Damaged Pack Shifters: The Complete Paranormal Collection

by Leela Ash

  “He’s out cold,” Drake announced as he came up to Jack.

  “Drake, you’re not strong enough,” Joshua protested. “The poison you sucked out of Bo is still in your system.”

  “He just has a few heartbeats left Joshua. If I don’t absorb his injuries right now…”

  Drake shot a glance at Megan and the rest of his words remained unsaid but the meaning was clear. Jack could die.

  Drake placed both hands on either side of Jack’s head and shut his eyes. Drake grunted as the wound seeped out of Jack and into him. Jack’s skin healed over at once as though it had never been injured. As soon as the wound had been drained, Drake collapsed into a heap; or he would have if Derek and Luke hadn’t caught him up.

  Joshua sighed as he watched them carry Drake off to his room. He’d healed Bo and Jack but would need few hours of sleep to recover himself.

  He just hoped like hell the Archstones didn’t choose right now to attack when three out of his five sons were so vulnerable.

  He looked at Marissa. He knew Luke had feelings for her and she had feelings for Luke but for some reason, they were both being so mule-headed.

  Time to pull out the big guns.

  “Marissa? I’m worried about the fact that you’ve had two attacks in less than a week. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I strongly suggest you move in here for a few weeks, at least. Just until we figure out what the hell is going on with those Archstone warriors.”

  “No Joshua, I can’t —” she began.

  “Yes, you can and you will. What if Caily had been in the car with you instead of Jack?”

  That gave her pause and she nodded and meekly accepted his edict. “I need to use your library a lot right now anyway because I think we may have an alternative to help Jeanine adjust to her pregnancy. I just need to research some more.”

  Joshua beamed. “It’s decided then. You will move in tomorrow.”

  Luke was coming into the living room just as Joshua declared the words. He froze in his tracks and looked from her to Joshua in what could best be described as horror.

  Then he muttered, “Oh shit.”

  Marissa fought down the urge to sneer.

  14.

  “Fifteen humans died this morning of the same mysterious sickness,” Derek announced, as he flung the newspaper back onto the dining table.

  “Seven Archstone Shifters died last night from poisoned water supply. They are convinced it’s our doing,” Luke intoned sharing the information he had gotten using fairies. He had taken to employing fairies to spy on the Archstone Tribe because they were the only supernatural beings tiny enough to get in and out without being spotted. Plus, they hated witches almost as much as dragons did, so they hated the Archstones for consorting with a witch.

  All five brothers were gathered at the breakfast table with Kelly, Megan and Jeanine. Marissa was still closeted in the library searching out a remedy for Jeanine. She’d taken some time off from work, claiming that she couldn’t handle the hospital responsibilities now alongside the driving need to end the reign of the wicked queen. She probably needed to be at the hospital more right now but it was depressing.

  The Mayor had declared an epidemic for want of what else to do. The Center for Disease Control had been invited and several other health agencies including the WHO were closely monitoring the situation, worried that it could spread to neighboring states. Humans were falling mysteriously ill. The sickness was unlike anything she had ever seen. Their bodies sort of dissipated turning a sickly green while their tongues turned bright red. Their hair had turned silky like fur and some of them sported animal fur on their legs and hands. It was the most horrid sight: as though they had started to shift form and got stopped half-way.

  This must all be tied somehow to something Nabradia was doing presently because Luke had already cleaned up the Natura Poison so it couldn’t be that affecting humans.

  “We have to do something about Nabradia fast,” Drake intoned just as if he had read her mind. “I saw a look in her eyes that day at the cave that frankly scared me. I don’t know if Derek is right that she isn’t the original Nabradia, but either way, she is a dangerous woman and she must be stopped.”

  “I heard the Archstone’s farms were burned down a week or so ago and they blame us too. To be precise, they blame you, Luke,” Joshua said wearily.

  “Me? Why the hell would they blame me?”

  “Witnesses claim they saw you there, so you’re the prime suspect. I think the attacks on you and Marissa may have been retaliatory,” Joshua said.

