The Guardian (The Wolfe Series) (25 page)

             
Laurie wasn’t about to lie to the little man nor to allow him to interfere with her plans.  “I’m leaving, Anthony, so please don’t try to stop me.”

             
“I wouldn’t think of it,” Anthony said as he followed her and her mount out of the stables.  “The desert is very dangerous at the best of times but even more so at night.  Night is when the predators hunt.”

             
The old man’s softly spoken words or warning caused needles of fear to skitter down Laurie’s spine.

             
“It’s something I have to do, Anthony.  I can’t stay here and continue to put all of your lives in danger.”  She couldn’t seem to stop the tears that were filling her eyes.

             
“You should have more faith in those of us here being able to protect you, especially Jake and his brothers.  They are formidable adversaries and you do them an injustice by not honoring their courage and their desire to do the right thing where you are concerned.”

             
“They don’t know who they are dealing with,” Laurie said trying to convince the old man that what she was doing was for the best. 

             
“They do know, perhaps even better than you.”  Anthony sighed knowing he was not going to be able to get the young woman to change her mind.  “You know that I have to tell Jake that you’ve gone.”

Laurie
was sorry she had put Anthony in such a position.  She vaulted into the saddle and turned back toward the old man.  “Tell Jake . . . tell him . . .” Laurie’s eyes were drenched in tears and she found she couldn’t get the rest of what she wanted to say past the huge lump that had formed in her throat.

             
Anthony watched as Laurie kneed the mare into a soft lope and the pair disappeared into the darkness.

              When Jake heard the pounding on his bedroom door he growled and rolled over onto his back.  He couldn’t remember where he was for a moment and then the memory of the last several hours flooded his body with heat and he reached out for Laurie.

             
“What?” Jake growled when the knocking continued, surprised that anyone would be knocking on his bedroom door at this time of night and concerned as to why Laurie wasn’t still in his bed.  A deep foreboding caused his muscles to clench as he jumped out of bed and stalked to the door.  “What is it?” he said, opening the door much more forcefully than was necessary.

             
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mister Jake,” Anthony said, his hat in his hands. 

             
“What is it, Anthony?  What’s gotten you out of bed at this ungodly hour.”  Jake’s senses were suddenly on high alert and he dreaded hearing what the old man was about to tell him. 

             
“It’s the young lady, sir, Miss Laurie, she’s gone.”

             
“She’s what?” Jake gaped at the old man.  “Gone where?”

             
“She did not say, sir, she just took Sugar and rode off into the desert.  She seemed concerned about the safety of everyone on the ranch and said we would all be safer once she’s gone.”

             
Jake stormed past Anthony.  Heading toward Laurie’s bedroom he opened the door with such force that it slammed back against the wall.  He immediately spotted the note Laurie had left propped against one of the pillows on the bed and tore open the envelope, quickly scanning the contents.

My Dearest Jake:

It is with the greatest regret that I leave Kingdom Ranch.  I will not jeopardize you or your brother’s lives any further so please do not try to find me. 

Know that I grieve for what might have been.

Laurie

              “Damn it!” Jake snarled as he tossed the note back on the bed and rushed out of the bedroom.  “How long ago did she leave?” he questioned Anthony as he stomped down the hallway.  He didn’t understand how she could have left after what they’d just shared.

             
“Only a few minutes.  She can’t have gotten far.”  The old man hurried to keep up. 

             
“Call my brothers and tell them what’s up.  Tell them I don’t think I’ll need their help but to come looking if I haven’t returned by sunup.”

             
“I will do as you say.”  The old man was breathing hard as he struggled to keep up.  They had almost reached the barn when he said, “She did not want to leave.  I believe it was tearing her heart out to do so.”

             
Anthony’s last words stopped Jake dead in his tracks.  “What makes you say that?”

             
“Perhaps it was the tears flowing freely down her cheeks?”

             
“I’ll find her,” Jake said confidently as he began tearing off his clothes.  He’d planned to take Cloud and ride Laurie down but decided against it at the last minute.  “It’ll be faster this way.  Anything could happen to her, damn it.”  He quickly shifted into his wolf form, his blue eyes brilliant in the moonlight.

             
Anthony had seen the change many times but each time it still amazed him.  One moment a man, the next a wolf, the change happening so fast that it would be missed if you glanced away for a moment.  He, himself, had not Changed in many years and wasn’t sure his old bones could handle the Change.  He sighed, remembering his younger days with fondness, the mate he had loved and lost the year before and the children who were now grown and living on the ranch near Yellowstone.

             
“Good luck, Mister Jake.” 

Anthony
turned and walked back toward the main house to inform Taggert and Rand of this latest development.

              The MC-1 Global was a professional mirror compass made of durable materials that could withstand extreme temperature ranges and was sapphire-jeweled to ensure accuracy.  Laurie had taken the costly compass from the desk in Jake’s office the previous day promising herself that she would return it and the horse she intended to borrow after she had rescued Aragon.  Laurie flipped open the compass’ protective lid and pointed it toward where she thought Luzaro’s estancia would be.  Unless Aragon had been moved, he would hopefully still be in the same paddock that he’d been in when she’d left, which was located some distance from the main house.  If she could get close enough without anyone seeing her, all it would take would be a whistle from her and Aragon would jump the fence and come to her.  After that, she didn’t know what she was going to do.  Ride until she saw a welcoming light?  What if she were found during the rescue attempt or followed by Luzaro’s men or ran out of food and water?  What if the Change came upon her? 
Quite the plan, Laurie, quite the plan!  Not!  It’s not too late to stop this nonsense!

