Wild Fire (14 page)

Isabeau’s swift indrawn breath was audible. The leopard nearly let go of her, retracting his claws in his shock. “That’s not true.”

“Isabeau is going to walk toward me and you’re going to let her. You’re surrounded with no way out. Keep looking at me,” Conner commanded when the young leopard started to turn. “I’m the one who is going to decide whether you live or die, not anyone else. What you do right now is going to be a life or death decision.”

“How can I trust you?”

“No matter what, I’m going to teach you a lesson,” Conner said. “You don’t get to walk away free when you made my mate bleed. As for trusting me, you’ll have to decide what you want to take a chance on. You touch her again, I give you my word, you’re a dead man.”

Conner never took his gaze from that of the young leopard’s. He knew the man could see the truth in his eyes. He knew he could see his raging leopard, the demand to kill. The young man sniffed and caught the scent of the others surrounding him. He swallowed and stepped back away from Isabeau, raising his hands slightly.

“They really killed a female leopard? You’re certain?”

“She was my mother,” Conner said. “I’m certain.”

Isabeau gasped, and made a small sound of distress.

The young man paled. “I didn’t know. There’s no mistake?”

“Suma works for and recruits for Imelda Cortez. She’s head of the largest drug cartel in the region and she’s directly responsible for the murder of the tribes and destruction of our forest,” Conner continued. “That’s who he revealed our people to and that’s the man you were working for.”

The leopard swallowed and held his hands out away from his body, raised his head to expose his throat. “Carry out the sentence then. Ignorance is not a defense.”

6

CONNER let his gaze unlock from that of the inexperienced leopard’s and allowed himself to look at Isabeau. His breath caught in his throat. Her face was pale, her eyes glazed with pain. Blood dripped from her throat and arm. She swayed slightly as if unsteady. Something inside him crumbled and another part of him wanted to leap on the leopard cub and rip him to shreds. It would be so easy to tear out his throat in retribution. Every instinct urged him to do just that.

For a long moment the forest seemed to hold its breath. The cat inside him prowled back and forth, occasionally throwing himself at the bonds holding him, testing Conner’s strength and resolve. Felipe and Leonardo moved out into the open, circling the young leopard. Elijah shoved his head through the leaves. Close. Too close to Isabeau.

His cat snarled, his gaze swinging toward the new threat to his mate. Red haze burned through his mind. A warning went off in his brain. The cat was too close, raking to get free. His muscles contorted. His mouth ached. Fingers curled. Sweat broke out on his body as he tried to fight the cat back.

Isabeau walked right up to him, unafraid, although her body trembled. “Conner?” Her voice was soft but demanding.

He reached for her, brought her against him, holding her close for a moment, listening to the reassuring beat of her heart, the steadiness of her breath. It took a few minutes to take control of his cat. The scent of the other leopards and the strong smell of blood nearly drove him mad, but her ready acceptance of his touch managed to calm him enough to stay in control. He bent his head to her throat, examining the puncture wounds. The young leopard had been careful to miss her jugular. Blood welled from the cuts, but they were definitely not lethal. The cub hadn’t meant to kill her. It wouldn’t stop Conner from teaching him a lesson, but it would save the boy’s life.

He brushed the pads of his fingers over the claw marks and then used the rough velvet of his tongue to heal them, the way of his cat. The coppery taste mixed with the fresh rain and the fragrance of her skin. She rested her forehead against his chest, obviously exhausted. He needed to get her to shelter soon.

“I have to look at your arm,
Sestrilla.
” He ripped her sleeve away to expose the wound. A chunk of her arm was missing, up near the bicep, but it was a flesh wound. They’d been lucky. “Infection happens fast in the forest,” he told her, his voice as gentle as he could make it when his cat refused to settle.

“I’ve got a few things in my bag that will help,” she confided. “I study medicinal plants, so I always carry a few.”

“Do you have painkillers?”

“They don’t work so well on me,” she said, attempting a small smile.

He was grateful for that little smile. She was comforting him, and that turned him inside out . He could tell it bothered her that his usual calm was gone on her behalf. She was having a hard enough time keeping him at arm’s length, and having his cat
and
the man be so agitated over her injuries and the threat to her was disturbing.

