“Isn’t that interesting.” A toothy grin spread across Jeb’s muzzle. “I could use a creature like that in Pine Ridge. Too bad I’ll have to kill him.” Jeb’s sadistic laugh raised Ronni’s hackles. “Reckon his daughter will have to do.”
“Stay away from them!”
“This is what is gonna happen, sugar. I’m gonna kill the bird man and take his daughter. Then, we’re all going back to Pine Ridge. You’re not going to run again and you better not fight me when I claim you. If you do, I’ll take my anger out on the girl. Do you understand?”
A screech overhead disrupted Ronni’s response. With a wingspan of at least twenty feet, the bird creature swooped low, swatting Jeb with his wing hard enough to send the wolfan male tumbling down the side of the road.
More than ten feet in length, the creature landed on muscular hind legs that looked like they belonged on an overgrown black panther rather than a bird. Folding its wings on his back, he padded toward her on paws and talons as his tail snapped the air behind him. Slowly reaching toward her with his talon arm, he gently grazed the fur beneath her chin.
“Are you all right?” Bodie’s voice threaded through her mind and his masculine essence invaded her senses.
“I think so.” She stared at the golden speckles within his dark red eyes. “How did you find us?”
“My mother followed you and showed me where you were. When she saw me coming, she returned to be with Willow.”
“Willow and Lucas are safe?”
“Yes.” Bodie stretched out his giant wings. “Take care of Alex while I deal with Jeb.” He lifted off the ground. “No matter what happens, don’t interfere. The sheriff is on his way.” With that, he zoomed overhead and darted after Jeb.
“Mom!” Alex was bounding toward her.
“I’m all right.” She stood, a little wobbly at first.
He slid next to her and affectionately rubbed his muzzle beneath her chin.
“Everything is going to be fine.” She licked his face.
“Was that Bodie?”
“Yes.”
“That is so cool!”
No, it isn’t. She hid her thoughts from Alex.
Though Ronni loved Bodie for coming after them, she was also deathly afraid for him. If his beast was as dangerous and primitive as a wolfan’s Wahyarian, the creature’s violent tendencies could destroy the kind-hearted, generous man she’d grown to love.
* * *
A cold, deadly rage slithered through Bodie.
Clutching Jeb’s fur at the base of his neck, Bodie flew him away from Ronni and Alex and dropped him into the woods, close enough to the ground to not cause harm, although it was a struggle not to tear him to pieces. The wolfan rolled to his feet.
“I’m gonna kill you!” Jeb’s thoughts screamed through Bodie’s mind, startling him. He’d assumed the mate-bond had allowed him to hear Ronni’s thoughts when she was a wolf. But hearing Jeb’s voice in his head, Bodie now considered that a telepathic link while in their alternate forms might be intrinsic to both shifter species.
“Considering I outweigh you, I doubt it.”
“I’m a wolf, you’re a mutant bird. And I’m going to devour you like a roasted turkey on Thanksgiving.” Jeb laughed. “Ironic, isn’t it, since that’s today.”
Using his wing as a shield, Bodie blocked Jeb’s attack. His claws ripped through Bodie’s outer feathers but failed to connect with flesh. He slung the wolfan to the ground.
Bodie had never used his Tlanuhwarian form in a fight. Actually, he hadn’t believed he could.
His mother had been right, all along. The darkness he’d felt stirring inside him was the beast waiting to manifest and when the opportunity presented, it had wasted no time seizing its freedom.
After the vision his mother had shared, Bodie launched into the sky, intent on getting back his mate and her son. Fire had erupted in his veins. At least, it felt like fire. A white-hot heat had flashed through his body. On its heels followed an excruciating pain that sliced down his spine and along every nerve.
He’d choked on air and damn near thought his lungs would explode. A flash of light blinded him and then, it all stopped. The pain was gone, he could breathe again and everything he saw was tinted red until he reached Ronni, who was engulfed in a beautifully brilliant silver glow.
“Ronni belongs to me!” Jeb growled.
“She’s mine!” Bodie had never been more sure of anything than he was of Ronni being his fated mate.
