by Laina Kenney
Grace smiled, but Matsij didn’t, which made her wonder if maybe he was serious.
He slid one strong arm under her and rolled them over on the carpet until she was draped across his chest, their bodies still firmly joined. Her pussy rippled around him and her body rained more moisture around his granite hardness. He couldn’t fail to notice, but she felt too good to be embarrassed about it. It was more than obvious that she liked him.
He reached up and cupped the back of her head. His fangs gleamed in the flickering light and Grace’s breath caught in her chest as he slowly pulled her head to the side.
Would he give her the mating bite now? She was surprised by the urgency of her renewed desire. Her body expressed no doubts about him. She felt hot and needy and only he could put out the flames. She wanted him in every way.
He was still hard and he moved inside her in a shallow thrust that reignited the nerve endings in her tender pussy. She ground down on him with all her strength. She wanted him to know without asking that her answer was yes. Her answer would always be yes for him.
She didn’t think he would find it flattering, but she had no trouble imagining him as an old man patting her butt fondly as he walked past. She wanted that closeness almost as much as she wanted the bright sexual heat they generated now.
His eyes blazed black and she felt that fire all the way to her soul. He opened his mouth and scraped his fangs once then twice against her vulnerable pulse. The flare of sensation made her gasp out his name.
He was sliding his free hand up her ribcage to her breast when a tiny click sounded.
Matsij rolled Grace down and was on his feet in a heartbeat. His body was beautiful in the flickering candlelight, packed with muscle and still powerfully aroused. His cock gleamed from their combined moisture and her pussy throbbed. He sniffed the air and his face twisted in rage.
“Humans and gun oil,” he said and his voice was matter-of-fact. Her wide frightened eyes met his and her heart skipped at the deadly resolve she saw there. “Hide and call your brother immediately. Do not come out, no matter what you hear.”
“Matsij, stay with me.” It was a protest and a plea.
“Trust me, Grace. I will keep you safe. Your safety is everything to me.”
Grace scrambled for her clothes while he dragged on his pants. She couldn’t find her bra and settled for just pulling on her skirt. She quickly grabbed her sweater and buttoned it around her.
He brushed a kiss over her trembling lips.
“Hide now.”
Gracie snatched her phone and dashed into the narrow pantry while Matsij headed for the back of the house in a gliding run.
She dialed with shaking hands and prayed frantically until John answered.
“John, I’m in big trouble. Get here now.”
He didn’t ask any questions, just told her he was on his way and to keep the phone close. A wave of love overwhelmed her. John was a good brother and she always knew that she could count on him. She set the phone on the floor before her trembling made her drop it. She curled up in the darkest corner and tried not to cry.
Chapter 5
Matsij slipped out the back door under the shadow of a tall pine. The stench of sweat and the heavy oil used on weapons hung in the air. More than that, he could feel them, their fear and hatred polluting the gentle night breeze.
Even the small animals that were at home in the darkness as he was scurried back to their burrows shivering with stress at the invasion of their territories.
Matsij slid deeper into the shadows and sent his senses out into the night. He waited, unmoving, invisible.
The sense of urgency building in his blood to get back to his mate fueled his great strength. The few times he had ever thought of having a mate, he had imagined she would bring him peace, and she did. But the thought of men with guns stalking her, hunting her as prey, ignited a vicious burning rage in his gut.
His white fangs flashed in a grim smile. For the first time ever, he wanted to kill. It wasn’t just his job, a facet of his strange predatory talents that made him the perfect weapon to protect his people. These men had made it personal by targeting his mate, and Matsij was discovering he was not a merciful man.
A branch rustled to his left and he was moving, grabbing the head and twisting with the enemy’s forward momentum so that when he eased the body to the ground in silence, his enemy was already dead.
A movement alerted him to another presence and he melted back into the darkness, invisible.
The second man must have sensed something because he lashed out with a large knife just as Matsij hooked an arm around his neck. He caught Matsij across the forearm twice, blood shining black in the night. The knife fell from his twitching fingers as he slowly suffocated in the unbreakable choke hold. Matsij dropped him to the hard ground beside his companion without ceremony and did what he did best. He went hunting.
* * * *
Grace hadn’t been in the pantry for more than two minutes and John had told her he would be there in five, but she couldn’t stay still.
Her mate was out there fighting armed humans with nothing more than fangs and claws. She could tell by the way Matsij moved that he was an incredible hunter, but he was still at a horrible disadvantage against guns.
Dr. Novaks had gone on and on earlier about how the humans were finally fighting back against the monsters and how they had developed new and stronger weapons to keep humanity safe. Well, he might not realize it, but Grace was one of the so-called monsters that frightened him, and she wasn’t too happy about the idea of those stronger weapons being aimed at her mate.
She couldn’t just stay safe and let Matsij face the danger alone. She had to help.
Before she could decide what she should do, she heard a whisper of sound. It was so faint, she couldn’t pinpoint the direction.
She fought back the tears that threatened to blind her as she crept to the pantry door. She listened carefully but heard nothing more. The silence was deafening. Surely there would be some kind of sound if someone was out there, a footstep or something.
