The Panther's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (10 page)

“When my children grow up, they don’t sprout claws and fangs when they throw a temper tantrum,” Auben answered coldly and the look of agreement in the eyes of all the Hunters with him boiled her blood.

That was overly simplistic and wrong. There was no reason for him to assume that Ony or every other Shifter child would just turn into a homicidal monster. No, that was ridiculous and it was insulting. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

“I have no doubt that you’re an exceptional mother,” Auben continued, clearing his throat as he turned to King Ronald. “But there are several key steps for certain things in our treaty and procreation is one of them. Your surrogate system is in place to prevent such chaos from happening, but when we neglect it, things get out of hand quickly and violently, as you can see.”

Josie didn’t need a lecture in all of this. It was insulting he thought that she was some impotent child. She wanted to say something biting or stinging to him, a remark that would be written down and recited for ages. But she couldn’t think of anything, and worse, she thought that it was the wrong thing to do. Josie and Kheem had known that what they were doing was foolish and wrong, but they had done it anyway.  There was no logic or reason to that. It was just madness on their part and this was nothing short of what they deserved. They made their bed and now they were being forced to sleep in it.

“However, I don’t want you to think I blame you,” Auben said, clear as a bell. This was something that piqued the curiosity of Josie and the rest of the Shifters here. She was certain she would be going down for this. She was certain she would be made to suffer and burn for the actions that she had taken and the role that she had played in all of this.

“No, the blame is solely on the heads of those who have chosen a path of violence and cowardice. I’m not here to execute innocent people, Ronald. I’m here to stop a war. Now, if we find these two Clans, how far are you willing to let me go?”

It was a heavy question because they weren't simple questions. Essentially, Auben was informing Ronald that he had the mighty power of God and he was ready to do some smiting, but how much smiting was acceptable for Ronald.

Josie could feel her mouth watering. All of them. Kill every last one of the bastards. Who cares if their Clans were wiped off the island, there were other Shifters out there that could turn into Hyenas and Jaguars. They would carry on the bloodlines. This branch, however, they deserved the death that was awaiting them. Josie was worried that this might seem a little callous, but she was all for it.

“All the way,” Ronald said and there was an electric tension in the air.

The goodness inside of everyone always vies for peace and forgiveness, but human nature is a tangible force in the world and its consequences are enormous. People suffer and die because of the hatred and the envy of those around them. To forgive a vile creature and to let them go on with their wicked ways seemed like the bigger crime to her than the actual killing of them. No, she would save her forgiveness for people who weren’t willing to sell a baby or kill people for ancient feuds. In the end, Josie was certain everyone else in the room felt the same way.

“I want every last one of them killed and I want the other Clans to know those who threaten the peace agreement will suffer the same fate.”

“Fair enough,” Auben stood up straight and looked to his men who were eager and ready. “Our strategy at this point is to locate them on the island and ready the assault parties with a strategy of attack. The moment they are located, it’ll be less than an hour before we’re ready and mobilized to take them out. In the meantime, I strongly advise every one of your Shifters to remain at home, locked up tight and willing to stay that way until you give them the all clear. Anyone who meddles or interferes is going to end up on the slab.”

“I understand,” King Ronald said with a grim nod.

“I’m glad we see eye to eye on this matter,” Auben said with a smile that was akin to something sinister and dark.

It was something that she was fearful of and hated. He liked this, no matter what kind of civilized pretense he put on and masqueraded in. He was a killer and he was a Hunter. That was all she needed to know about him. She took a deep breath and looked away from the table, trying her hardest to think of a plan that could get Kheem out of danger without getting him killed. Or getting herself killed for that matter.

“Hopefully by sunset, we’ll have them found and we’ll deal with them. Thank you for your cooperation, all of you.”

They nodded to him with a little bit of discomfort and unease, trying to keep their emotions in check as they watched Auben and the rest of his Hunters pack up and leave the conference room. They offered their silent farewells as they passed, Josie never once making eye contact with them.

The moment the door close, the tension and the pressure in the room slipped out and they all breathed a sigh of relief. It was the most luxurious release that she had ever felt. The breath of release, being alone with her kind again, it was enough for a girl to get used to. But the feeling didn’t last long. The moment the latch locked on the door, every Shifter turned and looked at King Ronald, awaiting his next order and command.

“I am no fool,” King Ronald said to Josie. “I know you’re already trying to think of a way to rescue and save your beloved Kheem. I must caution you not to do something dangerous or foolish that the rest of us will suffer from. The Hunters will kill you without hesitation or remorse.”

“I know,” Josie said, never once doubting that they wouldn’t. In fact, she was fairly certain that an attempt to save the man that she loved would only end with her dead.

