The Liger's Mark Page 7

  “Before I left for boot camp for the Marines, I went to look for her. When I finally found her, I stayed as far away as I could, watching her and her husband through binoculars. They lived in a heavily wooded area. I saw them shift into cougars and run off. I wanted to be with them.”

  “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a cougar,” Gabriel said.

  “I’m not sure I am,” she confessed.

  “Pretty sure cougars are going to have cougars,” he told her.

  “The thing is, I don’t think she was my mother. I’m not sure exactly who she was.”

  “Then why was she checking on you?” Gabriel asked.

  “I’m hoping the answers are in the box I was given.”

  “Where did you get the box?” he demanded.

  “When I left Colorado, I went looking for the Marshalls. I thought I’d see if they knew anything from when they adopted me. We never talked about it. Things were so awkward at the end that I didn’t feel comfortable asking them anything. Plus, I had the social worker’s word she’d give me the information I wanted. The Marshalls were gone, though. A neighbor said they’d left just after I headed to basic training.”

  “So what about the social worker? This Ms. Karsey?”

  “Deceased,” Kenzie answered. “The new woman couldn’t find any record of me. It was as if I’d never been in the system. I went back to the place I’d seen the cougars, but they weren’t there. There was another man living there who sent me to another address, and so on until I finally came across the woman with the box.”

  “None of this is making any sense,” he said, looking concerned.

  “I know. Trust me, I know.” She hadn’t even told him the things the woman had said.

  “What do hunters have to do with any of this?” he asked.

  “That’s the thing,” Kenzie admitted. “Before you found me in that cabin, I overheard one of the hunters having a conversation on the phone. He said they’d found her, and he was excited about it.”

  “You?” He sat up straighter, as if he were suddenly on full alert. “Why would they be looking for you? What else did you hear?”

  “He said I had the mark they’d left.”

  His gaze narrowed as he thought. “The one on your ass. Turn over and let me see.” He reached out and gripped her hips, ready to flip her so he could see the spot.

  “Excuse me,” she said, slapping at his hands, but he was bigger and stronger and had her turned while she was still arguing. She’d wonder how he’d known about it, but he’d had her on her knees in the back of his vehicle. Not a memory she needed in her head right now.

  His fingers traced over the spot. “Not a birthmark then,” he murmured. “I should probably get a picture.”

  She scrambled away as soon as he removed his hands and scampered off the bed, fists planting on her hips as her chest heaved with anger. “You’re not taking a picture of my ass,” she fumed. “Now do you want to know the rest or not?”

  “There’s more? Christ!”

  “You don’t have to be involved in this at all,” she snapped. “I’m more than capable of taking care of it without you.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” he sneered. “Should I remind you of the hunters who almost took you? Of just how long you’ve been passed out in this bed with me?”

  “Holt’s the one who kept them from taking me and apparently got a bullet for his effort. I would have been just as safe passed out in this bed without you.”

  She saw the temper and dominance suffuse his face even before his gruff reply.

  “You were ice cold when I took you in my arms. I’m the one who heated you, the one your body craved to be close to.”

  “I’m sure my body would have accepted any source of warmth, even—”

  “Throw him in my face one more time, and you might as well sign his death certificate.” He stood from the bed and prowled around the foot of it toward her. “Make no mistake. You’re mine. My woman. My mate. I’ll rip the throat out of anyone who challenges that.”

  “Even me? What if I’m the one who challenges?” She leaned her head back, exposing her throat to him. “Still feel the urge to rip?”

  “You I’ll throw on that bed and fuck into submission,” he assured her, stopping in front of her. His cock stood thick and proud again, the tip glistening with the proof of his desire. “I know I hurt you, and I’ll always regret the circumstances involved when we met. This is the last time I’ll tell you I would have come back for you. The first chance I had, I would have returned for you. Claimed you in all the ways I couldn’t then. Had there not been someone’s life hanging in the balance, I wouldn’t have left. I will not make apologizes to you for who I am. Not to you, the one person who should understand and accept me more than anyone else.”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. Then snapped it closed. Fuck! That smarted. Did he have a point? Was she so wrapped up in how she was hurting because her expectations hadn’t been met that she never once thought of his needs or hopes? God, her head was spinning.

