The Pearl Heartstone (3 page)

smelled her scent. The dream last night had been almost too much. He’d watched her pleasure herself. He couldn’t touch her. All he could do was watch her fingers stroke her wet flesh. He could hear and smell proof of her arousal. He couldn’t even end the damn dream. It wasn’t until she’d come completely undone that he was able to wake up.

Both her and the damned bitch of a Traveler would pay for this torment. Or they would if he lived long enough to see either of them. He reached the docking station ahead of his personal guard. If he hurried, he could be alone. The last thing he wanted to see was the pity on the face of a damned guard.

With quick movements that cost him most of his strength, Jorel jumped into the closest ship and powered it up. His guard entered the 18

The Pearl Heartstone by Leila Brown

hanger. He closed the hatch and grabbed the control stick.

“Prince Jorel. Stop. You can’t—” The engines kicking on muffled the rest of the guard’s words.

Jorel had no doubt the man was cursing him. As soon as the craft

cleared the building, he kicked the engines to maximum speed. He would have less than a minute head start on the guard. If he wanted to get lost in the forest, he’d need that extra time.

Ten minutes later, Jorel landed his ship right outside the Imperial Forest. He jumped from the ship, tore his shirt and pants from his body, and shifted mid‐stride. The pain of the change reminded him he was still alive. At least for now.

He ran through the forest. The loss of colors slammed into him. His last sights would not be of a forest that was lush and beautiful. The last thing he saw would be a black and white world that seemed to run together. The smells were muted. The grass. The dirt. Diminished was the fear of the tiny animals that scurried away from his beastly form.

His nose twitched with a new smell. An overpowering one. One that held a familiar refrain.
That woman
. The one from his dreams. He growled as he raced toward the source of the scent. He just might get his revenge on the Traveler and her partner yet.

He didn’t know how far he’d gone. The smell of his ship was faint.

He couldn’t smell his guards, even though common sense told him the men should be nearby. A wall of white mist stopped him in his tracks. The woman’s smell was definitely coming from inside of it. But there was a sense of wrongness about the cloud. His instincts told him not to chance it, but the desire for vengeance overrode his sanity. At least one of those damned women needed to pay.

He jumped through the mist and landed on a hard stone ground.

He looked left and right. The green of the trees surprised him. He was awake and seeing in color. And he could smell her. She was close.

* * * * *

Ally heard the screams before she heard the call come over her 19

The Pearl Heartstone by Leila Brown

radio. There was a tiger loose in the park. How the hell did a tiger get into the park? It was nowhere near the zoo. She pulled out her weapon and flipped off the safety. This was definitely what she called an emergency situation. Waiting for backup would no doubt mean loss of civilian lives.

The screams guided her directly to the cat. There were several young kids and parents running from the area. By all rights, it should be chasing them, but instead, it lifted its head and stood still. She watched it sniff the air. She lifted her weapon and lined up the animal in her sights. It was beautiful. Its black stripes were eye catching against it perfect white coat. She’d never seen a white tiger before. And if she didn’t pull the trigger quickly, she definitely wouldn’t again.

The animal lowered his head and looked right at her. Really looked at her. It centered on her. Her heart raced. She pulled the trigger and fired.

What the fuck? She’d been lined up with him perfectly. How had she missed? The tiger charged her.

Shit
. Fear raced up her arm. Her body screamed for her to run. But years of training and instincts made her squeeze off three more shots. The animal moved left and right. The first shot hit its right shoulder. The second, the left. And the third missed him completely as he sprang on her.

She lifted her arms and shielded her face. He knocked her to the ground. The jarring fall knocked the weapon from her hand, and the animal swiped the handgun away from her with its huge paw. She was severely fucked now.

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I should kill her now
, the beast in him growled. She was just as he’d dreamed her. Beautiful brown skin, black hair down to her delectable ass, and breasts that would more than fill his hands. What he hadn’t been expecting was the attitude. She’d used a weapon on him. If he were at the palace, her punishment would be swift and deadly. He circled the woman.

She hadn’t moved since he knocked her weapon away. No doubt, more of her kind would show up soon with more weapons. He needed to find the way home. Now.

His strength was draining away as his blood ran down his fur. If he shifted now, he would no doubt pass out from the wounds. The only way to get her home would be to drag her. Jorel bent down and bit into the woman’s shoulder.

Her scream of pain should’ve been music to his ears. Instead, it made him loosen his grip a bit. He pulled her back, dragging her toward the mist. It didn’t take long for him to drag her through the barrier, and as the white, swirling vapors swallowed her world, she started to struggle. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t strong enough to stop him. A week ago, an hour ago, hell, ten minutes ago she might have been able to tear herself away.

But the moment he’d touched her, his strength began to return.

“Prince Jorel.”
Valek. Good
. He doubted he would be able to stay conscious long enough to see to punishing the woman.

He unlocked his jaws from the woman’s shoulder. The taste of her

blood made him worry he’d actually hurt her. He let his tongue swirl 21

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around her wound. The puncture holes looked clean. He hadn’t ripped her skin more than necessary.

“Help me,” she screamed.

He used his last bit of energy to shift back into human form. Her bone‐rattling scream was the last thing he heard before the blackness pulled him under.

* * * * *

Please let this be a dream. Please let this be a dream
. Ally scrambled to her feet and pinched her arm. Yep, that shit hurt. This wasn’t a dream. She looked down at the man lying at her feet. No way did she just see what she thought she saw. No way.

