Chapter Nineteen

Somewhere in the Green, near Ciudad Vaquero, “the city”

Aidan ran without thinking. It was second nature for him to move swiftly through the Green, his body swerving and jumping without conscious thought. He could have traveled much faster on his own, but he had to admit that Rachel was far more skilled, more determined than he’d expected, even after all they’d survived together. He’d set a punishing pace and had kept waiting for her to demand he slow down. But she was tough. She’d not only kept up, she’d done it without a single complaint, not even on the two occasions when she’d fallen and sustained significant injuries. She’d simply bandaged her bloody leg the first time and insisted they keep going. The second had been an injury to her hand that he was sure included a broken finger or two. She’d barely slowed, binding them together on the move and signaling him to keep running, that she’d catch up. He hadn’t, of course. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight, and not only because Cristobal wanted her to testify. He’d told her she mattered to him, and she did. More than he wanted to admit.

But now…the closer they got to the city, the more convinced he was that something major was going on. The trees were no longer blaring an alarm, the way they had earlier. They were whispering of a hunt, instead. All around him, the smaller animals were digging deep into their burrows, and even the predators—the ones who feared only each other and shifters—were racing for cover.

He raised the “volume” on the part of his shifter brain that heard the song of the Green. Most times it was background noise, a steady hum of information that his brain processed without conscious input from him. But now, he was listening, because there was a feeling to the Green, a sense of vengeance that he’d never before detected.

Shifters were moving through the trees, herding prey before them, and their hunt was heading directly for him and Rachel.

…

Rachel raced next to Aidan, his arm around her waist lending her speed like she’d never have managed on her own. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating. Turning and weaving to avoid trees, rocks, vines, and every other kind of obstacle in a forest filled with them. Aidan seemed to have a sixth sense, flowing around and through the dense growth like those rapids she’d seen foaming around rocks in the Leeward Stream.

They were moving far too fast for him to be eyeballing their path. She figured it had to be part of his shifter DNA, some long ago adaptation for survival on Harp that had made the leap to shifters during the genetic modification. She stumbled and reached out a hand to brace herself without stopping, reminding herself to focus on the present. She wasn’t as good as Aidan, but she had learned some things. Enough to know his pace had changed as they’d drawn closer to the city. She would have expected him to speed up with their goal in sight, but, instead, he’d begun to slow, to pay more attention to their surroundings—the wind through the trees, the movement of unseen animals.

“Rachel.”

His voice broke into the almost meditative state she’d adopted to keep up with him. She braked to a stop, and stood there, swaying, as she blinked up at him, forcing her brain into this new mode.

“You okay?” he asked and took hold of her upper arm to steady her.

She nodded, then licked her lips, and said, “Is something wrong?”

He pulled her off the animal trail they’d been following and under the branches of one of the biggest trees she’d ever seen, even in the Green. The branches hung low to the ground, doing a good job of hiding them from anything looking down from above, but still left them a good line-of-sight all around. She’d noticed that about Aidan. He always thought tactically.

Deep in her heart of hearts, she wondered if she was nothing more than one of those tactical considerations. Keep the Earth girl happy. Keep her satisfied and sated. She’s a witness to Wolfrum’s atrocity, to the fleet’s immorality—at least the part of fleet that funded Wolfrum. Assuming they had. But if not them, then some other Earth-based organization. Either way, it was in Harp’s interest for Aidan to gain her loyalty, even her love, so she’d testify on Harp’s behalf.

The bitch of it was… Harp already had her loyalty and her love. And so did Aidan. And she was a fool.

“Are you listening?” Aidan’s voice betrayed impatience, which told her she’d zoned out again.

“Yes, sorry. I’m listening.”

He studied her for a moment, staring into her eyes. “We’re almost there,” he assured her. “Only a little farther.”

She nodded. She already knew they were close.

“But something’s going on,” he continued. “I know this part of the Green nearly as well as the forests of Clanhome. And something’s not right. Or it’s very right. I can’t tell from down here. I need to go up, and you need to hide.”

“Hide from what?”

