Someone groaned nearby, and I fell to my knees beside them. I didn’t register I was kneeling beside Bernie until he grabbed my wrist. I blinked in surprise as I met the man’s dark eyes.
“Ariana,” he said. He squinted as if trying to figure something out. “Are you all right?”
Seriously? He was the one lying on the ground with a busted leg.
“I’m fine,” I assured him. I shifted to take a look and prodded his knee where it was purpling. “Is your leg broken?”
Bernie winced but bit his lip to keep from groaning again. “I think so. But I need you to find my son and make sure he’s all right.”
I jumped back to my feet and searched through the people lying and sitting around the living room. He wasn’t there, so I tried the dining room next. After I’d searched the house I finally ran outside.
“We have another one,” Jett bellowed. He heaved Bernie’s son to his feet, one arm slung over his shoulder as he limped toward the house.
I rushed to meet them and swung his other arm around my shoulders. “Are you okay?” I asked. “Your father is looking for you.”
The man chuckled. “I’m fine. Just lost a little blood.”
When I saw the blood soaking his entire outfit, I cursed and shook my head. “We should get you to the hospital.”
“I have ambulances already on their way,” Maximus said as he jogged up to us. He stopped a few feet away, shirtless and covered in dirt and bruises.
My eyebrows furrowed as I reached out to him. “You should go sit down,” I said. “You’ll run yourself ragged.”
Maximus raised an eyebrow, giving me a look like I was crazy. “You’re one to talk.” My wolf mate took over carrying Bernie’s son, and I followed them back into the cabin.
Bernie lurched into a sitting position on the couch the minute we stepped inside. “Thank the goddess, you’re okay.”
His son grumbled something as my mates set him down on the sofa. “I’m fine, Dad.”
I smiled, glad to see they’d both made it out alive.
“Maximus is right, you need to take a break,” Jett said. He narrowed his eyes as his gaze scanned my body for injuries. “You haven’t sat down since before the battle started.”
“I can’t,” I said quickly. “Not until everyone is tended to.”
“Ariana,” Maximus said, a low growl in his voice. “Please. Go sit with Owen for a bit. I’ll bring you some food.”
I twisted my lips to one side, then the other, weighing my options. From the weighted looks of both of my mates, they’d tie me to a chair before they let me continue working. “Fine,” I groaned. “Fifteen minutes only.”
Maximus and Jett exchanged a look. They didn’t say a word as Maximus left to the kitchen, and Jett pointed at the stairs to the second floor.
I dragged myself up the stairs, holding onto the railing for support as I went. With every step I took I started to realize how really and truly exhausted I was. I could barely lift my feet to get up the dozen steps to the second floor.
By the time I reached Maximus’ room I was ready to fall over. I stumbled into the room and collapsed in the chair next to the bed. Owen was a big man and took up nearly the entire thing. His eyes were closed, so I figured he was getting some much needed sleep. Laid on the floor on the opposite side of the bed was a sleeping wolf with a massive bandage wrapping her stomach, and beside her was Shira, checking on the dressing.
We exchanged tight smiles before Shira went back to cleaning up the girl’s wound. I sighed as I leaned my elbows on the edge of the bed, watching my bear mate sleep. His face was so relaxed that he looked like a much younger man—not that he was that old to begin with. Still, he had an innocence about him in sleep, and I found myself brushing away the long strands of his hair, tucking them away from his handsome face.
He stirred, and I withdrew my hand until he settled. Thank goodness he was okay. I didn’t know what would have happened if I lost him.
The door creaked open, and I turned to see Cash entering. He held a finger to his lips and tiptoed over. When he reached me, he lifted me from my seat, taking my place before setting me on his lap. He gathered me in his arms and held me tight to his chest. I nuzzled against his neck, burying my face close to his bonfire scent.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Ari,” he whispered, stroking my hair.
