Fur, Fangs and All (The Elementals Book 2)

by Meredith Allen Conner

  “Livie!” Her sister had to quit shrieking. The high pitched shout hurt even her ears. “It’s active! Your mark, Livie. Your mark is active!”

  She glanced at her right wrist, planted in front of her, keeping her separated from the werewolf. The complex, circular mark on the inside of her wrist glowed. The warmth still pulsed inside of her. Not warmth. Power. Her Elemental power.

  Shit.

  Livie found her voice. Her shout totally out-shrieked all of Sela’s previous ones. She screamed and cried and generally came unglued. In his arms. The arms of a werewolf.

  Chapter Three

  Roc couldn’t believe it. He’d found his mate. His beast didn’t want to kill her. He’d reacted to the scent of her, imbedded in her blood, but not to her blood. He’d lost control because he’d found the one female he’d spent centuries searching for. Now he could have the life he’d always hoped for.

  If he could just get her to stop screaming.

  He winced at a piercingly high note. He didn’t know exactly what was wrong with her. She was afraid of him. He knew that. The scent of it hung heavy in the air and her body remained stiff and unyielding in his arms.

  He could work around that.

  He’d been reading women’s magazines for years to prepare himself for his mate. There had to be an article somewhere about fear. He’d read it and help her overcome it.

  But something else had to be behind all this wailing. It couldn’t all be because she was afraid of him. Could it?

  He jostled her. “Mate.” She screamed louder. Roc winced. He tried again. “Mate.” He fought the urge to simply cover her mouth. What was her name? Liv. No, Livie. Sela called her Livie.

  Roc jostled her again. Hard. “Livie!” He had to shout to be heard over her voice.

  She stopped screaming.

  Stormy grey eyes lifted to his. So much pain, so much fear. How could she hold it in? He nearly moaned for her. He lowered his head to hers, needing the touch of skin between them, wanting to comfort her. Livie closed her eyes, shutting him out.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

  Danger, his beast warned him.

  He pulled Livie in tighter and checked the room, searching for the source of the threat.

  Across the office, Mac had pressed Sela against a wall and planted his body in front of her, claws out. He looked at Roc and shook his head. He didn’t see anything either.

  Roc cocked his head, ears twitching. There. A howl. Very faint. But growing.

  He didn’t recognize the cry. It couldn’t be a clan member. No, not a howl. Not exactly. Not a werewolf then, something else.

  It drew closer, an eerie combination of a howl and a screech. The wall behind him began to vibrate as if something pounded at it. Mac growled and pressed back against Sela.

  Roc swung around to face whatever the hell attacked.

  He planned to tuck Livie into a corner. He could defend her better with both hands free.

  That was his plan until he looked out the window.

  A dark, menacing funnel cloud snaked its way toward Mac’s house. It gathered speed and size as it drew closer, swallowing trees, bushes, rocks and everything else in its path. Now a deep, shuddering rumble joined the shriek and howl.

  What the fuck?

  Leaves and branches thudded against the house. A dark object caught his eye, Roc barely managed to swing back around, hunching around Livie as the rock hit the window. Glass shattered and spit into the room, several shards landed in his back. He tensed his muscles to force most of the glass back out.

  A couple larger pieces remained imbedded, but he ignored them. He’d take them out later, after he had Livie safe.

  Powerful gusts of wind swirled through the room, knocking small items to the floor. Sheets of paper flew to the ground, caught another gust of wind and spiraled up, left and right, all around. The wind picked up the broken pieces of glass and added them into the dangerous swirl until it appeared as if another mini tornado had taken root in the center of the room.

  The ghastly shriek/howl built in strength and power. It strained his sensitive ears, bordering on outright pain.

  The smaller tornado in the room began to move about. It twisted and spun, edged one direction, then reversed and rotated in a completely different pattern.

  Slivers of glass shot out of the center. Roc swiveled, attempting to protect Livie against the mini missiles with his body.

  He had to get her out of here.

