She was still trying to comprehend the first thing he said when a bright flash occurred. A second later Kellum had disappeared and a mountain lion stood within three feet of her.
Her eyes rolled back in her head.
Something nudged her. Lara opened her eyes. Green leaves fluttered in the wind above her, and the blue sky shone above. When the face of a mountain lion peered over her, she screamed and rolled over.
Shit, shit, shit
.
Her heart dropped to her stomach. For protection, she covered the back of her neck and waited, her breaths coming out way too fast.
Once I shift into a mountain lion, I won’t be able to communicate with you.
He had to have been teasing her.
Shifters don’t exist.
Shifters don’t exist.
Then what in the hell had she just witnessed?
She dared to peek out from under her arm. The lion was on all fours, as calm and casual as could be. He then did the absolute unexpected thing. He rolled over onto his back as if he wanted to show her that he was no threat. For a split second, she was tempted to pet him, but that would be beyond stupid. These were wild animals.
Unless
.
“Is that you, Kellum?” She looked around, feeling stupid talking to a wild animal.
Christ
. She had no idea if when Kellum or Taryn shifted they could understand what she said. He must be able to. When she burst into Kellum’s bathroom and she passed out, he knew why she’d freaked and had used his last bit of energy to transform back into a man.
The animal got up on all fours and walked to the tree.
Think
. She had to conclude that everything the men had told her was true. Her mind couldn’t really comprehend half of it, but for the moment she needed to suspend belief.
“Are you still willing to help me escape?”
The lion growled. She’d take that as a yes. If he had changed his mind, he would have left her there.
“Okay, what do you need me to do?” She didn’t expect him to tell her, but who knew?
He turned around, jumped on to the tree, and began to climb. The higher he got, the slower he moved. He went out on a limb and stilled as if he were searching for this supposed alignment point. He’d said if they waited too long, it would get too high.
A moment later, Kellum scurried down. At the bottom, he growled again, turned back around, and climbed up a few feet. He walked out onto a limb and seemed to be waiting for her.
Reality struck. “This is no fucking way I am climbing a tree.” She could come up with about a hundred reasons not to do so. Not only did she have a mild fear of heights, but the only time she’d attempted tree climbing, the branch had snapped and she’d fallen ten feet and broken her arm.
He growled again. “No way.” She might have to live here for the rest of her life. Okay, that didn’t sit well with her either.
Kellum scurried down the tree and stalked over to her. He stopped in front of her, circled behind her, then grabbed the back of her pants with his teeth.
“What are you doing?”
He turned around, but since her body was still on the ground, he literally had to drag her. She tried to pedal with her arms and legs to keep from doing a face-plant. When the front of her body slammed into the bark of the tree, she yelled. “Put me down.”
He didn’t stop but proceeded to climb the tree with her pants in his mouth. Her heart was pounding so fast, she was certain she’d have a heart attack. There was no choice but to grab on to the tree and help with the climbing process. The next branch they reached, he let go of her and she hugged the limb for dear life. She was scraped up and bleeding a bit. Clearly, Kellum was determined to get her up in the tree and push her out this alignment point. She prayed he wasn’t trying to kill her.
He stared at her, his face inches from hers. “This isn’t working. How about if I climb onto your back and hold on.”
As least she wouldn’t bang against the tree. He turned around on the branch and sat down. Lara looked down. She had to be twenty feet above the ground. Unable to get down by herself, she inhaled a few times to keep from passing out. That wouldn’t do. Mountain lions weren’t built like adult men. They didn’t have broad shoulders to hang on to. When she was little, she’d climb on her dad’s shoulders and he’d take her for human pony rides, but this lion wasn’t as big as her dad.
“Here goes.”
I pray I’m doing the right thing
.
She leaned her chest on top of the animal’s back. The best she could do was to wrap her arms around his chest. Sitting on him as if he were a pony came to mind, but she bet she’d fall off as soon as he went vertical. Her mouth turned dry thinking about what he had planned, but if she didn’t take this opportunity, she would never be able to leave.
Her knees hung below his chest, but it was the best she could do. “Take me home, Kellum.”
Humor was the only way to handle the horror that was about to occur. The lion took off. It was like being in a race car, or rather sitting on hood of a race car. As he climbed, he shifted his weight right and left and she almost slipped off. “Whoa. Stop. Stop. Stop.” Her heart jumped out of her chest. “I’m slipping.”
He halted, thank God, and allowed her to readjust her grip. She buried her head in his neck, not wanting to see where they were going. “Okay.”
He climbed slower this time, but with each step, she was getting farther from the ground. Her knees banged against the tree, and the branches scratched her arms. When he stopped, she didn’t dare look.
“Should I get off, Kellum?”
She looked up. They were near the top of the damned tree and there was no freaking doorway to heaven.
Kellum growled. Not sure what he meant, she placed a foot on the branch, hoping that the skies would open and there would be a pathway into Spirit. If this was an alternate reality, how did one go to the next reality, and would that reality be the one she wanted to enter?
A low rumble emanated from his chest. Before she had the chance to climb off, he backed up.
“Wait a minute. What are you doing?” Immediately, she grabbed him about the neck.
As soon as she was on his back again, he deftly turned around and headed down.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” All the anger that had been brewing inside her boiled up.
He didn’t seem to care that her knees were on fire and her arms were scratched to pieces and that blood was pounding in her head so hard she ached. When Kellum reached the trunk, he scooted down the tree headfirst. To keep from flipping over and falling to her death, she practically had to choke him. If he’d gone down assfirst, it might have been worse.
