The Liger's Mark (3 page)

We’ve found her. The mark is on her hip exactly where we left it.

She left the bed and moved into the bathroom, stripping her clothes as she moved. She turned, staring at her hip, at the brown mark she’d had her whole life. She’d always thought it was a funny birthmark. Now, she wondered if it was something more.

We’ve found her.

He’d been speaking of her. There was no other answer that made sense. Why? What was so important about her? In that moment, she knew two things for certain. She couldn’t stay with Tah, Abby and the pride. The hunter had been on the phone, telling someone he’d found her, which meant someone knew she was here. If they’d been looking for her, it wouldn’t be safe for her to stay.

The second thing she knew was that she needed answers. Who was she, and why was she important enough for hunters to be searching for her? There was only one place she could go. Back to where it all began, and the people who had first turned her away. She needed to head home.

She flipped on the shower then doubled over as a hard pain hit her womb. Was it her body going into heat? The desire for Gabriel’s touch? Or something to do with the emerging animal inside her? She had no choice other than to lay low for a few days, stick to her room and keep herself away from the too-keen senses of those around her until she knew what was going on with her body.

It was almost funny. The shifter who couldn’t shift. The child no one wanted. The woman rejected by her mate. So why was it there had been excitement in the hunter’s voice when he’d stated they’d found her? Why did she matter to a group of hunters? More importantly, why had one of them been willing to fight the other to protect her?

Chapter Two

Kenzie was pissed. It had been just over a week since she and her best friend, Holt, had left Colorado, and they’d made no progress. Every lead Kenzie found hadn’t panned out. Added to that frustration was the fact her phone constantly rang with people checking in on her, seeing when she was planning to head to Oklahoma. Then when they didn’t get the answers they wanted from her, Holt’s phone would ring as if she wasn’t fucking sitting right beside him.

She knew they cared. She’d even accepted that with them, she really did have a family, which only cemented the fact she needed to stay away until she found what she needed. The hunters were after her, wanted her enough to leave without trying to get to Tah, Abby or anyone else. That spoke volumes to Kenzie and made her more adamant to get the truth she was searching for.

She’d expected to find something from the family who’d adopted her, but they’d disappeared without a trace. The neighbor said they’d left shortly after Kenzie had joined the Marines and headed to boot camp. So she’d gone to the foster care system, hoping to track something down on her birth parents or even her social worker, Ms. Karsey, who’d placed Kenzie. Sadly, Ms. Karsey had died, and there was nothing to be found. Kenzie had been wiped from the records as if she’d never existed. At least, not to them.

Kenzie didn’t understand. Ms. Karsey had given Kenzie information when she’d gone to her as soon as Kenzie had turned eighteen. She’d found her family once, had watched her mother and father through the lenses of a pair of high-powered binoculars as the couple had shifted into cougars then ran. She’d longed to go with them, and her defects had never been more obvious. She couldn’t shift, and in that moment, it had dawned on her that perhaps that was why they’d given her away as a baby. Things would be different when she found them, now. This time, she wouldn’t leave until she’d spoken with them.

“Are you sure this is the right direction?” Holt asked as he stopped the car.

They both looked down the dirt path Kenzie had been told to follow. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and listened. Her senses had been going through the roof since she’d mated.

Just thinking of being mated had thoughts of Gabriel filling her mind and had her heart aching. She did her best to block them out. Her beast was emerging, and if her mate was the one who’d given it the push then she was grateful. She was growing stronger, her senses far surpassing the advanced level they’d been at before. Whether it was his genetics or the awakening of hers didn’t matter. What mattered was Kenzie was worried about what would happen if she had the urge to shift, and she wanted to be around other shifters the first time that happened. Holt was supportive but also human. He’d be very little help for her if she needed it.

“Kenzie?” Holt questioned softly.

