Kuma

Kuma

Kassanna

Copyright © May 2013, Kassanna

Cover art by Mina Carter © May 2013

ISBN: 978-1-939151-23-0

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

Sugar and Spice Press

North Carolina, USA

www.sugarnspicepress.com

Chapter One

Boris narrowed his eyes, watching the scene unfold through the window behind Rhys. He listened to his brother drone on about the Council. Rhys was completely unaware of the drama happening just beyond the room they sat in. Boris cocked his head and pushed his hand through his short, spiky hair.

Nix and Fre stomped across the yard and, if he wasn’t mistaken, Nix had her hands wrapped around a shotgun. Her multicolored neon locks lifted from her shoulders in the breeze. Boris groaned. Whatever was occurring couldn’t be good. He refocused on Rhys, and briefly wondered if the man knew what he’d gotten into mating Fre. Rhys continued on about the Council and the headache Roman was causing. Boris resumed watching the two women outside and coughed when a few of Rhys’s sentinels circled them. Tension ratcheted up his spine when he saw Fre pull a handgun from the small of her back.

Whatever the hell was going on just went from bad to worse. “Uh, Rhys…” Boris sighed.

“Let me finish.” Rhys continued his monologue, nonplussed.

“Dammit, Rhys, we have a problem!” Boris bellowed.

“Now what?” Rhys leaned back in his chair and stared at Boris with mild curiosity.

Boris’s gaze flipped between his brother and the window. He cleared his throat. He was preparing to speak when the office door slammed into the wall and their youngest brother Myka burst into the room.

“What the fuck is wrong with you all!” Rhys’s office chair fell back as he jumped to his feet.

With his attention momentarily diverted, Boris quickly glanced back at the window. Everyone was gone. He rubbed his eyes and rose from his seat, leaning on the edge of the desk to peer out through the glass.

“And what the hell are you looking for, Boris?” Rhys moved from behind the desk and came to stand next to Boris, staring off in the same direction as his brother.

“Nothing,” Boris commented.

“Rhys, you need to get your woman under control. Seriously.” Myka spoke up.

“Fre’s around here somewhere. She knows better than to go too far. What’s the problem?” Rhys wiped a hand down his face.

Boris snickered.

“You have nothing to giggle about, brother bear. Fre is with Nix, and we all know what kind of trouble those two can get into,” Myka added.

Boris felt the smile slip from his face at the reminder.

“I sent guards to intercept the women when Keen came to me about a few things. I’ve lost contact with the guards, and their last report was Nix and Fre were toting
a lot
of weapons.”

“For the love of God.” Rhys stalked out the room and mumbled. “She’s a human woman for crying out loud.”

Boris listened to his brother as he moved down the hallway. After a good stretch, Boris ambled after him. Moving down the passageway he noted his brother’s clothes lying on the floor and glanced over his shoulder. “So what, exactly, were Keen’s concerns?”

“He’s being teased at the school about Fre being human, and knowing how his father would react, he went to Nix for advice,” Myka answered.

“That was his first mistake. Nix’s name should really be Chaos.” At the front door, Boris pushed the screen door open and noted the busted partition. “Remind me to have this fixed again before Dad gets back from his vacation. I don’t want to owe him another twenty bucks for being right abouthow many times Rhys tears up the door.”

Following after Boris, Myka closed the frame with a solid
thud
. He looked off into the horizon. “Are we going to go after them as beast or by vehicle?”

“Rhys is tracking his woman. Let’s find the guards first. I hope they’re still alive,” Boris casually added before he turned to look at his brother.

“You don’t think…surely they wouldn’t…”

“Fre might not, but Nix? Let’s just say there is a reason she has been banned from several countries.” Boris dug the truck’s keys from his jeans’ pocket and swung the ring on his finger. “Where is Keen anyway?”

“You kidding, right?” Myka stared at Boris with an incredulous look on his face.

“No.”

“Think, Boris. Ol’ Scar might be tracking them, but I will bet you a hundred bucks that they never left Keen’s sight.”

“Damn, you have a point. So we find the guards first, then head the women off at the pass. I’m willing to bet they are on their way to the kid’s school.”

Myka met his stare over the hood of the vehicle and slowly nodded. They jumped into the cab of the truck. Boris slid the key in the ignition to start the engine and listened to it roar to life. This was exactly why he couldn’t be sent out on jobs anymore. Someone had to keep an eye on Nix, who was now Keen’s new nanny. A blast of heat hit him in the face, and he reached out to close the vents before turning the dial to defrost. That woman was sin and terror all wrapped in a neat, little, caramel-colored package.

For two months he’d been trying to get to know her, only to get shot down at every turn. It was as if she was playing a game with him. He grunted. She could make his most hardened guard cry, and when she did participate in their training, it was like watching a little ninja at work. Her knowledge of weapons and hand-to-hand combat perked his interest, and hell, he was already attracted to her physically. Boris threw Fre’s truck into third gear and took a sharp turn. Two of the old vehicle’s wheels came off the gravel and Myka reached above him to grab the handrail.

“You drive like they do,” his brother grumbled.

At first he thought it was funny that the shifters were taking it easy on her. That didn’t last long. Within a few days, his men were giving as good as they got and still losing. Nix was more than capable of taking on a shifter and yet, whenever he challenged her, she backed down. He downshifted to take the next turn onto an old logging road. The engine whined as he moved his feet to throw the truck into the next gear, then quickly moved the stick into neutral. He slammed his foot on the brakes when the men appeared in the headlights, sitting on a felled tree.

