Redeeming Rue AP4 (8 page)

“We need to get home and sort this situation out,” James said.

Dag left in his own vehicle, and James and John got back into Rue’s car.  She looked defeated. Her shoulders were slumped, and her eyes were filled with sorrow.  John wanted to say something reassuring to her, but he felt entirely out of his depths.  His cat was angry that she was upset, and he worried about how willing she seemed to just give herself up to her clan to be killed.  He understood that she wanted to protect Dom, because he would go to the guillotine in a heartbeat for Jilly and Henry, but she seemed to be all about self-sacrifice without the fight, and he didn’t get that.

James pulled into the gravel drive of the boarding house.  There were lights on in some of the rooms upstairs, but for the most part things seemed quiet, inside and out.  It was just after midnight, so they had a handful of hours until sunrise when they had to meet with her clan.

John felt frustrated and a little angry.  He’d never pictured his mate so willing to walk away from him.  He didn’t care how noble it was for her to want to try to sacrifice herself for her son, because he wanted her to fight tooth and nail to live.  For herself, for Dom, for him and James.

He snagged her elbow when she got out of her car and towed her toward the house.  James followed close behind.  When she protested, he bent down and hauled her over his shoulder.  Her breath whooshed from her lungs as she thumped against his back.  He had always been the mellow, nice guy in the house, but her lack of fight about
anything
was pissing him off.

He trudged upstairs, opened his bedroom door, and carried her inside.  James shut the door and flipped on the overhead light as John flipped her down onto the bed.

She sat up with a whispered snarl and punched him in the mouth.  “Don’t you fucking ever manhandle me again!”

His head snapped back with the force of her punch.  His lip throbbed and he tasted blood.

“It’s about time you showed some emotion,” James said.

She clenched her jaw and her eyes flashed angrily.  “There are kids living here.  I didn’t want to scream bloody murder downstairs when you tossed me over your shoulder like a caveman.  Besides, I knew you weren’t really going to hurt me.”

John touched his fingers to his bottom lip and grimaced at the blood.  He was unexpectedly aroused by her fierceness, though.  He’d thought she was weak, but now he wasn’t really sure what he thought.  Weak wasn’t a word he’d use to describe her now that his lip already swelled.

“I’m sorry,” John said.

She sighed and rubbed her thumb between her eyes.  “It’s okay.  I’m sorry I punched you.  It was a gut reaction.  I’m not normally violent, but this has been a bad day.”

She stood suddenly and began to tug off her shirt.  James looked at John in utter surprise, but John was too stunned to say anything.  Under the long sleeved top, her skin was pale and perfect.  She wore a dark sports bra that hugged her full breasts.  She twisted the top in her hands for a moment and then turned away from them.  It took John a moment to realize what he was looking at, and then it hit him — the brand.  The scar spanned from one shoulder to the other.  It was made up of thick, sharp lines.  It wasn’t beautiful, and he doubted it was meant to be.

He and James both stepped close to her, and their hands reached out at the same time to trace the edges of the scar.  Even though it looked old, it was still rough around the edges.  His heart squeezed at the pain it must have caused her.

“Shit, sweetheart,” John murmured, turning her around and seeing the tears in her eyes that she was fighting.

“They rubbed some kind of powder into the wounds that made it hurt worse.  It took forever to heal, and it ached for years.  They meant for me to remember I wasn’t welcome and that if I returned to the clan, they would kill me.  They did this to me when I was just a kid.  Do you think they won’t hesitate to kill my son?  In their eyes, he’s an abomination.”

John swallowed hard.  “I thought you were giving up too easily.”

She shrugged and hugged her arms around herself.  “It may seem like that, but it’s the only thing I can think to do.  If I don’t fight them, if I throw myself on their mercy, they may let him live.”

James said, “Hanai seemed to think there was a way around dying.”

She looked at him but said nothing.  She stopped hugging herself and straightened her spine.  John wanted to apologize for ever thinking she was weak.  She wasn’t giving up; she was giving
in
to save her kid.

“Why are you doing this?”  Her brow raised slightly, her lips turning down.

James put his hands on his hips.  “You know why.”

Her brow arched higher.  “I don’t.  All I know is that we kissed in the woods and then everything went to hell.”

They both growled.

“Don’t dismiss what happened.  We followed you because you are our mate.  You know it, but you’re just too stubborn to let yourself believe it because you’re too damn scared to do anything about it.”  James snarled the words.

