by Dakota Rebel
“We have to take some blood samples. If you all come back clean, we’ll have a team come in to sweep the building and make sure the threat has passed.”
“When will the blood results come back?” I asked anxiously.
“Hopefully, later today. We know you don’t want to be here. The CDC just has to make sure everyone stays safe.”
I sighed and nodded. We all seemed to feel fine. I thought that if we had Anthrax poisoning there would already be symptoms or something. It was really starting to feel as if someone had picked the worst time ever to play the dumbest prank imaginable.
We each took turns sitting down and letting the woman in the big suit take our blood. She took four vials from each of us, carefully labeling them with our clever code names “A, B, C and D”.
The CDC people left quickly, apparently none of them were interested in socializing with people who might or might not have been infected with Anthrax. Oh well, their loss.
“Do you mind if I take a shower?” I asked the guys. “I really want to wash my hair.”
“Go for it,” Nate answered.
I grabbed my suitcase and took it into the office with me, shutting the door before flinging the bag onto the cot. I opened it and made sure the gun was still in the zipper pocket that was concealed in the side. Guns made me nervous. I knew that if Kevin actually found me it would be useless because I would be trapped before I could get to it, but I felt safer knowing it was there if I really needed it.
Taking my toiletries into the bathroom with me, I turned on the water and let it warm up while I scrubbed my teeth clean. When steam had started to fog the mirror, I stripped out of my clothes and climbed under the showerhead.
I shampooed twice and let the conditioner soak into my hair as I soaped up my body. It felt good to be fully clean again. I rinsed my hair and turned the water off. Stepping out of the shower I dried off quickly. Before hanging up my towel, I noticed that the Band-aid they had put over my arm was stuck to it. I ripped it off and threw it in the trash. Looking around the room, I realized the mirror was attached to a medicine cabinet. I peeked inside, hoping to find a first aid kit or a box of Band-aids. There weren’t any. But what I saw made my stomach clench painfully. A large box of condoms sat alone on the middle shelf.
Condoms.
We hadn’t used condoms.
“Dean!” I screamed, sinking to sit on the toilet lid, my head in my hands as I shivered with fear.
The door burst open, and Dean rushed into the room, stopping short when he saw me sitting there with tears streaming down my face, the box of condoms in my shaking hand.
“We didn’t… I didn’t even think…. Oh my God.”
“Hey,” Dean knelt down and took the blue box out of my hand, dropping it to the floor as he pulled me into his arms. “Hey, don’t worry. We’re all clean, I swear. I can’t even remember the last time one of us got a cold. Are you… I mean, you’re not—”
I shook my head. “But there are other things, Dean.”
“Oh.” He sighed and leaned back to look at me. “I had a vasectomy three years ago.”
I stared at him through tear glazed eyes. “Why? I mean, I know it’s none of my business. But you’re so young.”
“It was for medical reasons,” he said with a shrug. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said shakily. “I just panicked when I realized.”
He kissed me, a quick peck of his lips against mine. I smiled weakly and let him pull me to my feet. He snagged a shirt off of the hook on the back of the door and helped me slide it on. I buttoned it quickly as I gave him a quick smile of thanks. When we walked out of the bathroom, Nate and Jasen were standing in the office waiting for us.
“Are you okay?” Nate asked, concern thick in his voice.
“Yeah. Sorry about that.” I walked back out into the bar, leaving Dean to explain what happened if he wanted to. My nerves were about shot. I was one day away from the full moon, Kevin could show up any second, I had been so wrapped up in the attention I was getting from the men in that room that I hadn’t even considered disease or pregnancy before spreading my legs for them and I was starving. Again.
How the hell was I going to explain where on my five foot seven, one hundred and forty pound frame I was putting all of the food I wanted to consume? The beast was growing restless inside of me. She knew that she was close to being allowed out to hunt, and she was so hungry.
“When’s lunch?” Jasen asked loudly, walking out of the office, followed by Dean and Nate.
“You’re hungry again?” Dean replied, exasperated.
“He’s always hungry.” Nate swatted Jasen’s ass playfully. “Honestly, I could stand to eat again, too. I think it’s the stress.”
That sounded as plausible as anything. If they were going to spend all day eating, I wasn’t going to feel bad about joining in.
I led the way into the kitchen, opening the large stainless steel fridge to peer inside. My eyes fell to a few steaks sitting on the middle shelf. The raw meat spoke to something inside of me, and a low growl escaped my throat before I could choke it back down.
“Was that your stomach?” Nate asked, his voice full of laughter.
I turned around to tell him it was and found myself staring into Dean’s chest. He was panting heavily. I met his gaze and saw heat dancing in his eyes. His body forced me backward so that I was leaning against the shelves of the fridge.
He lowered his head, I thought to kiss me, but he moved his face to my neck, inhaling deeply as if smelling my skin. My hands wrapped into his hair, trying to pull him away from my throat. It felt as if the beast inside me was rearing to attack, and it was scaring me. Dean was scaring me.
A deep vibration rumbled from Dean’s chest and permeated my body, sending shivers up my spine that had nothing to do with the cold air from the refrigerator.
