The Liger's Mark (4 page)

The woman’s head jerked, and her gaze collided with Kenzie’s. In that one moment, Kenzie saw something sad, almost remorseful then terror took over.

“Leave,” the woman said angrily. “You’re not welcome.”

“Mother,” Frankie began, going to kneel at her side.

“No,” she said, hand slashing through the air as she stopped him with that one word. “She’s not welcome here.”

“You know who I am,” Kenzie said. Not a question as she could see the woman obviously did.

“You are death,” the woman sneered. “To any who should fall in your shadow. I’ll lose no one else for you.”

“What?” Kenzie asked, taking a step back into Holt. “What are you talking about? I’m searching for my family. That’s all.”

“You have no family here,” the woman stated adamantly.

“There was a family. Cougars,” Kenzie said.

“You’re not a cougar,” the woman said.

“Please,” Kenzie begged, but the woman just shook her head and shot a quelling look at her son. “Who did you lose?”

Silence.

“I’m looking for answers,” Kenzie said softly. “That’s all. Answers. No one will die for that.”

The woman laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “Plenty already have. You should stay lost. Nothing good will come from your answers.”

Kenzie’s heart beat faster. It was too late for that, but the woman didn’t need to know that. “You know who I am,” she said again. “Tell me. Please, tell me who I am.”

The woman motioned to her son and gave a curt nod. He stood, and Holt tensed behind her. She reached her hand back, gripping his waist to try and assure him she was okay.

“You touch him, but he’s not yours,” the woman said.

“He’s my friend,” Kenzie said.

“Where is your mate?” the woman asked.

Kenzie kept her gaze on the woman, knowing Holt was watching Frankie as he looked through cabinets around the room, searching for something.

“He’s gone,” Kenzie answered.

“Not dead,” the woman said. “Though I feel your sorrow.” She inhaled again, this time doing nothing to disguise the gesture. “I’ll give you what I have, but you must leave and never contact us again. Frankie and his family are all I have left. I won’t risk them for secrets, which were never mine to keep.”

“Secrets?” Kenzie asked.

“I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to know. I’ve seen the knowledge of it bring death more than once. I’ll warn you, though. Trust no one. Not shifter. Not human. There are those on both sides of the fence that would prefer only your corpse be found.”

She heard Holt’s sharp inhalation and knew he’d be demanding more answers from her after this conversation.

“I found it,” Frankie said and held up a box.

“Give it to her,” the woman said.

Kenzie took the sealed box Frankie passed to her and clutched it against her chest.

“Take it and go. I’ve never opened it. I have no idea what’s in there. All I know is my sister and her mate asked me to keep it. My sister told me it was important, that someday the baby she gave away would come looking for answers. I was to give you that box.”

“Where is she?” Kenzie asked.

“Dead,” the woman spat out. “Her whole family gone because of you. Now get out of my house and never come back.”

Kenzie swallowed, her hands shaking as she gripped the box and turned. She saw a flare of surprise in Frankie’s eyes before she faced Holt and caught the anger in his. She gave a slight shake of her head and led him back through the house and out to the car.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Holt demanded as he beeped the car unlocked.

“I don’t know,” Kenzie admitted. “I think I’ll have a better idea once I go through this.” She jostled the box in her arms.

“We,” he said. “I’m not letting you do this alone.” It was a subtle reminder of exactly who he thought should be here with her—her mate. “Where to now?”

Kenzie glanced at her watch. It was still early, but she knew what she wanted. “Let’s find a place to stay for tonight.”

Holt didn’t answer until they were both locked in the car, and he was heading out of the drive and away from the house.

“Why don’t you go ahead and open it?” he suggested.

She’d been thinking the same thing, but every time she lifted her hand to do just that, her stomach cramped. “I’m going to.”

“Then why don’t I hear tape ripping? Get a move on!”

Kenzie huffed in frustration and gripped the box tighter. There was sweat on her brow, and her heartbeat was accelerating.

“Kenz?” Holt called, and she felt his glance dart briefly over to her.

“Ahh!” she grunted in annoyance. What the hell was going on? Anxiety? Panic? She was a fucking Marine! Nothing had ever made her react in such a way.

“Are you okay?” Holt asked. “You’ve gone pale on me.”

