“Mate?” The surprise in the Cheetah’s voice was soon overwhelmed by another grunt of pain.
“Don’t make me tell you again.” Jim’s tone was gravelly. His Wolf must be close to the surface.
Now that Jim was here, Chloe could feel some of her fear receding. Her mate would drive away the Cheetah, she had no doubt of it. And if, for some reason, the Wolf didn’t, Julian and Cyn were on the way.
She wondered if the Cheetah had ever faced off against six hundred pounds of pissed-off Mexican Kodiak, because Cynthia Reyes wasn’t the type to sit by while one of her friends was being hurt.
The Cheetah must have decided to fight back, because suddenly Jim let out his own pain-filled cry. The sound of flesh against flesh had Chloe’s Fox growling and snarling, the urge to go to their mate’s rescue so strong she actually let go of the door.
That turned out to be a huge mistake, because the moment she did so the door swung wide open, knocking her onto her ass for the second time that day.
“There you are.” The Cheetah, a slim man with honey-brown hair and golden eyes, stared down at her with a chilling smile. Behind him she could see Jim picking himself up off the ground, a bruise growing on his jaw. “Time to go.”
Jim crawled out of sight, and Chloe’s Fox howled in grief. He was leaving her alone with her attacker, leaving them to die.
The Cheetah shifted so quickly Chloe could barely see it. The only hint was the soft white glow that came over the man’s body, his clothing falling to the dirty floor. His fangs looked huge as he began to stalk toward her.
Chloe was dead.
“I don’t think so.” A popping sound accompanied Jim’s voice. Chloe lifted her gaze from the golden Cheetah long enough to see a small, long-barreled rifle in Jim’s hands.
The Cheetah staggered.
Jim smiled, stepping forward, the rifle still pointed at the Cheetah. “I love being a vet.”
The Cheetah swayed, its paws slipping out from under it, its lids closing over increasingly dazed eyes.
“Nighty-night, asshole.” Jim shot the Cheetah a second time, and Chloe could see the darts sticking out of its ass. Jim watched patiently as the Cheetah passed out, the gun still pointed toward it. Once the Cheetah was down, he lowered the barrel and stared at Chloe. “You all right?”
Chloe flopped down on the filthy linoleum and gave him two thumbs-up. Her heart was pounding so loud she could feel it all over her body. She wasn’t certain her knees would hold her up if she tried to stand, and her head was beginning to pound.
“Chloe!”
She closed her eyes at the sound of Julian’s voice. It looked like the rest of the cavalry had finally gotten there. She pointed toward the downed Cheetah with a shaky hand, her eyes flying open when someone took hold of it.
“C’mon, Chloe. Let’s get you out of here.” Jim shoved the gun toward Cyn, who took it with a scowl. She pointed it at the Cheetah, her gaze never leaving it as Jim hauled Chloe to her feet.
Chloe patted Jim’s cheek, still unable to find the words to say thank you. She just hoped he understood what she was about to do, and why.
Jim couldn’t remember a time when he’d been both so pissed and so terrified at the same time. His Wolf was in a snarling rage, on the verge of breaking through Jim’s control and ripping the throat out of the unconscious Cheetah who’d threatened his mate. He just hoped the Bunsun-Williams clan would let him be there when they questioned his furry ass. Jim wanted to be the one holding the gun, in case the guy got the idea that he was going to get away from them anytime soon.
The thought that Max, Emma and Gabe, the town sheriff, might want to speak to the Cheetah as well briefly crossed his mind, but he’d seen the look on Alex and Ryan’s faces when they’d confronted him in the supermarket. There was no way they’d allow anyone close to the Cheetah once they got their paws on him.
Jim pulled Chloe to her feet and embraced her tightly, pulling her so close they practically shared skin. This was the second time she’d been attacked and he hadn’t been there to protect her.
That had to change. Now that Spencer was safe, he could finally claim his—
“Ow!” A sharp pain stopped him in his tracks. A sharp pain centered on his neck.
