by C. E. Black
Because I’d been in the hospital, I hadn’t mingled with the new shifters much, and though I’d seen a few of the mutants, as Dax had called them, I’d seen nothing like this.
Dax pulled back his thick brown hair and fastened it into a messy bun on the top of his head, securing it into a hair tie, showing me even more of his unique feature.
A dark, grayish-green, almost black stripe of scales traveled down his spine. As wide as the length of my forearm, the stripe started under his hairline and disappeared into his shorts. The skin on either side was unmarked, as were his arms and chest, I noted as he faced me.
“Alligator?” I asked.
“Guess that Wolford man thought it’d be ironic. But at least I can hide dis, no problem.” Dax patted his friend on the shoulder. “Show him, Talon.”
Muscles hadn’t caused Talon’s bulky shirt. Dark brown and white feathers encircled his shoulders, arms, and the top of his chest, spreading downward, thinning out as they reached mid-stomach. Talon pulled off his skullcap to reveal white feathers casing the top and back of his head like a feather helmet.
“Damn,” I couldn’t help but mutter. My hand automatically went to my cheek, tracing the raised skin there.
Talon threw his shirt and cap onto a weight bench next to him, then crossed his arms. His hard eyes rested on me. “At least you can go outside in the daytime,” he said. “You don’t have to put on fucking layers of clothes to leave your prison.”
I clamped my teeth together, not wanting to swallow the hard pill. Also known as the truth. Though I would rather have my scars, they didn’t understand. No one did.
“Talon, this isn’t a prison,” Dax said.
“Sure as hell feels like it.”
“Listen,” I snapped, “I’m just here to do a job. Not join a therapy session. Now back the fuck off.”
“We understand,” Dax said, shooting his friend a grimace. “We’re just frustrated with our lot. I’m sure things will get better.” Talon snorted but said nothing else.
Deciding the day had finally exceeded all my shittiest expectations, I quickly changed the subject. “Our machines are specially designed for shifters. Now that you aren’t human, your strength has more than doubled. The usual equipment won’t work.”
Talon’s jaw ticked, but he listened as I instructed them on how to use the machines. After starting them on a routine, I could finally clear out. Thank fuck. This day couldn’t end fast enough.
But that soak in the hot tub calling my name would have to wait, I decided. I owed someone an apology. Two someones, actually. But I’d start with a certain sexy barista.
A woman with blonde hair and dark roots worked behind the counter at the coffee shop, but Beth was nowhere to be seen. Either she was in the back, or she wasn’t working.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, my shoulders curving forward. It was nearly freezing out, and I’d forgotten my jacket. I didn’t need one. I rarely felt the cold. But the humans would find it odd if I didn’t seem a little uncomfortable.
Darkness was closing in, the gray clouds shortening the day. I was hours late. But I’d hoped she would be working. I almost asked the blonde, but thought better of it when I caught Beth’s scent near the entryway. She could very well be in the back of the shop, out of sight. But my gut told me differently.
And my lion side was itching to stalk his prey.
Grinning, I followed my instincts and trailed the strong scent to a flower shop across the street. Either my nose had become extra sensitive overnight, or Beth walked this way often. I was betting on the latter.
The sweet scent didn’t end at the glass door with the open sign blinking cheerfully but went around the corner and down a dark alley. I frowned and began to follow, only to stop when movement inside the shop caught my eye.
Looking sexier than I remembered, Beth slid around the counter, holding a bouquet of red roses. She wore faded jeans and a black t-shirt, definitely too thin for this weather. But the green apron she wore was what fascinated me most. Or more importantly, the gold Marguerite’s logo centered between her breasts.
I groaned when an image of Beth wearing her little apron and nothing else invaded my thoughts and caused my cock to instantly harden. I was such a horn dog. Especially when worried about her working two jobs. I recognized there was a shit-ton of people who had to work multiple jobs to get by, but I didn’t like the thought of Beth being one of them. The sudden concern disturbed me. I shouldn’t have cared so much.
