Claimed by the Claws

by Laura Wylde

  “I don't know how to say this Bree...”

  I was in mid-sentence and then I heard the sound of motorcycles coming up fast. It wasn't just one or two of them either, it was many and I knew right away who it was. Apparently Greg was not going to wait for me to come to him, it looked like he was going to come right to me. A lot had changed since I had been gone, but a lot has changed with me as well. Greg didn’t know who he was messing with.

  I went back into the room that we were meeting in and I saw a questioning look being sent towards Bree. I didn't have time to tell everyone what was going on, but I did have to tell them why it was imperative that we did something now. While we plotted to take them all out, Greg had decided to come take us out first. We didn't have a plan for that and the only plan that I could think of was to get away. It was the same reason that I hadn't taken out Greg at the bar, because we needed more time and more people.

  “What is going on?”

  “We don't have time for this Bree. We got to go.”

  I tried to take her arm and pull her towards the back entrance, but she wasn't going for it. She pulled her away from me and huffed.

  “I am not going anywhere, until someone tells me what is going on.”

  “It's not that simple Bree. Do you hear those bikes? That means we have to go.”

  “Is it Greg?”

  I nodded my head and told her that it was as far as I knew. I hadn’t stopped to check it out and I wasn’t waiting around to make sure that it was. I was sure enough who it was. I didn't know if he was here for me or for her, but it really didn't matter. I was not going to let the man get his hands on Bree. I just couldn't.

  I could tell that the idea of it being Greg bothered her, but there was more that she wanted to know first.

  “Why are they here? Are they here because of me?”

  I remembered how guilty she had felt before and I didn't want her to take any of the blame to herself. This wasn’t her fault and I didn't want her to think that it was.

  “I used to be in a motorcycle club that didn't get along with him. I told you about Buck, he used to be the leader. Now I'm going to take over and he doesn't want that to happen. He likes it the way it is, and he wants to take me out first.”

  “Take you out?”

  I growled at her and told her that we had to go. Sandra and Meatloaf were already by the door and even though I sent them a look telling them not to, both of them changed right in front of us.

  The expression on her face was disturbed and I knew that it was only going to make it harder for her to leave. She wanted answers, even though she didn't realize that she was putting herself in danger to get them.

  “What the hell?”

  “We have to go, Bree. Now!”

  The engines on the bikes had been cut and that meant that there were going to be men busting in the door. I didn't know how Greg was going to be, but I wouldn't put it past him to put us all in danger because he wanted to show force.

  “I am not going anywhere...”

  It's about that time when one of Greg’s gang busted through the door and started to rush towards us. I had to grab her and moved her closer. I put her behind me and told her that we had to leave.

  The question of what they were going to do was answered because he was a big burly bear and I knew that I had to get her out of here. She was going to die if I didn't and I couldn’t let that happen. She just meant too much to me.

  “I have to turn Bree And I need you to get on my back so that we can go. That thing is going to kill you. That is all you need to know right now.”

  I didn't want to sound to gruff, but the truth was that we did need to go. If we didn't get out of there now, all of us were going to be dead and I couldn't let that happen. I turned into my true form and looked behind me. She was looking at me in shock, but we didn't have time for that. I noticed her quivering and I tried to get her to hurry up.

  She just didn’t get it. We had to go, now!

  Chapter 14

  Bree

  I had never been lifted up like that before in my life. I was a big girl by all respects and I had never been handled that way, not even by Greg. I had no sooner started to feel the strength of Daxton's arms around me, he was saying things that I didn't understand. He was going to change and I had to get on his back. Seeing Sandra and her brother change into bears, I knew what he was talking about, even if it didn't register all the way.

  The next thing I knew, there was a bear bearing down on us, preparing to kill us all. I was sure of it and I was getting on the back of dark brown bear that had once been Daxton. It was one of the craziest moments of my life and I still can't believe that I was clinging to a bear. It was even harder to imagine that the bear had once been a man.

  Daxton went so fast that I was afraid I was going to fall off. I was dizzy with it all and my mind was on overload. After a moment or two, all I could do was cling to him as hard as I could and hope that I didn't fall off. It wouldn't have been that hard at all, but I knew that I had to see this through. I had so many questions and it felt like Daxton was the only one that could answer them.

  The attraction that I felt for Daxton did not decrease with each mounting moment. It actually increased in a way as I felt strong muscles underneath me bunch up every time he took a step. Some men were capable of so much more than I ever thought possible and even though there were so many reasons why I shouldn't think of him that way, it didn't seem to be enough. It wasn't enough to fight the draw that I felt to him and that I felt myself.

  I had so many thoughts running through my head, and so many feelings running through my body as I took the ride. I don't know why I was thinking about such things in the midst of all of this. I was thinking about what it would be like if he put his hands on me. He was so strong, that much was clear and I wanted to know what it would be like to have his hands on me like he did a moment before. When he had lifted me up to get me out of danger. He had put himself between me and the other bear. It had been romantic without him even trying for it to be. I couldn’t get it off of my mind.