“That’s what I don’t know. You can shelter here on the ground or climb up a ways. Either way, you’ll be safe, because it seems every animal in the forest is running away from whatever’s coming.”

Aidan looked like he expected her to argue, but he should have known better by now. These were his forests. If he said there was danger coming, she believed him. “I’ll climb,” she said and skimmed her hand up the thick trunk, looking for fingerholds.

“Let’s do this the easy way.” He cupped his hands and held them low, offering her a boost into the tree. Without a word, she put her foot in his hands and her hand on his shoulder, barely reacting when he tossed her up through the lower branches to a sturdy, straight roosting spot.

She looked down in time to catch his shift. No matter how many times she saw it, it was still beautiful and magical, and faster than her eye could see. One moment there was a gorgeous man, and the next a magnificent cat was leaping through the branches to land next to her, his golden eyes revealing the sheer joy he felt in this form, the freedom. Seeing it, she felt guilty that he’d had to remain human to get them both to the city.

She stroked a hand over his big head, digging her fingers into his fur like she knew he liked. Aidan twisted his head to push into her hand and made a short, purring noise.

She laughed. “Go,” she told him. “I’ll wait here.”

He lifted his head to rub his cheek against hers, whiskers scratching her skin, and then he was gone, winding up into the tree so easily, it was as if he had no bones to contend with.

Rachel sighed and settled as comfortably as she could in the vee of the big tree, using her pack as a pillow. Another thing she’d learned in her years of wilderness experience—you had to take your sleep when you could. If Aidan said it was safe, then it was safe. She closed her eyes and slept.

…

Aidan climbed as high as he dared, which was pretty damn high. He and Rhodry had always loved racing through the trees, competing against each other. He slowed and finally stopped, reminding himself that this wasn’t a fun romp through the Green. Lifting his nose to the wind, he drew in the scents of the forest, turning his head when he caught one that was very familiar. Cullen. He immediately set off along the tree road on an intersect course.

As he drew closer, he wasn’t surprised to detect several other familiar scents. Gabriel, Santino, and the rest of the cousins had arrived, but what were they doing out here? He gave a coughing roar to let them know he was coming in, then dropped down to find Cullen already shifted and waiting for him on the ground with the fierce gleam of rage in his eye.

Something had happened to bring that furious spark to his cousin’s eye. Cullen was one of the biggest Devlins, but he was an amiable man, and most people never saw the hunter side of him. In point of fact, Cullen’s hunting skills rivaled even those of Rhodry and Aidan. Once the scent of prey was in his nose, he was deadly and single-minded in pursuit.

Aidan made the final jump, shifting between the tree and the ground. “Cousin,” he said, clasping arms with Cullen. “Talk to me.”

“We’re after Wolfrum. We’ve got him corralled, and we’re just toying with him now. Wearing him out before the game really starts.”

“Amanda?” he asked sharply.

“Fine, though the bastard went after her and the twins.” He spat disgustedly. “What kind of man does that?”

“Not much of one. Where’s Rhodry?” Aidan was surprised his cousin wasn’t leading the hunt.

“With Amanda. Our newest cousins didn’t like Wolfrum scaring their mum. They got a mite pissed off and gave her a fright. But she’s all right now.”

“Good for them. Let’s bring them a reward, shall we?” he added grimly.

Cullen nodded. “That’s the plan. You want in?”

“Oh hell, yes. Those bastards locked me in a cage.”

Cullen grinned. “Heard they had plans for you. Glad to see you in once piece.”

“Very funny,” Aidan grumbled. “Listen, I’ve got Rachel waiting about a mile in—”

“Rachel. That’s the Earther who got you out of that cage?”

“The same. She’s also our best witness against Wolfrum, proof of what he intended. Let’s drive him in her direction, let her talk to him, make him think he has a chance. We still don’t know his escape route. Maybe he’ll let it slip.”

“You willing to risk her life on that? If he knows she betrayed him…”

“He’ll never get close to her,” Aidan growled. “But it’s her decision. Keep driving him the way you are. I’ll talk to Rachel. If she wants a chat, she’ll be in his way. If not, then the rest of us will play.”

