By midafternoon, they reached a place that awed Dannie. The woods had expanded so far that she couldn’t see anything but trees. Spring had hit this place early because all the trees were green. As she stared out the window at the pretty scenery, she saw how the RV no longer was on a paved but a dirt road. The RV bounced around as they drove deeper into the thickness of the woods. She jumped back with surprise when limbs hit the window she was staring out of, but it didn’t sway her from keeping a lookout through the glass. Everything outside was so pretty that she understood right off why these guys wanted to come here. One could easily get lost here.
The RV turned and they went even deeper, then upward. For a moment, she feared that they might be tipping over. Glancing over her shoulder at Katrina, she saw that her sister was also staring out the window. The way she was looking Dannie almost felt sorry for her. She did have some fear as to what was to come once she met up with this Thorn person. What would he do to her sister once they were face to face? He wasn’t chained up this time and there wouldn’t be any guards close by to help her sister, either. Dannie didn’t watch what their mother made her sister do that night, but she had a pretty good idea what happened. It had also changed Katrina, and she couldn’t tell if it was in a good way or not.
“Damond, we’re here!” Justice called out from the front.
Damond moved over to Dannie’s side and looked out the window with her. “Damn,” he whistled. “He’s got us on top of a damn hill.”
“Best vantage point,” Justice said. “How long you think those two will be out?”
“Thorn only said it was going to take a day or two.”
“Let’s hope sooner.”
The RV turned and stopped. Damond straightened up and pointed at Dannie and Katrina. “Behave, or I’ll tie you both up again.”
“Ohh, I’m so scared,” Katrina smarted off.
“And gag you,” he added.
Justice came to the back then right up to the side door. He said nothing to them but opened the door and stepped out. Right off, they heard some woman speak.
“I told Thorn that this isn’t a good time.”
“Kirsty, right?” Justice asked.
“You guys need to go find another place until the full moon is over,” she said.
“Look, two of our friends are down right now. We just need a place to hold up for a day or so then we’ll be gone.”
“Ask her if there’s a place we can put Thorn’s new toy,” Damond called out.
“Thorn has set up a couple of cabins deeper into the woods. If you guys are not going to leave then go there.” A door slammed shut and Justice came back in.
“Friendly, just like him at times.” He went back to the front and the RV started moving. They didn’t drive far before stopping again. Once more Justice was out of the seat and leaving them to look about. He wasn’t gone too long before coming back. “Two small cabins both set up for a male in heat who needs to stay put, if you get my meaning.”
“Locks on the outside?”
Justice nodded. “Yep and chains inside.”
“Good,” Damond turned fast, grabbed Katrina and dragged her out.
“Wait!” Dannie called after them, getting up and following outside. Having no shoes on her feet, the ground cut into her, but it didn’t stop her from rushing to follow Damond with her sister. “What are you going to do?”
The small cabins were about a good ten or so feet away from each other. Damond went up to one of them, opened the door and walked inside. Dannie was right with him, worried now that something bad was going to happen to her sister.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Katrina yelled at him.
He pretty much tossed, if one could toss a human body that is, her right inside. Katrina stumbled and fell. It didn’t stop him from grabbing hold of her ankle and dragging her to the center of the room to a loop along with a thick chain.
“Don’t think so you damn animal!” Katrina kicked at him, which got him to let go. She was up and running toward the door, only to have Justice grab ahold of her. “Get off!” she screamed, squirming and kicking in his arms.
“I seriously doubt that Thorn knows what kind of hellion this one is,” Justice said, carrying Katrina back to Damond.
“Oh, I bet he does,” Damond grunted, grabbing hold of Katrina’s ankle, placing the chain around it, then locking it.
Justice put her down and they both moved out of her range. Katrina lunged at them, but the chain stopped her.
“I figure you can use the bathroom if you need to,” Damond said. “Aside from that, your ass is going nowhere.”
“You’re a chicken shit, you know that,” Katrina huffed, jerking her leg.
“Not scared of you at all, only bored with your shit,” Damond said and smiled. Dannie moved toward her, but Damon stopped her. “Oh no. You’re not staying in here with her. You’ll only try to get her lose.”
“What are you going to do with me?” Dannie barely got the question out.
“Leave her alone!” Katrina snapped, trying again to come at him. With his hand on her arm, Damond pulled Dannie away, back toward the door. “Don’t think I’m the one you have to worry about. It’s the other animal.” Once Dannie was outside, he locked the door. Katrina started screaming and the sound of things hitting the door broke the silence in the forest. “Man she’s something. I almost feel sorry for Thorn.”
“What’s going to happen to her?” Dannie asked.
“Don’t know, and really don’t care,” Damond said.
“Please,” Dannie didn’t care if she was begging now, “don’t let him hurt her. I’ll—I’ll do anything, please.”
“Honey, whatever happens to her is out of my hands. Our rules say clearly that when one puts a claim on another all others respect that. Thorn has stated she is his, then so be it.”
“And me?” She could hardly get the question out, and didn’t even realize they were walking until they stopped in front of another door.
