A Cougar Among Wolves (5 page)

“When we pulled you from the tree, we got a shock, exactly like this,” the one on the left continued with crinkled brows.

“You did?” She gasped.
Oh, crap
The Nasc? This can’t be right. They’re wolves, and
I’m a cougar. It can’t be possible?

“What was it?” Seth asked.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “Ever heard of static electricity?” She massaged her tingling 25

skin, unwilling to divulge the truth behind the transfer of energy, or the continual warmth coursing through her veins.
It has to be nothing. What the hell is happening to me?

“Do you need to rest?” the sandy blond with shaggy curls interrogated, concern fanning from his dark-green eyes.

“I’m fine,” she growled. Another bout of dizziness struck her and her knees gave out.

They caught her as she dropped to the ground.

“Listen.” They squatted beside her as the brown-eyed brother spoke. “You’ve been pushing yourself really hard. There’s no rush to get to the middle of nowhere.”

“Seth, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Seth, he’s Rogue.”

“Charmed, I’m sure.” She snagged her water bottle off the side clip of her backpack and took a long fortifying swig. “Don’t treat me like some lame victim.”

“We meant no disrespect. Let’s slow down for a minute, ok?” Seth pleaded. “You’ve out-walked me; my legs are cramped up.” He winked and patted his upper thigh.

Klaya spied the kindness in his eyes. On any other day, the warmth of those chocolate-brown orbs would have made her swoon. “Whatever. Take a load off, kids.”

Seth’s cheeks brightened to a remarkable shade of red. “That’s the second time you’ve called me a kid, Klaya. Care to enlighten me why?” He cocked his head.

She scoffed, “What are you guys, like, eighteen?”

Rogue chuckled. “Not exactly, I’m thirty-four. My brother here is thirty-five.”

“Baby faces.” She did a double take with both of them. “Got any ID to support your claim?”

“The wolf genes keep our stunning good looks a long time.” Rogue slapped his leg with amusement.

“I’m guessing you’re not twenty-nine then?” Seth arched his brows and inquired with caution.

“Smart boy, never ask an older woman her age.”

“It’s cool. I wouldn’t put you past twenty-nine.” He smiled.

“I’m forty-five.” She cracked a grin. “But thank you for lying about my appearance.”

“You do not look forty-five.” Rogue plopped down on the ground beside her.

“Cougars age slower, too.”

26

“How is your wound?” Seth motioned behind her.

She slipped the straps of the pack off her shoulders and stretched. A dull sting splayed the width of her upper torso. “Still hurts, but getting better every hour.”

“I’ve never seen anyone heal so fast.” Rogue grabbed his water and tossed back a mouthful. “Is it a cougar thing?”

“I take it you haven’t had much experience with the Cytaana Clan before?”

“No, you’re the first I’ve met, well”—Seth glanced to his brother—“we’ve met.”

“I’ll likely be the last.” She narrowed her eyes and tipped her head back with a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’ve been getting knocked off one at a time over the years. I don’t think there’s anyone left but me.”

Klaya sat in awkward silence with the brothers. The torment of how much they knew about her was more than she could bear. What she wouldn’t give for a way to erase the last forty-eight hours and everything they had learned about her. The last thing she wanted or needed was to be viewed as a victim, for anyone to know her trauma. She was no victim, but she was broken, in every sense of the word. Nothing would ever be the same again, but this was her baggage to drag with her, and she had no desire to allow anyone even the slightest glimpse of her despair.

***

The arrival at the cave was a welcome one. Rogue walked behind Klaya and his brother and snagged a branch of pine. He swept their tracks from the dirt and scattered forest debris to hide any sign of their direction. The blisters on his feet were killing him.

He hated wearing shoes, hell, he hated clothes, but, given the circumstances, necessity prevailed.

“I’ll go ahead and scout out the cave.” He pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on.

“No you won’t. I’m not a helpless damsel in distress.” Klaya tugged out her own flashlight and led the way.

“She’s a handful,” he whispered to Seth.

“I heard that.”

27

“You know”—he trotted behind her and Seth followed—“I gotta admit, this whole independent thing is cool, but we’re starting to feel a little emasculated here. Can you work with us, please?”

Klaya halted and spun around. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Her voice quaked.