My fingers tightened on his shirt. “I’m glad you’re okay, too. Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
Cash smiled and kissed my forehead. “I’ll always come for you, my love.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the emotionally trying day or the exhaustion, but tears pricked the back of my eyes at his words. “I love you, Cash.”
The heat of his body increased, and his hold tightened. “I love you too, Ari.”
I sat there cradled in my mate’s arms until Maximus came to bring me some food. I took what he offered, guzzling water to quench my parched throat before I devoured the cookies and apple. With my stomach full, I slid into bed next to my bear mate, sliding my leg over his and laying my arm across his belly before I allowed myself to close my eyes.
Though I’d said my break would only be fifteen minutes, I had a feeling that had passed. I wanted to get up and return downstairs to help, but my body didn’t seem to agree that was a good idea.
Cash pulled up the blanket from the foot of the bed and tucked it around me and then Owen. I smiled at the tenderness he showed not only me, but Owen as well. I couldn’t believe these men were mine. Big, strong Owen who would recover to hold me many more days. Flirty Cash who could always make me smile. Caring, protective Maximus who was downstairs making me food even though he was dog-tired himself. And Jett, my smart-ass panther mate who had finally come around and was caring for all the wounded equally, as if they were all his clan. As my eyes fluttered closed, I realized that in a way, we were all one clan.
I’d finally fulfilled my role as Silver Shifter. The clans were truly united.
Epilogue
Ariana
Six Months Later
“We did it,” I said, standing over the grotesque monster corpse in the basement of the New York apartment building. I wiped a smear of blood from my cheek with the back of my hand and surveyed my mates for damage. “It’s really over.”
“Last one,” Jett said, picking up his jeans from where he’d discarded them before shifting.
“I think this calls for a celebration,” Cash said, putting away his wings and wiping his palms on his slacks.
Owen groaned and licked at a wound on his front paw, while Maximus opened the duffle we’d started carrying when we went to work for, ironically, the same organization that had created the monsters. When they’d found out what Dr. Muriel Siegfred had done, they’d promptly fired her. Afterward, she’d broken her confidentiality agreement and run into the police station ranting about how vampires and werewolves were going to annihilate the human race. That had not gone over as she’d intended, and last Jett had heard, she was spending time relaxing in a psychiatric ward.
“I know just the place,” Maximus said, opening the duffle and pulling out a stack of clothes.
“Pants me,” I said, holding out a hand.
“That doesn’t mean what you think it means,” Jett said. He smirked and raked his eyes over my newly discovered curves. I’d always be on the small side, but after months of proper nutrition, I’d finally gotten some hips, much to the delight of my mates. Jett also took great pleasure in educating me about all the pop culture references I’d missed—usually in a know-it-all, assholeish way, but I knew he meant well under the superiority complex.
“Then what does it mean, oh wise one?” I asked, snatching the shorts out of the air when Maximus sent them sailing across the room in my direction.
“The opposite of the way you used it,” Jett said.
“Well, then they need to change that,” I said. “Because if you were taking off my pants, it should be de-pants me.” I pulled on my shorts and shirt befo
re going to Owen, who had licked his wound clean. He shifted after a minute, rubbing his temple from where it had hit the wall when the monster threw him. But five shifters could take down one of the monsters, something we’d learned after working for the last six months to hunt down and eradicate each monster. This was the very last one, and we’d been searching for it for almost a month.
“I can’t believe it’s actually over,” Owen said, reaching out a hand toward Maximus.
Without a word, Maximus handed Owen his clothes. We’d gotten pretty good at working as a team, both at work and at home.
“What now?” I asked, standing in the middle of the basement. We’d been tracking down the monsters created from my blood for so long I didn’t know what we’d do now that our job was done. It seemed impossible that we’d get to do anything other than fight.
“I think now we get to decide,” Maximus said, throwing the bag over his shoulder and slipping an arm around my waist.
“That sounds… Amazing,” I said with a laugh. “Scary and impossible, but amazing.”