…

Rachel woke all at once, her heart pounding as instinct kicked in, her brain trying to process what had woken her. Where was the danger? The tree was trembling beneath her, as if some enormous creature had… Well, fuck.

She twisted around to glare at Aidan, who was sitting on the branch next to her like a giant house cat, licking his paws one at a time. “That wasn’t funny.”

He shifted in a whirlwind of gold sparks. “Better me than a banshee scout, or worse. Sleeping like that…it wasn’t smart.”

She wanted to tell him where he could shove his lectures on smart. She’d woken, hadn’t she? But she wasn’t going to argue. He’d only win. “What’d you find out?” she asked. “Who’s out there?”

“Half of clan Devlin, for one. Wolfrum went after Amanda—”

“Is she hurt?” Rachel demanded.

“She’s fine, and Wolfrum’s on the run.”

“I’m surprised he survived.”

“Rhodry was more worried about Amanda than chasing Wolfrum, but the cousins arrived soon after, and they’ve been on the bastard’s tail for the better part of two days. They’ve been holding back, having some fun with him, but also hoping to discover his escape plan. He has to have one. If we can learn that, we might know who paid him.”

“The shuttle my crew arrived in was FTL capable,” she said. “So was the second one. If they’d managed to capture any shifters, they could have simply left the planet the same way they arrived. Although, my guess is they were supposed to have rendezvoused with a faster transport back to Earth, or whatever their final destination.”

“Yeah, but we now know that Wolfrum wasn’t on either of those two ships.”

She frowned. “If things had gone smoothly, no one would have known he was involved. There’d have been no reason for him to leave Harp.”

“Not right away, maybe. But he couldn’t enjoy his millions if he was stuck on Harp.”

Rachel thought about it. “Even if he has an ally off-planet, his plan failed. I can’t see anyone risking much to save him. Certainly not right away. So, he has to hide, wait, and hope his ally still sees enough of a future here to bail his ass out. But the Green isn’t a very friendly hiding place. So, where does he go in the meantime?”

“That’s where you come in.”

“Me?”

“Wolfrum has to know he’s being hunted, but he doesn’t know he’s already caught. If one of us confronts him, he’ll know that his scheme—hell, his life—is over. But if you show up instead…”

“He might think I’m running from the same fuck-up, maybe even looking for him. You think he’ll talk to me.”

Aidan gave a little shrug. “It’s worth a shot. But only if you’re willing. And you won’t be alone. We’ll all be there. He just won’t know it.”

Rachel stood on the broad branch, pulling her backpack up with her. It was too far to the ground to jump. She’d have to climb. She checked her weapons, and turned to begin her descent, but Aidan’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“You’ll do it, then?”

She gave him a curious look. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

He grinned. “Never. You’re as fierce as a shifter when you put your mind to it.”

“I’ll need you to point me in the right direction. I don’t have your nose.”

Before she knew what was happening, he had her pressed against the solid muscle of his naked body, one arm banded behind her like an iron bar. He gave her a quick but thorough kiss. “I’ll be a heartbeat away.”

Rachel threaded her fingers through his long hair, brushing it over his shoulder. She cared way too much about this man. Leaning into his embrace, she touched her lips to his, letting her tongue glide along his lower lip and between his teeth until he growled and gripped her even tighter. And the kiss became something more. Passion and heat and possession. Until her arms were wrapped around his neck and the hard length of his cock was nestled between her thighs.

Aidan broke away with a hissed breath. “Fuck.”

Rachel could only nod her agreement. She hadn’t meant to take it this far, but Aidan was temptation itself all wrapped up in golden skin and muscles. “I should probably—”

“Yeah,” he agreed, still holding her close. “Half the clan will be here soon, and…”

He didn’t need to finish that sentence. She could still feel his erection like a brand, hot and hard and dangerous as hell. And probably embarrassing if his cousins showed up.

“I’ll just…” She gestured toward the ground.

“I’ll go first and spot you.”

“You sure?” She pulled back enough that their bodies were no longer touching, but they were both aware of his cock between them. She gave him a doubtful look, and he gave her a narrow glare in return.

