by Sam Crescent
Shouts of alarm from the men Jasper had no doubt brought with him could be heard, but they soon morphed into screams of panic and pain. All the while the continuous growl of an animal filled with rage could be heard.
Ana couldn’t stop her small smile as she looked up at Jasper. “Perhaps the reports of my mate’s death were, as they say, greatly exaggerated?”
Jasper’s gaze narrowed and his face flushed with anger. This was the first time she had ever said anything to him that wasn’t a stuttered plea.
Ana saw the back hand coming and tried to move with the blow to lessen the impact, but with Jasper’s other hand still wrapped around her throat, there was no escape. The crack of his hand against her cheek echoed in the room and she fell to the side. She slumped on the concrete floor in shock, and felt the warm slide of her own blood down her chin as she watched him stride to the cage door and lock it from the inside.
“He can’t fucking save you, Ana,” Jasper spat. “He—”
The sound of the door upstairs exploding inward shocked them both. Demon stepped into the room a few seconds later. Ana gasped at the sight of him. There were ugly dark bruises forming along both sides of his torso. He was bleeding from at least three gunshot wounds that she could see and his face was a mass of blood and swelling.
“You wanna make a bet on that, wolf?” Demon said in a voice thick with anger as he turned to face the door of the cage. “How about this? You give her to me now, I leave your limbs attached.”
Jasper growled low in this chest and Ana felt the oppressive weight of his dominance fill the room, but Demon didn’t even flinch. “Like I told you, pig, she’s mine. Ezra has decreed that she is mine and I can and will do anything I like to her.”
As if to prove his point, Jasper strode over, pulled back his leg and kicked her hard in the stomach. Ana cried out as she curled in on herself for protection.
“Fuck!” Demon screamed as he gripped the bars of the cage, his entire body swelling with the effort he used trying to pry the bars apart. Over the sounds of her own pained breathing, she heard the grinding noise that meant he’d actually managed to move the bars. “Open this fucking door, dog, or I swear to God I will burn this fucking pack to the motherfucking ground!”
Jasper laughed evilly as he kicked her once more and then moved with supernatural speed to the bars and slammed his fist into Demon’s nose. Ana saw the eruption of blood that accompanied the hit, but Demon never stopped his efforts to bend the bars.
“I’ll let the bitch go, pig, but you can watch me fuck her first.” Jasper sneered as he began to pull off his shirt. “But I warn you, you may not want her when I’m done.”
Demon went ballistic at the cage door, snarling and cursing, and Ana saw his eyes glow red as he suddenly stepped back from the cage.
His gaze met hers, and she thought she saw regret in his eyes. Was he just going to leave? Was Jasper right in his assumption that Demon really didn’t want her as a mate? She was still grappling with that when Demon threw his head back on a roar that shifted into a snarl of rage as he exploded into his boar. The animal was huge. If she were standing, he would be taller than her five-foot-five frame. He was a dark brindle color, and his eyes were a blood red that had her wolf cowering in fear.
Jasper looked at the giant razorback in horror as the boar charged the door of the cage, slamming his huge head into the bars, bending them in the process, his massive tusks reaching through the bars and slicing a deep gash in Jasper’s thigh.
Jasper cried out as he dropped to the ground, sliding back further into the cell, pressing his hands to the wound that bled furiously. Ana remained where she was, the dominance so strong in the small space she wasn’t sure she would be able to stand against it.
The boar moved back, that eerie continuous growl echoing around the room. The volume escalated as the animal dragged its front right hoof through the dirt and then launched itself at the bars which buckled even further. On the next run, the boar would be in the cage with them.
Jasper cursed and he appeared to shimmer before her for a moment, and then a giant gray wolf stood in his place. Blood still dripped steadily from its hind leg. She thought perhaps Jasper would wait and engage the boar when it got into the cage, or perhaps would attempt to evade the massive animal and escape. She realized how naïve she truly was when the wolf’s head turned in her direction. The arctic blue eyes of their kind locking with laser-like intensity on her.