“Wahir,” King Ronald shifted his attention to his right hand enforcer who was standing behind Josie, against the wall and without any real emotion on his face. He had stood like a gargoyle the entire time in the back of the room, waiting for something to be addressed to him. Josie turned and glanced at him. “I want you to take Miss Night-Hawk and find Kheem. I want the Hyenas found before the Hunters can discover where they are. I want them brought to justice by our own hands, rather than the filthy hands of Hunters.”

“You want me to deal with them when I find them?” Wahir asked, ignoring the fact that Josie was going to be going with him.

She thought this was frustrating, given the fact that she had held her own against Faraji. He didn’t know whom he was dealing with yet, but in the fight for Kheem, he was going to learn quickly he wasn’t working with someone who was afraid of a fight. She’d put every last Hyena in the ground if she had to.

“Report back,” King Ronald said. “We’ll take care of them in force.”

Wahir nodded.

“Very good,” King Ronald nodded. “The rest of you await my command and be ready to strike when word reaches us. You are all dismissed.”

King Ronald stood and left the room with the rest of the Lion Clan lackeys and the Clan Leaders in tow. Josie watched them leave, grateful to be rid of the cowards and the bureaucrats. It was time for them to get down to business and it was important not to be disturbed. She looked at Wahir who was staring at her, studying her like she was some sort of paradox he couldn’t quite wrap his head around, but kept looking at her, waiting for the answer to his riddle to come to him. When he was done staring at her, he simply unfolded his arms and approached her.

“Kheem was a fool,” Wahir said sternly.

“Then where were you?” Josie asked him with a suspicious tone. “There was no one around us. I thought you were going to have eyes on us at all times?”

“I underestimated their boldness,” Wahir said and there was something in his tone that suggested that it would probably be the last time he ever underestimated anything again in his life. “I do, however, have a strong idea of where they would be.”

“Something you thought you should keep private from the others?” Josie asked him, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion as he sat down in one of the chairs at the conference table.

His hulking mass dropped into the chair and she was afraid he might destroy the chair by sitting in it. He didn’t seem too worried. She supposed when you’re that large and that much like Wahir, then you know how to size things up appropriately.

“I thought it would better serve my own designs,” Wahir said bluntly, without any explanation or remorse.

She looked at him as he drummed his dark fingers on the wooden surface of the table. It was strange she just now noticed how dark his fingers were on the wood.

“The Hyenas have an extensive operation inside of the town. The Jaguars might be stupid enough to flee into the forest and hide out in some shack or cabin, but the Hyenas will definitely have Kheem in the middle of town.”

“At their strip club?” Josie asked, shivering at the thought of how disgusting the Torch was. A person could catch something just by walking past that place. The thought of it was reviling.

“Too obvious,” Wahir shook his head. “They have a small garage set up as a fall back for them to deal with people who aren’t cooperating with them or who have issues understanding them. It’s not in any of their names and is owned by an old man who doesn’t know any better. If they’re hiding anywhere, it will be in that garage.”

“If you know this, then who's to say the Hunters don’t know of it?” Josie asked him, doubting that they would be able to find this information before anyone else could.

Wahir gave her a look. “Because,” was all he said.

Chapter 8

Tarobi was a densely packed town; that made sense, the townsfolk who were natives were strangely confined to a small percentage of the island.  However, the outskirts were fairly hard to track and when they made their way out of the resort and down the road to the town, Josie was certain they were being tracked. Wahir looked over his shoulder once and scanned the dense jungle around them for a moment and then looked at Josie with an expression she wasn’t quite sure how to read. In the end, she was certain he was just staring at her and informing her that they were absolutely being tracked.

In order to escape their invisible trackers, Wahir took her on a strange path into town, winding through buildings and alleys until he was confident no one was following them and decided to turn back around and to head for the outskirts of town. She was following him blindly, hoping he wasn’t wasting both of their times; turn after turn and corner after corner, they eventually came to the oldest, saddest looking mechanic’s garage that she had ever seen.

It was dilapidated and looked as if the forest were trying to consume it and reclaim the land for its own. The mold and decay from countless rainy seasons made it look like it was just waiting to collapse in on itself. The roof was caved in over the garage, the fuel pumps were leaning, and the concrete was covered in sand and weeds. It was the sorriest, saddest looking building on the whole island and it didn’t surprise Josie that the Hyenas were somehow mixed in with this.

“What a dump,” she sighed, shaking her head as they hid behind a bush and stared at the building that looked like it was physically dying.

Wahir didn’t so much as make a sound to acknowledge she had said anything. His eyes were too focused on the building and the surrounding areas, looking for signs there was anyone else there with them, watching for signs of approaching attackers. Josie figured they were probably smart and probably knew the Hunters were coming for them at this point. If they didn’t, then it might've been fun to watch them get surprised by Auben and the others, locked and loaded for a good time.

“So, are we going to do this or what?” Josie asked Wahir, ready to get in there and to save Kheem.

