Dominated by Two Leopards [The Alpha Legend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Gary nodded. “He was hiding in a cave outside the village. Several residents gave him up.”

  Galatyn pointed toward the note. “Did he write this? Did he kill Winetown?”

  “Yes. He finally admitted to doing both, after some persuasion.”

  Even the most hardened man would have shivered at the tone in Gary’s voice. Austin may not agree with how he was handling the situation with Nadine, but he had to admire the man’s dedication to what he did. “So, how is this connected to the Gauguin brothers?”

  Gary smiled again, but the emotion didn’t reach his eyes. “Kingston gave them up, too, but identified them as traitors. Said he and Winetown came to New Mexico looking for the Gauguin brothers once they’d heard that’s where they’d both fled. But it seems this was a false trail that Winetown had led them down on purpose. He was actually protecting the brothers. When Kingston realized that Winetown was a traitor, he got the truth out of him and then killed him. But he wasn’t on his home turf. He panicked. He wrote the note and left Winetown’s body in the village square, hoping it would scare the residents, but he was alone and his plan backfired.”

  “Let me get this straight. Winetown was in league with the Gauguins? He wanted out, too?”

  “Yes. He brought Kingston to New Mexico to throw him off the track. But Kingston found out, and killed Winetown.”

  “And now you have Kingston, so that’s how you know the Gauguins are not trying to set traps for your operatives by giving you this map.”

  “Congratulations, Austin. You’re almost intelligent enough to work for me.”

  Austin shook his head and couldn’t help but smile. Gary was a pain in the ass, but he knew his shit. “Thanks. Now my day is complete. So what’s next? What do you need from me and Galatyn?”

  Gary gave him an odd look that Austin couldn’t interpret. “Not just from you two. I need to recruit men from every shape-shifter village around the country. I need you in the field. All of you. We have a chance to wipe this country clean of every League member, but we can’t sit on this for too long before we act. If they find out we have this information, they’ll go underground again. This is what I’ve worked my entire life for. This day, right here.”

  “Holy shit,” said Galatyn. “If you do this…if we do this…is it really possible we have a chance to eradicate them completely? What will you do?”

  Gary laughed, but it was a derisive laugh. “I guess I’ll have to fucking retire.”

  “Not just you,” said Austin, “but think what this would mean to the entire shape-shifting community. No more fear. No more suspicions.”

  “No more jobs for us,” said Galatyn.” He glanced at Gary. “Or the jaguars who work for you here. What will they do?”

  Gary shook his head. “I don’t know. But let’s not jump the gun, okay? Even if we track them all down and wipe them out, that doesn’t mean a new threat won’t rise up. I’ll still need patrols. I’ll still need people like you two to keep an eye on things online. And let’s not forget that the League or groups just like them may exist in other parts of the world.”

  He glanced from Austin to Galatyn, and back again. “I know I’m asking a lot, especially from you, Austin. But will you do it? Can you do it? Can you go back into the field one last time?”

  Chapter Nine

  Nadine woke to the smell of coffee and rolled over, smiling. She expected at least one of the men to be there, but neither one was. She sat up and stretched, then used the bathroom. When she glanced at her ass in the mirror, a thrill ran through her. She was marked. The property of two leopard Doms. What would Kirsten say if she saw this? What would she say if Nadine told her everything that had happened?

  On the heels of that thought, she wondered whether Austin and Galatyn would even want her telling anyone. She’d ask them first, although she still might not say a word to Kirsten or anyone else. She might just hold this delicious secret in her heart for a while.

  Were they downstairs already, making breakfast? She breathed in the smell of fresh coffee as she looked around for something to put on. Where was her bag? She found it and put on the clothes she’d worn to dinner last evening. She had nothing else to wear right now, unless the men wanted her to put her club wear back on…or wear nothing at all.

  She giggled at the thought of simply walking downstairs nude. Would they eat first, or would they simply give her a repeat of last night? As memories from the previous evening washed over her, Nadine hugged herself and let out a small squeal. She’d never been this happy. She’d had no idea it would be like this. She was sore all over, but the euphoria still hadn’t faded. Maybe it never would? Maybe she could stay in this blissful state for the rest of her life?

  When she glanced at the clock on the nightstand, her happiness was quickly overshadowed by concern. It was just past three in the morning. Why were they up, having coffee? Did they always wake this early? Were they working? She crept into the hallway and froze at the sound of her grandfather’s voice. What was he doing here? Had he come here looking for her?

  Nadine let out a sound of disgust and started to descend the stairs, but then stopped as she thought about what she was doing. Why would they make him coffee if that’s why he’d come here? She sat on the top step and listened to their voices float up the stairwell. Her blood ran cold at the mention of the League of Exitium. Of course she knew that Austin and Galatyn’s work involved finding out all they could about the League, but there was something almost sinister in the air right now as she listened to the men talk.

  Had something happened? Is that why her grandfather was here in the middle of the night? Chills ran through her body and she couldn’t stop them. What was going on? She scooted down two steps so that she could hear better.

  “You don’t even have to ask,” said Austin. “I know I said I’d never do field work again, but this changes everything.”

