as the two men landed in a heap on the ground.
“What the fuck? Duncan, what the hell are you doing?” Nick shouted.
“Stand down,” Duncan barked even as he bolted up. He ran toward the spot where the cheetah had lain, praying that Nick had missed.
As he drew closer, he saw that Aliyah now lay naked on the ground, shivering, curled into a protective ball. Duncan fell to his knees, shouting her name. He ran his hands over her body searching for a wound, blood, anything.
When she opened her eyes and stared up at him, he sagged in relief. His hands shook so badly he couldn’t even do more than touch her.
Nick could have killed her.
Finally managing to compose himself, he gathered her naked body in his arms and strode back toward the cabin. He spared a glance at Nick who stood staring at the woman in Duncan’s arms in abject horror.
Ignoring him, Duncan went into the cabin and laid Aliyah on the couch. He wrapped a blanket around her then crushed her to his chest.
“I’m okay,” she murmured.
But still, he couldn’t let her go. He was reliving that horrible moment when he knew that Nick was going to shoot, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
“Why were you out there?” he asked hoarsely. “Damn it, Aliyah, what you did was stupid. Are you just trying to get yourself killed?”
He pressed his lips to her hair and closed his eyes. She stirred against him and pulled away.
“I went out to get a shirt out of the truck. I didn’t intend to shift.”
“What happened?” he asked. God, he couldn’t get his heartbeat under control. He’d never been so scared in his life.
“I heard the truck pull up, and I hid behind the door, but then he got out, and he had a gun, and I got scared. I couldn’t control it,” she said softly. “The cheetah took over.”
“What the hell is going on?” Nick bit out.
Duncan looked up to see Nick standing in the doorway of the cabin, rifle in hand, a fierce expression on his face.
“Put the gun away, Nick. Now.”
“I’m not putting shit away until you explain what the fuck happened out there.” He stared at Aliyah with blatant disbelief and deep suspicion. His gaze shot back and forth between her and Duncan, including Duncan in the flickering distrust in his eyes.
Duncan sighed but turned so that he shielded Aliyah from Nick. She slid her hand up his back, and he could feel her tremble. It angered him that she was afraid in the one place she should feel safe. His house.
“Back off, Nick. You put the goddamn gun away and sit your ass down. Then we’ll talk.”
Nick stood for a long moment before finally relaxing slightly and lowering the rifle. He still kept his hand curled around the stock, but he sat down on the hearth, never taking his eyes off Aliyah.
“I shot at a cheetah. I did not fucking imagine it. There was no woman. I don’t shoot unarmed women.” Nick shook his head adamantly as he spoke, his words terse.
Duncan looked back at Aliyah, his lips drawn in regret. “I have to tell him,” he said in a low voice. “He has to know so that he doesn’t tell anyone else. I trust him, Aliyah. I wouldn’t put you in danger. But if we don’t explain and this gets out, things will get bad for you here.”
She nodded slowly, but he hated the fear in her eyes. He put his hand out to cup her cheek. With his other hand, he smoothed the hair from her face in a tender gesture.
“I’ll protect you, honey. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“Tell him then,” she said.
Duncan turned and drew in a deep breath. It had been hard enough for him to accept the truth about Aliyah. It wouldn’t be any easier for Nick.
“First of all, Nick, what you saw today, what I’m about to tell you, goes no further than this room.” He pinned Nick with a forceful stare. “I’m asking this as your friend.”
Confusion flickered in Nick’s eyes, and he leaned forward, concern creasing his forehead. “Okay, man. You know…you know you can count on me. Whatever it is, I’m with you.”
Duncan nodded and relaxed. Nick was solid. He was someone Duncan could count on when the stakes were high. They’d been through a lot together, and he was one of the few people Duncan trusted implicitly.
He looked back at Aliyah, moved over to the side so that she could see Nick, but he was careful to arrange the blanket around her to shield her nudity. He curled his hand around hers and squeezed reassuringly.
Taking a breath, he turned his attention back to Nick who had laid the rifle aside. “Nick, this is Aliyah Carver. She has the ability…to change into a cheetah.”
To Nick’s credit, he didn’t say a word, but then his expression said it all. He looked as though Duncan had just announced he was having a sex change.
“You saw it, Nick. You saw the cheetah. You shot at her. You saw the woman lying where the cheetah had been just moments before.”
Nick grayed as the realization struck him that he’d shot at a living, breathing woman.
