Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) (30 page)

The miles fell away quickly though, and Bella started to get antsy as they all got closer to home.

She berated herself for leaving home in the first place, since everyone following her left the house unprotected except for Naythan. But on the other hand, she knew that if they hadn't gone to Patty's, they would never have learned that her grandmother may not have been raped by a shifter after all, and that her grandfather might very well still be alive, and part of the group of lions that were reigning terror on the castle, planning to kill the king, and sending lionesses out to kill Bane, and Keelyn as well.

Bella wondered if the lion named Ace at the castle was in fact her grandfather, and if so, did he realize that the lionesses sent to kill Bane were also after his granddaughter, and that a third granddaughter was a lion, like himself.

Her brain swam with it all.

She was still quite shocked at how quickly she had gone from someone who hated shifters and wanted nothing to do with any of them, to someone related to them, in love with one of them, and now riding one, racing to defend her home from still more of them.

In love with one of them?

She let her mind linger there, for just a bit.

Mac had taken her heart by storm, and already she couldn't imagine her life without him in it.

The night they had shared in the hayloft, just hours before, she knew she'd remember forever. Mac had been kind and gentle, letting her take the lead in what she counted as her first time.

She'd decided that she wasn't going to count Sammy, since that hadn't been her choice, but that she would nurture the memory of Mac and the hayloft any time memories of Sammy came back. She was determined to heal and thrive after Sammy, and to become a survivor, not a victim.

She knew it would take more than just a decision to actually be able to move on, and that there would be many conversations in her future, with Mac, and with the rest of her family, to really put him behind her, but she was determined to do so, for her and Mac's sake, but mostly for the sake of the baby she was carrying.

She had decided to not only keep the baby, but to love it, as she knew she was already beginning to. She was grateful that her grandmother had kept Enid, and she couldn't imagine not existing herself, or not having any of her sisters, so she was finally at peace with keeping the child she carried, as the child was not only half her, but it carried pieces of her mother and grandmother within it as well, and she could no longer imagine giving a child of her blood up for anyone else to raise.

She was determined that her half of the genes, along with Mac, Bane and the others to help raise it, could overcome whatever its father was, since he was, after all, only human.

She didn't want to become her mother, bitter and angry, and she hoped that she could also help her mother, too. Maybe finding out that there was some doubt that her grandmother was raped, as well as hopefully getting to know the shifters that now were very much a part of this family, would in time, help her mother to heal as well.

But first, Bella knew, they had to get to Enid, to tell her what they'd learned, and then to team up with Naythan, Sandra and baby Ash to head to the castle, hopefully before any stray lions found their way to Enid's.

She suddenly wondered if the group would let her go to the castle with them, or make her stay here with her mother, since she was with child.

She knew Ryker and David would go to the castle, of course. And she expected that Bane, Mac and Naythan would as well. Keelyn, she knew, would go, whether they wanted her to or not, and Bella figured Ivy would go as well, to test out her lion-ness and help out.

That left only Enid staying behind for sure, herself maybe as well, if they insisted, but no one else? Maybe Mac would stay? As shifter protection and her mate?

She knew more were needed at the castle than here, of course, but surely some would stay behind to protect Enid. She was only willing to stay behind herself because otherwise her mother would be completely alone. If not for that, she'd demand to go with the others as well.

What if her mother went to Aunt Patty's? Then they could all go to the castle. Unless it was only shifters who went, so they could travel faster, and defend the castle better?

So would all the humans stay here?

She wanted to go, to find out about her mother's past, but she knew she wasn't a lion like Ivy, or a huntress like Keelyn. She'd probably just slow everyone down, and there was the baby to consider.

As Bella tried to move everyone in her mind, like chess pieces, to determine the best and most strategic outcome for all involved, they climbed the last big rise and looked out over her home.

It was still a mile or two away, but she could see it now, and she felt better just knowing they were almost there.

