Wild Cat (35 page)

“You need to go,” she said.
Before I drag you against that counter and start kissing you again.

“No, I don’t.” Eric straightened up and put his back to the counter exactly as Iona had been picturing. “I didn’t come here to tease you, though that’s always fun. I came because I need your help.”

“
My
help? With what?” The alpha Shiftertown leader,
I’m such a badass I can keep anyone in line
, was asking for help?

“Long story, but you have to promise me this goes no further than us.” Eric’s smile was gone, and he looked grim. “I have children to protect. Understand?”

“No, I don’t understand, but if you think I’ll harm children, you read me wrong.”

“I know you won’t harm cubs, Iona. That’s why I came here.”

Iona made a noise of exasperation. “Eric, you do know that you could drive someone insane, don’t you?”

“My sister says that. A lot. Come to think of it, my mate always did too.”

His mate. Iona had learned when she’d looked up background on Eric Warden that he’d been mated to a woman named Kirsten, who had died a long time ago.

“Your wife,” she said.

“No wives for Shifters, love. Only mates.
Wife
is a human term.
Mate
is so much more.”

Why did he look at her so intently when he said that? “I’m sorry,” Iona said. “About Kirsten.”

Eric gave her a slow nod, as though he took her words to heart. “She was a good person.” Another nod, compartmentalizing the pain and moving back to the question at hand.

“Five un-Collared Shifter females have come to Shiftertown,” he said. “I mate-claimed all of them, and unfortunately, I have to get Collars on them. They’re terrified, and I’m doing this under the radar. I’ll get them as many painkillers as I can, but…”

“And you want me to what? Get pain medications for you?”

“No.” Eric fixed her with his alpha Shifter stare. “I want you to let me bring you in. To lead the way, to show them that it’s all right. Become their alpha, and let me put a Collar on you first.”

I
ona stared at him, her blue eyes huge. “You want me to
what
?”

Eric knew that this would be easier if Iona weren’t so sexy. He watched her confusion and outrage and at the same time couldn’t keep himself from studying her body. A tight business skirt hugged her legs, and her blouse was open just enough show a hint of cleavage. Thick black hair framed her face, wisps of it not staying put.

I want you to come home with me, be my mate in all ways.
The thoughts wouldn’t leave Eric alone.

“They need reassurance,” he said. “These females have been living in captivity, held by a feral Ursine, in pretty horrible conditions, Cassidy told me. I’m trying to bring them out of it, and I need to reassure them, especially about the cubs.”

“You’re going to put Collars on kids too?”

The horror in her eyes made Eric feel so damn guilty. “Cubs don’t get Collars until they’re seven, and I’ll lie like hell and say they’re all under seven if anyone asks. They’ve been underfed, so they look young anyway.”

Iona waved her hands in front of her face, which moved her breasts in an enticing way. Were they fettered under that shirt? Or tucked into a lacy bra that his hands would enjoy opening?

“What did you mean, you need me to become their alpha?”

“Top female of my pride. Humans, in some of their cultures, call it head wife or first wife, but as I told you, mates aren’t quite the same as wives.”

“Wait, wait. Are you saying that these five women are your
mates
?”

Iona’s dismay had him talking fast. “No, I’m saying I mate-claimed them. That means that no other Shifter males can claim them without going through me. I don’t want the females worrying about fending off mate-claims on top of everything else they’ve gone through, until they’ve found a place in Shiftertown and are ready to live their own lives. It also means that I take responsibility for their cubs, so they’re not hurt or taken away from their mothers.”

Iona blew out her breath. “I guess that’s good. So, what does all this have to do with me?”

“I’ll mate-claim you and make you my alpha. They need someone to follow, someone to reassure them until things get settled. Cassidy defeated their alpha, but once I made the mate-claim, she as my sister can no longer have precedence over any of my mates. You as head mate would supersede all. The woman who’d been the Ursine’s head mate has given up, and the other females are confused and uncertain. You can help me calm them down, show them that they’re all right. Then I’ll release them from the mate-claim and give you the choice to reject it as well.”