Boris pulled the hand brake up to keep the vehicle from rolling, and jumped out the truck. Myka’s men glanced up at them and bowed their heads. His brother shook his head as he approached them. Boris lifted his chin to get a whiff of which way the women went. Nix’s faint scent of strawberries and champagne carried on the breeze. He looked over at Myka and started to strip his clothes off. “Take the men back to the house. I’ll track Nix from here.” He threw the keys to his brother and tossed his things in the truck bed.

He welcomed the breaking and formation of his bones as he allowed his animal to take over. Thick fur rippled under his skin before sprouting from his follicles. His jaw jutted forward, and his nose lengthened. The muscles along his arms legs and back bulked up. He opened his mouth and roared before dropping to all four of his limbs and running off in the direction of Nix’s scent.

***

Nix looked over at her best friend and smiled. Fre glowed and appeared genuinely happy. Nix was excited for best friend, but she couldn’t help that little seed of jealousy that had sprouted deep in her soul. For so long it had been her and Fre against the world. If she could count on anyone, it would be the woman standing beside her. But now, she wasn’t sure that was still the case. Nix sighed, the sawed-off shotgun heavy in her hand. She flipped it around and propped it against her shoulder.

“What was that for?” Fre asked while trudging the indistinct path.

“What was what for?” Nix brushed a bright purple strand of hair behind her ear.

“The long, heartfelt exhale.”

“It’s nothing. Listen, how far exactly is this school?”

“No clue. I always drive Keen to school.”

Nix stopped in her tracks. “Really, Fre. Sometimes…” Nix threw up her hands, and the weapon tumbled to the ground. “Not to mention I’m the one who should be taking him to school. I’m supposed to be the fucking nanny!”

“Hey, watch that.” Fre hopped out of the way. “You’re also my friend and we both know I have a hard time making those, so get over yourself.”

Nix bent to retrieve the gun. At least Fre still thought of them as friends. She straightened and met her friend’s perplexed gaze. “I always will be.”

Fre pursed her lips. “I don’t see where you have much choice, since anything else would result in my kicking your ass.”

“You wish you could. You seem to forget who taught you how to fight in the first place. Remember, young one, I never taught you all my tricks.”

“Pfffftttt.” Fre blew a raspberry at her. “Come on, I know of some asses I need to kick, and they start with the damn principal of that stupid shifter school.”

“I’m right behind you.”

They followed the matted grass and exposed dirt path up to the fence that surrounded the school. Then they trailed the perimeter of the chain-link fence until they found a partially rolled back opening onto the grounds. Fre eased through. Nix slid in behind her, but a sharp point pierced her skin and skittered across her back as she moved through the opening. A space between her shoulder and her spine burned as if someone had laid a hot poker to her skin. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and tears collected beneath her lids. Once free, she glanced over her shoulder and saw minute bloodstains bloom on her shirt. “Dammit!”

Fre jumped. “What?”

“The stupid fence stabbed me.”

“Next time, be more careful.”

“Fuck that. Now I’m really pissed. I like this shirt.”

“OMG! Come on. You’re making more noise than an elephant in a china shop.”

“And now you’re calling me fat?” Nix stopped and looked down to study herself.

“You know, sometimes you’re worse than any man we’ve ever come across.”

“Screw you. Let’s just find this principal so I can put the hurting on him and we can move on to more pleasant things.” Nix grabbed the gun she’d left on the other side of the fence and pulled it through the hole. She brushed off her knees before rising. As she moved ahead of her friend, Fre grabbed her arm and swung her around.

A brisk breeze wrapped around her midriff, chilling her skin as it was exposed. She felt smooth fingers trace the scratch and winced when Fre pressed down. Her friend dropped the shirt.

“You’re gonna need a tetanus shot since the fence is rusty and I saw a couple of deep spots that might need stitches. I mean, really, Nix, you need to take better care of yourself
or
let a particular bear take care of you.”

Nix shimmied her shoulders. “Really you want to go there. Maybe if I just left you here, you wouldn’t have to worry
so
much.”

“Go to hell, Nix. You know you’d miss me if you left.” Fre offered her an innocent smile.

“Girl, I keep telling you that’s one of the many places I am no longer allowed into.” She looked at Fre and instantly felt bad. The woman didn’t have a malicious bone in her body. “I’m sorry, Fre. I’m just a little antsy. I think it’s time for me to move on. I’ve been here way too long and you know how I feel about wearing out my welcome.” Nix started to walk toward the squat buildings.

“You’re seriously thinking of leaving?” Fre’s voice sounded lost.

“It’s not like this is the first time we’ve parted ways. You’re like my little sister but you know me. I can’t stay in one place too long. You’re fine now…protected. Hell, I wouldn’t take on Scar if it came to it. That man is positively rabid when it comes to you.” She waited to see if Fre would smile. When the smile didn’t come, she continued speaking softly. “I will always be around if you need me. All you have to do is call me.”

“I know. We may not be blood, but you are my sister and I believe I’m not the only one who will be disappointed to hear you’re considering leaving,” Fre added.

Nix bumped Fre’s arm as they crossed the asphalt basketball courts in silence. “I haven’t left yet.” The
screech
of metal was the only sound to be heard as they opened and closed the gate that led to the brick-and-mortar structures. In the distance they could hear the laughter of children as they followed the concrete footpath that would lead them to the main structure.

Nix broke the silence. “So who are we after first? The teacher or the principal?”

“I’m hoping we catch both, maybe together.”

“Exactly why would two beautiful women be looking for me?” A deep, lyrical baritone flowed from behind them.

Nix swung around, slipping herself between the man and Fre while lifting her shotgun to take aim. The stranger held his hands up, palms facing her, and took a step back, then lifted his head taking a whiff of the air. Nix would never get used to watching a man sniff the air to gain information.