by Mandy Rosko
But she held back, just a little while longer.
Dennis heaved a heavy sigh. "Hey, Garret's mate," he said, snatching Miranda's attention. He stared right at her. "You know the reason why your daddy left you, right? It was because of Garret."
Miranda sucked back a sharp breath. A flash of memory came to mind of her father giving her a kiss on the cheek before going to work, and then he never came back.
She also thought of Garret, his face, how his mouth felt when he kissed her, and how he'd promised to protect her and share his pack with her.
"Don't believe me?" Dennis asked. "All right, how about this? He saved that man's life and scented the bloodline of his mate on him. I had to find all this out to track you down. Garret met you when you were a kid, and since you were too young, he decided to come back when you were old enough. That should have been two years ago, but your dear daddy took off with the money Garret paid him. He left you because Garret scared him off. Nice, right?"
Miranda growled. The red anger that literally colored her vision looked like blood. The blood she wanted. Could taste.
"Miranda?" Lois's voice sounded smaller than a whisper.
Miranda lunged. Lois and Anna screamed.
Chapter 12
Garret and Dane burst through the trees just as Miranda lunged at the red-haired woman.
Dane roared, and as Miranda fell forward, he pushed his mighty weight between the women, allowing Miranda's claws to slice into him, to scratch through the thick fur of his shoulder and back, preventing those killer slashes from reaching the more fragile creature beneath him.
Garret curled his long arms around the chest of his mate. She'd grown. She was still smaller than him, but bigger than the last time she'd been in this shape, and she was utterly lost to the animal inside. Garret could hardly pull her off Dane. She was in a rage and more like a wild cat wriggling in his arms, clawing at his chest and face now as she turned her rage toward him.
Even with his strength and size, he struggled to protect his eyes, but he refused to let her go.
"Miranda! Miranda!"
He would not lose her. He would not let her go. He would not!
A hard swipe, which felt more like a punch, flew across Garret's muzzle. He tasted blood. His own. He was getting his face shredded. Dennis or his men could attack him at any moment, but he couldn't let her go.
If he let her go, his mate could attack his sister or run off, and he might never find her again.
Another slash hit his face and then one to his throat. The animal inside Garret thrashed and rose to the surface, roaring in a rage.
Garret held it back, not willing to turn the beast loose on his mate.
He heard Jax release a hard roar, something that sounded like a mix between a bird and the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. God, Garret hoped he was doing well against the rogue pack, but then he wasn't able to put too much thought into that as he was brought down by his woman.
Her teeth snapped inches from his snout as she managed to push him down. She was going for the kill; her teeth and claws were going for his throat and face.
The only thing that saved him from certain death was his thick coat of fur, especially at his throat, but even then, he could feel it as she tore away the fur, as her claws sunk deeper, getting closer to fragile flesh.
He didn't want to hurt her. God knew he didn't want to hurt her, but if he didn't stop her, if he couldn't get into the fight with Jax and Dane, Dennis would kill them all.
Garret called upon the beast inside him as he dug his claws into Miranda's shoulders.
She threw her head back and roared, her teeth dripping thick, red drops of Garret's blood. He saw her exposed throat and pulled his lips back and lunged forward.
He bit her. A sharp, high-pitched shriek yelped from Miranda's mouth.
She went perfectly still. The thrashing and desperate fight to kill anything in her path halted. Garret listened carefully for the sound of his woman's heartbeat. Biting down on the neck of anyone in his pack was a dangerous thing. A last resort.
The bite of an alpha could jolt someone back into their human shape. Sometimes.
Please work.
As she suddenly went limp, Garret pulled his teeth free from her neck and she fell forward onto the cold ground. Her body melted back into her human shape, her torn clothes barely covering her naked body and breasts. Red blood trickled down her pale pink throat.
The wound looked bad, but she was still breathing. She was still breathing and her heartbeat was strong. Garret sighed. Thank God.
"Garret! Behind you!"
He spun and narrowly avoided a clawed hand reaching for his throat. He grabbed the shifter by the wrist, bending the fingers back until he heard a crack and felt a pop.
The shifter opened his giant maw and roared. This one looked like a mountain lion, and in his pain, he threw out his other clawed fist.
Garret grabbed that one as well and held both arms in his hand. He pulled the shifter forward and smashed his forehead down onto the man's brow.
The cat shifter threw his head back and opened a mouthful of pointed teeth as he roared his pain and rage. Garret did it again and again, until his vision swam and he could hardly see the pathetic, bloody face of the creature in front of him. The shifter fell back and Garret let him go. He dropped to the ground, lifeless and unmoving.
"Pat!"
Garret's head jerked up. Dennis was on the rock, keeping the high ground and staying out of the way of Jax's swinging tail and wings. He was in his true form and close to the size of a small elephant, only faster, more deadly to Dennis and his men. With fire in his eyes, Dennis stared down at Garret and the dead man at his feet.
Garret glanced down at the body. This was a friend, was it?
When he looked back up at Dennis, the man's shoulders rose and fell as his massive fists clenched and his tail hung limp behind him as he gasped for breath. He turned his glare away from Garret when Jax roared a noise that could have come from a Jurassic Park movie.
