Sanctuary (A Hunted Novel Book 1) (9 page)

“Because of the decades old feud,” Tess concluded.

“Yeah.”

Tess sighed and leaned back in her seat. “The past is the past, and it can’t be changed. We have to move forward and do what is best for our entire species.”

“I agree,” Nate remarked quietly. “Let’s find your family.”

Tess smiled to herself. If more people thought like him, maybe there was a chance at peace. First, she had to find her pride, and then they could start worrying about the rest. 

N
ate pulled off at an exit. It was nearly three in the morning. He was exhausted, hungry, and needed a break from the endless darkness of the freeway. He scanned the rearview mirror, ensuring no one was behind him. The road was dark and vacant. It had been for miles, but he had to check to be sure. Better safe than sorry.

He didn’t want to stop for a long time. There was no doubt in his mind that they were being pursued. As long as they kept moving, they should be okay. Although, he swore at times that the Hunters had supernatural tracking abilities. It was the only thing that could explain how they found shifters sometimes.

Nate drove up to a twenty-four hour Taco Bell and came to a stop just short of the drive thru. He looked over at his passenger. Tess was sound asleep. Her long hair draped over her face like a curtain. He took a moment to appreciate the soft rise and fall of her chest that accented the swell of her breast. She truly was magnificent.

Reaching out, he tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear, letting his finger trail down her silky cheek. Tess stirred, her eyes fluttering for a moment as she leaned into his touch.
What am I doing
, he wondered as her breathing evened.
She’s a werecat, and I’m a wolf, any feelings I have are forbidden,
he reminded himself again.
Why do I have to keep reminding myself to keep my hands off her? I need to find a wolf when I get home and get the whole mating process over. At least that way if she comes back, I won’t have to worry about whatever this is.

He moved his hand away from her, instantly missing the contact.
Wake her up and ask her if she’s hungry. How hard is that?
His hand reached out for her again, but he jerked it back.
No. Don’t touch her. Say her name. Do something, but for the love of God don’t touch her.

“Tess,” he said huskily.

“Hmmm,” she murmured as she sat up with a yawn. Her eyes blinked open a small smile pulling at her lips as she met his gaze.

He cleared his throat.
Don’t make eye contact.
“I was going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?” he asked, pointing to the empty drive thru.

Tess squinted at him for a moment as she slowly took in their surroundings. “Oh. Yeah. Sure,” she mumbled as she yawned again. “Where are we?”

“Ohio. Just crossed over the border. Thought we could get a quick bite and I’ll need some more specifics from you about where we’re going,” Nate explained.

“I have the coordinates. We are going just outside of Cincinnati. We shouldn’t be too far from it,” she sighed. “Are we being followed?”

“Not that I can tell. The roads been empty behind us for some time.” He pulled out his cell phone and opened up his Google maps app. “Here. Why don’t you put in the coordinates and I’ll order us some food. Want anything in particular?”

Tess squinted and then wrinkled her nose. “Taco Bell?”

He shrugged. It sounded good to him.

“A couple beef tacos,” she mumbled as she took his phone.

Her slender fingers grazed against his and he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the electricity rippling through his hand from the touch
.
He shook his head and pulled forward through the drive thru.

“Can I help you?” a male voice crackled over the intercom.

“Five beef tacos.” He’d eat what she didn’t since she hadn’t given a number. Surely she was starved too. “A burrito supreme, chili cheese burrito, two chicken tacos, and two Pepsi’s.”

“Hungry?” Tess asked, arching her brow.

“Yes,” he grinned. Anytime he transitioned, he always burned a ton of calories, and he needed to replace them. It was like that for all werewolves. He wondered if the same were true for werecats. Surely they had similarities as much as they did differences.

“According to this we’ll reach the pride in about thirty minutes,” Tess said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

Wow. They were close. He dug his wallet out and drove to the window, passing a card to the attendant. She promptly swiped it and handed the card and food over. The scent of cheap taco meat filled the car, and he inhaled greedily. His stomach rumbled as his mouth salivated.
I can’t wait to dig into my burrito.
Nate set the bag between them and drinks in the cup holder.