  His mate was not immortal. Not yet. She could be killed by the tornado, or any of the sections of glass. Hell, a section of one of the papers flying around the room could slice open an artery.

  He had to act. He’d get her to safety and when the danger was over, he’d come back and help Mac.

  He bent down, snagged the blanket off the floor and dropped it over Livie’s head. Hopefully it would help shield her.

  Mac swung Sela up in his arms just as he turned with Livie. They’d taken one step when Roc became aware that Sela fought Mac. She kicked her legs, arms slapping at his chest.

  At least my mate has the sense to stay calm.

  He hoped she was calm. After that one brief look, Livie had shut him out. She’d shut everything out. She hadn’t reacted to the deafening howl, the window breaking, or even when he set the blanket over her head.

  “Stop!”

  Roc glanced at Sela. What was wrong with her? Was she having a panic attack now of all times?

  Mac barked at her, but Sela slapped his chest again. “Stop!” She might be yelling at the top of her lungs, but without his keen hearing, Roc didn’t think he would be able to hear her over the thundering shriek.

  “It’s Livie. It’s her power, her Element.” Sela turned towards Roc. “You have to get her to stop this.”

  Livie? My mate is doing this?

  He ripped the blanket off of Livie’s head. She didn’t react. Her eyes remained closed, unflinching. Her body lay tense in his arms.

  He shifted her weight onto one arm and picked up her right wrist, turning it until he could see her inner wrist. Sure enough, her mark, the complex inner tattoo that covered her skin just below the joint at her wrist, glowed brightly.

  Shit.

  He vividly remembered the scene at the bar when Mac met Sela. The moment they touched, Sela’s mark began to glow right before . . . right before she flooded the entire bar with a thunderstorm. The inside of the bar.

  Son of a . . . “Livie!” He bumped her with his arms. Her eyelids didn’t even flicker.

  Wind gusted around them, battering at them. The shrieking howl came closer.

  “Livie!” He let go of her legs, which fell limply to the floor. He held her upright by her shoulders and shook her hard. Her head swayed back and forth like a rag doll. Still, she did not acknowledge him.

  Damn it.

  “Roc, you have to get her to control her Element.”

  He looked over at Mac. Mac had set Sela down, his arms wrapped completely around her, sheltering her as best he could. Sela’s deep blue eyes glistened from between Mac’s arms.

  If he could not somehow get Livie to respond and reel in her Elemental power, they would all be caught in its path. Roc, Mac and Sela would survive the tornado. Livie would not.

  His beast snarled.

  I will not lose her.

  Roc leaned down. He stopped an inch away from her ear. “Mate,” he yelled.

  Livie stiffened as if hit by a live wire. Her head jerked up to face him, her stormy grey eyes practically snapped with her emotions.

  So much pain.

  ****

  Livie stared into Roc’s amber eyes. His beast swirled in their midst.

  Mate!

  He dared to call her that? To yell it in her ear? To say it in that deep voice of his as if he had a right to call her that? Who did this animal think he was?

  He . . . his hand came up faster than she could follow. Positioned next to her cheek and for one wild moment she thought that he planne
d to hit her. Then he moved his hand, she could see a large chunk of glass stuck in between his knuckles.

  Huh?

  Awareness roared back.

  Cheeze-its.

  Livie stared in disbelief at the chaos swirling around them. Powerful gales of wind stormed through the room, whirling objects around. A . . . is that a tornado?

  She stared slack-jawed at the miniature force of nature that wreaked havoc in the midst of Mac’s house.

  A howling shriek – or would that be shrieking howl? – bombarded her ears. She peered around Roc. A dark, violent, possible category 5 tornado, raced towards the house.

  O.M.G.

  She didn’t think Idaho had tornados.

  Rough, warm hands shook her. “Mate.” Rage swept through her. She hated that word. She didn’t care that one of the deadliest instruments of nature would be wiping them out in the next few seconds. If she was going to die, she’d do it while telling this creature what he could do with his mate.

  “Make it stop,” he growled.

