When they finally crossed the border, Bob started making calls. His SUV was wired for sound so he didn’t have to stop the vehicle in order to talk. With her sharp, shifter hearing, Serena would probably hear the conversation anyway, so he just went ahead and made the calls within the confines of the car, knowing she would hear all.

The first person he contacted was his brother Grif. As Alpha of the Redstone Clan, he was at the highest level of the hierarchy, the strongest link in the chain. He had to get Grif’s approval for Serena to be admitted into the Clan neighborhood and put under their protection. It was mostly a formality. As a general rule, if Bob, or one of their other brothers had given his word, Grif would go along with it, trusting to his brother to have thought things through and not to have made any offers lightly. Unless there was something going on that Bob didn’t know about, all would be well on the topic of his promise to keep Serena safe in Las Vegas.

He hit the speed-dial button, the audio playing through his SUV’s sound system. The phone rang twice and then a female voice answered.

“How are things in Montana?” the youngest Redstone asked. Teenaged Belinda lived with Grif and Lindsey.

They had all lived in the same house with their mother when they first moved to Las Vegas a few years ago. Little by little, the younger brothers had built their own places in the area, but the house where the Alpha lived was still considered the family homestead. It had become a place of warmth and light again when Grif had brought Lindsey home to stay.

“Things are a little rough at the moment,” Bob answered his baby sister. “I’m on the road. Is Grif around? I really need to speak to him.” Although he tried to temper his words, he also needed to convey the urgency that drove him.

“I’ll get him.” Belinda seemed to understand his tone. Bob could hear her bellowing Grif’s name in the background as she scampered through the house. He could easily hear her soft footsteps and the jostling of the phone as she sought their eldest brother. A minute later, Grif’s voice came over the SUV’s speakers.

“What’s up? You weren’t due to call in for another day or two.”

“Code Red on the mountain,” Bob reported. “There’s some kind of assault underway. They’re evacuating the non-combatants. I’m on the road with one and she’s listening in on our call. I’ve promised her we’d look after her. Rocky asked and I agreed. Is it okay with you, Alpha?” Bob asked formally. He couldn’t go into too many details over the phone. It was always possible someone might be monitoring the airwaves, even though he had scrambled his signal.

“I’ll want to know more when you get here, but if you promised, it’s okay with me.” Grif’s response was all Bob could have hoped for. The fact that his brother trusted him so completely was something he never took for granted.

“Thing is, there’s someone else in danger. Someone I agreed to find and warn. He’s off the grid in the Cascades. Is there any way we can get a secure flight to meet my friend at Spokane? The Lords are unable to help and every air asset they have is already in use. Added complication is some nasty weather moving in.”

“Let me check with Steve and see what we can scramble,” Grif sounded doubtful. “I’ve seen the weather reports and the storm that’s heading your way might pose a problem for air travel in the whole region. You can probably still get through on the ground though.”

“I had hoped to drop off my friend and continue on to the Cascades. Originally, I was going to drive her home, then come back, but she convinced me the person I need to warn may not have that kind of time.”

“Your friend is one of us?” Grif asked.

“Related species. You’re gonna laugh, but she’s a bobcat.”

Sure enough, Grif did laugh at the irony of Bob—a cougar shifter—making friends with a bobcat shifter when he’d been called “Bobcat” almost all his life as a sort of nickname. At first his brothers had used it as a teasing insult because bobcats were so much smaller than cougars. It was also a play on his name, of course, and the fact that he could turn into a big cat.

“Yeah, I know,” Bob cut into his brother’s laughter. “Should I call Steve or will you?”

Grif was still chuckling when he replied. “I’ll do it. You concentrate on driving. Stay safe little bro. One of us will call back when we know more about the flight situation.”

Grif was still chuckling when they signed off. Bob switched the radio on to seek the weather report and left it on low volume in the background while he waited for the announcer to get back around to the heart of the forecast.

“Your brother sounds nice,” Serena offered from the passenger seat.

“He’s a damn good Clan Alpha,” Bob agreed, adjusting the windshield wipers as the rain intensified.

“And the girl, was that your sister?” Serena seemed to want to talk.

“Belinda. Yeah, she’s the youngest of us all. Still a teen. Going rapidly from cute as a button to femme fatale. Lady help us all when she starts dating.” He rolled his eyes comically, but it was only half in jest.

