Andromeda's Fall (Shadowcat Nation) (5 page)

Andie
couldn’t explain why, but it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her
shoulders and placed squarely on A.J.’s. She let out a deep breath she hadn’t
even realized she’d been holding and nodded her head.

A.J.
grinned. “That doesn’t mean your tests are over though.”

Andie
smiled back. “As I said earlier today, bring it on.”

Jaxon
waited just outside the main entrance to the compound. A wide set of stairs led
down to the grass, and soft light spilled out of the glass doors behind him.
Despite the fact that it was a moonless night, his keen eyes took in the surrounding
grounds. His father had started this place when he’d been the first Alpha of the
dare. Then he’d been killed in a hunting accident, and Jaxon had stepped up and
continued to build. What he saw now was a beautiful and safe haven for the
people under his care.

“You
wanted to see us, boss?” William asked, as his Protectors and Commanders ambled
outside to meet him. William was his strongest Protector. A rugged, rough-looking
man with a jaw so square it looked as though it was made from granite. The
man’s character was about the same.

Jaxon
turned to face them. “Before I get to the reason I asked you to meet me out
here, I want to hear your initial impressions of Andromeda Reynolds.”

Dylan,
Pete, Charlie, and William all glanced at each other. Jaxon waited them out
patiently, his expression neutral.

“She’s
smart. She really knows her stuff,” Pete started. While a Commander, Pete was
still well built. The scars on his face had been earned in battle with other
cats. When it came to the military training of Jaxon’s forces, Pete was in
charge.

He
continued, “And she’s well trained. There’s no way she could’ve spouted off
half of that stuff without knowing what she was talking about. She was well versed
in their treaties, politics, leaders, training, weaponry… you name it.”

He
looked at Charlie, his other Commander, who was their tactical expert. Charlie
was relatively young, only twenty-one, and his playboy looks often meant that
he wasn’t taken seriously. But Jaxon knew better. Charlie added, “She’s given
us just enough to earn some level of trust. I did some digging today, and
everything she said so far checks out.”

“What
about you, Dylan?” Jaxon asked.

The
tall, Viking-like Protector, one of the strongest cougars Jaxon had ever seen,
rubbed his chin. “Well, a lot depends on what she told you today. We wouldn’t
ask you to betray her confidence, but were her reasons for leaving her dare and
asking for asylum here valid?”

Rage
flowed through Jaxon at the thought of Andie being forced to marry Kyle
Carstairs. He’d kept his opinions under wraps in her presence, and then he’d gone
downstairs to the gym and pummeled a punching bag for a solid hour. Some of
what he was feeling must’ve shown on his face, because his men shifted
restlessly.

“They’re
valid,” Jaxon muttered. “And I promised to help her.”

“If
you believe her so much, then why aren’t you telling her who you really are?”
William asked.

“It’s
a reason that I can’t share,” Jaxon said. The Seer had been very clear about
that one point. Andie couldn’t know he was the Alpha right away, even if she
suspected. The Seer had been vague about when the right time to tell Andie
would come, only saying that he would know. Jaxon hated playing such stupid
games. But every single thing the Seer had told Nick had resulted in his being happily
married to Hannah. Jaxon would listen to her warnings. “Andie’s got her guesses,
but she’s not sure. I need you guys to help keep her off the scent for a while.”

All
four men in front of him nodded, their confidence in him absolute.

“At
least tell us if she was forced out, given the injuries you said she arrived
with,” Charlie said. “Or is there a deeper reason, and she’s escaping?”

Jaxon
pressed his mouth into a tight line. “The latter.”

“Which
means that Carstairs will be looking for her,” Dylan pointed out.

“Given
her skill sets, I’m guessing she did a decent job of hiding her tracks, but
Carstairs is going to find her eventually,” Pete added. “You know he’ll demand
to extradite. The Lyons Treaty gives him that right.”

“Well,
we’ll just have to do something about that, won’t we?” Jaxon replied calmly

“You
thinking of mating her to one of the dare?” Dylan asked.

