by T. S. Joyce
Fireworks were going off in her ovaries as Kade stood and stood and stood until he towered over the humans who had been talking in clusters around him.
“How the hell did he sneak in here?” Mick whispered. None of his Clan answered him. They all just stood slowly and faced the newcomer while Trina balanced on her tiptoes to try to see around them.
Damn them for blocking her view of the Adonis. Her hoo-ha needed her eyeballs to see him and report his growing hotness promptly. Oooooh, look how he walked. Grace and power and some shit-stomper boots that were definitely going to smash some faces if the murderous look on his face said anything.
“So the hunter becomes the hunted, huh?” Kade asked, coming to lean casually against the bar near the drunken human.
“Do you have fleas?” the man asked.
Kade gave a slow blink and a terrifying look to the man. “It’s probably best you fuck off.”
The man made an “eek” face and backed away slowly.
Trina was going to make Kade a drink. She was going to make him a drink and not charge him, then it would be like her buying him a drink and, basically, this would be a date. He didn’t know it, but it was happening right now.
Refusing to serve him the same booze as she did for the other lesser peon werewolves, she pulled the best vodka out of the cabinet on the back wall and tiptoed over to stand by him.
“What are you doing?” he asked, frowning down at where she was pouring two drinks, one for him and one for her.
“Our first drinks,” she whispered.
He sighed. “I have to fight these assholes first. Raincheck?”
“No! Because you disappear for a week at a time, and this might be my only chance to cheers you for getting me my motorcycle for way cheaper.”
“You look hot riding it, by the way,” he murmured, pulling one of the shots to him.
“You saw me riding it?”
“Oh, yeah. I watch you all the time. I’m a stalker like that.”
“Hmmm,” she said in a mushy voice. He liked her. She wished he was railing her from behind in the office in back right now. Puuuuuuurrrrrrrr.
“Horny little pussy, aren’t you?” he asked with a devil-may-care smile that made her want to rub against his leg like an overgrown housecat.
“Mmmm hmmm.”
“Hello!” Mick said, striding for Kade.
Kade tossed back the shot fast and leaned over the bar. Time slowed to a crawl. His lips crashed onto hers, and then he sat there, mouth against hers, sucking gently for a few moments before he was ripped backward. Mick had him, but Kade was smiling, and his eyes were almost white when he was pulled away from her. He didn’t look worried at all, but Trina’s senses came back with the force of an avalanche.
It was him versus the entire Wulfe Clan. Again.
“Where’s your Clan?” she yelled.
“Don’t have one tonight,” he called as he blasted a fist against Mick’s jaw. The wolf went flying. Shit, shit, shit, that was close to the window. Dad was already on the edge and would kill the next SOB who broke a window in this place!
Wait, didn’t have a Clan? Yes, Kade did. He was a Blackwood Crow! Errr…Blackwood Wolf?
“Ten! Can you call—”
“Already on it,” Ten called from over by the wall-phone. She was talking into the landline, but it wouldn’t be quick enough. Kade had half a dozen guys on him now.
Another wolf went flying out of the pile.
“Don’t break the windows!” she cried, rushing around the counter. “Aaah!” she screamed as the fight suddenly turned directions and Mick came flying at her. She couldn’t get out of the way fast enough and slammed back against the bar top.
She shoved the man off her and snarled. There was no stopping the animal inside her now.
“Oh, shit!” Mick murmured through a split lip.
“Oh, shit” was right. With a moment of agonizing pain and popping of her bones, Trina went to all fours, and her mountain lion ripped out of her. She let off a panther scream just to worn those wolves what was coming for them.
She was completely fine with being Kade’s Clan tonight.
****
Kade totally had this…until he heard the panther.
It was a cross between a roar and a scream, and it chilled his blood. He shoved one of the wolves off him hard and stood up straight so he could see where that blood-curdling death-promise came from. But that one moment of lost focus got him blasted across the jaw. Hoooooly shit that hurt! The guy was pummeling him now as he struggled to recover because half of him wanted to make sure the cougar, Trina, was all right. What the fuck were his instincts doing? Protect yourself, man!
