by Jenika Snow
All he wanted to do was get Ford and Bram back to his truck and crawl in bed with his female. It took a moment, but slowly the human’s anger dissipated, and he took a step back.
“All right, but after that, your boy needs to get his ass outta here.”
Charlie nodded, because he intended to do just that.
He and Bram carried Ford out, who didn’t know when to keep his damn mouth shut and yelled out every curse word in the English language. At least with Charlie and Bram’s manpower they were able to drag him to the truck.
“I’m going to buy them some drinks, and then you can tell me what in the hell is going on,” Charlie murmured, and Bram tilted his chin in acknowledgment. He headed back inside, bought the house a round of shots and beers as an apology, and went back outside to Bram and Ford. He made it one step before a deep voice to his right came from the shadows.
“You fucking pussy-ass bitch.” Instantly, he recognized that voice. The hair on Charlie’s arms stood up, and his muscles warmed and grew as his blood started pumping fast and hard through his body.
Frank stepped out of the shadows, followed by three more scuzzy and intoxicated-looking humans. The jackal had a bottle of tequila in his hand and a sneer distorting his upper lip.
“I let you have that bitch. If it weren’t for me stepping back and letting her go, Ary would still be mine, and I’d own every inch of her.”
Ary wasn’t around to stop him this time. Bram and Ford were around the building where he had parked his truck, and he knew both of them were too drunk for their senses to pick up the shit that was just about to go down. That was fine by Charlie, because he wanted to take Frank down, and if these crackhead humans wanted some of his bear too, then so fucking be it.
Cracking his knuckles and rolling his head on his neck, Charlie grinned at Frank and the humans. He allowed his bear to flash to the surface, letting them see exactly what they were about to be dealing with.
“Do you know what you’re messing with?” Any sane shifter fought with an opponent of their own size. A coyote didn’t fight a lion, and a jackal sure as hell didn’t fight a bear. Even in human form, he was at least double the size of this asshole who kept advancing on him.
His goons behind him seemed more hesitant. They may not have the keen senses a shifter did, but they could tell they didn’t want any part of this.
“Man, I didn’t sign up to fight no bear,” one of the greasy humans muttered.
“Yeah, man, you never said anything about us fighting an animal.” The humans took a step back in sync, and Frank growled in frustration.
“Y’all are a bunch of pansy-ass pussies.”
“Hey, we didn’t sign up for this shit. You just told us you needed a few extra hands to get rid of the asshole who’s been hitting on your girl.”
His girl? Oh no fucking way was this jackal motherfucker going to put any claim on his Ary. Charlie growled low in his throat, which had the three humans turning and booking it in the other direction. Good, because this fight was between the two of them.
A bigger man would have walked away, but all Charlie could see was Frank’s hands on Ary and the foul, disgusting things he said to her earlier in the day.
No, this motherfucker wasn’t going to get away with what he did, and he would be put in his place. When this was all said and done, Frank the jackal would never come near Ary again, not if he wanted his balls still intact.
Frank laughed, guzzled the last of his liquor, and tossed the bottle against the side of the building. It shattered, and the noise echoed off the high walls. “I know what you are, but I don’t think you know who I am.” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’ve taken on bears before, and you ain’t no different from them pansy-ass motherfuckers.” His voice was slurred, and it was clear he was drunk, but intoxication wasn’t going to save him now.
In a move faster than Charlie thought possible, given the jackal’s inebriated state, Frank swung out and connected with Charlie’s gut. The wind was momentarily knocked out of him, but he straightened to his full height, felt the shift take over, and grinned at the little fucker. Frank shifted as well. The sound of their bones breaking and realigning and their clothes tearing away pierced the night.
There they stood, jackal to bear, and all Charlie wanted to do was rip into him until blood coated his fur and there was nothing left. Frank made the first move, his actions sloppy but fast. The rage in him was on the verge of insane and manic.
A searing pain lanced through Charlie’s side, and he roared. He swung his paw out, connected with Frank’s muzzle, and sent him flying against the brick building.
For a few seconds, Frank was down, but because the asshole was crazier than shit, he got back on all fours and charged at him again. Charlie was done with this. He charged for Frank and met him in a head-on collision. He was three times the size and weight of the jackal, and with rage filling every part of his body because this dick still wanted Ary, he knew there was no chance he’d lose.
Frank might have gotten in a few shots, but that ended now. Tackling Frank to the ground, Charlie used one big paw to hold his snapping head down and brought his muzzle close to his. Roaring out as powerfully as he could, he smelled the rotting stench of Frank’s fear finally break through the surface. Maybe he was finally realizing this wasn’t a fight he was going to win.