Her eyes flashed.  “I never said I
knew
anything.  You’re good kissers, but I’m not about to drag you into the fucked-up-ness of my life.  There is nothing waiting for me at dawn but the slim chance I can bargain for Dom’s life.  Stop wasting your time on some fantasy that we’re meant to be together or some fated bullshit.  It’s done.  The clock is running out.  Game over.”

John didn’t know what came over him at that moment, but he could see that although her body said
hands off
, her eyes were screaming for help, and he did the only thing that he could think of.  He grabbed her roughly to him and claimed her mouth with his own.  The slight pain in his lips was nothing compared to the searing heat that boiled up inside him when he touched her.

He pushed his tongue past her lips and slid it along hers, tasting the sweet heady flavor of her mouth.  He felt her fangs elongate as she began to purr, and he scraped his tongue on the sharp edge.  She moaned softly, sucking on his tongue.  His own fangs elongated as need rode through his body making his muscles squeeze his bones and his cock harden.  Her head pulled back, and she scraped her tongue on his fang as he’d done and he had a sweet drop of her blood in his mouth before she released him with a gusty groan.

James had fisted her hair and pulled her away.  His eyes were flashing to the amber of his cat, and his fangs were elongated.  He gave her head a gentle shake and a purr stuttered from her chest.

“What are you?” James demanded.

Her hands grabbed for John like he was an anchor, and he gripped her hips and pulled her against his erection.  The world could end, and he wouldn’t loosen his hold on her.

She whimpered and the soft sound snarled a little at the end.  James tightened his hold, and her mouth opened wider, her fangs glinting.

“Tell us what you are, Rue.”

“I’m yours,” she answered as her eyes opened slowly.  Her pretty green eyes were now a startling blue, so bright they almost glowed.  “I know what I am, and I’m yours.”

Chapter 9

Rue felt as though she was going to combust.  Could a person die from being touched by two males at the same time?  She thought it was a good way to go, but the simple fact remained that they hadn’t done anything but kiss.  Excellent kisses, but still just kisses.

Fabulous kisses.

Focus, damn it
.

James kissed her neck, and she felt his fangs press against her flesh.  She gripped John’s arms, digging her nails into his skin as James ever so slowly sank his sharp canines into her neck.  She swore her clit twitched.  It hurt, but in the strangest way it felt amazingly good.  He was marking her as his mate.  They’d told her in the hotel that they followed her scent through their beasts, and it hadn’t mattered to her because she was terrified about Dom.  But here they were, grasping at straws with her concerning Dom’s future and marking her as though they had their whole lives stretched out in front of them.  Like they could wake up in the morning and make breakfast and lounge around all day while the kids played in the yard.  She’d never known a normal life like that, even before she was banished.

John’s thumb stroked down her throat and his eyes flashed to amber.  James was still latched onto her, his fangs deep in her neck as he pressed his erection into her back.  Damn, she wanted to be naked.  She could count on one hand the number of times she’d had sex since she found out she was pregnant.  Her need to keep herself and Dom’s identity a secret had meant that she had never even been out on a date, finding quick releases with random human males who hadn’t bothered to ask for her number.  Not that she would have given it to them.

John didn’t ask her if he could sink his teeth into the other side of her neck, but she wouldn’t have said no.  He bent and kissed her neck so gently that it made tears spring to her eyes.  She squeezed her eyes shut as he bit her.  They purred, extracting their fangs from her flesh and lapping at the fresh wounds.

Ouch.

James stepped from her back to face her, his hand above his brother’s on her side.  “We’re going to get through this day, Rue.  You’re going to live to watch the sun set tonight, and Dom will be with you.  Then later, we’re going to go to bed together and mate for real, and tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of our lives.  Are we clear?”

She tilted her head and looked at him.  Damn, he was fierce.  Sexy.  Her cat rumbled in agreement.  Her neck throbbed from their markings, and a strange sense of rightness settled over her.  No one had ever wanted her like this before.  Sure they were going on some kind of were-animal claiming instinct, but that didn’t make it any less powerful.  If she stayed with them, she’d fall in love with them.  It had only been a few hours, and they were already standing up for her and Dom more than anyone else she’d ever known.  She’d told them her secrets.  She hadn’t asked for help, but they didn’t care.  They were all about taking care of her even though they had no idea what the dawn would bring.  She wasn’t entirely sure herself.

“Let’s hear what Hanai has to say first, okay?”

James snarled.  “Not okay.  You’re not dying today or any other day.”

