MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance)

by Claire Branson

  "Isn't she, pretty boy?"

  Their leader had a crooked nose, a break healed badly. He looked like a fighter. All of them were bulky with muscle where Devlin was lean and corded. She didn't really like his chances.

  "We'll do you a favor and save her for last though, if you like. That way you don't have to watch."

  Devlin flung himself forward with a noise that was definitely a snarl, and Erin spun and ran for the bedroom, locking the door behind her. It wasn't going to do Devlin much good, but some backup might. She opened the door of the nightstand and pulled out her pistol.

  It took a matter of moments to load. She’d practiced.

  She'd never actually shot a person before, and she thought with a sick twist of her stomach of the oath she had taken to do no harm, but these men weren't her patients. Devlin was. She could hear them rolling around in her living room, and hoped some of her neighbors had the sense to call the cops already. Gun loaded and held out in front of her, Erin pulled the chair away from the door and stepped out into the hall.

  She saw the two others before she saw Devlin and the leader. Devlin was fighting, and for the moment he was holding his own, but she knew that those ribs were disadvantage, and she heard him yelp as he was thrown into the back of the couch.

  "Back up," she said sharply, holding the gun out in front of her. "Now."

  Chapter Four

  For an instant, all four men went still.

  “Looks like your girlfriend’s got some brass ones,” the man with the broken nose said. He turned his head toward the one Devlin hadn’t spoken to, who was blond and scarred and wearing a dirty white t-shirt. “Take care of it.”

  Abruptly, movement started again.

  Devlin pushed off the couch and lunged, his hands closing around the leader’s throat, and the blond launched himself forward. Then, in his place, there was an enormous tawny-colored wolf. Erin stumbled backward a step, almost fumbling the gun.

  A wolf. Erin didn't really have much time to think about it, except a brief moment in which 'what the hell' crossed her mind several times. But he was still leaping, and she lifted the hand with the gun in it, pulled the trigger.

  The bullet hit him square in the shoulder and he fell back with a cry, hitting the ground on his side. The other man, Raff, snarled, and jumped, and in seconds he too was a wolf, but he was black, big and heavy. Erin pulled the trigger again, and then again when the first bullet didn't seem to slow him down. The second caught him in the leg and he stumbled. The leader snarled, but Devlin still had him by the throat, holding him down against her now bloodstained carpet. The landlord was going to love that. And if the neighbors hadn't called the police already, they were sure as hell going to when they heard the gunshots.

  Devlin slammed the leader's head back against the floor, hard enough that Erin heard a crack, and she winced. The other two were getting to their feet. Devlin sprang to his feet, and in a single long stride he was across the little space of the room and in the hall with her, grabbing her by the hand and hauling her toward her room.

  "Come on. Do you have a fire escape?"

  She nodded, but he seemed to see it, and he hastily pulled them both through the door and shut it behind them, locking it.

  "Okay. Come on. There's no time to grab anything. Do you have your car keys with you?"

  "Yes." They were in her pocket.

  "Good. Keep the gun. We'll come back here later, but right now we've got to get a move on, so shake it out."

  He was already pulling the window open, ushering her through, and Erin thought the world might be blurring around them. She couldn't quite catch up to what they were doing or the speed they were moving with.

  Down the fire escape they ran, feet clattering on metal, and Devlin sprang ahead to lift her down from the last step, grabbing her wrist again to pull her along to her car. Erin's feet were bare. She stumbled on the rough cement, and cried out when her foot came own on something sharp. Devlin snarled something that was probably a swear word, and gathered her up into his arms.

  "You shouldn't lift this much weight," she protested, even as her own arms went around his neck for stability. "You'll hurt yourself."

  "If I don't get us both out of here, it will be a lot worse than that," he shot back.

  As they came around the corner, she clicked the button on her keys and the car beeped its acceptance of the unlock command. Devlin slid her into the passenger seat, then ran around and got in on the other side.

