His Purrfect Mate (19 page)

Stupid fool.
Dane jumped to another balcony and slid in the
empty room before moving to the door. Slim had the sliding door to
his room booby-trapped but had left the others without any.
Scouting the hallway, Dane slid stealthily through the dark and to
the place where Slim was. He knew what he would find even before he
opened the door. The smell of sex was powerful in the air. Not to
mention, he’d already seen them piled in the bed as he’d peered
through the sliding glass door.

He entered quietly and scanned the room,
finding the bed. With barely a thought, Dane put the two women in
the bed with Slim to sleep. Slim’s curse was audible. Flicking on
the light, Dane strode to the foot of the bed. The man looking up
at him paled even more when he realized who it was. His mouth gaped
like a fish but no sound came out.

“
I believe the word you’re
looking for is ‘help’ there, Slim,” Dane said with immense calm
which belied the raw fury raging within him.

“
You…how…you…”

“
You were really hoping
that call was a figment of your imagination, weren’t you?”
Balancing a foot on the footboard, Dane kicked it, sending the bed
skidding across the floor to a corner. His tiger growled low. “It
wasn’t. You killed us all.” He narrowed his eyes. “Or tried
to.”

Slim rolled the unconscious dark-skinned
woman from his body. Then, he got up from the bed and walked naked
to pull on some pants. “How did you survive?”

“
Not important. All you
need to know is you won’t.”

A mocking grin filled Slim’s face as he
slipped on a crisp white button down. “You know, when I first got
here, I was pretty sure there was nothing in this godless continent
worth a damn, except possibly for the animal skins and ivory.” He
buttoned his shirt. “Then, I met a man.”

Dane watched him suspiciously, he was too
confident. “Good for you.”

“
Listen to my story,
Lieutenant Colonel,” Slim snapped. “I met a man who said he could
make me a god in the land of men.”

A slither of warning snaked up his spine,
and his beast screamed in raging fury. Dane could feel his tiger
coiling in preparation to attack. “Is that so?” Dane said in a
bored tone.

“
You were always good,
Crypt, but now,
I’m
better.
”

The stench which permeated the air told Dane
all he needed to know. Slim was no longer human. There was a hint
of familiarity to it but Dane couldn’t place it right then. Whoever
had brought Slim over into the drekflen was powerful.

“
Don’t be too sure about
that, Slim,” he rumbled, calling on his years as an enforcer to
search for any surprises.

“
Oh, I’m sure. Burning in
my veins is power unlike anything you’ve ever known.”

Dane bit back his
laugh.
I doubt that very much.
His tiger paced, chuffing, deeper and deadlier as
he readied for battle. “Where’d you get this power,
Slim?”

“
Why? Want some for
yourself?”

“
I’m good the way I am,
thanks. Tell me why. Why you killed them.”

“
Money,” Slim said easily.
“And this.” A nasty grin filled his face as he raised one hand and
green flames extended from his fingertips. The flickering light
formed dagger points, and he flicked his hand, sending all five on
a direct course for Dane. Dane nimbly avoided them. Slim glared
with hatred.

“
You…you shouldn’t have
been able to avoid those,” he hissed.

Dane sent him a smile
which was more just a baring of teeth, his canines extended. “Let’s
see how good you
really
are, Slim.”

Slim howled in
frustration, and the room filled with more than ten
ater malum—
evil
creatures who were created to be solider drones. They didn’t ask
questions and were entirely expendable. When the first four
attacked, Dane shifted, calling upon the power of his beast. He
ripped flesh from bones, and it didn’t take long before all
the
ater malum
lay dead. Slim was gone.

The furious roar of a tiger exploded through
the night air. He headed back to his hiding spot and struggled to
shift back. Back in human form, Dane shook. Every inch of his body
longing to feel Slim’s throat in his hands. Picking up on his
scent, Dane began to trail him.

Two days later, he caught up to him. It was
evening when he walked into view of the man he’d worked with for
years. The man he’d trusted with his life and those of their
unit.