“It’ll go away when I shift.”

She bit back a laugh then patted his chest and stood back even farther. “Let’s do this.”

With a low growl, he brought his mouth to hers one more time. But instead of a kiss, he bit her lower lip and licked away the pain. “Bad girl,” he whispered, then released her all at once and leaped to the ground, shifting in midair.

“Very pretty,” she murmured, smiling from her perch in the tree when he growled up at her, pretending to object to the compliment. And it was pretense. Aidan was feline to his core. He loved being petted and admired.

A sudden noise in the distance had them both turning to listen. When she looked back at Aidan, his golden eyes were glittering with anger and intent. There was no more time for kisses and quips. The hunt was coming their way, and she had a job to do.

Settling her pack over her shoulders, she started downward, descending nearly as fast as a shifter could have. The minute her feet hit the ground, Aidan was there, stroking the full length of his big cat body against her leg. He stood like that for a long moment, perfectly still, his attention focused on the path to the city. Rachel knew he was hearing and seeing things she’d never be able to, no matter how long she spent on Harp. He moved suddenly, turning to match gazes with her a moment before he took off, disappearing into the trees with an astounding leap at least twenty feet straight up. She heard the slight scratch of his claws on the bark, a signal to her of his presence, and then nothing.

She looked around. This area of the Green was a riot of growth, with trees so close together in some parts that she could barely distinguish one from the other. Far overhead, crisscrossed branches closed off most of the sunlight, which should have made it cool on the ground. But instead, it was warm and humid, with the canopy preventing even the slightest cooling breeze from penetrating. She was tempted to remove her long-sleeved top, but she knew better by now. This was the Green, where everything that moved could be deadly.

Reaching around, she grabbed her canteen for a long drink of water and then set off toward the city, exaggerating the limp from her bandaged leg, letting all of her exhaustion show. If Wolfrum was watching, she wanted him to see a woman who’d been hiking for days, who’d made her way through a deadly forest with more than one dangerous encounter and was eager to reach the safety of the city.

As she walked, she was aware on a subliminal level that she was being stalked. It was the same instinct or awareness that made her such a successful wilderness guide. The shifters didn’t make a sound, but she knew they were there, high overhead, circling around and out as they drove their prey in her direction.

It wasn’t long before she heard something, or someone, crashing through the brush ahead of her. Taking nothing for granted, she readied her crossbow, and was perversely disappointed when the approaching figure turned out to be Guy Wolfrum. Or at least someone who resembled him. She’d only met the asshole that one time at a formal reception, where he’d been wearing a dinner jacket and bow tie. She hadn’t expected him to look like that, obviously, but she hadn’t expected the human wreck who confronted her, either.

Every inch of visible skin was scratched and bleeding, his eyes wild with fear, his clothes torn and disheveled. He carried no pack or weapons that she could see. And when a cat’s serrated yowl had him spinning around to study his back trail, Rachel gasped out loud at the state of his back and legs. Only fear could have kept him upright. It looked like a wild animal had attacked him. Or a shifter. After hearing Aidan’s report, she had a fairly good idea of which one it was.

“Dr. Wolfrum,” she said urgently, running to meet him and playing her part. “What in God’s name happened to you?”

He spun around in shock, eyeing her suspiciously for a long time before recognition seemed to click in. “Rachel Fortier,” he said. “I’m sorry, Doctor Fortier.”

She nearly laughed out loud at the ridiculous formality. “Rachel is fine, sir. Please, you’re wounded, let me help you.”

The life seemed to drain out of him all at once. He slumped downward, his shoulders drooping, head falling to his chest, and then he was crumpling to the ground as she hurried to brace him.

“Here,” she said, placing her canteen against his lips. “Drink. Where’s your kit? Your water and the rest of your gear?”

He gulped from her canteen and would have taken more, but she stopped him. “Not too fast. It’s not good for you.”

He licked his lips, sucking up every bit of moisture as he nodded his head. “You’re right, you’re right. It’s just…” His eyes were still wild with fear. “It’s been a nightmare, Rachel. You don’t know this place, these people. They’re frighteningly primitive.”