“I’ve died,” Jasen said, his voice breaking the tension that had filled the air around Dean and I. “Two days of eating and fucking. I’ve died and gone to Heaven.”
“Jasen!” Nate snapped. His voice was harsh and seemed to have a thread of panic to it. “Shut the fuck up.”
Dean’s arms snaked around me, pulling me violently into his arms. He carried me out of the kitchen, still not saying a word. I looked over his shoulder to see the other men following us. Jasen looking excited and Nate nervous.
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I didn’t believe that Dean would hurt me. He walked straight toward the pile of blankets that were still spread over the floor. Lowering himself to his knees, he laid me on them, gently cradling my head to keep me from hitting it.
His hands reached down to pull his shirt over his head, and the sight of that smooth tan flesh made my fear turn to lust like a switch. I raised my arm to run a hand over his tight abdomen. The muscles rippled under my touch, and I moaned at the feel of his skin against mine.
Jasen and Nate fanned out around us, each kneeling over me at a different part of my body. Dean leaned over to kiss me, his mouth slamming down on mine, his tongue fighting against my lips to gain access. Jasen started undoing my jeans while Nate gripped my hands in his, effectively pinning me to the floor.
I didn’t feel trapped though. It was more as if he were offering me to Dean. Unable to sit still against the restraint, I writhed, gripping his hands and trying to twist myself free. Nate just held tighter, his lips gently sucking at my fingertips until I stopped struggling.
Jasen pulled off my pants, taking my panties with them so that I was naked from the waist down. His hands slid up my legs, parting my thighs and exposing my core to him. He massaged my flesh, his hands edging closer to my wet pussy, but never actually touching the tingling flesh.
Dean broke the kiss, standing up long enough to rip off his own clothes before lowering himself over me again, this time laying his entire body over mine.
Nate continued to clasp my hands in his while Jasen pinned my ankles to the floor. They really were offering m
e to Dean. Holding me open for him to do as he wished. Rather than feel threatened, the beast inside me purred, arching up with my body to press against Dean. It wanted him. I wanted him.
Dean positioned his hips between my thighs, his hand between our bodies guiding his cock inside of me. The initial intrusion of him brought my hips off the floor. My legs struggled to wrap around his waist but Jasen held me firmly down. I wanted to touch him but Nate was still resolutely pinning my hands. I was trapped.
“Look at me,” Dean said, his voice a harsh whisper.
I met his gaze and gasped at the sight of his eyes. They had bled to a deep amber, a color I had never seen against that tan face before. I wasn’t sure if it was the sun setting outside that hit his irises or if his eyes had really turned a new shade of brown.
“Ours,” he growled, lowering his face to press the barest of kisses against my lips. “Mine.”
“Yours,” I agreed, tilting my hips to urge him to move. “I’m yours.”
He slammed himself fully inside of me. A scream tore from my mouth at the feeling of him stretching me wide. I gripped Nate’s hands in mine, using him for support to keep me still as Dean’s body assaulted mine. I was sliding under him from the force of his cock ramming inside of me over and over again.
Dean’s hips shifted so that my clit rubbed against his pubic bone, and I came, hard and fast, my body shuddering and twitching, threatening to break the other men’s hold on my arms and legs. I screamed and screamed until my throat was raw from it, and still, Dean continued fucking me harder than he ever had before.
After what felt like a few seconds and forever at the same time, his rhythm faltered and he exploded inside of me, his shaft twitching violently in my channel as his seed pumped into me. A guttural cry escaped him, almost a howl. The sound shot straight through me, bringing me again though his body had stopped moving above mine. My pussy convulsed around his spent cock as little electrical currents jolted my already exhausted muscles.
I realized that Nate and Jasen had released me. I wrapped my arms around Dean’s neck and kissed his forehead. He raised his gaze to me, and I saw that his eyes had returned to the chocolate brown color I was used to seeing. Telling myself that it had just been a trick of the light, I kissed him again and put it out of my mind.
For a moment, I thought my ears had started ringing, but then I realized it was a phone. Dean groaned and rolled off of me, moving to his feet to find his jeans. He shook out his cell and walked toward the bar with it.
Chapter Six
“Really?” I asked sitting up. “He’s taking a phone call now?”
“Don’t feel slighted,” Jasen said, handing me my pants. “He has to take it. It’s the Doc phone.”
“The what?”
“The Doc phone. Dean’s the only vet in town, and that’s his emergency number. He can’t ignore it.”
“He’s a veterinarian?” I asked, climbing clumsily to my feet. “I thought he worked here.”
“Nah,” Nate said, offering me a hand to hold me steady as I stepped into my jeans. “He was just helping out so Tabitha could have the night off.”
I couldn’t believe that hadn’t come up before now. Of course, we’d been so busy eating and having sex there hadn’t been a lot of time for conversation. I felt bad that I hadn’t bothered to ask the men anything about themselves.
“What about you?” I asked Jasen as we walked over to the bar. “What do you do?”
“I’m a college student,” he said. He leaned over to grab some beers out of the cooler. He opened them and passed them to Nate and me. “I came home for summer break. Not really how I’d planned on spending it to tell you the truth.” He laughed. “Not that I’m complaining. I’d be a lot happier if we could have moved the party somewhere a little more comfortable though. That floor is killing my knees.”