His body flashed with burning heat, again. And the urge to shred the wolfan’s flesh from his bone caused Bodie’s talons to flex and his tail to crack the air like a whip.
“You stole her from me,” Jeb snarled. “But I will reclaim what is mine!”
“Never!” Gaining control of his irrational impulses to paint the woods with Jeb’s blood, Bodie swung his wing, knocking Jeb to the ground.
He needed to apprehend, not kill. If the legends were true and Bodie gave in to the murderous instinct, he would lose his humanity and very likely the woman he loved.
Jeb pushed to his feet and pounced, only to have Bodie knock him down again.
“I can do this all day, or at least until the sheriff arrives. It’s not too hard to figure out that you were responsible for the explosion. I might not know how wolfan justice works, but I do know you will never see Ronni or Alex again.”
Jeb shifted into his human form, shaking with rage. “Nothing will keep me away from what is mine!”
Suddenly, a wretched scream tore from his throat. Jeb dropped to the ground, writhing in apparent pain.
Bodie jumped back, unsure of what was happening.
Bones cracked and reformed beneath Jeb’s skin, which turned a putrid gray. His torso twisted, his head elongated, and his jaw snapped and dangled loosely before his entire body erupted in light.
When the brightness faded, there was nothing left of man or wolf. Bodie’s heart thundered as the mutant creature, covered in stiff, bristly hair, rose on freakish gangly legs ending in paw-like feet that spread into four individual toes with long curved nails. More than seven feet tall, the beast threw back his large, flat wolfish head with a wailing howl, then charged, gnashing his huge, razor-like teeth.
Horrified at what Jeb had become, a sense of panic flooded Bodie’s senses. He was all that stood between the hideous beast and Ronni and Alex.
The creature swung at him with paw-like hands, the long. black nails tearing through Bodie’s feathers and scoring down to the muscle. Bodie swung his tail, smacking Jeb upside the head.
The werewolfish creature stumbled backward, snarled and charged. Bodie lifted into the air before the tackle, but Jeb grabbed his tail and gave a good, hard yank.
Bodie slammed to the ground. Jeb attacked, slashing at Bodie’s wings and down his back. Gritting against the pain, Bodie pushed up and used all his strength to buck Jeb off.
The scent of his own blood and sweat caused something to click in his brain. He was the one getting torn to shreds while Jeb barely had a scratch. If Bodie didn’t start fighting back, Jeb might get lucky enough to strike a fatal blow.
The gleam in the werewolf’s black eyes said he knew it, too. Charging again, his shoulder rammed Bodie’s chest and the force of the collision threw them both to the ground. Razor-like teeth mowed through the feathers on Bodie’s chest. Using his feet, he kicked hard and Jeb flew at least twelve feet before hitting the ground.
This time when he got up, Jeb didn’t run toward Bodie. He ran in the direction Ronni and Alex were waiting.
Flying over Jeb, Bodie landed several yards ahead. He stretched his wings, creating a barrier between Jeb and the ones he loved.
Howling, Jeb picked up speed with deadly intent.
Bodie let go of the last shreds of humanity that had kept the violence inside restrained. The primal force that rose
within came from a time when his ancestors terrorized the earth, feasted on their enemies, and anyone else who crossed their paths.
He flew into Jeb’s creature, pecking at the rage-filled eyes. Bodie’s mind barely registered the pain of dangerously sharp teeth and claws sinking into and slicing through his muscles. The taste of bloody fur coated his tongue, the scent of battle filled his nostrils. Bits of the beast’s flesh hung from Bodie’s beak and stuck in his talons.
A ferocious howl shook the trees. Bodie responded with his own war cry.
Leaping with claws opened wide and lethally sharp, Jeb swiped Bodie’s throat and Bodie stumbled backward. Something warm and sticky flowed down his neck and chest.
He lifted off the ground, slapping Jeb in the face. In a diving swoop, Bodie used his talons to knock the werewolf off his feet. Then, landing on his chest, Bodie plucked out one of Jeb’s eyes to the sound of his rage-filled cry of pain.