Time slowed to a crawl. She watched the muscles in the wolf’s body tense to launch itself in her direction, and when she turned to the boar, she saw the look of rage in the animal’s eyes as he screamed his displeasure and threw himself toward the cage door at the same time the wolf moved in her direction.
With a calm that belied the danger she was in, she watched as both animals charged. She knew it would be a close race. Either Jasper would reach her first and she would be rushed into the arms of her ancestors, or her mate would get to her in time. She looked past Jasper and stared at her mate as he rushed the cage. Even in this form, he was breathtaking to watch. Ana lifted her arm almost absentmindedly and Jasper’s teeth ripped through the tender skin and flesh of her forearm. She heard the bone snap as the wolf shook her so hard her head slammed back against the concrete wall. Ana took comfort in the fact that the last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was her mate, charging into the cage like the harbinger of death itself and she knew she would be avenged.
Chapter Four
Ana took a deep breath as she woke, and froze at the scent that surrounded her. The unique blend of man, earth, and spice, with a heavy thread of wild sparked her arousal and her memories at the same time. Ana sat up with a gasp, crying out at the pain crashing through her at the sudden move.
“Shh, lie still,” a male’s voice grumped, and she looked frantically around her for the source. Her gaze landed on the figure of a man dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, slumped in a chair against the wall next to the bed she was lying in. Despite the lack of light in the room, her shifter abilities enabled her to see the man clearly in the muted predawn light.
It was her mate. The Razorback Demon. She was immediately filled with fear and caught the acrid scent of it in the air. The scent intensified when the man growled low and leaned to prop his elbows on his knees.
“For fuck’s sake, Ana,” Demon grumbled. “I’m not going to fucking hurt you. Stop being scared of me.”
“How do you know my name?” Her voice sounded raspier than normal.
“I heard him call you that in the bunker.”
Images of the moment he exploded into his boar flashed through her mind. Ana took a few rapid breaths in an attempt to hold off the panic that was building steadily, and to keep from passing out.
“Calm. The hell. Down. All this fear is fucking with my beast. Stop being scared.”
Ana flinched at the anger in his tone. She took a few deep breaths, employing the tactic her mother had encouraged her to use when the fear became crippling. When she was able to breathe without whimpering, she slid back on the bed until her back was pressed against the wall. The slight ache in her right arm reminded her of Jasper’s attack and she pushed back the sleeve of the shirt she wore to look at it. The scars were still pink, but it looked relatively healed.
“He did a number on your arm,” Demon said. “You being a shifter and my blood are healing it fast.”
Ana frowned as she looked up at him. “Your blood? What does that mean?”
Demon scowled like he hated the question. “The wolf not only broke your arm, he managed to get your throat before I got to him.” Ana lifted a hand to her throat and her fingers slid along the puckered skin of scar tissue right over her carotid artery. “You were bleeding out too damn fast. I had to seal the wound, and the only thing I had that could do that was my blood. I forced you to take my blood before you could die. I have bound you to me.”
Ana nodded like she understood when really, she had no clue. “Okay, thank yo
u.”
There was a pause before Demon threw his hands up in frustration, making her flinch once more. “Really? Thank you? Is that all you can fucking say?”
Ana felt a tendril of emotion she couldn’t recognize unfurl within her. “Well, yes. I would think that when a person saves the life of another, they would say thank you.”
Demon leaned forward once more and glared, and that unknown emotion within her swelled. “I’ve just told you that I forced you to take my fucking blood and bound you to me for life and you fucking thank me for it!” Demon slammed his arm out to the side, punching a hole in the wall beside him, and fear spiked within her. “What the ever loving hell is that all about? And I told you to stop. Being. Scared. Of. Me!”