Jim couldn’t pull away. The pain was morphing, changing into something utterly intoxicating. He shivered as a need he’d never experienced before swept through his body. His cock was so hard he could probably knock down walls with it. He shuddered with the desire to pick Chloe up, put her against the wall and fuck her until they both passed out from the pleasure.
“Oh, boy.” Julian’s amused voice partially broke the spell Chloe had begun to weave. “You two might want to get a room.”
A room. Yes. That sounded perfect. The urgent desire to taste his mate, make her scream out his name, was overwhelming.
“Down, boy.” Chloe tugged at his hands. “Ix-nay on the aked-nay.”
He blinked as he realized he’d bunched up her shirt, ready to rip it over her head. “What’s happening?”
“The mating bite.” Julian’s touch on his shoulder felt wrong.
Jim snarled, shoving Chloe behind him. His Wolf hadn’t yet bitten her back, marking her as his. The other shifter was a threat to that bond.
“Whoa.” Julian took a step back, his eyes flashing silvery gray. “Calm down.”
Something in the Bear’s voice forced Jim to do just that. Jim’s Wolf wasn’t entirely appeased, but it backed down, settling into Jim’s mind with cautious grace. For now, he could think clearly again, though he knew the moment Julian’s influence left him he’d be pouncing on Chloe with all the pent-up hunger he’d kept inside for so long. “What did you just do?”
Julian smiled that I-know-something-you-don’t grin that drove Jim batty. “What makes you think I did anything?”
Jim rolled his eyes. “Sure. Fine. Whatever.” He was still clutching Chloe, terrified to let her out of his hold. “What are we going to do with Spot?”
“Spot?” Chloe sputtered out a laugh.
If Jim were a cat he would have purred at the sound of her laughter. “I could have the local zoo come pick his ass up and dump it in the big cat enclosure.”
“Or we could hand him over to Ryan and Alex and let them do terrible, horrible things to his person.” Cyn said that with so much malicious glee Jim shivered.
“Couldn’t me band him over to the priorities?” Chloe’s soft voice interrupted Jim’s pleasant fantasies about the different ways he could vivisect a Cheetah.
Cyn tilted her head, obviously so used to Chloe’s misspoken words she’d had no trouble translating Chloe’s real meaning. “Why would we want to do that? We haven’t had a chance to, um, question him yet.”
Julian blew Cyn a kiss. “I love you.”
Her answering grin was smug. “I know.”
“I cussed meant Babe might want to freshen him.”
Chloe was still shaking, her words broken and slurred, but at least she was speaking again.
Jim kissed Chloe’s forehead. “Breathe, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore.” She sighed and leaned into him, but didn’t answer. He didn’t know if it was because she no longer could, or if she was trying to do as he asked, but he didn’t care either way. He was here now, and he’d take care of her. “All right. I think we need to call Ryan, Gabe and whoever that other annoying asshole is whose name I’ve forgotten.”
Cyn, Julian and Chloe all laughed. “Barney,” Cyn and Julian echoed each other.
“I’ll call him.” Cyn gently took hold of Chloe, pulling her free of Jim’s embrace.
Jim fully expected both he and his Wolf would be pissed by that, but Cyn’s quiet nod reassured them both. The five-inch claws, and the evil look she shot the Cheetah, also helped. Cyn would protect Chloe as well as he would. The fact that Cyn was female seemed to be more than eno
ugh to keep his Wolf calm. Cyn was no threat to their newly formed bond.
“All right, Julian. Spill.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the Bear, well aware Cyn had pulled his mate away for more than the obvious reasons. “What the fuck is going on?”
“There was more to the attack on Chloe than we let you know.” Julian didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “Things we couldn’t tell you because you had no idea shifters existed.”
“You’ll tell me now.” Jim couldn’t protect Chloe otherwise.
Julian nodded. “Did you know that Tabby was attacked by a rogue Wolf named Gary?”
Jim shook his head. He hadn’t heard anything about this. “When did this happen?”
