Page 46 of Enter the Lair
“Think back.Has Devon ever felt that blend of emotions before?”
Sarah connected with her cat, asking for the impossible.Her head snapped up as her animal supplied the information.“There are two instances where he had similar feelings.When Gerald and Brian were at the lodge with me and when he told me about your mother’s rape.Do you think Gerald took him?”
Talen was up, texting into his phone.He paused as he read the returning message.“Hunter and Liam are watching a facility outside Portland.Brian and Gerald got there a few hours ago.They were alone.I’ve told them to return to the lair.We are going after the coyotes.”
Talen leaned over the table.“Can you figure out where Devon is?”He said.
“I don’t know the exact range of the connection.I know he’s far from me.I should be able to hone in on him the closer we get to him,” she said confidently.
Talen’s eyes went cold.“You can’t come with us, Sarah.They took a member of our lair.They were warned what would happen if they came here again.This is war.”
Sarah understood that he was trying to protect and intimidate her.Neither would work.She stood up slowly and leaned toward Talen, her tone as cold as his.“They took my mate.The world knows what happens if you run up against a member of the Marksman family.These men are about to find out what happens when you poach from one.”
“Sarah.It’s too dangerous.Devon would never let...”
Sarah grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair.“You can go with me or you can follow the trail I’ll leave for you.Your choice.”
Sarah slung the rifle holster over her black leather jacket.She loved her cougar form, reveled in its sleek agility.As deadly as her cat could be it couldn’t take out a rival from eight hundred meters.Sarah could.
* * *
Hunter had elected to stay in human form to coordinate the attack.She was just getting used to communicating with her own cat let alone the rest of the Cascade family.Besides, she needed to focus on Devon.
They tracked in a zig-zag pattern.The Cougars ran ahead as scouts before circling back to see if she’d made a directional change.She made several missteps before realizing she was heading away from Devon and corrected her course.Though they moved at a quick pace, it was hours before Hunter motioned her to stop.
He gestured quickly.Sarah saw the cougars spread out and disappear into the thick brush.“We’re close.What is it?”
“There’s a compound a mile away.”
“Then that’s where Devon is.”She tried to calm her surging emotions.She could feel him.He was apprehensive.He knew she was here.
“They know we’re here.They aren’t attacking...something is off.”He looked around.His eyes glowed amber.
Dirt flew into Sarah’s eyes as the shots reigned down around them.If they hadn’t been behind a large evergreen Sarah would’ve been shot.She crouched to the ground, making her body as small as possible before inching under a nearby bush.
The leafy brush made the perfect cover as she pulled her rifle from its holster.She kept the barrel of the gun inside the bush as she slowly put the scope to her eye.
The bullets had hit from a high trajectory.She found the sniper six hundred feet away.He was nestled in the vee of an oak tree, searching for her.His slow movements mirroring her own.He was good.She was a Marksman.
She adjusted her trajectory to compensate for the wind, squeezing the trigger slowly before the shot rang out.She watched in silence as he jerked back in the tree before falling out.
“Sniper’s down,” she said.
Hunter was moving ahead of her, signaling her to follow.A cougar came up beside her.She didn’t know the Cascade family in their cat forms yet the gray hairs speckling the tawny coat told her this was Galen.She wasn’t sure why, but she was surprised he was there.He sprinted after his sons.
Sarah approached the compound cautiously.She heard the growls and snarls of the fighting animals long before she could see them.As she entered the clearing, she witnessed the ferocity of the battle.Cougars growled and jumped on the backs of the enraged coyotes.The cats were outnumbered yet it didn’t deter them.
She eased her way around the edge of the forest, avoiding the fighting.She sensed Hunter following her.She heard branches snap before she was hit hard from the side, knocking the wind out of her.Hunter shifted and was on the coyote before her breathing evened out.
She got up, running in a crouched position as she made her way across the compound clearing.She reached the other side when Galen shifted to human form beside her.She kept her eyes on the fray in front of her as he spoke.“Stay to this corner Sarah, it’s bad enough you have to witness this,” he said.
She didn’t want to lie to Galen.A naked man with a rifle emerged from an outbuilding a few feet away.Galen shifted and attacked the startled man.Large red drops welled and dripped from the long gashes in the man’s chest.He screamed dropping the rifle as he shifted to protect himself from the attacking cougar.
Sarah waited until Galen was fully engrossed in his battle before backing up.She removed her weapons and clothes and tucked them under a dense bush.
She knew where she wanted to go.She reached for her cat, connecting with her feral side, feeling the freedom and joy as the resulting transformation overtook her.Her senses flared as her whiskers formed, gathering all the surrounding information.
She crouched low as she silently approached a small outbuilding located a mile from the main compound.There were trees and brush to give her cover yet she knew leaving the other cougars was risky.