  Now he planned to blame this . . . this tornado on her? What next? How could these creatures even function when they were all so obviously crazy? How . . .

  “Livie, it’s your Element. Wind is your Element. You are controlling this, you can stop it.”

  She glanced at her sister. Desperation fueled Sela’s expression. A chair hurtled across the room, Mac snapped his fangs and blocked it with his arm. The chair broke into several sections.

  Her Element?

  Roc pulled her wrist in front of her face. Her mark blazed, the light hurt her eyes. Power thudded beneath her skin like a pulse.

  Her Element.

  The wind pulled at her clothes. The heavy desk screeched as it moved across the floor. More windows broke in another section of the house.

  Wind.

  Of all the damn Elements, she controlled wind. Of course. Sela couldn’t stand water so she got water. Livie hated wind so she got wind. It all made perfect sense.

  She just wanted it all to go away.

  The wind tore a picture off the wall, it flew straight towards her. Roc yanked her into his chest. The hair along her neck ruffled with the force of the picture as it zoomed past.

  No more time for my pity party.

  Livie took a deep shuddering breath before she pushed away from Roc’s hard chest. She refused to look up at the big werewolf, or acknowledge his protection in any way. She nodded at Sela.

  “Okay,” she shouted. “What do I do?”

  “Concentrate on your mark,” Sela yelled from inside of Mac’s embrace. “Think of yourself as a vacuum and suck your power back inside.”

  This would be so much easier if good old mom had given us some idea as to how to handle our powers.

  She shook it off.

  Pity party over. Vacuum on.

  A large branch crashed into the window, slamming against the pane crossway, it immediately snapped in two. Both sides of the thick branch hurtled through the window frame. They smashed through the opposite wall, leaving a gaping, jagged hole.

  Right. Vacuum. On.

  Livie stared at the enormous tornado. She ignored the chaos in the room and concentrated on the approaching twister. Less than half a mile away it filled the entire window.

  Envisioning a vacuum, she closed her eyes, raised her hands and concentrated on sucking the power back inside.

  A heartbeat passed. Then another.

  The noise did not seem to be lessening.

  She squinted one eye open.

  The twister loomed larger in the window.

  “Concentrate, Liv,” Sela begged. “You can do it. It’s your power. You control it. You can get rid of it.”

  She clenched her teeth and tried harder. Vacuum. Suck. Inhale.

  Damn it, she’d never used a vacuum in her life. How the hell was she supposed to be one?

  Thick arms wrapped around her just as Sela screamed.

  Livie opened her eyes, absolutely horrified to see a large, dark pick-up spinning in the air. It was headed directly at them. The impact would utterly destroy the office. She wouldn’t make it. Her sister . . . Sela.

  NO!

  She owned this. This was her power. She could do this.

  She fisted her hands, holding her arms in front of her until she could see both the dark tornado and her glowing mark.

  Come to me. NOW.

  The tornado disappeared as if it had never occurred.

  Trees, boulders and other bits of nature crashed back down.

  The dark pick-up fell thirty feet from the air. It landed on its side and crumpled upon impact. Every window broke. It moaned back and forth for a moment then, with a last gasp of screeching metal, it flopped onto its belly. One tire flew off into a group of trees still standing.

  Deep, gulping breaths filled the sudden silence. Livie winced, once she realized she made those sounds. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. There, she breathed normally again.

  Livie shoved out away from the werewolf and spun to make sure Sela was all right. Her sister’s pale face rested against Mac’s broad chest. His hands stroked her back. His claws snagged on her shirt and he yanked them free, continuing his upward stroke.

  She stared at the small tear in Sela’s shirt. Sela didn’t appear to notice, she cuddled in closer to him. To the half-beast that just ripped a hole in her shirt.

  Livie flinched and turned away.

  She gasped. She couldn’t help it. Everywhere she looked, she saw destruction. Not a mere mess, but total ruins. Every piece of furniture broken, stuffing scattered about, legs splintered. Paper and books ripped and tossed all over. Glass sparkled in tiny fragments on the floor, over the shambles of furniture and imbedded in the wall.