The door was wrenched open and Grace screamed. She wrestled with the man who grabbed her and succeeded in breaking his hold, but she was trapped in the pantry with no way out. The light was behind him and his form was nothing but a huge black shadow approaching. She pulled a can off the shelf and hurled it forward. When he ducked she smashed another heavy can into his face as hard as she could.
He grunted and rushed her. She screamed again, in rage this time, and hit him on the side of the head with the can. When he wrapped thick arms around her and squeezed, the air left her lungs in a rush and the can fell from her fingers to land with a thud.
She kicked at his shins and tried to bite, but he pulled a bag over her head and tightened the string around her throat. The heavy fabric was suffocating and she struggled to breathe, to fight.
She knew he had lifted her and was carrying her. She didn’t want to go anywhere with this man who smelled of gasoline and black hatred over the acrid tang of fear.
She forced her body to go limp and he swore and cuffed her on the head. The pain exploded in her brain and she thought she would throw up in the bag.
She sagged and then kicked out as hard as she could. They fell, smashing into furniture. She was free of his hold and she ripped at the cord to get the bag off her head. It took a minute, but she succeeded in freeing herself from the suffocating confines of the bag. She threw it aside.
She was in the living room standing in the remains of her picnic and the man was struggling to his feet. The table was knocked over and burning candles rolled on the floor.
Her gut twisted in panic.
The man rose to face her and the slight vicious smile on his face turned her knees to jelly. Somehow she understood that he didn’t just want to kill her. He beckoned with his gun. He wanted to take her alive.
Why would he want her alive? Was it just because the doctor had mentioned her name in connection with An
gel and her vulfen warrior? Or did they suspect what Grace was and want to capture and imprison her for scientific study? Any one of those possibilities would be terrifying.
Grace shook her head once. She could hardly catch her breath as the smell of smoke rose in the room.
The man gestured with his gun again, but she had no intention of going with him. She would rather die in her own home in the flames that were even now licking at the couch and curtains than be taken by these men and raped or tortured just because she wasn’t completely human.
Her fox was frenzied but Grace couldn’t calm her. Her brother was on his way and her mate was out there somewhere even now fighting for their lives, and she didn’t have time to wait for a rescue.
She couldn’t even shift forms to save herself, but the man in front of her didn’t know that. He shouted something at her, but she couldn’t really hear over the ringing in her ears. If she hadn’t before, she most likely had a concussion now.
She let her eyes drop when he waved the gun around and took a cautious step toward him. He stood up straighter, and she put one hand to her head and took another step closer. When he lowered the gun a fraction and grabbed her arm, she lurched forward. She sank her teeth into his upper arm with a high-pitched growl and tore a chunk of his flesh away.
He screamed and she slashed her fingernails down his face. Matsij slipped out of the smoke and shadows behind him and brought both hands down on the side of his neck hard. The man crumpled into a heap on the floor and didn’t move.
Matsij’s face was blank with rage and he might have killed the man but Grace threw herself into her mate’s arms and clung. His arms came around her and held her hard.
“I told you to hide.” His voice was harsh, but she had never heard a more beautiful sound.
“I hid in the pantry, but he found me.”
Matsij tried to disengage her arms from around his neck, but she held on with all her strength. He led her quickly through the living room and toward the side door. Sirens grew louder in the distance.
John came running up to them as they burst through the door and onto the path. Grace’s knees wobbled with relief to see her brother in full police uniform.
“The house is on fire,” Matsij told him and John radioed for a fire crew.
“I called in for backup. Half the cops in Boston are on their way here,” John said. He stopped and sniffed. He took a hard look at Matsij and the blood on his arm and hands. “Is there any need to search the neighborhood for the perps?”
Matsij shook his head. “There is no need.”
John grimaced. “Right. What was I thinking? You vulfen bastards are thorough, I’ll give you that. I assume they were here for Grace? Do I want to even ask how many there were?”
“Four.”
“There were four attackers for one small female?” John asked through his teeth. Grace was shocked into silence by the unfamiliar look of rage on her brother’s face. In the low flickering light he looked different. Dangerous.
“One well-trained man would have been sufficient if they had wanted to kill. I believe they may be aware of what she is and wanted to capture her alive. I have taken care of three outside and there is a single man unconscious inside the house. He may actually by dead. I could not make certain of him as I needed to get Grace out,” Matsij added.
“Three bodies? And maybe a fourth body in the house. Sweet Jesus.”
“The first three will not be found by humans. If I could borrow your phone for a moment, they will not be found ever.”
John hesitated then cursed and handed his phone over. Matsij made a quick call to Valeri.
John glanced behind them at the smoke now billowing out of the open door. Grace felt a pang of despair and wished the fire department would hurry. She loved her little house.
“I’m not going in there and risking my life to rescue some half-dead asshole that attacked my sister. I’d just want to kill the son of a bitch anyway if you didn’t finish the job,” John said. His eyes were hard. In spite of Matsij’s reassurance, his eyes were constantly moving, on the lookout for any new threat.
