"miss andrews, how does it feel to be mated to an animal?" another reporter drowned out her cries as she clawed and kicked to be free. the eager, almost fanatic expressions of the reporters and onlookers sickened him.

the fear in her expression tightened into a coil of rage in his stomach. how dare they touch her? hold her still for their barbaric displays in such a way? he snarled silently, a promise of retribution searing through his brain.

it was one of the most horrific scenes taber had ever witnessed in his life. veronica's eyes were nearly black in shock and pain as rough hands tried to hold her still, pushing at her head to show the mark in stark relief as the journalist droned on about the supposed mating habits of the breeds. he drew slowly closer, his eyes centered on that mark...his mark, his woman. he felt his heart beating sluggishly, the blood boiling in his veins at the sight of hands-male hands-holding her still as she fought, bruising the delicate skin they gripped.

he was barely aware of the growls rumbling from his chest, stark and animalistic, as he watched.

"let her go, you bastards!" a familiar male voice joined the melee as one of the employees of the auto parts store literally jerked several of those holding her back, slamming them into the wall behind him. it gave veronica her chance to jerk free. she didn't hesitate as she began to run. the camera followed her, showing the burly storeowner yelling at her, waving her to the parts truck parked to the side. she dived into it, only seconds ahead of the enraged journalists.

the camera zoomed in through the closed window as she glanced back. her expression was stark with terror, her eyes glassy, tear-filled, her shirt nearly ripped from her body, bruises showing on her arms and the upper curves of her breasts.

every mating instinct in taber's body went into overdrive. he had known years before that roni was different, special. that something about her drew him as nothing else ever had. staying away from her as she asked him to do had been the hardest thing in his life. staying away from her now would be impossible.

"i need tanner and cabal." the rough bengal breeds were as charming and yet as savage as taber himself could be. "sherra..."

"i'm on it." she already had the phone to her ear, barking out orders. weapons, supplies, and a heli-flight into the county would take little more than an hour as opposed to a day's drive. "i'll have you ready to go in twenty minutes," she called out to him.

he watched the truck tip as it turned a sharp corner, took out a fence and disappeared up an alley. the transmission was a live feed and broadcasted internationally. he cursed softly. every fucking scientist and genetics council soldier was most likely watching the same display. and he knew damned good and well several of those soldiers were placed in sandy hook.

john o'brien was a good man. his friendship with callan had stood through the news reports and the rumors that had gone crazy over the months. but he was still just one man, and despite his army training, he was no match for the men the council would have in place.

"callan. get someone on her," he called back to his pride leader almost absently, feeling as though the world was centered on the replay of the attack.

"got it, taber." callan's voice was hard, dangerously cold. "o'brien's with her; he's good. i have a pretty good idea where he'll head, and i'll contact him when you get airborne."

"helicopter's warming up, taber," sherra reported. "it's being loaded. tanner and cabal are heading out to it now. everything's a go."

taber's eyes narrowed as he memorized the faces of the men holding her. a few were citizens of the small county where she had grown up; the other two were strangers. they would all pay. roni's scream echoed around him again, her eyes large, terrorized, her face pale. his fists clenched in fury and only then did he become aware of the low, ominous growls issuing from his throat. he didn't speak before leaving the room. he turned on his heel and headed quickly out of the office to the front door of the three-story mansion. outside, a jeep awaited him. the young feline breed driving it put the gas to the floor as he sped to the landing pad where the helicopter awaited.

"good luck," the younger breed called out as taber jumped from the jeep and headed to the waiting aircraft.

he ducked as he ran to the open door of the small, sleek little copter and jumped inside. fifteen months he had waited, never certain, unwilling to force his life on any woman, but especially one he had tried for so long to protect.

"ready," he yelled out as tanner glanced back from the cockpit. he pulled the headphones over his head, strapped in and braced himself as they lifted off. every second it took to get to her now was too long. a smile edged his lips. he had respected her wishes over the months because he was unaware of the instinctive mating process. now the beast inside was free to claim what was his. she could rage, she could bitch, she could hate him until hell froze over and cracked wide open. but she was his. and soon-very soon-she would find there was no longer a choice...for either of them.

chapter four

this wasn't happening to her. roni tried to convince herself that the mad dash from town into the mountains rising above it was all a nightmare. she would wake up soon. of course she would. it was just the stress. it wasn't every day you learned you had mated with a new species of human that you hadn't even known existed.

"you doin' okay?" john glanced at her worriedly from the driver's seat of the parts truck, his red brows lowered over the light blue of his eyes.

roni gripped the overhead strap tighter as he swung around another curve. sure as hell he was going to end up going over one of the treacherous cliffs and kill them both. he drove like a madman. her life may have deteriorated rapidly, but that didn't mean she wanted to die any time soon.