“You heard Logan with your own ears. You belong to him.” He opened the door. “Do I have to chain you also, or are you going to stay put?”
Dannie tore her eyes from Damond to look inside the cabin. It wasn’t much. There was a bed off to the right of the room, a double from the looks of it, one chair, and then right across from the bed a small bathroom. Center of the room another one of the loops with chains.
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I don’t need the chains.” She went inside and the door closed behind her. Shaking, she walked up to the bed and sat down. One single tear slipped free.
“Mother, what did you get us into?”
* * * *
“You are a bit testy,” Justice said. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know,” Damond growled, unable to hold it back. “Maybe it’s the upcoming moon. I’m starting to get tired of being alone, you know.”
“Then do something about it. Go to a Gathering. You might get lucky.”
Damond snorted and started back towards the RV. Halfway there he stopped and sniffed, then sniffed again. “You smell that? Smells good.”
Justice also sniffed, but he wrinkled his nose. “Something must be wrong with your nose. That doesn’t smell good to me at all.”
Damond sniffed again, long and slow, closing his eyes. “I know what that is,” he sighed, his body starting to tingle all over. “There is a female close to her cycle.”
“Now I know you need to get laid.” Justice laughed. “There is one more day before any females in town go into their cycle. And you know their fathers put them in safe houses so that we don’t hunt for them.”
“Well, I can smell one now, and she’s close.”
Justice frowned, “No there isn’t.”
Damond looked Justice in the eye. “Trust me, little brother. There is a female out there about to hit her cycle and she smells good.” He took another deep breath with his nose up in the air. “Damn good.” He couldn’t hold back the growl from rumblin
g out. “Good enough to eat I bet.”
“Damond?” Justice took a couple of steps away from him.
“Take care of things for me tonight.” Damond reached behind his back and pulled his shirt up over his head, letting it drop to the ground. “Tonight, I’m hunting.”
Before Justice could say or do anything to try to stop him, Damond was taking off into the woods at a run. To hell with a Gathering. Tonight he was going to hunt, to be the animal and find his mate the old-fashioned way. Tonight he would find her, mark her, brand this female that called to his senses as his own and to hell with anyone who tried to get in his way. Tonight he was going to give into his Primal Instincts.
Chapter Five
Kirsty Willow stood in the middle of her small cabin and stripped down to her bra and panties, her skin starting to feel too sensitive for the clothes. Sweat started to bead on her forehead and chest and the burn in the pit of her stomach was starting.
Her cycle was coming, and it was coming early.
Her cabin wasn’t a big place, but it was home. She didn’t need much so she didn’t have much either. A four room spot away from the world, just as she liked it. Her cousin came every so often to see how she was doing and if she needed anything. She didn’t. She liked being alone. She felt safe alone. However, she wasn’t feeling very safe now, not when there were others on the grounds, others who Thorn had said could come.
Pain hit her low in her belly. Kirsty doubled over, held her breath and waited for it to end. It held her longer than normal, reminding her that she needed to get to her safe room where the shot waited and before someone in town caught her scent and came hunting.
To the back of the cabin she went, stopping for a second to look at herself in the mirror. Her body was flushed, cheeks slightly red and sandy brown hair, which was always brushed and neat, reached her shoulder blades and was now in a mess. She touched her belly, felt it flutter under her own hand and wondered for a moment what it would feel like having a male touch her. Would he feel those flutters? Would he run his hands in her hair and whisper things that he planned to do to her?
Kirsty shook her head and tried to clear away those thoughts. Her thoughts always centered around a male when her cycle came. It seemed to be the only time when she did. Hell, this was the only time that the loneliness hit and she wished like hell that someone did want her, but the males around didn’t. She wasn’t like them. She was born different, and it didn’t matter that both of her parents were shifters. She didn’t have much of it in her, so to them she was a freak. The males around here wanted either an all human, or all shifter, nothing in between. Not even the half-breeds were rejected like she was. For most of the time she was all right with it, until her cycle came, reminding her how alone she really was.
Moving over to her mirror, she looked at herself closely. Small bags were under her blue eyes. Bags that said she wasn’t sleeping well again. She touched her face. High cheekbones, oval shaped eyes, slightly full lips. Some use to say she was pretty when she was younger, now she wasn’t sure what she was. She’d been hiding from the world for so long.
A low growl, very close, had Kirsty stilling. She stiffened, strained to hear for anything that didn’t belong, then she did a stupid thing; she left the bedroom area and went back to the front part of the cabin. She reached out to the door, only to still with her hand stretched out. A growl again, this time closer. She sniffed and paled right on the spot.
A male!
Dropping her hand, taking one step backwards, holding her breath, she heard the creak of a step. Now she started to shake. She had fucked up this time and waited too long to get into her safe room, which meant that a male was now on her steps. He had picked up her scent and wanted to mate. Shit!