“We’ll wait for the fire department. They’ll take care of it,” he said after a moment. His voice gentled and he reached out to stroke Grace’s tangled hair away from her face. He opened his arms.
“Gracie, come here, sweetie.”
Grace hesitated. Usually she ran to him and in that instant she saw John’s eyes flash from her to the warrior behind her with his hand on her back.
John’s face hardened and Grace’s half-formed explanation caught in her throat at the look.
John looked at Matsij.
“Maybe I should have started by asking what the fuck are you doing here anyway? Didn’t I see you earlier at Angel’s place? How did you get all the way over here?”
“I followed Grace here to protect her. The doctor is captured and bound for human justice, but the danger still exists. She should never have been left alone.”
Grace couldn’t help the sob that escaped her and Matsij’s arm slid around her shoulders.
John drew himself up.
“Maybe I left Grace alone, but I called in a dozen favors and had cops patrolling this street every half hour to keep her safe tonight,” he said with some heat.
Matsij shook his head.
“It would not have saved her life. The hunting society would have had her before she could have called for help and you wouldn’t have known in time. She should not have been left to face that alone.”
“You’re a vulfen warrior. You’re one of their elite, I could tell that earlier. It’s not like you even try to hide it. What the fuck do you care about what happens to some little half-fox girl?”
Grace drew back in shock. John never spoke to her that way.
“She is my mate.” The tone was nothing short of a warning.
“You think you’re just going to show up out of the blue and mate my sister? She was already attacked once today, you arrogant vulfen son of a bitch. Leave her alone.” John took an angry step forward and Matsij bared his fangs.
Grace slapped one hand against John’s chest. Her fingers were trembling, but she couldn’t stop them. She was shocked and shaken right down to the core.
“John, you have to back off. I can’t take this right now. My house is burning right now. Hate each other later.”
“Gracie, you don’t know what they’re like,” John said in a righteous tone. “The only vulfen you know is Angel, and she’s a great girl. The vulfen warriors think they’re better than everybody else, the top of the top predators. Ask yourself if he’s really going to keep a mate when his whole culture looks down on her for her heritage? He’d make himself a laughing stock.”
Now Grace pushed backward against Matsij when he would have lunged at John. Matsij’s sub-vocal growl raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck. She didn’t want them fighting. Both were warriors, through and through. They could tear each other apart and never resolve anything.
“Grace is my mate. My people will accept her as such, or answer for it. I will tear apart any challenger and give the last drop of my blood for her protection. Keep that in mind the next time you insult her.” The clear snap of fangs accompanied the final words.
“Stop it, both of you. You have to stop.” Her voice was shaking with the tears she would not cry. If she started, she feared she would never stop.
She grabbed John’s hand and held on as his partner, Harden, ran up to them. John took a moment to tell him the bare bones version of events and Harden jogged back to the road to wait for the fire crew. The fire truck screamed to a halt at the curb and uniformed men poured out of it, one man shouting orders while several others dragged the big hose to the hydrant.
Matsij pulled her further away from the house and John followed them, shouting. Whatever John said was drowned in the great rush of light and sound as fire roared up through the roof. Flames shot into the darkness, turning the trees and houses into a flickering newsreel o
f orange light and black shadows.
The first spitting stream of water from the fire hose hit the house and a cloud of steam billowed up into the night sky. The stench of smoke was already heavy in the air.
Grace looked around as her neighbors began to emerge from their houses in pajamas and slippers to watch her house burn.
The tears rolled down her cheeks in silent mourning. The firemen were running against the clock to keep the fire from spreading. They were trying their best, but even she could see that there would be no saving the house. Her home and all her possessions were burning.
Two medics rushed over and Matsij stood by her side while they examined her. She held back the hiss of pain that wanted to escape. She didn’t like the look on Matsij’s face, and wanted to prevent him from killing anyone else tonight, particularly an innocent medic. Grace thought they were trying to be gentle, but every part of her body hurt, her heart most of all.
The two men in her life hated each other on sight and her world was going up in clouds of ash and stinking smoke.
She was dimly aware of the fire chief calling his men back from the blazing house. They retreated and kept the hoses going, but the battle was lost. Now they were protecting the rest of the neighborhood, because there was nothing more they could do for her.
“Do you have fire insurance?” the taller medic asked kindly.
Grace nodded while the tears continued to fall. The devastating anguish weighing her down couldn’t be cured by any amount of insurance. She had been attacked in her own home. Her little sanctuary was gone and she didn’t feel safe anymore.
Chapter 6
Matsij watched as his mate’s house burned. The medics had taken care of her as best they could, but he could see that she was reeling from the shock of the attacks and her house burning.
His wolf was agitated at another male’s hands on his mate, pushing him to bare his teeth in warning, even though the medic was helping. The tears on Grace’s face tore him up inside. He wanted her to be safe and happy but being friends with a young vulfen female had brought danger to her door. It was a deep need inside him, his ancient instinct rising to demand that she be kept safe from harm at all times, and her tears said clearly that he had failed.