  A loud pop echoed overhead. She looked up just in time to watch the dangling antler chandelier spark once more then emit a puff of black smoke before the wooden ceiling erupted in flames.

  Chapter Four

  Roc and Mac stood over the mangled remains of his truck. The twisted metal and shattered glass barely resembled a vehicle much less his brand new baby.

  “You’ve had it a week?” Mac questioned, he toed a section of what might have been a piece of the side door. The piece creaked warningly.

  Roc suppressed a wince. He opened his mouth just as the piece buckled. Metal grated over metal as his truck collapsed another several inches. He closed his mouth, gritted his teeth and tried again.

  “Five days. The engine in my bike blew up while I was on the road. I didn’t want to waste time having it repaired so I bought this.” He nudged another section of the truck with his boot. The truck groaned. Both men took a hasty step a back.

  Being immortal didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell if the truck rolled onto their feet.

  Mac slapped him on his shoulder. “Having an Elemental mate can be hard on the checkbook.” He grinned at Roc.

  Roc shoved his shoulders back, he couldn’t help it. So damn proud that he’d found his mate. Even if she had totally destroyed his brand new pick up. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, sure enough, he was smiling. Staring at his wrecked truck and beaming like an idiot.

  He loved it.

  “My mate is definitely powerful.” He decided thumping his chest might be overkill.

  “I’ve had to buy a new leather jacket, recover the seat on my bike and refinish the floors in my bedroom. Twice.” Mac’s grin said he didn’t mind at all. “Good thing we’re rich.”

  Roc nodded. When you lived as long as they had, investments almost always paid off. It didn’t matter really, Livie could destroy everything he owned and he’d cheerfully replace it all.

  Now that he found her, he would do whatever it took to protect her and make her happy.

  He couldn’t believe he thought his beast would hurt her. They’d lost the last several weeks together because he hadn’t recognized the calling when it happened. Although, he couldn’t dismiss those weeks as wasted. Time spent hunting the bastards after his mate would always be
time well spent.

  And now he could spend his time with her, learning her, mating with her. The tightening at the front of his jeans told him he needed to hold off on those thoughts for a little bit longer.

  He’d been hard since the moment he touched her. Livie hadn’t seemed to notice. Which might be a good thing, considering her fear of him. Women were more vulnerable than men in most things, but especially during sex. From what he’d observed of Livie so far, knowing how much he wanted her would just increase her fear.

  Livie definitely feared him, Roc just didn’t know why.

  He didn’t take it personally. How could he? They’d only met a few minutes ago, but something about him spooked her. Badly. At first he thought it might be his size. Living alone and on the run, a woman could run into all sorts of bad situations.

  Just the mere thought of anyone – any man – touching his woman drew his claws. If he discovered she’d ever been attacked . . . he barely caught the growl before it erupted.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded and clenched his fists so Mac wouldn’t see his claws, not that Mac didn’t know his beast strained to be set loose. They were too close of friends for that, plus he would have scented his minor changes. But control had to be maintained at all times, their clan risked too much if any of their members allowed their beasts free rein.

  But he didn’t think Livie’s distress came from fear of him as a man. If that was the case, then he would have expected her to be nervous around Mac or Cam. Neither one of his friends had said anything to indicate Livie panicked around them. Cautious, yes, and on guard, but nothing compared to how she reacted to him.

  He’d detected that acrid hint of fear on her. Emotions had different odors and varying levels of scents.

  Livie’s fear tasted bone deep.

  He didn’t understand it. It was almost as if she feared for her very life around him. That couldn’t be true. They were mates. He’d do whatever he needed to in order to keep her safe. His life was nothing without her.

  Maybe he’d scared her when he’d cleaned the blood off her face? The sisters might be supernaturals, but they had a lot to learn about the world they lived in. Their sorry excuse for a mother hadn’t explained anything to the girls. Sela had thought she was a freak of some sort because of her power.