She nodded. “They attacked the ship, sir. I was outside, gathering samples, when… It seems fantastic, I know, but I saw it with my own eyes.”

“What? What did you see?”

“A pride of huge predator felines. They acted in unison, clearly following well-honed hunting techniques, probably learned behavior, passed from mother to cub, like the lions of—”

“Rachel, please,” he impatiently interrupted her scholarly recounting of the attack. “What happened?”

“Sorry, sir. I get caught up sometimes. Just fascinating… Uh, right. They attacked the ship and…” She drew a deep breath, letting tears fill her eyes, before leaning forward to whisper, “They killed everyone.” She wiped a rough hand over her eyes. “I only survived because I was outside the ship.”

He seemed to stop breathing when he stared at her. “Ripper? The others? They’re all gone?”

She nodded. “I went onboard after they were gone—the cats, I mean, thinking I could help the survivors, but…they weren’t just dead, sir. They were torn apart. There was nothing I could do.”

“Of course not,” he reassured her faintly.

“I tried, but couldn’t raise anyone on the radio, too much interference, and I was terrified the beasts would come back. So I packed my gear as fast as I could and headed for the city, looking for you. I didn’t know what else to do.”

All at once he seemed to recover his pompous self, sitting up and tugging at his clothing as if that would make it better. “You did the right thing, Rachel. In fact, it was quite brave of you. I’m impressed. But now”—he gripped her arm and stared, pulling her gaze to his—“we need to escape this place. Fleet needs to know what’s really going on here. They have to be warned.”

“Fleet? The cats are wild, sir. I’m sure the local—”

“Cats? You think that’s all they are? There was a second ship, did you know that? They killed everyone there, too, and destroyed the ship. This forest…” He studied the greenery all around them with such fear in his eyes, that for a moment she thought he was going to succumb to terror all over again. But then he shuddered and said, “It’s unnatural.”

“Second ship?” Rachel said, playing dumb. “There were two?”

Wolfrum sucked in a breath, as if aware he’d said too much. “I forgot,” he said finally. “You were confined onboard for most of the journey. It was a matter of mission security, you understand. You couldn’t reveal to others what you didn’t know.”

She frowned. “But I thought we had permission—”

“I told you this is a primitive place. Their so-called Ardrigh rules nothing beyond the city limits, certainly not in the areas where we needed to land in order to complete our studies. We had fleet permission, which is what matters.”

“Of course. Were you with the second ship, sir? Is that where you were injured?”

“Exactly.”

“I should look at your wounds. In this environment, infection—”

“There’s no time. We have to keep moving.”

“But, sir…” She frowned in confusion. “There’s nothing out here. Nowhere to go. We should return to the science center in the city and get you the help you need. We can contact fleet from there.”

“Right, right. But it won’t be fleet that comes to save us. They can’t be openly involved with this. You understand.”

“But if not fleet, then—”

“A private investor, of course. One with fleet contacts and enough money to buy off the right people.”

Rachel tilted her head. “Is it Leveque? Amanda Sumner’s mother must visit here, and she’s—”

“Not Leveque. He’s far too proper. But not everyone in his family suffers under the same scruples, and they all have access to the necessary transport. It’s good that you reminded me about the science center. I’ve been so rattled since the attack. But I can arrange a pickup from there. And in the meantime, the center is still fleet property. We’ll be safe there while we wait.” He spun in a circle, slapping a fist into the opposite palm as if it helped him think. “We can’t chance it in daylight. They’ll try to stop us.”

“Who’ll try to stop you? Who’s chasing you? I think we should—”

“I don’t care what you think!” he yelled, suddenly furious. “You’re nothing but a glorified tour guide with some academic credentials to your name. You don’t have the right to question me. I’ve been with fleet for decades. I’ve sacrificed and scraped and for what? So that I could die on this dirtball of planet with a bunch of freaks? Not in this lifetime. Now help me up or get the fuck out of my way.”

“But where will you go until you can reach the center?” she persisted. “It’s not safe out here.”

