Ethan’s hand dropped to his groin and he moved aside.
“Ah shit, you better go after her,” Chris groaned. “When she gets like this, you never know what will happen. Just don’t get too close. She bites,” he warned, followed by a muttered, “And she says we have a temper.”
Worried now, he and Ethan tore down the stairs after her in time to hear a door slam shut.
“Where is she?” he asked.
The oldest brother, Derrick, shook his head. “She’s gone out back to the woods. But I wouldn’t recommend following.”
“Come on,” he urged Ethan, ignoring the warning as he skirted past her family who appeared to be planning something on the dining room table. The brothers appeared grim, but the father grinned like a mad wolf.
“Hot damn, Meredith,” yelled Naomi’s father. “Her beaus are gonna try and corral her while she’s in one of her moods.”
The muttered “Good luck’s” weren’t exactly reassuring. They exited the house via the back door in the kitchen, Meredith waving them through with a sly smile. They were in time to see the last of Naomi’s clothing hit the ground before she called forth her wolf.
A rapid glance around showed nobody watching, but still…Javier hesitated to strip.
Meredith’s soft voice came from behind him. “All the houses edging the woods are owned by folks who know. Your secret is safe here. Keep in mind, when you find her, she’s gonna be pissed. Are you ready to handle that?”
Ethan already out of his shirt and working on his pants, grunted. “She’s cute when she’s angry. We can take whatever she dishes. She shouldn’t be alone.”
Javier joined Ethan in stripping, breathing out when Meredith left them. While nudity per say didn’t bother him, the idea of stripping in front of Naomi’s mother did.
Naked, he glanced over at Ethan. “She’s gonna be faster than your bear. We’ll handle this like we do in the game. I’ll run her down and flush her back to you.”
Ethan grinned. “Sounds good. My bear could use the exercise. See you in a few.”
Quieting, Javier closed his eyes and called his jaguar. Come on, old friend. Time to find our mate before she does something to hurt herself.
His beast bounded forward in his mind and took over, reshaping his body and dropping him to four limbs. The change itself no longer hurt much, experience having taught him to accept his other half. In his cat form, he retained his sense of self and intelligence, but lost his ability to speak. He did however gain enhanced senses. And an urge to piss on everything, a part of the whole mark-the-territory thing all felines suffered.
Sniffing the encroaching evening air, the tantalizing scent of his female drifted to him. With a yowl, Javier sprinted off into the woods, the thrill of the chase firing up his adrenaline.
Wee little wolfie, kitty’s come a hunting. And when I find my tasty treat, I think I’ll have something good to eat.
* * *
Rage drove her to run. She needed to exert herself, expend the boiling anger at the knowledge that because of her someone had dared harm her family.
Cowards! She howled aloud, the sound echoing through the woods, a nature reserve set aside by the province to promote wildlife. And right now, given her turbulent emotions, she certainly counted.
To think, Chris thought to hide the reason of his beating from her. Trying to protect her. Idiot. They just didn’t get it. She could handle herself and she didn’t need them running interference for her anymore. She’d fight her own battles thank you very much. Now if only she could figure out whom she needed to kill.
The warning to back off just didn’t make any sense, not without a name or another clue. She so desperately wanted an inkling, someone to turn her murderous focus on. Where she lacked the strength of a male, she made up for in deviousness. She wasn’t stupid. She knew she couldn’t tackle the problem face to face, but there were so many other wicked things she could do to tear their legs out.
Oops, did the bank freeze your accounts? What’s that, did your credit card get reported stolen? Imagine that, someone repossessed your car and foreclosed on your mortgage. The financial world could be a vicious place for those who didn’t know how to manipulate it. Then, once she’d crushed them, she would give the idiot to her brother.
Vicious plans didn’t take care of her anger, though, only extreme physical exertion would, and maybe, if she was lucky, an encounter with wildlife that thought to get in her way.
As she leapt over a fallen tree, a tingling warning raced down her spine and brought her hackles up.