She bent down and poked at him. He felt human. He looked human. Well, the stripes covering his pale flesh were more like a tiger than a man, but the twin gunshot wounds in his shoulders screamed that he couldn’t be. No way. Men did not turn into tigers. And tigers did not turn into men.

She should get as far away from him as possible, but she didn’t know where she was. And no way did she want to run into another man‐tiger thing like him.

“Prince Jorel.” The sound of another man filled her with twin shards of fear and dread.

“Help me. Help me.” Please, God, let someone help her. She did not want to end up as this thing’s dinner when he woke up.

She could hear hurried footsteps rushing toward her. As the man cleared the trees, she breathed a sigh of relief. He was human. Or at least he looked human, but he sported the same tattoos as Jorel. Several more men followed him, each of them sporting similar black stripes. Either this was really, really good, or she was fucked. Again.

“Prince Jorel.” The first man ran to the guy at her feet.

Shit
. She could make a break for it or stand and fight. It wasn’t much of a choice. She was no coward. She took a few steps away from the men.

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“Seize her,” the guard attending the tiger‐man on the ground said

without looking up. “If he dies, then so does she.”

One of the men stepped near her and grabbed her wrist. She flipped her hand out of his, rotated his wrist, and jerked his hand up behind him until she heard the telltale crack. Her heart beat an erratic rhythm in her chest. Blood hummed in her ears. She planted her feet in a fighting stance and waited for the next man to approach.

The next one charged at her. She bent low and swept his feet from

under him. He landed on the ground. Two more came at her from both sides. She kicked one in the stomach but the other grabbed her from behind. She leaned her head forward then slammed it back into his nose.

“She’s trained. Fight her like you would Fi’on.” The guy in charge grabbed the prince by the waist and flipped the unconscious man onto his shoulder.

While she was watching the man, she lost focus, and the guards surrounded her.
Fuck
. She should not care about the idiot who brought her into this mess. Hell, she didn’t care.

“Can’t we talk about this?” she asked, backing toward a tree. She needed to find some way to cover her back. Not that she was going to be able to fight them all at once.

Just when she thought she might make it to a tree, they pounced.

She kicked one down. Punched another in the face. But they piled on top of her, grabbing her limbs until they trapped her. They picked her up by her arms and legs and carried her in that same spread‐eagle position through the forest.

“Let me go, you fucking dickheads!” Ally twisted and turned but couldn’t break free. If that tiger‐man lived through those gunshot wounds, she was going to kill him.

She didn’t know how long it took them to reach where they were

going, but it was long enough for the blood to drain from her arms and legs. They carried her into a metal ship and strapped her into a seat. The blood rushed back into her arms and legs. She bit her lip to keep from screaming at the pain.

“Has he opened his eyes yet?” one of the guards asked.

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“No,” the head guard said as he narrowed his eyes in her direction.

“And I hope he doesn’t. The sorry sack of shit. He deserves to die for what he did to me.”

All heads snapped in her direction.

The guard in charge walked back to her, grabbed her shirt, and ripped a piece of fabric from the bottom. He tied it around her mouth before stepping back and slapping her across the face. The blow jarred her teeth and sent stars spinning behind her eyes. She could taste the coppery sign of blood on her tongue.

“I suggest you shut up. Statements against the king and his son are punishable by death. And believe me; I would have no problem snapping your skinny neck.”

She grunted but didn’t try to provoke the damned bastard further.

The last thing she wanted was for them to beat her until she couldn’t fight back. This situation called for a clear head. And a plan. They didn’t want to kill her, or at least not all of them wanted to kill her. So what did they want from her? Whatever it was, that would be her bargaining chip. Her way home.

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Jorel jack‐knifed up and whipped his head around. This was his room. How? The last thing he remembered was dragging that blasted female into the forest. How the hell had he ended up here?

“You’re awake. A shame.”

The familiar voice irritated him. His cousin, Kalem, lounged against the wall staring at him.

“What’s your problem?” Jorel croaked out before turning and looking for some water. The servants had left a glass for him. He drank it in one long swallow. He didn’t have time or energy to deal with Kalem.

His cousin had always been a jealous man. Jorel eyed him up and down.

Why the hell was Kalem here? Did he just want to give his opinion, or was he here for something more? Jorel tried to wipe any emotion from his features.

“Since you had the bad manners to live, your father’s dream of mixing our blood will also live. Not that I don’t understand the attraction, but honestly, cousin, you’ll be bound to your colorful beauty for all time.

Your child will be less than a half‐breed. But it’s not too late. There are those who do not agree with your father. They would much rather see a new king rather than pollute their bloodlines.”

The sneer in the man’s voice set Jorel’s teeth on edge. A new king?

Jorel might not get along with his father, or agree with the king’s every decree, but he would never advocate his own father’s murder.

“Be careful, cousin, you are walking a fine line. Speaking of treason 25

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is the same as committing it in some cases.” His blood ran cold as he watched Kalem’s face burn with a reddish tint.

“You mistake me. I do not speak of treason. I’m simply restating what I have heard.” Without another word, Kalem stood. He turned to the door.

“Maybe I should tell the king that you volunteered to be next in line for the great bridal hunt?” Not that Jorel was serious. He wouldn’t wish Kalem on his worst enemy. Then again, Kalem might be his enemy.

He’d have to tell his father at some point. The king wouldn’t believe his own family capable of such malice.

That wiped the smile off Kalem’s face. He might not be above slandering the king’s plan behind the man’s back, but he would never think to deny him openly. Which left him only one option. To be bound to a female like Jorel’s.