A Jaguar’s Touch

An Awakening Pride Story

By Lacey Thorn

Resplendence Publishing

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www.resplendencepublishing.com

Gems of Romantic Fiction

A Jaguar’s Touch
Copyright © 2015, Lacey Thorn
Edited by Delaney Sullivan and Liza Green

Cover Art by Les Byerley

Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146
St. Augustine, FL 32080

Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-854-1

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement
without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in
federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Electronic Release: February 2015

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of
the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or
occurrences, is purely coincidental.

The lone Jaguar…

Gideon prefers to stay on the outside, watching, but he’s willing to step in and protect when needed.
He doesn’t want family, keeps friends at arm’s length and refuses to believe there might be a woman
out there meant to be his and only his. Men like him don’t have mates.

A Woman Undone…

Vic only has one use for men, and it sure as hell isn’t to protect her. She was a Marine. She takes care
of herself. She feels the intense burn of desire and knows what others think. There’s only one way to
prove them wrong. Sate the lust and walk away.

Mine…

He’s sure he can fight the need for her even with the touch of fever in his veins, but he never counted
on fighting her need as well. Neither of them wants a mate, but the beast inside Gideon is ready to
stake a claim. And if that happens, one night might turn into forever.

This one goes out to all of Lacey’s Thorns! You guys are the very best! Thank you

so much for all the love and support!

Chapter One

Vic was furious. No, make that beyond furious. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? And

why was Murphy listening to him?

“Move the fuck out of my way.” She bit the words out through clenched teeth.

Murphy sighed and shuffled his feet. “Can’t do that Vic.”

“Let me see if I understand this correctly. I’m no longer allowed down in our storage area where

I’ve been going since we arrived here? I’m not to be anywhere near that cock-sucking shifter who

shot two of our people full of some fucked up form of cat fever because now he’s dangerous? I’m not

needed to help with Lydia’s care anymore, although we’ve all taken turns since she’s been here?”

Murphy nodded but wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“I’ll say it again then. Get the fuck out of my way before I rip your goddamn head off and shove

it up your ass.”

“I can’t,” Murphy said. “I’m not trying to be a prick here. I know you can hold your own. I’m

following orders. That’s it.”

“Since when do we take fucking orders from some jackass who shows up out of the blue needing

help? Since when does having a fucking inner kitty or whatever take precedence over having your

back every fucking time you needed me to?” Vic demanded, hands fisted at her sides.

“There’s only one man who gives me orders,” Murphy said with a spark of anger. “You know

that.”

Vic reeled back as if she’d been sucker punched. “Tah ordered this?”

“You should take any questions you have to him,” Murphy said without answering.

“I’ll do that,” she said then leaned in close to him. “But for future reference, if you ever step

between me and where I want to go again, it’s not going to matter who told you to. I’m going to rip

your balls off and choke you with them.” She watched as his nostrils flared and ruddy color flushed

his face. “And I won’t need any fucking kitty claws to do it,” she added.

He didn’t say anything, just stood there and watched her. Damn it, she hated feeling the need to

speak to him like that. Murphy was a friend, someone she trusted to have her back. But this wasn’t

something she could let go. She was either a part of the group or she wasn’t, and if Tah suddenly

thought her incapable of doing her fucking job then she wasn’t.

She turned and headed back up to the main floor. She knew exactly who was to blame for this

change. Gideon. The sexy motherfucker was going to be the death of her. God knew if she ever

managed to get in a room with him, they’d probably kill each other.

It still burned her ass when she thought of the day he’d arrived with the other two shifters, Ariel

and Griffin. The blonde-haired bitch still rubbed Vic wrong. She didn’t trust her—not one bit. But it

was Gideon who fired Vic’s blood and had her seeing red. They’d barely come upon the group when

he’d let out a roar that had scared the holy hell out of her, which was saying something considering

she lived with shifters.

Murphy, Logan and Clara had been in the lead with Vic staying back with Orsai. Zane’s uncle

was fascinating, and Vic enjoyed talking with him. She was laughing about something he’d said when

Gideon had growled, and she’d frozen in place.

“Keep the fucking human away from me,” he’d thundered.

She’d heard him clearly and had almost stepped forward to defend Logan. But Gideon hadn’t

been talking about Logan. No, the asshole shifter had been referring to her. She wouldn’t admit it to

anyone, but it’d hurt like hell when Logan had asked her to head back and let Tah know they were

bringing three new shifters to the cabin with them. Gideon had commanded, and Logan had allowed it.

He’d sent her away, turning her into a damn messenger.

Now this? It was too much. She hadn’t contacted Tah and the others, begging them to let her

help. No, they’d sent out an S.O.S, and she’d stepped up to the plate and volunteered to pitch in.

She’d fought with them, bled with them and hadn’t batted an eye when she’d walked into crazy town.

Tah and Reno could shift into animals. It didn’t get much crazier than that. Now, she knew Zane and

Murphy could, as well. Finn might at some point, depending on the hormonal injection he’d taken to

save his life. Now, it turned out Kenzie was a shifter, too. Lord, how many more? She thought she’d

known these people, but there was so much she hadn’t had a clue about and probably still didn’t.

Did that mean she turned her back? Walked away? No, wasn’t who she was. But this? This

could be a big fucking deal breaker for her. This could be the reason she left and never looked back.

The knife wielded by someone you thought of as a friend always cut the deepest.

“Vic, I was looking for you,” Holt said as she hit the top of the stairs.

“Not now,” Vic grunted.

“Yes, now,” he said, stepping in front of her.

His actions gave her pause. He wasn’t confrontational—never had been. He spent most of his

time with Kenzie. Vic knew the two had once been in a relationship and still remained close friends.

Her guess was he still had the hots, but Kenzie had cooled off. Didn’t matter to Vic. As long as the

two of them were good, so was she.

“What?” she barked, trying and failing to control her irritation at the delay. She wanted to still

be riding the wave of anger and betrayal she felt at the moment when she confronted Tah. The last

thing she wanted was time to fucking calm down. He didn’t deserve calm.

“We need to talk,” he said, snagging her gaze and holding it. “Have you seen Kenzie?”

Vic shook her head. “She hasn’t come out of her room since she got back. Tah said she asked to

be left alone. We all understand that.”

Holt gave Vic a hard look, and she felt guilty as hell. She’d always been closer to Kenzie and

Holt then any of the others. They were the ones she’d kept in close contact with when they’d returned

stateside. She considered all of them friends but still managed to keep a little distance. Vic wasn’t a

touchy-feely, lets-share-our-feelings kind of woman. However, she should have made a point of

checking on Kenzie, and she knew it. Didn’t matter how busy she was or what filled her plate.

“Are you going to Oklahoma?” Holt asking, changing the subject on Vic.

She opened her mouth to automatically say yes but snapped it shut. Was she?

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

Holt nodded. “We need to talk. You, me and Kenzie.”

“Are you thinking of walking away? Is she?” Vic asked.

Holt didn’t answer. “We just need to talk. I’m going out to get some stuff for Kenzie. Meet me in

her room later?”

Vic nodded her agreement. She’d noticed Holt was avoiding everyone, holing up with Kenzie

and only surfacing when he had to. Even then, he did his job and disappeared again. He was angry,

more so than she’d ever seen him. She expected it had a lot to do with the fact Kenzie was mated to a

no-show mate. Yeah, she should probably go talk to them, see what their plans were. Not that it

would change her mind once she made it. She was close to them, but the truth was she saw herself as

more of a loner than anything else. She would do anything for them, but she liked her space, enjoyed

spending time alone. No noise. No drama. No bullshit.

“I’ll be there,” she promised.

“Thanks,” Holt said and headed past her to do whatever errand he was on.

She watched him walk away then turned and headed back down the hall toward Tah’s office.

All she had to do was picture Gideon in her mind and her temper went through the roof again. She

slammed Tah’s door open, not caring if he was in the middle of something or not. And look. The three

musketeers were together as always. Tah, Reno and Logan sat over in the casual seating area of the

office, heads together as they no doubt discussed either the move or Abby’s upcoming trip to Denver.

Both proposed events had everyone hopping.

“Vic?” Reno was the one who addressed her as they all rose to their feet.

They were prime specimens. Tall, built and more than capable of holding their own in any fight,

and that was without the enhanced abilities they all presently sported. Reno and Tah were shifters and

Logan was mated to one. Each of them had an advantage she didn’t.

“Is there a problem?” Tah asked, and the fucker crossed his massive arms over a wide chest,

staring her down like the leader he was.

Fuck! She wanted to hate him, not respect him. But Tah had earned her respect, both as a Marine

and as the dominant lion shifter he was now.

“I don’t know. Is there something you’d like to discuss with me?” she asked as she crossed to

them.

Tah sighed. Reno looked up at the ceiling and Logan tried to hide a smile. Oh, they all knew why

she was here.

“We’re just going over the plans for heading into Denver with Abby,” Tah said. “I still don’t

like having her out in the open, but I understand this is something she has to do if we’re going to

collect the money from the Professor’s life insurance.”

“Well, since it was his daughter and her pack of wolves who faked his death to save him, maybe

you should check in with them. I’m assuming they’ll be there,” Vic taunted.

Tah stared at her for a long moment but didn’t rise to the bait. “She signed it all over to Abby.

Apparently, the wolves have all the money they need. They’re giving all this to us.”

“You worked on putting together the list of new equipment, yet?” Logan asked.

“Is that what you need from me? Shopping help?” She snapped the words out, anger growing by

leaps and bounds.

“Maybe you want to walk out, cool off then come back later,” Reno suggested.

“Maybe I don’t,” Vic stated. Her fierce gaze met his, held and challenged.

“If you have something to say then spit it out. I don’t have time to nurse hurt feelings,” Tah said.

“In fact, I expected more of you.”

“You… I…” Vic opened and closed her mouth several times before exploding. “Well, I

expected a hell of a lot more from you, too.”

“Vic,” Reno said again, and she turned her anger on him.

“You called for back-up. Tah’s in trouble and needs help. Those were the words you sent out,

Reno. So, I dropped everything and came, and never once have I looked back. You need this or that,

and I step up to the goddamn plate. Every time. And now, you think I’m incapable of doing the job you

gave me?” She sent a hard look toward Logan. “You want me to put a shopping list together?”

“You were happy enough to put the damn list together earlier,” Logan retorted.

“That was before I knew it was all you thought I was capable of.”

“Enough,” Tah said.

“Is that it? Do you no longer feel like I’m capable of pulling my weight? Or do you have enough

shifters now that the humans are expendable?” Vic asked.

“Enough!” Tah roared the word this time.

“Did you just fucking roar at me?” Vic asked. She’d seen him mad, heard him roar in anger, but

it had never been pointed at her. She didn’t like it one fucking bit.

“What’s going on in here?” Abby asked as she entered, pushing the door closed behind her. She

carried Regan with her, the baby girl playing scout over her mother’s shoulder.

Tah automatically reached for his daughter, taking her in his arms and dropping a kiss on Abby’s

upturned face. It was so easy to see the love the two shared, and for the first time, Vic was a little

envious of it. She quickly shook off the feeling. Love and marriage were definitely not in her future.

“Now, what are you roaring about? I swear if you come up with one more reason why I

shouldn’t go to Denver, I’m going to scream,” Abby vowed.

Regan fussed, probably picking up on her mother’s anxiety and Tah cooed, looking so unlike the

man who’d just roared at Vic. This was a man who loved his wife and child—a man who would do

anything for them. And he was someone Vic couldn’t stay angry with for long.

“I’ll just head out and talk to you later,” she said and moved to do just that.

“Sit down, Vic,” Tah ordered softly, never taking his eyes off Regan. “You wanted to have this

conversation now, so we will.”

She snorted. So he wanted to talk to her when he knew she wouldn’t yell in front of the baby.

Abby glanced between them for a few seconds before turning completely away from Vic and

facing her mate, hands on hips.

“What did you do now?” she demanded, and Vic snickered as Tah sighed.

She turned to Vic. “What did he do?”

Vic was a lot of things, but a tattletale wasn’t one of them. She firmly clamped her lips shut.

Abby’s gaze narrowed on her.

“Were you at least yelling at him when he roared?” Abby asked.

“Abby,” Tah said, and Vic knew it was a warning. She also knew Abby would ignore it.

Vic nodded. “I was.”

Abby stared at her then glanced back to Tah and held her hands out for the baby. “Regan and I

are heading to the lab. I want to check in with Diane and the Professor. Logan, I saw Clara heading

down there when I came in here. I think she was looking for you. She said you were supposed to give

the Professor more blood this morning?”

Logan moved across to her. “I haven’t had a chance, yet. I can walk down with you, now,” he

said. “We’re done going over the plans for the Denver trip, anyway.”

He scooped Regan from Tah, ignoring Abby’s hands, and cuddled the tiny girl against his chest,

fussing and whispering to her. It was funny how all the big tough guys turned to Jell-O when the

youngest pride member was near. They’d all be a pile of mush by the time Diane and Zane’s baby

arrived.

“I’m going to take my girl with me,” Logan said and cooed at Regan as he headed toward the

door. “We’ll see you down there.”

“Would you like to send Reno away, too?” Tah asked his mate, and Vic almost snickered again.

“Do I need to?” Abby countered, but she turned her head to direct the question at Vic, instead.

“I can hold my own,” Vic said.

“Oh, I know you can,” Abby agreed. “I’ve always admired that in you. You go nose to nose and

don’t back down. I think I want to be you when I grow up.”

Vic stepped back in surprise. Abby wanted to be like her? Why?

Abby grinned. “I’d like to talk to you about something once you’re done yelling at Tah. I have a

favor to ask.”

“Okay,” Vic said and now she was wondering what type of favor Abby needed from her. Jesus!

If they thought they were putting her on babysitting duty, she was getting the fuck out, now. No way.

While Vic watched, Abby curled up against Tah’s chest. His arms automatically wrapped

around her, tugging her even closer.

“Are you calm now?” she asked, and Tah nodded. “Good.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed

him on the jaw. “I love you.”

He caught his mate in his arms and bent, taking her lips in a kiss that made Vic feel like a damn

voyeur. The man had a serious Jones for his mate, and it was easy to see Abby felt the same way.

They were cute together, in a lovey-dovey, make-her-want-to-puke kind of way.

“Give him hell,” she told Vic as she turned to leave the room.

A rumble started in Tah’s chest, and Vic heard Abby laugh on the way out. And damn it, after

that display, most of Vic’s anger was gone. Abby hadn’t just calmed Tah, she’d calmed Vic, as well.

How did she always manage to do that?

Tah and Reno shared a look before Tah finally spoke to her again.

“Gideon requested you not be allowed down there right now. It’s just temporary while we figure

out what’s going on with him. After talking to him, I agreed,” Tah stated as if that was it.

Discussion over. And there was all her anger, rising back up to wrap around her like a mantle.

“So, Gideon is in charge now? We take orders from him? I’m supposed to take orders from

him?” Gideon. Yep, she was fucking pissed again.

“Don’t, Vic,” Tah warned her. “There’s more going on here than you’re aware of.”

“Then why don’t you make me fucking aware? Or am I not in the inner circle, anymore? You ask

me to be a part of your fucking council? Now, you tell me there are things I’m not aware of? What the

fuck is going on?” she demanded.

“You just need to stay out of the storage rooms,” Reno said.

“You’re going to have to give me a reason why,” Vic stated. “Tell me why when I went to do my

job today, Murphy stepped in front of me and wouldn’t allow me down there? And so help me if you

say because Gideon said, I’m going to seriously lose my shit.”

“You know Gideon was hit with two arrows on the way here,” Tah reminded her.

“Yeah, I heard. The arrows were laced with yet another variant of this damn fever that seems to

be showing up an awful lot lately,” Vic said.

“Your presence upset Gideon It’s why Logan sent you back here,” Reno said, sharing another

look with Tah.

“Big fucking deal,” Vic retorted. “I upset a lot of people. You don’t order me to avoid working

near them.”

“Gideon is a shifter,” Tah said. “One with an animal who’s riding close to the surface right

now. His control isn’t what it should be.”

“So lock him in a fucking room like we do Dillon. Problem solved.”

“It’s only you who affects him,” Reno said. “Do you know why?”

“Because he’s a jackass who doesn’t like humans,” Vic suggested. “Just a guess, but I’m fairly

confidant it’s accurate.”

“He’s edgy and fighting against the drug in his system. You set him off. Until we know what

we’re dealing with for sure, and he can get a better handle on himself, it’s best if you steer clear of

him,” Tah said.

“So that’s it?” Vic demanded. “Gideon asks, and you say of course, anything you want?”

“I’m not going to put you in a dangerous situation,” Tah said, and Vic began laughing.

“You had no problem when I was covering your ass in the desert. You think I’m afraid of

Gideon?”

“No, I don’t,” Tah said. “Which is why I gave my order. If I left it up to you, you’d walk right up

and challenge him.”

“Damn straight I would, and I will the first chance I get,” she said. “I’m not afraid of anyone,

including your little kitty down there who might get a hard-on when I’m around.”

Reno and Tah shared another look, eyes going wide.

“Please, I’m not stupid,” Vic reminded them. “You think I didn’t see the lust in his eyes the brief

moment I saw him? You think I don’t understand what you’re worried about? Give me some fucking

credit.”

“Then why would you want to face that?” Reno asked. “Are you looking to get mated?”

Vic snorted. “I’m no one’s mate. No matter what you believe, I do have a say in that. And I say,

I’m not. I don’t care if my scent wraps around Gideon’s balls and has his dick saluting. He’s a grown

man, and he can control himself. If he wants to fuck, then he can ask me pretty please, and I can tell

him to go fuck himself. What I won’t do is avoid my job because it might be hard for him, or upset

him.”

Tah sighed. “Vic, I’m not sure it works that way. With Abby and me…”

“I’m not Abby, and that cat down there isn’t you. From what I hear, she had moony eyes even

before that beast woke up inside you. And Amia was a tempting little morsel who drew your tiger

out,” she told Reno. “And Logan and Clara, you could see the chemistry between them from day one.

I’ll admit, Zane and Diane surprised me a bit, but I’m not them. The only thing I feel for Gideon is an

overwhelming urge to snap his neck.”

“Then maybe you should stay away from him,” Reno said.

“I’m going to ask this one more time,” Vic warned, gaze bouncing between the two men before

settling on Tah. “Do you think I’m incapable of doing my job?”

Tah stared at her, jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. She held her ground, refusing to squirm before

his intense gaze.

Finally, he gave a jerk of his chin. “No. You’re more than capable of doing any task needed.”

“Then don’t ever fucking give an order like this one again, or I swear to God, I’m walking.”

“You’re right,” Tah said. “I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need protection,” Vic gritted out. “I need trust.”

“You may not need protection, but you’ve got it,” Tah stated. “Any of us would step up to the

plate for you, so deal. Just like you have for us. You can’t give and not expect to get the same thing

back. And trust? We trust you with our lives, with our mates’ lives, with Regan’s.”

“You’re family,” Reno added.

Vic swallowed, uncomfortable. “Look, just let me handle this myself. If Gideon has an issue

with me, then let the two of us work it out.”

Tah snorted. “And have you break his neck? Abby would kill us both.”

“Why? What’s so important about this one?” Vic asked.

“He knows shit—a lot of it. About hunters, about shifter biology, about Clara’s uncle. He knows

Dillon and Lydia. Clara trusts him, and the two shifters he brought with him worship the ground he

walks on. You don’t have to like him but keep in mind how much we need him right now,” Tah

warned.

“So I won’t kill him,” Vic said with a shrug. “He doesn’t have to look pretty to spew answers.”

Reno laughed. “I have no fucking idea why we thought for even a second you couldn’t handle

him.”

“Damn straight,” Vic stated.

“He is a shifter,” Tah warned her. “With a dose of feral fever to boot. And his animal seems to

think you smell attractive.”

“How do you know that? It could just be I’m the only unmated woman he’s been around besides

the shifter female he traveled with.”

“Her name’s Ariel,” Reno said.

“Whatever,” Vic said. “I don’t trust her. There’s something off.”

“I know,” Tah said. “We’re keeping an eye on her.”

“So, we’re good? I can do my job? Murphy can live another day? And you won’t give stupid ass

orders concerning me again without at least giving me the courtesy of consulting me first?” Vic asked.

“Vic…” Tah said but didn’t finish his thought, at least not out loud. He nodded, but she could

see the anxiety in his eyes, for her.

“I know what you’re worried about,” Vic said. “I’m not Gideon’s mate. If his hormones flared,

it’s because I’m sexy as hell, and it’s about time someone noticed.”

Tah shook his head again while Reno laughed. It cut the tension in the room, though, which was

exactly what she’d been aiming for.

“I can hold my own against any one of you,” she reminded him. “Gideon’s no different.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Tah asked softly. “What if you are his mate? I can’t protect you if you

tie my hands.”

“I’m not, and from what I’ve seen with you guys, you couldn’t protect me no matter what if that

was my fate. But I’m telling you, it’s not. Gideon and I are not mates,” Vic stated firmly.

“If this is your choice then you and only you are responsible for any consequences brought about

by your actions,” Tah warned.

“I’m always responsible for my actions,” Vic answered with a snarl.

“I know,” Tah replied. “I’m here if you do decide you need me.”

“I know that,” Vic said. “But you have to know that whatever happens between Gideon and me

is on me. That also means when he opens his mouth and stupid spills out, I take complete blame for

his inability to speak through a broken jaw. But hey, he’s a shifter. You guys seem to heal real quick.”

She cracked her knuckles and grinned big. “This could be fun.”

“Maybe he’s the one we should be protecting,” Reno muttered in an aside to Tah.

She glared at them. “Is that all?”

“I want the equipment list when you have it. You know it has nothing to do with being a female.

There’s no one better at knowing what we need to make things run smoother than you,” Tah said.

“I’ll get it to you,” Vic assured him.

“That’s all then,” Tah stated.

She headed out of the office with a spring in her step. God, she couldn’t remember the last time

she’d been this excited. She hadn’t felt the need to mention to Tah or Reno just how wet she got

thinking about all that lean muscle downstairs. That was no one’s concern but hers and, if she chose,

Gideon’s.

The damn shifter was an arrogant asshole, but he was a gorgeous one. She wanted to clench her

fingers in the thick waves of long, black hair that fell around his face, use those locks to jerk him to

her. She was angry when she thought of him, but she was turned on, as well. Getting together with him

would be combustible—hard, rough and probably bordering on violent. She wanted her hands on him,

nails scratching and teeth biting.

First, she’d go take care of the list they needed then she’d make her way back downstairs and

make sure Gideon knew he wasn’t dictating anything when it came to her. And if the bastard became

angry, all the better. Fighting or fucking. They both sounded good where he was involved.

Chapter Two

Gideon paced the lab while the one called Diane watched over the analysis of the newest

sample of his blood. They’d taken it first thing this morning, and now he waited for confirmation. He

already knew what it was, could feel the fire of the feral cat virus attacking the jaguar inside him. But

it wasn’t strong. It wasn’t uncontrollable as long as he kept his emotions under lock. What he didn’t

know was why it was affecting his ability to completely heal where the arrows had pierced his skin.

The wounds had closed up, but they still ached under the skin—an ache that should have already

dissipated.

He’d lost control briefly during the meeting with Orsai’s nephew Zane in the woods. Gideon

had fought to restrain his cat as the animal had risen quickly to the surface. Ariel and her attitude had

more to do with that than anything else. The younger woman had a chip on her shoulder that had her

mouth running before her brain engaged. It was going to cost her one day if she didn’t learn how to

curb her temper.

He’d spent the last few nights listening to Dillon ranting about something in the room he was

being kept in downstairs. If Gideon was given the opportunity, he was going to rip the younger man’s

head off. Dillon thought he’d managed to hide the damage he’d done when he’d left. But Gideon

knew, and he would make sure Dillon died for his betrayal.

“Hey, I heard you were down here,” Clara said as she entered the lab and walked toward

Gideon.

She’d been so excited to see him, Ariel and Griffin. It made him feel a touch guilty for the things

he needed to keep from her. But she wasn’t ready, and the pride she’d joined was in no shape to offer

help with what he had planned. Plus, he’d grown pretty fucking weak by the time they’d gotten to him.

Ariel had been close to leaving to follow the scent of the panther and his mate through the woods. It’d

taken all Gideon had to keep her with him. The young woman was fiercely protective of those she

cared for, and despite his best efforts, she cared for him.

“Everything okay?” Clara asked, and he realized he hadn’t spoken to her, yet.

“Yeah, just waiting for the newest round of tests to tell us the same thing,” he said gruffly. He

went to run his hand through his hair as he often did and remembered he’d pulled it back in a ponytail

today.

“It’s almost done,” Diane said then gave a weary sigh. “And yeah, it doesn’t look like anything’s

changed.”

Gideon walked over and nudged Diane aside a bit. His fingers flew over the keyboard while

both women watched.

“What are you…” Diane began, but Gideon heard Clara hush her.

He brought up the analysis code, read through it, rewrote a few things and began the test again

with what he wanted.

“What did you do?” Diane asked.

“You’re running the wrong tests,” Gideon said, gaze glued to the monitor as the information

started feeding through his program. “We’re not animals and can’t be tested as such. We’re not

humans, either. So you have to adjust your formulas to account for both.” He glanced over at Diane.

“A merging of the two. You’ll get better answers that way.”

“I’ve got a room down here you can stay in,” Diane said, looking so eager he almost smiled.

“The Professor has a spare he doesn’t use. It’s not huge, but it’s bigger than what you chose

downstairs where Lydia and Dillon are. There’s a bed and privacy.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “I

could really use your help.”

It was the privacy that nailed it for him. He wasn’t a social creature by nature, and even though

he had a traitor to deal with, it didn’t mean he had to stay uncomfortable. Still, guilt ate at him.

“You should move Lydia here, as well. You’re packing up, anyway, so there’s plenty of room.

She’ll be more comfortable and better rested not having to listen to Dillon,” he told her.

Clara nodded. “He’s right. We should have thought of that. I should have thought of it.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Diane said. “Her body is deteriorating too fast. Moving her,

while good in theory, might not be what’s best for her right now. We should have done it sooner,

before she got this far, and I’m sorry for not thinking of it.”

“You were a little busy hunting down your mate,” Clara said. “This isn’t on you, Diane.”

“Still, we’ve done more based on our convenience then on hers,” Diane said.

Gideon knew all about decisions based on that. It was his convenience and dislike of all things

Blane that had kept him turning a blind eye to Lydia and her changing personality. Thomas had

commented on it a few times but usually just in passing. He’d seemed interested in Lydia’s growing

anger, especially toward her own daughter. Gideon hadn’t cared, and part of him still didn’t. But

Thomas had seemed to, and that meant Gideon would try to make sure the woman was comfortable at

the end, which he was certain would be soon. He doubted if she lasted for the trip the pride was

planning.

“Gideon?” Diane asked. “What do you say? Want to move done here instead?”

“Done,” he agreed.

Thomas would want him to teach this pride as much as he could before he moved on. It was

Clara’s pride, which carried more weight with Gideon than the fact the Tah they’d all been waiting

for was here. Probably because Gideon had never believed the existence of one man would suddenly

make all the difference.

“Hey, look who I found.”

Clara’s mate entered with the newest little pride member in his arms. Clara immediately went to

her man and cooed over the baby girl. In that moment, Gideon could see the future, one where Clara

and her mate held young of their own. Gideon knew it was something Clara’s father Michael would

have wanted for his daughter. He wished Michael was there to see the woman she’d grown into as

well as the pride she’d joined.

Thoughts of the pride turned toward one particular member. The image of the sexy blonde

warrior entered his mind. He’d smelled her long before he’d spotted her face. She’d been all short,

messy curls and big blue eyes. His glance had skimmed her from head to toe, and his body had

responded to the vision she was. He wanted her long legs wrapped around him, demanding pleasure.

He wanted to feel the strength in her touch against his flesh. He wanted it with a desperation that

could only be explained by the drug moving through his veins. The need to protect her from what he

was had battled with the desire to take her, and he’d responded in anger, roaring for her to stay the

hell away from him.

Her wide-eyed gaze had dimmed then sparked with anger, and it had only made him fucking

hotter. Thankfully, Logan had sent her back to the cabin and away from Gideon. He’d needed the time

to calm his beast and gain control. He’d known instantly that he had to stay away from her even

though his beast roared in disagreement. Tah had agreed during their brief conversation, and Gideon

had been able to avoid her since arriving. He knew he was on borrowed time, though. She didn’t

come across as one who easily backed down, and damned if that didn’t make him want her more.

“Well, if it isn’t the devil himself.”

Tah’s mate, Abby, entered with a grin. Though her words were thrown at him, she headed

straight to her little girl as if pulled by an imaginary string. The love she felt seemed to surround her,

and the sweet scent of it filled the room. Her energy crackled in the air as she turned the full wattage

of her smile toward him.

“I’d tell you to watch out, but I get the impression not much scares you,” Abby said.

“The devil,” he commented, rolling the word around in his mouth. “I’ve been called much worse

I assure you.”

Clara snorted a laugh.

“Oh my God! What’s that?” Diane asked at his side.

Gideon turned once more to view the computer screen and felt Abby move to his other side.

“This is what I had it run,” Gideon said.

“But what does all this mean?” Diane asked.

“You’re running new tests?” Abby asked at the same time.

“Gideon rewrote some of the code,” Diane answered. “He said we were searching for the

wrong things.”

Abby took him by surprise when she threw herself against him and hugged him. “I’m so glad

you’re here,” she gushed. “Now, like Diane said, what the hell does it all mean?”

He stared at her warily until she backed up an inch, but if anything, it only made her grin wider.

“The tests you run repeatedly are on four main blood samples, but you waste time running them

independently. I labeled them A, B, C and D for this particular test since I wanted to run them against

each other simultaneously.” He pointed to a line of data. “This is where you see the feral virus show

up in all four samples. This one is lighter as it is weakest in subject A. Subject B has the strongest

dosage. And samples C and D are showing similar readings.”

He moved down and pointed at another spot. “Here is where you see the results pitted only

against previous blood samples from the same subject. This shows that while the virus is weakest in

A, it is newly introduced and will continue to grow.”

“That’s you,” Diane said, and Gideon nodded.

