by Marian Tee
As for me, all I had to do was wait. Once Pasquale realized none of his hired assassins would be coming, he was likely to come to me and finish the job himself. Knowing Pasquale, he would engage me in small talk first, hoping to take me by surprise.
That was the plan, but it was an epic fail.
Pasquale was already knocking on my door when I came out of the shower. Right way, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t right that he was here too early. Running down the stairs, I grasped the doorknob as I checked the peephole.
Pasquale was smiling, and he wasn’t alone. He had a young boy with him, a bird shifter, and Pasquale had a gun pointed to his head.
I opened the door. “Pasquale—”
“Hello, my princess.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
I didn’t even think of pretending. “I’m not going to fight. Just let the boy go, and I swear, on my father’s honor, I will do whatever you ask me.”
He stepped forward, pulling the boy with him, and I moved aside to let them in.
“Close the door,” he said pleasantly, still holding the gun to the boy’s head. When I was done, he gestured to the couch. “Sit down, Calys.”
Again, I did as asked. The boy’s eyes were filled with fear, and my heart clenched for him. “It’s going to be okay—”
“Will it?” Pasquale snarled. “I’ve a mind to make you kill yourself right now—”
“If I do, will you let him go?”
He barked out a humorless laugh. “Always so damn heroic, even when everyone calls you The Human Monster. All these years, you’ve known how the panthers never thought of you as their own. So why do you damn keep trying to force yourself on them?”
“I’m not forcing myself on anyone—”
“Yes, you are!” he shouted. “You should have killed them all. If I had your powers, I would have killed them all!” Sheer fury had his hand shaking, and the boy started to cry as Pasquale’s gun knocked against his head.
Swallowing, I said, “Please, Pasquale. Please, anything—”
Someone knocked on the door, making all three of us freeze.
Pasquale’s eyes burned into mine, and I knew one wrong word from me and the boy was dead. Trying to keep my voice from trembling, I asked, “W-who is it?”
“It’s Juriaan.”
Oh my God, no.
“I really need to talk to you.”
“Get rid of him,” Pasquale hissed.
I nodded. “Just let me think of—”
“Calys, I really need to talk to you. It’s about Raoul.”
For some reason, the mention of my cousin’s name had Pasquale tense. “Get him to come in,” he bit out.
I shook my head furiously. “No, please, let me just make an excuse—”
Pasquale cocked the gun. “I won’t ask you again.”
Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Dark Half, if you can hear me now, you need to come out.
But a second passed and nothing happened. Forcing my limbs to move, I called out, “Just a sec.” I tried to think of a way to reverse the situation without risking any harm to the boy or Juriaan, but nothing came to me. Nothing.
Slowly, I opened the door.
“I’m sorry this is sudden, but I really have to talk to you about Raoul.”
I heard footsteps heading towards me. Behind me, Pasquale hissed, “Get him to come in.”
I forced a smile. “C-can we talk about this inside?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” There was something odd about his smile, but I was too anxious to figure out what it was. All I knew was that I now had two innocents relying on me to keep them safe. God, please help me, I prayed as I reluctantly pulled the door open.
I waited for Juriaan to come inside, but he did something else. Something that I never thought he’d do, something I would have never imagined possible.
Wings spread wide open, and then Juriaan was flying inside.
Behind me, Pasquale roared and the boy let out a scream of terror.
Chapter Six
ALEJANDRO
Alejandro had only been waiting in the dark for a few minutes when his guts told him something was wrong. Around him, his surroundings were quiet, but not too quiet. Birds still sang, frogs croaked, and the wind was whistling as it should.
It was normal, in other words¸ when it shouldn’t be.
For a second, he hesitated. If he left his post now and his hunch was wrong, he would be allowing assassins into Midway. It wasn’t just Calys who might be hurt. Other innocents might be harmed, too, local shifters who had welcomed them with open arms and human guests who were only guilty of being in the wrong place and time.
But if he was right?
Then it might mean Calys was going to fight for her life against Pasquale, and he might not be alone.
With a curse, he swung away and leapt back towards town, shifting into his Lyccan form as he did. His speed was greater when he was on all fours, and he reached the street leading to Calys’ rented cottage in record time.
Even from afar, Alejandro saw the door to her cottage was left open and his heartbeat tripled in fear. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
Howling in fury, Alejandro crashed through the window, using his sense of smell to find his target and take him by surprise. The sound of glass exploding was only Pasquale’s clue of his presence. By the time he turned around, Alejandro’s wolf form had already smashed into the house, his fangs latching onto the panther’s arm.
In the periphery of his vision, Alejandro saw something black – wings – followed by a strong gust of wind.
He wrestled Pasquale to the ground, but desperation lent the panther greater strength. Shoving Alejandro off, he aimed his gun at the wolf—
“Noooooo!”
Alejandro was already running straight to Pasquale, confident in his ability to dodge a bullet, when he heard Calys scream. The next thing he knew, Calys was there in front of him just before Pasquale fired his gun.
Blood splattered on his face as the bullet wheezed through her heart.
Calys’ blood—
A drop of it fell to his fangs.
