Lian/Roch Read online

The internet chat rooms she’d discovered after becoming an adjunct professor had proven to be a godsend.

  She might be too introverted to mix easily with people in public, but she’d been astonishingly capable of joining in the numerous debates and scholarly exchanges in the various rooms.

  “I thought it was a brainteaser,” she confessed, easily recalling the strange conversation that had popped up on her screen. It’d taken her several hours, but she’d eventually worked out the basic construct of the unknown words and sent a message back to Xavier in the same language. “But a talent for translations doesn’t equate to mystic abilities.”

  “No, but over the years I sent you more and more obscure texts, most of which were nothing but gibberish to me.”

  She arched her brows. “Were they Pantera texts?”

  He shook his head. “They’d been written by a Shaman.”

  “Oh.” Suddenly she realized that this man had been subtly testing her over the years. He’d suspected all along that there was more to her than just another scholar. “That’s why you had me brought here.”

  “I’d hoped you could decipher the scrolls. I didn’t know they were a spell,” he readily confessed, his fingers tightening on her arms. “Will you help?”

  What could she say? She didn’t know how or when it’d happened, but she knew with absolute clarity that Lian was now the most important thing in her world. She would give her life to protect him.

  “I’ll try.”

  “That’s all we can ask.” His eyes glowed with a lethal lust for blood as his cat broke free of its leash. “I have to go,” he growled, already shifting into a huge black puma before he was pouncing across the balcony and over the railing.

  Savagely squashing the need to follow behind Xavier, Sage instead turned to place her hand flat on the scrolls.

  This was how she could help.

  She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted.

  “Okay, Sage, you can do this,” she muttered. “Lian needs you.”

  Emptying her thoughts of everything except the hieroglyphs, she allowed the magic to flow through her blood and softly spoke the words that felt like fire on her lips.

  It took several minutes to complete the entire spell that was spread over five scrolls, but reaching the last glyph, she straightened from the table and sucked in a deep breath.

  She didn’t know what she’d expected.

  Lightning. Earthquakes.

  The sky falling.

  Instead, she smelled…fresh grass as a misty shape formed and floated out the French doors.

  Was that the goddess?

  With a shake of her head, Sage was headed toward the door. She’d done everything possible with the scrolls.

  Now she intended to be with Lian.

  They would face the danger together.

  * * *

  Lian snarled as he watched the tall man with a lean face and dark hair braided down his back raise his hand. Chayton, the one-time Shaman, was looking decidedly worse for wear with deep claw marks down one side of his face, and a bloody nose. But while his body was human, he was infected by the spirit of the goddess who had the sort of magic that was making it impossible for the gathering Pantera to completely halt his progress across the large clearing.

  To prove his point, the man released a bolt of energy that slammed into the charging golden puma.

  With a pained yip, Raphael was tossed into a nearby tree, the crunch of bones making Lian wince.

  Shit.

  Even in his puma form, he understood that things weren’t going well. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any choice but to try and keep the spirit contained in the Wildlands. If Shakpi managed to get past their borders she would disappear and they would once again be under constant threat of attack.

  There was a blur of black as Xavier leapt through the air and hit Chayton from behind. The Shaman muttered a curse before he reached over his shoulder and blasted the clinging puma with enough force to knock Xavier unconscious.

  Ignoring his shattered ribs and painful wounds that had been scorched into his flesh, Lian leaped forward, his jaws wide as he went directly for Chayton’s throat.

  He managed to get close enough to scrape his elongated canines across the bastard’s shoulder, but before he could latch onto the flesh, he felt fingers close around his neck to bring him to an abrupt halt.

  With an inhuman strength, Shakpi held him off the ground, studying him with glowing eyes.

  “Why do you fight me?” the goddess demanded, an unmistakable frustration etched onto the lean, bloody face. “You can’t possibly win.”

  Lian shifted to his human form, using the abrupt change to free himself from the brutal grip.

  “Not alone,” he snarled, backing toward the edge of the clearing. Maybe if he could piss her off enough, he could lure the evil bitch away from his people. “But we are pack. You can’t defeat us all.”

  “I don’t need to defeat all of you.” A smug smile touched Chayton’s lips. “Just one.”

  “One…” Realization smacked into Lian. Shakpi wasn’t trying to escape the Wildlands, because she was convinced that the key to her ultimate destruction of the Pantera was the child. “Raphael,” he shouted toward the golden puma slowly rising to his feet. “She’s after Soyala.”

  Raphael’s roar made the trees tremble as he raced across the grass to the house he shared with his mate.

  At the same time, Lian was charging forward to halt Shakpi as she tried to follow the fleeing puma.

  He wrapped his arms around Chayton’s slender body, intending to knock him to the ground. But clearly tired of playing with him, the goddess pushed him away with a jolt of her power.

  “No, nothing can stop me now.”

  Instantly Lian’s entire body was filled with a shocking pain that forced his heart to a shuddering halt and wrenched the air from his lungs.

  Fuck.

  He was going to die.

  There was no way to survive the massive injuries to his inner organs.

  The thought had barely formed when the enticing scent of lemon teased its way past the fog in his mind.