Iona stared at him with a mixture of disbelief, rage, and fear. “Give me the choice?
After
you out me and Collar me? Oh, then I get the
choice
to tell you to kiss my ass?”

“You get the choice to let me make the mating permanent. Or not.”

Iona put her hands around her bare neck. It made Eric’s heart sing to see her un-Collared, but he feared that humans would discover her, lock her away, slap the Collar on without preparing her. That fear made him want to put her under his arm, whisk her to Shiftertown, and never let her go.

“Eric, from what I understand, putting a Collar on a Shifter causes a hell of a lot of pain. Is that what you want? For me to be rolling around on the ground, screaming, while a Collar I can never take off again infuses itself to my flesh?”

“No, that is
not
what I want.”

“Then why are you asking me to do it?”

Eric went to her and cupped her face, unable to keep his hands off her any longer. “To keep you safe. If they find out you’ve been passing as human—Iona, love, I don’t know what they’ll do to you.”

Iona stared up at him, her eyes enormous. “Then leave me alone. Stop stalking me, and no one will ever know.”

“Yes, they will.” His fears poured out. “Sweetheart, they’ll find you. Some Shifter will scent you and let on what you are, whether he means to or not. Or a human will see you, watch you, figure it out. You’re holding your wildness in, but you can’t forever. If you suppress the wildcat too long, it will take over.” From the fear flooding her face, Eric knew she was already fighting that. “Let me protect you, Iona. Please.”

She shook her head, the ends of her hair brushing his fingers. “I can’t just give up my life. I have a mother, a sister, a career, a home. I can’t walk away from it. It’s
mine
. I want it.”

“I know.” Eric kissed her wet face. “I will try to make everything the best I can for you.”

“By putting the Collar on me? To make me go through that pain and make me a slave? You can’t.
I
can’t.”

She broke his heart. “I don’t want to, sweetling. The laws are stupid, but someday they won’t be. We’ll get free of the Collars and do what we want.” Eric looked into her eyes, her beautiful eyes that saw past his hard-ass shell to the true man inside. Kirsten had looked at him like that too. “And when that day comes, I want you by my side.”

Iona tried to shake him off. “What are you talking about? Shifters are captives. How is that better than letting my wildcat take over?”

Eric didn’t answer, because he didn’t have an answer. Shifters were working, in secret, to become stronger, unstoppable. The ones leading the movement wanted Shifters to live in peace, to be well, to raise cubs without fear. Until then, they had to do what they had to do.

But when Eric imagined himself latching the Collar around Iona’s beautiful neck, he balked. The pain would bite deep, as it had done to him, to Cassidy, and to Jace on that awful day. Iona’s eyes would flood with tears, and she’d not be able to stop her cries of agony.

Eric couldn’t do that to her. Not now. Not ever.

He gathered her close, pressing his cheek to her hair. “I’ll find another way, Iona.” The scent of her, the nearness of her, drove him wild. “You don’t have to be afraid,” he whispered. “I promise.”

C
assidy had something on her mind. Diego knew it by the way she didn’t mention it as they rode through the streets on the way to Jobe’s.

Beautiful dusk was spreading over the valley. The mountains hid their secrets, becoming a distant wall of blue gray. Against that backdrop sparkled red, blue, green, and gold lights of the heart of Las Vegas, beckoning the unwary.

Diego paralleled the lights of the Strip when he came out of Shiftertown and headed west to where Jobe’s widow lived with her teenage sons and daughters. Cassidy looked around with interest as they pulled up in front of the deceptively compact house with its neat cactus garden edged with spring wildflowers.

The front door slammed open as Diego and Cassidy emerged from the car. Jobe’s youngest daughter, Christine, thirteen years old, ran out. “Uncle Diego!”

She launched herself at Diego, and he swept her into a hug. He kissed her cheek and set her down again, and Christine turned interested brown eyes to Cassidy. “Who’s she? Your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Diego said. Cassidy looked gorgeous tonight in a black sheath dress and shiny black high heels. “This is Cassidy.”

