by Brianna Jean
She was pissed, terrified, and completely feral.
But still, she couldn’t get out.
I tried to break the padlock that held her in, but I couldn’t find a way to open it. I’d been the one to put her in there, now I couldn’t figure out how to open it. I gripped the bars, slamming myself against them, tried pulling on them, kicking them. They wouldn’t budge.
That’s when the angry tears started, I couldn’t hold them in anymore. Letting out a raspy scream, I kicked and kicked at the creature holding me, but it just kept making that horrible haunting sound—his attempt at a laugh.
I was giving up. I was dying.
I couldn’t win this one.
Whatever this thing was, I needed Bestia to kill it. I was no match for the creature in front of me, and without her help…I was going to die.
I closed my eyes and thought of Brinley. It had been seven years since I saw her sweet face, but in the moment, I needed the calm that her memory provided. She was one of the two bright lights of my past and the only good thing that ever happened to me.
If I was going to die, I would die with her memory.
“Annalise!” I heard my name being called from somewhere near me. My left side, I think. “Fuck, ANNA!”
I couldn’t see where the voice came from, and I couldn’t open my eyes, but I knew that melodic sound. It was Blue Eyes, one of the three guys who haunted me. One of the three gorgeous faces I couldn’t wipe from my mind.
“She’s got less than thirty seconds until midnight,” I heard Quint say, his sexy voice sounding panicked and unsure. “Get the Demon, now!”
Midnight? What did that have to do with anything?
Suddenly I was thrown to the ground, my bad wrist hitting the concrete first. A strangled cry came from my bruised throat as I fought to breathe. I wheezed through the pain.
Fuck, it hurt so bad. My whole body was stinging, throbbing.
That’s when things changed again.
I was on fire.
My very bones started to heat up.
What was happening?
I opened my mouth and tried to ask them, but no sound came out.
“Annalise.” My name came out as a barked command, a plea to open my eyes. I struggled but eventually opened them to see Seafoam crouched in front of me. His face was etched with concern, a deep line in the center of his brows where they pinched together. “Anna, you have about ten seconds before you’re fully in Transition. It’s going to hurt like fuck, but you’ll get through it. We’ll take you back to our place after and clean you up. You’re going to pass out, so when you wake up, just…” He brought his hand up to cup my cheek. His skin was freezing cold against my clammy skin. I wanted to pull him closer but couldn’t move. “Don’t freak out.”
Transition? What the fuck was he talking about? Why was he taking his hand away? NO! Where was he going? Did he say it was going to hurt? What was going to hurt?
Then I felt it.
I screamed an earsplitting sound I didn’t even think I was capable of.
Blinding pain.
I thought I’d lost my vision permanently as flames licked my organs—every inch of me seemed to be burning. I looked inward, searching like hell for Bestia, trying to get her out of her cage before she burned too.
Running for her in confinement, I fought the heat. I slammed my fist down on the padlock and stared in shocked relief as the metal lock blew into a million metal shards. Bestia roared, slamming me on my back with a slash of her sharp claws.
I felt the horrible sting of the gaping wounds on my chest, but I couldn’t stop watching as Bestia stepped from her cage and grew.
And grew.
And grew.
Until I could no longer see anything but the underside of her midnight belly above me.
I closed my eyes and tried to bring myself back to the outside world, but as I fought for control, I somehow brought her with me. I couldn’t do anything but watch in horror as the tips of her massive wings started to push through the skin on my back.
I screamed and screamed as, one inch at a time, her wings sliced through the muscle and bones that made up my back. Her spirit bent and folded itself within the feathers on her wings.
Distantly, as if I were watching from somewhere outside of my body, I knew Bestia was no longer an animal; she became one with the wings as they pushed through my body and out into the open air of the alley.
I brought myself back to reality and felt my raw and bleeding throat split down the middle as I let out another piercing sound. I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t feel anything but the burning blades slicing out of my back. Inch by solid inch, the weight of the wings grew heavier on my body as they became real, no longer just in my mind. I tried to turn around and see what was happening, but I couldn’t move. I was face down on the concrete in agony.
Then I felt my gums begin to tingle.
“Fangs, she’s getting fangs,” Seafoam whispered somewhere near me. I had forgotten the guys were there.
“Why is she getting fangs?” I heard Blue’s panicked voice.
“Breathe, Annalise, it’s almost over. Your wings are almost out. You’re almost through the thick of it.”
I didn’t know who spoke; I couldn’t think beyond the searing pain in my gums. It was like a thousand needles were being stabbed into my flesh over and over—all at the same time. Like my teeth were being pulled out one by one. I was crying, screaming, I could feel the salty liquid sliding down my cheeks and landing in my dry mouth.
Then I heard Seafoam cry out, his hoarse voice darkened by the heavy resentment that filled the air around us. I could taste his confusion on my tongue.
It was…delicious.
Like a tangy lemon or a spicy bloody Mary.
“Fucking HELL,” I cried out as a new wave of pain crashed over me.