I am followed.
Slowing her headlong rush, she perked her ears, but heard nothing. A deep inhale brought her only the rich scents of the forest, her quarry downwind. Friend or foe? In her mood, she didn’t really care. Peeling her teeth back from her gums, she stalked whatever dared interrupt her. The rustle of leaves proved her only warning before a large black shape soared from the darkness, its larger body, butting into hers and knocking her off balance. With a snarl, she whirled to grab a bite, but the shadow, feline in scent, leapt back into the gloomy woods.
Javier. She tore off after him, following the scent he no longer attempted to hide. But the jerk stayed just out of reach, his more agile body, clambering up trees then leaping from branch to branch.
Forced to navigate the pitfalls on the ground, she couldn’t match his speed, and eventually, his limb to limb flight left her without a scent to follow. Not willing to concede to his beast, she kept foraging forward, nose to the ground sniffing.
An acrid stench made her wrinkle her muzzle. Piss! The nervy cat marked our woods. Naomi would have probably smiled if she’d worn her human shape. Her family and neighbors would probably have a conniption when they came across the big cat’s territorial claim.
His trail evident once again as he kept to the ground, she followed Javier, his black fur blending so well in the darkness that she almost went right past him, only the flashing glint of his eyes alerting her to his presence.
Pulling her teeth back and curious to see how her wolf fared against the large cat, she lunged at him, throwing her body against his. Taking him by surprise, she managed to knock him over, and she got her teeth around his neck, biting with just enough pressure for him to lie still.
Gotcha, she thought.
So intent was she on her victory that she missed the movement behind her, but she caught the scent of bear. A roar split the night, and even guessing it belonged to Ethan didn’t prevent her wolf from shivering, especially when she peered up and saw the size of him.
Towering taller than she’d imagined a body could stretch with thick fur, a heavily muscled frame, and great big teeth, Ethan was absolutely magnificent. And kind of freaky in a he-could-totally-kill-me-with-a-swipe-of-his-paw kind of way. She took a step back, then, sat hard on her ass when the great, big, scary bear waved a paw at her and grinned by pulling his lips back to show some teeth.
Her anger, having receded during her hunt of Javier, became completely replaced with mirth as the Kodiak bear sat down and cocked his head, looking like a cuddly teddy.
She shifted back and shook her head. “How’s a girl supposed to stay pissed when you’re acting like the world’s cutest carnival prize?” she snapped, her rebuke tempered with a smile. Ethan lifted hairy paws and shrugged. Naomi couldn’t help giggling. A furry head butted her from behind and she peered sideways to see Javier’s slick feline shape.
She let her fingers rub the fur between his ears, the hair softer than expected. Mischief made her scrub him hard behind the ears while crooning, “Who’s a pretty kitty? You like that don’t you.” A loud purring met her ministrations and she giggled. “Look who’s a big suck. Oops, I mean ferocious man eating panther.”
A snort from behind made her let go of Javier who sank to the ground rumbling. She crossed over to Ethan and wrapped her arms around his thick neck. “Jealous? Don’t worry. I’ve always had a thing for bears. They’re right after butterflies.”
“Is that so?” Javier drawled from behind.
Naomi whirled and grinned. “Would it help if I said kitties came in a close third?” Her smile soon faded though as she realized something very important. Javier stood very naked in front of her, and he was really happy to see her. Apparently just as happy as the big body that brushed up against her back.
A step was all it took to bring Javier close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off his body. She tilted her head back and peered up at him, licking her dry lips as anticipation lit a fire in her stomach. “Why did you come after me? Didn’t my family warn you, I’m a bitch when I’m in a mood?”
Big hands rested on the curve of her waist as Ethan rumbled. “I like you when you get all feisty. Besides, we weren’t about to leave you alone.”
“I can take care of myself.” She just couldn’t protect her family it seemed. Anger resurfaced with a vengeance. “I can’t believe they went after Chris instead of me.”
