Chapter 4

“Oh, we should definitely stop and get directions from him,” Sydney said while glancing at the male specimen pumping gas at the station they were passing.

Blake let out a laugh.  “Are you sure it’s just directions you want from him?”

“No, way,” she replied.  “I might ask him if he needs a ride too.”

More laughter echoed through the vehicle as Blake spun the wheel.  Grabbing onto the dashboard, she looked at him with wide eyes as he made a U-turn.  He pulled into the gas station and sent her a smile.  “Make yourself useful, go get some directions.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You’re just going to let me get out, without handcuffing me to you or something?”

“Yep,” he said with a nod.  “I’m going to run in and grab some snacks, and look through the bags Zeke threw at us.  You do what you have to.”

She reached over to open the door, but her hand touched nothing.  “Blake, come let me out.”

Letting out a sigh, he rolled his eyes at her and hopped out of the car.  A few seconds later, the door was open.  She didn’t wait for him to say anything else as she sauntered over to the man standing at the pump.  Looking back, she waited until Blake wasn’t paying attention to slip her phone out of her pocket.  Names flew by until it finally stopped on Leo.  She bit her lip.  All she would have to do is call her brother, complain, and he would be forced to come get her.  Was that what she really wanted though?

Her finger pressed down on the contact.  Options popped up, call him or send him a message.  Quickly, she pressed message, telling him that he was right in sending her away.  She was, for once, thankful that he had interfered in her life.  Pushing it into her pocket, she put a predatory smile on her face and headed towards the man again.

“Excuse m-” The man turned, letting her get a good look at his face. “Shit,” she mumbled and turned to run.  A hand snapped out and snagged her by the shoulder, effectively stopping her flee.

“Sydney,” the man said with a charming voice, “what are you doing out here?  Does your brother know you’re this far from home?”

“Yes,” she hissed while attempting to pull away from him.  She knew he loved making her feel defenseless, and having her back to him was not something that she enjoyed.  “What are you doing here?  Shouldn’t you be with your sister?”

His grip loosened.  “That was a low blow, even for you,” he whispered as his hand dropped completely.

Mumbling a curse, she turned and faced him.  “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said that.”

“We can’t do anything about it now,” he said while waving a hand dismissively.  He didn’t spare her a glance as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.  Flipping it open, he pressed a couple buttons before pushing the device to his ear.  “Hey, it’s me.  Did you know that your sister is heading north?”

Sydney could hear Leo answer on the other side.  “Yes, I was just informed of that fact.”

“Hmm, sounds like a story I may want to hear later.”

Leo laughed.  “If you ever meet the Leopard Queen, you will understand.  Now, tell me what my sister stopped to ask you for.”

He finally looked at her, his gold eyes staring at her.  She knew why his eyes were that color.  It was a tale mothers told their children to keep them from shifting too often, but once she saw his eyes, she knew it wasn’t a just a story.  “Why are you here, Sydney?”

She glanced down quickly, silently cursing herself for not being able to keep eye contact.  “I needed, I mean, we needed directions.”

“They needed directions,” he echoed into the phone.

“You should have thought of that before you sent them off,” Leo mumbled to someone.  “You know neither of them are used to things like this.”

A mumbled voice came from the other end.  Sydney wasn’t near enough to hear what the reply was, but the man standing on the phone must have found it hilarious, because he broke out in laughter while clutching the phone to his ear.

“Shut up,” Leo hissed on the line, “and you’re going with them.”

The laughter stopped.  “You can’t do that to me.  Come on, Leo, were best friends.  You can’t do this.”

“It’s an order,” Leo said.

“Damn,” the man hissed while looking down at his phone in loathing.  “I just got back, what makes him think that I want to go with you?”

“What makes you think I want you to go?”

He looked up at her with a smirk.  Taking a step towards her, his body pressed into hers.  “Don’t lie; you want me to go with you, just like you wanted to go with me a couple years ago.”

