Freeing the Feline (18 page)

“He took Abby back upstairs. We weren’t sure at first what kind of liquid was in the bullet Clara took. I wanted Abby out of here just in case,” Diane said. She had her fingers on the wrist of the hand he had twined with Clara. “Good. Take a few deep breaths for me. Pulse is slowing down.” She glanced at him, meeting and holding his gaze. “What happened, Logan? What got you so revved up?”

Logan shrugged. “Clara and I heard the alarms when we were heading upstairs. We met Holt and all three of us headed out together. Clara shifted and took off ahead of us. Holt and I followed as quickly as we could. I heard the shot.”

“Deep breath,” Diane said. “Pulse is picking up again. Remember, Clara’s fine. She’s just sleeping.”

“Sleeping,” Logan murmured. “I heard the shot and tried to run faster. When we got to the clearing where everyone was, I saw Tah holding who I’m guessing is Lydia Blane in the air by her neck. There was another shifter on the ground. Reno had him. And Amia was by Clara. She was sprawled out and there was blood all over her leg.”

He saw Diane throw a glance to the Professor.

“Logan, I need you to calm down. Whatever is running through your head, you need to clear it out,” the Professor said.

“I’m fine,” Logan said. “I’m calm.” His glance fell to Clara again. “She’s just sleeping?”

“Clara’s only sleeping, Logan. Give me your hand. Let go of her for a minute and give me your hand,” Diane said, tugging at his fingers.

“No,” Logan said. He needed to touch is mate. Needed it. Felt as if he might die without it.

“Logan, did you get hit with anything?” Diane asked. “Finn, get a hold of someone now. Call all their phones until someone answers.”

Logan felt her turn back to him.

“There’s a mark on the back of your hand. It’s a little swollen and red. It looks almost like a bug bite or an injection site.”

She finally tugged his hand free and Logan felt cold, so cold. Diane was asking him something, but he couldn’t focus.

“What happened, Logan?” Diane yelled.

“Not the sedative,” the Professor interjected. “Logan, stay with us, boy. Stay with us.”

But he couldn’t. He could feel himself slipping away in his mind. “Shifter…did something…”

“Logan!” Diane yelled. “Don’t you dare fucking pass out on me!”

“I’m here,” he whispered, shaking his head. “Where’s Clara?”

“Right here.”

Diane put his hand back on Clara’s. He took it like a lifeline.

“What’s going on?” Tah burst in the room with Abby. “Finn called and said Logan was injured.”

“Professor!” Diane called. “He’s burning up.”

“Cold,” Logan challenged her. He wasn’t hot at all. He was freezing.

“What the hell happened? He was fine when he left the clearing,” Tah roared.

“Well all that bellowing isn’t going to help anything,” the Professor fired back.

“Logan, what happened to you?” Abby’s touch was hot against his skin and he groaned, pulling away from her.

“Shifter…” Logan tried to say again. His mouth felt funny, like his words were getting all garbled up.

“Was there another shifter there?” the Professor asked.

“Lydia brought a shifter with her. He said his name is Dillion,” Tah answered.

“Where is he? Who’s with him?” Diane asked frantically.

“Zane has him. They’re putting them both in rooms downstairs until we figure out what the hell to do,” Tah said.

“Oh, God, no,” Diane moaned, turning on him with huge eyes. “We think he injected Logan with something. Not sure what, but it seems to be bringing some major changes out in him.”

“What changes?” Tah demanded.

“He was shaking with rage when he got here. His pulse was frantic, breathing labored and not just from the run to get here. His eyes glowed, Tah,” Diane said. “Imagine if whatever he was given was injected in a shifter. Logan is human.”

“Fuck!” Tah groaned, pulling out his phone.

“We could have a real mess on our hands here. I need that shifter down here so I can see what he gave Logan. He’ll have to have it on him somewhere,” the Professor said.

“Reno,” Tah spoke into the phone. “Tell Zane to watch out for Dillion. The kid’s got something on him. Looks like he hit Logan with it. Don’t trust him.” Tah paused and they all heard a loud growl followed by the sound of jaws snapping together and then a long hiss. “What the fuck was that?”

“Ahh, fuck!” Reno’s yell came through the phone. “Zane. Fuck! Zane!”