She gave a snort.  “I’m not immortal.”

He bared his teeth at her.  “You know what I mean.  You’re not dying until you’re old and gray and have lived for a really, really long time.”

She had only loved Dom before; she’d never been in love with a man, let alone been on the receiving end of so much attention and compassion.  James wanted to control everything that was going on even though he didn’t know what was coming.  John was a sweetheart with a soft side.  He wanted her to be happy.  They were perfect for her in different ways.

She leaned into James and pulled John to her side.  They surrounded her and she let herself soak up their warmth and compassion for a few minutes.  Eventually, it was time to meet with her cousins.  She put her top on and they left the bedroom.

Hanai and Dag sat at the kitchen table along with Dionne and the males from Dag’s clan.  Dionne rushed at Rue and hugged her.  She leaned back and looked at her, a bit of anger in her eyes.

“You should have called us when you were banished, Veruka!  We would have taken you into our clan in a heartbeat.”

Rue blinked at the sudden tears.  “I was told I’d be killed if I wandered into panther territory again.  I didn’t know if you would accept me or not.  I was scared to trust anyone.”

Dionne turned to Dag and said, “Why can’t you just go get her son?  I don’t get this whole business.”

James grunted in agreement.

“The laws —” Hanai started.

Dionne cut him off.  “Nuts to the laws.  The laws can go fuck themselves with Gerarli’s tiny dick for all I care.  She’s a fucking white panther for fuck’s sake!  She should have been revered and honored, not mutilated and tossed aside.  I could kill her parents right now, I’m not fucking kidding.”

“Language,” Dag reprimanded.

“I’m pissed!” she snarled.

James said, “Tell us what you found out, Hanai.  I agree with Dionne.  I’m a cop.  Half our family are cops, and every lion in this house wouldn’t allow a hair on that kid’s head to be harmed, let alone Rue’s.”

She was about to tell James that getting human law involved was a terrible idea, but Hanai beat him to it.

Hanai rested his hands on the open pages of a large book.  The pages were yellowed with age, the edges gilded.  “We have already told you that it’s futile to involve law enforcement.  If they smell so much as a sheriff’s badge near them, they’ll bolt.  Dom will die, painfully, and Veruka will never be safe.  The Rite of Dekray is a way around the laws.  It’s a loophole of sorts.  Veruka will be required to answer for her crime of disobeying clan law by having a child.  She is not technically breaking her banishment because she never stepped foot into clan territory or attempted to contact them.  But having a child when you’re forbidden is just about the worst thing a panther can do.  It’s nearly unforgiveable.”

Rue hadn’t wanted to admit that she was hoping that she might make it past dawn to see what James and John would do with more time and less clothes.  Too bad words were being tossed around like
unforgiveable
and
forbidden
. 

“Tell us about the rite,” James said.

She listened to Hanai explain that the rite was performed when a clan member atoned for whatever sin he or she had committed against the clan with his or her own blood.  The dekray was the name of the tool used to draw blood.  She knew what it was although she had never seen one used.  It was a whip, very similar to a cat-o-nine-tails, but at the end of each knot of leather was a pronged hook meant to grab flesh and rip.

John’s face paled considerably.  “How many strikes with the whip?”

“I don’t know what Gerarli will accept, but tradition is one for every instance of offense, for example, one strike for every year that Domino has been alive,” Hanai said.

Rue shook her head.  “No one could handle seventeen strikes with that thing.  I wouldn’t survive.”

James made an aggravated sound.  “You’re not going to get hit with anything, Rue.  I’ll take your strikes.”

Alarm filled her.  “What?  No!”

He bared his teeth at her.  Again.  “You are mine, and I will not let you be harmed.  I will take your place and save Dom.”

She stared at the serious male, and her heart cracked a little bit.  Before she could respond, Hanai said, “You can’t take them all, John.  No one could.  Since you both marked Rue, you can share them.”

James shook his head.  “We can’t both be out of commission after the whipping.  I’ll do it alone.”

She turned to him and he gave her a look that brooked no argument.  She slipped her arms around his neck and leaned against him.  Words didn’t belong in this moment, and she wasn’t sure what she would say anyway.

“I need to do some more research,” Hanai said.  He left the book on the table and walked outside, heading toward the field where they were parked.

Dionne spoke, “I know that you are all newly mated, but we haven’t seen our cousin in a long time.”

“I’ll make coffee, since I don’t think any of us will be sleeping tonight,” John said.