“No,” Wahir shook his head. “Something’s not right. Something’s wrong here.”

“How do you figure?” Josie furrowed her brow and shook her head.

So what if there wasn’t someone outside standing watch. Maybe they were taking a bathroom break or something. All she cared about was that each passing second meant that Kheem was closer to being killed by Auben and his pack of merry Hunters.

“There’s one inside,” Wahir said. “It’s a trap. They were expecting us to come here. Damn it.” He growled and stood up from behind the bush, sniffing the air and looking at the building. “They must have another place they’re keeping him.”

“Maybe it’s just Kheem?” Josie knew that she was grasping at straws, but at this point, she thought that optimism was the only thing that was keeping her sane.

Maybe they brought Kheem here to hold him in isolation until they needed him. Sure, it would have been smarter to put a guard here with him, but no one said that the Hyena Clan excelled at intelligence. In fact, everyone said the opposite.

“No,” Wahir stepped out from behind the bush and started to approach the building, brazen and as bold as a champion returning home.

As he approached the building, his eyes were full of fire and she could see that all the muscles in his body were tensing up. He wasn’t happy to be here, or maybe he was. Maybe there was something deep down inside of Wahir that wanted to be here, that wanted to face the men who had kidnapped Kheem and turned this island into a war zone.

With a boom, the front door of the store blew open and ripped off the rotting hinges of the doorframe. It toppled to the ground and blew leaves and dust all around it. In the corner of the room, Josie watched as a figure jumped up from where he was sitting and turned around, his movements painful, and jerking, when Wahir stepped over the threshold.

“Faraji?” Josie raised an eyebrow.

The man looked like death incarnate, or at least something that was so close to dying that it didn’t merit much of a difference in distinguishing the two. His right arm was in a full cast, bent at the elbow and his left forearm was bound up in a hard cast as well. His right foot was in a boot and his left leg had a cast around his knee. All the tissue and flesh that covered Faraji looked like it was painfully swollen and bruised.

His flesh looked more purple now than anything else. He was a sickening sight and she didn’t have the slightest drop of sympathy for him. In fact, she wished that he wasn’t even able to stand up. When he saw Josie, his right eye didn’t do a thing, because it was swollen shut, but his left eye widened to the size of a saucer.

She felt like it was her duty to make sure that his eyes never opened again. She took a step toward him, but Wahir held up his hand, anticipating such an action on her part. It frustrated her that he was right.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Faraji cried, looking at them in terror, already breaking out in a nervous sweat.

Josie liked that he feared her. For the entire time she had been on the island of Tarobi, everyone had treated her like she was this weak, albeit sexy, little girl who t couldn’t do a thing. Sure, that had been fine back in the day, but now she wanted more. Seeing him like this was soothing to her. No, better yet, it was empowering.

“Where are they, Faraji?” Wahir asked, approaching him slowly, menacingly. It was like he was a wall of very angry flesh that didn’t need to raise his voice. He was going to crush Faraji whether he got angry or not.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Faraji squirmed and shuffled backwards painfully. His awkward way of moving only ensured Josie that there was no way that Faraji was going to escape. What, did they think that he was useless enough that they should just stick him in a building out in the middle of nowhere so he didn’t get in the way? “You two need to get out of here before my boys get back and mess you op,” he said.“I think we’re perfectly safe here,” Josie said with a heavy sigh. “Where is Kheem, Faraji?”

“Kheem? He’s dead, bitch,” Faraji growled through his fat, split lips. “You should have seen what my boys did to him. He was screaming so much that they thought they already cut off his testicles, turns out he was just a little pussy all along. Man, I never saw anyone roll over and take it like Kheem did. I know the Jaguars were all afraid of him for what happened in their little war, but damn. He was nothing.”

Wahir took a step forward and snatched up Faraji’s left arm. He grabbed him on the wrist and Josie watched as Wahir’s grip constricted and there wasn’t a single expression on his face. Nothing changed, except for his intense, angry gaze that burned right through Faraji. Screaming and squirming in pain, Faraji tried to get away, but when the cast started to crack and little chutes of dust were puffing up into the air all around him signaled his cast’s imminent demise, Faraji let out a very honest scream.

“Let go of my arm,” he shouted, like he was giving out the orders there.

“Tell the truth,” Wahir said sternly. “The Hunters are here, Faraji. If we get Kheem back alive, we won’t tell them we found you up here in your little playhouse. They don’t need to know that one of the Hyenas survived all of this. You can be our little secret, but only if Kheem walks out of this alive.”

“Bullshit,” Faraji hissed. “The Hunters ain’t here.”

“Why do you think they left you out here all alone?” Josie said, shaking her head, tired of this game. “They didn’t want you getting in the way when the Hunters showed up. You’re just a liability to them now, Faraji.”