  “Same here,” said Galatyn. “Of course we’ll go back in the field.”

  Nadine swallowed hard as tears welled up. They were going back in the field? Just like that? What the hell had happened in the space of a few short hours? And where did that leave her?

  “Thank you.” Her grandfather sounded very relieved, as though he’d expected them to decline. Nadine recalled what they’d told her about Katarina. Austin had told her that was the reason he no longer did field work. Surely he hadn’t lied about that. What had changed his mind?

  “And this time, you don’t have a lover who will inadvertently walk into a battle.” Something in the tone of her grandfather’s voice sent a sharp pain through her, like he’d just plunged a knife into her heart. Did he know about last night? Had Austin and Galatyn told him? Is that why he was here now, trying to take both men away from her?

  Nadine’s thoughts and emotions were all jumbled up. She’d just had the most erotic night of her life, and now it was over. She couldn’t let that happen. Whatever was going on with the League would have to be handled without Austin and Galatyn.

  She ran down the stairs, no longer caring that all she wore was her skirt and sweater from last night. She hadn’t even bothered putting on her underwear, but that didn’t matter right now. She’d just found Galatyn and Austin. She couldn’t lose them this quickly.

  “That’s not the point,” said Austin. “You know we’d do anything to see the League eradicated. Nadine will be—”

  “I’ll be what?” She put her hands on her hips and stared from Austin to Galatyn, then fixed her gaze on her grandfather. “I’ll be what? I’ll be fine? I’ll get over it? Is that what you want to hear them say? Is that why you’re here, trying to send them away to fight? So they won’t bother with me? You’re too late. It’s already done.”

  Austin and Galatyn looked more shocked than angry, and as her grandfather’s gaze took in her disheveled appearance and the hasty way she’d thrown on her clothes, Nadine wished the earth would open up and swallow her. For all her affirmations that she was no longer a schoolgirl, she’d just behaved
exactly like one. This was something Kirsten would do.

  “Forgive me. I’m sorry.” The words were useless and inadequate. She couldn't take it back. Nothing would erase the look in her grandfather’s eyes, or the obvious embarrassment on Galatyn’s and Austin’s faces.

  She glanced from one to the other. “Are you two really going back in the field?” Surely she had a right to know that, hadn’t she? All their talk last evening and mere hours ago about not wanting to hurt her hadn’t been just for show. She refused to believe that. “After everything you said to me? You’re leaving now? To fight again?”

  Galatyn moved toward her. “Come into the kitchen with me. Let’s both get some coffee and I’ll explain what’s going on.”

  Nadine didn’t budge. She wouldn’t be dismissed from the room like a child, but one look at Austin’s face changed her mind. He was disappointed in her. She saw it in his eyes, and it nearly broke her heart.

  She turned to follow Galatyn, and once they were in the kitchen, she let the tears come. Galatyn held her close and stroked her hair and back, saying nothing, which was far worse than if he’d scolded her for behaving like a damn child. “I’m sorry, Sir,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I did that.”

  “I do.”

  She pulled away and studied his face through her blurry vision. “You do? Well, please tell me then because I don’t understand any of this. I don’t understand how you both could have said all those beautiful things to me last night, and now you’re leaving to go and fight the League.”

  He gestured toward the table and chairs. “Sit down for a second. Let me tell you a story. Those two will be busy for a while, finalizing plans. I can find out the details from Austin later.”

  “So you really are going, then? You’re letting him take you away from me.” Nadine’s throat felt like it was closing up. Galatyn practically pushed her into a chair and then he poured her a cup of coffee. She wrapped her hands around the steaming mug, drawing warmth and comfort from it. “Why? Just tell me why. You don’t work for him. You don’t have to do this. He has plenty of men to go out and fight.”

  * * * *

  Galatyn didn’t want to regret one second of the time he’d spent with Nadine, but right now he wished he’d never even entertained the thought of being with her. Then again, there’s no way he could have foreseen this would happen. But how to make her understand that? She should, given who her grandfather was, but she was still so young. And he doubted she’d ever seen firsthand the kinds of things that League members did. If she had, she wouldn’t be saying these things.

  “Your grandfather gave us a lot of new information just before you came downstairs. Information that affects all shape-shifters, whether we work for him or not.” He told her everything that Gary had told him and Austin about what had happened in Colorado two months prior, the Gauguin brothers, the jaguars in Reynard Bellecote’s village, and ending with Harold Winetown and Morris Kingston.

  “Oh…wow. I don’t know what to say right now. I am very sorry, Sir. You must think I’m so selfish. Of course I understand that this affects us all. I was just…shocked to hear Austin say that you two were going back out in the field. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

  He reached across the table, took her hands from around the mug and held them. “Please stop saying that. I’m not upset with you and I’m sure Austin isn’t either, although I will say I wish you had showed a bit more restraint. But I’m sure you know that by now, so as far as I’m concerned, the matter is closed.”

  She still looked crestfallen so he smiled and gave her hands a squeeze. “And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered by your reaction. I’m glad to know how much last night meant to you.”

  “I thought you already knew how much it meant to me.”