  Marissa. The mention of her name reminded him of the gut-wrenching fear that had kept him in a serious sweat and woken him up in the middle of the night for the past three nights. He couldn’t stop wondering what would have happened if she had been alone. She could have died.

  Suddenly he wanted to see her again. He knew she was in their library and safe as houses, but he just needed to see her and reassure himself that she was all right.

  “I’ll take Marissa’s breakfast to her,” Luke announced rising to his feet.

  He saw everyone exchange silent looks and he knew they wouldn’t be disturbed even without asking. He needed to talk to Marissa. For the past three days he had been so shaken by his feelings at the thought of nearly losing her that he had started avoiding her. He needed to figure out where the hell his head was at and he needed to talk to her.

  The library door was ajar when he reached it and he entered before balancing the tray on one hand and shutting the door. The library seemed empty, he realized, looking around. Where was Marissa?

  He strode the length of the library looking for her and then he spied her on a sofa in the corner, lying on her side. Her feet were tucked beneath her like a little child’s and one hand was fisted beneath her cheek while she breathed deeply in sleep.

  “Marissa,” he called.

  She didn’t stir. He walked towards her and placed the tray on the side table. She looked so peaceful and sweet in her sleep, he thought. But she was a strong woman, a fighter and fierce. Jack had not been able to get over how she had held her own against the Archstone Shifters. His entire family loved her, just like he loved her.

  He stroked a strand of hair back from her forehead and bent to place a kiss on that spot.

  He loved her; he had never stopped, he thought. And maybe it was high time he forgave her. He already loved her daughter too. Caily was a breath of fresh air, he thought with a smile. She had moved into their home with her mom just three days ago and already she had wrapped them all around her little finger. She made people do her bidding with the sweetest smile and a further widening of her already wide eyes. She managed to wrangle an apology out of whoever scolded her for being naughty. And she had Tom following her around like a loyal puppy.

  Caily was very simply, a force of nature.

  Just like her mother, his subconscious told him.

  Marissa shifted under his hand and he smiled down at her. She looked like an angel with the pale ash blonde hair falling across her face and onto her shoulders like a golden halo.

  Something seemed to have communicated itself to her because she stirred awake, her long lashes drifting upwards as she focused lazily on his handsome face.

  “What’s going on?” she murmured.

  He couldn’t respond to save himself; he was lost in her beauty.

  “Luke?” she asked, a worried frown creeping into her gaze. “Are you all right?”

  He nodded and bent forward slowly, giving her a chance to object. She said nothing, just kept watching him with wide eyes. His mouth melded with hers and he kissed her deeply. His tongue stroked hers insistently, intimately, until she was holding him close and delving her hand into the hair at the nape of his neck.

  “You’re so sweet,” he murmured.

  Marissa sighed as his tongue stroked hers boldly, insistently and then dropped to her chest to kiss the soft bare skin exposed by the scooped neck of her camisole. His mouth drifted to kiss h
er shoulder and then he drifted back to kiss the top of her breasts. He nudged the neckline of her top lower and trailed his tongue to her breasts.

  “You’re so sweet,” she told him too.

  He pulled away, “Wait, what?”

  She laughed at that one. “Well you said it first.”

  He grumbled, “I’m a guy. I don’t wanna be sweet, I wanna be tough and macho.”

  It was too much, Marissa’s laughter tinkled as clear as church bells. Out in the corridor, Joshua’s eyes misted with happy tears. He had tried for so long to make Luke happy, but the boy seemed to have come home with some sort of chip on his shoulder. Nothing seemed to make him happy since he had returned. In fact, Joshua thought that sometimes Luke acted as though being a shifter were a curse.

  Marissa was good for him; she’d always been able to tease him out of his pique even as kids.

  He opened the door a fraction and peered in. His eyes widened when he saw Luke splayed over Marissa in a kiss.