“Jesus,” he breathed. He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Holy fuck. Duncan, you’re telling me… What the hell are you saying?”
Duncan didn’t answer. He just allowed it to sink in and watched as Nick battled against logic and what Duncan was telling him.
Nick shook his head. “No way. No fucking way. It’s crazy. People don’t just become animals.”
Aliyah let out a sound of impatience and moved against Duncan. He put out a hand to soothe her, but she shoved it away and struggled out of the blanket to stand in front of the couch. As the rest of the blanket fell away and she stood naked in front of both men, Duncan growled his protest and reached for the blanket.
Nick’s gaze was riveted to Aliyah, and while Duncan couldn’t blame him, he was ready to knock Nick on his ass. Shock and confusion blazed across Nick’s face as he stared in astonishment at Aliyah’s naked body.
As a shudder worked up her spine, Duncan realized what she was doing.
“Aliyah, don’t!”
She turned, her eyes already glittering with the change. Vertical slits of the cat’s eyes stared back at him. “It’s the only way,” she whispered. “We don’t have time to convince him.”
With that, she fell to the floor, and Nick started forward as if to help her. Duncan stopped him with the force of his glare.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” he said menacingly.
Duncan watched helplessly as Aliyah writhed and contorted. Nick’s eyes widened in horror, and his mouth fell open in a wordless exclamation as he watched the golden cat rise where a woman had lain.
The cheetah rose unsteadily at first, and then she gained her footing and padded slowly toward Nick.
“Do not make any threatening moves,” Duncan warned. “She won’t hurt you. She’s cognizant of her actions.”
“Fuck,” Nick whispered. “Fuck!”
The cheetah stopped in front of Nick and stared up at him. When she moved her head to rub against his leg, he flinched away and raised his hands in a protective gesture.
The cat continued to rub her head against his leg, and slowly, Nick lowered his hand, lightly touching the tuft of hair on her head. She bobbed her head upward and licked his hand then turned and walked back to where Duncan sat on the edge of the couch.
She leaped onto the sofa next to him and rubbed against him affectionately. A purr rippled from her throat and vibrated against Duncan’s shoulder as she continued to nudge at him.
He stroked her fur, and she ducked under his hand and licked his cheek, and then she simply lay across his lap, her contented purrs filling the room.
“Un-fucking-believable.” Nick stared at Duncan in stupefaction. He edged forward, cautiously, his movements slow and calculated. “Can I…can I touch her?”
Duncan looked down as he continued to stroke behind the ears of the cheetah. When she continued to regard him with lazy, contented eyes and purrs rumbled from her throat, he nodded at Nick.
Nick put his hand on the cat’s shoulder and snatched his hand back when the cheetah turned her head to stare at him. She sniffed the air in Nick’s direction but made no effort to move.
Nick emitted a nervous laugh and put his hand back to touch her fur. He stroked hesitantly, but when she made no aggressive moves, he grew bolder, petting her neck and down her body.
Duncan’s lips grew tight. How fucked in the head was he that he didn’t want Nick touching the damn cat? Aliyah was his, whether in cheetah form or human, he didn’t give a damn. He didn’t want another man’s hands on her.
When he felt the shudder roll over her body, he glared up at Nick. “Back off.”
Nick scrambled back, and Duncan slid out from underneath the cat and turned protectively to shield her from Nick’s view as she began the transformation back to human.
Soon she lay on the couch, her eyes closed, her breaths coming in weary spurts. Duncan quickly covered her with a blanket and gathered her in his arms. Uncaring of Nick’s presence, he picked her up and turned so he could sit on the couch and hold her in his lap.
For several minutes, he held her, rocking slightly, his lips pressed to her hair as she regained control. He glanced up to see Nick staring at both of them in astonishment.
Nick’s mouth rounded to an O as understanding dawned. Duncan hesitated only a moment and gave a short nod. His acknowledgement that Nick’s observation was correct. Duncan was staking his claim.
“I’m sorry,” Nick croaked. “God, I’m sorry. I could have killed you.”
Aliyah stirred in his arms and fixed her gaze on Nick. “You didn’t know,” she said simply. “I got scared and freaked. I usually have better control. The last six months have been difficult for me.”
Duncan’s arms tightened around her. She riled every one of his protective instincts. He wanted to tuck her away where she was safe, where he could protect and cherish her.