  The car started easily, and he hit the gas, pulling out into traffic dangerously close to another car. The driver laid on the horn. Devlin ignored it, settling them in with the rest of the cars, though he swerved around some of the slower moving vehicles when he pulled onto the highway. Erin took a deep breath.

  "Explain," she ordered.

  He turned his head just enough to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

  "You guessed part of it," he said. "Before. I almost thought you knew."

  "You're telling me those guys were werewolves?"

  He nodded once, curt.

  "That's ridiculous."

  "You saw it with your own eyes," he answered. "And as you may have also guessed, I'm one too."

  She supposed that made sense. Werewolves fighting other werewolves. But why were they fighting?

  "What's their issue with you?"

  "They're a new pack in the area, and they seemed to think they had the right to encroach on my territory. I chased them out, and they didn't take it well. They waited until I was alone and ambushed me. That's what happened the night I was brought to the hospital. Now they're after me again, and unless I make it home before they catch me, I don't think I'm going to escape them a third time. My own pack will be waiting for me, but they didn't know where I was."

  "So you're, what, the leader of this pack?"

  "The Alpha?" Devlin grinned, though he didn't look at her. "Yeah. I am."

  Well that was just fantastic. She was stuck in a car with the leader of a werewolf pack who was currently being chased down by several other werewolves who apparently didn't care that she was just an innocent bystander.

  "So you're taking me to your home?"

  Devlin nodded. "I'm sorry about it, but that's the safest place for you to be right now."

  Great. Just great.

  Chapter Five

  They arrived at Devlin's house just as the sun was beginning to set. They'd long since turned from the highway onto winding back roads, though he'd still driven her poor little car as fast as it could go. What was she going to do about work? They were hours from home, and her shift started early. Then she caught sight of Devlin's home, and her eyes widened.

  The place was enormous. An old Victorian style, well kept, and, well, enormous. As they pulled into the driveway, several people rushed out to meet them, among them a dark-haired woman that Erin thought she knew.

  "Oh my god," she said as she stepped out of the car. "Jenna?"

  Blue eyes stared back at her.

  She knew she looked different than she had in high school. She'd cut her own ash blonde hair short, and she was currently barefoot and bleeding through the makeshift bandage she'd wrapped around her foot after she'd pulled the glass out. It thankfully hadn't severed anything important, and it would probably heal just fine on its own.

  "Erin," Jenna said, low and wondering. "I can't believe it. What are you doing here?"

  "It seems your Alpha dragged me into a situation he couldn't quite control."

  "Oh, no," Devlin said. "You dragged yourself into it. You were the one who insisted on bringing me home with you."

  That was, she supposed, true.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked Jenna.

  “That’s a long story.” Jenna lowered her eyes. “I guess I should apologize for disappearing.”

  “Was it because of this?”

  Jenna nodded.

  “You don’t have to. I mean, you tried to tell me. And I can imagine it was a pretty big se
cret to keep. If you had to leave, you had to leave.”

  A moment later, she found herself wrapped up in a tight hug.

  “I don’t deserve that,” Jenna said against her shoulder. “But thank you.”

  She pulled back.

  “Let’s get you into the house.”

  ----

  The house was as big inside as it had looked from the outside, and Erin stared around her as Jenna led her in through the foyer and up a set of stairs to a bedroom that looked out over the pine woods the house sat in.

  “You can stay here until it’s safe for you to go home,” she said, lingering uncertainly in the doorway. “We’ll get you anything you need.”

  “Thanks.” Erin sat down on the bed with a sigh. She looked up at Jenna. “Tell me something?”

  Jenna came to sit beside her, still seeming a little uncomfortable, but willing to answer her question. “Sure.”

  “Devlin. He’s…”

  Jenna’s eyebrows lifted. “You like him.”

  “What? No. He’s insufferable. I had to practically chain him to my couch to get him to sit still, even with his injuries. Speaking of…” Erin started to stand. “I should go make sure he’s okay.”