"aren't you going a little fast?" she asked, striving for calm despite the frantic pace of her heart.

"we're almost there. i want to make sure we aren't followed." he turned quickly up yet another side road, bouncing over a rough gravel path that led through a densely wooded area. "i'm heading for my hunting cabin. thankfully, it's up high enough that the cell phones will work and taber won't have a problem landing there."

she blinked in confusion. "what are you talking about?"

taber wouldn't come for her; he wasn't going to rescue her. didn't they know? weren't they aware that he had washed his hands of her months ago?

he sighed roughly. "that was a live feed, roni. the world knows now, and i'm sure taber's on his way. when he gets close enough he'll call me. taber knows and the bad guys know. you aren't safe here anymore."

she swallowed past the thickness in her throat, fighting the roiling of her stomach. she had seen reports of the "bad guys." monsters were more like it. holding on to her control wasn't an easy thing to do. god help her, she had seen more than one report on the news regarding the fate of the poor souls the council had targeted. it was the worst nightmare she could have imagined.

"god," she whispered bleakly. "i'm sure i'll wake up soon. but taber won't be here, john. he didn't care when he made that mark and he sure as hell won't care now."

he had spent a decade pulling her out of one scrape after another. he had reached his limit and now she

knew she couldn't depend on his help to pull her out of this one. john grunted as he cast her an incredulous look. "you keep dreamin' that, roni, and when you see taber be sure to let him in on that little secret."

she shook her head and started to pray. she was running seriously low on any other options to pull herself out of this particular problem.

roni closed her eyes and drew in a deep hard breath as the shrill sound of the cell phone began to ring.

"yeah?" john barked into the small phone. he was silent for long moments.

"on my way there. what's your eta?"

roni wished she could pinch herself awake. she listened only distantly to the one-sided conversation, trying to avoid the fact that the past was about to bite her in the ass. just what she needed, something else to disrupt the nice little routine she had established for herself. she might not be happy, but she was content. content was a good thing.

"told you so," he announced softly, his voice triumphant. "taber will be here in thirty minutes. we should be secure that long."

incredulity spread through her. he would be here? after fifteen long torturous months of letting her scrape by on her own, he would be here? that was right friendly of him, she thought, considering it was his fucking fault she was in this mess to begin with.

roni glanced over as he clipped the cell phone back to his belt. she frowned, watching him intently. she hadn't known john long, she admitted, but he was suddenly different, harder edged than she had been used to. it reminded her uncomfortably of taber. that narrow-eyed, dangerous look that assured anyone daring to oppose him they could be in for a world of hurt.

she clenched her teeth, refraining from saying anything in reply. what could she say that wouldn't be less than complimentary toward taber? he created this mess, then left her to suffer the consequences. fixing it would be a damned good thing for him to do.

"here we are." he nodded forward as roni turned back to look at the cabin that appeared as they rounded a turn in the road.

situated beneath a thick growth of trees, the small cabin and attached garage would be damned near invisible from the air, and just as hard to find on the ground. he pulled into the rough garage, shut off the engine and jumped from the vehicle.

roni moved much slower. there had to be a way out of this, she thought with an edge of desperation. things like this didn't happen to people like her. her life was supposed to be uneventful. she was dull. boring. hell, taber hadn't wanted her when he had the chance, what made anyone in his right mind think he would want her now?

he had fired her from the job she loved, the only escape she had known at the time from her demanding father. he had disappeared for months. didn't even speak to her the few times they had run into each other over the year or so. a mark on her neck was not going to change that, was it? not as far as she was concerned it wasn't.

the interior of the cabin was decorated with a miser's hand. there was a lone couch in front of an unused fireplace, a dusty kitchen table and four chairs. no rugs, no curtains and dust damned near thick enough to plant petunias in.

"bathroom's in the back." he pointed to the closed door at the far end. "make yourself at home."

he was too casual, too accepting of his sudden role as rescuer and guardian until taber showed up.

"why are you doing this?" she turned back to him, watching him carefully. he looked at her, his eyes glimmering in surprise. "doing what?"

"helping me, so certain taber will show up. what's in it for you?"

he arched a flame-colored brow, amusement replacing the confusion. "i was just helping, roni."

"bullshit," she muttered, shaking her head in denial. "i'm not stupid. there's more to it. what?"

she needed to make sense of something, even if it was the only helping hand that had been offered to her.

he sighed heavily. "more or less, that's all there is to it," he told her firmly. "i help taber and the others when i can. that's all. besides, you're a friend. i would have helped you anyway."

which still didn't completely answer her question.

"why is he coming here?" she pushed her fingers through her tangled hair, ignoring the trembling in her hand. "that mark didn't mean anything when he made it. why should it now?" this was the question that plagued her more than most.