Treasured Find (Royal Pride Book 1) (13 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Rafe ended the call and pressed his foot to the accelerator. The news Devin had delivered stirred Rafe’s anger, leaving him vibrating with rage.

Jon was in town. The male who’d kidnapped Nina and killed their father.

Rafe didn’t want to believe it, but Devin had seen Jon’s lion. Devin recognized Jon, even if he didn’t smell him. At all. There was no heavy, lingering floral scent as had surrounded Seth and Levi or anything out of the ordinary for that matter. If Devin hadn’t gotten a visual confirmation, Jon would’ve escaped detection.

The only conclusion was that Jon was chemically masking his scent. There was only one way to do that—with the drug made exclusively for Royals. Each Royal who used it had to register with the government, providing fingerprints each time they obtained a new supply.

The general worry was that those who used the drug would take advantage of the obscurity it offered. If a shifter took enough of it, all traces of scent would be eliminated, not just their animals’ scent. It’d make them invisible…by scent at least. If they wore gloves, their identity would be nearly impossible to uncover.

They’d be able to commit crimes and get away with them.

How had Jon gotten his hands on their drug?

Rafe’s growls filled the car, warning him how very close he was to losing control. He needed to calm down, but he wouldn’t until he held Jasmine in his arms. Saw Megan. Knew they were safe.

He slowed the car and pulled behind Devin’s vehicle. A few leaves and branches remained on the road, but the uprooted tree that had caused the accident was pushed into the woods. Rafe glanced from the thick trunk to the broken and crushed bushes next to it. Josh’s SUV was sandwiched between two trees at the bottom of the small embankment. If it had hit either, the accident might’ve been worse. Possibly fatal.

He scanned the woods for Jasmine. There was no sign of her.

He jumped from his car. Her scent hit him. She was close. He followed the smell around Devin’s SUV and into the woods on the opposite side of the accident.

Rafe spotted them near a group of boulders. Megan sat on one, and Devin was crouched on the ground in front of her, but it was the sight of Josh with his arms around Jasmine that brought out Rafe’s primal side.

His cats snarled and slammed into him, demanding to be set free. Their possessiveness fed Rafe’s. His talons punched out.

He quickened his pace, and Devin moved closer to Jasmine and Josh.

“Back off, Devin.”

Devin shook his head and blocked Rafe with his body. “Not with that look on your face.”

Rafe took in Devin’s widened stance and hands held loosely at his sides. He blew out a slow breath. “Jazz is in no danger from me.”

“It’s not your female I’m worried about.”

Rafe glanced at Jasmine. Her guarded expression helped him rein in his temper. She didn’t trust him. The truth was stamped on to her face. Why would she? She’d just discovered the male she’d allowed into her body was a shifter.

“Jasmine, come here.” Rafe pointed to the spot in from of him.

Josh pushed her behind him. “No. Jazz isn’t going to you.”

“Yes. She is. We need to talk.”

“Do it from over there.”

That was it. Rafe strode forward. One way or another, he would hold her. He needed her scent in his lungs. It was the only way to calm his cats who demanded Josh be put in his place.

“Stop it, both of you. I’m coming.” She ducked under Josh’s arm and walked to Rafe. “You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you the truth.”

“It’s how you look at it, right?”

“Yes.”

She sighed and shook her head. “What’s going on? Who is that crazy guy who just tried to kill us?”

Rafe glanced from Jasmine to Megan. “I promise to explain everything, but not now.” He blew out a breath. “I know it’s asking a lot, but I need you to trust me.”

“I’m willing to listen to you.”

But she didn’t trust him. Was that what she implied? No. He needed her trust, especially with Jon in town.

“I sent Kade to guard your boys and had Devin watching over Megan. If I’d meant to take the kids, I could’ve at any time.” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s what you were afraid of. That’s why you left me this morning. Isn’t it?”

“Do you blame me?”

“No, I don’t, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth.”

“I was going to call. I just needed…”

“To make sure your kids were safe.”

She nodded.

He held his hand out to her. “Come here. I want to hold you.”

She walked closer. The moment she was within arm’s reach, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tucked her against his chest. “What happened at the hotel?”

“I called the boys and—”

“In the lobby.” The reason she’d left him was important too, but her safety came first.

She tipped her head to glance into his face. “Some guy gave me a hard time.”

“Hard time? Yeah, he was trying to force…” Josh glanced at Megan. “He wouldn’t leave Jazz alone.”

Rafe met Josh’s gaze. The unspoken clarification was stamped on his expression. The guy had harassed Jasmine. Touched her. “You made sure he did leave her alone?”

