Skin Walkers Conn (5 page)

Her head was already getting fuzzy.  Her vision blurred and her knees buckled, but before she could hit the ground Conn
grabbed
her around the waist
and pulled her slight weight into his
, holding her up
. 

York interjected, “I’ve got her boss.”

Conn threw her over his shoulder before barking, “You had her last time, and look where that got us.”

James
and Shane
snickered behind their leader
and before her eyes slid closed Aries heard York mutter, “Woman’s
nothin
’ but trouble.”

C
hapter
4

Conn wanting to carry Aries himself had lit
tle to do with York’s abilities
or inabilities as it were, and more to do with an odd sense of possessiveness that he discovered he
had
where this woman was concerned. 
It was more than possessiveness.  He’d wanted to kill York the night before when he’d carried Aries back to her hacienda.  Not hurt, not maim, he’d literally wanted to kill his closest friend simply for touching the woman. 

He’d gone on hundreds of missions and at least a dozen extractions, but never had he
felt drawn to a target before.  Not to mention the fact that he was still confused about what had happened to him the
previous night
when he’d first laid eyes on her in the jungle.  It felt like he’d been kicked in the balls.  The instant his eyes met hers he’d folded like a fucking house of cards.  Worse, he had no explanation for the
occurrence.  At first he’d thought she’d actually shot him
,
but she’d been just as shocked by his reaction as he had.
 
He’d realized he hadn’t been shot the same moment he
hear
d York inform his men that he
had
been hi
t and that Aries had shot him.  H
is o
nly thought had been that they’d
kill her.  He’d been terrified that he wouldn’t reach her in time to protect her from his own men. 
What the fuck is wrong with me?

As the pave hawk helicopter lifted off the ground for the second time that day, he glanced down at the woman he held cradled in his arms. 
What is it about her?
 
She
was beautiful.  Her jet black hair had a contrasting white streak that ran from just above her right eye and fell to her shoulders, mixing in with the darker glossy waves.  Her lips were full, slightly pink,
and her cheeks bones were high in her flawless bronze skin. 

“She doesn’t look like Mason.”
 
York’s intrusion had Conn frowning up at other man. 

“No.”  Conn confirmed before dropping his eyes back to the peaceful creature in his arms. 
The dark circles under her eyes were a clear indication that she hadn’t gotten enough sleep
in the past several weeks.  And Conn was no expert in the area, but he was certain she was to
o
light
even
for her slight stature. 

The fact that she’d eluded his men, first on the night they’d ambushed her hacienda, and again when they had her in the chop
per, proved she was no novice at
evading capture.  Clearly, she’d been running for quite some time.  For inexplicable reasons the thought angered him.  He told himself it was because he respected her.  She’d shown m
ore
heart and courage in the past twelve hours than he’d see
n
in most men
exhibit
in a
n entire
lifetime. 

His eyes slid to her shoulders.  Both were scrapped and had large bruises darkening them.  He shifted partially and inhaled slowly.  He picked up the slightest hint of blood.  His eyes slid down her lithe frame.  One knee was scrapped and bleeding and her skin was yellow in several spots where old bruises were still healing. 
Conn’s scowl deepened. 
Fucking amateurs. 

Mason had hired him and his crew to find her and bring her in after several attempts by other so-called professionals had failed.  The thought of other men hunting her angered him, and seeing the proof of their attempts still healing on her body had him forcing back a growl. 

“Boss
?
”

Conn looked up and accepted the small
camo
blanket York held out.  He set the blanket next to him and pulled Aries’ sleeping form into his body and barked at York.  “Un-cuff her.”

He watched York closely, aware that he was more than a little uncomfortable with the other man touching the woman.

York did as he was ordered
quickly
, noting Conn’s frown as he watched his second-in-command intently
. 

When Conn rolled Aries back to his lap he ordered, “Cuff her hands in front.”  
  

Again York complied without question
, careful not to cinch the restraints too tightly
. 

Conn grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her body.  She was wearing practically nothing, and the wind howling through
the cabin of the helicopter as i
t sped to the rendezvous point w
ould have to be more than a little chill
y for a woman wearing nothing but
a slip.

Shane and
James
each sat with rifles ready on opposite sides of the helicopter as they each manned a door.  While this mission was simple enough, it wouldn’t sway them from their formal training.  Each assignment, no matter how frivolous or effortless was still performed with the same level of professionalism and efficiency.  In most cases they didn’t know the client or the target.  This case was differ
ent.  Conn and his men were Skin W
alkers, and been hired by one of their own to retrieve his estranged sister.
 

Skin W
alkers were
believed to be
born of shape-shifter ancestry.  They existed in five
differing stages, each more skilled and powerful then the next
.  Like their ancestors, all Walkers had the ability to shape-shift, but in varying degrees.
 

