"Who's the other one?" Olivia asked.
"He didn't say. He wanted to know if such a thing were possible, and I told him to get both their asses on the next flight. I'll have to notify the heads of the Therian councils to spread the word." A satisfied smile lifted his mouth. "It seems that at least some of the seventeen have returned. At long last."
"I can't wait to see these new animals," Kara murmured.
Olivia made a sound of agreement. "I want to know when we're going to see our sabertooth."
"Now." Maxim - Hawke refused to give him the honor of his Feral name - rose from his seat with an exuberant burst that had Hawke's fingers flexing around the handle of his fork.
"In the gym," Lyon ordered, as Maxim stepped back a few feet from the table.
But the newest Feral had yet to learn to follow the dictates of their chief. Tipping his head back, he closed his eyes and began to sparkle with a thousand colored lights. As the large saber-toothed cat materialized, most at the table rose, those closest moving away, those on the other side of the table coming around for a better look until the great sabertooth stood at the center of a large semicircle.
Hawke glanced at Faith. She was staring at the cat with an awe that pricked at his nerves. As if the creature were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. And he probably was.
Maxim lifted that massive head and gave a roar unlike any of the other cats - a deep, rumbling staccato, almost like a series of barks. A sound not heard in six hundred years. And not heard in nature in twelve thousand. With his jaw opened fully, he was a sight to behold, those fangs gleaming in the light from the dining-room chandelier.
Vhyper grunted. "Fairfax County Animal Control is going to shit in their collective pants if they ever get an eyeful of this one."
Closing his mouth again, fangs hanging down nearly to his chin, the great cat began to pace in a circle, closer and closer to the other Ferals and their mates, swinging his head from side to side as if he longed to snatch one for dessert.
The mated males all angled themselves between their women and the huge predatory creature. Across the room, Faith backed up against the far wall. Alone.
Everything inside Hawke demanded he go to her, protect her as the other males protected their women. He took a step, then paused as he felt Lyon's hand on his arm.
"Don't," Lyon said quietly.
But every muscle in Hawke's body tensed with the need to protect.
Mine.
No. She wasn't. He forced himself to stand down as that great head swung toward Faith, as the great cat slowly stalked her.
Lyon's grip on his arm tightened. "He won't hurt her." Not the woman he intended to make his mate.
The problem was, deep in his gut, Hawke didn't believe it. His own animal screeched in his head, demanding he act, but he forced himself to remain rooted, watching as the cat bumped his head against Faith's hip playfully, if roughly, making her stumble a couple of steps sideways.
Faith laughed, her hands pressing against the cat's large forehead. But Hawke could sense the primitive fear in her warring with the fascination, and he suspected Maxim could, too. And like any bully, Maxim enjoyed that fear.
The cat swung his head down and around, butting against Faith from the other side. She was prepared this time and barely moved.
"Maxim, enough." The note of pleading in her voice cut at Hawke.
But the cat wasn't through with her. He nestled his nose between her legs, dipping his head and raising it again, forcing her to spread her legs.
Faith's cheeks flamed as she pressed at the great head, unable to dislodge it. "Maxim, stop." Her growing anger only seemed to encourage the cat more.
Hawke's muscles tensed, the anger that sparked inside him for once fully his own. The bastard enjoyed her discomfort. Enjoyed embarrassing her in front of others. Hawke growled, low, a sound his bird would never make. A sound that belonged to the feral male alone.
"Lyon," Kara pleaded softly beside her mate.
"Catt, enough," Lyon barked.
But Maxim ignored him, as he had all along. Instead, he leaped up, his massive paws landing on the wall on either side of Faith's head, his enormous mouth wrenching open. Faith lifted her hands as if to ward off the attack, heart-thundering fear in every line of her body.
"Catt!" Lyon roared. "Enough!"
The anger within Hawke ignited in a wild rage - a rage that demanded he tear that cat's head from his body. His fangs sprouted, his claws erupting. Though he struggled to fight for control, too great a part of him wanted this, wanted to attack the bastard, to protect Faith.
