Tempted by the Jaguar #4: Infiltration (Riverford Shifters) (2 page)

A sudden knock on the door had both of them stiffening.

Hunter immediately raised his nose to scent the air and then almost in
the same instant, his shoulders relaxed.

“It’s Maxim,” he said with obvious relief as he rose to let the tiger
shifter into the room.

“Who did you think it was?” Kylie asked suspiciously.

He flashed her a wry grin. “Gaither, but that’s a discussion better
left for another time.”

“Or not at all,” Kylie muttered under her breath as Maxim entered the
room—and then promptly walked back out.

“Can we talk somewhere a little less—aromatic?” Maxim called from the
hall with obvious amusement, eliciting a grin from Hunter.

Frowning at both men, Kylie joined Hunter at the door without a word.
Now really wasn’t the time to joke, but she still allowed him to thread their
hands together without even a token fuss. Truth be told, the warmth of his hand
kept the panic that was still simmering at the surface of her emotions at bay.
It reminded her that she and Paul weren’t alone this time, that there were
powerful people that were able and willing to help them.

Hunter led them into another empty room at the end of the hall
identical to the one they had just left. She and Hunter sat on the bed while
Maxim pulled up a chair and sat facing them. Seeing the tiger shifter up close,
Kylie couldn’t help but notice just how tired and ragged he looked from his
eyes alone, as though he hadn’t slept in days.

She could feel her entire body tense in response. Just what bad news
was he about to bring them that would have him looking so beaten down?

For his part, Maxim was looking at their joined hands in something like
bemusement. However, when he realized that she was staring at him, he flashed
her a small smile, and his posture showed a bit more life.

“It’s really good to see that you two have worked everything out,”
Maxim said. “We’ll all need you both at your best during the next few days.”

Hunter eagerly leaned forward. “You’ve found it.”

Maxim nodded. “From what I’ve been able to find out, the ranch Jack
Bray described is owned by a human Silicon Valley tech billionaire—at least on
paper. It operates as a legit cattle ranch that’s been turning a hefty profit for
over two decades. It’s no wonder it’s never fallen under suspicion until now.
Their invasion into this state runs a helluva lot deeper than any of us ever
imagined.”

“And the assassin?” Hunter asked. “Have you managed to get anything out
of her?”

“Not a peep. My men were still working on her when I left, but she’ll
probably turn out to be a dead end. I’ve heard all my life that no one from a
lion clan, even a Rogue, has ever betrayed their secrets, and I seriously doubt
this one will be the first.”

“My friend, Karen, told me that shifter criminals are rarely sent to
the same prisons as humans but dealt with by the individual clans,” Kylie
interjected. “I imagine a lion prisoner would be treated differently as it
affects all clans, really, no matter that it was just my family and friends and
Jack Bray that she attacked in this instance.”

“Do we kill our lion prisoners, you mean?” Maxim replied bluntly.

Kylie blinked at him in surprise. “Not at all. The only things about
the inner workings of a shifter clan I know are from what Karen and Mitch have
been willing to tell me and the little I’ve experienced at Hunter’s side. I
just wanted to know how these things are usually handled among shifters. For the
sake of my real parents, there are things, questions that I’d want asked now
that you have an actual lion in custody. I’m just wondering if that would be
possible?”

Maxim’s eyes softened. “Understandable.”

“There’s still a lot I don’t know about shifter society, you know,” she
admitted. “I’ve lived my whole life as a human. Their rules are the only ones
I’ve known. Hell, I’m not even sure what you two plan to do about my secret,
where I’ll stand within Riverford’s shifter society once this whole mess plays
out.” She turned to Hunter. “You did seem to expect a visit from Mr. Gaither
earlier.”

Hunter made a face as though he had swallowed a whole lemon. “Whom we
will
not
be telling that you’re a Polyshifter if we can at all help it.
I think we can all agree on at least that much. With all these Sniffers and
assassins suddenly prowling around the city pretty much right under our noses
for God-only-knows how long, I don’t need to be a psychic to tell you what’ll
happen. For now, the Elders are content enough with me keeping an eye on you
here.”

