Chapter 26

Gage paused and bent down to pick up a rock, then looked around the swampy area. Where was she? If she so much as had a scratch on her, someone was going to pay. With. Their. Life. Growling, he leaned back and whipped the rock across the boggy pond. The cracking as it smashed against a tree echoed through the silence.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, praying the air would carry her scent.

“Kelsey has Bengal coloring when she shifts?”

Gage jumped at Devin’s voice coming from the trees at his back. Turning, he frowned. “Yeah, deep orange. Why?”

Devin exhaled and then leaned over, placing his hands on his knees. “Thank god.” He let out another breath and then straightened. “Sometimes, mates can project what they’re seeing, and I just got a flash of a really big tiger running like a demon through trees.”

Gage’s heart pumped so fast, he had to catch his breath. “They’re in animal form, running?”

Devin nodded.

“So, they got free?”

“It looks like.”

Gage wanted to scream in relief. “What did you see? Was anyone chasing them? Anything that would help us know where they are?”

Devin put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground.

Gage balled his hands, trying not to grab and shake him so he’d hurry up. Even in his panic and seeing red that someone had dared touch his mate, he still knew grabbing the future king and shaking the bejeezus out of him was bad. Friend or not, they were long past the age where crossing lines was forgiven.

Devin squinted at the ground. “There was a lake on the one side, nothing that is helpful.” He cursed. “Wait, there was a huge rock face, still in natural formation, no drilling or digging…” He stopped and looked at him and then threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know enough about this area to even suggest a direction.”

Gage blew out a breath, trying to keep a handle on his anger. His animal was clawing to go find his mate. According to Cooper, both Devin and he needed to stay in two-legged form or they’d lose it completely. Regardless of how many legs he had, he was close to rampaging.

“Fuck.” Devin kicked a rock across the clearing. “If you’d marked Kelsey, she’d be able to show you where they were.”

Gage glared at him. “Yeah, and how well did marking your mate without consent go for you?”

Devin crossed his arms over his chest and studied him. “She came around.”

Shaking his head, Gage paced over to the edge of the pond and stared out over it. “Obviously, you’re forgetting what you went through before she came back…”

Blair came bounding out of the trees and stopped abruptly. He looked from one to the other and then shook his large white body.

Basically, Gage thought, he’d heard them bitching at each other and decided to abandon searching to play peacekeeper. Gage rubbed the back of his neck and stared back at the pale feline eyes studying him. “Rayne sent Devin some images through their mate connection.” Blair blinked, and that was the only reaction he gave away. “The girls are in animal form running hell bent through trees…”

Blair stiffened and glanced at Devin before looking back at him.

Gage nodded. “Yeah, they’ve gotten away somehow.” He briefly glanced at Devin, then continued. “He saw a large rock formation that appeared untouched by man and machine. Does that ring any bells for you?”

Blair gave him a look that Gage was sure meant ‘duh,’ and then he turned and ran into the trees.

Devin jolted. “He knows?”

Gage nodded and then ran into the trees. “Looks like it.” Running as fast as two legs allowed, Gage pushed himself to keep Blair in sight. When he lost the visual, he picked up the pace and slid around a large boulder. Skidding to a stop in the loose soil, he looked up to see Blair standing on top of the large rock. Huffing out a breath, he pulled himself up until he stood beside him.

Blair’s look was sarcastic, before he turned his head to the left.

Gage glanced in the direction and then froze. Off in the distance was the old drop-off they used to climb when they were younger, before any of them could shift. He heard running feet coming up the path. “Dev, up here.”

He stood up and waited until his friend started to climb up the rock. Reaching down, he dragged him up. He pointed to the cliff. “Is that what you saw?”

Out of breath, Devin turned and squinted. “I think it is.” He shook his head. “Not from the same angle, but the tree grouping at the top looks the same.”

Gage patted Blair on the shoulder. “Go find Noah and Gary and meet us back at the truck.”

They both watched Blair leap down and take off into the trees.

“How far is it?” Devin looked back at the large rock area towering over the treetops in the distance, “We can’t run the whole way there; it would take about three hours.” He rubbed his hand over his jaw. “Too many detours around swamps and bogs. We can take the truck and get within ten miles by road.” He glanced at their destination. “We can be there by dark.”

Nodding, Devin turned and started climbing down. “Let’s go.”

Standing beside Rayne, Kelsey looked up at the rock face. “Now I know why it looked familiar, Blair used to bring me here.”

Rayne raised both eyebrows. “For what?”

Kelsey grinned. “To climb.”

Shaking her head, Rayne looked up to the top. “I guess when you don’t have a mall to hang out in; you might as well climb a cliff.”

“I think he did it to get me out of Gage’s way.” Kelsey moved closer, trying to figure out where the best place to start would be.

“Oh?”

She shrugged. “When I was seventeen, I decided Gage was the one my hormonal body wanted.”

Rayne chuckled. “I guess that fantasy has been realized.”

Kelsey felt her cheeks heat. “It has now.” Finding a good handhold, she searched for solid footing. “Gage knew I was his mate but refused to go near me until I was older.” She watched Rayne follow her up. “Or so I’ve been told.” She paused to let Rayne catch up.