“I’m subject A. Subject B has the strongest, but the virus is decreasing. I’d say within a few

weeks, he’ll return to normal.”

“Logan?” Clara asked.

“Zane,” Gideon answered.

“Now subjects C and D are both maintaining similar levels of the virus in their systems,”

Gideon said.

“Wait! What?” Clara asked. “Which one is Logan?”

“Will this test even work on Logan?” Diane asked. “He’s fully human?”

Clara and Logan were closer now, peering over his shoulder at the screen.

“It will,” he said, giving them a strange look. Were they really that clueless? “Logan is D. C

belongs to F. Dockery,” Gideon said as he skimmed through the rest of the information.

“That’s Finn,” Diane said. “Why is Logan maintaining a steady level of the virus? It should be

flushing out of his system faster. There’s nothing for it to attach to in him.”

Gideon shook his head. “The dormant shifter DNA in his blood will keep it steady until he

either merges with his beast or something else changes.”

“Dormant shifter DNA?” Logan said. “There are no shifters in my family.”

“Your DNA says otherwise,” Gideon stated.

“Wait a minute,” Diane argued. “The Professor and I looked. We saw nothing in his blood that

made us think he was anything but human.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Logan reminded them, passing Regan off to Abby. “What makes you think

differently?” he asked Gideon.

“Like I stated earlier, they’ve been running the wrong tests. I’ll have to run a few more on just

your blood to get some more definitive answers. But I can say with absolute certainty that somewhere

in your family tree shifter DNA was introduced.”

“How is that possible?” Logan asked and Gideon noticed the way Clara automatically stepped

into her mate, wrapping her arms around his waist while he put his around her shoulders. They were a

unit. It was good to see.

“It’s not unusual,” Gideon told them, pushing past them to move across to the other side of the

room. He didn’t like having others closed in around him. He needed his space the same way he

needed fresh air. “Not all of us grow up knowing who or what we are.”

Abby laughed. “Yeah, we know all about that. Neither Tah nor Reno knew they were shifters at

first.”

“You awoke the beast,” Gideon said. “I’ve heard. And Reno’s mate brought out the tiger in him.

It happens that way sometimes. I’d guess Clara’s mating with Logan has aided in bringing his

recessed DNA out more, but there could be other factors.”

“Such as?” Clara asked.

“Close proximity with a pride of several shifters,” Gideon said.

“But I’ve been with Tah and Reno a long time,” Logan argued. “And Zane, Murphy and Kenzie.”

“I’m sure that’s played a part,” Gideon said. “But once again you’re asking the wrong

questions.”

“What should we be asking?” Diane spoke up first.

“If Logan’s beast will emerge or not,” Gideon said.

He saw Logan tense and the way Clara soothed her mate by rubbing her hand up and down his

chest.

“Will it?” Clara asked.

Gideon shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m sure I can work up a test that will give us a better idea.

We could use it on Finn, too.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Abby asked. “What tests to run and how to write

code?”

“Necessity is a great motivator. It probably helped that my parents were scientists,” Gideon

stated with a shrug. “I learned some from them.”

“Some?” Diane asked.

“The rest I learned elsewhere,” he said. “I need some air.” With that he turned abruptly and

moved quickly out of the room toward the stairs as memories fought to pull him under, pull him back.

Memories of a time when he’d been captured, tortured and tested by another set of scientists—a set

who had seen him as nothing more than an animal to experiment on. The same ones he feared Thomas

might now be with.

Gideon made his way quickly out the front door and away from the house. He was twitchy, edgy

and his animal pressed at him to make the shift and take off through the trees. Normally, he would

give in and go for a long run to soothe the jaguar inside him. But thanks to the feral virus, he needed to

be more cautious, especially with the woman there. The one who was fast approaching him. The one

with the power to destroy him if he wasn’t careful.

“Keep away from me,” he snarled as he entered the trees and felt her behind him.

She must have seen him leave and had followed him, something he would have noticed if he’d

been in the present and not the past.

“I’m getting real tired of assholes who think they can tell me what to do,” she snarled back at

him.

He turned toward her and gritted his teeth as his animal rose against him, fighting to pounce and

take. She was a wet dream walking. Her T-shirt was tight across her breasts and snuggly tucked into

her jeans. Boots laced up to mid-calf, and she braced her feet apart as she faced him. One look at her

and his dick was ready and willing to indulge a fantasy or ten.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“I’m not your fucking mate,” she yelled at him.

“I don’t have a mate,” he said, agreeing with her.

She shook her head as if that weren’t the response she’d been expecting. Finally, she placed her

fisted hands on her shapely hips and continued. “Good. I’m glad we agree on something. For the

record, I don’t back down from anything. I won’t be told where I can go, and I sure as hell won’t let

anyone dictate how I do my job. Are we clear on that?”

“I don’t give a fuck what you do as long as you do it away from me,” he said.

She took a step closer. “This is my home, my fucking pride or whatever you want to call us. I

come and go as I please.”

“I’m not sure what type of man you’re accustomed to—”

“Marines,” she interrupted, coming another step closer. “So you don’t fucking scare me.”

“That’s your mistake,” he warned. “I should terrify you, little girl.”

She laughed. Threw her head back and laughed at him, and it took all he had to keep his back

pressed against the tree and not grab her.

“Little?” she questioned. “You’ve got what? Five inches on me?”

He judged her to be about five-foot-eleven, so her assessment was accurate. He nodded, and she

moved another step closer to him, which only emphasized how much smaller her frame was

compared to his.

“I’m not a woman who runs or hides from anything,” she said, and it sounded like a warning.

“I’m not asking you to run or hide. I don’t care what your job is. I’m sure you’re more than

capable of doing anything needed. I’m just asking you to give me a wide berth.”

“I heard you quite well when you said you wanted me to stay the fuck away from you.”

She took another step, bringing her close enough that he could reach out and touch her. Instead,

he fisted his hands at his sides and pressed them against the rough bark at his back.

“You heard, but you don’t seem to have listened,” Gideon snarled at her.

“No, I questioned. Is it just me or all humans you don’t want around you?”

“I have nothing against humans,” he growled. He could feel the sweat on his brow as he held

onto the ragged edge of his control.

“So it is just me.” She purred, leaning in so her breath caressed his cheek.

“You’re playing with fire.”

And the hellcat moved all the way in until their bodies pressed together. Her curves fit him

perfectly, as if she had been created with him in mind. Her lips brushed his when she spoke.

“Good. As long as I’m not the only one who burns.”

He grabbed her. One hand fisting in her short curls, the other grasping the flare of her hip. He

meant to shove her away, but that was before she grabbed him back. Her hands clenched in his hair,

gripping the strands so tightly he felt the edge of pain along his scalp.

“I’d planned to kick your ass,” she panted. “Or at least make you suffer.”

He rocked his hips into her, letting her feel the hard length of his erection. “I’m suffering,” he

promised.

She caught her breath, just for a second, just long enough to make him wonder if she was finally

wising up. Then she slammed her mouth on his and thrust her tongue inside. It was wild and fed into

his most primal aggressions. He fought and lost his battle to keep away from her.

“Just sex,” she said when they broke apart. “We both know this isn’t a mating.”

“Just sex?” he questioned.

“I want you,” she admitted. “And I plan to have you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“But me and you? We’re just about the fucking. Is that clear?” she asked.

“Very,” he agreed and took her mouth again.

He devoured her, exploring every crevice of her mouth and coming back for more until neither

of them could breathe. He turned them until she was pressed between the tree and him. He used his

boot to nudge her feet far enough apart to make room for him to move between her thighs. She

retaliated by pulling his hair hard. He jerked, lifting his hands up to grip hers and lost a few strands in

the struggle, but when their mouths broke apart, he had her hands captured and held prisoner above

her head.

“Now what?” she said, showing no fear as she licked her bottom lip and stared back at him.

“Now, we burn.”

Chapter Three

Vic was still burning hours later thanks to Finn’s untimely interruption. The cocky bastard had

chuckled when he’d intruded on them. She’d have to make a point of torturing him in some way when

he least expected it. Paybacks were hell, especially when wielded by her hand.

So now she walked the perimeter for the second time, trying to ease the lust that rode her hard.

Which reminded her, Gideon would pay for leaving her. The prick had gotten her engine revved then

walked off and left her high and dry when Finn had said Tah had wanted to speak with him. What was

worse was the fact Gideon hadn’t seemed to care they’d been stopped at a most inopportune time.

He’d shrugged, given a muttered later then walked away.

God, she’d been seconds away from ripping Gideon’s pants open and taking what she wanted.

Just the thought had her channel clenching with need. It hadn’t mattered he’d captured her hands. She

would have enjoyed the struggle to get free and gain dominance. Why was it that when she was with

him all she could think about was fucking him, but when she was away from him all she wanted to do

was kill him?

As she approached the house, she ran into Clara.

“Everything good?” Clara asked.

Vic almost sighed, wondering if Clara was there to say something to her about Gideon. She

didn’t answer, choosing to let her facial expression say it all. She didn’t have to wait long to see. She

should have known Finn had a big fucking mouth.

“Listen, I think it would be best if you kept your distance from Gideon,” Clara said.

“Don’t,” Vic muttered. “Whatever is between Gideon and me is just that, between us.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Clara said. “Gideon isn’t some human man you can toy with.”

“I don’t toy with people,” Vic said sharply, completely pissed off by the accusation. She blew

out a breath as she met Clara’s unflinching gaze. Though maybe Clara had reason to think Vic was

capable of toying with people.

“I don’t want to see Gideon hurt,” Clara said.

Vic shook her head at the notion she’d be able to hurt Gideon. “I’m sure Gideon can take care of

himself. I got the impression he’s a…big boy.”

“Jesus,” Clara groaned. “I don’t want to hear stuff like that.”

Vic chuckled at how uncomfortable Clara looked at Vic’s implication. Clara had started this

conversation, though, not Vic.

“Look,” Vic said. “I know we got off to a rough start. Me setting you up the way I did…” She

shrugged. “I know I’m not your favorite person, and I deserve any animosity you throw my way.”

“I already told you I would have done the same thing in your shoes,” Clara said.

When Clara had first arrived, they’d held her captive until they could verify her motives. She’d

followed Reno and his mate Amia back to Colorado from the Blane Farm where Reno had gone

searching for information. He’d found a mate, instead. They’d suspected Clara had answers they

really needed. Vic had set Clara up, using Amia to do it. Luckily, both women had come out of it as

friends, though it had been a bit of a rough trip to that point. Even luckier, Vic hadn’t gotten the boot

over it. As mates, they very well could have seen to that.

“I know what you’re worried about,” Vic said. “But there’s no need. I’m not his mate.”

“You don’t—” Clara began, but Vic cut her off.

“Gideon told me. We’re not mates.”

“Oh.” Clara shuffled her feet, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“It’s okay,” Vic assured her. “I know you’re just watching out for him.”

Clara looked off toward the woods around them. “When I was growing up, it was my dad, Uncle

Thomas and Gideon. Gideon was this young lanky teen who followed them around everywhere. He

became family to me, sometimes like an uncle, sometimes more of an older brother. While dad and

Uncle Thomas showed me love, Gideon taught me how to fend for myself. Strength, he said, was in

the ability to walk alone and not depend on others.”

“A sentiment I understand well,” Vic stated.

“It’s not only Gideon I don’t want to see hurt,” Clara added, glancing back toward Vic. “I don’t

want to see you get hurt, either.”

“You’re in luck then,” Vic assured her. “Gideon and I want the same thing, and when it’s over,

we’ll both walk away unscathed. Promise.”

Clara nodded. She opened her mouth, closed it then swallowed. It was easy to see she wanted to

say something else but was refraining.

“Yes?” Vic asked, but Clara shook her head and turned toward the house.

“Want to grab a drink? I think I could use one after today.”

“Rough day?” Vic asked, walking beside her.

“Logan has shifter DNA,” Clara said.

Vic stopped midstride. “Just from mating you?” she asked incredulously.

“No, according to Gideon, it’s been dormant inside him the whole time,” Clara informed her.

“Wow. How does Gideon know that?” Vic asked. More importantly, how had they not known it?

The Professor sure took enough blood to work with.

“Gideon’s one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever known,” Clara said. “He and my Uncle

Thomas. I don’t imagine there’s much he doesn’t know or at least has the ability to figure out. I’m

hoping maybe he can be persuaded to move to Oklahoma with us, but I’m not betting on it.”

Vic took that in and understood she would only have a few weeks to work Gideon out of her

system. A few weeks should be just long enough. And, yeah, the fact he was intelligent as well as

gorgeous turned her on even more.

“So Logan’s a pussy, too?” Vic asked and grinned as Clara laughed.

“You know, I’ll have to ask Gideon if he can tell what Logan’s shifter DNA is. I’m not sure if

there’s anything in our genetic code that states what breed we are,” Clara said. “Just that we’re

different.”

“So what’s Gideon?” Vic asked.

“Jaguar,” Clara said. “Know much about them?”

Vic thought for a minute. “Large cat, most similar to a leopard or panther. They like water.”

“All true, but not what I was getting at,” Clara said with a chuckle. “Jaguars are solitary

predators. They stalk and ambush their prey.”

“I’m not prey, either,” Vic told Clara.

“We’re all prey at some point,” Clara stated. “Drink?” She nodded her head in the direction of

the kitchen.

“I’ll pass,” Vic said. “I promised Kenzie I’d spend some time with her tonight.”

“Is she okay?” Clara asked.

“I’m not sure,” Vic said honestly, not admitting this would be the first time she’d seen Kenzie

since she’d returned.

“Let her know Logan and I are here if she needs anything.”

“I will,” Vic said and headed upstairs to meet Holt and Kenzie.

She went to the top floor and knocked on the door. Holt opened it immediately.

“Jesus!” she exclaimed when she got her first look at Kenzie.

The other woman appeared like a ghost of her former self. The woman who always grinned was

no more. In her place was a pale wraith with dark circles under her eyes.

“Are you sick? Have you seen Diane?” Vic asked as she crossed to her.

“I’m fine,” Kenzie answered softly.

“I can see for myself you’re not fucking fine,” Vic retorted then turned on Holt. “Why haven’t

you brought Diane up to check on her?”

“Diane’s been up,” Kenzie said before Holt could open his mouth. “I saw her the first time then

let her know I needed some time. She’s been good enough to give it to me.”

“What happened to you?” Vic demanded.

“I got mated,” Kenzie said.

Vic had already heard that news, but if she needed validation she didn’t plan to be anyone’s

mate, this was it. It made no sense, though. There were four other mated women in this pride, and

none of them looked like this. Just the opposite, actually.

“Was it consensual?” Vic demanded.

Kenzie glanced away then closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes,” she whispered, and though she

couldn’t see, Vic watched her flinch and curl into herself when Holt moved away. Whatever Kenzie

was dealing with, Holt wasn’t helping.

“Go get some fresh air, Holt. I want to chat with Kenzie alone,” Vic said bluntly.

Holt glanced at Kenzie then met Vic’s stare and nodded. Without saying a word, he turned and

left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“I’m not sure he’s your best choice of confidant,” Vic said when they were alone. “The man’s

still in love with you.”

Kenzie laughed, but it wasn’t a sound of amusement. “He’s hurt and angry and…being the best

friend I don’t deserve at the moment.”

“What’s going on? I’m not going to ask if you’re okay. I can see you’re not. Do you need me to

hunt this bastard mate of yours down and drag him back here? Or better yet, do you want me to slit his

throat and leave him as road kill?”

“You have no idea how much I’d love to say yes,” Kenzie said. “But hurting him would only

destroy me more.”

Vic snorted. “So I won’t kill him. Just maim him a bit, help him see the fault in his choices.

You’re already in pain. Let’s make him suffer, too.”

“We’re already connected,” Kenzie said softly, arms wrapped around her waist. “And I have no

one to blame but myself.”

“What?”

Kenzie nodded. “When he found me, rescued me, he would have walked away without mating

me. But I saw the raw need in his eyes, smelled it on his skin, and I knew beyond the shadow of a

doubt this was the one person meant for me. He’s mine.” Her brown eyes flared a yellow gold at the

claim. “I gave him no choice. As soon as he released me, I bit him.”

“So you forced the bond?”

“I started it, but once I did, he was more than willing to participate.” She jerked her shirt to the

side, and Vic saw the bite that marred her skin. “He took me until I passed out from the pleasure and

walked away from me. He gave me the best moment of my life then ripped it away from me. And I

can’t even fully hate the bastard because we’re fucking connected. Do you know how messed up that

is?”

“My offer to rough him up is always there,” Vic assured her, not sure what to say. Kenzie’s pain

was so evident it made Vic’s heart ache for her.

“You know my whole life those who should love me, want me, are always walking away from

me. My parents gave me away because they thought I was human. Humans didn’t want me because my

shifter senses made me odd. I figured the one person I could count on to stay would be my mate.

Joke’s on me. Even my mate walked away and left me.”

“This pride won’t walk away from you, none of us. All you have to do is tell us what you need,

and we’ll do everything we can to help you. We’re your family,” Vic vowed.

“Even though Gabriel talked to Tah and told him to watch over and keep me safe?” Kenzie

asked softly. “I saw Gabriel after he left here. I met him when I was heading back by myself. I wanted

to think, to make sense of what happened. Instead, I met up with my mate again. He told me leaving

me was the hardest thing he’s ever done.”

“Bastard,” Vic said.

“I could feel the truth in his words. I could feel how much it was killing him to walk away. But

he still did. He wanted me, but he chose to leave. He’s destroying us both so he can be the Angel the

people need. I want to hate him for that. I want to walk away from him, from this.” She pointed at the

spot where Vic has seen the bite mark. “Just like he did, and it’s ripping me apart inside. I feel this

hunger, this fire in my bones. Sometimes I swear I can’t breathe because my emotions are so

overwhelming. I want to hate him. I want to hate everyone who depends on him and counts on what he

represents.” She closed her eyes and seemed to shrink into herself. “I want to, but I can’t.”

“Kenzie,” Vic said but shook her head. She had no idea what to say.

“Someday, he’ll realize what he lost when he left. He may be my mate, and I won’t be able to

turn away if he comes to me. Our biology will make sure of that. But I’ll never trust him, and I’ll

always be waiting for him to walk away again.”

“I’ll hate him for you,” Vic swore. “And I’ll do my best to make his life hell when he does come

crawling back.”

Kenzie smiled but it was a sad imitation of her former grins. “This is why I need to stay away

from everyone for a bit. My emotions are all over the place.”

“Kenzie, you’re not going after Gabriel, are you?” Vic asked.

“No,” Kenzie answered, her voice taking on a hard tone. “The next time I see him, he’ll be

coming to me, begging me for forgiveness. Next time, he’ll have to choose me instead of everyone

else.”

“You better make him fucking grovel on his hands and knees and worship the ground you walk

on before you even consider forgiving that bastard. Hell, I’m not sure you should ever forgive him.

But I get the whole mate thing will play a part in everything.”

“The mark means I’ll want to fuck him. My body will always be his and only his. It could have

meant more, had he stayed. Honestly, I’ve never known of a mated couple where one of them walked

away. I have no idea what this will do. Maybe given enough time, the mark will fade and the brief

exchange we had will become so diluted in my system that I can take another as my mate. All I can do

is wait and see.”

“This mating shit is fucked up,” Vic stated. The bond could be great, she’d seen that with the

other mated couples. Now she was seeing a different side, a darker side, with Kenzie and her mate,

or lack thereof.

“It is what it is,” Kenzie said dismissively and walked over to the window. “Are you going to

Oklahoma with everyone?”

Vic didn’t press Kenzie about the change in conversation. There were elements to this whole

mating thing Vic couldn’t possibly understand. One thing was clear, though. Kenzie was still

struggling to understand why her mate had left her, and she was incredibly hurt by his choice. Vic

thought again about how much she hoped Kenzie made the bastard suffer just as she obviously was.

“I don’t know for sure. Maybe. Probably,” Vic said.

“It’s not like you to be so indecisive,” Kenzie said, turning back to face Vic. Her arms hugged

her waist once more.

“Are you going to Oklahoma?” Vic asked, taking a page from Kenzie and avoiding answering.

“Eventually,” Kenzie said. “There’s something I need to take care of first. Holt’s appointed

himself my guardian, so he’s going with me.”

“What is it you need to take care of?” Vic asked. “Do you need me with you?”

“No,” Kenzie said. “I think Holt planned to ask you to come along, but I need something else

from you.”

“Okay,” Vic said, eyeing her warily.

“I need you to make sure no one comes after me.”

“I’m sorry, what? Have you been hiding away up here so long you’ve forgotten who you’re

talking about? Tah. Reno. Logan. Zane. The crazy fucking Irishmen. And you want me to keep them

from coming after you if that’s what they decide to do?”

“Like any of them intimidate you,” Kenzie countered. “You’re even immune to Tah.”

“I think the fully human thing helps me out there,” Vic admitted and finally got a real smile from

Kenzie. “Are you sure this is something you need to do on your own? You know you could ask any

one of them for help, and they’d give it.”

“I need to do this by myself,” Kenzie said.

“Look me in the eye and tell me it’s not dangerous,” Vic demanded. “Tell me you won’t do

anything to put yourself at risk, or I’ll lock you up myself.”

“I’ll be fine,” Kenzie said. “I promise. Holt will be with me. I have too much to lose to do

something stupid right now.”

“When are you planning to leave?” Vic asked.

“Soon. The less you know, the better,” Kenzie stated.

“I swear to God if you get yourself hurt, I’ll hunt you down,” Vic declared.

“I’ll be fine,” Kenzie stated again as she crossed to her and surprised Vic by hugging her. “I

swear.” She let go and walked back to the bed, grabbing a pillow and hugging it, instead. “Now, tell

me why you’re not sure if you want to go to Oklahoma.”

“Well, it’s Oklahoma for starters,” Vic said, and they both laughed.

* * * *

Vic stuck around until Kenzie shooed her from the room, claiming to be tired. They’d spent most

of the time reminiscing about the past. There was no other woman who understood Vic as well as her

Marine sister. And damn it that was exactly why Vic would do everything she could to make sure

Kenzie took care of whatever she felt she needed to uninterrupted.

Finn was the first person she saw as she made her way to the main floor.

“You on duty?” she asked.

“Nope,” he grunted. “Why? You need something?”

“Sparring partner,” she said. “Feel like throwing some punches.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I hate sparring with you.”

“Why’s that? Don’t like getting your ass kicked?”

“No, I don’t. My choices are either let you kick it until you’re satisfied or let the guys kick it for

fighting back,” he stated sourly.

Vic stopped and glared at him. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Nope, sugar, I’m not,” he said. “So still want a sparring partner?”

“Who kicked your ass for fighting with me?” she demanded.

“Whoever found out first,” he said then gave her a grin. “And I was only kidding about them

kicking my ass.”

“Who found you first most often?” she asked, ignoring his grin and the Irish charm he was trying

to connive her with.

He shrugged, keeping his mouth shut for a change.

She turned and walked away, heading toward Tah’s office again. Would he be pissed at her for

barging in on him twice in one day? She really hoped so. Pissed enough to spar. Finn was right on her

heels, suddenly not sounding so cocky.

“What are you doing? Are you really going to tattle on me?” he whined.

She twisted quickly, swiping her foot and knocking him on his ass. It helped he hadn’t been

expecting it. That was his problem, though, not hers. And she didn’t waste time feeling guilty. She

spun and kept going, changing her mind and heading past Tah’s office, through the house and out the

back. Maybe fresh air would help.

She plunged through the trees, feeling the need to do something to release all the energy trapped

inside her. Hearing footsteps behind her, she paused and growled.

“Get the fuck away from me, Finn, or I’m going to reconsider sparring with you.”

“If you want to spar, I’m right here,” Gideon said.

She turned and found her gaze captured by his.

“What’s up with your eyes?” she said, anger spiking even higher as she remembered how easily

he’d walked away from her earlier. “Sometimes they’re green. Sometimes blue. Is that a shifter

thing?”

“Yes,” he said and stalked toward her.

She didn’t mean to retreat. It wasn’t in her nature. But there was something in the neon green of

his eyes that made her catch her breath.

“Are you scared?” he purred. The fucker actually purred at her.

“No,” she said. Her back hit bark as he moved in, caging her between his bulk and the tree. It

was déjà vu.

“That’s your mistake then,” he whispered.

She leaned her head to the side as his lips skimmed up her neck, sending electric volts through

her that seemed to travel straight to her nipples and clitoris. She ached. No. She burned, and it was all

his fault. She clenched her fingers in his lush locks and jerked his head.

“I know just what I’m getting with you,” she told him.

“Yeah?” he questioned.

She thrust away from the tree, surging into him. He widened his stance, gripping her waist and

managing to keep them both of their feet.

“Careful,” he warned.

She shook her head. “No. I don’t want careful.”

“What do you want?”

“Fire,” she said.

Their gazes met and held, and she wondered if she looked as savage as he did.

“Fucking,” he said.

She nodded. His nostrils flared, and he closed his eyes as if breathing in her scent. Then he took

her by surprise, scooping her up high against his chest and heading back toward the house. No man

had ever carried her like this before. She’d spent most of her life trying to be one of the guys. But this.

Gideon. He didn’t just remind her she was a woman. He made her feel like one.

“Where are we going?” she asked, looping an arm around his neck.

“Is there a way into that house that will keep us from running into everyone?”

“Why?” She stiffened in his arms, wondering if he was ashamed to be with her.

“Because if one more person interrupts us before I get inside you, I might kill someone.”

“In that case, I have a better place—one where no one will bother us.”

He bent his head and kissed her quickly. “Which direction? How far?”

“It’d be easier if you put me down,” she said.

He seemed to struggle for a moment then lowered her until her feet touched the ground. She

surprised them both by gripping his hand with hers, palm-to-palm.

“Let’s go,” she said with a grin.

Chapter Four

Gideon could feel the scent of her lust wrapping around him like a cloak. His dick was spike

hard and desperate to be inside her. The first few times he took her would be fierce and fast. Maybe

that would beat back some of the flames she fanned when she was near him. The third and fourth

times would be longer, steadier, allowing him to focus more fully on her. He’d drown her in pleasure

and revive her with more flames. The fifth time he took her—maybe he would be able to reign

himself in enough to be slow and thorough, to show her the softer side of a jaguar’s touch.

“It’s just around the bend,” Vic said, drawing his eyes from the sway of her ass.

“How many cabins are in these woods?” he asked, taking in the look of the one in front of them.

“A lot,” she answered. “This is the closest one to the main house. We cleaned it up and use it as

another watch point. Plus, there’s an access road to this one. We keep the vehicles and ATVs around

back and everything we need for maintenance inside.”

“And this is where you brought me?”

She grinned. “There’s also a huge bed in there. In case someone decides to crash here, instead.”

“Show me.” He grunted.

She shoved open the door and shook her lush ass as she led him inside. He took one glance

around to ensure they were alone then used his foot to slam shut the door behind him. Vic turned to

him, and he enjoyed the way her lashes fluttered and her pulse jumped at her throat.

“What is Vic short for?” he asked as he reached around to slide the bolt across the door.

“Victoria,” she answered, and her voice was breathy. “My father wanted a boy. He was going to

name his son after him. Instead, he got stuck with me.”

There was so much conveyed in those three sentences, and he wondered if she realized what

she’d given away. Hurt, anger and a wealth of pain.

“Was he a soldier?” Gideon asked and wasn’t surprised by her nod.

“Did we come here to chat or fuck?” she challenged, one brow cocked high, hands falling to her

hips.

He reached for her and pulled her against his chest. He slipped his palms over her hips and

down to squeeze her ass while dipping his head to claim her mouth. She opened wide for him,

inviting his tongue inside and rubbing hers against it. She lifted her arms and wound her fingers in his

hair again. He liked the way she felt against him, tightly corded muscle in a curvy package.

He boosted her into his erection, and she countered by raising one long leg and wrapping it

around his hip. He turned and slammed her against the door. She clenched her fingers in his hair and

jerked his head to the side, biting his neck then sucking the sting.

“You like it rough, big boy?” she panted.

He did, which was why he never had sex with a woman who wasn’t a shifter. Until now. He

wanted to retaliate, to bare her neck and bite back, but his animal was too eager as if salivating for a

deeper taste. Instead, he hauled her higher, raising her feet off the floor and trapping her between him

and the door.

“Oh, yeah,” she moaned, and her hands were everywhere, legs clasping around his waist.

She rode the ridge of his erection, grinding the denim of her jeans against his.

“Need you,” she panted, leaning her head against the door and exposing her neck to him.

He didn’t dare relent enough to nip and nuzzled instead, marking her with the scrape of his

whiskers as he licked and sucked along the column. Her hands gripped the sides of his shirt and

hoisted it, pulling until she had the material wadded in her hands. She shoved it up, and he pressed his

groin tighter into her, using his lower body to hold her while he moved his hands and allowed her to

wrench the material free.

She tossed it aside and moved to reach for him again, but he had other plans. He grabbed the

hem of her shirt and divested her of it and the lacy, feminine, black bra she wore beneath. It surprised

him and managed to spike his lust higher. Her full breasts spilled into his palms, and he licked his

lips in anticipation of tasting one of her swollen nipples.

“Fucking gorgeous,” he crooned, cupping and molding her.

He worked his thumb and forefingers over her nipples, pinching lightly then plucking at them.

Her nails scraped over his taut abdomen, leaving a trail of red marks in their wake, and he retaliated

by giving her nipples a twist that had her crying out. She dug deep, and he knew he’d be wearing the

crescent shape of her nails embedded in his skin for a long while. It only made him hotter.

She shoved against him, catching him off guard and had him stepping back and adjusting his

stance to keep them both from falling. She took full advantage, and he grinned when he found their

positions reversed. The hellcat in her wasn’t as reserved in using her teeth on him. She nipped and bit

at his chest, catching his nipple and biting down before tugging at it. He moved his hands, but she

caught them. Holding his gaze, she pressed them against the door at his side.

“Keep them there,” she ordered. “Let me touch you.”

He squinted at her through lowered lashes then nodded. “Just remember, I expect to have an

equal turn.”

“I’m counting on it,” she said and those wicked fingers of hers slid back down his chest and

stomach until she snagged them in the waistband of his jeans.

