Free Carpathian 14 - Dark Hunger by authors_sort

can do to stop them?" His voice was utterly devoid of expression.
    Juliette felt a chill go down her spine. She sensed his sudden stillness. She had been in his mind and there was a ruthless, merciless quality buried deep inside of him that alarmed her. "Someone has to rescue the women. I'm strong. I'm capable of shifting, and I'm not afraid of those bastards. I can protect my sister and cousin. Well, maybe Solange protects me." She turned her head to look up at his face. "They took my mother. She was held in a tiny room, and several men raped her to get her pregnant. It didn't happen immediately so they had her for a long time. It took us two years to find her."
    "Juliette." He breathed her name. Her sorrow beat at him, tore at his heart and soul. He nuzzled the top of her head. "I am so sorry." She didn't need to tell him the rest. He saw it in her mind. Her mother had died in childbirth, too long neglected by the men who held her prisoner. The child had died as well, and Juliette felt responsible because it had taken so long to find her mother.
    Riordan had been prepared to forbid her to assume the part of a warrior woman, but he couldn't speak, couldn't issue commands even though it might keep her safe. Her pain ran too deep. He understood the need to protect others. He understood honor and responsibility.
    His fingers crushed her hair in his fist. "Did you find the men who took her? You must know them by scent."
    Tears burned behind her eyelids, tears she vowed would never be shed. She refused to spend her time crying. There were very few women capable of shifting and the jaguar males who had banded together were determined to possess them. She was every bit as determined that they would never get their hands on them.
    "Jasmine may not be able to shift on command, but even the small ability she has places her in danger. She has other gifts to aid her, but she couldn't fight against the males if they captured her. I live with Jasmine and my cousin. Solange is my mother's sister's daughter and my mother raised her after my aunt was killed when several males tried to capture us.
    She fought them off, giving my mother time to escape with the three of us girls."
    "So now you and your sister and cousin live in fear of these men coming after you. Why did you stay in the jungle where there is danger?"
    "Why do you hunt the vampire?" she fired back. "This is our home. We're not the only women these men are after, but we have skills. After what they did to our mothers, we don't plan to just let them steal and kill other women. We know the way the men think now, and we've successfully taken back several women."
    "Juliette, what you do is very dangerous. These males are not right. I have known some of the jaguar race and the men did not commit these crimes against their women. Something is wrong."
    "It isn't all the men. It is only a small group, yet they are very powerful because they have banded together." She turned in his arms. "Do you understand why I have to stay with these women? They have no other protection. Jasmine and I feared the males were in league with someone at the new Morrison laboratory. Too many animals on the endangered species list were being captured. We thought the jaguar males were trading animals for help in finding the females. That was one of the reasons we broke into the laboratory."
    "Is it possible a vampire has connected with a jaguar male and corrupted him?"
    "I think these males have corrupted themselves."
    "We will return to your family and make certain they are safe, Juliette. If you care about them, then, of course, I care about them. There is no question this practice must be stopped."
    "I tried not to blame the males, I really did. Our species is dying out, but they don't care at all about the females, only that they want the race to go on." She shook her head sadly.
    "It isn't right. We have a right to our lives."
    He kissed her temple, the corner of her mouth. "I understand their desperation.