“Months ago, right before the attack on Chloe. We thought that he’d been the one to hurt her, but we were wrong. He was, however, sent here to watch her.”
“Why?” Jim found he couldn’t keep his eyes off his mate.
“We don’t know. He refused to tell us, even from shifter jail. Gabe was trying to track down who he worked for, who his Alpha might be, but got sidetracked when first Cyn then Glory were also attacked.”
Jim took a deep breath and tried to still the urge to pace. Chloe did not need to know how upset he was. “What did Gabe find out?”
“Hunters in other parts of the country have found bodies with similar wounds, all of them fatal. Worse, all of the victims were half-breeds like Chloe.”
“Someone wants to preserve bloodlines?” To Jim that sounded both elitist and futile. Even he, so new he still squeaked when he walked, knew fate chose your mate, not desire. “That’s fucking stupid.”
“We’re not sure why half-breeds are being targeted, but from what Alex told me they might even be going after kids and making it look like accidents.”
Meaning Alex and Tabby’s child would be targeted, as would any kids Chloe and Jim had. “What do you need me to do?”
“Finish mating Chloe, then find Gabe and Barney. Maybe they have more information than I do.” Julian shrugged. “I’m not a Hunter, so I’m not caught up in the loop.”
“Hunter?” Jim finally turned his attention away from Chloe. Something about the way Julian said that word had him thinking it meant more than guys sitting in a deer blind waiting for a buck to wander by.
“Think of Hunters as the Feds of the shifter world. Their main purpose is to ensure that rogues are taken out before they do damage to humans or other shifters. Ryan, Gabe and Barney are all Hunters.”
“How do you become a Hunter?” Because he could totally see himself in a shifter blind waiting to shoot whoever was after his mate.
“You’re born one, not made, sort of like I was born pretty.” Julian flipped his long hair back over his shoulder and batted his lashes at Jim.
“Uh-huh.” Somehow Jim didn’t think it worked quite that way, but until he’d spoken to the Hunters he wouldn’t know for sure. “So they’re definitely going to want to have a little chat with Spot.”
“Especially since he was the one who attacked Cyn.” Julian’s expression, usually so easygoing, turned briefly fierce. “Unfortunately, I can’t rip his arms off until they question him.”
The human half of Jim was horrified that Julian sounded so serious. They were talking about torturing and killing a sentient being, a person who probably had family and friends back wherever he came from.
His Wolf half wanted to call dibs on the guy’s hindquarters.
“Do you think he had anything to do with the attack on Chloe?” Jim stared down at the Cheetah and tried not to picture him folded into a pretzel.
“There was no scent of shifter near where Chloe was found, but it’s possible I missed it when I was healing her.”
“I owe you for that.” Jim scowled. “No one saw the attack?”
Julian shook his head. “There was an anonymous call made to 9-1-1. By the time I got on the scene the paramedics were already there, working on her.”
Jim’s mind was whirling with possibilities. “Is there any chance at all that she wasn’t attacked there? That she was assaulted somewhere else, then dumped there?”
Julian’s eyes went wide. “Mother fucker.” He pulled out his cell phone and began to dial. “You’re a smart man, Doc Woods.”
“Would the Hunters keep that kind of information from you, though?”
“If Gabe thought he was protecting us? Fuck yes.” Julian held up his hand. “Gabe? We’ve got a problem.”
Jim’s attention was drawn inevitably toward Chloe. The knowledge that she was a target of something larger than a random bashing, that she was still in danger from her attackers, filled him with rage. His fangs descended and fur began to sprout on his arms. He was going to shift, and nothing Jim could do would stop it.
“Sit. Stay. Good woof-woof.” Julian patted his shoulder, and Jim’s Wolf once more calmed under the Bear’s touch. His fangs receded and the fur disappeared.
“Whoa.” He was beginning to understand why so many people called Julian Super Bear.
“Stick around. For my next trick I’m going to make a Cheetah eat its own anus.”
Jim had no doubt Julian would do just that.
