“Beauty isn’t human. She’s Species.”
“She is small and appears more human than most. They may take issue with her. Valiant has warned them sternly to avoid this area. He keeps them in control for the most part. Leo is also good with intimidation. He’s a wild bastard though.”
“Who is Leo? Is he a danger?”
“Another feline. He won’t come after the Gift. I’d worry more about him playing pranks but he’s got heart. He’s sane but doesn’t follow rules. He enjoys giving the officers headaches.”“What about Vengeance?” He remembered how the male had gone after Wrath’s female. “Is he still here?”
“Yeah.” Torrent tossed his towel down and grabbed a pair of cargo pants. “He has a habit of going after any female he feels might mate with him. He won’t come near your female though.”
“I’ll kill him if he comes after Beauty.” Shadow meant it. He’d seen how terrified Lauren had been after her attack at headquarters. Vengeance had tried to force mate the human. He’d never give that bald Species a chance to put his hands on Beauty. “He is lucky to be breathing.”
“You’re referring to what happened with Wrath’s mate.” Torrent nodded. “I heard about that. Tiger wasn’t much of a fan of Ven’s either after he went after Zandy once. They worked it out though. Ven has…issues.”
“I don’t care. He better not go after my female.”
“He’s being kept busy while you’re at Reservation. Humans abandoned a litter of puppies at our gates so Tiger and Valiant decided to give him that assignment. They need around-the-clock care due to their very young age.” Torrent laughed. “Ven’s pleased with the task. No way would he leave them to come after your Gift.”
“Good. He’ll live.”
A phone rang. Torrent grimaced, yanking the cell from a pocket of his pants. “Yeah?” He paused. “Shit. How bad was the attack at the gates? Is anyone hurt?” Torrent listened and snarled as the details were given.
Shadow tensed. Someone had attacked the gates? That wasn’t good.
“Where?” The male’s gaze hardened as he met Shadow’s interested stare. “I’ll warn them.” He closed the phone. “One of our males was shot at the front gate by a sniper but it wasn’t with a bullet. They seemed to have tranquilized him. Security called ten minutes ago to inform us we’ve been put on lockdown but we were in the water. A report just came in from an officer patrolling this side of Reservation. We have intruders. They think Moon and other officers were shot at to pull our resources to that location. Moon was the first one hit so the others took cover.”
Shadow’s senses went on alert instantly. “Where were the intruders detected?”
“A few miles from here. An officer scented at least four different humans in the Wild Zone near one of our walls. Return to your cabin while I meet Security to search for them.” He threw back his head and howled. “Warning to the residents.” He took off in a flash, racing away.
Shadow spun, not bothering to dress or grab his discarded clothing. Beauty’s safety came first. She wasn’t alone but that didn’t matter. She was his to protect.
* * * * *
Beauty smiled. “You don’t have to babysit me, Breeze. I’m okay. I was just really upset yesterday when I called. I appreciate you dropping everything to come.”
“I’m here now.” The Species grinned. “Am I cramping your style? Don’t worry. I’m going to stay at the hotel once toga boy returns so you two can continue what I interrupted. I figure it will be a nice break if I stick around a few days to spend time with the females on assignment here.”
“Why do you call Shadow that?”
“Toga boy? It annoys him. Plus,” she laughed, “I’ll never forget what he looked like wearing that flag. It was kind of hot.”
Jealousy surged inside Beauty. “He’s mine.”
Dark eyebrows rose and Breeze grinned. “Feeling possessive? You just hissed at me.”
“I’m sorry.” Beauty was surprised by her unexpected strong reaction.
“He’s all yours. I can look but won’t touch. All our males are impressive, if I say so myself, and I do. Is he feeling possessive of you as well?” She grinned. “Never mind. He will. It’s who they are.”
“I feel things for him.”
“How is the sex?”
Beauty hesitated but then answered. “Amazing!” She blushed but refused to look away. “It’s so much better than I ever suspected.”
