Storm's Fury

by Nya Rayne

  “You really did it? You turned him over to a group of fanatics? Are you out of your mind?” Stormy’s hand twisted in the tattered remains of Fury’s shirt. “What the hell kind of friend are you?”

  “He was supposed to escape within a twenty-four-hour period,” Terroar told her, his gaze apologetic before it was replaced by a cold hard glare. “And if he didn’t, the plan was for me to go in and get him.” He turned his attention back to Crul. “The night I planned to go in and retrieve him, I met with Dr. Marstow, the head of the Italian office, for the rest of my payment.”

  “You son of a bitch! How could you?” Stormy wanted to gouge out his eyes. “If Fury doesn’t eventually kill you, I promise, I will.”

  “Spoken like a true chosen.” Terroar looked down at her and smiled with apparent sincerity. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” His face grew serious again as he turned his attention back to Crul. “When I met with Dr. Marstow, I half expected him to tell me Fury had escaped, but instead he told me that over the centuries the Order had been functioning, Fury was one of the best specimens they’d received. That’s when I knew it was something I needed to look into more.”

  “Sixty-three days, you left him with those animals. Do you have any idea what he went through? We had no way of reaching him, Terroar. Why didn’t you come to me with this? I was your Alpha, damn it! Why the hell didn’t you come to me?” Crul growled, his large hand raking through his hair.

  “My plan was never for him to remain with them that long, but I needed to get them to trust me. Besides, I knew whatever they did to him, it wouldn’t kill him.” He bit down on his lower lip in thought. “I would never have allowed that to happen.”

  “So you let them torture him instead?” Crul took a step forward. “They had him chained up like a dog, you prick. They sliced into him, removed organs, for Anubis’s sake, just so they could watch them grow back. He was treated like a fucking lab rat. A…A…” Crul trailed off, his nostrils flaring, his body rigid.

  “I didn’t know any of that was going on until much later—that’s when I sent you the information on Fury’s location.”

  “What the hell did you think was going to happen? Did you think they were going to pat him on his head and send him on his damn way?” Crul spat. “Do you have any idea how many humans we had to kill to assure our secret didn’t get out? Do you even care?”

  “They deserved to die. All of them,” Terroar replied with an indifferent shrug.

  Stormy sat in stunned silence as she stared down at Fury’s face. As much as she tried to envision her unstoppable mate weak and broken, even as he lay with his head in her lap, bathed in his own blood, she couldn’t. He was strong, he was powerful, and he was hers.

  The tears came before she could stop them. “You bastard. How could you? He trusted you.”

  “It was a means to an end.” Terroar turned away from them, his shoulders slumping briefly before he squared them again. Beside her, Crul growled and hissed a few choice words in a language she wasn’t familiar with but had heard Fury use before.

  Terroar turned back to face them. “I am that and a lot of other things, Crul.” He ran his hand down his face. “What I did to Fury, and the events that followed, were shameful, but my actions will in the end serve to save our kind from an enemy we didn’t know we had.” He looked down at Fury again. “I know he and I will never be as we once were, and that’s something I’ll have to live with. But I can’t stand here and say I regret what I did. I regret how it was done, yes. But if I had it to do over again, I can’t say I wouldn’t.”

  “I should free you of your head,” Crul threatened.

  “Perhaps, but I need it just a little bit longer. View what’s on that memory drive first, and then tell me if what I did wasn’t worth it. Make sure you let him see it as well. Let him see why his blood was shed.” Terroar shook his head. “I’m not certain yet about where they’re getting most of their information, but they know a lot of the truth about us. Only in their stories, we’re the evil ones.”

  “Why wait two years to come to me?”

  “Better late than never,” Terroar said. “It’s not like I learned all of this in a few days. It took time and patience, which is something neither you nor Fury has any of. Besides, had I come to you, Fury would’ve fried me on sight. You know how he gets.” He looked away from Crul. “And they think I work for them.”

  Crul squared his shoulders, his nostrils flaring and brows drawing together. “Explain, before I lose what little patience I have left, Terroar.”

  “I make sure that none of our kind or our potential chosens fall into their hands, while gaining more information on who everyone is and what role they play within the organization. I have to get to the person at the top, and to do that, it’s best if I stay as far away from you all as possible.” Terroar pointed at the plastic device he’d given Crul. “On that, you’re going to find names and addresses for everyone in the Maine, Canadian, African, and Texas chapters, their title in the Order, and how long they’ve been a member. There’s also a few clips of some dissections they’ve performed on people they believed to be Anubi.”

  Crul growled. “Did you turn Anubi over to them? Did you watch these supposed dissections taking place and do nothing?”

  “Since I’ve been with them, the only people I’ve taken them when they request new specimens are rapists, child molesters, and murderers. That’s it. If by chance they happen upon a potential chosen mate, I make sure she’s kept safe and she’s out of there within as few days as possible. What’s recorded on that happened before I found out about them.”

  “Anubi?”

  Terroar didn’t look like he was going to answer him at first. “A few of them, but there are more potential mates than Anubi.”

