Free TherianPromise by Cyndi Friberg Page B

stolen from mercenaries after teleporting to the middle of nowhere.
She’d thought being hunted by her abusive father was harrowing enough. Suddenly
her life had gone from Law and Order to the Twilight Zone.
    And he’d been right to make her promise. Part of her wanted
to pull over, get out of the Jeep and run like hell.
    As if sensing her thoughts, the cougar growled, but he
lacked the strength to raise his head. “Straight to Basalt then left on Two
Rivers Road, strip mall will be on the right. I was listening, Kyle. Really, I
was. Just relax we’ll be there soon.” She felt like an idiot talking to a cat,
but this was no ordinary cat. She’d only seen his transformation out of the
corner of her eye and still the image was imprinted on her brain. Effortless,
fluid and utterly surreal.
    Kyle was a shapeshifter, an honest-to-God shapeshifter. Did
that mean— No, she wasn’t ready to continue that line of reasoning. She had to
accept one revelation at a time.
    Grasping the wheel with both hands, she focused on the road.
It wouldn’t do either of them any good if she put the Jeep in a ditch. Kyle’s
labored breathing assured her he was alive. Hopefully, he’d stay that way until
they reached Jake.
    She was part of the Therian nation. The realization echoed
through her mind like the ominous toll of a distant gong. Her father was
hunting her so he could control what sort of shapeshifter she would become. The
explanation rang true, yet it seemed insufficient. Kyle had said Carissa’s
definition was special, unique. There was more to the story than Kyle had
explained, details he hadn’t reached before they were interrupted by the
mercenaries. But each time she tried to fill in the blanks, she was overwhelmed
by the possibilities.
    Her mind was still whirling with speculation and confusion
when she reached Basalt. Like so many other tiny mountain towns Basalt’s main
street was lined with narrow shops and restaurants, each pressed against the
other in block-long rows. Ava paid more attention to the street signs than the
storefronts and easily found Two Rivers Road. She turned left and then focused
on the right until she located the strip mall.
    A dark SUV was parked in the back corner of the lot. Three
of the four doors opened as she approached and three large, leather-clad men
piled out. The driver had long dark hair while his companions were both blond.
It stood to reason that this was Jake and his men. They seemed to be expecting
her. Still, a shiver of apprehension skittered down her spine.
    There were a few cars parked near the restaurant at the
other end of the mall, but none were occupied. She parked a couple of spaces
away from the SUV and hesitated. Was she about to jump from the frying pan into
the fire? Who should she trust? Was the enemy of her enemy really her friend,
and how could she know for sure that they were Osric’s enemies?
    Something bumped her seat hard enough to rock her forward.
She looked back and found cougar-Kyle’s massive amber eyes watching her
intently. Had he head-butted the seat or swiped it with his paw? Either
possibility was so unbelievable she just shook her head and sighed.
    The dark-haired man tapped on her window, but his attention
was immediately drawn to the backseat. “Why’d he shift?” he asked as she rolled
the window down.
    “He’s hungry. Are you Jake?”
    “In the flesh.” A roguish smile parted his lips as his
thick-lashed gaze settled on her. “Ava, I presume. My hunters were starting to
wonder if you exist.”
    She glanced at the two blond men waiting by the SUV. They
were both tall and brawny. One wore a biker jacket, the other a leather vest.
Both sported wallet chains and extensive tattoos. Men like these had been
hunting her as well as Osric and Kyle? What made her so popular—or so hated?
    Shaking away the tangent, she looked at Jake again and
fought back another shiver. Without a smile, his features were sharp, his
bearing watchful, his gaze downright