Slowly, I turned the knob on the door, and the door opened. There was the slightest of creaks from the hinges, and I stilled, hoping the wolves hadn’t heard it.
There was a loud crashing sound behind me, and I knew that it was the bedroom door giving way.
So much for them not hearing it.
Turning and taking a fighting stance, I watched as a massive gray wolf leaped at me. I put my arms up to deflect it as it struck me with its full body weight. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a huge issue, although it would have hurt. The fact I was standing near a second-floor balcony changed matters dramatically. One second, I was on the balcony, and the next, the fully shifted wolf and I were going over the stone banister.
My right shoulder struck something hard and unforgiving before I was suddenly under water. When I realized I was in the pool, underwater, with a gigantic wolf on me, I kicked at the beast, trying to put distance between it and myself. I managed to do just that and swam to the other side of the pool. I pushed out of the water and spun, sensing more wolves closing in on me.
The one in the pool struggled to get out of the water in fully shifted form. He was left doggie paddling in place. I couldn’t worry about him at the moment. I had bigger issues.
I could sense at least two wolves creeping closer from my left and an undetermined number from my right.
A white one came rushing from the darkness, and I twisted, knocking it away from me, using the least amount of force I could.
It was quickly replaced by another gray one. This one chomped down as it came at me, catching my hand in the process. I ignored the pain and kicked the wolf away from me. I grabbed an end table from the poolside furniture. As another wolf attacked, I hit it with the table before running in the direction of the pool house.
20
I was nearly to one of the many French doors of the pool house when I was struck from behind, my body propelled forward. I crashed through a set of French doors, the glass breaking around me, cutting me in the process before I landed on the hard marble floor. I leaped to my feet and spun around in time to deflect the wolf, flipping it up and over me. It landed on the floor and snarled violently.
“Dude, I’m trying not to hurt you!” I yelled, but no one was home behind the vicious snarl.
It scrambled to its feet and came at me as three more jumped through the windows and doors.
“Shit.” I turned and ran, everything happening in mere seconds. When I looked forward, I found an enormous gathering hall of sorts, filled with men. They all seemed to make a grab for me, not the fucking wolves trying to eat me.
To them, I was the enemy. Not their pack mates.
The next I knew, I had mind-melded wolves trying to kill me and guys in human form trying to take me on. I fought back as best I could, delivering non-lethal strikes.
Samuel and Romeo were suddenly there, thrusting the men back from me, shouting at them.
“Stop!” yelled Samuel. “She’s Jay’s woman!”
They either didn’t hear him or they didn’t care.
Romeo ushered me through the crowd at a fast rate, and when it cleared, I saw Jay standing there, face-to-face with a man who matched him in height and build. The same man I’d caught sight of outside the vampire club. The very one who helped save me from Reynaud. And the same one I’d seen outside the diner.
The man’s black hair was long and pulled together loosely at his neck. He had a full beard, the type that seemed popular with men as of late. He turned his head, his green gaze finding me.
Jay looked horrified at what was happening before he began shouting at his pack.
I ran at Jay—but at the last second, felt the overwhelming need to go to the man with the green eyes, so I did.
He put his arms out and caught me, holding me in place.
I panted and pointed to the crowd. “Vampire influencing the shifted ones,” I managed, partially out of breath. “Others just want to kill me for being me, I think.”
Jay snarled and then turned to his men. He roared, and everyone but those shifted into wolf form stopped moving. “Restrain them!”
The men listened to Jay’s command like God himself came down and issued the order. I clung to the guy with green eyes and watched the scene unfold. I then remembered the wolf in the pool.
My gaze met Samuel’s. “Sam, in the pool! One’s in the pool. I don’t know if he can shift back to human form to get out. He knocked me off the balcony, and we fell into the pool together.”
Samuel nodded as he and three other men ran from the pool house.
I stared around, trying to figure out if everyone was done trying to kill me.