He, like all his brothers, was intensely protective of Belinda—the only female left of their direct line. They had already lost their older sister a few years before their mother had been murdered, so Belinda was watched extra closely. Nobody wanted anything to happen to her. The brothers couldn’t take another loss like that. Bob especially, wanted Belinda to live a long and healthy life and have a few children of her own that he could spoil as their Uncle Bob. He looked forward to it, though he didn’t look forward to vetting the young men who were bound to come around, wanting to date his little sister.

It was going to take a very special guy to run the gamut of the five Redstone brothers and be allowed to mate with their little sister. They had time yet. Belinda was still young. But in a couple of years, the boys would start testing their luck, asking her out. It was going to be a hellish few years until she grew up enough to find her true mate.

“It must be nice for her,” Serena said in a wistful voice that made Bob glance at her. “Having a family that cares, I mean,” she clarified when she caught him looking. Her voice was quiet, carefully contained, but Bob could hear the sadness and pain in her tone. He reached out to cover her hand with his.

“Belinda has been through tragedy and come out stronger on the other side. You have too. She had her family to lean on, of course, but now sweetheart, you have me. I’ve promised my protection and that’s not something that will change anytime soon.”

She stilled, watching him, her eyes filled with wonder…and suspicion.

“Why? You just met me. We’re not even the same species.”

Bob knew the way he answered could either reassure her or frighten her off. He didn’t want to reveal too much in case the depth of his feelings scared her away. He had to play this cool, for now. Let her work her way up to the same intensity of feeling he was discovering inside himself where she was concerned.

He shrugged, though his feelings were definitely not as casual as he tried to appear. “Close enough. We’re both cats. And I’ve been called Bobcat by my friends and family for most of my life.” He chuckled a bit, trying to be nonchalant. “As to why…” He allowed his words to trail off as if he was considering how to respond. And in truth, he was. He had to find the right words, but was afraid he would fail miserably. “Let’s just say, I like you. A lot. More than any woman I’ve met in a long time. And though it may sound strange, in some ways, you remind me of my older sister. I sort of wish she’d had someone like me around, willing to help her when she was in trouble. Or you could say I have a fondness for small, defenseless things.”

She growled at him in the first real show of spirit her cat had given him. “I’m not totally defenseless.” She looked away, training her gaze out the window. “And I’m not your sister.”

On that he could agree. “Thank the Goddess for that.”

He might’ve said more but the phone rang through the car speakers at that moment. He checked the number and realized it was Steve. He hit the button to activate the call.

“If you’re heading for the Spokane airport, don’t,” Steve said in lieu of hello. “In fact, don’t go near any airport in the region, even the small ones. The Lords sent an urgent message to all Clan leadership. Their people have had serious trouble getting out by air. A few are dead. Many injured. Running battles in and around the local airstrips and the Lords themselves are pinned down on their mountain. So far, they’re holding their own, but the enemy is well prepared and has a lot more resources than anyone expected. Worse news—this seems to be a simultaneous strike on all shifter monarchs in North America. It might possibly extend farther, into Europe and South America, but I don’t have confirmation yet. So far, we’ve heard of strikes against a few of the big cat kings and queens and a possible attack on the tiger stronghold in Iceland. We’re waiting for confirmation on that and on a rumored strike in the Balkans. Information from South America is coming in now and it looks like something’s going on there too. This is bigger than anything we’ve seen before, Bob.” Steve’s voice sounded grim.

“Sweet Mother of All,” Bob swore under his breath as the news sank in. He thought fast, trying to figure out what his next step should be. He could turn around and try to help the Lords, but it probably wouldn’t do any good, and it would put Serena right back into danger. And if shifters were being targeted in such a big way… “What about the Clan? Do you need me to come home?”

“We’re fine for now. On high alert and keeping everyone close. Grif said you have a need to go into the Cascade Range.” The statement was more of a question.

“How secure is this connection?” If anyone would know, it would be Steve, the Clan’s security expert. “Can I speak openly?”

“Just put new scrambling tech on my end last week and I know your vehicle has the latest. I upgraded your software before you left. Speak freely. We’re as safe as I know how to make us.”

Bob breathed a sigh of relief. Communication was key and he had felt hampered in the last call he’d made home, unsure of how much he could say.

