“Fuck,” I hissed as I stumbled backward.
No, no, no… I chanted inside of my mind. This did not just happen. I rushed toward the door and decided not to take the time to grab my clothes. Instead, I rushed to the back door and once I was outside my skin began to burn in that familiar feeling and I knew I wouldn’t be seen. The second I was within the tree line, I allowed my leopard to come forth. I shifted as easily as I breathed and fell to four paws.
My thoughts simplified. Part of me wanted to go back to the man we left behind. But the other part forced us forward and I ran. I just ran.
321
Dorain
An empty feeling woke me from a deep sleep. I looked beside me then around the room. Koroleva was gone, but the door was wide open.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled.
I shot off the couch and began putting my clothes back on. There was no way in hell she was getting off that easy. When my final boot was on, I stormed towards the door.
My nerves were on edge. My mouth felt dry. I licked my lips and froze in place when I tasted blood. It wasn’t mine. Something shook through me and I dropped to my knees before I could even get a foot out of the room.
My grip on reality slipped through my clutches as my mind became filled with chaos. My neck burned as though someone was pouring lava on it. My chest tightened and my heart raced. It felt like the world was caving in on me without explanation.
The ocelot side of me was in as much distress as me. It clawed, hissed, and growled as our body went through an unexplainable change.
When the pain stopped and my body settled, I stared up at the ceiling. It wasn’t that I couldn’t move. I simply didn’t want to. My mind couldn’t wrap around why Koroleva bolted or why my body responded the way it did.
Is this how women feel after a one-night stand?
I never considered myself a manwhore. I tried to respect all women. One-night stands were agreed upon and rules laid out before sex even happened. Koroleva had pulled a classic move out of the typical-man book.
“Son of a bitch,” I roared.
My moment of weakness had jeopardized everything. It was time to head back to the hotel and figure out my next move.
My ocelot half hissed in protest. It wanted to chase after Koroleva and claim her. As much as I hated to admit it, deep down it’s what I wanted to. My mind was conflicted. I owed the Council my life. They had given me a life when my old one had been stripped from me.
On the other hand, Koroleva wasn’t just some albino. She was more. There was no way in hell I was going to kill her. Nor would I let anyone else harm a hair on her head. I’d protect her until my last breath.
I shook my head frantically. My thoughts were running wild and none of them made sense. Why was I willing to throw away my entire life with the Council for Koroleva?
A tingling sensation on my neck washed away thoughts of the Council. Instinctively, I brought my hand up to my neck and touched my neck with two fingers. How the hell did I forget that she’d bit me?
“You sneaky, little kitty,” I laughed and traced the bite marks on my neck. “And, you said no biting.”
“You better have some good fucking news,” Lucas snarled at me after the second ring.
I took a deep breath to ground myself. On the ride back from the strip club, I had done a lot of thinking. I needed to be smart about all of this and not let my temper get the best of me.
“Great news,” I chided.
“Spit it out already. I don’t have all fucking day, boy.”
“I’m no one’s boy!” I roared into the phone. An instant weight shifted off of me. However, my plan on staying level-headed went out the window and straight to hell.
“Who do you think you’re–”
“Shut the fuck up. I’m done with your orders. I’m done with you being my handler. I have a new handler.” There was venom coated in each word I spat at Lucas.
“And, who would that be?” he growled.
“Me! From now on, I do things my way and my way only. Don’t bother calling this phone again. It’s getting burned. I’ll contact the Council directly about my resignation.”
“Resignation? You think you can just resign?” Lucas snorted.
He was right. The Council wasn’t a place that you simply walked away from. As much as I hated to admit it, resigning wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. They’d send someone for me; to either bring me back or kill me.
“And what about the target?” he continued.
My heart skipped a few beats at the thought of Koroleva being a target on another enforcer’s list. They would stop at nothing to kill her. And, I would stop at nothing to protect her.
“The target is a lot smarter than any of us thought. And well connected apparently,” I chuckled. “She’s halfway to Costa Rica by now. She was tipped off by someone.”
“Tipped off?” He roared.
“Well, I didn’t tell her who I was, which meant someone else must have,” I said coolly. “Her friends weren’t too happy with me. I barely got out of there alive. Which I don’t appreciate.”
“How many are with her?”
“I didn’t exactly have time to sit around and count, while they were coming after me,” I rolled my eyes. Lucas was making my story more complicated than it needed to be. “There were at least twenty.”
“Fucking twenty!”
Lucas’ eyes were probably bugging out of his head. The image made me grin. I only wished I was a fly on the wall to