She dropped one hand lower, squeezing his shaft through the denim and rubbing her palm over

him. The other hand reached for the snap, and she tortured them both as she fumbled to get it undone.

It popped free, and she slowly eased down the zipper. She wet her lips, puffs of air fanning his skin

as her breathing accelerated.

“You’re more than a handful, definitely more than a mouthful,” she purred.

“You can handle it,” he assured her.

“Oh, I know,” she said.

She used both hands to jerk the material wide and reached inside to grip him with her palm,

tugging his shaft free.

“Fuck, yeah,” she moaned and fell to her knees. She licked and kissed the scratches on his

stomach before nuzzling his dick against her cheek.

He dropped one hand atop her head and clenched his fingers in her soft curls as her breath

bathed his cock.

“Don’t tease me,” he ordered.

She glanced up at him, and her eyes were like dancing blue flames. He was beyond ready to

burn.

“Suck it,” he demanded.

She chuckled, and he tightened his grip in her hair. Her chuckle cut off as she gritted her teeth

and whimpered softly. He tried to loosen his grip, tried to ease the animal riding him, but it was a fine

line he was walking. He leaned his head back, fighting for control. It shouldn’t be this difficult. He’d

never had to struggle this much to maintain dominance over his beast. It had to be…

Her lips enclosed his cockhead, and his brain ceased to function. She suckled on him, and his

whole world became centered around the warmth of her mouth. She moaned, and the sound vibrated

down his shaft and tickled his balls.

“That’s it,” he crooned. “Suck my dick.”

She moaned again, sucking as she took more of his shaft into her mouth. She stopped only when

he tapped the back of her throat. She swallowed around him, the contraction squeezing the head and

leaving him swearing and sweating.

“Fuck,” he grunted.

She kept working his cock, bobbing on it as she gripped his jeans and pulled them down until

they caught on his thighs. She wrapped one hand around his balls, fondling and rubbing while she

used the other to help her pleasure his cock. He rocked into her, fucking the sweet heat of her mouth.

He closed his eyes, rolling his head along the door as she ravaged him. He needed to make her

stop or their first time was going to be him spilling his cum down her throat. She took him into her

throat again, and he bit down on his bottom lip until he tasted blood.

“Ease up,” he said, tugging on her hair.

She locked her teeth just under the head of his cock, and he glared down at her.

“Bite my fucking dick and our fun ends here, hellcat,” he warned.

She let up and swirled her tongue around him before releasing his cock with a loud pop.

“I want you naked,” he said. “I want you spread out on that bed so I can lick you from head to

toe.”

Her heated blue eyes clashed with his gaze as he watched her lust spike higher. She gripped his

thighs and used them to pull herself up from her knees.

“Just for the record,” she said as she backed away from him toward the large bed they’d yet to

make it to.

“When I get naked…” She unfastened the button on her jeans and slid down the zipper.

“And you get your mouth on me…” She stopped, quickly unzipping her boots on each side and

kicking them aside.

He’d worried it would take forever to unlace them. He liked the hidden zipper, much easier.

Still watching him, she bent down to tug off her socks until he saw bright red toenails peeking out.

Another feminine trait she kept from other’s eyes.

“When you’re tasting me…” She shoved her jeans to her ankles and stepped out, making him

catch his breath at the sight of her in nothing but a black swatch of lace that hid little from his gaze.

Her thumbs hooked in the sides of her panties as her knees hit the edge of the bed.

“I’m not going to ask you to stop before I come.”

He’d stalked after her across the room, and his hands grasped her wrists before she could

remove the material from her hips.

“When I get my lips on you.” He ripped the sides of the lace and watched her pupils dilate as

her panties dropped to the floor, leaving her naked.

“My tongue inside you,” he continued and gave her a nudge that had her gasping as she fell back

on the bed.

He made quick work of the rest of his clothes and crawled over her until he had her caged

beneath him.

“I promise I won’t stop until you scream my name,” he vowed and leaned in to slowly sip from

her lips.

She lifted her arms and reached for his shoulders, but he pulled back with a shake of his head.

“Above your head,” he ordered. “Keep them there.”

She panted, swallowed then eased them over her head and crossed them at her wrists. His gaze

dropped to her lush tits and the way they lifted and seemed to beg for his touch. Unable to resist, he

lowered his head and captured her nipple with his teeth.

“Gideon,” she moaned.

The sound of her voice pulled him back from the line he’d almost crossed. Using his teeth

wasn’t wise when his animal was so close to the surface, not when his beast found Vic’s scent so

seductive.

He replaced the grip of his teeth with that of his lips and sucked greedily at the ripe berry. He

popped off one, leaving it red and swollen and moved quickly to the other. He only lifted his head

again when he felt her fingers in his hair.

“Don’t make me tie you up,” he warned and barely stopped himself from nipping the bottom

curve of her breast.

He watched until her hands were back above her head once more then began making his way

down her body. He trailed his fingertips and tongue over her quivering stomach, across to her hip then

skimmed them along the inside of her leg until he reached those sexy red toenails. He ran his tongue

over them before moving to the arch of her other foot. He peppered kisses over it and began working

his way back toward the juncture of her thighs. This time when he reached the heated core of her, he

zeroed in, running his tongue along the center of her plump folds, gathering her cream. He glanced up

her body, loving the way her head was lifted to watch him while her hands stayed exactly where he

wanted them.

“Spread your thighs wider for me,” he commanded and moved between them as soon as she did.

He braced one hand across her hips and spread her open with the other so he could see the tight

bud of her clit, swollen and eager for his touch. He flicked it with his tongue, rubbing over and

around it while she moaned. Her thighs quivered as she moved them restlessly. He continued playing

with her, wanting to see how far she’d let him go.

He got his answer when she tightened her thighs around him, giving his shoulders a warning

squeeze that had his cock throbbing against the mattress.

“Eat it or move your ass up and slam that cock deep inside me. I don’t fucking care. Just make

me come.”

He chuckled and reached up to catch her hand before she could latch her fingers in his hair

again. This was what he’d been waiting for. He brought her digits to her pussy and placed them over

where his held her open to his view.

“Keep it spread,” he ordered and moved his hand, never doubting she would obey.

He didn’t waste any more time. He wrapped his lips tightly around the swollen bud he’d toyed

with and thrust two fingers into her channel. She lifted her hips up, pressing her sex harder against his

mouth. He flattened his tongue and rubbed briskly while pumping his fingers hard and fast. He could

hear the way her breath caught as she panted, reaching for the orgasm he could feel her approaching.

“Let go,” he murmured between licks. “Let me taste your cream.”

“Ahhh,” she cried out, and she moved her other hand, gripping his hair as she fucked his fingers

and tongue.

He released her clit and replaced his fingers with his mouth as she broke. He lapped the juices

spilling from her, thrusting his tongue in and swirling it around her clenching channel in his quest for

more.

“Gideon,” she moaned, tugging at his hair.

He could feel her trembling in the aftermath. He should give her time, but he rode the fine edge

between man and beast, and there was only one way to retain control. He rose onto his knees between

her thighs and thrust deep. They both groaned, and he wondered if it felt as good to her as it did to

him.

“I can’t be slow and easy,” he warned, meeting her gaze, his arms shaking as he fought to hold

still just a bit longer.

“I didn’t ask you to,” she replied and ran her hands down his sides until she clenched her nails

into his ass. “Fuck me.”

“Yesss,” he hissed and began a hard and fast rhythm.

He pounded into her and felt the beast ease as she relaxed under him, absorbing every firm

stroke and undulating with the need for more. He leaned his head back, jaw clenched as he fought to

stave off the orgasm tickling his balls, threatening to take him under. He needed her to come first,

wouldn’t allow for his own release until she did.

“Slip you finger down,” he urged. “Touch yourself. Make that tasty pussy come all over my

dick.”

She followed his command willingly, sliding her hand down to her clit. Both their gazes

followed, and he gritted his teeth as he felt the first flutters of her orgasm in the tightening of her

channel around his pummeling shaft.

“Gideon.” She moaned his name as she came again.

He slammed deep and held there as his cock jerked and filled her with hot splashes of his seed.

He lowered his torso from bracing on his palms to his elbows so he could brush his lips along her

jaw and across her shoulder. He had a moment of panic when he saw the trace of blood on her skin. It

was only then he realized he’d bitten his lip again.

“You’re bleeding,” she said and swiped her thumb across his bottom lip.

He reached up and caught her hand with his, bringing the digit to his lips and sucking it clean

before leaning over and dropping his head down at her side. He lay there for a minute, hoping his

weight didn’t crush her while he caught his breath. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly

while her panting breath bathed his shoulder. Finally, he mustered the energy to roll off her and ended

on his side, facing her. There was something in her gaze that gave him pause. Did she regret her

choice to have him?

“What’re you thinking?” he asked, and even he could hear the hard growl of his tone. His body

tensed as he waited for her to say something that would mean it was time for him to go.

“It’s a little late, but we should probably discuss the whole no condom thing,” she said.

He heaved a sigh and barely contained a smile. She’d just been thoroughly fucked by a shifter

and lack of birth control was her concern. “I didn’t think about it. Shifters don’t carry sexual diseases.

I can’t give you any or get any from you.”

Her fist slammed out and punched him in the stomach. “I don’t have any diseases, thank you.”

“I didn’t mean you did,” he said and caught her fist when she would have hit him again. “I

didn’t. I swear. I was just letting you know. I’m clean.” He’d never had a conversation like this

before, but then Vic was the first non-shifter he’d been with.

“So am I,” she said. “I’ve always made sure the guy suited up. I had a clean bill of health when I

discharged from the service. Haven’t been with anyone since.”

It made him feel better that she’d been as lost in the sex as he had. Hell, one taste of her and he’d

forgotten to think. All he’d been able to do was feel.

“I can’t get you pregnant,” he said, wondering if that might be another concern. “Only mates can

get pregnant, and only when the female is in heat.”

“We’re not mates,” she said, and he nodded in agreement.

“Should we stop?” he asked. “Until we get protection?”

“I like the feel of you,” she admitted, meeting his gaze. “I understand the appeal of skin on skin.”

“Are you saying you’re ready for another round?” he asked.

Her glance dropped to his crotch and his dick bobbed a greeting.

“Someone has stamina,” she murmured.

“This is nothing,” he assured her.

“Oh, really?” she challenged. “How many times do you think you can handle, stud?”

“Six,” he said. “Maybe seven depending on how long you need to rest in between.” And how

long it took him to work the lust for her out of his system.

She laughed then shook her head as he watched her with lifted brow.

“Holy shit!” she cried. “You’re serious.”

“Unless you can’t take it,” he said. “I’ll stop if you need me to.”

He watched the fire of challenge ignite in her eyes and managed to keep the grin teasing his lips

hidden. He loved the way she met him head on, refusing to back down. He’d have to watch her,

though, make sure she didn’t push herself past her physical limits just to try and prove herself the

superior of the two of them. He would be sorry to leave her when the time came for them to go their

separate ways.

“Bring it on, cat boy,” she said.

He rumbled, releasing the beast just enough to let a purr vibrate through his chest.

“It’ll be a long night, hellcat,” he promised.

She shoved him flat on the bed and rose over him, lifting her leg until she was astride him. She

reached down and wrapped her fingers around his dick. “Yes, it will,” she agreed, and eased down,

enveloping him in molten heat once more.

He feared they were both wrong. The night wouldn’t be long enough—not nearly.

Chapter Five

Vic let the water cascade over her body, rinsing away the residue of an incredible night spent

with Gideon. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone without sleep. She was hoping she’d have

many more nights just like it before Gideon left. She ruthlessly ignored the jolt that went through her

at the thought of him leaving. It was inevitable. They both knew it. Neither of them did permanent, and

one night, no matter how fantastic, wouldn’t change that.

They’d walked back to the house at dawn, going their separate ways as soon as they hit the front

door. There was something about him this morning. He seemed even quieter than usual, more

reserved. She wasn’t going to dwell on it, though. He’d left her with a toe-curling kiss that was sure

to have her mind revisiting those hours spent in the cabin all day long.

She forced herself to rush through the shower and not linger. The sooner the day got started, the

sooner it would end and she could see Gideon again. She dressed quickly and headed down to the

kitchen for breakfast. She was starving this morning. She wasn’t surprised to see Finn there. He didn’t

seem to sleep much lately.

“Well, hey there,” he said as she walked in. He opened his mouth to say something else but

snapped it shut and inhaled deeply.

Fuck! Apparently, she hadn’t washed Gideon’s scent off her skin.

“I’ll fucking rip his head off,” Finn said as he stood from the table.

“I’d rather you not,” she said, glaring at him. “I have plans for later, and I need his head intact

for them. As well as the rest of him.”

“Jesus,” Finn grunted. “I thought you didn’t want a mate.”

“I don’t. Neither does he,” Vic assured him. “It’s just sex. You know how that works.”

“It’s been a while, but I think I recall the basic principle,” he jeered. “Do you have any fucking

clue what you’re setting yourself up for?”

“A good time? A mind-blowing orgasm?”

“Just stop,” Finn muttered. “I think my ears are bleeding.”

She hid her grin as she turned to pour coffee. “I got this,” she promised softly.

She pivoted back around and almost dropped the cup when he was right behind her.

“I know you don’t need anyone,” he said. “You can take care of yourself and all of us, as well.

But if you decide you do need someone, a friend, any one of us will step up to plate for you.

Remember that.”

She shook her head. Why were they all telling her that lately? And what the hell was wrong with

her? Her emotions, which were always so easily contained, bubbled to the surface and damned if she

didn’t want to hug Finn, which would only serve to freak them both out.

“You know it’s okay to need people,” Finn said. “It doesn’t make you weak.”

She opened her mouth. Closed it. All she could see was her father, yelling about how he’d been

cheated out of a son. He hated Vic for so many reasons. Because she was a female and thus weaker,

inferior. And because her mother had died mere hours after Vic’s birth. She’d learned early on that

the only person she needed and could count on was herself. Something in Finn’s gaze made her think

he might understand that.

“I don’t want to need anyone,” Vic finally admitted.

“Murphy and I were just kids when we came here,” Finn said, shocking the hell out of her. “Still

grieving when we were uprooted and sent a world away to live with a stranger. I was hotheaded.

Took my pain out in ways that would make you cringe.” He leaned his head back, staring at the

ceiling above them.

“I’m sorry,” Vic said.

Neither Finn nor Murphy had ever really talked about the time before they joined the Marines.

She knew they had dual citizenship with Ireland and the U. S. but had never figured it was any of her

business.

“Murphy was supposed to be sent alone. Punishment for something that was never his fault. But I

couldn’t let him. I knew he needed me.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

“Because we’re a lot alike,” he said, glancing down at her once more. “I saw how family could

fail you, how everything you loved in the world could be snatched away just like that.” He snapped

his fingers. “I joke with Murphy. I watch his back. But I shut him out just as much as I do everyone

else when it comes to feelings and shit. It’s easy to be the loneliest man in the room when you hide it

behind a quick wit and charm.”

“Finn,” she said, but he placed his finger over her lips, silencing anything she might have said.

“Don’t let fear build walls you can’t knock down,” he warned her.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” Vic replied, turning back around and setting her coffee on the

counter untouched.

“We’re all afraid of something,” he said quietly.

She took a minute to gather her thoughts, figure out how to respond, but when she rotated to face

him again, he was gone.

“What the hell,” she muttered to herself.

What was going on with Finn? That conversation had come out of nowhere. How could the scent

of Gideon on her bring about a heart-to-heart with Finn? It was eye opening to realize that in all the

years she’d known the group, she knew very little about them outside of being soldiers. What she did

know, she’d learned since coming here. They’d always been a unit, but since everything that had

happened recently, since Abby really, they’d become more. They’d become family, one completely

different from what she’d known.

Should she go after Finn? Talk to Murphy? Or let it go? She finally decided to shake it off for

now. Everyone was on edge lately, and it was starting to take a toll. The trip to Denver, the move, the

knowledge that hunters were closing in on where they were. Any one of those things would be

stressful, but with them occurring at the same time, it was overwhelming.

She headed down to Tah’s office and was surprised when she caught him alone. He said nothing

as she entered, and she felt guilty for interrupting him. From what she saw, he very rarely had time

alone any more. With how much she valued her private moments, she hated disrupting his.

He inhaled and shook his head. “You smell of Gideon.”

“Yeah. Who knew you couldn’t wash shifter off?” she joked with a shrug.

“Did he mate you?”

“I already told you, I’m not his mate,” Vic answered.

Tah didn’t say anything, just watched her with a hooded gaze that made her feel as if he were

seeing inside her, deep into places she tried to hide—even from herself.

“We need to move, Tah,” she said. “This waiting and planning is frying us. We need to do

something already.”

“I’m actually calling a council meeting,” Tah said. “We’ve planned enough.”

“When?”

“Now,” Tah replied. “I figured Reno sent you but apparently you just have great timing. Reno

went to grab Logan and Murphy. He was also planning to look for you. Abby went to get the

Professor. I had her ask Gideon to join us, as well.”

“Why? He’s not part of the council. Hell, he’s not even part of the pride,” Vic said. She wasn’t

sure she could keep her hands off him. Last night should have sated her. Instead, it only made her want

him more. And after the chat with Finn earlier, she wasn’t on her game at the moment.

“Exactly,” Gideon agreed, surprising her as he walked in with the Professor and Abby behind

him.

Abby held a sleeping Regan in her arms.

“I’m not a part of your pride,” Gideon finished.

She wasn’t sure if the your was directed at her or Tah. If there was hurt in Gideon’s eyes at

what he’d overheard her say, she couldn’t be certain. He merely glanced at her then dismissed her,

and she had no one to blame but herself.

“Abby said you’ve been helping out down in the labs. I have questions I think only you will be

able to answer,” Tah said.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” Gideon said and moved across the room, placing himself as far from

Vic as he could get.

She crossed her arms over her chest, pissed. At herself. At him. At every fucking thing. She

didn’t feel shit. She called it like it was and never pulled punches. So why did she wish she’d kept

her mouth shut or at least that Gideon hadn’t heard her?

Reno walked in, followed by Logan and Murphy.

“I see you found her,” Reno said.

“I headed in on my own,” Vic said.

Reno inhaled. “Another problem?” he asked softly.

Jesus! “No,” Vic gritted out.

Tah shook his head at Reno. “Let’s take a seat,” he said, indicating the informal seating area.

Murphy patted her shoulder as he passed. His lack of comment made her suspect he’d already

spoken with Finn. The Professor looked frazzled, as if he’d been pulled unwillingly upstairs to join

them. Abby smiled softly at her. That’s when she realized they were all giving her a wide berth, as if

she were a fucking delicate flower. Her gaze skirted over to where her man leaned against the wall.

Her man? Where the fuck had that thought come from? Sex didn’t make her stupid. Ever. And it

sure as hell didn’t fuck with her head. She needed to gain some goddamned control over herself.

“Vic?” Tah asked, and she realized they were all settled, waiting for her to join them.

She forced her feet to move, and the closer to Gideon she walked, the higher her temper flared.

She’d ignore him. Pretend he wasn’t fucking there just as he was doing with her. That was the plan at

least. Then she smelled him, and it made her mouth fucking water for a taste of him. That’s when she

decided to say screw it. Everyone in the room knew they’d had sex. You couldn’t hide that shit from

these guys. It did no good to act otherwise. She walked right up to the motherfucker, reached up and

used his hair to jerk his head down to her.

“Victoria,” Gideon said as she claimed his attention.

All her focus was on Gideon. His eyes were that gorgeous neon green again when she swore

she’d seen blue when he’d first walked in the room and briefly met her gaze.

“Gideon,” she said as she planted herself in front of him. “Are we good?” she whispered though

she knew most of those in the room would be able to hear her anyway. Private conversations were a

rare commodity when you lived with a group of shifters.

Gideon angled his head, despite her tight grip on his hair, and gave her a strange look.

“Are we?” she asked again.

He nodded, questions in his gaze, which she chose to ignore.

She nipped his bottom lip—couldn’t resist the desire to taste him, however briefly. Then she

took a step back and turned to face the rest of them, widening her stance and crossing her arms over

her chest. She glared as she placed herself between Gideon and the rest of the room.

“I know you all smell him on me, and yes, we had sex,” she stated.

“Shit,” Tah grunted as the rest of the men glared.

Vic knew it wasn’t directed at her, but those glares were exactly why she was speaking up.

“I started this,” she said. “My choice. I expect you all to respect it and leave him the hell alone.”

She felt Gideon’s hands on her hips then she was lifted out of the way.

“I don’t need anyone to stand in front of me,” he stated gruffly.

“And I just want to make it clear that I’m the only one with a say in who I sleep with,” she

stated.

He quirked a brow at her, and she knew he was implying her partner might have a say in that, as

well. He was right, but that wasn’t the point. She ignored him again and glanced back at the room,

meeting each of their gazes and holding them briefly before moving on to the next.

“Are we clear?” she demanded and wasn’t satisfied until they all nodded.

“And I thought you were going to kick his ass,” Logan joked.

Gideon glanced her way again and gave her another questioning look filled with disbelief. She

wasn’t sure if he doubted the thought or her ability. Either way, it was neither the time nor the place to

have that chat.

“Despite this little conversation, Vic’s sex life wasn’t part of the agenda,” Tah said when the

room remained silent. “So let’s move on.”

Logan coughed, but Vic knew it was only to hide a laugh. She was starting to feel embarrassed,

like maybe she’d overreacted, when Gideon reached over and laced his fingers with hers. She did her

best to relax and focus on Tah.

“Abby and I will head for Denver in two days. We’ll take Logan and Clara with us along with

Zane and Diane. We won’t be coming back here,” Tah said. “Instead, we’ll head straight to Riverton,

Oklahoma. Our contact there is a man named Daniel. Zane’s Uncle Orsai vouched for Daniel.”

“Where is Orsai?” Vic asked. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Orsai left last evening,” the Professor said. “He said he was needed elsewhere, but he would

visit us in Oklahoma.”

“What do we know about Riverton?” Murphy asked. “And this Daniel.”

“I’ve done as much digging as I can from here,” Abby said. “He’s the sheriff in Riverton, a

small town named because of where it butts up against the Red River. The place we’re heading is a

ranch just outside town. From what I’ve been told, it’s huge. The main house sits on over thirty acres

and there are several other homes on the property, as well.”

“Space so we’re not smelling all the sex we’re not having,” Murphy muttered. “Sign me up.”

“Reno and Amia will leave a few days after we do. Professor, you’ll be traveling with them

along with Lydia,” Tah said, ignoring Murphy.

“How soon is that? I have more to do. I should be the last to leave,” the Professor argued.

“No can do,” Reno said. “You’re with us, and you’ll be ready on time.”

The Professor grumbled until Abby reached over and patted his knee with her free hand.

“Vic,” Tah continued. “You, Kenzie and Holt will take Ariel with you.”

Vic nodded. It didn’t seem like a good time to let him know Kenzie and Holt would be traveling

separately. That meant it would just be her and Ariel, who she still didn’t trust. Great combination.

They might kill each other along the way.

“Murphy and Finn will leave last with Griffin. They’ll be transporting Dillon,” Tah said.

“I still say we should just snap the bastard’s neck and be done with it,” Murphy said.

Vic felt Gideon tense beside her at the mention of Dillon, and she squeezed his hand with hers.

“He has answers, and he will give them to us,” Tah said. “Until he does, Dillon will remain

very much alive.” He looked over at Gideon. “And you’re more than welcome to come along.”

“We could use a man with your skills in the lab,” Abby added.

Gideon shook his head. “I’ll be moving on as soon as you do.”

Vic did her best to ignore the looks that came her way. She knew Gideon was leaving. His

words weren’t a surprise. They were having sex, not a relationship. Hell, she’d only spent one night

with him. One night shouldn’t be fucking with her head. She loosened her grip on his hand and barely

contained her surprise when he squeezed her hand this time. She refused to glance his way, though.

She couldn’t trust herself not to giveaway how much she didn’t want to be reminded of him leaving.

“Gideon is the reason we know more, now,” the Professor stated. “He’s rewritten several of our

testing codes and we’re pulling out information we really need instead of trying to ascertain what we

need from the more ambiguous tests we were running.”

“That will only work for so long,” Gideon warned.

“What do you mean?” Abby asked.

“You have two people working in your lab, running tests. You have no idea what you’re up

against. The hunters you’re facing? Despite what you might have seen at the Blane Farms I heard you

visited, hunters are a very well-organized machine with many sites specifically designated for

research,” Gideon said.

“Tell us,” Tah ordered.

“I understand you know a bit about where the feral cat fever virus Dillon had access to came

from,” Gideon said.

“Clara’s uncle brought it back with him,” Logan answered.

Gideon nodded. “Thomas was attacked and captured. They tortured him for days. Strategically

placed cuts, puncture wounds, beatings. You name it. All to see how long it took to heal. To see what

he couldn’t heal from.”

“Bastards,” Murphy muttered.

“I’ve heard of a time when they severed limbs just to see if they’d grow back,” Gideon added.

“Jesus Christ,” Reno muttered.

“Trust me when I say the hunters with guns who merely want to kill us are the least we should

worry about,” Gideon informed them.

“Thomas wasn’t the only one captured,” Abby said softly.

Vic jerked her head to look at Gideon and knew Abby was right by the way he stood, the way he

held his head.

“Those labs are hell on Earth,” Gideon said and finally tugged his hand free.

Vic watched him along with everyone else as he began pacing around the room.

“I was there when Thomas was captured and brought in,” Gideon said. “They kept us locked in

cages when we weren’t being used for testing.”

“Cages?” Abby whispered.

“We’re animals to them. Not human,” Gideon stated.

“What tests did they run?” Tah asked.

Gideon shook his head. “Things that would give you nightmares. Things no man or animal

should ever be submitted to. Feral fever is only one of their pet projects. They have an entire

department devoted to discovering ways to biologically fuck with us.”

“Such as?” the Professor asked.

Gideon stopped walking and turned to face Vic. His gaze locked with hers, as if he needed the

connection to keep talking. She wanted to go to him, to cross and wrap him in her arms, but her feet

were rooted to the ground.

“For entertainment, they would inject us with different things and make us fight one another.

Hallucinogens they were working on, adrenaline boosters, variations of feral fever—anything they

wanted to test. Then they’d sit back and watch.”

“Until?” Vic asked, knowing there was more.

His gaze met hers. “Until one of us won.”

Chapter Six

Gideon scanned the room, taking in the faces of those around him. What would they think of him

if they knew the whole truth? Thomas had been so afraid shifters would blame him for the things he’d

been forced to watch and even participate in. But Gideon was tired of pretending to be someone he

wasn’t.

“Oh, Gideon,” Abby said. “How long were you there?”

Horror—that was what he saw. And concern. There was no hate, not with these people. And

knowing that made him wonder if he might be able to tell them everything. Maybe began to heal parts

of him that had been broken for a long time.

“Two years,” he said.

“How did they get you?” the Professor asked him.

“I was young, cocky and arrogant. I walked right into a trap and didn’t even realize it until I

woke up in a cage. They brought in a dozen more of us over the next couple days. And that was when

the fun began.”

“There’s no shame in surviving,” Reno said, and it was as if the other man knew the things

Gideon had been forced to do, the lives he’d ended.

“You left with Thomas?” Logan asked.

Gideon nodded. “They were planning to make us fight one another. They didn’t know I’d grown

up in the same area as Thomas—that I knew him. They injected Thomas with fever, a new strain

they’d been working on. Within minutes, he’d killed the three men with him and ripped my cage open

to free me, as well.” He didn’t want to remember that time in his life. There were ghosts from then

that still haunted him—bloodstains on his hands he’d never be able to wash off. He shoved the past

back down. “We escaped and made it home.” Not exactly the story Thomas had told his family, but

Gideon was telling the truth. It was more than time for it.

“When did Thomas get the vials of fever?” the Professor asked.

“Later, when he was captured again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t by the right group of hunters. So all

he was able to get was the original strain of feral cat fever,” Gideon admitted.

“Are you saying Thomas allowed himself to be captured?” Logan asked, and Gideon could see

the other man was pissed.

He understood why. Logan was Clara’s mate, and though the things Gideon, Thomas and

Michael had done were needed, Clara had been hurt by them.

“Easy,” Reno said and put his hand on Logan’s shoulder.

The gesture reminded Gideon so much of Thomas and Michael. He could easily see himself and

his best friends in Tah, Reno and Logan. Logan was so much like Clara’s father Michael that Gideon

never questioned their mating. He wondered if she realized it, or if she’d lost Michael too soon to

really know the man her father was. Reno was more like him while Tah was an unjaded version of

Thomas. God, he hoped they made better choices than Gideon and his friends had.

“I’m saying we did what we needed to,” Gideon finally said.

“We? You and Thomas?” Abby asked, but Gideon looked away.

“Michael was part of this, too, wasn’t he?” Logan demanded, surging to his feet. “So Clara lost

her father, and her uncle’s missing? For what? Some vials?”

“Clara’s lost a lot less than most,” Gideon all but roared. “Entire families have been wiped

out.”

“Ease up,” Tah ordered, and though his voice was leashed, Gideon could hear the authority in it.

It gave him hope for the future.

“You and Thomas were working with the fever, weren’t you?” the Professor interrupted, cutting

through the tension with his question. “Dillon stole it, but he didn’t create it.”

Gideon nodded. “We were trying to recreate some of the variations they’d managed to make

with it, to see if we could study them.”

“You were trying to find a way to make shifters immune to its effects?” Abby asked.

“That’s always been the plan,” Gideon said. He prowled the room. “We were close, so close.

Thomas did most of the work with the samples, mixing them and creating new strains. I managed the

tests, compiled data and watched for anything that might come close to the results we were looking

for. One day, Thomas was late. I went to grab one of the samples and realized there were a lot

missing, more than should be.”

“Dillon,” Murphy muttered.

“Yes,” Gideon agreed. “I didn’t realize he was drugging Lydia.” He shook his head, letting the

guilt hit him. “Honestly, I didn’t think much of her, at all. She wasn’t important to me, and for that, I’m

sorry.”

“What happened to Thomas?” Logan asked and Gideon was relieved they weren’t calling him

out.