“We analyzed some of Miranda’s notes in light of information the Lords had. There’s a former Spec Ops guy named Jeremy Devereaux—goes by the name Jezza—who helped my friend Serena get out of a bad situation in the Cascades. He’s off the grid. Apparently he has a sat phone but nobody has the number. He’s been working against shifter drug runners near the Canadian border and piecing our information together, we believe he’s being targeted by the Venifucus. The Lords were going to send out a team to find him and warn him, but then the shit hit the fan this morning and we made a run for the border. They asked me to get Serena to safety. I’d rather not take her back to the Cascades. It was hard enough for her to get out the first time. Jezza called in that guy Ben Steel—the former SEAL and ex-Altor Custodis agent. Matt knows him. He helped Serena escape the first time, but if I bring her back into the area, it’s possible we’ll run across some of her old Clan, and that wouldn’t go over too well.”

“I can handle myself if I have to,” Serena said to Bob, though she had to know that Steve would hear it too over the phone. Her voice was small, but strong. Almost resigned.

“You might have to,” Steve said over the SUV’s speakers, his voice deadly serious. “I know Jezza. I served with him. And before you ask, no, I don’t have his sat phone number. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken, but if he’s gone native, it’s going to be hard to find him. Dude’s like a ninja and extra sharp in the woods. The fact that you know the area, Serena, will be invaluable to Bob in tracking him.”

“Hey—” Bob began, but Steve cut him off. Bob was surprised his older brother would talk over his head, as it were, to address Serena directly. It stirred Bob’s protective instincts, even though he was probably overreacting.

“I know you’re a damn good tracker bro. I’m not dissing your skills. But if it’s the lady’s home range, she’ll know where to look. You won’t. If she goes in with you, you’ll have an advantage. Besides, there’s not much other choice unless you want to come south first, drop her off—even if one of us meets you halfway—and then go back north. It’ll take too long. The Venifucus are on the move as we speak, and a lot better organized and manned than any of us thought. If Jezza’s been targeted, he might already be dead. Somebody’s got to either confirm that or warn him so he can take precautions. He’s an important man to have on our side, Bob. You don’t know him like I do. He’s got serious skills. Skills that rival Slade’s. Magical stuff. Things we’ll need if this battle continues to escalate—which I believe it will.”

“Damn.” Bob thought about the situation. All airports off limits. No way to get Serena to safety and a very big need to get to Jezza. They really did have no other choice. “Serena, honey, I know I promised to take you to safety—”

“Don’t sweat it.” She surprised Bob with her strong tone. It sounded like his fluffy little kitten had found her backbone. “I owe Jezza for getting me out of there in the first place. I’m not quite the same girl who escaped the Cascade Clan. I’ve grown and I’ve learned. I’m stronger now, and this is important. It wouldn’t be right for me to leave Jezza in danger when I can help you find him. With any luck, my adoptive family and the rest of the Clan will never even see me. We can get in, and get out again, without anyone the wiser. If we’re careful.”

“I like her already,” Steve put in after a short moment of silence. His humor-laced tone broke the mood a bit. “I’m Steve, by the way. Is it true you’re a bobcat?”

She cocked her head to the side and gave Bob a quizzical look at Steve’s question. “It’s true. The Cascade Clan is all bobcat. There’s a wolf Pack farther south in the range, but the bobs keep to their own territory most of the time and chase others out. There’s not a lot of inter-species interaction.”

“Things are a lot different down here. Our Clan is multi-species. I think you’ll like it when you finally get here,” Steve offered. Bob’s inner cat liked the way his older brother spoke with such confidence, as if Serena’s place in the Redstone Clan was a foregone conclusion. “You know, it occurs to me, that I may be able to send you some help. Not shifter.” Steve was quick to add. “But there are some friends I can call that might be able to help. For one, I’ll see if we can locate Ben Steel. If he’s still in the area, he might be a good resource, since the lady already knows him. I never worked with him personally, but I’ve done some research since Matt told us about him and I’ve heard good things.”

Bob wasn’t sure about trusting anyone who had worked for the Altor Custodis, but he could definitely use some help, and beggars couldn’t be choosers. There was also still one other avenue they could try that hadn’t really been mentioned.

“Do you know anybody else who might have Jezza’s sat phone number?” Bob asked. “Maybe some of your old Army colleagues—or some of Slade’s Agency connections?”

“I’ll work on it, but don’t hold your breath. If Jezza doesn’t want to be found, he’s not going to be found easily. The only real way is the old fashioned way. Put yourself in his path and if he recognizes you as friendly, he might show himself.” Steve’s reply wasn’t what Bob wanted to hear.

“So I guess we’re heading into the Cascades whether we like it or not.” Bob finally put the distasteful thought into words. He reached across the center console to place his hand over Serena’s. “I’m sorry to have to take you back there, sweetheart.”

