The Lion Within (Ghost Cat Shifters #1) (17 page)

She traced a finger along his eyebrow, smoothing it. Worry fluttered inside of her. While he was busy wanting to keep her safe, she was far more concerned about him. Any threat Nelson made toward her was truly directed toward Daniel, and that scared her. She shoved those thoughts away and focused on what he said. “I know that would make you feel better, but it’s not practical. I’m hardly ever alone as it is. The one place I was alone before was when I was home and even then Daisy was always with me. Now that you’re here all the time…” Her words trailed off with a smile.

He smiled softly, but it was fleeting. He caught her lips in a quick kiss. “It’s just hard. That’s all. You might have to be patient with me. If I seem overprotective, well, I suppose I am when it comes to you. No one’s ever mattered to me as much as you do.”

She traced his other brow. “Nor you to me.”

As she dipped her head down to rest against his shoulder, she considered how she could make sure she went to the cabin with Daniel. It didn’t have to be only her, but she knew she could handle herself. She knew she should talk to him about it, but she sensed if she mentioned it now, it would only upset him. Instead, she traced circles on his chest with her fingertip as his breathing evened into sleep.

***

Daniel stared at Sophia for a long moment before he swung away. “No.”

“You can’t tell me not to go! I’ve been shifting and fighting for my entire life. I know the mountains around here a hell of a lot better than you do. You know it makes sense.”

Her words drove through him. He swung back to face her. “I don’t care if it makes sense to you. It doesn’t make sense to me. I’ll talk to Roger, and I won’t go alone, but you’re not going.” His frustration notched higher at the stubborn set of her features.

She crossed her arms and paced back and forth in front of the window. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

He stepped in front of her when she paused in her pacing and cupped her shoulders. “Look, I’m not asking you to stay because I think I can control what you do. I just need to know you’re going to be safe. If I know you’re out there, I just…hell, I just can’t deal with that.”

He tugged her roughly into his arms and buried his face in her hair. She was stiff at first, but her body softened against him. He felt the rise and fall of her breath before she tipped her head back and stroked her palm over his cheek. Her hand trailed down to rest over his heart. She nodded slowly. “Okay. But promise me you’ll ask Heath to go with you. I don’t care who else Roger sends, I want Heath with you.”

“If I call Heath, you’ll stay back?”

She chewed her lip and took another breath before she nodded.

Chapter 16

Daniel walked beside Heath through the trees. After Daniel conferred with Roger, they’d decided it would be best to have Daniel head out to meet Nelson at the old cabin with the police coming in from another direction. Roger assured him they would only use officers who were shifters and thought Heath was ideal to join Daniel. He’d suggested Nelson would probably consider Heath a weak link due to everything that had happened, which might work in their favor.

At the moment, they were hiking into the mountains before shifting when they were deep enough into the forest. On the drive out, Heath had shared his concern that Sophia and Vivi might be inclined to do their own reconnaissance. Daniel would have liked to think Heath was wrong, but he knew how concerned Sophia was. After she’d agreed not to go, they hadn’t discussed it again. He couldn’t help the curl of apprehension. He didn’t think she’d purposefully mislead him, but he definitely thought she could easily reconsider. As they approached a wide stream, Heath glanced over at him.

“Soph wouldn’t come out alone, you know. If she decides to follow us, Vivi will be with her. I’m guessing you asked her not to, but she’s got a stubborn streak and she’s a hell of a fighter. Soph and Vivi can hold their own. I thought I should mention it, so you don’t get surprised if something goes awry and they get flushed out,” Heath said.

“How good are the chances they’d show up without letting us know?” Daniel asked, trying to ignore the tension knotting in his chest.

“Better chances than if they let us know,” Heath offered with a wry grin. His expression quickly sobered. “Seriously, they can handle themselves fine. Soph and Vivi know these mountains blind. They can fight with the best of them, and they’re both fast as hell. I just thought you could use the heads up.”

Daniel nodded and took a gulp of the cool forest air. Under the trees, a mix of evergreens and aspen, the forest was shadowed with patches of sun breaking through here and there. They paused beside the stream with its icy, clear water tumbling over rocks, the rushing sound soothing and invigorating at once. Daniel glanced to Heath. “Shall we?”