Jax's wings spread wide, and with his tail whipping around, he managed to clear the area of Dennis's men. They scrambled to reach their leader, to stand behind Dennis and find out their next move.
Anna was in her wolf shape, but she was small, even for a female, and she seemed to be standing guard for Dane, who swayed on his feet. The red-haired woman was with them, standing in Dane's shadow, holding a thick branch like it was a baseball bat.
Dennis was trembling. The cat shifter wasn't the only body on the ground. Jax had taken out four more, and Dennis's men carried two people with limply hanging legs out of the area.
"I'll fucking kill you!"
Garret looked down at his mate. Her chest was still moving. She was still alive, but he had been the one to hurt her.
"Look at me, you motherfucker!"
Garret did look. Dennis stared at him as though he was trying to make Garret's face explode with the power of his mind.
Garret didn't look away from him. He didn't allow himself to be cowed. "I don't owe you a thing."
Garret turned away from the man. He was too angry. His hands shook as he reached for his mate. After making sure his claws were out of the way, he pulled Miranda's small body up against his chest.
"Don't turn your back on me!" Dennis screeched.
"We're going," Garret barked. "Jax!"
Garret glanced behind him to make sure everything was moving smoothly. Dane lumbered along, trying to protect the women when his heavy fur coat was slick with blood. Jax, despite his massive size in his true form, did not give his back to Dennis. He watched Garret and Dane's backs as they walked out of there, with Dennis screaming behind him.
"I'll kill you for this! This isn't over, you son of a bitch! We're not done yet!"
Chapter 13
Dane was a walking disaster. Jax tried to offer his shoulder to lean on, but there was no fucking way. Even after he fell on his face for the second time because the damned ground wouldn't stop tilting unde
r his feet, he wasn't about to get any help for the walk back. He knew how to put one foot in front of the other, and he was going to do it without distracting Jax.
The red-haired woman, however, wasn't going to let him do what he needed to do without nagging his damned ear off.
"You fell over. Twice!"
Dane grumbled, lifting a hand to his head. He had such a headache. "So what?"
The woman jerked. "What do you mean 'so what'? You're"—she gestured to his entire body—"you're bleeding, and you nearly fell on me!"
Oh, so that was what she was worried about? He was still in his bear shape, not his true form, though. He wouldn't be able to talk if he was in his true form, but he still had the claws, fur, and muzzle out with the teeth. He kept the form in case he needed to fight again. In case someone from Dennis's shitty traitor pack was following them.
He didn't smell anyone, but he wasn't going to risk it, or become a liability to Jax.
"If it worries you so much about my size, then get away from me. Go walk with Jax and I won't fall on you."
Jax had since shifted out of his true form. Now he looked more like a walking lizard. Well, not really. Dane glanced at him. He had some scales and spikes on his face, but he didn't have the longer snout, and he still had a nose.
Jax was probably just keeping that form to keep from creeping out the female. Even Dane shivered at the sight of Jax's face when he went all-out sometimes.
Despite Jax's efforts, however, the red-haired woman glanced back at Jax and shook her head. "I want to stay with you."
Dane huffed a laugh. It sounded more like a wheeze. He put his palm on his stomach when the cramp hit.
The woman was silent for a moment. "Does it hurt a lot?"
Dane growled. "What do you think?"
He glanced down at her, but she wasn't looking at him. She stared straight ahead as she wet her lips and nodded. "I get it. It's my fault, and you're mad."
Ugh, he didn't want to have an emotional talk. He really didn't.
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?" he grumbled.
"Why jump in front of me like that?"
His head jerked in her direction and she looked back up at him, her green eyes wide and unflinching. There was no hint that she was afraid of him. No sign that his face, that of a bear, and his body, two heads taller than she was and covered in fur and scarred muscle, repulsed her.
Dane lifted one of his claws and scratched his cheek, just to remind the woman of his true danger. It wasn't just that he was ugly. It was also that he had teeth and claws that could cut tough meat with ease.
She watched him with interest, but again, she didn't flinch or show any sign of hesitation. There was no hint of that fear that she'd had when he'd first taken her from the spot where he'd hidden Miranda's car.
"Well?" she asked. "Why did you do that?"
Dane shrugged, then immediately regretted doing so when he pulled at the healing slices on his shoulder. "I don't know. Why wouldn't I?"
Those green eyes went a little wider. "I guess I thought you hated me. You're swaying!"
Dane righted himself before he could drop. Focus. Focus. He just had to pay attention. Another five minutes of walking and he'd be home. He recognized these trees and that rock over there. Almost there. Then he could shift and pass out and let himself heal. Almost there.
"I hate all humans. It's not personal."
The red-haired woman said nothing at first, but he could tell she was watching him carefully. "Are you okay?"
Dane forced his eyes open wide. "I will be in a minute."
The woman beside him swallowed hard. "Um… before anything else happens, I just wanted to say thank you… for saving my life."
Dane frowned and looked down at the red-haired woman just as she turned away.
He sighed. "Don't worry about it."