There was the sound of the phone being jostled then hitting the floor. A scuffle followed by another one of those growls, snaps and hiss sounds, then nothing. Logan heard it all as if it were happening in the room next to him. It made no sense. Were his senses that enhanced just from mating with Clara?

“What’s going on?” he mumbled. He was suddenly feeling the heat Diane claimed his body was putting off and he was anything but tired. He stripped his shirt off over his head. “Hot. So hot.”

All eyes shifted back to him, but it was different. They looked different. His vision was seriously fucked up. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it didn’t work.

“See,” Diane said.

“Jesus Christ,” Tah grunted. “His eyes are fucking glowing.”

Holt burst into the room. “Little prick had this on him.” He held a needle out to Diane. He said he gave lover boy some,” Holt said, nodding toward Logan. “Then hit Zane with the rest of it.”

“What happened down there?” Diane demanded.

“Holy shit,” Holt said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. When he hit Zane with it, Zane reacted immediately. He threw the kid against the wall and went down in a crouch. He did this growl and snapped his teeth together. His eyes were fucked up, glowing and stuff. Then he hissed and it scared the shit out of me. Next thing we knew, he was bursting out of his clothes and taking off. Reno went after him.”

“Did Dillion say anything about what it was?” Tah demanded.

“He said he hoped we enjoyed this taste of feral cat fever,” Holt said.

“Oh, my God!” Diane moaned and turned huge eyes to Logan.

“What is it?” Abby demanded. “What does it do?”

“In Logan? I have no idea. Humans don’t get feral cat fever. I’m guessing this is something they’ve cooked up. So I have no idea of the potency of it. There might be some traces left in the syringe. I’ll run tests, but it’ll take time.”

Logan heard the catch in her voice before she continued.

“It’s Zane I’m worried about. He’s a full shifter.”

“What will it do to him?” Tah asked.

“He’s shifted into his panther. The fever will only strike faster now. He’ll be like a primitive cat, Tah. Vicious, primal, deadly. He could kill someone. The fever will ravage his mind first shutting down his ability to reason, to think outside the animal at all. He’ll essentially be no more than a lethal predator. God help anything or anyone that gets in his way,” Diane told them.

“How long?” Tah asked.

“I don’t know,” Diane said. “I have no idea what exactly this Dillion gave them. I don’t know how long it will affect Logan or Zane or what the repercussions of it will be. I just don’t know.”

“Why would a shifter have something like that?” Logan asked, shaking his head again as things came back into focus.

“To turn us against one another,” Clara said.

Logan surged toward the table she lay on and leaned over her, lifting her up against his chest and hugging her close. “Baby, are you okay?”

“Groggy. My head is killing me. From what I just woke up to, it sounds like you’re the one I should be worried about.”

“I’ll be fine,” Logan tried to assure her. He rubbed his hands down her arms then over her shoulders. He groaned and rubbed over her again.

“What’s that smell?” Tah asked, his nose scrunched up as if he didn’t find it pleasant.

“I think you guys need to leave,” Clara said softly, shifting on the table so she could sit up.

Logan helped her turn toward him, holding the sheet up so no one else would see Clara’s perfect body. A growl rumbled through the room and Logan turned to glare at Tah. His friend had no reason to be making a sound like that right now.

“Did he just growl at me?” Tah asked, and it took Logan a minute to realize Tah was referring to him.

“You need to leave now,” Clara said again, grasping Logan by the shoulders and pulling him close. “I think I might know what they gave him, or at least where it originated from.”

“What is it?” the Professor and Diane both demanded at the same time.

“I’ll tell you later,” Clara said.

Logan felt his chest vibrate and that rumble filled the air again. He leaned closer into Clara, leaning low to nuzzle her neck, licking and nipping at the strong column.

“Leave. Now. Or you’re going to get a show you don’t want to see.”

“What’s going on, Clara?” Abby asked.

“That smell. The growl and glowing eyes. Logan’s not just going primal. He’s putting off some serious pheromones. I’d guess he’s entering a sexual frenzy, and as his mate, I’m not far behind.”

“Oh, shit,” Diane said. “Any ideas how long this might last?”

“He’s human. It should burn out of his system within twenty-four hours or less. But I’m only guessing. I’ve never seen a human hit with feral fever.”