I frowned, then groaned again when the woman I was watching like a creeper opened the door to one of those glass refrigerators and bent at the waist to deposit her bundle of flowers. My gaze locked on the heart-shaped ass, and my cock whimpered. This wasn’t going the way I’d planned.
I placed a hand over the bulge in my jeans. “Stand down, man. She’s not for us. We’re here to apologize.” Yeah right. If given half the chance, I’d be in her pants in a heartbeat. No use lying to myself. On the bright side, there was no way she’d ever give my loser ass another chance. I grimaced at the thought.
Fucking bright side, my ass.
And now I was talking to my dick? Like I said, l-o-s-e-r.
With a shake of my head, I found my balls and stepped into the shop only to face an empty room. Where the hell had she gone? The inner dialogue with my dick had distracted me, and I never saw her leave.
“I’ll be right with you!” A soft voice called from the back.
I zeroed in on the room her voice carried from and started her way when I heard the back door slam shut. Halting my steps, my brows furrowed, until I noticed one of those large plastic garbage bins, the lid on the floor next to it.
Not wanting to scare her, I stepped back to the front room to wait until she came back from taking out the trash. Opting for casual, I stood next to the register, put one elbow on the counter, and tried for a regretful, yet optimistic expression. It wasn’t hard. If I was a lucky man, she’d let me leave with my balls still intact.
I was pondering what I would say to her when the sound of Beth crying out sent me running toward the back of the shop. I hit a steel door, ripping it off its hinges and sending it flying across the ally.
A gasp had me swinging around to face a wide-eyed Beth. Two men, cat shifters from what I could smell, had ahold of both of her arms. It only took a millisecond to figure out they were dragging her toward the back of the building. Fear distorted her expression. And red marks marred her skin where they’d gripped her too hard.
Rage, like I’d never experienced, erupted inside of me, and the next few minutes were a blur of teeth and claws.
It wasn’t until later it occurred to me; it might have been me who put the fear on my beautiful Beth’s face.
The guy on the right dropped Beth’s arm and pulled out a knife. I snarled and swiped it out of his hand easily enough. My follow-through punch sent him flying into the brick wall. He fell into a heap, shook off the hit, and tried to stand. With a growl, I stepped toward him, pausing when a scuffle broke out behind me.
Beth had gotten away from asshole number two, but he caught her, grabbing her by the shoulder and slinging her into the dumpster. The sound of her head hitting the metal made my vision turn red.
Our gazes connected seconds before her eyelids fluttered shut, and she slumped over unconscious.
With a roar, I leaped at her attacker. I should have left one of them alive for questioning, but my lion wouldn’t allow it.
By the time I came back to myself, there were two dead bodies at my feet. And an unconscious human woman who’d witnessed me transform into a lion.
I was F-U-C-K-E-D.
6
Beth
The throbbing pain in my head lifted the fog of sleep slowly, but a pair of deep, muffled voices dragged me back to consciousness. My brows knit together as though to contain the pain. Carefully, I pried my eyelids open only to wince and slam them shut. Too bright. Why the heck hadn’t I shut the curtains?
Deciding t
o give myself a minute, I tried to remember what happened the night before. Too many drinks, maybe? Was this a hangover? I’d never had one before, and if this was what I had to look forward to, no thank you.
But drinking too much didn’t sound like me. I hadn’t been so disappointed about being stood up I would drown my sorrows. Had I?
Eyes still tightly shut, I rolled over to reach for the bottled water I kept on the nightstand. I patted the bed, inching farther and farther over, only to encounter more of the empty mattress. Huh? My bed wasn’t this big. And definitely not as soft, I thought with a sigh.
My eyes popped open. The sudden move sent a ripple of pain to pierce my skull. I let it wash over me because I had worse problems than a bad headache. Voices. I’d heard voices. And this was not my room. Nor my bed.
