The Shifter's Possession: A Ghost Shifters Novel

by R. A. Boyd

  “It’s for you,” Willow muttered, finally looking at Ronin for more than a second.

  She’d gotten him a present. Part of him wanted to rejoice at the thought of his mate getting him something just for him, but he knew there had to be a catch. She was still unable to hold his gaze for too long without flinching. No. This wasn’t just a present.

  “Look, Ronin,” Cass said, obviously having the same idea that made him momentarily happy. “Willow brought you a gift. That was nice.”

  “It’s a holding band,” Willow said as she bumped Cass with her hip. “Not a gift. Well, it’s a gift in a way that will make your beast unable to kill anyone, so you’re welcome. And we infused it with salt. It’ll keep Samiyah’s spirit quiet and locked away. But it’s temporary. This is only a quick fix until the spell is complete to free you of his spirit. So, you can come out of there.”

  Absolutely not. Ronin wasn’t leaving this cell until they were ready to purge him of Samiyah and somehow calm his animal. Even if it meant being put back to sleep until his saber-tooth was ready to walk amongst people.

  Shaking his head, he backed away from the door of the cell. “You are out of your mind if you think I’m coming out of here before I’m free of this crap. Nope. Not that I doubt your talents as a witch, but I won’t give these two fuckers fighting in my head the opportunity to hurt anyone. Leave me here. I don’t mind.”

  No one understood how much trouble they would be in if Samiyah took over his body. It was too great of a risk.

  “You have to,” Willow said, holding up the bracelet. “The incantation attached to these jail cells that make them impenetrable affects how the spell works. You have to be out of here and not under the influence of the holding spells of the jail. This holding band,” she said, holding up the bracelet and shaking it at him, “is designed to mute Samiyah and your beast without interfering with the spell. None of this works if you stay in there. Jax is okay with it. He called Damon to make sure they were both in agreeance.”

  They weren’t listening to him. Why the hell weren’t they listening to him? He knew how detrimental this was, and they weren’t taking what he wanted into consideration. That was a surefire way to have more people wind up dead.

  Ronin touched his chest and balled up the fabric of his shirt over his heart. “I’m not okay with it. You don’t understand. I can’t hurt anyone. I’d rather die.”

  “Stop saying that,” Cass interrupted.

  He nodded and sat down on the bed. “It’s true. I’ve killed so many people. My soul aches for everything I’ve done. Please. I just can’t.”

  Ronin put his head in his hands and rocked back and forth. This was never-ending. He would suffer for what he did; what he allowed his beast to do. Damn-it, he should have worked harder at keeping his animal under control all those years ago.

  No. They couldn’t make him leave the confines of this space. He’d fucking refuse until they realized he was a liability and locked his ass back at the Coven of the Fallen’s catacombs.

  Still rocking back and forth, he muttered to himself over and over again of how they trusted him too much. He didn’t even trust himself.

  “You can do this,” a small voice said right next to his ear.

  He raised his head and opened his eyes, panicking when he saw Willow inside his cell. Her beautiful eyes were full of some emotion he couldn’t read, but right now, it didn’t matter.

  Ronin jumped up and slammed the backs of his legs against the bed anchored to the wall. His momentum and the unmoving frame of the bed knocked him off balance. He fell back on the mattress and hit the back of his head on the stone wall.

  “Get out,” he said frantically, standing up again, but this time grabbing Willow’s waist and steering her toward the door of the cell. “What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you know what they can do to you? What the fuck, Cass? Get her out of here.”

  Still leaning against the wall like everything was just fine, Cass shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “I trust Willow. You should trust her too. If she says that this is cool, this is cool.”

  Trusting Willow had nothing to do with it. As long as that cell door was open and he wasn’t in complete control of his body, people’s lives were on the line.

  “Would you… stop pushing me, damn-it.” Willow turned around and slapped his hands away from her. “I’m trying to help you.”