“As for the ranch,” Maxim said, “I have several people keeping an eye
out for any suspicious movement as well as devising a plan of attack. I’m
afraid there’s not much else we can do tonight but wait for my people to report
back to me in the morning.”

“How long do you think we have, max, before they move all the abductees
as a precaution?” Hunter asked. “Because I don’t doubt for a second that the
clan that sent that lioness here doesn’t know their little assassin’s been captured,
that she’s failed.”

“Word is being spread throughout both the Riverford and Parker Grove
communities that Jack Bray is currently in a coma and hidden away in a private
facility. That may delay them for the few days we’ll need to organize a rescue.”

“As well as invite a whole slew of those bastards like iron fillings to
a magnet,” Hunter added dryly. He glanced at Kylie worriedly. “With a ‘Rogue
lion’ and an informant—both with the very real potential of bringing down their
entire operations in this state—within the same area, it may very well give
them the excuse to come at us openly and at full-force. Dangling Jack like that
may come back to bite us in the ass hard.”

“We’ll just have to make sure we rescue all of them before the shit
hits the fan, won’t we?” Maxim suddenly fixed her with a serious look. “Which
brings us to our last problem.”

Kylie stiffened. “If you expect me to leave the city while Paul’s
bedbound and my friend’s still missing—” she began hotly.

“I don’t,” Maxim cut in mid-rant, “though your friend, Molly,
is
what I wanted to talk to you about.”

This time it was Kylie’s turn to anxiously lean forward. “Do you know
what happened to her?” she demanded.

“Yes and no,” he replied maddeningly. “After a few shifters from the
department arrived at your friend’s apartment at Hunter’s request, they of
course knew immediately that a shifter had recently been in that unit—and it
wasn’t a jaguar.”

“I haven’t been to her place since my shifter side awakened,” Kylie
confirmed. “Was it—was it a lion?”

Hunter squeezed her hand in comfort, but Maxim was shaking his head. “An
alligator, of all things. If it’s one thing we ever agreed on with the gator
clan, it was our mutual hatred of the lions, so I’m hesitant to believe that
the gator in question was a local.”

“…or if it even
was
a
gator
shifter at all,” Hunter added,
looking at Kylie pointedly.

For a split-second Kylie stared back at him blankly before she gasped
in sudden understanding.

A Polyshifter.

“So,” Hunter continued, “either the fact that your friend had an
apparent violent run-in with a shifter only hours after you, yourself, were
attacked as a Rogue is the biggest coincidence in the world, or the lions
really have managed to sneak in the very weapon all clans opposed to them fear the
most. If so, that they’re choosing to use their best hand now in what I can
only guess is to force Kylie to come forward in order to silence her opens up a
whole new can of worms.”

“Which means bringing down whatever the hell it is they’re doing at
that ‘ranch’ in the Panhandle just got a whole lot more important than just us
wanting to rescue Anna and Ryder,” Maxim said grimly. “After I was done here, I
was going to go have another chat with my Elders about organizing an emergency
assembly of all the Riverford clan Elders tomorrow morning. Now…”

“Yes, now…” Hunter echoed, his eyes double pools of equal worry and
frustration.

Kylie looked between them. “Do you think knowing that a Polyshifter is
likely mixed up in this whole mess will make them more reluctant to help you
get your brother back?” she asked, unable to understand this sudden strange
mood between them.

“No, that at least one of the Elders will be
too
interested,”
Hunter said, his voice suddenly deadly serious.

Kylie stilled completely as the horror of his words sunk in. “Could
they have infiltrated that far up in a clan’s hierarchy?” she asked quietly.

“The lion clans are said to have the patience of immortals,” Maxim
answered. “It’s pretty much common knowledge that it was the method used to
take control of the clans in both Philadelphia and Chicago.”

“With just
one
Polyshifter?” Kylie exclaimed in disbelief.

She sagged a bit in relief when the tiger shook his head. That a
person, even someone as extraordinary as a Polyshifter, could have that much power
was too frightening to even contemplate.

“While no one is sure about the exact number,” he replied, “most agree
that it was at least a dozen, weaseling their way into several different clans
over the span of around fifty to sixty years. The lions never have done
anything half-assed.”

