“I’ll obtain that title,” Kane hissed, his low, deadly baritone adding to his fierce
expression. “If anything to bring honor back to hunters.”
“Why you…” Race growled and lunged at Kane.
She didn’t see him move. It happened so quickly it appeared as if Race flew backward
simply because Kane willed it. Jin jumped to the side, barely aware of her sore ankle as
she shifted her attention to Race, who leapt to his feet after landing on his rear. Then
staring in disbelief at Kane, he pulled his fist back, his teeth pressing against his lips
while his blond hair looked almost white against his stone-chiseled expression.
“Do you protect those you only view as honorable?” Kane asked, his tone surprisingly
relaxed as his teeth receded to their human shape. As quickly as his temper exploded, it
disappeared along with his spicy scent. “The job of hunter as I understand it requires you
to protect all leopards. If you pick and choose the males and females you fight to defend,
then you’re no better than the leopard who tried putting us all in cages. Or is there truth in
the rumors howled, arguing some hunters ran for Leo Pard and supported him in deciding
who we would fuck and have litters with?”
Tore squared off, standing in front of the rest of them and faced Kane. “If you growl
simply to piss me off, you’re doing a good job.”
“I’m growling to get your attention,” Kane said simply. “The female wants a meeting.
Give it to her.”
There was silence for a moment. Jin swore there wasn’t a leopard, or even human, on the
streets anywhere. It appeared even the wind stopped, not daring to blow its cold chill
around them while the two deadly males stared each other down.
“You may bring her to my den tomorrow at sunset,” Tore decided.
Jin’s heart must have stopped beating with bated anticipation because suddenly she was
acutely aware of how quickly it pattered in her chest. She stepped around Tore although
wasn’t sure how close she dare stand next to Kane at the moment. His scent was so
aggressive, so dominating, it created a quickening inside her that swelled and began
throbbing with a fierceness she worried would create a new aroma the other males might
not appreciate at the moment. Either that or it would start yet another fight if they
acknowledged how aroused she was becoming.
“Will all the hunters be there?” she asked.
“You’ll explain to me what this is all about and we’ll take it from there.”
It was more than what she had a few minutes ago. Reluctantly, she nodded once. “I’ll be
there,” she told him. “Are you still in the same cabin?”
“My mate and I live in the den she and her litter grew up in,” Tore said, but then turned
his attention to Kane. “Where are you two staying?”
Jin would have spoken up and said she was staying alone, but Kane didn’t give her the
chance.
“We’re at the human motel a few blocks down,” he offered easily. Then nodding at
Dover, he continued, easily controlling the situation. “We’d be honored if you came by
tomorrow and guided us to the leopard’s den.”
“I can do that,” Dover said.
This wasn’t how she planned for things to happen. Granted, she had a fight on her paws
before Kane showed up, but she would have gotten what she wanted. Maybe it wouldn’t
have been tonight. But Jin knew she had to share the truth with all four of the hunters,
and they would have sniffed out the truth of the matter sooner or later.
It crossed her mind to shrug off Kane’s touch or at least growl when he reached for her
and then put his arm around her as he led her away from the other males.
“You can thank me later,” he said after they were out of earshot from the others.
“Where were you that you heard what we were talking about?”
“Right behind you.”
She looked up into his pale blue eyes. “You were not,” she accused. “I didn’t smell you
until you leapt at Tore.”
“How do you know those leopards?” he asked instead of satisfying her curiosity further.
Kane helped her get the meeting, or at least the beginning of what she was here to do.
For that, she knew she needed to honor him with the truth. “I was the fifth hunter.”
Kane slid the card into the motel room door and then held the door so Jin could enter.
The door closed and locked behind him as he eased out of his coat.
“I want you to do something,” he said, staring at her backside and the large leather coat
that hung past her ass and made her legs look thin and slim. He watched her limp to the
center of the room and then turn, her expression once again cocky and confident.
“I’m sure you do,” she said, her tone sultry and low as she stared at him with those non-
changing piercing green eyes.
“Take off that wig and those contact lenses,” he told her, ignoring her suggestive
comment.
If he weren’t so concerned about the events of the evening and anxious to sniff out the
truth, he would have found her expression entertaining. Jin tilted her head, barely making
a show of sniffing the air. Maybe she wanted to understand what he was about, but she
wasn’t alone. He would answer any question she had, but she would answer his as well.
He nodded to the bathroom. “Go change,” he told her then walked toward her.
Jin moved out of his way and he didn’t try touching her but continued to the small desk
in the room. Then sitting and picking up the remote, he turned on the TV, leaving her to
follow his instructions. She kept her back to him, facing the door. If she tried running,
he’d stop her. But something told him she wouldn’t. She wanted to meet with the hunters
badly enough to confront them alone and risk getting her cute little ass hurt.
After a moment she slipped out of the large leather coat and dropped it on the bed. Then
disappearing into the bathroom, she reappeared a few minutes later, her disguise
removed.
“Tell me what this meeting is about,” he said, watching her sit at the edge of the bed and
take off her boots and socks.
Jin didn’t answer right away. She still wore her black leather, skin-tight pants and a red
tank top, which hugged her firm, round breasts. She didn’t wear a bra and the view she
offered would have distracted most males into the inability to have any form of
conversation. Kane wasn’t far from that point.
She was hot. Much hotter without the disguise. Yet without it, although her leather pants
still somewhat hampered his ability to completely smell the truth on her, she was
vulnerable—and scared.
“Jin,” he said, and waited until she finished removing her shoes and then lifted her gaze
to his. Her pale green eyes were guarded, all defenses on high as she studied him. “Tell
me,” he prompted.
