A Mating Dance (16 page)

***

Blaine paced his father’s living room with his hands clenched in tight fists. His skin felt too tight, his muscles too tense. And his leopard wasn’t doing too well either. The animal wanted to jump out and kill. Not that Blaine disagreed. The Onyx bastards would pay for taking his mate from him.

He snapped his head toward the front door as it opened. Cameron entered, meeting his gaze. Her eyes still burned with the gold glow of her jaguar, and her hair was wet. He growled, not liking that she was hurting.

“Come here,” he commanded.

She cocked an eyebrow but continued forward. When she stopped inches from him, he slid a hand behind her neck and drew her in so he could press his forehead against hers. “We’ll find him and bring him home.”

Cameron twisted out of his hold as the Alphas, Hayden, and Jared walked in. Blaine nodded at Cameron’s brother as he came over to stand next to his sister against the wall. He didn’t say anything to her, just stood so his shoulder touched hers.

Blaine moved to stand on the other side of Cam when his father took his place in front of the room. The leopard Alpha set his jaw and started grinding his molars in frustration, a habit Blaine’s father had always had when he was pissed and seeking control of his inner cat.

When Keegan finally spoke, he couldn’t keep the tension from his voice. “So it appears Ashwood isn’t the only Pack with a teleporter.”

Blaine suppressed a shudder. It wasn’t out of fear but the impact of his father’s barely contained power, which radiated with each word. Beside him, Cameron didn’t shudder. She most likely hadn’t shaken off the wash of power from the forest. He closed his eyes, knowing first-hand what it felt like for his father to unleash his Alpha strength to calm a leopard or, in Cam’s case, a jaguar, into submission when they lost control.

Her fingers twined with his, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze while sending her a mental reassurance.
“We will get him back.”

Chapter 15

The click of a lock brought Graham back to awareness. When no one rushed in to beat him back into unconsciousness, confusion clouded his mind. He lifted his head from the sand-covered cement floor and looked around. A small robed figure darted away from the cell door.

Scrambling to his feet, and wincing at the sharp pain in his ribs, he reached the bars, too slow to catch the female. She was gone, no sign of her anywhere. He knew it was a female by her scent. He shook his head to try to regain some sanity back because he swore the scent was that of the female jaguar that had come in earlier and ordered his beating.

What the hell? Did she have regrets?

He snorted. That was highly doubtful.

He peered down at the lock and groaned. The bars were unlocked and slightly open. It was a trap. It had to be. Why else would she do it?

Desperation was a crazy thing. It took control of all rational thoughts and caged them up. Hesitantly, Graham pushed the bars open and peered down the hall. No one in sight. He listened and heard only the soft snores of someone sleeping farther down the hall to his right. That meant Graham was going left.

Slowly he walked down the dark hallway, careful not to alert any of the guards that may be lurking about. When he came to the end of the hall, he eased around the corner. There was no one there. Suspicion crept up his spine. This had to be a trap, but what choice did he have?

Die trying to escape or die cowering in that damned cell?

He wasn’t weak, and he damn sure didn’t cower for anyone.

Pushing on, he made his way to a door. He sucked in a breath and slowly opened the door expecting alarms to sound off. He waited a few moments and let out the breath he held when he wasn’t stormed by a dozen mutants. He stepped through the door and smiled at the scent of clean mountain air that announced he was outside. Then he took off.

He ran as fast as his human legs could carry him while ignoring the searing pain in his chest as he breathed. Yet, he was too slow. The lights around the building flashed on, and shouts sounded behind him.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins, pushing him to move faster, to reach the thick part of the forest where he could have a better chance of evading them. The sound of heavy, booted feet pounding on the earth made his heart hammer against his ribs. Fuck. He wasn’t going to make it home alive.

Sammie’s strong, sweet face flashed in his mind, and then Cameron, laughing and playing with Max, filled his sight. He had to survive, had to tell Cameron and Blaine how much they had come to mean to him. That he loved them.

They were his mates, and he was fucking going to make it back to them.