“The evidence I found the other day was too vague to tell us much of
anything,” Hunter cut in. “At this point, suspecting one of the Elders of being
a Polyshifter or even the alligator that allegedly kidnapped your friend is
just that—speculation. We just don’t have enough intel. If that damned assassin
would only—”

Her eyes widening, Kylie abruptly tore her hand out of Hunter’s and all
but lunged at a startled Maxim, grabbing his forearms tightly in rising panic.
“Please tell me that none of your Elders have had access to the lioness
assassin!” she said urgently.

“Kylie, what—” Hunter began in bewilderment, but she cut him off.

“They’ll
know
, Hunter!” she cried, letting go of Maxim and
turning her attention to Hunter again. “Don’t you see? That lioness had to have
had plenty of time to meet with any spies, whether Sniffers or Polyshifters, in
the city between attacking us in the forest and then attacking me at Karen’s,
but she
still didn’t know that I was a Polyshifter
. Whoever the
Polyshifter is masquerading as, Elder or just a normal clansman/woman, every
shifter in this city’s at least heard of the new jaguar Returner. You said so,
yourself.”

Hunter nodded hesitantly, and Kylie drew in a deep breath in order to
calm her racing heart before she continued, “It should have been a given that
the lioness would’ve found out that the Rogue lioness she had been hunting and
the jaguar Returner were one and the same, but unless that assassin is one hell
of an actress, she honestly thought I was a Rogue back at Karen’s. Maybe she
wanted the glory or satisfaction of capturing me all by herself, I don’t know,
but for whatever reason, that assassin must not have talked with any of her
allies within the city. Her ignorance about my true heritage doesn’t make any
sense otherwise.”

“She does have a point,” Maxim said. “I don’t think that lioness
would’ve gone after Kylie alone had she known she would be dealing with a
Polyshifter not under their control. Regardless, you don’t have anything to
worry about, Kylie. Yes, my Elders know that I have a captured lioness on my
hands. However, only Lana, myself, and the head of my security even know where
I’m holding her, and I plan on keeping it that way for now.

“You also don’t have to worry about any of them infiltrating any of the
wolf clans. A wolf shifter’s nose is leagues better than any other shifter
species, so the lions have always steered clear of them during their campaigns.
As long as you play the jaguar as you are now and don’t have any more slipups,
then your secret should be safe.”

Kylie pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a tension headache coming
on. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied dryly.

An unfamiliar ringtone suddenly filled the air, causing Kylie to jump.
Hunter ran a hand soothingly down her back as Maxim dug his phone out of his overcoat.
He glanced down at the screen before lifting it to his ear. “Yes?”

He listened stoically for what felt like an eternity before ending the
call with a parting, “I’ll be right there.”

Maxim stood up. “It seems something interesting regarding one of the
suspected Sniffers my people have been tailing has come to light. One of my
wolves has a video that I need to review ASAP. In the meantime, call Jack Bray
and see what the Parker Grove clans can offer in forms of aid. I don’t think it
should wait until morning.”

“Agreed,” Hunter said.

At the door, Maxim paused with his hand on the knob. “Anna and Ryder
will
be coming home soon,” he growled, turning back to look at them with barely
contained anger.

“Anna?” Kylie vaguely remembered Hunter mentioning that name before.

“You didn’t tell her?” Maxim asked, mild surprise bleeding into the
inferno within his eyes.

Hunter shook his head. “I didn’t think it was my place.”

The smile that stretched his lips was incredibly sad and full of pain.
“Anna Barkova. My mate-to-be. She went missing six months ago.”

Kylie’s heart sank in horror. “She’s—that ranch—”

The renewed rage in Maxim’s blue eyes was all the answer she needed.

“You’re crazy if you think I’ll be able to get any sleep after all of
that,” Kylie grumbled, but she still allowed Hunter to pull her into his arms after
he had propped himself up against the headboard with a couple of pillows.

“At least try,” Hunter coaxed as she settled against him, her head on
his chest. “Who knows when you’ll get another chance. Negotiations between
clans, especially the clans of different cities are tedious at the best of
times. I’ll probably be on the phone for hours, not to mention that I
did
promise your dad that I’d make sure you got some rest.”

