by Cecilia Lane
The Summertime Fest brought out everyone in Bearden, it seemed. Nora recognized many of the faces she’d served at Hogshead manning their own booths or just enjoying the fair at their leisure.
The bigger rides gave way to smaller ones more suited to the younger crowd as they strolled back toward the main part of town. Food and crafts mixed with games of chance. Booths lined the town square and Main Street.
Nora loved everything about the celebration. The people, the excitement, the thrill that sparked through everyone they stopped to greet. The festival felt like a sprawling family reunion. Everyone knew everyone else and always had a kind word or quick tip on some special food or flash sale somewhere behind them.
The shifting, too, put her inner animal at ease. Children dashed between human and shifted forms, sometimes with parents shouting behind them to slow down or mind where they ran. There wasn’t any shame about their different nature. They just had fun.
Bearden felt like home, and Nora wanted to stay.
A raised hand helped them spot their gathering group. Joss and Hunter waited for them under a tree, showing off Jackson to Elijah and Camille.
“What a sweet face,” Camille cooed as she peered at Jackson. “Oh, I bet he’s going to be an absolute terror in three hours time.”
“We’ll be lucky if we get even that,” Hunter chuckled, then laughed harder when Joss elbowed him in the side.
“Don’t jinx it,” Joss groaned. “This felt like the stars aligning. Naptime for the drive over, a quick spin out into the world where I can feel like a real person again, then right back home for feeding time.”
Jesse looked sharply at the drink in his father’s hand.
Elijah narrowed his eyes under the scrutiny. “It’s just one beer.”
“Right. Just one,” Jesse growled.
Irritation crackled around both men. Nora’s wolf rumbled with uncertainty at the standoff.
The air continued to thicken with animosity. Nora shifted from one foot to another, wondering how no one else seemed to pick up on the beginnings of trouble.
Needing to cut the tension, Nora slipped her hand into Jesse’s and led him to a nearby booth to browse the handmade jewelry.
“Three years without a drop. I should have known that wasn’t the truth,” Jesse muttered. Disappointment and anger clouded his scent when he wrapped his arms around her middle and tugged her against his chest. “Tell me you’re having fun. That will save the day.”
She hurt for him. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he held out hope that real changes had been made. She understood, too, on a deep level, the slashing ache over not being good enough for someone else. She’d felt it every time a foster placement came to an end and she moved on without a permanent family. Nora hated that Jesse didn’t have the father he deserved, who would choose him over alcohol and all that bad behaviors of the past.
She twisted in his arms and pecked his cheek. “This has been an amazing day.”
“Just wait until the fireworks tonight.” He pressed his lips to the soft spot below her ear. “Maybe we’ll find a quiet place and make some of our own. Do you know how much I want to bunch this dress up around your waist?”
Nora bit back her groan and giggle. Griggle? Groggle? She didn’t know which, but the images his words conjured flashed fire through her body.
He pulled back with a wink. “Go find a spot in the stands with the others. I need to warm up Takoda and get in place for my run.”
She threw her arms around his neck for one last quick squeeze. “Good luck,” she whispered.
She fell into the back of the line behind the other mates. The stands were quickly filling by the time they neared the stairs. Bleachers had been erected around three sides of a ring. Big banners hung down the sides, showing off silhouettes of the events planned over the course of the Summertime Fest. The Black Claw men were signed up for the barrel racing competition, but bull riding and roping events were some of the big draws.
A rattle fell to the ground and rolled not far from her feet. Nora glanced from the toy to the squirming child above her, oblivious to the loss. For the moment, anyway. She stepped out of line and reached for it, intending to hand it off to the owner as she found her seat in the stands.
A hand latched around her wrist. A sharp tug pulled her off balance and through the banners draping the back of the bleachers.
Nora’s eyes widened at the sight of Viho. She scrambled backward, trying to get to her feet, but he was faster. He struck quick as a snake, twisting her around and pinning her to him.
“He—” her cry cut down to a muttered yelp behind his hand.
Panic and bile rose in her throat, souring her tongue and twisting her insides into knots. Feet stomped overhead in time to some song blasting over the speakers. Between the banners, she could see the backs of the others climbing the stands to take their seats. So close, and so very, very far away.
Nora swayed the moment Viho released her. She took one trembling step backward before his growl locked her knees. “What do you want?” she asked in a shaky voice.
He looked worse than ever. Black hair hung to his shoulders, wild and unkempt. His cheeks were hollow. Bags lined his eyes. He wore jeans, but they hung loosely around his hips. Claw marks marred his skin, so fresh and pink she thought they might break back open if he moved too fast.
He was a monster. Dangerous. Feral. But she couldn’t help but feel pity for the creature snarling in front of her.
And a healthy dose of fear. He was out of his mind and had no problems manifesting his pain in others.
“You think you can get away that easy?” Viho growled, taking a step toward her. “You will never be free of me.”
Overhead, the music cut to the sound of cheers. The announcer yelled over the crowd, “Give a hand to our next competitor, Jesse King of Black Claw Ranch!”
Nora felt like she’d been cast adrift. She’d landed on an island, but there was no hope of rescue even as boat after boat chugged past.