“Score points for toga boy!” Breeze chuckled. “I’m glad.”
“Please don’t call him that. You have to notice how that muscle in his jaw twitches every time you say it.”
“I know. It’s cute, isn’t it?” Breeze stood. “It’s good for males to be teased. It reminds them not to be serious all the time. What do you have to eat around here?”
Beauty followed her into the kitchen. “I really am sorry for asking you to come here yesterday. You have a busy life.”
“It was good to get away.” Breeze waved it off. “No problem. I’m just sorry I got delayed until this morning.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Creek called me to say you were holding up well after the initial shock and then Justice called an emergency meeting.”
“I hope it wasn’t over me.” The idea that her ordeal had caused their leader to hold a meeting made her feel a little sick.
“No. It wasn’t about you. We got some high-priority incoming threats at Homeland. It happens but these jerks sounded authentic enough to be alarming and the calls were traced to a few blocks away. They said bombs had been planted and a few were set to go off at midnight so the task force brought in their sniffing dogs just to be sure.”
The idea terrified Beauty. “Was anyone hurt?”
“They were full of shit. There weren’t any explosives. We’d have found them. Justice had us on lockdown though. Nobody is going to forget we’ve already had one helicopter shot down. I was allowed to leave once we were sure it was safe.” She pulled lunchmeat from the refrigerator and turned. “So, how amazing was the sex? What was the best part in your mind? Did he take you facing him?”
Beauty opened her mouth but then a loud sound distracted her, making her heart race as something large seemed to land on the porch. A second later the front door was thrown open in the other room and hit the wall.
“Beauty?” The snarl was recognizable.
Beauty rushed into the living room to gape at Shadow. He was naked, his body tense, every muscle from his shoulders to his thighs defined. He sniffed, his head jerked her way and he stepped completely inside the cabin. The door slammed with one forceful shove of his hand, he locked it and revealed his fangs.“Go upstairs to my bedroom.”
“Holy shit,” Breeze mumbled. “Impressive. I guess the sex was amazing. He wants you bad.”
Shadow’s furious expression changed to confusion before glancing down his body. “Shit.” He cupped his semi-erect cock, attempting to hide it with one hand, frowning. His gaze shifted from Beauty to Breeze. “Human intruders have been scented a few miles from here inside the Wild Zone.” He glanced at Beauty. “Go upstairs, stay away from the windows and toss me down some pants.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”
He spun away, marching toward the closet, revealing his beefy ass. “There’s a shotgun and ammo in the kitchen above the fridge, Breeze. Secure that area.”
“I’m on it.” Breeze dropped the lunchmeat package aside and jerked her head toward the stairs at Beauty. “Move it. Get him some pants and avoid the windows.” She spun away and jerked open the cabinet that stored the weapon. “How many, Shadow? Are they armed?”
“At least four, possibly more.” Shadow yanked open the closet and withdrew a duffle bag. “Officers are hunting them but that’s all we know.”
Beauty rushed up the stairs. Her hands shook as she yanked open dresser drawers to find a pair of sweats and then darted out of Shadow’s room. “Here.” She tossed them over the balcony so they landed on the floor below.
Shadow appeared in seconds, a handgun gripped in his fist. He tilted his head to look directly at her. “I want you inside the bathroom, curled into a ball in the tub. You’ll be safe from stray gunfire.”
She wanted to protest. “I could fight with you if they come.”
His horrified expression hurt. “No. Go where it is safe. Now, Beauty.”
He put the gun on the table and bent to tug the sweatpants up his legs. Breeze appeared gripping the shotgun and paused by his side. A box of ammunition showed under her shirt where she’d stuffed it to keep her hands free to use the weapon.
“The door in the kitchen is locked and I shoved the table in front of it. We’ll hear them if they attempt to enter the cabin that way.” She glanced at the front door. “Do you want to cover the front or the back?”
“You take the front and I’ll take the back. Humans tend to be sneaky and think we’re stupid. They would choose to attack us from behind if their intent is to steal the Gift.”