Fated

Chapter 11

Growls ripped through the air as the male latched onto the neck of the closest monster. A Kurjan—had to be. The monster bellowed in pain before stabbing its long claws into the pelt of the lion’s fur. Cara gasped in shock as the female lion growled low and leapt straight for the throat of the other Kurjan, which pivoted and threw the lioness to the wet ground. The feline bounded to her feet and sunk sharp fangs into the knee of her enemy, forcing it to fall. She descended upon its neck and blood sprayed.

Cara’s stomach revolted as the coppery smell of blood mixed with fresh earth. The male lion turned and flung a Kurjan’s head into the darkness of the forest, leaving its decapitated body lying uselessly on the ground. Blood covered the cat’s thick pelt and whiskers as he lifted his head and howled in fury. Then he turned toward the female just as three more Kurjans leapt out of the forest. He instantly pivoted to charge at the two nearest his position.

The female was absorbed in wrenching the head from her opponent and didn’t see the knife thrown at her from the fifth Kurjan. She went down to the ground with a yelp of pain—the handle protruding from her side. With a fierce grin of yellow, the Kurjan soldier advanced upon her.

Cara cried out and jumped to her feet while pointing the gun at him. She pulled the trigger. The impact of the odd green bursts of light threw the monster back several feet. She instinctively rushed forward to put herself between the downed lioness and the Kurjan, the gun pointed at the threat.

The lioness snarled in protest behind her.

“You’re welcome,” Cara hissed through the rain, her hand trembling around the gun. The Kurjan’s eyes had shifted from black to a deep swirling purple. What the hell? He issued a high-pitched trill as he moved forward in an image reminding her of a horror novel she’d read as a teenager. How could this be happening?

She fired again, and he went down on one knee. With a sob, she kept firing and then gasped as he tensed and sprang toward her. She cried out and braced herself for impact. But a dark blur leapt over her from behind and collided with the Kurjan.

“Talen,” she breathed in relief as he forced the Kurjan to the ground. With an inhuman burst of power, he twisted his body to plunge a large knife into its throat. He ripped the knife through cartilage and bone like it was silk, effectively decapitating the monster. His face hard, cold, and merciless, he remained focused as blood sprayed. How could he be the same man who had held her so carefully that morning? But she was grateful to her toes he had arrived to defend her.

More lions darted from the trees to join in the fray.

Cara turned to help the lioness, only to gasp in shock at the small woman lying naked on the ground. Blood flowed from the knife still embedded in her side. Cara fell to her knees at the young woman’s side and pushed honey blond hair off a wet face. Brown eyes met hers.

With a groan, the woman reached around and grabbed a hold of the knife handle.

“Wait,” Cara said urgently. “I think you’re supposed to leave it in until you’re at the hospital.” She ignored the sounds of growls, hisses, and shouts of agony behind them.

The young woman rolled her eyes. “I don’t need a hospital.” She tugged the knife out with a small yelp of pain before dropping the red-tinted blade onto the wet ground.

Talen heard the sound of pain but didn’t turn as he kept himself planted between his mate and the Kurjan soldier stepping over his fallen comrade. It gave an evil grin of sharp yellow fangs while yanking a sleek gun from its back. Talen returned the grin before concentrating on the creature’s central nervous system and freezing it. He needed very little energy to manipulate the young and inexperienced Kurjan. Its purple eyes widened on Talen as he rendered it motionless with a mere thought.

“Yeah, those aren’t rumors,” Talen confirmed, reaching out to run his knife through the enemy’s throat. Making a quick kill and showing mercy where none would have been shown his mate. With clean, logical precision, he decapitated the soldier before facing the remaining threat.

Blood scented the air around Talen, dark and oily from his recent kill, pure and slightly sweet from behind him. The image of his mate standing before the Kurjan soldier firing that gun would haunt him for the rest of his life. He needed to get her to safety. But first, he needed to end the white-faced monster advancing upon him.

It flashed deep yellow fangs, its eyes glowing to the red of hell. “Kayrs.”

Talen lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know your name, asshole.” Neither did he care. But, he did wonder why a simple foot soldier would know him on sight.

“Everyone will know my name after I kill you, then your king.” The Kurjan pulled a double-edged blade out of his back pocket and straightened to his full height of about seven feet.

“My king could make your brain ooze out of your head with the blink of one eye,” Talen answered as if they discussed the weather. Then the satisfied roar of a lion commingled with a Kurjan shriek of pain to his left and he grinned. “Sounds like the shifters have taken care of your buddies.”

The monster shrugged as the rain turned his hair to the color of dried blood. “No matter. You die, too.” He lunged forward, his knife aiming for Talen’s throat.

Talen shifted to the side, catching the Kurjan in the gut with a solid punch. He could end it quickly, freeze the soldier’s nervous system, but the need to spill blood pulsed through his veins. The Kurjan doubled over and Talen clasped his hands together, slamming them down on his enemy’s neck. The wounded soldier fell to his knees, head bowed, hissing in anger.

Talen yanked his own knife out of his vest, slicing first one then the other ear off his enemy. He shrieked in pain, rolled and bounded to his feet.

