Van, Becca - Alpha Panthers [Terra-form 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

April moved off of the trail just in time to see a great, lumbering bear meandering down the track. She couldn’t believe her overactive imagination had been partially right. Her heart sped up and began to thump in her chest, her breathing escalated, and she quietly scanned the trees nearby. She just hoped that the bear couldn’t climb, because that was what she was going to do. She grabbed the lowest limb of a tree, which was about chest height. She kicked her legs up and ended up clinging to the branch upside down. She used all the strength she had, which thankfully was enhanced by adrenaline, and swung one leg up and over the branch until it was behind her bent knee. She used her arms and began pulling herself upright. By the time she had her breath back, she was able to look down and nearly squealed with fright. The big, brown bear was sitting down below, watching her and sniffing the air.

April didn’t stop to think. She clung to the bark on the tree trunk, pulled herself to her feet, and began to climb the tree limbs. Higher and higher she went, until she knew the massive bear wouldn’t be able to reach her. She made the mistake of looking down and felt herself teeter when she saw how far away the ground was. She clutched the smaller branch at chest height, and wrapped her arms around it. She was too scared to move. She had her eyes closed and couldn’t look down again. She knew vertigo would take over and she would fall if she did. April had always been afraid of heights, but the thought of being ripped apart and ending up the bear’s dinner had been more frightening.

April had no idea how long she had been up in the tree, but the loud, deep voice of a man below made her flinch with fear.

“You can come down now. I’m not going to hurt you,” the male voice called.

“Go away,” April’s voice wavered in reply.

“Now, don’t be like that. I just want to help you. Are you lost? Where is your family?”

“Please, just leave me alone.”

“Come on, now. You can’t stay up there all day and night. Do you want me to come and get you?”

“No! Oh God, please.”

“Please what, honey?”

“Please…help me down?”

“What are you afraid of?”

“Heights. Okay. I’m scared to death of heights.”

“Then what are you doing up there?”

“There was a big bear. I didn’t want to end up being its dinner,” April replied with a whimper.

“Don’t move, honey. I’m coming up. What’s your name?”

“April.”

“Okay, April, I’m Ben Koku. I’ll have you back down on the ground before you know it. What were you doing wandering around in the forest alone? Where are your mates?”

“I don’t have any mates. I don’t belong here at all. I was just trying to find my way back home. I don’t even know where I am, or how I got here.”

“Easy there, honey. Everything will be all right. Are you sure you don’t have any mates?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“Well, which is it? Yes or no?” Ben asked as he climbed.

“Well, since I don’t belong here, am not from this part of the world, then no, I don’t believe I have any mates.”

“That’s not really an honest answer, is it, April?” Ben asked from the branch below her.

* * * *

The sight of the small female wandering in the forest alone had surprised Ben. The fact that she had been scared of his beast alerted him to the fact she was definitely not from their world. He wondered how she had arrived here.

“I’m going to come up on your branch now, honey. Then I’ll get you down. Don’t you worry about a thing, all right? I’ll have you safe on the ground in no time at all,” Ben stated, lifting himself up to the next branch with ease.

When he was standing behind April, he scented the claim her mates had made on her skin, but he didn’t want to contradict her until he had her safely back on the ground. She was such a little thing. She barely reached his chest. Ben wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her when she turned her head to look at him. The sight of her sky-blue eyes, looking into his own, knocked the breath right out of him. She was so beautiful. She had creamy white skin and long, golden hair. Her scent was of vanilla and honey, which drew his beast to the surface. He had to physically wrestle his beast back down to stop it from taking over. He didn’t want to scare the little female more than he already had.

“I’m going to hold on to you real tight, but I want you to turn around and face me. I need to get you onto my back, so I can get you down from here. Okay?” Ben asked quietly, breathing in her delectable scent. He felt his cock harden in his pants and knew he was in deep trouble. This little female was his mate, and by the scent near both sides of her neck, she had already been claimed by the two Alpha panthers. Shit, what was he going to do? He sniffed more deeply, but couldn’t smell their seed on her. They hadn’t had sex with her yet. Maybe he could persuade her to mate with him, as well. Once a mate bit his woman and then made love to her, there was no chance of anyone else claiming her. But since they hadn’t planted their seed into her yet, Ben knew he could claim her, just as the two Alpha panthers had. He hoped like hell they didn’t come looking for her before he got the chance.

April whimpered as she moved around carefully on the large tree branch. Ben held her tightly around the waist to keep her safe. He maneuvered her until she was standing in front of him, and he now had his back to the tree trunk. He made sure he had his balance and then let his other hand, holding on to another branch, release his hold. He picked April up into his arms, swung her around onto his back, and had to hold in a chuckle as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He heard her whimper as he began to climb down the tree.

“Keep your eyes closed, honey, that way you won’t get vertigo and feel ill. I’ll have you down in no time.” Ben gave one of her thighs a quick, soothing rub.

Ben was three quarters of the way down the tree when he heard the roar of two furious Alpha panthers. He knew, without a doubt, they were on the prowl for their female and would also have any others of the panther clan out looking. Ben stopped, blowing out a breath of frustration. He was going to have to bite April now, to lay claim to her, as well, or he would never get the chance. He didn’t want to scare her, though. He could already feel her trembling at the fury audible in the Alpha panthers’ growls.

“That was them, wasn’t it? They’re looking for me. I don’t know what to do. I just want to go home,” April sobbed.