“Hey.” Seth stepped forward. “Are you okay?”

Rogue‘s flashlight beam lit up her tear-filled eyes.

“I don’t mean to be a bitch. I’m not usually so cold….” Her chin quivered.

“You lost your brother, you’re all alone, and you’re scared?” Seth interjected.

“Scared, yes, but not for myself.” She nodded. “Neither of you guys wants to be stuck up here in the middle of nowhere with me. And, if they find us, you could both get—”

“Hey.” Rogue brushed a tear off her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You got the two bad-ass brothers here to keep you safe. We won’t let anything happen to you. We promised to protect you, and we’ll gladly give our lives to do it.” Heat filled his belly at the simple touch of her skin under his finger.

“That’s the point. I don’t want anyone else to die because of me, not Griffith, not you two, not Drew or any of your pack. Part of me wants to track those bastards down and take them out. I don’t care if I die doing it.”

A brief moment of awkward silence passed. It was too much for Rogue to bear. “But you’d miss out on our devious charm, Klaya.” He grinned. “I brought Battleship, a deck of cards, and dice. We’re gonna have a blast.”

Klaya burst into tear-filled laughter. She swiped the wetness off her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Thank you.” She stood on her tippy-toes and kissed him on the cheek then faced Seth and did the same. “You’re both very sweet.”

“We promise no more harm will come to you.” Rogue cupped his cheek where she had kissed him. An incredible hunger swept over his lower torso. How could a tiny kiss on the cheek make his loins ache?

With a deep inhale, she forced a grin. “Let’s see what adventure lies inside here, shall we, boys?” Klaya gestured ahead and let them take the lead.

“We came up here when we were kids. From what I remember, there’s an indoor waterfall and a ready-made tub. The water was a little chilly, but after a while you don’t notice.”

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“Whoa.” Klaya paused and inspected the rock walls with her flashlight and her fingertips. “Amethyst, this is so beautiful.” She shone the light across the wall and the pointed clusters of purple and white glittered all around.

“If we continue a little farther in, we get to the center of the cave. It’s inside the mountain, but with the waterfall and high ceiling, we can build a fire in here.” Seth moved faster ahead.

“Yeah, I remember now,” Rogue recollected with bitter sweetness. “We hid up here after we crashed Dad’s pickup truck. We thought for sure he was gonna kill us.”

“You crashed his truck?” She gripped Rogue’s arm. Her touch warmed his skin. “Did you guys get hurt?”

“No, other than our pride. We were trying to show off….” He cleared his throat and glanced away from her alluring cognac eyes.

“For some girls?” she pried.

“Yeah, we were twelve and thirteen. The old man was pissed, but Mom was so scared for us. When Dad found us and dragged us home, we were stunned because he just dropped the subject.”

Seth chuckled. “Man, we got off easy. Pops could tan the hide of a rodeo bull if he was mad enough.”

“Your parents, Gee mentioned…uh….”

A shockwave of grief rushed through his chest.

“How did they…?” Klaya softened her voice. “I’m sorry.”

The need to shed tears thickened Rogue’s throat. He swallowed hard. “Don’t be. It’s fine.”

“Do you mind me asking what happened to them?”

“We don’t know much.” Seth exhaled a heavy breath.

Klaya glanced back and forth between them with raised brows. “It’s okay if you don’t….”

Seth cleared his throat. “Our folks moved us out of town ages ago when Magnum was alpha because he went crazy. None of us wanted to be under his reign. We found a small cabin past Keystone and moved us there until Drew became alpha. Our parents stayed at the cabin, but we returned to Los Lobos.”

29

Rogue’s stomach knotted as his brother babbled on. Did she really need to hear their sob story? After all, they were sent to protect her, this wasn’t about them. Rogue wanted to launch his fist into his brother’s gut right now to shut him up.

“Last fall,” Seth continued, “we took some work out of state for a few weeks. Drew told us he’d have someone from the pack check on our folks to make sure they had supplies and stuff while we were gone. When we returned to town, he and Ryker met us at Gee’s bar to tell us.” Seth shook his head.

“We don’t know who or why, but someone broke into their place. They took Mom, and Dad….” Rogue’s chest tightened, squeezing the air from his lungs.

Klaya stared blankly at him. “What did they do to them?”