“They obviously know how much your family means to you,” Javier replied, his fingers trailing across her cheek and down her neck, fusing her anger with her increasing desire.
“I want to hurt them,” she growled.
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Trust me, we want to hurt them too, baby” Ethan added.
“But in the meantime, you need to be careful. Running off alone in the woods, especially given what’s been happening, may not be the wisest course of action.”
Lips pursed and eyes narrowed, Naomi glared up at the voice of reason. “And how else was I supposed to work off my frustration. I couldn’t go home in this condition. I need to vent.”
“What happened to living a calm life?” Ethan teased, his thumbs rubbing circles on the skin of her waist.
“They hurt my brother,” she whispered. Saying the words aloud brought home a very scary fact she’d not wanted to think of before. “They could have killed Chris,” she yelled, her hands slapping forward against Javier’s chest.
He caught her wrists and pulled them up. “There are better, just as energetic ways to take care of your frustrations.”
“I thought sex was out unless I let you both bite me,” she retorted.
“It is,” Javier announced. “But I think we can give you relief in other ways.”
Naomi almost said, screw it, bite me. She knew they could make her come, bring her to pleasurable heights. But she wanted more than that. She wanted them, inside her, marking her, claiming her. Belonging to me.
Why exactly did she fight them still? Sure, she’d known them less than a week, but in that time they’d proven they owned the qualities she looked for in a mate, plus some she would never have thought of. Did she love them? She wasn’t sure yet. She knew her mother had mated to her father before she’d grown to love him, but as her mother confided, all the best relationships started with lust. Love was only something that came after time. And grew stronger the older it got.
The real question was did she dare take a chance on these two males? Males who kept proving in little ways they cared for her—temper, irrationalities and all? Who fired her blood and didn’t fear her when she let loose?
Yes. Yes, I want them in my life. I want to get to know them. I want to fight with them and make up. I want them. The answer, once she admitted it to herself, made her feel light. She took a step out from between them, and took a breath, “I—”
A cracking sound made her halt. Splinters rained as something impacted the tree to the left of her. A moment later, Javier stood in front of her, his body flinching as another report sounded.
Naomi squealed as she found herself thrown to the ground, Javier’s body heavy on hers as a roar shook the forest. With a growl to make any but the bravest piss themselves, she heard the crashing sound of a shifted Ethan lumbering off after the shooter.
Heart pounding, Naomi tried to catch her breath, fear and indignation battling for supremacy. Someone shot at me!
Warm moisture and the recognizable scent of blood made her eyes widen. “Javier? Oh, my god. Javier, were you shot?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart. The more important question is, are you unhurt?”
“Other than being squished, yes. But if you’re fine, why do I smell blood?”
Shifting his body off of hers, Javier moved into a crouch, his eyes scanning the darkness. In the distance the occasional roar drifted to their ears as Ethan chased the hunter. Naomi sniffed the air, the scent of blood still strong. She reached out a hand and ran it up Javier’s arms, encountering moisture.
“You’ve been shot!” she exclaimed.
“Bah, ‘tis but a scratch,” he scoffed.
“Are you seriously quoting Monty Python to me, you geek?”
His soft chuckle eased some of her tension. “Come on, you gotta admit, it works in this occasion. Or would you have preferred something more modern classic like ‘Excellent.’” He doped up his voice, and Naomi bit her lips so as to not give in to hysterical laughter as he mimicked the idiot from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
She jumped up and stared down at him, her heart pounding. “I was thinking more along the line of what the hell were you thinking of acting like a human shield so you could take a bullet for me?” Naomi planted her hands on her hips and yelled at him. It was either holler or kiss him silly for doing something so incredibly courageous and dumb.
Standing, he peered down at her. “Is it too soon to say I would die for you?”
She slapped his uninjured arm. “Idiot.” The word came out sounding like an endearment and he grinned.
“If you’re done acting like a wife, can we head back to the house?”