Josh’s sharp nod answered him.

His tiger’s snarl echoed in Rafe’s head. He blocked it out. The aggression wouldn’t do him any good after the fact. Neither would regret. All he could do was focus on the outcome—Jasmine was safe.
No thanks to me.

“What did he look like?” Rafe asked.

“Brown hair. Brown eyes. Built. Maybe in his late forties.” Josh shrugged. “He was shorter than me. Five-ten, maybe.”

Josh’s description could’ve been any number of humans, but the timing suggested Jon had been the one who’d touched Jasmine.

Jasmine had been in Jon’s grasp. He could’ve killed her before Rafe even knew a threat existed. Rafe pillowed his head on hers and lowered his voice. “He held you. As close as I am now. Then tried to hurt you.”

“The…the shifter Devin scared away? It was him?” She tilted her head. “The guy from the hotel.”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Do you know him?”

“Yes.”

And Rafe would make sure Jon didn’t get a second chance at Jasmine. The bastard would try too. He’d hated Rafe a century years ago, simply because Rafe had been born a Royal. Only, Rafe hadn’t known the extent of Jon’s hatred until it was too late.

The conversation that night Jon had beheaded Rafe’s father had started innocently enough. Jon had found his first gray hair. At four hundred, he’d begun to age and wanted to stop the natural process. Jon had brought up the mating laws involving Royals. It was widely known that when a male Royal mated a human or single shifter female, she shared in her mate’s immortality. Jon had wondered if it worked the same for a female Royal and a male human or single shifter.

Rafe had told Jon not to get any ideas. It’d been tried several times. All resulted in the male’s death.

Jon had gotten angry. He’d said the gods had forsaken the single shifters. That it wasn’t fair to favor the Royals over them. He deserved immortality too.

He’d stormed off, but not before he wished Rafe would get to experience his share of death, even if would never be his own. Jon had made good on his promise too.

Devin cleared his throat, pulling Rafe out of his grim thoughts. “We should go.”

“Yes.” Rafe tucked Jasmine into his side and led the way back to their cars. “Let’s go collect your boys.”

At the roadside, he picked up the purple car seat that sat on the ground next to Devin’s vehicle and walked toward Rafe’s SUV.

“No,” Megan said with a shake of her head. She planted little fists on her hips and glared at Rafe, then faced Josh. “I’m not going with him.” She motioned behind her. “He didn’t talk nice to you. I don’t like that.”

“You don’t have to go with him.” Josh yanked the seat from Rafe’s hands and handed it to Devin.

“No biggie, kid. You can ride with me.” Devin crouched in front of Megan. He held up the car seat. “Do you know how this thing works?”

“Let me help.” Jasmine pushed away from Rafe.

Josh stepped next to Rafe while Jazz installed the car seat. “Let me make this very clear. Devin explained briefly what we’re up against. After what happened today, I know I’m out of my element. That doesn’t mean I’ll blindly trust you or your friends.”

“You have no choice but to trust us.”

Josh snorted. “Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” He leveled a hard look at Rafe. “Betray me, and I will find a way to destroy you.”

Rafe nodded and matched the warning glare. “Then here is your warning—come between me and Jasmine, and I will destroy you.”

A grin spread over Josh’s face that didn’t reach his eyes. “I won’t have to. She’ll come to me the first time you piss her off.”

Jasmine glanced between them. “Everything okay?”

Josh smacked Rafe on the back. “Sure. Just some male bonding.”

Rafe bit back the growl. He held a hand out to Jasmine. She took it without hesitation. He flashed Josh a pleased smile. Josh scowled, and Rafe chuckled.

“If the two of you are done”—Devin stepped next to them—“I’m going to go pick up Kade and the cubs so we can get out of this godforsaken town.”

“What?” Jasmine looked between them. “You’re not taking my boys anywhere.”

“It’s too dangerous here. The children will be safer back at our place,” Devin reasoned.

“No!” She fisted Rafe’s shirt. “Please, don’t let him take my boys.”

He ran a hand over her loose hair. “You’re coming too. I’m not leaving without you.”

She stepped back. “Excuse me?”

“You’re moving home with me.” He looked to where Josh stood near Megan. The little girl met Rafe’s gaze. She might only be a child, but her protective instincts were strong. Definitely a dominant. There’d be no splitting her from her human family. “Josh will have to come to.”

“I am not moving anywhere and neither is Josh.” She waved an arm out to indicate the road next to them. “This is our home. We both have businesses here. Friends.”