A wave of terror slammed into Talen, and he realized it came from his mate. Damn it, this would be frightening to her.

With almost a sigh of regret, he jerked his head and froze the oncoming Kurjan in place. “Sorry to end this so quickly, but my mate requires my assistance.” He plunged his knife into the enemy’s jugular, forcing the Kurjan back to his knees. Talen ripped the blade to the side, stopping only when the Kurjan’s head rolled of its body, which then fell to the ground.

Pleasure filled him—it was a good fight.

Cara ignored the sounds of battle around her as blood began pouring out of the woman’s wound. She ripped off her wet sweatshirt and pushed it against the woman’s ribs. “We need to get you to a doctor.” She shivered as the malicious rain drenched her plain white bra.

“Nope. We heal pretty fast, Talen’s mate.” The brown eyes filled with pain and a trembling smile curved her full lips. Even as a human, the woman had sharp feline features with dark lashes framing amber eyes over high cheekbones. Not even one freckle blemished her deep cream-colored skin.

“My name’s Cara.” She pushed the cloth firmer against the still bleeding wound, looking frantically around at the wild brush surrounding them.

“I’m Katie.” She grimaced at the surprise on Cara’s face before groaning in pain. “What? Were you expecting Sheena or Shayla or Lyonina?”

“Something like that.” Spotting a clump of tiny white flowers with yellow middles, Cara leaned forward and yanked.

“What are you doing?” Katie asked, her eyes fluttering closed.

“It’s Achillea millefolium,” Cara said, pulling the small flowers off the stem, filling the air with the scent of sage.

“What?” Katie groaned.

“Yarrow. It’s an herb used for wounds, cuts, and abrasions.” Cara kept twisting, wanting the smallest pieces possible. “Achilles carried it with him into battle to help treat his soldiers when necessary.”

“Oh, well that’s handy.” Katie blew out a deep breath, her muscles visibly relaxing. “The pain is receding, thank God.”

Sudden silence filled the air and Cara turned.

The battle was over and not a Kurjan remained standing. Talen and five lions all covered in various amounts of blood tossed pieces of the Kurjan soldiers into a large pile at the edge of the forest. Two black off-road trucks pulled into the small clearing. Talen turned and purposefully started making his way toward her, his eyes golden and serious.

Katie sighed. “Do you have any idea how much crap I’m going to get for being stabbed?”

Cara didn’t answer as Talen held her gaze. A cut above his left eye bled freely, and a dark purple bruise bloomed under his right eye. Deep scratches slashed down his strong neck. She froze in place while every instinct yelled for her to run. Toward or away from him, she wasn’t sure. His eyes roamed over her as she crouched next to Katie, and the rain finally stopped falling.

Two men jumped out of the SUVs, and one held a can of what looked like lighter fluid.

“You are unharmed?” Talen asked as he pushed wet hair off her face while kneeling down. He ripped off his T-shirt and yanked it over her head, scattering the smashed flowers across the ground.

“Yes. But Katie was stabbed,” Cara said urgently, pressing her hands against Katie’s wound again, her gaze traveling along his tanned chest.

Talen shifted his gaze to Katie and gently placed his hand on her cheek. “Hi, Brat.”

“Hi, Jackass,” Katie retorted with a snort before leaning up and pulling Cara’s hands away from the sweatshirt. She removed the cloth and Cara stared in surprise at the already healing wound. It had stopped bleeding.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Talen peered closer to examine the wound.

“Pure luck.” Katie poked at her side. “Man, that hurt. My first battle injury.”

“Your first injury, period.” Talen sighed. “What are you doing here, Kate?”

Katie sighed. “We were hunting in the area and scented the Kurjan soldiers. Jordan sent me home and headed this way.”

“You didn’t go home,” Talen said with a shake of his head.

Just then a large form behind Talen swooped down and covered Katie with a blanket before lifting her in his arms. Feral tawny eyes met Cara’s as Talen helped her to stand. The large man was shirtless and had obviously donned a pair of faded jeans that he hadn’t bothered to zip before heading their way.

“You’re the male lion,” Cara uttered as she stared at the hard planes of his face and long dark blond hair. She ignored the wide expanse of muscled chest holding Katie.

“Thanks for not shooting me,” came the wry response as he easily shifted Katie so he could reach out a hand to shake. “I’m Jordan.”

“Cara.” They shook. Cara shivered in the cold and Talen instantly pulled her back against his bare chest to rub warmth into her arms, the brand on his hand rough along her skin. The heat from his body slowly seeped past the wet shirt.

“I saw you put yourself between Katie and the Kurjan. Thank you.” Jordan’s serious gaze focused on her face.

Cara shrugged. “I had the gun.”

“Um, Jordan,” Katie started to speak and then stopped as Jordan lowered his gaze and his jaw snapped shut with an angry click. Cara would have taken a step back from the violence in his eyes had Talen not stood right behind her.

“Not a word. We’ll deal with the fact you followed me against orders after I’ve made sure you’re all right.” Jordan turned his attention to Talen. “Come back to the ranch for the night and we’ll talk.”

Talen grinned and they followed Jordan to the first SUV. Behind them, a massive fire erupted on the pile and deep black smoke drifted into the sky.