Wolfrum stilled as he turned to stare at her. “You know about them, don’t you?” he whispered. “You’ve seen them.”

Rachel stared back at him then admitted. “If you mean the shapeshifters—” She shrugged. “I couldn’t believe it, but yes, I’ve seen them.”

“Rachel,” he said urgently. “You’re a scientist. You must see their potential, their value to fleet, to humanity.”

“But what about their value as people? To their families? They’re human. You can’t just sell them to a lab somewhere.”

“Human? You saw what they did to Ripper and the others, how they tore them apart. Is that human?”

“Yes,” she said calmly. “I saw what they did. But I also saw what Ripper did, and what she would have done if she hadn’t been stopped. The shifters defended themselves, just as people have since the beginning of time. War is hell, Dr. Wolfrum. All those years with fleet must have taught you that, too.”

His lip curled in a sneer as he studied her. “They’ve already brainwashed you, haven’t they? Are you fucking them yet? That’s why they let you survive, you know. You and that Sumner bitch. Thinks she’s so superior to the rest of us because she survived a damn camping trip. But you’re both fools. You’re nothing but incubators for their offspring. Fresh blood for a dying race. It must be a pheromone,” he muttered to himself, and then suddenly spun, pulling a knife from the folds of his filthy clothing. “Out of my way, or I’ll gut you where you stand.”

Rachel gave him a disgusted look, as if he actually had the skills to defeat her. But she pretended to comply, stepping out of his reach…and pulling her tranq gun.

He eyed the weapon and laughed. “A tranq gun? You don’t even have the balls to kill me. At least Sumner tried. But I killed her filthy brood instead,” he snarled. There was such hatred in his eyes that Rachel took an instinctive step back.

“Amanda’s babies aren’t dead,” she said mildly. “But, you’re right. I’m not going to kill you.” She fired the tranq gun, hitting him in the neck. He fell to the ground, paralyzed, eyes wide open in confused fear. Rachel leaned over him, grinning. “Special formula of my very own. Something I invented during my glorified tour guide days to deal with cowards like you. You can’t move, but you can feel. It’s what you planned for the shifters, isn’t it?” She straightened and backed away. “I want you wide awake for every minute of your trial, for every second of whatever punishment they choose to inflict upon you. And I think we both know what their version of justice looks like, don’t we Doctor Wolfrum?”

The small clearing was suddenly filled with cats—in the trees, on the ground, on every branch overlooking Wolfrum where he lay on the ground, helpless, his eyes rolling white with terror.

Rachel caught the golden shimmer of a shift from the corner of her eye, and then Aidan was touching her back. “We’ve got it from here, Rachel.”

There was something in his voice that had her turning to study him, something that suggested she needed handling. She grinned in sudden recognition. “You thought I was going to kill him, didn’t you? You thought I’d gone over the edge.”

His face relaxed into a smile. “I’ll admit, you scared the hell out of the cousins with that bit about him being paralyzed, but able to feel everything. That’s a fine torture technique you’ve developed there.”

“But you weren’t worried at all?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course not. Though, for the future, I will remember you’ve a bloodthirsty streak.”

She laughed, then toed Wolfrum’s paralyzed form. “You’ll get this thing back to the city?”

“The others will. You and I will be taking our own path.”

“Yeah? Is there a hot bath at the end of it?”

“A hot bath and more,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear.

She sighed in relief. She was more than ready for this adventure to be over with. “Let’s go. Wait,” she said, digging into her pack and producing a pair of the drawstring pants the shifters favored. “Put these on first. We don’t need any more embarrassing displays for the cousins.”

“Shifters don’t get embarrassed.”

“That’s not what you said an hour ago.”

“That wasn’t embarrassment, sweetheart. I just didn’t want them to feel inadequate.”

She laughed at the chorus of groans that met his statement, not to mention the expertly targeted pieces of fruit and less savory bits that pelted Aidan while missing her entirely.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing his arm. “I’ll protect you.”

“A few days ago, I would have laughed at that,” he said, draping an arm over her shoulder. “But not anymore. Let’s go home.”