Panther Magic (4 page)

The knock on the door broke the
spell, and Arran kissed her nose and released her. Zeb grasped her elbow when
she stumbled, and his deep voice right behind her made her jump. She hadn’t
even realized he was there, too caught up in Arran.

“
Come in,” he said, and the door opened to reveal a
burly looking, long haired guy. The man was huge and filled the doorway. A scar
ran down one side of his face, and Kate swallowed nervously when his steely
grey gaze connected with hers. She didn’t miss the subtle way in which this man
sniffed the air, and his eyes narrowed, as he seemed to assess the situation in
front of him in one fell swoop.

“
The ladies still leaving?” he asked, and there was
no mistaking the deep growl in his voice.
Definitely another
shifter then.
Jeez, she was surrounded by them.

“
Yes, they are, Zach,” Arran said, and the man nodded
and stepped fully into the room.

Zeb’s hand dug into her arm, and
Kate couldn’t suppress her wince of pain as his claws ran out. He immediately
released her with a muttered curse under his breath and stormed past this Zach,
who shook his head and smiled grimly.

“
He’s got it bad then,” he said, and Kate wanted the
ground to swallow her up, as this shifter ran his gaze slowly up and down her
body, as though he was mentally undressing her. Arran stiffened next to her,
and a warning growl erupted from him, which made all the fine hair on Kate’s
arms stand to attention. She could have sworn she heard a distinct
mine
in that growl.
 
Zach’s attention snapped
back to Arran, and he smiled and bowed his head.

“
Zach, here, will take you and Natasha home? You can
trust him,” Arran said.
“Despite appearances.”

Zach threw his head back and
laughed, and Natasha scooted closer to Kate.

“
Let’s get out of here,” she whispered. When Kate
couldn’t bring her feet to move, her friend frowned at her. “Unless you’ve
changed your mind and want to stay?”

“
I-I … I don’t … I mean…” Kate gave up trying to
talk, and simply rolled her eyes. Zach smirked, and Arran put his hand in the
small of her back and gave her a gentle shove.

“
Go, my sweet. You have a lot to think about, and if
you stay here, we all know what’s going to happen. As much as I ache to sink my
cock balls deep into your body, sex would only complicate things right now, and
besides, there is no way Zeb wouldn’t bite you, and I don’t think you’re ready
for that yet.”

Natasha gasped, Zach laughed, and
Kate could do nothing but stare at Arran after those outrageous words.

“
Bite me?” she finally managed to ask, after doing
goldfish impressions for what seemed like ages.

A small smile played around
Arran’s lips, but there was no mistaking the fact that he meant every word he
had just said. It was there in the intensity of his gaze, the tight set of his
shoulders, and his breathing. It was too controlled, as though he was barely
holding himself in check, and if she looked closely she could almost see his
panther prowling under his skin. It made her want to jump him even more, which
all things considering meant
she
had to be out of her
mind.

“
Yes, my sweet. You’re our mate, and I didn’t want to
spring this on you, but there it is. Natasha can explain what that means,
because right now I need you to leave. Or I will maul you.”

Kate blinked and stepped away
from him, and he nodded and turned his back on her.

“
Come on, little lady, you heard him. Let’s get you
home,” Zach said.

She barely heard the mountain of
a man over the rushing in her ears, but it didn’t matter anyway, because Zach
grasped both her and Natasha, and marched them out of the dressing room, up and
down the myriad of corridors, until they exited the theater through a side
door.

The fresh air that blasted her
face at least helped to clear her befuddled brain somewhat, and she yanked her
elbow out of Zach’s grasp. He grinned and tempered his steps a little, to help
Natasha to catch up. Tash breathed a sigh of relief when Zach delivered them
back to the same car they’d arrived in. A short lived relief, as he proceeded
to climb in next to the chauffeur. The elderly man jumped when he barked an
order at him.

“
Step on it, man. The ladies want to go home.”

The chauffer’s gaze briefly
connected with her in the rearview mirror, and he gave her a sympathetic smile.
It made Kate wonder if this gentle man was a shifter, too, and she shut her
eyes and groaned. Was this going to be her from now on? Second guessing every
interaction she ever had or would have? It was too much to wrap her head
around, so she simply shut her eyes and sank into the plush interior.