“It’s okay,” she answered in a small voice. That she was trying so hard to be brave was like a kick to his gut. He had promised to keep her out of danger and here he was, driving her right back into the teeth of it. “It’ll probably be good for me to face some more of my fears.”

“That’s the spirit,” Steve said in an encouraging tone. Bob wanted to tell his older brother to shut the hell up, but Serena seemed to gain strength from Steve’s confident words. “You know, Bob, this attack on the leadership is serious,” Steve went on. “The Venifucus are way better organized than anyone thought and they have a lot more manpower. This is probably just the first volley. Do what you need to do, then hightail it back here. It just might be time to start circling the wagons.”

“I hear you, bro,” Bob answered, his thoughts grim.

They had been dealing with the Venifucus threat since the murder of their matriarch, but nobody had thought the group had such reach or power. Until now, there had only been sporadic skirmishes with small groups or single perpetrators who had Venifucus ties. But this… It was large-scale and might span a good portion of the globe. The true length of their reach didn’t bear thinking about.

“We’ll do this as quickly as possible and then we head for home,” Bob reassured his brother. “I’ll be in touch and you can reach me anytime we’re in the vehicle. I have some equipment in the back, as you well know, and you have my numbers. It would be best if we did pre-arranged check-ins. I’ll call you on twelves and sixes, okay? Morning and night. Even if I have nothing new to report.”

“Good man,” Steve approved the plan. “I’ll be watching for your calls and if you miss one, I’ll send out whatever cavalry I can manage. Just be careful. The good guys are spread pretty thin at the moment.” He paused for a beat then his tone changed. “I’ll look forward to meeting you in person, Serena. Keep my little brother safe, okay?”

She laughed at that, as Steve had probably intended. For all his serious-soldier demeanor, he certainly did know how to charm females. Thankfully, he was newly mated and posed no competition for Serena’s attention. Even so, the cougar inside Bob bristled a bit.

“I think it’ll be more the other way around,” she quipped, “but I’ll do my best.”

They signed off without much more ado and that left Bob and Serena enclosed in the quiet cab of the SUV. The rain outside was worsening and made them feel even more isolated.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Bob insisted, breaking the silence after a while.

He was tense. He really didn’t like taking her into danger, regardless of what she said. Her brave act wasn’t fooling him. He knew she didn’t want to go back, but her sense of honor wouldn’t let her do anything less to help the man who had risked so much to help her.

“I know,” she answered in a careful tone after a moment’s thought. “Have you ever considered that sometimes circumstances force you to face things you otherwise wouldn’t want to even think about? Like maybe we’re guided to do things that we don’t want to do? Like it’s fate or something?”

“You think fate is making you go back to the Cascades?” Bob didn’t like that thought one bit. “I’ve seen the Goddess in action a lot lately and I have to tell you, you don’t want any part of that business. It’s too dangerous.”

He thought about the bloody battles his brothers and their mates had fought and the way the Lady Goddess seemed to guide their paths. Those paths had not been easy ones and he didn’t want that kind of struggle for Serena. She had already been through enough as far as he was concerned.

“I wouldn’t presume to say that the Goddess even knows I exist,” she was quick to clarify, “but it does seem strange to me that there’s no other reasonable choice. Not if we want to warn Jezza. I mean, there is a choice. I could choose to be selfish and put my own safety first. Or I could choose the noble path—the right thing to do—and put myself out a bit to try to get word to him.”

“Put yourself out a bit?” His voice rose as he repeated her words. “Honey, going back to a place you needed help to escape in the first place is doing more than just putting yourself out a bit.”

She laughed, much to his consternation. This was not a laughing matter.

“Can’t you see? I don’t have a choice.” She seemed to sober as she turned to him in the confines of the SUV’s cab. He glanced at her occasionally while he continued to drive. “Not if I want to be the person I am working to become. Not if I want to have integrity and pride. Not if I want to be strong.”

“Serena, there are other ways to be strong.” He had to admit though, she had a point. If she was male—and not a woman he was interested in romantically—he probably would have admired her spirit. Hell, he already did admire her spirit, even if it also scared the shit out of him. “Okay. I see your point…but I really don’t have to like it.”

She laughed again and he just shook his head. This wasn’t an argument he was going to win apparently.

 

They avoided anything even resembling an airstrip on their way through the mountains of eastern Oregon. They had stopped for fuel—both gas for the SUV and food for themselves—just inside the Idaho state line, then hopped right back on the road.