  “People will die. You know that.” He was pleading with them, and they seemed to think this was funny. “Get out and lock the door behind you. Please.”

  Without warning, Willow brought one hand up and slapped him hard enough to rattle his vision and bring the taste of blood to his mouth. She was small, but damn-it, her fist was like a sledgehammer. I pretty sledgehammer with muted, pale pink nails.

  A bellowing snarl raced up his throat, and he could feel his beast getting pissed off. And turned on. It loved her quick and violent response to it. The feral growl was a warning that Ronin couldn’t control, but Willow didn’t even flinch. She looked more irritated than anything else.

  Fuck. His beast was going to hurt her. It liked her just fine, adored her even. It was telling him to fuck her and claim her, but she’d drawn blood, and his beast didn’t like the taste of its own blood.

  What the hell was wrong with these two women? Why the fuck did they open the cell?

  Willow reached up and did something that stunned him to stillness. She put each of her hands on either side of his face. Pulling him down to her, she stood on the tips of those uncomfortable looking, high-heeled boots and pressed her lips against his.

  The world went silent when her soft lips touched his. Only the beating of his heart and hers filled his head. Her wet tongue brushed softly over his bottom lip as if imploring him to open for her. Now, instead of trying to make her go away, he released her waist and cupped her face as he drove his tongue deep into her mouth.

  Willow made a small needy sound that filled his head and sent a fresh wave of blood to his cock. She pressed her body closer to his and calmed every fear that tried to take him over.

  The taste of her mouth and the warmth of her soft body was a balm to every aching part of him. The smell of the lust gathering between her thighs called to him, and he wanted nothing more than to bury his face in her wet heat and make her come for him. Make her scream for him.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. He was focused on Willow. On his mate.

  Oh, he knew she’d slapped and kissed him to make him calm down, but that kiss morphed into something so much deeper than either one of them had planned on. He drove his tongue into her mouth, mimicking what he wanted his cock to do to her pussy. Even his beast had perked up and centered on her. It didn’t care if she slapped him ten times a day. If this was the follow-up, he was ready for every damn stinging slap he could get from her.

  A low rumbled sounded in his chest. He thought it would frighten Willow, but all it did was make her pull him closer.

  “Oh my God,” Cass said, pulling him from the spell that was Willow. “I’m still right here. Ronin, just put the bracelet on and do whatever she says. I’m leaving. Ew and barf, you guys are gross.”

  With a soft pop, Ronin pulled away from Willow and rubbed his nose against hers. “No. Cass, don’t leave. If I’m not strong enough, I want you here to keep Willow safe.”

  Willow’s eyes were still closed, and when she opened them, she stared at him like she’d never seen him before. She was panting, and her lips were swollen from their heated kiss. “Wow. That was…” She shook her head and cleared her throat, but she didn’t pull away. “The wood of the bracelet is sacred. The Enochian runes will hold, and no one can take it off but me. This is the only way to free you. Please. Let me put it on you and then we can talk some more. Trust me.”

  Chapter 3

  The raw look of fear on Ronin’s face broke something in Willow’s chest as she looked up into his eyes. He was willing to stay here or be put back under if it mean
t keeping everyone safe. That realization changed every cautious feeling she had for him. He wasn’t the evil monstrosity most thought him to be. The two entities occupying his body were.

  She’d been ready to hate him, but now… Now she didn’t. She couldn’t. This man was ready to give up everything to make sure he didn’t lose control and hurt anyone.

  “Look,” Willow said, taking his right hand into hers and pulling him closer to her. “This is going to work. It’s going to take time, but it will work. I get that you don’t trust me.”

  “I don’t trust myself,” he responded, dark brown eyes boring into her as if she were the only thing in existence.

  “Then trust me. Please.”

  The way he looked at her was everything. How many times had she prayed that someone would look at her just like this? This was how the men of the Ghost clan looked at their women, and Willow had seen it many times during her stay here. She had yearned for this. And now, here it was.