“You’ve attracted the attention of an evil man. Even if we don’t catch him, you and your kids will always be in danger.” Rafe mimicked her encompassing wave. “This backwoods town is the only reason you were able to live unnoticed by the shifter community, but now you’ve been spotted. You won’t survive the week without my pride’s protection.”

“No.” Jasmine arms crossed over her chest. “I am not moving anywhere.”

Rafe sighed. “Be realistic—”

“I am. I only met you a few days ago. That’s not long enough for me to blindly give up everything for you or to put my boys’ lives completely in your hands.”

“But you’re in danger.”

“I understand that, and if it was only me, I’d leave with you. It’s not. I need to make sure you’re not more of a risk to Seth and Levi than we’d face if we just took off, destination unknown.”

“And while you’re making that decision, you’ll be at risk.”

“Then you can stay here and protect us. I won’t just leave with you.” She dropped her arms and took a step forward. “End of discussion. Those are your choices.”

“Kade won’t like it,” Devin chimed in.

No, Kade wouldn’t, but what was Rafe supposed to do? Sure, he could move them by force. They wouldn’t be able to stop him. Once they were back in Virginia, Jasmine would realize he wasn’t a threat to her or her kids.

Not only did his small family reside there, the largest Royal wolf pack in States called it home. No shifter would dare attack them, not even Jon.

Jasmine would also hate Rafe for taking her choice away.

A day or two here wouldn’t hurt. He was confident he could protect her, and as long as the kids were with Devin or Kade, there’d be nothing to worry about. They were stronger than Jon, and if Rafe brought in his brothers to help hunt Jon, they might just be able to punish Jon and find Nina.

“Okay, we’ll try it your way.”

Her breath rushed out, and she grinned. “Thank you.”

He gave her hand a squeeze, then faced Devin. “Call and see if any of my brothers can come down.”

Devin nodded and glanced at Megan. “I’ll ask Mira to come too. She’s good with kids.”

Rafe studied his friend carefully. “Are you sure? You usually don’t allow her around humans.”

“I’m hoping being around Megan and the other cubs will give her some ideas. She’s been alone too long.”

Rafe closed his eyes against the sadness that statement brought. “We can hope.”

“Who is Mira?” Josh strode closer to Devin. “And why isn’t she allowed near humans?”

“My twin.” Devin faced him. “And humans aren’t trustworthy.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jazz waited until Josh got Megan settled in Devin’s vehicle before focusing on Rafe. “Start talking. I want to know who you really are.”

“My name really is Rafe Alexander.” He turned in his seat to face her. “I assist a special unit of the government that retrieves shifters who’ve been kidnapped and prosecutes those who deal in shifter trafficking.”

Shifter trafficking?

And he’d come to town to follow up on a missing person. Gathering information, he’d told her that. Had the government found out about the fake birth certificates she had for Seth and Levi?

“How can I trust that you’re with this special unit and not feeding me a line?”

He grumbled but dug out his wallet, folded it in half, exposing an ID, and handed it to her.

Rafe Alexander, S A D Field Liaison.

“Shifter Affairs Department,” Rafe said. “In case you were wondering about the title. I’m not an agent, just a shifter who’s been trained to do field work. I have limited privileges and don’t get paid, but I’m a point of contact in any feline-related issues in this section of the country.”

She nodded her appreciation and scrutinized the rest of the badge. It had an official-looking hieroglyphic on it, and the main address was listed in Washington. She turned it around, studied the glyph in the light, then glanced from the picture to him. It looked official. Real.

It made perfect sense the government would have a group that policed shifters. Someone must’ve raided the warehouse where she’d been kept. The morning after she’d escaped, a fire was reported to have leveled a large section of the industrial facility where it was located. The men running it wouldn’t have willingly burned it and lost all the experimental facilities there.

Jazz handed the card back. Time for the tough questions. “Okay, fine. Now why were you here in the first place?”

He held his hand out to her, palm up. She stared at it a moment before placing hers in it. He tightened his fingers around her hand.

“We were alerted to Megan’s adoption and came down to investigate. We arrived the evening I saw you at the bar. The fire had already claimed Tony’s life, and I’d worried it wasn’t an accident. That Tony was murdered, and Megan was gone. When Devin found Megan safe, I was free to focus on you.”

“Focus on me?”

“I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

The lust in his gaze set her on fire. She glanced at where his fingers were twined with hers. “It wasn’t deliberate, then? You weren’t just trying to get information on my boys.”