He struggled beneath Charlie for a few more minutes, and Charlie thought how easy it would be just to clamp his jaw on Frank’s neck and snap the thin bone.
Finally, the fight left the jackal, and Charlie shifted back into his human form. It certainly hadn’t been the longest or most vicious of fights he’d been in, but it had been the most important.
“I’m only going to say this once, so your crazy ass better be paying attention. February is mine and will always be mine. I’ll protect her until I can’t breathe any longer, and if I ever see you near her again or hear you’ve been talking about her, I’ll hunt you down and finish this. I will not offer you another warning. Do you understand?” His voice was a low rumble of repressed anger. It took Frank a few seconds, but when he finally realized Charlie spoke the truth, he nodded once.
Charlie stood and, without a backward glance, headed to his truck. He saw Bram leaning against the side with a cigarette between his lips.
“I was wondering if you were going to just beat his ass already or if you just planned on playing with him for fun,” Bram said. “Was gonna join in the fun when I saw what the hell was going down, but I thought you needed that fight all to yourself.”
Charlie flipped Bram off and opened the back passenger door to grab an extra set of clothes he always kept. Ford was passed out cold and taking up the entire back seat.
“You taking your truck back or are you too drunk to drive?”
“Nah, man, I had just as many drinks as Ford, but when I knew it was time to call it a night, he just kept going. Just bring me back in the morning to get it.”
Once dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, Charlie climbed in and waited for Bram to do the same. Once they were on the road and heading back to his place, Charlie decided now was as good a time as any to find out what the hell was up, but before he could talk, Bram filled him in.
“Mina called Ford right before you guys showed up. Told him she is back in town for a wedding.” It wasn’t as bad as Charlie thought. Yeah, Mina had been with Ford for a while. And after they broke it off, his brother had just been… different.
“Okay, well, why in the hell would she call him and tell him she’s in town? She trying to hurt him all over again? It’s been ten fucking years.”
“Charlie, she called to tell him she’s in town for her wedding. She’s getting married to some doctor or some shit like that, and using her folks’ estate to have it on. She wanted him to hear it from her first.”
Charlie looked over at his brother and felt his heart breaking for Ford all over again. “Shit. No wonder he was all kinds of fucked up.” He should have just let Ford kick someone�
�s ass. At least that way he would have gotten some of his anguish out.
Charlie adjusted his mirror so he could see Ford lying on the backseat. Damn, looks like there are going to be plenty more of these nights in the near future.
Charlie took his brothers back to his place, since he’d have to drive them to get Bram’s truck in the morning. After getting Ford settled in the guestroom and seeing Bram to the other spare room, Charlie went to the master suite. He needed a shower to wash the fight off of him. He was surprised to see Ary up in bed with the sheets drawn up to her chin. The sight had him chuckling.
“Baby, you look so damn worried it’s cute.” She eyed him, and he knew the moment she realized he was in different clothes. He held his hand up right when she was about to talk. “I plan on telling you everything, kitten. Let me just take a shower first, yeah?” She swallowed and then nodded.
He took the quickest shower imaginable and stepped back into the room with a towel slung low on his hips. Ary was sitting on the edge of the bed and staring right at him.
Exhaling and running his hand over the damp hair at the nape of his neck, he sat down beside her. He supposed he’d start with Ford’s issues then move on to Frank.
“I had to get Ford because his ex-girlfriend is in town and told him she’s getting married.” At her confused look, he lifted his hand and smoothed his finger between her eyes. “He was with Mina for a while, but then they split up, and Ford just got… well, darker, I guess.” He exhaled. “So he got drunk tonight at Slater’s, and I had to smooth things over with the human he was trying to fight. He and Bram are staying overnight, so I can take them back to get Bram’s truck in the morning.”
“Oh God. Is everyone okay?” Bless her heart for thinking of everyone else.
“Yeah, baby, they’re good.” Shit, how did he now bring up Frank? He didn’t want to upset her further and knew bringing up that prick’s name would do that. Before he could bring it up, she told him what she already knew.
“You saw Frank at the bar, didn’t you? Fought him too?” At his nod, she looked away and swallowed again. “I smelled him all over you, his blood too. You’re okay, though?” He smiled when she started running her hands up and down his chest.
“Yeah, baby.”
“Did you kill him?” Her voice cracked slightly. There was pure worry in her eyes.
He shook his head slowly. “No, but he won’t be bothering you again.” She turned her head and looked at the ground.