“Hop back on the highway,” she instructed.

“Got it,” he replied as he unwrapped a burrito. He took a large bite out of his food and swallowed it.

Tess set the phone down on her knee and let out a long breath. She ran a hand through her hair before picking up a taco from the bag.

“I’m sure it will be okay,” he tried to assure. “I’m not dead yet,” he teased around another bite.

She gave him a small smile before taking a nibble out of her food. “It’s not so bad,” she commented as she lifted her soda up and took a sip from the straw. “I just want to get to the pride. My family... we were close. It would be nice to know they’re okay—that they made it out. It makes me sick to think of what might have happened.”

His own stomach twisted at the thought. He’d seen what hunters did to those they captured, and it wasn’t pretty. After they’d tortured them for information they killed them and then burned the village and all of its occupants. If he had a quarter for all the forest fires hunters had started he’d be rich. Not only were they destroying shifters, but they were harming natural wildlife too. It was disgusting.

“You’ll be safe there,” Tess commented drawing him from his thoughts.

“Your prides let go of the feud?” he asked curiously. The wolves certainly hadn’t. You’d think it happened yesterday.

Tess set her food down on the wrapper. “You don’t know what really happened do you?”

Nate took a sip of his drink and looked at her. He knew the story his mother had told him. Given her hatred, he was beginning to wonder how accurate it was. Anger and racism could blind you from the truth. What if he had it all wrong? What if the wolves were spreading stories to keep the werecats at bay? But why?

“The story I’ve always been told is that a community of werecats and werewolves lived within thirty miles of each other. They were working together to stop an attack from the Hunters.  During a mission, a male werecat raped a female werewolf. The werecats refused to bring him to justice and when the Hunters attacked the werewolf pack, the cats never came to help. A lot of wolves died in that attack, including my grandma’s sister and younger brother,” he summarized. His mom had given a much more detailed account, but he didn’t see the need to retell it to Tess.

Tess clucked her tongue and pursed her lips. “Um. No.”

“No?” he questioned.

“That’s not what happened,” she stated.

“I’ll admit my story could be wrong—”

“It is,” she interrupted adamantly.

“And you know this how?” he asked. “You weren’t there.”

“Neither were you,” she countered. “I’ve seen the evidence to support the werecats side.”

“From a feud that’s lasted decades? How?” he asked skeptically. She was full of it now. There was no way she could know what had transpired all those years ago.

“First of all, the wolf and the cat weren’t in a relationship. They were good friends. The pack only assumed they were having an affair, and made up the story about the rape because they couldn’t stand the idea of an interspecies relationship, and wanted to make sure no one else got any ideas. And to make sure that there was a rift between the two species. Prior to the attack on the pack, the pride was under siege. There was no one to come to the packs aide because the pride had been destroyed. By the time the pride survivors made it there the pack had been desolated, and any survivors had fled.”

“You don’t know the truth behind your story anymore than I do behind mine,” he remarked.

She lifted her brow, silently challenging him. “Actually, I do. There were thirteen survivors from the pride. The werecat and wolf being two of them. He had family on the west coast, and he brought her there too. They joined a pride in Washington State, the same pride that I grew up in.”

Nate did a double take. Her eyes held his and her jaw was set firmly in place. She was serious. Is that what had happened? Why would she lie? Why would the wolves lie? What was the point in holding onto a feud for generations? To keep different species from mating. That seemed a little farfetched, or did it? Even now, interspecies mingling between different genders were strongly discouraged. There was the occasional hookup, but same species didn’t truly mate most of the time, sure they could still procreate, but there was a difference between finding your true mate and mating out of obligation to duty. Why would anyone think that two different species could truly mate, let alone have children? Was that even possible? Probably not. How would that even work?

“Wow,” he stated unsure what else to say. What could he say? “And your not just yanking my chain?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why would the wolves lie? What do they gain from carrying on the feud with the werecats? Sanctuary needs as much help as it can get,” he thought aloud. It didn’t make sense.

