Forgotten (52 page)

“
Y, are you having
negative thoughts about our plan?”
Master
Two’s sharp voice interrupted his inner monolog.

“
No, Master—of course
not,” Y sub-vocalized quickly, speaking under his breath so that
the old witch could not hear him.

“
I certainly hope
not.”
The Master’s voice was still sharp
and suspicious.
“You know how I feel about
negativity.”

“
Yes, Master—I know.”
Reflexively, Y’s hand went to the lump under his left ear where his
Master’s personality chip was implanted. Ever since they had made
the trip to the home world of the Scourge and the Master had gained
some new powers, the lump had been changing. There were curving,
raised lines spiraling out from it now. Some seemed to be reaching
for his spinal cord…and some were traveling towards his
brain.

Y wondered what might happen if the lines
reached their intended destinations. Would he become paralyzed, a
puppet able to obey only the Master’s will? Would he even be able
to think for himself and if he did, would the Master hear every
thought? A spasm of fear passed through him but he did his best to
hide it. He couldn’t consider that now—not when the Master’s
attention was focused on him. He must focus on something else…

“
If you’re done muttering
to yourself, I’ve got her out into the garden, so I have,” Grandy
See-er said, interrupting Y’s frantic thoughts.

“
Good,” Y said, trying to
make his voice strong. At least Master Two’s other form—that of the
gigantic warrior which he had grown in the tanks on the Scourge
home world—wasn’t here. It had stayed back on the Scourge home
base, attending to some business the Master wanted seen to.
He can only do so much to me as a voice in my
head,
Y comforted himself.
And I can still keep my thoughts to myself—at
least for now.

“
Well?” the old crone
demanded. “What are you wanting to do now? Should Grandy-See-er
direct her somewhere?”

“
Send her away,”
Master Two commanded.
“I
have the situation well in hand—my new powers should allow me to
direct the girl now that she is in a sleep trance.”

“
My master is well able to
manage himself, now that you have her in a trance,” Y told the old
woman. “He has gained powers much like your own since the last time
we met with you.”

The old crone sniffed disdainfully. “I
didn’t see him working the trance himself. As a matter of fact, I
don’t see him at all. How can he do anything to the girl if he’s
not here?”

“
Oh, he’s here all right,”
Y said grimly. “Now be off, witch—you have your pay and we must be
about our business.”

“
Fine.” Grandy See-er
sniffed again. “Have it your way if you’re so high and mighty.” She
stumped off into the underbrush and Y hoped his master really was
going to be able to manage with his new mental powers. Otherwise he
would be in a towering rage with no one but Y to take his anger out
on.

“
Now what will we do,
Master?” he asked, looking across to where the girl with long,
curly red hair stood motionless in the garden, her eyes open but
unseeing.

“
Now we will send her to
the Howlund and be certain she meets her mate,”
Master Two smirked in Y’s head.
“And
when we get there, I may need to…ah,
borrow
your voice for a moment, Y.
I’m sure you won’t mind.”

“
Can…can you do that?” Y’s
fingers crept up to the chip implanted under his left ear again.
Could the Master take over him enough to use his vocal chords and
voice? If so, then he was in worse trouble than he had
suspected.

“
I do believe I
can,”
Master Two said.
“Come now, let us follow the little female to her mate. What
a delightful meeting that will be, I am sure. I cannot
wait
to see
it!”

* * * * *

Kate was having the strangest dream—so vivid
it almost seemed real. A sweet and somehow familiar scent had
drifted from the garden and into her little room somehow. It
tickled her nose until she got out of bed and followed it, walking
slowly to the open door and taking a step into the garden.

Wait…why is the door
open?
asked a little voice in Kate’s
brain.
Didn’t you close it before you went
to bed?

It was an interesting question, but not one
that bothered her, for some reason. Kate walked out into the
garden, feeling the cool grass tickle her bare feet. The soft
breeze played with her hair, teasing the curling tendrils around
her face in a mischievous way.

Kate frowned—what a lifelike dream! She
couldn’t remember being able to feel such subtle sensations in any
other dream she’d ever had.

Are you sure it’s a
dream?
asked the voice in her head—was it
the voice of the Knowing?

Of course it’s a
dream,
whispered a new voice. It was
familiar, though Kate couldn’t think where she had heard it
before.
You wouldn’t come out of the house
and stand in the garden in the middle of the night for no good
reason if you weren’t dreaming, would you?

Kate frowned. Where
had
she heard that voice
before?

Never mind about
that,
the voice whispered.
Since you’re having such a lovely dream, why not
take a walk in the forest?

No,
whispered the voice of the Knowing.
No, Kate, don’t do it! You’re in danger!

But somehow she found
herself doing it anyway. Her feet seemed to be moving independently
of her brain or her intentions and before she knew it, she was on
the border of the little plot of flowers, right among the tall,
lily-like purple blossoms. Tante Corii’s voice seemed to echo in
her head.
“These are purple gloved
staybacks. A male in his Beast form can’t stand the scent of
them.”

Reflexively, Kate reached down and grabbed a
handful of the long-stemmed flowers. A sharp tug and a twist and
she had them. Carefully, she held them down by her side, keeping
the small secret to herself—at least, she hoped she was. The
strange dark voice that spoke in her brain didn’t say anything
about them.

Kate clutched her bunch of flowers tightly
as her feet carried her into the dark forest. What else could she
do?

As the shadows of the trees closed around
her, a long, animalistic howl sounded somewhere to her left. Kate’s
skin prickled into goosebumps and her heart began to pound. Why was
she doing this? Even in a dream, she knew it was dangerous. So why
was she going into the Howlund at night with the full moons
overhead and dangerous males all around?