  Joshua shut the door with a grin and held a hand over it to lock it magically so no one could open it unless he did. It wouldn’t do for anyone to go barging in there just yet; those two might be about to give him a grandkid. The thought made him chuckle and he rubbed his hands together. The one thing that was good about his having known Nabradia all these years, especially those periods when she pretended to be a friend, was that he had picked up a little magic from her.

  He strode off to his room, humming under his breath.

  In the library, Luke felt as though someone had looked in on them but when he looked at the door, it was as firmly shut as it had been.

  He returned to the tempting and tantalizing bit of flesh in front of him. Marissa’s skin was smooth and creamy white. Her delicate appearance made him want to sink his teeth into that bit of naked flesh and then lick the pain away, and then repeat the entire process until she was mindless with pleasure.

  The thought gave him pause. Savage tendencies were generally alien to him; in fact he was considered the laidback peacemaker of the Damaged Pack. But something about Marissa brought out that savage, primitive, possessive part of him.

  Marissa suddenly seemed impatient. Her hand tugged at the buckle of his belt and he obligingly unbuckled it and unzipped his pants. He returned to his exploration of her breasts.

  Marissa curved a hand around his penis and he groaned, as passion flared, hot and urgent.

  He wanted to make love to her now!

  She seemed to have the same idea because suddenly she shoved him off of herself, shifting him into a seating position on the sofa.

  “Marissa?” he whispered.

  She knelt before him eagerly stroking his dick with her hand. He moaned, shutting his eyes and leaning backwards. Marissa rose to her feet and leaned over him to place a kiss on his lips. Her faint feminine fragrance hit him; she smelled sweet and fruity.

  His blood was at a slow boil; this woman would be the death of him, he thought.

  His hands caressed her back as she slid down his body to kneel before him again. Her soft, warm hands encased his penis and she smiled up at him, showing a perfect row of small white teeth.

  “I was dreaming of making love with you,” she whispered. Then she bent her head over his penis and kissed the tip before giving it a slow circular lick as though it were a lollipop.

  “Fuck!” he groaned as he fisted a hand in her hair.

  Then she opened her mouth fully and took as much of his penis into her mouth as she could. He was so huge that she couldn’t swallow more than the bulbous head. Then she bent her head to the side and let her open mouth and tongue trail down the side to the base before trailing back up.

  Luke was almost exploding with pleasure. Then she curved both her hands around his penis and placed her mouth at the tip and began to bob her head and hands in slow rhythm up and down his hard, full length.

  Marissa’s motions made him wild with longing, longing to sheathe himself in her sweet narrow passage.

  “Marissa,” he groaned. “I want you. I want to fuck you, suck you and fuck you again.”

  She whimpered with yearning and then she rose to her feet, faced away from him and slowly sat right onto his penis, burying his entire length in her to the hilt.

  They both froze in place for a minute, absorbing the sweet sensation of that raw filling. Then she began to move up and down, up and down in a dizzying, consistent rhythm her breasts bouncing as she moved.

  Marissa bent her head forward as she quickened the tempo, gasping in enjoyment as she made love to him and drove them both out of their minds.

  Pleasure pooled between her legs and her up and down motions faltered as she froze in place, enjoying the anticipation of the pulsing pleasure at the very edge of the arching tension.

  Luke growled and fisted a hand in her hair, the motion effectively jerking her backwards and against him. He began to thrust upwards, faster and faster and faster until she was screaming aloud, heedless of whom might hear them.

  His hands shook as he held her in place for his thrusts and sweat poured down his face as he strove for control. He increased the tempo shoving higher, faster, until she was moaning and begging him for more dick.

  He gave it to her; faster, harder, faster, harder until they were both gasping, clenching, pulsing and breathing harshly with the force of their orgasms.

  When she drifted slowly back to earth, Luke had moved her a little to the side so he could reach her front and he was calmly sucking her breast. His lips and tongue were stoking a fresh fire deep inside of her and she hadn’t recovered from the last one.

  His hand entered between her legs again and began to stroke her clitoris. She moaned, “Luke, I just had an orgasm.”