Now there were three on him, and he couldn’t see the animal, but he could hear the murmur of panicked voices and the growling of a predator. Trina smelled like heat and rage. Good gah, was it possible for her to get even hotter?
When a fist landed right on his shoulder blade, he grunted and pitched forward. Wait, was he going to lose this fight? Didn’t matter how many assholes he fought at once, he’d never lost! Kade twisted and caught the wolf’s fist, ground his bones to dust in his hand, and shoved him into the wall. Shit, he almost hit one of the front windows, and Trina had said not to break the windows.
Crash!
A crow with a circle of white feathers around his neck came flying through the window pane, and after him sailed a black wolf. Aw, mother fucker! There went Trina’s one request.
Well, the cavalry had arrived. Like he needed help. Kade grunted under a blow and then spun, pummeled the guy’s face a few times before he dropped like a sack of stones. Ethan, his stepbrother and Alpha was probably, he didn’t know, pecking someone’s eyes out like crows did, and he could see Leah clear as day, her black wolf ripping into the shoulder of that blond chode who had pulled him away from Trina’s lips. Ha. She looked like she was gonna kill him. And by the bar, a massive, lethal mountain lion had her front claws wrapped around a guy who was screaming bloody murder as she sank her teeth into him. He Changed into a giant gray wolf, but Trina didn’t back down a bit. The wolf bit into her and shook hard, but she slapped him with one powerful paw, and he went sprawling into a row of bar stools like she was bowling. Holy shit, this was awesome. Kade stood there looking from one shifter fight to another. He got blasted across the jaw by some short guy built like a tank, but he just laughed and spat blood onto the floor. Another wolf Changed, and inside of him, a snarl rattled his entire body. Uh oh.
He couldn’t Change. Couldn’t. No one in here would survive, Trina included. His wolf wasn’t okay.
Kade backed toward the door just as two mottled brown wolves charged him. The snapping of his own bones sounded, and he hunched against the pain in his hands as the Change began. No, no, no!
The wolves leapt, and he gritted his teeth as he was thrown backward into the door. The barrier became nothing but splinters exploding around them.
There were red and blue lights blinding him, and sirens that hurt his ears, but it wasn’t louder than the roaring of his animal in his head. Everything was overwhelming his senses. Everything hurt as he fought to slow the Change down. “Trina,” he choked out to the gorgeous, sandy-colored cougar stalking out of the bar toward him. Her ears were flattened, and her lips were pulled away from long, curved canines in a hiss as she zeroed in one of the wolves Kade was fighting.
She hadn’t seen his wolf yet though, and he didn’t want her to. Not ever. “Trina, run,” he choked out in the seconds before the monster tore out of him.
Pain burned through his neck where a cream-colored wolf, Darius, latched on and was shaking him. He didn’t know where the other two were now, nor did he care. One wolf at a time. One death at a time. Kade went to work, and he wouldn’t stop until there was only a pile of bodies left.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fire burned from stabbing pain at his ribs and hind quarters. Someone was shooting him with something…needles? Fire, fire…fire. He couldn’t breathe, cou
ldn’t think straight, and his body was going numb.
He fought as long as he could, put his teeth on that wolf as much as he could because he was determined to take him down with him…
The second he lost feeling in his paws, Kade hit the ground hard, his jaws still latched onto Darius’s throat. The Alpha wasn’t dying fast enough…but if Kade could just hold on…
But as the wolf drew a a long, ragged breath, Kade’s body seized…and he died first.
Chapter Four
Trina’s head was killing her. Must’ve been the tranquilizers that were giving her one gnarly hangover. She buried her face in her hands and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, but that didn’t help the stabbing pain behind her eyes. Not even a little.
Animal control had apparently been training the cops in Darby, but she was pretty sure they’d damn near overdosed Kade with those tranquilizers.
