Dare To Be Loved

by Stacy Lee

  “They don’t know you are here. Wren will stay just in case but you will be fine. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. I should have made you get off the minute I realized you were down there but we were already in the air and my worry for Dare took over my better judgment for a moment. I’m kicking myself for it now. Stay here and don’t give Wren any problems. He has children and knows how to spank harder than Dare does.” His brow lifts in humor while my eyes cut worriedly towards Wren, whose eyes are wide with mirth and understanding. I wilt in embarrassment. Did everyone need to know he spanked my ass?

  Geez!

  I huff and lean back in the seat not acknowledging Cash as he leaves. “I will never forgive you for this.” I mumble under my breath.

  “At least this way you will be alive to hate me.” His answer comes from further in the woods as they run towards Dare’s position.

  “Damn Patronus hearing.” I can’t hear his laugh but I imagine I can. My bottom lip disappears between my teeth, worry and helplessness filtering through me. Wren, another large virile man with light hair, hazel eyes, full lips and enough laugh lines to convince me he was a good guy when he wasn’t babysitting grown women, watches me sulk for a minute then exits the chopper. I lean my head back against the wall trying to decipher the emotions coming from Dare.

  Anger, of course, then there is confusion, hope, understanding and fear. It’s that fear that scares me. What could Dare be afraid of? The only thing he has ever shown fear over was me. Last night he was afraid while I was being tortured and the attack at the Texas compound he had been afraid when I was hurt. I wasn’t in danger that he knew of, why the fear?

  A noise outside has my head popping up in time to see Wren fall to the ground unconscious.

  Oh, God. I knew it!

  I yank at the ropes to no avail, Cash had tied them tight. A giant man of seven feet jumps into the chopper then rakes me with a hard golden gaze before it turns to humor. His blonde hair is streaked in different shades from platinum to dark blonde, his features are sharp, rugged, serious, and the power that drips off him is dangerous.

  “Looks like they did my job for me.” Chuckling, he pulls a knife from his hip and severs the rope from under the chair then forcibly pulls me up by it. His hand cups the back of my neck painfully, forcing me to look up at him. “Monty wants you alive. He didn’t say how alive. You heal. I can hurt you to the point you wish for death. As long as I don’t kill you completely you will be fine again soon after. Do I make myself clear?” I nod, terrified. Yeah, I got it. As long as I was breathing it didn’t matter what state my body was in when we arrived before Monty. If I fought he would do worse than kill me. From the power rippling over him I had no doubt he could.

  He jumps down then grabs my waist lowering me to the ground. If he hadn’t just threatened me with violence I would think he was being a gentleman. I wasn’t fooled though. The man radiated power from his every pore. He has that same glow Archer and Dare do, only his was golden. It writhes and spins around his body as if in turmoil for some reason. He wasn’t a Patronus and I didn’t think he was a Vampire nonetheless he wasn’t human either. While we walk I gather enough courage to ask.

  “What are you?” It doesn’t come out as strong as I want but it was too late now. He chuckles.

  “Lion Shifter.” Wow, he turned into a lion? He was the first Shifter I had come across. If there are more here like him, we were screwed. He drags me behind him through the woods at a fast pace, his bare muscular back rippling with each step he takes. A fine sheen of sweat beads across his skin, the aura of power surrounding him makes it shine as it drips slowly down his back.

  “Do all Shifters give off as much power as you?” I force out. The silence and the churning emotions from Dare were killing me. He was fighting but something was different. His emotions weren’t that of a person, they were animalistic almost. The man before me glances over his shoulder with a questioning look, his golden hair falling into his light brown eyes.

  “Do I give off power to you?” Why does that surprise him?

  “You have a golden aura of it surrounding you. Are you important or just….um, old?” He stifles a cough I think is a laugh. I bite my lip in nervousness then force myself to drop it, I didn’t want to show him weakness. I couldn’t afford to.

  “I am King of our Pride. In other words I rule all feline Shifters. I guess you could say I am important.” Pride and humor lace his voice.

  “You think?” I snort out. “Tell me, why is the King of the pride playing Monty’s errand boy?” A warning growl leaves his throat and he pauses in his steps.