At Heath’s firm nod, they shifted. Daniel had come to savor the rush of power when he shifted. Fur rippled over him in a wave. A sense of strength and power far beyond any human power coursed through him. He stood tall beside the stream and looked around. His eyes and ears were sharper and far more attuned in lion form. He glanced to Heath who stood tall and strong beside him. Heath swung his head side to side before bunching onto his haunches and effortlessly leaping over the stream. Daniel followed, easing to Heath’s side as they threaded their way deeper into the mountains.

The cool air ruffled through his fur as they ran. The scents of the forest were sharp. He scented a pair of squirrels just before they began chattering. In what felt like almost no time, they approached the bluff overlooking the valley where the old cabin sat. The plan was for Daniel to approach in plain sight once they scouted the area. Heath would hang back in the tree line, revealing himself only if necessary. As agreed, they paused at the bluff and watched for several long moments. The scent of humans and lions was discernible, but there was no motion around the cabin. They backed away from the bluff and circled around the valley, staying hidden among the trees. As they moved through the trees, they saw three shifters approaching from the opposite side. Heath had assured Daniel he’d be able to confirm who any shifters were. As the shifters saw them and hung back, Heath flicked his tail and nodded, indicating they were the police in shifter form. After a full loop revealed nothing out of the ordinary, Daniel and Heath paused in an area where there was a clear view of the cabin.

Daniel glanced to Heath who nodded slowly, lifting his chin toward the cabin before he leapt silently onto a tree branch and settled in to look across the valley. Daniel moved quietly through the trees and out into the small clearing surrounding the cabin. There was still no motion of any kind. Daniel knew the police were positioned in the trees nearby, at two different corners in view. He slowly approached the cabin. The door hung open, its hinges squeaking in the soft breeze blowing through the valley.

Daniel padded into the cabin and glanced around. It contained a few chairs and a wall of stainless steel storage cabinets. The cabinets were fitted with high-end digital locks. The cabin was a classic frontier cabin. It contained one large front room with a massive cast iron cooking stove in the center of the room. Two small rooms, likely bedrooms, were off to the side. Both rooms were empty save more stainless steel cabinets against the walls. As he circled around, his eyes noted small details—the clear evidence of frequent traffic in the footsteps on the dusty floor. The traffic was a mix of paw prints and a variety of shoe prints. At the moment, no one was here. The tension coiled inside of him tightened. He didn’t trust Nelson, so he pondered what Nelson’s plan could be.

There was suddenly a rush of sounds in the distance outside. He raced out of the cabin and paused to look around. He could hear the scuffle, but he couldn’t see it. As his senses pinpointed the location, he loped across the valley. He could sense Heath moving in the same direction, but Heath remained hidden in the trees. As Daniel got closer to the area, he saw Sophia dash out of the trees, glorious in cat form. She spun around to face the mountain lion behind her, a heavy, muscled cat. Sophia dodged and spun again when the other cat snarled and lunged toward her. A wash of anger and protectiveness coursed through Daniel. He shifted from a jog to a dash. Sophia didn’t spare him a glance as she darted toward the other lion and easily swiped her claws across the lion’s neck. The other lion roared and batted in her direction, but missed. As Daniel watched, he guessed the lion was Nelson. He almost lumbered in his motion, and it was clear he was aging. He was still quite powerful, but he couldn’t match Sophia’s speed. Vivi dashed into sight, drawing another shifter out into the open.

If Nelson had intended to stay hidden, he’d underestimated who might come with Daniel. In seconds, between Sophia, Vivi and Heath, it was a fast and furious brawl among the lions. Daniel dashed among them and went straight for Nelson who repeatedly kept trying to corner Sophia. With snarls, hisses and motion around them, Daniel circled Nelson who kept dodging and attacking Sophia. Daniel was unfamiliar with the other two shifters who’d appeared with Nelson. The fight began to drag on. His eyes snagged on a dark stain of blood in Sophia’s fur along her shoulder. Anger surged as he leapt toward Nelson, catching him by the neck and throwing him to the ground. Nelson tore free and bolted through the cluster.

