by Eliza Gayle
"I don't know yet. I was speaking hypothetically. And stop trying to distract me." That was the best he was going to get for now until she saw some proof.
They pulled up to the gate she now knew led to Galen Ferguson's home and he entered the pass code on the little box. As they waited for the gate to open so they could pass, she decided to ask for what she needed.
"What kind of animal are you?" As aggressive and large as he appeared she had begun imagining some sort of bear.
"That's complicated. Did Sienna tell you anything about why our group lives in Deals Gap? Away from the clans?"
She shook her head. She had no idea what difference that made in relation to her question. "I know very little. Sienna didn't have time for a lot of details in my crash course."
"True. Well, shapeshifters typically live in Clans. The cougars, the wolves, the psychic clan and nearly a century ago the dragons. While the psy clan prefers to stay out of shifter business and keep to themselves, the cougars and wolves are always on the brink of war. They can't get along."
"And which one are you?"
"Hang on. I'm getting there." He gripped the wheel until his knuckles turned white before continuing. "Our clans are ruled by a council, primarily made up of our shifter elders who are centuries old."
She gasped. "Centuries? Oh my God. For real? How old are you?"
He laughed, the deep, rich tone filling the interior of the car and warming her from the inside out. She enjoyed that sound so much she catalogued a reminder to make sure he did it again and often.
"You probably don't want to know."
She flopped back on the seat and sighed. "Are you ever going to just answer a question or is everything about deflection with you?"
"I'm trying not to overwhelm you. I know this is a lot to digest." He paused, turning off the car inside one of Galen's many garages and staring out the front window. "I also don't want to scare you."
"You can't protect me forever, Bhric. If you want me to believe any of this then you're going to have to open up to me. Otherwise I might as well leave now because as soon as you drop me off, I'll leave on my own anyway."
"You're being really stubborn," he huffed.
"Suck it up, buttercup. I may not be certain about my future, but I damn sure am not going to be put up on a shelf to collect dust."
Before she could blink, Bhric wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and tugged her across the seat.
"You feel like kicking my ass right now?"
"I--I don't know. Something. Anything that maybe gets me inside you to see whatever it is you don't want me to see."
He growled. In a way that sound made so much more sense knowing he might be some kind of human/animal mix. She wondered if he'd give her a vial of his blood to study. She might not be the science expert at Simon's skill level. But in college she'd spent more time in the lab than she had to and had even interned at a Nashville research facility.
"And what if you don't like what you see?" His thumb stroked her neck in a gentle caress and it was all she could do not to melt into his touch. The man had big, strong magic hands.
"Please don't do that. Don't assume to know what I can or cannot handle. I'm a nurse. I've seen some pretty screwed up shit."
He leaned forward and tugged her closer at the same time. "Your bossiness turns me on. I may want to protect you, but the fact you'll stand up to me if you need to is hot as hell."
"Is that so?" she asked.
"Would it shock you to know that all I'm thinking about right now is finding out if you're wet for me."
She gasped, her lips parting to suck in air. "You don't play fair." And the idea she'd ever truly be able to walk away from him seemed unlikely.
His grin widened reaching wicked status. "There is zero fun in playing fair."
Before she could respond he pressed his lips to hers and slipped his tongue into her mouth. As he stroked deep she felt some of the tension between them leaving her body. It was hard to deny this man or beast or whatever he was had a knack for hitting all the right buttons with her.
She threaded her fingers through his thick, dark locks and tugged him closer. He moaned and she smiled against his mouth. That right there got her every time. That obvious sign of pleasure had a potent effect on her psyche.
Their tongues tangled and her body heated to the boiling point. She silently cursed the fact they were fully clothed in her tiny car. Next time she needed a new one she was going to buy one of those big ass SUV's where the seats could fully recline and give both of them more than enough room for anything they could get into.
His hands were all over her. Rough skin against sensitive flesh. She especially liked it when he dug his fingers into her hips. He had a powerful grip and more than enough strength to manipulate her body into whatever position he might like.
She shivered at the thought, making the memory of that night in the hospital flash through her mind.
He tore free from her mouth. "I need you so much," he said through heavy breaths. "I can barely control myself."
"Why do you have to control yourself?"
He looked at her with those dark, almost black eyes. The intensity of which took her breath away.
"I don't want to hurt you."
She didn't know why, but that made her laugh. 'Look at me, Bhric. Do I look like a delicate flower?"
"No. You look like a juicy peach waiting to be devoured." He leaned further into her, pressing her back against the passenger door. "Your skin is flush with arousal, which makes me want to lick you everywhere."
Marcy couldn't breathe. And not because he was crushing his weight into her.
"Your lips are plump and red from our kisses. Which makes it impossible for me not to imagine them wrapped around me as I slide into your mouth."
Marcy jerked from the sudden pulsing between her legs from just his words. Good God she wanted to die if she couldn't have him.
"Your hips fit perfectly in my hands."
Said hands slid underneath her and gripped her ass, lifting her from the seat.
"I'm dying to know what you taste like everywhere. I just want to explore."