When the red haze engulfed him, for once he dove into the storm.
Chapter Six
Faith pressed back against the wall, heart thundering in her ears, her legs shaking as the hot breath of the terrifying beast bathed her face, his mammoth canines inches from her collarbones. He was scaring her, dammit. Humiliating her in front of the Feral Warriors and their mates. In front of Hawke.
"Maxim, stop."
She forced herself to look into those yellow eyes, knowing the man was in there. And what she saw turned her fear to anger. Laughter. He clearly loved his power over her, loved that she couldn't do a thing to stop him.
The last of her doubts disappeared. Maxim was not, and had probably never been, the man she thought he was. And she wasn't staying with him another day.
She grabbed his teeth like the bars of a jail cell. "Get them out of my face before I rip them off!"
"Hawke!" Lyon's voice rang out.
Faith released those saberlike teeth just as the awful cat was wrenched away from her by a snarling Feral Warrior with fangs dripping from his man's mouth, daggerlike claws sunk deep into Maxim's fur.
Hawke.
Vhyper leaped into the fray, combining his body weight with Hawke's to take down the great beast. Wulfe, shifting into a wolf midleap, landed on the big cat, holding him down and snarling into his face as Hawke lifted a wicked-looking knife and pressed the tip between the cat's eyes.
"Hawke!" Lyon roared.
Without moving the blade, Hawke lifted his head, breathing hard, as if struggling for control. Vhyper, Faith noticed, made no move to take the blade from him.
Hawke looked down into the cat's eyes, snarling, "Shift back or die."
Faith's heart thudded against her ribs, anger burning inside her until unshed tears stung her eyes. Dammit, Maxim! Pushing away from the wall, she strode through the dining room and out the door, heading for the stairs.
"Faith, wait!" Kara's soft voice called to her from behind.
Faith stopped and turned.
"I'm sorry," Kara said, catching up, the genuine sympathy in her expression undoing Faith. "He's not a nice man."
"No, he's not. Kara . . ." The tears were beginning to fall, and she swiped at them impatiently. "I'm leaving. This isn't going to work."
Kara's face fell. "I was afraid you were going to say that. As much as I hate for you to go, I'd do the same in your shoes. Exactly the same."
"The trouble is . . ."
"You need money for a flight home. And a way to the airport."
Faith nodded, Kara's kindness and understanding like a tight band around her chest. "I'll pay you back, I promise."
Kara opened her arms, and Faith fell into them, accepting the hug Kara offered. Needing it as tears began a steady slide down her cheeks. In so many ways, she wished she'd never met Maxim, wished she'd never agreed to come with him to Feral House. She hadn't known what she was missing. And now she did. Here she'd glimpsed sweet friendship and precious sisterhood. And the promise of laughter and tender passion with a powerful, protective male. Just not the one she'd come with. She'd gotten a taste of what it would be like to have a family again after so many years of being alone.
And she had to walk away from it all.
"Don't worry about the money. Trust me, it's not an issue." Kara pulled back. "Go pack your bag. I'll find a volunteer to drive you to the airport and meet you in the foyer."
Faith nodded. "Thank you." As she turned to the stairs, a coldness swept over her, the promise of loneliness in its bleakest form. Yes, she was anxious to get back to Paulina and Maria, to try to help them find better lives, but six months from now, she'd be moving again. Another city. Another rough street half a world away from the warmth and friendship she'd found at Feral House.
Her future lay before her like the tundra in winter - frozen, colorless. Empty.
Fury rode Hawke. His hand shook from the battle raging inside him - the need to drive the point of his knife deep into the sabertooth's brain warring with the certain knowledge he mustn't. The wildness inside him demanded this creature die, but the man would never kill a brother, no matter how much he hated him. Nor would he hurt Faith like that, stealing the man she believed was meant to be her mate.
The red haze pressed hard around the edges of his vision, fighting to rush in and steal his control, steal him from himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Faith leave the dining room, saw Kara follow her out.