Stage one typically referred to the
extremely young
Walkers, those not yet
versed in their heritage and abilities.  Stage two Walkers were slightly more advanced, and were able to shift to the form of one animal, but only for a lim
ited
amount of
time, while s
tage three Walkers could shift
freely to a few animal forms.

S
tage four Walkers
, like Conn,
were much more advanced.  They possessed the ability to
shift to any form of animal for any length of time. 
Many believed that Stage four
Walkers
were
psychic; however, it was simply their keen sense of smell that allowed them to read others emotions that gave most the impression.

Finally, there were Indigenous Walkers.  These Walkers were descendents of the most ancient Walkers.  They too could shift to any animal for any length of time and possessed the
most keen senses of all Walkers, but unlike any other Walkers, Indigenous Walkers
were rumored to possess the ability to control the elements. 

Conn knew of only one Indigenous Walker,
RedKnife
KillsPrettyEnemy
. 
RedKnife
resided at
StoneCrow
,
the only known refuge
for Skin W
alkers
. 
Stone
Crow
touted
itself to be a
wildlife
preserve a
nd animal
rehabilitation facility, which was the perfect front for the sanctuary
, school, and home base of the Skin W
alkers.
  It was where they were headed now.

Conn’s fingers reached up to roll a satiny strand of Aries’ hair between his fingers.  It was silky
and
dark
, t
oo dark.  It wasn’t lost on Conn either that her eyes were hazel with flecks of gold reflected in their depths only when she was angry.  He sighed heavily.  Mason had sandy brown hair and dark green eyes.  Aries
’ comple
x
ion was too dark
, her hair too black—save for the white streak that Conn couldn’t keep from staring at.  The anomaly gave her character.  He smiled to himself. 
As if she needs more character.

Her actions had drawn much reserved respect from his men, and it mirrored his own.  She was fierce, proud, strong, and determined.  She was like Conn in many ways.
  He was silently praying that it was the reason he was so drawn to her and not something more.  Regardless, he knew there’d be iss
ues once they returned to
Stone
Crow
, for
he was absolutely certain that the woma
n in his arms was not the sister of Mason
EnemyHunter
. 

Conn
knew from experience that the wealthy financier would be more than a little displeased.  As far as Conn knew, Mason had been
searching for his long lost sister for the past seven
years.
  The crew usually hired by Mason for investigation and retrieval had been fired after their fourth attempt and failure at securing Aries.  Her cunning coupled with her skill had Mason

convinced that Aries was the long lost sister he sought.  Staring at her now Conn very much doubted she was any relation to Mason.  He inhaled slowly, but detected no familial scent that
would link her
to the W
alker that sought her, which meant that he and his men had just chased down and captured the poor woman and she wasn’t even the
right
woman. 

Conn let his eyes slowly
scan her features.  She was a
Walker
, but either she didn’t know it or she didn’t know
how to use her abilities.  Had she shifted during her fall from the helicopter or any time shortly after she’d landed, it would have taken them hours to track her.  But even when she’d been cornered she’d failed to shift, and it wasn’t a refusal.  She didn’t know how to use her abilities.

“You want me to take her boss?”

“NO!” His refusal given
too quickly, too harshly,
drew
surprised looks from
his men though none
voiced their concerns.

Conn dropped his eyes back to the woman.  What was it about her that had him barking at his men and ready to tear apart a
ny that tried to even touch her?
  Something
in him
was off. 
Mason or that prick Monroe had better have some fucking answers for me
when I arrive at
StoneCrow
.

Chapter
5

Several hours later, Conn was barking orders at his men as
they departed the cargo plane that brought them and their helicopter
back into the United States and directly
to the Great Falls International Airport in
north
central Montana
.

Conn was in rare form.  He hadn’t slept since the night before they’d departed for South America and that was also the last time he’d eaten.  Typically
,
he and his men rotated shifts on the flight to and from extraction; however, he’d been unable to sleep
, unwilling to allow anyone else to watch over his prisoner
.  He was too busy pacing over Aries as she slept curled on a blanket he’d laid out for her.
The though
t
of whether the handcuffs were too uncomfortable had occupied his mind for the entire duration of the flight north.  So much so, that he’d removed and replaced her handcuffs a half dozen times before he finally opted to keep them in place to avoid any escape attempts.  He didn’t want to lose her. 

Conn sniffed defiantly as he noticed the strange looks his men were giving him.  After several harsh growls and piercing glares from their leader, the men finally gave up offering to watch over Aries. 

“Shane.
”
Conn barked
drawing the other man to him as the others departed the rear end of the plane. 

“Yeah boss.”  Shane secured his rifle over his shoulder as he strode to Conn’s side.

Conn stood staring down at Aries, much as he had been for the duration of the flight.  “Shouldn’t she be awake by now?”

Shane dropped to his knees and had his hand halfway to her throat to check her pulse when Conn growled savagely, “Don’t!”

Shane turned to
frown
up at Conn.  “I wouldn’t hurt her boss.”