Authors: Catherine Vale
Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #90 Minutes (44-64 Pages), #Werewolves & Shifters
On the Move
On The Move
Jagged Lovers Book #2
BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance
Copyright © 2015, Wild Hearts Press
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Table of Contents
Griffin watched, fists clenched, chest tight with rage, as Addison was pulled forcibly away from him. He was almost certain Xavier would not have her killed, but it tore at his heart to see her treated so roughly. He watched the last place she had been visible, the leaves still rustling in her wake, until Xavier stepped in front of him. The older shifter radiated anger, his beast barely restrained. Griffin’s beast was equally angry, just as close to bursting forth. But to do so would be suicide.
“Griffin, you are dangerously close to being exiled from the clans.”
Griffin dragged his eyes away from the last place Addison was, to meet Xavier’s steely gaze.
“Do I appear to care? If you feel you must, then do so. But do not expect me to go without a fight.”
“Are you challenging me?” Xavier took a step forward, chest thrust out. “Do you believe you can beat me, man to man, beast to beast?”
Griffin held his ground, hands resting loosely at his sides, fighting to control his anger, to control his beast. He wanted to clench his hands, to drive a fist through Xavier’s smug face, but Griffin was still a man of honor. Challenging a superior was done in public, in a ritualized manner. It wasn’t carried out in a fist fight, alone on top of the sacred ruins. Griffin was too proud to stoop that low, and too respectful of his heritage. But it took all his control, all his strength.
“You’re not the man you used to be, Xavier. You’re old, and growing weak. Someday, someone will challenge you. And that might be me.”
“You’re nothing but a whelp, Griffin. Infatuation with a human woman isn’t how a clan leader acts, and not how a grand leader behaves. You are selfish, and great leaders put their clans first, not their own base needs and desires.”
Anger boiled up in Griffin and for a moment the world receded, Xavier his only focus. His beast rose and it was only by sheer force of will he held it back, kept it from leaping free, tearing out Xavier’s throat.
The older man’s eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch, his lip curling in a contemptuous smirk. “So, I do ruffle your feathers, Griffin. I can see your beast as plainly as if you had shifted. I can see your hate for me as well.” He leaned forward, holding one finger dangerously close to Griffin’s face.
“Know this. You have crossed the line with me. I will be watching you. No move you make will be without my knowledge.”
“And I will be watching you, Xavier, just as closely.” Griffin moved forward, just enough so that Xavier’s finger brushed against his cheek. The leader’s eyes darkened dangerously but Griffin refused to back down.
“Is that a threat, Griffin?”
“It’s a warning, Xavier.”
Leaves rustled behind Xavier but neither man moved. There was a discreet cough and Griffin watched irritation flash across the older man’s face.
Finally Xavier thrust his chin at Griffin. “This is not over, whelp. Watch what you do, knowing that I’m watching you as well.”
With that Xavier turned, his cape flaring behind him. Griffin watched him consult with his guards as he strode across the ruins, disappearing down one of the exterior stairways.
Griffin turned away, looking out over the jungle. Emotions collided within him, anger, betrayal, disbelief. But among all the emotions he’d expect to have after a confrontation with Xavier, the strongest he felt was of loss.
He missed Addison. He’d vowed to protect her, but more than that, he’d grown to really care about her. Now she had been taken from him, all but torn from his arms.
And to add salt to his wounds, she was to be paraded before all the clan leaders, to be fought over like some common prize. He ground his teeth, her words echoing in his head.
He would fight for her; he’d fight harder than he ever had. He’d claim her again, before Xavier and the rest of the clan leaders. No one would ever doubt his strength, or who Addison truly belonged to.
And then he’d challenge Xavier as leader, drag him from his throne, and rule his people as they should be ruled.
Yes, he knew exactly what had to be done.
Chapter Two
Addison tried to remember the route through the jungle, the way back to Griffin, but the man holding her arm pulled her along at a breakneck pace, and it was all she could do to keep from falling to the ground and being dragged.
Being separated from Griffin was painful, more than she could have imagined. And knowing she was to be the center of some mating ritual pulled at the last of her shredded nerves. She knew Griffin would fight for her; she’d seen the desperate look in his eyes as she’d been taken away. It was a look that spoke volumes, and in that she’d seen the depth of his feelings for her.
