Prey (10 page)

“
Where the hell did this
storm come from?” Nae voiced out loud.

“
That happens sometimes.
Thunderstorms appear out of nowhere. It will blow over just as
fast.” Ari answered her from the back seat.

Nae opened her mouth just as a four by
four truck slammed into the jeep. The SUV broke the steel guard and
rolled over the side of the hill. The vehicle that hit them
followed them over the edge bumper first, racing with them as they
tumbled into the valley below. Branches snapped as the trucks
barreled down the landscape. The top was ripped from the jeep, and
rain fell on Nae with each rotation of the heavy metal frame. The
truck stopped suddenly, and a deafening screech of metal tore
through the air. The jeep inched forward before stopping
again.

Upright, her belt confined her to the
seat. Large drops of water fell hard, plastering her hair to her
head and her clothes to her body. She sucked in deep breaths of wet
air and tugged at her bindings. Gently, she turned her head to see
Gunter. His seat belt flapped in the wind, he was out and stripping
his clothes from his body.

“
No matter what, stay with
Nae!” He yelled as he turned into what appeared to be a hybrid dog.
He yipped and ran off.

The rain fell in sheets so hard it
blurred her vision. She rubbed her eyes to clear her sight. Nae
cried out as she fought to get loose.

La appeared at her side. “It okay,
you’re not alone. I’m here.” She held up her hand and talons popped
out from the pads of her fingers. La slid her digits through the
woven material.

Nae leaned forward and grabbed her
head as a sharp pain pierced her brain above her left
eye.

“
Gunter and Ari have gone
after the guy in the service truck. Can you move your legs?” La
screamed to be heard over the thunder.

Nae nodded.

“
Good. I grabbed this.” La
placed a thick tire iron in Nae’s lap.

Nae lifted her head to look at La,
squinting to see between the drops of rain. “What’s this
for?”

“
It’s not as good as a
gun, but it’s the best weapon you’re gonna get at the moment. Just
in case. Do you need help getting out?

“
No.” Nae swallowed the
bile bubbling up her throat and turned in her seat.

La stepped back to give her room. From
her peripheral vision, Nae saw a flash of gold. She turned her head
and felt an ache slither down her neck. The lion caught La on the
shoulders, shoving her down beneath its body. La let out an ear
piercing shriek, scrambling beneath the weight of the beast to get
free. Battling back the pain and nausea, Nae jumped from the
vehicle. Blinded by the water pouring down her face, she raised the
heavy iron bar and swung.

She hit the back of the animal, and
her hands slid down the smooth steel rod to brush its fur. The lion
reared up to take a swipe at her. She leapt back and slipped on the
wet moss under her feet, falling on her butt. The tire iron slipped
from her grasp, and she patted the ground around her for anything
she could use to defend herself. Slowly, the big lion stalked
toward. Nae peered beyond the animal to see La’s motionless form.
The heavy downpour slowed to a constant drizzle.

Nae’s hand landed on a rock. The
perfect size for her palm, she judged its weight as she hefted it
up. Holding the lions amber gaze, she spoke. “Come and get me,
mother fucker.” She watched as the muscles on the beast seemed to
tense. He opened his mouth to expose three inch
incisors.

The lion leapt in her direction. His
paws splayed to show dense curved claws erupting from dense dark
pads.

Another lion jumped over her, knocking
back the other beast. This one opened his mouth and snarled. Nae
studied the animal. This beast was huge, standing a shoulder above
her attacker. The wide muscular chest tapered into strong corded
limbs. Thick claws penetrated the soft ground. Muscles flexed and
bunched as it paced one way, and then the other. Wheat colored
bushy mane surrounded its head, which then trailed down to the
middle of its back. The long tail whipped back and forth with a
tuft of hair on its end, brushing the animal’s sides.

The other lion backtracked and dropped
it heads between it paws.

Nae stared at the lion’s profile in
front of her and whispered. “El?”

The new lion growled. Nae watched as
the first beast launched itself at El.

El went up on his hind legs, battling
with his front paws. His claws tore into the smaller beast’s chest.
The lion flipped back and crouched down, keeping its gaze on El as
he prowled in a circle. Yips rent the air, and Nae scanned the area
for the source. Gunter still in his hyena form sat on the hood of
the jeep. Rumbles and snarls answered Gunter’s call. Nae looked
over and clambered to the side. The tiger she’d seen the day before
sat next to her, and a large spotted cat was beside La’s prone
figure.

The attacking lion leapt, and El
dropped down on all fours, rolled on his back, and sunk his paws,
claws extended, into the belly of the beast. The animal dropped on
the other side of El, and then rose up, attacking as El flipped
over. The smaller lion latched onto the back of El’s neck and
thrashed its head.

Nae swallowed several times to tame
the bile rising in her throat. Blood poured from El’s wounds. She
breathed through her nose and exhaled quickly as she realized this
was her new reality. Her heart lurched as she watched her mate
battle with claw and fang for her. She closed her eyes against the
image and thought about the night before about the claiming.
Acceptance filled her. She opened her eyes, her decision made. Nae
screamed. “Kick that son of a bitch’s ass Eldridge
Kuhne!

El rose up on his hind
legs and fell back, dropping all his weight on the animal beneath
him. It pushed out from under El. El twisted over and spun around,
tearing into the beast’s throat. Blood sprayed out in an arc,
mixing with the drizzling rain. El whipped his head and a
crunch
could be heard as
he crushed the other lion’s windpipe. The other beasts stopped
moving.

El released the limp body of her
attacker. He placed a paw on the neck of the animal, raised his
face to the sky, and roared.

***

Ellory lifted his hand and waitress
sauntered over. He dipped his finger into the juices of the rare
steak he had just consumed. Sucking the flavor from his finger, he
smiled up at the pretty brunette. “Another T-bone,
rare.”