He dodged around trees and zigzagged through the forest in hopes of spreading his scent to confuse the trackers. Jumping over a rotting trunk, he rounded another large oak. He didn’t even know if he was going in the right direction. Hell, he could be going farther away from Ashwood. But he wasn’t going to stop. Besides, it wasn’t as though he could ask for directions.

A sharp pain hit the back of his right thigh then spread up his side, causing him to fall to the ground. He reached back and felt a dart sticking out of his leg.

Fuck.

He started to lift himself from the ground, but his limbs started to shake, and his vision blurred as fear burned in his gut. Tranquilizers. The dart had to have some kind of sedative. The last thing he saw before giving into sleep was a large black jaguar skidding to a halt in front of him.

***

If cats could howl, Cameron would have done it out of anger and pain to see Graham hurt and helpless. When he fell into unconsciousness, her heart stopped for a brief moment. She walked closer and nudged him with her nose then rubbed her head against him.

Footsteps came up behind her, and she let out a growl in warning. In her mind, she knew it was only Alec. She’d scented him before he approached, but in jaguar form, her possessive nature took over. Her cat didn’t want anyone near her mate. She let out a soft yowl and lay down beside Graham.

A moment later, Alec called out for Blaine. Then strong fingers stroked her fur. “Cam, baby, we have to move him. Let my brother and father take him home so we can kick rogue ass.”

She snarled at the mention of the rogues. Yes, those bastards would pay for what they’d done to Graham. Rising to her feet, she nuzzled him one more time before rubbing her large feline body against Blaine.

“I’ll go back with him.”

Blaine cocked his head but didn’t argue. He just took her head in his hands and kissed the top of her head. “Take care of our mate.”

She smiled, knowing that to him it looked like a show of fangs and teeth.
“You go kick rogue ass.”

Twenty extremely long minutes later, Cameron was back in human form and sitting in a chair next to Graham’s bed in the medical center. Worry ate at her as she waited for him to wake up from the tranquilizers the rogues had shot him with.

Dani said he had several broken ribs to go with the bruises on his torso and face. The Healer healed what she could, saying that once he woke, he could shift to speed up his natural healing abilities.

She checked in with Keegan to see if they needed any more men in the field. He told her to stay put, that they were cleaning up the rogue garbage and should be heading in soon.

Graham groaned, and she sat up and ran her fingers through his blond hair. “Graham? Can you hear me?”

His eyes fluttered open and focused on her. He smiled, but it faded when he tried to sit up. Cameron stood over his bed and gently pushed him back down. “Just rest for a little longer.”

He brushed his fingers down her cheek. She looked into his blue eyes, wanting so badly to tell him she wanted to mate, to forge the bond that would forever bind her to him and Blaine. Yet, this wasn’t the time or the place. She didn’t want to do it inside a hospital room, and she wanted Blaine to be here when she dropped the news.

Graham frowned as if sensing her mood, but she bent down and pressed her lips to his, silencing him from asking her what she was thinking about. He would find out soon enough. Like when Blaine got back and they took him home.

She pulled back and gasped as a surge of power arched through her. The wards. Shit, someone had triggered the wards. Luna’s voice entered her mind.
“Cam, meet me at Addyson’s and hurry.”

Cameron stepped away, only to have Graham stop her with a hand on her arm. “What is it?”

“Someone broke through the wards. Stay here.”

She ran out the medical center before he said another word. As she reached the Scribe’s large home, Tanner, Luna’s youngest son, and a couple of other enforcers met her at the driveway. Tanner tossed her one of his 9 mms when he noticed she wasn’t armed. She caught it and led them around to the back yard.

Cameron stopped dead when she saw a boy standing in the middle of the yard, eyes wide and his too-thin body trembling. He looked to be about nine years old. Then again he could have been older. It was hard to tell in his sickly state. The sound of Addyson’s back door opening caught Cameron’s attention.

Addyson stepped out of her sunroom and gasped. She started jogging toward the boy shouting, “Don’t hurt him.”

What? How could she possibly think they’d hurt a child?