The jungle around the small party sudden opened up, the sky showing through the foliage. They were in a small clearing and Addison saw huts on stilts ringing the opening. Among the faces that looked out of the shaded doorways, she saw only men.
She was dragged toward one hut set apart from the rest. Her guard pulled her up the steps, guiding her inside. In the dim light Addison saw a figure rise in the shadows.
“Rest. You will be fed.” With an abrupt gesture toward the figure, and those few, gruff words, her guardian turned and left. Addison stood for a moment, tears threatening. Her body was exhausted, her mind reeling. She wanted to run into the jungle, back to Griffin.
“Dr. James?”
Addison whirled. A slender woman stepped forward, eyes wide, wearing tattered, but clean camo pants and a tank top. “It is you. Oh, my god.”
“Who are you?” There was something familiar about the woman, the British accent, the sweeping fall of blonde hair. Then it hit her.
“You were on the expedition, weren’t you? The last minute addition from the British Museum?”
“Yes! Daphne de Thame.” The woman reached for Addison, and pulled her into a tight embrace.
After a moment the woman tensed, then stepped away. “You’re not here with a rescue team, are you?” Her expression had changed, the warm welcome suddenly gone.
Addison shook her head. “No. It’s…I’m not here…it’s complicated. I came here alone, looking for an orchid…a cure for my sister. The clan leader, Griffin, offered to help me find it. I have—had—an agreement with him.” Addison hesitated. She wasn’t certain she wanted to tell this woman the details. She still had a hard time believing what she’d agreed to do.
“You agreed to mate with him.” Daphne looked at her levelly. “You agreed to help his kind from becoming extinct.”
Addison stared at Daphne. “How did you know?”
“Because I made the same agreement, more or less, to save my own life. But I went through the ritual. They fought for me.” For a moment her gaze grew distant. “It’s an amazing thing. You’ll see.” She blinked, coming back from wherever her memories had taken her.
“We’re really quite lucky, you know. No one had ever seen this ritual before me, and now you’ll see it as well.”
As if suddenly remembering her role, Daphne pulled Addison toward a low cot layered with hides.
“Here. You need to rest, if you’ve been trailing through the jungle for days. They told me someone was coming, someone for me to look after. I never thought it would be someone I knew, someone from home.” Her voice dropped to almost a whisper.
Addison sat down, the bed surprisingly soft. Her body really did crave sleep, but the chance to talk to Daphne pushed back her exhaustion. Daphne moved around in the shadows on the other side of the hut, and Addison recognized the lush smell of melon.
“Why are you afraid that I was part of a rescue party?”
Daphne stopped slicing fruit but she remained with her back to Addison. She could read the tension in the younger woman’s body. Finally she turned to Addison with a bowl of cut fruit.
“It’s sort of hard to explain, unless you’ve been here, among them.” She placed the bowl on the floor near Addison, sitting down on a low stool beside the bed.
“You’ll think I’m mad, but for a horrid moment I thought you were going to take me away from this…” Daphne glanced around the hut. “It might not look like much, but it is my home now.”
“And they’re your family.” She chewed on a slice of melon, watching the woman beside her.
Daphne met Addison’s eyes, a small smile lifting the corner of her lips. “So you do know. You do see it.”
An image of Griffin rose in her mind, standing at the edge of the jungle, proud and strong as he gazed out over his land, the setting sun burnishing his hair, his skin.
“Yes. I do.”
Daphne shrugged. “I was terrified here at first, but a shifter named Ramos—the shifter who found me—was beyond patient. He’s the reason I’m alive.”
“You were at the ruins, when the raiders attacked?” Addison reached for another slice of melon.
Daphne shook her head. “I was in a different room, away from the main excavation. We really didn’t get started before they just came out of the jungle, attacking us with machetes.”
Addison touched Daphne’s shoulder. The young woman drew a ragged sigh, then continued.
“I was lucky. Someone, or something, hit me on the head and I fell into a small room, some kind of burial chamber from the looks of it, an odd-shaped little space. I could hear them above me, the attacks, as if from a great distance…” Daphne’s voice broke and she went silent. After a moment she straightened her shoulders.
“Ramos found me. A piece of wood had fallen across the opening to the room, essentially hiding me from the raiders. He pulled me free, brought me here and nursed me back to health.” Daphne’s eyes shone with unshed tears.
“Then Xavier came along and took me away from him.”
“And you had to go through the ritual?”
“Yes.”