They still had a ways to go. The Cascade Range was a bit farther west, almost right up against the coast and included some famous—or rather, infamous—volcanoes such as Mount Saint Helens and Lassen Peak.

The position of the mountains right near the coast meant lots of weather. In the winter, that meant lots and lots of snow, but thankfully the year was warming up nicely. Although a few of the peaks stayed covered in snow year-round, the area they were aiming for on the lower slopes of Mount Baker would probably be clear. Especially with all the rain that was falling, melting any last little tidbits that remained.

Once their course had been decided and Bob accepted the fact that Serena would be coming with him, he had asked her many pointed questions about her former territory. She had been willing to talk—it was a good way to pass the time as the miles flew by and she seemed to understand how important it was that he have a grasp of the area they would be covering.

It also helped him focus. His mind kept going back to their encounter the night before and how good it had felt to hold her in his arms and be with her. She tasted like ambrosia and her honey scent drove him wild. That scent permeated the cabin of the SUV and made his inner cat want to purr, but there were important things at stake—among them, both of their lives. In the grander scheme, the safety of Jezza, the Lords, the Redstone Clan, all shifters for that matter, and even regular humans should the Venifucus succeed in their foul plans.

“There are three possibilities we should check first,” Serena had told him. “The ghost town, the caves, or the old mine. In that order.” She went on to describe the geography of each location and how they could get there with the least possibility of being seen.

Bob was glad to learn she had thought it all through very carefully. She was being cautious, which boded well for their chances of success. Just when he had thought she couldn’t surprise him, she did. He found not only did he admire her beauty and courage, but her intellect wasn’t anything to discount either. She was very smart, he discovered as they talked out their strategy, with good instincts.

“We’ll have to stop somewhere for the night. I’m not sure I want to chance a motel,” Bob said as they drove down the road. Twilight was upon them already and soon it would be full dark. “But it just so happens, the back of this SUV can double as a sleeping area in a pinch. We’ll probably be safer in here than anywhere else. We just need to find a good place to hole up for the night. What do you say? Are you up for a little camping?”

Serena looked back into the rear of the big SUV with a doubtful expression. “I’m all for safety,” she said. “But it looks like a bit of a tight fit. Are you sure it’ll work?”

Bob smiled. “Trust me.”

 

An hour later, they had found an out of the way wilderness area with dense forest on state land. With a little luck, nobody would see the dark SUV parked among the trees, well off the road. Bob had taken care to go out and erase any sign of their passage through the tall grass and parked the vehicle in such a way so that any hint of a gleam off its surfaces was dampened. He even smeared mud on some of the shiny bits, to help the vehicle blend in a bit more with its surroundings.

He scouted around the area and found only wildlife and a few curious fish in a small stream to the northeast. Dinner, if he could catch a few fat ones. But they had stocked up at the last rest stop and had a cooler full of food and drinks that should last them a few days, and a full tank of gas. He had installed an extra large capacity tank as part of his upgrades, so they could go a lot farther than most other SUVs of this type. With any luck, they wouldn’t need more fuel until after they had accomplished their mission.

“Everything looks okay out here if you want to stretch your legs,” he reported when he crept back to the SUV.

He had asked Serena to wait inside while he checked out their surroundings and she had agreed, but they had both been cooped up for most of the day inside the vehicle. It was time to stretch, answer the call of nature and prepare for the dark forest night.

“Is it safe to shift here?” she asked in a low voice. They were both speaking quietly.

“I think so, but don’t go far. There’s a little stream about twenty yards to the northeast. I’ll meet you there after I set up the back of the truck.” The delay would give her a chance to stretch a bit while he put the back seats down and got out the supplies they would need.

He turned to the back of the SUV and started working while she undressed by the passenger side door and left her clothes neatly on the seat. He allowed her a bit of privacy, but wasn’t surprised when she, in bobcat form, looked up at him from under the back bumper of the SUV. All the interior lights had been shut off and he was working using only his superior night vision. She blinked up at him before slinking out from under the vehicle and trotting away toward the stream he had told her about.

She was bigger than the normal bobcat, probably because she was a shifter, but still petite compared to him in his shifted form. He thought she was adorable, even with her stubby tail. Bobcats were named such because of their bobbed tail that was about half the length—allowing for body size—as his. It had looked a little funny to him at first, but the rest of her was just so damn gorgeous, he found it more amusing than odd.

He finished pulling supplies out of cleverly hidden storage areas and completed the setup for the night. He then locked up the SUV, shed his own clothing and shifted shape, moving toward his lady in the woods.