Dark Refuge (18 page)

There’s never a good reason for stealing someone’s memories. Never. If they come back, then I will deal with them. Maybe I’ll be able to find out what happened, who did this to me, maybe I won’t. But Gabe, if all I discover is that you are my bonded mate for all time, I’ll be content. I love you. I’ve loved you for what feels like forever, but I never dreamed you might love me. I think I’m afraid you’ll change your mind.

Too late for that.

She turned to run but he was much too quick. His heavy jaws came down on the thick fold of skin between her neck and shoulders, and he held on, grasping her middle with his powerful front legs. He was such a sensitive lover in his human form, his speed and bestial savagery was a shock, but it had the desired effect. She planted her feet to support his greater weight, turned and snarled at him with her ears back, and lifted her tail to one side.

Obviously her wolf wasn’t concerned with foreplay. She felt the sharp stab as he entered her, the immediate response of her body as he thrust forward, finding her opening with unerring accuracy and sliding deep. The mating knot followed, tying them physically as her mind sought his, searching for the emotional mating that made each Chanku coupling unique.

Only as wolves, and only with their chosen mate, could the link succeed. Em wanted to cheer when she felt herself falling into Gabe, into his past, his childhood, his needs, his fears, the things that made him happiest, and the powerful love he felt for Emeline Isobelle. She couldn’t believe she’d ever doubted him, not when his love surrounded her, held her close, and filled all those places she’d ever thought were empty.

• • •

He’d wanted to be gentle, wanted to treat her with respect and love, but his wolf had other ideas. Yet when he clasped her body to his, when he entered her in a single powerful thrust and almost immediately tied the two of them together, he knew this was what Em wanted. What both of them needed.

The physical tie was beyond amazing, but the mental link that followed was the closest thing to perfection he’d ever experienced. The memories he found in Em’s mind were the things he remembered, and the beautiful little girl had loved him even then. He’d need to apologize when this was over, because he’d been such a clueless idiot. He’d had no idea how she felt.

How seriously she loved. He could have stayed there forever in her memories of such an idyllic childhood, but just as no child stays the same age forever, Em continued to grow. He was there when she and Luci plotted to lock both Gabe and Aaron in one of the barns, and wanted to laugh at her attempts to explain what they’d been up to when Anton had caught them.

And then, on a day like any other, he was in her mind when she and Luci and Phoenix Wolf went to the mall with Annie. With her when the man turned from charming and friendly to dangerous human predator, when he held a gun to her back, took her by the arm, threatened to kill Phoenix if Em didn’t tell her friend she’d be back in a few minutes.

He felt her terror and wanted to stop, but their bodies were tied and their minds caught in the mating link, and he couldn’t pull free, couldn’t stop what both of them were living through as the man forced her into his van and covered her face with a smelly cloth.

And that was where her memories stopped. She struggled against Gabe, against the mating knot holding them together, and Gabe tried to calm her but she was hysterical. Trapped in her wolf and totally out of control, snapping and growling. He shifted to set her free and the power of their link forced the shift on Em, but the woman in his arms was crazed with fear, incoherent and panic-stricken. She looked at him, eyes cat-green and filled with horror. He had no idea where her mind was or what she saw, but he opened his thoughts to catch her and hold her close.

He was fully linked to Em when she lost it.

She screamed, an unholy shriek of pure terror that turned into a leopard’s cry. Her fear was a weapon, a blade that pierced his heart, exploded in his mind. He was only vaguely aware he was holding a panic-stricken snow leopard as both of them fell.

• • •

“I could tell you stories about Alex . . .” Annie took another swallow of her wine and rolled her eyes. They’d all ended up in the sunroom with the lights of the city glowing between the house and the Pacific, and smaller lights far out to sea where huge cargo ships and passenger liners moved slowly across the horizon.

Alex leaned over the back of the couch. “You could, but you won’t, because I know stories about you that are every bit as good.”

She tilted her head and met his lips, and as much as she loved having all the girls around, right now she just wanted Alex.

“Holy shit. What’s that?”

