Taming the Fire (42 page)

“We're your family now,” Kira said. “We won't hurt you, and we won't use you. We want you to be happy here.”

They will hurt me
.

Kira glanced toward the snipers' hiding places. “No, they won't.”

Watch
.

Suddenly, Cujo raced toward Tommy, her attack posture so frightening that Kira nearly screamed a warning. Instead, she yelled at him to stand still and for the snipers to hold their fire. For a moment, she didn't think Tom would comply, but after shooting her a you-had-better-be-right look, he lowered his weapon and stood his ground.

Cujo tore across the meadow. Gathered her feet beneath her and leaped straight at Tom. Kira held her breath.

Gracefully, the beast sailed through the air, twisted and came down next to Tom. Kira let out an explosive breath of relief, and she imagined Tom did the same. Sela had taken pictures of the whole thing, and Neema was holding her hand over her heart, as though trying to keep it in.

Cujo whirled around so she was only inches from Tommy, who watched her warily. She snarled. He stared. She rose up on her hind legs, which made her tower over him. Still, he remained where he was, even when she placed her huge, claw-tipped paws on his shoulders and shoved him to his knees.

Tom's gaze shifted to Kira, the look in his eyes telling her how hard this was for him. Boy, she was going to owe him.

Finally, the wolf seemed satisfied that he wasn't going to hurt her, even though she'd threatened him and forced him to submit.

“Do you see?” Kira asked. “He didn't hurt you. None of the men in the forest will hurt you. We want to earn your trust. And we want to be able to trust you too.”

I want to run
.

“Then run.”

Cujo cocked her massive head at Kira, as though not sure she had heard right. This was most definitely a test of trust. The wolf could easily take off, and it would be hard, if not impossible, to locate her again.

She pawed the ground, probably trying to decide if this was a trick, and then she was off like a shot. She leaped over the brook and disappeared into the trees.

“Want me to follow?” Tom asked, coming smoothly to his feet.

“No. Leave her. This has to be her choice.”

Neema shook her head. “Dev is going to have your ass if Rik gets away.”

“She'll come back,” Kira said, even as a distant, joyful howl shattered the tense silence.

They waited. Waited for so long that two hours later, Kira was getting antsy as her need for sex began to overtake her. Neema drew a radio from her pocket to report the situation and call out trackers.

“Don't.” Kira wrapped her arms around herself and stared into the forest. “She'll come back. I know it.”

“We cannot wait any longer,” Neema said.

Crap
. “Come on, come on,” she muttered, and as if Cujo had heard, she burst from the brush, tail wagging, tongue lolling, and looking like she'd had the time of her life. Kira didn't scent blood, so Cujo hadn't killed, but she'd probably given a few deer a run for their lives.

She came toward Kira at a trot, and when she got to her, she sat.

You waited. You didn't hunt for me
.

“You needed to choose to return on your own.”

Can I run more? On other days?

“Rik will let you out often, as long as you agree to not harm humans or kill animals for sport. You can't kill domestic animals at all.”

Cujo gave a disgusted little huff, but then she stood, pressed her head against Kira's thigh, and with that small gesture, she agreed.

Crouching, Kira wrapped her arms around the wolf's furry neck and hugged her. “Welcome to our family.”

Cautiously, Neema and Sela stroked Cujo's long, muscular back. Kira gestured to the men in the trees to come out and do the same. Though the wolf tensed as the men touched her, she allowed it. When each had petted her and stepped back, Kira drew away as well.

“Can we have Rik back now?”

The wolf cast one last glance back at the forest, and the transformation began.

R
IK PANTED
as she stood in the small circle of ACRO agents, her body aching from the shift. But a sense of joy made her smile through the pain. Cujo had behaved, and she'd done it without any interference from Rik. It had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done, but Rik had kept quiet, had kept her consciousness as boxed up as possible.

The beast had needed to be herself and make her own decisions, and she'd done well.

The male agents had turned away to give her privacy as she dressed, but she'd long ago had the modesty tortured out of her. Still, their gesture was appreciated.

“We're both free,” she said, to no one in particular as she buttoned her BDU shirt. “We did it. We're in control. Both of us.”

Kira gave her a big hug. “I'm so happy for you.”

“Me too.” She could now live her life without fear that the beast would break loose, and she could let it out with the knowledge that it would not only behave, but would give back Rik's body willingly.

She could almost call herself normal now. Almost. But it didn't really matter, because no one here was normal. Even those who didn't have special abilities had skills that made them special, and they lived lives that were far outside the boundaries of what most considered normal. So yeah, Rik fit right in.

Now she just had to decide what to do with her life. Living it was one thing; living it happily was another. She'd had enough of misery and death. She wanted to learn. To explore. To put her nose in books and read just to absorb the contents.

Sela had offered her a place in the cryptozoology department, which was fitting, since Rik was what they called a
cryptid
. As far as ACRO knew, she was the only one of her kind, but Sela repeated what Dev had said, that she could help them find other cryptids. Rik would have a job that gave her a purpose, and she wouldn't have to kill anyone.

Sounded like heaven.

Still, as bright as the future looked, nothing could lift the dark shroud around her heart. She missed Trance so much it hurt, though she couldn't blame him for how he felt. And if she was honest with herself, she could see that things wouldn't have worked out for them. Not until both she and Cujo gained control and formed a tether of trust between them.

