Luna's Sokjan (Book one) (15 page)

We were finally, going to
the dump site. I was finally doing something to move this
investigation on. Yeah!

Ten minutes after we left
the village, I fell asleep.

“McKenna, we’re here,” I
woke with a start when Gabriel’s hand touched my face. His laughter
filled the car, and I had to smile.

“Well, that was a nice
nap.” I grinned at him. “Let’s go see what’s left of the scene.” I
reached for the door handle.

“The cops and cats are
here,” Gabriel told me. “Let me do the talking until we find out
what’s going on.”

“Sure thing,” he could
talk to the human God himself for all I cared.

I watched the people mill
around the scene, while I waited for Gabriel to open my door.
Together we walked on to the scene. Smelling the air, I caught a
familiar scent. I looked around until I found him, Teddy, I smiled
at him. When he was me he hurried towards us. I hugged him, as soon
as he was close enough and ignored Gabriel’s low warning
growl.

“Ted, it’s good to see you
again, and I see you finally got some sleep,” I said to him
stepping back slightly. Only to have Gabriel’s big arm wrap around
my waist and drag me to his side.

“Ted, this is Gabriel
Garrison, the Alpha of Castilian Springs wolf clan. Gabriel, this
is Theodore Jenkins, he works for the paranormal police force,” I
introduced them. “Ted is my friend, Gabriel. We work together from
time to time.” I told him pointedly.

“Friend or not he doesn’t
touch you.” He told me in a snarl
.

Oh, for Luna’s
sake.

“You didn’t tell me you
were dating the Alpha of the wolf clan. You should have told me,
McKenna. I thought we were friends.” He scolded me and gave me a
mischievous grin. Then he put his hands up in the air in defense,
“I meant no disrespect, Alpha.” Gabriel relaxed a little. “Isn’t
this a little unusual? I mean you’re a cat, and he is a
wolf.”

Gabriel and I both laughed
out loud.

“No, not really,” I said.
“It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Just think of it like
your human mixed race dating.” I told Ted with a grin.

“We are not dating, Ted.
We are mated or in your human terms married,” Gabriel corrected
us.

“Congratulations!” Ted
said as he winked at me and offered Gabriel his hand. “I never
thought I’d see the day, when the hell cat of the south would
settle down. Wow, that was quick. I just saw you less than a week
ago, and you didn’t mention anything about it. Was it a private
ceremony?”

I groaned. Now Ted had
something new to poke at me with.

“I couldn’t take the
chance that ‘the hell cat of the south’ would get away. We’ll have
a more formal ceremony, after we finish with the present business.”
Gabriel told Ted with a huge smile.

Ugh, no we
wouldn’t.

“Linda and I wouldn’t miss
it for the world, McKenna’s got our address.” He told Gabriel and
smiled at me.

“So, Ted, what have you
found out?” I changed the subject.

What else would keep me
from doing my job?

“Tiberius, the Alpha cat
and his boy are somewhere over that way looking around. I am not
sure what they hope to find.” He told me.

Ted pointed over to where
the tree line started. We were in an opening about three feet off
the road. The tree line was another four feet away. I looked at
Gabriel.

“When was the body found?”
I asked.

“My scouts found the body
about four yesterday morning,” he said looking at the tree line.
“We found the body over that way.” He pointed to an empty area left
of where everybody was standing
.

I looked over at the
spot.

“Okay, let’s go have a
look and see what we can find,” I said and started forward to the
spot where they found the body.

“McKenna, we need to go
greet Tiberius.” Gabriel told me.

Taking my arm he guided me
towards the tree line.

“Okay and when you’re
done, I’ll be over there or somewhere near there,” I told him and
waved in the general area. He stopped, “Look, I don’t want to meet
them right now. Just let me look around for a bit, and I promise
I’ll meet him later. Okay?” I asked him, giving him my best “please
let me do what I want” smile.

Not that it truly
mattered. If he didn’t agree I’d just do it anyway. When nobody
was, looking I’d just walk away.

“We’ll come to you.” He
finally agreed, dropping a kiss on my head. Thank you,
Luna!

We parted ways, Ted and I
headed towards the drop spot and Gabriel walking towards
Tiberius.

I walked a wide circle
around the site. I could smell the girl’s body. From the pictures,
I’d seen of the first couple of bodies. There had been remarkably
little blood at the other drop sites and the same was true here. As
I walked a wide circle slowly closing in on the spot where the body
had laid, I felt around with my power. There was magic where the
body had laid, it was slight, but it was there.

Magic leaves a residue and
if you know what to look for it can be tracked. This was blood
magic, by the feel of it. At one time, it had been extraordinarily
strong. Now it was a trickle. Following the magic towards the tree
line
,
I had to
act fast. The magic was fading quickly.

Sometimes when I am
working with magic I shut down all my other senses and concentrate
on just the magic. It makes my magic stronger.

That’s what I was doing
now. I knew I was safe with Ted and Gabriel nearby. At the same
time, I started walking towards the woods, someone grabbed my arm.
My reaction was pure instinct.

I turned with a snarl and
plowed my fist into my opponent’s stomach. Then I broke his nose
with my knee when he bent forward trying to catch his breath. As he
fell backwards, I leapt at him using my body weight to slam him to
the ground driving the air from his lungs when I fell on top of
him.

I grabbed the side of his
throat with one clawed hand and placed my dagger at his jugular.
His large hands wrapped around my ribs and tried to throw me off. I
growled into his face. He tried to sway me with his power, but it
was no match for my rage. Catching, some of the blood streaming
from his nose on the end of my dagger
.
I studied it for a second before
breathing in his scent. I licked the blood off the
blade.