Annie broke away from Alex, glanced briefly at Sissy, who’d been the one to shout, and then stared at the glowing apparition beginning to take shape in front of the window. Ignoring the gasps of shock from the girls, Annie said, “Eve? What are you doing here?”

“Is the pack okay?” Alex was around the couch and standing in front of Eve before their goddess could answer.

She nodded. “The pack is okay. Gabe and Em are not. They need you. They’re unconscious at Keisha’s garden, and I fear it’s my fault. Hurry. Take a car, and be careful. There are other predators awake tonight. I’m going to them.”

She disappeared and the questions flew. Annie was already slipping on a pair of shoes. “Later. We’ll explain it when we get back. I want you guys to stay here. That was Eve, our goddess. We’ll tell you more after we get Em and Gabe.”

She followed Alex down the stairs. By the time she got to the garage, he already had the company van started and the garage door open. There was no traffic this late at night, and they reached the park within a couple of minutes, parked illegally and raced across the grass to the memorial garden.

Eve’s glow lit the area around the monument. Gabe and Em lay close together, both of them naked. Alex knelt beside Gabe and checked his pulse, then Em’s. “They’re breathing, but something’s clawed the hell out of Gabe’s chest.”

Annie lifted one of Em’s hands. Her fingernails were bloodstained and broken. “Em. Let’s get them in the van.”

Still kneeling, Alex lifted Gabe like a child in his arms, and struggled to his feet with the heavy load of a man who weighed every bit as much as he did. “Stay with Em. I’ll be right back.”

Annie nodded as he left. She turned to Eve. “What happened?”

Eve sat beside her and ran her fingers through Em’s hair. “They mated, or tried to, but during the bonding, Em’s memories began coming back. Not all of them, but enough to trigger the block that’s been in place since she was taken.”

“Why were her memories blocked? That’s not right.”

“It’s not my story to tell, Annie. Alex is coming back, and I can’t hold my form here any longer. We’ll talk when you’re all in Montana. Thank you, and Alex and Em and Gabe for finding the four who are Chanku. I had no idea. Sometimes I feel such a failure.”

Eve began to fade before Annie could wrap her thoughts around her strange comment. Her fading fingers brushed Em’s face once again before she disappeared completely. Alex showed up right after she disappeared, lifted Em and walked with Annie back to the van. He didn’t ask about Eve.

“We have to go to Montana,” she said, “now that the girls have shifted. Eve said we’d talk there. Whatever happened tonight was because Em and Gabe were trying to mate. The mating link triggered Em’s memories, but the kidnapping memories were blocked as we suspected. Somehow, accessing those memories is what knocked them both out. I hope they’re okay.”

Alex paused while Annie opened the back door on the van. “Gabe wanted to bring Mary’s father to visit,” he said. Carefully he lay Emeline down across the middle seats, and then checked on Gabe. He hadn’t moved. “We’ll have to let Mary know that the visit will have to be delayed. I don’t want her left here alone with her family.” Alex went around to the front and got in.

Annie took the passenger seat and they headed back to the house while Annie kept watching both Gabe and Em. They didn’t seem to be in any distress, but their lack of consciousness was frightening.

So were the deep, bloody scratches across Gabe’s chest, and the blood caked beneath Em’s fingernails.

The girls met them in the garage and carried Em upstairs to her bedroom. Annie took Gabe’s feet while Alex looped his arms around Gabe’s body, lifting his head and shoulders. It was awkward and hard to carry him, but he was still unconscious when they reached Em’s room.

They lay him on the bed beside Em. Annie lifted Em’s hands and sighed. “I don’t want them to awaken to Gabe’s bloody chest and Em’s bloody fingernails.” She went into the bathroom and rinsed two clean washcloths in warm water. Handing one to Alex, she went to work on Em’s hands. Alex cleaned away the blood and washed the slashes on Gabe’s chest.

“She didn’t do all these scratches. Look at her nails. Em keeps them clipped short. These are deep. They’re going to leave scars without stitching. Do we have any strips? That might hold them together long enough for them to start healing.”

“I’ll get them.” She found a box of the tiny bandages with the really good glue. They wouldn’t stay on once Gabe shifted, but at least they should hold the cuts together while he slept. She helped Alex put the worst of the wounds together, and then finished cleaning up the mess. He was right, though. The slashes across his chest were much too deep for Em’s fingernails

They were still unconscious when Annie pulled the down comforter up over the two of them.

