Choices, Rebekka thought. Had the witches somehow known she’d be presented with this one? Was it a test to see if she would turn her back on the outcasts in favor of going to aid the pure Weres? And the price she would pay if she did—her own death?
It was safe to go home. Tir had seen to it. She could heal those in the brothels with the greatest need, taking off the amulet long enough to do it. She could give the recipe for the wash to Aryck. But if the damage was already too extensive, the infection too pervasive . . .
The thought of children suffering and dying tormented Rebekka, stirred her compassion and her conscience, touched the place inside her that longed for a family of her own. She healed the prostitutes so they could be abused and injured again, but with the cubs, she could make a real difference in their lives.
“I’ll go with you,” she told Aryck.
“I’ll accompany you,” Levi said.
“Not into Jaguar lands,” Aryck said, a deep growl in his voice. “Not unless you can shift to lion form and prove you’re not outcast. You smell almost completely human.”
Rebekka jerked her arm, trying to pull away again, hating the enforcer for the prejudice he represented and for the pain she knew his words caused Levi. “If you want me to heal the cubs, then Levi—”
“Only the pack leader can grant permission for him to enter our lands. If it’s your safety he’s worried about, then I promise to personally see to your protection from the time we enter Jaguar lands until you meet him where our border touches Lion territory. If he fears sending you alone, without an ally, then the Tiger can remain with us. We’ll leave at first light and travel through the night once we’re in Were lands.”
Rebekka turned toward Levi, her hand squeezing his, asking for reassurance—acceptance of her choice and Aryck’s terms. “This will allow you time with your family.” To say your good-byes.
Levi gave a small, reluctant nod. “Promise to send Canino for me when you start home. I’ll come back to Oakland with you.”
Aryck’s fingers tightened on her arm as if in protest. Rebekka refused to acknowledge him in any way. “I promise.”
Satisfied, Aryck released the healer and moved away, passing through the doorway and into what remained of a hallway. He looked down the twisting wreck of stairway and longed to descend, to escape the confining space and nearness to the human female.
He’d touched her twice without wanting any contact at all, been unable to suppress either the Jaguar need to be at her side or the possessiveness that rose at seeing the obvious closeness between the healer and the Lion outcast.
Levi. The Lion had seemed vaguely familiar before, but injured, dying, Aryck hadn’t been able to place him until after the healing. Now he had brief memories of seeing Levi and Cyrin among the Lion pride when he’d gone there on pack business.
Alliance was rare among the Were groups, but because the Wolf and Hyena packs in the territories near theirs were so large, Lion and Jaguar maintained a cautious association. He remembered being told Levi and Cyrin had left to explore, as many males who were considering forming their own packs or prides did, then hearing later they hadn’t returned and were presumed dead.
Better dead than outcast, Aryck thought, and the Jaguar agreed even as it snarled and chafed at hearing the low murmurs of Levi and the healer talking.
Aryck could have mentally spoken with his father when they neared Jaguar lands. He could have secured permission for Levi to enter their lands. With the healer so close and the cubs in such dire need no one would have challenged the decision. But almost as quickly as the thought had come, he’d discarded it, acting on instinct and not after giving it rational consideration. The idea of Levi accompanying them, remaining at the healer’s side—
The Jaguar screamed in protest at the sound of rustling as Levi lay down next to the healer, serving as her protector. Aryck’s fingers flexed involuntarily. The muscles in his arms stood out. He was nearly overtaken by the urge to drop onto his hands and knees to accommodate the shift between forms as Jaguar soul separated further from human one.
His earlier fear returned in a heartbeat, edged once again toward horror. The unraveling of self was the first step on the rogue, outcast path. He stiffened with resolve, refusing to bend and change until reason dictated it.
Behind him the fire slowly died, no longer needed to ward off shock and provide light for the healer—
Claws raked through Aryck’s belly at his continued effort to hold her at a distance by refusing to use her name. Rebekka, the Jaguar purred, filling human nostrils and coating the man’s tongue with her scent. Flooding their shared senses with the sublime pleasure that had come from her touch. Enforcing the absolute belief of having found a mate with the hardening of Aryck’s cock and images of covering her in human form, thrusting into her as he bit her shoulder and marked her with his teeth.
Sweat coated Aryck’s skin as heat scorched through him. His hands opened and closed as he fought to suppress both desire and the morphing of one erotic scene into another.
For long moments he struggled, man and Jaguar souls at odds with each other, fighting for dominance, not in form but in will, as they had never done before.
The sound of engines drawing steadily closer halted the battle. Aryck spared a glance over his shoulder. Melina had already shifted form. The Tiger, Canino, and Cyrin were on their feet, ready to meet any threat posed by humans.
Levi was sitting, gun on the ground next to him. The hea—
Sharp pain raked Aryck’s gut, making him gasp and bend over as the Jaguar returned to the fight with a vengeance. He said, “I’m okay, Rebekka,” when she sat up, obviously ready to come to his aid.
The use of her name sheathed the unseen claws tearing through him. But the sight of the unbound hair framing her face and emphasizing how very feminine she was had his stomach muscles quivering as he imagined her placing her palm against his abdomen, soothing him with heat and touch before moving lower. Stroking him. Taking his cock in hand.
The Jaguar purred in satisfaction at having accomplished its purpose. It retreated so thoroughly that all sense of separateness disappeared, leaving Aryck’s heart beating erratically in defeat.
Gunfire erupted nearby, jerking Aryck’s attention away from Rebekka. He shed his clothing and shifted form.
His black coat made him invisible as he prowled down the twisted metal staircase and into the dark. Melina and the other two big cats followed him.
They spread out, remaining close to the building and readying themselves for attack. The vehicles drew near enough for the conversation of the humans occupying them to be heard, but turned away without coming into sight.
Sporadic gunfire sliced through the night until eventually the drone of the engines lessened and disappeared completely. A wary calm settled, a thin cloak draped over a world filled with silent predators and equally silent prey.
Canino sharpened his claws on a tree growing out of rubble. Cyrin watched him for a moment, then claimed another tree, shredding its bark and making it bleed sap.
A female cat yowled its desire to mate into the night and the entreaty brought Melina prowling to Aryck. She positioned herself in front of him, presenting her swollen vulva.
She was heavily in season. Riper than she’d been the night before when, despite his resolve, the genetic imperative to breed had nearly driven him to cover her.
There was no temptation now, no stirring of desire. Aryck knew the reason, though he refused to contemplate it, to risk undoing the seamless integration of Jaguar and human souls by thinking about Rebekka and vehemently denying he’d already found his mate.