  “I am no one’s errand boy.” He bites out. His golden aura spins madly.

  “Then why were you sent to fetch a helpless woman like me? Why not one of his lower Vamps or a less important Shifter? What does he have over you, King?” He turns so fast I don’t realize I’m dangling above the ground till my neck protests his grip on my throat. It isn’t enough to hurt or cut off my oxygen but it is enough to make it difficult to breathe.

  “Keep your mouth shut and keep up. Understand?” I nod shakily. He drops me to the ground where I quickly scramble back to my feet. This time he takes off at a fast run that, had I not been changed to Patronus, I never would have been able to keep up with.

  We slow as we come to the edge of a clearing. My heart jumps in my throat with what I face there. Patronus’s were fighting other creatures all over the place. I look for Dare or any of the brothers but can’t find them in the myriad of swords, animals and bodies, alive and dead. The King pauses taking in the scene.

  “This was not what we agreed on.” He growls out, his voice inhumanly rough. Golden fur flickers over his back.

  “And what did you think was going to happen? He was just going to walk up and kill Dare without a fight?” I retort quietly. “Dare is honorable but he isn’t going to hand over his life, not even for me.” His head turns slowly to face me. His light brown eyes swirl to gold when he meets my gaze.

  “If you were mine, I would do whatever was necessary to ensure your safety. No matter what you think of me I do not live to fight and I would never have hurt a woman. Threaten, yes, actually do it, no. I never wanted my people to be in this mess. I had no choice.” He replies sadly.

  “There is always a choice. Put a stop to this, King. Pull your people out and leave. I will talk to the brothers and we can come up with a treaty or compromise or something to help your people fight against Monty. Whatever he holds over your head can’t be worth watching your friends and family die, is it?” He turns back to the clearing. I watch as a Patronus slays a lioness, the King flinches.

  “You’re right, my land isn’t worth this. I will find another place to move my Pride to. Come.” He pulls on the rope and leads me back into the forest a ways. He removes the knife he used earlier from his belt and cuts my bindings free. “I suggest you run, my lady. I will pull my Shifters from the group but what’s left of the Vamps, Stroli, Witches and Thanus will remain to fight. I will contact Dare if you make it out of this alive to discuss this treaty you speak of.” I lay my hand on his arm. It doesn’t even bother me to touch him. For some unknown reason, the lion king doesn’t scare me like he should.

  “Thank you, King.” I curtsy clumsily to his chuckle.

  “Call me Dustin. It was a pleasure to meet you, Naveen.” I cringe.

  “Marnie. Please call me Marnie.” He quirks a brow but doesn’t ask.

  “Very well, Marnie. Now, find somewhere to hide before all hell breaks loose.” I nod to him but he has already turned to sprint away. Right before he leaves my view his body crumples in on itself leaving an enormous lion in its place. Its head turns back to me and I swear the massive beast winks at me. With a leap he enters the clearing letting out an earthshattering roar. I inch forward to watch through the trees. The fighting pauses, all eyes on Dustin’s immense body. Another rumble rips from his throat. Felines begin to step back away from the fight. One more earsplittin
g roar causes them to leap from the clearing and disappear. Dustin glances back towards me once more then disappears.

  Metal clashes somewhere farther away breaking the sudden silence. All action returns in a loud cacophony of noise. I shrink back into the forest only to run into a hard chest. I spin to face a man with metallic blue eyes that instantly begin to swirl like Monty’s did. Breaking the connection I turn to run. He grabs my arm and hauls me unceremoniously towards the edge of the clearing.

  “Monty is waiting for you.” He speaks with no emotion, his monotonous voice more scary than if he would have screamed at me. I fight to pull away. With my free hand I retrieve the dagger at my back, slashing it over his arm. He easily disarms me and throws the dagger to the ground, his evil blue eyes are alight with fury.

  “Let me go, asshole!” I scream, kicking out at his legs trying to trip him. He steps out of the way and backhands me, knocking me from his grip. I cry out in pain as I fall to the ground. An inhuman roar rips through the clearing, Dare’s rage unfolds inside me.

  Oh, shit. He knew I was here.

