Vision Revealed (23 page)

now, I’m needed here.”

“You’ll make a good hunter,” she offered, and stepped out of his touch. It would be hard

as hell leaving him after spending four days now in the motel room, making love and

learning so much about this male who in another world would be perfect for her. “I

wonder where everyone is. They said three a.m., right?”

“Yup.” Kane reached for her from behind, pulling her back against his rock-hard body

she was becoming very familiar with. “It won’t be long before all of this is behind you.

You’ll truly be ready to start running down a new path in your life.”

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” she admitted.

“I want that path you run down to be by my side.”

Jin stilled, not surprised he said what he did but nonetheless unsure how to respond. His

confident hands spread over her belly, pressing into her flesh and allowing her to feel

every inch of his powerful body against her back.

“What did you think you’d do after having this meeting?” he whispered into her hair.

Goose bumps traveled over her flesh while the rich, sweet smell of her lust filled the air

around them. She hated him for so easily being able to control her body. And she hated

herself for implanting her scent so deeply into his pores. Kane couldn’t go anywhere

without everyone believing they were mated or soon would be. In just a few days their

scent had become identical. Hopefully it would take just as many days for their scents to

return to normal.

That thought created an uncomfortable rock in her gut. “I’m heading out once this is

over,” she told him, pushing the words out, although she couldn’t force herself out of his

arms. “I’ll go back to the mountains. I’m needed there.”

“To take care of your sire?”

She froze. They’d never discussed her sire and she’d prefer to keep it that way. “It’s

where my den is,” she answered, that also being the truth.

“Your den is with me, little cat. And I think you know that.” He tightened his grip

around her, lowering his mouth so his teeth scraped her neck when he spoke.

She shivered, although it wasn’t from the cold night air. “You just said you knew you

were meant to be here as a hunter,” she told him, glancing down and wondering when

she’d rested her hands on his. “I’m meant to enlighten the hunters and then return to my

den. Our paths were only meant to cross for a short time, Kane. That is how it is.”

Jin prepared herself for an argument or even his wrath. There was something to be said

about a white leopard having a short fuse. His spicy outrage drowned out the smell of

their lust. At the same time headlights trained on them and Jin raised her hand, shielding

her eyes as she breathed in the smell of diesel fuel. A truck pulled into the parking lot, its

windows dark, making it impossible to see who drove it.

Kane let go of her, moving in front of her when another car pulled into the lot behind the

truck. She walked around him, standing next to him so she could see when the vehicles

parked and car doors began opening.

Jin sniffed the air and watched a female hurry to the square building known as Pierce’s

Lair, a leopard’s bar in Wheeler’s Point, Minnesota, where they’d driven to meet all the

hunters. Thad Pierce, a hunter who mated with the female and took on the bar that had

belonged to his sire, watched his mate before turning to look at the two of them.

“Hello, Thad,” Jin offered, knowing the male didn’t recognize her at first glance.

Another male came up behind Thad, staring at her and then at Kane.

“Holy fucking crap,” Josh Bard said, his jaw dropping as he stared at her. “Jin Rose. I

don’t believe it.”

Kane growled but Jin grabbed his arm and escorted him across the parking lot to the

males facing them. “Thad Pierce. Josh Bard, may I present Kane Masters. Thad and his

mate run the bar here. Josh and his mate own and run the sanctuary just north of here.”

“And you’re the white leopard who approached Tore Mann about becoming the fifth

hunter,” Josh said, studying Kane. “I’m curious to know why you approached him first.”

Jin noticed headlights on the two-lane highway alongside the bar and watched as they

came closer. It was interesting Josh would be more interested in Kane than anything she

would say. He didn’t want her to howl and maybe she’d be wise to remain quiet. He had

to know though, or at least suspect the truth.

“Kenora was the first town I came to while traveling this way,” Kane offered easily. “I

was heading this way when I ran into Jin. She distracted me from coming to see both of

you.”

She looked up in time to see Thad raise a knowing eyebrow, the smirk on his face

enough to show he guessed how she’d distracted him.

“He chased me down,” she said, although the weight in her gut made it impossible to put

too much punch into her words. It was going to be harder than she imagined howling to

these males. For years they’d fought as hunters, although more times than not fighting

each other as much as they worked together.

“Your desire to be a hunter must not be that strong if a female prevented you from

finishing what you came here to howl about,” Josh said.

Kane didn’t smell even a bit upset by Josh’s words, and Jin knew they were meant to cut

deep.

“I will be the fifth hunter. I already know that,” Kane offered with a level of confidence

she was getting accustomed to hearing. More than likely he’d seen himself as a hunter in

his visions. “It was Jin’s scent that distracted me and had me hunting her down. She’s

been in my visions for almost a year now.”

At his willingness to admit to having visions, both males straightened, their expressions

growing grave.

“You’ve been smelling leather for the past year?” Thad said, wrinkling his brow and

then shaking his head slowly. “I pity you, male.”

“No.” Kane still didn’t smell angry. “I was shocked the first time she donned her leather

outfit and wig. In fact, I made quick work of buying her new clothes and throwing away

her disguise. This is the female I’ve seen in my visions, and the only female who exists in

this body now.”

He spoke with so much conviction, sounding so serious, even Jin studied his hard,

chiseled profile as he continued staring at Thad and Josh. The hunters took turns shifting

their attention to her, smelling intrigued before returning their attention to Kane.

“You make it sound as if you know the Jin Rose who succeeded in creating quite a

tarnished reputation for herself before disappearing a year ago,” Josh said.

“I know she’s honored that you’re giving her an audience tonight so she can put that

reputation to rest.”