Cameron didn’t have time to question the female before about a half dozen rogues charged at them.
Fuck.
“Addyson, grab the boy and go inside. Now!”

The Scribe had her gloves on, along with the cloak she wore in public to keep from accidently making skin contact with anyone. She must have been on her way to the market, Cameron decided, and ran toward the group of rogues.

She met the first one with a kick in the stomach. When he bent forward, she brought her knee up to slam it into his face. He howled in pain and dropped to the ground, blood running from his nose. Cameron aimed her gun and fired a bullet into his head.

Luna flew by her and tackled a rogue male three times her size to the ground. They rolled until the male straddled her. Luna smirked and thrust the heel of her palm into the rogue’s throat, throwing him off balance and making him gasp for air. Luna scrambled to her feet, went to the male, and took his head in her hands. Luna twisted his head with quick accuracy and dropped his lifeless body to the ground, then stepped over him to charge at the next one.

Cameron thrust out an arm to clothesline a rogue as he ran by her. He landed on his back, hitting the ground hard enough that Cam heard bones snap. “That hurt,” she mused right before she shot him between the eyes.

The sound of a female scream froze Cameron’s blood. Twisting around, she saw Addyson running toward the house with the little boy tucked to her side as they ran. A mutant that Cameron hadn’t noticed before was a few feet from Addyson.

Cameron took off, running as fast as she could to reach the Scribe before the half-wolf monster could get her. Adrenaline pumped in her veins, fueled by rage and a need to end this crazy rush of attacks. There had been too many people hurt over the past few days, and Cameron was beyond sick of both it and the bastard-ass Onyx Pack.

She slammed into the mutant with enough force that it made her teeth hit together painfully. The creature only staggered a few steps then turned his attention to her. Good. “Addyson, run!”

Cameron heard someone scream at her at the same time the rogue’s large, clawed paw swiped across her face and chest. Sharp stings from the claws slicing into her flesh barely registered as the rage built inside her at the violence around her.

She pulled her gun up, pressed it to the mutant’s forehead, and fired, twice.

When the piece of shit fell in a heap on the ground, she stepped away and instantly was overcome with dizziness.

What the hell?

Her vision grew dark as she felt the world tilt, and then her cheek hit the ground as everything around her disappeared.

***

Blaine screamed Cameron’s name, but knew she was too far into the fight for it to register. He ran forward with Graham close behind.

When the mutant swiped its claws at Cameron, fear pushed him faster. Then everything seemed to slow down. Cameron shot the animal then staggered and fell. He was there the next moment, rubbing a hand over her hair and down her back.

“Please, Cameron, be okay.” He scooped her up in his arms and glanced at Graham. “I can only teleport one at a time.”

Graham nodded. “Go. I’m right behind you.”

God, he loved that male. With a short nod, Blaine flashed to the medical center. When he took form in the waiting area, he called out, “Sasha! Dani!”

Both females rushed out of different rooms. Dani cursed and waved him to the only empty room left thanks to the rogue attack in the area where they’d found Graham. They’d lost another enforcer, and five others were critical.

Following Dani inside the room, Blaine laid Cam on the bed. When he got a good look at her, his heart skipped beats before hammering inside his chest. Her shirt was soaked with blood, and she had deep gashes on her cheek and chest.

Dani cut Cameron’s shirt off and started healing the worst, but Blaine could tell the healer was running out of steam. She was just beginning to regain her powers and some of feeling in her right hand.

After several moments, Dani sagged. “I’m wiped. The only thing you can do for her now is take her home and start the mating bond. The triad bond will give her enough strength to heal the rest of the way on her own.”

Blaine studied his mate. “If I don’t?”

Dani sighed. “I wasn’t able to close all the wounds. I’ll have to stitch them, but she’ll grow weak and could get an infection and die.”

Blaine traced Cameron’s cheek with his fingers. She let out a small sound and nuzzled his hand. “Do what you can. Graham and I will start the bond and heal our mate.”

Chapter 16

Keegan burst through Addyson’s back door with one purpose. Find the female.