“
All right, sugar.” She
sashayed away, passing one of his pride members as she sauntered
down the narrow aisle.

He leaned against the cracked pleather
of the booth as Zima sat down. “Report.”

“
Reese is dead, and El
claimed the human woman as his mate. With the impressive kill of a
challenging lion, rumor is, he has cemented his place as
Chieftain.” She commented dryly as she moved into the seat across
from Ellory.

“
I think we need to change
directions. I assume the human won’t be taking him back to
Reno?”

“
He won’t let the bitch
out of his sight. I’m surprised she can go to the bathroom
alone.”

“
Don’t be petulant, Zima.
I told you before you joined El’s pride he was peculiar. I want you
to siphon some more money into my back account. I’m bringing Kaseo
over. He’ll be your new contact.”

“
Why?” She arched a
brow.

“
Don’t question my motives
just do as I say.” Ellory leaned forward and reached out to caress
her cheek. “Please tell me that Reese at least killed the damn
eagle.”

“
She has a broken arm. So,
she won’t be flying for a while.” Zima pulled away from his palm
and lifted a menu from end of the table.

“
That idiot couldn’t even
get a kill right.” Ellory sucked in through his teeth. “What are
you doing?”

“
I was going to order
something to eat. I drove out here without grabbing anything on the
way.” Zima continued to study the menu.

“
You don’t have that kind
of time. I want you back in pride territory within a few hours. I
want the monies in my bank by the end of the day.”

“
But—”

“
No buts; fifteen thousand
dollars needs to be in my account, immediately. My funds are
running low. You knew what you were getting into when you signed on
to spy for me. Sadly, my expectations must have been too high since
you couldn’t even keep El occupied. We’ll have to rely on your
other specialties, like creative accounting.”

Zima sigh was filled with annoyance.
“Ellory, that’s a lot of money to move and cover up in a
day.”

“
Make it happen, Zima.
You’re dismissed.” Ellory lifted his fork in one hand and his knife
in the other as another plate, with a two inch thick steak, was
placed before him.

“
Will that be all?” The
waitress inquired pleasantly.

“
For the moment.” He
flashed a smile.

When the server left, his lips curved
down. He turned his gaze on Zima. “You’re still here?”

“
I was just leaving.” She
pressed her lips together in a firm line and tossed the menu aside.
The seat crackled as Zima slid out.

“
Good. One more thing,
with Reese dead, he can’t pave the way for my son. Makeup some
story and ask that Kaseo be granted membership to the pride. Also,
I want you to drive a wedge between El and his mate. Start with the
woman, insinuate certain things about your relationship. Humans are
so easily manipulated that there shouldn’t be a problem, even for
you.” He waved his fingers in a shooing motion.

Ellory watched Zima stomp down the
aisle. Her sweet little ass twisted to and fro in the tight skirt
she wore, and her heels tapped a light staccato on the linoleum
floor. He felt his cock harden. Ellory lifted his hand and crooked
his finger. His waitress sauntered over.

She held a slip of paper in her hand.
“Need something else, honey?”

He turned his head and
glanced at her name tag.
Deloris
. Ellory smiled wide and met
her gaze. “I do actually. I have this sudden urge to fuck.” He
lifted his pelvis and dug into his pocket pulling out a hundred
dollar bill. He tossed it on the table and pushed his plate toward
her. “That should cover the cost of my dinner. Wrap it up and meet
me behind the diner. Keep the rest as your tip. I’ll see you in ten
minutes.” He scooted out of the booth and grazed his erection
against Deloris’ ass as he passed her. The scent of her arousal had
him adjusting his dick, human women were so predictable. He
whispered. “Alley. Eight minutes. Tick tock.” Ellory ambled out the
door.

***

“
I don’t understand, it’s
only been a week since we met. Why do we have to clean up the room
today?” El complained as Nae re-entered the bedroom with a large
garbage bag.

“
You want me to stay?
Then, we need to clean this mess up. My cousin is arriving today.”
She opened the mouth of the bag for him to put trash in.

He stared. She was beautiful with her
tied back under one of his bandannas. His sweat shirt practically
swallowed her, hanging down to her knees with the sleeves rolled up
to her elbows. “I’m a lion, I should be resting.”

“
Yeah, I looked up your
species traits. Y’all are a lazy bunch.”

“
Pardon?”

“
No need to make excuses.
Now that I have an idea of what I’m working with, we’ll make this
happen.” She waved her hand around the room.

“
Woman, I have no clue
what you said.”

“
That’s fine. You just
keep picking shit up.”

El cocked a brow.

The side of Nae’s mouth curved up in a
mischievous smirk. “I’m helping.” She rattled the bag.

El bent to pick up a few loose papers.
He smoothed the crumpled sheets out and stared at the picture with
‘Reno’ typed out next to a series of numbers. The picture was an
almost exact likeness of him, but the eyes were off. The man was
smiling, but pure hatred was reflected in his gaze. El checked the
other page. Anger welled up in his belly. The motorcycle in the
grainy image was similar to his custom bike.

He folded the documents and slipped
them into his jeans pocket.

“
Hey, you’re supposed to
be working. My cousin will be here.” Nae paced to the nightstand
and lifted her phone from surface. “Aw hell, her fight already
landed.”

“
That’s a bad
thing?”

“
Yes. I wasn’t there to
meet her.” Nae’s shoulders slumped. “Crap, I thought we had more
time.”

“
I’m sure she’ll
understand.”

“
You don’t know
Shay.”

El’s cell rang. He leaned in and
pressed his mouth to hers before breaking the kiss and answering
his phone “What?”

“
We have a minor
situation” Gunter’s annoyance came through clear over the
line.

“
I’m willing to bet my
information trumps yours.”

“
Try me.”