Charlie
raised his hand and grinned. “I volunteer!” He didn’t notice the scowl on
Jaxon’s face as Pete elbowed him in the ribs. “What? You can’t deny she’s
smoking hot.”

“Stop
talking, dummy,” Pete muttered.

Charlie
finally got a look at Jaxon and blanched. He held up his hands. “Sorry, boss. I
didn’t realize—”

Jaxon
reigned in his cougar with difficulty. He knew his eyes were glowing golden as
he struggled to keep from shifting, but he managed to put his usual neutral
expression back on. “Let’s just all assume for now that Andie is under my…
protection.”

“Have
you seen her fight yet?” Dylan asked. Dylan was his peacemaker, so Jaxon knew
the change of subject was deliberate.

Jaxon
grinned and rubbed a hand around the back of his neck. “A little. Don’t
underestimate her is all I’ll say.”

“Put
you on your ass, didn’t she? Impressive,” William guessed.

“Ha.
I’d like to have seen that.” Pete chuckled.

Jaxon
raised a single eyebrow.

William
grinned. “Wait… you
let
her. To feel her out? Or to hide your identity
as Alpha?”

Jaxon
shrugged. “Both. I’ll be having you guys help me test her out tomorrow morning.
I’m satisfied with her physical levels, but I want to see what she can really do
in a fight… which brings me to another matter, and the reason I asked you to
meet me here. As beat up as she was, she still managed to get by our entire
defense system last night. The
only
reason I caught her is because I
happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

He
left out the fact that some kind of hidden instinct had led him to the room at
that time. He’d watched as a shadow had stealthily made its way over the wall,
past his guards, up the tree, and eventually through the window. He hadn’t
known until she stood that the intruder was a woman, and that she wasn’t in her
animal form. Only the best shifters could use their mountain lion skills while
still human. That alone had him intrigued.

Then
he’d gotten a good look at her in the light of the hallway. She was a pocket Venus
– tiny but with curves. Attraction had slammed into him. Hard. He’d had an
instant image of her incredible long, dark hair spread out over his chest in
silken streams as she slept. His distraction had given her the opening to sling
him to the ground, but seeing his opportunity to further disguise his identity,
he’d gone along with it, not trying to win the skirmish.

To
his men, he pointed out how exactly she’d come in. “Now, how is that possible?”

They
looked at each other and then back at him. “We can certainly take a closer look
at our setup,” William said. “Likely we’re good for larger-scale attacks, but
perhaps we have some holes when defending against a single invader. But I
suspect the best way to shore up our defenses is to ask Andie how she did it.”

Jaxon
nodded in tense agreement. He’s already decided on that course of action, but
he’d wanted his men to come to the same conclusion on their own. They took
pride in their work, but more than that, as cougar shifters, they were easily provoked.
They were more likely to take advice from Andie if they asked for it first.

“We’ll
have her walk us through it tomorrow night. And the following night, I want her
tested on patrol,” he decided.

“That’s
a pretty ruthless schedule. She’ll be exhausted,” Dylan commented.

Thinking
back to her tireless run this morning, Jaxon smiled. “I suspect she can handle
it.”

“I
hope
we
can,” Charlie joked.

Jaxon
ignored him. He had every confidence that his men could deal with anything he
threw at them and more.

“For
tonight I want the guards doubled. Keep the current shift on the same schedule,
but put the new shift on a randomized schedule,” he ordered.

“You
got it, boss,” Dylan said.

As
they walked back into the compound, Pete turned to him. “What do Nick and
Hannah think about this?”

Jaxon
shrugged. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Nick yet. He’ll be back in a
couple of weeks. Andie is staying in Hannah’s room for now.”

Pete’s
eyebrows shot up. “Hannah agreed to keep your true identity a secret?”

“She’s
not thrilled about it. But her words were, and I quote,
I’m keeping
confidences on both sides
.”

Pete
stopped walking. “Somebody’s going to slip up eventually. And I don’t get the
impression that Andie is the type of girl to take a deception like that well.
Better it come from you than someone else. Especially if you intend to marry
her.”