  Okay. It came with some issues, but these were things she could help with. He was possessed. He not only seemed to want her, but he needed her help. They could start with that.

  The emotions that took her over after she and Ronin touched last week had unnerved her, made her want to revolt. But standing here with him like this was beautiful.

  Willow held the bracelet over his wrist and whispered the words that would open the band. With a soft click, it slid open, and when she brought it to his wrist, he didn’t pull away from her.

  “Close your eyes and look away,” she commanded. “Just in case Samiyah attempts to break the spell holding it together, he’ll have a hell of a time figuring out the conjuring motions I use to bind it.”

  Without question, he closed his eyes and rolled his head back until she was sure the only thing he could see was the ceiling and the wall behind him.

  Heat roared in her body and pooled in her belly as the thick muscular cords of his neck held her gaze for a moment longer than she expected. She’d never paid attention to a man’s neck before. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed, and all she wanted to do was kiss the spot where it disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt.

  Holy balls. She needed to get a grip. His muscles and large body needed to stop trying to get her attention.

  She spoke the binding spell in her mind and made four quick hand motions, binding the bracelet around Ronin’s wrist.

  Willow released his arm and took a step back. “You can look now.”

  He rolled his head forward and flexed his bicep as he raised his arm to see the bracelet. “How will you know if you need to strengthen it?”

  She smiled at him and imagined running her nails over his broad shoulders to see how smooth he’d feel. “Don’t worry. The less you know about what I did to make it work, the less you have to worry about your buddy in there trying to figure out how to get free.”

  “Okay. I’ll trust you.” He swallowed a few times and then sat back down on the bed. He rubbed the back of his head where he’d hit it when he tried to get away from her, and when he pulled his hand forward, blood coated the tips of his fingers. “Um, I’m bleeding.”

  Oh. She hadn’t explained that part. She was hoping nothing would happen that would bring his attention to it.

  “So,” Willow said, rocking back on her heels. “Here’s the thing. The holding band not only mutes your saber-tooth and the asshat, but it also takes away your supernatural powers so you can’t hurt anyone. This means you’re not as strong as you normally are, and your healing abilities are a bit stunted. You’re pretty much just like a regular shifter. Maybe slightly weaker. Even after I remove the bracelet, it’s going to take a little while for your strength to fully return.”

  This is why it took her and Sari four days to come up with the right spell to hold Ronin. They’d put so many precautionary loopholes into the spell to make sure it was foolproof.

  “Are you upset?” she asked, watching as he looked over his body. It gave her a chance to look over his firm physique while he wasn’t paying attention.

  He looked down his chest and ran his hands down the length of his torso. “So I can’t hurt anyone. Not at all?”

  “No.”

  “And I won’t be able to hear their constant bickering?”

  “No, Ronin. You won’t. It’ll be you and you alone. But you need to tell me immediately if you start hearing them again. Unless you’re like me and you talk to yourself like you’re your own best friend.”

  She’d meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but when he finally looked up at her, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears. His face crumpled as he blinked back tears, and Willow wanted nothing more than to go to him and make him feel better.

  This man, this strong man who’d killed and caused so much trouble in the lives of the people around him, was so much more than she thought. He’d begged for death and had endured so much. He didn’t want to die to escape what his actions had wrought. No. He wanted to die to save his family. To protect the people around him who could be affected by his actions.

  Willow’s heart attached itself to him. Not too much, but just enough to know that she would help him. She’d worried what killing him would do to her, of how his madness could shove her off the deep end. But that wasn’t the case. No. Just a little, she let go of how horrible it was to be the mate of Ronin. She let go of how awful it was to be the mate of the man whose beast took control of him and killed innocent people.

  Just a little. He was more than the pawn used as Samiyah’s fuel to bring together the Rogue clan whose only goal was to destroy the Ghost shifters.