Chapter Eight
Chloe glanced at Jim, surprised to find him so calm and cool. She could have sworn she’d heard his Wolf growling so deeply she’d been certain he was about to change. Either that or take her down and claim her like a wild man.
Instead, he was chatting with Julian as if nothing at all was wrong.
“He’s close, but Super Bear got his ass to calm down.” Cyn put her phone away. “Barney’s on his way.”
“So is Ryan.” Chloe had called her brother the moment she and Cyn were apart from Jim and Julian. It wasn’t that she doubted that the three of them could keep watch over one Cheetah. It was more her brother deserved to be there when they questioned him. “I wish I blew why this was happening to we.” Chloe rubbed her arms, chilled to the bone. She couldn’t seem to get warm now that the threat was gone.
Cyn took one look at her chattering teeth and bellowed for her mate. “Jules, get your furry ass over here!”
Jim moved so quickly he left Julian in the dust. “Shh.” He took her into his arms, wrapping her up tight. “I’ve got you.” Jim pointed his chin back toward where he’d been standing. “Cyn?”
“I’ve got it.” Cyn sauntered back toward the entrance of the apartment building. “If he so much as twitches I’m gutting the cabròn.”
“I’m glad she’s on our side,” Jim whispered.
“Me blue.” Chloe was shivering so hard she could barely stand. “I’m sowwy, but I need to spit.”
Jim didn’t hesitate. He picked her up like she weighed less than air and took her straight back into the building. He settled on the stairs with her on his lap, her head tucked on his shoulder.
God, he was so warm, and smelled so good. She’d marked him, but the claiming wasn’t complete until they made love and he marked her back. Even so, just his scent helped settle her shattered nerves and the soothing heat of his touch made her feel safe in a way not even her family could.
She’d needed this, far more than she’d wanted anyone to know.
They sat quietly, not speaking, just holding one another. She could hear Cyn and Julian talking softly to one another, but she had no desire to leave the comforting embrace of her mate to find out what the two were chatting about. The more Jim held her, the more her shivers disappeared until she felt toasty from head to toe.
“Tank you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome. Feel better?”
“Mm-hm.” She snuggled closer, surprising herself with a wide-jawed yawn.
“It’s normal. You’re no longer running on adrenaline, and now your body wants to sleep.” Jim stroked his hand down her back. “Do you want to try and nap while
Cyn and Julian talk to the others?”
“Are day here?” She didn’t glance toward the parking lot. She didn’t want to move at all.
“Not yet. You’ve got time.” He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She smiled. “You’re scent-marking me.”
He stilled. “I am?”
Chloe giggled. “I like it.” She wanted to bathe in his scent, have every shifter who came across her know that Jim was hers.
“Will you scent-mark me as well?” Jim sounded…intrigued.
“All over.”
“Oh?” His voice went husky. He squirmed a bit, making her laugh again. “Tell me more about this all-over-marking thing.”
She bit her lip and glanced toward Cyn and Julian.
Oh hell. From the thumbs-up they both shot her, they’d heard every word of what she’d said to her mate. “Jeez. A skittle privacy, people.”
Jim’s silent laughter shook her, but in a good way. “We’ll have to discuss this, in length, when we’re alone.”
Chloe swallowed as he caressed her hip. “Uh-huh.”
“I think they’re here.” Jim stood, cradling Chloe in his arms. “Jules? I’m taking Chloe upstairs.”
“Don’t start anything you won’t have time to finish.” Julian waved them off, his arm around his mate.
Apparently Jim didn’t need any further acknowledgment, because he started up the stairs at a rapid pace. “We need to pack.”
“Pack?” She lifted her head from his shoulder, looking around in confusion. “Why?”
“You’re moving in with me.”
She opened her mouth, but only a squeak came out. Her words had deserted her again.
“I’m going to have you work with some of the animals in the clinic. You can’t do surgery, and you can’t work the front desk, but you can sure as hell do other things.” He opened the door to her apartment and carried her straight to her bedroom. “Your scent is so strong in here.”
Figure of Speech (Halle Shifters) Page 8