Jaxon
clapped a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “This is a necessary lie. But I know you’re
right. I don’t intend for it to go on for too long.”

Jaxon
looked across the group of his closest friends. “5 a.m. tomorrow morning at the
sparring mats outside. Come ready to really test her out.”

None
of his men complained. They simply nodded and then walked off down the
corridor. For a moment, Jaxon debated checking up on Andie. He had her confined
to quarters in Hannah’s room. They needed to keep her presence under wraps. The
fewer people who knew of her existence here, the less likely word would leak
back to Carstairs.

Instead
of giving in to his urge to see her, he headed back to his office. He had a lot
of work he’d neglected today while dealing with Andie, and that pile would only
get higher over the next couple of days. Although he suspected that thoughts of
a feisty little brown-eyed witch were going to keep him from being as productive
as he would like.

Andie
grinned, despite her split lip, and lightly bounced on the balls of her feet as
she tried to gauge where William was going to strike next.

She
hadn’t been surprised when A.J. had shown up at Hannah’s door at the crack of
dawn again and led her out to the sparring mats where the men she’d met the day
before had stood waiting. She’d barely kept from rubbing her hands together in
anticipation. It’d been a long time since she’d sparred with new people who
didn’t already know her moves well. But instead of showing her glee, she tried
to look serious… even slightly nervous. No reason to let them know how much she
loved this.

Andie
had trained to fight in both her forms all of her life. Not only that, but she
was
good
at it. She’d learned to use her small but agile body to her advantage.
She was fast and could bend in ways most men couldn’t. She never went for the
power strike, choosing instead to knock her opponents off balance and then come
down on them hard using gravity to put some heft behind her hits. Or bind them
up in such a way that when they went down, they couldn’t get back up.

Dylan
already sat on the side of the mat, nursing a couple of broken ribs and what
looked to be a spectacular black eye. He’d managed to get a lucky punch in.
Hence, her own split lip. She’d been surprised to hear a guttural growl come
out of A.J. when the hit had landed and had glanced over to see him moving
toward the mats with purpose in his eyes.

“Stop
this fight, buddy, and you’ll deal with me,” she warned. She ignored the
surprised laugh that came out of the other guys on the sideline. Then, seeing Dylan
was momentarily distracted, she’d taken advantage of her opportunity, flipping
him on his back, and bringing a knee down on his ribs as she held his arm
behind him almost to the point of breaking. That had stopped the fight more
satisfactorily than A.J.’s calling a halt, at least in her opinion.

“Give!”
Dylan croaked.

Andie
grinned and hopped to her feet. “Who’s next?”

“Bloodthirsty
little thing, isn’t she?” William muttered.

Andie
smiled and crooked a finger at him. “Guess it’s you then, big boy.”

Where
Dylan had been lightning fast, William was simply a brawler. Andie knew that if
she let him get a good hit in, he’d do some serious damage. Still, she said,
“Don’t you dare hold back,” as he moved into position.

He’d
flashed her a menacing grin. “It’s not in my nature, little girl.”

They
danced around each other for a brief while. William threw a punch here and there,
which Andie dodged. She took note that she needed to avoid his right hook. It
looked nasty.

Seeing
an opening, she ran straight for him, took a little jump, and using his knee as
a stair step, managed to get up on his back with her arms wrapped around his
neck. She squeezed just enough to cut off his oxygen without crushing his
windpipe. She dangled her legs down the middle of his back rather than wrapping
them around his middle, which both aided her in choking him and made it
difficult for him to get a grip on any part of her.

William
beat at her ineffectually for several moments, then changed tactics. He grabbed
her wrist at the front of his neck, then threw his body forward and down in
such a way that her feet flung up over his head. But Andie placed her free hand
on the top of his head and pirouetted in the air, like a gymnast on the
parallel bars. She did a full handstand above him and then brought her feet
down to land on his shoulders. With the leverage she had at that angle, she
wrenched her wrist out his grasp and flipped herself backwards off him. William
caught a face full of her trailing foot as she moved. Andie landed in a crouch
ready to spring out of the way should he come at her. But William stayed still.