Soft music filled the car, and
against the odds she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she became
aware of was Natasha’s loud protests.

“
No, you can’t do that.”

The world tilted, and Kate
screeched as she realized what was happening. This Zach person had her slung
over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and was carrying her up the stairs to
the flat she shared with Tash.

When she struggled and pummeled
her fists into his broad back, he laughed, and tightened his hold on her legs.

“
Relax, little lady. I’m just following orders. I’m
supposed to deliver you safely home, and if this silly kitten here would open
the door instead of screeching at me, I could put you down and be on my way
back.”

Natasha swore, and then the world
tilted again, and Kate was back on her feet in her hallway, staring up at a
grinning Zach.

“
Sweet dreams, ladies.” He shut her own front door in
her face, and Kate did the only thing she could do. Burst into hysterical fits
of laughter.

Chapter
Four

She still didn’t know whether she
ought to laugh or cry, when she bade a tearful farewell to Natasha at Heathrow
Airport two days later. Her friend was off on what Kate considered a fool’s
errand to the Arctic Circle, no less, to track down a polar bear shifter, who
seemed determined to stay hidden from the world.
 
Kate could sympathize with the guy. Right
now, the ability to hide away somewhere sounded mightily appealing to her, too.

“
Are you sure about this?” she’d asked Tasha for the
umpteenth time, since the two of them had made their peace with each other. It
had taken a takeout pizza and several bottles of cheap wine, during which Kate
had received a crash course in mating practices and shifters that had left her
head spinning with information overload.

“
Yes, I am. I have to go, and it has to be me. I
can’t explain it, Kate, but I feel drawn to him, and besides, he’d run a mile
if he thought I was sent from the council. I’ll be okay, you’ll see. Don’t
worry over me. Worry over what you will do about your men.” With another hug
Tasha had disappeared through departures, and Kate had started the trek home.
By the time she had braved the early morning commuter rush hour, and had made
it to the office only marginally late, she had been none the wiser.

Neither man had contacted her,
other than to text
her their
mobile numbers, in case
she wanted to get hold of them. Tash said it was because they didn’t want to
crowd her. She was their mate, and they kept their distance because to be near
her and not claim her was akin to torture for them. Kate wasn’t sure about
that, but on the other hand she was glad for the respite. She simply couldn’t
make a decision about anything, and the more she read in the books that Tash
had given her to study in an effort to better understand what she was getting
into, the less sure she became.

Plus, she was sure she was being
watched. Several times she had caught sight of what could only have been Zach’s
huge shoulders in the crowd, but each time he had gone by the time she had
managed to get close enough to know for sure. The thump of several files being
slung down on her desk brought her out of her internal reverie.

“
Daydreaming again, I see. You’re here to work, Kate
Duerden
, not stare into space. I want these claims assessed
and on my desk before lunch, or you can collect your pay check. Do I make
myself clear?”

“
Yes, perfectly, Mr.
Jones, sorry.”
Kate murmured her apology. It wouldn’t do to lose this job,
not when this office was close enough to her flat to walk to and fro. It made
getting to and from her place of employment that much easier, and with this
morning’s reminder of the horrors of rush hour tube journeys fresh in her mind,
she got to work.

“
That’s better, Kate,” her boss said when he glanced
at the reports she’d created, and pointed to another, much bigger pile. “Move
onto those ones. I need them on my desk by tonight.”

He glanced up at her when she
groaned under her breath. Even if she worked through lunch, she would never get
this lot done and get home at a reasonable hour. Not that she had anything or
anyone to get home to with Tash gone.

“
Is there a problem, Miss
Duerden
?”
he asked, and she shook her head, and grasped the heavy pile.

“
No problem at all. Leave it with me.”

Just as she had predicted, Kate
didn’t manage to leave the office until past
nine o’clock that night, and she
shivered in the cold night air, when she finally stepped out. It was dark and
miserable, and she pulled her light summer jacket tighter around herself in a
vain effort to hide from the fine spray of rain. It was the sort that got you
soaked through in no time, even with an umbrella. Not that she had one of those
with her, of course. That would be being organized.

