by T. S. Joyce
Lynn dragged in a long, ragged breath, and her next words were like little grenades. “Tell him what you are.”
Oh no. Eden shook her head hard at her friend. “Lynn, don’t.”
“You don’t understand! Neither of you do. Love destroys everything. I can’t save the rest of the crew from it, but I can save you. Brody took everything! I gave him my heart and he squeezed it in his hand—” Lynn’s voice broke and her shoulders sagged with a sob. “He squeezed it in his hand until I was nothing at all. I’m nothing, and I don’t want to do this anymore. I want you to survive, and you can’t if you fall in love. No one can. Love is poison. Tell Barret what you are, or I will. Do it now. Tell him!”
Barret arched his hard gaze down to Eden, and something in his fiery eyes said he was starting to put it together. His chest was heaving as he took two slow steps back and faced her. He was moving too slow and graceful now, like a predator on the hunt. “You aren’t an owl, are you?”
“Barret,” Eden whispered, pleading. “I can explain.”
His eyebrows twitched up, and he looked dangerous, his face all shadowed by the blue moonlight. “I don’t want explanations. Show me.”
Inside, her falcon was rising up to the challenge. She wanted to show herself, but her animal didn’t understand. It was too soon.
“Eden,” he gritted out, his nostrils flaring with fury. “Show me.”
Her face crumpled as her body exploded with the Change. Pain. She’d had him. She’d had his heart for a blinding, beautiful second. Feathers, talons, the screech in her throat as she raked her claws onto his shoulder, right next to the claiming mark she’d given him because, damn it all, she wanted him to remember the moment they’d had…to remember he was hers and she was his.
Her feathers were wet and heavy, so she had to work to get airborne. She beat the air with her huge wings and turned as she hit the first good wind current because she wanted to see his face.
His expression broke her heart. His jaw was clenched in anger, his eyes blazing bright green. And then he did something awful. He bunched his muscles, and his panther blasted out of his skin. He went airborne too, leaping for her, reaching his powerful arms toward her, claws extended, murder on his face.
But he’s ours. Poor falcon, so confused in the second before his claw brushed the flight feathers of her left wing. He’d missed, but he’d tried. Tried to hurt her, tried to bring her down into the water.
Barret really was broken.
His damage was too big, and because of the animal she was, she wouldn’t be able to fix him. Eden realized this all in the moment when he tried to drag her beneath the waves with him.
Below her, he fell back down into the water with a massive splash while she climbed the currents higher and higher in desperation to put space between them. The ache in her chest that he’d made when he’d bitten her magnified until it felt like she’d swallowed a hot poker. The farther she flew away from him, the more she felt like she was dying. Maybe that’s what broken hearts felt like—dying. Maybe Lynn had been right. Maybe love did destroy everything.
Lynn was on the bank, screaming something about lions. “Kill the lions!” Kill the lions? She really was crazy. What lions?
Barret hit the shore running, sopping wet, water flying from his tail and feet as he bolted for the woods. And then there were two panthers running. Lynn was with him, but they weren’t headed back to the Red Havoc cabins. Where the fuck were they going?
Eden coasted over them, but it wasn’t until they neared the edge of Red Havoc territory that warning alarms blasted through her body. Barret and Lynn were hunting. Lions? Fuck!
She dove for Barret. Stop, please!
He turned at the last second as though he could feel her coming for him and swatted out a paw, hissed as he skidded through the dead leaves. He turned for her. Crap!
She desperately pummeled her wings against the air to lift out of his reach, but Barret was too fast. He used the trunk of a tree to get higher into the air as she aimed her body for the sky. Too close, too close! He bolted out onto a branch and leapt for her. Eden screeched in fear as she jerked backward. He missed her by an inch and landed hard on the ground. With a furious look up at her, he trotted after Lynn past the territory line.
Eden needed help. Those two panthers wouldn’t be pulled off a hunt, and Lynn was insane, encouraging him to go after lions. Lynn was starting a war and using Barret’s fury to fuel it.
Eden lifted above the canopy and flew as fast as she could toward the Red Havoc cabins.