  Crul glared at him, a snarl slipping free. “This Order you speak of, do you have any idea what their end goal is?”

  “I’m working that out, but it has something to do with our blood. When you watch the videos you’ll note they have one similarity. All of the bodies were slowly drained of blood.”

  “And you honestly expect me to believe you have no clue as to why?”

  “Honestly, I don’t give a shit what you believe or don’t believe,” Terroar retorted. “You think very little of me, I get that. But what I am, and will always be, is an Anubi, first and foremost. My kin come first, regardless of what they think of me.” He peered down at Fury and then back up at Crul.

  “This changes nothing. You know that, don’t you?”

  Terroar snorted. “I didn’t expect it to, but you’ve been made aware of the situation; do with the information as you see fit, Alpha.”

  He turned and started away, but stopped and looked down at Stormy. “Take care of him, will you? Tell him when he’s back at one hundred percent—if he needs it, I’ll be around for a rematch.” He turned his attention to Crul. “I’m leaving Luzivius in your keep. Take care of my flesh and blood; mold him as you would your son or your blood brother.”

  “Did Hatrid help you with any of this?” Crul asked.

  Terroar chuckled and turned back to him, his hands buried in the pockets of his slacks. “Nah, it was just perfect timing, and you know how easy it is to get Furiosus riled up.” He laughed and winked at Stormy before starting on his way again. “I’ll be seeing you.”

  Stormy scowled at him as he stepped into the tree line and vanished. “Obnoxious prick,” she hissed.

  Terroar’s laughter echoed around them and as quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving the hairs on the back of her neck raised and her spine straight as a flagpole.

  Crul picked Fury up and, as he pulled Stormy to her feet with his free hand, said, “Let’s get him home and get you some medical attention.”

  Stormy had a million questions, but just thinking about opening her mouth to ask one made her brain throb. She’d wait until Fury was better and then beat it out of him.

  Hopefully by then her head wouldn’t feel like the back end of
a school bus that had been too slow to move from the path of a speeding locomotive.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Four days. That’s how long it had been since Fury’s fight with the Yazaron and Terroar. It might as well have been an eternity and a day, but what could Stormy do?

  Crul had explained when the Yazaron bit into Fury it had also injected a poison into him that would—by itself—take two days for his system to push out. That, added to the loss of blood he had experienced during his fight with Terroar…Well, she should be grateful he was going to wake up at all.

  He didn’t say it like that, but it was what he meant.

  After she had cleaned Fury’s wounds and gotten her own looked at by Tempest, who turned out to be a physician, Stormy tried to make use of her free time by getting to know the lay of the house and the surrounding area, particularly the route to and from the country road.

  A warm breeze twisted the dark strands of her hair away from her face. She shifted the leash she had on Sodona to her left hand and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. Sodona cocked her head and glared back at her over ham hock shoulder.

  “Don’t look at me like that. You’re a dog, and dogs should be on a leash and walked daily.”

  Sodona snorted her disagreement and trudged on before her.

  This was something else Stormy had taken up doing—walking each of the dogs on a leash at some point during the day. Stormy couldn’t believe Fury allowed them to run wild like he did, but more importantly, she felt safer with one of the dogs within arm’s reach whenever she was away from the house. She also found it hard to believe she felt so at home with Tempest and Crul and all five of the abominations. For the first time since her mother died, she was at peace.

  The breeze blew again, swirling around her, lifting the hem of her shirt and tickling her belly. She stretched her arms high over her head and enjoyed the solitude of a long moment.

  “Are you trying to run away from me again?” The sound of Fury’s voice made her stomach flip not once, but twice as a hundred butterflies jumped to life. She spun and ran to him, covering the distance between them with three steps and a leap straight into his arms. Stormy locked her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips, and layered a million kisses across his face.

  She didn’t realize until Fury quietly shushed her, pulling her tight against his bare chest, that she was crying.

  “If you’re not careful, love, I’m going to start to believe you’re falling in love with me.”

  Stormy sniffled and kissed the corners of his mouth. “Keep dreaming, idiot,” she whispered as she closed in on his mouth, bit down gently on his lower lip, and tasted his tongue. She wasn’t falling—she’d already fallen, and she hadn’t a clue as to when exactly it happened.

  Fury broke the kiss by leaning away from her. He pushed stray strands of hair back from her face and inspected her from brow to chin and cheek to cheek. “When I woke and you weren’t there, I didn’t know what to think.”

  “I knew you’d find me.” Stormy unlocked her legs and dropped to the ground in front of him. “You promised, remember?” He pulled her close again as she stared up into his eyes. His face was a little drawn and his skin was pale, but he was still as gorgeous as ever. “The next time I tell you not to fight someone, you better listen to me or I swear I’ll kill you myself.”

  He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll never disobey you again.” The condescension in his tone was blatant.

  “Asshole,” she mumbled, returning the kiss. She sighed when they broke for air. “You need to eat.”

  He shot her a mischievous grin. “I have every intention of doing so the minute I get you home.” Stormy blushed and looked away as he continued his tone now serious. “My younger brother Hatrid—”

  “The one that was injured?”

