When an Alpha Purrs (14 page)

“Snob.” Kira muttered the word as she entered the elevator and stabbed at the screen. To her surprise, it worked. A part of her hadn’t believed it would, certain that Arik would have somehow blocked her ability to leave.

Surely she wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t?

In order to avoid the main floor crowd, Kira had the elevator stop one level above. She exited onto a hallway that ran left and right. Each side had numbered doors, but there, at the far end, a door with a push bar and the bright red letters spelling Exit.

Twenty flights was out of the question, but one? One, she could handle. Especially since, if she remembered correctly, the door spilled out behind some potted plants right by the main doors to the building. She’d noted it while playing with the women’s hair earlier.

At the bottom, she paused and took a deep breath. She pressed her ear to the door and listened. Nothing. Pure silence. Surely that wasn’t right.

The place had crawled with women before. Then again, it was later now, dinnertime for many. Or so her belly rumbled. She’d gone way too long without any food. It made her wish she’d grabbed something off that trolley earlier.

But she wasn’t going back for a snack.

She listened for another thirty seconds, silently counted in her head.

Still utter quiet.

Easing it slowly open, Kira used the door as a shield to peer around its edge. Through the palm leaves of the potted plants, she noted the many empty couches.

As a matter of fact, the whole main floor appeared absent of life, except for the check-in desk, where a male guard in his late fifties sat playing with his smart phone and, just outside, the guy by the front door who stepped from his post to grasp the handle of a yellow cab that pulled up.

Seeing her chance, Kira slipped out of the stairwell and quick-walked to the door. She thought she heard a, “Hey, where are you going?” from the guy at the desk, but she ignored it and skipped out.

Hitting the pavement, she didn’t pause, nor did she look at the doorman at all. She briskly walked away, moving faster and faster, probably because of the murmur of excited voices behind her.

Soon she was running. She made it down the curved drive of the condo to the sidewalk. It wasn’t a busy place, and the cars trolling it at this twilight hour were few, the area too residential.

She high-tailed it, feet pounding pavement, and, to muddy her trail for possible pursuers, ducked in the first alley she saw.

She’d escaped. She’d done it. As she reached the far end of the alley, which spilled onto a busier seeming street, she couldn’t help but think it seemed too easy.

At any moment, she expected Arik to recapture her and ask in that husky murmur of his, ‘Where are you running to, mouse?’

Except when the arms did snag her, they weren’t the gentle haven she’d come to expect. And the voice was a grating lesson in why she should have listened to Arik and stayed safe in his condo.

“Hey, bitch slut, about time you showed your cheating face.”

The tip from Jeoff’s men saying they’d cornered Gregory proved a bust. The mangy wolf had evaded them yet again. Worse, he’d made fools of them. The rabid annoyance toyed with the men tracking him by leaving a trail that led to a pile of his clothes, along with a great big, still almost steaming pile of insult.

The bastard taunted them.

But why? He surely had to know it was a bad idea. Arik wasn’t king for nothing. Now that Arik hunted, Gregory’s days were marked.
Because once I find him, he’ll learn a valuable lesson about messing around in my city.

Big emphasis on the when Arik found him, which didn’t happen that night.

Foiled, not in a great mood, and a sense of wrongness nagging, Arik returned to his condo. An empty condo.

“She left!” He said it aloud, unable to stem his disbelief. How could she have left? He’d disabled her access to the panel. He’d known better than to believe her. What sane woman would stick around after a guy told her he was a lion?

But he’d anticipated that, and as soon as he hit the elevator, he’d logged onto the condo’s security system and locked down her access. Yet, according to the log he pulled up, someone had tampered with his instructions.

“Mother.” He growled her name, and just in time, too, as she sauntered from his kitchen, a martini glass in hand, several green olives floating in the bottom. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a mother visit her son?”

“Not a meddling one who, for some reason, gave my mate access to the building after I’d revoked it.”

“Oh dear. Was I not supposed to do that? I was just trying to make the poor dear feel welcome since apparently someone foolishly decided to dally with a human.” Her lips twisted, and not because of the sip of her martini, extra dry.

“Kira is my mate.”

“Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.” He said it quite seriously, arms crossed over his chest.

His mother didn’t seem the least bit affronted. She casually took another drink from the fluted glass. “Such melodrama. I expect that from your younger cousins—my sisters are such ninnies when it comes to raising cubs—but you are the pride’s alpha. You are king of this city and lord over those who inhabit it. Act like it.”

“I am, and it’s as alpha I’m stating you’ve gone too far. Kira is my mate.”