Kylie blew out a frustrated breath. “My friend, Molly’s, missing, maybe
even hurt. Probably because of me. I should at least be down with Tara at the
police station. It just doesn’t seem right that you and Maxim are doing all of
the work while I sleep the night away. There must be
something
I can do
to help.”

Hunter hugged her more tightly against him. “You have no idea how much
you
are
helping me by just being here with me, and I’m not saying that
lightly. You may not see it, but I’m barely keeping a reign on my jaguar. The
human part of me knows that the best chance my brother, Anna, and all those
other captive shifters have is to gather as much information as possible and
plan our next move carefully, but my jaguar half just wants to race over to
that ranch and start tearing out throats. Without you here to remind myself of
the costs, I doubt even Maxim would’ve been able to talk sense into me after a
while.”

Kylie pressed her nose against his chest and inhaled deeply. Until that
moment, she had never considered that anger had a scent, but—
something
was definitely strongly present among the scents she had come to associate with
Hunter that she had never smelled before. Neither metallic nor earthy or even
acrid, it was a scent that was more a sensation than having any sort of
distinguishable fragrance.

She glanced at the door, wondering if Maxim had given off a similar
scent. She had been too distracted by the revelation about Anna to pay
attention to the scents swirling around in the air. How much more information
was she missing because she was still too new to the animal side of her shifter
nature?

A light tug on her hair had Kylie looking up at Hunter’s face. “What is
it?” he asked.

“I had no idea that your reason was that close to snapping, and that
really bothers me,” she admitted.

“Even filled with rage, I would never hurt you if that’s what you’re
worried about.”

Kylie shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. I just realized that I
might as well have been blind because I’m still not used to living as a
shifter. If I would have bothered to pay attention to the scents coming off
you, I would’ve known something was up with both you and Maxim even if I hadn’t
known exactly what that new scent meant. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve
suddenly realized exactly how vulnerable I’ve been since the shifter part of me
awakened, and now I’m worried about what else I might have missed that my
jaguar senses had been screaming at me. What if that lioness had been watching
from the forest when Paul picked me up from your apartment complex this
morning? It didn’t even occur to me to pay attention to the scents around me!
What if that was the reason she was able to find us at Karen’s? She saw Paul’s
license plate, used it to find out his name and from there, my name. What if
I’m wrong and the lioness
did
report me as a Rogue to someone in her
clan before she went after me, to one of their Polyshifter allies? Then when
Maxim’s people took her prisoner, the Polyshifter decided to go with Plan B and
kidnap Molly in order to get to me—”

“That’s a lot of ‘what ifs,’” Hunter cut her off firmly before Kylie
could work herself up even more. “We still don’t know for sure if the lions are
involved with her disappearance, and even if they are, if that alligator
shifter the cops smelled in your friend’s apartment really
is
a
Polyshifter. At this point, it’s all pure speculation, and God knows
I
tormented myself on all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ after Ryder went missing.”
He ran his free hand affectionately through her hair. “I would save you from that
agony if I can.”

Kylie flashed him a guilty look. “You’re right. This isn’t the time to
be freaking out about stuff like that, especially when I’m keeping you from
calling Jack.”

“And keeping yourself from resting,” he scolded teasingly.

“I’ll close my eyes, but that’s all I can promise.”

Hunter wasn’t on the phone longer than five minutes before a slight
tensing of his body had Kylie opening her eyes and looking up at him
questionably. She hadn’t heard anything on his end that would have warranted
his sudden tension.

“I’ll be there in twenty.”

The wary look in his eyes had her instantly on red alert. Kylie pulled
away and rose to her knees beside him before he could speak to her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warned.

“Kylie…”

“You’re not leaving me behind here,” she said mulishly, “especially if
you’re going to see Jack.”

“I am, but where I need to go is clear across town,” he said. “It’s not
safe for you to be seen. You know that. Maybe not even for a few days.”

Kylie blinked in surprise. “Across town? I thought you said his family
was taking him back to Parker Grove.”

