The Hidden Truth (Shadow Claw Book 7)

by Sarah J. Stone

  His cock hardened.

  It tasted like blood, but the effect was that of an aphrodisiac.

  Luke threw the cloth to one side and breathed in and out, trying to control his raging erection. But his ears were roaring, and he felt the primal need to fuck somebody.

  He glanced back at Cassie and then closed his eyes.

  He was not the alpha because he could fight. He was the alpha because he could control his baser urges. He could fight this. He would fight this.

  “Where am I?”

  The confused question, followed by the fear in her voice, made him clench his teeth. “Who are you?” she demanded.

  Luke turned to look at her, aware that his golden eyes were wild. He ignored her questions and stalked towards her, with a growl. “Why don’t you tell me that? What are you?” he asked.

  He saw her relax at the question. She shot back, “And that’s your business how?”

  “Because this is my territory, and you are an unknown.” Luke gave her a lethal smile. “And, I need to decide whether to let you live or not.”

  Cassie sat up, and he watched in fascination as her brown eyes flickered. Was she wearing contacts? If she was concealing her real eye color, then she really wanted to blend in. Why would she want to blend in unless she was hiding from someone or something?

  He was not going to kill her, but if that scared her into revealing herself, then it achieved his objective

  However, he had underestimated his opponent. She smirked, her tone taunting. “Since when is a shifter afraid of a little witch? You must be very weak if you see me as a threat.”

  Cassie knew she had to play her cards right. The golden-eyed shifter who had been eyeing her all evening was no joke. She had been mistaken for a witch numerous times because of her amulet. It was safer to be confused for a witch than what she truly was. She could tell he was a shifter from his mannerisms and his eyes.

  Her father had those eyes.

  She swallowed and was glad that the concoction of herbs she ingested once a week masked her scent. It did not explain why this particular shifter singled her out. Her scent should have repelled him. Her eyes narrowed. She could not afford to be found out, especially by a shifter, so she would use every trick up her sleeve and keep him away from her.

  “You’re a witch?” Luke asked.

  He was not convinced. If she was one, shouldn’t she be casting some spell? He was not entirely certain what witches could do. The one he had met when he was a child had given him a small packet of herbs for good luck. Witches usually lived among the humans, away from the other paranormal beings. Shifters learned the useful skills humans had and blended with them when needed, but they did not mingle with them. Thus, their paths did not cross much. He could not tell by her scent whether she was lying or not. The headiness of her scent was such that it made it difficult to discern.

  Cassie just raised her brow. “Do you want me to turn you into a toad to prove my point?”

  ‘Could witches turn people into toads?’ She hoped he did not know the answer to that.

  His wary look relieved her. So, they were both illiterate when it came to witches. She had had one or two encounters but that had been through her mother.

  “So you’re a witch.”

  “Yes, so can I leave now? Or do you want to ask me something else?”

  Luke was not an idiot. He may not be able to tell whether Cassie was lying or not, but he could tell by her urgency that she was hiding something she did not want him to know about. Unfortunately for her, bear shifters were incredibly patient beings. He dragged a chair over and flipped it around, straddling it. “Explain your scent,” he said.

  The smile slid off Cassie’s face.

  If he could bear being near her then that meant that the special herbs she was consuming on a weekly basis were not affecting him like they should. But, if he still found something strange about her scent, she had no idea how to explain it. She could have said that she used some herbs to keep shifters and vampires away, but that was assuming her scent was repulsive to him. She had no idea what her scent did to him.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Cassie said, carefully.

  Luke raised his head and stood up aggressively, causing her eyes to widen. She scrambled to the back of the bed as he followed her until they were nose to nose. He could see her holding her breath, and it was quite amusing.

  However, he had not counted on his own reaction.

  The animal inside him quirked up in wary interest. It wanted to sniff her and poke its nose in places where it might end up getting him slapped. His beast had never showed so much interest in females before, which is why he wanted to know why this one stood out among the rest.

  Cassie was frozen. When the shifter stuck his face in hers, she felt a strange feeling inside her. She had spent most of her life trying to subdue her nature, and the herbs and the potions that she consumed usually helped suppress the creature that was a part of her. But right now, with this stranger sniffing at her neck in what seemed almost a playful manner, the animal inside stretched and looked on in curiosity.

  She jumped when Luke licked her quickly on her throat. The reaction of her animal was worse. It sat up, and it was too late to realize the sexual implication that the lick had had on her animal.

  Cassie put a hand on Luke’s chest to push him back, but she found she did not quite have the strength. She glared at his bent head when he licked her again on the same spot, slowly. Her eyes closed as she felt some of her strength dissipate.

  Luke felt the looseness in her limbs. He had not meant to lick her. But his bear wanted to be in control, and he was trying push it back and fight against the heady scent of his little captive. However, her reaction to his momentary loss of control shook him.

  He looked up at her face to say something, but her eyes were heavy lidded, and there was a dazed expression in them. The flush on her cheeks and the way her scent had become spicier told him all he needed to know about the situation.