  “Yeah, him. Crul told me he’s not answering any of their mental calls and seems to have just up and disappeared. When I heard, I reached out to him as well, but with the same results.”

  “He’s a grown man. He can do that, right? I mean there aren’t any Anubi laws against it, are there?”

  “If it were that simple, I wouldn’t be talking to you about this, but because he was so upset about you coming into the pack and after he and I fought over you, I just want you to stay close to the house until we know for sure what’s up with him.”

  Stormy laughed at the worry marring his brow. “He’s your brother, Fury. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “Love, he’s the one that dumped in that cave and he was the monster you saw within it.”

  “Wh-what? No.”

  “Yes. One of his powers is the power of illusion. In the wrong situation, he can be quite dangerous.” He sighed. “And when I slipped into hibernation, he helped you get away from me.”

  “No, I did that myself.”

  “You couldn’t have. There are spells all over this forest to keep humans out and the people we want in, in. There’s no way in hell you would’ve found your way out without his help,” Fury said, tucking another strand of hair behind her ear.

  She shook her head as she searched his face, looking for a sign that this was all some kind of joke. “No, Fury, I was there by myself. He couldn’t have…”

  “He was the mist at your feet, the wind about your body. When you took a wrong turn he was the one guiding you in the right direction, away from me.”

  Her head dipped as she tried to fight the truth in his voice and the memory of the breeze against her back that night. It had pushed her at times, ruffling the trees, stirring up the dead leaves and forcing her in the direction it wanted her to go in. She shook her head again and rested her forehead against Fury’s bare chest. “He helped me.”

  “Yes, but he wasn’t trying to be helpful, Ambrosia. So until we know where he stands in this pack and with you, you can’t wander off like this. Understand?”

  She nodded. “Okay, but only until—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said through a chuckle. Kissing her forehead, he whispered more to himself than to her, “I hope he hasn’t gone and done something stupid.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like anything that goes against the Anubi way. If he has, may Anubis have mercy on his soul.”

  Fury stepped back away from her, allowing her a chance to take in all of him. His unbuttoned jeans rode low on his hips and his chest was bare, as if when he woke he spared only a moment to pull them on before he came to hunt her down. The rays of sunlight filtering in through the trees bathed him in glow that melted her internal organs.

  There’s nothing I don’t love about him, she decided.

  Fury glanced down at Sodona and then back up at her. “Do I even want to know why there’s a leash on my dog?”

  Stormy sidled up beside him and slipped her hand in his. “Dogs have to be walked.” She released Sodona’s collar with the other hand, allowing the dog to run free.

  He chuckled and pulled her beneath his arm as he kissed the crown of her head. “Is that so? You know she’s capable of walking herself, don’t you?”

  “Have you ever heard of leash laws?”

  He chuckled again, and it warmed Stormy’s soul. “Do we really need to rehash the difference between Anubi laws and human laws?”

  Stormy didn’t answer him, but she did giggle. She then relayed to him everything that happened after he’d passed into hibernation after his fight with Terroar. Outside of a grunt here and there, he didn’t say much, but Stormy didn’t doubt he was probably talking to Crul via their link in order to gain better clarification on the things she didn’t fully understand.

  They walked in silence for a short while before Stormy turned to him. “I saw it—the ankh.”

  “Did you?”

  She wanted to look everywhere but at his knowing stare. “I don’t understand, Fury. You’re this amazing man who can do extraordinary things.” She shook her head as a deer pranced out of the underbrush to their left and dashed off to the ri
ght, disappearing once more. “What do you want from me?”

  He leaned down and captured her lips in a breathtaking kiss. “I want you.”

  “That’s not what I mean?”

  “You asked what I wanted from you, right? Well, I want you and I want this.” He placed his hand over her heart. “And if I have to, I’ll wait a lifetime for it.”

  “Fury?”

  “No, listen to me for a change. It’s because of you that I can feel my heart beating again. And it’s because of you that I can enjoy the sweet taste of oxygen as it fills my lungs, love. If you give me nothing else, you’ve already given me more than I could ever ask for.”

  Stormy could only stare up at him in wonderment. “So how does this work?” she asked as they started walking again.

  He slipped his hand in hers. “How does what work?”

  “This chosen thing. Now that I’ve accepted you, do I become like you? Are you supposed to drink my blood or something?”

  He frowned down at her. “You watch entirely too much television.”

  “And you should start.” Stormy smiled at him, and rested her head against his shoulder. Fury slipped his arm around her and pulled her into the safety of his embrace. “So, if there’s no blood drinking, what happens? I just am?”

  “It’s kind of already happened.”

  Stormy turned to face him, her hands going to her hips. “What are you talking about?”

  “When we met, you bound me to you. Do you remember that?”

  “Clearly, but the words I said seem like gibberish.” She did remember that night. The words had come back to her one night as she slept, snuggled up beside Fury. The entire night from the moment she saw him played like a dream, but when she woke up it didn’t go away. She remembered every second of it vividly. The horror, the fear, and the mystery of whom and what he was. She remembered it all.