Damnation: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 1)

by Anna Lowe

  The preacher-type sighed and looked at the burly man to his left. “What do you think, Brett?”

  Back door, Jess yelled to Janna in her thoughts. We make a run for it.

  Janna threw her a stubborn look.

  Four of them against two of us, Janna. Come on!

  The rogue named Brett showed a row of crooked, stained teeth. “I think they want to learn.” The men’s banter was breezy, like a couple of Midwesterners chatting about baseball or their crops. “Need to learn.”

  “Need to be taught their lesson,” a third grumbled from over by the door. A younger one, itching for a fight. Or worse than a fight, judging by the way his eyes traced Janna’s form-fitting shirt.

  Janna shot him a disdainful look but started inching toward the back doorway.

  “Yes,” Whyte sighed. “I think you’re right. Such a pity these nice girls have to learn the hard way.”

  At his nod, the one called Brett stepped forward, moving from shadow to light and into shadow again. For an instant, Jess saw the innocent teen he might once have been. Had he been a runaway from a pack ruled by a harsh alpha? Perhaps a young wolf who’d supported a power play and ended up on the losing side, then been cast out of his home pack? Either way, he was young, bitter, and easily molded to a cause. Any cause, as long as it came with acceptance and the illusion of power.

  Janna kept her tray high and backed toward Jess, who eyed the space around her. Maybe if she used a chair…

  “Now, we can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way.”

  Whyte made it sound so reasonable. But easy, Jess figured, was these rogues taking her and Janna off someplace to beat and murder in cold blood.

  “Maybe we can play a little first,” the one by the door added in a husky voice.

  Make that beat, rape, and then murder.

  “Of course,” Whyte told him, waving a dismissive hand. “You’ll get your chance. Each of you. If you can stand the thought of a wolf who’s whored herself to a bear.” His gaze turned to Jess, oozing disgust.

  She snarled out loud, barely keeping her wolf in check. “Says the man who’s whored himself to a sick cause. Says the murderer.”

  His gaze grew dark. “Educator. Savior. Protector of pure shifter blood.”

  Pure. She could have snorted. Pure was her bond to Simon that had held up for so long.

  The big one nodded gravely and started gushing the gospel he’d obviously heard over and over again. “So few shifters left on earth. The ancient bloodlines must be upheld.”

  “Bloodlines,” Jess said slowly, trying to buy Janna time to inch closer to the hallway leading to the back. “Sure.” He made it sound like shifters were royalty, when they were the last scrappy survivors of what had once been a widespread breed.

  “Ever heard of inbreeding, idiot?” Janna threw in.

  “We cannot let the bloodlines weaken.” He looked surprised when Jess didn’t agree. “We must protect our purity.”

  “Pure bullshit, if you ask me,” Janna muttered, closer to the hallway. Jess counted her every step, holding her breath. Soon Janna would be close enough to make a run for it, and Jess would follow right behind. “Protect your own purity all you want. Just don’t go messing with mine.”

  “Says the woman who reeks of…” The rogue sniffed in her direction then cocked a haughty eyebrow. “Human?”

  Jess stuck her jaw out and glared. “Go protect your so-called purity somewhere else. No one wants you here.”

  “Oh, but we want to be here. Just not for long.” The leader cast a glance out the front windows. That was one thing on the sisters’ side. It was broad daylight. Even a crazed rogue wouldn’t shift into wolf form in public, and he was just as unlikely to murder her here.

  Mike from the hardware store walked past the front windows and tipped his hat. “Hello, ladies!”

  Jess and Janna exchanged desperate glances. Did they dare call for help?

  The rogue nearest the door growled under his breath. Do it. Call him. I’ll kill him right before I kill you.

  Jess waved weakly to Mike and watched as he sauntered out of sight. Shifters had extraordinary strength; Mike would have to be a prizefighter to stand a chance against the rogues. She couldn’t get him involved.

  Janna shot her a look. A bear would come in handy right around now.

  God, where were the Voss brothers?