Ben sat down on the large branch he was standing on, pulled April around off his back, and sat her down on his lap so she was straddling him. She clutched her arms around his neck and cried in earnest. Her tears were heart wrenching. He wanted to wrap her up and take her away, but knew he would be in deep shit if he did. He ran a large hand up and down her back, soothing her, until she finally gave a last hiccup and stopped crying.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cry all over you.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, honey. You obviously had a lot of tension stored up you needed to get rid of. Now, I want you to listen to me, but don’t interrupt until I’ve finished. We don’t have much time before your mates are going to be here. I won’t ever hurt you, so please don’t be frightened of what I tell you, okay?” Ben asked.

* * * *

April gave Ben a tentative nod and looked up into his liquid brown eyes. He had the kind of eyes a person could drown in. He was such a handsome man. His dark-brown hair and whiskered cheeks and chin only added extra appeal. He had a warm, muscular chest and arms, and his thighs were small tree trunks, which rippled beneath her ass as he moved. His scent was so masculine she held her breath and kept it in her lungs as long as possible before she released it. April had no idea what was happening to her, but she was so horny she wanted to rip Ben’s pants down and impale herself on his cock. She was turning into a nymphomaniac.

“I’m the bear you were scared of, honey. I wasn’t going to hurt you. I was just curious. I wanted to find out who you were. Your scent drew me to you, April. You’re my mate, as well,” Ben explained.

“No. No. Oh shit. Let me go. Ben, please? I can’t do this. I want to go home.”

“April, listen to me, honey. Gage and Saxon will be here any minute. Will you let me claim you, as well? I can help you with those two Alpha panthers, especially Gage. He can be a real hard-ass. Saxon can, too, but I’m a lot more easygoing than they are. I think it’s because I’m of the bear clan. We tend to be a lot more laid back than the panther clan. What do you say, honey? Will you let me claim you, too?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know how to handle one man, let alone two or three. Shit, I just don’t know,” April breathed out. Her life was beyond her control. She’d had two men claim her already, without her permission. How the hell could she cope with another one? At least he was asking, instead of just taking, the way Gage and Saxon had.

A low growl below them caused April to jump and shriek. She looked down to see two large black panthers staring at her through golden, glowing eyes. They were both pissed, and April knew that was an understatement. They were so furious she could almost see fire shooting out of their eyes at her and Ben.

“Answer, April. Now,” Ben whispered quietly in her ear.

“Yes,” April replied without looking at Ben. She was so scared of what she saw in one of the panther’s eyes she began to shake. She just hoped letting Ben claim her, as well, was the right thing to do.

* * * *

Ben leaned his head down and sniffed at April’s shoulder. He called on his beast and let his teeth elongate, then bit into her shoulder next to where one of the panthers had claimed her. He licked the drops of blood from her wound and groaned out loud as the taste of her life force erupted onto his taste buds. His cock throbbed and hardened even more in his pants. He had to struggle with his beast until he had it pushed back down and he was once more in control.

The roar of two panthers pulled him back to his surroundings, and he knew he was going to have a fight on his hands. He was about to place April safely on the tree limb then climb down to confront his two friends, but they beat him to it. They leapt up and were on the tree branch on either side of him and April before he could blink. He knew they wouldn’t put April in danger, so he was quite happy to stay where he was for the moment.

He watched as Gage and Saxon changed back to human form. Gage reached over to April and plucked her out of Ben’s arms. He heard her whimper with fear as she literally flew through the air but stopped when she landed on Gage’s naked lap.

“What the fuck do you think you were doing, Ben? You knew we’d claimed April first. You had no right to claim her, as well!” Gage growled.

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, buddy. I asked April. I actually gave her a choice, not like some others around here. Her answer was yes,” Ben replied.

“Is that true, April?” Gage asked. Ben saw Gage place a large finger beneath her chin, raising her face to his.

“Yes,” April replied belligerently. But she was clinging to Gage with her arms and legs, still afraid of being off the ground. Ben wanted her back in his arms so he could offer her comfort but knew Gage wouldn’t relent in his present mood.

“Why? Why did you do that? You belong to us.” Gage growled.

“I belong to no one. I am my own person. I am not a prize to be fought over. I am a human being with feelings. You scared the hell out of me, Gage. You and Saxon marked me, claimed me, without my consent. What are you going to do next? Are you going to offer me up to have sex with the rest of your men? I can’t believe you made me enjoy what you did to me. I don’t even know you. Now get me out of this fucking tree before I scream,” April yelled.

“Honey, calm down. I don’t want you falling. Come here and I’ll get you down,” Ben said, holding his arms out to her.

Ben heard April sob and saw her push against Gage’s chest, trying to get him to release her. He nearly laughed at her feistiness when Gage he didn’t let go. She punched him on the chest as hard as she could, but it didn’t seem to faze Gage at all. By the way she shook her hand, Ben could tell she only ended up hurting her own knuckles. April held her arms out to Ben, and he pulled her over to his lap, challenging Gage with his glare. Ben swung her over onto his back and began the rest of the climb down to the ground.

Once they were on the ground again, Ben swung April around into his arms, cradling her against his chest, trying to comfort her. He knew it was going to be a fight to get her, Gage, and Saxon together, but he was determined to make it happen. He intended to woo April and then bring Gage and Saxon into their relationship. He knew he was going to have his work cut out. He would need to get Gage and Saxon alone and explain his plans. He had a feeling he could use Saxon, as well, in trying to tame their mate, since she had only said Gage had scared her. She didn’t seem adverse to Gage’s younger brother. In fact, if he was correct, and he knew he was, April was covertly watching the two Alphas from the panther clan, and from what he could see, she was looking at them with hunger in her eyes.

Chapter Four

April was outraged to find herself back where she had virtually started. She was back in the room of the palatial mansion, with the huge canopied bed and luxurious bathroom. If it wasn’t for the fact she now had food, water, and the amenities she so desperately needed, she would have thrown a temper tantrum the size of a mountain.