Ana’s heart began to thump a little louder and she suddenly knew what that emotion was within her. For the first time in her submissive existence, she was pissed. “Firstly, you arrogant pig, and yes that damn pun was intended, I was being fucking polite. Something I am sure is completely foreign to you. Secondly, I do have an issue with being bound to you. I am a submissive wolf shifter who has always imagined she would find a submissive mate and the two of us would live a quiet life together. I would serve my mate and he would love me for who I am. I knew that dream was lost to me the moment I caught your scent in that hideous arena. Thirdly, you can’t simply demand that I not be scared of you when you sit in that chair and do nothing but scowl, snarl, swear, and yell at me. Your dominance rolls off you in waves and I am simply amazed that I haven’t just keeled over and passed out from the power of it. So, if I am scared of you for the moment, pull your big boy panties up and accept it. I’m not sure when it’s going to change, and in the meantime, you are going to have to live with it!”
At the end of her outburst, Ana breathed heavily, in shock that she had spoken so brazenly. Demon’s jaw had dropped and he sat staring at her like she’d suddenly grown a second head. From the way she had just yelled at the Razorback Demon, like some kind of demented fish wife, she thought perhaps she had.
Demon sat back with a slow grin, and Ana stared in amazement at the transformation. There was no mistaking the fact he was gorgeous, but when he smiled at her like that, he was simply breathtaking.
“Damn, Ana,” he drawled in a voice that had heat pooling low in her abdomen, “you sure act more dominant than any submissive I have ever met. I don’t think I have ever been told off before in my life.”
Ana blushed at his words. “Yeah, well, you deserved them. Perhaps if your parents had disciplined you with a scolding or two you wouldn’t be so arrogant.”
Demon’s expression blanked in a heartbeat. “My parents would have been more likely to beat the shit out of me.”
Ana frowned at the dispassionate tone he used. “Your parents mistreated you, Demon?”
Demon flinched slightly when she used his name, but she remained silent, awaiting his answer. “They were both dominant razorbacks. They fought and bled each other more often than not. In fact, the two of them killed each other when I was seven.”
Ana frowned. “I’ve never heard of mates capable of physically hurting each other to the point of death.”
Demon frowned. “They weren’t mates.”
Ana tilted her head at the tone Demon used. “There’s more to that isn’t there?”
Demon stood up abruptly from the chair and moved toward the bedroom door. “You’re too skinny. Come get something to eat.”
Demon slipped from the room, and Ana gnawed at her bottom lip. She had seen the spark of hurt that crossed his face, and it pained her to think she might have caused him pain. She stepped out of the bedroom and came to a sudden stop. The floor-to-ceiling windows across from her gave her the most magnificent views of the mountains that took her breath way. She walked slowly through the living area, noting the furniture in the room screamed taste and expense.
She crossed the room, more confused than ever, and moved toward the kitchen area of the open-plan room. Demon was pulling sandwich fixings from the pantry and fridge and her tummy growled at the sight.
Demon looked up with that intense look on his face and her heart stuttered. “I guess you’re hungry. Sit down and let me feed you. The thought of you being hungry makes my boar anxious and concerned. Two emotions I would have never thought I would use when referring to my beast.”
Ana offered a small smile and moved to take a seat at the breakfast bar. The two of them ate in companionable silence, and Ana found herself relaxing. She even caught herself snatching sneak peeks of the man who scared her and excited her at the same time. On more than one occasion, she caught him staring back at her and that sparked flutters of excitement within her.
“You know,” she said in a quiet voice as she wiped her fingers on the napkin he handed her, “I don’t like you referring to your boar as a beast.”
Demon looked up at her in surprise.
“He saved my life. I’d be willing to bet money that he’s saved yours, too. He is no beast. He’s a big, proud, dominant Alpha boar.” She bit her bottom lip and noticed that his gaze latched onto the move and darkened. “And he’s my mate.”
Demon leaned forward, the scent of him thickening the air around her. “And what about me? Am I your mate, too?”
Ana felt herself caught in Demon’s gaze. “What do you think?” she whispered.
Demon frowned. “I don’t have to think, I know I am. But what I don’t know is whether or not I can keep you.”