She needed help.
She needed the Red Havoc Crew to stop this war.
She needed them to save Barret.
Chapter Ten
Ben was standing in the middle of the clearing in front of the houses, eyes on the woods in the direction of Barret and Lynn. He was still as stone, a frown marring his features, his eyes glowing gold in the halo of porch light he stood on the edge of.
Oh, the alpha had bad feelings, and he should. This was really, really bad. A war with lions could get the entire crew killed. Help, help, help!
She dove, and at the last minute spread her wings to slow herself like a parachute. She was coming in too fast though, and had to lift at the last second to miss Ben. Her Change had already started, so she hit the ground so hard it knocked her breath from her lungs.
Eden climbed up onto her hands and knees, gasping for air with the desperation to get a few words out. Fuck, she didn’t have time for this. She slammed her fists on the ground and forced air into herself. Behind her, Ben gave a shrill whistle. “Red Havoc!! Something’s wrong!”
“Help,” she forced out.
Ben knelt beside her. “Up. Get up and straighten out your diaphragm. Greyson! Jax! Anson!” He dragged her up on her feet as she gasped for air.
“Lynn. Barret. Lions.”
“They went after the lions?” Ben barked out, panic tainting his voice as the Red Havoc crew poured from their cabins at a sprint.
“Barret got mad at me. Lynn encouraged him to fight.” Gasp. “They’re past the territory line.”
“Shit,” Greyson muttered. “What’s our move, boss?”
Ben’s order was immediate and decisive. “You and Anson Change. Try to catch him. Now!”
Greyson and Anson crumpled inward immediately and landed on all fours. Greyson recovered first from the forced Change and took off, Anson following seconds later. Ben jammed a finger at Annalise. “We need She-Devil tonight.”
“But I can’t control her!”
“Good! Don’t fucking control her! We’ve got two panthers in lion territory. Let that demon out! Kaylee, we need your lioness, too. Jenny, stay here with the cubs.”
“Oh, yeah, leave me to worry about my whole goddamn crew being killed off!” Jenny yelled.
“Woman you can tear me a new one when I get back. And I swear I’m coming back to you, Jenny. We all are.” Ben’s gaze lingered a moment longer on his mate, and then he dragged a gasping Eden toward a jacked-up silver Dodge Ram. “Jax, you drive.”
Jaxon was shirtless, and his fiery green eyes looked like they belonged to the devil himself. He’d always been scary as a grizzly, but something had changed about his human side since he’d left Damon’s Mountains. He had a mate and a crew to protect now. Eden was glad in her choice to get the crew’s help. God, don’t let it be too late.
They piled into the truck, and Jaxon spun out of the clearing before they even had the doors all the way shut.
“You’re a falcon,” Ben said in a harsh tone from the passenger’s seat where he was holding onto the oh-shit bar. The truck was flying through the woods, skidding on tight curves, back end throwing muddy rooster tails and barely missing trees. “You’re a fucking falcon!” Ben said again.
“So?” Jaxon yelled, tossing his alpha a glare. “Back off her. She was always a falcon.”
“You don’t know the history, Gray Back.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ call me a Gray Back right now, B
en. I’m going to war for you. I’m crew.”
“Crew? No one fucking listens to me! I put down an order for Barret not to go after the lions. An order! He doesn’t listen, you don’t listen, your bear is ready to bleed everyone all the time, your mate rampages daily, Anson has told so many dick jokes I want to drown myself, and now we’ve got a fucking falcon starting wars with the Cold Mountain Pride. You were right, you little shit flake. We are the C-Team!”
“A,” Jaxon yelled, “I’m not little, and two, shits don’t flake. Or if yours do, you need to go to the poop-chute doctor ASAP—”
“Shut. Up. Jax,” Ben gritted out.
“Careful, Ben,” Annalise snarled from beside Eden. She smelled like fur, and her voice was low and gravelly.
“No Changing in here,” Ben demanded. “Not that anyone actually listens to my orders.”
