Laura Wright - Raphael/Parish

“No.” Without warning, Bayon leaned forward to spit on the dead man. “Tell me what happened.”

Yikes. So not a friend.

“I…decided to return to the hotel.”

He narrowed his gaze. “And Raphael just let you go?”

She tilted her chin. Arrogant ass.

“I didn’t have to ask for his permission.” She met him glare for glare. “Or yours.”

He went rigid, seemingly startled by her words. “You opened the doors?”

“Of course I did. I’m not helpless.”

He studied her with a disturbing intensity. “The locks are specifically designed to respond only to Pantera. They should never have opened for you.”

She frowned, recalling her own amazement that her escape had been so easy.

Was it possible…

No.

God. She was so tired she couldn’t even think straight.

“Then they must have been left unlocked,” she said, her tone warning she was a breath away from snapping.

He hesitated, as if he wanted to press her, but meeting her panicked glare, he at last gave an impatient wave of his hand.

“What happened next?”

“I was trying to get back to the hotel without everyone realizing I was waltzing through town in just a sheet when this…” She waved a hand toward the corpse. “Whack job started shooting arrows at me.” She shook her head. “I mean, who uses a bow and arrow when you have a gun?”

“Someone who wants to kill without attracting unwanted attention.”

Her breath tangled in her throat. Oh. Yeah. Good point.

She shivered, vividly aware of how close she’d come to death.

“I was trying to sneak away when I heard a roar and—” Her words trailed away as she glanced toward the puma staring at her with glowing golden eyes.

“Raphael?” Bayon helpfully supplied, his own gaze trained on the big cat.

“He attacked.”

Bayon shook his head. “Astonishing.”

“Astonishing?” She made a choked sound. “A man is dead.”

He lifted his head to stab her with a fierce glare. “A man trying to kill you. Would you rather Raphael had allowed him to finish his task?”

No. The answer came without hesitation, her hand once again pressing against her belly. To protect her child she would have done anything.

Including killing the man herself.

She shuddered, unthinkingly stepping toward Bayon. She might not trust him, but she desperately needed a hot bath, a warm bed and a return to sanity.

Instantly the puma turned, opening his mouth to display his impressively sharp teeth.

“No,” Bayon snapped. “Stay there.”

She scowled in frustration. “If it’s Raphael then why is he keeping me trapped here?”

“He’s keeping me away from you.”

“I thought you were friends?”

“We are, but his beast is convinced you’re his mate and he won’t willingly allow another male near you.”

Mate.

She pressed her fingers to her throbbing temple. “God…this can’t be happening.”

“You have no idea,” Bayon muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A Pantera can only shift when we’re in the Wildlands.”

Ashe stared at him in confusion. She was still trying wrap her brain around the whole ‘shifting’ thing.

“This town is part of the Wildlands?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I.” There was a dangerous edge in his voice. “But I intend to find out.”

Keeping his gaze trained on the cat, Bayon began to whisper in an unfamiliar language, the haunting words resonating deep inside her, like a bell being struck.

Ashe bit her lip, ignoring the terrified voice in the back of her head that urged her to flee while Bayon was distracted.

Where would she go?

Certainly nowhere that she wouldn’t be constantly looking over her shoulder for fear there might be an arrow trained at her back.

Besides, she couldn’t avoid the truth any longer.

Raphael was a mythical Pantera and no amount of denial was going to change the fact.

Or the chance that the child she carried was going to be one as well.

She had to find out as much as possible about these mysterious people if she was going to keep her child safe.

Inching away from the body lying lifeless on the ground, she watched with a growing fascination as Bayon lowered himself to his knees and continued to whisper as he looked directly into the eyes of the beast.

Ashe felt a breathtaking surge of electricity dance over her skin, then her eyes widened as she watched a silver mist form around the puma, nearly disguising the sight of the limbs twisting and elongating, the fur seeming to melt as if by magic.

Fascinated, she took several steps closer, unable to tear her gaze away.

It was odd. She would have assumed watching an animal shift into a man would be revolting.

Instead it was…poignantly moving.

How many people could say they witnessed magic with their own eyes?

The mist dissipated, leaving behind an unconscious, and extremely naked, Raphael.

“Oh.” She furtively licked her lips. “Where are his clothes?”

“This wasn’t a natural shift. When I force a Pantera to change from human to cat, or cat to human, my magic strips him down to his most basic form. Clothing, jewelry, sometimes even tattoos are lost in the transition.”

Still caught in a sense of wonder, Ashe watched in silence as Bayon grabbed his friend around the waist and with an unbelievable display of strength heaved his limp body over his shoulder.

Rising to his feet, he spared Ashe an impatient glance. “Let’s go.”

She flipped him off behind his back, but she obediently followed him back to The Cougar’s Den.

Her decision had been made.

She would stay with Raphael until she could be absolutely certain her child was safe.

After that…

She shook her head, hitching up the sheet as she climbed the stairs leading to the back of the bar.

Right now it was enough to take it day by day.

Hell, it was enough to take it minute by minute.

Bayon led them back through the storage area and into the hidden room she’d been in before, but he never paused as he continued through a door at the back that led to a narrow staircase.

She grimaced, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu as they headed to the top floor. A feeling that only intensified as he entered one of the rooms that lined the long hall.

Absently walking toward the double bed in the center of the wood-planked floor, she barely paid attention to Bayon as he slid the still unconscious Raphael off his shoulder and onto the mattress.

This was the room she’d been in over a month ago.

She was certain of it.

There was a foggy memory of the hand-carved headboard that matched the wooden rocking chair in the corner. And the paintings of graceful plantation homes that were framed and hung on the walls. And of course, the patchwork quilt that covered the bed…

Sorting through her vague recollections, Ashe sensed Bayon step toward her, but it wasn’t until she felt something cold snap around her wrist that she realized her danger.

With a gasp, she glanced down to discover that she’d been handcuffed to the sturdy headboard

The jackass.

“What the hell?” she growled, glaring into his impassive face. “I’m not going run again.”

“No, you’re not.”

With those words he headed toward the door.

“Wait.” She tugged at the metal bracelet holding her captive, achieving nothing more than a painful welt on her wrist. “Let me out of this thing.”

He didn’t even bother to acknowledge her plea as he stepped out of the room and closed the door.

“Bastard.”

Cursing the day from hell that refused to end, Ashe awkwardly climbed onto the bed. She was too weary to work up a proper fury.