Jin wasn’t sure she liked these three males talking about her as if she weren’t capable of

howling for herself.

“Is that why you’re here, Jin?” Josh gave her the opportunity to speak before she

demanded they honor her presence. “We were told you wish to shed light on truth you

feel we haven’t sniffed out yet.”

“I don’t know what you know and don’t know,” she told him honestly. “But after tonight

there won’t be any doubt.”

“And all of this will be about Leo Pard?” he asked, pinning her with a suspicious stare.

“If you don’t want to hear all of it, Josh, say so now.”

Josh’s expression grew pinched and she knew at that moment he had suspicions.

Whether anyone else howled any hints of the truth to him, she couldn’t say. Jin couldn’t

imagine her sire confessing to any of the atrocities he’d done to Josh and his den when he

was just a cub. Jin only learned the truth of it by accident one night while overhearing her

parents fighting before her mother took off. It was years later before she pieced together

the facts.

“You’re here to howl what you will,” Josh told her harshly, his scent turning spicy as he

spoke. “We’ll learn after that where the truth is in all of it.”

“If you’re suggesting in any way that what Jin is here to say will be anything other than

the truth, then this meeting won’t happen,” Kane snarled.

Jin grabbed his arm, feeling corded muscle flex against her palm when she squeezed

until he looked down at her. “This meeting will happen, Kane. You can’t interfere.

Tempers will soar out of control. It’s inevitable. Promise me now you won’t force the

meeting to an end until all is howled and over.”

Kane’s light blue eyes were laced with silver when he studied her face. She knew he’d

honor her request and she knew why he would. Kane really did love her and she wasn’t

even remotely worthy of having such unadulterated emotions directed her way. If only

she could make him see how truly tarnished she was, then he would no longer adore her

the way he did now. As much as she loved the way he looked at her right now, the way

he smelled and the way his arm went around her protectively as he pulled her into his

arms, running by his side wasn’t in her future. She hated that she already knew that and

couldn’t enjoy, at least for a bit, having such a perfect male by her side.

“They will honor you or they will be searching for more than just one new hunter,” he

growled into her hair, although Josh and Thad easily heard him.

Jin pushed hard against his chest until she was at arm’s reach and then punched his arm

with her fist. “No threats, male. Not tonight. This won’t be easy for any of us but it has to

happen. You’ve known that from the beginning.”

She paused when another car pulled into the parking lot. Tore and Race were there and

parked to the side of the lot then climbed out and strolled toward them.

Civil greetings were exchanged and it was obvious Josh and Tore still didn’t care much

for each other. At least their hostility toward the other would distract the anger angled at

her.

“Let’s go inside,” Thad announced, turning as he spoke and heading toward the bar.

“Promise me you won’t attack any of them,” Jin whispered when Kane once again put

his arm around her and led her to the building. When he looked straight ahead and didn’t

answer her, she forced them to stop, putting her hand on his chest. “I want your word

now, leopard. You must honor me with your promise.”

“I won’t attack unless they attack you,” he growled, gripping her chin and pinching her

flesh when he tilted her head back and pounced on her mouth.

His kiss was demanding and tasted so strongly of the dangerous predator that he was, Jin

almost melted in his arms. He devoured her, taking all of her strength and filling her with

his level of confidence at the same time. It was damn unnerving how protective he was of

her, how aggressive his actions were, but at the same time how he caressed her soul, her

heart, until she was so lightheaded she swore she floated when he allowed her up for air.

“You are mine, Jin,” he growled, his face inches from hers. “And I take damn good care

of what belongs to me.”

She didn’t belong to anyone and she never would. It was on the tip of her tongue to

inform him she wasn’t any male’s property, but he took her by the arms, turning her

toward the bar and then led her inside.

Thad’s female had started a fire in the large hearth at the end of the decent-sized room

and the warmth stung Jin’s cheeks as she entered the bar. The smell of smoke and beer

was as much a part of the wooden walls and floors and added to the serene setting. It

wasn’t an unappealing smell. If anything, the warmth seemed created from a contented

feeling that wrapped around her as she paused at a nearby table, acutely aware of the

males and Thad’s mate watching her.

“I can’t get over how you look like a completely different female,” Josh said, leaning

against the bar with his arms crossed over his muscular chest. “Did you disguise your

appearance solely so we wouldn’t know you were a white leopard?”

It was a fair question and a good enough to start the discussion she would do best to

jump into without hesitating. “For the most part, yes. I was whelped and raised in the

Canadian Rockies where there are a fair amount of white leopards but that didn’t mean I

was oblivious to the fact most leopards around the world sniffed us out with suspicion

and dislike.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never given any thought to disliking a white leopard,” Thad

offered. He moved next to his mate, who stood silently on the other side of the bar,

watching Jin with mild curiosity. “And I know I wouldn’t ever judge any leopard based

on his breeding without sniffing him out first. Hiding your natural scent brought more

suspicion on you than it would have if you’d allowed the world to smell you for who you

were.”

Jin nodded, believing Thad spoke truthfully and more than likely was one of those

leopards who honestly didn’t judge a leopard by his spots. “Not all think as you do,” she

pointed out, turning her attention to Tore. “You refused to consider Kane as a hunter

without taking time to know him based on the fact he was a white leopard.”

Tore leaned back in a chair at a nearby table and simply cocked one eyebrow at her

accusation, the male cocky and content enough with his nature he didn’t feel a need to

defend his actions.

“And there are many who would react just as you did,” Jin added, not wanting the

conversation to immediately smell of a combative argument over prejudice. “But as I

said, growing up in the mountains didn’t shield me from the ways of the world. I heard