"Catt, shift!" Lyon commanded.
The hawk's anger poured over him, the red haze rushing in.
From a distance, he felt himself lift the knife, gripping the handle with both hands in preparation for plunging it down. Someone knocked him back. Shouting. Fighting. A berserker's rage. The laughter of the one he hated.
Then he knew no more.
"Hawke! Ease down!"
"Shit."
"Where's he going?"
"Someone open the front door!"
As the male voices rang through the house, Faith paused halfway up the stairs and looked back.
"He's shifted," Kara said unhappily and ran the few feet to the massive front door, wrenching it open wide.
A moment later, a bird soared into the foyer, a huge, beautiful, red-tailed hawk. But instead of flying out the door as Faith expected, he made a spiraling turn through the foyer, following the curve of the opposite stair, then around toward where she stood frozen. Mesmerized.
She backed up against the wall, uncertain of his wingspan, but he didn't pass her by. Instead, he landed on the rail a few feet in front of her. Faith swallowed as the great raptor stared at her with unblinking eyes.
"Hawke?" she asked uncertainly. "Are you in there?" In Maxim's eyes, she'd seen the man, but she saw no emotion in this bird's eyes. Certainly no human emotion.
The great bird let out a loud kkkeeeeer and took off, soaring down through the foyer and, on a perfect downward sweep of wings, out the front door.
Kara slowly closed the door behind him.
Faith swallowed. "How long will he be gone?"
"I don't know. Each time, he's gone longer."
Several of the Ferals strode into the foyer - Lyon, Tighe. Maxim.
"He's gone?" Lyon asked Kara.
The Radiant nodded, and two of the men sighed.
Maxim showed a modicum of restraint and said nothing. For once. He looked up at her, and she met his gaze. "I'm going back to Warsaw." She wanted them all to hear, in case Maxim tried to stand in her way.
His jaw tensed, his fists drawing closed, then relaxing again as a look of chagrin crossed his face. "My actions are unforgivable." The genuine regret that laced his words surprised her.
"It's happened too many times, Maxim. I told you I won't be treated like that, and I meant it. I'm going home." The others - Lyon, Kara, and Tighe - didn't even pretend they weren't party to the discussion.
"She needs a ride to the airport," Kara told her mate. "And money for a flight."
Lyon met Faith's gaze with a small nod. "Of course."
"I'll take you, Faith," Tighe said.
She gave Tighe a small smile in thanks.
Maxim raked long, straight hair back from his face with a frown that almost turned pleading. "Don't go, Faith. I'm not like this, not usually. Hawke . . . angers me. The way he looks at you."
"I know."
"I become someone I don't know . . . and don't care for . . . when he's around." He lifted his hand, then dropped it at his side. "Please, Faith. Let us at least discuss this in private."
Talking it out would just make it harder. And yet, part of her longed to be convinced that Feral House was where she truly belonged, that she never had to go back to that cold, lonely life. Despite everything she'd seen, everything Maxim had done, she continued to feel that tug, that certainty that she belonged to him. She supposed she could listen to what he had to say.
"All right."
"Let me know what you decide," Tighe said.
"I will. Thank you." She turned to continue up the stairs, Maxim following behind. He caught up to her on the second flight of stairs. At his room, he opened the door and stood back for her to enter, playing the part of the gentleman, at last. When he'd closed the door behind him, they faced one another.
"Don't leave me, Faith." He strode to her slowly, and she took an instinctive step back. "We're meant to be together. You know it. I know it." He lifted his hand, stroked her jaw.
"Actually, I don't know it, Maxim. You've shown me little respect and less kindness. I don't care what your reasons are. There's no excuse. I won't stay with a man who mistreats me."
He gripped her jaw, too hard. His mouth tightened. "You won't leave me. I forbid it."
Her heart began to race with a fear she hated and the sudden certainty that he was one of those men. One who would kill her before he'd let her walk away.
"Maxim . . ." She met his gaze fully, searching for the words that would ease his hold, wondering if the other Ferals would hear her if she called for help.
