by Kate Douglas
“A soldier is no match for a Greek god, Phelan. You know that,” Kira countered.
Phelan immediately shook his head. “Don’t underestimate me.”
“So wait, you’re really talking about a battle with a Greek god?” Marena asked. “Here? On earth? Is that where this will take place? What about us? What happens to the human world while this little fight is going on?”
“The humans are hunting the Shadow Shifters,” Blaez stated evenly. “They’ve brought together NATO to begin a combined effort to flush out all shape-shifters on this planet. Their goal is to kill them out of fear, because they do not understand them. I’d say they have their own wars to worry about right now.”
Phelan could only stare and frown. He’d known about the military’s attempts to round up all those they suspected of being shape-shifters. A few months back when Jace Maybon, a Shadow Shifter leader, had shown up on their doorstep looking for one of his fellow shifters, Phelan had been irritated beyond words. The Shadow Shifters had allowed themselves to be unveiled on national television. In one live news broadcast they’d managed to tap into all of the humans’ fears of beings who were not like them. In the year since then there had been reports of caught and confined shifters; killings and robberies and all other types of crimes were being blamed on the illusive shifters. Now the lycan packs had to be very careful of everything they did, or else the human world would learn that they had so much more to fear than the feline shape-shifters they were currently fixated with.
“I’m surprised you haven’t received a call for us to come in,” Malec commented.
“I did,” Blaez told him. “I turned them down.”
“You received a call for who to come in to what?” Marena asked. “I mean, if that’s something I can ask.”
“This situation involves you, too, Marena,” Kira said, looking beyond Phelan. “Especially since you are staying here with us now. So I believe that full disclosure is warranted.”
Those words were aimed at the alpha, who looked to Phelan. Marena was going to change into a lycan. There was nothing any of them could do to stop that from happening. Everything else—including which side she would select, the Hunters or the Devoteds, and what type of lycan she would become—was totally up to her.
So why was each member of this pack looking at him as if he somehow had some say in this?
“We’re not just lycans,” he began after Blaez arched a brow in his direction. The alpha apparently thought Phelan should be the one to tell her who and what they really were.
Phelan took a deep breath and then turned to face her. He’d been content telling himself that she was just a human who had been unfortunate enough to get bitten by a lycan and that the sweet taste of her honey still lingering on the back of his tongue was simply because it had been too long since he’d partaken of that delectable part of a female. Looking into her soft brown eyes at this moment, however, gave him momentary pause.
Her hair was bone straight, hanging past her shoulders, parts pulling to the front to lounge in a completely plain yet terribly sexy way. Her eyebrows were thick and arched perfectly, while her pert lips were only barely glossed. When she’d stepped into the bathroom to dress just a short while ago, he’d stood with his back to the bathroom door, his head hung low, trying like hell not to envision the clothes slipping over her naked body. Now he couldn’t help but stare in what felt like a trance at the black jumpsuit that cinched at her waist and flared into cargo-type pants to the ties at her ankles. The outfit was strapless, hugging her full breasts in a way that made Phelan extremely jealous. Even the flat black shoes with the tiniest white bows at the tops had his dick twitching.
“Blaez is the alpha of our pack and Kira is his mate. The rest of us are betas in the lycan world. To the humans we—the guys and I—are members of a covert operations team that sometimes does contractual work for the U.S. military. We’re all trained Marines,” he told her, and was supremely grateful for the serious words he could speak, versus the sexual monologue that was currently running through his mind.
Phelan wanted to taste her again. This time he wanted her flat on her back, his face buried between her legs. He wanted her open and available to him for the taking, ready and waiting to submit to his will. The way she reached a hand up to tuck strands of hair behind her ear before meeting his gaze told him she was thinking along those same lines.
“So you’re saying that the government has contacted you about hunting the shape-shifters that they already know exist,” she said. “But you turned them down because you’re keeping your own secret.”
“We’re trying to protect the human world,” Channing added.
Marena shook her head. “Secrets do not equate to protection. They breed deceit, which ultimately unfolds in devastation. I suspect the feline Shadow Shifters thought they were doing the same thing you’re attempting and look how that turned out.”
“But you weren’t surprised by the revelation of the Shadow Shifters, were you?” Caroline interjected. “When I first saw what Malec was I was shocked and intrigued, and a little bit afraid. I’d seen the news reports and watched the ones that the authorities had managed to capture. They called them shape-shifters and yet they looked just like you and me. They looked totally human. Until I saw the Solo in his lycan form reeking of revenge and evil. That was what made him different, not just the sharp teeth and wolf features. It was his purpose here on earth, the intent to do harm in his eyes. That’s what frightened me. But you,” she continued. “You don’t seem daunted by all that you’ve endured in the past couple of days at all. Why is that?”
Phelan hadn’t liked Caroline’s line of questioning. He hadn’t cared for the suspicious tone of her voice or the way the others remained quiet as if Caroline had spoken what they’d been thinking all along.
