Chapter 11
“You have to know how much I want you around,” I said. I
snagged Ritch’s arm and turned him to face me. “Ritch….”
He looked at me with so much trust in his eyes. Maybe I had
done something right. He didn’t look away, and there was no need to fight for
dominance because he wasn’t a bonded werekin. My tiger had nothing but a need
to curl around him and purr.
“I want to be clear.” I ran my hand up his shoulder and
then cupped the back of his neck. Ritch’s eyes flared wide and his mouth
dropped open. “I want nothing more than to take you home, and I mean our home. We’re taking this at your
pace, but I don’t want you worrying about what’s going to happen after we take
out these plotting human werekin and their scientists. I want you to stay with
me.”
Ritch swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“It doesn’t have to be hard. Just go with your instincts.”
He made a face. “I don’t have instincts.”
I rubbed the side of his neck with my thumb, and he leaned
into my touch. “Yes, you do.”
Snapping branches under someone’s heavy tread reminded me
we weren’t alone, and camp, with a variety of bonded werekin with enhanced
senses, was no place to take Ritch if I let myself get out of hand. The way he
smelled was amazing, heat and want mixed with the tinge of uncertainty that
helped keep me from pulling him close and devouring him.
“I think I hear a stream,” I said instead. “Let’s go check
it out.”
The trees opened up just enough for a small stream to cut
through the forest. The water was clear, but it was moving slow.
“Oh my God, that’s cold,” Ritch said.
“I think it feels good.” I loved being surrounded by
nature. I could still hear the others, but the birds, bugs, and wind helped
mute the sounds of their voices. If it was just me and Ritch, I might convince
him to strip down and go wading. When I ran the borders of our territory, I
spent a lot of time in the wilds, and a cold stream was the only option to
clean up after a long, sweaty day of hiking. “Let’s dip our legs in.”
There was a wide rock on the edge of the water. It was a
tight fit, but we sat down side by side and dangled our feet into the water.
Well, Ritch dangled his and I rested mine against a few of the rounded rocks.
Ritch brushed against my side as he leaned back on his
fists. I shivered. “Too cold?” he asked.
“Nah, I like cold water.” My toes were already numb to the
chill.
“That seems strange, you being a tiger.” Ritch closed his
eyes and tilted his face up to watch the thin, early spring sunlight.
“Tigers love the water. I am not a big fan of pools, since
the chemicals mess with my sense of smell, but a river or a pond? I can spend
all day in the water.”
“Huh.”
I tilted my head. “Weren’t you ever curious about the kinds
of animals the werekin around you shared souls with?”
Ritch sighed. “Sometimes. But I didn’t have a lot of access
to learning. I was homeschooled, up to a point, so I could interact with humans
and not appear like an idiot, but it was all basic stuff. And my room didn’t
have a TV. Sometimes I could get books besides my lesson books, but that wasn’t
very often, and I was never allowed on the computer unsupervised.”
It made me sick, to hear about how he grew up. By
comparison, Kraig’s life was positively privileged. And I knew worse things had
happened to Ritch after his herd traded him off, and sometimes human werekin
were treated worse than animals. Kept in cages, or even killed at birth. Not
all clans would accept one, in any role. My claws scraped on the stone, and I
winced and sheathed them.
Ritch sat up, his shoulders hunched. “Don’t worry, I can
learn,” he said. “If I’m giving access to a way to do it.”
He needed some reassurance, and I needed to touch him, to
take away that slump to his spine. I put an arm around his shoulders and
squeezed him. “You already have the phone. I have a spare laptop you can use,
and we’ll get you hooked up with an email account so you can get online as soon
as we get home. And, unless I’m watching a game, the TV is all yours.”
“Really?”
I patted his arm. “Anything you need,” I promised him.
Letting Ritch go with Christian was harder than I thought
it would be. A low growl built up in my chest when I warned Christian that
Ritch wouldn’t leave his site or I’d rip his guts open, but I suppressed it
when Ritch came out of his tent. He looked tired.
“Make sure you guys pick up some coffee when you hit down.
Might be a good place to get some gossip, and you’ll need the caffeine boost so
you’re on your toes.”
I closed the door behind Ritch, then hit the top of the
car. Cameron left the SUV in case the rest of us had to move for some reason.
The rising panic inside me pissed me off, which fueled my aggression.
But I had a plan to handle it.
“Let’s see how you guys do with a sneak attack.” I was in
motion even as I yelled my warning. I kicked the wood log out from under the gator,
and he fell to the ground, hissing. The horse was up after I chucked my water
bottle at his head. I ducked behind the bear when the horse tried to throw it
back, and he roared.
Oh yeah, time for some fun.
TBC
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