His chest tightened uncomfortably, and a seed of panic grew when he thought of her leaving as soon as she was able.
Where would she go? Would she be safe? Who would protect her? Look after her? Keep her warm and clothed after her shifts?
He frowned again as he remembered once more that she’d made no attempt to call her family. It was a matter he intended to take up with her as soon as they were alone again.
“Why did you come out so early?” he asked Nick.
Nick looked momentarily surprised by the question, as though he’d forgotten entirely his reason for coming. Then his lips turned down into a frown, and a fierce light entered his eyes.
“I got a hit on the men you put out an APB on. They were spotted at a pharmacy in Hollis last night. One of them sported a rather interesting injury to his hand. The clerk said it looked like he got it caught in a meat grinder.”
“That’s him,” Duncan said. “He’s the one who pulled a rifle on me.”
Nick jerked his head up in surprise. “You didn’t say anything about that, Duncan.”
Duncan sighed. “I didn’t because at the time I had a cheetah in my truck with an arrow in her haunch. The hunter tried to collect the cheetah hide while I was trying to haul her out of the woods, and she attacked him.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t know she was human at this point,” Nick said dryly.
Duncan cleared his throat in discomfort. “No, that didn’t come until later.”
Aliyah still lay quietly in his arms. Too quietly. He glanced down to see a troubled look set deeply into her features.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“It’s not safe for me here,” she said in a quiet voice.
No, it wasn’t, but the alternative was her leaving, and he didn’t want to think about that. He hated the fact that he couldn’t guarantee her safety.
“Hell, it’s not safe for you anywhere,” Nick muttered. “How could it be?”
Duncan quickly relayed how Aliyah had come to be in the Colorado mountains, but even he knew the details were sparse, lacking a whole lot of history, like how Aliyah came to be in the first place, and if there were others like her.
Nick shook his head in amazement. “What do we do, Duncan? We can’t let those bastards keep getting away with what they’re doing. And fuck, if Aliyah is a cheetah, then what about all those other animals they’re hunting? Are they humans too?”
Aliyah shook her head somewhat sadly. “There are very few of us left.”
Duncan suddenly wished they were alone, because he wanted to know all there was to know about her, and he felt for the first time that she trusted him enough to confide in him.
He turned his attention reluctantly back to Nick. “I went up with Cal in the chopper yesterday. Didn’t see anything. We’re going to have to go in on foot.” He hesitated for a moment. “I need to keep this as quiet as possible because of Aliyah. If we can gather the men needed to take down the ring ourselves then that’s my preference. However, if we can’t find it ourselves or it becomes too risky, I won’t have a choice but to call in federal law enforcement.”
He glanced at Aliyah as he spoke. “I won’t let this compromise you. You have my word.”
“I could help,” she said in a quiet voice.
“No,” Duncan said firmly. “Absolutely not.”
She gathered the blanket tighter around her and leaned away from him so she could look into his eyes. “The cheetah could help, Duncan. I couldn’t lead you back to where I was held, but she could. She knows their scent. I’m fast and I’m careful. I would only remain in cheetah form long enough to guide you to the hunters, and I could stay back, wherever you put me. I don’t have any more desire to put myself in danger than you have to put me there, but this is something I could do with minimal risk.”
“She’s right, Duncan,” Nick said thoughtfully. “If I headed up the team of our men with Cal’s, you and Aliyah could go ahead, lock onto the location and radio back. That way she stays out of sight.”
Aliyah touched her hand to Duncan’s face and stared up at him, her golden eyes seething with emotion. “I want to do this, Duncan. They stole from me. They stole my freedom. They stole those other animals from their rightful homes. Some of them are dead. If it can be done safely, I’d like to help you put them away.”
He captured her hand in his and turned his head so that his lips came into contact with her fingers.
“I want you here,” he said hoarsely. “Where I know you’ll be safe.”
She stroked her fingers lightly over his lips then cupped his cheek in her hand. She nestled her body closer to his, cuddling into his chest. “But I’ll be with you, Duncan. And that’s the place I feel the safest. With you. You know what I am. You won’t allow anyone to hurt me. I have faith in that.”
The stalwart belief in her voice shook him, humbled him.
“I won’t let the others get close to you, Duncan,” Nick said. “You’ll radio your location to me. I’ll radio that we’re coming in. That should give you plenty of time to make sure Aliyah is in a safe place.”