“I don’t know,” Gideon said. “I really don’t. He was acting strange the last few times I was with

him. I thought we’d been working too hard. We were close, or at least, it felt like we were getting

close. I had to leave for a bit. I told him to take off, go for a run. He wasn’t there when I got back, and

I could tell something was up.”

“Did he plan to be captured again?” Tah asked.

“No,” Gideon said. “But that doesn’t mean he didn’t find the opportunity and take it.”

“Do you know what strain Dillon used on Lydia?” Abby asked.

“I have my suspicions,” Gideon admitted. “ And no, I can’t save her. I’m surprised she’s lasted

this long.”

“You’re going after him,” Vic said, and his hellcat looked angry. “That’s why you brought Ariel

and Griffin here. You weren’t searching for Clara. You knew where she was. You brought them here

to leave them, as well.”

“The safest place for them is with this group,” Gideon said. He turned to Tah. “With you.”

“Gideon,” Vic said.

“I’ve told you all I can,” Gideon said, ignoring her and focusing on Tah. “I think my time here

would be better spent with Diane in the labs.”

Tah nodded and, without glancing at anyone else in the room, Gideon turned and left.

Vic watched him walk out the door. She’d tried to catch his gaze, but he kept it diverted. Her

heart was breaking for him. She wanted to follow him, to comfort him, and wasn’t that a shock.

“This is much bigger than we could have ever imagined,” Reno said into the hush that had fallen

over the room with Gideon’s exit.

“Yeah,” Tah agreed.

“He’s going after him,” Vic said. “Gideon. He’s going after Thomas. That’s why he’s not

staying.”

“I’d do the same,” Reno said. “For a friend. For a brother. Any of us would.”

“Damn straight,” Murphy agreed.

Vic was reminded of when they’d done just that. When Finn had gone off on his own and nearly

been killed before Murphy and Zane had found him.

“Gideon’s the one who discovered the anomaly in Logan’s blood,” the Professor stated. “Diane

and I both missed it.”

“What anomaly?” Vic asked, but she remembered Clara telling her Logan had recessed shifter

DNA similar to Finn.

“Apparently, I have a shifter in my gene pool somewhere,” Logan admitted, finally sitting back

down next to Reno. “That’s why the feral fever hasn’t left my system, yet.”

“Makes sense,” Vic said.

“Looks like Finn and I are in the same boat at the moment,” Logan stated. “No idea if or when

our animals will emerge.”

“But we’ll be keeping an eye on it,” the Professor replied.

“Yeah, I know,” Logan groaned. “You’ll want more blood.”

Chuckles sounded and some of the tension eased from the room. Logan was good at doing that,

always had been.

“At least, we have a better idea of what we’re up against, now,” Reno finally said.

“We need to get our hands on some of those vials of feral fever,” the Professor said.

“You would think that,” Vic said.

“He’s right.” Abby surprised her by agreeing. “Right now all we have to go on is how it works

in the blood once it’s been injected. At that point, it’s diluted, mutated in a way that’s specific to the

individual. There’s no way to test it outside of that. But if we had a vial of it, we might be able to do

research along the lines of what Gideon and Thomas were working on.”

“We’ll see what options we have once we get to Riverton,” Tah said. “We’re going to stick

with the current plan. We’ll re-evaluate once we get there.”

“We need more people,” Reno stated.

“Yes, we do,” Tah agreed. “Orsai can help with that. He said he’d spread the word among other

shifters as he travels.”

“You want to let everyone know where we’re headed?” Murphy said. “Are you sure that’s a

good idea?”

Tah sighed. “I think it’s time for someone to take a stand. No more running. No more acting like

prey.”

“So we go to war,” Vic stated. War she knew, understood. War she could handle.

“No,” Tah said, and Vic watched his gaze move to linger on his mate and child. “We dig in. We

make a home, not just for ourselves but for anyone who needs one. We train. We learn. We prepare.

And the next time they come looking for us, we stand our ground.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Logan said.

“We have to be willing to be as cold-blooded as they are,” Murphy added. “No holding back.”

“I know,” Tah agreed.

“Don’t forget about Dillon,” Vic reminded them. “We move and open our doors, we need to be

damn sure we’re not inviting the enemy in with us.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Reno agreed. “We need to remain cautious.”

“Our inner circle stays together,” Tah stated. “Abby and I, Reno and Amia, Logan and Clara,

Zane and Diane, Holt, Kenzie, Vic and the Professor.”

“Ariel and Griffin?” Vic asked.

“Use caution for now. I don’t know them well enough to trust them,” Tah said. “And I won’t

have my mate and child around people I can’t trust with their lives.”

“Agreed,” Reno said.

“What about Kenzie’s mate?” Abby asked. “What if Holt ends up mating? Or Vic?”

Vic shook her head, but Tah spoke before she could.

“We’ll discuss it if and when it happens,” Tah said. “As for Gabriel… I’d say he’s already

proven himself with the job he does, with the way he protected Zane and Diane. We may not like the

choice he made to leave Kenzie. But none of us have walked in his shoes.”

“What did he say when you spoke to him?” Vic asked. She didn’t know if the others had already

heard about the conversation, but Kenzie was her friend, too. And she wanted answers. “Other than

the information about Riverton, Oklahoma?”

“He asked me to make sure we looked out for Kenzie and kept her safe. I could see how much it

was killing him to walk away from her. Zane noticed the same thing. And we both picked up on the

fact Gabriel felt as if he didn’t have a choice,” Tah added. “I’m guessing we’re all finally starting to

see why he felt that way.”

“I—” Vic began, wanting to question what he meant by keep her safe, but a knock on the door

cut her off.

“Come in,” Tah called, and an angry Zane shoved it wide.

“She’s gone,” he said, and the way his gaze locked with Vic’s let her know exactly who he was

talking about.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, drawing several gazes her way.

“Who?” Tah demanded.

“Kenzie,” Zane said. “She and Holt are both gone, and I don’t think they just went out for fresh

air. Did they?” he asked, looking right at Vic.

“What makes you think Vic knows anything about this?” Tah asked Zane though he was staring at

her.

“Kenzie has been avoiding everyone,” Zane answered. “She hasn’t seen Diane since my mate

went up to check on her after Regan was born. Kenzie hasn’t spoken to anyone since then except Holt

and more recently, Vic.”

“What are you? A stalker?” Vic asked.

“Diane and I were worried, so I’ve been keeping an eye on Kenzie,” he said.

“What’s going on?” Tah asked, and this time he was directing his question at Vic.

“I don’t know,” Vic said. “All I know is Kenzie said she needed to take care of something, and

she needed to do it by herself. She and Holt will meet us in Oklahoma.”

“Did she tell you what it was she needed to take care of?” Zane demanded. “Where exactly she

was headed?”

“I didn’t ask,” Vic said. “I trust Kenzie. She said she’ll meet us there, and she will. What’s the

big deal?”

“Kenzie could be in danger,” Tah said softly.

“More danger than normal?” Vic asked.

“Her mate is a legend, an angel who takes vengeance. She would definitely be a prize hunters

would want to get their hands on,” Tah said.

“I asked her if she was going to put herself in danger. She wasn’t. She’s smart, crafty. Holt’s

with her. Whatever this is, she needed it. Trust me. She looked like utter hell,” Vic said.

“Well that could be because there’s a chance she might be pregnant,” Zane stated.

“What?” Tah thundered, cutting off anything Vic might have said.

Her head was spinning. Kenzie? Pregnant?

“The shot she was given by the Professor,” Zane said, glaring at the other man. “The drug he

used on Diane to force ovulation did the same to Kenzie.”

The Professor said nothing. They all knew he felt what he’d done was justified.

“Shit,” Tah said. “How long do you think they’ve been gone? We’ll need to move quick if we’re

going to catch up.”

“Wait,” Vic said. “Wouldn’t you be able to smell if she was pregnant?”

“If she were here, in front of us, then yes,” Zane answered. “When she came back, all we could

smell was the fact she’d…mated.”

“I can head out, now,” Reno offered.

“Stop!” Vic yelled.

“Did you not hear me? She’s might be pregnant,” Zane said.

“So, being pregnant means we can’t trust her to be smart? To stay safe?” Vic asked.

“I don’t think that’s what he’s saying,” Logan said. “You heard what Clara witnessed with her

aunt. None of us want that for Kenzie.”

“No, we don’t. But we don’t get to lock her up and keep her prisoner just because she might be.”

She turned her attention to Tah and Abby but addressed her question to Abby. “Would you have done

anything to harm Regan while you were pregnant?”

“Of course not,” Abby answered.

“It’s not the same,” Zane said.

“Why? Because Kenzie doesn’t have her mate with her to protect her?” Vic shook her head. “If

what Gideon told us earlier doesn’t change anything, then this shouldn’t, either. You know Kenzie.

You know how capable she is. Hell, you sent her out there alone with Diane to find Zane.”

“And she was captured,” Zane thundered.

“And it wasn’t your fault,” Vic said. “We all made the choice to be here, and in making that

choice, we accepted any consequences. You don’t get to take responsibility, not for us or from us.”

“She’s right,” Abby said. “As much as I want you to go after Kenzie, Vic is right. You gave

everyone the choice to leave instead of going with us. That choice isn’t negated because of something

Kenzie may or may not be.”

“I promised her mate we would keep her safe,” Tah stated. “We owe him for what he’s done for

us.”

“You promised Kenzie, as well,” Vic argued. “I’d say you owe her more than you do a mate

who walked away.”

“Vic,” Zane said.

“I don’t give a fuck what his reasons were,” Vic stated, letting her anger pour through her voice.

“All I know is Kenzie isn’t the same woman we’ve always known. That bastard broke something

inside her, and if she needs a little bit of time to deal with it, then we’ll fucking give it to her. She’s

more than earned that much from all of us. I don’t know what he said to you, and I honestly don’t give

a shit. I know what I saw on Kenzie’s face, what I heard when she spoke.” She stopped and blew out

a rough breath. “Don’t be another one of the people who let her down,” Vic warned softly. “She

deserves better from us.”

“She’s right,” Abby agreed. “If it eases your mind, call her or Holt, but don’t go after her.”

Tah looked torn, as if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what choice to make. Vic decided to

press one more time.

“Give her the benefit of the doubt here,” Vic urged. “If she doesn’t show up in Oklahoma like

she promised, I’ll go after her myself.”

Tah sighed. “We’ll give her a little time. For now,” he said, glancing between Vic and his wife.

“Reno, see if you can reach either of them on a phone. Make sure they know to get in touch if they

need us. And let Kenzie know we support her, no matter what, but we expect her to keep in touch and

let us know exactly what the hell is going on.”

Reno nodded. “We need to adjust our plan then. That leaves Vic with Ariel, and you know that’s

not a good idea.”

Tah snorted and shook his head.

“What?” Vic said. “I won’t kill her.” She’d made no bones that she didn’t trust the other woman,

but that didn’t mean she’d do anything stupid. Besides, Ariel was the last person on her mind at the

moment. Gideon was front and center with Kenzie not far behind.

“Take Ariel with you,” Tah told Reno. “Vic, you go with Murphy, Finn and Griffin. That gives

an extra pair of eyes to help with Dillon. Probably better that way, anyway.”

“You just want me to keep the hot heads from killing him,” Vic said.

“He’ll get there,” Murphy said. “However, I won’t make any promises about what condition

he’ll be in when he arrives.”

“I’ll keep them in line,” Vic promised with a look at Murphy.

He just grinned at her and winked. It would certainly be an interesting road trip traveling with

the brothers.

“That’s it then. We all know what we need to do. Let’s get to it,” Tah said, dismissing them.

“I’d suggest you head down and get stuff wrapped up, Professor,” Reno said. “You only have a

few more days to be packed and ready to go.”

Vic planned to be one of the first to leave, but Abby walked over, cutting off Vic’s escape plan.

She wanted to go to the labs but knew it for the excuse it was. She had no reason to be there. She just

wanted to see Gideon, to make sure he was okay.

“I wanted to talk to you for a minute,” Abby said.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I told you I had a favor to ask of you. Actually, Diane and I both do.”

“Okay,” Vic said, waiting to hear what the request was.

“Tah’s agreed Diane and I should know how to defend ourselves. We need to be trained with

firearms as well as hand-to-hand.”

“Tah agreed to that?”

Abby nodded. “We both know there are times he may not get to me in time. I won’t let anything

harm Regan. I’d like you to teach me. Diane, too, but she’ll have to hold off on any physical training

until the baby’s born.”

“Fuck,” Vic said. “You know Tah will kick my ass the first time you get even a tiny bruise.”

Abby laughed. “No, he won’t. Anyone else he might. You and Kenzie, he won’t say a word. He

knows how important it is that we all be able to help defend ourselves and each other. Please, Vic.”

“As soon as we get to Oklahoma, we’ll work out a schedule.”

Abby grinned and leaned in, giving Vic a squeezing hug. “Thank you! I knew we could count on

you.”

Vic watched as Abby turned and nodded at Tah. He didn’t seem upset, in fact the look he gave

Vic was one of gratitude. She knew he was trusting her with the most important person in the world to

him. It went a long way toward letting her know how much she did mean to the group and to him in

particular.

Murphy walked over and nudged her. “Ready to go?”

She nodded and fell into step beside him as they left the room and headed down the hall.

“Finn and I will need a little extra time before we all head out,” Murphy told her.

“Why?” she asked.

“Need to make sure there’s nothing left behind that can be used in any way—not to find us, not to

learn anything about us,” he said.

“What are you planning? Surely you’re not going to burn it to the ground?”

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “I’m going to blow it up.”

Chapter Seven

She skipped dinner and found herself back at the cabin where she and Gideon had spent the

previous night. Inside, it still smelled of Gideon and sex. She wanted him, wanted to feel his skin on

hers again, wanted another night like the last.

As if conjured by her desire, the door opened and his wide shoulders filled it. His long hair

hung loose around him, just begging for her fingers. He watched her with a hooded gaze, saying

nothing as she crossed to him. He stepped forward just enough to shove closed the door then leaned

against it.

She stopped in front of him and ran her hands up his chest. He closed his eyes and bent down his

head, his lips grazing her temple. She buried her hands in his hair, cupping his head and tugging him

closer until their mouths met. It started slow and easy, a brushing of skin as he dropped his hands to

her hips and lifted her into his erection. Then fire ignited.

“I’ve thought of you all day,” he whispered, nuzzling her face. “Of us. Here.”

“Me, too,” she agreed, scraping her teeth along his jaw and loving the way he trembled at her

touch.

“I wasn’t sure you’d want me,” he admitted.

“For as long as we have,” she told him, finding the hem of his shirt and hauling it up, revealing

the muscled wall of his abdomen. “Fuck me,” she urged.

He cupped her ass and boosted her off her feet. She wrapped her arms around his neck and

raised her legs, locking them around his waist. He turned, and she thought he was going to take her

against the door. Instead, she heard his hands slapping as if in search of something before the sound of

the bolt sliding home filled her ears. He took her mouth, licking her bottom lip then thrusting his

tongue inside when she opened. He pumped his hips into hers, and she damned the clothes that

separated them.

“I need to be inside you,” he groaned.

“Yes,” she agreed, panting for breath as he skimmed his lips over her neck.

He turned again and carried her across to the bed before releasing her.

“Strip,” he ordered, but she was already busy doing just that.

They came together in a clash, separating only to pull another layer of clothing off before coming

back together in a tangle of hands and mouths. Never had sex been like this. Never had she wanted a

man as much as she did Gideon. Never had she felt the slightest twinge of regret about walking away

when it was over. Not until him.

He cupped her breasts, trailed a hand lower between her thighs and pressed his palm against the

top of her folds, bringing her clit to aching awareness.

“So hot,” he groaned at her ear. “So wet and ready for me.”

She reached out and grasped his cock with her fingers, sliding her hand along his length.

“So hard and thick.” She moaned.

“Turn around,” he ordered, his hands moving to help her follow his command. “Bend over.”

She hurried to comply, lifting one knee to rest on the edge of the bed and bending forward,

fingers fisting in the sheets. He didn’t tease. She felt the crown of his dick lodge against her then he

was pressing inside. He filled her, the shaft throbbing against her inner walls as he held still. He slid

his hands lower to cup her hips and moved over her. She turned her head to glance back at him.

“Hold on,” he warned and nipped her bottom lip.

She caught her breath as he lifted away, his hands tightening on her. Slowly, he eased back from

her until his cock slipped free. Before she could vocalize the loss, he surged deep again, making them

both cry out. As if that had broken his control, he let go and fucked her hard and fast, making her

scream from the pleasure. She came with his name tumbling from her lips.

“Gideon!”

He grunted and kept going, making her rise higher and higher, lost in the throes of orgasm. She

collapsed, her chest brushing the bed, and still he plundered.

“Gideon!” She screamed his name again.

He thrust twice more and held still, cock buried inside her as he came with a growl. He dropped

onto her, plastering his chest against her back. She could feel the gallop of his heart, matching that of

hers. His heavy breath tickled her ear. He was obviously as hungry for oxygen as she was.

“Mhmm,” he said.

For a moment, she’d thought he was going to say something else, and it shocked her when she

felt disappointment.

He pulled free and moved around the room. She heard him in the restroom as she crawled

farther up and dropped flat once more. Gideon was by far the best lover she’d ever had. She closed

her eyes and let herself imagine spending every night with him.

It’s okay to need people. It doesn’t make you weak.

Finn’s words came back to her, allowing her to want things she never had before. And she

silently damned Finn for planting them there. She startled when she felt the warm cloth between her

thighs.

Gideon took his time cleansing her then took the cloth back to the bathroom. When he came back

out, he snagged their clothes and tossed them on the bed.

“Let’s get dressed and head back,” he said.

“Well, that’s a big change.”

“What?” he asked, already tugging on his jeans.

“From all we did last night to this?” she said, sitting up slowly and reaching for her clothes.

“Tired?”

He chuckled. “I’m not done with you, hellcat.”

“Then why the move?”

“You’re the one who decided to announce to everyone that we’re sleeping together. So why hide

out here? Besides, you didn’t eat dinner.” He grabbed his shirt and tugged it over his head before

sitting to pull his socks and shoes on. “I figure we get you fed, so I don’t have to worry about you

passing out on me. Then we can either head to your room or down to the one I have, now.” He stood

up and eyed her. “Unless you don’t want to spend the night in the house with me.”

“For as long as we have,” she said, rushing to get her clothes on. “Remember?”

“What’s that?” he asked, catching her shirt before she could drag it over her head and turning her

so he could see her shoulder.

She glanced back and saw the scratch. Now that he’d pointed it out, it burned a bit. “I’m not

sure. Did you get me with those sharp teeth of yours by accident?”

He paled before her eyes. It clicked then, what he was afraid of. She’d overheard Abby and

Amia discussing the biting from their mates and had seen the mark on Kenzie. Mates. It was a

claiming mark. She and Gideon weren’t mates. He stepped back, releasing her shirt, and she tugged it

the rest of the way over her head.

“Actually, I think I scratched myself earlier. Probably too much time spent thinking about last

night instead of focusing on what I should have.” She forced a laugh but glanced down to put on her

shoes. Damn. It hurt to see the panic in his eyes. It was like her father telling her she wasn’t enough

again. Was that what Gideon thought? She wasn’t enough for him? Not good enough to be his mate?

“Hey, you okay?” he asked.

She blinked tears from her eyes. Tears for fuck’s sake! What the hell was wrong with her? She

took a shaky breath, and when she felt a bit more in control, she hopped up and tossed a smile over

her shoulder as she headed toward the door.

“Let’s get this party moving,” she said. “We’ve only got a few more nights before we go our

separate ways.”

He growled, and with a laugh, she took off into the night, challenging him to give chase. She

weaved through the trees. It had been a long time since she’d let herself go like this, since she’d been

carefree. She could hear him pursuing her. There was something about it that made her hot. She

couldn’t help but wonder what she’d do when he caught her, and she knew he would. She threw one

more glance over her shoulder and gave a shriek when she hit a warm body in front of her.

She automatically went into a defensive crouch. Neon green eyes laughed down at her.

“Jesus!” she exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting that. You scared the hell out of me,” she said,

punching his arm. “How’d you get in front of me?”

“Shifter speed,” he said.

He moved toward her, his skin flushed with arousal, and she felt very much like prey. She

played the game, backing up until her back hit a tree. He leaned into her, arms blocking her so she

was caged in.

“Seems like we’ve been here before,” she whispered.

“So we have,” he said.

Before she could say anything else he leaned in and took her mouth. The man had a way of

kissing her so that her entire body was involved. Every inch of her responded to him. He eased back,

their gazes met. She felt his body tense, and it wasn’t desire that was the culprit. His eyes flashed

neon as his nostrils flared then he was gone. He dropped to a crouch in front of her, and she saw his

teeth flash as a growl sounded from his chest.

Another growl had her glancing over, and she saw Murphy in the same position. What the hell

was going on? She went to step away from the tree and Gideon roared, turning his head slightly

toward her while keeping his gaze on Murphy.

“Stay,” Gideon ordered her.

She paused as Murphy rumbled, and Gideon countered with a snarl and snap of his teeth.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” she said, doing some growling of her own. “I don’t know what’s got into

you two, but knock it off. Murphy, back the fuck off. Gideon.”

Vic dropped her hand to his shoulder and felt the coiled tension in his frame. That wasn’t good.

“Gideon,” she said his name again. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

Murphy came slowly to his feet. “You screamed,” he accused her.

“It was more of a shriek,” she said. “We were playing,” she added, suddenly embarrassed to be

caught doing something so frivolous.

“You?” Murphy said. “Playing?”

Vic sighed. “Go away, Murphy,” she said and crouched down by Gideon.

Slowly, she eased around until she was facing him, eye-to-eye. “Gideon, I’m fine. Come on,”

she urged. “I’m famished, and I want to see how big your bed is downstairs.”

His eyes were glowing, which was something she was used to at this point. But his pupils were

different. Instead of dilating like hers would, his widened, taking on an oval shape.

“Gideon,” she whispered, cupping his face in her hands and leaning in to kiss him softly on the

lips. “Come back to me.”

He stood, grasping her hands and pulling her up with him. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I kind of like the idea of you falling at my feet.”

Gideon snorted a laugh.

She nudged him with her shoulder and started walking toward the house again.

“At your feet, huh?” he said. “I think I have a better idea.”

“Yeah?” she asked, one brow arched high in question.

Before she knew his intentions, he had her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

“Gideon!” she yelled.

His hand smacked her smartly on the ass. “Be quiet, hellcat, before someone else comes out to

delay us.”

She curled her lips in and bit on them. The last thing she wanted was another scene like the one

that had occurred with Murphy. She had a feeling she’d seen the warrior in Gideon then. He would

definitely be someone she’d feel comfortable standing shoulder-to-shoulder with. In fact, that gave

her an idea. She’d think on it some more, first. Then if she felt he might listen, she’d talk to him about

it. They weren’t mates, but that didn’t mean the sex they were sharing had to end. Not yet.

Gideon set Vic on her feet on the porch then followed her into the house and to the kitchen. He

stood and watched as she moved around, gathering enough food for both of them. He took it from her

when she was done. She just shrugged, grabbed some bottles of water and headed for the stairs that

led down to the lab. His dick throbbed at the thought of her in the large bed he’d been given.

Unfortunately, there was still someone up in the labs working. Professor David Mueller. Gideon

had a feeling he knew exactly what the man was working on.

“Professor,” Vic called out and paused in the doorway as Gideon moved to lead her farther

down the hall toward the bedroom. “It’s late. Surely, the tests can wait.”

“Tests can never wait,” the Professor said. “Understaffed and moving in a few days. I have a lot

to do to make sure we don’t leave anything behind we need. Files to transfer, hard documents to print

out just in case. Lots to do,” he mumbled.

Gideon saw a softer side of Vic when she walked in and placed one of the bottles of water

down for the Professor. He wondered if she’d deny it if she knew what Gideon saw.

“You work too hard,” Vic said. “You have to take care of yourself, Professor. We need you.”

The Professor looked up, and Gideon could see the surprise on his face. Was it the gesture in

general or the woman giving it that brought that look to the Professor’s face?

“Thank you,” the Professor said, reaching out to pat her hand. “It’s good to feel needed.”

Another surprise. Gideon had expected the other man to be as dismissive as Gideon had

witnessed previously when someone had interrupted the Professor at work.

“Get some sleep,” Vic ordered, turning and walking back to Gideon. “You seem exhausted

lately. I’d hate to feel the need to call Abby on you.”

The Professor’s eyes narrowed, and Gideon almost laughed.

“Good night, Professor,” Vic said as they headed on.

Gideon juggled the food in his hands until he could grab the doorknob. He pushed open the door

and waited for her to enter before following. He turned, nudging the door shut with his foot then

balancing the food once more so he could flip the lock. He didn’t plan on allowing anyone to disturb

them.

“Hurry up,” she said. “I’m starving and that smells good.”

“It was very good when it was hot,” Gideon said.

“You’ve never had cold pizza?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course, I have,” he admitted. “But it’s still better when it’s still hot or at least warm.”

“No,” she disagreed. “Cold pizza is the best.”

She took the plate from him, ripped the foil off and took a piece. He enjoyed viewing her as she

ate. She devoured the pizza, moaning in pleasure as she worked each bite. His dick throbbed by the

time she’d eaten her second piece. He wanted her to be nibbling on him and moaning in ecstasy.

“Full?” he asked and knew his voice was husky. There was no hiding the way she affected him.

He wanted her, more than he ever had anyone else. It scared him.

She licked those lush lips of hers. “I’m thinking about dessert.” She purred, her gaze dropping to

the bulge of his cock.

“Dessert can be arranged,” he said. “How about a shower, first?”

“Excellent,” she agreed and bounced off the bed, moving the food to the side table and kicking

off her shoes. “Last one in gets no hot water,” she called and headed toward the attached bathroom,

stripping as she went.

He stood in place, watching until she disappeared then began disrobing as he listened to her get

the shower ready. His heart had taken a huge jolt twice tonight. The first time was when she’d joked

about him scratching her with his teeth. He’d felt the urge to bite her several times but had managed to

hold it back. In a different life, he would have been able to claim her as his. His jaguar was adamant

she was their mate. But Gideon knew it didn’t matter. The life he’d led, things he’d done, blood he’d

spilled. They all added up to a man unworthy of a mate, especially one as magnificent as Vic. She

deserved far better than him.

She poked her head around the corner of the doorway. “You coming?”

“I’ll be right there,” he promised and caught a glimpse of the curve of her sweet ass when she

turned.

The second time his heart had stopped was when he’d sensed Murphy. He’d known who it was,

known the other man wouldn’t hurt Vic. He’d also known he meant to separate them, and his instincts

had kicked in. In that moment, had Murphy challenged him, he would have ripped the other man’s

throat out to protect what Gideon saw as his. No, who he saw as his. He shook his head. She wasn’t

his, and he needed to remember that.

Maybe he should leave sooner. Sneak away without saying goodbye. His beast stretched inside

him, pressing against his skin. He could feel the vibrations of anger. The jaguar would fight him when

the time came. He’d have to be prepared for it.

He finished pulling off his clothes quickly and glanced down at his bicep. He’d bitten himself

when he and Vic had fucked earlier. The urge had been so desperate, he’d been afraid he wouldn’t be

able to hold back the impulse to sink his teeth in and claim her.

“Gideon!” Vic yelled from the shower. “Get your ass in here, cat boy.”

He was going to miss his hellcat when he left. The best thing to do was spend as much time with

her as he could over the next few days. He needed to store up a lifetime of memories. But then his life

might not last much longer. He had every intention of going after Thomas when he left, and he was

afraid he and Thomas might have already used up all their luck.

Chapter Eight

It was late by the time Vic and Gideon left his room. They’d gone at it all night and kicked the

morning off with a few more rounds. The man was insatiable, and she was learning she was, as well

—at least when it came to him.

“Hey, Vic,” Finn said with twinkling eyes. “Late start today, huh.”

Normally, she would have given him a smart comment, but she was feeling pretty content this

morning, so she just hummed as she crossed to the coffee pot. Gideon had opted to go straight to the

lab. Clara and Amia had been down there worried about Lydia Blane. Apparently, the woman had

taken a turn for the worse last night, and the consensus seemed to be she wouldn’t last through another

night.

“What’s the schedule for today?” Vic asked, knowing they had plenty to do. Since she would be

leaving with Murphy and Finn, she figured she might as well be working with them, now.

“I need to head into town,” Finn said. “I was going to grab someone to go with me.”

“Consider me grabbed,” she deadpanned and laughed when he choked on his coffee.

“Yeah, I heard about your man last night, so let’s not work on getting me killed by saying shit

like that,” Finn grumbled.

“Murphy read things wrong,” she said. “That’s all. No big deal.”

He gave her a funny look but didn’t say anything else about it.

“What are we heading into town for?” she asked.

“Gotta pick up a moving truck for Reno to take. We’ll pack most of what we can in there. Then

I’ll need to pick up another one when we go. Tah, Logan and Zane will take one of the quad cab

trucks and the SUV with them. We’ll load the motorcycles in the back of the truck Tah’s going in,”

Finn said. “Unless you want to keep yours with you?”

She shook her head. “As long as it makes it there, I don’t care. What about the ATVs?” Vic

asked.

“Two go in the truck Reno’s driving. Two with us when we go. I made sure to get the semi-sized

moving trucks. We’ve got too much shit to haul to allow for anything smaller,” he answered.

“And the other pick-up truck?”

“We’ll hook it up to the back of the moving truck we’re taking. That’ll give us more room to

pack shit in. Kenzie and Holt took the car they came in, so we don’t need to worry about that one,” he

said. “Get some brunch and let’s get going. We need to get as much shit packed as we can. Abby’s

appointment at the bank is tomorrow, early afternoon.”

“Guess we better head out then,” she said, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table. “Let

me switch my coffee to a travel mug. You want?” she asked, turning to give him a brief look, coffee

pot in hand. At his nod, she reached over and took another mug. “Let’s get going.”

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“You keep rolling your shoulder then dropping your head to rub against it,” Finn said.

Vic froze. She hadn’t realized she was even doing that. The scratch. The one she’d teased

Gideon about making with his teeth. She’d played it off as a joke, but she remembered when he’d

scraped her. For a moment, she’d thought he was going to bite her, had anticipated it. Not a mate, she

reminded herself.