Something about that rang true with Faraji and he stood there, silent. It was a moment that told them enough. Faraji doubted his own worth in his Clan and they had abandoned him here. That must have said something to him. She felt that they were close, just a little more doubt in his mind and he would sing for them.

Wahir wasn’t as patient. The cast shattered with a loud, dusty snap that made Josie cringe just by hearing it. Faraji screamed at the top of his lungs and fell forward, crumpling in the most awkward, pitiful fashion. She looked at him and only felt a slight amount of pity for him, but it was gone with a flicker of her memory. Whatever humanity there was in Faraji, he had sold it a long time ago for a life of crime and selling kidnapped children. She wished she could spit on him, but Wahir probably wouldn’t have allowed that.

“Where are they, Faraji?” Wahir asked again.

“Enough, man,” Faraji screamed at the top of his lungs. “They took Kheem back to Alizea’s house. She’s got a thing for him. She doesn’t want to kill him. They think she can seduce him.”

“That pole slut won’t shake Kheem,” Josie assured both of them.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,” Faraji was crying as he gripped his shattered arm.

Wahir gave him a swift kick in the ribs. Faraji jumped and yelped, curling up the best he could and trying to protect himself, like getting beaten was his specialty. Wahir gave him another kick and before long, Faraji was a puddle of whimpering sadness that left them wondering if killing him might have been the greater mercy at this point.

“Who's guarding him?” Wahir asked.

“Christoph and Dubaku,” Faraji said, with a nervous quiver in his voice.

He was already black and blue, what more could he really stand up against? He wasn’t the man he thought he was or fancied himself to be. Josie wanted to smack him upside the head for being so ignorant and stupid. He should just act normal, like everyone else in the world.

“What about Alizea?” Wahir asked him.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be there too,” Faraji squirmed, trying to get away from the big man.

Wahir slammed his foot down on Faraji’s other arm, the cast cracking and grinding under the heel of his boot. He screamed at the top of his lungs. “When I ask who is guarding him, I mean everyone. Do you need to clear your head and think again before I leave here?”

“No,” Faraji screamed. “That’s it.”

Wahir bent down and looked at Faraji, glaring at him as he snarled into the battered man’s face. “Stay out of trouble, Faraji,” Wahir warned him.

Standing up and heading for the exit, Wahir didn’t need to signal Josie to follow. She knew right away that he meant business and that they were officially on the warpath. There was no messing around now. They knew where Kheem was and it was time to go get him.

“So, what’s the plan?” Josie asked Wahir, following after him as he headed back toward the town. “Do we call King Ronald now and set up the strike team?”

“No,” Wahir said grimly.

“No? Wasn’t that the plan?” Josie asked him, rushing to keep up with him.

“It was,” Wahir said ominously. “We don’t have time to spare. If they have Kheem at Alizea’s home, then the Hunters will be closer. We have to hurry.”

“We have the time, we could call for help on the way there,” Josie was being optimistic. Who knows how long it would take for help to mobilize and get there. Who knew if they would ever make it in time?

“If we call for help, the Hunters will track them,” Wahir said wisely. It was like he’d figured everything out already. She wished she could think of things that quickly. “Come on, we’re running out of time.”

* * *

“They’re following us,” Wahir said as they were in the middle of Tarobi, the tourists and the bustle of the townsfolk were not enough to lose the two Hunters that they had picked them up the moment they entered the town. Auben wasn’t an idiot; he clearly had people on alert for any movement she made. He had to know about Kheem by now and he was probably banking on her leading his recon teams right to the Hyenas or the Jaguars. Josie had the nervous feeling in her stomach this was exactly what she was going to do if they didn’t think of something to do quickly.

She knew there were at least two, a man and a woman who were tracking her, both wearing sunglasses over expressionless faces. They both had hats on their heads, trying to shield their faces so that the people that they were following couldn’t recognize them or focus on them. She glanced at them, feeling like they stuck out in the crowds of tourists like sore thumbs. They were so obvious that Josie felt like they should just walk up to them and confront them. But that seemed like a stupid plan.

“What are we going to do?” Josie asked Wahir, trying her hardest not to look straight at the duo that was staring straight at them, while still trying to be covert as spies.

“We need to get rid of them,” Wahir said. He looked at her for a moment and hesitated.

Whatever he was about to ask her, she felt nervous. “They’re tracking you. No one cares about me. If you lead them away from me, I can make my way to Alizea’s house. I can get Kheem and deal with the others while you keep them busy. We’ll meet up and head back to the resort.”

“There are three of them there,” Josie shook her head. “There’s no way you can take all of them alone.”

“You think too little of me,” Wahir assured her with a wry smile. It was the first time she had ever seen any kind of emotion on his face that was even close to mischievous or happy. She felt like she was meeting an alien for the first time. It was unnerving. “Go, lead them south and I’ll get to work. Do you know which house is hers?”