He was tasting Calys’ blood—
Calys’ blood—
There was no fucking way, just no fucking way for a human to survive a bullet through her heart.
Alejandro snapped.
Terror exploded inside Pasquale when he saw Alejandro look at him with crazed fury. He let out a howl, the signal for his men to come to his aid.
But it was too late.
Pasquale Hernandez was already in pieces by the time his pack got there.
Soon, they, too, were in the same shape as their alpha’s heir, all their flesh ripped apart and their bones crushed into bits.
****
“Alejandro?”
“Alejandro?”
“Alejandro?”
He heard the voice but didn’t heed it, thinking it was only his imagination. Calys was dead. She was dead because he had been too late to save her.
“Alejandro, please wake up,” the voice that sounded like Calys whispered as a hand brushed gently against his fur.
Alejandro didn’t stir, didn’t bother shifting back into his human form. He smelled blood and knew it was because of him. He had killed so many tonight, but somehow it did not feel enough.
And then she whispered something in his ear.
Something so strange that it roused him from his self-pity.
Something so familiar, it reminded him of a scene where Peter Parker was unable to believe his beloved Gwen—
His eyes opened as he shifted into human form.
A blond, blue-eyed angel was gazing down at him, tears streaking down her face. She gasped upon seeing his eyes blink open. “Peter? I mean, Alejandro?”
God, it really was her.
But he cupped her face just to be sure. Half of him expected his hands to feel only air, but instead he held between his hands warm, supple flesh. She was real. She was alive.
Calys was alive.
Emotions, too many of them, too powerful and violent, swirled inside him, but he pushed them all away. Right now, only one thing mattered.
Calys was not dead.
He pulled at her hard, causing her to tumble down on him. Ignoring her gasp of surprise, he fisted her hair and angled her head. Calys’ lips parted just in time as his mouth crashed down on hers. He kissed her hard, his arm tightening around her soft, curvy body.
When he pulled his mouth away, he asked hoarsely, “Did you really just quote Spiderman to me when you thought I was dead?”
“Yes.” She laughed and cried as she answered him.
It wasn’t really a joking matter. That was fucking weird, but for now he would let that slide, relief still coursing through his body. Tucking her head under his chin, he let his gaze scan his surroundings. They were back in his room at one of Midway’s bed and breakfast, and outside the window he saw that it was still dark.
Even though he would rather spend the rest of the night enjoying Calys’ body, Alejandro forced himself to confront his memories. It gutted him, recalling the time he saw Calys being shot in front of his very eyes—
“How did you survive that, Calys?” he whispered.
She stirred in his arms at his question. He waited for her to lift her head to look at him, but instead she burrowed closer into him, as if fearing his reaction when he answered.
“I found out…I’m not actually human.”
He frowned. “Not human?”
She nodded against his chest. “I’m like…Juriaan.”
Suddenly, Alejandro remembered the dark shadow that flew past him inside the cottage. And wings. He thought he saw wings, and maybe he really had. “Was he the one with black wings?”
“Yes. I’m like him.” Finally, she lifted her head and when their eyes met, he saw how she had prepared herself for rejection. “I’m not a shifter, and as it turns out, I’m not human, either,” she whispered haltingly. “Do you mind?”
He looked at her.
Did he mind?
Maybe he should. But he didn’t. All he cared about was that she was alive.
Finally, he said, “What are you?”
“Juriaan didn’t tell me. When I was shot, I did feel like I was dying. I knew I was dying.” Her eyes took on a faraway look, and Alejandro tightened his arms around her, knowing she had lost herself in her memories.
“Juriaan flew me out of the cottage. It was so painful the whole time we were flying, and when we finally stopped and he had me lying on the ground, I thought that was it. I saw him taking out a knife…” She let out a teary laugh. “I thought he had gone insane, and I tried to fight him off but of course I was too weak from the loss of blood. He flipped me over and then he sliced my back twice. It hurt…more than being shot, it hurt so bad—”
Calys fell silent.
Alejandro, face white, demanded, “And then what?”
Something burst in the air.
Wings. Huge and sleek, its feathers the shade of silver, and they were connected to Calys’ back.
She whispered, “What do you think I am?”
Her gaze told him what she wanted to hear from him. But somehow he didn’t want to say it. If she was what they both thought it was, then that was bad. That might make her unreachable, untouchable – undeserving of someone like him, and Alejandro didn’t want that.
So he said, “A dove.”
She grimaced. “No, I told you, I’m not a shifter. I can’t shift. I tried, but I just can’t. And Juriaan tells me I’m not.” Calys gave him a hopeful smile. “Any other guess?”
He said slowly, “A witch with wings?”
Disappointment flickered on her face. “No, something else, maybe?”
“A leprechaun with feathers?” When Calys scowled, Alejandro knew she had caught on. He said musingly, “Maybe if not that, then…”
“A wolf-eating ogre?” she asked sweetly.
He choked back a laugh.
“Horrible wolf!” Calys beat his chest.
He choked again, this time out of pain, because her wings seemed to have made her stronger.
Calys immediately stopped. “Did I hurt you?”
He rubbed his chest. “What do you think?”