“Scratched myself,” she said. “Just stings a bit. It’ll be fine.”

It didn’t sting, though. It ached. She’d have to remember to use the mirror to check it out when

she had a chance later. Most likely, it would be fine by the time she and Finn made it back, and she’d

forget all about it.

“Okay, let me tell Murphy we’re heading out,” Finn said. “He’s going through supplies

downstairs, sorting what needs to be placed where. Be easier to pack that way.”

“So what’s up with Lydia?” Vic asked him. “I saw Clara and Amia down in the labs with Diane

this morning.”

“She stopped breathing for a few seconds last night. Thought she was gone for sure, but she

inhaled and came right back. Weak as hell, though. It definitely won’t be long,” Finn said. “Clara’s

convinced Lydia keeps trying to say something but can’t. They were going to see if Diane or the

Professor knew of something they could give her to help. I’m really not sure they have time for that.”

“How long do you think she has?” Vic asked.

“Hours,” he answered. “Maybe.”

“Damn,” Vic muttered. “I don’t know the woman, but I feel sorry for Clara and Amia. Hell,

Amia already thought her mother was dead. Then to discover Lydia was alive and hated her own

daughter. And now knowing Lydia has been drugged the whole time and manipulated into that hate.

Jesus! That’s more than anyone should have to deal with. Now Amia’s losing her mother all over

again without ever getting a chance to talk to Lydia. I can’t even imagine that.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed. “Reno said she’s having a pretty hard time.”

“And Clara, too,” Vic added. “Lydia was the only mother she really knew. God, this sucks.”

“Maybe it’s good Lydia’s passing here, and we’re moving on,” Finn said quietly. “Easier to

move on when you aren’t surrounded by memories.”

Vic nodded her agreement. “Not to mention Amia and Clara weren’t exactly greeted with open

arms and friendliness when they arrived.”

Finn blanched and looked away, and Vic almost bit her tongue. She knew he still felt a huge

weight of guilt over how he’d treated Amia when she’d arrived. He and Murphy had taken her

downstairs to the storage facility and looked her in a room. Of course, Finn had overheard Amia say

she was going to kill them all. And none of them had known her then or realized she meant the Blane

Hunters would come after her and find all of them.

“Finn,” she said, touching his shoulder. “Amia and Reno both forgave you. You need to stop

feeling guilty.”

“I wanted to protect us,” he said. “I didn’t know she was Reno’s mate. Didn’t have a clue what

she’d been through. God, to know I brought the terror of being buried alive back to her…” He shook

his head.

“Stop,” Vic said, thinking there were a lot of people who needed a fresh start away from this

place. “Go talk to Murphy. I’ll meet you out there.”

“Yeah,” he agreed and walked away.

She found herself thinking Finn needed a good woman in his life, one who would help him heal

the scars he’d buried deep inside. She hadn’t realized he was lonely until he’d said something to her.

But she saw it, now. He laughed and joked, but he didn’t share any more of himself then that. What

secrets did he hold inside himself? She imagined it would take a hell of a woman to mate Finn, and

she was looking forward to him finding her.

She walked outside and headed toward the cabin, and her mind flooded with memories of her

and Gideon. She was another one who would need to get away from the visual reminders of what

she’d had but not been able to keep. The cabin, the house, hell even the woods held vivid memories

of her and Gideon. Still, somehow she doubted moving would ease the ache when he was gone. The

man had spiked her emotions from the moment he’d arrived and kept them that way. She had no doubt

her life would never be the same.

Gideon listened to the women talking about Lydia. She wasn’t doing well at all. He busied

himself, taking a blood sample from his arm then setting up the tests he wanted to run on it. He’d had

to force himself away from Vic this morning. His beast was pressing hard, demanding things he

couldn’t give in to. What really worried him, though, was the burn he felt inside. If his results showed

what he feared, that the feral fever was increasing, then he would need to leave soon. He couldn’t risk

being around Vic. He’d end up trying to claim her as his mate, and she deserved better than to be

stuck with him.

You killed people, Gideon. Our people. Shifters. You tore their throats out and watched them

die. No one is going to care that you didn’t have a choice. All they’re going to know is their father

or brother or son was captured, and you’re the one who killed them. Not the hunters. You. You’re a

murderer.

Thomas’s words still haunted him. Michael had disagreed, but he’d let it go at Gideon’s request.

And now they were both gone, and Gideon was alone with his demons.

“What do you think, Gideon?”

Clara’s voice penetrated the haze around him, and he blinked several times before the images of

blood and gore left and he could focus on her.

“About what?” he finally asked.

“Lydia,” she said, looking exasperated.

“I think she’s lasted a lot longer than I would have thought possible,” he admitted. “She’s

obviously a woman of immense strength. I’m sorry I didn’t bother to notice it before.”

“You hated her, didn’t you?” Amia asked.

He looked at her, searching her eyes for a hint of what she felt for the woman who’d given her

life then left her in hell, while Lydia had escaped. Michael had died that night. Gideon still found it

hard to believe a man like Michael had been killed by Blanes. Michael had been an expert at evading.

If he’d been caught, it was because he’d wanted to be. What had he been after?

“I felt nothing for her,” Gideon finally answered, which was the truth.

Lydia hadn’t meant enough to him for him to have any emotion toward her.

“Some days, I wish I felt nothing,” Amia admitted then tilted her head, staring at him in a new

way.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he answered. “Why?” He knew she had the ability to see the glow of the animal

inside a shifter. It was a hunter talent her father had wanted to use to breed into the next generation.

Instead, she’d escaped and mated Reno.

“Your color just seems off a bit,” she finally said.

Diane turned immediately. “Is that why you took more blood? Is the fever growing?”

He hadn’t realized she’d seen what he was doing earlier. She was more aware than he’d given

her credit for.

“I assure you my jaguar is fine. Probably just in need of a really good run. I don’t usually go so

long without letting him out,” Gideon said. “Now what were you asking me about Lydia?”

“Do you think there’s anything we can do for her?” Clara asked.

So many poor decisions had been made, and Clara had suffered a loss from most of them. Her

mother because they hadn’t known what to do to help her human body deal with a shifter pregnancy.

Then Thomas’s wife because the three of them had been out playing their cat and mouse games. Then

Michael was gone. Now, she was going to lose another person she loved. What would she do if they

found out Thomas was dead?

“I can’t save her,” Gideon finally said. “It’s too late for that. I can take a look at what you have

available here and see what I can do to help ease her. I might be able to temporarily counteract what

was given to her, but there are high risks with that,” he warned.

“Like what?” Diane asked.

“She might appear like her old self for a very short amount of time, and I have no way of telling

you how long. More than likely, it won’t last more than minutes. She’s human.”

“What will happen after that?” Amia asked.

“Her body will start reacting to what I’ve given her. She might begin seizing. It depends on the

damage that already exists inside her. She might just stop, with no other sign of her passing. I don’t

know. But she will die. There will be no waiting to see if she makes it through the night. You both

need to be prepared for that.”

Clara and Amia looked at each other. He figured they would need some time to discuss it and

clear it with Tah. Gideon knew Lydia had been lost in a fever and deliria since her first few days

here. Clara had filled him in on how Lydia had come to kill Amia and brought Dillon with her.

Gideon firmly believed Dillon had been the one in charge.

“Do it,” Amia said.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Gideon said.

“She dies slow, or she dies quick,” Amia said. “Either way, she dies. I choose to think she’d

want the quicker method. And if it gives her a moment to speak her mind then all the better.”

Clara took Amia’s hand in hers and squeezed it. Gideon watched Amia squeeze back. It was

then he realized Clara was going to be okay. Whatever happened to her Uncle Thomas, she had her

mate and her friends. They would be there to help her.

“I’ll need a little time to see what I have available and get it ready,” he said.

“I’ll help,” Diane offered, and he nodded.

He knew she would spend the time asking him questions, seeking to learn as much as she could

before she left. He didn’t blame her. Honestly, he was already planning to send her some journals he

had hidden. There were pages and pages of data from tests he and Thomas had run. He’d wondered

what to do with them. Diane would be the perfect person.

“How long will it take?” Amia asked.

“I’ll have it ready within the hour,” he said.

“We’ll meet you down here,” Clara said. “We’ll head up and let Tah know what we’re doing.

Find Reno and Logan.”

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Gideon asked again.

“She wouldn’t survive the trip to Oklahoma,” Amia said, sharing a look with Clara. “We knew

that.”

“It’s better this way,” Clara agreed. “I think she’s suffered enough.”

Gideon nodded. “I’ll get started.”

He turned and began rummaging through stuff. He wasn’t surprised when Diane found exactly

what he needed and set it out.

“You knew?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I suspected. I also suspected her body wouldn’t be able to handle it. To be

honest, I was hoping some of the stuff the Professor has been working on would pan out and we’d be

able to save her.”

“Which one?” Gideon asked. He presumed she already knew he’d checked into all the tests

being run by the other man.

“He’s been testing shifter blood, hoping to create a booster for the humans among us. Something

that would increase their ability to heal. It would come in handy.”

“There aren’t really that many humans among you,” he said.

“Holt,” Diane said. “And Vic.”

At the mention of his hellcat, his whole body tightened. His beast stretched again, and he felt the

prickle of need strike low in his belly. He’d had to force himself to finally let her sleep last night.

Every time he’d had her, he’d only ended up wanting her more. He should be sated. He should be

ready to walk away. Instead, he wanted to take her again and never let her go.

“Are you okay?” Diane asked.

“Yes,” he mumbled. “Why?”

“You’re growling,” she answered.

He paused, barely containing a snarl. He was losing control. He’d help them with Lydia—he

figured he owed her that much for not realizing what was happening right under his nose. Then he’d

head back to the lab to check the results of the tests he was running. Something was going on with

him. He’d been certain Vic wasn’t his mate. She’d stated the same. But what if they were both wrong?

What if the fates had decided to screw with him and let him find his mate just before he went on what

could turn into a suicide mission? His beast was adamant she was, and Gideon couldn’t keep telling

himself it was just the feral fever talking.

His beast rubbed along his skin, and even he heard the growl he made this time. He didn’t know

what he should do. Find Vic or stay the hell away from her.

Chapter Nine

Gideon had planned to give the shot and leave, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Instead, Reno

had arrived, carrying Lydia to the labs. With him were Amia, Clara and Logan, Tah and Abby. It

didn’t surprise him that the three men and their mates were all present. The bond they all shared was

easy to see.

The Professor walked out and took Regan from her mother’s arms, kissing Abby on the cheek

before moving back toward his office. Gideon agreed. The baby didn’t need to be around what was

about to happen.

“We’re ready when you all are,” Diane said, and Gideon appreciated it. This would be much

easier for them if Diane were the one doing most of the talking. She was a trusted friend and would

know what to say to help them through this.

“Gideon,” Tah said with a nod as Reno stepped to his mate’s side to the right of where Lydia

lay.

Logan and Clara stood together on the left. Tah and Abby at the foot.

He and Diane walked over to join them, and he got his first really good look at Lydia Blane. She

was a shell of her former self. Her cheeks were hollowed, her skin hanging on her frame. Still, the

worst was the way her eyes didn’t focus, as if she were lost somewhere inside herself. Why had

Dillon done this to her? And how had Gideon and Thomas failed to see it happening?

“I’m going to ask again if you’re all absolutely certain about this,” Gideon said. “The only thing

I can guarantee is she won’t leave this room alive once I inject her.”

“Clara?” Amia said.

Gideon could see both women’s eyes were swollen and red. They’d been crying. Clara stepped

close to the bed and took one of Lydia’s hands in hers. Amia moved closer, as well, her mate at her

back, but she didn’t take a hand. She just stood, watching with her arms wrapped around herself.

“Give her the shot,” Clara said.

With Diane’s help, he opened Lydia’s shirt and plunged the needle into her heart, forcing the

viscous liquid into her. When he was done, Gideon stepped back, disposing of the needle while

everyone watched and waited. Nothing happened at first, but he’d expected that. He’d erred on the

side of caution when mixing what he needed. The pure adrenaline cocktail he’d mixed in would get

her going, but it would also be what caused her death. Essentially, he was shocking her system into

working then keeping it revved until her heart gave out from the virus eating away at her.

Her arm jerked first, flying out toward Amia, who quickly stepped back. Clara held tightly to

Lydia’s other hand. Her back arched off the table she was on, and she gasped loudly as if sucking

oxygen into starved lungs. She blinked and frantically looked around before finally focusing on Clara.

“Clara,” she said, but her voice was weak.

“I’m here,” Clara said, leaning closer. “I’m right here.”

“Missed you,” Lydia said. “Love you.”

“I love you, too,” Clara said, tears falling down her cheeks.

“So sorry,” Lydia continued. “Hurt. Many. Daughter.”

“Amia?” Clara said. “Are you talking about Amia?”

“Love her,” Lydia said. “Sorry. Left.”

“I’m here,” Amia finally spoke from the other side, and Lydia whipped her head over. Her eyes

widened and tears leaked out.

“Amia,” she croaked, reaching with her hand until Amia took it in hers. “Forgive?”

Amia nodded. “You did what you had to. I know that, now.”

“Always. Back,” Lydia said and her chest rose and fell rapidly. “You. Safe?”

“I’m safe,” Amia said. “I’m safe, now.”

Lydia nodded her head, which trembled on her shoulders. Her gaze rolled everywhere as if

searching the room for someone else.

“She’s going to seize,” Gideon said, stepping forward in case he needed to help keep Lydia

from rolling off.

Her gaze flew up to his. “Thomas. Thomas. Thomas.”

“What about Thomas?” Gideon asked.

“Dillon. He.”

Gideon could see the frustration in her eyes at not being able to say what she wanted to.

“What did Dillon do? Did he hurt Thomas?” Gideon asked.

Frustration shown on Lydia’s face as she tried to say something. “Be…tray…ed.”

She started shaking then, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Mom,” Amia called.

“Lydia,” Clara said at the same time.

One moment Lydia was in motion, the next she went utterly still. Gideon knew she was gone.

Amia and Clara both began sobbing as their mates stepped up to offer comfort. Even Abby and Diane

wiped tears from their eyes.

Abby looked toward him. “How did Dillon betray Thomas? Do you have any idea what she was

talking about?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure,” he admitted, which was the truth. He did have his suspicions,

though. He turned to Tah. “I’d like to talk to him before you leave.”

Tah nodded. “I can’t guarantee he’ll tell you anything. He’s refused to talk to me, Clara or

Murphy. Dillon’s remained tight-lipped no matter what Murphy does.”

Gideon was willing to bet Murphy hadn’t tried the methods Gideon planned to. But he wouldn’t

say anything. He’d figured out earlier when he’d been invited to the council meeting that Tah wanted

Dillon kept alive. Gideon knew if he had the opportunity, he would kill the shifter. It would be one of

the few times he didn’t feel guilty at the thought of taking a life.

“I’d still like to try,” Gideon said.

Tah nodded. “I understand. I’ll make sure Murphy knows to expect you. He’s the one who

oversees Dillon.”

“Tah,” Abby called, and Gideon watched as they turned together and walked toward the other

two couples in the room.

Grief saturated the room and overwhelmed Gideon. Without another word, he turned and left.

He met Zane at the top of the stairs.

“Did she?” Zane asked, and Gideon knew what he meant.

“Just a few minutes ago.”

“Was she able to say anything first?”

Gideon nodded. “She was able to speak to Clara and Amia.”

“How are they?”

“Grieving,” Gideon answered. “I thought the best thing I could do was leave for a bit.”

Zane nodded. “I’ll grab a shovel and head out. Clara and Amia will want to lay her to rest soon.

I know just the spot.

“I’ll go with you,” Gideon said. “I could use the fresh air.”

They moved away from the house, walking toward the cabin where Gideon had first tasted Vic.

Just the thought of her had his blood pounding in his veins. He wanted her—to see her and hold her.

“Have you seen Vic?” he asked Zane.

“She went into town with Finn,” Zane said. “Had to pick up the truck Reno’s driving to

Oklahoma. We need to get it packed. We’ll be leaving for Denver tomorrow then traveling on to

Oklahoma. Reno will be following in a few days. Finn and Murphy will shut things down here along

with Vic then they’ll head down.”

Gideon nodded, following Zane around the cabin and discovering there was a small storage

building back there. Zane opened it and handed Gideon a shovel before grabbing one for himself.

“I’ve been there,” Zane said as they began moving again.

“Been where?”

“Trying to protect my mate by refusing to mate her,” Zane answered.

“Vic’s not my mate,” Gideon said automatically even though he was no longer so certain of that.

Zane didn’t say anything while they kept going, and Gideon thought he was dropping it.

“I’ve also been hit with fever,” Zane reminded him.

“Mine is different,” Gideon told him.

Zane shrugged. “Fever is still fever when it’s roaring through your veins and only one thing will

soothe it. Your eyes are almost always green, now. You’ve been growling since we left the house,

and the only time that changed was when we got to the cabin. I’m guessing you picked up on the scent

of sex that filled the air because you starting purring there.”

“I’m fine,” Gideon stated firmly. He wouldn’t admit how startled he was at the behavioral

changes Zane had just pointed out. That was two people now who’d heard him growl without him

being aware. “Vic made it clear from the start she didn’t plan on being a mate. I agreed.”

“What is, is,” Zane told him. “You can fight it. You can ignore it. Avoid it as long as you want.

But you can’t change it.”

“I didn’t ask you for advice,” Gideon said.

“No, but Vic is a friend, so I’m going to give it,” Zane said, stopping and turning to face Gideon.

“She had it rough as a kid. Her father’s a cruel bastard who made her life hell. Still does when she

gets the burr up her ass to go check on him. She’s fierce, loyal—a person who will always stand for

the weak and the persecuted. She doesn’t see those qualities in herself, though. She’s too critical of

herself. But trust me when I say there isn’t a man among this group who won’t hunt you down if you

hurt her.”

“The lady set the rules,” Gideon informed him. “She’s also the one who came to me. I never

planned to touch her. If you remember, I asked that she be kept away from me.”

Zane nodded. “You did.”

“But I’m not walking away until I have to. And if I hurt her, it will never be intentionally. She’s

not my mate, but she means something to me,” Gideon said.

Zane stared at him then turned and started walking again. Soon, Gideon realized they’d circled

around and come up behind the house. There was a clear spot in a copse of trees with wildflowers

springing up. It was a peaceful spot. Zane used his shovel to scrape lines in the dirt, lines that would

turn into a grave when they started digging.

“What if she changes her mind?” Zane asked.

“What?”

“What if Vic decides she doesn’t want to let you go? What if she wants to be your mate?” Zane

demanded.

Gideon shook his head, ignoring his sweaty palms and racing heart. “I can’t. We can’t.”

“So you’re planning to leave no matter what?”

“She deserves far better than a man like me,” Gideon stated softly.

“I think you’re wrong,” Zane stated, plunging his shovel in and pulling up the first scoop of dirt.

Gideon ignored him, digging his shovel in deep.

“We all have demons,” Zane said after they’d been digging for a bit.

“You don’t have demons like I do,” Gideon stated.

“You think I haven’t killed people? That Tah hasn’t? We all have, and we’d all do it again.

Most likely will do it again,” Zane said.

“It’s different,” Gideon said.

“Death is death,” Zane argued. “We all end up in the same place at the end.” He planted his

shovel in the dirt again, and the truth of that statement rang out as the blade struck rock.

“I’ve done things I don’t deserve to be forgiven for,” Gideon finally said.

“Surviving?” Zane challenged, and Gideon swallowed, looking away.

“I’m not worthy of a woman like Vic,” Gideon admitted.

“No, you’re not,” Zane agreed. “God knows I’ve done nothing in my life to deserve Diane, but

now that I have her, I’ll kill anyone who tries to take her from me. She looks at me, and I find a peace

I’ve never known before. And her touch. It soothes me as nothing else ever could. She is my heart and

soul. Worthy of her or not, she is mine.”

“You’re a lucky man,” Gideon said.

“I am. You could be, as well,” Zane stated, but Gideon threw his back into shoveling and

refused to comment.

They worked in silence a little bit longer, and Gideon found part of him yearning to believe

Zane. What if Vic wanted to be his mate? What if she wanted him to stay with her? Could he? He

owed it to Thomas to find out what was going on. He’d be there if his friend needed help. But maybe

this time he could have someone waiting for him to come home to.

“I think it’s deep enough,” Zane said and Gideon agreed. “Let’s head back.”

They left the shovels and headed toward the house in silence. Gideon thought about everything

Zane had said. Part of him kept hearing Vic’s voice saying over and over again that she wasn’t his

mate. Part of him was starting to believe she was. And the more he thought about it, the more he

needed to see her, but she and Finn still weren’t back from town when he and Zane arrived at the

house.

“I’m going to head down and wash up,” Gideon said. He had no intention of going to whatever

type of ceremony they planned to have for Lydia. He’d never been a friend to her, and he didn’t plan

to disrespect her by pretending such after the fact.

“I think dinner will be a ‘fend for yourself’ night,” Zane said. “Grab whatever from the kitchen

when you get hungry. The less we have to try and take with us, the better.”

Gideon nodded. “Thanks.”

“I can see you mulling stuff over in your head,” Zane said then shrugged at the look Gideon gave

him. “I’d do the same. But it all comes down to two things.”

Gideon lifted his brow in question.

“Vic’s agreement,” Zane said. “And your choice.”

“My choice?” Gideon wasn’t sure he’d have a choice if Vic said she wanted him for more than

the short time they had left.

“Do you want to merely survive, or do you want to live?” Zane asked. “You might be able to

survive without her, but you’ll never really live.”

With that Zane turned and left Gideon standing there. Gideon headed down the stairs and wasn’t

surprised to see most of them still remained. Amia, Clara and Abby were off in a corner of the room,

seated close and talking. Abby held her daughter to her chest with a blanket around her and Gideon

realized she was feeding the baby. He quickly glanced away and met the intense stare of Tah.

“You’re covered in dirt,” Tah said.

“I helped Zane get everything ready,” Gideon said, nodding toward the table where Lydia’s

body was lying under a blanket.

Tah nodded and stepped closer.

“I want you to know that you’ll always be welcome to join us,” Tah said. “We’d be very lucky

to have someone like you.”

Gideon didn’t say anything.

“I know you’ll be going after Thomas,” Tah continued. “If you’d wait until we get to Oklahoma,

get settled, we’d be able to help you search. He’s Clara’s uncle. That makes him family, and family is

everything.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Gideon said and meant it.

Once again Gideon thought of how much Tah reminded him of Thomas, but there were a lot of

differences between the two, also. Thomas thought everything was up for sacrifice, everyone. And

Thomas had sacrificed people and shown little to no remorse. Tah would fight to the death to protect

those he loved. In Gideon’s mind that made Tah the better man.

“Offer will always stand,” Tah said then moved away, walking back to where Reno and Logan

stood.

Gideon turned and headed toward the room he was using. He was in desperate need of a shower

then he’d wait for Vic. He wanted to talk to her. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able do that before he

touched her or not. Desire was riding him hard. But he had to tell her everything. Not just what he

suspected, but also the things he’d done. Which reminded him, he also needed to check the new tests

he’d had running. Once everyone cleared out, he’d go in.

He stepped in the shower and felt the warm water wash over him, cleansing the dirt from his

arms and hands. His heartbeat accelerated as he felt clarity fill him.

He wanted to live.

Chapter Ten

Vic was tired when they finally got back. The stupid truck hadn’t been ready so she and Finn had

spent most of the afternoon dicking around town waiting on it. It wasn’t as if they really needed to buy

anything. The less they had to move, the better. She’d spoken briefly with Kenzie to let her know

about what had been said. Kenzie promised again that she’d meet them in Oklahoma. Vic hadn’t asked

her about the possibility of a pregnancy. Kenzie would tell her if and when she wanted to. Vic

respected that. God knows she enjoyed her own privacy.

She and Finn had come home to a cloud of sorrow looming over the house. Lydia had passed

away and Amia and Clara were both taking it hard. Vic knew they were planning a little ceremony out

back, but she wasn’t one for funerals, and she hadn’t really known Lydia. So it didn’t feel right to go.

Besides, Zane had told her Gideon was downstairs.

She’d grabbed takeout on the way back. Pizza was the food of choice lately as it was the one

thing that heated up nicely or as far as she was concerned, tasted great cold. They lived far enough out

that most stuff was cold before they got it back, anyway. Pizza they could deal with. Cold burgers and

greasy fries, not so much. She grabbed one of the large boxes and left to search for Gideon. Finn had

already snagged another box and headed in the opposite direction to look for Murphy.

Gideon was in the lab when she walked down, his shoulders hunched as he gazed at the

scrolling screen of the computer. He glanced back as she entered, and she loved the way his face

flushed with desire.

“I brought dinner,” she said and held out the box.

“Cold pizza.” Gideon grunted. “We need to work on your eating habits, hellcat.”

“I eat just fine.”

He shook his head. “I’m finishing up in here. I shouldn’t be much longer. You want me to meet

you upstairs?”

She shook the box. “I brought the pizza to you. Figured we could eat in your room. Spend the

evening hanging out. Unless you have other plans?”

“Just going over this,” he said. “And there’s nothing I’d rather do than spend the evening…” His

gaze dipped to her breasts. “Hanging out with you.”

She had a feeling his version of hanging out included both of them naked. She was okay with

that. It matched her idea perfectly.

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom then,” she said. “I’ll grab a shower. Finn and I spent the day

walking around town waiting for the moving truck to be ready. Wasted a whole day.”

When she could have been here, with him, making the most of the short time they had left.

He nodded, but he was staring at the screen again. “I’ll meet you in there,” he mumbled, but she

had the impression he was more focused on whatever he’d been reading when she walked in.

She backed out of the room, keeping her gaze on him simply because she didn’t want to turn

away. There was no way it wasn’t going to hurt when he left. She headed down the hall to his room

and opened the door. She tossed the pizza box on the bed and began pulling off her clothes. The

thought of hot water sounded perfect right now, or as close to perfect as she could get without

Gideon’s hands on her.

What if she asked him to stay? Would he even consider it when she wasn’t his mate? She hadn’t

been this unsure of herself since she’d left her dad behind in the trailer park she’d called home as a

child. She’d spent her entire school years trying to make him happy, to show him she was good

enough, worthy enough of love. She still did when she made the trek home to check on him. She hadn’t

been in a long while, though. Maybe she wouldn’t go back this time.

She wanted to talk to Gideon—open up to him in ways she never had with anyone else. Tell him

about her past, about her hopes for the future. If he couldn’t stay, she wanted to ask if he’d let her go

with him. She wanted to be in Oklahoma, with her friends, helping them with everything. But she

wanted Gideon more.

With that in mind, she headed into the shower. She was just toweling off when Gideon walked

in.

“I planned to talk,” he said, staring at her as he tugged his shirt over his head.

“I want to talk to you, too,” she said.

He grabbed her and pulled her flush against him. “Later.” He dipped his head and kissed her

until she was breathless. “Much later,” he added and swept her up in his arms.

He carried her to the bed, and she noted the pizza box had been moved. He gently placed her on

the mattress and leaned down over her. She moaned as he licked at the drops of water still dotting her

skin. Her neck, over her shoulder, and across the tops of her breasts. One by one, he sucked her

nipples into his mouth, sending an ache to settle between her thighs. He didn’t linger at her breasts,

though. He moved lower, lips and tongue skating across her stomach and over to each of her hip

bones where he placed kisses. His shoulders forcing her thighs wider as he settled between them.

“I was told I could have whatever I wanted for dinner tonight.” He purred against her folds. He

nuzzled her and placed a sucking kiss over the spot that hid her clit from view. “I can’t think of

anything I’d rather eat more.”

“Yes,” she pleaded in agreement, arching up into him.

He chuckled against her flesh and the sound vibrated along her sex.

“Gideon,” she groaned, reaching for him and locking her fingers in his hair, which she used to

tug him closer.

He spread her open with one hand and took her clit between his lips. He moved them back and

forth over the hard bud then flicked his tongue out and rubbed it. She moaned, lifting her knees and

sprawling her thighs wider. Gideon skimmed a finger down to her opening and thrust inside. He

pulled the glistening digit free slowly. His lips wrapped around her clit again, and he sucked hard.

Two fingers slammed back in, and she came with a scream. Never had she come so quickly.

He lapped at her, tasting the cream that spilled from her while his fingers kept pumping. He kept

licking and sucking at her, keeping her body tightly strung as the orgasm flowed through her. Finally,

she dissolved into the bed in a boneless heap. She watched through slitted eyes as he stood and

finished scrambling out of his clothes. He had the most magnificent body. She’d never get enough of

looking at him.

He grabbed her feet and tugged her toward him until her ass hit the edge of the bed. She

automatically lifted her knees to grasp his sides and held tight as he dropped his hands down beside

her shoulders. His cock nudged her then glided through her folds, bumping against her clit. He took

her lips with his, tongue thrusting deep and giving her a taste of herself. His cock slid along her sex

again and again until he eased back enough for it to lodge at her opening. This time, he pressed it in

and once the head breached, he thrust hard, filling her channel with his shaft.

They both groaned and clung to one another as he rode hard and fast between her thighs. So

good. Perfection. That’s how he felt inside her, as if she were always meant to be his, and he hers.

She nipped along his chest, sucking and biting at him. She wanted to bury her teeth in his flesh and

mark him like the hellcat he called her.

He returned the favor, and she felt the sharp graze of his teeth, quickly replaced by his lips then

back to his teeth as if he couldn’t prevent himself from using them on her. He scraped her neck once

then again. His cock pummeled her sex, and she screamed as another orgasm washed through her.

Another scrape along her neck, and he turned his head and buried his face in his bicep. She heard the

muted rumble of a growl and felt the vibration in his chest as he came.

“Gideon.” She crooned his name, her arms wrapping around him as he collapsed against her.

She soothed her hands up and down his back until he moved, pushing back up and pulling away from

her.

“I’ll be right back,” he said and disappeared into the bathroom.

He came back out moments later with a warm cloth. She took it from him and cleaned herself

before taking it back to the bathroom. He was sitting on the bed waiting for her when she came back

out.

