Vision Revealed (28 page)

sidewalks and enduring the bright sun that shone down on her showed only mild

curiosity.

It was peak tourist season, which worked to her advantage. Humans flocked around the

ski lifts, ignoring her and concerned only with their own business. She left them to it and

worked her way into the mountain.

“Sire?” Jin didn’t call out for him to be heard. She was so tired she barely remembered

coming up the mountain, or leaving all the human smells behind as she worked her way

through the rugged, undeveloped land into the thickness of leopard territory. Jin knew

every rock, every ravine, the dense groves of trees and undergrowth. When she reached

the small cabin where she’d been whelped, the sun had trouble working its way through

to her corner of the world. A cold breeze wrapped around her, sending chills rushing over

her flesh. “Sire?” she called out again, this time louder. “I’m home.”

The deadbolt on the door wasn’t locked but was looped through the old door handle,

hanging at an angle. She fingered it, lifting it from where it hung and testing its weight in

her palm as she glanced at the familiar surroundings. It was so quiet, so peaceful here, yet

void of the scent of her sire. Jin searched the dense foliage, swearing for a moment she

saw movement along the jagged rocks that bordered the path leading to her den. Her

spine popped, charging her insides with adrenaline that almost made her dizzy in her

exhausted state.

If someone were out there, if she’d been followed to this remote sanctuary, which was

the only safe haven she had in the world, she wasn’t in any state to protect herself or her

sire. Jin growled at the still setting around her and then pushed open the cabin door and

entered into the darkness.

“Sire? Where are you?” she asked the cold silence inside her den.

Moving to the fireplace, she stared at the ashes, noting a fire hadn’t been built in some

time. She’d left plenty of firewood, enough to last much longer than the time she was

gone. Jin worked on auto drive, hauling in wood and getting a good blaze going before

plopping down at one of the chairs at the kitchen table. It was apparent her sire wasn’t

here, and she wasn’t sure she had the strength to search for him right now.

It had been a stroke of luck when she’d purchased this small cabin from a litter who’d

outgrown it several years back. Jin hadn’t given any indication she bought back the cabin,

which once belonged to her den. If the litter had any knowledge of its history, they gave

no indication, and she wasn’t about to enlighten them as to who she really was.

Since purchasing it, she’d done little with it. But it had been the perfect hideaway for her

sire after destroying his Arizona mansion. Leo had been delusional, his strong-willed

nature and overbearing personality destroyed along with his dream. She’d found it

interesting when they’d arrived here he asked where her mother was. It was as if the

nightmare Leo put the leopard race through was wiped from his mind. Even his scent had

changed. Jin never tried correcting or reminding him of the atrocities he’d instigated. She

stared at the fire, resting her arms against the cool wooden surface of the homemade

table, and slowly let her head fall as sleep overwhelmed her.

Maybe her sire went hunting. Soon she would search for him. Her eyelids were too

heavy to keep open and her mind too exhausted to even dream. She was out like a light in

minutes, the warmth from the fire soothing her worn-out body.

When she came to, it took her a moment to realize she was cuddled under several heavy

quilts and incredibly comfortable in a warm, soft bed. Blinking until she could focus, she

stared at the ceiling and then over at the window. Long drapes covered the panes

although daylight crept through the sides. She shifted her attention to the open bedroom

door when someone moved in the other room.

“Where were you?” she grumbled, throwing back the covers and immediately wishing

they were back over her. She didn’t remember undressing or crawling into bed.

Padding barefoot to her dresser, she instead opted for her bathrobe, which was strewn

over the side bedpost.

“You had me worried last night,” she began, wrapping the robe around her and hugging

her waist as she walked into the living room. She stopped in her tracks as she picked up

Kane’s scent and then stared into his knowing eyes when he turned from where he poked

at the fire.

“I’m sure I did,” he growled, placing the poker in its stand and then straightening.

“Although it was actually the night before last.”

“What?” Jin looked around the small living area and toward the adjoining kitchen where

coffee brewed. “Where is my sire?”

“You tell me.” Kane’s large frame made the living room appear even smaller.

“How long have you been here?” She needed coffee, a hot shower and a chance to get

her bearing before taking him on. Heading toward the rich smell of fresh, hot coffee, she

found several cups in the cabinet next to a few plates.

“Since last night. I would have gone hunting but I wasn’t too thrilled with you running

from me the other night and sure won’t allow it to happen twice.”

His harsh growl made her insides flutter. Heat swarmed between her legs and the

pressure that spawned from his words spread quickly throughout her body until she could

barely move from the intensity of it.

His hands snaked around her waist, parting her robe. She barely managed to pour coffee

into her mug when his rough fingers scraped over her bare flesh, damn near making her

explode with need for him.

“Sometimes having visions is a bitch,” he growled, leaning forward so his mouth nestled

against her ear. “Once I accepted the fact every vision I have will come true eventually, it

gave me a level of confidence that might be annoying to some. It is who I am though, and

that won’t change.”

“I never asked you to change.” Her voice was raspy, and when she brought her cup to

her lips, the coffee burned her tongue and esophagus as it went down. She barely noticed

the pain as his fingers stroked her flesh.

“Jin, I’ve seen our cubs,” he told her, yanking her against his steel body. “We’re in this

for life. That is how it is.”

Coffee spilled over her fingertips when she put the cup on the counter. If she didn’t get a

grip on her actions, he would be fucking her in the kitchen and she would be howling for

more. The one swallow was hardly enough coffee to wake her up, but his words did a

damn good job.

“Are you asking me to mate with you?” Her mouth was too dry and she craved more

coffee. With him wrapped around her, it was all she could do to breathe.

