Damn it! She's going to get herself killed being that impulsive!

An arctic-chilled wind hit him as he cleared the shelter of the house. A fine mist hung in the air, making it feel colder than it probably was. There was no scent of angry cat riding the wind. Claire was already at the edge of the heavy woods, nose to the ground, sniffing back and forth. Did she know anything about cats? He didn't know much about the Texas pack. But she wasn't looking
up,
which is where the cats liked to hunt. He headed for the other side of the clearing, carefully watching for movement and sniffing as the breeze swirled, shifting direction through the treetops. “Make sure you keep an eye overhead. Rogues can jump a long way down.” He said it softly, rather than yelling, relying on the wind to carry the words to her flicking ears. She started and turned her head before nodding and scanning the treetops overhead. Either she didn't know that Sazi cats could leap from high places—ledges, mountaintops, and even the tops of trees, where they couldn't be easily seen or smelled, or she'd forgotten. Either way, it was worthwhile to warn her.

There, just a faint whiff, but he smelled cat. He let out a short bark. At the corner of his eye, he saw Claire's head rise and her nose lift. Alek bounded into the trees with Claire at his flank. Their footfalls were nearly silent on the forest floor, cushioned by fallen needles and moistened leaves. They ran with nearly identical strides, shifting direction in nearly perfect unison. They stayed in the trees, parallel to the road. Alek soon became aware of how fluid, how
easy
it felt to run with Claire … like they'd been pack mates all their lives. In fact, he was more in sync with her than either Cindee or Janet.

So when she slammed into his side, flipping him over a fallen log in a painful tumble, it took him by surprise. “Hey! What the hell?”

The ground under him shuddered as he came to his feet and found himself just a foot away from a large cougar that had pounced onto the exact spot he'd occupied moments before. She'd taken the lesson better than he had apparently.
Sheesh. Get your mind back in the game, Alek.
Claire was already in a defensive stance, shoulders lowered with hackles raised. Her teeth were bared in a threat that had made the cougar freeze instead of leaping to attack Alek.

One whiff of the big cat's musk told him two things: it was Tammy, and she didn't smell right. Not only was there a flurry of negative emotions, so strong that they nearly made him sneeze, but there was also an underlying smell of decay and illness. It was sweet as rotting flesh, but with a rancid quality. He took a step forward and so did Claire. The cougar seemed undecided, not sure whether to attack or retreat. Maybe that was to their advantage.

“Tammy. It's Alek. You know me. It doesn't have to be this way. Let us get you to Marilyn. You're sick.”

“Hurts.” The word from Tammy's mouth was a low snarl that ended with a whine. “Head hurts.”

He took another step forward. The cat's skin twitched but she didn't move away. “I know it hurts, Tammy.” He knew he had to keep using her name, reminding her of her humanity. “Cindee is looking for you too. We want to help it not hurt anymore.”

That made the cat blink. “Cin … dee?” Good. She remembered.

Alek was glad to see Claire ease into a more relaxed pose, still wary but following his lead. He continued, quietly, “Cindee told us she's worried about you. She wants to make sure you're okay.
Are
you okay?”

“O … kay?” Tammy shook her shaggy head. “No. Not okay. Hungry.”

“We can get you food. Come back to the house. Dinner's on. There's plenty of food left. Just waiting to be eaten. Deer, pork, chicken … anything you want.”

Tammy blinked those huge amber eyes. He was winning her over. She'd eaten at their house many times. “Dinner. Deer. Bird.” The cougar turned toward home and Alek let out a small sigh. They could get her in the house, contain her in the basement, and have Marilyn see if there was anything that could be done.

It happened so fast that there was no time to react. A swoop of white from the sky. A flash of red splashed across tawny fur and a scream from the big cat as talons opened her skin. “Patrick! NO!” He shouted the words and it was enough to make the snowy owl turn in midair. But Tammy reacted with pure instinct in a blur of frenzied motion. A paw reached up and wide hooked claws found purchase on a feathered leg. Patrick's owl form was abruptly on the ground, under the bulk of the powerful cougar.

The bird and cat began to roll, clawing and tearing at each other. Unearthly howls and screams filled the air. Alek edged toward the pair, trying to find an opening to pull them apart. Before he could leap into the fray, a hand wrapped around his tail. His
tail
! Who grabs a wolf's tail? He turned, claws and teeth, bared to find a naked Claire standing behind him.

She had to shout to be heard over the battle. “Adding claws is the worst thing you can do. Use your magic!” She threw her arms forward and then out, as though stopping elevator doors from shutting. The fighters slowed, their movements losing energy and speed. The sheer power he felt streaming out from her stung his skin. “Alek! C'mon, help me!”

