Cougar's Conquest (6 page)

He might not know exactly where she was, but he had traced her to this area. He was smart, innovative, and in some ways unstoppable.

Even though she was inside and not directly in the glare of the full moon, she felt the initial tugging beneath her skin that told her that her shift was beginning.

Sighing, she did as she was told and headed to the back porch to be with her family.

Her parents, her brother, were all illuminated somewhat by the light of the moon, barely visible near the horizon beyond the stand of nearby trees. They appeared to be in varied degrees of discomfort, limbs twisted, the beginning of their cougar pelts erupting from beneath their skin.

None wore any clothing, of course. The change took place whether a shifter was dressed or not, but its discomfort was somewhat lessened by nudity.

Gwynn stood just outside the doorway, undressing quickly. A good thing, since her own change had begun. She writhed, staring at her arms as they lengthened and she sat back on her haunches, fur growing quickly on her limbs, her body.

She heard a roar deep in the throat of her father, followed by answering growls of her brother.

They were staring into the woods beyond the clearing around their home.

Her gasp sounded almost human to her as she realized what they were growling about.

There, only partially hidden behind the trees, was Brett, dressed in black, but still visible.

An intruder.

A human.

One who was very much in danger.

Fascinating.

Brett was shooting a video on his special camera, watching as the four people on the back porch of that small, decrepit cabin morphed from human form into cougars.

Just like he had seen one of them do so many months ago: Gwynn.

He’d been amazed, horrified, almost sickened then, until he’d had time to think about it.

Now, he was still amazed but fascinated. Excited. Drawn to them.

Maybe the entire family could be encouraged to join Alpha Force.

On the other hand, if his impressions about Gwynn’s fear this afternoon were real, Alpha Force would not want her possibly out of control family members.

Back when he had known her before, she’d never answered any questions about her origins or her family. He had the sense that something was wrong there, although he didn’t know what.

He’d developed some theories, though. After seeing her change, his huge amount of research had included not only shapeshifters but cougars, too.

Like all felines, they tended to be solitary hunters. Staying in family groups was not natural when they were fully grown. Not while they were in feline form.

Having the group together like this as humans—did that lead to problems, too?

He’d watch them now. Follow Gwynn to memorialize with his camera how a changed cougar with only limited human awareness, if any at all, acted during a shift.

And to make sure she remained safe. That took precedence over his promise to stay away from her tonight.

He hadn’t had a camera with him the last time he had seen her change. Not even a smartphone.

Of course then he hadn’t been anticipating what he’d seen.

As he watched under the brightness of the full moon, two of the creatures—now all cougar—leaped almost in unison from the porch, then stalked in his direction.

Not good, he realized, stiffening in place as his self-protective instincts hollered at him to run. They had no pack mentality as werewolf shifters did, or at least they shouldn’t. But they did appear to have one common goal.

One that was not good for him.

Still, their following him would keep Gwynn safe.

He carefully began walking backward through the darkening forest, glancing behind himself often to avoid tripping over piles of leaves or backing into trees.

But the two mountain lions kept getting closer.

Good—but how could he lure them away without harming them or allowing them to hurt him?

He had brought a weapon, of course. He was in the military. But using it on these cougars was definitely not a good idea. They were unusual creatures that deserved to live, as long as they didn’t harm him.

Plus, they were Gwynn’s relatives.

He began to withdraw from the area more quickly.

That was when the cougar in the lead sprang toward him.

Brett had no choice. He reached beneath his shirt for his holstered pistol.

But before he could aim it, a third cougar reached them—a female that had to be Gwynn, since the fourth remained near the house. This one placed herself between the males and him, blocking them. Baring her fangs and making deep, roaring growls.

The others immediately stopped and stared, as if they didn’t believe what they saw.

And then their fury and feral nature were focused entirely on her. Both crouched as if preparing to spring on her.

Shooting was even less of an option now. He might hit Gwynn. He nevertheless had to do something to help her. To keep her safe.

Since he’d joined the military, he’d intensified his own rigorous workout regimen and added to it official fighting and self-defense techniques that were mandatory for all soldiers. Would any work on a wild cougar?

As the two advanced on a snarling Gwynn, now crouched and ready to spring back at them, Brett shouted to get their attention. If they attacked him, he would use all his resources—his wits and his training—to fight back, using his gun only as a last resort.

He would not let them harm Gwynn.

They hesitated at the noise, and that was enough for Gwynn to leap off the ground, landing on the head and shoulders of the larger, older-appearing cat. She used her claws to remain on top, and Brett saw blood appear on the other animal’s pelt.

The attack lasted only moments, and then Gwynn was off the cougar and back on the ground facing both of them and warning them with a low feline roar.

Instead of joining together and attacking her in return, the other two cougars remained still, bending their heads as if in submission. As if they acknowledged she was in charge. They bared their fangs, yet they quickly slunk away in different directions.

The cougar that was Gwynn looked him straight in the face with her gleaming, dark eyes, perhaps in challenge, or maybe just in acknowledgment of his presence.

“Thanks,” he told her. Then, very carefully, he backed into the woods.

He knew she continued to follow him until he reached the parking lot where he’d left his car and got into it. He didn’t always see her, but he heard the soft rustling of the underbrush in areas he had just vacated.

She was chasing him.

And still protecting him.

He wanted to be in a position to protect her instead. But he knew when to back off and accede to circumstances.

He would protect her in other ways. That was why he was here.

In the driver’s seat of the car, he put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine grumbled to life, and the headlights switched on automatically.