Tess looked away and out the window. “I’m sure they have their reasons,” she said after a long moment. “It’s possible that they really believe that’s what happened too. I mean, the pack was destroyed except for a few. If the one’s who made up the lie all perished, then there would be no one to set the story straight.”

Could what she said be true? Questions whirled through his mind. If what she said were true, then they needed to figure out a way to get the truth out there. That was the only way the feud would ever end—at least for the wolves. He opened his mouth to speak, but the GPS spoke first instructing them to take the next exit.

Tess squirmed in her seat, squinting to see in the darkness. There was no way she was going to talk to him now. She was too worried about her family. Not that he could blame her.
Later. We’ll talk about it later
, he promised himself.

***

T
ess clenched her hands into tight fists as Nate turned down the long gravel road. They’d made a few extra turns to ensure they didn’t have any followers before turning down the long drive. They were here. Please let her family be here too. She closed her eyes sending a silent prayer to anyone that would listen.

Her heart pattered violently against her ribcage as the driveway ended in front of a large rock. She opened the door with shaking, sweaty hands and hopped out.

Nate followed behind her, taking in their surroundings.

She blinked, willing her eyes to change. The area sharpened as her eyes shifted. Everything was crisper.

“This way.” Tess pointed. The grass was slightly worn to her right. She charged ahead, sprinting along the tracks eager to reach her destination.

Wordlessly, they moved up a small incline and into the trees where the trail stopped. She huffed and turned around trying to retrace their steps. Had she missed something?
No you’re on the right track. Calm down. You got this.

Nate crouched down, skimming his fingers over the earth. “It looks like there is something going this way,” he commented with a sigh.

Tess met his eyes, narrowing them as he hesitated.

He cleared his throat. “But it doesn’t look like anyone has been here in a very long time.”

She swallowed hard and blinked, fighting away the angry tears that pricked her eyes.
I will not cry. Nothings happened yet. Just because the pride doesn’t appear to be here doesn’t mean your family won’t show up.

Nate brushed past her, taking the lead as she followed behind him. Butterflies danced in her belly. Would there be anyone here? Maybe they just did a good job at hiding their home.
Please let that be the case.

Nate stopped abruptly, and too consumed in her thoughts, she bumped into him. He gripped her arm tightly to keep her from tripping and drew her flush against him.

She heaved in a deep breath as their eyes connected.

“You okay?” he asked. His hand rose up toward her face, but he fisted it at the last minute, dropping it back down to his side.

She inhaled sharply, causing his pine scent to overwhelm her. Shaking her head, she nodded.
Stay focused.

“The trail dries up here. I’ve got nothing,” he commented, motioning with one arm as the other still held onto her. He gave her a gentle squeeze before trailing his fingers soothingly up and down her arm.

Tess closed her eyes. Her dad had given instructions, but it had been so chaotic she’d barely been listening.
Think Tess. Think. Come on. You got this. Remember.

Her eyes snapped open, and she surged forward, running her hands up and down the trunks of the trees.

“What are you doing?” Nate asked from behind her.

“The trees,” she gasped. “The door is in the trees.”

“Huh?”

She darted from tree to tree, frantically searching for the one that was secretly a door.
Come on. Come on
.
I’m not crazy.

“I don’t think it’s here,” Nate said still standing in the same spot as before.

“It’s here,” she whispered determinedly. It had to be.

Her heart roared in her ears as she moved around in a circle. What if it isn’t? She’d nearly gone to every tree. What if she remembered wrong? What if... something hissed, and the tree opened. The bark slid to the side, opening to a dark, narrow staircase.

Tess let out a long breath and turned to Nate, mustering a smile. He took a few steps toward her and peered his head into the pitch-black opening.

She ignored the twisting in her stomach and instead, reached her hand inside and felt around the smooth, hard wall. Her fingers found a knob and she flicked it up. The staircase shown brightly under the fluorescent lights, and it seemed to continue on endlessly into the earth.