As we climbed the stairs, Jett typed in a message to his contact, letting them know we’d finished our contract. Maximus tossed the duffle in the trunk and slid behind the wheel of his Jeep. We took off, chatting about what we might do now that we were done with our monster-killing duties. The alphas had plenty to do in their clans, and I had peacekeeping duties. But first, I wanted a vacation, just a little one, a chance to say I’d been out of the state once in my life.
“How about the beach?” I said. “Somewhere with a nice cool ocean breeze.”
“The city does get hot in the summer,” Cash agreed. “I wouldn’t mind getting away.”
Maximus pulled up in front of a familiar building, and my heart stuttered in my chest. “What the hell are we doing here?” I asked, staring at the sign out front that read The Black Sparrow.
The last time I’d been here, Jett had bought out my contract from a sadistic warlock. We’d also sealed our mate bond that night, so my memories of the place weren’t exactly horrible, but…
“We did say celebrating was in order,” Cash said, hopping out of the car. “I could use a drink.”
“Please tell me Dante isn’t here,” I said. “I never want to see that sick bastard again in my life, even if he has no power over me now.”
“Trust me?” Maximus said, opening my door and holding out a hand to me, his forehead creased with earnest concern. I could feel through our bond that he had nothing but warm and protective feelings toward me, but I would have trusted him to the ends of the earth even without sensing his emotions. I set my hand in his, and he pulled me from the car. I reached for Cash’s hand, and the three of us walked hand in hand with Owen and Jett following close behind.
The club was open, unlike the last time I’d been there, but the vibe was very different. I inhaled by habit, scenting the different supernaturals occupying the space where I’d first accepted my panther mate. Now, he was as much a part of the group as my panther was a part of me, and the clients in the bar were a jumble of scents, from panther to bear to wolf. There were even a few vampires at a table in the back corner. Behind the bar, a one-armed werewolf served drinks next to a witch who was somehow missing the floral scent of magic.
“As long as Dante’s not here,” I said, giving Maximus a suspicious glance. I knew he was up to something, I just didn’t know what. Jett was usually the mysterious one among my mates.
“He’s not,” Maximus said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. “But I do have a surprise for you.”
“Downstairs,” Jett said. I glanced over my shoulder at him. Of course he was in on this. One look at my other mates told me they all knew what was going on, too.
“Well, show me already,” I said, impatient at being the last to know.
Maximus led the way, gesturing for us to follow. We descended the stairs into the area that had been filled with cages the last time I’d been here. My heart pounded harder instinctually, even knowing I was safe now.
Instead of a dirt floor, smooth hardwood met our feet when we stepped off the stairs. A dozen women sat pretzeled on colorful mats, and only one pole remained from the center of one of the cages, and punching bags hung along one end of the mirrored room.
“Welcome to the Inferno Workout Studio,” said a one-eyed middle-aged woman in yoga pants and a neon pink tank top. She spoke in a quiet, breathy tone as she gestured for us to take some of the empty yoga mats. I shook my head, not wanting to interrupt.
“Ironically named after the previous owner,” Jett murmured.
“Dante’s Inferno,” I said, remembering the title of a book Jett had mentioned a few times.
“Except here, you get to decide when to turn up the heat,” Cash said.
“A yoga studio?” I asked, turning to my mates in confusion.
“It’s a rehabilitation center for supernaturals who were injured in the pits,” Maximus said. “To help them take control of their lives and get support from others who have been through the same thing. It was Owen’s idea.”
I turned to my bear mate, tears pooling in my eyes. “You did this?”
Owen’s cheeks turned pink, and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “Cash made it happen,” he said. “He bought the place after Dante’s conviction.”
“True,” Cash said. “But to be fair, I can’t take all the credit. Maximus is the one who recorded a fight to turn in to the Supernatural Council as evidence to convict the bastard.”
“And Jett supervised the renovations,” Owen said. “In case you were wondering where he was sneaking off to lately.”