  No.

  He wasn’t going to give up.

  Not when Sage needed him.

  With a groan of agony, he opened his swollen eyes, discovering Shakpi standing over him.

  “Why?” He forced the question past his numb lips. “Why do you hate us?”

  The glowing eyes filled with envy. “You are an abomination.”

  The goddess truly was mad, Lian acknowledged in horror.

  “We’re the children of Opela,” he ground out.

  “She should never have created you. It was a mistake.”

  “She loves us.”

  “No. She loves me.” With a burst of fury, Shakpi reached down to grab Lian by the throat, yanking him back to his feet. “She promised to love me.”

  “And I do,” a soft, lyrical voice said.

  The fingers on Lian’s neck tightened as the goddess turned to study the small cloud of mist that hovered a few feet away.

  “Opela?”

  “It is I, sister.” The soft voice came from the mist that shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight, the air suddenly filled with the scent of fresh grass. “What have you done?”

  Lian blinked in confusion.

  Could this truly be Opela?

  It was certainly as good an explanation as any other.

  Awe spread through Lian even as he struggled against the shattering pain.

  “Release him, Shakpi,” the female voice commanded.

  Shakpi shook her head. “This is a trick.”

  “No trick.” The scent of grass thickened even as the misty shape floated closer. “I’ve come for you.”

  The hand that was squeezing Lian’s throat eased, as the goddess concentrated on the shadowed form standing directly in front of them.

  “You tried to destroy me.”

  Lian could actually feel the sorrow that pulsed from Opela. “I w
ould never wish to hurt you, my sister.”

  “You locked me away,” Shakpi hissed, the earth quaking beneath her remembered sense of betrayal.

  “I couldn’t allow you to attack my children.”

  “You should never have created them.” Shakpi glanced toward Lian, her eyes filled with hate. “They took you away from me.”

  “I have always been here for you.” The mist swirled, expanding to touch Shakpi.

  The evil goddess dropped her hand from Lian, but not before he felt the sheer love that was gently wrapping around her.

  A love that was as vast as the universe.

  “You left and I was alone,” Shakpi whispered.

  “Come with me, sister.”

  Shakpi shook her head. “I won’t return to the prison.”

  “Let’s go home,” the female voice gently urged.

  The lean face softened with a yearning that came from the very soul.

  “Home? You swear?”

  “Yes, Shakpi. It’s time.”

  Chayton’s body trembled and then collapsed as the dark shadow of Shakpi’s spirit left The Shaman’s body to join with her sister.

  Barely capable of standing, Lian dropped to his knees, instinctively reaching to feel for Chayton’s pulse before he glanced up at the mist that now shimmered with a dazzling display of color.

  “You’re leaving?”

  He felt something like the brush of a finger over his swollen cheek, offering a warmth that seared away the most grievous of his injuries.

  “It’s for the best, my child.”

  “But you just returned.”

  His heart twisted with regret. To be surrounded by her gentle glory was going to be a memory he would never forget.

  “I’ve been here, Lian, just as I always will be,” she promised in musical tones. “The Wildlands are a part of me.” There was another burst of color from the mist. “And a part of Shakpi. Life and death. Night and day.”

  He battled the darkness that was threatening. Even with Opela’s healing he remained painfully weakened from his battle.

  “What about the magic?” he demanded, unable to believe their struggles were over.

  “It’s in the land and in you, but the source now rests in the child.” There was a hint of warning in her voice. “Guard her well.”

  “Yes,” he murmured, a sense of pleasure filling his heart as the scent of lemons surrounded him.

  A second later, Sage was kneeling beside him, her arm wrapping around his shoulders.

  The mist began to fade, but before it completely disappeared, Opela’s voice whispered on the breeze.

  “Welcome home, Sage.”

  Chapter 8

  The private room at the back of the clinic that was reserved for patients who were hurt, but capable of healing on their own, was big enough to hold a large, comfortable bed and two leather seats for visitors.

  It wasn’t, however, large enough to contain a dozen full-grown Pantera who were determined to fuss over the man who was lying on the mattress with his ribs bandaged and healing herbs rubbed onto the burns that marred his upper arm.

  Sage hovered next to the heavy walnut headboard, needing to be near Lian, but understanding his family were anxious to assure themselves he was going to make a full recovery.

  Enduring the avalanche of concern for nearly an hour, Lian at last reached his breaking point when his grandmother decided she would comb and braid his hair.

  “That’s it. Everyone out,” he roared, pointing to the door. There was a shocked silence as the visitors stared at Lian with wide eyes, then with a sudden smile Lian’s father was firmly ushering the crowd out of the room. Prepared to follow, Sage had barely moved when slender fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Not you,” Lian growled. “You stay.”

  She arched her brows, hiding her flare of relief.

  When she’d seen Lian kneeling on the ground with his face swollen and covered in blood she’d been terrified he was dying.

  Even now she felt compelled to reach out and brush her fingers down his cheek to convince herself he was alive and well.

  “Bossy,” she murmured.

  “Frustrated,” he corrected. Pulling up the sheet that covered his naked body he sent her a smile of smoldering invitation. “Join me.”