Ana tilted her head to the side. “Keep me?”
“You’re mine. Mine to protect,” Demon’s whisper rolled over her, making her shiver. “But I don’t know how to do that when I scare you so damn much. I saw the fear in your eyes when I shifted. I can’t be anything other than what I am, and what I am scares the shit out of you. How can that work?”
Chapter Five
“I don’t know.”
Demon felt his mate’s words like a physical blow. A relationship between the two of them would be impossible. Ever since he had brought her to his home after laying waste to the prick who had thought to harm her, his beast had been a pain in his ass. He demanded Demon claim her, take her, mark her, fuck her, anything that would cement the mating bond that had formed as soon as he had given her his blood. If Demon had thought his beast was determined before, now the fucker was simply relentless.
Demon pushed back from the breakfast bar and turned to face the window, breathing through his disappointment and a strange ache that had formed in his chest. He flinched when he felt her small hand press against his back. The fact he hadn’t heard her approach was a sure sign of how stirred up he actually was.
“Let me finish, but stay facing the window so I can get this out,” she said quietly. “I’m a submissive wolf whose role in the pack was to clean up after others, and look after the pups. I’m so submissive the mere fact that I am standing this close to you … touching you … is amazing in itself. And it gives me hope that maybe it can work. I just don’t know how it will in this moment. I feel like I am yours, too, Demon.”
He closed his eyes at the breathless sound of his name on her lips.
“I’m just not sure if I can keep you, either.”
Demon turned then, and pride bloomed within him when his mate stood her ground. He could feel the tremble in her hand as it now lay against his chest, but she didn’t step back. Good mate.
“Kiss me,” he said in a voice that sounded a lot harsher than he had intended.
Ana flinched.
“Ana.” He desperately tried to quell his beast enough to sound like he wasn’t angry. “I want to kiss you so damn bad, but I find that when I am this close to you, my control is balanced on a knife’s edge. Kiss me, please. If you leave it up to me, I will consume you and I’m so fucking scared I’ll scare you off.”
Demon waited, tensing every muscle in his body to keep himself from pouncing on her. He watched as indecision waged in her eyes. Just when he thought she might turn or step away from him, his mate surp
rised him once again with how courageous she was. She lifted a visibly trembling hand to his shoulder and then leaned in, pushing up to her tiptoes, and tilted her head toward his. She was so small he had to lean down a little to meet her. When their lips touched, Demon felt his beast still within him.
Ana gave a little sigh of pleasure, and her lips moved over his with sweet gentle kisses. The effect on his beast was unimaginable. The boar growled in satisfaction and rolled over on its back, reveling in the touch of their mate, content to have her touch them. The effect on Demon was a lot more visceral. His blood thickened and his cock hardened to the point of pain, and for the first time in his life, it was the man who demanded action.
Ana pulled back a little and stared into his eyes. “Demon, I don’t know how to do that … well, harder. Is that the word? I’m not sure. I want more, I want harder, but I can’t—hmph.”
Demon swallowed the rest of her words with his mouth. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up and against him. He was pretty sure she was no longer standing on the ground, but he didn’t give a shit. He swept his tongue into her mouth, licking deep and growling at the sweet flavor that was uniquely Ana. He felt her arms lift to grab him around his neck and he carried her over to the breakfast bar, continuing the sensual assault on her mouth, employing his teeth and his tongue to discover what made her quiver and what made her moan.
When he got to the bar, he pushed everything out of his way, and deposited her on the counter. He nudged her knees apart, and stepped between them. He growled with pleasure when her legs lifted to wrap around his hips. He placed his hands on her knees and slid them down her silky firm thighs, under the shirt of his that she wore until he could cup the firm flesh of her ass, encased in a small pair of functional panties.
He pulled back so he could look into her face, beautifully flushed with arousal. “You are mine, Ana. Never doubt that. And now that I have you, I won’t be letting you go. I will also not allow you to wear panties like these.”