In the cell beside her, which was really a metal-barred cage underneath the precinct, lay a massive gray and white wolf. He was facing away from her and lying in a crimson puddle on the concrete floor of his cage. She checked to make sure he was breathing every few seconds. She wanted to kill whoever shot him with three tranqs. But then, maybe that’s what it took for a shifter like him. Kade had still damn near killed that other wolf, even drugged up. She’d never seen anything like him. He was the definition of power and violence. Of bloodlust. His silver eyes had gone empty the second after he’d told her to run.
Kade really was crazy.
Being a rogue did that to some animals, especially dominants.
And Kade was a beast. The wolf he’d been fighting was none other than Darius Wulfe, Alpha of the Wulfe Clan. And Kade had bested him. If he had wanted to take the Clan, he’d won that right tonight with almost no effort.
She’d never seen a monster like Kade, and that was saying something. Her New Darby Clan was allied with the Two Claws Clan, and they were bear shifters with very little control.
Another breath. Thank God.
“What happened?” Ethan Blackwood said in a raspy voice from the cell on the other side of her.
His long hair on top was mussed, and he was on hands and knees, his fists clenched on the concrete as he swayed. Beside him, a very naked Leah stretched and said, “Good morniiiiing,” like she was in a bed and breakfast instead of jail.
Another breath from Kade. Thank God.
“Morning,” she said to Leah, wincing as the volume of her own voice made her head hurt worse.
Leah stopped stroking Ethan’s full beard long enough to look over at Trina and smile. “Are we in prison?”
“We’re under the Darby Precinct in the shifter containment room—”
“Owooooooo,” came a muffled howl through the walls.
“Or,” she corrected herself, “one of the shifter containment rooms.” She frowned at the closed metal door on the other side of the room. Apparently, the Darby Police Department had been expanding their shifter retention area. How many of the Wulfe Clan had they arrested? She couldn’t remember in the chaos who got tranquilized. She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Kade until she’d blacked out.
“Babe!” Leah exclaimed, sitting up straight with a smile bright enough to light up the whole room. “I’m an official outlaw now! I’m a rebel! I have a rap sheet!”
Ethan drawled, “It’s equivalent to spending a night in the drunk tank but—”
“It counts! I’m bad to the bone now,” Leah murmured. “I need leather pants, and a tattoo.”
Ethan snorted and pulled her close, hugged her up tight. “Woman, what am I gonna do with you?”
“Reverse cowboy?”
Oh God, Trina’s head hurt even worse now. “Okay, well you two are gross,” Trina murmured, rubbing her forehead. “There is a pile of clothes over there.” She gestured to her own orange jumpsuit. “Not the most fashionable, but it’ll hide your nethers.”
“Why would we hide those?” Leah asked. “Being a nudist is the best part of being a shifter.”
Ethan was chuckling now. It was weird seeing such a stoic man look…happy. While in jail. Outlaws were some crazy motherfuckers.
Another breath. Thank God.
“You should probably move away from the bars,” Ethan warned her as he made his way to the neatly folded garments by his cell door.
Trina was leaning her face against the cold metal, watching Kade’s wolf. “Why?”
“Because he’s hunting you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he ain’t asleep anymore. Move!” Ethan yelled, his voice echoing through the dim room.
Trina gasped as Kade’s wolf flew into motion and charged her bars. She scooted out of the way just as his muzzle made it through and one of his canines left the faintest scratch on her arm.
Crab crawling backward, Trina didn’t stop until her shoulder blades hit the cell bars that connected her cage to Ethan and Leah’s. On the other side of the cage, Kade was going insane, eyes almost white and empty, gnashing his sharp teeth, his snarls filling the basement space, his dominance permeating every air molecule until it became hard to drag in a breath.
Panting in horror, she asked Ethan, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s a killer,” the new Alpha of the Blackwood Crow Clan answered simply.
“But…he kissed me,” she murmured, feeling slapped by the hatred in his eyes.