  “At the moment, you have two choices,” he stated clearly. “My beast is roaring at the thought of you in danger, and it’s enraged at the thought of you challenging our bond. I’m barely maintaining control.”

  She saw the truth of his claim in the way his fisted hands were white due to the force he was using to keep them at his sides. His jaw was tense. His cheeks ruddy with color, body tight, every muscle taut.

  “What are my choices?” she asked quietly.

  “Get back in bed and be the mate I need or get away from me until I can rein the animal.”

  “Will you be the mate I need?” she asked. “Or will you leave me behind when we get to Oklahoma?”

  His answer was in the way his gaze no longer met hers. For all his words, he was still the arrogant mate who expected her to accept but would make no concessions in return. She turned and found her clothes thrown on a chair in the corner. Without another word, she tugged a shirt over her head and pulled jeans up before stepping into her sneakers.

  She could hear the growls he couldn’t contain spilling from his lips and jerked around to face him.

  “I won’t apologize to you, either. You say I should understand and accept you, but that goes both ways. You want me in that bed, striving to be the mate you want then pull your fucking act together and be the mate I need. Be the man I deserve. I won’t settle for less. I shouldn’t have to from the one person who should understand and accept me more than anyone else.” She threw his words back in his face before turning and wrenching open the door.

  She slammed it shut, venting some of her fury then leaned against it to catch her breath. His roar split the air, sending shivers down her spine and urging her to quicken her pace away from the cabin and him. She cupped her hands over her stomach as the animal inside growled in reply, urging her to go back inside, to strip and submit. Thankfully, the woman was still stronger. As she forced her feet to take each step that led her away, she wondered how much longer she’d be able to deny him, to deny both of their beasts. It seemed the battle inside her was even fiercer than the one waging outside, and she feared one way or another she was about to be thoroughly fucked.

  Chapter Seven

  “Jesus! It’s about time you woke up. I’ve been worried as hell,” Vic exclaimed as Kenzie stepped into what she’d taken to be the main lodge. Looked as if she was right.

  Vic embraced her and squeezed tightly.

  “Where are the guys?” Kenzie asked when she was finally released.

  “Holt, Laura, Reed and Dusty are with Laramie. I don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Gideon and Nix are with Koby and Jensen scouting property to make sure there aren’t any hunters in the area.”

  “I have no idea who half those people are,” Kenzie muttered. “Who’s the guy behind the desk watching us far too avidly?”

  “That’s Declan,” Vic offered. “Matheus, Slade and Brock are around here somewhere, too.”

  “Who are all
these people?”

  “Nix came with Gideon and I. My mate was surprised to see Nix alive. I guess he was in the labs when Gideon was held prisoner there. He thought Nix had been killed. Apparently, he was able to escape somehow.”

  “He’s going to Oklahoma with you?” Kenzie asked.

  “For now,” Vic said. “I’m not sure if he’ll stay or not. He’s different. Quiet. Watchful. Gideon says the labs have a way of doing that to a man, but he told me to be cautious around Nix. I think he feels guilty for all the things he didn’t see where Thomas, Lydia and Dillon were concerned. He wants to help Nix, but my mate isn’t the most trusting man.”

  Kenzie knew a bit about that. She and Holt had both missed the meeting where Vic’s mate had disclosed what he’d been through, but Holt had heard about it and told Kenzie. They’d both worried if Vic would be happy mated to a man like Gideon, but Kenzie could see her friend was.

  “The others? More friends of Gideon’s?”

  Vic lifted her eyebrow. “The rest are all friends of your mate,” she answered. “The guys own this place, and several others.” Vic’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “What?” Kenzie asked.