If she wanted to say anything else to him, she either chose not to in the end, or he just blocked it out with how focused he was on not keeling over. Dane damn near fell to his knees when he walked onto the back lawn of the house. He was proud of himself when he walked all the way inside and made it to his room. The omegas rushed around in a flurry, and soon Dane forgot all about the fact that he was leaving bloody footprints behind on the floors and carpets as he fell into bed.
For some reason, the redhead was in his room, standing on the sidelines while Dane passed out on his stomach while omegas dumped painful amounts of alcohol onto his back. He didn't feel the pain because he was already out. His last sight had been of that damned girl standing right there, causing him to dream of that interesting scent she had.
* * *
Miranda hurt when she awoke.
She groaned and brought her hand to her forehead, trying to hold back the piercing throb that smacked into her head again and again. It might have been less painful if someone took a hammer and smacked the side of her skull with it instead of forcing her to deal with this awfulness.
One of those overly painful throbs to her head jarred a memory. Miranda opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, confused. She retraced her steps.
How did she get back here? She'd been out in the woods, trying to get to the highway with…
Miranda flew up from the bed.
She hissed with pain when she moved and tensed when she stood on her feet.
"Oh God." Her voice came out in a harsh croak. Carefully, she touched the thick bandage around her neck.
And all of a sudden, she couldn't breathe. There was no air in the room for her lungs to take in. She sucked back through her mouth and nose as hard as she could, but it wasn't enough. The strength left her legs and she fell to her knees, gasping for air and clutching her chest and the bedsheets.
The wood cracked as the door burst open, but she hardly heard it as she struggled to breathe.
As strong hands grabbed her shoulders, she hissed and jerked at the sudden eruption of pain she felt there, too. She fell back as Garret let her go. She saw the scabbed scratches down his face and the bandages on his neck, which looked like they went much farther down under his shirt. She remembered attacking him, having no control over herself, her claws sinking deep into fur and finding flesh, but it hadn't been her. She hadn't been herself as she attacked Lois and tried to kill Garret.
She'd tried to kill Garret…. The realization horrified her, and she drank in the sight of him to prove to herself he was alive.
Miranda shook her head. "I… I didn't… I didn't…"
Garret reached for her and managed to avoid the spots on her arms that hurt so damned much as he gingerly pulled her into his lap.
She sighed as she was tucked against his chest.
Rocking her, he held her tight and curled his arms around her body like a shield against the world. He was strong and warm and very real under her body. Even a dream couldn't be this real.
"It's okay. You're all right. Everything's okay."
But Miranda was crying and couldn't seem to make herself stop. It wasn't just the tears that were the problem, either. It was the way her breath continued to hitch. She couldn't get the word she wanted out without trying several times. Garret was clearly alive, but what about her best friend? Miranda could remember Lois right in front of her, within easy reach of her claws and teeth… She didn't want to ask. She almost didn't want to know.
"L-L-Lois?"
"She's fine. She's just fine. Dane got there in time. She's okay. She's still here."
A lot of the pain in Miranda's chest melted away, exchanged with a cool relief the likes of which she'd never known before in her life. Now she was choked up because of how happy she was. Goddamn, it was a good feeling to have.
She allowed herself to relax into Garret's chest, soaking up his warmth, curling her arms around as much of his massive body as she could reach.
"God, thank you."
As he stroked her back, more of that warmth pushed into her. Garret was comfort and safety incarnate, and she wanted to soak in as much of that
feeling as possible. Only now could she properly breathe, as he was here for her.
"Don't ever do that to me again. You left the lodge."
He sounded a little angry, but the press of his mouth against the top of her head spoke volumes, especially as he continued rubbing her back.
She shook her head. "W-was coming back. I—"
Miranda stopped suddenly, recalling everything that happened right up until she'd lost control.
Dennis, the man who'd attacked her, who'd pulled her out of her car and dragged her screaming into the woods, who'd tried to kill her, had found her. She didn't know how, there was no way he could have known she'd be out there, unless he'd been nearby. Maybe someone in his pack had spotted them, or he'd smelled them, but something had let him know they were away from the safety of Garret's home.
She suddenly felt so stupid, so incredibly mad and embarrassed with herself. What had she thought was going to happen? Garret had told her what would happen if she left the house.
But that wasn't what her mind was focusing on with laser precision. Aside from her fear, which had helped to bring out the animal inside her, the thing that drove her over the edge was what Dennis had said to her.
Her father. He was gone because of Garret?
Miranda didn't want to believe it. Her first instinct was that it would be stupid to believe something like that, especially after everything Garret had done for her. Miranda owed Dennis jack shit. She certainly didn't owe him any trust or belief in anything he ever said.
But a sliver of doubt inside her compelled her to tell Garret about it, to get his side of that story.
"Garret?"
"Yes?" He stood, pulling Miranda with him and setting her onto the bed with all the ease and care of a breakable doll.
"Are you okay?"
He looked guilty, as if this was his own fault and not hers.
"I had to bite your neck and dig my claws into your arms. You'll heal faster than normal, but you'll still need some time. It's only been twelve hours."