“Hungry?” he asked and held up the box of pizza.

“Famished,” she said, grabbing his T-shirt from the floor and dragging it over her nudity before

joining him on the bed.

They ate in silence. When she was done, she lay on her side on the bed, head propped up on her

arm and watched him polish off the rest of the pizza.

“I don’t want you to go,” she blurted out before she lost her nerve.

He paused to look at her then set the rest of the slice in the box, scooped it up and tossed it to the

floor.

“You said you wanted sex,” he reminded her, but his voice was soft, questioning.

“I believe I said we were just about the fucking,” she stated, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“And believe me, it’s been the best sex of my life.”

“Is that why you don’t want me to go?” he asked.

“No. I mean the sex is good, but I wouldn’t ask just for that,” she said. She sat up, wrapping her

arms around her knees and hugging them to her chest as she faced him. “I didn’t have an ideal

childhood. My mother died when I was born, and my father’s spent every day since reminding me of

that.”

“You don’t have to tell me this,” Gideon told her.

“I want to. I’ve never wanted to tell anyone, but I do with you.”

“Tell me.”

“I spent my early childhood hiding from him. He had a hard hand, and he didn’t mind using it.”

“Your father hit you?” Gideon said and he practically vibrated with anger.

She shrugged. “I was good at hiding. As I got older, I took up sports. I played everything and

anything. Turned out, I was an all-around athlete. Luckily, the school had a scholarship program

available for kids who couldn’t afford the fees or equipment. I qualified.”

“I bet you were a knock-out in high school,” Gideon said.

She snorted. “I was all long legs. I was fit but nothing like I am now.”

He reached out and stroked a finger down her shin. “I like your legs.”

“Thank you,” she said. “My junior year, my coach took the track team on a fieldtrip. We went

and watched a physical training exercise by Marine recruits. My coach was a retired Marine. I

remember being awed as I watched them. That was true athletics. I looked at one of the other girls

and told her I was going to join. She laughed.”

“I can’t imagine anyone laughing at you,” he said.

“I began training the next day. I quit sports and started a fierce regimen. My senior year, I talked

to a recruiter, started showing up for PT with them once a week. There were a bunch of us that did. I

worked my ass off. I turned eighteen in March and officially enlisted. Graduated in May and was gone

in June.”

“You liked being a Marine,” he said.

“I loved it,” she told him. “I always thought I had to take care of myself. That’s what my dad

taught me. Don’t need anyone. Don’t depend on anyone but myself.”

“And now you have a different family,” Gideon stated.

“I do,” she agreed. “It’s funny. I bitch and grumble and snarl at them. Yell and get in their faces.

But I’d do anything for any one of them. I dropped everything I was doing and hauled ass to get here

when Reno called and said Tah needed me. They needed me. I thought I was doing them a favor.

Coming in to take care of things. But you want to know the truth?”

He nodded, and she saw in his eyes that he already knew.

“I needed them. I came because I was on my own, feeling incredibly lost. And they threw me a

fucking lifeline. One call and suddenly everything was okay. I get here and Tah’s shifting into a lion,

and I don’t fucking blink. Because he’s family, and I need him. I need them all. I’ve just been too

damn stubborn to admit it, as if by saying so I’m opening myself back up to the same type of rejection

I got from my dad.”

“They love you, too,” Gideon told her. “I’ve seen it. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for you.”

“I had a moment when you first arrived, when I thought I was done. I was going to walk away

and not look back.”

“Because of me?” he asked, appearing upset.

“Yes and no,” she said. “I was mad as hell at you. God, I wanted to ring your neck.”

He grinned. “You definitely came across as a hellcat when you approached me.”

“I thought you hated humans then I found out it was just me.”

“So you were going to leave because you thought I didn’t like you?” Gideon asked, raising an

eyebrow at her.

“No,” she said and smacked at him. “I was going to leave because Tah ordered Murphy and the

rest of the guys to keep me away from you. I thought Tah didn’t trust me anymore. That a stranger

meant more to him because you’re both shifters, and I’m human.”

Gideon shook his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s what fired me up and sent me searching you out. It’s what led to this, the two of

us in bed.” She took a deep breath. “It’s what led to me asking you not to leave or if you have to, to

let me go with you.”

“You want to go with me? You just said this pride was your family,” he reminded her, looking a

little shell-shocked.

She moved until she was sitting up on her knees in front of him. “I know I’m not your mate. And

someday, you may meet your mate. But until then, I don’t see why this has to end, why we have to end.

If you can’t go to Oklahoma with us, then let me go with you.”

He shook his head, and her heart felt as if it were breaking in two. He didn’t want her for any

longer than the time they’d had.

“I have to go look for Thomas,” he said.

“I know,” she agreed. “I knew that’s what you were planning to do.”

“I can’t ask you to go with me,” he said. “I have no idea where I’m going, or what I’ll find.”

“I’m a Marine,” she reminded him.

“I can’t believe you’d give family up for me,” he said.

She opened her mouth and closed it. She’d almost told him she was falling in love with him. But

that didn’t happen in the short amount of time they’d been together. So she bit her lip and kept the

words to herself.

“I would,” she said instead.

“Until I found my mate,” he added. “Then what? We’d just go our separate ways?”

She bit her lip again, not sure what to say. It didn’t help that her heart ached at his words.

“Stop that,” he ordered and ran his thumb over her lip, freeing it from her teeth. “Why would you

agree to something like that? Would you really just step aside and watch me go to another woman?”

He sounded hurt at the idea, but what choice would she have? None.

“Once you find your mate, you won’t want anything more to do with me. We both know that,”

she said.

“I think you’re wrong,” he told her.

“We have four mated pairs in this pride,” she reminded him. “I’ve seen how it works. They’re

very possessive of each other. No other man or woman would ever stand a chance.”

“Come with me,” he said and held his hand out to her.

“Where?” she asked, standing and watching as he snagged his jeans and jerked them on, though

he left them undone.

“I want to show you something.”

He tugged her out of the room and down the hall, back toward the lab where he’d been when

she’d first come down. He urged her onto a stool and stood beside her, pulling something up on the

computer screen.

“Look at this,” he said, pointing to two lines on a graph.

One was toward the middle of the page. The other had huge surges, sending it spiking to the top

of the page.

“Okay,” she said. “What is it?”

“This one is the hormone levels I had the first time I took a sample,” he said indicating the line

in the middle. “This one is the one I took this morning.”

“Is it the fever? Are you going to be okay?” Her heart stopped as she remembered what Clara

had said when Zane had the fever. Only a mate could save him. “We need to find your mate,” she

whispered.

“I think I already have,” he told her.

And that was it. Her heart was breaking.

Then he cupped her chin and lifted her face to his. “I know you were adamant you aren’t my

mate,” he said.

“You agreed,” she reminded him.

“I think we were both wrong.”

“What?” She stopped and gulped as her heart beat frantically in her chest. “What are you

saying?”

“I’m saying, you’re my mate, Vic.”

Chapter Eleven

“I’m… I don’t… What?” Vic said, looking adorably cute and making him wonder how he hadn’t

seen it from the beginning.

“I believe you’re my mate,” Gideon said again.

“I’m your mate,” she whispered, and it wasn’t disgust he saw in her eyes. Not yet, at least. But

he had things to tell her.

He turned her around to face him and braced his hands beside her hips on the seat. He leaned in

and closed his eyes, just breathing her in for a minute. Mine was the thought that flashed through his

mind, and he felt the overwhelming urge to lean in the final few inches that were needed for him to

sink his teeth deep and claim her. It was even harder to fight when she plunged those long fingers in

his hair and tugged him closer. She seemed to have an obsession with his hair, and he loved it.

Their lips met in a kiss full of promise. He was an unworthy man, a killer, undeserving of a

woman like Vic. He’d been more than willing to take what she offered, knowing she would move on

to someone else after him, someone better. But now the thought of her with another man made his

hands ache to kill again.

“Mine.” The claim rumbled from his chest as soon as their lips parted, and she smiled despite

the way he made the claim sound.

“Am I?” she asked.

“You’re the only one who ever could be.”

“Why do you make it sound like a curse?”

“Because it is,” he whispered. “I’m not nearly good enough for you, but I’m not sure I can walk

away from you like I planned.”

“Don’t,” she urged. “Stay, with me. Or I’ll go with you.”

It still blew him away that she was willing to leave and go with him.

“What I won’t do is let you mate me then walk away. I’ve seen what that does to a woman. I’ll

break your legs before I go through that.”

“I’d never mate you then leave. If it happens then we’re together until the end. But there are

things we need to discuss,” he said. “Things you need to know about me. I won’t mate you until you

know everything, know the man you’ll be taking on.” He looked into her face, so perfect, so beautiful.

“I’m not a good man. I’ve done things. Killed people.”

She shook her head. “You think I haven’t? You think any of us have clean hands? You don’t go

to war and come home the same way you left. People die. Blood is spilled, and no one walks away

unscathed.”

He glanced around the laboratory where anyone could walk in on them.

“Let’s go back to the room to have this talk,” he said and swept her up in his arms.

“You’re the first man who’s ever carried me like this,” she said, looping one arm behind his

neck while the palm of her other hand caressed his chest.

“I’ll be the only man to ever carry you like this,” he said with a growl.

He waited until the door was closed and she was sitting on the bed before he began again. “I

mentioned the labs to you. I told you they injected us and made us fight each other.” He paused not

sure how to finish.

“You fought to the death,” Vic said, and his eyes flew up to hers in surprise. “Did you think we

didn’t figure that out?”

“I…” He wasn’t sure what to say. “They all know?” And hadn’t kicked him out, yet?

“Suspect,” she corrected. “None of them will ask you about it. It’s yours to tell or not. More

importantly, none of them will blame you for surviving. You were hunted, captured, tortured and

forced to do things you didn’t want to in order to survive.”

“We weren’t tortured,” he said, thinking of how Michael had died, chained to a wall with stab

wounds strategically placed so he wouldn’t survive. Thomas had relayed every detail Lydia had

shared. It shouldn’t have happened. Michael shouldn’t have died, not like that. That was torture.

“You were held in fucking cages and injected with God only knows what just so they could

make you act out the sick games they thought up,” Vic yelled. “That is the worst kind of torture.

Physical wounds heal. The mental ones they inflicted have fucked with your mind for years. When you

look at yourself, all you see is a man with blood on his hands, a man who killed those he should have

fought to protect.”

“I should have protected them,” Gideon agreed.

“And what? Let them kill you, instead? Would that make it all better?” Vic demanded.

He blinked.

“You didn’t have a choice, Gideon. You were drugged and given two choices. Live or die. No

one should blame you for choosing to live.”

“I ripped their throats out,” he confessed. “I used my claws to tear them to shreds. And when

they begged me for mercy, I killed them anyway. I killed them.”

“And what would have happened to them if they’d lived?” Vic asked. “What would the people

in those labs have done to them? To you? Because I’m betting it would have been far worse than

death.”

“How do you know that?” he asked. “How could you possibly know?”

“Because I’m not stupid,” she said. “Because I’m a strategist. Because I grew up with a

misogynist who believed whole-heartedly that the end justified the means. And I know there would

have been consequences if either of you refused to do what they wanted.”

“Live dissection,” he finally admitted. “There was a man who refused to kill. They killed the

other shifter anyway. Then they tied him down, split him open, and did whatever they wanted to him.

He screamed and screamed.”

“Jesus,” Vic muttered, looking ill. “Why didn’t you shift? Why didn’t any of you shift?”

“They have an injection they give you. Every hunter has them. It prevents a shift. If we happen to

already be in animal form, it forces us to shift back. Thomas and I tried to get our hands on some of

that, but we were never able to.”

“So you escaped, managed to get away from them,” she said. “Then you went back. You

allowed yourself to be captured again. How many times? How many times did you let them take you,

knowing that could be the time you died?”

He shrugged. “I did what I needed to. I owed it to all the shifters I…killed. I owed it to them to

make sure I did everything I could to protect others from the same fate. By trying to get my hands on

the drugs being used against us and finding a way to block them from working.”

“Then don’t you think your time is better spent in the labs, now? Helping to do just that?” Vic

asked

“We have no samples to work with,” he said. “I need live samples to test. Plus, everything

Thomas and I had is gone. I managed to save a few notebooks, but the rest was destroyed. I’m pretty

sure it was Dillon.”

“Tell me,” she urged.

“Ariel had gone off the rails again. She’s an angry woman. She has a right to be.” He shook his

head at her questioning look. “It’s not my story to share. I don’t think she even realizes I know

everything that happened. I’ll just say Ariel has seen the dark side of humans as well as shifters, and I

think she might hate and distrust shifters more. She’s very selective on who she puts any faith in.”

“She trusts you,” Vic said.

Gideon swallowed and glanced away, blinking his eyes quickly. “She was…broken when

Thomas found her. Body, mind, spirit. He brought her back with him. We did what we could

medically to help her.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “She had night terrors for a

long time. She’d wake up screaming, fighting anyone who tried to get to her.”

“But you went to her,” Vic guessed, and he liked that she already seemed to know him so well.

“I did. She’d scratch me up a bit, but once I had her wrapped in my arms, she’d slowly come

back to the present. She’d beg me not to let them touch her again. Her eyes would be glassy, and she’d

beg me. It broke my heart. Eventually, she’d wake up screaming my name. Then she’d just wake up.”

“I didn’t like her,” Vic said. “There was something about her that made me uneasy. Now… I…”

She swallowed, and he could see the guilt on her face.

“She’s fierce in a fight,” he said. “Lethal. She asked me to train her, and I did. If she’s angry,

there’s a reason for it.”

“So what does she do when she goes off the rails?” Vic asked.

“She hunts,” Gideon replied. “And she’s not always particular on what or who.”

“So you went after her.”

He nodded. “We all needed a break. We’d been working around the clock. Ariel hasn’t said

anything, but it wouldn’t surprise me if her leaving had something to do with Dillon. There was

animosity between them from the start. I should have paid more attention.”

“You were busy.”

“I’m always busy. There was a lot I missed. I didn’t see what was going on with Lydia. I didn’t

see what was going on with Ariel, with Dillon or with Thomas. I was pissed when Ariel left. Mad as

hell that I had to stop what I was doing and go after her. Griffin asked if he could come with me.” He

snorted and shook his head again. “I think he was afraid I might take my anger out on Ariel.” He

looked her in the eyes. “I wouldn’t. Never.”

“I know that,” she assured him. “I may not have known you long, but I think I know you pretty

well.”

And she did, she seemed to sense things others never had. He wondered if it was a mate thing.

“So Griffin went with you,” she prompted.

“I told Thomas to take a break. Go for a run. He looked pretty haggard. For some reason, I took

the last few journals I’d worked in with me. Just stuffed them in my backpack as if I’d have time to

work on them later.”

“Instinct?” she suggested.

“Maybe, but I’d rather my instinct have saved Thomas. He was gone when I got back. The lab

we used was fucking destroyed. Equipment broken and all our journals gone. Not that they’ll help

whoever has them. I write all my stuff in my own shorthand code. It was something Thomas thought

of. I’m glad he did.”

“What do you think happened to him?” she asked.

“I don’t know for sure. I don’t know if he was there when whoever did that came in or not. Most

of the place was destroyed, not just our lab. All I found…” He stopped as it hit him. “My God. The

only thing I found was a note with Clara’s name and coordinates for here. It was in Lydia’s

handwriting.”

“She came here with Dillon, planning to kill Amia and Logan, as well, so she could take Clara

back with her.”

“If that was her plan, why leave me the information of where to find her?” Gideon challenged.

“What if it was a way to draw me here?”

“You think she was hoping you’d get here in time to stop whatever Dillon had planned or so she

could kill you, too?”

“I may never know,” he said. “I got held up. Then it took us a few days to sort through stuff when

we got back. I was desperately hoping some of our research would be salvageable.”

“I know you feel guilty for not noticing what Dillon was doing to her,” Vic said. “But I’m not

sure she would have been able to leave you a note to draw you here, unless she was hoping to kill

you. The Lydia who arrived here was a cut throat bitch.”

“She told me something before she died,” he admitted.

“What?”

“I’m not sure,” he said with grunt of frustration.

“You didn’t hear her?”

“No, I heard her. I’m just not sure what she meant. She said Thomas’ name then Dillon’s. Then

she said betrayed.”

“Sounds like she was telling you Dillon betrayed Thomas. You suspected that.”

“I know. I just can’t shake this feeling in my gut that there’s more to it than that. I can’t explain it.

I was so certain when I came here that Dillon was the one who left the mess. Now, I’m realizing I’ve

been blind to so much around me.”

“And you’re wondering if you’ve missed something where Dillon is concerned?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a good guy, Gideon.”

He snorted.

“Murphy called and told Finn and I what was going on with Lydia,” Vic said, and her gaze was

filled with…pride? Christ, was she proud of what he’d done?

“It was a good thing you did for them. We’re very lucky you were here.”

He shrugged, not comfortable with her praise. “I owed Lydia that much.”

“You have to stop thinking you need to spend your life making amends for things. Everything is

not your fault. You’re one person. Why didn’t Thomas see what was going on? Or Ariel? Or Griffin?

Should they be beating themselves up?”

She made a valid point. One he’d never considered. He was the type of person who took the

blame on himself. He didn’t place it on others. That wasn’t the man he was.

“You have to learn to let some things go, Gideon. Learn to forgive yourself,” she said and patted

the bed for him to join her. “If not for you, then for me, for your mate. I’m not a perfect person, either.

I have ghosts and scars that cut deep. But with you… God, with you I feel complete. I feel awakened.

I feel…” She blinked watery blue eyes at him. “More. I feel like I’m more than I’ve ever been.”

“I feel so unworthy of you,” he said as he crossed to sit in front of her.

She smiled softly, leaning in to cup his face and kiss him tenderly. “I feel the same way toward

you,” she confessed. “So maybe together we can be worthy of each other.”

“I’m going to have to leave,” he said. “I need to search for Thomas.”

“So, I go with you,” she countered. “Or you come to Oklahoma just long enough for everyone to

get settled, and we take a few others with us.”

“I can’t ask them to do that,” he said.

“I can,” she said. “Clara can and will. We’ve always planned to search for Thomas from the

moment Clara realized he was missing. Unfortunately, it’s been one thing after another, and we

haven’t been able to spare anyone. This move. We need this, and not only because we have hunters on

our tails. Abby was attacked here. Logan and Tah were shot. We’re lucky Amia and Reno forgave the

way she was treated when they first got here.”

“I heard,” Gideon admitted—Clara had told him. “I also heard about Clara being kept in a room.

You do realize she could have escaped if she wanted to,” he said.

“I figured,” Vic stated. “But it was pretty obvious from the beginning she was into Logan. I’m

pretty sure that’s why Tah had Logan assigned to take care of her. I think sometimes people don’t

realize what a crafty bastard he is.”

Gideon laughed.

“But my point was, we all could use a fresh start somewhere else. I think this move will be good

for us in a lot of ways,” she said.

“I’m going to have to think,” Gideon admitted.

“About Oklahoma versus leaving from here to search for Thomas?” Vic asked, and he nodded.

“I’d suggest talking to Clara, first. I can guarantee you she’ll have heard everything you said to the

council by now.”

“Logan?” Gideon said, and she nodded.

“She’s been occupied with Lydia, but she’ll be leaving tomorrow. I’m pretty sure she’ll confront

you before she does,” Vic said. “She’ll want to be a part of this, and she has a right to be. She lost her

mother, her aunt, her father and now the woman who became a surrogate mother to her.”

“I can’t let her lose Thomas, too,” Gideon said.

“She’s not yours to protect,” Vic said. “She has a mate, and the choices she makes are and

should be between them.”

“So I should keep my focus on my mate?”

“If you choose to claim one, “Vic said. “Then you should definitely consult with her on

everything, and expect her to do the same with you. No secrets.”

“I have a feeling I’ll be a hard man to love,” he warned her.

“And I’ll drive you crazy,” Vic promised.

“Are you sure?” he asked, leaning in and holding her gaze with his. “There’s no going back.

Mating is forever. Even beyond death.”

“That sounds like just long enough,” Vic whispered. “Make me yours. Be mine. Mate me.”

He reached for the shirt she wore and jerked it up and over her head. Her hands were fumbling

at his pants, and he hissed out a breath as her palm met his shaft, wrapping around and squeezing it.

He took her down onto the bed while they both worked off his jeans. He ate at her mouth and reveled

in the scratch of her fingernails along his skin. When they were both naked, he pushed her onto the bed

and slid between her thighs. She was wet and ready, and he thrust deep.

“Yes,” she cried, arching into him.

He rode her hard, holding nothing back and giving the beast free reign. She was theirs. He

nuzzled her neck then dropped his mouth lower to suck a turgid nipple. She was sweet. God, so sweet

his teeth ached. He popped free and moved across to the other one, giving it the same thorough

treatment.

“Squeeze them together,” he ordered, wanting to suck both nipples at the same time.

She complied willingly and cried out in pleasure as he took them into his mouth, laving over

them before nipping with his teeth. He’d be content to spend every day for the rest of his life just like

this.

“Mine,” he growled and watched her eyes turn a darker shade of blue.

“Mine,” she answered back, moving her hands up to clasp his shoulders, nails digging deep and

marking him.

He moved his mouth to her neck, licking over the spot where her shoulder merged with the

smooth column. He kissed it, scraped it with his teeth then left an open-mouthed kiss that turned her

flesh red.

“Mine,” he said again, a growl rumbling up from his chest.

She nodded her head. He felt her driving her heels into the bed as she rocked up to meet him

thrust for thrust.

“Mine,” he grunted.

“Yours,” she agreed. “I’m yours.”

Finally, she gave him what he needed to hear. He sank his teeth deep, biting into her flesh and

sucking. She came, screaming his name as she did. Her pussy contracted around his cock, again and

again, until she milked his seed from him. When he collapsed against her, he knew his saliva was

already inside her, changing and enhancing her. Soon, her senses would expand, opening her up to so

much more around her. Her body would be quicker to heal when injured. More importantly, they

would begin forming a link. Soon, they would be able to sense the other no matter where they were,

no matter how far apart. He would know if she were in danger.

“We’re mated now?” she asked, fingers rubbing over the spot he’d left on her skin.

He nodded and kissed her softly over the bite. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Best damn orgasm of my life when you bit me.”

“Yes,” he agreed. It had been incredible. “It will only get better.”

“I don’t see how.”

“You know your body will change?” he asked. He’d assumed she knew but hadn’t asked. He

should have.

She nodded. “The enhanced senses, better healing and a connection between us.”

He felt relief flow through him. “That connection will lead to us sharing things with each other

during sex. I’ll know how good something feels to you. You’ll know the same about me.”

“That might get pretty intense.”

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed, rocking his hips into her in case she’d missed the fact he was hard again.

She wiggled her ass, eyes closing as she moaned. “We should probably do that again,” she

suggested.

“Oh, I agree,” he purred.

“And you should bite me,” she added. “Just to make sure.”

“Oh, you’re mine,” he told her. “You’re not getting away, now.”

She smiled. “Good thing I’m happy right where I am.”

“I…I want to show you something,” Gideon said, sitting up beside her.

She wiggled her brows. “Baby, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every inch of you, and trust me when I

say, I love it.”

He shook his head. “I want you to meet the other part of me.”

She sat up as understanding dawned in her eyes. “Your jaguar?”

He nodded.

“I’d love to see the beast part of my man.”

Her man. He loved the way it sounded. And he’d never grow tired of hearing her say it. He rose

from the bed and, holding her gaze, began to change. He felt the flex of muscle, the shifting of bones

as his body morphed from man to animal. He let the jaguar take the lead, understanding his animal

needed time with their mate, as well.

The beast sat back on its haunches, watching Vic as she slowly rose from the bed and walked to

them. She dropped to her knees before them and reached out one hand to brush over his black coat.

“Oh, Gideon,” she breathed, leaning closer to stroke him with both hands. “You’re so beautiful.”

Both man and beast soaked up her touch, reveling in the love she showed in each caress. She

was theirs, and both were more than willing to kill to protect her. It was that moment that he noticed

something else. The ache that had been constant since he’d been shot was finally gone.

Chapter Twelve

Gideon was a new man the next morning. He felt lighter, happier, and he knew exactly who was

to blame for it. His mate. He still didn’t feel worthy of her, but he’d gladly spend the rest of his life

trying to prove otherwise.

He was back in the lab that morning, helping Diane get all the stuff packed she felt needed to go

with her. The rest would travel with the Professor when he headed south with Reno. Gideon still

wasn’t sure if he was going to Oklahoma, first, or heading out to begin searching for Thomas. He

really needed to talk to Dillon, see if he could pull any information out of the younger man.

“I was hoping I’d find you down here,” Clara said. “I’d like to talk to you.”

He nodded. “Give me some more time to help Diane with this stuff.”

“Go ahead,” Diane said. “Zane’ll be down in a little bit, anyway. We’ve got most of it already

packed.”

“Are you sure?” Gideon asked.

“Absolutely,” Diane said and made a shooing motion with her hands.

“Okay,” Gideon said and turned to Clara.

“Let’s go for a walk,” she said and led the way upstairs.

They were outside before she began talking again.

“In some ways, I can’t wait to leave this place behind,” she said. “And in some ways, I’m going

to miss it. This is where I met Logan.”

“But he’s yours, now,” Gideon said.

“As Vic is now yours,” Clara said. “Congratulations and welcome to the family.”

He gave her a funny look. He hadn’t thought about that.

“As part of that family, you have a responsibility,” she began. “To all of us.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, shaking his head.

“You can’t just think of yourself, anymore,” she continued. “Or of my uncle. You have to think

about all of us, and what’s best for the group.”

“I can’t make that promise,” he said. “This pride needs Thomas. You need him.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately,” Clara told him. “Remembering. When I was a girl, and

I’d come in with scrapes or bruises, I’d run to my uncle. And before Lydia was around, he always

sent me to you. Gideon will take care of it. Go see Gideon. Or he’d just bellow for you and shoo me

into your care.”

“He was busy,” Gideon said. “He knew he could trust me to see to you. That doesn’t mean he

doesn’t love you.”

“I know he does,” she agreed. “As much as he’s capable of, anyway. But I think we both know a

part of him died when he lost my Aunt Stella and their child. I don’t blame him for that. The thought of

losing Logan…” She shook her head and swallowed. “I don’t want to contemplate it. But I think

we’ve made far too many excuses for my uncle and let him get away with far too much over the

years.”

“Clara,” Gideon said. He could see the pain on her face—hear it in her voice.

“I think it’s time we stop,” she finished softly. “I’m not saying we don’t go after him. I’m just

saying, we’re smart about it. Besides…” She met his gaze again and tears swam in her eyes. “He

might be captured again on purpose. And I think history shows us, he’s more than capable of taking

care of himself.”

“He is,” Gideon agreed.

“I heard my dad and Uncle Thomas arguing before my dad left for the last time,” she admitted

softly.

Gideon held completely still, somehow sensing her next words were going to change things and

there would be no going back.

“Dad didn’t want to go, but Thomas insisted. Said there was someone Michael needed to meet,

someone important. And I know it wasn’t Lydia or Amia.”

Gideon shook his head. “He never said anything to me.”

She shrugged. “We may never know. But think about it. Thomas is willing to sacrifice anyone

for what he wants. How many times did he send you out?”

“He sent you after Lydia’s daughter didn’t he? Amia? When you were captured and escaped?”

he asked, ignoring her question.

Clara nodded. “He did. He sent me to the same place my father was killed. And if not for Amia,

I would have died there, as well.”

“Fuck!” Gideon said. So much made sense now. Had Thomas told him no one would forgive

him because he cared or because he wanted to keep Gideon alone and feeling as if all he could do

was work at making amends?

“I know you feel it’s your duty to go search for him,” Clara said. “I felt the same way. But my

mate has taught me a lot, especially about love. I love my uncle, but I won’t be one more person he

sacrifices to get what he thinks he needs. Neither should you.”

“I don’t know what to feel at the moment,” Gideon admitted. “If that’s true… If Thomas… God,

I feel manipulated.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Not by you,” he said, interrupting her. “He knew exactly what to say to get me to do what he

wanted. I’ve been such a fool.”

“No,” she said. “You’ve been a friend. He’s the one who used us all. I think maybe that was

what Lydia was trying to tell us at the end.”

“She said Dillon betrayed,” Gideon said.

“She said my uncle’s name three times. Then she said Dillon’s once. Then he betrayed. I know

you want to think she meant Dillon betrayed Thomas somehow. And trust me, I know Dillon is not

innocent in all this. But what if she was trying to tell us Thomas betrayed Dillon?”

“No way,” Gideon said automatically, but his gut was saying something else.

“It would explain so much,” Clara said. “And I’m sorry to say I don’t have a problem seeing

Thomas betraying someone. Ask yourself what he could have done to Dillon. If anyone can figure it

out, it would be you.”

“I’ll think about it,” he promised. Hell, he’d probably think of little else now that she’d planted

all the seeds of doubt in his head. He knew Thomas was more than capable of everything she’d said,

but would he have really done it? Gideon wasn’t sure.

“I’ll be leaving in a few hours,” Clara said. “I’m glad I got the chance to talk to you before then,

and I’m sorry if anything I’ve said hurt you.”

“You haven’t hurt me,” he said. “I’m upset I didn’t think of these things myself. And I’m so

sorry, Clara. This can’t be easy for you.”

“Sometimes we’re too close to see what’s in front of our faces. I was. Coming here, meeting my

mate and the rest of this pride… This is what helped open my eyes.”

“I can see that.”

“I hope you’ll decide to come to Oklahoma. We need you, really need you. Tah, Reno, Logan

and the rest of them, they know what friendship means. It’s sacred to them. I know Tah said you’d

always be welcome. He meant it, Gideon. No ulterior motives.”

“Vic and I are discussing it,” he admitted.

“Good,” Clara said. “I like your mate. She likes to think she’s tough as nails, and in some ways,

she is. But I saw the truth of who she is when she looked me in the eye and apologized for setting me

up. She might make tough calls when she feels she has to, but it bothers her when someone gets hurt.

That makes her a phenomenal mate to have.”

“I’m lucky to have her,” he said.

“She’s lucky to have you, too,” Clara reminded him. “Don’t forget that.”