Kate squinted into the gloom and
started to walk fast. The office wasn’t in the nicer part of town, and her flat
was in an even lesser salacious area, but housing wasn’t cheap in London, and
this was the best she could afford. Or rather barely afford, even with Tash
contributing, and heaven only knew how long she would do that. If she found
this reclusive bear, Kate couldn’t shake the feeling that Tash would end up
mated faster than you could say annoying panthers.

If her friend felt this drawn to
the man that she would trek halfway round the world to find
him,
that
could only mean one thing. That elusive mating bond she’d been
reading up on was at play here. After all, if she, as mere human felt it this
strongly, then how much more must it affect a shifter.

Her steps faltered as that
thought. It sure would explain Zeb’s odd behavior around her. He was clearly
the more hotheaded of the two brothers, and even Arran had almost lost it the
last time she had seen him. Just thinking about the two of them made her nipples
tingle and her clit clench as her panties grew damp, and Kate rolled her eyes
and resumed walking. Really, she was a lost cause. She ought to just text them,
invite them over for dinner, or something, and see what happened.

A shuffling noise behind her made
her spin around, but there was no one there, and she walked faster, while
taking her Mace spray out of her hand bag. She probably ought to have sprung
for a taxi, but at this time on a Friday night, one would take forever to turn
up, and it was only a half hour walk to the safety of her flat. Not a problem
in daylight, or normal closing time, but the streets were deserted now, and the
little, charming park she had to cut across looked menacing in the gloom.
Far too much shrubbery for someone to hide behind and grab her.

Kate mentally cursed her vivid
imagination, even as she broke into a half run. You didn’t live in London and
ignore your instincts. Something wasn’t right, and Kate didn’t intend to stay
around and find out what it was.

Heavy footsteps behind her
confirmed her worst
suspicions,
and she screamed when
several hooded thugs appeared in front of her and barred her way. Mace held
high in the air, she backed away from them, and spun around as two more closed
in behind her. Fuck, she was surrounded.

“
What do you want?” she asked, and the leader of this
particular gang made a move toward her.

“
Ah, now sugar, that’s no way to be. We just
wanna
talk to you, and have us some fun.
Pretty
thing like you, out here.
‘Tis
not safe,
ya
know. Offering our protection, we are, for a price, of
course.”

He smirked at her, and she lifted
the mace up higher in the air.

“
You stop right there, or I use this.” Kate hated the
wobble in her voice, but she was in so much trouble here. No one would come to
her aid, and she was badly outnumbered. Kate knew self-defense, but there were
too many of them.

A collective guffaw went through
the gang of youths, and their leader shook his head and wagged his finger at
her.

“
Now, now, is that any way to talk? Go on, use it.
You get one shot at it, and then we’ll have
ya
. We do
like it when you chicks struggle, don’t
we
, boys?”

Bile rose in Kate’s throat, and
she spun round in a circle only to find herself completely surrounded. She
screamed as they closed in on her, and released her spray as an unseen hand
yanked her head back by her hair. Bunching her hands into fists she punched
wildly and kicked out. She briefly gained the upper hand, but it was useless. A
kick to her belly had her doubled over in agony and then she was shoved onto
the floor, and multiple hands grabbed at her clothes.

God, please, no.

****

Zeb frowned at the text from
Zach. What in all that was holy was she still doing at the office?

“
Problems, bro?”
Arran asked, and Zeb rolled his shoulders and shook his head.

“
Nothing that I can’t
handle.
I’m
gonna
go for a run.”

Arran sighed and moved in front
of him.

“
You can’t force her, you know this, bro.”

Zeb flipped him the finger, and
Arran ducked the punch aimed at his shoulder.

“
Not everything I do revolves around our mate,” he
said, and Arran smirked.

“
Yeah, sure it doesn’t. Fuck, this is killing me,
too, but she has to make the first move, you know that. Skulking after her will
not gain you any favors, especially if she spots you. She almost got to Zach
the other day, after all.”

Zeb growled low in his throat.

“
The guy is good, but with his size he sticks out
like a sore fucking thumb, which is why I’ve got to go. The damn woman is still
at the office, and she always walks home.
Tragedy waiting to
fucking happen
, and she’ll spot him in an instant. Not enough people
around, and there’s no fucking way I’ll let her walk home on that estate
without making sure she’s safe.”