“I can’t believe you did this,” a male said, frustration and anger lacing his tone. “It goes against everything we’ve trained for.”
“I know,” another male said. “But I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Where are the bodies?” the first male interrogated. “Did you leave them in the alley for the humans to find?”
“It’s not a problem. I took care of them.”
My eyes widened, but the words had my memory snapping back in place like a rubber band. Images flooded in, of those men grabbing me, dragging me down toward the back of the building. They’d been waiting for me. I’d taken the garbage out the side door and found them standing next to the dumpsters. Their claws had dug into my arms, and I’d screamed. Then everything grew a little fuzzy.
“Not a problem?” the first man growled. “This is serious, Leo.”
Leo? It couldn’t be possible… I rubbed away the ache at the base of my skull as I struggled to bring up memories from the night before.
A man, no, a shifter, in the middle of his transformation, had burst into the alley, sending the solid steel door flying into the building next to it. He’d stared straight at me, and for a moment, he seemed so familiar. He reminded me of the guy from The Beanery. But how? I could scent shifters. It was one of my limited advantages as a half-breed. He’d smelled human.
I was still reeling from this new development when the discussion I was eavesdropping on became heated.
“We have to call Teij—”
“If you even think about dialing that number, I will rip your fucking hand off before you hit send.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The first man said, much too softly. His tone made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
The air stilled, even in my lungs. The hum of warm air blowing through the vents above me was the only sound for so long my chest began to ache.
Slowly easing the air out of my lungs, I gripped the soft sheets to my body, preparing to stand when I realized my next problem. I was naked. Or, mostly. I still wore my unsexy beige underwear, thank goodness.
Stomach rolling, I slid from the bed and wrapped the sheet around me three times as I took a moment to calm down and prepare. I needed two things, clothes and a way out of here.
I went to the window first. The frame was fairly new, and the lock slid back without a whisper of sound. With a means of escape ready, the next thing to deal with was the clothing issue.
A quick glance around showed me a clean room, no clothes lying around. But there was an armoire. I’d taken two steps in its direction when the men’s voices started again, and the subject of their conversation had me frozen.
“I’m sorry,” Leo finally said, his voice mild and more recognizable. “Don’t call Teij. Not yet. You know what will happen. She might have seen my lion, but she’s innocent. She doesn’t deserve to die for my mistake.”
“Teij can help.”
“We can take care of her,” Leo pleaded.
“We?”
“I can. I can take care of her.”
“No. You don’t understand,” the other man growled. “I will be the one taking care of her.”
I gasped so loud and hard, the air burned my lungs. And silence on the other side of the door followed.
I hadn’t meant to do it. But discussions of my death still tended to shock me. I should have been used to it by now.
Mind racing, I decided to hell with the clothes and spun back toward the window. But I didn’t make it.
The door opened, and my heartbeat quickened. How would I get out of this one? Best case scenario, they’d let me go. Worst case… they’d kill me. All I had to do was persuade them not to. Easy, right?
A thought struck as the familiar lion shifter appeared in the doorway. I could smell his animal now. And the scent both aroused and scared me senseless. There was a reason I stayed away from shifters. They were dangerous, violent, animalistic…
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” he said, giving me a smile more blinding than the sunlight streaming through the window and making my knees go instantly weak.
Not good. Not good at all.
I blink once, twice… What had I been contemplating again? Oh yeah. How to convince them not to kill me.
“How are you feeling?” Leo came fully into the room, and I backed up, my knees hitting the mattress. I sat down, cursing myself. Not the most ideal place to be at the moment.
Leo moved as if he would sit on the bed next to me, but when he noticed my body leaning away from him, he sat in a chair next to the window instead. Which wasn’t much better. Now the sunlight was behind him, causing his body to glow like an angel. An angel fallen from grace. Sexy as sin.
Sexy? Really Beth? At a time like this?