Christine tore away and ran back into the house. “Mom! Diego has a girlfriend!”

Jackie Sanderson appeared at the door, the black woman as elegant as ever in pants, silk blouse, and softly clinking gold necklaces. Jobe had always liked to ask:
How did a classy lady like her end up with a lowlife like me?
Diego felt a deep gouge of pain, as he always did when he saw Jackie.

“Christine, stop shouting like that,” Jackie said. “You’ll have everyone in the neighborhood out wondering what you’re yelling about. Diego, get in here. Now I know why you’ve been hiding yourself away.”

Jackie opened her arms, rings glittering in the dying light, a smile of genuine welcome on her face. Diego embraced her, trying not to remember the day he’d come to console her after Jobe died, and how Jackie and her kids had ended up consoling
him
.

Jackie let him go and looked Cassidy up and down, taking in Cassidy’s height and her Collar. “All right, Diego, introduce me. Come on.”

“This is Cassidy Warden. Cassidy, this is the nicest woman in Las Vegas, Jackie Sanderson.”

“Warden?” Jackie said before Cassidy could speak. “Isn’t a man named Warden leader of the Shifters?” She leaned to Cassidy. “Honey, I know he’s your brother, but if he looks anything like he does in his pictures, he is damn
hot
.”

Cassidy grinned. “I’ll let him know you think so.”

She moved, Shifter-fashion, to embrace Jackie. When Jackie’s strong arms closed around Cassidy, Cassidy’s expression changed.

“I’m so very sorry,” Cassidy said, tightening the embrace. “Your loss, it hurts you.”

Jackie looked over Cassidy’s shoulder at Diego, her eyes soft. “Yeah, it’s bad, having Jobe gone.”

“I lost my mate too,” Cassidy said, gently pulling away. “And the world changed.”

Jackie nodded, clasping Cassidy’s hands. “The world changed.” She put her arm around Cassidy’s waist. “Come on inside, honey. Let’s have some wine.”

“C
an you really turn into a cat?” Christine asked Cassidy after dinner.

Jackie had made her famous lasagna, and Christine and Jackie’s oldest son had eaten it with them. The two middle kids, seventeen and eighteen, had been out with friends, and the oldest son left to go out once they were finished eating.

They’re growing up and moving on
, Diego thought.
Remembering Jobe, but still having a life. Jobe would like that.

Pictures of Jobe were prominent—on the fireplace mantel, on the piano, on the shelf that held his badge, his official photo, and a flag. But the room wasn’t a shrine to the dead. Jobe’s big smile filled every picture, as though he listened, benevolent, as they laughed and talked.

They’d retreated here after dinner for coffee. Christine folded herself up on the floor, watching Cassidy with interest.

“I do turn into a cat,” Cassidy answered Christine. She’d seated herself very close to Diego on the sofa, unself-consciously resting her arm on Diego’s thigh.

“I want to see.”

“Christine…” Jackie began.

Cassidy smiled. “That’s all right. I don’t mind.” She got up, her hand lingering on Diego’s knee until the last minute. “I’ll need somewhere to change.”

“You can use my room.” Christine jumped up, grabbed Cassidy’s hand, and started down the hall. Cassidy good-naturedly let Christine take her away.

Diego felt Jackie’s keen eyes on him as soon as Christine’s bedroom door closed. “So, what’s up with you two? Is it hot and heavy?”

Diego picked up his coffee and took a sip. “You could say that.”

Jackie laughed. “Look at you blushing. Diego Escobar and a Shifter. What does your mother say?”

“She says I need to settle down and start having kids.”

“I agree with her. It wouldn’t hurt you. Kids might keep you from tearing off to Mexico, going after gangs, and almost getting yourself killed.” Jackie’s laugh turned into a glare. “Captain Max told me all about what you did. I suppose you thought you’d come over here tonight and tell me you were some kind of hero.”