“We should go,” he said. “The effects of the bite will drain your energy for a while yet.”
Marena shook her head slightly as she let her arms fall to her sides. “I feel fine,” she said coolly.
“To answer your question, Caroline, no, I’m not afraid,” Marena added. “I learned a long time ago that fear was the result of ignorance, especially where man was concerned. I cannot summon any apprehension against a species that I know nothing about. You are right in the sense that this may be because before this weekend I’ve had no encounter with the feline shifters or lycans. Even the one I eventually found myself face-to-face with didn’t scare me until the very end. Now, however, all I can think about is finding that bastard and making him face the destruction he’s caused in my life. The fact that he is another type of being is of no consequence to me.”
“Even though he bit you?” Kira asked her.
Marena’s shoulders stiffened then. It was a barely perceptible motion that Phelan doubted anyone but he had seen as Marena shifted her attention from where Caroline sat on the couch to where Kira and Blaez were now standing a couple feet away. Phelan moved closer to Marena in that moment, standing so that the bare skin of his arm brushed over hers. The jolt of heat that fired through him was only the first bit of shock he would receive.
“That,” Marena told Kira, “is something I will deal with at a later time. For now, my only concern is salvaging my career.”
“And our concern is protecting Blaez and saving this world from unwanted turmoil,” Malec stated firmly.
“That’s a pretty ambitious goal, but I wish you the best of luck,” Marena told them, before turning to leave the room.
Phelan didn’t hesitate and he didn’t look to the others to see how they’d taken her blatant brush-off. He moved with her as if they’d been thinking along the same lines the whole time, following her out of the library and toward the back doors of the house. She wanted to go out, needed air to breathe into lungs that felt congested and a mind that was all of a sudden weary of the changes going on within as well as around her.
It only took an extra step from him to cross in front of her in time to reach for the con
trol panel to disengage the motion sensors and locks that were on all the windows and doors of the lodge. Pulling the sliding door open, he stood to the side and watched as she quietly stepped through. She walked to the very edge of the planked deck without looking back at him, almost as if she’d been there before. Phelan knew that wasn’t possible, and he focused more on the lithe movements of her feet, the slight lift of her hair on the breeze, instead of tapping into all the strange déjà vu–like emotions he was having where she was concerned.
“I don’t belong here,” Marena said suddenly, her back still facing him.
She’s right. She doesn’t belong here. She should leave, the other voice sounded in Phelan’s ears, instantly soliciting a growl.
Chapter 5
When Phelan didn’t respond Marena turned around to face him. She knew he was there, not only because she wasn’t feeling sick but also because she was feeling something else. Something she only felt when he was near. She’d wanted to simply call it attraction, but she was smart enough to know that there was more to it than that. It was more because she’d never felt this way before for any other guy and no other man had ever elicited the quick and intense feelings Phelan did from her.
Right now her heart was thumping quickly as she’d wanted to run out of that room with all those eyes staring at her. Marena had never been the shy or introverted type. She came from a big family of boisterous and opinionated people. If she hadn’t been able to speak up for herself, she would have been eaten alive. So being in front of others and saying whatever she had to say was not a problem, hence her success in the courtroom.
Standing in front of five lycans who were all looking to her for some specific answer or response had been a bit more than she’d ever imagined she would have to endure. Just the thought that in the blink of an eye each of them could look like Phelan had last night in the hotel room, and could be vicious killers, was enough for her to swallow. The thought that she would soon be one of them was by far the worst. She was determined not to think about that bite on her shoulder and to focus on what she knew she could control, but she’d been losing her grip in there. And so, for the first time in her life, she’d run. Well, she’d walked, really fast. Phelan had followed, but he wasn’t speaking; she wanted to know why.
“Are you all right?” she asked when he was still standing a distance away from her looking around as if he thought maybe someone else was out here with them.
Considering she was standing on the porch of a log cabin in who-knew-where Montana, after a conversation about a pissed-off Greek god and the inevitability of him coming to earth to seek his revenge, Marena found herself looking around, too, because hell, there could be someone or something else out here.
“Why did you come out here?” he asked, ignoring her question completely.
Marena wasn’t bothered by that because she was used to dealing with men who didn’t think she was smart enough or a good enough lawyer to challenge them in any way. She never let that stop her from moving forward with her cases zealously and she wasn’t about to let it cause her to pause now.
“Look, I don’t know what you and your friends expect from me. But like I said, I don’t belong here. I need to get back to San Francisco to clear my name and save my legal reputation. I have to find Davis,” she said adamantly.
“He’s the one that put you in this predicament,” Phelan added, taking a step closer to her.
It was a measured step. Not the self-assured movements she had become accustomed to seeing from him.
“He’s a partner at my firm, and if the police continue to suspect me of doing something to Davis I’ll never achieve my career goals because those chauvinistic older partners are going to crucify me.”
Phelan arched a brow. “And because you’ll likely be put in jail.”