Kellum had nearly reached the ground, when he stopped hard. Her forward momentum caused her to tumble off, her ass flying through the air.
She screamed and windmilled her arms. The distance might only have been six feet, but when she landed on her feet, her ankle twisted and she crashed onto her knees. She managed to tuck in her head at the last second and do a somersault, coming to a stop on her back.
The flash of light shot off to the side, and Kellum was on his knees hovering over her.
“I’m so sorry. I thought I smelled a wolf. Are you hurt?” His eyes had watered as he choked out the words.
Dazed, she wasn’t sure what particular body part hurt the most. “I’m good.” She sat up. “Why did you take me up there and then come down?” She tried not to sound as pissed as she felt.
“When I got to the top and looked through the psychic wall, I realized the point had shifted. There was nothing on the other side to climb down on. You would have fallen hundreds of feet.”
And died
. “Would I have been in Spirit though?”
“Yes, but you’re bleeding, and real wolves would have found you. Besides, when you do cross over, you’re going to be sick, probably worse than when you came here.”
“Wonderful.”
He quirked a brow.
She waved a hand. “I’m being sarcastic. Now what do we do?”
“I’m hoping the alignment point, or doorway, will be on the ground within the next couple of days, but timing is critical. One day it might be in wolf territory, the next in bear territory.”
“I wish it would just come to your front door.”
“It has, but that’s rare.”
She had been kidding. She held out her hand for him to help her up. When he did, her ankle gave way and she collapsed onto the ground.
Fuck
.
Kellum went down on his knees again. “What’s hurt?”
Maybe these shifters could mentally heal her. They did a damned fine job at healing themselves. “I twisted my ankle when I fell.”
“This all my fault. I never should have carried you up the tree. But when I checked out the point earlier today, there was a tree next to the alignment point on the earth side.”
From the way his voice wobbled, he was truly upset. “It’s okay. We’ll try again later.” She wagged a finger at him. “But no tree climbing.” She was thankful she hadn’t broken her neck.
Kellum reached under her and stood with her in his arms. “Hang on.”
He didn’t have to tell her. “Don’t worry. You’ll have to pry me loose when we get back to the tree house.”
He turned around and headed back the way they’d come. She’d expected him to stop and rest, but he didn’t even seem tired. This morning she’d noticed his cuts had all but healed. Perhaps there was an herb she could rub on her skin to make the cuts scab sooner.
When they got back to his home, he passed a hand over some sensor and the pole appeared.
“Can you stand during the ride up, or should I hold you?”
There wasn’t enough space for her to be in his arms. Besides, if he held her, how would he hold on to the pole? “It’s safer if I stand. I just won’t put any weight on the ankle.”
He placed her on the metal plate and pressed his chest to her back. She leaned her head against him and closed her eyes. Having him near made the trip so much nicer. At the top, he didn’t open the door.
He turned her in his arms. “Be prepared to see the real beast emerge.”
She wasn’t able to figure out what he meant, but the moment he opened the door to go inside, all hell broke loose.
* * * *
Taryn knew Kellum was on his way back with Lara and he knew about the attempted escape. At least his brother had the sense to tell him what happened before he arrived, not that he could ever keep that information to himself.
The minute he saw Lara, he had to force his mind away from shifting. Anger often drove him to take his other form.
Her clothes were ripped and smeared with blood. Her poor face had scratches all over.
What the fuck were you thinking?
I was trying to help her.
Taryn knew about the fact that the alignment point had shifted from the time Kellum first raced up the tree to the time he had Lara with him. That much wasn’t his fault. What was his fault was for helping her in the first place and for thinking he could carry her unharmed up the tree.
“Bring her into the bathroom.” It was all he could do not to raise his voice, as poor Lara looked distraught enough. He could have used telepathy to make the request, but he wanted to keep Lara in the know.
Taryn raced to the bathroom and turned on the water in the large pool. He added warm water to the nearly filled tub. They only used the tub when soaking and after they’d shifted. They liked the water cool. Lara would not.
Kellum came in with her. Her eyes widened when she saw him sitting on the edge of the tub. “Awesome!”
“It will be warmer in a minute.”
“I meant—never mind.” She looked up at Kellum. “You can put me down. I can stand on one foot.”
He’d heard she’d fallen off Kellum’s back and sprained her ankle.
Why don’t you go out and find some xanthic?
It was the least his brother could do. The herb would help reduce swelling.
Kellum set her on the side of the tub. “I have to get something to help you heal.”
“Thank you.”
Taryn had to admit that Lara didn’t appear upset that his brother had dragged her up a tree then allowed her to fall. As soon as Kellum left, he began unbuttoning her shirt. “We need to get you out of these clothes. I can soak them in the sink to see if the stains will come out.”
“I don’t suppose you have any hydrogen peroxide, do you? It will take the blood stain out of the clothes.”
“I’ve never heard of that.”
She waved a hand. “That’s okay.”
Once he removed her shirt, she removed her sports bra. His cock got hard immediately. He was tempted to suck on her delicious tits, but he wanted to make sure she was comfortable before he made love with her again. Carefully, he removed her shoes. She winced when he unlaced the one on the bad ankle, but she didn’t cry. His admiration grew.
She stood on her good leg and balanced using his shoulders while he pulled down her pants. Taryn had to close his eyes and concentrate not to take her right then. Her scent was driving him crazy.