“Thank you,” Gideon said as they turned to head back.

“For what?”

“Trusting me enough to come to me with this,” he said.

“You’ve always been family to me,” she told him. “You just never realized it.”

“I’m not sure I deserve you, either,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

“You’re a good guy, Gideon,” she said, mirroring Vic’s words from the night before.

They walked back to the house in comfortable silence. He figured she was probably wrapped up

in her thoughts as much as he was in his. It was a lot to think about. Clara had brought up things he

was sad to say he might never have contemplated on his own. It made it even more important that he

talk with Dillon soon.

Gideon and Clara parted ways at the front door. She had stuff she needed to take care of before

she and Logan helped escort Abby to Denver. Gideon almost went in search of Vic, wanting to

discuss all that was on his mind with her. But there were two other people he needed to see, first.

He suspected he’d find Ariel and Griffin upstairs in the rooms they’d been given when they’d

arrived. He was right. They were arguing when he approached but stopped. He knew they were

aware he was there and wasn’t surprised when Ariel opened the door. He was surprised at the angry

way she looked at him. She inhaled deeply.

“So it’s true. You mated the blonde bitch.”

“Watch yourself,” he warned with a growl. “She’s my mate, and you’ll be respectful.”

“Congratulations,” Griffin said.

“Does this mean you’re going to head to Oklahoma, now?” Ariel demanded.

“I’m not sure, yet,” he said honestly. “Vic and I are discussing it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re leaving, I’d prefer to stick with you.”

He shook his head.

“I’ll be nice to her,” Ariel stated, looking anything but contrite for her earlier words. “Promise.”

“You’ll be safer with this pride,” he told her.

“They don’t want us,” she said. “Not really.”

“That’s not true,” Gideon countered. “Tah’s made travel plans for you.”

“Yeah, I heard,” she said. “They’re splitting us up. I’m to go with Amia Blane. You really think

that’s a good idea?”

“She’s not your enemy,” Gideon said. “Amia went through hell. Maybe you should knock the

chip off your shoulder and try to get to know them before you judge.”

“Whatever,” she mumbled. “Ask Griffin if you don’t believe me. They don’t really want us

here.”

“Griffin?” Gideon asked, looking at the other man.

“They don’t want us to help,” he said. “I get it. We’re new. They don’t know us. There’s a lot

going on. But we could help. Hell, even if it’s just loading boxes. We could help.”

“They’re cautious,” Gideon said. “You can’t blame them for that. But what exactly have you two

done to prove your willingness to pitch in? Or have you spent most of the time up here?”

“I’m not staying where I’m not wanted,” Ariel said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Gideon sighed. “We’ll get back to this in a minute. I actually came looking for you guys because

I want to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Griffin asked, but Ariel turned around, facing the window.

“Did you two notice anything about Thomas? Maybe something he said or did when I wasn’t

around?” Gideon asked.

Griffin shrugged. “Thomas never really paid much attention to me. I wasn’t allowed in the lab

when you weren’t there. He said I was your lackey, and he didn’t need me.”

“He said what? Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Gideon asked.

Another shrug was Griffin’s answer.

“What would you have done?” Ariel asked, still facing the window. “If we’d come to you with a

complaint about the golden boy? You would have told us to suck it up and move on. We all knew

Thomas could do no wrong in your eyes.”

Gideon felt a stab of pain in his heart. Was Thomas the person Clara feared he was? Or was

there more they weren’t seeing? He had a feeling nothing would be clear until they found Thomas.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked. “Either of you?”

“He didn’t have much to do with me,” Griffin said, but Gideon saw the way the other man’s gaze

went to Ariel’s back.

“Why don’t you go out to the trucks they’re loading,” Gideon told Griffin. “Vic will be there.

Tell her I sent you to help.”

“They won’t let me,” Griffin said but headed toward the door, anyway.

“Tell my mate,” Gideon said. “Trust me.”

Griffin nodded and opened the door.

“And Griffin,” Gideon called.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not my lackey,” Gideon told him. “You’re my friend.”

The look the other man gave him made Gideon even more aware of things he’d been clueless of.

It was clear how much those few words meant to Griffin. Gideon was sorry he hadn’t thought to say

them sooner. But then he’d been busy, and he never would have suspected Thomas would say

something so cruel.

Gideon stood there for a moment after Griffin left him alone with Ariel. What damage had

Thomas done to her? It surprised him when she was the first one to break the silence.

“Thomas found me crying once,” she said. “I’d woken from…one of my dreams. It was so real,

as if I were back there, feeling…” She shook her head, and her shoulders hunched in. “It was like

living it all over again.”

“What did he do?” Gideon asked quietly.

“He’s the one who found me afterwards, when they left me to die. For the longest time, I think I

saw him as some savior.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Sometimes, I think he made a point of showing me

differently, so I would leave him alone. He certainly did after my dream.”

“What did he do?” Gideon asked again.

She turned then. No tears, but there was such pain on her face it made Gideon take a step back.

“He said we all get what we deserve in the end. The things that happen to us are because of who

we are, what we’ve done. Some of us are victims, and that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“Jesus Christ,” Gideon said, hating Thomas for the words he’d dared to say. How could he have

said something that harsh to Ariel? Knowing what she’d suffered and making her feel as if it were her

fault?

“I hated him after that,” Ariel said.

“I don’t blame you,” Gideon said. “I’m so sorry. You know he’s wrong. Something horrible

happened to you because the people who did it were bad. Not you. You were young and innocent.”

She shrugged.

“Listen to me,” Gideon urged. He kept his distance. He could tell she wasn’t in the mood to have

anyone touch her. “What he said was horrific and wrong, so incredibly wrong. We’ve all been

victims at some point. We’ve all faced things that haunt us. Those moments are not what defines us.”

Her head lifted, and her gaze met his.

“It’s what we do afterwards that defines us. We can choose to remain victims, or we can grow

stronger. And the woman I see in front of me right now, she’s one of the strongest I know.”

She closed her eyes, and he saw one tear trail down her cheek before she swallowed and wiped

it away. For that alone, he’d willingly beat the hell out of Thomas.

“This is a new chance for you,” he told her. “These people, that blonde I mated, they won’t

judge you or make you feel the way Thomas did with his words. If you let them in, they might just be

the best friends you’ve ever had. All you have to do is give them the chance to get to know you, make

the effort to get to know them.”

“I’m not sure I can,” Ariel whispered.

“I hope you try,” Gideon said. “Clara told me she learned something important about friendship

and love when she arrived her. I think you and I could learn the same.”

“I still want to go with you, Gideon,” she said. “Please.”

“I’ll talk to my mate,” he said and saw her shoulders hunch farther. “She’s not a bad person. She

agreed to be my mate, that has to tell you something about her.”

“That’s she’s crazy?” Ariel quipped.

“In all the best ways,” Gideon stated. “I will promise you something.”

“What?”

“You can always come to me,” he swore. “With anything. If you don’t feel like you have any

other friends in this world, at least know you have me.”

“Thanks,” she said, and he heard her sniffle.

“Want to come outside with me?” he asked.

“I think I’ll stay up here for a little bit,” she said. “But I’ll be down soon.”

“I’ll watch for you,” he said.

From now on, he’d make a point of watching out for her. Maybe Vic could help him figure out a

way to help Ariel heal.

Chapter Thirteen

Vic swore the tension in the air was going to drive them all crazy. Everyone had been on edge

from the moment Tah, Abby and the others headed to Denver. And she knew they’d stay that way until

they heard everything went okay. What would be a normal trip for anyone else took on dangerous

elements for a shifter or the mate of a shifter. They had to worry about things other than traffic. Their

concerns were more about someone trying to attack, kidnap or even kill them because the sad reality

was a hunter could be anyone out there.

Reno stayed close to the house, pacing as he waited to hear from Tah that all had gone well and

the group was back on the road, headed to Oklahoma. Amia stayed with him. Murphy and Finn were

down with Dillon. And Vic had Ariel and Griffin helping her move boxes so they’d be ready to cart

them out to where the truck was parked. Ariel told Vic that Gideon was down in the labs with the

Professor.

Ariel was still rude and often standoffish, but after what Gideon had mentioned about her seeing

the worst in humans and shifters, Vic was willing to cut her some slack. She let her comments go and

spoke with Griffin. He was a nice guy, smart as hell. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was going to be

an asset in the labs for Diane and the Professor. Gideon had trained him and that said it all.

According to Diane, Gideon was a whiz in the labs.

She was lost in thoughts of Gideon when Ariel walked up.

“I want to go with Gideon,” she said. “And you,” she tacked on.

“Go with us?” Vic asked then caught on. “You mean when we leave here?”

Ariel nodded. “I don’t feel comfortable going with anyone else. And it doesn’t matter if you go

to Oklahoma or not. I just…”

“You trust him,” Vic said. “I understand that.”

“It’s not that I don’t like Reno or Amia, I’d just prefer to be with you two,” Ariel said.

“Do you know why Tah wanted you to go with Reno and Amia?” Vic asked her.

“From what I overheard, it was to keep the two of us apart,” Ariel said, but she didn’t sound as

antagonistic about it, now.

“I promised I wouldn’t kill you,” Vic said and held back a grin when Ariel snorted. “Most likely

it’s because he thought you might need a friend. Amia has been through hell. She’s been tortured and

put through things that would leave scars on anyone— physical, mental and emotional.”

“I don’t know Amia,” Ariel said.

“Look, Ariel, you have to decide if you really want to be a part of this pride, or not, and being a

part means getting to know people. I know you told Tah you did, but we all know you’ve held back.”

“I haven’t,” she argued.

“You’ve stayed in your room for the most part,” Vic challenged. “I’m not blaming you. I’m

stating a fact.”

“No one wanted me around,” Ariel muttered.

“I didn’t see you putting forth much effort to change their minds. These guys, they’re the best out

there. But you have to give them a chance,” Vic said. “If you really want to go with Gideon, I’ll leave

that between you two. But if you want to be a part of this pride, you’re going to have to start trying.”

Ariel didn’t say anything, but Vic could tell her words had hit the mark. They worked for a little

while in silence when Finn walked out.

“Jesus,” he said. “You two could be sisters,” he stated, looking between Vic and Ariel.

They did bare a resemblance. Ariel had a cap of short blonde curls, as well, but her eyes were a

warm whiskey color.

“Well, you’re the shorter, baby sister,” Vic said and bumped Ariel with her shoulder.

“You forgot prettier,” Ariel said, and Finn laughed.

“I like this one,” he said. “She’s got sass.”

Vic shook her head as he slung an arm around Ariel’s shoulders and gave her a casual squeeze

then let go. He headed toward the house.

“Who wants to help with dinner?” he called to them.

“I’ll go,” Ariel said then shrugged when Vic gawked at her. “I like to cook. It relaxes me.”

“Well, come on,” Finn said. “I’m starving. You like to cook. Are you good?”

“Yes,” Ariel said.

“Do you bake?” Finn asked, and Vic grinned.

“Yes,” Ariel said again, but the way she tilted her head made Vic suspect Finn was being given

a questioning look.

“I think you’re going to be my new best friend,” Finn drawled.

Ariel cast a nervous glance over her shoulder at Vic but walked into the house with Finn. Maybe

Tah should have sent her with Finn and Murphy. Vic had a feeling the brothers would take a shine to

her. It seemed as if Finn could see Ariel had a wounded soul. Vic knew firsthand how great of a

friend he could be. Murphy was the same.

“Wow,” Griffin said, drawing Vic’s attention to him. “I’m surprised.”

“I gather she doesn’t warm up to people,” Vic said with a shake of her head.

“I wasn’t talking about her going in to cook with Finn,” Griffin said. “She really is a great cook.

I’m surprised she listened to you.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Vic said.

“I’d definitely say she’s decided to try,” Griffin stated. “I’m not sure she’ll want to ride with

Amia and Reno, though.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Vic said.

“You know, I’d be okay with trading places with her,” Griffin said. “I’m supposed to go with

Finn and Murphy. I’d be happy to go with Reno, Amia and the Professor. I’d probably have more to

talk about with the Professor, anyway.”

Vic nodded. “That’s a great idea. We’ll see what Ariel thinks about it.”

“Shouldn’t we talk to Gideon?” Griffin said.

“No,” Vic told him. “Ariel needs to make this decision for herself.”

Griffin nodded. “We’re done here. Anything else we need to do?”

She shook her head. “Why don’t you go check on Murphy? Let him know Finn’s conned Ariel

into cooking. I’ll go see if Reno’s heard from Tah, yet.”

Vic headed into the house. She could tell by the smile on Reno’s face that good news had come

in.

“You heard from him?” she asked.

“All done and they’re on the road,” he said. “Money’s set to be transferred to a bank close to

Riverton in a few days. Actually, it should make it to Oklahoma before they get there.”

“How’s Jess?” Vic asked.

“She, Cody and Michael showed up,” Reno said. “Tah said she fell in love with Regan and has

declared herself the official godmother. She’s already planning visits.”

“That’ll be good,” Vic agreed. “The Professor would enjoy that.”

“I think he needs it,” Reno said. “He’s hasn’t been himself lately.”

“I think we’ve all noticed that,” Vic stated.

“Abby’s worried,” Amia said. “Tah, too.”

“Do you think something’s wrong? Something he hasn’t told us?” Vic said.

“If you mean is he ill, then no,” Reno said. “We’d be able to scent the chemical change in his

body if he was. It’s his obsession with research and finding answers. He’s working too hard and not

sleeping or eating like he should. It’s starting to take a huge toll on him. He worries too much, about

all of us.”

“Griffin knows the labs,” Vic said. “He could be a real asset in Oklahoma.”

“Clara said that,” Amia agreed. “It would help if Gideon were planning to go.”

“We’re discussing it,” Vic said. “Either way, I’m going with him. I wanted you to hear that from

me.”

“We knew that the moment the two of you mated,” Reno said. “Tah said to tell you Riverton,

Oklahoma will always be your home, both you and Gideon.”

“I know that,” she said.

“I’m hoping you two come to Oklahoma,” Amia admitted. “We need all the people we can get

there.”

“Speaking of that,” Vic said. “Ariel isn’t comfortable riding with you.”

Reno and Amia shared a look.

“Is she planning to go?” Amia asked.

“I think she is,” Vic said. “She’s in the kitchen right now, cooking with Finn.”

“Finn’s connected with her?” Reno asked.

“He’s definitely trying to,” Vic said. “Griffin suggested he and Ariel trade spots for the trip. He

thinks he’ll have more to talk to the Professor about.”

“Makes sense,” Reno said. “I don’t see a problem with it. As long as Ariel is comfortable with

them. Murphy and Finn will treat her with kid gloves.”

“I think they might be good for her,” Vic said. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Are you heading downstairs?” Reno asked.

“Yeah, I want to find Gideon,” she answered. “Need something?”

“I just got off the phone with Tah when you walked in. Haven’t had a chance to tell anyone, yet.

If you’ll let the Professor know, we’ll tell Finn and Murphy,” Reno said.

“Absolutely,” Vic agreed. “I’ll even let him know about Jess and her new little love. Maybe

thinking about a visit with her will do him good.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Reno agreed.

“More people will help us out a lot,” Amia added. “I think that’s the only way the Professor

will agree to slow down.”

“I think you’re right,” Reno agreed.

“Maybe there will be more help in Oklahoma,” Vic said. “Did this Daniel say if there were

other shifters there? I got sidetracked in the meeting. I should have asked then.”

“Daniel didn’t say much according to Tah. I think he’s as cautious as we are. We’re putting a lot

of trust in Gabriel, but we don’t have a lot of choices right now,” Reno said. “Have to admit, I’m

curious to see the place.”

“Me, too,” Amia said.

Vic almost said she was, as well, but she still didn’t know what Gideon wanted to do.

“Gideon still wants to speak to Dillon before we leave,” she stated.

Reno nodded. “I don’t think he’s going to get the answers he wants.”

“I know,” Vic said. “But he needs to try.”

“I can understand that,” Reno told her then grinned. “My how the mighty have fallen.”

“What does that mean?” Vic asked.

“I believe the words you used were, and I quote, ‘I’m no one’s mate. No matter what you

believe, I do have a say in that. And I say, I’m not’.” Reno folded his arms over his chest when he

finished, and Amia laughed.

“Gideon convinced me otherwise,” Vic admitted. “One taste, and I was hooked.”

“I know the feeling,” Amia agreed and snuggled up to Reno’s side. He bent his head and kissed

her.

“I’ll just leave you two alone and go find my own mate,” Vic said and headed out.

Gideon and the Professor were deep in conversation when she walked in.

“You talk some sense into him,” the Professor said as soon as he saw her.

Vic crossed to Gideon and slid under his arm, cuddling into him. “What sense does he need

talked into?”

“The Professor seems to think he needs to stay up half the night working. I said he might want to

call it early tonight. Get some rest. He’ll be starting a long trip in another day,” Gideon said.

“Well, he has a valid point,” Vic told the Professor. “And I have good news.”

“It’s done?” the Professor asked.

She nodded. “Money will be transferred to a bank with offices close to Riverton, Oklahoma.

Tah, Abby and the rest of the team are all on their way there, now.”

“And Jess?” the Professor asked. “How is my daughter doing?”

“From what I heard, she fell in love with Regan and has declared herself godmother. I believe

she was talking about making more trips to visit.”

“She is?” The Professor looked startled then slowly a smile tilted his lips. It lit up his face.

Maybe Finn wasn’t the only one who could be surrounded by people and still be lonely.

“Well, I guess I should make sure I’m packed and ready to go. Just a few days, and I’m on the

road,” the Professor continued.

“Speaking of that,” Vic said. “There might be a change in plans.”

“What kind of change?” Gideon asked.

“Ariel and Griffin may switch places,” she said.

“That girl’s been hurt,” the Professor said. “You can see it in her eyes.”

“She has,” Gideon said.

“She needs love and acceptance,” the Professor said. “A home with people who will teach her

how to move forward.”

“I hope they do,” Gideon said quietly.

“Ariel and Finn are cooking dinner together,” Vic said.

“He better not be planning to hit on her,” Gideon stated with a growl.

“No,” the Professor answered before Vic could. “Finn’s a good boy. He and his brother both.

And if any of us can teach her to smile and believe again, it’ll be those two crazy Irish boys. I think

they’re just what she needs.”

“I think so, too,” Vic said, squeezing Gideon’s arm.

“What about Griffin?” the Professor asked. “How does he feel about changing places?”

“It was actually his suggestion,” Vic informed them. “He seems to think he’ll have more to

discuss with you, Professor, than he will with either Finn or Murphy.”

The Professor looked surprised. “That’s interesting.”

“He knows his way around a lab and research,” Gideon said. “I trained him myself. He’ll be a

real asset when you get to Oklahoma. If you let him, that is.”

“Well, why the hell wouldn’t I?” the Professor thundered. “We need all the help we can get.

You trained him?”

Gideon nodded.

“That’s wonderful. I still say we need you with us. Now that you’re mated, surely you’ll be

coming with us,” the Professor said. “So much we need to do and plan and prepare to face.”

“Vic and I are discussing what we want to do,” Gideon said. “In fact, I’ve been waiting for her,

so if you’ll excuse us…”

Gideon didn’t wait for the Professor to reply, he just took her hand in his and pulled her behind

him down the hall to the bedroom they shared.

“We need to talk,” he said as soon as they entered the room and continued to blow her mind with

what he and Ariel had discussed, and his conversation with Clara before she’d left.

“Oh, my God,” Vic said. “What a bastard! Do you think Clara might be right? I can’t believe he

said that to Ariel! Jesus! Thomas is a grade-A asshole.”

Her head was reeling with everything he’d just shared. In her mind, it spoke volumes that

Thomas’s niece was the one who wasn’t sure her uncle was the good guy. Vic felt the same after

knowing he’d told Gideon to stay quiet and not share what he’d been forced to endure. By doing so,

Thomas had fed Gideon’s guilt and made her mate easier to manipulate. Add in what he’d had the

audacity to tell a woman who Vic feared had been brutalized, and she would be more prone to kill

Thomas instead of rescue him.

“I need to talk to Dillon,” Gideon said. “He’s the only one here who can shed light on this.”

“Reno doesn’t think Dillon will tell you anything,” Vic stated. “Nothing Murphy’s done has

broken him.”

“He’ll talk to me,” Gideon said. “He won’t be able to stop himself. If for no other reason than to

prove to me that he’s smarter than me, smarter than Thomas. He wants to brag. He just hasn’t had the

audience he wants.”

“When do you want to talk to him?”

“Tonight,” Gideon answered. “After dinner.”

“Then we make a decision about what we’re doing when we leave here?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I think…I think I owe it to Clara to listen to what she said. We should be

smart and not just go blindly searching.”

“Does that mean what I think it means? Do you want to go to Oklahoma?” Vic asked, holding her

breath in anticipation.

“I think it’s the smart thing to do,” he answered. “This is your family, and I think I could be an

asset.”

“Most definitely,” she agreed. “They’ll be grateful as hell to have you join them.”

“This is what you wanted, right?” he asked.

“Yes, I want to go to Oklahoma, but only with you,” she said then shook her head. “Jesus. The

thought of going anywhere without you makes me ill. If this mating shit turns me into a blithering idiot

who can’t stand on my own, I might just have to go back to my first instinct when I met you.”

“What was that again?” he asked with a laugh, pulling her into his arms.

“I debated between sex and murder.”

He leaned in, nipping her bottom lip. “I’m glad you went with sex.”

“Me, too,” she agreed. “But maybe you should convince me I made the right choice.”

He laughed. “Every day for the rest of our lives,” he vowed and took her mouth in a heated kiss.

In minutes, the kiss wasn’t enough. They became a tangle of arms and legs as they fought to shed

clothing between kisses. Vic tumbled to the bed with her jeans and panties caught around her ankles,

hindered by the shoes she’d neglected to kick off. Gideon chuckled and took care of them for her

before catching her thighs and tugging her to where he stood by the bed.

She reached out and took his cock in hand, stroking from tip to balls and back up again. So long,

hard and thick. She used her thumb to stroke across the head, spreading a drop of pre-cum.

Gideon hissed and pushed his hips into her hand. “Your touch sets me on fire,” he whispered.

He released her legs, leaned forward and braced one hand on the bed by her hip then moved the

other to the saturated folds of her sex. He brushed his thumb over her clit, pressing it then plucking it

between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned and thrust her hips up toward him. He trailed his

fingers down her pussy and dipped inside, stroking her walls.

“Your touch awakens every part of me,” Vic said on a long sigh. “Soft when I need it to be.

Hard when that’s what I crave.”

“I’ll be anything you desire me to be,” Gideon crooned.

“You already are,” she assured him. “You’re everything I never realized I wanted.”

She guided his cock to her and lifted into him as he plunged deep. She planted her heels on the

edge of the bed and used it as leverage to rise into him as he took her. His abdomen rippled, his thigh

muscles flexing and straining as he powered into her. Both his hands were braced on the bed, caging

her in. She curved hers under his arms and up his back, grabbing his shoulders and digging her nails

in, holding on for the ride he was taking them on.

She came with a loud cry. “Gideon!”

He kept thrusting, fucking through her orgasm and taking her higher. Her head thrashed against

the bed, and her nails scoured his flesh. His name became a chant until his low roar of surrender

shook the room. He dropped his head to the bite mark by her neck and sank his teeth into her. Another

orgasm slammed through her, and for seconds, she was sure she lost consciousness as he came inside

her. She held him close as he licked over her wound and rubbed his chest against hers. They were

still breathing hard when he lifted away, scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the

bathroom.

“Shower,” he said, giving her ass a smack as he set her on her feet.

She bent over the tub, adjusting the water and starting the shower. She widened her stance and

gave her butt a wiggle before glancing over her shoulder to find his gaze glued exactly where she

wanted it. She licked her lips, noticing the way his cock was already growing hard again. His stamina

was definitely a perk to mating a shifter.

“I think we might be late for dinner,” she said.

He moved closer behind her, his hands grasping her hips. “I think we’ll be very late.”

Chapter Fourteen

Murphy was the only one in the kitchen when Vic and Gideon headed down to eat.

“Food’s still on the stove. Baked potatoes and grilled chicken with a pasta salad Ariel threw

together with some of the leftovers.” He groaned and rubbed his tummy. “Damn, our girl can cook.”

“Our girl?” Gideon asked.

“She wants to be a member of this pride, then she is. That means she’s just as much mine to

watch over as she is yours. Also means she has my back just as well as Vic does,” Murphy said.

“What does she like to do?” Vic asked, setting a plate on the table for Gideon and one for her.

“Other than cook?”

Gideon sat down beside his mate. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I spent most of my time in the

lab when I was there.”

“What was she doing while you were in the lab?” Vic asked.

“She likes to draw,” Murphy said. “Saw her doodling on a napkin with a pencil. Can’t imagine

what she’d be able to create with real material. And Finn says she’s got the voice of an angel. I guess

she has a habit of singing while she cooks.”

Gideon nodded. “She has a notebook she carries with her full of pictures she’s drawn. And her

voice is gorgeous. I’ve heard her sing many times. I’m surprised she did with Finn, though. She’s

usually more reserved around strangers.”

“Well, now, they don’t come much stranger than my brother,” Murphy said. “But as he has a

right fine voice himself. I’m sure she felt comfortable crooning a bit with him.”

“They all sing,” Vic said. “Logan plays the guitar. Most of them have pretty good voices.”

“Our little angel will fit right in. We’ll find out what she wants to do, and that’s what she’ll do,”

Murphy said as if that settled it.

“Where’s everyone else?” Gideon asked.

“She and Finn ate first with Reno and Amia. When Griffin and I came up, the Professor was just

arriving, as well, and…” He coughed but Gideon saw the grin on his face. “He said you two were

otherwise engaged and would be a little late. Reno and Amia headed out to double check what we

packed in the truck today. I have no idea where the Professor headed off to, but he dragged Griffin

along with him. Those two were talking a mile a minute.”

“The Professor looked good?” Vic asked.

“Animated as hell,” Murphy said with a grin.

“What about Ariel and Finn?” Gideon wanted to know. He couldn’t shake his need to protect

her. Probably because he hadn’t realized how much he’d failed her until she’d spoken with him

earlier.

“They went down to check the supply rooms and keep an ear out for Dillon,” Murphy said.

Gideon nodded. “I’m planning to head down when we’re done. See if I can get him to say

anything to me.”

“Good luck with that,” Murphy said. “Nothing I’ve done has made him tell me anything we’ve

asked him. And I’ve done quite a bit to encourage him.” He gave a grin that was more a flash of teeth.

“Well that explains Tah feeling the need to remind you not to kill him,” Gideon said.

“Little fucker deserves it,” Murphy said with a grunt. “He could have killed Zane and Logan.

I’m certain he planned to kill as many of us as he could. And look what he did to Lydia.”

“I agree with you,” Gideon said. “Or at least, I did before I talked to Clara.”

“Now that doesn’t even make sense,” Murphy grumbled. “She should hate him more than any of

us. Not just because of Logan, but Lydia, also.”

Gideon sighed, setting down his fork. Thinking about what Clara thought of Thomas, the man she

believed her uncle could be, made him incredibly sad. He needed answers. They all did, but none

more so than Clara.

“I’m going to head down,” Gideon said, pushing back from the table. He dropped a kiss on top

of Vic’s head. “Finish eating first, please,” he said. “Then come down and find me. I’m sure Murphy

will keep you company.”

“Nothing better than dinner with a beautiful woman,” Murphy crooned.

“Just remember she’s mine,” Gideon stated with a glare.

“Hell man, I’d be more scared of her than of you,” Murphy said. “Vic would kick my ass.”

“Damn straight,” she said, smiling up at her mate. “Go. I’ll be down in a minute.”

He dropped a kiss that turned heated as they usually did with her. He loved the way she

understood him. He had seen it in her eyes—the way she was aware he needed a few minutes alone to

collect his thoughts and decide how to face Dillon. This encounter held the capability of changing

lives. He pulled back reluctantly, wiping his thumb over her bottom lip and smiling at her.

“Rub it in, then, will ya,” Murphy said. “Some of us are unmated with no prospects in the

future.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to watch you fall,” Vic said and started laughing.

Gideon glanced at Murphy to see what had Vic so tickled and saw how pale the other man was.

It appeared the thought of mating caused Murphy a bit of fear. Gideon had once felt the same way.

Until he’d met Vic and discovered there was no cause for worry. Everything was better with Vic—

knowing that she would always be there, standing beside him. He had someone to confide in, to trust

and love. He almost stumbled as he walked down the stairs toward the storage rooms. He loved Vic.

It shouldn’t be possible to fall this fast, but that’s how mating was. Strangers one moment and

emotionally tangled the next. There was no questioning. It just was, and he was damn lucky for it.

He’d been mulling stuff over in the back of his head since Clara had planted the first seed of

doubt earlier. What could Thomas have done to Dillon? Was Lydia trying to tell them that Thomas

had betrayed Dillon? Or had Clara been wrong? So many questions unanswered.

“Hey, Gideon,” Ariel called and he looked up to see her smiling. It wasn’t a full-face smile, just

a small lift at one corner of her mouth, but it was the closest he’d seen.

“Hey, yourself,” he replied. “Dinner was great.”

“Finn helped,” she said.

“Where is he?” Gideon asked.

“He went to check something at the cabin. Told me to stay away from Dillon,” she said. “Are

you here to talk to him?”

Gideon nodded.

“Look, I like him,” Ariel said. “He’s funny, and he sings with me. And he makes me feel…

normal,” she said quietly.

“I wasn’t talking about Finn,” Gideon said. “I’m glad he makes you feel normal. But, Ariel, you

are normal.”

“Oh, I thought you meant…” She looked uncomfortable, shuffling her feet. “So you want to talk

to Dillon? Why?” She turned her head and Gideon could almost see the gears working in her mind.

“You’re going to ask him about Thomas, aren’t you? You know he’ll lie. You can’t trust anything he

says.”

“Did Dillon ever hurt you?” Gideon asked.

She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I stayed away from him.”

“Ariel?” he demanded.

“He didn’t hurt me. He made me uncomfortable, so I avoided him.”

“Smart idea,” Gideon said.

She shrugged. “I’m going to Oklahoma,” she blurted. “I’m going to ride with Finn and Murphy.”