  I started to relax a little more, the farther out we got because I felt safe. I shouldn’t. I mean, I really shouldn’t, but it was hard not to feel safe when I was on top of one of the largest beasts that I’d ever seen in my life. Daxton wasn’t a beast though. He was something so much more and I was still reeling from the idea of Sandra being one as well.

  She was a bit harder to see that way because I’d known her for so long. She was a bad ass, strong as an ox, but I never would have imagined that she was a bear shifter. Until a little while ago, I didn’t even know that such a thing existed. It was impossible to think of anything else, but what I was thinking of it all now.

  When he stopped, I looked around and wasn’t sure if we were going to take a break or what. It had been a while, but with those beasts, the beast I was on, I didn’t know what to think. I was trying to get away from one, while there was one underneath me. Daxton was one of them. It was all just a bit much to keep going over. How in the world was I supposed to face them, face my best friend, knowing that she had kept so many things from me?

  “Where are we?”

  Daxton told me that we were somewhere safe.

  “Am I really safe?”

  He had turned back into a man and was short on clothes. My eyes took him all in, even though I didn’t really try to. It was hard to keep my eyes off of part of him and only when he cleared his throat, did I realize that I was staring. Everyone did and I was more than a little embarrassed. This was all more than I could handle and I started to feel a little woozy like I was going to pass out.

  “I promise you Bree, that I won't let anything happen to you.”

  I notice that he didn't say I was safe though. In a world that was full of creatures like him and Sandra, I didn't know if I would ever be safe again. I'd heard too much back at Charles’ house and I wish I could go back to the moment when I’d found all of this out. I was happier then and I cer
tainly felt safer.

  “So, what are we doing here?”

  “This is one of our safehouses. Most likely, Greg is attracted to your sense. He can smell you like a dog can smell. That must be why he found us so quickly.”

  “You can smell me?”

  Daxton agreed. “Yes, it is how I knew you were listening in on us. You have a very distinct fragrance.”

  Since I wasn't wearing perfume, I had to think that it was something a little more wild and instinctual that he was talking about. I don't know why, but I really did like the idea of him knowing where I was just by my smell. What other things could he do that I didn't know about?

  He must have thought that I was freaked out because he put his arm on me and told me that everything was going to be okay. I was pulled in against his chest and for a moment I did feel like it was all going to be alright, then I look down and realize he was still naked. I don't know if I'd ever been this close to a fully naked man before and I move back quickly, almost falling over myself doing so. Daxton caught me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just...”

  He looked down at himself and started to understand what I was acting so strange about. Daxton looked back at me with a slow smile on his face and told me that if I would just give him a few minutes, there would be more to see.

  I felt my face getting red from the very idea of it and I couldn’t look him in the eyes. He just had a way with words and a way with me that I didn't understand. I had never felt this way before, and it made me think that I had waited all this time for one man in particular. I knew that I would find the man of my dreams, but Daxton was so far from what I had thought he would be. But at the end of the day, I knew that he was the one I was waiting for. I knew it was more assuredly than I knew anything else.

  We went into the small cabin that he pointed out after a moment. I hadn't even seen it when we first came up and only when he pointed it out was I able to. It was the same color as the woods around it and it melted into the rest of the scene. unless somebody knew it was there, I didn't think that anybody would ever find it.

  When we got inside, it was clear that no one had been there for a while. There were dust bunnies in all the corners and spider webs hanging from the ceiling. It looked like the place have been abandoned for some time. It was sort of good to know that it was so out of the way that it wouldn’t be found. I liked that it was never used.

  The three shifters found some clothes and got dressed. The place was full of stuff and I was under the impression that losing clothes was just part of being a shifter like they were. It had to be, because of how the place was set up and how there was a full room dedicated to all different sizes and shapes of clothes for male and female. It made me think that this was a normal occurrence for them.

  The siblings went outside to get some wood and a few other things, well I stayed in with Daxton. I had so many questions for him, but I was starting to wonder if they were ever going to get answered. It seemed like the more I learned about him, the more I realized I knew nothing at all.

  “So are you going to tell me what's going on, for real?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I just gave him a look for a minute and showed him with my expression that I wasn't going to play games anymore. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

  Chapter 15

  Daxton

  I could see that the calmness had passed. She wanted answers and they were difficult. some of it I hadn't even realize until moments before, but I've had a clear picture of it now. I moved towards her, put my hands up to catch hers and try and calm her down. Bree was just too worked up and I didn't want her to be afraid or to be upset. I wanted her to see that everything that was happening, was happening for a reason.

  “I will tell you what you want to know. All you have to do is ask.”