Rue moved to help, but James held her tightly against him.

“Just got you, not letting you go.”  His voice was growly and demanding.

“I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me.”

“We’re mates, Rue.  We’re meant to bear each other’s burdens.  I would die for my kids.  I would die for my grandkids.  And I would die for you.  When we get through this, John and I are going to mate you properly.”

The growl in his voice sent shivers down her spine.  He chuckled in her ear and she tilted her face up for a kiss.  “You’re dangerous, James Fallon.”

“Only to those who try to hurt the people I care about.”

As the coffee brewed, she sat at the kitchen table with her two mates and her cousins.  Exhaustion stretched her thin, but she knew she couldn’t sleep.  Dom was out there with her family.  She hoped he was not being harmed, but she didn’t trust her former clan one iota.

Dag tapped the table with the sugar spoon.  “You need to stop blaming yourself, Veruka.  Gerarli has always been off his rocker.  He’s obsessed with a pure panther clan.  He banished his nephew, Race, for going on a date with a human girl two years ago.  I told your father that Gerarli needed to step down so more level heads could prevail or they were going to find themselves in a clan with no members because Gerarli kept banishing them.”

“I thought banishment was just for dire offenses,” John asked.

“It should be.  It’s an old custom, anyway.  No modern clans banish, at least not in the way that Gerarli does, with branding and death threats.  Race was told that if he ever showed his face to the clan again that they would kill him on sight.”

“Damn,” James muttered.

“Why do the clan members put up with it?” she asked.  “It’s one thing for my banishment, but to banish another for dating a human?  That makes no sense.”

“No, honey, your banishment doesn’t make sense.  You were one of only a few females in your clan, and they drove you away for a genetic anomaly.  No other females have been born into that clan. It’s why Race dated a human.  He reached out to us for help when it happened, and we took him in and helped get him on his feet,” Dionne said.

Dag looked thoughtful suddenly and excused himself from the table.  Dionne looked after her husband and sighed.  “He’s upset because he mourned you.  Gerarli has lied to us all these years.  I bet your shift is beautiful.  Being solid black is fine for hunting at night, but being pure white must be an amazing sight.”

Rue smiled and touched her braided hair self-consciously.  She’d never considered anything about herself to be beautiful, least of all the color of her fur that had been the cause of her banishment.  She wondered how different her life would be if Gerarli wasn’t there.  She wouldn’t have had Dom.  Or met James and John.  All the lonely nights and the fear of being found would have never happened, but she was a stronger person for it.

John rubbed her back with the flat of his palm, and the touch soothed her frayed nerves.

As dawn drew near, James took her upstairs to clean up.  The cool water on her face helped clear her head, and the clothes that she borrowed from his sister-in-law Samantha helped her feel more put together.  When she and James came back downstairs to the kitchen, she was surprised to see that it was filled with males.  Four females stood off to one side.  She recognized the young blonde as the girl who was mated to her cousins.

John drew her over to the females and introduced them as his sister-in-law, Samantha, his niece Lachlyn, his daughter, Jilly, and Melody, a female lion and member of the pride.

James’ son Alek came over to them.  “I’m taking the girls and kids to Uncle Rhett’s.  Callie is there with the kids, and Ethan is going to stay with us. Eryx is on his way.”

Rue looked at John.  “What’s going on?”

“The pride is standing with you.  We’re taking the females and the kids away to make sure they’re safe, but the rest of the pride is with you, with
us
, all the way.”

The show of solidarity nearly undid her.

Alek said, “Welcome to the family, Rue.  I’m looking forward to meeting your son and getting to know you both.”

She blinked at the tears that threatened and smiled at him.  “Thanks, Alek.”

The women all said goodbye to their mates, except for Jilly, who came up to Rue.  “I wish they weren’t making me leave, but Wyked is worried that I’m going to be a target because I’m newly bonded and I’m not a panther.  I say let the panthers come, and I’ll gut them if they try to mess with me.”

John groaned.  “Jilly.”

“What?” she asked indignantly.  “Rue is my sorta, kinda step-mom, and they’re trying to take her from me before I even get to know her.  It’s inexcusable.”

The declaration from Jilly, who she hadn’t even really met yet, made her mouth go salty and her eyes sting.  Twin males pushed through the crowd and joined Jilly.  Rue knew who they were immediately because they looked just like Dag had at that young age.  She couldn’t tell them apart, but at the moment she didn’t need to.