“Dean said you own the bar,” I said turning to Nate.
“Yeah, my sister and I inherited it from our Uncle Walt. Tabitha's barely here though.” He rolled his eyes. “She’s kind of a bitch. I’ve been offering to buy her out for months, but she won’t budge. She loves the idea of owning a bar, but she’s not too keen on actually working.”
“And you three all grew up together?”
“Yup. Dean and I lived next door to each other our whole lives,” Nate said. He paused to take a swig of his beer. “Jasen moved across the street from us when we were seven. He’s younger than us, but we let him hang around anyway.”
“They used to keep the bullies away,” Jasen said with a smile. “I was sort of runty as a kid, and the bigger kids saw me as an excellent target until these two showed up to kick some ass on my behalf.”
“What about you?” Dean asked, walking back toward us. “You’ve barely told us anything about yourself.”
“I’ve told you everything there is to tell,” I said. “My husband died, and I’ve spent the last six months traveling.”
“Running,” Dean corrected me. “There’s something going on with you, Jo.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to keep eye contact with him as I took a drink of my beer. But I could tell he didn’t believe me.
“Look—” he started, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
A man in one of those funny suits walked in carrying a metal clipboard. He marched over to the bar and stared around at us, a grave look on his face.
“We got the blood results back,” he said.
“And?”
“And you’ve all tested negative for Anthrax.”
We all grinned at each other.
“So when do we get to leave?” Jasen asked.
“We’re not sure,” the man said with a sigh. “While none of you tested positive for Anthrax, all of your blood work came back…wrong.”
“What do you mean wrong?” Dean asked, a thread of anger in his tone.
“We’re not sure to be honest. There is an antibody present in your blood that shouldn’t be there. We need to do some more testing to find out what you’ve all been infected with. Until we know for sure, you’re going to have to stay here.”
“No!” I jumped to my feet and stalked toward the man. He backed up a few steps, trying to keep distance between us. “You were only supposed to test us for Anthrax,” I said hotly. “That’s what this stupid quarantine is for. We don’t have it. It’s not here. It was some horrible prank. You have to let us out of here.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. We can’t do that.” The man turned and walked toward the door. “The additional testing should only take a few more days. If you need anything in the meantime, please call.” He set a business card on one of the tables before quickly exiting the bar.
I stared after him in disbelief. A few more days? I didn’t have a few more days. The full moon was less than twenty-four hours away. By time they came back in, I would have killed Dean, Nate and Jasen.
A panicked laugh bubbled up inside of me. I wrapped my arms around myself and collapsed to the floor. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t.
“Jo, what’s wrong?” Nate dropped to the ground next to me, his arms wrapped tightly around me. “Sweetie, what is it?”
“You have to get me out of here,” I whispered. “Please, I can’t stay here. It’s not safe.”
“We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” Jasen said. He was sitting next to us on my other side, and his hand smoothed over my hair.
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” Tears poured down my face now. I had to tell them. It wasn’t fair for them to sit here with me, less than a day away from dying and not even know it.
“We’re pretty tough,” Nate said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I don’t think you have to worry about us.”
I shook my head. Would they even believe me? Maybe they would just think I was crazy and avoid me until sundown on Friday. Then I’d change, and it would be too late for them escape. No. No, I had to tell them. They could think what they like
d about me, but it was only fair.
Looking around at them, I realized that Dean still stood at the bar. He watched me, but he didn’t look worried. He looked angry.
“Does this fear of yours have anything to do with the reason you’ve been on the run for six months?”
I nodded, swallowing the sob that was trying to break free. His gaze locked on mine, and I saw some of his fury melt away. With a heavy sigh, he came to sit with us on the floor. He took my hand in his and kissed it.
“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together. I just wish you had been honest with us from the start.”
“Right,” I spat bitterly. “Because there have been so many opportunities between getting fucked to within an inch of my life to tell you that the man who made me a Were-Cougar is hunting me and trying to make me his mate. I’ve had so much time to discuss the fact that come sundown tomorrow night, I’m probably going to slaughter all of you. There’ve been enough moments of calm between the four of us to tell you—”
Dean’s mouth on mine stopped my words. Too confused by his reaction to fight it, I slid my hands into his hair and opened my lips to him, allowing his tongue to brush against mine. Some of my panic dissipated at the feel of his hands, warm and strong, running up my back. Nate and Jasen had apparently backed away, and I was left in Dean’s arms. His kisses restored some of my sanity.
My tears stopped, and he leaned back to look at me. There was a small smile on his lips that I didn’t understand.
“I wish you had just told us this before,” he said. “You could have saved yourself a world of worry, darling.”
“You don’t… You mean you believe me?” I asked.
“Of course, we do,” Jasen said with a laugh. “Hell, you’re in Jericho Falls, sweetness. The Were capitol of Michigan.”
“The Were—the what?” I looked over at him in shock.
“We thought that was why you came here,” Nate said, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “We couldn’t understand why you were hiding what you were. We all smelled trouble on you the second you walked through that door.”