Jay came at me, his eyes wide. “You’re bleeding!”
He reached for me, and I threw myself at the man holding me as the dream about Jay biting my throat out hit me full force.
Jay drew up short and sniffed the air. “Baby, you’re afraid of me? Why?”
“I’m not, it’s just…I kind of need a moment here.”
He looked past me at the man holding me. “Baby, will you let Romeo close to you? He can check your hand. And get you away from an alpha who charged into my territory, demanding a meeting with me and my pack at an ungodly hour.”
I twisted in the man’s arms.
His green gaze ran over me, and his brows met as confusion crossed his features. “Do I know you?”
I shook my head but then stopped. He did seem familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“Shaw,” said Jay, his voice deep. “Release my woman.”
A group of about twelve men surrounded Shaw as if to protect him. I realized then they must be from his pack. Several of them looked really familiar, but I couldn’t place them.
Jay growled long and deep. “Get your hands off her!”
“Uh, let’s all play nice,” said Romeo, sounding as if he was trying to appear extra calm when he was anything but okay with what was going on. He put his hand out to me. “How about we step away from Shaw?”
“Is she going to start making out with him like she did Samuel?” asked someone from the crowd.
Another laughed. “Nah, she’ll just offer to give the guy a hand job to piss Jay off more.”
As the words left the man’s mouth, Shaw snarled, pushed me behind him and pointed at the men who had spoken. “Do nae talk of her in that manner again! If you do, I’ll rip yer fucking tongues from yer heads. Am I clear?”
Stunned, I stared at his back, wondering why he’d taken the comments so personally. There was certainly something that felt safe and right about him, but that didn’t mean much.
In the next breath, Shaw was removing his T-shirt and turning to face me. He put it over my head as if I were a child. He looked down and nodded, looking content to have me covered.
Jay snarled.
My gaze met his. “Jayson, it’s okay. I promise. He doesn’t feel like he’d hurt me.”
“I don’t give a shit what he feels like to you,” snapped Jay. “His pack isn’t known for playing well with others. Him showing up here, out of the blue, uninvited, is a big fucking red flag.”
“Och, wolf, I’ve been trying to tell you that we’re tracking a darkness that is indescribable. It is here, in your city, or do yer own men make a habit of trying to kill yer woman?” Shaw asked, keeping me close to him, as if he was worried another attempt would be made on me. “They are under the influence of the darkness. They will have no memory of attacking yer woman. I’ve seen this play out time and time again. Trust me when I say, if we do nae find a way to stop it, it can and will take yer woman from you, and leave you a shell of a man.”
I thought about what he was saying. “You’re here chasing Reynaud?” I asked.
Shaw nodded. “He’s nae easy to track.”
I groaned and rubbed the spot on my neck where he’d bitten me. “Seems hard to shake. Then there is the whole bit with the tall, great-looking, full of himself…oh, and he can mind-jack people against their will. Real sweet guy. Can’t
wait to spend more time with him.”
A panicked look came over Shaw. “Stay away from him. As far as you can. He hides behind a smile, but on the inside, he carries a darkness that is as old as time. A darkness that feeds off chaos. A darkness that can control almost any supernatural with ease. As you well know from what happened to you several nights back.”
“How the hell do you know what happened to her?” demanded Jay.
“I was there. My men and I interrupted what could have ended verra poorly.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “I’m trying to stay away from him, but he keeps invading my dreams. He did it tonight, right before the wolves turned on me.”
Jay gasped. “Baby, I’m sorry I left you alone. Sam came for me, to tell me Shaw and his men had shown up, and I didn’t want to wake you. I should have stayed with you. I’m so fucking sorry. And I’m sorry my own men turned on you.”
Shaw looked at him. “There is nothing you could have done to stop it from happening. There is a guid chance he’d have used you to try to harm her, had you been closer to her.”
Jay came towards me and tried to hug me.
I moved closer to Shaw.
