Wild Harts: Rockstar Shifters Box Set

by Lily Cahill

  “Well, son,” the voice rasped, like dust and bone scraping together. “I see you think you’re going to steal my rightful position.”

  Errol Hart strolled into the clearing and grinned maliciously at his son.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nina

  EVERYTHING NINA OWNED WAS PACKED away neatly in boxes. Or, almost everything. She dug back into a box at the top and pulled out her manuscript. It was scrawled in long-hand over three different notebooks. For years, it’d been a story of strength, of revenge. She’d planned to end it in blood and triumph. But now, Nina stared at her unfinished novel with a new heart. The truth of the story was clear to her now, the reason why she could never find a way to finish it.

  It was a story of strength, yes, but also of renewal. The revenge, it didn’t get to the real heart of the story she wanted to tell. Now, she was itching to dive back in and give these characters the ending they deserved, one of hope, one of love. Smiling, Nina put the notebooks into her laptop bag and collapsed back to the couch next to Van.

  Van rolled her head along the back of the couch to stare at Nina.

  “You’re sure this is what you want?”

  Nina pressed her lips together, then nodded. “You know I’ve been restless for a while, but I was too much of a chicken-shit to actually make a change.”

  Van laughed. “Girl, nothing about you is afraid.”

  “But I was, Van.” Nina played with the necklace hanging at her neck. “I spent half my life scared, then the other half running from the fear. But with Drew … I’m done running. I’m ready to start the life I’ve been dreaming of. It’s crazy, I know.”

  Van shook her head. “Yeah, love can do crazy things. I just wish it didn’t do crazy things like take my best friend off to Montana.”

  “There are planes that fly to Montana, you know.”

  Van sat up and crooked an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t worry. Amy and I are already talking summer homes up there. Wil needs her godmother in her life, after all.”

  Nina grew silent and stared around her loft apartment. She’d worked her ass off for all of this, but it kind of felt unnecessary now. Now, she wanted to work her ass off to make herself happy, to make Drew and their child happy. To finish her novel and reconnect with the part of her that had been in hiding for so long. But, God, she was going to miss Van and Amy and seeing Willow grow up. Nina’s hands went to her belly.

  “And you … my baby’s godmother needs to be around.”

  Van’s eyes shot up to Nina’s, question in her eyes.

  Nina laughed and swiped at tears prickling the edges of her eyes. “Come on, Van. Of course you’re this little nugget’s godmother. You think I’m going to be a bad influence on your daughter and not expect the same in return?”

  Van crushed Nina into a hug and started sobbing. Nina hugged her right back, as hard as she could. When she pulled back, she noticed her phone on the table, a green light pulsing in the corner. Nina reached for the phone while Van packed up her bag to leave. She frowned. There was a text message from an unknown number. Nina clicked it, and her breath fled.

  “Unless you want the whole world to knew Drew Hart is a monster, meet me downstairs in one minute.”

  Heart racing, Nina called an excuse to Van and ran down the stairs.

  Gavin stood at her door, smirking and holding up his phone.

  “Got my message?”

  Nina shoved him backward. “You asshole,” she hissed. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but—”

  Gavin clucked his tongue. “I can shout it right now on this busy street, if you want.”

  Nina growled and grabbed Gavin, leading him the three blocks to The Bronze. At this time of day, it was just Clem in there, slowly wiping at glasses in preparation for the Friday night crowd. Nina pulled Gavin inside and shoved him into a chair. Gavin, for his part, didn’t wipe that awful smile from his face. Nina had the urge to punch it away, but instead she caught Clem’s eye then sat down.

  “God, this place is a dump.”

  “Talk,” Nina barked.

  Gavin laughed. “Touchy! Must be those pregnancy hormones. You’re more hysterical than usual.”

  “Or I’m facing a little asswipe who is in over his head and thinks blackmailing me is a good idea.”

  Gavin’s smile disappeared. He held on tight to his phone, but lifted it so Nina could see. There was a video queued up, and from the still, it was taken from the cliffs above Point Dume. Nina’s blood ran cold.