“Why didn’t you react to me telling you I was a hunter? I would think you would be
asking about that.”
“I thought I was.” He stood, walking toward her.
He breathed in her scent, the mixture of lust and apprehension filled his lungs. She
wanted him but was scared at the same time. He needed to know she wasn’t scared of
him. Gripping her chin, he tilted her head until he focused on her face. Like before, in the
shower, she didn’t fight him.
“Open your eyes, Jin.”
“There are things I know which each hunter needs to know,” she whispered, keeping her
eyes closed.
Kane pushed her back onto the bed, straddling her as he crawled over her. Her lashes
fluttered over her pale green eyes as she slowly brought her attention to his.
“Why would you know things each hunter wishes to know?” Kane watched her eyes
darken, just for a moment, before she brought her emotions under control.
“Maybe we should fuck and talk later.” Jin raised her hand and gripped his shoulder,
digging her nails through his shirt and pinching his flesh.
Blood roared through his veins. He needed inside her more than he needed to breathe.
“Whether we fuck now or later,” he growled, “you’re still going to tell me why you want
to meet all the hunters.”
Jin’s grin was practically evil. She thought she could distract him with sex. Kane’s cock
swelled against his jeans while his heart pounded too hard for his human body. She was a
temptress skilled in using her body to get what she wanted or to prevent doing something
she didn’t want to do. One problem she hadn’t taken into consideration, Kane already
knew this about her.
“If your visions told you the truth about me, you wouldn’t have chased me down.” Her
eyes cleared as she searched his face, her fingers dragging down his shoulder to his
biceps. She didn’t appear to notice how she caressed his flesh. “In order to restore honor
this has to be done.”
“What has to be done?” He let go of her neck and moved his hand down her top, feeling
her nipples harden against his palm. When he pinched the puckered flesh through her
tank top, the air filled with her rich, ripe scent. It was all he could do not to rip her clothes
from her body.
“Crap,” she hissed, digging her nails into his shoulder. She grabbed his other arm, her
lashes fluttering over glazed eyes as her mouth formed a perfect circle. “It’s
complicated.”
“I can’t imagine anything about you being easy.” Kane was barely able to contain
himself.
Her red tank top hugged her like a second skin. He felt her body heat through the
material but needed more. He craved flesh against flesh. For months this was his fantasy
and it drew him out of his hermit existence. Seeing Jin in his mind daily provoked
something he hadn’t seen inside him before.
Taking the end of her shirt, Kane pushed it up her body. “There are some things you can
make easier for yourself, little female.”
“Just because you want something doesn’t mean I want it the same way.” She purred as
she spoke, causing her words to sound melodic, enticing and alluring.
“Regardless of how you do want it,” he said, yanking the shirt past her shoulders and
bringing her to a sitting position when he pulled it over her head. “I can smell how
desperately you need me.”
“I’m never desperate.”
He didn’t smell desperation. But Kane suspected Jin lived similarly to him, a life of
solitude, howling around other leopards on an as-needed basis. With his hot little female,
her disguise offered an isolated existence even when she ran with others. It created a
barrier that kept everyone out. As a hunter, she would have been forced to race to the
need of any leopard, assist and resolve a situation, as Tore Mann and Race Ogden did at
The Running Mate earlier this evening. Although he heard the howls afterward and it
sounded as if the matter were far from resolved.
“I believe you aren’t, but your craving runs strong. Do you deny it?” he growled as he
cupped her breasts, feeling the weight of them as he held them in his palms. Her nipples
were large and hard and pointed. He squeezed both of them between thumbs and
forefingers and watched her eyes glaze over as she licked her lips. “I love your aroma
when you’re turned-on. It is sweet like honey yet rich like milk chocolate. I’m not sure
I’ve ever breathed in such a perfectly intoxicating scent before.”
Kane pushed her back on the bed. Her soft, pale blonde hair streamed around her face,
accenting her flushed expression. She was so beautiful, hotter than she’d been in any of
his visions. Feeling her, breathing her in, although he’d done both in his mind when he’d
been with her, added to her perfection as he stared down at her. This was the one thing
denied to him when he was with her in his mind. Not once did he see her face. Gazing
down at her now, her cheeks flushed and her lips pursed in a pouty expression, he saw
he’d been deprived the best part of being with her. Jin had a fucking perfect body, but her
face glowed with need, with lust, with appreciation of how he made her feel. That got
him off more than stroking her large breasts and caressing her smooth, warm flesh.
“So you’ve been searching for me because of your visions?” Her hands were on his
shoulders but she let go of him, clasping them between her breasts, making a fist over her
heart.
“I haven’t been running around Canada trying to sniff you out.” He enjoyed the little
smirk when it appeared from his comment. Kane didn’t doubt for a moment any female
would love the thought of a male dedicating himself to nothing more than scouring the
countryside for her unique aroma. “I came here to become the fifth hunter.”
“You came here to take my title.” She didn’t make it a question, nor did she smell of
remorse. If there was an edge of sadness in her words, she hid it well as she raised her
attention to his face and stared at him with light green, crystal-clear eyes. The haze of lust
was gone.
“I didn’t know I was doing that when I left the mountains to come here to Kenora.” He
traced lines down her bare belly with his fingers and she sucked in a harsh breath,
causing her stomach to harden. Then wrapping his knuckles under her black leather
pants, he unbuttoned and unzipped them. “The leopards you met with earlier have already
turned me down.”
She blinked, watching him, possibly trying to learn his reaction to being told no. He
wasn’t ready to offer her that since he would change their minds. Even though he’d just
arrived here, it was becoming more and more clear why he needed to be a hunter. If