“I’m not happy you got into a fight with him, but I don’t doubt he probably instigated the whole thing. Frank was always good at pissing people off.” She sighed heavily and turned to look at him. “I’m glad you’re okay and you didn’t kill him, even though Frank is worthless. But please promise me that we will put him behind us. I don’t want him coming between us.”
Turning her so they were facing each other, he stared into her eyes. “February Felina, I would never let anything hurt you. Ever.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart. “Do you feel that?” At her nod, he continued. “My heart beat before you came along, but it was for the sole purpose of living. Then you walked into my life, as unconventional as our meeting was, and it beat for a totally different reason. You are why it pumps blood through my body, and you are what makes it keep going.” Tears started to fall down her cheeks, and he leaned down and kissed away the salty remnants of her emotions. “I love you to the end of the earth and back.”
She smiled at his statement. “I love you too.” He took her mouth and tasted the flavor of her tears and everything that made up his mate. She was his, he was hers, and there was nothing that would ever change that.
His mark may have disappeared from her flesh, but his scent poured off her, and a low growl of possessiveness left him at that knowledge. From this point forward, it was only the future they had to focus on.
Epilogue
Two years later
“Momma!” The tiny wail that came from the living room had Ary dropping the plate she was washing and running out of the kitchen.
“What?” She looked around the living room and saw Cole standing by the patio doors. “What’s wrong?” She rushed over to him and scooped up her little boy. Scanning his body for injuries, she breathed out in relief when she saw none. “Why did you cry, Cole? Are you hurt?”
“No.” A little frown formed between his eyes. He started mumbling unintelligible things and pointing outside.
“He’s mad that I brought him inside because he wouldn’t listen and kept trying to eat worms.” Charlie came up behind her, pushed her hair off her shoulder, and kissed the exposed skin. A shiver worked through her, a reaction she had when he touched her even two years later.
Looking down at Cole’s tiny hands, she noticed for the first time they were filthy. “Cole Charlie Wylde, were you not listening again?”
A fat tear rolled down his chubby little cheek, and she brushed it away and kissed his forehead. Her little man looked just like Charlie, right down to his blue eyes and blond hair. Cole threw his arms up and went tense in the way toddlers did during a temper tantrum.
She set him down, and he ran to the corner of the room where his toy box was. Charlie turned her around and framed her swollen belly with his hands.
“You feeling okay, kitten?” He kissed her right cheek then her left.
“I guess. I just feel fatter than usual and ready to have this little girl.” He rubbed her belly, and she swore if he took a needle to her, she’d pop like a damn overfilled balloon. He smiled and continued to rub her stomach.
“You want me to massage your feet?”
She moaned. “Man, you know the way to a woman’s heart.” He chuckled deeply and led her to the couch. Once she was in position, he picked up her bare foot and started kneading the top and then the heel. The baby decided to start kicking like crazy.
Their daughter was due in just a few weeks, and Ary couldn’t wait. Not only was she having a little girl, but she was also an ocelot shifter. Heaven help her. She would be living with two bear shifters and now another ocelot, who probably had a fiery little attitude if her acrobatics in her belly were anything to go by. Charlie looked up at her and did that sexy little half-mouthed grin.
“Have I told you I love you?”
“Not since this morning, but I am always willing to hear it a second time, and a third and fourth.” He started massaging her other foot, and not even the sound of Cole banging his toys together, or the tea kettle screaming, could take her away from this one perfect moment.
“Well, Mrs. Charlie Wylde, I love you more than a fish loves water.”
She threw her head back and started laughing.
“You are so dang cheesy.”
He was grinning when he sat beside her on the couch and enveloped her in his big arms.
“Maybe, but I still mean every word I say.” Resting her head on his chest, she listened to his heart beating steady and strong. Yeah, she knew he meant it all, corny or not, and because of that, she loved him to the end of the world and back.
She couldn’t help smiling at the thought of that phrase. It had been what he told her the night he came back from Slater’s and poured his heart out to her in a poetic way.
His words might have seemed cheesy in context, but he meant them from the bottom of his heart, and she knew that without a doubt. He had given her a beautiful little boy and soon a little girl, and he constantly made her feel like the most cherished woman on the planet.
He was soft and gentle with her, but was also fierce and strong and protected her and Cole with every part of his being.
“You know what, Charlie?”
He smoothed his hand up and down her back. “What, baby?”
“I love you more than the flowers love the sun.”
He started chuckling, and everything came rushing back to her—the noise of Cole laughing and throwing his toys against the wall, and the sound of the tea kettle still screaming. She went to stand, but Charlie helped her bac
k on the couch and went to the kitchen.
Even with her life hectic and boringly domestic at times, she wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
About the Author
Find Jenika at:
www.JenikaSnow.com
[email protected]