  “They’re bear shifters. Honest to God bears. I almost shit myself when I saw Laramie shift. They’re huge. Fucking huge. I mean, I assumed if there were wolves and cats, there had to be others. Thinking it and seeing it are two different things.”

  “Bears, huh?”

  Vic nodded. “Wait until you see. Imagine an entire group of men built similar to your mate. Massive.” She held her hands wide apart, and Kenzie assumed Vic was indicating shoulder width.

  Kenzie didn’t want to think about her mate or how he’d looked when she’d left him. She glanced at Declan, and he winked at her as he flexed his shoulder. Any other time, his antics would have made her laugh, but she was beginning to feel that deep ache again.

  “So this Laura is a bear, too?”

  As soon as the question left her lips, she knew who Laura was. Even before Vic’s head shake. Laura was the woman Gabriel had left her to rescue, the one she’d heard whispering to him when Holt had called him.

  “Whoa, I’ve never heard you do that.”

  “Do what?” Kenzie snapped.

  “Growl.”

  Fuck! The beast was on edge.

  “Are you okay? Does Gabriel know you’re out here?” Vic asked.

  “I’m fine. Why?” she asked, ignoring the second question.

  “You keep rubbing your arms, and you’ve gone all white on me,” Vic said, reaching out to touch Kenzie’s hand. She jerked her hand back as if burned. “Jesus! You’re cold as ice. What the hell is going on? You were fine a few minutes ago when I hugged you.”

  “I have no idea,” Kenzie muttered, suddenly feeling the chill all the way to her bones.

  “I’ll get Gabriel. Is he back in the cabin?” Vic asked, already turning to leave.

  “No!” Kenzie yelled, louder than she’d intended. Still, it stopped Vic on a dime and had the other woman lifting a brow in question. “I don’t need him. I’ll be fine. It’s just a reaction to the darts I was shot with.”

  Even she didn’t buy what she was saying, but Vic nodded even though she eyed Kenzie warily.

  “Look, there was a box in my room at the motel before we moved. Do you know what Holt did with it?”

  “It’s either in the car or in his room, I’m sure. We can ask him when he gets back,” Vic assured her then took a step back. “You’re eyes are glowing pure gold. I’m guessing the animal isn’t recessed, anymore.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Kenzie asserted again.

  “Oh, shit,” Vic said, glancing over Kenzie’s shoulder.

  Without turning around, she knew who was coming toward her. His presence dominated the space around him. Anger pulsed off him in waves. He came up behind her, stepped into her until they were as close as their clothes allowed and anchored her to him with an arm wrapped just above her breasts. She reached up to tug the arm away, and a shiver went through her. His touch had the cold easing as well as the ache deep inside. Even her body was against her it seemed.

  “Where’s Holt?” Gabriel thundered, bringing Declan out from behind the counter for the first time.

  “I contacted all of them. Let them know you and the woman were up and around,” Declan said.

  “Kenzie. Her name is Kenzie,” Vic said. “I think these bears are even more alpha than the damn cats,” she confessed as if she and Kenzie were alone.

  Gabriel growled, and Kenzie quivered in response.

  Vic raised an eyebrow. “I could be mistaken though,” she said with a slight lift at one corner of her mouth.

  Gabriel’s thick erection pulsed against Kenzie’s back, and she gritted her teeth against the desire to rub against him. Why did it seem her beast was so submissive?

  “We might need to stay longer if that’s all right with you and your brothers,” Gabriel told Declan. “My mate seems to be in some trouble, and I’d like to get to the bottom of it before we move on.”

  “We,” Kenzie corrected through her teeth. “We’d like to get to the bottom of it.”

  “What’s going on, Kenzie?” Vic asked immediately, and it gave Kenzie strength to see the warrior in her friend. Especially when Kenzie felt as if that part of her was missing.

  “We’ll discuss it when everyone’s here,” Gabriel said and it was Kenzie’s turn to growl. “Unless you feel like repeating yourself, mate.”

  If she clenched her teeth any harder, she feared they’d break.