Her hero rode a few dozen feet on the other side of the fencing. Between the noise and deluge of scents, she was extremely aware Viho could do anything to her at that moment. No one would hear. No one would smell her terror or blood.
She reached for her wolf again and again. Empty fingers found no trace of fur in her mind. The beast cowered so small that she couldn’t even sense her.
Viho came to a stop right in front of her. Nora dragged down one quick breath after another, trying to keep her vision steady. She whimpered when he laid a finger under her chin and turned her face to him.
“I will always know where you are.” He tugged down the neck of her dress just enough to expose the top portion of her mate mark. Twisted grin splitting his face, he continued, “I could track you to the ends of the Earth with this thing. You’re mine, Nora. Remember that. Have fun with your cowboy, but know it’s because I allow it. Everything you do, everything you think of as yours, is because I allow it. And sooner or later, I will come collect what I own.”
The buzzer screamed over the speakers and the crowd yelled and stomped. Numbers were thrown out to another wild cry.
Under the bleachers, Viho leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Tell my little flower I said hello. Tell the rest of them they’re welcome to my toys. For now.”
Then he disappeared, passing through the banners and slipping into the crowd on the other side.
Nora sank to the ground, not caring even a second for the dirt on her pretty new dress. She covered her face with her hands, but the tears she expected didn’t flow. She felt sick. Numb. Cold and scared and dead inside.
He wouldn’t stop. There was no running from him. No escaping. Letting herself believe otherwise had been a mistake. He’d track her down wherever she went.
He owned her.
Nora swallowed hard against the nausea churning in her stomach. She broke out in a cold sweat, too hot and too cold all at the same time.
There was no mistaki
ng his actions for anything else. His snatch and grab was an example of the power he held. He was always watching for an opportunity. A chance. He could take her whenever he chose.
“Nora! Thank fuck. There you are.” Jesse knelt in front of her, bathing her in the scent of his worry. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
His words sounded far away.
Her wolf howled with relief as soon as he smoothed work-rough hands over her cheeks. She shook her head and tried to form words, but shock still held her tongue. Jesse ran his hands down her shoulders, her arms, looking for any sign she was in pain, then crushed her in a relieved hug.
Nora sagged against his chest.
“Jesse! Nora!” someone shouted in the distance.
“It was him,” she breathed.
A growl rattled in Jesse’s chest. The vibration rippled through her, doing its best to soothe her with its ferocity.
“Here!” he called over his shoulder. He held her tightly with one hand and smoothed the other down her head and back. “He’s gone. I won’t let him hurt you.”
He didn’t have a choice in the matter. Viho owned her.
The banners rustled as the entire clan appeared, concern creasing their faces. A chorus of questions spouted from their mouths, one on top of the other so fast she couldn’t comprehend the individual words.
“Viho,” Jesse snarled. He pushed to his feet and shoved a finger in Tansey’s direction. “She was supposed to stick with you.”
Tansey held her ground, eyes brightening as she met Jesse’s challenge. “And she was! She was with all of us when we lined up to take our seats.”
“And yet she’s here in the dirt, smelling terrified because he got to her,” Jesse gritted out.
“Stop,” Nora murmured and went unheard.
Anger bubbled in the air. Faces that should have been friendly clouded over with irritation and betrayal. Eyes churned with inner animals. More than one member of the clan shifted uneasily.
Ethan stepped between them, voice dropping low. “Throwing out blame isn’t going to solve anything. We need to find that fucker.”
“This is what he does,” Tansey muttered. “He waits for the right moment, that split second—”
“Where someone lets their guard down?” Jesse snapped.
Nora’s heart ached, and not just because of her own troubles. Viho owned her.
The tragedy was in trying to avoid her fate, she’d caused strife for others. She couldn’t add that to the troubles already weighing on her conscience.
They needed the whole truth.
“He’s my mate,” she said quietly.
Jesse straightened, stiffened, snapped back from her. Grey eyes searched her face, expression shuttering even as his arms flexed with his tightened fists. “You don’t have to do this,” he muttered.
She did. The others were so concerned for her. So willing to fight and help and make her one of them. She’d kept her secrets for too long. They needed to know the danger she brought to their lives.
Nora’s inner wolf whined. Her human half echoed the noise.
Viho wouldn’t stop because of what she was to him.
“Viho is my mate.” Louder. “He’s my mate, and that’s why he’s doing this. He turned me and claimed me and won’t stop until he has me back.” Her cheeks were wet. Crap. Were those tears? She didn’t want to cry. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t pick him. I don’t want to go back to him.”
Chapter 21
Jesse stood just behind Nora. The hand he rested on her shoulder felt like a lifeline. Her heartbeat raced under his fingers as a testament to the panic coursing through her.
The same panic he’d felt when he looked up to the stands and didn’t see her with the others.
The same panic he’d felt when he blindly jumped the railing and raced through the crowd.
The same panic he’d felt when he caught her scent mingled with Viho’s, then found her alone and in the dirt.
