Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) (24 page)

Calla was the only reason why he’d been
spying on the pride. The wolves had threatened to hurt her in ways
that made him sick. She was all that was left of his family…his
pride. His baby sister who’d been loved and sheltered by their
pride was now being hurt by monsters. He vowed that he would have
his revenge, and he’d take the wolf leader’s heart as payment.

Malaki struggled as he was injected by one of
the men who worked for the leader of the wolves. It didn’t take
long before his world went dark…the last thing he heard was his
sister screaming for help.

Chapter
Seventeen

Liberty stretched lazily in the bed. She’d
been ordered to rest for the past two days and she was tired of
laying around. Of course, Talon waited on her hand and foot;
bringing her food, running warm baths, and making sure he reminded
her how much he loved her once he had settled down for the
night.

Her hand reached out and found his side of
the bed empty…again. It was after seven in the morning and she had
a feeling he’d been up since dawn. He was forever working with his
pride or doing something around the property.

She searched through the boxes of clothes
that were still in the back of the closet. After Talon and a few of
his Guardians had unloaded most of her stuff two days ago, Talon
had ordered her to bed. He was the alpha after all, and now that
he’d changed her, the push of his powers affected her more strongly
than they ever did when she was a human.

She wanted to shower and move around, hoping
that she could find something to eat after she was clean. The hot
water eased the tension in her shoulders. She didn’t know how long
she stood under the spray, keeping her mind clear of thoughts. It
was nice to just relax for once.

She looked in the mirror at her reflection.
Her eyes had now changed to the icy blue of a shifter. It still
unnerved her a bit to see such a drastic change in them, but it was
something she accepted to have Talon at her side. He was hers
forever. She quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved
shirt. She braided her hair and padded out of the room to find her
mate.

The thought of Talon being hers for the rest
of her life sent a thrill through her and she giggled as she took
the stairs down to the main floor of the house. She sensed him in
the house, but couldn’t quite pinpoint where he was at first.

Voices alerted her to a commotion coming
from his office. As she turned down the hallway, she saw several
Guardians walking toward the room. His office was at the end of the
long corridor, and there were several men in her way as she stepped
out of the foyer. She wanted to see Talon and these men had better
not stop her, because she was beginning to sense something was
wrong.

“Move,” she snarled, using her new and
improved voice. The men immediately scattered, not one of them
brave enough to lay a hand on the alpha’s mate.

Since Liberty had learned to growl, thanks
to her newfound status, she’d used it a few times to prove her
point. The Guardians treated her as an equal to Talon and that was
the way it was always going to be, according to her mate. The
alpha’s mate was a queen of sorts. Her power was just as strong as
their leader’s. Liberty snorted a laugh to herself. She didn’t feel
that powerful. She still felt weak from her change, but Talon
assured her she’d be okay in a few days.

As the sea of men parted, Liberty’s teeth
clenched in anger. Dane and Savage were on each side of Talon,
their fists balled as they leaned on the old, antique desk. Talon’s
head was in his hands as he listened to the two men explain what
was going on.

It didn’t take long before Liberty grasped
their words. Talon’s head snapped up and she felt his power wrap
around her, giving her the strength and comfort only her mate could
give at the time. She didn’t want to acknowledge what she’d heard.
She didn’t want to worry about another person close to them, but
this was so much worse.

“Where is my sister?” Liberty growled,
marching toward the desk. Her eyes were focused on her mate, but
the question was for anyone in the room who had the answers she was
seeking.

“Winter has her, Liberty,” Talon replied,
standing up from his seat. He walked around the desk, but didn’t
touch her. “He is watching the house until we can investigate
more.”

“Talon Shaw,” she snarled, her panther
pushing forward. She knew her eyes glowed amber from the slight
change of colors in her vision. The panther prowled restlessly in
her mind, but knew that Liberty was in charge at the moment. They
both wanted blood, and Liberty would stop at nothing to protect the
ones she loved. “You find those wolves, and don’t you dare let
anything happen to my sister.”

The Guardians left the room in a hushed
dismissal. Talon reached for her hand as soon as the last man out
shut the door. Liberty didn’t even care who had left the room. Her
main focus was on her mate and the information she’d just
learned.

“Your sister will be safe,” Talon promised,
wrapping his arms around her waist. She melted into his strength
and knew that Talon and his Guardians would do anything and
everything to stop the wolves. Her only hope was that no one else
would have to suffer at the hands of those monsters.

“Promise?” she asked, melting into her
mate’s embrace.

“I promise,” he said, kissing her head.
“Winter won’t let anything happen to Nova.”

“I’m sure he will keep an eye on her,”
Liberty teased. Talon’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he
chuckled. They both had seen the way that Winter looked at her
sister. He’d been adamant about being the one to watch over Nova
when she was at the bar or at home.

“I love you, mate,” he grinned, kissing her
once again. “I want you to get stronger. I’m more worried about you
right now.”

