Black Storm [Panther Key] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

It wasn’t even the other clans he knew were out there, waiting for their opportunity to claim her. He had known that would happen since his encounter with the bear shifter. He didn’t think the unknown loner would come back, but he knew there were other unscrupulous members of the other clans who would try to forcibly mate with Kate if they detected her scent. Their goal would not be to find their true mate, but only to use her to produce shifter offspring. They wouldn’t care that keeping Kate from her true mates would render her unable to shift and leave her cat trapped inside her. The thought disgusted Blake. He and his brothers would protect Kate with their lives to keep her from ever facing that horrible fate. He didn’t even want her to know of that danger. She had been through enough already. No, the thing that really worried Blake was the fact that Kate was Jesse’s daughter. If the wrong people ever found out the legendary bloodline survived, they would stop at nothing to prevent it from ever rising again. But he’d be damned if he’d let any of them touch a single hair on his Kate’s head.

An angry growl tore from Blake, and the glass of water he had been holding shattered in his hand. He looked down, surprised, since he hadn’t even remembered he had been holding a glass and certainly didn’t realize he was clenching it so tightly.

“You okay over there, brother?” Blake looked behind him to see Drake looking at him with arched eyebrows.

At least Drake showed some degree of concern. Jake just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Blake let out a huff and turned his attention back to his hand. He turned the water on and rinsed the blood away. The glass had cut into his palm, but he was already healing. It was one of the benefits of being a shifter. They could heal from injuries quickly, although there were some things they couldn’t survive. Like Kate’s father.

He and his brothers had just been kids when Jesse had been killed, but he still remembered how devastated their dad had been. Jesse and their father had been like brothers. Blake couldn’t even imagine losing one of his own brothers. The way Jesse had been killed, added to the fact that it had been their father who had found his body, made the loss that much more horrible.

When Jesse had failed to show up a week after he had called to say he would be bringing his new love to meet them, their father had gone looking for him. He’d searched every road between their house and Jesse’s house. He had finally found Jesse’s motorcycle on a seldom-used back road, crashed into a ditch. Their father had followed Jesse’s scent from the ditch and through the densely forested woods. It had led him to a gruesome scene.

Jesse’s body had been stretched out in a small clearing, his chest ripped open. His heart was gone. His head, severed from his neck, had been impaled on a stick that had been forced into the ground like a spike. The message had been clear. Jesse’s bloodline had been cut, its very heart ripped from existence.

The knowledge of what Jesse’s murderers were capable of was putting every nerve Blake possessed on edge. He could sense his brothers felt it, too. It probably explained the mess the kitchen was in and the smell of food coming from the oven. Jake tended to cook when he was stressed. Drake got quiet. And Blake…he tended to break things. Noses, arms, a few ribs. Not his own, of course, and only if the person causing the stress really deserved it. Jesse’s murderers definitely deserved it. And more. And Blake knew Kate would be their next target if her heritage was discovered. They were going to have to see to it that no one found out Jesse was her father.

He couldn’t stand this any longer. Even though Kate was only in the next room, it was too far for him to be comfortable. He stalked out of the kitchen toward the closed bedroom door, ignoring the scowling looks of his brothers as he passed them. He knew they were only concerned that Kate be allowed to rest after everything she had been through. Blake had no intention of waking her, but he needed to have her in his arms.

He quietly opened the door and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him just as silently. Without making a sound, he slipped into the bed and stretched out next to Kate then pulled her into his arms. She snuggled against his body, and he curved around her protectively. Thankfully, she didn’t wake up. His brothers would give him hell if she did.

He cradled her head in the crook of his arm and watched her sleep, her breathing deep and peaceful. He loved the feel of her pressed against him. She really was beautiful, though he had sensed the lack of confidence she seemed to have about herself. He would gladly spend the rest of his life showing her just how extraordinary she truly was. Her black hair fanned out across his arm and chest and shimmered in the soft light of the candle on the nightstand. She had a tanned olive complexion that set off her emerald-green eyes, though those eyes were currently hidden from his gaze. Her body was curvy in just the right places. He couldn’t wait to see her in her panther form. He was sure she would be magnificent.

Blake had never really known what it would feel like when, or if, he and his brothers ever found their mate. They had been prepared to live their lives without the companionship and love a mate would provide. But that was not their fate. All of their cats had reacted instantly with the same intense possessiveness toward Kate. It was what had drawn him to her in the woods. He and his brothers had spent their lives getting to know and trust their cats, so when their cats said this was their mate, their hearts were immediately won over. It was sort of love at first sight, panther style.

He knew it would be different, and harder, for Kate. Having never known her cat, or even known she was a shifter, meant that her head and her heart would have to learn to trust the cat’s instincts. Her cat would never lead her astray, and her ability to trust it would be crucial for what lay ahead.

They hadn’t told Kate the whole truth about her father, or about herself. She’d endured enough shock for the time being, but they would have to give her the rest of the story eventually. Everyone thought Jesse’s family line had been extinguished when he was killed. The fact that Jesse had survived for as long as he did was somewhat of a miracle, having escaped the massacre when the rest of his family had been destroyed.

Jesse had only been a young boy then. He’d been spending a weekend playing with their father at their grandparent’s house when the attack at his family’s compound had occurred. It had been the only thing that had saved him back then. As the years had gone by and the attackers had not returned, Jesse had grown too confident in his own survival. He had started using his surname again, convinced that his family’s killers had finally returned to their native lands overseas.

Now that Kate was here, Blake worried it was only a matter of time before the news got out that the killers had left a loose end and the legendary bloodline had survived.

