Claiming Their Cat (25 page)

Rio and his
brother moved through the
compound
on silent feet. Other werewolves were soundlessly taking out the guards. Draco and a few of his friends were misting inside the house and outlying buildings looking for Cat and Brody. According to the local werewolf spies, a car arrived about two hours ago with a
woman
and child
inside
.

The
plan
was working. Many men would die, but Rio was only focused on killing one
man
. The madness stopped tonight.

Draco suddenly appeared between them. “How do you know we won’t shove a knife in you?” asked Creed.

“I don’t, but unless you
rip
my heart out, I’ll
survive
. Besides, I can
shimmer
out before you do any real damage. Lucy wouldn’t like it if you put a hole in me.” That was the old Draco, always clowning around. He wondered if Lucy had seen the fun
side
of him.

“Cat and her baby are in the study with Alvarez.
I can shimmy in, eliminate the guards, and all you two have to do is waltz in.”

“Our baby,” corrected Creed.

Rio had filled Draco in on the situation. It didn’t
bother
Draco, but he did comment on what Lucy would say about a threesome.

“I can even go ahead and blast the sick fuck’s brains out now.”

“No,” said Creed. “I want him to
know
fear.”

Draco shrugged. “No problem.
Just make it quick.
I’ve been away too long.”

Lucy was always on Draco’s
mind
. “My threat still stands,” said Rio.

“Yeah? What
threat
was that?”

“If you hurt Lucy, I’ll personally kill you.”

“If I
ever
hurt Lucy, I
expect
you to
terminate
me.
Now, let’s go get your mate and your kid and kill the bastard, so I can get back to my
mate
.”

Draco vanished, and Creed and Rio made their way to the front entrance.
Several bodies littered the yard. It was all too easy for Rio’s peace of mind. So far, not a single shot had been fired, but vampires could mentally
blast
someone’s
brain
without that person ever laying eyes on
them
.

They stepped over the two bodies slumped by
the entrance
and watched another one slump in the hallway. Draco appeared beside the door and pointed to it. Rio could smell Cat and Brody’s scents. Rio and his
brother
stopped at the door and cocked their
head
to listen.

“What is your relationship to Jenna Watson?”

Cat hesitated. “She’s my sister.”

“
Was
your sister, my dear. Was.”

The pained cry from Cat propelled him and his brother through the massive wooden doors. In a surprised move, Alvarez jerked Cat up, twisted her around and had a gun pointed at her head. Brody
let
out a startled wail.
Cat’s eyes glowed with fear, and that same vile scent assailed Rio’s
animal
.
She
bounced
Brody to keep him quiet.

“Ah, Rio.
So nice of you to join us.
Have you come to collect your remaining money?”

“Shut the fuck up, Alvarez.
You’re not going to live long enough to make the transfer. Now let her go.”

“Can you beat a bullet to her? You’re
good
, but not that
good
.”

No, Rio couldn’t save her from a bullet to the brain. Where the hell was Draco? Why wasn’t he blasting this son of a
bitch
’s brains out? Yeah, they had wanted to torture Alvarez, but that was before a gun was pointed at
Cat’s
temple.

“Well, before you try to kill me, why don’t you tell Mari what you did with her sister?”

Rio swallowed hard.
Cat’s last name was Watson?
Jenna Watson was her sister?

“Let me tell you, Mari, since Rio’s
tongue
seems to be tied at the moment.
Jenna was here, and she was
consulted
to see if she could
become
pregnant.
When she wasn’t a
good
fit, she ran.”

“You mean you raped her, and she didn’t produce, so you turned her loose in the wilderness,” Cat ground out through her teeth.

“Ah, so you’ve heard about that. Yes, it’s true, but she was
very
much alive the last time
I
saw her. But you should ask Rio what he did with her after he caught her. You know. Rio’s caught more runaways than any other merc.
He’s phenomenal.”

“Shut your mouth
,
”
Rio ground out.

“He’s one hell of a tracker.
Has some kind of sixth sense.
All the other men envied him. You should ask Rio what it was like to fuck your sister. Who knows what he did with her after he was done taking his
perverted
pleasure.”

Creed
did
n’t
understand
what was happening. Alvarez believed what he was saying, but Rio would never
harm
an innocent.

“You...killed my sister?”

Cat’s agony raked Creed with ten thousand knives and almost brought him to his knees.
Cat was shaking, huge tears streaming down her face.

“I can explain,” said Rio.

“Oh, yes,”
said
Alvarez. “Please explain your tact when fucking whores.”

Creed didn’t like the
way
Rio’s voice sounded, almost
riddle
d
with guilt. There had to be a
good
explanation. “Draco,” said Creed. “We’ve changed our minds about a slow death.”

Draco materialized behind the desk and waved good-bye with his hand. Alvarez’s eyes
rolled
back into his head before he collapsed almost taking Cat to the floor with him.

Cat’s frantic gaze slid from Rio to Creed and then to Draco before settling on Alvarez where blood seeped from every
opening
in his head. God, Creed wished she hadn’t seen the carnage. In an unexpected move, she stooped and snatched the gun from the floor. Brody protested as she juggled him and the weapon.

“You want me to put her in a trance?” Draco asked.

“No,” said Rio. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

“Cat,” said Creed. “Put the gun down and let Rio explain.”