  Jenna put a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her back down.

  “We’ve got our own doctor. He’ll be okay for a few minutes without you. You’re tired and hurt. Sit down.”

  Erin realized she was shaking. She’d shot a man. Or, well, a werewolf. Two of them. The gun was still in her glove box.

  “You okay?”

  Erin turned to look at Jenna.

  “I think so,” she said, dropping her hands into her lap. “It’s been a crazy few days. Getting him in at the ER. Taking him home with me because he refused to stay in the hospital and passed out in my car. Getting attacked by werewolves…”

  “Developing a major crush on the mysterious hottie you let sleep on your couch even though he could have been an axe murderer?” Jenna suggested.

  It was like they had never spent even a minute apart. Erin gave Jenna a sidelong look.

  “How do you still know me so well?” she demanded.

  Jenna laughed. It was a contagious sound. Laughter bubbled up in Erin’s chest, and after a moment she let it go. It was maybe a little hysterical, but it was laughter, and it felt good.

  When they stopped laughing, Jenna smiled at her.

  "Why don't we get you some food, and then you can go see Devlin, okay?"

  That didn't sound like a bad plan. Erin would have liked to go right in to see him, but she was hungry, and maybe he was busy. She nodded. Jenna stood, and offered her a hand.

  "Oh," she said, looking down suddenly at Erin’s foot. "We should probably have that checked out too. Or at least bandaged properly."

  That was also definitely something they should do, so as much as she didn't want to waste any more time, Erin let herself be led to a room that had apparently been designated as the infirmary, where a man with sandy hair and grey-green eyes wrapped her foot in an actual bandage, seconding her opinion that nothing important had been damaged and she would be find in a day or two. Then Jenna took her to the kitchen.

  "We usually all eat in the dining room," she explained. "So you won't be bombarded with curious pack members in here."

  "How many people live here?"

  "On any given week, about ten. There are more of us on the full moon usually, and when there are area meets we get a lot of guests from other packs, but it’s a pretty quiet place, really. We're not a big pack. Devlin likes to keep it small enough to give everyone his attention when they need it."

  It was good leadership, Erin supposed. She collected some food with Jenna and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. As they polished off the soup and bread, Jenna told that she'd come here when she'd disappeared back in high school. Her parents hadn't been able to deal with her lycanthropy. They'd needed a safe place to drop her off, so they'd chosen to bring her to Devlin's pack, which they'd learned about by sheer luck.

  "I finished high school in the area, and then I just stayed. Devlin is a good leader. I could have ended up a lot worse places." She smiled. "He's a really good man, Er. And he's even single."

  "I would have thought you'd be all over that."

  Jenna grinned at her. "I might have," she confessed. "I did have a crush on him when I first came here. He wasn't the leader then. His dad was. But he was good too. Which is kind of beside the point. Point is, I did have a thing for Devlin once upon a time, but he wasn't really interested in me, and I found someone new to be interested in."

  "Oh?" Erin tipped her head to the side in question, giving Jenna an expectant look.

  "You met him," Jenna said. "He's our doctor."

  Erin grinned at her. "Well, then. I'll make sure to keep well away."

  "Devlin likes you too, you know. Or he wouldn't have brought you this far. He'd have dropped you off somewhere with some money, and let you go back home after a couple days. But he wanted to bring you here."

  Erin wasn't sure that was entirely true, but she didn't point that out.

  When they had finished eating, Jenna led her upstairs again, to a door at the end of the long hallway, and knocked lightly.

  "Come in," Devlin's voice called.

  Jenna opened the door and ushered Erin through, then stepped back and closed it behind herself.

  "Hey," Erin said quietly.

  Devlin looked up from some paperwork spread across the desk he was sitting in front of. He smiled.

  "Hey," he answered, just as soft. "How are you?"

  "Well they took care of my foot and I got some food, so I'm doing pretty well. You?"