They'd found both the control and the trust now, but did it matter? Trance still hated her, and that was something she couldn't change.

“There's someone here who wants to see you,” Kira said, as she pulled back. Rik's heart skipped a beat. Trance? But then it skipped a beat because it wasn't Trance.

It was Faith. The woman she'd nearly killed.

Panic wrapped around Rik's chest like a vise. God, she'd come so far… Surely ACRO wouldn't let this woman take revenge…

Faith, fat with what had to be her ninth month of pregnancy, waddled over to her from the souped-up golf cart that must have arrived at some point while Rik had been transforming.

“Hi, Ulrika,” Faith said, holding out her hand.

Tentatively, Rik took it, marveling at the strong, firm shake Faith gave her. “I-I'm not sure what to say. Sorry doesn't seem like enough.”

Faith smiled. “I hated you for a long time,” she admitted in a smart British accent. “But I know you weren't to blame. We both need to heal, and you need a fresh start. You won't have that if you're constantly worried that I'm going to take revenge.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Faith gave Rik's hand a squeeze. “I forgive you. And Wyatt will come around. I give you my word. You have nothing to fear from either of us.”

“Thank you.” The words came out rough and scratchy, and they were meant for everyone around her. For the first time since she was a little girl, she felt like she had a home.

Faith winced and lay a hand on her belly. “I'd better go. I'm due any second now, so being in the middle of a forest probably isn't wise.”

Ender snorted and drew Kira up against him in a loving embrace. “You think?”

“Hit him for me, will you, Kira?” Faith rolled her eyes and started toward the golf cart with a little wave.

“Ready to head back?” Neema asked, and Rik nodded. The security guys dispersed, and after telling Rik she'd see her in a couple of weeks, Kira gave Ender a seductive smile and dragged him toward the trees—not that she truly had to drag him. Obviously, they'd been here long enough for her needs to kick in.

Rik watched them disappear. A spike of jealousy speared her, because she wanted that same kind of relationship with Trance. But it wasn't to be, and for now she'd just have to deal with it.

Even if, deep down, she knew that she'd only be pretending.

Rik spent the next few days pretending not to miss Trance. Her ACRO training kept her busy, which helped, but the downtime was torture. The fact that the full moon was only days away wasn't doing much to keep her thoughts off Trance either.

The wolf missed Trance too, and with the pull of the moon making her antsy, Rik knew she had to let Cujo out tonight.

Neema agreed, so they walked together to the lake, and in the darkness, Rik transformed. She let the wolf take over, let herself relax as Cujo tore off into the night. Together, they ran hard, chased deer and rabbits, and then headed back to the ACRO compound.

As she approached the lake, the sound of someone coming up the trail drew the beast to a stop. Instinctively, she sniffed the air, and when she caught a familiar scent, she froze.

Trance rounded the bend and spotted her in the middle of the trail. He froze as solidly as she had. The wolf wagged her tail wildly, but inside, Rik screamed at her to not get excited. Cujo didn't understand that Trance still didn't want them. She was just happy to see a pack mate again—like a dog who waited at home for its people to return.

She thought Trance had come home.

Rik knew better. But she couldn't stop the wolf from making a mad dash toward Trance, who stood there like he thought he might be torn apart by the creature who had done the same to his father.

Cujo skidded to a halt in front of him, and Rik breathed a sigh of relief. Had the beast leaped for him, he very likely could have mistaken her intent and hurt her. Instead, he watched warily as she went up on two legs and put her paws on his shoulders. Her tail still whipped back and forth in excitement, and then she was all over him, licking his face and using her front legs to drag him close against her.

Down, girl
, Rik pleaded, her heart breaking for the wolf, because she knew Trance was going to reject them once again.

So when he gently pushed her off him with a curse, she braced herself. But Cujo circled him excitedly, nosing his leg and pawing at him.

Rik couldn't watch, couldn't protect the wolf from this.

Reluctantly, Rik closed her eyes and let herself drift into the darkest depths of Cujo's consciousness, and just waited until it was time to pick up the pieces of the beast's broken heart.

T
RANCE STOOD
stock-still as the wolf hung by his side, pacing around him like a happy dog. It was bigger than he'd remembered—maybe because it was dark and he could only see the outline of the fur in the moonlight, or maybe because the eyes glittered. Or maybe because he still wasn't sure that Rik's wolf would ever know friend from foe.

He hadn't believed that a few days earlier—now everything had changed so fast he still couldn't get a footing on solid ground. And he'd never expected to meet her out here, in the woods, alone.

You told her yourself she wouldn't be a prisoner
.

The wolf bucked its head up at Trance's hand as if forcing him to pet its head. For the moment he'd stood face-to-face with the beast that had killed his father in cold blood—killed simply because it could—he realized that the fear he felt had been generated by his own torn alliances, not fear for his life. The wolf could easily overpower him now, take him to the ground and rip out his throat, even though he knew deep in his heart that it wouldn't.

For the past few days, he'd wanted that, wanted some sweet relief from the pain of this entire situation.

He could let it go on so many levels—understood what the wolf had done. But it would've been a hell of a lot easier if he wasn't in love with Rik.