“I’m telling you that you are my mate,” he roared, his dominating aggression filling the

room with its strong smell.

Jin pushed against him when she turned around, not bothering with her robe or with

decency. Let the view distract him if it would. All that mattered right now was her

regaining control of her life.

“I just said I’m not asking you to change, and that is the truth,” she said, keeping her

tone calm but pressing her hands against rock-hard muscle and shoving until he

reluctantly backed up a step and allowed her some space. “You can be cocky and

confident all you want. But you will not ever think for me. Is that understood, male?”

Slapping his chest, she then turned around, resecuring her robe, and picked up her cup. It

surprised her she made it to the living room. Taking one of the two single chairs that

faced the fire, she plopped down on it and stared at the fire, sipping the hot brew while

letting his words sink in.

Their cubs. The thought of being with him the rest of her life had her spine charged with

electrical currents that did more to wake her than the caffeine. Grinning over her cup, she

was overly aware of his brooding presence behind her.

“Why did you come here?” he demanded.

Getting him to actually ask her to mate with him would apparently be more work than

she thought.

“I needed to return to my sire,” she told him truthfully. “I was exhausted when I got here

and remember falling asleep at the table.”

“I carried you to the bed when I arrived,” he offered without ceremony.

“I need to find him.” She took another drink. If Kane didn’t want to ask her to mate with

him right now, that was his business. She had affairs to handle and until he let go of some

of that cockiness he howled about having, she would tend to her business alone. “You’re

welcome to stay here,” she told him, standing and carrying her cup to her room. For the

first time since arriving, she noticed her sire’s bedroom door was closed and opened it.

The room was cold, empty and barely carried his scent. He hadn’t been here in a while.

“I’m going to shower and dress and do some hunting.”

“Jin,” he growled.

She barely took time to glance over her shoulder. “My sire is missing. I need to find him.

As I told you, you’re welcome to stay at our den. So unless you have something to say to

me, I really need to get busy.”

His pale eyes glowed with intense stubbornness. She hated the regret that stabbed her

insides when it became apparent he wouldn’t ask to be her mate. Maybe he did need to do

a bit of changing. It wasn’t something she would howl for, instead she left him to ponder

it alone.

Once she was showered and dressed, she made her bed, realizing she was alone in the

cabin, and then poked at the fire. Kane’s scent was strong, dominating all other smells

around her. She heard him moving around outside and left him to do what he wished.

After going through every inch of the small cabin, searching the second bedroom and

finding no indication as to where her sire would be, she paused in the living room,

pondering the fact her sire’s clothes hung in his closet.

She stared at the door when she heard footsteps outside, sniffing the air and stiffening

when she picked up more than just Kane’s scent. When she heard a male’s voice, Jin

hurried to the door, pulling it open and staring at Josh Bard, who stood talking to Kane.

“What is this?” she snarled, glaring at Kane. If he brought the other hunters here to hunt

down her sire, she would never speak to him again.

“I need answers,” Josh said flatly, his smell oddly not aggressive but smelling more

conflicted and upset. “You had to know I wouldn’t let what you howled to me rest

without challenging it. We have a litter,” he said, but then broke off, his expression

pinched as he stared toward the trees.

“Did you bring him here?” she demanded, not caring if she smelled angry.

Josh might have demons to work through, and she knew telling him what she knew he

needed to know would outrage him, but that didn’t prevent her from needing to protect

what was hers. She needed to find her sire and Josh wouldn’t know Leo was missing.

“No.” Kane stared at her, his expression shut down and his eyes flat. He held an ax in

one hand and apparently had been dividing fire wood to bring inside from the pile that lay

next to him.

“After we talked to the werewolf pack leader the other day,” Josh began, straightening

and clasping his hands behind his back, a sign he meant no hostile actions. “I went to the

motel where you two were staying. When I learned Kane had checked out, my mate and I

pieced together some visions we’ve been having lately. Those visions brought me here.”

“What visions were you having?” Jin asked at the same time Kane did.

“Death,” Josh offered, saying the one word with cold finality. “Would you let me speak

with your sire?” he asked Jin.

She shook her head. “He’s not here.”

Josh searched their surroundings as did Kane. Jin sniffed the air as well. It bugged the

hell out of her when she still didn’t pick up on her sire’s scent. Even if he’d left to hunt

and had been gone when she arrived, he would have returned by now. If he didn’t like

there being company at his den and remained hidden, at the least his scent would drift

toward her from time to time.

Something flashed before her eyes, a quick shot, nothing more than a glimpse she

struggled to focus on before it disappeared. Blinking a few times, she scowled at the

trampled, packed-down snow at her feet while fighting to understand what she just saw.

The image came and left too fast. Her visions sucked and were more annoying than they

were worth. But she swore she saw her sire lying down in the snow. An urgency swept

over her and she searched the woods around them, knowing suddenly she needed to find

him. Her sire was hurt.

“What is it?” Kane’s arms were around her before she realized he’d moved.

Jin spotted the ax lying on top of the chopped wood. His strong, warm body enveloped

her as he asked again, whispering into her ear. “What, Jin? What did you see?”

“My sire is hurt,” she whispered.

“I’ll help you find him,” Josh said.

Jin straightened, although this time when she tried pushing her way out of Kane’s arms,

he tightened his grip. “You’ll swear to me on your honor as a hunter that you won’t lay

one claw on him,” she growled.

“You have my word as a hunter,” Josh told her solemnly. “I just want to talk to him.”

“We’ll split up and search for him,” Kane announced, letting go of Jin but then stroking