Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Eastern Europe is too thin to hold. Failure imminent.

I'm forcing an emergency psychic migration to the nearest safe zones by utilizing my own power to move people—but it's a stopgap measure. They can't remain in a different part of the psychic network than their physical location for too long.

Kaleb, Nikita, I need your assistance.

Payal, watch the Substrate. Ivy, we need the Honeycomb to move with these people.

Anthony, it might be time for you to consult your foreseers as you offered. Perhaps they can see something that'll help us.

—Emergency alert from Aden Kai to the Ruling Coalition (10 November 2083)

THIRTY SECONDS AFTER Auden pronounced the bed frame safe for her, he had the futon on it, along with her pillow and blanket. Ten seconds after that, she was lying on the bed with a sigh of satisfaction.

Her feet did a happy little wiggle.

Half a minute later, while he was checking every seal and join a third time over, she curled over onto her side and her eyes fluttered shut. He figured she was testing the bed by really sinking into her ability—but by the time he finished his final check and came around to face her, it was to see that her eyes were still closed, her breathing deep and even.

She'd fallen asleep.

Protective warmth spread through him as he picked up the blanket at the foot of the bed and spread it out over her. Making a little murmuring sound in her sleep, she snuggled deeper into the bed.

Didn't look like she was having trouble with his imprint.

His entire body tightened with a raw possessiveness.

But much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay and watch over her sleep. He'd been away from the den for most of the day, needed to go and deal with multiple small matters. It was early enough that a juvenile who needed to be disciplined would still be up—and Remi would never leave the boy hanging overnight—and all the adults would be available for various discussions.

More than that, his young pack needed to know their alpha slept close by. It wasn't that he could never be away from them at night, but this proximate to all the nights he'd spent away because of business commitments? It was necessary. His presence while they slept would calm their animals, allow them to rest in truth. The cubs, especially, reacted to Remi being in the vicinity.

But leaving Auden alone wasn't an option.

Stepping outside, he closed the door behind himself, then made a call. Angel didn't answer; his best friend was probably running in tiger form. Remi was considering who else might have availability when a tiger prowled out of the trees.

Of course Angel had figured out that Remi might need backup tonight. That was why he was RainFire's second-in-command. "Keep an eye on her?" Remi crouched down, put his hand on Angel's back.

Because Angel was a tiger—tigers were far more reclusive than leopards when it came to changelings—their bond wasn't the same as the alpha-sentinel one he had with Lark, Theo, and Rina. It was that of equals, especially given their history together. Angel would always be Remi's friend first, his sentinel second.

Tonight, the tiger nodded to show he'd accept the charge.

"Shouldn't be any problems," Remi said, "but I'll leave my phone here in case you need to call for an assist." He'd have access to his main comm at the den, and Angel could always call one of the other senior people directly, who'd then contact Remi.

Angel waited with feline patience as Remi walked into the shadow of the trees.

Stripping, he left his phone on the pile of his clothes, then shifted. His body disintegrated into endless pieces of light in an ecstasy of pain, only to become again a heartbeat later.

His leopard stretched, flexing its back, before padding out to meet Angel in the clearing. They brushed past each other in silent greeting, then Remi took one last look at the cabin before turning toward the forest and breaking out into the leopard's ground-devouring lope.

···

FINE streamers of blue in Auden's dreams, so thin they were spidersilk against a night sky brilliant with starlight. Breath a soft gasp, she reached out a hand to tangle her fingers around the silk and felt her baby giggle in delight. It saw the web, too, was as intrigued by it as Auden.

Her eyes opened.

The first thing of which she was aware was warmth and softness. She was cocooned snugly in bed, surrounded by an imprint that felt like a purr to her senses. Shivering, she began to snuggle back down.

Only for her bladder to protest.

Groaning, she threw off the blanket and made her way to the facilities. Afterward, she glanced at the window and it seemed to her that the world held the barest edge of light, a sheen of dark gray to it.

One glance at the clock showed her it was about an hour till true dawn.

She'd gotten lucky her body hadn't woken her up earlier.

Feeling as if she'd slept the sleep of the dead, heavy and deep, she decided to stretch a little by walking off the stiffness from having been in much the same position most of the night. It had been the best sleep she'd had for months…because of him. The man who'd built her the bed while being annoyed with her because he thought she wasn't taking care of herself.

Strange how that annoyance translated into a warm embrace in his imprint. As if he was cuddling her close even though he was irritated by her. Never would she have thought that would feel so good.

Part of her hoped he'd be outside when she opened the door, but it was a tiger that prowled out of the forest to look at her with unblinking eyes of shining gold. Her hand clenched on the doorjamb. "Changeling?" It came out tense, wary.