“Not a very willing one.”

“That will change as she gets to know me, which would have been a lot easier were she still here. Where did she go?” Because she sure as hell hadn’t been in the front lobby. A lobby that was rather empty, as most of his pride had probably gone to watch an underground shifter-fighting ring. The Ultimate Fur and Fang Throwdown came to town only once a month and proved a huge draw.

“How would I know where she went? I merely provided her with the means to exit. I didn’t drive her to her destination.”

And she didn’t have a car. Arik suddenly didn’t like where this was headed. “Do you know if she hailed a cab?”

Even as he asked, his feet were moving, a sense of foreboding forming a ball in his stomach.
Don’ t tell me the whole Gregory-is-cornered thing was a ruse.
A wily and brazen one, yet it would explain the false trail Arik and Jeoff had followed. The rabid wolf had distracted his hunters while he went after his true prey, Kira.

The elevator wasn’t moving fast enough and stalled a few floors down. His sense of urgency mounted. He couldn’t stand still. He took the half-dozen strides across the short hall and slammed into the bar that opened the door onto the stairs. His mother followed, haranguing him, “Where are you going? Why the hurry?”

“Why the hurry? I’ll tell you why. Because you foolishly overstepped your bounds as my mother and allowed my mate, a woman in danger from a rabid wolf, to leave the safety of my home. You put her in danger.” He leaped over the railing as opposed to jogging down and hit the landing for the floor below with a thump.

“I didn’t know she was in danger,” his mother cried, her voice faint from her spot at the top of the stairwell.

“Doesn’t matter.” What did matter was Kira. Not knowing where she was had his inner lion pacing. Perhaps she was fine. Kira might have simply left and made her way safely to one of her family’s homes or even her own. But his gut didn’t believe it, and it proved right.

Less than a block away, in an alley stinking of wolf, Arik came across her purse and a note, a note that was short but to the point.

Cum to the wearhouse alone or she dyes.

A misspelled invitation to violence. How fun. And he knew just what to wear. Fur and teeth.
Rawr
.

Kira woke up…and cursed.

There were times in a woman’s life when she wished she wasn’t so independent. So stubborn. So bloody stupid.

I should have listened to Arik.

But, no, like a ninny, just to piss him off, and because he wasn’t the only one who could act contrary, she’d made the wrong choice. She thought she was smarter than him, that she knew better, but it turned out she should get her IQ tested because a lack of good judgment had led to her current situation, bound to a chair.

This isn’t good.

A brief squirm of her body showed she wasn’t going anywhere easily. Rope, the nylon braided kind her grandma used for her clothesline in her backyard, was looped several times around her upper body. Nothing fancy, certainly not
kinbaku
level stuff—which, for the uninformed, was a Japanese style of BDSM rope bondage, something she’d learned from an ex-boyfriend who’d expressed an interest in educating her. She politely declined.

Deviant bedroom acts aside, professionally tied or not, the rope effectively immobilized her to the seat. Good news, though, her legs remained unfettered. Kicking her feet, in petulance since she had nothing else in reach, didn’t do much to help her situation.

Since she wasn’t going anywhere, she took stock of her current situation. It resembled a low-budget movie set. The place appeared rather squalid. The dim lighting that filtered through high square windows didn’t allow for deep scrutiny, just some basic generalities. Judging by their lofty position, along with the dusty concrete floor and, to either side of her, what appeared to be stacks of shipping crates, Kira surmised she’d found herself in some kind of warehouse.

Totally cliché, and had someone played an ominous soundtrack in that moment, she probably would have wet her pants. She knew how this went in the movies. Either the girl got killed, which she wouldn’t put past Gregory, or the girl got rescued in the nick of time—not likely given the person who might have noticed she disappeared had no idea where she’d gone. And there went that dum-dum-dum soundtrack again.

A scuff from behind had her straining to see who approached. Even before he spoke, she could have rightly guessed. “Finally awake. It took you long enough. My fault. I forgot when I injected you with that tranquilizer I stole from the vet that you’re human and a little slower to process drugs.”

He drugged me?
Well, that explained the prick she thought she’d felt before passing out.

“Doesn’t it figure you’d need to knock a woman out to get her to spend time with you.”

Too late to bite her tongue. Such a smooth move. Antagonize the guy holding her prisoner.

“Still as mouthy as ever I see, something I once planned to cure you of.” As he spoke, Gregory stepped into her line of sight, and she wished she could say he looked evil. That he was a loathsome bastard to look upon. He was anything but. Even now, knowing what she did about him, she couldn’t deny he was a handsome devil with ebony hair that flopped boyishly over his eyes, aristocratic features, and a lanky body. Good looking with a superb physique, and yet he left her cold. Psychopathic personalities tended to be a turn-off.