  He leaned down and whispered at her ear. “Keep rubbing against me and you’ll be back in that bed naked and fucked.”

  Her blood heated, and her pussy spasmed, sending juices spilling out to coat the plumped folds of her sex. Fuck! She hadn’t even realized she’d given in to the urge to stroke her skin against him.

  “Let me go,” she growled out, not caring if Vic and Declan heard her. One was a shifter and one was mated to a shifter so there was very little she’d be able to hide from their acute senses, anyway.

  “You need me,” he purred. “Like it not.”

  “Not,” she snapped and stepped away as soon as his arm fell. His gaze stroked over her like a heated caress, and she blamed it for the chill that settled beneath her skin.

  “You’re awake,” Holt’s voice called to her as the door opened again.

  Gabriel was back at her side before she could move toward her best friend.

  “I’m on a thin, fucking leash,” he warned. “Don’t push me.”

  His hand wrapped around her hip this time, holding her close to his side. Holt ignored it and headed toward her, anyway. Gabriel’s chest rumbled with his anger, and she found herself cuddling into his side, one arm lifting to rub across his torso in hopes of soothing. Even as disgust filled her for her submissive actions, she couldn’t force herself away.

  Holt looked at her but didn’t comment on her actions. “Are you okay? The Neanderthal next to you thought it best if I stayed away.”

  “Not nearly far enough to suit me,” Gabriel sniped.

  “Well, this should be interesting,” Vic muttered.

  Kenzie wanted to cry, which just pissed her the fuck off. She’d never been so weak, so helpless in her whole life. Holt was right. She’d lost the warrior inside her when her mate had bitten her, and she couldn’t seem to find that part no matter how much she wanted to. It was even worse that those who she’d fought so hard with, earning their trust and respect, were witnessing her fall.

  “Gabriel, are you okay?”

  Kenzie glanced over toward the woman who stood with Reed and Dusty then turned her head to take a better look at her—waves of blonde hair with big green eyes that dominated her face. Laura, the woman her mate had left her for. She understood Gabriel’s need to rip a throat out, now. She took a step and found herself hauled firmly against Gabriel’s chest again, both his arms wrapped tightly around her.

  “Easy, little cat,” he s
oothed.

  “Perhaps you and the mate should go back to the cabin and work things out before we have this meeting,” a man who looked a lot like Declan warned. “I’m not real fucking keen on cleaning blood out of the wood floor.”

  “It’ll be fine, Laramie,” Gabriel said.

  The other man just grunted as he went to stand next to Declan.

  Another group entered, and chuckles filled the air as a man with long black hair yelled out, “Stop ogling the bears, woman!”

  Kenzie watched as he approached Vic and dropped a kiss on her upturned lips. He must be Gideon. It was easy to see the bond between the other couple, and Kenzie suffered a jolt of envy.

  Two of the remaining three men went to stand with the bear shifters, and she figured they were two more of the brothers Vic had told her about. The other lingered by the door, keeping himself separate from everyone else, watching. He must be Nix.

  Too many people. Too many names. Too much to take in, leaving her feeling overwhelmed. There was fire under her skin again, boiling her blood in her veins.

  “Kenzie,” Gabriel whispered at her ear. “You’re burning up again.”

  “She was just ice a few minutes ago,” Vic said. “What the hell is going on?”

  “You need to take your mate out of here.” It was Gideon who spoke as he finally turned from Vic and paid closer attention to her and Gabriel. He stepped forward, not touching her, but she felt him assessing her with his eyes. “Her life may depend on it.”

  She saw Vic open her mouth and was surprised when she closed it immediately at just a look from Gideon.

  “What do you mean her life might depend on it?” Holt demanded.

  “I’ll take care of my mate,” Gabriel stated with a snarl.

  Kenzie felt as if her insides were ripping apart, like a war was waging within her. She wanted to roar, but it was a whimper that passed her lips. Her body sagged as her muscles seemed to give out, and her mate swept her high up against his chest.