"I'm not opposed to that at all."
His hands continued their travels along the backs of her thighs. What she wouldn't give to be naked right here right now.
"Are you afraid of the fact that I can't get enough? Or that I want to possess you in every way possible." He leaned forward and scraped his teeth along my neck. "I ache with the need to bite you. I hurt with the need to be inside you. And I live for the desire to protect you at all costs."
Now she really couldn't breathe. Every word took her deeper into his world, wherever that might be.
"I ache too. You have no idea how badly I want this. How badly I need to trust you. Or how much I need you to trust me. I think by now you've figured out my secrets. I avoid pain too in the only way I know how. With sex." She used her grip on his hair to keep their eyes locked. "I am vulnerable with you and that scares me. And that has nothing to do with whether or not you're a different species than I am. I'm more than willing to just wash this pain away with sex and go on my way. I mean let's get real, you fuck amazing. But if you're serious about this mate thing," She scrambled from underneath him and opened the car door. “Then you've got to give me something."
19
Bhric watched her cute ass wiggle up the walkway and disappear inside the house. He didn't know whether to chase after her, pin her to the ground and fuck some sense into her, or beg for forgiveness.
His cock voted for the first option. Fortunately, his brain still had a modicum of control. But it was a thin line. One the beast would eagerly cross.
He dragged himself out of the tiny car and opened the front door to complete chaos. Marcy, Sienna and Jessa were all yelling at Niki to do it. He had no idea exactly what they wanted her to do but the sheer overwhelming scent of fear and adrenalin had his beast ripping away his control.
He opened his mouth to a
sk them what was going on and instead the roar of the beast shattered the room. He took another step inside the door and what he found had him seeing so much red he knew there would be no stopping him this time.
Fur ripped through his skin, bones crunched and shifted as he changed. He only got a glimpse of Marcy before he fully turned and the sheer abject horror stamped across her face ripped through him. For the rest of his life he'd never forget the acrid scent of her fear as she watched him shift.
"Holy shit," Jessa said.
"What the hell?" Sienna echoed her shock.
Niki laughed. That diabolical sound so unique to her that it scared everyone who had the displeasure of hearing it. With her happy and in love, it was so easy to forget what she'd been born and bred to do.
Kill.
The desire to spill blood lived in her like a living, breathing entity. And right now she had one of the Blackwood wolves on his knees with a garrote wrapped around his neck.
If that were all, they might have been able to end this quickly. But of course, the minute he decided he would open up to his mate in ways no one had ever seen, he was forced to watch her and the rest of the Dark Moon women stand against an entire pack of wolves pointing guns at them.
"Don't move, Bhric. They will shoot every last one of them." He could not respond, but he didn't have to. Pregnant or not, they should have feared Niki more than they did.
"If you so much as make a nick on one of these women you will be torn from limb to limb, but only after you've endured more pain than you can imagine," she said.
From the corner of his eye where he watched Marcy, he saw her trembling. He understood how she felt. He'd never experienced so much fear as he did now. If anything happened to her...
Thankfully, the beast still listened to him. Even he had to know they couldn't outrun a bullet. They might be able to save one of those women, but not all of them at the same time.
He couldn't let the beast choose to only save one. It was an unacceptable outcome.
He recognized all of these men from various encounters with the pack, except one. The one who clearly seemed in charge.
He had to be the other alpha who was trying to challenge Luke for control of the pack. Was he the mastermind behind everything, including the missing council members?
Fuck. He needed to shift. If he couldn't talk to the bastard then they couldn't negotiate. Although negotiation would only be temporary until he figured out how to get the women out of harm's way. Then he'd hunt and when he hunted the only acceptable outcome for the beast would be death.
Bhric wrestled with the animal, trying to regain control, but he wanted nothing to do with reason or sanity. All the beast side of him knew was that its mate was in danger and it was his job to protect her.
He took a step forward and snarled. The lesser alpha turned his gun to point at Bhric. Not that he cared. That was one less pointed at the women. He was more than prepared to lay down his life for any one of these women. He doubted this alpha would do the same for any of his men.
"Don't move again or I will shoot you. I don't give a shit about you." The ringleader warned.
The beast didn't listen. He took another step.
The gun fired and Bhric jumped, diving for cover.
"No!" Marcy screamed.
When pain surged in his shoulder he realized he'd not moved fast enough. They'd clipped him. He went down on his hip with a bone-jarring thud.
Niki yelled and tightened the razor thin wire wrapped around her captive's neck until blood trickled down his skin.
"Enough." The other leader yelled. "Look at him. Your asshole leader is shot and already crippled. Do you want to be next?" He yelled at Niki.
"Why are you doing this? Marcy asked. She'd moved in front of both Sienna and Jess as if she thought to protect them. "What do you want?"
"Nothing from a lowly human like you." He snarled. "Or this rag tag band of reject hybrids. I mean get a good look at your boyfriend, honey. His DNA is so jacked up you can't even tell what he is. And he's so weak minded that one tiny little bullet stopped him. Talk about useless."