Andie
wrinkled her nose at the sight of blood coating the front of his shirt. “Broke
your nose?” she called in a sweetly innocent voice.

 He
glared and then shot a bloody grin over her shoulder at the man standing silently
behind her. “Damn, A.J. Can we keep her?”

Andie
glanced at him, her suspicion spiking again.
Why would he get to decide
?

A.J.
shrugged. “It’s up to the Alpha.”

Andie
rose gracefully to her feet and tried not to look too smug as she turned to face
the rest of the guys. She looked up at A.J., glanced around and shrugged.

A.J.
shook his head and laughed. “Okay, you’re good one-on-one. How do you do
against a gang?”

“Want
to try me?”

He
raised a single eyebrow. “Just answer the question.”

She
grinned, mischief dancing in her eyes. “About the same, depending on how many
and their skill levels. Different techniques for different situations.”

“And
in cougar form?”

Andie
made a face. “Not as well. I’m more agile than most of you big boys in cat
form, but you’ve got me in regard to speed and size. I can’t do all the
acrobatics I use when I fight human, so that limits me. I’d never win in a
straight-up match, but I can play ‘keep away’ for ages depending on the terrain.
And I’m a helluva lot more patient than just about any male cougar on the
planet.”

“And
you can use features from each of your shifts combined,” A.J. added.

She
blinked. “Now how did you know that?”

“The
night you snuck into the compound. I watched you for quite a while.”

“Yeah,
well.” She held up her hand, and suddenly where there’d been human nails only a
moment before, now there were cougar claws. “You’re right. I can.”

“You
ever seen a woman shifter do that, A.J.?” Charlie asked, awe evident in his
voice.

“Nope.”

She
glanced up and caught A.J.’s heated stare. Quickly she looked at Charlie and
shrugged. “Any shifter can do it. It just takes a lot of practice. It also takes
a certain level of concentration, so it’s harder for me to do much with it in
the middle of a fight. But it does come in handy, especially when I’m breaking
and entering.” She winked.

“What
other kinds of shifters do you fight most up in Canada?” Pete asked.

“Lots
of wolves.” She managed not to grimace. “Coyotes too. Just recently the
Canadian wolf packs have formed an alliance with the grizzly bears. The bears
have been travelling in large groups more and more. They’ve agreed to support
the wolves in any battles close to their territories so long as the wolves
leave them alone the rest of the time.”

All
the men exchanged glances. “We’d heard rumors about the alliance but nothing
confirmed,” Pete said.

Andie’s
eyes turned hard, haunted by memories. “Well, take it from me, the alliance is
real. While cougars have been known to fight off individual grizzlies, it’s not
a guaranteed win. Sometimes it can take four or five of our best fighters together
in a coordinated attack to take down a full-grown male Grizzly.” Suddenly she
smiled, although it had a vicious edge to it. “But manage to catch them in
human form, and they’re lumbering and clumsy. Easy pickings.”

“Good
info to have, right bos…er… brothers?” William said.

Andie
caught William’s verbal stumble and wondered what he’d meant to say but kept
her focus on A.J. She could tell that he knew she was holding back a piece of
information. But it wasn’t vital. Just history.

Finally,
A.J. pulled his concentrated stare away from her. “All right. Enough for this
morning. Dylan, William, go get yourselves healed up.”

“Hey,
what about Charlie and me?” Pete asked. “Commanders can fight as well as
Protectors.” William snorted and then cursed as blood started gushing out of
his broken nose again.

Andie
hid a grin. Apparently Protectors and Commanders had the same arguments in the
Keller Dare as in the Carstairs Dare, although she suspected Pete wasn’t
kidding. Based on the scars on his face, she’d hazard money he was a good
fighter. Charlie was harder to get a read on. He was too goofy. But she’d bet
much of it was an act to throw people off.

“You’ll
get your chance another day,” A.J. said.

The
Commander shrugged. “We still meeting tonight?”