  He lifted her a bit higher and laid her onto the sofa. He followed her down, lying fully on her with his legs between her spread legs.

  He sank into her and began to make love to her again.

  She moaned and curved her legs onto his hips. The motion sank him impossibly deeper still.

  Passion mounted, tender whispers were given into each other’s ears and then, for the second time, they both began to convulse in unison, cumming in wave after wave of crashing pleasure.

  Marissa was breathing heavily as though she had just run a marathon. Luke kissed her cheek, her nose, her forehead.

  “You’re so precious, Marissa. So precious to me,” he whispered.

  She stared at him. It wasn’t a declaration of love but it was as close as, dammit. Her heart suddenly began to thud in her chest and in a flash it seemed almost as though she had been catapulted eight years back when he had whispered those words to her and she had vomited her love for him in a torrent of unstoppable words.

  Anger flared without warning, burning brighter than the passion of few minutes ago. And all of a sudden she wanted him to hurt as much as he had hurt her.

  Meeting his gaze, deliberately and slowly, she enunciated the words so that there was no confusion, “Yeah, I saw just how precious I was eight years ago, Luke. Fuck ‘em and leave ‘em huh?”

  15.

  “You’re driving too fast,” Derek cautioned.

  Luke ground his teeth and eased his foot off the accelerator a little. Within seconds, Marissa’s words hammered at his brain again and he stepped harder on the accelerator.

  “Dammit Luke!” Derek growled.

  “Sorry,” Luke yelled. “I’m sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” he was slamming his fist on the steering wheel at this point. Derek and Bo exchanged glances.

  Bo was in the backseat leaning forward with an elbow on the backrest of both front seats.

  “Luke. We’re trying to get those herbs for Babe to prepare the concoction to help Jeanine. But if we die on the way, Jeanine will be in much bigger trouble.”

  At the mention of the Damaged Pack’s nickname for Marissa, Luke shut his eyes in exasperation. Babe! She was a babe. What had she meant by flinging those words in his face? And then she had just left him, flummoxed in the library.
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  His hands tightened now on the steering. “What the hell did she mean by that?” he growled, just as though Bo hadn’t spoken.

  Strained silence reigned in the car and then Bo asked quietly, “Are you talking about Babe? What’s the deal with you two?”

  “Yeah, you could barely make eye contact all day yesterday,” Derek chipped in studying his brother.

  Luke floored the accelerator again and Derek slapped his shoulder, “That’s it dude. Get out. I’ll drive before you kill us all.”

  It made sense. He was too angry to continue driving he supposed. He parked roughly onto the shoulder of the road and slammed out of the car. He turned around and took Derek’s place in the car while Derek took his. They were heading right out of Weirna. Marissa thought there were some herbs she could use to create some concoction for Jeanine.

  “Luke?” Derek prompted, as he began to drive.

  “She calls me a fuck ‘em and leave ‘em type. Me! Me! She took me for a goddamn ride eight years ago and I’m trying to find a way to forgive her and this is what I get?”

  Shocked silence fell over the entire car.

  Bo cleared his throat, “What do you mean eight years ago? We left Weirna fifteen years ago and as far as I know you never returned until now.”

  “Eight years and nine months ago really. She had gotten a medical internship deal at London and I was doing some training for my painting there,” Luke began.

  “Okay. And what happened?”

  “Well, we got together and started dating. Finally, we got intimate on the eve of her return to Weirna. I was feeling nostalgic, missing home. But we promised you we wouldn’t come home until you were ready Derek.”

  Derek nodded. He had been feeling torn up about accidentally killing the brother of his ex-girlfriend and his brothers had decided to go with him when he went on exile. Except they had all gone their different ways and only Bo had returned home a few months later and never left again.

  “Few months after she returned home, Marissa left me a voice message saying she was pregnant. I was scared, but at the same time I was elated. I tried to call her back but the connection was bad. I returned to Weirna that very day but I couldn’t find her, at first.”