“I love you,” she replied. “I’m fine, Talon.
Really.” She was tired and weak, but nothing compared to when she’d
woken up as a panther. After that first shift back to her human
self, Liberty had slept for several hours, exhaustion taking
everything out of her. Talon had brought her the biggest plate of
food she’d ever seen. Now she understood how he and his Guardians
could eat so much food when they came to the bar.

“Take a run with me?” he asked. “I’ll have
the Guardians go with us if you’d like.”

“I’d like to run with you alone,” she
purred, then frowned. “But, I’m scared to shift again.”

“It shouldn’t hurt as bad this time,” he
said, his eyes darkening at a silent thought.

“What?” she asked, worried for her mate.

“Nothing.” He smiled, taking her hand.
“Come. I’ll be with you the entire time.”

They left the house after Talon alerted his
men as to where they would be for the next hour. The sun was high
overhead as they stopped just inside the tree line of the wooded
area behind the house. Black birds scurried out of the branches,
taking flight.

“No one can see me, right?” She blushed
crimson. She didn’t know if she’d ever be comfortable being
completely nude in front of the other pride members. Talon had told
her once that they’d never learned the shame of nudity like the
humans. He promised that his kind didn’t look upon a woman with
lust during the shift, unless they were mates.

“No one will look upon your skin,” he
reassured her, taking a protective stance in front of Liberty. His
shoulders blocked out any prying eyes that might be around. She
quickly undressed and stood there, staring up at her mate. “I’ll
rip them to shreds if they try.”

She chuckled and prepared herself for the
shift, but she wasn’t quite sure what she needed to do. Talon
waited patiently for her to do something. With a frown, she looked
into his eyes, “A little help?”

“Feel your panther,” he said. She closed her
eyes and felt for the animal that now lived within. Her panther
stretched lazily somewhere in the back of her mind. Liberty
couldn’t see her, but she could
feel
the panther. A mewl
broke free from her lips, startling Liberty. Her eyes opened wide,
landing on Talon still standing in front of her.

“How?” she asked, her voice cracking from
uncertainty.

“Let her free, Liberty,” he ordered, then a
push of his power engulfed her body. The panther inside roared,
pushing…demanding to be set free. “Shift, mate.”

Liberty dropped to her knees in the dirt,
leaves crunching underneath where she landed. She felt her canines
grow, sprouting inside her human mouth. She moaned from the slight
ache. It wasn’t painful.

She fell to her side as her legs reshaped,
hair sprouting from beneath her human skin. Her tailbone tingled as
a long, graceful tail emerged from her body. Her ears rang as the
panther continued to transform. It felt like ages for the shift to
be complete, but in all reality, it took less than a minute.

“You are so beautiful,” Talon whispered,
kneeling down next to her. She could see him through her panther’s
eyes. The panther raised its head, its tongue snaking out to lick
the side of her mate’s face. He laughed and stood, removing his
shirt. “Let’s run, Liberty.”

She watched as his body formed into a large
black cat. He was easily twice her size. The panther nudged her
belly, forcing her to stand. When she did, he rubbed his face
against hers. The panther purred in response. They took turns
rubbing their scent on each other’s fur.

Liberty yelped when Talon bit her flank
playfully. He nudged her, urging her to run into the woods so he
could chase her. He was being playful, and both Liberty and her
panther liked seeing him this way. The alpha was happy, and that
was all that mattered to a pride of panthers.

The End…

Look for Nova and Winter’s story…Coming
Soon!

Take a look at Fatal Desires

(Fatal Cross Live! Book 1)

Available now

from Theresa Hissong

Prologue

Coraline

One night of heated passion with Taylor
Vaughn and three store-bought pregnancy tests later, I was fucked.
Totally screwed.

I was freaking pregnant!

And that low-down, dirty piece of shit
wouldn’t return my calls.

Taylor showing up at the
same resort as me was just a coincidence…my ass. We’d both been
flirtatious on the tour a year ago when his band,
Fatal Cross,
opened
for
Glory Days
,
my cousin’s band. I’d been a roadie and tour manager for
Glory Days
for the past
six years. Ever since the day I graduated high school, I had worked
my ass off to make their concerts the best of the best. That’s how
the current events leading up to this point in my life happened. I
ended up lusting over the guitarist for
Fatal Cross
when they’d opened
for
Glory Days
just one year ago.

It wasn’t until three
weeks ago that I saw Taylor in the Azores at a resort I
thought
was
private.

A shadow had formed over my lawn chair and I
raised my sunglasses to see who the hell was bothering me. I was
completely surprised to see the sexy guitarist hovering over my
chair like a dog in heat. Of course, his eyes heated from roaming
up and down the navy blue string bikini I was wearing. And you
better believe I flaunted my goods for him to see. We were on
neutral turf and I didn’t have to keep to my self-imposed rules of
business only relationships with the people I dealt with on a day
to day basis.

Dinner and two bottles of very expensive
wine later, we were tearing each other’s clothes off like pornstars
just offered a million dollar contract.