The Liger's Mark (13 page)

She came up on her elbow beside him, head shaking furiously. “Those words don’t define you. Remember? Only you get to define you.”

He nodded. He’d understood the truth of those words when he’d given them to her. “My father is a bitter man. He’s molded me into his vessel of hate and retribution, and I’ve allowed it willingly.”

“You didn’t know any better,” she whispered.

“He was livid when Laura followed me home because I’d let her, and he was right. I did. I could have lost her at any time. I chose not to. There was something about her, something that gave me hope. I took her in and gave her a home. I think my father was afraid she was my mate. He did everything he could think of to run her off. Still does, but she won’t leave.”

“I’m not jealous of her,” Kenzie promised. “I know you’re mine.”

“I am,” he vowed. “We’re getting ready to head home, now, and I need you to know who he is. He won’t accept us. He’ll cut at you in any way he thinks will get to you.”

“I’m not leaving, either,” she stated.

“Don’t,” he urged. “No matter what he says or does, don’t leave. I’d hate to have to hurt my father, but I would without hesitation if he did anything to harm you.”

“I won’t go anywhere,” she swore. “Besides, you’re forgetting I have an entire pride of friends in Oklahoma, now.”

“Your pride is your family, Kenzie. When I had to leave you, I asked Tah first if he would watch over you, care for you. His reply was she’s family. Not a friend. Family. You went off searching for the people you belong with when you were with them all along.”

“I was until I met you. I don’t want to be where you’re not.”

“Then let’s go home. My father is causing trouble, and I need to put an end to it. I expected Daniel to step up to the plate in my absence, but apparently, he’s not. Tah was ready to leave last time we spoke.”

“They need a safe place,” Kenzie said. “Abby just had Regan. Diane is pregnant. Zane still has traces of feral cat fever. According to Vic, both Logan and Finn have recessed animals inside them. They need a place to settle in and call home.”

“They have it. I promise. The ranch in Riverton doesn’t belong to my dad though he likes to make people believe otherwise. It was my mother’s, and she left it and all the surrounding property to me when she died. Trust me to make this right,” he said.

“I do,” she promised. “What about the hunters following me? I don’t think they’ll let us slip away without a fight.”

“Then we give them a fight.”

Chapter Eleven

Kenzie sat sideways in the passenger seat of Gabriel’s SUV, gaze glued out the back window as she kept a keen eye out for any tails they shouldn’t have. Gabriel had spoken to Tah while she was in the shower then with Holt. By the time he’d jumped in the shower, everyone was packing up and ready to hit the road. Other than discussing the hunters they needed to be on the lookout for, Gabriel said the rest could wait until they were safely home and could go over it once with everyone. Vic and Gideon had some news though Vic hadn’t really said what it was.

The twins had decided to leave their car behind and surprised Kenzie by splitting up. Reed went with Vic and Gideon while Dusty and Nix rode with Holt. Laura was with Kenzie and Gabriel. There was still something about the other woman that Kenzie just couldn’t put her finger on, something familiar.

Laramie had talked them into waiting and leaving under cover of darkness. So they’d spent the rest of the day saying farewell to the Holloway brothers. Kenzie had taken a nap and startled awake to find Nix in her room. He’d heard her cry out, not realizing she was asleep and rushed it to check on her. Embarrassing but nice of him. She must have twisted her upper arm either in the dream or when she’d jerked awake as a deep ache had settled in. She’d told Gabriel about it, afraid someone else might have heard her. Thankfully, no one had.

When night finally fell, they drove deeper into Holloway land, heading farther north and avoiding any hunters watching the front. They traveled without headlights, which made the drive quite the adventure. Gabriel led the caravan, seeming to know where he was going.

They made it to the interstate, where they hoped hunters would refrain from attacking and calling attention to themselves. The plan was to stick to the busier highways and highly populated stops to avoid confrontation. It seemed to be working so far. Kenzie was positive Laramie and his brothers had also set up a diversion to keep the attention of the hunters focused on the Holloways instead. She prayed they were okay.

“I hope I get to see Laramie again,” she said and grinned when her mate growled.

Laura laughed out loud. “I’d like to see any of those bears again. They were hot!”