  Her heart jolted with instant arousal. Just being near Lian was enough to make her pulse race and her stomach clench with excitement.

  To have a full view of all that bronzed deliciousness…

  It was enough to make any female tingle in anticipation.

  But she hadn’t forgotten that he’d just had the shit beat out of him by a crazed goddess.

  The last thing she wanted was for him to interrupt his healing.

  “You’re hurt,” she forced herself to say.

  He shrugged. “I’ll feel better once I have my mate next to me.”

  Her breath caught at his blunt words. “Mate?”

  He studied her pale face, his body tensing as he searched for her reaction.

  “Does that frighten you?”

  Barely aware she was moving, Sage crawled onto the bed and allowed Lian to wrap her in his waiting arms.

  It wasn’t just that she sensed his need to feel her pressed against him, but his question had touched her most vulnerable nerve.

  She was frightened.

  Not at the thought of being this man’s mate.

  Every part of her desperately longed to believe that they were destined to be together.

  But she’d been taught that she couldn’t depend on love. Not when it could be so easily snatched away.

  Trust wasn’t easy for her to offer.

  “How can you be sure?” she demanded, burrowing against his warm body as his intoxicating musk saturated her senses. “You barely know me.”

  His hand slid beneath her sweatshirt to stroke a soothing path up and down her back.

  “My cat decided the moment he saw you,” he told her, his lips brushing her temple. “The human side wasn’t far behind.”

  Her fingers unconsciously stroked over the hard muscles of his chest, seeking reassurance in his solid strength.

  “What if you grow tired of me?”

  “Tired?” Lian gave an unexpected chuckle, tugging the sweatshirt over her head and tossing it onto the floor. “Impossible.”

  “Lian—”

  Her words were forgotten as Lian methodically stripped away the rest of her clothes with heart-jolting impatience.

  “No, it truly is impossible,” he assured her, his tone absent as his gaze surveyed her naked body with a hungry urgency. “Pantera mate for life. There will never be another for me.”

  Sage felt her pussy clench in need, the damp heat filling the air with the scent of her arousal.

  She struggled to concentrate on her point.

  She did have a point, didn’t she?

  She groaned as his fingers skimmed down her stomach, heading for the aching void between her legs.

  “I’m not Pantera.” She managed to grasp the unraveling threads of her argument.

  “You belong to us.” His lips nuzzled over her cheek to the corner of her mouth. “To me.”

  He lifted his head to reveal eyes that glowed with the raw need of his cat.

  The same need that was churning through her.

  “Belong?” she tried to chide, only to have the word come out as a groan.

  He nipped her lower lip. “Just as I belong to you.” He kissed her with a slow, thorough brand of possession. “Forever.” He nibbled a path of destruction down the curve of her neck. “Stay, Dr. Parker. Be my mate and our Shaman.”

  She braced herself for another surge of fear, but instead, a sense of…rightness settled in her heart.

  Lian wasn’t her parents.

  He was loyal and supportive, and lethally charming.

  Precisely the sort of male to teach an aging spinster how to enjoy her life.

  Sage, however, wasn’t yet entirely convinced she was a mystical Shaman.r />
  “I don’t even know what a Shaman is supposed to do,” she protested.

  His finger slid between her slick folds, a smile of satisfaction curving his lips as she instinctively lifted her hips in response to his intimate caress.

  “Each has their own skills,” he explained. “But most have been able to sense the faction of a newborn Pantera.”

  “Faction?” The question came out as a squeak as his finger slid into her tight channel, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body.

  His teeth toyed with the lobe of her ear, the hard length of his cock pressed against her hip.

  “If they’re destined to be a Hunter or a Diplomat or a Healer.”

  That sounded…

  His thumb found her sensitive clit, circling it with teasing strokes.

  “Oh.”

  “They can also decipher messages from the ancestors.”

  He kissed his way to the curve of her breast, latching onto the aching tip with an urgency that made her whimper.

  “Lian.” Sage threaded her fingers through the dark strands of his hair.

  “Hmm?”

  Her back arched, bliss shuddering through her as his finger thrust in and out of her body with a growing insistence.

  “We’re having a conversation.”

  He lifted his head, his bronzed features tight with the strain of leashing his desire.

  “The only thing I want to discuss is our mating.”

  A rueful smile curved her lips.

  For years she’d hidden away from the world, trying to hide her abilities as if they were something shameful.

  It’d taken a puma shifter to teach her that her gifts were special.

  And so was she.

  “You’re pushing,” she teased, lifting her head to steal a quick kiss.

  His eyes were molten gold as he stared down at her with a somber expression.

  “I know,” he said, his voice husky with emotion. “I’ve claimed your body. Let me claim your heart, Dr. Parker.”

  She framed his beautiful face in her hands, smiling with sheer joy.

  “You already have.”

  Heat licked over her skin as the power of his cat blasted through the air.

  “Is that a yes?” he growled.

  Sage didn’t hesitate.

  She’d felt alone her entire life.

  Now she not only had a mate, but an entire family who were anxious to make her feel at home.