His bear shoved forward with a roar and a metric fuckton of sendings bathed in the crimson shade of freshly spilled blood. Snout dripping, claws wet. The remembered stench of sheer terror covering up the sweet lavender of Nora’s scent each and every time she’d encountered that bastard was enough to send him into another spiral of rage.
He’d kill that fucking wolf if it was the last thing he did. No one would hurt Nora again.
Not even his clan.
The brave woman still went through every horrid detail of her story, wringing herself dry the same way she’d done when she confessed to him.
“That’s everything,” she ended quietly. “He changed me, claimed me, and won’t stop until he has me back in his grasp.” She lifted her head just enough to focus on Tansey before dropping her eyes again. “He told me to tell his little flower hello. He means you, doesn’t he?”
Tansey nodded, eyes glowing gold as anger swirled in her scent.
Jesse shoved back the snarl of his bear at the message. Viho had used the term of endearment when Tansey was in his grasp. That he fell back on the words made the threat he posed more real. Nora wasn’t his only target. He’d hit the clan anywhere he could to cause the most damage.
He had to be stopped.
Alex and Liv wore strange mixes of fury and sickness. Both had been turned against their will. They knew the heaps of shit forced on a person because of someone else’s madness.
Lorne kept silent, but his eyes bounced over every face in the room. Watching was his way. Listening. Soaking up every gesture and reaction. If he had something to add to the conversation, he would, otherwise, he'd stay silent.
His mate Sloan kept a blank expression. Her ties to the Supernatural Enforcement Agency forced her to straddle the human and supernatural worlds. Her field office had been put on notice the moment Viho made his presence known, but they'd come up as empty-handed as the clan.
Joss cuddled little Jackson close to her chest, her eyes welling with unshed tears. Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and paced behind his family. Noel leaned against a wall.
Elijah and Camille stood off to one side. By the Broken. Jesse passed a hand down his face. He wanted to shove them out the door. This was clan business and they weren’t clan. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted the old man near his life.
Ethan shifted where he stood and drew his attention. His alpha and closest friend since childhood clenched his jaw tight. Blue eyes churned with the silver of his inner beast. “You kept this from me?” he asked in a low voice.
“It’s not his fault,” Nora said to her lap. “He didn’t know right away, either. I didn’t mean to keep this a secret. I intended to get out of your hair as soon as possible. Then one thing led to another, then another, then another and I kept sticking around. And this whole mess just grew and grew until it burst like a bubble. I didn’t know if I could trust you at first. Then it felt too late to say anything.”
Jesse squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said to her.
He straightened his shoulders and met Ethan’s stare. The only way forward was to admit his responsibility. Right or wrong, he’d respected a wish from his mate. The murky grey area between bonds with his woman and with his clan was new to him. The others had more experience navigating between the two.
“I did. I didn’t think the details ultimately had anything to do with what needed to be done. That asshole violated our laws. He’s been deserving death for years.”
“She’s his mate and you didn’t think that had any bearing on the situation?” Elijah growled.
Nora flinched under Jesse’s palm. “Please don’t fight,” she whispered.
“She didn’t choose him,” Jesse snarled. His bear rose up in righteous fury, ready to lash out at his father. “Just because she bears his mark doesn’t make them mates.”
“That’s exactly what it makes them!” Elijah shot back.
“What are you suggesting?” Jesse’s voice dropped deathly quiet. His bear paced through his head. The beast c
ouldn’t have Viho at that moment, but he’d settle for one shitty father. “We just hand her over because some sick fuck got a little fangy?”
“He claimed her. She belongs to him.” Elijah passed a hand through the air at the low growls of disapproval from the others. “That's what I would do if I were in charge.”
“I guess it’s good you’re not the one in charge,” Ethan growled.
Elijah flicked a dismissive glance at Ethan. “Because you’re such a great alpha. You missed this happening right under your nose. Someone ought to challenge you, boy.”
Motherfucker. So that was what he played at. Take Ethan down and install a King on the throne.
Fuck that. Jesse didn’t want alpha. He just wanted Nora happy and safe.
“I’ll leave,” Nora offered quietly. “I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”
That she even put the words to air slashed at Jesse’s middle. He wanted to tear into everyone that made her think she wasn’t wanted or didn’t deserve safety.
Hunter stepped in front of his mate and cub. He folded his arms over his chest and dipped his chin. Not a threat, the stance read, but ready to defend his own. “Skies above, handing anyone over to that fucker is unacceptable. But we have a cub now. We can’t afford another war with the wolves. If we’d known, maybe we could have been better prepared for the lengths he’d go to get her back.”
“Then hand her over before she brings the war to your door!” Elijah insisted again.
Jesse snarled and stepped up to his father. His bear fought to get at the man. “That’s my mate you’re talking about,” he ground out.
“Not your mark, boy. Not your mate.”
Rage sank to Jesse’s stomach like a hot coal, burning away until it throbbed through his veins and in his head. He grabbed Elijah by the throat and slammed him back against the wall. “She doesn’t belong with him. She’s mine.”
Hands reached for him. Wrapped around his arms and shoulders. Drew him back from the sputtering, red-faced man glaring daggers at him.
“Guys?” Joss interrupted.