A slow nod, the tiger keeping its distance—no doubt because it could sense her fear.

When it tilted its head slightly upward, she understood the question. "Just needing to walk a bit."

Not responding, the tiger melted back into the trees with such stealth that she didn't even see it go. Had to be one of Remi's people, even if he was the wrong species of cat.

It made her wonder what other species made up RainFire.

So many questions she had about the man who had…looked after her. No one had done that for her since the day of her father's betrayal. And that betrayal had tainted anything Henry had done prior to it.

Cheeks chilled, and heart achy from missing a man to whom she was an obligation of kindness, she stepped back inside the cabin. Hunger was nipping at her, and the one thing Auden would never do was starve her precious baby.

"Let Mama put something together," she said to the child in her womb whose mind was already a delicate brightness. "Then I'll sit down and read more of the parenting and infant care books I downloaded onto my organizer."

She knew what Charisma and Dr.Verhoeven had planned, that they intended to take the baby and have professional nannies assume her care, but Auden wasn't about to permit that to happen. She'd chosen who she intended to trust with her child, a man wild and protective, and that man wouldn't ever try to keep her from Auden.

A scratching sound on the door some time later startled her out of her concentration on the text. Cocking her head, she listened…and heard it again. A deliberate sound.

Heart thumping, she shifted to get out of bed.

Nothing scratched again the entire time it took her to get to the door, and she suddenly felt foolish. Remi no doubt had a thousand calls on his time. He wasn't out there at her door. It might even be a dangerous wild animal.

Opening the window to the right hand side of the door, she looked out.

A leopard sat by her door, its tail waving lazily. Rising when it spotted her, it let out a rumbling growl that didn't seem like a threat but a greeting.

"Remi?" she whispered. "Is that you?"

The air shimmered around the huge jungle cat in incandescent golden sparks, and where it had stood now crouched a muscled man with tousled hair of endless shades of brown and eyes that were still cat. His skin gleamed in the dawn light, his body devoid of clothing.

Beautiful. He was beautiful.

"Hi," he said. "Angel said you were awake."

Angel must be the tiger, she thought. "Hold on, I'll open the door."

"I'll shift back," he said, those eyes gleaming at her primal and potent. "Save your eyes from my birthday suit."

Flushing as she realized he'd be fully visible to her if he rose from his crouch, she couldn't help but watch the transition again. His body breaking apart into a million pieces of light before forming once again into the powerful shape of the leopard that was his other half. Her fingers curled into her palm, the urge to touch almost overwhelming.

He looked over.

"Just a second," she said, and closed the window before walking over to unlock the door. "Come in."

The leopard on the doorstep hesitated.

"Oh," she said, her eyes flaring. "I've never knowingly touched a new changeling imprint when a changeling is in their other form. I don't know the impact."

Raising one deadly-looking paw, his claws out, Remi just brushed the side of the doorway. Auden went to touch it, test her senses—and hit an immediate snag. "I can't bend that far."

They stared at each other, her halfway down, him looking up. And suddenly, she felt a snort of laughter leave her lips, followed by another and another, until she was laughing so hard that she had to brace her hand against the door to keep herself upright. The leopard's eyes gleamed, as if he was laughing along with her.

It was the first time in her life she could remember feeling untrammeled joy.

After she recovered enough to think, she said, "Can you touch anything higher?"

The leopard padded back and back, before bunching up its body into a pounding run toward her door. Her eyes widened as it went airborne. A bang from above as the cat landed on her roof.

She was staring upward in shock when the leopard curled its paws over the top of the doorway, and peered down at her. So close, she could see all the striations in the yellow-green of its irises, sense how the eyes held both an intense wildness and something that wasn't animal at all, but the human part of his self.

"Beautiful," she whispered, her hand rising before she was aware of it.

The leopard didn't attempt to escape her touch, and she found her fingers brushing the soft fur below its jaw. It grumbled and made a movement as if it tickled, but still let her touch. He was warmth and power and patience, and he compelled her.

When he growled again with more intent, she finally dropped her hand. But he wasn't mad, was just patting at the bit of the doorjamb he'd touched.

"Right," she said, and took a deep breath before brushing her fingers over the spot.

Wildness. Warmth. Remi. Red leaves shaped like stars under paws. Moonbathing. The scent of ozone before a rolling storm. Hunting, slowly stalking prey. The satisfaction of a hunt completed. Blood so hot and fresh.

"It's so different," she whispered. "I can sense you, but mostly, I sense the part of you that's the leopard." Because the leopard was in charge right now, she thought, understanding now that when a changeling shifted, they truly shifted . They weren't human in a cat's skin. They were a cat with a human part deep within.