He wasn't really sure what she was doing. He'd never seen an alpha use raw magic to break up a fight. He threw power toward her, hoping she knew what to do with it. But it bounced off the flare rather than adding to it. “I don't know how. What do I do?”

She was on her knees now, her hair blowing forward in the cold wind, her skin glowing with power. “Shift forms. Stand behind me and feel the flow of energy.”

Tammy was writhing in the stream of magic, fighting to get to the owl. Patrick was trying to get away, but couldn't get the cougar's claws out of his leg. He was bleeding from multiple puncture wounds and was flapping in slow motion backward.

Alek shifted in a rush and edged around Claire, careful not to get between her and her targets. He reached out to touch her shoulder and the world shifted. Flames of magic licked across his skin, electric, erotic, and so painful he could barely breathe. Claire let out a sound, something between a moan and a scream. As though hit by hurricane-force winds, Tammy and Patrick were thrown up and out in opposite directions. They each slammed against the trunks of trees a dozen feet up, hard enough that the branches swayed and the wood made a cracking sound, then dropped to the ground and lay still, stunned. Alive. He could smell that, and hear their slowing heartbeats. They were out cold.

Without a target, the flare of magic ripped through Alek and Claire. Alek tried to pull his hand away, but it was as though his skin was welded to her. He tried to use his other hand to pry the first one free and watched in horror as instead, his hand began to caress her hair. The sensation of the silken strands through his fingers made him instantly hard, hungry in a way that he'd never felt before. It was the wrong time, the wrong place, but the sound of the low moan that escaped her throat at his touch shut out all reason. Before he even realized it, he was on his knees beside her, his lips against her neck, tasting with his whole mouth, his teeth, his tongue. He slid an arm around her slim waist, pulling her tight against him.

He had to stop. There were two bodies on the ground. He didn't know how badly they were hurt. The rest of the teams would arrive any second. No way they couldn't have heard the fight. But still he didn't back away from Claire. He couldn't. He couldn't talk, couldn't ask permission or even apologize.

What the hell was happening to him?

*   *   *

The sensation of Alek's hands on her, his lips on her skin, was nearly too much to bear. She'd heard tales of power surges like this with mated pairs. But she didn't feel any sort of mental connection to him … nothing that would explain what she was feeling.

“Alek…” It was all she could get out. The word was a moan, a whimper, a plea. Not that he stop, but that he continue, take her to that next step. No! That
wasn't
what she wanted. She barely knew him, was furious with him. But her body was reacting without her control. She didn't want him, yet she did.…

As though he heard her thoughts, his hand turned her face toward him. Her mind went blank as his mouth claimed hers. Her heart raced so fast she was certain it was going to explode. This wasn't supposed to be what a first kiss was like. It wasn't supposed to
be
a first kiss. Despite the cold wind on her bare skin, she felt overheated. Everywhere his skin touched hers felt like it was on fire. The musky scent that filled her nose, combined with the cologne he wore, seemed to paralyze her. All she could do was accept his tongue, his weight, his hand gliding along her skin.

He cupped her breast, twirled her nipple with his thumb. A shock of sensation tore through her nerves and made her inhale sharply. Claire was suddenly wet, her insides contracting so hard it felt like cramps. His kiss deepened, his jaw working against hers almost frantically. Their tongues tasted and explored while their fingers clutched with increasing urgency. His twitching erection pressed against her hip, so very close to where she wanted it to be. If he pushed just a fraction more, she would let him take her without any regard for her own safety. She tried to feel the ground beneath her, the rocks and sticks that must be digging into her knees, but she couldn't. Nothing seemed to matter except the sensations he was causing.

She'd never felt so hungry to be taken, so deliciously vulnerable. It terrified her.

It wasn't until she heard rustling from the fallen cougar that she managed to collect her thoughts and open her eyes. The snowy owl, Patrick, was sprawled in a limp mass of feathers—alive and in no serious danger, judging by his scent and sensation of power Claire felt beating against her own. But Tammy's legs were beginning to twitch and the chaotic energy coming off her intensified. Fighting her instincts, Claire began to focus on the external world, smelling blood everywhere, hearing the cracking of branches in the distance.

The cougar's ears twitched; the cat apparently realized what those sounds meant—someone was coming. In a fight-or-flight moment, the cat chose flight. A blur of tawny fur jumped over Claire and Alek, heading for the deep forest. Something jerked Claire backward, past Alek, flipped her over, and smacked her head against the trunk of a tree a dozen feet away. Terror filled her as she realized that somehow she and Alek had become tin cans, attached to the bumper of the terrified cougar. The magic binding them dragged her along the ground, through brush and fallen leaves, battering her on all sides. She shrieked as her bare skin was ripped open. Blood flowed into her eyes—the stitches in her scalp must have ripped loose. Pain tore through her.