She nodded without opening her eyes. Sometimes the scent of his pain overwhelmed her. Sometimes it was his anger. Those around them thought he was in love with her, would think him jealous of the fact she’d mated another. It made sense due to the fact once she and Holt had been lovers. Even Vic, who knew them best, had stated Holt might not be the best person for Kenzie to be around right now. She’d been surprised the other woman had thought that, but Vic had been dealing with her own feelings toward a shifter named Gideon. Turned out, he was Vic’s mate. Still, it bothered Kenzie how Holt was perceived by those closest to them. How little they all really saw. His pain. His anger. His sadness—it was because he knew her dreams, hopes and wishes better than anybody. He knew the importance she’d placed on finding her mate. Holt hurt for her. He was angry for her.

She’d been so worried when she’d made the choice to tell him they shouldn’t remain lovers that she’d lose her friend. Luckily, she hadn’t lost him. Instead, he’d become the best friend she’d already seen him as. He loved her as surely as she loved him. They’d both realized they weren’t in love with each other, and that made all the difference. They both wanted a chance at the real thing. Kenzie had always believed hers would come when she met her mate, but it didn’t look as if happily ever after was in the cards for her and Gabriel.

As if thoughts of him had conjured the man, her phone rang again. Her eyes popped open, and she glared at the screen. By this time, she knew Gabriel’s number and avoided it like the plague. She guessed Tah had most likely given it to Gabriel.

“He’s just going to keep calling,” Holt said with a deep sigh.

She felt his glance on her before they hit a bump.

He focused back on the road. “What if he shows up? Are you ready for that?”

“He won’t show up,” she said. “His life is not his own, and until the day comes when that changes, he can’t be with me.”

“Bullshit,” Holt argued again. “We’re all in this war. Even me. Fighting doesn’t mean you give up living. I still say we should be going after him so you can convince your very stupid mate of exactly what’s important in life.”

“He’ll have to come to me,” she said.

“My offer to find him and teach him a lesson stands.”

Kenzie laughed then. “Planning to take on a fully grown liger for me? Suddenly have a death wish you need to tell me about?”

“Liger or not, I’ll kick his ass for what he’s putting you through,” Holt swore, and she knew he meant it.

She reached over and patted his arm. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Careful,” he warned and eased his arm away. He’d been vigilant not to touch her since he’d tried to hug her the day after she’d arrived back at the cabin in Colorado. She’d cried out in pain, her body rejecting the contact of anyone but the man who should have been with her.

“The heat is gone,” she said. “It doesn’t hurt to have you hold me anymore.”

The few days she’d been in heat, without her mate with her, had been absolute hell. Vic had seen Kenzie’s ravaged face and thought it was from the hurt of Gabriel leaving. It had been, just not exactly as she’d let everyone believe. Her stomach had been racked with cramps, so intense she’d been doubled over—gasping for breath. Her skin had ached.

She’d needed her mate’s touch and had been forced to curl in a ball and hug her middle, instead. She’d almost believed the changes were because she’d managed to conceive from the two times she’d had sex with Gabriel. She’d wanted a child, wanted his child, but it hadn’t happened. In retrospect, it had been for the best. She had too many things to figure out without dragging an innocent baby along for the journey. Especially when she had no idea of the outcome.

“Is that it?” Holt asked, and Kenzie glanced up to take in the rundown home before them.

She inhaled deeply and scented the shifters who lived there. If they weren’t the ones she was searching for, maybe, they’d have a better idea of where to go next. She refused to give up. She would find them, no matter how long it took.

“This is the place,” Kenzie said, taking a look around as Holt put the car in park and turned off the engine.

A man appeared on the porch before either of them had moved from the car. He had a rifle cradled in his arm. There was something about him, and Kenzie felt a tremor of excitement go through her. She thrust open her door and stepped out onto the dirt driveway.

“Ya’ll are trespassing,” the man said. “This is private property. You need to get back in your car, turn around and head back the way you came.”

“A mutual friend sent me here,” Kenzie said, keeping her body shielded by the open door though it wouldn’t offer much protection if he decided to shoot.

He inhaled then gave her a funny look. He inhaled again. “What are you?”

“Shifter,” she said. “Same as you.”

He shook his head. “Not the same.”