  His own animal became agitated, and the human side of him struggled weakly. This was a losing battle.

  When he put his teeth on her neck in a gentle hold, he heard Cassie’s moan. The excitement of his animal was startling. He experimented with another quick lick, and he felt her fingers on his pants.

  Cassie feared the way her beast was shaking off the layers of control and chains under which it had been hidden. This could not happen. She had to pull back. There was something about him that had roused her animal from years of subjugation. Her body felt so good, and she wanted to give in to Luke.

  He wore a confused look on his face when he looked at her again, and she whined.

  His golden eyes turned molten, and she saw when the human in him gave way to the animal.

  His mouth crashed on hers, almost violently.

  His big hand cupped her face, and the shock of the sensations made her reel from the raw and primal impact. Cassie gasped into the kiss and felt her breasts swell and the place between her thighs quiver. There was nothing gentle about the way he moved his mouth on hers. He took what he wanted and demanded more. When she moaned, he nipped at her lower lip. She tentatively reached out with her tongue, and she felt him smirk and suck on it.

  His mouth travelled lower, and Cassie felt the excitement of her beast – the need. It was useless trying to restrain it any longer. If she could keep it from showing, then she could enjoy this moment. She rarely got the chance to get intimate with a partner of equal strength.

  She watched as his head went lower and lower, and then he jerked her up and slammed her against the wall. He gave her a cocky grin. “Easier access,” he said.

  Kicking her legs apart, he settled one leg between hers, and using his claws, he ripped off what remained of her damaged blouse. One thumb ran across her taut peak and when she dug her nails in his shoulders, he grinned. One large hand stroked over her jaw to her throat and remained there, a possessive hold.

  The next kiss was deeper
, hotter than the first one. It was a kind of claiming and Cassie tried to reach up and offer more – take more – but he refused to let her take control. Her fingers clutched at him and when her abdomen clenched, she realized she was riding his jean-clad thigh.

  The knowledge did not stop her, and as he lowered his mouth to bite the lush swell of her breast, he kept rubbing her with his thigh and she gasped as she pushed down. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips parted, as she concentrated on taking the pleasure that her body so desperately craved.

  Had she been herself, and not in a lust-induced haze, she might even have been embarrassed, humiliated. But, right now, there was nothing but need and from the fiercely intense look in his eyes, her partner was not thinking about social protocol as well. Instead, he ran a hand over her back, cupped her ass, and squeezed, making her gasp. Then that very hand slid down and shifted her into a more intimate position on his thigh.

  Her eyes were wide when that hidden muscle deliberately rubbed against her most intimate spot. He pulled away from her breast and watched her, a smug smile on his face as he brought her closer to the edge. Then she shattered with him watching.

  He did not give her time to come down from her high. Seeing her come apart in front of him made his animal roar and he ripped off her pants. Making quick work of his jeans, he grabbed her, put her on his cock, and thrust inside roughly.

  Cassie screamed.

  The power behind his thrusts did not falter. He tugged her legs around him and forced her back to the wall. He pulled out and entered again, making her sob in pleasure. He kept watching her and her eyes opened, clouded with confused pleasure.

  He smiled.

  It was not a cocky smirk or a satisfied grin.

  It was a genuine smile.

  When she threw her arms around his neck to find some stability, he grabbed her ass and his thrusts turned harder until Cassie exploded, and he followed.

  His animal relaxed. The contentment which filled him, made him kiss the side of her neck happily.

  As he drifted into an unusual slumber, he grinned sleepily. Kevin had been right. This was what he had needed.

  He did not see the glowing on his chest just above his heart. As the strange symbol glowed and then faded, Cassie’s unconscious form snuggled into him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

  ****

  It was not light yet when Luke woke up.

  Feeling this well rested was very unlike him. Since last year, he had not been able to truly sleep. Their entire den had been uprooted after the attack, and it had taken time to recover their stability again. Most of their fighting force had been killed in that unexpected attack. The children and elders had been moved immediately and most of them had survived.

  Their pack was not to be taken lightly though.

  Once they had settled in their new home and Luke had incorporated the modern human security systems along with their own patrols, he and his best lieutenants had paid the panthers back in kind. The bloodshed had been minimal, but they had damaged the panther pack at their core.

  There had been no sign of the panthers after that, but Luke had tightened the patrols, and every adolescent underwent training. They were quite good at it, and although Luke was not one for sitting and laughing with them, he provided a form of comfort and security to them. He would often be tracked down by his pack members, some wanting to tell him about their training progress, some of them wanting to enroll in modern IT classes, or similar courses, which they felt would benefit the pack. Some would just come up to get some physical contact from their alpha and leave.

  He was their glue and their center, and although he did not dislike it, he could not be their friend. He did not have that sense of bond in him. He could protect and he could nurture, but he felt a huge deficiency in his emotional state, and he did not know how to fix that.