“They were,” Kenzie agreed and snickered when Gabriel glared at her. “Don’t worry. No one compares to my sexy mate. I like Laramie, though. He seems like someone you can depend on.”

“He is,” Gabriel said.

“How did you meet?” Kenzie asked.

“Came across a group of hunters while out on a search. They didn’t have who I was looking for, but they did have an older man with them. They were torturing the hell out of him,” Gabriel said.

“He was a bear shifter?” Kenzie asked.

“Laramie’s father,” Gabriel said. “He didn’t make it. He knew he wouldn’t but asked me if I’d take his body to his sons. I did. Stayed with them long enough to heal up myself and got to know the Holloways.”

“I heard Declan say hunters had killed most of the bears off,” Laura said. “What happened?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Gabriel said. “I do know there are very few left, less than a hundred. As far as the Holloways know, there are no females. The few males among them who have mated and had children, all have boys.”

“Abby and Tah had a girl,” Kenzie said. “So it must be a bear shifter thing.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the baby,” Laura said. “Vic was telling me about her. Said she has all the men of the pride wrapped around her finger already, especially her dad.”

“I didn’t get the chance to see her before I left,” Kenzie admitted. “I sort of snuck out.”

“Sort of?” Gabriel said with a laugh. “You snuck off like a thief in the night.”

“Must have something to do with all the alpha men around me who think they can say stay, and I’ll obey,” Kenzie said.

“Tah, too, huh?” Laura asked.

Kenzie snorted. “We have a whole pride full of them. The ones who are mated…they seem to have an overdose of testosterone as soon as they stake their claim.”

“Yippee! You can just drop me off anywhere along the way,” Laura teased.

“Please,” Gabriel said. “From what Daniel said when I spoke with him, the women rule their mates and everyone knows it.”

“One can only hope,” Kenzie murmured, and Laura rolled with laughter.

Gabriel threw a quick glance her way, eyes daring her to try and tame him, but she didn’t want to rule him. She just wanted him.

“We have another pregnant mate in our group, now,” Kenzie said, picking up the earlier conversation. “Diane.”

“I’ve heard about her. Vic told me about the feral cat fever virus, and how you helped Diane get to her mate and save him. Zane, right?” Laura asked.

Kenzie nodded. “They’re great people. You’ll really like them. Did she tell you about anyone else?”

“Not really. I happened to catch her as she was hanging up from talking to Diane,” Laura said. “I ask her about Reed and Dusty. I’ll admit, I have trouble telling them apart. Plus the way they communicate with just a look is spooky.”

“They’re a handful,” Kenzie said with a grin. “I know what you mean about the looks. As for telling them apart, it’s hard. There are times they still fool me.”

“Other than that, I really didn’t hear about anyone else,” Laura said. “I spoke with Holt for a bit, but he was usually off with one of the Holloway brothers while we were there.”

“They’re all pretty fantastic, but I’ll let you discover that for yourself,” Kenzie told her. “Tell me about you, instead.”

“Not much to tell. Suburban home. Mom, dad, older brother,” Laura said but the bitterness in her voice was hard to miss.

“Do you still see any of them?” Kenzie asked softly when Laura didn’t say anything else.

“No,” Laura admitted. “My dad was a giant controlling prick. Mom bowed and catered to him. My brother’s eight years older than me. He bailed as soon as he graduated, headed to the military and never looked back. Can’t really blame him since I did the same thing, though mine wasn’t really by choice at the time. That was six years ago.”

Kenzie could hear the hurt in Laura’s voice. So she was twenty-four, which would mean it had been fourteen years since she’d last seen her brother.

“Which is when I found her,” Gabriel said. “She’s been my pain in the ass ever since.”

It was easy to hear the teasing in his voice, and both Kenzie and Laura laughed.

“You love me, and you know it,” Laura said then glanced quickly at Kenzie. “As a sister. Purely platonic.”

“I know,” Kenzie assured her, not even feeling a twinge of jealousy.

Her beast had been quite content since she’d marked Gabriel and claimed him.

“Did you always know you were a shifter?” she asked Laura.

The other woman laughed. “No,” she told Kenzie. “Shocked the hell out of me. I was a late bloomer, older than the other girls when my body started changing. Sixteen was a horrible year for me. I shot up three inches, grew boobs, joined the woman club and started aching so bad in my bones, I thought I had cancer.”