“
No more running, Slim,”
he snapped out.

“
I always knew you were a
freak, Crypt.” Slim hissed at him, and his body lit up as if
covered by green fire.

I know that scent.
Dane watched carefully for him to make the first
move. It didn’t take long. Slim sent a spear of flames toward him.
Rolling at the last minute, Dane shifted and lunged at him. His own
attack was met by a lion of green fire, whose claws were just as
real as his own. Slim had incredible power but was still learning
how to use it. Whereas Dane had been wielding his for centuries.
Still, Slim was a powerful opponent.

They had battled into the night when Dane
brought him down. He shifted back to human form and stood over
Slim. With a bolt of energy, Dane seared the remains of the man
dead at his feet. He dropped his head and had a moment of silence
for his fallen unit, knowing they’d be satisfied having been
avenged. The wounds on his exhausted body didn’t matter, and he
ignored them. Slim hadn’t fought fair, calling on others to help
him, so now, Dane stood dripping blood, chest heaving with the
expenditure of his energy, from both the battle internally and
externally. Deep inside him, his tiger raged against him, costing
him even more precious strength.

Breathing hard, he turned in the direction
he would be heading after he rested for a bit. Back to Aida.

Dane!

Her scream of pure terror filled his head
and brought him to his knees.

Aida!

Dane!

He could taste her fear,
fear for herself and her dogs. His tiger strained to get free.
Strained to get to her.
Show me what you
see!
he demanded forcefully, his fingers
becoming claws and tearing easily through the hard-packed dirt he
knelt upon.

Fury raged unchecked the
moment he saw through her eyes.
Siyamak!
The tall man stood before
Aida. His yellow eyes gleamed in the eerie glow surrounding him and
a mocking smile on his face. Dane saw Ruger and Kamau bleeding and
weak as they did their best against the feline-like creatures with
Siyamak. The dogs knew they were outmatched, but they never gave
up, and Dane’s admiration for their strength and loyalty grew even
more. Siyamak drew his hands back for a strike.

With the force of a typhoon, Dane let go of
any control he had and embraced the age-old power flowing through
his veins. With a roar of raw strength, his power and beast
exploded up within him, finally completely free of the shackles
which had bound them.

Barely a blink and Dane was by her side, his
body shifting, even as he launched himself in front of her, taking
the hit of energy directly and going for Siyamak’s throat. Although
obviously surprised, Siyamak recovered quickly, jumping back and
landing on his feet, only to lunge back at Dane, shifting as he
did. Dane spun and met the shifter in the air, his anger overriding
everything including the stinging pain of the claws digging into
him. He bore the orange tiger to the ground, claws tearing
flesh.

Siyamak was powerful, and
there was no doubt anymore of who had changed Slim. It didn’t
matter that this man had once been his friend, nor did it matter
how good of a fighter he was. Dane
would
kill him. With his mind, he
incinerated the two creatures with Siyamak, saving Aida’s dogs. He
and Siyamak circled one another, and Dane saw Kamau position
himself by Aida. Before he knew it, a deep growl came from behind,
and he saw Ruger jump into the fray, ignoring his own wounds and
lending his assistance to Dane. When Siyamak was distracted, he
attacked. They continued to lunge and tear at each
other.

His opponent had the advantage, he wasn’t
already injured and suffering from loss of blood. It didn’t matter.
With a deep snarl, Dane struck hard and went in for the kill. He
stood over the dead tiger, blood dripping from his jaws, and filled
the air with the thunderous sound of his roar. His exhausted body
shuddered when the air shifted and brought to his nose the scent of
unmated male. He sprang to where Aida still huddled against the
shed and crouched, ready for another attack.

Aida wanted to curl up in a ball and hide.
As far as nightmares went, this was one of the worst. One minute,
she and her boys had been alone, the next, fear unlike any she’d
ever experienced filled her. The man before her had a sneer on his
face when he’d backhanded her, sending her flying back to hit the
side of her shop. She knew she had broken some ribs.