  “I wouldn’t call this blackmail, Nina. I’d say I’m doing a public service. People should know there’s a monster masquerading as a rockstar. Imagine the headlines I’ll get.”

  “You’re insane,” Nina hissed.

  Gavin’s too-large eyes bored in hers as he pressed play. And oh God, it was all there. In the clear light of sunset, she saw herself and Drew standing on the beach, then Drew’s body begin to change, morph, shift into something that, yes, looked like a monster. He was Drew, then he was a massive bear. And there was no denying what had just happened.

  “Whatever you’re planning, Gavin … whatever you think you should do—” Fear gripped at Nina. This would ruin Drew, ruin his family, if it got out. And it was all her fault. She’d asked him to shift, and he had. She had to protect him.

  “What I know I should do is this: You have until sunrise to quit the magazine. You hand over all your contacts, your laptop to me. I’m done picking up your scraps. I deserve what you have. You’ve stolen what should be mine. Your time is over, Nina. It’s my turn.”

  Nina laughed. This little shit could have gotten exactly what he wanted if he’d just waited a day for Rick to tell the staff she was quitting. But pride made Nina sit forward and jam a finger toward Gavin. “You think just because I’m gone, people won’t compare me to you? Listen to me, Gavin. I am better than you in every way. You don’t deserve what I have because you haven’t fucking earned it.”

  A tiny, horrible smile tugged at the corner of Gavin’s lip. “Then this footage goes to every editor I know and your boyfriend’s career—hell, maybe his life—is over.”

  “You’re nuts.”

  “I’m not the one fucking a monster. You meet me there”—and he pointed to a still of the video, of Point Dume—“at sunrise to hand everything over, or the world knows Drew’s secrets.” Then Gavin scraped his chair backward and stalked away.

  Nina leaned back against the chair, her limbs rubbery and her fingers tingling. Dammit. What the hell was she going to do? All she knew was, this was her fault asking Drew to shift out in the open. She had to fix this. Nina looked over at Clem, who was watching her closely. Nina walked over to the bar and grabbed a napkin, scribbling a number on it.

  “If you don’t hear from me in two hours to check in, you call this number and tell the guy that answers to go to the place we committed. You got that?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Drew

  DREW COULDN’T BREATHE, COULDN’T MOVE.

  It’d been a decade since he’d last seen his father, being escorted out of the lodge house after the conclave’s judgment and exiled to the boundaries of the Western Clans. A decade believing he was safe, that this man would never terrorize him again. But looking at Errol Hart—this scarred, ragged version of the monster he’d known—Drew realized the terror had never really left. It was always there, in the pit of his stomach, a hard knot of worry that made him look behind him in the dark, double check the locks. Maybe Errol Hart would never truly leave him to his peace.

  Behind Drew, he heard Jax and Chase move to his flanks. Together, they could beat this man. They would end this. Finally.

  An awful smile curled at the edge of Errol’s lips, twisting a deep scar etching the side of his face. “Hello, sons.” His smile widened, and Drew was afraid he was going to be sick. “I sent some of loyal boys to say hello to your women.”

  Drew felt Jax and Chase stiffen beside him.

  “Go,” Drew growled. He glanced to his si
des, met the terror in Chase’s and then Jax’s eyes. “Go now. Go to them.”

  And they tore away, shifting as they ran. Drew lowered his chin and glared at the monster before him.

  Errol strolled closer, still smiling. But his eyes—they were black voids. “That’s better,” the man said. “How about we talk, father to son.”

  “You’re not my father,” Drew said, his voice low with warning. “If anything happens to Tiff or Em ….”

  Errol sighed. “I’m just having a bit of fun. You wouldn’t deny your old man that, would you?”

  Drew’s mouth twisted. He knew what sort of fun Errol preferred. He’d ended up black and blue from it plenty of times. Drew repeated his threat.

  Errol paused. “Or what? You’ll run to that bastard uncle of yours and call a conclave? Being exiled has been the best thing to happen to me, Drew. I live outside the law, outside judgment. I’ve found some powerful allies.”

  “I’ll kill you,” Drew growled.