  This man was soft and cared for others more than he did himself. And right now, she would take the focus from saving herself to saving her mate. Because he deserved it.

  “Come on,” she said, holding her hand out to him. “Let’s take a walk. Or maybe you could watch television. What do you want to do?”

  Her heart softened a little more when he averted his gaze and then looked up at her again. Tears rolled down his face and made him look like the angelic creature he was. Dark brown wavy hair that was longer on the top threatened to fall into his dark eyes. The strong jaw and rounded nose lessened the ability of ferocity in his face, and his full lips were perfectly framed by his beard.

  “I just want to go to sleep,” he muttered, standing up and reaching out to take her hand. “I haven’t had a decent, peaceful nap in so long. And a steak. And a strong cup of coffee. That bastard Samiyah only drank tea and was vegan. Not that I have anything against vegans. I’m a shifter, and my body needs meat. I just like steak, really.”

  Willow snorted out a laugh and pulled him toward the door of the cell. She didn’t miss the fact that he’d hesitated before he let her pull him all the way out of his safe prison. They quietly walked up the stairs, and she could tell that he looked at her ass from behind. When they reached the dining area of the community hall, all the Ghost shifters of this community, save Audra, stood or sat around and watched them.

  Their stares varied from worried to purely pissed off. More were pissed. Willow stepped back and put herself between him and the rest of the New Rose Ghosts. She would blast their asses with energy bolts if they tried to hurt him.

  Jax stood from where he sat next to Cass. “Everyone was home. I asked them to come over and talk. No reason to put this off until later. We heard everything.”

  Ronin went to step around Willow, but she tensed. The impulse to protect him from his own brethren made her ready to hurt the first person who threatened him.

  “It’s fine,” Ronin said. He gently placed his hands on her hips and moved her to the side. “Anything they want to do to me is fine. I deserve it. You want to punish me, Alpha, I’ll take it.”

  Jax took a few menacing steps toward Ronin, and Willow had to chew on her tongue to keep herself still. This was his choice. His fight. He’d asked her to stay out of it.

  This was what the others had talked about. The fondness to Ronin was se
eping its way deep into her bones. Never had she felt this protective of anyone, especially someone she hadn’t known very long.

  “Jax,” Willow said, peeking around Ronin’s large arm to look at her friend. “Please don’t hurt him. The bracelet makes it so—”

  Jax held his hand up to quiet her. “I know. I would never do that while he wore the holding band. None of us would.”

  “I would,” Simon said.

  He stood behind his mate Charlie who looked at Ronin with distrust and curiosity. Willow couldn’t blame her. Ronin had killed her father for threatening her life, and Willow had the feeling that he’d done it out of a morbid sort of kindness. Willow made a mental note to ask him later when no one was around.

  Simon’s typical pissed off expression fell from his face as he ran his fingers through Charlie’s silver hair. “At least I would have a long time ago. But not now. Word of advice. Stay clear of Audra.”

  Cass moved her chair closer to Damon and said, “Yeah. She’s still working through what happened. She’ll come around.”

  Jax reached up and put his large hand on Ronin’s shoulder. He nodded. “We know it wasn’t you. We’re here for you and Willow. Whatever you need, just let us know.” He pulled Ronin in and hugged him in that way that men do. They clamped each other and patted the other on the back, and Willow winced from the echoing thud that reverberated through the room.

  Willow was stunned as each of the Ghost shifters took turns to hug Ronin, welcoming him back to the clan. All of the mates were introduced as new sisters, and when Zeke came up to shake Ronin’s hand, he paused.

  “You look familiar,” Zeke said. A line formed on his forehead as he tried to figure it out. “I wasn’t there the night the coven came to collect you, but I know you.”

  Ronin turned to look at Willow and then back to Zeke. “Come to wherever Willow is taking me. I know you’re Audra’s mate, so I don’t want to come to your house unless she invites me. But yeah. You should remember me. We’ll talk later.”