I cleared my throat before speaking. “I’m not sure why I’m here, but I want to go home.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry—”
“N-now,” I demanded, my voice shakier than I would have liked.
“We should talk.”
I stood from the bed and tried again. “I’m going home now,” I insisted. Unfortunately, my statement didn’t faze him.
He leaned forward in the chair, the light brightening his eyes. Though ethereal in their beauty, the hint of despair hidden in their depths caused my breath to catch. Was the thought of killing me actually causing him pain? I gave a mental scoff at the thought. It didn’t matter if it hurt him. I would not die.
“Beth…”
“Leo,” I growled back.
His grin returned, this time making his blue eyes sparkle. “I knew there was a reason I liked you. You’re as stubborn as I am.”
“Are you planning to kill me?” I implored, eliminating his smile before I did something stupid like leap off the bed and kiss him silly.
The scar on his cheek twisted as he scowled. “Of course not.”
“But don’t I need to be taken care of?” I sneered with all the disgust I could muster through my fear. “I heard you talking about me,” I accused, ignoring the way his brows had drawn inward. “Don’t call your friend Teij, and I promise to keep my mouth shut. No one will find out what you did or what you… turned into.”
“You heard us?” he asked, his tone disbelieving.
I nodded. “You saved my life,” I told him. “I owe you now. I owe you my silence. Promise.” Crap, I was begging. This wasn’t good.
My chest began to feel tight, and I couldn’t take a solid breath. Wrapping my arms around myself, my eyes bounced around the room frantically. “I have to go. Where are my clothes? Have to get out of here.” I was mumbling to myself in between big gulps of air.
An anxiety attack. Great. Just great.
A warm arm wrapped tentatively around my shoulders. I tensed, surprised because I’d closed my eyes at some point, but settled when his soft voice reached my ears.
“Shh. You’re safe, Beth. You’re safe with me.”
He sounded so sincere. Like he hadn’t been discussing my death moments before. But damn if I didn’t believe him. Which was why I jerked away, ignoring his hurt expression. I couldn’t afford to trust him.
“We only meant that you needed care. You hit your head pretty hard. W
e weren’t planning on killing you.”
I heard the truth in his words, but… “Why am I naked? Where are my clothes?”
The dimple began to form, but he quickly flattened when my glare threatened violence. Were there emotional stages for kidnapped victims? Confusion, fear, panic, anger… What was next? If it was anything but freedom, I was going to lose it.
“After getting some beauty sleep next to a dumpster, your clothes were disgusting.”
He’d said it with such a straight face, I couldn’t help but snort. He’d eased my anxiety and lightened the mood all at once.
I smirked. “Is that what happened? Beauty sleep?”
He winked at me, and my heartbeat quickened.
We stared at one another, our gazes heating as the seconds ticked by. I wanted to lean forward, press my body against his. I dropped my gaze to his lips before quickly glancing away. What the hell was I doing? Didn’t Stockholm Syndrome take a little longer to develop? At least more than a few hours.
“You don’t have Stockholm Syndrome,” Leo said.
“Huh?” I narrowed my eyes. He was grinning at me. Laughing almost.
“You mumbled the word Stockholm under your breath. You haven’t been kidnapped, Beth. We aren’t your captors.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “Are you sure about that? Why am I here? Why can’t I go home? And where the hell are my clothes?”
The sound of wood creaking had me swinging my gaze to the doorway. The man leaning against the jamb stared at me, his expression I could only describe as cautious.
“You’re here because Leo saved you from being kidnapped,” he said and gestured to the rustic oak armoire I’d been inching toward. “And I washed your clothes. They’re in there.”
I pulled away from Leo as a zip of disbelief ran up my spine. I knew this face. Behind his thick, black-framed glasses were brown eyes—soft, friendly, and as sultry as I remembered. This wasn’t a face of someone who killed people for fun. This was the face of a nerdy man who’d first captured my attention enough for me to slide him a crumpled napkin with my phone number.