He tipped her chin toward him. “I didn’t know about your boys until you mentioned them. I touched you because I needed to. You caught my attention.” He rubbed his thumb over the corner of her lips. “You still have it. You’ve mesmerized me, Jasmine.”

His words brought back all the warm feelings she’d experienced the night before. She swayed closer to him, but stopped herself from taking the kiss she desired. There were more important things than her emotions.

“And now? Do you still think the fire was an accident?”

He released her and ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair. “I don’t know. The fire chief seems to think Tony’s death was an accident. Part of me agrees. If it had been Jon, why didn’t he go after Megan as soon as Tony was out of the picture?”

“Jon is the shifter who caused the accident?”

“Yes, and I don’t ever want you to fall into his hands.”

The hard expression Rafe wore didn’t invite questions, but she needed to know what they were up against. “How do you know him?”

His nostrils flared. “He’s the one who took my sister.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, unsure what else to say.

He laid a hand on her thigh. “As long as you are with me, he won’t make a move. He’s not stupid, which is why we haven’t caught him yet. He knows coming at me head-on is suicide. He’ll sit and wait for us to leave you unattended. Same with your kids, but I won’t. You’re safe with me, and this time I
will
catch him.”

Seth and Levi. Of course Jon would want to get his hands on them too.

“Do you think Jon knows about them? My boys?”

“If he doesn’t, it won’t take him long to figure it out.”

She nibbled on her lower lip. Was she wrong to be cautious where Rafe and his family were concerned? Maybe she should go with him?

But one night of passion and a few minutes of honesty aren’t enough to base decisions on that involve my kids.

No. Waiting was the right thing to do. She had to be sure.

Rafe sighed. “You also need to know that you’re in as much danger as your boys. Jon knows you’re important to me. He’ll come after you for that reason alone. To take you from me.”

She swept her gaze over the woods surrounding them. No lion. No glowing brown eyes. He was gone, but the way he’d looked at her in the hotel scared her. He’d be back.

She shifted in her seat and studied Rafe, looking for any clue that what he was telling her was false. Hoping for it, maybe.

“You really think he’ll come after us with you here?”

“Yes. He hates my family, me especially.”

“Why you?”

“He took an interest in my sister.”

“And you got between them?”

“Not exactly, but he blames me for his fate because I’m the one who made him face it.”

“Which was?”

“That he could never be with her, and if he loved her, he’d leave her alone.”

“Why couldn’t they get involved?”

“Because a single shifter male was meant to mate a single shifter female. No one else. Breaking that rule hurts everyone involved. It’s not fair, but many things about our lives aren’t.”

“Jon wouldn’t accept that and took your sister anyway.”

“Yes.”

“I’m assuming she didn’t want to go with him.”

He shook his head. “My sister had already met the male she wanted to spend her life with, but he was waiting until she got a little older to make it official. He still searches for her, but every year that passes dims his hope of finding her.”

Rafe’s features tightened, and his voice lowered. “Jon knew that. He didn’t care. He wanted what being with her could give him, but it’s physically impossible. When I’d pointed that out, he mentioned that there were scientists working on solving our species’ limitations. That if he waited long enough, nothing would stop him. I told him to go cool off. That he was being a fool, and those so-called scientists were getting their data by experimenting on women and children. Within an hour, he was gone, along with my sister.”

“That’s horrible.”

Rafe snorted. “Yes, yes, it is.”

The haunted look on his face chilled her. She hadn’t meant to upset him with her questions. Time to redirect the conversation. “So you came for Megan. What were your plans for her?”

“Honestly, I don’t have an answer, but it’s not our intention to rip families apart. We do what’s best for all involved. Often, these kids are skittish, afraid of humans and shifters. First we make sure they’re safe, then we sit back and evaluate the situation to decide on our next steps.”

A wave of relief swept over her, and the last bit of unease faded. She blew out a rough breath. “Okay. What happens now?”

“We’re going to catch Jon, then help you, Josh and the kids, but I can’t have you running off. You need to stay with me so I can protect you. Do you understand?”

“I’m not stupid.”

“I’m not implying you are, but you need to realize even going to the grocery store by yourself is a bad idea.”

She rubbed at her pounding temples. “Protect me. Yes, okay. I understand. I don’t go anywhere by myself.”

“Good. Now don’t worry. You and your kids will be fine. I’m going to catch Jon. He won’t ever threaten you again. I promise you.”

Devin’s car pulled out, and Rafe followed him.

She forced her fingers to unclench. “Worry is what I do. I’m a mother.”

Rafe glanced at her, then back at the road. “How exactly did you come to be the mother of feline shifters?”