“
Fuck.” Arran’s growled reply made Zeb smile,
especially when his brother shrugged on a jacket, and sprinted out the door in
front of him. “Come on,
what’cha
waiting for? Tell
him to hold the fort until we get there.”

“
Already did.” Zeb grunted his answer, and the two of
them fell into step easily enough. “Let’s take my bike. It’ll be fastest.”

Arran nodded, and minutes later
they roared out of the underground parking of their hotel and toward their
girl. Even so, they had clearly taken too long, because the offices looked
deserted by the time they got there. Arran swore and nose in the air followed
her scent. Zeb locked up the bike and followed suit. It was marginally
reassuring that her scent was closely followed by Zach’s, and then they heard
her scream.

Not even caring if they were
seen, Zeb ripped his clothes off and shifted into his panther mid run, dimly
aware of Arran following suit. What he saw when he leapt into the park made his
blood run
cold.
 
Zach was in the process of taking down three youths. They were
brandishing knives, and wounded as he was
,
the
elephant shifter’s responses were slower than they would normally have been. He
had it under control, however. It was the sight of their girl curled up in a
ball on the floor, her clothing torn, and two guys on top of her that made Zeb
see red. Giving his animal full control he went in for the kill. Claws sliced
through fabric and teeth broke bones as the puny humans proved no match against
his large cat. The animal snarled and drank in the sweet scent of blood as he
opened his opponent’s chest with one well-placed swipe of his massive paw.
Blood spattered in his fur and dripped in his eyes, as he leapt off this one
and attacked the one still on top of his girl. How dare the fucker lay a hand
on what was his?

The sorry excuse of a human male
whimpered and pissed himself as Zeb dragged him off Kate and flipping him over
pounced on his chest. Eyes wide with fear and spittle flying from his mouth,
the man’s screams turned into nothing more than a fluid filled gurgle when Zeb
ripped the fucker’s throat out, and leapt off him, ready to get to the next one.

“
Zeb, enough.
It’s done.” Arran’s quiet command shook Zeb out of his blood lust, and he
shifted back to his human form, and winced.

The quiet park resembled a horror
movie, with various body parts thrown around. At least Zach’s and Arran’s kills
had been clean. Zeb’s panther had far too much fun playing with the assholes
who’d
hurt his girl, and Kate…

Damn it, held in Arran’s arms,
she stared up at him with wide, horrified eyes, before she twisted and threw
up.

Zeb swore and warily shrugged on
the clothes Zach handed him. The elephant shifter must have retrieved Zeb’s and
Arran’s clothes while Zeb’s panther was still going to town.

“
I’ve already called for clean-up, but man, Jackson
is not going to be happy about this. The council will have us all up for trial,
I reckon.”

Zeb shrugged his shoulders.

“
Couldn’t care less
about the fucking council.
These assholes hurt what’s mine, and I’d do
it again in a fucking heartbeat.”

Kate gasped, and he cautiously
approached the spot where she had finally stopped retching. His gut churned
when she flinched away from him, and Arran shook his head at him.

“
Let’s get you home, sweet thing. You’ve seen enough.
Zeb can stay here and oversee the clean-up.” His brother glared at him, and Zeb
would have argued the point, but by the way Kate clung to Arran it was
painfully obvious that she couldn’t stand the sight of Zeb right now.

His panther whined, but Zeb
ignored him, and instead gave a tight nod of agreement.

“
So be it. Take good care of her, bro.”

****

Arran swore under his breath and
straightening up, took his precious bundle with them. Kate whimpered and buried
her face in his chest, and Arran wanted to kill those assholes all over again
for putting her into his state. His panther was itching to be let out again, to
inflict as much damage as Zeb’s had done, but the man was too concerned with
the shivering woman in his arms. Her tears soaked trough his shirt, and she was
shivering so badly her teeth chattered.

Their little human was going into
shock, and he had to get her away from there.

“
Here, boss, take her home. Her flat is only across
the park. I’ll stay with the hothead, and try and do some damage control. If
you’re here when clean up comes, they’ll just get you, too, and someone needs
to stay with the little lady.”