  Errol laughed, low and raspy. “You’re a weakling.”

  “You know nothing about me.”

  He was close now. Close enough to lunge for. Drew tightened his muscles, every instinct in his wary and alert. Errol paced, and Drew followed him with his eyes, watching … waiting.

  Errol turned and paused, less than a foot away. Drew’s ears pricked up at every little sound: the wind through the tall grasses, the distant howl of a wolf, the scream of sirens … the shallow breathing of his father.

  Errol’s voice scraped at Drew’s ears. “Let’s find out just what kind of man you are.”

  It all happened it an instant. Errol shifted and sprang for Drew, already swiping with enormous claws. Drew spun away from his father and stumbled over the broken ground. He shifted as he did, but not quick enough to stop himself from falling. His massive bear body hit the dirt with a thud. He scrambled to find his feet and his balance. Across the clearing, Errol snorted with laughter.

  Drew growled a warning, a deep rumble that made the ground tremble. Errol swung his giant head back and forth and pawed at the ground. They circled, staring at each other, waiting for an opening.

  A wolf howled again in the distance, closer this time. Drew flicked his eyes toward the sound, and Errol charged. Their bodies hit with the force of two trucks, ramming together. Drew was flung off his feet and slammed onto his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

  God, Errol was still as tough as he’d ever been. Horror seized Drew in one terrible moment. He could lose this. His own father could … could kill him.

  Errol snapped his jaws at Drew, and he only just got his paw up in front of his throat in time. Sharp teeth sank into the meat of his forearm, and Drew howled in pain. He shook Errol off and jammed his hind legs into his father’s gut. The older bear wheezed and lumbered off.

  Hot blood seeped through Drew’s fur from the bite as he rolled back to his feet. He lifted his front paw gingerly off the ground. It was agony to put any weight on it—the same limb that had been clawed by the wolf not a half-hour ago. Drew watched his father as he paced, paced, Errol’s eyes never leaving his prey.

  He was going to die here. He was going to die. A terrible whine built in his throat, threatened to escape past his teeth. He’d finally found happiness, and he was going to be killed before he could ever truly experience it. He’d never meet ….

  A vision of Nina swan before his vision. Of Nina cradling their child.

  Drew blinked and set his gaze on his father. No one was going to keep him from his mate and their baby. Drew pressed his weight into his injured paw and grit his teeth. He roared into the night, then charged.

  He rammed his shoulder into Errol’s flank, knocking him unsteady. But Errol was still quick. He whirled and swiped out, almost clawing down Drew’s side. But Drew jumped back out of the way and charged again. He wrapped his massive arms around Errol’s shoulders, and the two giant bears reared up onto their hind legs. It was only brute force that kept Errol at bay. Drew locked his arms with Errol’s, snapping and clawing at whatever fur and flesh he could reach.

  And Errol gave as good as he got. Pain lanced through Drew again and again as Errol’s teeth and claws found purchase in his shoulder, his arm, back. Drew roared and shoved his way forward. Errol’s hind legs tripped on the broken, hard earth, and he fell.

  The ground shuddered under the weight of Errol crashing to the earth, and the older bear groaned. His light fur was marred with dark blood, and he whimpered softly. Drew stood over his father, breathing hard. This was it. He could end this right here, right now. One swipe of his powerful arm, he could gut his father and be done with it. He deserved it. He deserved worse.

  Drew paused. Waited. Errol looked up at him with tired, glassy eyes. He didn’t move, didn’t try to protect himself.

  Drew stumbled backward and shifted, human once more.

  This was his father. He couldn’t do it. He wasn’t a murderer.

  Errol shifted too and shakily pushed himself to his feet. He staggered close to Drew, who still kept his distance. Errol braced his hands on his knees, breathing hard. Then he peered up at Drew from under a fall of ragged gray hair, his eyes gleaming.

  “That’s what I thought, son. Just like I said, you’re a weakling.”

  He shifted so fast, it was a blur. He leapt into the air, one giant forelimb arcing wide in a killing blow. Drew didn’t think, didn’t second-guess. He shifted and sliced his paw through the air. His claws found their mark, sank deep.