A heat wave of rage crashed over his chest. “They killed them.” Rogue growled and pushed past his brother and Klaya.

30

The center of the cave was massive, exactly as the guys had described. There was a slim cascading waterfall about twenty feet high, and the spilling water collected into a deep stone crevice in the ground, creating an ideal pool area, big enough for ten people to swim. Above the waterfall a circular opening in the stone ceiling spilled enough sunlight through to illuminate the surrounding area. Spectacular clusters of purple and white crystals protruded from the surrounding rock walls.

“Welcome to Amethyst Falls.”

“This is incredible. I almost feel guilty calling it a hideout. People would pay money to stay here.” Klaya glanced over to Rogue, still rattled by his shift in mood when they arrived.

Blondie tossed his bag on the ground and scouted around the interior of the cave. The scent of leathery musk she had grown to associate with him emitted a slight sourness now. His tense shoulders vibrated with energy as he skulked around the cave.

Seth plopped down on his sleeping bag and pulled his boots off. “Hey, don’t mind Rogue. He can come off as a little uptight with some issues, but he’ll calm down soon.”

“Okay.” She forced a grin.

“Gee says this is the perfect environment for healing.”

“Why is that?”

“See right up there?” He motioned to the ceiling. “Tonight you’ll see the light of the full moon through the opening. Those clusters of gemstones you’ve been admiring?” He pointed to the walls.

“Yes?”

“They have healing energies associated with earth. The mountain also contains deposits of rock salt. Now, picture the power of the moon lighting up the energy of the stones surrounded by the cleansing and protection of pure salt. You’re in the middle of a ready-made healing circle.”

“Salt, huh? It’s incredible.” She tried to hold back her smile of amusement at a wolf tutoring her about healing properties of rock and minerals. If only he knew of her upbringing.

31

“I’m going out to grab some firewood.” Rogue dropped his bag and headed down the tunnel.

“Do you want help?” Klaya called after him.

“No.” His voice was cold.

She sat for a moment and glanced over to Seth. “Did I upset him?”

He sighed and shook his head. “Our parents’ death seems to spike his rage more so than mine, most times.”

“How long ago did they die?”

“About nine months ago.”

“I take it they did more to your parents than shoot them?”

“Yeah, I mean Drew didn’t give us all the details, but what we did learn was horrific.

No one should have to die like that.”

“And you never learned who did it or why?”

“No. There have been a number of
disappearances
over the years and more than a few bodies. At first, we suspected Magnum or his thugs, but we had no proof, no evidence to verify either way. To be honest, we don’t know what ties them all together.”

“I can appreciate the rage it fills you both with.” More than she could convey with mere words.

“Look, I know it’s still really raw for you, Klaya, and I won’t push, but if you need to talk about what happened to you and your brother, I’m a pretty good listener.”

At his prompt, violent images flooded her brain of how they tortured Griffith while she was forced her to watch. “I’m not ready yet.” She trembled with fear.

“I know, but I’m here when you are.”

“Thanks, Seth.” The idea she’d triggered Rogue’s upset left her with a great deal of unease. “I’m gonna go see if I can help bring in some wood.” She got up.

“I’ll come, too.” He grabbed his boots.

“No, it’s fine. Take a load off, I won’t be long.” She grabbed her flashlight and headed out through the tunnel.

At the entrance of the cave, Klaya listened for the sound of movement, any movement.

Her keen senses had been off since the attack, but she took a long whiff and tried to locate Rogue’s scent. A sudden hint of the familiar leather and musk she had come to 32

associate with him crept up her nose. A magnetic draw to the aroma guided her to the right. She traipsed down the wooded path along the side of the cave and listened. The scent grew stronger as she moved forward, but the lack of sound troubled her. She halted, her tummy tensed, and the hair on the back of her neck prickling. No birds, no wildlife, not one forest creature moved.

She inhaled again, this time, frozen with fear. A second scent—one of gun oil and burnt cigar. A smell she was painfully familiar with. Klaya inched her way to the nearest tree. Rogue’s cologne grew stronger, but, still, there was no sound. She clung to the trunk and glanced around.

A hand gripped her arm and intense heat rushed over her skin. She gasped. Another hand covered her mouth, and she struggled to break free.