“Yeah,
same time and place as last night,” A.J. confirmed.

“Sounds
good.” With a wave, the four men trudged away.

Andie
walked to the side of the mat. She wiped herself down with a towel and then
took a long gulp of water, acutely aware of A.J.’s eyes following her. As she
pulled the bottle out of her mouth, she nicked the already healing split in her
upper lip and winced.

“Let
me take a look at that lip,” he said softly.

Andie
jumped a little. She hadn’t realized he’d moved so close. Composing her
features, she turned her face up to him. He took her chin between his fingers
and tilted her head as he inspected her small wound.

“Will
I live?” she asked.

But
he didn’t respond. Gently he ran the pad of his thumb across her lower lip. “Do
you have any idea how incredible you are to watch when you spar?” he murmured. “I
don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on.”

Andie’s
breathing hitched. The only thing she could think of to fend off the kiss she saw
coming was to instigate a fight. Juvenile, but there you had it. In a surprise
move, she grabbed for his shoulders, intending to topple him off balance.
Before she knew what was happening, his hand snaked out, intercepting hers. She
was spun around so that her back was to him, his arms banded around her, holding
her like steel.

Gritting
her teeth, Andie twisted and jerked her wrist down in a sharp movement, then
gave a little yelp as he stuck out a foot to tangle her up, and suddenly she
was flat on her back. Before she got her bearings, he followed her down and
pinned her under the weight of his body.

Hard,
hot lips claimed hers in an all-consuming kiss. She went wild beneath him, not resisting
him, but opening to him, kissing him back with every ounce of her being. The
kiss just seemed to go on and on. The sensation was the most exciting thing
Andie had ever felt in her life. She couldn’t get enough.

Finally
A.J. pulled back. He buried his face in her neck and took a couple of deep
breaths. Andie felt the flutter of his lips over the sweet spot where her
shoulder curved into her neck, and she sucked in a breath.

With
a groan, he levered up and pinned her with his heated gaze. “Mate me,” he
demanded in a voice raw with desire.

Andie’s
eyes flew wide. “Wh… What?”

“You’ll
be part of this dare, and no one can take you away. You’d be an asset we could
sure use. And based on that kiss, I’d say we’re sexually compatible.” He gave
her a wicked grin. “Mate me. Marry me.”

She
was tempted. God, how she was tempted as she ran her eyes over his chiseled
face and dark hair. This close up she could see that rim of black around the
blue of his eyes, making them appear even more electric. She felt the muscles
under her hands. Heaven knew the attraction was there. She’d only known him a
few days, but she already knew that he was honorable and strong. A good man.
Hannah, one of her best friends in the world, had vouched for him. And it
would
solve all her problems. But at the same time, she didn’t know him. Not really.

Besides,
the only male strong enough to fend off Kyle Carstairs was Jaxon Keller.

She
shook her head. “I can’t.”

The
desire in his eyes cooled, and he rolled off her and onto his back. “Why not?”
he asked flatly.

She
hopped up and grabbed her water bottle with shaky hands and took another long
swig.

“Hey,
wildcat,” he called softly. She glanced over at him. “Why not?”

“Don’t
you think I should meet with the Alpha before anything gets decided?” she asked
reasonably. She watched his reaction closely. If he was Keller, then he’d say
so now, right?

“Damn,”
A.J. muttered under his breath. He ran his hands distractedly through his hair
and down over his face. “All right, sweetheart. I’ll take you back to your room
and we’ll be rational about this.”

He
pushed himself up off the mat and waited while she grabbed her stuff. He walked
her back in total silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

At
her door he said, “I’ll be by to pick you up around nine tonight.”

“What
for?” she asked.

“I
want you to show the guys how you got into the compound so we can adjust our
defensive systems appropriately. And we’ll be testing you out as a sentry
tomorrow night.”

She
smiled. “Sounds like fun. I’ll be ready.”

She
closed the door with a soft click and then fell back against it with a deep
sigh. She couldn’t fall for A.J. Not while her future depended on Jaxon Keller.