In truth, I hadn’t even noticed. Jett was good at disappearing, and I no longer worried about it, so I hadn’t been keeping tabs. As I looked at one of my mates to the next, my heart swelled with so much love and pride that a tear spilled down my cheek. They hadn’t just worked together to make something amazing out of the bar that had once been owned by my tormentor. They’d done something important with it, something to help people. Something they knew would be meaningful to me.
“My only question is,” I said through my laughter and tears. “Is that a stripper pole?”
Cash leered at me. “You sound interested, Ari. Want to give it a go?”
“That part was not my idea,” Owen said quickly, going even more red.
“That was actually Cassie’s idea,” Jett said with a shrug. “She says it’s great for building core strength. I don’t know, but she swears by it. She’ll be teaching a class here once a week.”
The yoga instructor had been hovering, and she stepped in and held out a hand to me. “The pole is a wonderful addition. We feel that it’s important to offer something that lets women reclaim their sexuality and remember their femininity after enduring the pits. You’re welcome to join us any time.”
I shot a grin at my men. “I just might.”
Cash’s eyes bugged out, and Owen swallowed hard.
“Leave the boys at home for that one,” the instructor said with a wink. “That’s for when you need a girl’s night.”
“This is amazing,” I said, turning from her to my mates. “Thank you so much.”
I threw my arms around Owen’s and Jett’s necks. I squeezed them together, gesturing for Maximus and Cash to join. We all stood there hugging for a long minute while I collected myself. At last, I pulled away.
“Now, let’s go have that drink.”
After thanking the instructor and begging pardon for the interruption, we climbed the stairs. I couldn’t believe my mates had set all this up. Dante was behind bars—the irony was not lost on me—and the monsters were all gone. The ordeal was finally over.
Almost.
The Lamia Queen was still out there somewhere. With Jett to keep tabs, though, I knew she couldn’t take us by surprise again. She had left New York after Jade’s death, and a new leader of the vampires would be chosen any day. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to eat that one.
“What is that n
oise?” I asked, cringing as we came out on the ground floor again. A girl stood at one end of the bar with a microphone, screeching terribly along with some upbeat music.
“That’s karaoke,” Jett said with a grin.
“And we’re going to sing next,” Cash said with an equally big smile.
“I don’t know how to sing,” I protested.
“That’s kinda the point,” Maximus said with a grimace.
“Just try it,” Owen said. “It’s more fun than it sounds.”
“I hope so,” I said, wincing as the singer hit a high note.
“I’ll sign us up,” Cash said, leaning in to plant a quick kiss on my forehead. “How about ‘We Are Family’?”
As my mates all settled in around a table and ordered beers, I basked in a glow of happiness. We really were a family. Though they’d had a few squabbles at first, and we sometimes still butted heads, my mates had come to respect each other and our bond. They understood that they each needed me equally, just as I needed them. We’d had some bumps in the road, like all families, but we’d gotten through them. Our love bound us, and I knew that no matter what happened in the future, we would get through it together.
When Cash came back from putting our names down for a song, I scooted in, snuggling against Owen’s solid frame to make room for my hot dragon mate. Jett sat quietly, silent and watchful as a panther, while Maximus moved my drink over in front of me. I picked it up and held it aloft.
“To us,” I said. “One big happy family.”
“To us,” four voices chorused. Mugs clinked, and beer sloshed, the spills met with good-hearted laughter. At last, the Silver Shifter prophecy had come true. The clans and their alphas were getting along, supporting each other, and working together. I may have lost my family once upon a time, but now I had a new one—one that encompassed every shifter in New York.
The four shifters I loved the most were right here with me, relaxing and having fun after months of hard work. In this moment, doing something so ordinary, I knew that we were truly at peace. No matter what happened, we would always have each other’s backs. If anyone tried to mess with me, they’d have to go through four pissed off shifters. And if anyone tried to mess with my mates, they’d have to go through me.
Her Panther: An Urban Fantasy Romance (Silver Shifter Book 4) Page 10