Anger surged through Bhric as the asshole continued to hurl insults. But while Marcy kept talking, he and Niki were getting into place to make their move.
"If he's so useless and you can't stand to be around them, then why are you here? Why keep following us?"
The leader laughed. "If that bastard over there wasn't going to watch you die tonight, I'd say you all deserved each other. Look around you, bitch. Don't you know where you are? You're just the bonus."
Bhric stilled. That's what this was all about? The dragons?
"We've been hearing rumors about this place all our lives. But no one could ever find it. No matter how many times we searched this mountain. Probably because your boyfriend over there had it cloaked or something. He does love to play with the witches. Used one to mess up your mind pretty good I hear. Which makes sense why you're too dumb to figure out what's going on around you."
"You're doing all this over some rich guy's house?"
"This isn't just some rich guy's house. This is a dragon lair, you stupid cunt. A DRAGON lair. This is exactly what's wrong with these half-breeds. They'll fuck anything that moves and even mate them, but they don't bother to teach you respect for our kind. So you taint the bloodline in every way."
"Watch who you're calling a half-breed, mother fucker," Niki said. "I am one hundred percent pure bred killer. Something I'll be all too happy to demonstrate when I'm done with your friend here." She pulled her rope yet tighter and the man started to turn blue.
Bhric tried to keep his eye on both Marcy and Niki's movements during this conversation, but it wasn't easy with this much rage coursing through his body. The animal operated purely on instinct and right now his instinct was to kill. So much so that he wouldn't relinquish control.
"Stop fighting it," Niki whispered to him behind her victims gasping words. "If you're willing to embrace him, you will win."
"Stop fighting what?" the lowly alpha had overhead Niki. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
He took his attention off of Marcy and in that split second of time, Bhric gave into the beast. The animal rose, uncaring over his shoulder wound.
Mate.
Mate.
Mate.
He lunged for the gun-toting alpha and knocked the rifle out of his grip. It clattered to the deck, making it the last sound he heard before a flurry of gunshots filled the cavernous room.
Niki didn't hesitate. She snapped her prisoner's neck and dove for cover behind the marble topped kitchen island along with the other women. He had no idea if the wood was thick enough to protect them, but he didn't have time to analyze it before the alpha reared back and punched him in the side of the head.
Bhric flew back, his whole body landing against a bank of cabinets. Dazed for a moment, he shook his head until everything cleared again. The first thing he saw was Marcy reaching for the alpha's gun laying ten feet from her.
In order to protect her, Bhric threw himself across the room at the man supposedly in charge, taking him to the ground with the force of his hefty body weight. They rolled several feet, both baring fangs, dying to get to the other’s neck.
Either one of them ready and willing to go for the kill the moment the opportunity presented itself. However, the alpha turned out stronger than he looked, managing to flip Bhric to his side so he could free himself from this predicament.
With the vision of Marcy possibly getting hurt again, Bhric renewed his fight and clamped down on the other man's shoulder with his sharpened canines. The other man howled, his body attempting to shift into his stronger wolf form or at the very least his half shifted state that offered more strength as well.
From across the room one of the other wolves let out a cry of anguish. Bhric couldn't chance splitting his focus, but he'd bet Niki had gotten her hands on another of them.
He wondered how long it would take before they realized they cou
ldn't best her.
Bhric took a right hook to the side of his face, busting his lip open and the taste of blood filling his mouth. That did not make matters better for the wolf he fought. Oh no.
The beast tasted blood and he wanted more. He loved blood.
In a sudden burst of speed and strength brought on by the copper tang still filling his mouth, Bhric stood to his full height. He grabbed the monster in front of him with his arms in a snake like hold. This move pinned the man beast in place and allowed Bhric to lean forward and lock onto the jugular with his teeth.
As the flesh gave way to his teeth, the blood of his opponent flooded his mouth, awakening the deepest and darkest facets of his beast nature.
With no more wait, and what seemed like no time to spare, he pulled at the core of the would be Blackwood leader, savoring the sensation of blood, bone and muscle giving way to his strength. Blood spurted everywhere, covering both of them as he ripped the man apart with relish.
With the now dead eyes of the man staring back at him, he reeled back to slam the body against the wall when another gunshot went off, seemingly right next to his ear.
Bhric dropped to the ground in a heap, pain slicing him in two. There were other sounds surrounding him. People running, animals growling, bones crunching and a woman screaming.
"Bhric!"
He turned to her voice as she dropped to the ground next to him. His eyes hurt from the fight, but that didn't stop him from seeing the blood that covered her front.
"I'm so sorry," he said, his words garbled from his still half shifted form.
"Shut up and don't try to talk like this. I've got to stop the bleeding."
He had no idea what she was talking about, he was only grateful she was alive and touching him.
"Can't he shift back completely or something. I'm not a vet, I know nothing about animal anatomy. God dammit. At least get me some towels or something. We've got to stop the bleeding!"
Her hysteria alarmed him. He wanted to tell her he was going to be okay, but it hurt too much to try. He just needed to rest.