I closed my eyes in
pleasure as I rolled it around my tongue. Oh, it was heaven. The
metallic taste of his blood mixed with the magic of his cat and his
fear. I almost purred out loud. A feral smile crossed my lips when
I opened my white eyes to gaze into his glowing golden brown eyes.
Predator to prey.

It was Ted’s hand on my
shoulder and his voice that stopped me from killing my prey right
then. My prey made a noise when I tightened my grip on his neck, so
I could snarl up at Ted. This was my kill, and nobody was gone to
take it away from me. My beast rushed forward she wanted blood and
was trying to take control
.

“McKenna, he’s the son of
the Alpha cat. Do you really want to kill him?” Ted’s slow
reasonable voice asked.

Yes, yes I do and then I’m
going to play in his blood.

Before I could express my
burning desire to play in his blood, I was jerked off the man. I
found myself tightly wrapped up against Gabriel’s broad chest and
immediately surrounded by his scent and energy. I gripped his back
in my hands.

“Be calm, Tigress.”
Gabriel’s soft voice commanded. “Be calm,” he whispered stroking my
hair.

Breathing in his scent, I
swallowed back my blood lust and my beast purred in response to
him. Pulling my power to me as I calmed down, I turned to stare at
my prey.

He was older than me by a
few years with golden brown hair, brown eyes and his handsome face.
The now was streaked in blood from his broken nose. He was of
average height and had a strong solid build. It was the look on his
face that made me catch my breath. It was cold, calculating, and
his eyes held a promise. This was far from over. Maybe he would
make a worthy opponent after all.

“You fool!” One of the
largest men I have ever seen, roared the young man.

Seven feet tall and as
powerful as a tank and golden, everything was gold, hair, eyes, and
skin. I was tremendously impressed and wondered if I could take him
in a fight. He picked his son off the ground by his shirt. The
look, I had seen on Daniel’s face just moments before had changed
to one of total submission.

Interesting, what
dangerous game are we playing Daniel?

“She’s the Sōkjan Daniel!
She is here to help us, and you attacked her.” Tiberius raged at
his son. “She’s also the mate to the Alpha wolf! What the hell were
you thinking boy?”

Apparently this last bit
was news to him, and he shot me a look of disbelief and
anger.

“Tiberius,” Gabriel’s
chest rumbled against my cheek. “If your cat ever touches my mate
again, I will kill him.” He said in a conversational
tone.

Ha, I don’t think so. I’ll
kill him first.

“Prove that she is the
Sōkjan. All we have to go on is the word of a wolf.” Daniel spit
out.

Gabriel’s growl was low
and deep in his chest. The vibrations shook my body.

“Let me go, Gabriel.” I
rubbed my cheek against him. “The little kitten wants to play.” I
purred, “I am honor bound to teach him the rules.”

“No, you don’t have to do
this.” He told me.

“Yes, I do. He wants to
see the mark, and I have to show it to him. Remember?” I asked
softly.

That’s how he had trapped
me, after all.

“Once the request is given
I am honor bound to show him the mark.” I repeated.

He kissed my head and let
me go.

His power still clung to
me as I stepped forward. As if it would keep them all at bay. In
more control now, I pulled the left side of my shirt up. Showing
both father and son my tattoo covered golden hard stomach and
placed two fingers under my ribs. I recited the words of the
ancient spell and showed them the sunburst.

“The binding of the Sōkjan
is done. I will seek to find the killer of the Watauga clan and all
who aid the creature.” I stared into Daniels face. “I seek to find
all who guide it down its path of blood. Do you accept my terms?” I
asked turning to face Tiberius.

“I do.” Tiberius
rumbled.

“You are the Sōkjan.”
Daniel whispered to himself.

Yes, I am, and I know your
name, your taste, your smell, and you’re magic. We'll get together
another time, and we’ll finish what we started here today. I
promised.

“Greeting Tiberius, Alpha
of the Watauga cat clan,” I said to the golden man. “I wish I could
say it’s been fun.”

Turning my back on them
all, I headed for the cars.

Anger rolled, before me
and moved people out of my way.

I heard Tiberius tell
Gabriel, “Gabriel, I am truly sorry for the attack on your mate.
You have my word that my youngest son will soon learn how to obey
better. Retribution will be paid to you and your mate.”

Keep it. I want nothing
from either of you. No, wait I will accept Daniel’s head in a hat
box.

Chapter 10

It lay on the white
counter, all alone. The brown wrapper protected the creamy
chocolate, golden sweet caramel, and creamy rich nougat, 228
calories of absolute bliss. No one was in the kitchen, not a soul
guarding the alluring confection. I glanced around making sure no
one was coming back to take my prey. Keeping my movements
controlled and loose I walked to the coffee maker. Keeping one eye
on my treasure I fixed a cup of coffee. I checked round again to
see if anyone realized this tempting prize was unprotected. The
rich aroma made my mouth water, as I inched closer to it. I could
almost taste the chocolate, caramel, and nougat mix, sweet bliss. I
snatched the helpless morsel off the counter and almost ran out of
the kitchen.

I was moving quickly
through the maze of hallways to find the door that led to the roof.
I heard someone call my name. I kept going until power licked up my
back. Stopping with a sigh, I quickly hid my prize in my front
pocket, before turning to face the owner of that power.

Had someone told Gabriel
that the candy was missing already? Would I have to kill them to
protect my prize? Maybe I should just eat it, that way there was no
evidence against me.

“McKenna, I have something
I need you to explain to me.” Gabriel said.

He was standing in the
doorway of his office. I groaned inside my head.

“What is it?” I asked and
walked towards him.

The quicker I can get from
here, the quicker I can claim my prize.

“Where were you going in
such a hurry?” He asked, cupping the back of my neck in one of his
large hands.

“The roof,” I responded to
him.