Kate awoke and felt something warm and hard pressed against her body. She inhaled and recognized Blake’s scent. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but the enticing musk-and-honey smell registered in her mind as distinctly Blake. She wasn’t ready to open her eyes, so she just lay there and enjoyed the sensation of closeness with him. She had a hard time believing what she had done with Blake and his brothers, but it felt so right.

Men had never taken much of an interest in her before now. It wasn’t that she was bad looking. Okay, maybe she had a few extra pounds on her hips that she could never manage to work off. But there just seemed to be something about her that men had always shied away from. Maybe it had something to do with this damned cat that was stalking around in her head. Kate huffed, wondering if men had unconsciously sensed something bizarre about her that she had never before been aware of.

“Something wrong?” Blake’s voice finally made her open her eyes and admit that she was awake.

“Not really. Just thinking.” Blake narrowed his eyes like he knew that wasn’t really an answer, but he didn’t press her on it.

“How are you feeling?”

She thought about that question for a moment. With Blake rubbing his hand over her bare back, she thought it should feel soothing. Instead, her skin felt weird.

“I’m not sure.” She squirmed against his touch, and his hand stopped moving. “It’s like my skin is extra sensitive or something.”

Now that she was thinking about it, she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. She sat up, not caring that the sheet fell from her and exposed her breasts. It wasn’t like Blake hadn’t seen everything she had, after all. She knew with anyone else she would feel embarrassed, but somehow she knew that with Blake and his brothers, she could never feel ashamed of her body or who she was.

She looked down at her arms and chest. Even though her skin looked normal, it felt irritated. “It tingles. Everywhere.” She looked at Blake in confusion.

“Come on, sweetheart.” He got out of bed and extended his hand to her. “That’s normal for what’s about to happen.”

“What’s about to happen?” She could hear the fear and uncertainty in her voice.

“You’ll love it. Trust me.”

She looked up at Blake. She did trust him. She let him pull her out of bed and walk her to the door but stopped before he could open it.

“Um, Blake? I’m not wearing anything.” Okay, so maybe she was still a little embarrassed. It was one thing to sit in bed naked, but she wasn’t used to walking around a house with no clothes on.

Blake chuckled. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll all be naked soon enough.”

Kate wasn’t sure she was quite ready for another round with the three brothers, though if she could get rid of this tingling sensation— which was quickly becoming a prickling feeling—she might be persuaded. She shrugged and stepped forward, allowing Blake to open the door and lead her into the living room.

Drake and Jake immediately turned their heads toward the door, and their mouths dropped open. Okay, so
now
she was feeling a little embarrassed.

“Guys, we need to get her outside.”

She gaped up at Blake. “What? You want me to go out there in this storm like this?” She swept her hand down her body.

“Actually, the eye is coming up on us. At the rate it’s moving, we should be good for about two hours.”

Kate could only gape wordlessly, since Drake had started to undress while he was speaking. She realized that Blake and Jake were following suit, and all their clothes were quickly being discarded into piles on the floor.

Blake pulled her around to face him and cupped her face in his hands. “Kate, now that you’ve mated to us, your cat wants out, and she’s not going to wait any longer. You need to shift.”

Panic surged through Kate at his words. She shook her head in denial and backed away. “I can’t. I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t worry, babe.” Jake had come up behind her and put his arm around her waist. “Your cat knows what to do. All you have to do is follow her lead.”

Kate wasn’t sure she understood or agreed with that statement, but she was willing to try just about anything if it would stop this damn prickling. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly then squared her shoulders and looked up at them.

“Okay then. Let’s do this.”

Blake flashed a dazzling smile at her, and she almost forgot about the prickling. Almost, but not quite. It was actually getting painful now.

Drake went to the front door and opened it. The rain had almost stopped, and the wind had died down. “It’s now or never.” He looked at Kate and grinned. Drake’s grin was just as devastatingly sexy as Blake’s smile, and she had to shake herself a little to stay focused. Drake winked at her. “As much as I’d like to stay inside and play, darlin’, I don’t think we want a brand-new kitty pouncing around the house.”

Kate screwed up her courage and marched to the door with Jake and Blake. They walked out onto the porch and into a world that had been beaten and battered. Trees had been stripped and had snapped. Debris covered the yard and hung from the branches of the trees that were still standing.

“We lost the shed.” Kate turned to where Drake was looking and only saw a large concrete pad. She assumed there used to be a building there. That probably explained the pieces of sheet metal and roofing material strewn across the yard.

The three brothers shrugged off the damage and turned to look at Kate like they were expecting her to break out in fur or something. She realized that was probably exactly what they were expecting.

“Um, guys…I have no idea what to do here.”

Blake took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Concentrate on your cat, Kate. Focus all your attention on her and then let go of your will. She’ll know what to do from there. Don’t fight her, and she’ll get you where you need to go.”

Kate hesitated. Something else concerned her.

“So, once I go all furry, how do I get back into my own skin again?”

Blake’s grin lit up his face, and he kissed her forehead.

“You’ll know, sweetheart. Trust me.”

Kate was still skeptical, but she nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on that part of her mind where her cat stalked. It was easy to see her cat now that it had come out of the shadows. It paced back and forth as if it knew what was about to happen. Kate focused on the cat and told her mind to give up control.
Okay, it’s all up to you now.

Without hesitation, the cat growled and leapt forward in Kate’s mind. Her conscious thoughts melded with the cat. She could actually understand what the cat wanted! Kate ran across the yard, unconsciously dodging the debris in her way. Just before she reached the tree line, she instinctively leapt forward into the air. An intense, but not unpleasant, jolt of current ran through her body, and when she landed on the ground, she realized she was no longer standing upright. She looked at the ground, which was now only about three feet from her head. Turning her head, she looked at her body and realized she was no longer human but had transformed into the cat that had been stalking in her mind. A surge of freedom and excitement coursed through her mind, and all she wanted to do was run.