The plan made sense, and it could work. The thought of Aliyah in danger made him ill. As long as the hunters were out there, she wasn’t safe.
“All right. We’ll do it. I don’t like it, but we’ll do it.”
He glanced down at Aliyah and kissed her tenderly, not caring that Nick was sitting a few feet away. “You’ll do as I say. You won’t place yourself in danger nor will you take any unnecessary risks. If anything, and I mean anything, happens to me or things go wrong, you’re to get your ass out of there.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. “Nothing will happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Tell me about your people,” Duncan said as he returned to the couch after seeing Nick off.
He sat down next to her, and she automatically curled into his body, not caring that she was still naked beneath the blanket. His arms came around her, and she laid her cheek against his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart.
“Why haven’t you contacted your parents? They must be so worried.”
She inhaled a deep breath and pulled slightly away so she could look at him, though his arms remained wrapped around her.
“I did try to call them while you were at work. I wasn’t sure I could trust you at first,” she said simply.
“And now?”
His brown eyes bore into her, a flicker of hope warming the dark orbs.
“I trust you.”
Satisfaction glinted, though he showed no other outward reaction to her statement.
“Then tell me,” he said.
She did trust him. Unwavering determination reflected in his every action, his every word. She knew he’d protect her and wouldn’t betray her. And that had an unnerving effect on her. She wanted this man. She wanted him with a painful longing. One that had built and swelled within her since the moment he’d gathered her in his arms.
She licked her lips, knowing she would tell him all. Tell him things she’d never told another soul.
“My father is the great Kodiak bear. My mother, a majestic eagle. It’s why we lived in Alaska at first. They could move in relative obscurity because the island we inhabited had a healthy population of both.
“Then my sister was born, and the spirit guide gifted her with the cougar. And then I was born and was given the cheetah. As a child, I spent more time in animal form than other children of my race. I was playful and mischievous, and my parents feared that I would be discovered, even as remotely as we lived.
“And then…” A surge of pain threaded through her chest. It had been so many years, but the loss still felt fresh and vibrant in her mind.
“Then what?” Duncan asked gently.
“My sister was taken. We believe she was taken. She simply disappeared, and we never found her. My parents were distraught. It nearly destroyed them. And then there was me, spending more time in cheetah form than human. The cheetah has always been strong within me, and I was too young to learn dominance.
“We spent a year searching, hoping, but then my parents had to face the fact that she was gone, and they were so afraid the same would happen to me. So we moved to Africa.
“One of our kind manages a game preserve. He’s a lion shifter. We went there so I would be safer, so I could be with more of my own kind. It was hard on my parents because now they were the ones forced to be so careful. They spent much time in human form, but our animal self has to be nurtured or the relationship suffers. There is trust between human and animal. A bond that cannot be broken.
“When I was old enough and mature enough to better control the divide between human and cheetah, we moved back to Alaska. My parents and I operate a lodge for travelers. It was during a visit back to Africa that I was captured by the hunters.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” She laughed but it cracked and came out feebly. “The one place I felt truly safe…free…was the place I was captured. I was stupid and careless.”
Duncan smoothed her hair from her face and pulled her back against his chest. “You have such an amazing life. Such an incredible story. I can’t even fathom that there are people out there just like me only they’re animals.”
He stopped for a moment, and she could feel another question brewing.
“How is it you’re all so different? I would have thought it was genetic, and yet your parents, you, your sister, you’re all completely different. Entirely different species.”
She smiled. He was logical, and she’d just shattered his understanding of the world he lived in.
“We aren’t born a certain animal. It is a gift bestowed to us. What the parents are has no bearing on what a child becomes. When a woman becomes pregnant, she is visited by the spirit guide. I suppose you could call him God. Is he your God? That I can’t answer. Maybe they’re one and the same.
“There is a scripture in the Bible, though, that I’ve always carried with me. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Because when a woman is pregnant, she is given a vision of what gift will be bestowed on her child. That scripture has always resonated with me. The spirit guide knew me before I was placed in my mother’s womb. He knew what gift I would carry with me. I find that comforting.”
“And when you have children? Will they carry those gifts as well? Are you required to marry within your race for it to be passed down to your children?”
“There are no rules, Duncan. We are few. Fewer now than ever. I don’t know why. Not every child is gifted with the ability to shift. Some parents who are both shifters give birth to fully human children while some of the very few who have partnered outside our people have borne children who were given the ability.”