Free Catamount Ridge by Aubree Lane Page B

but it was nice to hear.”
    “Grace.”
    “Yes, Jessie.”
    “Shut up.”

6
     
     
     
    “JESSIE!” ICE BELLOWED. “Let me out of here.”
    Hauling his mountain lion ass down into Grace’s basement hadn’t been an easy task. Ice’s human figure sat hunched in the corner of the cage and his hands rattled the bars. The cubs slept nearby in a large dog carrier.
    “Jessie!” he yelled again. “Come down here and talk to me. It’s not what you think. I can explain everything.”
    The huntress kicked the door open and made her way down the stairs. “No explanation is necessary. Derek and your grandmother have already filled me in.”
    Ice took one look at her sunglasses and laughed out loud. “Those won’t protect you.”
    She doubted they would, but it was worth a try. Jessie tossed the glasses aside and dropped a black blindfold onto the top of the cage. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere until you put that on.”
    After the scarf was securely in place, Ice tipped his head and smirked. “I can still see you.”
    The last thing Jessie wanted was to turn her back on him, but she didn’t have a choice. She grabbed a chair and scraped it across the concrete. If Ice was anything like his grandmother, the sound would rankle him.
    When Ice shuddered, Jessie grinned.
    “Okay, hotshot,” she began. “Tell me about Lizzy. What happened to her? She rambles on about being caged by monster cats. I assume she’s talking about you and Derek. If there are more of you, you better tell me now or there will be a price to pay.”
    “I’m caged and at your mercy. What more can you do?”
    “I could kill you, but I don’t believe that’s a strong enough threat.” Jessie kicked the dog carrier and the cubs whined. When she had Ice’s full attention, she slammed the two syringes down on top of the cage. “They’re your cubs. They’ll be the first to go. How do you feel about watching your progeny die?”
    Ice drew the blindfold back down over his eyes. “I’ve watched many of our cubs die. Derek forced my hand with these two when he murdered their mother. I had no choice but to recruit you or my children wouldn’t have had a chance.”
    There was always a choice. Ice had simply made the wrong one.
    “Your grandmother said you were the last of your kind and that perpetuating the species was your primary goal. If you weren’t interested in having the cubs shift, you could have dropped them off at the Silverton zoo. They would have been well cared for.”
    “In captivity!” Ice bellowed. “Park your booty in that chair with your backside towards me. I don’t want what I’m about to tell you to become suspect.”
    With one last scrape across the floor, Jessie spun the chair around and sat down.
    “First off,” he began. “My grandmother is off her rocker. She lost the ability to shift a long time ago and has been trying to figure out a way to get it back ever since. To the best of our knowledge, we are the last of our kind. I believe inbreeding has brought about our own demise. I’m resigned. When we die, it will be the end of our species.”
    “That’s a little tough to swallow,” Jessie countered. “If you’re reconciled, why did you lure me into the mine? I got so high from whatever you tossed on the fire, I nursed your cubs.”
    “The little one was on the verge of death,” Ice said, pleading for her understanding. “He’s my cub. I had to try to save him. If he had been allowed to stay with his mother, his chances of survival would have been much better. Derek took that option away. Panther milk is good, but my offspring are not ordinary. They need human milk to thrive.”
    Mother’s milk was available at any breast milk donation center and formula could be purchased at the grocery store. Ice was wading in it deep. Jessie kept her mouth shut and waited to hear the rest of his dribble.
    Ice settled against the bars and continued his explanation. “But feeding on it doesn’t guarantee