The arrival of Dane’s
voice had been so welcome, no matter how she wished him here. Ruger
and Kamau each took a grotesque cat-like creature with this unknown
man. He never spoke, and she had no comprehension why or
how
he just appeared
before her.

Her mouth wouldn’t work, she couldn’t
formulate a sentence. The hard, unfeeling eyes glared at her while
the man gathered this green energy. And she knew it was for her.
All she could think was how glad she was her parents had already
gone home and how sorry she was, knowing she’d never see them
again. Or Dane.

The man in black raised his arms, the green
orb floating between the palms of his hands, moved with his motion.
He launched it. A deafening roar spilt the night air, and Aida’s
breath caught as a blur came out of nowhere and leapt between her
and the unknown man. The green ball hit him and got absorbed. What
had been a man for a second shifted smoothly into a white tiger and
almost took the man to the ground.

Dane.

While the white tiger spun around, the one
in black shifted into an orange tiger, the same size as Dane. Their
roars made her teeth rattle, and the sound which rent the air when
their bodies collided made her shudder. Still, Aida couldn’t pull
her gaze from the bloody scene unfolding before her. There was
hardly any light but thanks to the shaft of soft light from her
shop, she could tell them apart. Kamau returned to her side,
bleeding and exhausted, but Ruger stayed there alongside Dane.
Helping when and where he could, ignoring his own bloodied
body.

Her gaze was still glued to the sight when
the orange tiger fell beneath the deadly jaws of the white one.
Ruger limped back to her side and flumped to the ground. In the
light, she could see the beautiful white and black coat shredded
and bloody. Dane released another roar, this one even more
ferocious than the previous. The tiger stared at her and lunged
toward her, flipping agilely in the air at the last second to land
heavily before her. His breathing came in ragged pants. He was on
his last legs, she had no clue how he managed to keep his feet. It
had to be by willpower alone.

Her own pain was pushed to the back of her
mind. Ruger and Kamau also rose to their feet, bleeding and beaten
as well, and took up a position on either side of her tiger,
showing their willingness to face whatever was coming toward
them…together.

A male voice flowed from the dark. “Let us
help you, Dane.”

The tiger crouched and roared louder, his
thick tail flicking side to side in increasing agitation.

“
We mean her no harm, or
you.” Another voice, female this time.

Aida strained to see who spoke but she
couldn’t make anyone out. She hurt, and fear still swamped her. All
three animals between her and those out there rumbled louder still,
their blood running down their bodies being sucked up by the dry
earth.

“
Stop,” the female
ordered. “You’re only making it worse, Ryinier.”

“
Explain, Tairen,” the
male said.

I know those names. Siblings. His
family.

“
She’s still unmated. As
are you. You go any closer, and he’ll kill you.”

A muttered curse reached Aida, and she bit
back her whimper of fear. “Go away,” she whispered. “Please, just
go away.” Her throat was as dry as the ground she sat upon, and her
sore ribs made breathing difficult.

“
We are here to help,”
Tairen said.

“
Go away.”

“
You are
injured.”

“
I don’t care. Dane’s hurt
worse, and he won’t relax until you leave.”

“
You dare—”

“
Please go,” Aida
interrupted.

Aida had no other way of knowing if they
did, but all at once, all three animals fell silent. Grimacing in
pain, she got to her feet, legs all wobbly. The tiger collapsed,
and she went back to her knees by his head. He peeled back his
blood-stained lips, exposing deadly canines to her. She held her
hands over his head and shoulder, hesitated a second before
lowering them to the stained fur.

“
Okay, tiger-mine. I can’t
lift you, so you have to get up.” One beautiful eye watched her.
“Come on, get up.” He didn’t move. “Boys, go to the house.” Aida
watched as her wounded dogs weakly did as she’d ordered. When they
disappeared in the darkness, Aida tightened her fingers in the
thick pelt.