Jax turned up the volume on the radio to a rap song at full blast, but Ben immediately turned it back down. “Do you know what the falcons did to Barret’s people?” he asked, twisting in the seat to glare at Eden. “What they did to his family? Of course he was gonna go off the rails!”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m not like them! I was raised by good people!”
“Amen,” Jax said.
“Stop it,” Ben growled at the driver. “You’re not helping.”
This was taking too long, and the arguing was riling up her falcon. Eden had her breath back now, so she rolled down the window and started climbing out.
“What are you doing?” Kaylee cried, reaching across Annalise to clutch at Eden’s legs.
“Let her go,” Jaxon muttered.
“No! Shifter healing can only do so much!” Kaylee yelled, gripping her ankle and pulling her back inside.
“Let me go!” Eden said. “I’ll Change before I hit the ground. I have to help. I have to buy Barret time for you to get to him.”
“Why?” Ben asked suddenly.
There was a moment of silence when Eden’s eyes burned with tears at the thought of admitting her feelings, because she knew deep in her heart Barret couldn’t feel the same way about her now. Not when he knew what she was. “Because I love him. He has to live or I won’t live.”
There was a loaded moment of silence, and then Ben said, “Let go of her leg, Kaylee. Eden, protect my cat. Protect Barret. Buy him time.”
“I will. I promise.” She hoped with all her heart she would be able to keep that promise. The car jerked hard, and she gripped the open window, gave Jax a quick glance. He looked back at her and nodded. “You’ve got the blood of a Crestfall warrior running through you, Eden, and the blood of Kellen. Let the War Bird out.”
With a cry for the pain, to urge her falcon out of her, Eden pushed out of the window and let the animal have her. In an instant, she was airborne, beating her wings toward the top of the canopy so she could find her mate.
Frantically she searched the ground through the breaks in the thick trees. Movement caught her eye thirty seconds into her search, and there were Greyson and Anson, tearing through the woods below. Eden pushed her wings, flew faster than she ever had, searching the ground desperately. There were lights in the woods ahead, and when she got close enough, she could see five big cabins. It was some sort of fancy log cabin resort. The clearing in front of the homes was lit up with towering baseball stadium lights, making it so bright it looked like daytime. Below, there was a pile of violence—two panthers and four fully mature male lions. The war had begun. There was a scream of pain. Lynn? Fuck.
Barret was protecting her, spinning, keeping the pile of big cats off Lynn, but he looked bad off. His fur was wet and matted. Eden tucked her wings and dove straight for them.
Don’t fall in love.
Fuck that. It was advice she couldn’t listen to. Love wasn’t something to be controlled. It was a storm to get wrapped up in, and all she could do was hang onto Barret and hope he kept her heart safe, like she would keep him safe. Love wasn’t a faucet. There was no turning it off when it was convenient.
Jax’s advice was better. Let the War Bird out.
With a screech to warn them of the hell that was coming for them, Eden stretched out her massive talons and dragged the lion off Barret’s back. The brute was too heavy to lift, but Eden didn’t let go until she’d cut him across the back with her razor talons. He roared in pain.
Run beast. I’m coming back for you.
She spun quick and dove again, sliced up the face of another lion with a black mane and scars all over his body. Over and over she dive-bombed them, barely missing claws to her body, twisting, spinning out of the way, using every bit of agility Mom had taught her in her training to protect herself from other falcons. Lynn was at the bottom of the pile, not moving anymore, and there was this moment when Eden latched onto a lion that was going after Lynn’s neck that she came face-to-face with Barret. His eyes were glowing green, locked on hers, and his face was snarled up with fury and pain. Time slowed as her claws dug into the lion’s neck, and for an instant she thought Barret would swat her from the air himself. He snarled his lips back at her and leapt, but he wasn’t angled right. He slammed into her sideways, and then there was pain—so much pain as she rolled, end over end, tucking her wings to try and save them from being broken. It wasn’t until she struggled up out of a long trench she’d made in the dirt that she realized what Barret had done. He’d put himself in front of a lion that had been going after her. He was in a brawl to the death with the monster cat. Spinning, growling, clawing, biting…defending her.