  She looked like he’d just slapped her. He was making a mess of this and he wasn’t sure what to say to fix it. So many emotions competed for attention. He didn't want to go back to the field with her thinking that he and Austin had used her. But was there a future with this jaguar? Had there ever been? Had she assumed there would be?

  He should have known she might. They both should have known that. They’d been thinking with their cocks, not their heads. They should be the ones apologizing, not her. “You know why Austin left field work, and I told you that I blamed myself for Katarina’s death, but I never told you about my parents.”

  She frowned in confusion. “Are they in business with your grandparents in their catering company?”

  He shook his head. “They died when I was sixteen and Simon was fifteen, under circumstances that I’m still not entirely convinced weren’t wrapped up in League doings. Simon and I went to live with our grandparents and worked with them, but I was only mildly interested in the food industry. I wanted revenge for my parents.”

  She squeezed his hands and looked at him with the same complete trust that she’d shown last night. He was in deep, deep trouble here. This girl had a way of seeing right into his soul. “That’s why I became a cop. When I had the chance to work with Austin, I jumped at it. He was always mine and Simon’s favorite cousin, and I thought of him as badass, even when we were younger.”

  That earned him a smile, and his heart gave a strange lurch. Best rein that in. She can never be yours. “It was an easy transition to work toward eradicating the League. That’s why now, we have to do this. More than likely, every able-bodied man in this village will be asked to join the fight. In fact, most of the men around the country will be asked to join the fight.”

  He watched her swallow, and then he watched understanding dawn in her eyes. But along with that emotion, the pain on her face nearly tore him in two. What had they done to this sweet, innocent woman? “But we’ll lose a lot of our men, too.”

  “No doubt we will. This is a full-scale war. It will affect all of us.”

  “And it also means you’ll have no reason to stay. I mean, I’m thrilled if this is true and the League can be wiped out, but then you and Austin will go back home…”

  Her voice trailed off as Austin and Gary came into the kitchen. He and Austin exchanged a long glance, and while he couldn’t read everything on his cousin’s face right now, two things were certain. They were going to join this fight, and Austin was just as conflicted about that as he was.

  Gary placed his coffee cup in the sink and then cleared his throat. “I’m sure you three have a lot to discuss. I’ll leave you to it.”

  “I’ll walk out with you,” said Nadine, rising.

  Galatyn waited until they’d left the room to address Austin. “Don’t be upset with her. She’s just afraid.”

  “I know. I’m not upset with her. What do you want to do?”

  “Let’s talk. All three of us. She has to know where she stands with us. She made assumptions, and we should have realized that she’d do that. She has a right to know what we’re thinking.”

  Austin nodded a couple of times, as though trying to make up his mind, and then finally he spoke. “All right. Agreed.”

  Chapter Ten

  Nadine walked out onto the front porch with her grandfather, ignoring the bitter cold wind. “Please forgive me. I acted like a child.”

  He shocked the hell out of her by shaking his head. “No forgiveness necessary, although I do agree with you.” He sighed and she frowned as she studied his face. Had he always looked this tired and old? “I blame myself for you not having anyone to talk to as you’ve grown up. I should have taken more responsibility for your upbringing.” He held up a hand. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying you’ve grown up wild, like your cousin. But neither of you have had a good role model in your uncle Joaquin.”

  “He does the best he can.”

  “No, he doesn’t. That’s just it. He’s a fuckup. He always was. I just don't want to see you hurt. I know Austin and Galatyn are good men. I know that. And they won’t brag or boast about this, but they aren’t jaguars. They don't live here. They have complicated pasts and are haun
ted by painful memories. I don’t want you romanticizing this and thinking there’s any future in it. That’s all I’m trying to say. Don’t give away your heart to these two. You’ll only have it broken. Not because they’re cruel men, but because this isn’t their home. They can never be yours.”

  She swallowed hard as fresh tears threatened. Each breath was a struggle right now.

  “There is a war coming. We’re going to lose a lot of men. We might lose them, too.”

  Nadine couldn't stop the tears now. She swiped at them impatiently as she tried not to allow his words to penetrate her soul. This was serious shit. More serious and dangerous than anything she’d known in her life. “I know you mean well. Thank you.”

  He ruffled her hair, which was the height of any and all affectionate gestures she’d ever received from him, even as a child. “You’re welcome. Take care of yourself, okay? Come and talk to me if you need to. I mean that.”

  She nodded, knowing those were empty words. She’d never been able to talk to him, and he’d never had time when she’d tried to. “Thank you.” Nadine watched him walk down the street for a few seconds, then went back inside where it was warm. Once inside the kitchen, she stood next to Austin and Galatyn. “Did he wake you two up?”

  Galatyn nodded. “About an hour and a half ago. Are you all right?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Did he yell at you?”

  “No. He told me you two were going to break my heart.”

  “We don’t want to do that.”

  “Galatyn is right. That’s not our intention.”

  “You’re going back out to fight. And from what Galatyn told me, this could end the League for good. But then what?” She glanced from one to the other, fighting just to keep breathing. “You don’t live here. You’re not even the same species as me.”

  “We don’t care about that,” said Austin.

  “That makes no difference to us,” said Galatyn, at the same time.