“No. He killed my sister. Hunted her like a dog.”
Her lips trembled, and the scent of betrayal
,
hurt
,
and anger reeked.

Rio held his hands out. “I did
hunt
her, but I didn’t…”

POP. POP. POP.

Creed’s breath caught in his throat as he saw the slugs whiz through the air.
Rio jerked with each
r
ip of his flesh.

Draco moved and snatched the
pistol
from Cat’s
hand
. Cat folded into herself and sank to the ground
with a strangled cry.
Brod
y
wailed.

Creed rushed to his brother and eased him on the floor. Bright crimson ran in rivulets from the wounds in Rio’s
chest
. “Damn, man. She got you
good
.”
But the bullet holes weren’t fatal to a shifter.

Rio lifted his head and looked at his chest. “Yeah, she did.”

“You need to
shift
and
heal
yourself, bro. And then explain what the hell is going on.”

“Shift. Yeah.”

Creed scooted over to Cat where she sobbed quietly. Her eyes were glued to Rio. This single act of
vengeance
had destroyed her. He extracted Brody from her
grip
and handed him to Draco.

“Hey, man. What am I supposed to do with him?”

“Just hold him.”
Draco held the kid away from his body like it was a sack of shit.
“Hold him close to your body and don’t drop him.”

Draco tentatively pulled Brody to his chest. “There, little one. Everything is going to be just
fine
.”

Creed didn’t know about that. Cat was retreating into herself. If things went to shit, Creed would have Draco clean her
mind
, but that would be a last resort. “Listen, honey. There’s something that Rio and I have been meaning to tell you.”

She didn’t blink.

“We’re werewolves, and he needs to shift to heal himself.”

Nothing but a blank stare.

“You want me to put her out?” Draco asked.

“I don’t know. Just be
ready
.”

Claws eased from Rio’s fingers, but Creed doubted that Cat saw it.
Bones cracked, and fur emerged, but still no response from Cat.
“Can you see what’s going on in Cat’s head?”

Draco frowned,
clearly
not wanting to
invade
. By the
time
Rio was in full wolf, Draco said, “She’s thrown up barriers around her mind. It’s not
good
, man.”

Taking a
life
was never
without a price
; a
piece
of your soul died each
time
,
and
Cat was too
delicate
.

“Cat
, lo
ok at Rio. He’s going to be fine.
He’s a werewolf, and we are pretty hard to kill.
He needs you to
go over
there and
stroke
his
fur
.”

She blinked. A good sign.

“Come on, baby. Let’s help Rio.”

Creed stood, scooped Cat up and carried her to Rio. He placed her hand on his fur. “He can hear you. Talk to him.”

Her gaze lifted to his. “He can heal himself. And then me, you, Rio and Brody will go home. Your home.”

Creed stroked Rio’s
fur
and released his breath when Cat’s hand shook as it moved over Rio. Dear God, please let her be okay. He wanted to tell her that Brody was Rio’s, but he wasn’t sure her mind could
handle
it. For twenty minutes, Cat petted Rio, running her hands deep in his fur. Cat jerked her hands
back
as Rio shifted back.

Rio sat up and grinned. “Say something, my Cat.”

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. “I don’t understand? I thought that I had killed you
.
”

“Me and Creed are werewolves. We
shift
to heal ourselves.
Why did you leave?”

“The email. Twenty million.”

“Oh, my sweet Cat. That was just bait to get us close to Alvarez,” said Rio.

“Yeah, we would never turn you over to that bastard. You’re ours and we keep what’s ours.”

“
Come on. Let’s go home.” Rio leaned over and kissed Cat.

“Home?
What about my sister?
Wh
y did you kill her?
”
Her emotional pain raked both of their souls.

“Yo
ur sister, Jenna, is safe. She’s stashed
,
along with all the other women
,
in safe houses in San Antonio. I did
hunt
them down, but once I found them,
I
sent
them
to a safe place with food, medical care, and anything else they
needed
.
I’ve been working for the DEA to bring Alvarez down.
They were witnesses.”
Rio looked over at Alvarez.
“Looks like there’s nothing to testify against.”

“Jenna’s not dead?”

“Nope. When we get back home, you can call her.” Cat sucked in a huge breath and let it out.
Creed
could sense her relief.

“You’re sure?”
she whispered.

“Yes. We couldn’t let her got home. It wasn’t safe for her family—for your family.”

The vampire strolled over and knelt on the floor. “This here is a fine baby boy, but I think he would be more comfortable with his mother.”

Draco offered Brody and Creed helped
hand
the
baby
to her. “
You’re Draco,
”
she said.

He stood and took a bow. “At your service.”

“Are you a werewolf too?”

“Hell no. I’m a vampire.” Draco grinned.

Cat managed a half smile
, though her gaze was bewildered
. Rio stood, buck naked, and offered his hand to Draco. “I owe you man.
This wouldn’t have worked out if it weren’t for you.”

“I know. Now
if
you’re done groveling at my feet, I have just enough time to get back to Lucy for a
good-night
kiss.” Draco dissolved into mist.

Rio and Creed pulled Cat
to her feet and
into an embrace. “I know this is all too much to take in, but there are other things we need to discuss later,” said Rio.