“We’ve got to go,” Rio said. He was in the forest, out of Isabeau’s sight.

Conner knew it wasn’t modesty. Leopards weren’t modest about nudity. When they shifted, they generally carried or cached clothes in the areas they lived, but they often shifted in front of one another. Rio was more concerned for Isabeau, who wasn’t raised leopard, and for Conner’s reaction. Isabeau was near the Han Vol Dan, the emerging of her leopard and her leopard’s heat. She was putting out enough hormones to rock all the males, mated or not. He wasn’t taking a chance of Conner getting more aggressive.

“We’ve taken care of most of them, and the others have turned tail and run, but they might suddenly get their courage back. Let’s get to shelter.”

“What about me?” the young leopard asked.

There was silence. Conner looked over the top of Isabeau’s head at the young man. He’d been like that once, looking for adventure and something besides the village.

“You’ll be coming with us. I have a few things to say to you.”

The kid put his arms down as he let out his breath in obvious relief.

“Don’t look happy about it, kid,” Conner snapped. “I’m going to beat the hell out of you.”

“Jeremiah. My name’s Jeremiah Wheating.” He flexed his claws and grinned at Conner. Now that he was safe, he was back to looking cocky. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Conner had the urge to cuff the kid. Seriously smack him. His mate was still bleeding and the kid was looking like he was full of himself all over again. He turned away from the young leopard to keep from springing on him and ripping the smirk from his face. With gentle hands, he wrapped up Isabeau’s arm and, because he couldn’t help himself, he pressed a kiss over the bandage, uncaring what she—or any of the others—thought.

“Let’s move out. Adan? You all right?”

“Still deciding whether or not to shoot our young friend,” Adan answered from where he was hiding in the brush. “It’s more tempting than you could possibly know.”

“Oh, I think I have some idea,” Conner said. He slid his hand down Isabeau’s arm until his fingers tangled with hers. “Let’s get moving.”

“Where are we going?” the kid asked eagerly. He nearly bounced as he hurried after them.

Elijah launched himself into the air, leaping on the kid’s back, hitting him with enough force to knock him over. The boy rolled in the leaves and insects, and Elijah kept going without breaking stride, his large paws making no sound as he paced alongside Conner.

Conner sent him a small nod of appreciation. Isabeau turned her face against his side and muffled a small laugh.

“You did good, Isabeau,” he praised. “You didn’t panic.”

“I knew you’d come,” she said, shocking him.

There was a quiet acceptance in her voice. She might not realize it, but she trusted him a lot more than she let on. “He didn’t threaten me at first. He was shocked when he came out of the brush and I was there.”

Conner sniffed his disdain, his cat chuffing in annoyance. The kid hadn’t used his leopard senses even when he was hunting. His disdain for Adan had left him handicapped. He hadn’t done his homework. He didn’t even realize who he was hunting. Adan’s skill in the rain forest was known far and wide, yet the young man hadn’t been aware of him.

“What village do you come from?” Conner asked, suddenly suspicious.

“My village is in Costa Rica,” Jeremiah said cheerfully. He shot Conner a quick grin. “I’ve been around. It’s not like I’ve never been out of the forest.”

This time Rio charged him, knocking him flat. He hit the kid hard enough to produce a grunt of pain. As Rio moved off the boy, he cuffed him hard with his large paw, his claws retracted, but definitely a reprimand.

Jeremiah rolled, came up in a crouch, scowling at the large leopard as he dusted himself off. “Hey! I have been around.”

“Obviously you didn’t learn respect,” Conner pointed out. “You have five elders here and an elder from one of the local Indian tribes as well as a female. So far I haven’t been impressed.”

The boy had the grace to look ashamed. “I just want to see some action,” he said.

“How did Suma contact you?” Conner asked.

“Internet. He put an ad up asking for help. I figured I was just the thing he needed.” Jeremiah stuck out his chest.

“Young. Impressionable. Stupid.” Conner spat on the ground.

“Hey!” Jeremiah’s cocky grin faded to another scowl. “I just want some action. I don’t want to spend my entire life locked up in some boring village with the elders telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m fast.”

“You have to be more than fast in this business, kid,” Conner said. “You have to know when to depend on your cat and when to depend on your brain and when you need to blend them both. You’re all over the place. Right now, you’re walking so hard, any leopard in the forest would be able to hear you.” He shot the boy a hard look. “Adan would have heard you coming a mile out.”