Jay stopped. “Baby, what did you dream about?”
I sighed. “I thought I was awake,” I admitted. “I thought you were behind me in bed, holding me, but you were colder than you normally are.”
Jay stiffened. “And?”
“And then I looked at the foot of the bed, and you were there. That didn’t make any sense. How could you be in two places at once? Then I felt Reynaud’s darkness blanketing me and the area. It was him in the bed with me, Jay. And he was doing something to you, making your wolf come up. Then you attacked me.”
Wiping his hands over his face, he looked as if he was about to be sick. “Christ, baby. No. I wouldn’t hurt you. Ever. I love you.”
I froze. “Uh, Jay?”
He swept his gaze over me. “Baby, I love you. Get over it.”
Shaw put an arm around me and gave me a sideways squeeze. “Lass, yer pale.”
I glanced up at him.
Shaw snickered. “Gonzales, the rumor mill had you being far better with the ladies than this.”
I grunted. “He thinks we’re mates.”
“And you?” asked Shaw. “What do you think, lass?”
My gaze flickered to Jay, who was fighting the urge to come to me and, if I was right, still considering attacking Shaw for touching me. My mind raced with everything Jay and I had been through since meeting. And how the last six months had turned our worlds upside down. My bottom lip trembled as I spoke. “I think I might be falling in love with him too, but I’m scared to let him have that much power over me. I’m afraid he’ll turn out to be like the other two men in my life who meant everything to me. That he’ll break my heart.”
Jay put his arms out, letting me come to him.
I did.
He picked me up and hugged me tightly, whispering softly in my ear, “I love you so fucking much, baby. Never doubt that. I’m not walking out on you—ever. I’m not Sam. I’m not your father. I’m here for the long haul. You want me gone, you’re going to have to kill me. That’s the only way you’re getting rid of me.”
I put my head against his chest for a second before I realized all the men in the place had heard him whispering to me. Cringing, I pushed to get down. “Jay, we have an audience.”
“Good,” he said, setting me on my feet but keeping me close. He looked out at the gathered crowd. “I know that only a portion of the pack is here, and I’d wanted to announce this in front of everyone at once, but what happened here tonight has made it clear the word needs to be spread now. She is my mate. To harm her is to harm me.”
Whispers filled the room.
“You haven’t claimed her,” someone said from the back of the room. “We’d smell your mark on her if you had.”
He stared out at the crowd. “Should you ever find yourself in a position where your mate is a slayer, you’ll learn quickly that if you make any sudden moves, you’re begging for an ass-kicking. And claiming her before she’s fully wrapped her mind around the fact she’s my mate would be a very sudden move. And I like my ass not kicked.”
The men laughed.
Samuel entered from outside.
“The wolf from the pool?” I asked, worried about him.
“He’s fine, but still in shifted form. I had men take him down to a holding cell,” said Samuel. “Jay, he’s not listening to reason. Whatever is pulling his strings is powerful.”
Jay kissed the top of my head. “Why would Reynaud use my men to hurt you when it’s very clear he wants to keep you for himself, not kill you?”
Shaw sighed. “He wants yer woman in a carnal way. It’s a game to him. He can test her skills and still gain her for himself.”
I tensed.
Shaw glanced back at his men before staring at Jay. “He’ll nae stop coming for her. When he gets fixated on a female, he stops at nothing to have them, and when it becomes clear they will nae bend to his whims, ever, he’ll have someone close to you, someone you trust—maybe even you, yerself—slaughter her.”
A low grumble came from Jay.
I pressed my hand to his chest. “Jayson, stop. Losing control won’t fix this. I could lead him away from here. Take him somewhere he can’t do so much damage.”
Jay roared, “Like fucking hell! You are not to be near him!”
Romeo moved closer to us quickly, touching Jay’s shoulder. “Easy there. And no, you can’t lock her away for her own safety. She’ll geld you, and you know it.”
