Pack Justice (Nature of the Beast Book 1) (20 page)

I lowered my head to drink the flowing water beyond the iced shore. The cold numbed my tongue and cramped my stomach, but I ignored the discomfort until I couldn’t stand the thought of another swallow. I tested my weight on my hind paw, and pleased when it no longer throbbed, I limped along the stream’s edge.

I drew in a deep breath to catch the female’s scent. The fading evidence of her presence lingered in the air. For a moment, I considered following her but decided against it. I also considered resuming my hunt of Idette. My cheetah was eager to be rid of her, but my wolf’s lack of interest puzzled me.

Idette no longer mattered to him at all; replacing his desire for bloodshed was a different instinct, one my cheetah savored. The ice on the stream and the cold in the air stirred different desires. Unlike wolves, cheetahs mated throughout the year, although mine had shown little interest in any female other than Andrea.

Cheetah males didn’t bond to one female as wolves did, and the difference in their natures resulted in a pitched argument in my head.

My cheetah adored Andrea, but he was willing enough to mate with any female who wanted him. My wolf wanted Andrea and would accept no alternative until he had a chance to claim her.

Until I was free from Idette—or at least happily divorced and out of her reach—I didn’t want
any
female. Maybe my spirit beasts agreed on the woman, but I was the one who refused.

Idette had done enough forcing for an entire lifetime, and I refused to put a woman through what I had been through. Andrea didn’t want me. Her emotionless expression and ready scowls were all the proof I needed.

If I found another woman, I wanted to make her as happy as she made me, if such a thing was possible. I shouldn’t have let Marcello’s comments get under my skin—or build impossible hope.

I stepped into the water to cover my tracks and followed the stream deeper into the woods. When I was certain no one watched, I shifted from wolf to cheetah and ran until I couldn’t take another step.

Wolves hunted me, and I regretted a cheetah’s inability to roar, not that a pack of wolves would be frightened off by even a lion. My spirit beasts growled through me. I took to the trees again, climbing far out of the reach of the wolves prowling the forest floor.

The marbled white and black bitch ran with them, and I swallowed my growls so they wouldn’t lead the pack to me. My wolf was intrigued by the pack. There were six large males, the white and black bitch, and another larger female, and none of them had a natural coat. One was striped like a zebra, but instead of white and black, he was red and tan. Another was solid red with yellow rings around his tail.

The wolf who caught and held my attention was black with yellow paws. He nipped the marbled black and white female, rebuking her for a reason I couldn’t discern. He tried to nip her neck and drape his paw over her shoulder, but she dodged him with yips and snarls.

Her tail was clamped between her legs, but the other males did nothing to stop the larger wolf’s harassment. I drew in a deep breath and the potency of the male’s arousal made my nose itch.

The scent infuriated my wolf and cheetah.

The female denied the male, and yet he persisted, and my anger spiked as well.

I should have avoided the pack of wolves, but the thought of leaving the female to fend off the male when the rest of the pack wouldn’t defend her sickened me. I hopped down from one branch to another, sinking my claws into the wood. I flattened my ears, calculating the distance to the ground.

All I had to do was chase him off or force him to chase me. I would harass him as he harassed her until he gave up his attempts to mate with her. I flexed my claws, picked my path down the tree’s trunk, threw myself towards the ground, and charged the pack.

Cheetah’s couldn’t roar, but I screamed a challenge, shrill and short. The black and yellow wolf was at least twice my size, but I caught him by surprise, slamming against him and raking my claws across his back and shoulders. He howled his fury and dismay, and the scent of his blood drove my spirit beasts into a frenzy. I disengaged, and within two strides, I hit my full speed, racing through the trees.

The male was fast, but I was faster, and I circled through the trees to ambush him time and time again as he sought to hunt me down for interrupting him. I chirped taunts at him, luring him deeper into the woods.

The rest of his pack howled, and their calls surrounded me. I chittered and chirped more insults, spitting and hissing to stir the wolf’s anger. His answering snarls promised death if he caught me.

I purred my laughter, flitting from behind trunks of trees and brush to flick my tail at him.

The other wolves followed, but they didn’t interfere, watching me as I watched the male who had bothered my female. My possessiveness startled me, but my wolf approved.

She was a good female, and she had rejected the other male’s advancements. When I returned to a wolf, I would be more cautious in my courting.

She had, after all, followed me.

I circled the wolf. His blood matted his fur. He bared his teeth at me and barked a warning. Hissing a reply, I kept my distance, lashing my tail in annoyance.

While he had ignored the female’s refusals, he hadn’t taken her by force. He didn’t deserve death, nor did I savor the thought of eating a wolf. He wasn’t prey, and my hunger annoyed another hiss out of me.