“Annalise!” I heard Seafoam grit out, a hand coming down to crush my own. I wanted to ask what the fuck was happening to me, but my voice was broken and raw. My throat bled, stinging with each breath like I swallowed glass. I could taste the metallic liquid mingling with my tears.
This was torture. Pure, unadulterated torture.
Using my blood-coated tongue, I felt around my mouth until it landed on four sharp points and realized that, where my canines were once deeply seated in my gums, deadly fangs now sat.
Panicking, I searched for Bestia. Finding her cage empty, I blew through my body like a whirlwind trying to locate her. I knew she was there; I could feel her stronger than I ever had before—but as I looked in every nook and cranny, I still couldn’t see her. Beginning to freak out, thinking I was crazy and alone, I felt my breath quicken and race toward the impending panic attack.
The pain, the fear—I had hit sensory overload and was running headfirst into a state of shock. My body was shutting down.
Then I heard a deep, beautiful voice inside my head say, “I am here, Annalise.”
Where the hell did that come from? I looked again but came up empty until I reached my spine, a place I didn’t look before.
There.
Seated on either side of my spine were two strips of bright white lights. They were glowing and pulsating.
“Her wings are moving, look!” I heard someone say.
“I am here, Annalise. I am now a physical part of you.” That deep voice spoke inside my mind again.
I faintly remembered watching Bestia’s spirit blend with the wings before her animal body faded out, but I didn’t understand…
“How?” I bit out. I wasn’t sure anyone heard me, but Bestia did.
“All will be explained in time. You must sleep now.”
I wanted to disagree. I wanted to fight her for more information right then and there, but my eyelids began to drop against my will.
I felt two strong hands lift me into the air. The person smelled of ocean and sunshine. I smiled, picturing his blue gray eyes.
“Sleep, Annalise,” he said in my ear.
So I did.
I looked down at Annalise in my arms. Her normally hardened features were soft and muted with sleep, dark eyelashes fanning her pronounced cheekbones. She weighed nothing in my arms, feeling like she belonged there. Her breath came out softly against my chest despite the pain I knew she was in. Her body was in shock, but even then, she painted a striking picture.
She was beautiful—so beautiful that it stole my breath and tried to choke me.
Having her in my arms was not something I could have prepared myself for, even after years of dreaming. My lungs screamed against my chest, forcing me to take a steady breath.
For eleven years I watched this girl, but only now, with her in my arms, did I see a sign that she was even a semblance of the girl I had come to know.
In her sleeping state, she looked almost the same as she had in the majority of my visions—the only difference being that I was holding her in real life. Her features in person were stronger and more defined. Her skin was smooth and tanned, her lips full and bright. The inky black of her hair fell in waves over my arm as I carried her.
I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
Attempting to regain my composure, I shifted my arm so I held her waist tighter to me. I felt her skin beneath my fingers and shivered—she was warm and soft to the touch. A sliver of skin was showing where her leather pants stopped and her white crop top began, her skin feeling like silk beneath my fingers. I tried not to let her wings drag on the concrete by holding her high enough on my chest that her head fell into the crook of my neck, giving her new wings space to fall freely against my arm.
I was at war with myself, with my beast, as her breath softly hit my exposed neck.
She was going to kill me. Her very existence shattered me eleven years ago, but now? I was a goner. I was her captive, and she didn’t even know it.
How was I going to explain to her who she was to me? She’d never believe that I knew her, heart and soul. If she jumped to conclusions too quickly for us to explain, she’d never trust me.
Words would be screamed rather than spoken with tender care and understanding. It would be tense and unproductive. I needed her trust so that I could prove to her that, above anyone else, I had her.
I vowed years ago to find and protect her. I vowed that once I did, she’d never face evil like she had when that man touched her. I’d carry the weight of her protection.
If she didn’t let me in, I feared what would happen to me. I gave my heart to Annalise long before she ever knew me.
I’d been with other girls, sure, but not nearly as many as my brothers. I never let it get to the commitment part—I was already committed to someone else. Instead, I fucked when I needed the release. Most of the time, I handled business myself. It always felt wrong with other females, even Nephilim.
She was always in my head, always lingering in my heart. I couldn’t give my all to anyone else.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if she walked out of my life now that I had her in it. What would become of me?
Fighting the urge to tilt my head down and kiss her forehead, I looked at Lanier who was walking quietly next to me. He was staring at Anna, his features unreadable as he watched her sleeping in my arms. He seemed to be only focused on her face, but his eyes betrayed the struggle he felt when he was around her. He was both man and beast, fighting a never-ending battle for control.
Now though—in the moonlight—he looked at her with a tenderness I’d never seen on his face. It was only then that I realized Quint’s normally loud personality was muted. He was walking quickly in front of us, but his shoulders were tense and his hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides.
I could feel his rage even as I walked behind him. I shifted Annalise higher on my chest, tightening my hold. He wanted to take her from me. I could smell the possessiveness coming from his skin, betraying him.
I gripped Annalise tighter in my arms, inhaling her sweet floral scent. Lilacs and peaches.