Sugar
shifted restlessly beneath her as though sensing danger.  The mare’s sensitive ears flicked forward, her nostrils flaring as she danced in place, eager to be gone from whatever threat she was sensing.

             
Laurie sniffed the air, her heightened sense of smell detecting an unfamiliar scent on the wind.  Musky.  Feral.  And the way Sugar was dancing around was beginning to make Laurie nervous.  Had Jake found her note?  She knew Anthony would have wasted no time and would have gone directly to Jake and told him that she’d left.  It wouldn’t take Jake long to overtake her if he chose to do so in his wolf form.  Was that what she was smelling?  Was Jake coming for her as a wolf?  Laurie began to panic when she felt heat sifting into her muscles, the urge to Change becoming stronger and stronger as she struggled to control the horse beneath her.

             
The female panther would not have come so close to the horse and rider or considered them prey if she had not been starving.  She preferred to stay away from all contact with humans if at all possible.  She had no choice now, though, the pain had grown too great.  The tear in her right front paw had become infected making it extremely difficult to walk much less to hunt.

             
Panther, puma, cougar, mountain lion, all were names given to those of her kind.  Her fur was thick, dark yellowish above and lighter on the sides.  Her muzzle, chin, throat, breast and insides of the legs were white and her tail was long and slightly coiled.  She was normally a large, agile cat that could leap great distances, but not today, and not on this hunt.

             
The female panther growled low in her throat and stretched her gaunt body full length atop a boulder.  The boulder was near a game trail and if she was patient enough, if she was lucky enough, she might just be able to leap from the boulder onto the back of the horse, dislodging its rider as it passed nearby.  The struggle would be brief once she sank her fangs deeply into the neck of her prey.  She would be the victor of that she was certain, whether animal or human, she was too far gone to know the difference.

             
All that remained was to wait, wait so that she could keep herself from starving.

             
Laurie froze and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the mountain lion crouched on a boulder above her head.  She gasped and remained perfectly still as she reached down and patted Sugar’s sweaty neck. 
Don’t panic, girl, whatever you do.  If you panic we may both die.
  Sugar seemed to understand Laurie’s unspoken command, and stood stock still.  Quivering, the little mare twisted her head from side to side trying to locate the threat. 

             
Laurie’s eyes never left the huge cat.  Instinctively she knew that there was no time for indecision.  She sensed that the cat was poised to strike a lethal blow and that she and her mount appeared to be the animal's target.               

             
When the cat jumped Laurie screamed and hauled back on the reins with all her strength certain that she on her horse were doomed.  As the big cat leapt toward her, it’s amber eyes filled with grim determination, Laurie saw a black wolf slam into the mountain lion in mid leap, the two animal’s bodies tangling together as each fought for supremacy over the other.  Both animals fell to the hard packed earth in a flurry of claws, snarls, growls and blood in an awesomely savage spectacle. 

             
A wolf was normally no match for a mountain lion, this Jake new as he and the cougar sprang apart and warily circled each other.  Normally a lion would stalk and kill a wolf from behind, pouncing as it does upon other prey.  Such deadly confrontations, cat-and-dog fights in the wilds, were extremely rare, both animals preferring to avoid each other.  To their advantage, wolves could run extremely long distances, exhausting a lion, which was built for short, quick sprints and leaping.  Therefore, a lion’s normal means of survival when confronted by a wolf was often to run and find high ground or a tree that the wolf could not reach.

             
Jake noticed the big cat’s limp and the fact that the animal appeared extremely thin, almost to the point of emaciation.  He didn’t know what had caused the animal to attack such large prey, and a human at that, and he really didn’t care.  He just wanted the big cat gone and was determined to make sure it did just that.

             
Even in the dark Laurie had no trouble seeing the two combatants circle, each looking for a weakness in the other.  She feared for Jake’s safety and tried to think of a way to help him even though she doubted a wolf of such massive proportions would have any trouble defending itself. 
We can do this, Sugar.  We can help Jake, you and I.
Laurie hoped the little mare was listening as she took her courage in hand as well as Sugar’s reins.  “Now!” Laurie shouted, gouging the mare’s flanks with her heels which sent the horse charging toward the unsuspecting mountain lion, her teeth bared and her ears back flat against her head.

             
Jake had never seen anything like the avenging angel he saw bearing down on the startled cougar on her silver charger.  The cougar hissed and crouched low at this knew threat before whirling around and disappearing into the night. 

How in the hell did
Laurie make Sugar do that?
  A horse’s first line of defense was flight for fright and it was instinctual.  For a horse to actually confront a deadly predator like the cougar was unheard of.  When Jake had found Laurie gone he’d panicked, realizing how much the woman had come to mean to him.  How much it would have destroyed  him if he had lost her. 

Changing quickly and effortlessly into his human form, Jake stalked toward Laurie and dragged her
out of the saddle.  “Don’t ever do anything like that again,” he snarled, crushing her in his arms and running his hand over her hair, holding her close, enjoying the moment and wishing they could shut the world out if only for a little while and forget about everything, including the men who were hunting her.  “How could you leave after what we shared tonight?”  His voice was rough with the emotion he was unable to hide.  “Not to mention the fact that you could have been killed?”

She loved the way
Jake’s breath quickened and testosterone filled the air as his muscles tightened like a wolf ready to take down its prey.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I never meant to hurt you.  I was trying to protect you.”