A large hand slammed against Bodie’s face, knocking him over. Quickly hopping up, he barely avoided Jeb’s deadly retaliatory pounce. In turn, Bodie struck him from behind, scraping talons down his back and leaving a trail of gaping wounds. Another howl of pain filled the woods.
Jeb started running at an incredible speed. If Bodie didn’t end this, the next time Jeb ran, he might make it out of the woods.
He took flight and swooped over Jeb. Digging his talons into Jeb’s shoulders, Bodie soared upward. In his beast form, Jeb was quite a bit heavier than the wolf Bodie had carted away. He tightened his grip to keep from dropping him.
Jeb growled and struggled as they ascended higher. Just as Bodie cleared the tops of the trees, excruciating pain ravaged his chest. Reflexively, his talons opened and Jeb slipped from his grasp.
Bodie dove after him, but Jeb swung at him with his claws. Circling back around, he caught Jeb’s leg with his talons, only to have Jeb grab him by the throat.
He batted his wings in a desperate attempt to dislodge Jeb’s hand. They were falling faster than he could compensate. As his vision grew dark, Bodie used his talons to score Jeb’s exposed abdomen until the werewolf let go.
Stretching his wings to reestablish equilibrium and halt his descent, he heard Jeb’s ear-piercing howl, a ground-shuddering thud, and then there was silence.
Bodie dove along the path Jeb had fallen and landed a short distance from his broken body. Unsympathetic, he watched as the pitiful creature morphed back into its human form.
Stretching out his wings, Bodie lifted his beak to the sun filtering through the trees. Fire crackled along his nerves. An incredible pressure built behind his eyes until the pain forced them to close. He didn’t open them until he felt the soft, damp ground against the flat soles of his feet. He staggered over to Jeb and dropped to his knees.
Jeb glared at him with his remaining eye. Blood oozed from his nose and mouth and behind his head. “Thief,” he wheezed. His gaze turned inward and he mumbled to the phantom in his mind. “Ve-ron-i-ka, mine!” His final breath whined from his chest and the sentient light in his eye went dark.
“May your next life be a peaceful one.” Bodie laid his hand over Jeb’s face, closing his eyelid.
Sitting on his haunches, he stared in horror at the blood streaking his body and the lifeless man before him. Filled with disgust and shame, Bodie gripped his head in his hands.
“What the hell have I done?”
Chapter 31
Silently screaming, Ronni stared at the spot where she last saw Bodie, falling from the sky before he disappeared behind the treetops in the distance.
With Zeke’s death, she’d felt a sharp pain stab her heart as a crushing weight stole her breath. Right now, other than sheer shock, she felt absolutely nothing. Not even the warmth of her son’s wolfan body pressed against her as they crouched in the shallow roadside ditch, waiting.
“Mom!” Alex’s ears twitched. “I hear a siren!”
Thankfully, he’d kept his head down and hadn’t seen Bodie falling, likely to his death.
“Please,” she begged Bodie, while shielding her thoughts from Alex. “Please let me know you’re all right! I love you!”
Flashing lights crested the hill.
“It’s the sheriff!” Alex stood on all four paws.
“Stay down until I tell you to come out.” No matter her personal turmoil, Ronni’s priority had to be her son’s safety.
She climbed out of the shallow ditch and padded to the edge of the road.
The speeding car began to slow its approach, finally stopping about five feet from where Ronni waited in her wolf form, crouched and ready to react if needed.
A rotund man climbed out of the car and peered at her over the hood. “Are you Ronni?”
Cautiously, she nodded.
“Is Alex with you?”
She answered with another nod.
“Wait right there. I have something for you.” Sheriff Locke walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
Ronni’s heart pounded while visions of rifles and other weaponry danced in her head. When he shut the trunk, it sounded like a shot fired.
“Mom! Run!” Alex launched out of the ditch and darted toward the sheriff.
“Alex, stop!”
“Whoa! Whoa!” the sheriff called out. “It’s only blankets!”
Alex skidded to a stop barely a foot away from the uniformed man. He sat, his ears folded flat against his head.