  His father’s eyes went wide in shock, then he collapsed to the ground, his throat sliced open.

  Blood poured from the older man’s throat as he writhed on the ground, human again. Drew shifted and sank to his father’s side. He cradled his head and held him close until the end.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered as his father died.

  And he was. He was sorry for the monster his father had become, for the years of terror that Drew and his brother’s had lived through, for the innocent lives lost. He was sorry he hadn’t taken his rightful place as chieftain of the Western Clans years ago and righted the wrongs of his father.

  But he wasn’t sorry about what he’d done. He’d protected himself and his family.

  Drew staggered to his feet, exhaustion a heavy weight on his shoulders. He wandered through the scrubby grassland toward the eerie orange glow of the theater, still an inferno of flames. He had to find his brothers, make sure their wives were safe. And Bret. Jesus, what were they going to do about Bret?

  In his pocket, his phone buzzed. He pulled it free, frowning at a number he didn’t recognize. Whoever it was, they’d called twice. Drew listened to the voicemail, then started running.

  He punched in Jax’s number.

  “They’re fine,” Jax said. “It was a bluff. They’re here at the hotel, they’re—”

  “I need a plane,” Drew shouted. “Nina’s in trouble. Get me a plane now and meet me at the airfield.”

  He couldn’t run fast enough, get there quickly enough. Clem’s voicemail haunted his every step. Nina was supposed to check in with Clem after a strange man had met her in the bar, but Clem hadn’t heard from her. That was more than an hour ago now. Clem’s voice was shaking on the second voicemail, left just five minutes ago.

  I don’t know what’s wrong. But please help her. The place where you committed. Go there. Now.

  Chapter Fifteeen

  Nina

  NINA PACED HER APARTMENT. IT killed her to comply with Gavin’s demands; it went against everything she thought he deserved. Nina fell back against her couch and glared at her company laptop.

  All her contacts, all her work. All of it going to Gavin. It felt so … so wrong. But did it even matter? She’d been planning on quitting the magazine anyway, to finally finish her novel and focus on writing fiction and raising her and Drew’s child. She just … she didn’t want to go out like this. She wanted to finish up her career at the magazine on her own terms, not because of fucking Gavin, of all people. />
  Nina scrubbed her hands through her hair and felt it spring back into a cloud around her head. Dammit. It was her own pride wanting her to deny Gavin’s demands, but to deny Gavin was to put Drew at risk. And she would not do that.

  Maybe if she got to his phone. Deleted the video. Or maybe she didn’t even need to. Who in the world would believe what they were seeing? Nina reached forward and dragged her laptop closer. She clicked through some of her old documents, her brainstorming and future ideas. The thought of Gavin stealing her ideas and passing them off as his own …. Nina grabbed a file on her laptop and dragged it toward the trash.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  Nina shrieked and whirled around. Gavin. How had he gotten in? How long had he been watching her? Nina swallowed past the sourness rising up her throat, the fear constricting her chest. But then she saw the glint of metal, and her fear turned to absolutely terror.

  Gavin loomed over her, and he had a gun. Nina shoved away from him, pressing herself into the corner of the couch. Terror clenched at her throat, clawed at her insides.

  Gavin chuckled and waved the shiny black gun back and forth. “Tsk, tsk, Nina. Deleting that document goes against the terms of our agreement.”

  Nina clicked her laptop shut and held it out, barely controlling how her hands shook. “Here, just take it. Take everything, okay?”

  Gavin didn’t take the laptop. He cocked his head, the gun still pointed at Nina. His eyes were too bright, his pupils blown large. God, he was insane.

  “That’s the thing, Nina. You said it earlier. Even if you give me everything, even if you quit, you’ll never be gone. That asshole Rick will still compare me to you.”

  Slowly, her hands out as if to calm a dragon, Nina stood up and backed away. Blindly, she felt her way toward the door. If she could just get out, get to the street. Gavin watched her, his eyes skittering back and forth. Then he smiled cruelly and let the nozzle of the gun drift lower … drift toward her stomach. Almost lazily, he clicked the safety off.