by Bella Night
“Claim me again, Grey. I’m yours.”
“You’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she cried as he took her, thrusting deep.
“I need you to shift for me, Etti. Shift for me just once and we can be like this forever.”
“I will,” she panted. “I’ll shift for you.”
“Promise me,” he growled. “Because I can’t live without you.”
“I promise.”
Her words were swallowed by his kiss as he drove her toward the sweet escape of release.
32
Etti
Etti woke up in the middle of the night in terrible pain. Everything hurt. Her skin was on fire, her stomach in knots and her bones threatened to split apart. Was this the price of having too much mind-blowing sex?
She scurried from under the blankets and grabbed her pants, barely making it to the trough in an empty stall before vomiting. She pulled her hair back and dressed before walking outside to get some fresh air. The cool night air kissed the sweat that clung to her skin and she shivered.
Etti sipped water from the hose slowly, willing her stomach to settle. She had a splitting headache and looked longingly at the farmhouse. If only she could get to her room and take a shower and some aspirin.
Maybe she was coming down with the flu. Or maybe the stress from the last few days was finally catching up with her. Or maybe it was all the amazing sex. Her stomach lurched again and she sprinted back to the stall. Apparently her stomach was not ready for water yet.
Etti nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a cool hand on her back.
“Babe?”
She caught her breath. It was just Grey.
Great! Nothing like having the sexiest guy you know watch you vomit. She’d tried to be quiet, but must have woken him with all her super unsexy retching. Etti loved Grey, but they were so not to the hold-my-hair-while-I-puke stage in their relationship yet.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine. Can you just give me a minute?”
“Sure.”
Etti did her best to clean herself up and regain what dignity she had left before exiting the stall. She found Grey standing outside the barn, staring off into the distance.
“Everything okay?” she asked when she saw the concerned look on his face.
“Yeah. I thought I heard something, but . . . What about you?” he asked smoothing back Etti’s tangled hair.
“I’m fine. I think my father’s cooking didn’t agree with me or maybe I’m coming down with the flu.”
“What are your symptoms?”
“Well, you nearly got up close and personal with my stomach symptoms,” she said crinkling up her nose.
Grey smiled at her. “Babe, you don’t have to ever be embarrassed. I’m here for you no matter what. Plus, I always want you to be honest with me. It’s especially important now with your shift coming on. I know what symptoms are normal and what’s not. Since you’ve been force-fed a tonic to stop the shift most of your life we need to make sure you’re not having an adverse reaction.”
“And if I am?” she asked, feeling slightly terrified.
“Then we’ll get through it together,” Grey said, pulling her close.
He held her in the moonlight for a while. Neither of them talking, just feeling their closeness. Etti loved the way she’d already grown accustom to the feel of Grey’s heartbeat. She drank in his scent and closed her eyes, forgetting how crappy she’d felt for a moment. And then suddenly, Grey tensed. His position changed from relaxed to high alert. He pushed Etti behind him, edging her closer to the barn.
“What is it?” she asked.
He held a finger to his lips as he listened to things Etti couldn’t hear. She could feel his heart pounding. Something was definitely wrong.
“Go back into the barn,” he whispered.
“Grey—”
“Now, Etti.” The words had come out in a low growl and she knew better then to argue.
33
Greyson
Grey moved silently as he covered ground. He moved away from the barn, running down the dirt road, following their scent. The hunt was here. Grey was sure of it. His hair stood on end, his veins thrummed—live wires of anxiety.
His muscles ached as his wolf scratched to be unleashed, itching for action. A few more paces and he gave into the beast, shifting mid stride. His gray wolf was a streak of lightening as he darted through trees, putting as much distance between him and Etti as possible. He didn’t want Derik or the hunt anywhere near her. Grey was surprised they’d gotten this close. He could usually feel the bond to his Alpha when he was nearby.
A twig snapped in the distance and Grey saw him, prowling no more than fifty yards away—Peter. Hate glowed in his yellow eyes.