“Are you trying to protect me again?”
“No. I need a Band-Aid and a beer, not to mention my man-parts are getting cold out here.”
Naomi’s gaze flicked down and took in his cock, lying limp amidst his dark curls; although, it didn’t stay still for long. “Nice to see your blood loss hasn’t affected your equipment. But seriously, you can’t mean to leave Ethan out here by himself? Or have you forgotten there’s someone with a gun?”
Javier grinned. “Worry about an Alaskan Kodiak bear? That’s funny. I’m more worried about him not bringing any pieces back if he catches him. Ethan’s going to be fine. Shifted, it would take more than a few bullets to stop him. He’s built of good stock. You on the other hand, are a delicate flower.”
Naomi stuck her tongue out at him in a childish gesture as he reminded her of her claim. Jerk, he would use it against me.
A growl rumbled in his chest. “Don’t point that thing at me unless you intend to use it. Now come on, my lazy wolf. Shift your delectable ass so I can chase it back to the house.” When Naomi would have argued some more just because it was fun, he slapped her on the behind, and not a light love tap. He cracked her hard enough to make her yelp. But did he stick around for retaliation? No, the jerk shifted and bounded off, followed seconds later by Naomi. And he kept his promise, nipping her bottom whenever she slowed to listen or look for Ethan.
The pandemonium when they reached house proved epic, especially once her family heard about the gunman. Naomi’s brothers, with her father leading the way, poured out of the house, tearing at their clothes. Shifting into big, hairy wolves, they sprinted off into the woods, baying like wild animals. All except for poor Stu, who pulled the short straw and ended up with guard duty at the house.
Naomi’s mother took one look at the deep gouge on Javier’s arm and went for her first aid kit while Naomi blushed and tried not to look as he pulled his pants up over a cock that refused to stay down.
A part of her wanted to leave so she could join her brothers in the hunt—AKA ensure herself of Ethan’s safety—and sink her teeth into the bastard who’d hurt Javier. However, worry for injured Javier and Chris, who only had Stu and her mother to guard them, made her stay inside. Of course, the idea of guarding Javier was comical. Other than the bandage, he looked perfectly capable, but she catered to him anyway, cuddling him
on the couch after she fetched them both a beer.
Stupid or not, the damned cat did stop a bullet for me. It made her grudgingly like him even more. As for Ethan, right after she reassured herself he’d returned intact, she’d tear him a new one for rushing off by himself. Then she’d kiss him because, dammit, she couldn’t help caring for him, too. Stupid dumbasses.
Cradled on Javier’s lap, her head nestled against his chest, waiting for news, the steady thump of his heart lulled her and she fell asleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Ethan kept peering in the rearview mirror at Naomi, curled up and sleeping on the backseat. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get her to agree to leave and come with them to Toronto. She’d kept insisting she needed to stay and protect Chris, who in turn yelled she was treating him like a little girl. And then, it degenerated even further when she played the world’s tiniest violin.
They’d only managed to pry her from the doorframe, as she sang the refrain from “Cry Baby, Cry,” by whispering in her ear that she couldn’t play a crucial part in their plan to snare her assailants if she didn’t come with them.
“Are you going to use me as bait?” she’d asked with narrowed eyes.
“Yes,” Ethan had answered bluntly.
“I’m in,” she’d chirped.
The process of packing her a bag and grabbing their stuff took some running around, but they finally got on the road to Toronto mid-morning and she’d promptly fallen asleep in the back of the SUV, using Ethan’s sweater as a pillow.
“I’m not sure I like this idea,” Ethan growled in a low tone, repeating his dislike of the plan for the umpteenth time.
Javier sighed as he drummed his fingers on the armrest. “We don’t have a choice. You and I both know if we don’t do something, and quick, Naomi’s liable to do something rash.”
Yes, she would, the cute little thing. “But still, couldn’t we have just have handcuffed her to a bed in her parent’s house while we hunted the bastards down?”
Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads) Page 71