A chill went down her spine at the promise in his voice.  Her body began to lean into him until she heard the steps behind her.  Jerking back, she looked behind her and sighed in relief.  “This is Blake,” she said while motioning towards her rescuer.  “Blake, this is Isaac, our pride’s enforcer.”

Blake glanced between the two with a smile.  It was obvious that Sydney didn’t want to be near this man for any longer, and Blake had to wonder why.  If anything, Isaac looked welcoming, with the smile on his face.  Blake could feel the power radiating off the man, though.  It was obvious why he was their enforcer.

Blake shifted the bags he had in his hands. “Nice to meet you.”

The man laughed.  “It’s nice to meet you too.  I have a question for you though.  How did you deal with her for this long?”

“It’s only been a couple days,” Blake replied with a shrug, “and once we got the fact that we didn’t want each other out in the open, we’ve been getting along good.”

Something flashed in Isaac’s eyes.  Blake stared at them, in complete awe.  Who had eyes like that?  “You want to know the story behind my eyes?” Isaac asked.

Blake groaned.  “You can’t read minds can you?  I swear, if you can, this will be the last time you and I talk.  Having one person knowing my thoughts is enough.”

“I don’t read minds,” the man said with a confused expression.  “Who reads minds?  Damn, that would suck.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Blake answered, “Our enforcer, Zeke, he can hear what you’re thinking, drives everyone insane.”

“Ah,” Isaac said while taking a step towards him.  He took a deep breath then looked at Blake with deeper confusion than before.  “You don’t smell.”

“I would hope not,” Sydney mumbled.  “I’m the one who has to drive to the border with him.”

Isaac shot her a quick glare.  “That’s not what I was talking about, and you know it.” A smile crossed the man’s face as she returned the glare.  “I don’t know what he is, and I can’t detect a scent either.”

“I’m a leopard,” Blake replied, “a black one.”

“Not to be disrespectful, but I know of only three, you aren’t a woman, or strong enough to be a king.  That means you must be the second in command.”

“Yes, I am.  Now, if you don’t mind me asking, why do your eyes look like that?  Other lions have brown eyes; you’re the first I’ve seen with gold.”

Isaac ignored the question as he looked at Marcus’s car then back to his own.  “We are definitely taking my car.”

“What do you mean?”

A large smile crossed the man’s face.  “I am going on a little road trip with you.  I’m driving.  I don’t care who sits up front,” he said while running his eyes down Sydney’s frame, “but I think we all know who I would prefer.”

Isaac turned his back to them and jumped in his vehicle.  Looking over at Sydney, Blake smiled at the frustrated expression she had on her face.  “You like him.”

She glared at him.  “I do, but that’s the problem.  He made me stay behind a long time ago, and now that I may have another chance, I can’t do anything about it because of this alliance.”

“I’m sorry,” Blake mumbled in sympathy.  “I’ll sit up front.”

“Thanks,” she whispered with a sad smile.  “I need to keep my distance.”

He watched her back as she pulled open the back door and jumped in.  Standing in front of the car, Blake felt left out, once again.  Isaac was shifting his rearview mirror, and Blake knew it was just to be able to look at the woman now in his backseat.  When would Blake finally have something like that?  Shaking his head, he pushed all the thoughts of pity to the back of his mind.

Walking to the passenger’s seat, he pulled shifted the bags again, and pulled the door open with his free hand.  He settled in and looked down at the stuff now in his lap.

“Just put it in the back,” Isaac said, his eyes on the rear view mirror.  “Sydney can put them in the seat next to her.”

Blake began passing them back one by one.  Finally, they were all settled in.  Glancing over at their new driver, Blake waited for him to start the car.  Isaac turned towards him.  “It’s what happens when you stay in your animal form too long,” he said just as the engine started.

Leaning back in his seat, Blake tried to determine whether he wanted to know the reason the man had stayed in his animal form so long.  He shook his head; some things were better left alone.

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