Grey looked around. Where were the rest of them? They never hunted alone. Then he heard Peter’s laughter in his head. Grey hated that part about the hunt. Their blood bond connected them, making them privy to each other’s thoughts when they were close. He hated listening in on Peter’s derogatory musings.
“Where’s your little wolf bitch?” Peter nagged, skulking closer.
Grey stood his ground. “She’s none of your business.”
“You’re still one of us, aren’t you?” Peter mocked. “Or have you forsaken your brothers for a little tail?”
Peter was almost in range. Grey leashed his rage, luring the other wolf closer. Only the slight twitch of his tail betrayed Grey’s calm exterior.
Peter’s wolf grinned viciously as he drew closer. “Tell me Grey, has she shifted yet?”
Grey gave him nothing.
“Because if she has, that makes her one of us. And the hunt shares everything.”
Grey was trembling with rage but he forced himself to hold his ground.
“I can’t wait to get my claws into that tight little ass of hers,” Peter growled, licking his lips.
That was it! Grey lunged, slamming into Peter with enough force to shatter bones. He heard them snap as they landed. Both wolves tumbled for a moment before Grey found his mark. He clamped down hard on the other wolf’s throat.
Peter yelped.
“I’ll fucking kill you if you ever touch one hair on her head,” Grey growled, biting down even harder, tearing through sinew and flesh.
Peter gave a wheezing laugh. “So noble. It’s really too bad Jaxon’s already gotten to her by now.”
Grey’s heart stopped and Peter smiled despite the blood dripping from his neck. “Go ahead and kill me. But your bitch is already dead.”
Grey didn’t hesitate another second before tearing Peter’s throat out, sprinting back toward the farm before Peter’s corpse even hit the ground.
Grey was nearly to the barn when he saw Jaxon’s silvery coat slipping quietly from the open doors of the barn.
No!
Part of him had thought Peter was bluffing. But the sight of Jaxon propelled Grey to near flight. He hurtled down the dirt road, pushing himself to his limits. His lungs burning, his heart near bursting, but he didn’t care. His only thoughts were of Etti. If she was dead then he didn’t care what happened to him. He’d have nothing left to live for.
He skidded to a stop, nearly missing the entrance to the barn. He rushed inside and gasped when he took in the body that lay tangled in the blankets on the hay. It was Etti. His Etti—alive!
Grey shifted so fast his feet never hit the floor. He was kneeling over her, calling her name. “Etti? Babe? Answer me, Etti. What did he do to you?”
Her eyes flickered open and she moaned and curled onto her side, clutching her stomach. She was obviously in pain but he couldn’t see any wounds. He ran his hands all over her. Nothing. No blood, no injuries, just sweat. Her skin felt like fire, but she shivered each time he touched her.
“Etti, please tell me what’s wrong.”
“It hurts,” she mewed, weakly.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Did he touch you?”
Grey asked again.
Her teeth chattered. “Who?”
Grey knew he wasn’t hallucinating. He’d seen the silver shape of Jaxon’s wolf slinking from the barn and he could still catch his lingering scent. But for the life of him, Grey couldn’t find any wounds on Etti. She was obviously in pain, but he didn’t know why. Poison wasn’t the hunt’s style. They liked shredding flesh and taking trophies.
Grey covered Etti with a blanket and wrapped a thin sheet around his waist so he wasn’t skulking around the farm naked. “I’ll be right back, babe.”
He headed back out the barn doors and followed Jaxon’s tracks. They led in and out of the barn. Jaxon had come from the south, the opposite way Grey had gone to find Peter. Grey wondered how Jaxon had masked his scent. Even now is was too faint and after a few feet it completely vanished. Everything on the Blackwell’s farm seemed to dull Grey’s senses. First he didn’t detect her parents as shifters and now this?
Grey used his keen vision to trace Jaxon’s route back into the barn. His tracks stopped six feet from where Etti lay. He hadn’t even gotten close enough to touch her. But why?
Peter’s words flashed in Grey’s mind again. “Your bitch is already dead.”