Daniel took chase, his legs bunching under him with every leap. He felt Sophia catch up to him. Nelson had almost crossed the valley. Sophia nudged his shoulder, breaking his stride. Daniel snarled at her, and she snarled right back. He didn’t know why, but she was trying to stop him. Ignoring her, he kept running, his eyes on Nelson’s tail as it flicked in the air behind him. They crossed into the trees. In seconds, the ground became rocky, small rocks rolling under his paws as he leapt to catch up to Nelson. The sound of rushing water reached his ears, becoming louder with each bounding leap forward. Suddenly, Nelson disappeared out of sight. Daniel was mere seconds behind him and saw the waterfall going over the cliff at the last second. Sophia dashed in front of Daniel, knocking him swiftly to the ground in the edge of the stream. When he leapt back up, he saw her scrambling to catch her footing in the water and watched in horror as she slipped and fell. She was precariously close to the edge of the waterfall and clawed at the wet rocks to keep from falling.

Daniel roared from the fear pounding through him. Sophia was a blur of motion with the water rushing over and around her. Fear and adrenaline driving him, Daniel leapt in front of her and grabbed with his teeth at Sophia as she fell. He barely caught her by the side of the neck. The sound of water rushing through his ears, he started to move only to feel Sophia get caught in the current again. His hold on her loosened as he struggled to remain upright and fought against the force of the water. She clawed wildly and snagged one paw around a boulder. Between her straining to hold herself in place, he gained enough time to get a firmer grip on her. He forced himself to move slowly as he backed away with Sophia gripped firmly in his teeth. Only when they were far enough away from the waterfall did he ease his hold. She shook her head and stood, bedraggled, blood streaked and drenched wet. He roared—his roar an echo of his feelings. Sophia meant too much to him, and pure fury raced through him as he realized how close she’d come to tumbling over the waterfall. His breath bellowed in the forest as his heartbeat finally began to slow and it sank in that Sophia was safe. She stepped past the stream and was waiting for him in the trees.

He glanced back to where the stream sluiced off the cliff, rolling hundreds of feet into a clear pool below. Nelson’s form had disappeared into the water. The water eddied in the pool and then rolled over another cliff. All Daniel could see was Nelson’s lion lift its head out of the water before he slipped over the next waterfall. Daniel held still beside Sophia. Their breath heaved in the cool air.

Chapter 17

The following afternoon, Daniel leaned against the wall in Roger Shaw’s office. Though Nelson had bolted, his whereabouts currently unknown and his survival in question, the police had come away from yesterday with two more shifters in custody and walked away from the cabin with a haul of their drug supply. The two shifters had been happy to jabber away once it became clear their main source of income had disappeared over a cliff.

It was still smarting Daniel that Nelson had escaped. Sophia had explained that unless he managed to get out of the water, he had a rough ride downhill with the waterfalls he’d tumbled over being the easier part of his fall. She’d also explained the reason she’d tried to slow Daniel was she feared Nelson hoped to trap him into falling over the cliff. Every time Daniel thought about the fact Sophia almost followed Nelson over the cliff, his heart skipped a few beats. The thought of losing her terrified him. He hadn’t yet brought himself to talk about it. When she’d tried to say something last night, all he could do was shake his head.

For now, Roger leaned back in his chair and looked to Daniel. “I know you’re not happy Nelson’s status is in question, but we drove the biggest wedge yet into the smuggling network. Nelson was the mastermind and used your grandparents’ old properties for storage and checkpoints. Since you inherited all of their properties, with your permission, we can search them all. They sold a lot off, but I plan to check the sales and follow up with the new owners. Nelson had a lot of time on his hands, so it’s reasonable to guess he had time to scout all of them. We’ll get to work, but now we have a way to rattle the network at its core. The shifters relied on these remote storage locations for transfers and drop offs. Without them, we can disrupt the entire network.”

“You have my permission to search any of the properties I own. If you need something in writing, just tell me what I need to do.” He paused, his gut churning every time he thought about Nelson going after Sophia. As Heath had said, she held her own, but it didn’t change the beat of anger that pulsed through him. “And what will you do to find Nelson?”

Roger’s eyes narrowed, and he steepled his fingers under his chin. “We’ll keep looking. I’ve already sent some guys out to follow the stream all the way down. If he survived, we won’t find him right away. It’ll take some time to scout him out. I’d tell you not to look, but I know you will. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep us in the loop, so we know where you’re searching and when.”