“So I heard,” Gideon said. “Have a safe trip.”

“Will I see you there?”

“Vic and I have decided to go, yes,” Gideon said.

“Before or after you hunt for Thomas?”

“Before,” he said.

“Good,” Ariel stated, and it humbled him to see how relieved she was. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Gideon knew Vic, Murphy and the Professor were right. Ariel would have a better chance of

healing with this group. She already seemed livelier than he’s seen her in a very long time. It seemed

Finn really was good for her.

“Looks like I got here before the fun begins,” Vic said, coming up to join them.

“I was just getting ready to head over,” Gideon said. “Where does Murphy normally talk to

him?”

“There’s a room just down the hall. It’s one of the larger storage rooms. Dillon shifts in the

smaller room. He tried it with Murphy once, but Murphy picked him up by the scruff of his scrawny

little bobcat neck and slammed him into the wall,” Vic said. “He hasn’t pulled anything like that since

then.”

“His smaller size can be an asset. It gives him greater maneuverability in some situations,”

Gideon warned. “Keep that in mind.”

“I’ll do that,” Vic promised. “Let’s go talk to him.”

“Can I come?” Ariel asked.

Gideon shook his head. “I think you better sit this one out. But I’ll let you know if he says

anything.”

“I’ll hang around down here in case you decide you do need me,” Ariel said, stance wide as if

daring him to say differently.

“Sounds good,” he said.

He and Vic headed down the hall toward the room Dillon was locked in. Vic pointed to the two

bolts on the door. Gideon reached for the top one while she reached for the other. As soon as they

pulled them, something slammed against the door, or someone. Gideon moved in front, forcing Vic to

step aside. He let out a vicious roar and the thumping stopped. One more and nothing but silence

greeted them. Gideon opened the door and met Dillon’s glance. The other man sat in the corner of the

room, back to the wall.

“Well, if it isn’t Thomas’s errand boy and shadow,” Dillon said. “Fancy meeting you here,

Gideon.”

“Dillon,” Gideon responded.

“To what do I owe the honors?” Dillon sneered. “Don’t tell me you came searching for me and

Lydia instead of your precious Thomas?”

Vic brought a chair over and set it behind Gideon.

He pulled it forward and sat right in the doorway, blocking Dillon in the room. “What is it about

Thomas you don’t like?”

“What makes you think I didn’t like him?” Dillon countered.

Gideon paused for a moment. Didn’t? Why was Dillon using the past tense? Had the younger

man done something to Thomas? The only way to find out was to keep talking and hope Dillon was

ready to confess.

“I know Thomas hurt you,” Gideon said. “He’s not always a nice guy.”

Dillon looked shocked. He blinked then narrowed his eyes at Gideon. “You don’t know shit.

You were his little lap dog. Go do this. Go do that. That’s all he said to you, and off you went. You

never gave a fuck about anyone else.”

“When did you start messing with the vials of fever?” Gideon asked.

“You know nothing,” Dillon said again, giving him a funny look.

Gideon thought for a minute and took a chance, praying his gut was wrong.

“I guess the more accurate question would be, when did Thomas pull you into his schemes? I

know he was the one who wanted you to try one of the formulas on Lydia.”

Gideon saw Dillon’s eyes widen and felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Vic was right.

Thomas was a bastard.

“We needed a trial subject. Lydia was conveniently there,” Dillon finally said with a shrug.

“Thomas said you were eager, a good lackey to have around,” Gideon told the other man, poking

at Dillon’s ego.

“I wasn’t a damn lackey!” he yelled.

Gideon shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

“Lydia deserved better than that,” Gideon finally said. “She was a good person.” And the guilt

was really eating him up.

“She was a Blane,” Dillon stated, and Gideon could hear those words coming out of Thomas’s

mouth. “She should have stayed and died with Michael. Thomas would have forced her to leave if not

for poor little orphan Clara latching onto her. Then every time Lydia turned around, it was all about

how we should go rescue Amia. We needed to save Amia. Blah, blah, blah. I think Thomas just

wanted to shut Lydia up at first. But she served her purpose in the end.”

A memory surfaced, one of Thomas yelling at Dillon, berating him for something. Gideon hadn’t

paid much attention at the time. He wished he had, now.

“Things would have been fine if you’d just done what you were supposed to,” Gideon goaded,

recalling Thomas saying those words to Dillon.

“I did everything he said. Everything. It’s not my fault he was constantly changing his mind.

Unstable, that’s what he was. Jesus, he used to talk to Michael like he was in the room with him.

Gave me the fucking creeps. Thomas would apologize to him—say he had no choice. Then he’d yell

and tell Michael he should have quit asking questions.” Dillon gave that evil smile again. “That must

be why you’re still alive. Never questioned anything did you. Just obeyed like a good little boy.”

“Cut the shit.” Gideon growled, leaning forward. He was pissed. Was Dillon trying to imply

Thomas had knowingly sent Michael to his death? “We know what happened. I was able to give

Lydia something before she died.”

“What did you give her?” Dillon wanted to know.

“You should be asking what she said,” Gideon countered. “She told us. About you, Thomas, the

betrayal. She told us everything.”

“I had to do it,” Dillon screamed, surging to his feet and prowling the tiny room. His body

shook, and Gideon could feel the waves of anxiety flowing from him.

Gideon started to say something, but he was treading on really thin ice, and he knew it. He had

no idea what Dillon felt he’d needed to do. Gideon was almost afraid to find out. The more he heard,

the more Thomas warped from someone he’d called a friend into a monster he’d failed to realize was

there. Instead, he just shook his head back and forth and waited to see if Dillon would continue.

“He was betraying us all,” Dillon yelled. “You thought he was so perfect. Every person he

saved he ended up using in some way. You, Lydia, me, Ariel. He had plans for all of us. Someone had

to step up.”

“And you decided to play the hero?” Gideon let his disbelief through loud and clear.

“You have no idea the things Thomas was really capable of, the lengths he’d go to for something

he wanted. He was even willing to sacrifice Clara, his own fucking niece,” Dillon stated.

“I know,” Gideon said sadly. “He sent her in to be slaughtered, just like he did her father.”

Dillon nodded, and Gideon felt nauseous.

“Where did he go?” Gideon asked. “Before I left with Griffin and Ariel. Where did Thomas

go?”

Dillon sat again. He leaned his elbows on his knees and dropped his head between them. “I’m

so tired,” he said. “I kept hoping the red-haired Neanderthal would kill me. Just snap my neck and kill

me. So I stayed quiet, hoping to make him angry enough. But he wouldn’t.”

“Why would you want to die?” Gideon asked.

“I didn’t know what to expect when we got here. I figured I’d give a few people the virus then

escape in the chaos. I never figured on this.” His gaze skimmed the walls of the room, and Gideon

realized the limited space was taking a toll on Dillon. “It’s like a cage.”

“One of your own making,” Gideon challenged.

“Think back to the night when everything changed for Thomas,” Dillon said softly, his voice

barely a whisper.

“When his wife and child were killed,” Gideon stated.

“Thomas lived a dangerous life. It was only a matter of time before hunters came after him. They

wanted him. Do you really think they’d pass up a chance to take something they could use against

him?” Dillon goaded.

Gideon shook his head. “I was there. I saw his wife, the baby ripped from her womb. It’s a

horror I’ll never forget.”

“A baby,” Dillon whispered, then looked up with tired eyes. “You saw a baby.”

Gideon stood then, shaking his head as he shoved away the chair. He could see Stella lying there

surrounded in blood, sightless eyes wide open. And the sick bastards had placed the baby in her

arms. God, the things they’d done to that tiny child still haunted Gideon. But now? Was it possible

Thomas’s child was out there somewhere? Alive?

“I know Clara came down here to talk to you. Why didn’t you tell her any of this?” Gideon

demanded.

“I’m a bastard, but even I’m not that cruel. She never did anything to me.”

“So why tell me, Dillon? Why? You’ve refused to say anything. Now, I’m here, and you start

spilling like a faucet. Why? Or is this all some elaborate lie you’ve cooked up? For what? What do

you get from saying all this?” Gideon roared the words.

“I’m done talking,” Dillon stated in a low, venomous tone. “Kill me or leave me the fuck alone.”

“You think this is a game? Tell me where he is!”

Dillion smiled. “He thought I was stupid, weak, but I was the only who figured out what he was

doing. And I was the one who stopped him.”

“You killed Lydia just as sure as you put a gun to her head. You drugged Clara’s mate and one

of the shifter’s in this pride. Anything you did was for your own selfish reasons, so don’t try to

convince me otherwise,” Gideon dared him.

“Do you even know what Thomas had planned? A trade, Gideon. He was going to make a trade

with the hunters to get his kid back, and I wasn’t going to wait around to see who he was going to

offer that they’d take. Thomas was a cold-hearted bastard, and he deserved what he got. He deserved

it.”

“What did he deserve?” Gideon asked.

“I would have suggested he trade Ariel to them. She’s so damaged it wouldn’t matter what the

hunters wanted with her. They could torture her or make her a toy. I hear some hunters like toys.”

“That’s enough,” Gideon roared.

“Did you fuck her, too?” Dillon asked. “Or was she too dirty for you? Thomas told me they

messed her up pretty badly.”

Gideon roared, but something shoved past him in a flash of orange, knocking him out of the way.

His first instinct was to move in front of his mate despite the blood bath that was taking place in front

of him. Ariel had shifted into her tigress form, and there was no way Gideon or any of them would be

able to stop her from the blood lust she was on. And after Dillon’s words, no one would blame Ariel.

She was on the other man in an instant, and though he managed to shift, his bobcat was no match

for the large Bengal tigress he faced. Ariel tore him to shreds. In minutes, Dillon was gone and only

the tigress remained, standing there heaving, paws and muzzle covered in red.

“Ariel,” Gideon called out to her.

The cat turned toward him and let out a loud roar.

“It’s okay,” Gideon said. “He was wrong. He was so wrong. You know that. We all know that.”

Murphy and Finn were there, watching, but neither said a word. Gideon got the impression both

of them had been ready to attack Dillon themselves. Gideon couldn’t say anything as he’d been close

to the same. Vic’s chest heaved against his back.

“Bastard,” she shouted. “He deserved that. Damaged my ass. Who’s the one damaged now, you

little fucker?”

The tigress looked at Vic and growled as if in agreement with his mate. There was such pain in

the large amber eyes, and Gideon prayed this wasn’t a setback Ariel wouldn’t be able to recover

from. She’d suffered enough.

“What the hell’s going on down here?” Reno shouted, running down and stopping in the

doorway. “Jesus,” he muttered, taking in the carnage.

“She did what she had to do,” Vic said, skirting around Gideon to stand between the tigress and

Reno, as if she would protect Ariel’s beast. “The asshole got what he deserved. If she hadn’t killed

him, I would have.”

“Aye,” Murphy agreed.

Finn nodded.

“Well, shit,” Reno said, but he nodded at Ariel. “I need one of you to fill me in on what’s going

on before I let Tah know.”

“Maybe we should wait and tell him when we see him in Oklahoma,” Finn suggested.

Murphy and Reno both snorted.

Gideon turned to Ariel. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

Finn was the one who came forward. He took off his shirt and dropped it on the floor in front of

where the cat sat. Then he turned and folded his arms over his chest.

“Turn around,” he ordered and they all complied.

A few minutes later, Ariel cleared her throat. When she stepped forward she went to Vic.

Without question, Gideon’s mate put her arm around Ariel’s shoulders.

“We’re heading up. Ariel needs a shower and maybe some hot tea,” Vic said.

“Laced with a goodly dose of whiskey,” Finn added. He stepped forward but didn’t touch Ariel.

“You’re a fierce fighter. I’d trust you to have my back anytime.”

“Same goes,” Murphy agreed.

Ariel nodded and let Vic lead her away. Gideon hoped Dillon’s words didn’t inflict too much

damage on the woman. She’d been through enough. They stopped a few paces away and Ariel turned,

meeting his gaze.

“He’s dead,” she said. “Thomas is dead.”

Gideon nodded.

“Wait,” Reno said. “Dillon talked to you? He told you that?”

“No, he told us a bunch of other things that I’m not a hundred percent sure of,” Gideon said.

“Then what makes you think Thomas is dead?” Reno asked.

“Because every time he spoke of Thomas, it was in the past tense,” Ariel answered.

Gideon sighed. “You all heard what he said, too? I didn’t imagine that?”

Murph, Finn, Vic and Ariel all nodded. .

“Clara could have a cousin out there somewhere,” Vic said.

“What?” Reno asked.

“She’ll be wanting us to find that one and bring ‘em home,” Murphy said.

“We have no clue who we’d even be looking for. If they do exist outside of Dillon’s mind,”

Gideon muttered. “I can’t believe… I was there. Jesus, I was there and had no clue.”

“Clara will be just as devastated,” Vic said. “Even though she suspected Thomas might be

capable of stuff. Nothing will prepare her for some of what Dillon suggested.”

Gideon said. “I think the only thing we can be sure of right now is that Thomas is dead.

Everything else Dillon said could just be smoke and mirrors.”

“Then why would we believe Thomas is dead?” Reno asked.

“Because it’s the only thing Dillon didn’t come right out and tell Gideon,” Finn said.

“Exactly,” Gideon agreed.

Chapter Fifteen

Vic and Gideon spent the whole morning packing and helping load boxes. Reno, Amia, the

Professor and Griffin would be heading out at first light the next day. That would leave only Finn,

Murphy, Ariel, Vic and Gideon to take care of the rest. Vic knew Murphy was planning to blow the

cabin once they were all clear.

Gideon went into town with Finn and Murphy after lunch to get the last moving truck and when

they came back, Gideon was driving a big black SUV.

“Where’d you get the wheels?” Vic asked.

“This one’s mine. It’s what Griffin, Ariel and I drove here,” Gideon said. “I left it hidden when

we first got here. Wasn’t exactly sure where we were headed, but I couldn’t drive it through the

woods. So we parked and came in on foot.”

“So I guess we’ll be traveling in this,” Vic said and Gideon nodded.

“That okay with you?” he asked.

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care,” she said, peering into it. “Do I get to drive?”

He laughed. “We’ll have to take shifts. It’ll be a long trip.”

“It’s got all the bells and whistles,” she sighed. “This is going to be fun.”

“You’re easy to please,” he said. “Head back to the house with me?” He held out his hand

toward her, and she took it, linking her fingers with his.

“What’s up?” she asked when they were far enough away from the others.

“I need to make a few stops on the way,” he told her. “Are you okay with that?”

She nodded. It was obvious from his facial expression that he felt whatever these stops were for

was important.

“Care to tell me?”

“I hid some journals,” Gideon said. “I’d like to pick those up. The notes will come in handy

when we get a lab set up in Oklahoma. And I have a few places I want to check in. Shifters I want to

speak with myself. One of them lives where I left the journals.”

“Friends? You should have said something, Gideon,” she admonished. “Of course, we’ll go talk

to your friends.”

“These guys aren’t exactly friends,” Gideon warned. “You think I was a bastard when I got here.

These three make me look like a cuddly kitten.”

“So why stop and see them?” Vic asked.

“They need to know what we suspect about Thomas. All of it,” Gideon said.

There was only one reason Gideon would feel they were that important, at least only one that

came to her mind.

“They were with you,” Vic said softly.

He nodded.

“In the cages? You didn’t say anyone else left with you.”

“Their stories aren’t mine to tell. There were hundreds of cages in that place. Only five of us

walked out. Thomas and I went one way, and they went another. I’ve checked in with them from time-

to-time. I never told Thomas that. I’m glad I didn’t, now.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” she said. “They… We could invite them to Oklahoma. They might have

more information. Things that could help us.”

He shrugged. “We can invite them, but I’m not sure any of them would come.”

“Should we leave a little early?” she asked.

“No,” he shook his head. “Unless you have a certain time and date you want to be down there.”

“Not really,” Vic said. “I texted Tah to let him know we’d decided to come to Oklahoma.”

“What did he say?” Gideon asked.

“Drive safe,” Vic answered with a laugh. “Tah already told you the pride would welcome you.

He didn’t change his mind, especially now that you’re mated to one of his kick-ass friends.”

“That I am.” Gideon purred and leaned down to kiss her.

“Think we have time to sneak away?” she asked breathlessly when they broke apart.

“Wouldn’t count on it.” Murphy’s voice sounded from their right and several chuckles filled the

air.

Gideon grinned, and in that moment, he looked younger and so incredibly happy. It filled her

heart with joy. The next thing she knew, she was being tossed over his shoulder again as he took off

toward the cabin. She was shrieking and swatting at him when they arrived. Reno stood on the porch,

shaking his head as if they were kids.

They spent the rest of the day hauling boxes and getting both trucks packed. By the time they

were ready for dinner, she was hot, sweaty and getting grumpier by the minute. They’d be packing the

rest of the non-perishables that evening and sending them in the truck Reno was driving.

They were all getting edgy. She and Amia had both made a point of keeping an eye on Ariel

today. She was quiet but seemed to be holding together pretty well. Vic noticed all the guys watching

out for her, as well. The Professor had even pulled her along to help him with something, and when

she’d come back, she’d been laughing at something he’d said. Gideon had stopped what he was doing

just to stare at the two, and Vic knew without asking it had been a long time since Ariel had really

laughed.

Dinner was a quick jumbled meal of sandwiches and leftovers where everyone grabbed

something and took care of themselves. Reno had spoken with Tah, and he gave them a change in

plans while they were all gathered.

“Tah thinks we should all leave at the same time. Both trucks are packed and ready to go. First

light, we get the explosives placed and rigged with a timer. Then we’re all out of here,” Reno said.

“Does that work for everyone?”

They all nodded.

“Murphy, how long will it take to get it wired and ready to go?” Reno asked.

“With all of us? An hour tops,” Murphy said. “I’ve already got most of it set. Just need to get it

rigged in the spots we designated. Make sure all the wires are tied in to the central timer. I’ll set it to

blow twenty minutes after we leave. That should give us plenty of time to be down the road a bit.”

“Make sure everything’s disconnected. We want it demolished but no fires if we can help it.

There’s a lot of wildlife out there. Don’t want to leave any without a home,” Reno said.

“I know what I’m about,” Murphy reminded him.

“We all know that, Murph,” Reno said. “Wouldn’t put anyone else in charge of it.”

“Did you tell him?” Ariel asked quietly when there was a lull in the conversation. “Tah,” She

clarified. “About Dillon?”

Reno nodded. “He’s not upset with you. He’s only sorry he wasn’t here to do it himself. Men

like Dillon…” Reno shook his head. “There’s a special place in hell for them.”

“Amen,” Vic agreed.

She noticed Ariel seemed to relax, as if she’d honestly feared Tah might not want her as part of

the pride anymore. The other woman had taken an extreme beating to her confidence. Vic planned to

work on helping her rebuild it. Funny how they hadn’t liked each other at first, and now Vic could

honestly see them becoming close friends. She was anxious for Kenzie and Holt to meet Ariel. She

didn’t doubt they’d take to her immediately. Unfortunately, they hadn’t had the chance to meet either

of them before they’d left—Kenzie choosing to stay in her room, and Holt either with her or making a

point of avoiding everyone else unless absolutely necessary.

“Tah spoke to Kenzie,” Reno said.

“Everything okay?” Vic asked, coming to attention.

“Tah said she sounded fine. She’s wrapping things up and heading to Oklahoma. Holt’s with her.

He’s tying up some loose ends, as well, and they’ll both meet us in Riverton.”

“And has her mate called to check in on her?” Murphy asked.

“Not yet,” Reno said. “But we all know it’s just a matter of time. Besides, she and Holt aren’t

on their own.”

“What?” Vic said then shook her head. “You finally heard from Dusty and Reed I take it?”

“Seems they were holed up in a little jail in Mexico,” Reno told them.

Murphy and Finn both chuckled.

“They’ll be tailing Kenzie,” Reno said. “She has to be protected.”

Vic nodded. She hadn’t been certain Kenzie was in any more danger than any of them were. All

shifters were hunted, tortured and killed. But that was before Dillon had spouted his tale about

Thomas’s child being taken. If that were true, Kenzie could be in more danger than she realized. Vic

needed to make a point of getting in touch again soon.

“So up at first light then?” Vic said

Reno nodded. “Let’s all get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we leave.”

They all trickled out of the kitchen. Gideon and Vic headed downstairs with the Professor. The

first thing Vic wanted when they got to the bedroom was a shower.

“Shower,” she groaned. “I feel like I have a half ton of dirt on me.”

“You look amazing,” Gideon said.

“And you look sexy as hell,” she said as he peeled his shirt over his head.

He growled and nipped her lip. She grabbed him by the hair and jerked his mouth closer for the

kiss she needed. He was like a drug in her system, one she was completely hooked on. His touch was

an aphrodisiac that sent her whole body into lust.

“I love you,” she whispered when they broke apart and cherished the way his eyes widened and

his nostrils flared.

He bent until their noses brushed and sipped softly from her lips. “You are my life. My heart, my

soul, my everything. I will love you always.”

She wanted to make love then, to drag him to the bed and have her way. But thankfully, he took

the lead and pushed her ahead of him into the bathroom.

“Strip,” he ordered and bent to start the water.

She admired the view of his tight ass in jeans as she pulled off her clothes and tossed them into a

pile on the floor. He pivoted to face her again, and she felt the heat of his gaze like a caress over her

skin.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.

“You better still think that when I’m old and gravity kicks in,” she muttered.

Gideon laughed. “I’ll think that every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Good,” she said. “Now, let me in. That steam is calling my name.”

He moved, patting her ass as she passed him to enter.

“Hurry up,” she said. “I need someone to wash my back.”

“Oh, I plan to wash much more than that,” he told her.

The shower was just what she needed. So was Gideon. He’d tempered her edges. Amia had

mentioned today how happy Vic looked, and it made her realize how unhappy she’d looked before.

Gideon had changed her outlook on life and what it had to offer, in the best of ways.

He took his time washing her, and she returned the favor. When he lifted her hands up to brace

against the wall, she knew what he had planned and waited in anticipation. He entered her slowly

from behind, fucking into her channel with controlled movements. His hands held her waist, his feet

braced outside hers. He took her at a leisurely pace, as if they had the whole evening, which they did.

And she knew this was only the beginning of their night.

She’d learned there was no such thing as a quickie with Gideon. Even if it was fast, his stamina

had him ready to go again before she’d really caught her breath from the first. Not that she would ever

complain about that. She found her sex drive responded immediately to his touch. Hell, just the heated

look he got when he wanted her had her wet and ready to be taken. Life with him would definitely be

interesting.

He slid a hand around and dipped between her thighs to ply her clit. His thumb stroked back and

forth over the tight kernel of flesh until she was teetering on the edge, ready to fly. He lowered his

head and licked over the spot where he’d bitten her. He licked it twice more then sank his teeth deep.

She jerked under his touch, coming with a loud cry, and felt the splash of his release inside her.

He nuzzled her neck as they both recovered then braced a hand on her stomach while he

maneuvered them back under the water’s spray. It wasn’t hot but luckily was still lukewarm. She

concentrated on staying upright while he took care of cleaning them and turned off the water. He

didn’t bother with towels, either. He stepped out of the tub and scooped her into his arms then carried

her back into the bedroom where he tossed her on the bed and followed her down.

“Everything changes tomorrow,” Vic said. “We’ll blow this up and hit the road. It’ll be as if we

were never here.”

“Are you ready for that?” Gideon asked her.

“I’m looking forward to what the future holds,” she told him and sighed as he wrapped her in his

arms and took her lips once more. She wasn’t surprised to feel him growing hard again against her

thigh.

All her life, she’d searched for someone to love her, to make her feel as if she was worthy of

love. A person who would make her feel special, wanted, cherished. It seemed she’d only had to wait

for the touch of a lonely jaguar who was searching for the same thing.

About the Author

Lacey Thorn spends her days in small town Indiana, the proud mother of three. When she is not busy
with one of them, she can be found typing away on her computer keyboard or burying her nose in a
good book. Like every woman, she knows just how chaotic life can be and how appealing that great
escape can look.

So, toss aside the stress and tension of the never-ending to-do list. For now sit back, relax, and enjoy
the ride with Lacey. It’s your world…unlaced.

Lacey loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.lacythorn.com. Join Lacey on Facebook
at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/authorlaceythorn Or on Twitter at @laceythorn1. And feel free to
email the author at lcy_thrn1@yahoo.com.

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your purchase of A Jaguar’s Touch by Lacey Thorn. We
hope you enjoyed the story, and will consider leaving a review at the
eBook retailer website where you made your purchase.

Resplendence Publishing is proud to bring you high-quality romance
and erotic romance titles each week. Please visit
www.ResplendencePublishing.com every Wednesday for the latest from
your favorite authors.

Don’t forget to “like” our Resplendence Publishing, LLC page on
Facebook to keep up with new releases, author news, special discount
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Happy reading!

Also Available from

Resplendence Publishing

Waking the Beast by Lacey Thorn

Awakening Pride Series, Book Two

The legend of the Paka Watu...

Ever since she was a young girl, Abby Lane can’t resist the allure of a catshifter tribe forced to
repress their beasts. On a trip to Africa, she discovers a coveted piece of information—the name the
pride leader assumed when he left his home—and she traces his lineage to his descendent.

The sleeping lion...

Utah Pearce can’t keep his gaze off the woman who slips into the bar every night. Though not his
usual type, she brings out the possessive instinct in him, making him battle with himself as he tries to
stay away.

Mine...

Abby’s research never prepared her for the reality in front of her. The beast is waking, and Utah is
changing in ways both exciting and terrifying. He is possessive and dominant, and when he finally
claims her, neither of them will ever be the same.

Tempting the Tiger by Lacey Thorn

Awakening Pride Series, Book Two

Legend awakened…

Reno has known there was more to him since he awoke in the hospital, alive when he should have
died. Only one thought consumed him. Find Tah. Watch over him. Protect him. Then everything
changed.

A tempted tiger…

A mission gone wrong brings him face to face with a woman who tempts his tiger from hiding. He
wants her with a fierce hunger that consumes him and shocks him with the possessive nature she
awakens.

Mine…

Amia belongs nowhere. Not with the Blane family of hunters she was born into, and not with the
dominant man who kidnaps her and turns her world upside down. She runs. She fights. And when the
time comes, she pays the price. Running isn’t an option, and there’s no fighting a man who turns her
inside out with unquenchable lust. Maybe, just maybe, she’s found where she belongs.

Freeing the Feline by Lacey Thorn

Awakening Pride Series, Book Three

He’s only human…

The only thing Logan despises more than a weak man is one who preys on others. He finds himself in
a battle between a group of people he never dreamed existed, and those who want them dead.

A captured lioness…

Clara has always known she carried the spirit of a lioness within her. An impulsive quest finds her at
the mercy of a man she’s spent her entire life hearing about. She wants to claim her place as part of
his pride, but to do so means turning her back on the one who reared her.

Mine…

One look at Clara has Logan chomping at the bit to protect her. Every moment spent together assures
him she feels the same. She’s the one with a beast inside, but he’s the one feeling territorial. Every
glance has his chest swelling with primal need. Every touch sends one word echoing through his
mind. Soon he’ll show her exactly what it means to belong.

Saving the Beast by Lacey Thorn

Awakening Pride, Book Four

A Primal Panther...

An injection of a feral virus surges through his veins, trapping him in the skin of his animal. He’s
fighting for dominance, struggling not to lose himself to the beast. There’s only one thing that can save
him, one person who can help set him free.

A Mate’s Love...

Diane left everything she knew behind to follow the Professor into the unknown. Now, she lives
among people she never knew existed and fights daily to keep them alive and healthy. She’s felt a
spark with Zane since the day he arrived, but his avoidance leaves her guessing.

Mine...

As the virus rages, only the touch of a mate can rescue the man trapped inside, leading Diane down a
path she feels ill-prepared to take. If she’s not his mate, Zane might just kill her. If she is, then she’s
the only one with a chance at saving the beast.

Swallowing His Pride by Serena Pettus

Southern Pride Series, Book One

Welcome to Pride, Texas, the home of cowboys, roughnecks, southern charm…and shifters. Lion
shifters to be exact.

When a trip to Las Vegas has Dylan coming face to face with a woman who calls to every part of him
—especially his inner lion—he's not sure what to do. Yearning to spend as much time with her as
possible, Dylan courts her until one night of passion takes things further than even he was prepared to
go. She's now his mate.

The impromptu vacation Samantha took with her best friend took a turn for the better when a hunky
guy with a charming southern accent takes a liking to her. Unable to deny the intense chemistry
between them, she tosses her inhibitions to the wind and indulges in a night of carnal bliss…only to
wake up alone.

Hurt and confused, she heads home, only to discover that not everything that happens in Vegas stays
there. Now he's back, and she must decide what to do once he confesses a secret that turns her reality
on its head. But now there's a danger lurking in the shadows as well. A threat that is determined to
keep humans out of the shifter society…by any means necessary.

Bump in the Night by Dakota Rebel

Ainsley Tennant has a secret. By day, she is the quintessential girl next door, a mild-mannered, small-
town librarian with a 401k and no social life. But when the sun sets, she turns into a preternatural
magnet. Every ghost, vampire and demon in a fifty-mile radius is drawn to her. Since she was a child,
all she has ever wanted was to find someplace safe, far away from murder and mayhem so that these
lost souls would no longer be drawn to her.

She believes she has finally found such a place in Logan, Ohio and has planted her roots firmly in the
small, happy town. Still, not one to tempt fate, she does her best to be safely ensconced in her home
before night fully takes hold of her peaceful village.

Unfortunately, her house may not be the safe haven she believed it. On Halloween, she finds herself
walking the two blocks from work to her house well after midnight and realizes she is no longer alone
on her journey. Turning to confront her pursuer, she comes face to face with one of the sexiest
vampires she has ever encountered. Though her head tells her to run, her body begs to find out if
anything good ever goes bump in the night.

ResplendencePublishing.com

~Gems of Romantic Fiction~

Document Outline

Table of Contents
A Jaguar’s Touch
Book Description
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
About the Author
Dear Readers,
Also Available from Resplendence Publishing
ResplendencePublishing.com ~Gems of Romantic Fiction~

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