Aliyah touched her hand to Duncan’s face and stared up at him, her golden eyes seething with emotion. “I want to do this, Duncan. They stole from me. They stole my freedom. They stole those other animals from their rightful homes. Some of them are dead. If it can be done safely, I’d like to help you put them away.”
He captured her hand in his and turned his head so that his lips came into contact with her fingers.
“I want you here,” he said hoarsely. “Where I know you’ll be safe.”
She stroked her fingers lightly over his lips then cupped his cheek in her hand. She nestled her body closer to his, cuddling into his chest. “But I’ll be with you, Duncan. And that’s the place I feel the safest. With you. You know what I am. You won’t allow anyone to hurt me. I have faith in that.”
The stalwart belief in her voice shook him, humbled him.
“I won’t let the others get close to you, Duncan,” Nick said. “You’ll radio your location to me. I’ll radio that we’re coming in. That should give you plenty of time to make sure Aliyah is in a safe place.”
The plan made sense, and it could work. The thought of Aliyah in danger made him ill. As long as the hunters were out there, she wasn’t safe.
“All right. We’ll do it. I don’t like it, but we’ll do it.”
He glanced down at Aliyah and kissed her tenderly, not caring that Nick was sitting a few feet away. “You’ll do as I say. You won’t place yourself in danger nor will you take any unnecessary risks. If anything, and I mean anything happens to me or things go wrong, you’re to get your ass out of there.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. “Nothing will happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”
CHAPTER 15
“Tell me about your people,” Duncan said as he returned to the couch after seeing Nick off.
He sat down next to her, and she automatically curled into his arms, not caring that she was still naked beneath the blanket. His arms came around her, strong, comforting, and she laid her cheek against his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart.
“Why haven’t you contacted your parents? They must be so worried.”
She inhaled a deep breath and pulled slightly away so she could look at him, though his arms remained wrapped around her.
“I did try to call them while you were at work. I wasn’t sure I could trust you at first,” she said simply.
“And now?”
His brown eyes bore into her, a flicker of hope warming the dark orbs.
“I trust you.”
Satisfaction glinted though he showed no other outward reaction to her statement.
“Then tell me,” he said.
She did trust him. Unwavering determination reflected in his every action, his every word. She knew he’d protect her and wouldn’t betray her. And that had an unnerving affect on her. She wanted this man. She wanted him with a painful longing. One that had built and swelled within her since the moment he’d gathered her in his arms.
She licked her lips, knowing she would tell him all. Tell him things she’d never told another soul.
“My father is the great Kodiak bear. My mother, a majestic eagle. It’s why we lived in Alaska at first. They could move in relative obscurity because the island we inhabited had a healthy population of both.
“Then my sister was born, and the spirit guide gifted her with the cougar. And then I was born and was given the cheetah. As a child, I spent more time in animal form than other children of my race. I was playful and mischievous, and my parents feared that I would be discovered, even as remotely as we lived.
“And then…” A surge of pain threaded through her chest. It had been so many years, but the loss still felt fresh and vibrant in her mind.
“Then what,” Duncan asked gently.
“My sister was taken. We believe she was taken. She simply disappeared, and we never found her. My parents were distraught. It nearly destroyed them. And then there’s me, spending more time in cheetah form than human. The cheetah has always been strong within me, and I was too young to learn dominance.
“We spent a year searching, hoping, but then my parents had to face the fact that she was gone, and they were so afraid the same would happen to me. So we moved to Africa.
“One of our kind manages a game preserve. He’s a lion shifter. We went there so I would be safer, so I could be with more of my own kind. It was hard on my parents because now they were the ones forced to be so careful. They spent much time in human form, but our animal self has to be nurtured or the relationship suffers. There is trust between human and animal. A bond that cannot be broken.
“When I was old enough and mature enough to better control the divide between human and cheetah, we moved back to Alaska. My parents and I operate a lodge for travelers. It was during a visit back to Africa that I was captured by the hunters.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” She laughed but it cracked and came out feebly. “The one place I felt truly safe. Free. Was the place I was captured. I was stupid and careless.”
Duncan smoothed her hair from her face and pulled her back against his chest. “You have such an amazing life. Such an incredible story. I can’t even fathom that there are people out there just like me only they’re animals.”
He stopped for a moment, and she could feel another question brewing.
“How is it you’re all so different? I would have thought it was genetic, and yet your parents, you, your sister, you’re all completely different. An entirely different species.”
She smiled. He was logical, and she’d just shattered his understanding of the world he lived in.
“We aren’t born a certain animal. It is a gift bestowed to us. What our parents are has no bearing on what a child becomes. When a woman becomes pregnant, she is visited by the spirit guide. I suppose you could call him God. Is he your God? That I can’t answer. Maybe they’re one and the same.
“There is a scripture in the Bible, though, that I’ve always carried with me. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Because when a woman is pregnant, she is given a vision of what gift will be bestowed on her child. That scripture has always resonated with me. The spirit guide knew me before I was placed in my mother’s womb. He knew what gift I would carry with me. I find that comforting.”
“And when you have children? Will they carry those gifts as well? Are you required to marry within your race for it to be passed down to your children?”
“There are no rules, Duncan. We are few. Fewer now than ever. I don’t know why. Not every child is gifted with the ability to shift. Some parents who are both shifters give birth to fully human children while some of the very few who have partnered outside our people have borne children who were given the ability.”
“So it’s random?” Duncan frowned. “That doesn’t seem very logical.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe it’s random. I don’t think anything is. I firmly believe there is a reason why some are gifted with the ability and others aren’t. Some things are beyond the scope of human understanding. Some things just are.”
“But where did you come from? You speak of people of your kind, and yet you’re scattered.”
She sighed. “We are an old race. We arrived in America before the first Native Americans. I suppose you could say we’re the original Native Americans. We were small and secretive. Instead of engaging when others encroached on our land, our territory, we would simply move on, seeking out other places where we could be free.”
“You speak as though you were there,” he murmured.
She smiled. “No. But stories have been passed down from generation to generation. Carefully safeguarded, meticulously retold. We fear putting anything in writing.