Andromeda's Fall (Shadowcat Nation) (8 page)

Jaxon
sat beside Andie on the couch in her little sitting room. She seemed to like
having her own apartment. He’d said he needed to stick her somewhere, and putting
her with one of the guards was not an option. He hadn’t added that he’d end up
mauling them if she stayed with any one of them. Jaxon would have preferred to
have Andie move to his own room, but that wasn’t the smartest idea, and he knew
it. Plus, she’d likely tell him to take a flying leap off a tall building if he
tried it.

Tonight,
he was pretending to read a report from Nick, but none of the words were
sinking in. Distracted, he ran his hands through his hair as his mind churned,
his talk with Sarai filling his thoughts. He’d yet to tell Andie his true
identity, and the need to confess was weighing heavily on him. After what she’d
told him about her mom and the wolves, he’d felt the time had come. The Seer
had said that he’d know when, and he’d wanted to blurt it out after she’d
spilled her guts to him. But he also wanted to get it right, and he was worried
that he’d waited too long, let the deception get too deep. Apparently, he
shouldn’t have waited.

Jaxon
was going to have to tell Andie who he really was – tonight – and just pray
that she’d understand his reasoning.

“Hey,”
Andie said, pulling Jaxon from his thoughts. “I ran across a term today, and I
wondered if you might know the story behind it?”

“Maybe.
What is it?”

“Unskat?
I saw it in a file about the Shadowcat Nation. It had to do with mating, I
think?”

Jaxon
nodded as he leaned back, placing his arm on the back of the couch. A few weeks
ago, she would’ve looked at him questioningly. But now she moved closer,
leaning slightly into him. Jaxon hid his satisfaction. He doubted she even
realized she was doing it.

“I
believe it was a term in the Shadowcat Nation to describe the permanent
relationship created when a mated pair of cougars also marries. It means
one
in several Iroquois dialects.”

“Huh.
Do you know why we don’t use it?”

He
shrugged. “I don’t really remember. But, along that topic, did anyone ever tell
you why we used an Iroquois term – awa dare – to name our ten groups ‘dares’?”

Andie
raised her eyebrows. “No. I’ve always wondered since the Nation has people from
many other cultures from all over the Americas.”

“Hmmm…
Even the name ‘Shadowcat’ comes from the Iroquois. Their terms were used
because the Alphas who established the Nation wanted to be associated with the legend
of Dajoji. Do you know it?”

Andie
shook her head with wide-eyed fascination. “Never heard of it, but please go
on.”

Jaxon
smiled and absently wound a strand of her hair around his finger. He wasn’t
surprised at her interest. He’d found over the last weeks that she liked hearing
stories along these lines. He could just picture her as a little girl listening
with rapt attention at her father’s feet.

“Ga-oh,
the Spirit of the Winds, was selecting assistants to control the storms in the
four corners of the sky. When he called for someone to be the Spirit of the
West Wind, a terrible darkness crept into the clouds that moved in torrents of
chaos. With a deathly scream, sounding like claws rending the heavens, Dajoji,
the Panther appeared. It is said that he can combat violent storms and that even
the sun will hide his face when Dajoji shrieks. The leaders who formed the
Shadowcat Nation wanted our enemies to cower in fear when we let forth our
cougars’ screams.”

Andie
gave a little shiver. “Good story. I like their thinking. All Shadowcats should
be told that story. I think it would help build solidarity within the Nation.”

Jaxon
nodded his head slowly, only half-listening. Now that his story was over, his
mind was back on what he had to do tonight. He’d planned on telling her soon
anyway. Andie hadn’t said as much, but he could tell she still suspected his
identity. Not only that, but whatever patience she’d had was gone. The last few
days she’d been working out her frustrations during training. She didn’t always
win, and other than the first night they’d met, she’d yet to take
him
down. But she’d stepped up trying.

But
Jaxon’s hand had been well and truly forced. Sarai’s message was clear that
Kyle and Walter Carstairs were on Andie’s trail. If they didn’t already know
she was with the Keller Dare, they soon would.

Now
that the moment had come, finding an opening was proving impossible. Should he
just say,
“Hey, babe, only kidding… I am actually Jaxon Keller?”

Andie
sighed and waved a hand in front of Jaxon’s face. He blinked and refocused on
her, realizing that she’d been talking for a few minutes.

“You’re
not listening. What’s got you miles away?” she asked.

Jaxon
looked intently into her soft brown eyes, noting the flecks of gold in them,
and saw only trust and companionship reflected back at him.