“I have no idea what the fuck is wrong with me. Every time I try to move my hands to open this stupid thing, I get this sick sensation in the pit of my stomach. It’s like my fucking cat’s resisting.” She reached for the tape again and had to swallow the bile that rose in her throat.

“Don’t make yourself puke in the car.”

“Wuss,” she accused.

“Hell, yeah. You know if I see that shit, I’ll be barfing, too.”

She snickered but leaned her head back against the seat, inhaling slow and easy as she focused on calming her beast.

“Any better?” Holt asked after a few minutes.

“Little nauseous,” she muttered, breathing through her teeth. “I think I’ll wait for it to pass before I open this up.”

She sat the box on the floorboard between her feet, and only then did the cramping start to subside. She closed her eyes, concentrating on what was going on inside her. The nerves weren’t hers. They belonged to the beast emerging inside her. For some reason, it didn’t want her looking inside the box, and its fear was intense enough to make Kenzie physically ill. She’d have to figure a way around it. One way or another, she was opening the damn box and getting the answers she needed.

“I’m going to call Reno,” he said.

“No,” Kenzie argued, blinking her eyes open in surprise.

“Hear me out,” Holt demanded. “I heard what she said in there. Something’s going on. You’re mate’s not here to help keep you safe. I am, and I’m going to do it the best way I know how. I know how important this is to you, and I want you to have the answers you need. Hell, if I had any doubts before, they would have been gone after listening to that woman in there. I know you spotted Dusty and Reed tailing us. I told Reno you would. There’s no point in pretending otherwise. I think it’s time I call Reno and get a number for one of them. We’ll be stronger if they’re with us, and not just tailing us. I’m not letting anything happen to you. So unless you want me to turn this car toward Oklahoma, we add two more to our traveling party.”

Kenzie was silent for a minute. Holt was right. Whatever was in the box had the power to get people killed. For the first time since leaving Colorado, she wondered if she should have gone alone and forced Holt to stay behind. If something happened to him because of her… It was a thought she didn’t even want to finish.

“Call Reno,” she said. If nothing else, Dusty and Reed could help keep Holt safe.

You are death for all who fall in your shadow.

“My family is dead,” Kenzie said. “Because of me, of who I am.”

“No,” Holt said. “She told you they weren’t yours. You’re not a cougar, Kenzie.”

“I think she was just picking up on my mate’s liger scent,” Kenzie said.

Holt shook his head. “No, she said your mate’s scent wasn’t strong. Whatever she was picking up on was coming from you. Fuck, I really wish I had your sense of smell so I could help you out more.”

“You’re doing more than enough for me,” Kenzie said, reaching over to give his forearm a squeeze.

Her phone rang. Both their gazes dropped down to it. Gabriel just wouldn’t give up. Kenzie hugged her arms around her stomach and looked away, glancing out the window.

“He’s going to get tired of calling and show up at some point.” Holt repeated his earlier warning. “I’d make sure you’re ready for that.”

Kenzie wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to face Gabriel. Not knowing it would only be temporary, and he’d eventually walk away again.

“His life is not his own,” she whispered, too low for Holt to hear. The words weren’t meant for him. They were meant for her. A reminder of who her mate was, and the fact she couldn’t have him.

Chapter Three

Gabriel flung the phone away from him, a snarl ripping from his lips.

“Damn, she’s got you twisted in knots,” Laura said.

He bit back the comment lingering on his tongue as the scent of her pain filled the car. Getting to her hadn’t been easy, and the time he’d spent rescuing his mate and fighting his need to stay with her could have cost Laura her life. He’d almost been too late. Any further delay and she would have been just another dead shifter. If he needed anything to drive home the fact he couldn’t have a mate that was it.

“Tell me again why you found it so important to leave before I returned,” Gabriel snapped.

“Those reasons are personal,” she whispered and looked away from him to stare out the windshield.

He knew something had happened when Laura had discovered a team of hunters in New Mexico and methodically taken them out. She was good. He’d trained her himself, as had his brother. There had been a change in her since she’d returned, and when she spoke of the carnage she’d left behind, he always had the impression there was more she wasn’t saying.

“Those reasons almost got you killed,” he said. “Daniel has been going crazy.”