  He sat up and watched the girl sleeping next to him.

  He could not believe he had stooped so low as to sleep with a witch. Rubbing his face, he groaned internally. He would never hear the end of this.

  He should leave now and send some younger packmate back to make sure that Cassie left.

  Putting on his clothes, he tossed out the ruined t-shirt and searched for something one of his people might have left behind. He found a 90s-band t-shirt and, scowling at the rock star whose tongue was hanging out in the printed image, he put it on. He laid out some clothes for Cassie as well. He was not that much of a bastard.

  Before he left, he gave another look at the sleeping woman and then left the apartment.

  ****

  Cassie waited until he left before opening her eyes. She had awoken the minute she had heard him moving about.

  Always on the run with her mother, she had become a light sleeper, her senses always attuned to her surroundings. She threw the back of her hand on her eyes, shuddering. What had she done?

  She felt the mating bond inside her quiver, and she surrounded it by her will of steel. No. The shifter could not realize what had happened.

  How could she not have noticed? Now that the bond was in place, she could tell from his strength and power that he was an alpha. She could not mate with an alpha. Her eyes darkened as she clenched the sheets to her chest. Her mother had suffered enough. She knew firsthand what alphas did to their kind.

  She knew he would not be back anytime soon, but she could not risk his coming back. She saw the clothes on the chair and was about to grab them, but hesitated. Glancing outside, she determined that it was dark enough for no one to be up at this hour. Opening the window, she glanced down.

  She had jumped from worse heights.

  Her landing was smooth and in the shelter of the dark alley. She shifted into a large bear and ran into the streets, her clothes in her mouth.

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  Chapter 1

  Life had become aimless.

  Samuel padded through the woods, disinterested in the small wildlife that moved about him. His bear form was agile, but right now he moved sluggishly. When had he become so bored with life?

  Humans contemplated eternity with fascination.

  They seemed to think that living with no end in sight was some sort of wondrous adventure. They could not be more disillusioned.

  Samuel the Warrior.

  Samuel the Wise.

  Samuel the Scholar.

  Names given to him that meant nothing now.

  When was the last time he had fought for a cause? When was the last time he had surrounded himself with books? Life had become so empty. A branch scraped against his side, and he ignored the slash of pain. Sure enough, the wound healed within a heartbeat.

  Death was a morbid subject, one with which he had become quite fascinated.

  Sometimes, he assumed his younger form and wandered around the humans who loved death. But they were naïve, mere children who discussed forces that were out of their intellectual depth. Sometimes, he sat amongst the elderly, and became one of them.

  Humans were lucky. Although, they feared death, it was the very incentive that led them to enjoy their life to the fullest. He had had children. He had seen them grow up and take mates of their own. And he had left when he had realized his time was near.

  The love of a woman was not unknown to him. But Clara was dead and had been gone for centuries.

  Sometimes, he tried to recall the sound of her voice when she had been angry at him, or her infectious laughter. But he failed. He couldn’t even remember what his youngest had looked like when he had last seen him.

  Of course, Roy was buried now.

  His children had lived full lives, and sometimes he went to check on his extended family. How long had it been since he had gone to the markers where his family was buried?
Emily, his eldest daughter, had been furious when he had decided to leave.

  Of course, he hadn’t known at that time that he would meet that damned vampire and outlive his entire family as a result.

  A grunt.

  He felt a twinge of pain when he thought of them, but four hundred years was a long time. He had met women; played with them for a while, but no one had ever caught his interest, not like Clara. Nobody was quite like his mate, so open with her emotions. He had spent half of his mortal life running after her, making sure she didn’t get herself killed with that honesty of hers. Clara had always been direct, no sugarcoating the truth.

  Samuel stared at a spot on the ground. How long had he been standing there, lost in his thoughts? The sun danced on the ground, playing hide and seek with the foliage, thin beams peeking out from behind the leaves. Maybe he should lie down here and take a nap?

  No, he didn’t quite like the shade. It was cold for early November. The fog that had settled in the woods was ominous to many a creature, but not to him.

  He had no home anymore.

  Changing his train of thought as quickly as it had come to him, he started moving. He should probably eat something as well. Since the sun was out, he should find a nice spot which would warm him up as he took a nap.

  A lingering scent caught his attention, and his bear recognized it as something new.

  Human, but not human.

  As he moved further, he caught traces of that earthy scent. It almost felt like the entire place had been scent-marked by a predator claiming its land. This place was new to him. He didn’t like to stay in one place for too long, so moving about gave him an activity to do.

  Samuel paused for a heartbeat and looked at the dense foliage ahead. Should he even bother?

  The scholar in him sat up, revealing some interest. This was a scent that he had never come across. Not a witch, not a shifter. Every species had an underlying scent that gave away their kind. This was different.

  He cast a look at the dying sunlight. It was going to become dark soon, and he had not bothered looking for a place to sleep. A cave would have been a suitable reprieve after so many nights of sleeping under the open sky.