He
cleared his throat. “Andie… we need to talk. There’s something I should’ve told
you a while ago.”

She
tipped her head to the side, and her small smile faded. She closed her laptop
with a click and set it on the coffee table. Turning back to him she said,
“Let’s have it.”

Something
in her tone alerted Jaxon, and a combination of relief and frustration rushed
through him. “When did you know?” he asked.

“That
you’re really Jaxon Keller? I’ve had my suspicions from the beginning. You
really threw me off when you offered to marry me as A.J., and then backed off
when I insisted on needing Jaxon.”

She
hopped up and paced the room, her cougar evident in the flowing, feline grace
of her body. “But it was all the little things that really clued me in. I can’t
beat you in a fight. You can sneak up on me without my knowing it - every damn
time. The guys defer all decisions to you. A couple of things that have been
said.”

She
looked over, and he felt her eyes, like a physical touch, as they trailed down
his tense body. “And you’re so clearly an Alpha male. I was an idiot to believe
you weren’t the Alpha in the first place.”

He
still couldn’t get a read on her reaction. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

That
earned him a full on glare. “Why the hell didn’t
you
?” she asked in a
soft voice. He opened his mouth to answer but snapped it shut when she
continued, “God, you must’ve thought I was really stupid not to figure it out.
I didn’t say anything because I wanted to see what kind of game you were
playing with me.”

Okay,
so she was pissed, but she was taking the high road. Jaxon felt like an
asshole. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was going to have to
handle this carefully since he couldn’t tell her the most important reason for
lying, not yet. The Seer had been clear.

He
looked Andie directly in the eyes. “I’m sorry about deceiving you. More than
you know. At first I told myself that it was to get real reactions from you.
You would’ve acted differently had you’d known for sure that I was the Alpha.”

“And
after you stopped testing me?”

Jaxon
winced at the bitterness lacing her voice but held her gaze. “I immediately
asked you to marry me.”

Andie’s
eyes widened, and he could tell she remembered that moment. Jaxon gave her a
little half-smile and held up his hands. “Okay, so I did jump you first. I
couldn’t hold out a second longer. I’d been wanting to taste those lips since
the moment sarcasm started dripping from them the night we met.”

His
eyes dropped to where she was nibbling on them now. She stopped when she
noticed the direction of his gaze. Andie’s shoulders went back. “You could’ve
told me your identity later. It’s been over a month since that day.”

Jaxon
sighed. “Once I got to know you, I thought that I’d gone too far, that you’d
never forgive me. I wanted a chance to show you who I am – who I really am – first.
And when you calm down enough to think about this rationally, you’ll realize
that if it had been you in my situation, you’d have done the same.”

Andie
crossed her arms. “Don’t I look calm and rational to you?”

Jaxon
grimaced. She did. A little too much. “You’ve got to be furious with me.
Shouldn’t you, I don’t know, be throwing things or something?”

Andie
opened her mouth to respond but the sound of his cell phone ringing cut her
off. With a soft curse, he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down at the
screen.

UNDER ATTACK

“Damn,”
he muttered. He leapt to his feet and grabbed Andie’s hand.

“I’ve
got to go. Now. I know we need to finish this, but—”

“What’s
going on?”

She
followed him to the door, but he turned and held out a hand. “No. You need to
stay here.”

After
a beat, she said, “They’re here, aren’t they? Carstairs?”

His
jaw hardened, and he said nothing.

“Jaxon?”

He
blinked as an invisible fist punched him in the gut. He’d had no idea how much
he wanted to hear his name on her lips until she’d said it. With an effort, he
kept his focus on the immediate issue.

“Yes.
If this isn’t them, they’re close. But I’m guessing it is. They may not be sure
you’re here, though, so we can’t risk their seeing you.”

She
sank down onto the chair by her bed, her hands trembling. Jaxon wanted to wrap
her up in his arms and tell her it would be okay. But he couldn’t. He had to
get out there immediately.
Damn.
The timing couldn’t have been worse.

“I
have to go. Stay here and wait for me. We’ll talk when I get back.”

He
turned and opened the door. He was out of time. Glancing over his shoulder,
that fist hit his gut again as he recognized the misery in her shadowed eyes,
hidden by anger and bravado, but it was there.

“Dammit,”
he muttered. In three long strides he was at her side. Leaning over, he placed
a hard, fast kiss on her surprised lips. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

And
then he headed out to confront whoever, or whatever, was attacking his dare.