Hunter studied her face for a long, tense moment before he sighed in
something like resignation and replied, “I thought so, too, but it seems his
family felt he would be safer recovering somewhere other than a hospital or
even the family home. A few Elders from both the Riverford and Parker Grove
wolf clans are with him right now, and they want to talk face-to-face. I’m not
sure they would appreciate me bringing extra people, particularly someone as
high-profile as you.”

Her shoulders sagged. Damn, but she couldn’t really argue with that.
“Fine. You win.”

Hunter grinned before leaning over to give her a firm kiss. “I know
sitting around sucks, but I really do think it’s best that you stay here
tonight. Just be sure to lock the door behind me, and don’t open it to anyone
other than me or Maxim.”

She nodded. “As long as you’re going out, can you do something for me?”

“Maxim’s people already brought you and your father’s bags from Karen’s
house if that’s what you’re asking,” Hunter said. “They’re in the room we just
left. I can—”

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but that’s good to know,” Kylie
interjected. “I’d like you to pick up a different bag, the one I left wrapped
in a trash bag in your guestroom’s closet.”

He looked at her sharply. “You mean the one swimming in your ‘come fuck
me now’ pheromones? Why in the world would you even want me to go near it?”

Kylie smiled at him sheepishly. “Because of what I hid inside. Given
the deep shit I’m in right now, I think it would be dangerous not to have it
from now on.”

Hunter frowned. “A gun?” he guessed.

“A good idea probably, but no. It’s a br—”

Three successive sharp knocks on the door had both of them freezing,
before Hunter barked out as he scrambled off the bed, “Yes?”

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Donald Gaither’s unmistakable voice called
through the door a split-second before it opened.

Kylie felt a brief moment of relief that they were both fully clothed
except for their shoes and Hunter was off the bed. Neither one had thought to
lock the door after Maxim had left. She did her best to school her expression
to something polite and benign as the Elder’s gaze swept the room before
landing squarely on her. The last thing they needed was this man to catch wind
of their relationship.

“Hello again, Kylie,” Gaither said. “I was hoping we could speak for a
moment.”

“Hello,” she replied, trying her best to sound friendly and at the same
time not to fidget under his unblinking gaze.

“Not now, Gaither,” Hunter said shortly as he bent to gather Kylie’s
sneakers from the floor. “We were just on our way out to go pick up some of
Kylie’s father’s things from his house before it gets too late. I think we can
both agree that it would be best that they both stay here for at least the next
few days.”

Thinking it best to let him do the talking, Kylie accepted her shoes
without a word and began putting them on. She had to struggle to keep from
smirking as she watched the two men. It was starting to look as though she
wouldn’t have to stay behind after all.

“There’s no need for both of you to go,” Gaither insisted. “I can stay
here with Kylie. It’ll give us a chance to talk about a few things.”

Yeah—she
really
didn’t want to be alone with this man given the
grilling she had endured the last time she had seen him.

Thinking fast, Kylie said, “Um—sorry but my father’s security system
needs a thumbprint to deactivate, so I
have
to go.”

“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to insist on you going in the morning,”
Gaither said, “maybe when more of us can accompany you. For now, I’d like you
both to accompany me to one of the conference rooms where a few of the other
Elders of our clan are waiting. As this is the first instance in a long time
that we have definitive proof of a lion actually infiltrating the city and
attacking one of our own, there is much we need to discuss.”

“I will, but
after
I go to my father’s house,” Kylie replied
stubbornly just as Hunter opened his mouth to probably protest again. “There’s
something I’d like to retrieve, something private that he needs.”

The older man frowned. “I’m afraid I must insist—”

“Insist all you want, but we’re going,” Hunter growled as he took one
of Kylie’s hands and pulled her to her feet. “Things are fucked up enough in
her life without you trying to manhandle her into a conversation that she
obviously doesn’t want to have at the moment. After what she’s been through in
the last couple of days, the least you can do is allow her a little peace of
mind before she has to jump back into all the muck.”

As Hunter tugged her past the Elder, Kylie saw Gaither’s nostrils flare
and his eyes narrow. She closed her eyes and groaned mentally, wondering what
exactly he was smelling on her—pheromones or Hunter, himself. So much for
keeping just how far they had progressed in their relationship a secret.