The male’s nose twitched as he breathed in my scent, and both of his ears cocked forward. I prowled around him, spitting more feline curses at him in rebuke of his behavior. The other wolves in the pack drew closer, but the only one to approach me was the marbled white and black female. She came within several strides of me, and like the male who had been harassing her, her ears pricked forward and she breathed in my scent.

One of her ears turned back, and she took a hesitant step forward, snuffling and sniffing as though she couldn’t believe what her nose was telling her. I kept an eye on the male, and he drew back several paces, retreating to one of the other wolves.

Where I had dwarfed her as a wolf, she was larger than I was as a cheetah and easily beat me in weight. I focused all of my attention on her as she sidled up to me. She slid her nose under my throat, bumping my chin with the top of her head.

My wolf approved of the way she submitted to me.

Maybe she was bigger than me, but I shoved my shoulder against her, overbalanced her, and drove her to the ground. I planted my paw on her shoulder, pressing the tips of my claws into her skin to warn her against struggling. I lowered my head and dragged my rough tongue over her fur and groomed her while the other wolves watched.

When I was certain I had all their attention, I rubbed my head against hers to mark her with my scent. My purrs rumbled, and I sank onto the ground beside her, draping my forelegs along her back and shoulders. I rested my chin on her neck and beat the ground with my tail, daring the wolves to try to take the female away from me.

The pack kept their distance.

Chapter Fifteen

The female was docile beneath me, resting her head on her paws while I watched the wolves. Hunger cramped my belly, and my wolf thirsted for the hunt, but until I figured out how to escape the wolves and take my female with me, I would keep my paws draped possessively across her shoulders.

Purring soothed me probably more than it did the female I held captive. I couldn’t scent any distress from her, although her body remained tense beneath mine. When the wolves stayed away, I relaxed my guard to lick her fur and groom her. In some ways, there was little difference between a cheetah and a wolf.

While my leg no longer hurt, I hadn’t hunted as well as I should have as a cheetah. Without the wolves actively threatening me or my female, I trembled from a blend of weakness and fatigue.

I needed to hunt, and once my feline had eaten his fill, I needed to hunt again as a wolf. When both of my spirit beasts were satisfied, I could rest. I had healed, but I hadn’t recovered. Taunting the wolf pack had worn me thin.

I rested my head over my female’s neck and shivered. With a soft whine, she twisted her head around, licking at my shoulder and prodding me with her nose. It was too much work to lift my head, so I intensified my purr.

The red and tan male approached, his head ducked to protect his throat. I turned my ears back and slapped my tail against the ground.

The female was mine. I had driven the black and yellow male off fair and square, and if any wolf thought he could encroach on my territory, I would teach him about my sharp claws by burying them into his hide until he backed away.

My female lurched to her feet, knocking me off her, snarling at the male’s approach. With a snap of her teeth, she lunged at him, driving him back several paces before returning to me. Her fur stood on end, and like the male, she kept her head ducked to protect her throat.

I lurched to my paws, lashing my tail back and forth, my attention focused on the male who had dared to approach my female without my leave. My wolf’s approval warmed me. My cheetah remained quiet, but he, too, paid close attention to the rival male.

My spirit beasts spoke to each other without words, but I recognized my wolf’s questioning and my cheetah’s startled responses. Canine whines and feline warbles echoed in my head until the two came to an agreement.

Then, together, they repeated their edict, and I was too amused by their cooperation to deny them.

Cheetahs didn’t form permanent bonds with females, instead mating with many females to ensure cubs. For my wolf, however, my cheetah would commit to one female, and they both liked the marbled white and black bitch.

If I could keep Idette away, I wanted Andrea, and I was willing to wait a lifetime if necessary, even to the end of mine, if she never accepted me. My spirit beasts ignored me. They both seemed amused by my input in the matter. I huffed. Together, they had saved my life, and while I regretted the decision, I surrendered to their wishes, nipping my female’s shoulder to get her attention. She whipped her head around to face me, and I rubbed my face against hers, marking her with my scent.

I slinked my way around her, rubbing my face against her flank and purring as I breathed in her sweet, spiced cinnamon scent. Memories stirred, but I ignored them. One day, when I relented and returned to my thin-skinned, two-legged form, I would remember. Until then, I would live as a wolf and cheetah, ignoring flimsy, human customs.

The wolves had companions. My wolf recognized the scent of humans, but before I could do more than raise my hackles and hiss, there was a dull thud and prick against my flank.

Numbness spread from my side, up my spine, and flooded my head. I staggered, leaned against my female, and sank to the ground, my breath sighing out of me as my body relaxed despite my desire to fight. My female whined and stood over me. The scent of her fury filled my nose.

I recognized the fog of sedatives, and the unwanted human part of me roused as my spirit beasts slipped into a stupor. Their use of drugs was somewhat comforting; if they wanted me dead, they wouldn’t have wasted money on a tranquilizer.