“Will you be okay?” Tah asked and Logan felt the rumble again.

“I’ll be fine. I’m his mate. No matter what he wants from me, he’ll never hurt me,” Clara said. “Now go. And Tah…”

Logan heard his buddy stop.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go after Zane. You can’t reach him right now. You’ll only risk getting more of you hurt.”

Logan heard the sigh, felt the beat of fear palpitating from someone, then heard nothing, felt nothing but Clara.

He pulled back and glanced around, noting he and Clara were all alone. He jerked the sheet from her with one hand and buried the other in her hair, pulling her head back and meeting her gaze. No fear. Only love, acceptance. His chest vibrated again as he leaned in close.

“Mine,” he challenged her, some part of him waiting to see if she’d deny him.

“Yours,” she agreed. “I’m all yours.”

Chapter Fourteen

Logan took her mouth in a kiss meant to demonstrate who was in control. Clara knew he would never hurt her. She also knew he wasn’t the same Logan right now. She’d purposely kept that from the others. Right now, Logan was pure alpha male, and his primal needs were controlling him—at the moment his desire for sex. Probably because they had recently mated and sex was often on both their minds. They were lucky it hadn’t brought out rage or some other savage emotion in him. She’d seen it happen.

Logan scraped his teeth over her bottom lip and nipped it hard enough to draw a drop of blood.

“Mine,” he told her again.

Damn, it was a little embarrassing to admit how much this Logan was turning her on. She really liked him all dominant and possessive. Not that he wasn’t normally, but not quite on this level.

“So show me,” Clara purred at him and scraped her nails down his chest, leaving grooves as she made her way to the button of his jeans.

He growled again, and she wondered if he got as turned on by the sound when she made it. Her pussy was beyond wet and ready for him. She shivered with anticipation when he pushed her hand away and ripped open his jeans, shoving them and his boxer briefs down to his knees before jerking her closer to the edge of the table.

He didn’t waste any time in doing as she said and showing her. He pressed his cock against her and thrust deep.

“Mine,” he rumbled once more as he pounded in and out of her.

Clara clawed at his shoulders, legs wrapped at his waist, as she held on. He was fucking her so hard the table was actually shaking, and she was enjoying every moment of it. There was no holding back for either of them. His heat became hers.

“That’s it,” she crooned. “Fuck me so good. Show me who I belong to.”

He reached down and slid his hands under her knees, flipping her back on the table as he lifted her hips higher. She flung her hands out to catch her weight as she fell and let her head drop between her shoulders in ecstasy as he continued pounding.

“Oh, God! Yes! Yes!” she screamed as her orgasm rocked through her core and had tremors spiraling through her.

Logan just grunted and kept fucking as her juices soaked his cock. His hands were firm on the side edges of the table and he showed no sign of being anywhere close to coming with her.

“More,” he uttered and shifted her legs until she was lying on her side on the table with her knees bent up toward her chest.

“Oh, God!” she yelled as he thrust deep. The angle in this position was unbelievable, and she was revving up toward another orgasm quickly.

“My pussy,” he told her.

“My cock,” she fired back.

He did that rumble and pumped his cock in and out a little faster. His grip was firm on her hip, but he slid the other hand up to fondle her nipples, pinching and tugging on them. Clara tried to turn her upper body into his touch, wanting to give him more access, or at least access to both breasts. He shoved his cock deep and bent down to suckle her nipple.

She wrapped one hand around his neck and held him to her while he sucked, licked and nibbled on her. He felt so good she couldn’t stop her body from rocking on his cock. He lifted his head and shifted again, pulling his cock from her.

“No,” she groaned in denial, wanting him back inside her, but Logan obviously had something else in mind.

He flipped her onto her back and came over her, pressing her flat to the table while he kissed her breathless. Slowly, he eased their mouths apart and trailed down her body with his lips. He nuzzled her, licked her and occasionally grazed or nipped her with his teeth. No part of her was left untouched, even her arms and legs were worshipped. She almost jumped when he sucked her big toe into his mouth, but those strong hands of his held her still for his bidding.

He kissed his way back up her inner thigh until he reached her pussy.

“Mine,” he said against her skin and bit down on the inside of her thigh hard enough to mark her.