But she wasn’t. Grey stared down at Etti. She thrashed uncomfortably.
What the hell had Peter meant?
Then a sick thought stabbed through him. Peter had been a decoy. Derik knew how much Grey hated Peter. It made sense the Alpha had used Peter to lure Grey away from Etti long enough to send Jaxon in to see if she’d shifted or not. Jaxon wouldn’t have to touch her to know she hadn’t. Etti still smelled human. Shit! That’s what Peter had meant. Shit, shit, shit! Once Derik found out Etti wasn’t fully claimed, he would be coming to kill her.
Grey contemplated going after Jaxon, but he knew there was no way he’d catch him in time. Jaxon was the fastest in their pack, no doubt why Derik had chosen to send him. And Grey couldn’t leave Etti. Not in the state she was in. She was just as liable to die from rejecting the shift as she was from Derik.
Grey paced back and forth in terror. He had no idea what to do. He returned to Etti’s side and knelt next to her again. He tried to talk to her, but she didn’t respond. He kissed her forehead. She was burning up! Her eyes fluttered open only to roll back in her head. Grey didn’t hesitate. He scooped her into his arms and ran to the house, kicking open the front door and screaming for Etti’s parents.
The hounds that had been sleeping at the bottom of the stairs went wild. Two of them howled loud enough to wake the dead while the third growled at Grey, advancing on him. Grey growled back but thankfully Etti’s parents appeared on the stairs before the dogs got any ideas.
Her mother paled when she saw Etti. Mohe silently approached, taking Etti from Grey’s shaking arms. Words tumbled from him as he helplessly watched Mohe carry his limp daughter up the creaking stairs. “Please,” Grey begged. “She’s burning with fever. Her eyes rolled back and I can’t get her to respond. I didn’t know what to do. Help her! Please help her!”
Grey sat at the base of the stairs for what felt like an eternity before he heard footsteps. He turned to see Mohe walking down, grim-faced and tired.
Grey shot to his feet. “Is she—”
“No,” Mohe said, sparing Grey from saying what he dreaded. “She’s resting. We put her in a tub to get her temperature down and her mother is doing the rest.”
“What does that mean?”
Mohe sighed deeply and led Grey onto the porch. He sat down in an old rocking chair and motioned for Grey to join him in its twin. Grey obliged, his anxiety screaming as silence stretched out between them.
When Mohe finally spoke his voice was sober. “Ama has given her a tonic.”
“What kind of tonic?” Grey asked, fear prickling through him.
“The same one she’s given her for years. The one that will keep her wolf at bay.”
“But if she doesn’t shift, she’ll die.”
“I know this,” Mohe said. “And so does her mother.”
Grey was on his feet. “She’s my mate! I’m not going to let you kill her!”
“Is it not true that even if she does shift she is in danger from your pack? The hunt?”
Grey blinked. How did Mohe know about the hunt?
As if reading Grey’s thoughts Mohe said, “When you mentioned claiming, I knew the hunt was involved. No one else practices that ritual anymore. And I recognized the tattoo.”
Grey’s hand went instinctively to his shoulder, already healed from where Ama had grazed him with the bullet. He massaged the small tattoo Derik had inked him with after Grey took his oath to join the hunt.
Mohe smiled gravely and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the same tattoo.
Grey gawked in horror. “How?”
“I too served my time with the hunt.”
“But you . . . you’re . . .” Grey struggled with words.
“Still alive? Yes.”
“How?” Grey asked again.
“It wasn’t easy. Ama and I have paid dearly. We live a sheltered life in hiding away from the rest of the world in order to stay safe.”
“That’s why I couldn’t scent you,” Grey said.
Mohe nodded. “Our farm is special.”
“How so?”
“It’s a long story. But until Etti brought you here, it was hidden, safe from all other shifters and supernaturals.”
“Okay, so we’ll fix it. Make it hidden again and we can stay here. I don’t care what we have to do or how we have to live as long as it means we live.”
“But Etu cares. Do you know what her name means?” Mohe asked.
Grey shook his head.
