Tagging Her Lynx (Alaska Lynx Clan) (3 page)

"Stop
doing that. You're right in front of me. There is no reason to get inside my
head and hear my thoughts." She sat in a chair across the room from him. "I
don't want you to do that. Can I do something to keep you out of my head?"

"We
are life mates, Aningan. From now on, we will be with each other no matter
where we are. You have only to reach out to me, and I'll be with you. My lynx
has claimed you. It's the way of the Lynx." He nodded and waited. "I
see you don't believe me, but you will learn. I know this is all new to you."
His tongue slipped out to wet his full lips. "Can I ask how long you have
been transforming?"

"How
do you know that?" She rubbed her temple. "No one knows that I do
that."

She
tried not to grimace, but this part of her life only caused her great shame and
embarrassment. She wanted to stop transforming, not learn about it.

"I
know you have no control over when you shift, and it scares you. You have no
more need to worry about that. As your mate, I'm able to control it for you and
teach you how to use your lynx."

She
jumped up from the chair. "Stop it!"

She
rubbed the back of her neck. Warmth from his hand massaged the tight muscles at
the back of her head. She moaned. "I…I don't… Stop touching me for a minute."

The
pressure from his touch left immediately, and she inhaled a deep breath. Her
hands shook, and she ran them through her hair.

"I
can't think when you touch me. My body… Oh God! It's like you morphed and your
soul is inside of me…comforting me." She rubbed her arms. "I don't
understand any of this. How you talk to me, how you can touch me when you're on
the other side of the room. This isn't normal!"

"It's
normal. Give it time. You'll see." She didn't see him move, but his arms
wrapped around her and held her to his chest.

All
the fight inside her fled, and she succumbed to his caress. Every worry and
troubling thought vanished. It was as if Granger absorbed them all, freeing her
from her burdens, and deep inside her soul, her lynx purred.

She
laid her cheek against his chest. He stroked her hair, and her eyes drifted
closed. He whisked her back to the couch, and cradling her in his lap, he never
dropped his secure hold on her.

She
floated in a dreamlike fog, knowing what was happening but not caring enough to
get up or argue with him about what he did. This man—this stranger—somehow
connected with her, but she didn't know how.

She
snuggled against his bare chest, then lifted one hand and laid it to rest over
his heart. She was amazed that his heartbeat matched the rhythm of hers, and at
that moment, she knew he spoke the truth. She recognized something deep inside
of him. Unable to speak, she lay basking in the glow this strange man gave her.

With
gentle hands, he caressed her. His fingers lingered over the curve of her
shoulder, the slope of her neck, and followed the waves of her messy hair down
her back.

"Granger?"

He
kissed the top of her head. "Yes, Aningan?"

"I
don't understand any of this. Why can't I run from you? My head tells me I
should be afraid, but my body wants to curl up around you and never leave."
She sniffed. "I'm scared."

"Chloe."
He pulled her up and helped her sit next to him on the couch. "There, that
will help. It's our body's way of celebrating our finally coming together."
He gathered her hand in his. "I don't mean to frighten you, but what
happened today pushed me to come for you. I was going to wait for you to heal
from you father's death."

Her
head came up, and she stared at him. "How do you know about that?"

"I've
been watching you." He smiled. "I found you out running in the woods
one day in your lynx form, and couldn't understand why I was attracted to an
animal." He laughed at the way her mouth fell open. "I had to know
more about you."

"You've
been spying on me?" She sat up straighter but did not pull her hand from
his grasp.

He
chuckled and shook his head. "No, I've been watching over you. There is a
difference." He grinned. "You're a submissive to my alpha status. You
don't have control over shifting or the capabilities to protect yourself yet. I
can help you with that."

"Can
you stop it?" She squeezed his hand. "I don't want to shift."

Granger
shook his head. "No. You're a shifter of the Lynx." He cocked his
head to the side. "Do you remember how or when you changed?" He
caressed the side of her face with his knuckles. "Seldom do we find one of
our own living alone." He brushed a wayward strand of hair from her face. "All
this time, and I had no idea my mate lived so close by."

She
swallowed and nodded. "For many years I've wondered and worried over how I'm
different. The one thing I keep going back to is the bite I suffered from an
injured lynx when I was eleven years old." She caught her lower lip
between her teeth and tilted her head back to gaze up at Granger. "That
doesn't make sense, though. People don't turn into an animal because of a bite.
Think of how many dog shifters the world would have if it happened that way."

"You're
right. A bite must come from a shifter. A regular animal doesn't have the
ability to infect." He swept the hair back off her forehead. "It's
possible that the lynx that bit you came from the Lynx family."

Her
brows came down. "But, I didn't shift until after I turned thirteen years
old. That was two years after I got bit."

Granger
smiled. "Tell me, did you start your period around the same time?"

Chloe's
eyes widened, and she sat up even straighter. "Yes."

"People
who are not born shifters don't get their full power to change until they go
through puberty." He chuckled. "The need to go into heat plays havoc
with someone young and inexperienced. I imagine it took you by surprise each
time you shifted, yes?"

She
nodded. "That means the lynx at the refuge wasn't a true animal."

"Yes."
He let her get off the couch, but his gaze followed her across the room. "I
believe that is what happened to you. Although, I thought I knew every lynx
shifter in the area." He shrugged. "So many years ago… The person who
infected you is probably long gone."