  I lift my gaze to meet Dare’s eyes across the grass only they are in the body of a solid black panther. A Stroli takes advantage of this distraction lashing out with a clawed hand to slice open Dare’s side. His excruciating howl is accompanied by my scream.

  “Dare!” The panther shimmers, folding in on itself just like Dustin had, leaving Dare in its place. He pulls himself to his feet, grabs a dagger from a headless Patronus beside him then spins severing the Stroli’s head from his body. When his eyes turn back to me my body shutters with the look there. The pain I feel coming from him was dismissed by the pure fury ripping through him, me, us.

  I was in so much fucking trouble!

  My attacker grabs my arm again and hauls me to my feet. Instantly his grip loosens and he falls to the ground, headless. In his place stands Cash.

  “I told you to stay in the chopper.” He grits out.

  “Wren is hurt. The lion king brought me here. I didn’t do it.” I don’t know if I’m begging for him to go easy on me or trying to placate him long enough to escape that murderous look in his eyes. Yep, I was in some serious trouble with all the brothers. He grabs my arm and yanks me behind him.

  “Do not leave my side.” No sooner than the words are out than someone slaps a clawed hand over my mouth and pulls me backwards. I try to yell but muffled sobs are the only thing that comes out. Cash turns slowly to face whoever is holding me captive. A dagger materializes at my throat causing me to stop struggling. A rough tongue runs over my cheek, the spit burns like acid. I scream into the clawed hand holding me as pain lances through me.

  My terrified eyes meet Cash’s then shift to Dare who is fighting further away. He has two men that might be Vamps and a Stroli circling him. His rage, my fear and our combined terror and pain runs through me. Power ripples under his skin, he lifts his hands and lightning shoots out decimating the two Vamps. The Stroli steps back in fear.

  His use of the magic triggers something inside me. My body begins to vibrate, a humming in my ears blocks out all other noise, my wide eyes turn to Cash’s moving mouth but I can’t understand him. Something moves under my skin like liquid between two pieces of glass, it rolls just under the surface. Once more my eyes flit to Dare in time to see four men leap towards him. Pure terror and infuriating rage burst inside me with his pain making me explode.

  My mate was in trouble, they dare to hurt my man, he needed me, I would kill them all!

  My eyes meet swirling gold ones at the edge of the forest, the Lion King. My body bucks forward, pain erupts through every nerve in my body and I fall forward on a ragged scream turned growl. I don’t know what happened to the Stroli behind me but Cash was on his ass a few feet in front of me with a fearful but prideful expression. I step forward on four shaky legs. I didn’t have time to be shaky. I launch myself into the mess of bodies aiming for Dare and his attackers.

  With teeth barred I grab the first man on him and sling him over my shoulder with nothing but my teeth. The second looks up with horror etched across his face at the same time my jaws come down on his neck. I rip his head from his body then fling it across the clearing with a deafening roar. The other two jump up and back off, their hands held before them like they were placating a wounded child. I stand over Dare’s body growling whilst they retreat.

  With a glance around the clearing I notice all fighting has stopped. I am the center of attention and for some reason they all look scared to death. Feeling powerful I lift my head and let out a warning growl at the closest Vamp. He backs off, stumbling. Movement draws my attention to the left. I turn, still straddling Dare’s unconscious body. Monty steps into the clearing with an eyebrow raised, blatant shock on his face.

  “I knew you were special. I never knew how special. I am impressed, daughter. You don’t have Shifter blood in you. If you did I could see the possibility but you don’t. The Beyers mates shouldn’t be able to shift, not even a bound one. And a lioness no doubt. Are you feeling like a Queen, my dear?” A low growl leaves my throat when he draws closer. Rapid movement has my nose twitching to take in the scents of those who just surrounded me. I didn’t dare take my eyes off Monty to look. The brother’s familiar smells assault me plus some others I didn’t know, all Patronus but one. That one is a Lion.