No imprint this half of Remi left in her home would cause her hurt. Because even though the leopard had hunted, it hadn't killed for the joy of it. While she'd picked up its satisfaction, it was a satisfaction without cruelty—a simple pragmatic thing that she would've never been able to understand without touching this imprint.

"You can come inside," she said, and moved back from the doorway.

The leopard's face and paws vanished, only for his body to land in front of her not long afterward. She gasped, having no idea how such a muscular creature could land so lightly. Tail flicking, Remi prowled in and did what felt like a perimeter check to her. After which, he walked to the kitchen and looked back at her in a pointed way.

"I've eaten," she told him. "Baby here was hungry." She patted her belly, then winced.

When the leopard rumbled a question, she said, "Backache. I'm controlling it using my usual methods, but it's persistent."

Rising, the leopard prowled around, managing to open cupboards and poke its head inside as it did so. She watched, utterly fascinated by this beautiful, wild beast inside her home. She wanted to touch him again, feel the living warmth of him.

When he finally returned after his exploration, he stared at her again until she threw up her hands. "I don't need to lie down! I need to move and stretch it out."

A shimmer around the cat.

Her breath caught.

She knew she should shut her eyes to give him privacy, but she couldn't have torn away her gaze if her life depended on it—so she was looking right at him when a tall and muscular man appeared where the cat had been a heartbeat ago.

This time, he didn't remain in a crouch.

From shoulder to flank to calf and everything in between, he was all liquid muscle and gleaming healthy skin. And wicked smile. "Hey, my face is up here," he said, the leopard there in the growl in his tone.

Her eyes jerked up, her cheeks blazing.

Eyes of leopard yellow-gold gleamed at her. "How about a back massage?"

Breath a roar in her ears, and skin so hot it was a wonder it wasn't melting off her body, Auden said, "Um." She knew words. She knew lots of words. They were just unfortunately missing from her brain right now.

"No pressure." A purring rumble that seemed designed to soothe. "I know I'd still be a naked man in your bed."

A naked man.

In her bed.

Those words somehow computed themselves into meaning. And her mouth opened. "Maybe a towel?"

"I'm teasing you, Auden." A smile in his voice. "I left my clothes outside. Give me a minute."

Disappointment curled into the pit of her stomach when he vanished out the door, even though she knew she'd been rude in how she'd stared. Except…he hadn't seemed to mind.

She turned toward the bed, not knowing what to do…and felt a stir at her back.

The movement had her turning—to look straight at an upper body that rippled with muscle, his chest lightly dusted with dark hair, and his shoulders broad. Big, she realized, he was a big man. She'd never appreciated exactly how big until this instant, when he was naked but for jeans hitched low around his hips.

"My sweatshirt is a bit damp from the morning dew." He held it up. "I'll hang it over your chair to dry. So, you comfortable with me giving you that massage?"

She jerked up her eyes again when they wanted to wander south, trace the path of the hair that narrowed down toward his groin. "How should I…?"

"Hmm." He rubbed his jaw, a frown creasing his forehead. "How about lying on your side? Is that fairly comfortable?"

Nodding, Auden got into bed, and positioned herself the way he'd suggested. The loose pajama pants and soft sweater in deep green that she'd changed into after waking covered her more than well enough, but she still felt exposed with her back to him.

Then the bed moved, and the wave of heat that hit her was very much a primal thing.

"Okay?" Another one of those rumbling purrs that felt as if he was stroking her with his voice. "I won't touch if it's making you tense. I can run down and get a heat pack."

"No, it's okay." She forced herself to exhale. "I've just never…Tactile intimacy isn't common in my race."

"Yeah, I heard." The bed moved again, as he situated himself. She'd expected him to lie behind her, but instead, from what she saw in her peripheral vision, he was kneeling in a position that allowed him to see her back.

"I think I can get better leverage this way," he said. "But you tell me how it feels."

She nodded.

"Auden?" This time it was mostly a purr.

Her toes curled. "Yes?" she whispered.

"I need you to tell me if it hurts or if you don't like it or even if my touch is too much for you. Don't let me hurt you without meaning to." Gentle words that held a demand—the first hint this morning of the dominant alpha that lived under Remi's skin.

She shivered, responding to that in a way that confused her. Control was critical for her. She didn't want anyone else to have it over her. And yet there was a wild pleasure in knowing that if she yielded it to him, he'd know exactly what to do—and the one thing he wouldn't do was hurt her.

"I'll tell you," she promised, because even in her confusion, she knew this was important.

"Good girl."

She wasn't a girl. But her toes curled even harder at the praise, her teeth sinking into her lower lip.