Chapter 1
Traitor!
The sound of swaying pines creaking in the harsh wind and the light swooshing of hard flakes bouncing off the crusted snow’s surface was all Bellis StCroix could hear. Monroe’s most favored Skin Walker assassin, Bellis, had been sent to bring in a traitor. He slowly canted his head as he watched her through narrowed eyes.
Dark-haired and pale-skinned, she was actually quite beautiful. Wavy hair, not quite as dark as the formfitting black bodysuit she wore, barely brushed her shoulders. Striking, no doubt, but it was her eyes that held his attention. Blue, but no color blue he’d ever seen. Well, almost. His own eyes were inky-black, with mere pinpoints of neon-blue in the center. Hers nearly matched the blue of his own.
Bellis eyed her clothing. Odd. Shiny, and fitting her trim body like a second skin, it left nothing to the imagination. Her breasts were full, her hips and ass rounded, but she was fit. A warrior, if the weapons strapped to her thighs and the blood seeping from her nose were anything to go by.
She’d come rushing from one of the dilapidated buildings mirroring several other structures in what was left of this ghosted-out mining town. Dozens of these old, forgotten towns peppered the state. That particular building held the scent of Walkers, Keepers, humans, and Megalya.
Once the door slammed behind the female she’d thrown herself back against it as a sob wrenched from her throat. She stood staring up at the sky, her breath harsh pants that exploded in little cloud bursts in the frigid air.
Studying her, Bellis felt an odd sensation he chalked up to disgust. Even from this distance he could scent her regret and…Walker blood. It had to be her, the person Monroe sent him for. This woman was the traitor. Monroe hadn’t said his prey would be female, and Bellis wondered at that. His natural first instinct had been to seek out a male. Hmph! You never knew what to expect when dealing with Monroe StoneCrow or Skin Walker enemies.
Dipping his head he frowned as he watched the female, flaring his nostrils as he drank in her scent. He didn’t want to forget it, to lose it. If something happened and he couldn’t get to her now, he wanted to have her so firmly imprinted on his memory that he’d know her anywhere. Her scent, covered in the blood of his people, caused his inner beasts to stir.
Monroe had given Bellis one clear directive. Bring the traitor to the Dominant.
Canting his head, he balled his large hands into fists, watching the female. Someone would pay for the breach at StoneCrow, for the injured and the dead. His eyes narrowed as he watched her drop to her knees in the snow and frantically scrub her hands with fistfuls of snow. She would pay for what had been done at StoneCrow. She would pay for any injury sustained by the missing Keeper, Walkers, and human staff who had been taken.
Decided, Bellis was about to step forward when he suddenly tensed. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement. He didn’t turn in that direction, didn’t even move. Just his eyes flicked in that direction before cutting back to the woman. She was still panting in the snow, trying to scrub herself clean, oblivious to the fact that now not one, but two predators were hunting her. Fucking Keepers! They wouldn’t keep him from his mission. No one would. Stepping from the dark recess where he hid, he sneered at the Keeper he knew as Hero and declared, his voice barely audible, “Mine!”
A noise had the woman gasping, which drew both Hero and Bellis’ attention.
A Bengal tiger, Bellis assumed one of the Keeper’s Soul Sentries, stepped into the clearing and snarled at the female.
To Bellis’ shock, she scrambled to her feet, balling tiny blood and ice crusted hands into fists and challenged, “Run now, Walker, before you regret your decision.”
The tiger angled his head, staring at her curiously, and Bellis made his move. It was easier than it should have been. The Keepers were confused by his actions and their own numbers. It was exactly why Bellis worked alone. The tiger reared back, lips peeling back to reveal sharp teeth as Bellis raced to the female. Behind him, he heard Hero’s muttered curse and then crashing in the brush, which told him Hero had more Keepers with him. The commotion drew the tiger’s attention.
Bellis snatched the female, one hand clamped over her mouth as he hauled her off her feet and disappeared into the forest. He pulled a pressure syringe from between his teeth, injecting the serum into the woman’s arm before she even knew to struggle. Her dead weight was easier to handle than her fighting would have been. And just that easily, Bellis and his prize were gone.