There, standing before him, was a gorgeous, sleekly tan cougar with her erect, rounded ears perked high, her mouth open to reveal her teeth yet again. This time, she looked triumphant.

The moon had disappeared below the horizon.

Gwynn’s shifting back to human form was finally over.

She was near her family home, in the parking lot where she had last seen Brett drive off. Nude, of course. The chill mountain wind of morning reminded her of that as it circled her, stirring the leaves on the trees surrounding the clearing.

Standing still, she listened for a moment to ensure she heard no indication that there were other shifters near enough to sense. She also listened for Brett and his car.

No, he had left. As he should have.

As always, she retained memories of all that happened when she was shifted, recollections of what her senses had experienced, not the rest of her brain, since she was all cougar during her change.

Last night she had definitely added to those sensory recollections.

She recalled that Brett had tried to intervene when the cougars that were her father and brother had attempted to attack him and she had confronted them. They had turned on her, and Brett had attempted to protect her. But she instead attacked them and, in their surprise, they had been the ones to surrender and run.

Or so she believed, if the memory visions in her head were accurate.

At least she hadn’t seen them again all night, although she had stayed in the trees and followed Brett’s car for a while to make sure he remained safe.

What if Brett had been right? That under other circumstances she would have had more complete, comprehensive, memories.

That Alpha Force military unit members had a way of retaining their human awareness and cognitive abilities while shifted. That they could rationally determine what to do while in animal form.

Could use the ability to shift in ways she could only imagine.

Not the way her family did.

Despite living together in so dysfunctional a way, her family members usually separated immediately after shifting on the night of a full moon. But last night the men had apparently decided to attack Brett together.

Her family had known about Brett’s presence in the area and around her. They had determined to attack him in unison, as rare as working together while shifted was for them.

They probably hadn’t imagined she would dare to intervene.

Well, neither had she—before. But she couldn’t allow them to harm Brett.

And he had attempted to protect her, too.

Even in shifted form, her mind fully engaged as a cougar, she had known what she had to do. That made her proud.

Her family was not used to Gwynn taking a stand of any kind. No, they had learned, by her behavior all these years—including returning home believing she had no other choice—to mean that she was as submissive as her mother was, willing to obey the men in the family.

And now?

It was time for her to go back to her house and get ready for this day of school teaching.

And to see how her family reacted to her this morning.

“Everything okay?” Brett knew that Gwynn had been aware of his presence from the moment he walked into her classroom that Friday afternoon. He was dressed in nice civilian clothes that went well with her professional outfit of blouse and skirt.

He wished he could pull all attire off both of them.

He hadn’t realized what a turn-on her shapeshifting could be, until what had happened last night.

“It’s fine.” Her smile appeared almost radiant, the most genuine smile he had seen on her since he had shown up around her home.

Except for those smiles, of course, that had resulted from their lovemaking…

But he realized only too well that this wasn’t the time to focus on that. He needed answers from her.

“I’m glad,” he said. “So, I’ve arranged a military transport for us first thing tomorrow morning. Will that work for you?”

Before she could answer, a student came in carrying some paperwork that she clearly needed to deal with. Brett faded to the side of the classroom to watch her.

He had purposely stayed far away from Gwynn all day, knowing she would be teaching and wouldn’t appreciate his interference.

But early that morning, when the moon was no longer in the sky, he had sneaked back to her house to watch her leave for the day—and to satisfy his concerns that she was okay, that her family hadn’t harmed her over what had transpired the night before.

He’d hated that, although he’d tried, he hadn’t found her again last night or been able to follow her to ensure her safety. But he believed that she was in charge after her confrontation with her family.

He also believed that the usual wild feline mentality would keep her safely solitary for the rest of that night.

And now? Now, he was happy to be back with her. To reassure himself that she was, indeed, okay.

And to torment himself with wanting her. She seemed so relaxed. So…well, hot.

He knew now that his intention of having sex with her only one more time had been a joke. Given a choice, he’d want her in his bed every night from now on.

But it was premature to even hope that. Especially without knowing how she felt about leaving here and checking out Alpha Force.

The student finally left. Gwynn walked over to the side of the room where he stood.

“You asked about this weekend.”

He nodded.

“Last night—actually, this morning—I had a real confrontation, a human one, with my family.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out and taking her slim hands into his larger ones. “Because of your saving me?” He kept his voice low, not that there was anyone around who could hear them.”

“Exactly. And because they dared to attack you. But even then—well, thanks for coming to my defense when they turned on me. But I could have handled it.”

“You did handle it,” he acknowledged lightly, even as his heart sank. Would she tell him now to get lost, that she didn’t want any further disputes with her parents and brother?

“Yes, I did. Then and later.” She was smiling now. “I have a lot more to tell you about how I get along with my family, but you’ve seen some of it firsthand. The only time I’ve ever gone against them before was when I left home, and then I wound up coming back. They were sure that I would remain subservient to them forever.”

She looked so excited that he wanted to kiss her. It took a lot of effort to keep reminding himself that they were still in a middle-school classroom and kids could pop in at any moment.

“But you’re not.” He didn’t make that a question. “Does that mean…?”

“It means I’m going with you tomorrow. I want to learn all about your Alpha Force. And the idea that you have a way for me to control my shifts and how I react then.”

He couldn’t help it. He glanced around momentarily, then leaned toward her and kissed her smiling lips.

Only briefly. For now.

But he could finally believe that there might be a later.