Gabriel ignored her weary sigh though he understood it. His brother Daniel had fancied himself in love with Laura since she’d followed Gabriel home and wormed her way into staying. She and Daniel weren’t mates though, and Laura refused to claim a lover until the one person meant for her arrived. His thoughts drifted back to his mate and a growl sounded in his chest before he could stop it. Kenzie was traveling with the man he’d smelled on her skin. Staying with him, allowing him to touch and protect her. Gabriel had no one to blame but himself.

“We should be going after your mate,” Laura told him again. She’d been saying it since he’d found her, and she’d smelled the change in him. She’d been furious when he’d admitted he’d met his mate and left her behind to go after Laura. Though she’d understood the reasons, she’d still called bullshit and told him he was fucking stupid almost hourly.

“I can’t have a mate,” he replied.

“Your life is not your own,” she intoned, deepening her voice. Then she snorted. “I still call bullshit. Can’t no longer applies. You do have a mate.” Her tone softened then. “You can’t keep living your life for him, Gabe. He’s going to get you killed.”

“My father has nothing to do with this.”

She snorted again. “That self-righteous prick has everything to do with this, and we both know it. Him and his push to make Daniel the next Angel if you ever decide to have a life.”

Gabriel ignored her comment, reaching for his phone as it rang and sparing a glance at the ID, which flashed on the screen. Not his mate, but someone else he could take his anger out on.

“Tah,” Gabriel answered, not bothering to mask the deep displeasure from his voice. He was livid the other man had let Kenzie slip away and not immediately sent someone after her to bring her back.

“I’m going to kill Isaac,” Tah stated without preamble. “Or one of the others will.”

“What’s my father done now?” Gabriel demanded, barely containing a weary sigh.

“He challenged a wolf shifter sent to me with a message,” Tah growled. “I’m sure the bastard would have killed the poor guy if Reno hadn’t been there.”

“Is the shifter okay?” Gabriel asked.

“Reno was there,” Tah stated again as if that meant something.

“Did you call Daniel?”

“No offense, Gabriel,” Tah began. “Your brother has no backbone when it comes to your father. He consoles and coddles.”

Gabriel sighed. Tah was right. That was exactly what Daniel did.

“I’m not sure this is the home we need,” Tah admitted. “We appreciate the offer, but I’ve already got a few people looking into other options.”

“There won’t be anyplace else that will offer as much protection as you have there,” Gabriel challenged.

“We need a home,” Tah said softly. “Not a place where we’re made to feel as if we aren’t truly welcome.”

Gabriel felt the rumble of a growl beginning in his chest and did his best to hold it in. “You’re welcome. I’ll take care of my father. I’m heading back, now.” He didn’t mention the woman with him. There were things he’d just been made aware of, and he needed to talk to Laura about them, first.

“You might want to hold off on that,” Tah said. “Reno had an interesting phone call from Holt.”

Gabriel did growl then, anger resonating through him at the mention of the man his mate was traveling with—the man who’d once been Kenzie’s lover. The man she’d threatened could be again.

“And,” he prompted.

“Holt asked for a number to contact the brothers I have tailing them, Reed and Dusty Hillman. Holt said it would be safer if they were traveling with him and Kenzie instead of following behind.”

“What has my mate gotten herself into?” Gabriel demanded.

“Holt still says she’s only looking for answers,” Tah said. “I told Reed and Dusty to join them. I also called Vic and Gideon who will be heading toward them before they make their last stop. They have another traveling with them now, a shifter named Nix.”

Gabriel didn’t care about any of that. “Is Kenzie in danger?”

“If she were my mate, I’d be there asking her that question,” Tah countered.

“She won’t answer my calls,” Gabriel thundered.

Tah’s silence indicated exactly what the other man thought of that. He’d already voiced his opinion once he’d found out exactly what was going on between Gabriel and Kenzie. To say the other man wasn’t happy was putting it mildly.

Gabriel clenched his teeth so tightly he was afraid he might dislocate his jaw. Fuck! That seemed to be all he was doing lately, growling or rumbling or holding back a roar of anger. The brief taste he’d had of his mate wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. He knew things would have to change, had planned to work toward them when he’d returned with Laura. Kenzie should have been at the ranch with the rest of them, safe and waiting for him. Instead, she was out searching for something and putting herself in danger.