  "Aching a bit. That fight wasn't really good for my ribs, but they should be back to normal soon. We heal pretty fast. Except injuries from silver, and another were's claws or teeth. Those take longer, for whatever reason. No one has really been able to explain it."

  "I'm not really here to talk about your healing ability, to be honest."

  His eyebrows lifted and he smiled. "No? I would have thought you'd be very interested."

  Erin laughed, but she shook her head.

  "Maybe another time," she said.

  He stood up from the desk and stepped toward her, stopping a little too close to be considered outside her personal space. This close, she had to tip her head back to look up at him, and she could almost feel the heat of his body. He ran warm, but there was none of the feverish heat there had been the first day, and his face wasn't flushed or clammy.

  "Are you okay?" he asked. "Honestly?"

  Erin ran a hand through her hair.

  "Honestly?" She sighed. "I've been better. I mean, I don't mind being here." I don't mind being with you. "But I ran out of my house with nothing."

  "We'll get your things back. They won't take them. They've no use for them. And we'll send you home as soon as it's safe. I promise."

  Erin dipped her head and nodded. Devlin's fingers curled under her chin, gently lifted it.

  "You're so quiet all of a sudden."

  "Yeah. Well." She smiled a little crookedly. "Someone helped me come to a realization."

  "Did they?"

  Erin looked up into his eyes, a hazel that almost seemed amber in the light pouring through the high narrow windows.

  "They did," she said, hardly above a whisper.

  He leaned down, slowly, and pressed his lips to hers.

  His mouth was warm and confident, one of his hands settling on the small of her back and drawing her in toward him. Erin wrapped her arms around his neck once more, though she was careful not to put too much weigh on his body. She didn't want to stress his ribs.

  The tip of his tongue traced the seam of her lips with careful attention, and Erin let them part under it, opened up as he deepened the kiss, the hand that had been on her chin curling around the nape of her neck and cradling her head.

  When they broke apart, they were both panting.

  “I wanted you from the moment
I first saw you, standing there looking at me like I was an absolute idiot,” Devlin said, lips curling into a smile.

  Erin laughed.

  “I’m not sure I can say the same,” she admitted. “Hot as you are, I don’t usually go for guys who are bleeding and unconscious. And as much as I wanted to kill you when you were staying on my couch, I didn’t want you to leave either.”

  His hands were still on her, holding her close, and he stole another kiss. If it had been meant to be quick, it wasn't. The kiss turned long and slow and lingering, and the hand on the small of her back slid down until it could curl around the back of her thigh. Erin broke the kiss with a gasp.

  “Moving a little fast, there, don’t you think?”

  “Am I?”

  He gathered her up into his arms despite her protests, and carried her over to the big four poster bed that sat in one corner of the room, covered with a deep blue duvet. He dropped her gently down onto the mattress, and Erin laid there looking up at him as he joined her, stretching out along her side.

  “I admit, I might not exactly be in shape for a marathon session of any kind, but I think I’m okay for a kiss or ten.”

  “Or ten.” Erin gave him a look that he answered with a decidedly smug grin. Okay. Yeah. She would be interested in a kiss or ten, and he knew it.

  His hand curled carefully into her hair, and he claimed her mouth again. This time she let herself touch him, keeping her hands gentle as they slid along his sides, exploring the line of his waist below the worst of the damage, the taper of his hip. His free arm slid beneath her, and his hand settled against her hip, just where the hem of her shirt had ridden up a bit and he could press his big warm palm to her skin. It felt good.

  A kiss or ten turned into a good deal more than ten, and Erin was beginning to wonder if there wasn’t a way to take it a little farther without stressing his ribs when he rolled them over so that he settled above her on his elbows, looking down at her. Loose locks of his hair curled around his temples and over his forehead. He was smiling.

  “Look at it this way,” he said, leaning down and brushing a kiss over her lips, her cheek, her forehead. “There are a lot of places you could be right now, but wouldn’t you rather be here?”