  “I see you have switched sides, Dustin. Not smart, my friend. Not smart at all.” More smells swamp me when other felines come into the clearing behind us. Our small army had just grown twice its size leaving the others outnumbered two to one. Monty takes a step back. His monsters fall in behind him. “I suggest you make it top priority to find your mates. If I find them first you will not be able to recognize them when you find their bodies. If you find their bodies. Or you can hand over my daughter. I’ll let you think about that while I locate the first one. This isn’t over, Naveen.” A roar rips from my throat at the name. As one the enemy turn and flee into the woods. Monty vanishes into thin air.

  Chapter Twenty

  I take a slow breath then turn to face the men behind me carefully keeping myself over Dare’s body. I could hear his ragged breathing and slow heartbeat but I could also smell and see the blood pouring from his wounds. A deep gash in his neck makes me whine. My entire body hurts but I’m not sure how much is my pain and how much is his. With my nose I nuzzle his face, a whimper leaving me. I look up to Cash who finally breaks out of the stupor they all seem to be in. He steps forward kneeling beside me, his hand landing behind my ears.

  “Can you shift back? Your blood would be better than ours.” He says softly. I meet his eyes with a hundred questions running through mine. I don’t know how I got in this predicament to begin with, how the hell do I get back to human, well, Patronus? I whimper to his chuckle. “Lay down beside him, relax, let it come naturally.”

  My head swings around to take in the Patronus who are facing Dustin. It looks as if another fight was getting ready to break out. I leap landing between them. Facing the advancing Patronus, I let loose a low warning snarl.

  “Stand down until Marnie can explain.” Archer comes to stand beside me. “I want my men to begin gathering our fallen. Let the Shifters do the same. Pile the others together so we can burn them.” Archer bellows. I turn my head to look at Dustin who bows his large lion head to me. His golden auras no longer swirling around him, it now pulses peacefully. He shifts back into the man he was then kneels before me. All five brothers bristle behind me.

  “Do as he says. Just relax and you will shift back. Think of your normal body and when you are the most aware of yourself.” He winks. If lionesses could blush I think I would have. He stands and faces his felines. “Do as Archer said. Gather our fallen comrades. Anyone who attacks will die by my hand.” Power ripples from him. It almost felt like what Archer uses when he forces me to abide by his words. I shiver. Dustin glances at me with an arched brow. Ignoring him I turn and return to Dare. His brothers have rolled him onto his side and I push my way b
etween Fin and Dare to curl up in front of him. Someone places his arm over me then a circle of brothers forms around us.

  I close my eyes and wiggle closer to him. I needed to be human again so I could feed him, heal him. I let images of my legs and arms flit through my head. Dare’s pain holds half my concentration while I try to change. After a few minutes a whimper comes from me. I can’t do this. Someone kneels beside me but I keep my eyes closed, my concentration on becoming human.

  “Deep breaths, Soror.” I soften at the nickname that means I am his sister. Cash runs a hand gently through my fur. “The first time I met you, you said something under your breath for each of us. I believe mine was ‘an angel in uniform with chocolate on his face holding a bowl of brownie mix.’” I whimper. He heard that? Oh, God, had they all? I shift uncomfortably under his hand.

  “It’s okay, I knew what you were doing. It was a way of relaxing, of facing us without being scared. I need you to relax now. You had an image for five of us. Do you have one for Dare?” I shake my head. “No? Well I can think of a few but we want funny and relaxing, not idiot and overbearing asshole.” I snort, grass flies from under my nose making the men around me laugh.

  “How about strong headed control freak with a red palm?” Fin jeers. I cringe. He yelps as if someone hit him.

  “We want relaxed not embarrassed, jerk.” Emmitt bites out. “How about a moose with a sketch pad and a pencil stuck in its antlers.” He muses. Inside I laugh at the picture it makes.

  “Oh, I know. Draw a Hitler mustache on him, replace the whip Hitler held with a pencil and tuck the sketch book in the other arm.” Bane mutters excitedly. Hitler? Yeah, he was a controlling bastard, wasn’t he? Images of Dare skate across my vision. Nothing was needed to make him less scary for me. He was perfect just the way he was. When he touched me he set me on fire. When he looked at me I could see his love for me in his emerald eyes, even if he didn’t want it to be there, he was mine and he made me feel like a woman. A needed, sensual, exotic woman.