A sound reached her ears just then that made her skin crawl and her heart pound faster in her chest. It was a sound she'd only heard one time before, on her way to Aunt Patty's- the sound of a big cat's roar.

She gripped Mac's fur harder with her fists, leaning down over him even more, trying to fit herself to him so he could run faster.

The last stretch home seemed to last longer than all the miles before. Ivy took off ahead of them, no longer content to stay back. Bane sped up as well, and Bella saw Keelyn reach behind her, grab her bow, and load it with an arrow, all in one quick motion.

Mac started to slow down as the others sped up, and Bella looked around, confused as to why. When he slid to a stop, and ducked down, she knew that he was telling her to get off. She started to protest, but the words died in her throat.

What good was a pregnant, non-shifting, non-were hunting human going to be in a fight against a lion? She hesitated, her longing to help at war with her rational side. It was best for her to stay here, out of the way. She knew it was so, but she was sad to admit it.

She wanted to be as much of a bad-ass as her sisters, but she wasn't. And she was pregnant, to boot.

Mac growled lightly under her, and she started to slide off of him, accepting her fate. He moved though, as if he'd changed his mind. She stayed on his back until he got close to a very large, tall tree in a thick line of other trees, and he stood slowly on his back legs. He stopped, lining himself up with a thick, strong branch high in the biggest tree, and Bella realized that he wanted her to stay there, in the tree, high up above any lions who may pass by underneath.

With a sigh, she left his back and stepped onto the branch, saying, "This sucks, Mac! I want to help. Surely I can be of some help."

He growled in response, obviously torn between wanting to soothe her, protect her and her baby, and at the same time go run in and help the others, so she just sighed and said, "Go. I get it. But it still sucks!"

He lifted a paw to her face, the thick leather pads bigger than her whole head, with his claws making it even bigger. He touched his paw to her cheeks, gently, before whining, and then dropping back to all fours.

"You be careful, too, you big beast. I just found you, you'd better come back to me in one piece!"

He looked up at her there, perched high.

She looked back down at him, angry at her own ineptness as a human, and for the first time in her whole life, wishing she too was a shifter so she could feel useful.

"Well go on then! Go save everyone while I sit here. Hey, can you Turn me? With a bite or something?" She was mostly thinking out loud, and his answering roar didn't confirm or deny if he could, or would, but it did make her say, "I was just asking. Go! I'll be here..."

"...missing everything..." she muttered as she watched Mac's big bear form run hard for her house, without her.

She cursed herself, wishing she were more like Ivy or Keelyn so she could help, as the sounds of battle reached her ears.

Occasional cat roars, Ivy's or the other one, she wasn't sure, met with what she knew was Mac's roar. The one advantage to their only being one bear in the mix was that she knew it was Mac. The wolves were quiet, but she knew wolves only made noise when they weren't in battle. They howled, pack style, when they were on the hunt, circling their prey, but in the heat of battle all growls and howls stopped, as wolves fought sleek and deadly, but mostly silent.

She wished she knew what was going on.

How long had the lion been here? Had it killed Enid, Naythan, Sandra and baby Ash, and just waited for the rest of them to come home? Surely Naythan was up to taking on a lion. Who normally wins in the wild when it's lion against wolf, she wondered? Did their human sides come into play in their animal forms? Cause if so, she'd bet on Naythan for the win. He was protecting a wife and child, the lion was just on a job. Would that have tipped the scales?

What about Ash? Could wolf cubs fight very well? Obviously he'd be no match for a lion, but could they defend themselves some? Or was Ash a sitting duck?

Had Ryker and David gotten here far enough ahead of everyone to help Naythan? If so, surly three and a half wolves were better than a lion?

And now with Ivy, Bane and Mac as well, surely the lion had no chance. So why was she still hearing lion roars? Maybe they treed that damn thing?

Oh, shit. Cats can climb trees,
she realized.
They climb trees really, really well.

She wondered if Mac had thought of that before he put her in one.