“Ten points for Gage,” Rayne grunted as she pulled her body up further. “For not being a jerk and claiming a child.”

Turning, Kelsey looked at the rough surface a few inches from her face. “Yeah.” Reaching up, she felt around for another good hold. Now wasn’t the time to think, she needed to focus on not falling off the face of these rocks.

“Kelsey?”

Finding it, she brought her foot up and pulled herself up higher. “Yeah?”

“Are we…” Rayne huffed out a breath. “…climbing to the top?”

Pausing, Kelsey looked down at her. “No. There’s a nice dry, safe shelf about…” Looking up, she tried to guess how far. “…another thirty or so feet. We can stay there.” She went up a few more feet before Rayne commented.

“Will they think to look here?”

Resting her forehead against the rough stone, Kelsey closed her eyes. “I think Blair will.” She opened them and felt around for another good finger-hold. “I used to take off and end up here when I was upset or moping, and Blair always found me.” She lifted her leg and winced as her knee scraped along a jagged edge.

“So, you and Blair were close when you were younger?”

Kelsey knew Rayne talking to keep their minds off the reality and she didn’t blame her, but it still sent pain through her heart. “Yeah, I guess.” She hissed out a breath as her forearm rubbed over another jagged stone. “Apparently, Blair ran interference a lot to keep me out of Gage’s path…”

Rayne snorted. “Oh, I don’t think the pretty Blair minded one bit, having to spend so much time with you.”

Kelsey grinned at hearing Rayne call him pretty. Blair would pout if he’d heard it. “No, I guess he didn’t” She scowled at the rocks. “I just found that out too in this last week.”

Rayne made an aggravated sound. “I’m going to be one big scab tomorrow.”

Kelsey looked down to see her shake it off and reach up, following closely. “Only one? You’re doing better than me.”

“You didn’t know, about Blair? He never tried anything in all those years?”

Kelsey sighed and looked up for the ledge. It was going to be dark soon. “No. I saw him as a brother, but I guess its taboo or something.”

Rayne chuckled. “To mess with someone’s mate? Yes, taboo would be the mild way of putting it.”

Kelsey didn’t reply. There really wasn’t anything more to say. Her options were to pick Gage or pine for Gage. Rayne was quiet too, for the last part of the climb.

When they were both lying on the ledge, all Kelsey wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. Turning her head, she looked over at Rayne. She had her eyes closed as she fought to catch her breath. Sitting up, Kelsey moved back until she was leaning against a smooth area on the wall. She’d spent a lot of time here before she went away to school, pondering her future. She grinned. It hadn’t exactly worked out the way she’d pictured. There hadn’t been any shifters, mates or furry tails, in any of the scenarios she’d imagined.

Biting her lip, she looked over to where she’d scratched her initials into the pale stone. Underneath those were Gage’s. The plus sign wasn’t very visible, but she knew it was there.

“I’m so tired,” Rayne whispered.

Kelsey looked back over at her. “Me too.”

Rayne turned on her side and opened her eyes to look over at her. “We wouldn’t have made it this far if we hadn’t…”

Wincing, Kelsey covered her ears. “Don’t talk about that. Ever.” She dropped her hands and held them over her stomach. “My stomach is still churning.”

Smiling, Rayne studied her for a moment. “We could talk about boys.” She wiggled her eyebrows at her.

Snorting, Kelsey rested her head back against the wall. “I’ve had enough talk about men to last a lifetime.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “It’s been all mate this, mate that, and then that heat…” She stopped and sat up. “It hasn’t come back.”

Rayne pushed up until she was sitting facing her. “Maybe your body decided you’d been through enough for the first time around.”

Kelsey hissed out a breath. “That’s for sure.” Looking down at her palms, she cringed when she saw how dirty she was. “I’m not going to mourn it going away.”

“I don’t think I’d miss it either.” She grinned. “My sex life with Devin is quite full enough, I don’t know how we’d fit in anymore…”

Kelsey waved her hands, feeling her cheeks heat. “Don’t talk about it.”

Rayne laughed. “Afraid I’ll jinx it?”

That, and hearing about sex was something Kelsey didn’t think she’d ever be completely comfortable with. “Something like that.”

“It’s a good thing,” Rayne said as she examined her scraped legs.

“What is?” Kelsey straightened a leg and tried to see how badly cut it was.

“That the heat’s gone.” Rayne tried to run her fingers through her tangled hair, then shook her head and gave up. “Now when you’re horny for Gage you’ll know it isn’t driven by your cycle to breed.”

Kelsey bit her lip. She hadn’t thought of it that way. “So, the draw to your mate isn’t as intense?”

Rayne leaned back on her hands and studied her. “The sex is intense, and there is a draw to be with your mate, or when they’re near, but it’s not uncontrollable.” She grinned. “Well, unless you don’t want to control it.”

Kelsey nodded, like she understood when she really didn’t. She’d always wanted Gage, but she’d never wanted to devour him like she had with the heat burning through her. “I guess it will get easier for me to figure things out.”