Jay was thinking of locking me away?
Shaw reached a hand out to Jay. “Can we set aside pack rules and find a way to stop this bastard before he kills your woman as he did mine?”
I faced him. “He killed your mate?”
Shaw swallowed hard. “She was nae my true mate, but I loved her greatly, and we had a family. Reynaud ruined all of that. He stole it from me, and I’ve nae stopped tracking him since.”
I rubbed Jay’s chest. “We have to stop him. We should pull together everyone. Zachariah can get the vampire dens that are trustworthy in the city to stand with us. I can call Exavier and have him reach out to the Faes here. Anyone else we can figure out as well. Maybe if we all stand together, we can take him down.”
Jay glanced at his pack. “From what I’m sure you’ve all realized, we’ve got a problem. The club I’ve tasked many of you with watching is owned and operated by a vampire named Reynaud. He’s got a hell of a lot of power. Enough to control some of you without issue, as you saw tonight. I’ve never stood against anything like him, and I can’t ask any of you to do so. I’ll understand if you want to walk away now and not join in this fight.”
A man with shoulder-length blond hair stepped out from the crowd. He focused on Shaw. “He really do what you said to your family?”
Shaw nodded. “Aye. He wanted my wife. He stalked her at first, and when he realized she wasnae going to walk out on our child and me, Reynaud decided he would make sure no one could have her.”
Two of Shaw’s men stepped closer to him, each putting a hand on his shoulder as they stood to his sides. Both were familiar to me, as was Shaw, yet I couldn’t place any of them.
“It was just over twenty years since it all happened,” admitted Shaw. “There’s nae a day that goes by that I don’t think of her and my wee ones.”
“He killed your family?” asked another of Jay’s pack members.
Shaw stiffened. “Aye, he destroyed my family.”
My heart broke for the man, his voice was full of emotions that I’m sure an alpha male wasn’t big on sharing with groups.
The blond who asked Shaw a question looked to Jay. “Is the redhead your true mate?”
“Yes,” answered Jay.
“And this sick fuck fanger wants her for himself?” the man questioned.
Jay nodded.
“I’m in on hunting him,” said the
man.
Jay’s pack members began stepping forward, one by one, all committing to the cause. Not one walked away.
I couldn’t help but tear up at the sight of the devotion and loyalty they had to Jay. They didn’t just respect him, they loved him. Like a giant family. He was right, being with him meant you got all of this—the entire family.
Jay eased around me and went to Shaw. He drew Shaw into a manly embrace. “You have my help and that of my pack. I’ll send word to the rest of them, giving them a choice to join or sit this out.”
Shaw patted Jay’s back and stepped back, nodding.
21
Jay stared around his bedroom and took a deep breath.
I cringed. “Sorry about your room. I swear I tried to minimize the damage to it, and to your men.”
His brown gaze found me. “Gina, I don’t give a shit about the room. I can’t stop thinking about how I left you alone, in our room, and my own people hurt you.”
Jay made his way to the open French doors. He looked down from the balcony before putting his palms to the banister and lowering his head. “You fell from here and hit the pool?”
He looked as if he was going to be sick.
“Again, spoiler alert, I lived.”
He groaned. “I hate that my men did it.”
I stayed near the entrance to the room. “You can’t blame your guys. They’re victims of this too.”
He faced me. “That sick fuck took our space, our sanctuary, and turned it into this.”
I stiffened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring this down on you and your men. I can go.”
He stalked across the room to me. “Baby, you do understand that when I say our sanctuary, I mean you and me. I know you’ve not wrapped your mind around who I am to you, but, Gina, you’re my mate. This is your home too. Our home.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. My mind was a jumbled mess. “I’d like to take a shower.”
He nodded and then glanced at the bed. “He made me turn on you…in the dream?”
“Yes.”
“And I hurt you?”
Bad Moon Rising: A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate Book 2) Page 14