Everyone is fine. They have to be. A lion, a bear, and a few wolves can take down one lion any ole day. Right? Right?

She was more worried here, not knowing what was happening, than she would have been if she'd ridden Mac straight into the middle of it all.

As she stewed, she promised herself that she'd get Keelyn to teach her more with the bow, and to practice more with what she
was
good at, her knife, instead just assuming she'd be safe cause she lived in one place instead of traveling and hunting like Kee did.

It got quiet, no more roars reaching her ears, and she started to worry even more.

She said screw it, and found a relatively easy way to climb down, landing with a soft thump in the dirt. She had just started heading home, regardless of what Mac wanted her to do, when she heard something moving through the trees.

It was stealthy, and quick from what she could tell, but not completely silent.

Something was headed her way, and she stepped aside, putting her back against the nearest big tree, searching the woods, hoping it was one of her family members coming for her and not a lion. At least if it was a lion, she hoped it was Ivy.

It wasn't Ivy.

The lion was a darker blonde than Ivy's, and it was wounded. It wove its way through the tree line, limping. It was covered in blood, and Bella wasn't quite sure how it was still alive.

It was covered in open wounds, huge bear paw slash marks on its right shoulder, running from where its ear used to be, down its neck, and scratching over its shoulder and down its ribs. Teeth punctures and tears seemed to cover the rest of it, and it was walking with one of its back legs held up now, not putting any pressure on it anymore. It had gone from limping to kind of hopping on its one back leg.

Its eyes were wide with pain, and she heard it mewling an odd, pained purr, supposedly to help soothe itself as it escaped.

How in the hell was it still alive?

Something in her landed on the how- it was a shifter, and therefore needed its heart to be pierced to die.

Bella also remembered that shifters heal super-fast. If the lion managed to get away, it would heal quickly, and, she realized, if it managed to get this far, the others must be just as bad off, if any of them were still alive.

She hadn't heard Mac's roar in a while, and that scared her. If this beast was here, things had gone very, very wrong.

She watched as the beast got closer to her. It hadn't noticed her yet. All of its attention was probably on its own survival now that it thought it was free, but Bella knew that if it kept on its current path, it was only a matter of time before it ran right into her.

You wanted to help, here's your chance
.

Bella pulled Keelyn's old bow and arrow from behind her shoulder, and felt a sense of deja-vu as she faced down her second lion shifter in two days. Only this time, neither Ivy, nor anyone else, was around to save her.

She pulled thoughts of her family into her head, the only armor she had against this quickly approaching lion. Her instincts told her to try to stay hidden, to use the noises it was making as it hopped through the woods to cover her own footsteps and ease out of its path, but seeing those gaping bear claw wounds told her that Mac had tried, and failed. She was all that stood in the way of this lion now, and she'd be damned if she let the creature that attacked the ones she loved most in the world just hop on by.

She drew back on the bow's string, aimed for its chest, and let her arrow fly, hoping for the best.

It stuck, piercing the lion's pelt, but not its heart. It was enough to knock the cat sideways, though, and throw off its balance enough to make the cat roll off its feet and onto its side.

It lay there for a second, obviously stunned. Bella knew that it had to be hurt really badly for it not to just jump back up again, righting itself, and somewhere in her primal brain she zeroed in on its exposed underbelly.

Already it was trying to right itself, to get back up, but it had fallen on the side where the unusable leg was, so it couldn't get its hips under enough to fully right itself.

Not thinking, Bella dropped the bow, grabbing her hunting knife instead. She gripped it by its tip instead of its handle and weighed it, hefting it, finding its balance. Waiting.

The sound of her heartbeat rushing in her ears was all she heard, and the cat's expanding and contracting chest was all she saw, the rest of the world narrowing until there was nothing but her knife and its beating heart.

The cat rolled its head, trying to shake off enough of its shock to try again to right itself, and when it learned backward just enough to get some leverage to roll again, its top front paw swung just right, giving Bella the opening she had been waiting for.