Andie
sat for a solid minute. She lifted a shaky hand to her lips where she could
still feel that brief kiss. She struggled to control her breathing as
realization crashed over her in waves. She was in love with Jaxon Keller –
she’d stopped thinking of him as A.J. a while ago. Carstairs had found her, and
now she was responsible for putting Jaxon in this position, forcing him into a
war with a dangerous man. A string of swear words screamed in her head, though
she uttered not one syllable.

Well,
she had made this mess, so she could fix it. She had to leave here, now, before
things got worse. Before Jaxon lost his dare or his life. When he was just a
name, she hadn’t thought of what her request for asylum would mean to him. But
now…

Andie
shook her head. Now she’d risk wolves and Kyle Carstairs to keep Jaxon safe.
But first she had to stop that fight and draw the attackers away.

Without
further thought, Andie grabbed a backpack and started stuffing her clothes and
some other necessities in it. On the off chance she got out of here in one
piece, she’d need it. She quickly made her way to the guards’ locker room.
Thankfully she found it empty, as all the defenders were likely dealing with
the attack. Stripping down, she shoved the rest of her clothes in her pack.
Instantly she shifted into her cougar form.

Andie
grabbed the bag in her jaws and ran out the door. Instinctively, she knew the
battle would be happening around her rock. Her scent was all over it. If this
was Carstairs, their forces would be drawn to that place.

She
loped through the trees, swift and silent as a shadow, and circled around her
rock, approaching it from the opposite direction than she typically did. About
a quarter mile out, she picked up the sounds of the fight - trees and branches
breaking and rustling and the large cats growling and squalling at each other.

Andie
stopped and stowed her backpack up in the branches of a tall tree, making sure
to note its location for when she returned. She continued on to the rear side
of her rock. It angled at a fairly sharp incline, but was scalable. This must
be the way Jaxon had come the night he’d snuck up on her. It had the advantage
of being protected, invisible and downwind – at least tonight. They wouldn’t smell
her or see her approach.

Andie
quickly moved up the steep rock face. She could hear sounds of the fight on the
other side, helping her make sure of her position. Finally, she reached the
top. Slinking along on her belly, she peered over the edge and studied the
scuffle going on below her.

She
was able to identify the Keller cougars in their cat forms now. And, of course,
she was intimately familiar with all of her own people in their shifts. If
she’d been in human form, she would’ve frowned. The people Carstairs had sent
made no sense.

Surveying
the scene closely, she saw no place where she could help or intervene. If
anything, she’d be an unfortunate distraction. So she lay low and watched
carefully.

Jaxon’s
forces were good fighters. Really good. Twice, she saw one of the Protectors
use a move she’d shown him. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, she
would’ve smiled. Time and again she found her eyes drawn to Jaxon. The
distinctive black markings on his face made him menacing when he was in full combat.
Since she had similar markings, she wondered if that’s how she looked when she
fought.

He
was pitted against one other cougar at the moment. Jaxon bided his time. She’d
noticed that about him when they sparred. He used his patience like a weapon,
just waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. He kept himself small, low to
the ground. His ears lay flat against his head, and he bared his vicious teeth.
But no hiss or growl came from him. Just deadly, silent intent.

The
other cat paced back and forth, darting in every once in a while only to
quickly retreat, trying to pick his moment to truly attack.

Don’t
do it, Ben,
Andie thought. She’d recognized him immediately. His coat was a light tan,
almost pale grey in color, and she’d been working with him extensively when
she’d left the dare. He was young, large, and quite powerful. But he also
tended to be hasty and rushed his moves due to lack of experience.

Suddenly
Ben lunged toward Jaxon, his forelegs extended, claws unsheathed, and he took a
wild swing at Jaxon’s head. But Jaxon leapt up a second before it happened and stretched
to his full length. He was easily nine feet long from his nose to the tip of
his tail, big even for a male cougar. He took a risk exposing his belly like
that, but it worked. He twisted in the air and came down on top of Ben hard,
his jaws clamped over the back of the young lion’s neck. But Jaxon didn’t kill
him… he just held him still.

That’s
when she saw it. The slight twitch of a tail in the tree above where Jaxon now
lay on top of Ben.

Oh,
hell no
!
No matter that she’d once considered these men her friends.
No one
was
taking out Jaxon if she could do something about it.

Jaxon
was focused on the cougar he held still, and all his other men were otherwise
occupied with their own skirmishes. She stealthily dropped the fifteen feet or
so to the rock below her, landing quietly on the pads of her large paws and
absorbing the shock with fluid grace. Then she crouched low, her legs
positioned under her, her muscles bunched and ready to spring. She zeroed in on
the form in the tree, no longer visible to her from this vantage point.