  It threw Bree for a moment and I realize that she had not expected to get an answer. I didn't blame her of course, I had not been very forthcoming with information. At the time I didn't know if she could handle it all, but now I knew that she was going to have to. There is nothing more that could be done and even though it was going to be a lot to take, I knew that I had to get it out. She had to know the truth.

  “Um, OK. well, I want to know what you are.”

  “We’re shifters.”

  “You say it like it's a common thing. I mean, are you like a werewolf?

  I just kind of shook my head and smiled to myself. It would have been a lot easier if she hadn't watch so many movies that made it all little more confusing. It didn't help that movies got it wrong and there was a whole culture behind it. Most of it was all false and I wasn't sure how to explain it.

  “I wouldn't say that we were like where wolves, not the kind that you have heard about. There are a lot of things that people get wrong. Werewolves are like any other shifter, they just happen to turn into a wolf. There are many types of shifters that turn into all sorts of animals, so we're just one of many.”

  While I was trying to make it easier for her to understand, I started to see immediately that I was overwhelming her with information. it was one thing to think that a few people switched into something else, but it was another altogether to realize that there were so many of us out there, that could turn into so many different things. Bree was finally realizing that the human race wasn't the only race and it certainly wasn't the strongest. It was going to take her time to wrap your brain around that.

  She didn't say anything for a time and I asked her if she was hungry. She sort of nodded her head, but I could tell that she was still in a daze. I had been trying to make this easier, but it seems like I had made it worse. While I was trying to let her know that we weren’t like the movies and it wasn’t near as uncommon as she thought, I had blown her mind. We needed to get her mind off of it and I was hoping that after some time, she would see that this could be normal. She had to believe it.

  “Why don’t we make some dinner and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. I’m an open book.”

  “Why now?”

  “Because I know more now than I did when I first met you. It took me time to realize what this was.”

  “What is this?”

  I smiled at her and said it in the simplest way that I knew to say it.

  “We were meant to be. This is fate.”

  “I don't really believe much in fate.”

  “It doesn't matter if you do or not, there is nowhere to hide. Fate is what is supposed to happen and one way or another it will. You don’t have to believe in gravity, but it still pulls you down.”

  She didn't answer me for a while and I figured that she was digesting everything. I started looking around in the freezer to see if there was anything that could be made and I ended up sending Meatloaf and his sister out to get a few things. Truth was, more than anything I just wanted them to leave and give us some time alone. I didn’t really actually need anything. It would be nice to have some fresh drinks and a few other things, but really, I just wanted some time alone with her. I knew that it was the only way I was going to be able to explain everything and I just wanted to spend a little time with her alone to see what would happen next.

  There was also a question of what I didn't know about her. If Bree was the one, there were many rules that had to be abided by. I needed to make sure that I was right in my thinking. I needed to make sure that she was the one and that I was reading this all the right way. I could be seeing what I wanted to see.

  She started making some biscuits that were going to go with dinner. There was a lot of meat and frozen vegetables in the freezer and it just seemed like the thing to do. It would give us time together and now that everyone else was gone, it was just me and her. I couldn't have asked for a better setting.

  Then all of a sudden out of the blue, Bree decided that she wanted to ask more questions.

  “So is that why Sandra is okay now? I mean you made me think that I had just seen thin
gs that I weren’t there because I was hit on the head and it was my imagination. But she was really messed up wasn’t she?”

  “Yeah, she had quite a bit of internal injury and a lot of contusions. She was lucky though. Her father is one of the best and she is always been a good healer. By the time you came to, she was already on the mend and almost finished.”

  “I knew that I wasn't crazy. I knew that I had seen her and I was so worried about her. I'm glad that she was able to heal yourself the way she did. I just wish I had been able to do it as well. I don't think I've ever felt so bad as I did when I first woke up after the crash.”

  I liked the idea of her being so easy about it. A few minutes ago it was like I had boiled from the inside out and now, since it was Sandra, she seemed to be able to understand a little bit better. I hope that she could continue on in the same way, because there was a lot more that I needed to tell her.

  “I hated to see you hurt. I shouldn't have left you there at the bar, knowing that Greg was there. I had underestimated how ignorant he was or he has forgotten who I am.”

  “Why do you say it like that? Who are you?”

  I took a deep breath and tried to measure my words. Bree was not like Sandra in a lot of ways. She was not as rough and it was clear that she was shockable, Sandra was not. Bree had been sheltered or something of that nature. Whatever it was, Bree was not like any woman that I'd ever met before and I couldn't approach her in the same way. There was so much more at stake this time around.

  “Well, I told you about Buck. I was his right hand man. That meant that I did a lot of things for him. I was the enforcer and I was rather good at it. Me and Greg have come toe to toe before and it didn't end well. Since I've been gone and he killed Buck, Greg seems to have forgotten who the hell we all are. He’s surrounded by his crew right now, but it won't take long before we have our own crew back together.”