The sadness in Daphne’s voice made Addison hesitate for a moment before asking her next question, but she needed to know.
“Ramos didn’t win?”
Daphne shook her head. “No. He tried, really, he did. He almost died fighting for me, but it was another shifter who defeated him in the end. I’ve been with him, more or less, ever since. His name is Kade.”
Addison shuddered, remembering Griffin’s caution. “We crossed his territory looking for the orchid. But if he’s already fought and won, how can he fight again?”
“Xavier has decided this is a test not only to win a mate, but to test each clan leader’s ability to be leader of all the clans one day. The man’s idea of leadership is whoever is the brawniest wins.” She tapped her temple and winked. “Just like back home, nothing up top.”
Addison had no choice but to smile. “So you’re happy here?”
Daphne’s shrug was non-committal, but she didn’t meet Addison’s eyes. “I’m not unhappy. I do love the jungle.” She gazed out the open doorway at the lush green foliage. The sounds of the little village had faded as night fell, only the noise of birds roosting for the night filling the air. “I grew up in Leeds, urban girl to the core. Then I went to University and fell in love with all things Incan. When I got the chance to come here, well, to say I was over the moon would be an understatement.”
She turned to Addison, her gaze intense. “I’m an orphan, so there’s no family to miss me. And I find I’m very well-suited to jungle life. Thing of it is…”
“You’re not pregnant.”
“That obvious?” Daphne gave a snort of laughter. “Modern technology and shifters don’t mesh well in this case. I’m on the implant, still have a month or so to go; I’ve lost track of time though. Kade was beside himself, thinking it was him. For the longest time I didn’t tell him, thinking he’d give me back to Ramos. But in the end, I had to tell him, and Xavier. Kade’s left me alone since, told me to let him know when I’m ready.”
Addison blinked. “So what have you been doing? Not just sitting in a hut, waiting to become fertile again?”
“No. They’ve let me up in the ruins and I’ve done a bit of poking round. I’m an ethnobotanist without tools, but it’s still a fascinating ruin.”
“Ethnobotanist? Really. The orchid I came to find…Merriam documented it. Have you read his work?”
“Yes. I have. It’s fascinating. It’s the unnamed orchid, right? No living specimen has ever been found.” Daphne’s eyes lit up with the same fire Addison had seen in Daniel’s eyes when he talked about bones.
“I did find it. One flower. I sent it back with Daniel Parrish. He came with me down here.” An image of Daniel, being escorted away from the ruins, rose up but she pushed it away. Better not to try to imagine what had happened. Better to try to think he was safely on his way to the airport in Cusco, with her orchid safely in his possession.
“He’s taking it to Osbourne, in Ethno. Do you know him?”
Daphne all but clapped her hands. “Yes! I was working with him…he’s excellent. If there’s anything to be done with the orchid—I’m assuming it’s the pollen you’re thinking about—then he’ll understand straight away.”
For the first time since she left the Museum, relief washed through Addison. For a moment everything seemed right. Daniel was safe; the orchid was safe, and on its way to the man who could find the cure.
Then it all came crashing down. She was left in the jungle, without the only man who could protect her. And she was going to be at the mercy of a ritual that would likely see her given to another man.
Daphne set her hand on Addison’s knee. “You need to rest, Addison. They’ll set the ritual for tomorrow after dawn. You’ll have a bath and some ritual blessings by their high priest. It’s an early start to the day. And I can’t deny it, it will be a very emotional day.”
Addison nodded, trying to imagine everything Daphne had explained. But she had no frame of reference and nothing made sense. She pulled off her boots, dropping them heavily to the floor. Daphne crossed to the door, lifting the pelt. She hesitated and turned back.
“I’ll leave you in peace and come back in the morning. I’d offer you a change of clothes…” She spread her arms, looking down at her ratty clothes. “But this is all I have. You’ll get a ceremonial dress to wear tomorrow, but for now, I apologize.”
“That’s alright. But I can’t drive you out of your own hut, Daphne.”
She shook her head. “I’ll sleep in Kade’s hut tonight. All the clan leaders are away, preparing themselves. His hut is empty.” She grinned, then pulled a face. “Otherwise trust me, you’d have a bunk mate.”
Then Daphne was gone, dropping the pelt over the door, casting Addison into deep gloom. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, listening to the jungle outside the thin wall of the hut. She’d never felt so alone in all of her life.