Soul of the Wildcat Read Online Free Page B

parties, the booze and drugs that made her small, dead-end life just a little less boring. Less than a year after marrying Ash, her mother packed up and moved out in the middle of the night. Disappearing yet again with another man.
    Normally, that meant the man would pack up and leave, too.
    Not Ash Jenkins. Instead of cutting and running, he’d stayed on, applying to the court to become Dakoda’s legal father so he could finish raising her. Her days of running wild and running with the wrong crowd were over. Despite the fact she’d hated every minute of it, Ash Jenkins had taken her ass and whipped it into shape. By time she graduated from high school, Dakoda was a straight-A student.
    Though he’d seen her into college, Ash Jenkins hadn’t lived to see her graduate. A punk with a gun shot him down during a convenience-store robbery gone bad.
    To honor his memory, Dakoda had chosen law enforcement as her own career. She already knew she wouldn’t be staying in the city, though. Born and raised in North Carolina, she’d always lived in the shadows of the mountains. Something in their tranquility beckoned to her spirit. They represented a stability she’d rarely known throughout her life. Simply, they reminded her of her stepfather.
    Though Ash Jenkins’s killer was never caught, Dakoda knew exactly who’d killed Gregory Zerbe. The first time, the crime had gone unpunished. If she had her way, it wouldn’t happen a second time.
    All she had to do was figure out how to get out of this place alive. Given that her roommate was a wild-ass cougar, that possibility was a very slim one, indeed.
    Tired of sitting in her cramped position on the hard ground, Dakoda eyed the cougar for any sign of aggression. The cell was darker now, everything around her turning murky and indistinct as night stretched over the mountains.
    The big cat didn’t move.
    Taking a deep breath, she stretched out one leg, then the other. The ache in her knees eased a little. No telling how long she’d been sitting, letting her mind roam. At the moment, remembering the past was slightly more pleasant than contemplating her future.
    Sensing her movements, the cougar’s amber eyes snapped open. Its ears flicked and its gaze brightened, wary and alert.
    Realizing her movements had disturbed the animal, Dakoda flashed a wavering smile. “Nice kitty,” she soothed. “You just lay right there and be still.” She fought against the instinct to curl back up into a little ball, make herself as small as humanly possible. As a ranger cadet, she’d taken classes on wild animal encounters. Staying calm was the first key. Not agitating the animal was the second. Most wild animals normally avoided human contact, becoming aggressive only when they sensed danger.
    Dakoda’s empty stomach rumbled again. She swallowed thickly, though her mouth was too dry to offer much liquid. Hunger was another factor that drove a wild animal to attack.
    Just as soon as the cougar got a little rest, it was going to get antsy. A twinge deep in her bladder warned that her own discomfort would soon be increasing tenfold.
    Inching around the cougar to use the chamber pot wasn’t the most appealing notion she’d entertained lately. The idea of her pants around her ankles and her bare ass hanging out damn near sent her into a spasm. That cougar would probably love to take a nice bite out of her tender rear.
    Dakoda might have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so damn serious. The cell wasn’t going to be big enough for both of them much longer.
    A sudden commotion of voices and movement outside the cell caught her attention. Heavy steps were punctuated by a series of guffaws. The grating of a lock and fall of a heavy chain allowed the cell door to open.
    The cougar immediately leapt to its feet. It coiled into a defensive crouch; a low growl emanated from its throat.
    Dakoda quickly pulled her legs back up