She said in a small voice, “I actually don’t know what to think. A messenger from the Panthera came here a while ago. They want to question me tomorrow.”
Alejandro smelled her fear, and he reacted to it instinctively. Rolling her under him, he told her fiercely, “I won’t let them do anything to you. You have nothing to fear, princess. You did nothing wrong. They were the first ones to attack—”
“But it will be my word against the Hernandez pack, and I’m not a panther.”
“What you are is the one telling the truth, and that’s all that should matter to them.” Unable to help it, he stroked her hair away from her face and placed a reassuring kiss on her forehead. It was a tender gesture, too tender for someone like him who had sworn never to love, but tonight – tonight was a night filled with exceptions.
He had almost lost her, and just remembering what it felt like to lose her was enough to have his chest constrict with the most agonizing pain. Tomorrow, he would figure it out. Tomorrow, he would find a way to protect himself so he would never experience that kind of pain again.
But tonight—
He held Calys’ face and rained kisses over it. “Don’t be afraid. You’re not supposed to be afraid of anything. You’re my little hellcat. My human monster.” His teasing words were rewarded by a smile, albeit fragile.
Alejandro traced her lips. “And I’m your Cavaliere. I will always protect you. Always.” When she didn’t say anything, only gazing at him with an odd look in her blue eyes, he asked, “Calys?”
She whispered, “I was thinking…you really sounded like a superhero—”
A cross between a laugh and a groan escaped him just before he kissed her again. It was crazy, but her earnest belief in him was such a huge damn turn-on, his cock never failing to turn hard as a rock every time she looked at him and talked to him like he really was a damn superhero. His little hellcat cracked him up, and it was too damn sexy for him to resist.
As Alejandro kissed her, he ran his hands against her back and only remembered she had wings when she shuddered at the way her feathers brushed against his fingers. He stroked them, softly, leisurely, and each time he did, she shuddered in her arms.
“Is it that sensitive?” he whispered against her lips.
“Y-yes…” But as soon as she said it, her wings were folding back, inch by inch, until they were once more a part of her skin.
He chuckled, knowing why she had done it. “Spoilsport.” But if she thought he wouldn’t be able to drive her crazy even without her wings, she was wrong. And she would know it soon enough.
Alejandro undressed her as his lips moved down her body, whisking her top off her head before nuzzling her neck. He cupped her breasts, loving its heavy weight, and bit her nipples before unclasping her bra. Tossing it to the floor, he went back to her nipple, sucking on it so hard it made Calys clutch his head with a whimper.
He moved further down, leaving a wet trail on her skin and pausing when he reached her pants.
The sudden lack of action had Calys blinking in bewilderment at him. “Alejandro?”
But still he waited.
She began to writhe, her lovely face showing how unbearable she found it to wait for his touch. “Alejandro, please.”
“Please what?” In the back of his mind, he knew he was being unfair. But he no longer cared. She had to be his. Tonight.
Her eyes were wide with frustration as they met his. “Please,” she begged again.
Holding her gaze captive, he slowly unbuttoned her pants and pulled it off. A shiver racked her body as he ran his hands down her bare legs. She shivered and shivered as he caressed her knees and brushed the inside of her thighs with his fingers.
When he bent his head down to lick
her satin-covered folds, her legs fell open involuntarily. Calys moaned his name, again and again, before becoming incoherent with pleasure as he licked her hard and practically ground his mouth against her sweet wet flesh.
When he lifted his head, she let out a whimper of protest. “Please.”
Again, he demanded, “Please what?”
Her dazed eyes found his. “Please,” she whispered. Writhing under him, her hips lifting off the bed in search of his mouth, she looked at him and begged, “Please…take me.”
They were exactly the words he needed to hear.
With a growl of pleasure, he went back up to settle his body fully on top of hers. Both of them reacted strongly to the feel of their bare skin against each other. She gasped, her eyes becoming dilated with pleasure, her hands clutching his shoulders hard. Alejandro was caught in the same maelstrom of sensual bliss, his body becoming painfully taut with arousal.
Kissing her, he worked determinedly on making Calys lose her mind in pleasure. It was essential, the only way to ease her pain once he took her virginity. He kneaded her breasts, and when they became heavier with her need for him, that was when he bent down to take a sweet nipple into his mouth, one at a time. He sucked them lovingly, passionately, and when she started to writhe again, he nipped the pointed flesh between his teeth with just the right amount of strength – just enough to make her gasp his name.
Mouth still latched to her breast, he held his cock and started rubbing it against her flesh, wanting her so wet that she would start dripping with it. His cue came when her legs moved restlessly against his. Reaching down, he applied pressure to the tiny secret nub of flesh that was the core of her pleasure. One, two, three hard flicks and her eyes flew wide open, her lips parting as her body shook with her orgasm.
The look on her face was unbelievably sexy and he groaned, trying to control the demands of his body, knowing he had to give Calys more time. But it seemed Calys herself had other thoughts. She suddenly pulled him down, her arms wrapping around his neck. She whispered into his ear, “Please don’t stop this time—”
His control broke, the urge to possess her completely taking over, leaving him mindless except for one goal. To make her his.