Marena huffed because, unfortunately, she wasn’t as concerned about that part of the situation as she suspected she should be.
“You don’t understand,” she told him. “I’ve come too far and worked too damned hard for this stupid incident to stop me.”
“You mean the stupid incident where a man attacked you and you shot him in self-defense?” he asked when he was standing directly in front of her.
The day had passed without her even knowing, so that now it looked as if the sun were just settling in the sky, waiting for its descent into evening. The golden glow framed Phelan and his well-sculpted body in a romantic haze that for a moment or two had her wishing their circumstances were different.
What if he’d been a businessman living in San Francisco? Maybe he’d just moved there and she’d met him at a meeting. Would she have been so intrigued by his intense green eyes to ask if he’d like her to show him around? Or would she have immediately recognized the way her body warmed when he was close?
“It was stupid; I admit that. And it was self-defense. But now, finding him is about self-preservation. I have to make partner. It’s what I’ve always worked for. What will my family think if I don’t?” she asked, catching the admission and turning away to keep from saying more.
Her personal life was her own. Her goals and ambitions and the reasons, therefore, belonged to her. She’d never felt the need to explain them to anyone. Yet all she’d ever wanted was for her parents and her siblings to be proud of her. To say they’d always believed in her. It was probably a long shot, Marena admitted to herself, because the Panos family were not good with expressing their emotions. Unless it was to complain or to disperse some great conspiracy theory as her father and her brothers were known to do. But they were her family and they were all that had ever mattered to her.
“What will they think when you tell them you’re a lycan?” he asked.
His question was stated so simply, so basic and yet producing more anxiety and hesitation than she’d ever experienced before.
“If you find Davis and he’s completely healed, which I have no doubt he is because we can heal from most wounds, what will you do? Drag him in front of the partners and insist he tell them what he tried to do to you? He’s never going to do that, Marena. You need to accept that now. He’s a Hunter lycan; the only person he’s going to look out for is himself and members of the pack he belongs to, because he’s certainly not an alpha. Whether you like it or not, your life has been irrevocably changed.”
Marena shivered at his words, even though it was warm outside. She did not like what he’d said or the fact that it was true. And she didn’t like that he’d said them in the same tone Davis used whenever he decided to appear in her mind. She could hear him laughing now, telling her the same thing he’d been saying for hours on end: I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you.
“Stop it!” she yelled, slapping her hands to her ears and shaking her head. “Just stop it, both of you. Please.” The last word was a whimper and so foreign to her ears she barely registered it.
“Stop what?” Phelan asked her, his hands tightening on her shoulders. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“He’s talking to me,” she said without thinking. “He’s been talking to me, like he’s standing right beside me. How can he do that? If you can take away the pain why can’t you tell him to stop?”
Her heart was pounding, her hands shaking as they stayed clapped over her ears. She’d closed her eyes believing that maybe, just maybe, she could shut all of this out of her mind. The voice. The bite. The gun. Everything.
Phelan’s hands on her didn’t stop any of that, only added a powerful pull that Marena hated because she couldn’t resist it. He was turning her to him then, his face drawing closer to hers as he pulled her hands away from her ears and asked her calmly, “What is he saying?”
He believed her was the first thing Marena thought. He believed that she was hearing Davis’s voice even though they both knew full well that he wasn’t there with them.
“‘I’m coming for you,’” she said. “Over and over again he tells me that and then he laughs. What does that mean? What do
es he want with me now?”
Phelan frowned. His eyes grew darker and his jaw tightened.
“He wants you for himself, to claim you and make you his,” he said disgustedly.
Marena pulled away from him then, his words circling in her mind. “What? I’ll never be with him. I told him that and that’s when he . . . I don’t want him,” she said. “All I want is for him to clear my name.”
“Are you certain about that?” Phelan asked, looking at her with what Marena thought might actually be contempt.
His look, coupled with his question and this whole damned situation, pissed her off royally.
“What the hell does that mean?” she asked, then shook her head quickly, holding up a hand. “No. You listen to me. I don’t know who or what you think I am, or was, before all this happened. But I can assure you that I’ve never been interested in Davis and that was before I knew he was a dirty, disgusting wolf! And as for you, I don’t know you, either. I don’t know why you have to remain close to me for me to even breathe normally and I don’t care. All I want is my life back. That’s all I need.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, closing the space between them quickly and grabbing her by the neck.
His fingers were tight as they slipped through her hair to cup the nape of her neck. He applied pressure, only a little more gently than his first contact, until she tilted her face up to his. And then he kissed her.
His lips were like molten lava as they touched hers, beckoning her to open and let all that fiery heat inside whether she wanted to or not. When his tongue touched hers that heat traveled quickly throughout every inch of her body, until Marena felt like she needed to strip away every piece of clothing simply to find any solace. With bold and intoxicating strokes his tongue dueled with hers, his one hand at her neck, the other planted firmly at the base of her back, just before the curve of her ass.