Even in the darkness, the kid’s flush was apparent. He made an effort to walk quietly. “You could teach me.”

“Do I look like someone who wants to teach some damned cub wet behind the ears? You sank your claws into my mate, you ass.” His cat rode him hard all over again, furious that he didn’t attack the kid right then. His breath came out in a long hiss and his muscles contorted.

Isabeau stumbled, whether deliberate or not, he didn’t know, but his arm slid around her waist and he simply lifted her, cradling her in his arms. She stiffened, opened her mouth to protest. Her gaze met his and she stayed silent.

He
needed
to hold her. Her weight was nothing to him, but the feel of her in his arms was everything. He nuzzled the top of her head and glared at the youngster. The kid didn’t have any idea yet how difficult it was to find a mate. He had no idea about life or danger. The idea of living on the edge was a terrifying lure to the young. He knew because he’d been the same way. He’d been young and cocky and full of his own strength without a clue of what mattered or would ever matter.

Conner closed his eyes briefly and wondered why the universe was slamming him so damned hard. He couldn’t just turn the kid loose to get killed—and Suma would kill him. Jeremiah Wheating wouldn’t stand by and watch children be killed. The moment Suma took him to Imelda Cortez and the kid realized what was really going on, he’d see himself as the hero and get himself killed. Conner had no choice but to look after the little punk.

He sighed and looked down into Isabeau’s upturned face. She smiled at him.

“What?” He asked it almost belligerently. She had too much knowledge in her eyes.

“You know what. I don’t think you’re as much of a bastard as you want everyone to think you are. Not by a long shot.”

“I came close to killing him. And he damn well deserved it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“The night isn’t over yet.”

She just smiled and his belly tightened. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about him. The kid was going to learn a lesson tonight. Isabeau would think he was a brute, and the kid would sulk for a while, but his cat would be happy again and maybe give him a little respite from the clawing need and the sharp, angry reprimand.

The cabin was just ahead, built high in the trees, hidden by the heavy vines and broad leaves surrounding it. He had mapped it out for the others just in case they were separated. He had lived there for several years with his mother, separated from others while she mourned the loss of her husband. His father had never been her true mate, but she had loved him.

The cabin didn’t hold happy memories for him, but the moment he’d stepped foot in the rain forest it was the first place he’d gone. He’d spent two days making repairs and stocking it so they’d have a base camp if needed. It wasn’t for sentimental reasons. He wasn’t a sentimental man. He should have checked in immediately with Rio, but he needed the time to readjust. And he’d gone looking for his mother. Now he knew why she hadn’t been there.

Strangely, the cabin looked as though it had been occupied recently, lulling him into a false sense of security. He’d even found a couple of his old toys, a truck and an airplane carved from wood out on the table. He’d imagined his mother looking at them and remembering their times together in the cabin. Now he didn’t know what to think.

He set Isabeau on her feet and leapt up to catch a vine. Pulling himself, hand over hand, he gained the small porch and dropped the ladder made of tight vines down to the others. He shoved bundles down to them, knowing the men would need the clothes after they shifted, and then he dropped back to the ground.

“I’m not certain I can climb,” Isabeau admitted. “My arm has really stiffened up.” Even as she voiced her doubt, she reached up to grasp the ladder.

“I can take you up,” Conner said, “but you’ll have to go over my shoulder.”

She gave an experimental pull, winced and let out her breath. “It’s a long way up. I think I’m going to forgo my pride and just let you take me up.” She stepped back from the ladder.

Conner signaled Adan to go up and pointed to Jeremiah. “You can wait down here for me. We’re going to have a little talk before I invite you in.”

The kid’s eyes showed his nerves, but he nodded gamely. Conner took Isabeau up without further delay. She was swaying on her feet and needed her wounds attended to. He wanted her on antibiotics and whatever medicine she was carrying. They had a first-aid kit stashed with the antibiotics, but no painkillers. She’d warned him she didn’t do well on them, but he wasn’t certain what she’d meant. He’d never conceived of her getting shot. If the juvenile leopard hadn’t taken her hostage, it never would have happened, another sin against him.