  Chapter Sixteen

  “If you’ll just step this way…” Victor Whyte motioned toward the front door and spoke in a sticky-sweet voice.

  Jess took a deep breath. Much as she’d like the bear brothers to show up now, she hadn’t spent the last few years waiting to be rescued like a damsel in distress. She wouldn’t start now.

  On three, we run for the back. Ready? she called into her sister’s mind. The rogues couldn’t hear her thoughts the way her sister could, and thank God for that.

  She put up her hands and did her best to look meek. “Okay, okay, we don’t want any trouble. Just leave our friends alone.”

  “Don’t worry,” the rogue clad in white said. “We won’t hurt a fly.”

  A lie, and she knew it, but she could pretend.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll show you ladies a good time,” the one by the door grinned, staring at Jessica’s chest.

  Right. A good time.

  One, she called to Janna.

  Her sister gave a tiny nod.

  Two…

  She edged out from behind the bar.

  Three!

  Jess grabbed for the nearest stool and hurled it at exactly the same moment that Janna frisbeed her tray into Whyte’s throat. Two surprised cries went out, and he staggered. Not for long but enough to give them a chance.

  They dashed down the hallway, into the dimmer back room, and raced for the rear door. It flew open in front of them, and they both screeched to a halt. An even bigger rogue stepped through the door, grinning ear to ear.

  “Going somewhere, ladies?”

  “Shit,” Janna yelped, backing away.

  Jess grabbed Janna and pulled her to the small bar in the back room just as the other rogues ran in from the front. She swiveled her head left, then right. Trapped.

  “Damn it,” Janna muttered. She grabbed a broom and brandished it like a lance.

  Jess took up a barstool and held it up in defense. “Get out of my saloon! Now!”

  Technically, it wasn’t her saloon, but it sure felt like it. Her new home. Her future. She wasn’t about to give it up without a fight.

  “Get them!” Whyte hissed to his men.

  We can do this, Janna said, sounding shaky as the others closed in.

  Jess nodded. We have to do this.

  “If only those idiots had killed you along with the rest,” Whyte snarled. “Those who dare soil shifter bloodlines shall all feel our wrath.”

  The other three closed in, and Janna stabbed the broomstick at the nearest rogue’s chest. He fell back with a grunt. “How’s that for feeling wrath, asshole?”

  Jess, meanwhile, swung the barstool at the rogue advancing toward her.

  “Purity. Purity…” Whyte started chanting in an eerie monotone.

  A third rogue muscled his way in, and Jess snarled. Her heart pounded, and her vision went red. The night the Blue Bloods killed her family, she hadn’t had the chance to fight back, but she did now. And she’d use it, damn it.

  The nearest rogue raised a hand to punch, and she batted it away with the stool. Once. Twice. And the third time, he caught the stool and wrenched it out of her hands.

  “Now what, she-wolf?” he grinned.

  She grabbed a whiskey bottle off the bar, smashed the end, and held up the jagged neck. “Try me. Just try…”

  The smile vanished from his face as he pulled back.

  “Idiot! Get them!” Whyte cried, though he shied away from the action himself. Which made it more like four rogues against two she-wolves rather than five on two. Odds she liked better, even if they were still slim.


  Then another rogue hurried through the front door and she cursed again.

  The two rogues they’d caught off guard had picked themselves up again, and all five advanced.

  “You had your chance to come peacefully,” the leader scolded as his men moved in.

  Jess clutched the bottle neck tightly and swung it in an arc. Okay, we’ll shift and fight our way out, she called to Janna. Ready? Speed was their best weapon — a swift shift and then escape. She had no clue if they could pull it off, but it seemed like their best chance.

  You bet I’m ready. These assholes stole our past, Janna grunted into her mind by way of a pep talk. We’ll show them how Black River wolves can fight.

  A fight to the death, and they both knew it.

  Jess gritted her teeth. These assholes want our future, too. She’d fight with the strength of two wolves, just on the basis of that.

  A shout sounded from the front room, followed by a crash, and everyone’s head turned.

  Janna flashed a triumphant grin. Yes! They’re finally here!