Rayne moved over to the edge of the shelf and sat back down. “You’re still not sure what you want to do?”

Kelsey followed her over and looked out, hoping she’d see signs of life somewhere. “Honestly, I have no idea.” She ran her finger over the rough stone they sat on. “I won’t lie and say I don’t enjoy being with Gage, but I still don’t know if…”

“He hasn’t said a word about love, has he?”

Kelsey gave her a shrug. “No.”

“Men are so stupid sometimes,” Rayne mumbled.

“Sometimes?”

“Kelsey, I’ve seen the way the man looks at you and watches you. He loves you.” She snorted. “Blair has the same look on his face, but it’s not as intense.”

“I’ve never noticed any looks from either of them.” She blew out a quiet breath. “Well, I’ve noticed the way Gage looks at me the last few days…”

Shaking her head, Rayne moved over closer. “Like he wants to take a bite, that would just mean he’s horny. I’m talking about the way he looks at you when he doesn’t think anyone is watching.”

Kelsey bit her lip and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“And I think you love him too.”

Shrugging, she looked over the darkening forest. “I’ve been totally obsessed with the man since I grew boobs, or thereabouts.”

“It may have started as a teen crush, but it’s more now.” Rayne nudged her with her shoulder. “Do you trust him?”

Kelsey nodded. “Of course.”

“Does he make you laugh when you really want to cry?”

“Sure.”

Rayne bobbed her head. “Okay, so does he piss you off like no one ever has?”

Grinning, Kelsey looked at her. “Well, all the guys do, but Gage excels at it.”

“I think my mate has the golden award myself.” Rayne sobered and looked at her, searching her face. “Can you see your life without him in it?”

Just the thought of no Gage made her chest ache. She remembered what he’d said if she didn’t want to mate with him, that he’d go away. It had bothered her then, but now, after they’d shared so much, she couldn’t see not having Gage there. “I…” She stiffened and sat forward, there was something moving not far from where they were. “Shhh.” She motioned in the direction the noise had come from.

Rayne turned and looked, then sat still and quiet, neither dared to breathe. “Is it them?” Rayne whispered and inhaled deeply. “I can’t tell.”

Leaning out over the edge, Kelsey took a deep breath and closed her eyes. There were so many scents to sort through. Opening her eyes, she bit her lip. “I’m not sure…” Branches snapping and leaves rustling had them both leaning away from the edge as a large orange tiger came crashing through the trees. It ran at full stride until it was at the base of the rocks, right where they’d started climbing. Prowling from side to side it sniffed the ground and then stopped and looked up.

“Is it Gage?” Rayne looked over the ledge.

Kelsey grinned. “It’s Noah.” Getting onto her knees, she leaned out and looked down at the animal looking up at her. Noah chirruped at her and then turned around and emitted a louder yowl in the direction of the trees. Heavy footfalls could be heard, with branches cracking as they moved rapidly in their direction.

“Kelsey.” Gage came running out of the trees; Devin was right on his heels. They both came to a quick stop beside Noah. Noah turned around and looked up at them. “Honey, how the hell did you get up there?”

“You okay, Rayne?” Devin stared up at them.

“We’re both fine,” Rayne said relief clear in her voice.

“I didn’t know how long it would take you guys to find us, so I wanted to stay put somewhere safe,” she called down to Gage. Her heart was pounding at the sight of him.

“And how were you planning on getting down when we found you, honey?”

She could hear the exhaustion in his voice. Biting her lip, she looked at Rayne, who had the same blank look on her face as she couldn’t think of an answer. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Blair, Cooper and Gary came through the trees. They all stopped and looked up at them. Cooper shook his head and then walked over to Devin. Blair said something to Gary, who nodded and then turned around. “Gary’s going to grab the rope out of the truck.” He sauntered over to stand with the other men and then looked up at them. “You ladies all right up there for a few more minutes?”

Rayne hugged Kelsey with one arm and let out a slow breath. Kelsey grinned at her and looked back down at him. “I think we’ll be okay for a few more.”

“Kelsey, where are they?” Gage’s tone was hard.

Kelsey didn’t need to ask who—she knew what would be on Gage’s mind now that he’d found them. “We don’t know where one went, but we left the other hanging in a water drain in at an abandoned quarry.” She shook her head. “I don’t know where though.”

Cooper said something to Gage, who nodded. “We have a good idea.”

A large, dark tiger came running out of the trees with a rope hanging from his mouth. It was Jake.

Blair took the rope and handed it to Gage. She strained to hear what was being said, but they kept their voices quiet, neither she nor Rayne was able to hear them. Blair looked back up at them, even in the dark she could see his whole posture change. His stance told her that the easy-going man had just become a lethal predator. He stood there for a few more seconds and then headed back the way they’d come. Noah and Jake turned to follow him. Kelsey glanced at Rayne, and they both knew where they were going.

“Just hang on, honey, I’ll be up in a few minutes.” Gage pulled the rope over one arm and his head and moved toward the rock. Devin was right beside him.