She considered telling Rafe the truth, but she didn’t want to upset him more. He was already protective of her. If he knew she’d spent time inside an experimental center, even if had only been for a couple of hours, he’d flip out. She didn’t want to chance that while driving. One accident was enough. Her heart couldn’t take another.

Once they made it to her house and the boys were safe, she’d tell Rafe everything. He’d have questions, no doubt. Lots of them. He’d also need her comfort. After the story he’d shared, it be too easy to imagine his sister locked away in a warehouse too.

“I found them behind a Dumpster.” At least that much was true. Sort of.

She had huddled there with Seth and Levi’s mother after they’d gotten out of their cells. It was then that Jazz had learned she was the only one leaving.

“They were babies?”

“Yes.” A couple of days old. If Jazz hadn’t run with them, they would’ve been taken away the following morning. For experiments.

“So you took them?”

“Yes. I knew they weren’t quite…normal, so I kept them.”

“How did you know they were different? Multi-animal shifters don’t shift until after their first birthday.”

The day she’d walked into their bedroom and found a tiger cub in one crib and a lion in the other was one she’d never forget. Shell-shocked was putting it mildly. After a year of taking care of normal babies and all the joys and pains that went with it, she’d hadn’t known what to do. Their birth mother had never gone into specifics of what raising shifters would entail.

Jazz had sat down in the middle of the safari-decorated room and cried. When Levi, in his little lion form, started whimpering, she’d gone to him. It had taken patience, along with plenty of trial and error, but she’d ended up with two amazing kids, if she did say so herself.

“Your boys. What made you think they were different?” Rafe asked again, pulling her back to the present.

“Their eyes glowed.”

Rafe studied her for so long she feared they’d have a repeat of the accident from earlier in the morning, but he finally faced the road.

“They must’ve been only days old. It’s odd that their mother wasn’t around.”

“I don’t know what happened to her.” But she did. Seth and Levi’s mother had slipped back into the warehouse to save as many other prisoners as she could. After that, though? Jazz had no clue. No bodies were recovered from the fire that had leveled the industrial facility.

Rafe’s nostrils flared, and his hand tightened on the steering wheel. The tips of claws pushed from the ends of his fingers. No blood flowed. His skin curled on itself and the sharpened nails slipped free.

The sight of them sped her pulse. She scrambled as far from him as the confines of the car would allow. He glanced at her and cursed. He breathed roughly for a few moments, but finally, the claws retracted, and the tension in his limbs eased.

“I would never hurt you. Do not be afraid of me.”

“I can’t help it when you start to go all furry on me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. That’s the last thing I want, but I can tell you’re keeping details from me. Don’t. No matter what they are, we need to face them.”

She dipped her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that so much has happened today.”

“I know.” He caressed her thigh, a gentle show of comfort that made her feel like a jerk for thinking the worst of him.

Thankfully, they turned down the road leading to Mr. Wilkins’ house. Guilt and sadness choked her, and tears burned her eyes. Five years had passed, but she still bawled sometimes when she remembered that night. If she started crying, she might not stop. No way would she allow that. Her boys were close. For them, she tried her best to be strong. To be their everything—nurturer, disciplinarian and protector.

She turned her attention to the shaded yard. Mr. Wilkins, a stout man in his sixties with gray hair, sharp eyes and gravelly voice from years of smoking, sat on the Adirondack chair on his front porch. A rifle rested on his lap, and Peggy Sue and Bobby Rae, his older Rottweilers, lay on each side of his chair. The other three big dogs were across the porch as far as they could get from Kade.

He slowly turned his head and locked his gaze with hers. Her breath caught. It was obvious Rafe and Kade were identical twins, but with shorter hair and a hard glint to his eyes, Kade reminded her of a predator. Had she seen him at the bar instead of Rafe, she would’ve slunk away and run as soon as she was out of sight.

The car stopped. Rafe got out. A moment later, he opened her door and held a hand out. She didn’t move. Kade still had his unblinking gaze locked to hers. Rafe leaned close and blocked him from view.

“Don’t be afraid of Kade. His bark is worse than his bite.”

Rafe grinned as if amused by his choice of words. She might’ve been too if her heart weren’t beating so hard.

“If you say so.”

“I do. Come on.”

Rafe tucked her into his side the moment she got out of his SUV, but they didn’t walk toward the house. Rafe and Kade stared at each other for a long moment. She glanced between them. She was sure there was some significance to the display. No doubt it involved her, but she couldn’t guess what. Their faces remained blank, giving her no sign of emotion to judge by. Finally, both turned away at the same time.