Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (20 page)

The master
slants his head and a dark
, warning
shiver pulses
heavy
in my blood as he slides me a dangerous look
.
He has a
strange
calmness about him
but underneath it I can smell his excitement.
I
t’s
a
scent that always worries me.

He gives a slow, easy
nod of his head and
his voice is
deceivingly
mild when he
announces in a tight tone
, “
You’re right, Pride.”

Not
l
iking the sound of that
at all
,
I wait for him to continue but when the words don’t come I
narrow my eyes and
meet his challenging gaze
with one of my own before I
come right out and
ask,
“I’m right about what
?
”

His eyes fasten on me
, dark, dangerous
and
deceptive
—a
gleam
shining in their evil depths
.

“T
here can only be one alpha in the courtyard.”

“There can only be one alpha in the courtyard.”

As
the master’s wo
rds
bounce around inside my head like a pinball
, my brain
takes a moment to
decipher the meaning
.
I
feel myself go pale and
briefly close my eyes in distress as a
violent
wave of
anger c
ruises
through m
y bloodstream
at breakneck speed
until
hot
steam is
all but
rising off m
y body
.

With my
pulse jack hammering
,
my
queasy
stomach rebels
in protest
and I’m certain I’m going to vomit
.
Because
I know at once he’s going
to
test me again.

Before I can ask
what he plans on doing
, he twists on
the balls of his shoes
and makes his way toward the private entrance leading to his main level office.

I
stare at his retreating back
, studying the casual way he moves
.
Without conscious thought, m
y eyes go to the
six
guards overhead.
With their attention diverted, occupied by the fight between Logan and Stone
,
I take a moment to calculate how long it would take me to reach the master
.
Could I
rip his
black heart
clear from his body before the
guards
turn their
deadly
guns on me
?

Even though I know it
wouldn’t be
a wise move
on my part
, it
still
doesn’t stop me from considering it
,
or from playing
the scene
out in my mind’s eye
.
But
as I run the scenario th
r
ough my
thoughts
, I
hear Stone inside my head, calling out to me.

I turn in time to see him approach, and
catch
the careful way
he’s looking past my shoulder to ensure the master is
out of
the courtyard
, unable to watch
or hear
our exchange
.

My focus goes to Logan, who suddenly seems to be lacking his calm steadiness as Stone approaches
me
first
.
My ears
twitch
as Mario fits
my mate
with a collar
.
Once
Logan is
leashed, h
e climbs into his jeans
,
pulls on a t-shirt a
nd
makes
his
way toward me
, each step determined, purposeful
.

“
Pride
,” Stone says
in an attempt
to pull my attention back to him.

I
tilt my chin and blink against the glare of the sun as I stare up at
him.
“
What was that all about?”
I demand.

His eyes darken.
“
You know what it’s about
.”

“
It wasn’t Logan’s idea to come back here.
It was mine
,” I remind him.

Logan steps up to me, and
in a possessive
move
, he
nudges
up against me
as if to lay claim to his mate, and when Stone’s nostrils flare I know I have to take charge of the situation
before it gets out of control again
.

I inch away from the crowd until the
brick
wall is at my back
.
The two alphas follow close behind
.

As they flank me,
I turn to Logan first
and speak in whispered words
.
“
If we’re going to get out of here
all three of us
have
to work together.
”

He gestures with his chin.
“Tell that to him.
He’s the one who attacked.”

I know he’s right and I also know I’m not about to
lay blame or begin a
debate on who
started the fight.
We
have more pressing matters.
Instead,
I lower my voice
even more
and ask, “Do you have any idea what happen
ed
to your pack
?
”

His mouth turns down in a frown and he drives his hands into his pockets as he gives a slow shake of his head.
The concern on his face makes what I have to say next so much harder.
With no easy way to tell him, I
try to soften my words as much as possible before I
announce
, “He has Gem.”

Darkness
mingles with worry and
I can see a storm brewing in the depths of his
ocean blue
eyes.
“Something must have gone seriously wrong.
”

“There
’s
something out there
,” I rush out.
“
I saw someone or something on the monitors.”

Logan’s frown deepens
and he angles his head as if listening to a distant sound
.
“What do you mean some
thing
?”

I think about the large black, cat-like animal
s
I spotted prowling around the mansion and turn to Stone.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

He rolls one shoulder.
“We’re kept in the dark, but I
do
know the master is creating an army.”

“Who is he at war with?”

“
Just s
top for a minute, Pride
.”

I stare at him and wonder what he’s getting at.

“Just
breathe
,
”
he says as his nostrils widen to draw in air.

I’m not sure
if he’s trying to calm me, or if he’s trying to show me something.
I’m about to ask, but when he says, “Just do it,”
I take a moment to pull the surrounding scents into my lungs.
I move past the rich moist earth, the sweet aroma of grape juice
,
as well as the pungent smell of
gun powder
still lingering in the air.

I go deeper and t
hat’s when I smell it.
Musky.
Skunky.
Foul.
My eyes widen because
I know
there is only one
animal
with such a stench, one animal that can rouse the wolf inside of me.

C
at.

My wolf howls and claws at me,
eager to take chase.

With my mind racing, trying to get a grip on things, I look at Stone
.
I remember what I saw on the monitor, and
th
o
se were
no ordinary house cats.
Could there really be…

“
What are they?”

“
Panthers
,” Stone
says, his answer for my ears only
.

I gave a perplexed shake of my head.
I
know I’ve been compounded all my life but I
’m not naïve
enough
to think werewolves are the only
supernatural beings on earth
.
B
ut
shape shifting
panthers?

“How?
Where?”
I ask
, not wanting to exclude Logan from the conversation
.

“
I
don’t know
.”

“What?” Logan asks
cautiously
, his uneasy g
aze
darting between the two of us
.

My voice is unsure, hesitant.
“Those things out there.
I think they might be
panthers,” I say, dumbfounded.
“How can that
be?
I’ve never heard…”

Logan’s brows furrows and
my words fall off because
I can tell he knows something I don’t.
“We
need to find Gem
and get out of here
.
”

The urgency in his voice has my
stomach cramp
ing
.
“What is it?” I ask.

He goes quiet for a moment,
and
then says.
“There
are
rumors about other animals being able to shift
to human
, like us.
”

“
Panthers?”

“Yeah, panthers,” he says
.
“Among other species.”
T
hen
he
softens his voice
when he sees my astonishment
.
I can tell he wants to come closer
, to wrap his arms around me, so I turn my head away to stop him.
“
You’ve been sheltered
,
Pride.
Having been
in this
compound
your whole
life
, you have no idea what really goes on in the world.
”

I
look
back
at
him.
“Miss Kara—”

“She doesn’t teach you everything.
Only what your master wants her to and besides there are things you won’t read about in a
ny
textbook.”
He nods toward the brick wall at my back.
“
Things the PTF don’t want
to get out.
”

“Such as
?
”

“For one
,
there are
many
paranormal beings out there
and
two,
the
officers
don’t hunt
just wolves
.”

“Tell me more,” I say as I imagine what other kinds of shifters exist.
Where do they live?
How do they survive?
Are they friend?
Or foe?

“
What I understand is this
:
these
shape
-
shifting
panthers
aren’t from around here and they
run purely on instinct
.
To make matters worse,
the human part
of them
lacks our sense of right and wrong
.
This makes for a very
dangerous enemy
.”