“What did your parents do?”

“Nothing,” Laura said with a shrug. “I never told them. I was terrified. I was sick for a week, raging fever and the sensation I was being ripped apart on the inside. My mom took one look at me and screamed for my dad. I remember him walking in to see what was going on then slamming out in anger.”

“He was angry you were sick?” Kenzie asked incredulously.”

“My eyes were glowing,” Laura said. “Next thing I knew, he was loading me up. Took me to the middle of nowhere and left me in the woods. Said he’d be back in forty-eight hours and if I was alive, he’d take me home.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kenzie asked with complete horror.

“Real winner, huh,” Gabriel said. “Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies.”

“I survived. Shifted and managed to merge with my beast. My dad came back, and we never spoke of it again. The day after my high school graduation, I woke up to an empty house. My mother left me a note telling me it was best if I was no longer with them. So I packed what I needed and took off.”

“What about your brother?” Kenzie was appalled by the story Laura was sharing.

“He was gone,” Laura said. “I had no idea where he was and figured he wouldn’t want me around, anyway.”

“I’d like to find your family and beat the hell out of all of them,” Kenzie stated with a glare.

“I survived,” Laura said, with a glance toward Gabriel.

“You know, I always knew I was different,” Kenzie said. “My hearing range was insane from the beginning, eyesight, too. I didn’t realize how much until I’d mention something I shouldn’t have been able to see or hear. People began looking at me strange.”

“Holt said you thought your parents were cougars,” Laura said. “How did you know that if you were in the foster system?”

“I had a social worker who kept tabs on me, Ms. Karsey. She’d come visit and sometimes we’d go out together. She said they were mandated visits so she could check up on me. Looking back now, it’s easy to see she was guiding me. Our discussions, our fieldtrips, they were all to help me learn. She was also watching for signs of my animal emerging, but that didn’t happen.”

“So how did you know?” Laura said. “I never had any shifter attributes or anything until I merged. I had no idea what I was until I was shedding my skin and suddenly looking through the eyes of my beast. Terrifying doesn’t begin to convey my emotions at the time.”

“I can’t imagine,” Kenzie said. “I don’t want to imagine. As to how I knew, it’s hard to explain. I’d always felt something inside me, like a whisper in my head. At first, I thought of it as my conscience, my meter of right and wrong. As I got older, it was more like intuition, warning me when something wasn’t right. There were other things, but the enhanced senses were the main sign,” she offered with a grin. “Then at twelve, I saw Meara for the first time when I was out with Ms. Karsey. They spoke quietly while I sat in the car. The radio was on, but I could still hear them. Meara asked about unexplained fevers, about my teeth, my hands. She never spoke to me, but I watched when she left. Ms. Karsey was writing in this notebook she always carried. I saw Meara step into this copse of trees, look around and start stripping. I was a bit shocked. Then in the blink of an eye, she’d disappeared, and there was a cougar there. She glanced back, and I swear she looked right at me. Then she was gone. I didn’t see her again until I was sixteen.”

“Same questions, I’m guessing,” Gabriel said, and Kenzie nodded.

“Nothing had really changed at that point. I asked Ms. Karsey about Meara that time. I was older, more certain of what I’d seen.”

“What did the social worker say?” Laura asked.

“She made me swear I’d never mention Meara or what I’d seen to anyone else. Then she told me some people were more gifted than others. I asked her if I was gifted. She looked sad. She told me I was special but not gifted like Meara was. That’s when I began to think Meara was my mother and had given me up because I couldn’t shift. I figured I was defective in her eyes.”

“Jesus,” Gabriel said, reaching across to take her hand. “Just once, I’d like to meet a shifter whose life was filled with joy and happiness, who had amazing parents, a loving family, and never had to deal with the idiocy of people trying to hide who they are.”

“You’ll see it with Tah and Abby’s little girl, Regan. Zane and Diane’s child, too. We’ll all make it that way for them and for any other children born into our pride,” Kenzie vowed.

Gabriel nodded. “I can see that.”

“Your animal is coming out, now, right? Have you had the urge to shift, yet?” Laura asked.