  By they, Janna surely meant the bears, but the man who came hurtling down the hallway a second later wasn’t Simon or Soren or even Kyle, the cop who’d stopped by earlier.

  “Cole?” Janna blurted, incredulous as the cowboy strode into sight, looking taller and more menacing than Jess had ever seen him. “Oh God, Cole!” Janna’s cry was a mixture of relief and terror, because even a rough-and-tumble cowboy like Cole wouldn’t stand a chance against the rogues.

  “Janna,” he said in a growly voice. He eyed the strangers with dark, dangerous eyes. “Uninvited company?”

  For a second, everyone froze. Then Cole clenched his fists and advanced on the nearest intruders. Angry. Livid. Positively lethal.

  “No, Cole…” Jess cried. The last thing they needed was to draw a human into a shifter fight.

  Too late. The rogues snarled but stayed in human form, and a split second later, chaos broke out.

  A rogue swung a fist, but Cole ducked, moving with uncanny speed and pure athletic grace. He straightened with an uppercut that threw the rogue back. Jess hurled a bottle at the rogue beside him. Janna swung the broom, using the distraction to catch another rogue off guard.

  “Get them!” Whyte shouted, skittering to one side.

  “Cole!” Janna yelled, slamming the broom into the nearest rogue’s groin.

  Jess grabbed another bottle and went for the closest enemy. “Janna, watch out!”

  Janna spun just in time to ward off the man going for her back, sending him Jessica’s way. She sliced his cheek open with the bottle and snarled.

  She and Janna kicked. They hurled chairs and insults. They fought dirty, desperately. With stools, bottles, and even a dustpan. And surprisingly, she, Janna, and Cole held the rogues for a minute or two.

  Then another two Blue Bloods ran in from the front, and the tide turned.

  “Oh!” Janna crashed to the floor when a rogue took her feet out with a kick.

  “Get up!” Jess yelled, flinging her bottle at the rogue who grabbed her sister’s hair. When she reached for another bottle, a big, thick hand clamped over her arm and twisted it, hard.

  Cole sent one rogue flying, but the new newcomers got him from behind and threw him across the room.

  “Cole!” Janna screamed as he smashed against the wall and crumpled to the floor.

  Whyte cackled. “Purity. Purity…”

  Jess spun and kneed her attacker in the groin while Janna butted her way free. But a moment later, the others charged in in overwhelming numbers. Jess clawed at the hands reaching, pulling, yanking at her, but it was a losing battle, and she knew it. Janna’s shouts grew more harried, too. More like prayers than battle cries.

  Christ, they’d need a miracle to get out of this now.

  The rogues fought with renewed vigor. They’d underestimated the she-wolves at first, but not any more. Which made their kicks harder, their punches more powerful.

  “Cole!” Janna yelped as the biggest rogue grabbed her by the throat.

  But Cole lay motionless where he’d fallen. Jess ducked too late to avoid another punch, and suddenly, all she could see were stars.

  “Finally,” the leader rogue hissed in the eerie silence that ensued. “Kill that one, then that one, then her.”

  Jess didn’t know who was one or her, but it was all the same in the end. She had to get up!

  But she couldn’t, because a booted foot pushed down on the back of her neck. Just a little pressure, and he’d snap it. And that kind of injury, even a quick-healing shifter couldn’t beat. She was strong, but not immortal.

  “No! No!” Janna kicked and cried, but she was fading fast.

  Get up! Fight! Survive! Every nerve in Jessica’s body screamed for her to try something — anything! — but she was powerless. Even shifting into wolf form wouldn’t help her get free.

  It was the end. God, just when she’d discovered a new reason for living, her life would be ripped away.

  “I told you,” the leader tut-tutted. “The hard way, or the easy way.”

  She closed her eyes, but they shot open a second later when a familiar voice growled from the hallway. “Hard way, asshole.”

  Simon?

  A furious roar shook the room. Part human, part bear.

  The room exploded into shouts. Grunts. Growls. The crushing weight lifted from her neck and flew away. Boots flashed by as she lay on the floor, gasping for breath.