Barret wasn’t lost to her. His panther was protecting her, just like he had before.
Her body hurt. She’d hit a rock, and red was staining her breast feathers. Red and white, red and white. Too much, but Barret needed her. She could hear the battle cries of Red Havoc—the roar of a grizzly, the screams of panthers, the bellow of a lioness. Eden could see them charging into the fray, but Barret was brawling injured. Such a deep well of protectiveness overtook her. He was hers to protect for always. Fuck the pain. She pushed up into the air and dove for the lion, pulled at his hind quarters to distract him with pain. He spun and almost slapped her down to earth, but she twitched out of his reach at the last instant.
Buy him time.
Barret was back on him, teeth sunk deep in the lion’s shoulder.
The lion reached around and encircled Barret with his massive arms, claws raking her mate’s ribs.
Buy him time.
Eden went for the eyes. It was dangerous. It was risky. She was too close to teeth and front claws, but this was a move of sheer desperation as the battle raged in the background.
There was a moment when time stopped completely. It was as if she had taken a picture in her mind and had time to study it. Her body was rigid, talons aimed at the lion’s face, wings above her head, and Barret was in a deadly embrace with the lion. Beside her, Jaxon’s massive grizzly was leaping through the air, murder in his shining eyes, and She-Devil with her spots was mid-air, claws out, both of them aimed for the same lion.
Eden couldn’t stop her trajectory and she was about to be buried under a mountain of monsters.
Barret let off a terrifying scream and gave the lion his neck to reach out for her. All she could do was finish what she started because Barret was in danger of a kill bite. Damn the consequences, she had to do this. She could see the intention in that lion’s eyes as he went for Barret’s throat. He was in this to kill her mate.
Buy him time.
She latched onto the lion just as his teeth pierced Barret’s neck, and he jerked back in shock. Time sped up again, and everything happened in an instant. Barret pulled her to his chest and ducked, covering her with his body just as a great weight hit him, knocking him sideways and throwing them across the grass. He grunted with the force, but didn’t loosen his grip on her.
And then an eerie calm came over the clearing. Eden’s body hurt so bad. Every inch of her felt cut and scraped and bruised and broken. She didn’t want to look at herself, an
d even if she wanted to, Barret had her pinned and covered. So she dared her eyes open and watched the four lions fleeing into the woods, chased by the Red Havoc Crew. All but Greyson, who was human and standing over them, face canted, eyes gold, a worried set to his mouth as he stared down at Barret.
Barret opened his eyes slowly, and his pupils constricted to pinpoints as he focused on her. He hissed long and low, exposing his long, curved canines.
“Barret,” Greyson warned. “It’s just Eden. She’s good. She’s yours.” He was inching closer to her, which was terrifying because his careful posturing meant Greyson thought Barret might still hurt her.
Eden’s heart pounded against her breastbone as she laid there in the grip of the man she loved, not knowing whether he would nuzzle her face or snap her neck. He did neither. He backed away suddenly, belly dragging the ground as he screamed an ear-piercing sound for Greyson as he slunk past him. He stood and glanced between her and Greyson, back and forth, looking utterly confused, tail twitching in irritation, his ears laid back, blood soaking his slick, black coat and streaming from his belly to the grass, painting the earth in crimson.
Barret snarled up one side of his mouth and licked red from his lips, then meandered toward the woods and didn’t look back. He wasn’t even limping, as if he felt no pain at all.
Greyson twisted his torso and looked down at her. “Shit, Eden, you got all tore up.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Atta girl. I saw you. Your man is upright because you got to him fast enough. That’s how you do the damn thing.”
Eden heaved breath, still trying to catch it. She looked over at Lynn. Jaxon was back, human, kneeling over her. Lynn had Changed back too, and was lying on her side, facing Eden, staring at her with vacant eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was shivering. Claw marks crisscrossed her body, but she didn’t show any pain.
Ben and the others strode out of the tree line and gathered around them in a loose circle.
“Barret?” Ben asked.
“He’ll live,” Greyson murmured. “He’s running again.”