“How long was I out?”

“Just over five hours. Long enough for me to get bored.”

Bored and doing what? A man who was prepared to drug a woman and kidnap her might not draw the line at other atrocities. She took a quick stock of herself, wondering if he’d taken advantage of her unconsciousness. If he had, he’d not left a clue. Her clothing remained intact, and she didn’t note any kind of soreness or stickiness. Still, she couldn’t help but ask, “Did you do anything while I was passed out?”

The corner of his lip lifted, twisting his grin. His laughter grated on her. “As if I’d touch your tainted body. Not now after you’ve been with him. To think you rejected me, but I see you had no problem saying yes to that mangy tomcat. I’d not realized you were holding out for someone with more money. If I had known about your lack of morals, I would have treated you much differently.”

“Different how? By leaving me alone and creeping out some other girl? You made my life such a living hell I had to move. What worse could you do?”

“I could have shut your pie hole with my cock.”

“You would have needed more than that to keep me quiet. I’ve seen the size of your hands and feet.” Once again, her mouth got her into trouble, but she couldn’t help it. Despite the fear, she found a spark of fight.
I’m not going to die as his subservient bitch.

The fingers that gripped her cheeks dug into her skin and bruised. “Keep talking, bitch slut. We’ll see how brave you are once I’m done with you.”

“Get your hands off her.” Bellowing, and kind of growly, Kira still recognized Arik’s voice. He’d come to rescue her.

Naked.

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

Nope, she wasn’t hallucinating. Arik definitely stood at the edge of a line of shipping containers wearing nothing but skin.

Sexy, but still, she couldn’t help but groan, “Couldn’t you have at least brought a weapon?”

“I did,” was his reply.

She frowned as she stared at his empty hands. “I don’t see it. What did you bring?”

“Myself.”

So much for a rescue. But at least Arik meant well as he strode toward Gregory, who was…what the hell? Why was Gregory stripping?

His shirt hit the floor, revealing a well-defined chest with a dark vee of hair arrowing down. Gregory toed off his running shoes. Hands went to his waistband, and the athletic pants were shoved down, revealing tight buttocks and corded thighs.

It took less than a minute for him to face off against Arik, stark, raving naked.

What the hell?

Perhaps the drug Gregory had given her hadn’t yet worn off. She must be hallucinating. How else to explain the fact that two naked men went into a half crouch, arms extended at their sides, and fingers flexing. They watched each other warily, treading in a slow circle, preparing to fight.

Gregory dove first, a flash of pale skin rushing at Arik’s bigger, tanned form. Arik sidestepped at the last moment and put out a foot. Gregory didn’t fall, but he did stumble.

“I see you got my note,” Gregory stated as he pivoted back to face Arik.

“How could I resist the invitation? Come to the warehouse alone or she dies. Although, for future reference, you might want to get someone to spellcheck for you. You spelled dies, come and warehouse wrong.”

“No one gives a fuck about my spelling.”

“You’re quite right no one cares, and in even better news, after today, you won’t be writing any more threatening notes.”

“Do you think I care about your puny threat? I’m not afraid of you.” Gregory lunged while Arik danced back.

“You should be. But then again, this sign of mental deficiency isn’t your first. No one messes with my pride.”

Still tethered to a chair, Kira found his choice of words odd. So this was about ego? That made no sense and didn’t explain why the men battled naked.

Except they weren’t men.

Eek.

Before her very disbelieving eyes, skin rippled in a way that was far from natural. Or human.

Both men dropped to their hands and knees as fur sprouted. Their faces contorted, a rictus of pain and of change. The very shape of their skulls changed. And, no, that couldn’t be what she thought it was.

She didn’t imagine it. That waving and wobbling thing that grew from their butts was a tail. A dark, thick tail for the black wolf and a golden whipcord tail with a tufted tip for the lion.

Impossible, and yet, unless she dreamed, then rolling around her in an explosion of fur, fangs, and violence were two wild animals.

An honest-to-god werewolf and a… What was the proper term for Arik? Werelion?

This enquiring mind
didn’t
want to know. Some knowledge a girl could live without, but she definitely wanted to escape. If only she weren’t tied to a freaking chair.

The wolf, with a snarl that showcased way too many teeth, broke free from the lion. He spun and lunged at Kira, the malevolent glint in his eyes enough to steal the scream that sat on the tip of her tongue.