  Get up. Get up…

  The feet in her field of vision scrambled this way and that, most of them heading for the back door. Jess rolled toward the bar and hauled herself up. Her arms shook. Her knees wobbled. Her breath came in desperate pants. The only sense she could rely on was smell, telling her Simon was back at last. Simon, looking strangely ragged, like he’d come right from some other fight. Looking positively furious and bent on revenge.

  She saw him blur past and send the biggest rogue flying out a window with an ear-splitting crash.

  A second shape rushed by. Soren, bent at the waist like a battering ram. He slammed into the nearest rogue and hurled him bodily out the open door.

  Jess swayed on her feet, clutching the bar.

  Behind her, a rogue screamed in agony, and a bone snapped.

  “Get. Out. Of. My. Saloon,” Simon roared, barely human.

  Soren hauled another rogue off Janna by the scruff of his neck and squeezed until the man turned red, then threw him against the wall like a rag doll.

  “Cole! Cole!” Janna crawled toward the fallen cowboy.

  A fierce wolf snarl came from the hallway, and Jess spotted the Twin Moon alpha, Ty Hawthorne. There wasn’t much for him to do by then but glare, but it was enough. Any rogue left standing ran out the door, fleeing for his life. Including Victor Whyte, who paused just long enough on the threshold to shake his fist. “We’ll be back,” he shouted, then ran. Jess shuddered as he yelled it again and again.

  “We’ll be back…”

  Soren gave brief chase, then stood looming at the door, daring the enemy to try again.

  One last rogue got to his feet and headed for Simon with hate in his eyes. “Impure. You are impure.”

  Jessica’s vision was still a bit shaky; all she saw was a blur. Human Simon, with huge bear claws, swiping at the man’s chest. A splash of blood, a choked cry. A dull thump.

  “Cole…” Janna cried, somewhere to her right.

  Jess swayed a second later, and just when she was sure she’d crumple, two thick arms circled her waist.

  “Got you,” Simon whispered, clutching her in his arms. “Got you.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, closed her eyes, and whispered back. “Got you, too.”

  One last rogue rolled to his feet and limped toward the shattered window to make his escape. Simon’s head popped up, but Jess tugged him back. “Let him go.”

  “He’ll be back, Jess.”

  She shrugged. “Let them try to keep a she-wolf from her mate.”

/>   Simon’s eyes went wide. “Mate? You mean it?”

  She kissed him, then buried her face in his neck, sniffing deeply. “Mine.” She nodded. “Mate.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later…

  The first beams of sunrise warmed Jessica’s cheek, and she turned away, snuggling closer to her mate.

  Simon snored lightly in some happy dream, but his arm tightened around her in automatic response. She smiled and stroked his arm. Night or day, awake or asleep, he seemed to know just where she was and just what she needed. It had been that way ever since they’d exchanged mating bites in one thrilling, passionate night not long after the fight.

  Not that they strayed far from each other’s sides these days, but still. Jess had the feeling Simon could pinpoint her anywhere on the continent, just as she could him.

  She watched him sleep, fascinated by a shifter that big, that ferocious, turned so gentle and calm. Serene, like the feeling that washed over her just from looking at him.

  God, how had she ever lived without her bear?

  She traced his eyebrow, barely touching. The pain of the past wasn’t gone, but it was buried under layers of joy as thick as her grandmother’s quilts. She could stay snuggled there all day.

  He took a deeper breath and woke, just like that. Another bear thing. Some days, he’d be bleary-eyed until close to noon. But if she touched him in just the right way…a switch went on in him, and there he’d be, wide awake, catching her hand with his.

  “Mmm,” he hummed, rubbing his chin along her jaw.

  She could have purred out loud. Oops. Wait. She did purr out loud.

  Simon laughed, because he could read her every thought these days unless she kept them carefully tucked away. Which she only did on rare occasions. If, for example, a girl wanted to keep secret what kind of muffins she’d slipped out of bed to bake for her bear that morning and how many, then yes, she needed to keep some secrets, too. All for his own good.