“It’s all right, son.” Locke dropped a saddle blanket in front of Alex. “I know you were just trying to protect your mama.”
Locke walked to Ronni and laid a blanket beside her as well. She shifted and quickly wrapped it around her body. Alex followed her lead.
“Thank you, sheriff.”
“After I learned about the Wahyas here, I figured these would come in handy.” He returned to the car, then came back with two bottles of water. “Drink it slow and easy,” he said. “I’m not good with people throwing up.”
He helped Ronni stand, then gave her the water. Alex approached cautiously for his.
“Why don’t you sit in the squad car?” Locke said to Alex. “I want to talk to your mama and you’ll be safe in there.”
Alex watched Ronni for her nod of assurance before going to the car.
“Where’s the fellow who took you?”
Dead, she hoped.
An involuntary shudder of rage rolled through Ronni. Bodie was likely dead because of Jeb. If the son of a bitch was still alive, he wouldn’t be when she got through with him.
“Bodie chased Jeb into the woods. I couldn’t see much of what happened after that.” Except Bodie falling fast out of the sky.
Tipping her head back, Ronni drank a long sip of water to cool the burn in her throat and squinted from the sting in her eyes.
“Is Bodie like you?”
“Not exactly,” she said, nearly choking on emotion.
“I don’t see how there could be any gray area. Either you’re a Wahya or you aren’t.”
A growing rustle in the woods drew Ronni’s attention.
Trepidatious, her heart missed a beat.
Dear God, please let that be Bodie.
“Get in the car.” The sheriff’s hand went to the gun holstered at his side.
Heart pounding against her chest, Ronni couldn’t get her legs to move.
“I said, get in the car!”
Naked and bloody, a man stumbled into the clearing and collapsed, facedown.
A rush of adrenaline lightened Ronni’s feet. Running, she didn’t care if Jeb was still in the woods or that the sheriff was yelling for her to come back. She needed to get to Bodie. Needed to make sure he was safe. Most of all, she needed to tell him that she loved him.
“Bodie?” Sliding to the ground next to him, Ronni gently rolled him onto his back. “Can you hear me?”
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One of his eyes slid open. “Jeb is dead,” he choked out the words.
“I don’t care.” Right now, all that mattered to her was Bodie.
“Really?” He slowly pushed himself up and rolled into a sitting position. “Well, I killed him because of you!” He shot her an angry, accusatory look that stabbed her heart. “And you don’t give a damn about that? How do you think that makes me feel?”
“That’s not what I meant.” A different kind of unease settled into her bones.
“What did you mean, hmm? Are you happy he’s dead?” Shoving away from her, Bodie climbed to his feet, seemingly unaware of the bleeding cuts and deep scratches on his body.
“Yes, dammit. I am.” Angry they were fighting over Jeb, Ronni tightened the blanket around her and stood. “He was a bad man. A threat to me and my family. And I won’t shed one tear over his furry ass.”
Bodie’s face darkened. “You used me to get rid of him!” He shook his finger in her face.
Ronni’s temper flared. “We used each other!” Not what her heart wanted to say, but pride got in the way. “You were the one who suggested a pretend relationship when we had lunch at Mabel’s.” She jabbed him in the chest. “You were the one who later said you were not pretending. You said your feelings were real but all you really wanted was entry into the Co-op’s sanctuary for Willow’s Transformation Ceremony. So, congratulations, bird-man. You got what you wanted.”
“So did you, she-wolf.” The contempt in Bodie’s gaze felt like a stake through her heart. Her blood chilled and her body shook from the cold despite the warmth of the blanket.
“Our deal is done,” Bodie snarled. “Stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours.” He stretched out his arms and darted into the sky.
Her whole body shaking, Ronni’s knees gave out and she crumpled to the ground. Hot tears seared her cheeks.
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” the sheriff grumbled, walking up behind her.
“Me, too,” she whispered. Bodie had shattered her heart and she didn’t have the strength to pick up the pieces. Not only had she lost him, but Willow and Mary, too.
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