Never mind,
whispered that dark voice.
Just keep going—keep going until you find him.

Until I find who?
Kate thought desperately, but she was dreadfully
afraid she already knew. It was Rone she was going to find. Rone in
his Beast form.

But I can’t tame his
Beast—I’m not ready,
she thought.
I can’t—

Suddenly a huge, naked
male appeared before her—a male who
wasn’t
Rone.

A shaft of moonlight shining through the
leaves above her seemed to light him from above as he towered over
her. His eyes were a blank silver filled with nothing but hunger
and lust.

Kate bit back a cry and
pressed herself back into the shadows of the tree behind her. He
was
massive—
over
seven feet tall and covered in hair. Not just on his chest and his
arms, like the Beast in the illustrations she’d been looking at
earlier, either. No, this male looked like he was wearing a curly
fur coat and a pair of trousers to match. Fur-form, indeed. In
fact, aside from his face, the only part of him that
didn’t
seem to be
completely covered in hair was his cock. It sprang up from between
his thighs like a long, angry club, eager to pillage and
despoil.

Oh my God—has he seen
me?
Kate tried to keep still, trembling in
the shadows as she prayed the massive Beast-male would pass her by.
But she had no such luck.

His face lifted and he sniffed the air. Then
those blank, silver eyes turned to look right at her.

Night vision,
Kate remembered.
They
have much sharper senses in Beast form.
And here she was trying to hide in the shadows like a
frightened rabbit, hoping the fox would be too slow and stupid to
see it.

I’m the slow and stupid
one,
Kate thought frantically.
I’ll never be able to outrun him. He’s going to
kill me!

Or worse, breed her and form a bond with
her—a bond she didn’t want with a man she didn’t know.

Oh God, what was she going to do?

The huge, hairy male snorted and moved
towards her, a crafty look on his animalistic features. Clearly he
had seen her and just as clearly he was moving in to kill…or to
breed.

OhGodohGodohGod!

Kate felt frozen to the spot. She closed her
eyes and clenched her hands into fists, the long stems of the
staybacks crunching against her palm…

The staybacks!
In her panic, Kate had forgotten she was carrying
them. Now she realized they might give her a chance to get away—she
hoped, anyway. Heart pounding in her throat, she waited until the
huge Wulven male was right in front of her. Then, just as he was
bending down to grab her, she lifted her arm and thrust the cluster
of purple blossoms right in his face.

“
Get away from me!” she
shouted as loudly as she could. “Go on—get back you horny
bastard!”

With an angry roar, the hairy male stumbled
back. He was swiping at his eyes and nose as though Kate had shoved
a bouquet of bees in his face instead of a bunch of flowers. But
she didn’t have time to watch him—she’d bought herself some time
but not much. The huge Wulven was blocking her way back to the
cottage so there was only one way to run.

Gripping the flowers even tighter, Kate fled
deeper into the woods.

Chapter Twenty-four

Rone paced the moonlit glade, waiting for
his Beast. He had taken off his shirt and boots but he was waiting
until he felt it coming closer to strip completely. But, though he
had been holding it back by force of will for the past several
days, now it seemed strangely reluctant to come out. He’d been
waiting and pacing for hours as the moons rose overhead and began
their convergence and still his Beast was playing coy, refusing to
come to the surface even though he knew it wanted to.

“
Come on,” he muttered
angrily, speaking to the other half of himself. “Come on, what are
you waiting for? You’ve been demanding to come out for days so why
won’t you?”

Deep down, he knew the reason why. It was
Kate—the Beast didn’t want to come out unless she was there. It
wanted to breed her—to claim her and form an unbreakable bond that
meant she could never leave them. But that wasn’t going to
happen—not if Rone had anything to say about it.

“
She’s not coming,” he
told his Beast savagely. “And I wouldn’t let you at her, even if
she did. The two of you are never going to meet—not if I have
anything to say about it. So you might as well come out now because
Kate will never be bred by you!”

Still, he felt its resistance, its
unwillingness to reveal itself until it could have what it
wanted—who it wanted—Kate.

“
Fine,” Rone muttered to
it. “Be stubborn if you want to. The moons are almost in full
convergence. When they meet and fully overlap, you’ll be forced out
and you know it. You—”

Suddenly a familiar voice screamed in the
woods behind him.

“
Get away from me!” it
cried. “Go on—get back you horny bastard!”

Oh my Goddess—Kate—that’s
Kate!
Rone turned towards the direction of
the voice. Where was she? And who was after her? The woods were
filled with Beasts tonight—it could be any male in the nearby town
or the outlying areas. Any one of them—or a pack of
them!

He knew it was dangerous
to meet her with his Beast so close to the surface but he couldn’t
let her be attacked and taken by any other male! A wave of
protective anger rose in him and he felt the Beast surge inside
him—
now,
it
wanted to come out.

Grimly, he pushed it back down. He had to
get to Kate and make sure she was all right, then escort her back
to Tante Corii’s cabin before he could let it out. Had to—

Suddenly Kate burst into the clearing he had
chosen for his change. She was wearing the long white and green
petal dress Tante Corii had made for her against Rone’s wishes and
her long, curly red hair was flying out behind her. There was panic
in her luminous green eyes and a moment later, Rone saw why.

A huge male in his Beast form came charging
out of the forest after her, trampling underbrush and breaking
bracken as he ran. His arms were outstretched to grab at Kate’s
flowing gown and there was a hungry lust in his pure silver eyes
that caused Rone’s gut to knot tight with anger.