Kenzie sighed. She’d been getting that everywhere she went. She didn’t know if it was her emerging animal or something to do with her mating with Gabriel. Whatever it was, the scent brought questioning looks and uncertainty.

“I’m looking for someone,” Kenzie said instead of addressing his comment. “I was told you might be able to help me.”

He lifted a brow but said nothing. Kenzie could hear Holt mumble an obscenity under his breath and echoed it in her thoughts.

“There was a family here. Cougars. Have you seen them?”

“What do you want with them?” the man asked.

“I just want to talk to them,” Kenzie promised. “They knew me when I was just a baby.”

Something in his eyes caught her attention, a flare of his nostrils that he tried to hide as he pulled in her scent again. He opened his mouth then snapped it closed.

“Please,” she said. “I just want to speak with them then I’ll leave.”

“Just a chat?” he asked.

She nodded. “I have some questions I think only they will be able to answer for me.”

“Your friend human?” the guy asked.

Kenzie nodded again. “Yes. He’s with me. He’ll wait in the car.”

“Hell, no he won’t,” Holt yelled.

“No,” the man said at the same time. “He comes in with you. Tell him to leave his gun in the car.”

“I’m not going to do that,” Holt said as he opened his door and stood.

“I have women and children in there,” the man informed him.

“I have a woman to protect, too,” Holt said, nodding toward Kenzie.

The guy glanced between them and shook his head. “She’s not yours. I can scent you on her, but it’s more of a mist, like a perfume or cologne. Your scent isn’t the one mingled with hers, rising from her skin.”

Holt glared.

“He’s my friend. He only wants to make sure I’m safe,” Kenzie offered.

“Then leave the gun in the car. You’ll both be safe here. I give you my word.” The man stepped briefly out of sight, and Kenzie could pick up the sound of something opening and closing. He moved back unarmed and held out his hands to them.

“He could probably shift and take our throats out regardless,” Holt muttered.

“Some friend if he lacks faith in your animal’s ability to protect you,” the man jeered.

Kenzie almost snickered, but she wasn’t willing to share the fact she’d never shifted. If the man was picking up on Gabriel’s liger scent, he’d believe her to be something greater than what she was. Though she found it strange that her mate’s scent could overpower her emerging animal, it was the only thing that made any sort of sense. She’d thought the time apart would have neutralized the smell of him on her skin.

“Leave it in the car,” she ordered Holt and was happy when he obeyed without another comment.

He knew what it was like to work with shifters, though. Knew how keen their hearing and other senses were. There would be no sneaking in a gun without it being discovered.

Holt placed his gun on the seat then grabbed the keys. Kenzie pulled her holster from the small of her back and placed hers on her seat also.

“Just the two of you?” the guy asked.

Kenzie nodded. She wasn’t about to tell him she wasn’t supposed to know about the two tailing her and Holt. It was insulting that the men of her former Marine unit seemed to believe she’d lost her edge. It was nice to see Dusty and Reed alive and well since she knew Reno had included the duo in his original call for help. The fact they’d only turned up to babysit her and report back to Tah pissed her off. She was still debating if she wanted to keep ignoring them or tell them what was going on.

“Just the two of us,” Kenzie assured him, shutting her door and moving around the front of the car.

Holt beeped the car locked, tucked the keys in his pocket and joined her before they both approached the porch.

The man inhaled again and shook his head. Finally, he opened the door and held it, waving them inside.

The interior was dark, gloomy, as if all the sources of light had been covered to keep whoever was inside hidden. The scent of neglect filled the air, overridden by the fresh aroma of bacon grease.

“My mother’s back this way,” the man said. “I’m Frankie. If anyone can help you, it’ll be her.”

He led them to a room at the rear of the house. The first thing Kenzie noticed was the clean smell in the air. The windows were open, and the breeze carried the fragrance of flowers and dirt. A woman sat in a chair facing the window. Her skin was weathered bronze from the sun, her hair a curtain of gray and brown down her back. As soon as Kenzie approached, the woman looked up, and Kenzie knew she was taking stock of both Kenzie and Holt.