“Kade the man might have kissed you,” Leah said. “But the wolf doesn’t have feelings for anyone. He has one focus, and that’s it.”
“And what is that?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“To kill.” Leah’s voice echoed with sadness.
“Is he your maker?” Trina asked, turning to look at the silver-eyed girl. Her eye color matched Kade’s.
“Not on purpose,” Leah said with the ghost of a smile.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Ethan ordered him to Change me when I was hurt, but it wasn’t his wolf’s choice. He wanted to kill me instead. He tried, but Ethan kept him off me.” Leah inhaled deeply and brightened her smile. “But no one is perfect, and his wolf is just a quirk to deal with.”
A quirk? Trina was looking at quite possibly the most dangerous shifter in existence. Why? Because a man who was out of control of his demons couldn’t keep anyone safe. In the other cage, his wolf hadn’t settled down at all. She’d never seen one so big in all her life. He had thirty pounds on the biggest Wulfe Clan wolf. His fur was dark gray with light points, but he was matted with blood. His hackles were raised down his back like some wild boar ready to charge. He was creating a soundtrack of terror from his growling and wolfish promises of destruction. Of pain.
She stared down at the faint scratch from where his bite had barely missed her forearm. If these metal bars weren’t between them, would he stop himself from hurting her?
He glared at her with white-hot rage simmering in his eyes, his teeth bared. She’d fought the Wulfe Clan alongside him, but he still didn’t feel any loyalty to her. He would still kill her if given the chance.
Bad wolf.
Big. Bad. Wolf.
Chapter Five
The sound of footsteps was barely audible over the constant sound of Kade’s growling. It had been hours since she’d woken up down here, but there was still no word from the officers talking in a low murmur upstairs. Twice, one named Officer Donovan had come downstairs and gone straight into the room they were holding the Wulfe Clan, but he hadn’t even bothered to look over at their cages.
And Kade’s growling was only punctuated when he took a breath or snapped of his teeth if she moved even an inch.
Leah was a chatterbox. Trina liked her. She was funny and read like an open book. She practically hummed with happiness, and Ethan seemed to be feeding from his mate’s natural joy. Seeing a big, badass crow shifter smile so much was a little weird, but it was good.
They’d told her how their Clan had formed and talked a little about Kade, but it was hard to
focus with his attention pinpointed on her.
It made her sad.
Her animal had been so interested in him. She still was, just sitting inside her, watching him, always watching him…but she could never have him. No one could. He wasn’t a safe bet.
Officer Donavan came stomping down. “Ethan and Leah, you’re free to go.” He lowered his voice as he unlocked their cell and muttered, “Rike and the entire damn Red Dead Mayhem Clan bailed you out.”
“What about them,” Ethan asked, gesturing to Trina and Kade.
“The New Darby Clan is working on her release, but what do you suggest I do with that one?” Officer Donavan asked, jerking his head toward Kade. “I can’t just release him to the masses. He looks like he wants to kill you, and you’re his own damn people. We will release him when he Changes back.”
“That could take him days,” Leah said. “He isn’t like other shifters.”
“Clearly,” Donovan said, resting his hands on his hips. “He stays until we deem him fit to be in public again.” He frowned at the snarling wolf. “Just a heads up,” he said low, “there’s talk upstairs about him.”
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked.
“I mean look at him. Can you blame the people in this town for wanting him gone? Or locked up? This isn’t a threat. I’m actually rooting for you guys. This is me saying figure something out. Fix him.”
“He isn’t broken,” Ethan gritted out through clenched teeth. “He’s just different.”
“You and I both know that’s bullshit, man.”
“Ethan,” Leah whispered. “We can’t leave him like this.”
The look that passed between them was unreadable. But Ethan turned slowly to Kade and demanded in a booming voice, “Change back. Now.”
A whine interrupted the snarling, and then Kade just…broke. That was the only word that came to mind as Trina watched his body shatter inward, bones snapping, muscles stretching, his face twisting with pain just before he Changed back to his human skin. Curled in on himself, Kade laid there panting.