“Etu means sun. And she is truly a child of the sun. She needs to be out in the world, feel the sun on her skin, the light in her heart. She has a wild soul.” He smiled. “She hates this life we have chained her to. She hates it so much she doesn’t even go by the name we gave her.”
“You’re right,” Grey said. “She is all of those things. Wild, free, full of life. And I love her for it. But no matter how I feel or how you or Ama feel, this is Etti’s life. And she should get to choose her fate for herself.”
Mohe stood slowly. He turned to Grey and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You are a good man. I’m sorry you didn’t meet my daughter before you joined the hunt.” Then he walked back into the house.
“That’s it? You’re just going to let Ama feed Etti that poison and let her die? She’s your daughter!” Grey screamed, but the door was already shut.
He heard the lock slide home and felt a quiet anger rising in his gut.
Grey would not give up on Etti that easily. He’d promised her she could count on him and he’d meant it. His heart was full of fight and that’s exactly what he intended to do.
34
Greyson
It seemed like ages before Grey saw headlights approaching. But in reality it’d probably only been about twenty minutes since he’d found Etti’s phone in the truck and dialed Wes’s number. He’d told Wes everything—about the hunt, Etti choosing the claiming, Peter’s attack, Jaxon’s appearance and what it probably meant, and most importantly, Etti’s current state and her parents’ unacceptable decision.
Grey could practically hear the shock turn to anger in Wes’s voice as they patched together a plan.
“Please hurry,” Grey begged.
“I’ll be there,” was all Wes said before hanging up.
Grey had roared Wes’s old truck to life and drove it away from the farmhouse as dread began to eat him alive. He hated leaving Etti, but he had to do something. He just prayed he had enough time.
He parked where Wes told him to meet and turned the truck off to wait. Rather than sitting inside the cab freezing to death in nothing but a sheet, Grey opted to shift into his wolf to keep warm. He was pacing in the woods when he spotted headlights. Wes was cruising toward him in a sleek black sports car. Grey didn’t even wait for him t
o park. He ran onto the road in wolf form to cut him off.
The car skidded to a halt and Wes climbed out. “Not fucking cool, dude!”
Grey shifted from his wolf form and stood in the bright beams of the Wes’s headlights completely naked. “Is that better?”
“Dick,” Wes muttered ducking back into the car. He reached into the back seat and tossed a bag out at Grey. It was the clothes he’d asked for.
Wes waited in the car for Grey to get dressed. He slipped on the jeans, long-sleeved tee and black jacket, grateful for the warmth, then slid into the passenger seat and studied Wes’s face. He looked tired, but determined. Not a trace of fear. Good. There was no room for fear if they were going to succeed.
“You ready?” Grey asked.
“I was born ready,” Wes smirked.
“I’m serious.”
Wes nodded. “Everything’s ready.”
“Cali, too?”
“Yes! Chill out.”
“What part of, Etti might die, are you not getting?” Grey snarled.
Wes let out a frustrated breath. “I get it. I care about her, too. She was my best friend until you came along and turned her into a shifter.”
“She’s still the same person, Wes. She’s still your best friend.”
“Yeah, if she lives.”
“She’ll live,” Grey muttered. “She has to.”
“Well, we better get this show on the road then,” Wes said, turning off the headlights and putting the car in gear. “Promise me something,” he said as they drove toward Etti’s parents’ house.
“What?” Grey asked.
“When this is all over, I get to punch you in the face.”
Grey grinned. “If this works, I’ll let you punch me twice.”
“Deal.”
35
Etti
Etti floated in and out of consciousness. She lay in her bedroom wrapped in her familiar yellow quilt—the one her mother had made for her when she was just a child. She loved the smell of it and how it made her feel safe. She pulled it tighter around her, but even that tiny movement hurt. Her whole body was sore. The pain had dulled a bit, but not enough to give her any comfort. A rough hand tenderly stroked her cheek and Etti opened her eyes to see her mother. She smiled at Etti, and held a mug of steaming liquid up to her face.