Warm blood sprayed her as Arik hit him, claw-tipped paws ripping into the shaggy fur of the wolf.

Turns out I was closer to the truth than I knew when I called Gregory a dog.

Her hysterical attempt at mirth did not ease the situation. The violence continued unabated, the men in fur tumbling in a wild frenzy of slashing limbs. They couldn’t control their impetuous momentum. They rolled in her direction. She couldn’t move. Their thrashing frames knocked into the side of the chair and sent it teetering.

Crash
. She hit the floor, and something cracked. Her head throbbed, as did the arm and shoulder she landed on, but nothing appeared broken thankfully, except for the chair. Alas, it didn’t fare so well.

Which was good news for Kira.

The sudden slack in her ropes meant she could wiggle her arms out. Once they were free, it was only a matter of time before the rest of her followed. She crawled from the debris and, once cleared, went to stand…

Only to get squashed!

A heavy weight hit her in the back, sending her to the floor roughly. She cried out in pain, her chin having hit the concrete along with her knees and hands.

Would this awful nightmare never end?

“Get off me,” she squeaked, her chest constricted by the weight pinning her. Struggle as she might, she couldn’t dislodge the wolf sitting on her back, his moist, hot breath worrisome where it heated her nape.

Didn’t wolves like to bite the throats of their prey?

Not a good thought to have given her situation. She might have peed herself if all her muscles weren’t frozen.

A lion roared, at least she assumed it was a lion, that or some other giant cat had joined them in the warehouse. Given she hadn’t expected either a wolf or a giant cat in the first place, it wouldn’t surprise her.

The furball on her back replied with a low snarl.

“Speak English, would you,” she muttered.

To her surprise, Arik did. Then again, it was probably because he’d gone human again, or so it seemed since she could see his bare feet at the edge of her visual periphery.

“Hey, dog breath, I would suggest you let her go.”

Huh, would you look at that. Arik let his tongue get away from him. Of course, she might have enjoyed it more if he weren’t antagonizing a wild animal with its muzzle poised over her neck.

“Get off her. You and I both know you’ve lost this battle.”

Yeah, buddy, you lost.
This time she kept the words to herself. Not because she got any smarter, but more because her mouth was so dry and her lungs so starved for air that she doubted she could manage even a squeak.

The body atop her squirmed and went from digging into her with claws to fingers.

Oh gross. He’d swapped bodies while atop her. The shapeshifting thing was way too freaky.

A hand gripping her by the hair, and Gregory hauled her to her feet.

Ouch.

She grabbed at his hand, trying to loosen it. “Watch the hair.” In case she did survive, she’d prefer it to be without a scalped spot.

“Shut up.” His little shake brought stinging tears to her eyes as it tugged on her abused strands.

Arik uttered a growly noise of his own. “Let her go.”

“But I’m not done with her yet. She’s yet to beg me for her life.”

“Let her go and maybe you won’t die. Killing her at this point won’t accomplish anything except ensure your execution is painful and prolonged.”

“On the contrary, killing Kira would bring me great pleasure since I know it would devastate you. She’s your mate.”

“She is.”

Again with the whole ownership thing. And how did Gregory know Arik had claimed her? Had Arik done something to her that made it evident to others? The love bite on her neck tickled as if to prompt her.

Gregory wound his fist tighter, angling her neck back and lowering his face to it. He inhaled before he muttered against her skin, “Do you know I had a plan? I was going to make you watch as I fucked her.” He licked her, and Kira shuddered, unable to hide her repugnance.

She noted Arik’s fingers tightened into fists at his side. His eyes reflected gold, and even though he was in his man form, there was something primitive about his posture, something animalistic about his demeanor. “You have to know that’s not going to happen.”

“I know, and it’s such a shame I’m going to have to skip that part for phase two. Kill her. Then you.” His mouth opened over her neck and hovered, a hesitation on his threat so he could stare and taunt Arik.

Cocky idiot. He misjudged Kira. She wasn’t about to let herself die, a helpless victim to a maniac. She waited for her chance and saw it in that moment. Down went her booted foot on his bare one, back went her elbow into his diaphragm, and she butted her head sideways, clocking him in the noggin.

It was enough to distract, enough for him to loosen his grip on her hair and for her to yank free from his grip. Let loose, she stumbled, falling to the floor by the debris of the chair. Her hand closed around one of the broken spindles, and she rolled, bringing it with her in an arc. She swung as Gregory dove at her, vaguely registering Arik’s yell but more interested in the thwack the stick made as it connected.