She
waited. She had to time this perfectly.

The
minuscule shake of the branch was her only signal. Without hesitation, Andie
put all the power of her hind legs into her leap. She easily cleared the gap of
about thirty feet and slammed into the mountain lion as it dropped out of the
tree intending to land directly on top of Jaxon. Her horizontal momentum sent
both her and the large cat crashing into the ground.

Andie
allowed her body to roll but was up on her feet as soon as she came to a stop
just out of view of the rest of the brawlers. She eyed her opponent warily, and
recognition dawned. Mike. A friend. At least, she’d once thought so. Andie
tipped her head to the side and gave a little mewling sound. Times like these
she wished that shifters could hear each other’s thoughts.

Mike
shifted suddenly and squatted before her in his human form. “We’re not here to
fight, Andie. I’ve got a message for you. Pretending to check out Keller was the
best way to get it to you.”

Before
Andie could do anything, she heard Jaxon call out, “Stop your fighting or I’ll
snap his neck.”

Andie
mentally swore. She didn’t have much time, but she needed to talk to Mike now.
Checking that she and Mike were still out of view, she shifted. “How long have
you really known where I was?” she whispered.

“Only
about a week.”

She
gave him a grim look, her jaw clenched. “If you know, then Carstairs will
figure it out pretty soon.”

“You’ve
got that right. I can keep him off you a little longer by saying we didn’t see
any sign of you here. But that will only buy so much time.”

“Do
it. I’ll be gone by then anyway. What’s the message?”

“It’s
from your contact, Papa Bear. He said to tell you he’s offering you more
options.”

Andie
nodded. She hadn’t wanted to go that route, but her choices were dwindling. “Okay.
I’ll get in touch with him later.” She glanced over her shoulder but only heard
a low murmur of voices, likely Jaxon and his men deciding what to do next. She
looked back at Mike. “How bad is it?”

Suddenly,
sounds of the fight broke back out. Ben must’ve twisted away from whoever Jaxon
had keeping hold of him.

Mike
grimaced and quickly answered her question. “Kyle lit into your dad pretty hard.
Smart, not letting your dad know where you went. Lucky they didn’t kill him
outright, but they still need him. But Kyle, that sadistic bastard, enjoyed
beating him just for the hell of it.”

He
would,
Andie thought. Kyle wanted the Beta position because it would solidify his
succession to Alpha when Walter died. He’d been seriously pissed when Walter
had refused. But what Kyle had yet to figure out was having two brutal, selfish
men in the top two positions would most likely result in losing the dare. It
was a reality her father had constantly struggled with. His presence kept the
dare together, but his absence meant the people under the Carstairs would be in
greater jeopardy. So he stayed. Besides, Kyle wasn’t above murder to take the
Alpha spot, and Walter knew that. Making Kyle Beta would be like signing his
own death warrant.

A
pair of fighters slammed into the other side of the tree blocking them from
view. Andie and Mike skittered back. She kept half her mind on the sounds of
the fight, listening for any indication that Jaxon was in trouble.

“He’s
okay though?” Andie asked, still needing to know about her dad.

“Yeah.
You know Mark. Tough as nails.”

Andie
nodded again. She had all the information she needed. Time to go. But now she
had another problem. She had a feeling Jaxon wouldn’t let her just go off to
the backwoods of Montana. But she also needed to stop this fight before anyone
got seriously hurt.

Mike
seemed to follow her thoughts. “You get going. I’ve got this.”

Andie
thought about the best way to stop the battle. She hoped to hell she didn’t
make things worse with what she was about to tell Mike to do. “Order the men to
stop fighting as soon as I’m out of sight.”

“Hell,
no. They’ll rip us to shreds.”

Andie
thought about Jaxon holding Ben’s neck in his teeth without biting. “No. And
when they do stop, tell Jaxon you’re with me. Just… don’t tell him I’ve left.”

“Got
it.” Mike shifted and started to move away.

“And
Mike?”

He
turned back to her.

“Thanks.
And watch your back when you return to Carstairs.”

Andie
didn’t wait to see his next move. She shifted and took a quick scan of her
surroundings. No one was watching or could see her. Jaxon stood just beyond her
sight, but she knew he was there. She felt flayed raw leaving like this. She’d
never thought she’d find love… had been too focused on her dare and her career
to think about it much. But now that she had, walking away – even to save him –
was possibly the hardest thing she’d ever done. Worse even than leaving her
father and friends still in Kyle and Walter’s clutches.

Her
heart shattering with every step, Andie turned and took off into the night.