Chloe
paced the living room floor. Pausing at the fireplace mantel, she straightened
the picture frames lining the rock shelf. A sense of understanding came with
someone else giving her the answers she sought all this time. She was a freak
of nature, but at least she understood that it happened to others too.

She
ran her finger along the wooden picture frame of her father smiling for the
camera. His hair hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes lit up his face. She'd
teased him to get the shot of him holding a newborn bear cuddled to his chest.
He'd carried the animal around for weeks, waiting for it to gain enough
strength to go without food for more than a few hours at a time.

"What're
you thinking?"

Chloe
glanced over her shoulder. "I thought you could read my thoughts."

"No."
The corners of his mouth lifted. "I can hear your thoughts toward me, but you're
deep in thought and far away at the moment. What is it that makes you appear so
sad?"

She
turned back to gaze at the picture again. "My father. He is…was the only
person I had in my life. My mother passed away soon after I was born."

"He'll
always be a part of you, Aningan."

"What
does that mean? Aningan? You call me that, but I've never heard that word
before." She turned and crossed her arms.

"It's
a term of endearment. The Inuit part of my ancestry has a myth about the moon
god. She is beautiful, caring, and soothes even the restless soul." He
rose from the couch and approached Chloe. "To me, you're Aningan. You
bring peace and tranquility to my life."

"You
don't know me." She uncrossed her arms and shook her head.

He
picked up her hand, placed it over his heart, and then positioned his hand over
her heart. "We're life mates, Chloe. Feel how our hearts beat together.
Tell me you feel the connection running through our veins. Can you deny what
you feel beneath your fingertips?"

She
pulled her hand away and stepped back. Disoriented, she turned to break away
from the hold Granger placed on her. This wasn't how things worked. People met,
dated, and then fell in love. She scoffed. Life mate?

Chapter
Three

Keeping
a wide berth, Chloe walked past Granger and sat in her dad's recliner. She
pulled the afghan off the back and held it bunched up in her arms, tight
against her chest. Did she not get a choice about her life anymore? What did he
expect her to do? Go with him and give up the refuge?

"Breathe.
I'm sorry for rushing all of this at you. I didn't want it to come to this."

"But…?"
Her gaze never broke away from Granger. "You're not telling me everything.
Why now? What happened to make you approach me today? Was it the men who brought
me the wolf cub?"

"Yes."
He moved over to the coffee table, sat, and forced her to turn in his
direction. "I believe the men are involved with a larger group that is
trying to get rid of my people."

A
chill moved through her body. "Your people? The other shifters?"

"Yes."
He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. "They are wounding
animals on purpose to either gain entry into your refuge or to get a hold of
you. I'm not sure which yet."

"Me?"
She shook her head. "I don't understand."

Granger
stood. "There's a group of men that have found out about the Lynx clan. We've
kept them away from our area with guards stationed around the perimeter
twenty-four-seven, but we've heard their conversations and have stopped their
attempts to capture us."

He
bent down on one knee. "That's how I found out they'd murdered your
father."

She
shook her head. "My dad died from a sudden heart attack. I found him
inside the enclosure."

"I'm
sorry." Granger stroked her leg. "I wish I could tell you differently,
but one of our men heard a few of their men talking about using a Taser gun on
him when he refused to hand over the shifter. Since I had already learned of
your existence when I found you running through the woods, I knew their
ultimate goal…was you. Finding out you ran a refuge made everything click. I've
been watching out for you ever since."

She
shook her head wildly. "No, that isn't true. The doctor said he'd died
instantly from a heart attack." She wiped away a tear that escaped her
eye. "Why are you lying to me?"

Granger
stood up and backed away. She glared. The doctor told her he'd died a few hours
prior to her finding him. She'd even asked for an autopsy, but he'd refused
based on her father's age and health records.

"He
always forgot to take his high blood pressure medicine. I told him all the time
that he needed to take care of himself." She sobbed. "It was a heart
attack."

Granger
came back to her and settled at her feet. "Sh…"

She
lifted her head. "It's true, isn't it? You're telling me the truth."

Staring
in his eyes, she believed him.

He
nodded. "I didn't find out about it until afterward, or I would have
stopped them. The best thing I could do was protect you from a distance in the
meantime."

"Me?"
She cocked her head. "Maybe one of the animals here is the shifter they
are after. No one knows about me. M-my dad was the only one who knew."

He
shook his head. "I've already gone through all the animals. There are no
shifters among them."

The
silence in the room pounded in her ears. Her hands fell to her lap at the
realization that she'd caused her father's death. She stared into Granger's
eyes, absorbing everything he'd told her.

"Oh
God." She scooted out of the chair, slapped the hands that came out to
hold her, and ran out of the room, covering her mouth.

She
barely made it to the toilet before losing the contents of her stomach. She
bent over and retched. Cool hands gathered her hair away from her face.
Struggling to inhale, she gagged.

"Inhale
through your nose, Aningan. I'll help you. You're no longer alone."

She
coughed and fought for breath.
"I killed him."

"No!
It's not your fault. This should not have happened. If you must blame someone,
blame the men who are causing all the deaths and damage."
Granger removed a towel from the rod on the wall.

He
turned on the pump that ran the water and wet the towel. Patting her face, he wiped
her mouth and calmed her stomach. "Now that you know the truth, I'd like
you to come home with me. I can guard you better if you're under my care."

He
led her back into the living room. She stopped. "The animals…"

"We
have people who can come here and heal the animals." He rubbed her back.