I needed to say something so that our unit didn’t break under the stress of claiming her. We needed to get her home and safe before we spoke to her and tried to come up with a solution.
“She’ll be alright, guys. We just need to get her in a bed,” I said softly, fearing she would wake up and freak out on us. Not that I thought she would be able to fight anyone after the Transition—she was strong, but not that strong—I just didn’t want to stress her out.
“The pain...” Quint whispered before stopping himself and shaking his head. We both knew what he meant.
Watching Annalise complete the Transition was excruciating for us. Her pain seemed to filter through all three of us, allowing us to experience a muted version of what she was feeling, what her body was going through.
It was the worst kind of torture, and on top of that—it didn’t make any sense. We shouldn’t have been able to feel what was happening to her.
“So both of you felt the same thing?” Lanier asked, matching Quint’s volume. He reached over to run a soft finger down her cheek. I fought the urge to knock his hand away, not liking him touching her.
I wasn’t sure why he bothered to ask; he knew the answer. All three of us watched in agony as she shifted, our own beasts clawing against the magic that held them within us. They wanted to protect her, keep her from feeling the pain that dug deep into her bones, changing the very core of who she was.
“I did,” I stated, answering anyway. My eyes fell to Anna, clocking the slow rise and fall of her chest. “I felt it all.”
Quint grunted his agreement.
“What are we going to do about our...” I began hesitantly, unsure if I wanted to ask. On the one hand, I had Annalise in my arms after all these years, and I wasn’t about to share her with my brothers like a used toy, but on the other, I knew that a mating bond could not be faked or altered, it was what it was. This would be hell if we couldn’t figure out some sort of plan in case it really did turn out that all three of us mated the same female. My female. I cleared my throat. “What are we going to do about the bond?”
Quint stopped and spun around. “What bond?”
Under the weight of his glare, I fought the urge to growl. My beast was beginning to feel threatened, which wasn’t going to end well for anyone. I needed to get this under control before Annalise woke up. “You want her, I want her, and I’m sure Lanier wants her even though he clearly doesn’t want to admit it.”
“He wants her, not me,” Lanier spat, his sudden anger thick in the air between us.
Quint looked toward Lanier with hunger blazing in his eyes as the harsh emotions floated in the air around him. He fought it, looking toward the ground and blinking a few times before coming back to the conversation.
“How is this possible? All three of our beasts want to claim the same female. Since when is that a fucking thing?” Quint moved forward toward me and looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. He touched her face, gently using the pad of his thumb to smooth out the crease between her closed eyes. She had a pronounced worry line there, evidence of her everyday stress.
“She’s different, something is different about her. Things about her life have been left out. I feel like I missed a key element to all of this because the visions hid the truth. This isn’t something that plays by the rules of our world, at least not the world as we know it,” I stated.
“Yes, I know,” Lanier snarled. “And that’s fucking grand, but none of that helps us. We know she’s different, we know she’s unique. We have been asked to protect her, and that right there is a reason to turn down this mission and run for the fucking hills.”
I looked at my brother, trying to figure out if he was angry or worried. It seemed to be both. We all knew that we were in over our heads, but none of us wanted to openly admit that she was our mate. It made the situation too real, too close to home, and I think all of us were afraid of Annalise choosing only one of us—or none of us.
I hated knowing that decision could be in her future. La
nier would eventually admit that there was a bond between all of us and once he did, there would be no ignoring it. Annalise would be looking at three bonds. Three mates.
If she did have to choose, it needed to be me she picked. I knew her—I was a part of her—even if I didn’t know everything.
I didn’t live with her in my head for all these years just to lose her to one of my brothers.
I locked eyes with Quint, an unspoken conversation happening between us. We both knew the truth. Lanier was our leader, the strongest of the three of us. He was our brother. And if like called to like, Annalise would choose him. Her power rivaled his for dominance, they matched, and anyone who knew him could see it.
“We’ll figure this out,” I said, earning a surprised look from both of my brothers. I couldn’t let them see my worry. My power might not be as strong as hers, but she needed me, and I wasn’t above proving that it was me she should pick, even if I had to fight like hell to make it happen.
I would have her. Annalise would be mine.
“Get her up the stairs and into my room,” I barked at Cabe. I’d been watching him carry her for way too fucking long. I was about thirty seconds from ripping him to shreds for no other reason than having his arms around her.
Since her change I was...unhinged. Angry. Terrified.
The pain she was in? I felt all of it. I knew my brothers did too, but I didn’t give a fuck about them, all I cared about was her in my bed so I could make sure she felt alright when she woke up. I wanted her to wake up surrounded by my scent, in my clothes, in my room.
“Why the fuck does she sleep in your bed?” Cabe replied, pulling Annalise closer to his chest, which forced her head to fall into the crook between his neck and shoulder. My beast roared, “Mine!” and snapped its jaws at the sight.
“Because I fucking said so.” I looked him in the eye, daring him to challenge me.
“Or she goes in my room? Anyone ever thought of that?” Quint chimed in a snarky tone laced with challenge. I rolled my eyes in his direction. He wanted her with him but had yet to directly admit it.