“I’ll stay with them,” Alex said. He looked horribly tired and very depressed. “Why don’t you go down and explain who Eve is and as much as we know about what happened.”

“We don’t know much.” She walked around the bed and looped her arms over his shoulders. “I love you so much. You’re a good man, Alex Aragat, and I want very much to be your wife. So, in case you were wondering, yes. I do want to marry you at the winter solstice celebration.” She kissed him then, and when she left the room, it felt so good to know she’d left him smiling.

All six of the girls waited in the kitchen, sitting at the long trestle table with cups of hot chocolate. When she stepped into the room, Sissy stood and went over to the stove. “We saved you some. Whipped cream?”

“Oh, yeah. After tonight? You might want to make it a double.”

Sissy grinned at her and gave the mug of steaming chocolate two big shots of whipped topping and then sprinkled tiny chocolate bits on top. “I’d put a shot of brandy in it, but I’m afraid you’d do a face plant on the table.”

“You’re probably right. Thanks.” Annie took the mug and grabbed the chair at the head of the table with three of the girls to her right and three to her left. “Okay, I know you’ve got a million questions, but let me tell you what I know that happened tonight, and maybe that’ll answer some of them. It actually started earlier in the week when we learned that Em has a big blank area in her memories. It’s as if she didn’t exist during part of her teen years, but I remembered an incident when she was kidnapped by a serial rapist, escaped after a couple of days and showed up at her parents’ house covered in blood. It wasn’t hers. About a week later, the body of a man was found in his rented house. He’d been eviscerated by a large animal of some kind, at least that’s what the coroner finally decided, though he’d started to decompose, so it was hard to tell.”

“Em?” The shock in Mbali’s voice was echoed by the looks on the rest of the girls.

“Most likely, but we don’t know if there was any follow-up by the police or not. Em doesn’t remember any of it. She and Gabe love each other, and tonight—and we don’t know why they chose tonight—they decided to mate. Mating for Chanku is a forever thing, so it’s not a decision they would have made lightly. It’s also unique in that we can only mate with one of our own kind, and the bond will only happen if we mate in our animal form. Most of us can become other kinds of predators, but as far as I know, the mating usually occurs as wolves. During the actual mating, a mental link forms that essentially shares whatever is in your mind—it’s like downloading your brain’s hard drive into your mate’s brain’s hard drive—but it creates a powerful link of such intimacy that you are forever bound to that person. Alex and I are mated. I know that he’s sitting beside Em and Gabe right now and he feels terrible because he loves them and wants to help, but there’s nothing any of us can do until they awaken. That’s part of what a link does. It gives you constant access to the one you love. Anyway, something went very wrong when Gabe and Em mated, and we think it has to do with those missing memories.”

“Will they be okay?” Sissy looked as worried as Annie felt, but she’d really connected with Em, which made perfect sense. Em was the one who’d found her and saved her.

“We think so, though we need to get them both to Montana, where they have family and we have healers who might be able to help.”

“Who was the ghost?” Mary glanced at the others and then focused on Annie. “That was so bizarre. You called her Eve? Like in Adam and Eve?”

Annie laughed. “That’s actually sort of funny. We Chanku have a unique relationship with our goddess and the Mother. The Mother is the ultimate ruler and she appears very rarely. I think the only one who occasionally hears from her is Sebastian Xenakis, the guy who’s mated to Gabe’s older sister, but our first goddess was named Liana. She screwed up and let the mate of one of our packmates die before our time. His name was Adam and his mate was Eve, and that was purely coincidence. When Eve died, the Mother was totally pissed off, and she booted Liana off the astral plane, which is pretty close to the veil that separates the realms of the living and the dead. Then she put Eve in Liana’s place. That’s the woman you saw. She was once a living, breathing person who had only discovered she was Chanku a couple of years before she died. She became our goddess, and Liana is actually mated to Adam now, and is much happier than she ever was living on the astral. Eve loves it, and loves her work as guardian to all of us.”