Boom! Whoever it was kicked the door open and she screamed. Standing in the doorway, or more like taking up the whole width of the doorway frame stood a male clearly ready to mate with her. He had to be standing over six feet tall, his body covered in muscles. He was also naked as the day he was born. Red eyes stared at her, making Kirsty shiver all over. Another hard, burning pain hit her then. He must have smelled it because he took a step into her home, closing the door slowly behind him, closing the two of them in together. His head went up in the air and she heard him slowly inhale. That motion was enough to get her to move.
“Shit!” she hissed, turned and took off running toward her safe room.
* * * *
Logan jolted awake, sitting up in the bed, a growl threatening to spill out of him because of his disorientation. He blinked several times, looking around, waiting for his brain to remind him where he was at. Once he had that figured out, he looked next to him and Stray was sleeping deeply on the bed beside him.
Slowly Logan swung his legs over the side, thankful the room didn’t start to spin like last time he sat on the bed, but he did feel a bit weak, as if he just went through a heat alone.
“How you feeling?”
Logan jumped and turned at the same time. Justice stood in the doorway. “Like hell.”
“You look it.”
Logan stood up slowly, stretched and looked around for something to put on. He found the clothes on the floor that had been left for him before he took a shower, before whatever had hit him. Once dressed again he sat back down and started to put the boots back on.
“So where are the girls?”
Justice crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe. “There are two small cabins which Thorn built to help males in their heat. Small, but hey, what does one really need when you’re chained up?”
Logan stopped with one boot on to glare up at Justice.
Justice put his hands up in the air. “Hey, only the one is chained up until Thorn shows up. The other we just locked the door.” He tossed a key to him. “Now that responsibility is all yours. But I have to say that I doubt she’s going to trust you anymore than before, after you put your hands on her throat.”
“I did what?” Logan stood up, stomping his feet better into the boots. He frowned at Justice.
“You went nuts. Damond came in just as you had that girl up against the wall with your hands around her throat. Think you were trying to kill her.”
Logan rubbed his face with his hand and groaned, “Shit.”
“She’s okay, though a bit scared still I think. Or maybe just scared of what you’re going to do once you wake up. So what are you going to do?”
Logan thought about it for a second then walked up to Justice. “Got any money?”
“Yeah, why?”
Logan held his hand out. “I need to run into town for a few things, one being better boots, and some clothes for me and her.”
Justice dug into his pocket and brought out a wad of mixed denomination bills. With a frown still in place, he counted out the money and handed it to Logan. “How do you know what her size is?”
Logan shrugged, “I’ll figure it out.” He put the money in his pocket then stilled. “Where’s Damond?”
“Please don’t ask.” Justice sighed, turned, and walked away.
Logan left the RV, stretched and then started the small hike into the small town for a few things. He hoped it wasn’t too late when he got there and that he could still get a few things.
The walk in didn’t take too long and luck was on his side. There was one shop still open and willing to let him come in to shop. He bought himself a couple new pairs of jeans, new boots, socks, some shirts, and a package of boxer/briefs. In the woman’s section, he did his best and picked out some shorts that he thought would be okay with the strings inside to tighten the waist if it needed. A couple new shirts, hoping they’d fit a bit tight like he liked them on a woman, a few pair of lace panties and, as a last minute thought, bought a hair dryer and brush. A bra and shoes he’d have to bring her in for, which ended up being a good idea because he spent all the money Justice gave him on what he had picked out so far.
Bags in hand he headed back up to the cabins. Once back
, he checked in with Justice who was trying to call him. Stray was still out of it and Damond hadn’t returned. The sun was setting, and if his nose wasn’t mistaken, the scent of a woman nearby, in her cycle, and a male possibly claiming her, was in the air.
Logan headed for the small cabin where Justice told him to go. Up to the door, hand shaking, he took a couple of deep breaths before unlocking the door and stepping in. Right off, he started to panic when he didn’t see her anywhere in the room. To the far left water was running and steam was heading out into the open space. Dannie was in the shower.
Logan smiled, closed the door softly, and put the bags down. As quickly as he could he went to the bathroom and peeked in. Unable to really see anything he started to turn but stopped when he saw her robe and that long t-shirt she had been wearing hanging on the sink. Reaching in he grabbed them, then left her to finish her shower. Back in the main part of the cabin, Logan dug into the bag that had some clothes for her and brought out a new pair of panties and one of the tight shirts. He got the hairbrush and dryer out as well, then he sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for her to finish. While he was waiting, he bent over and took his new boots off, along with the socks. His shirt came off next, then he stood back up and took his jeans off. Leaving the new tight boxers/briefs on, Logan sat back down and smiled when he heard the water turn off.
The wait for her to come out was driving him nuts. He wanted to see her, touch her, hell, smell her again, and apologize for hurting her. He still couldn’t process that he had attacked her. Clearly, that had to do with the drugs in his system. Even now, he could still feel some of it lingering. What he should be feeling and dealing with was his heat, yet it wasn’t there, which had him wondering when he would go through it again and be back to one hundred percent normal.
The door opened and she came out, a puzzled expression on her perfect face, towel wrapped around her body. Long hair hung down wet on her back, and she seemed to be looking for something. Maybe the clothes he took out of the bathroom.
“Missing something?” he asked.
Unbounded Fury Page 6