Claiming Bite

by Silvia Violet

  Suddenly, two men burst from the house, one of Leon’s younger brothers and his friend. Both had been in the group that had intended to use Emerson at Tooth and Claw. When they saw me, they shifted into lion form. As they approached, I smelled Emerson on them. They’d hurt him. And now they were going to die.

  It didn't matter that they were each larger than my wolf or that there were two of them. They stank of my mate’s blood, and I was going to rip them apart.

  I lunged at Leon’s brother, knocking him to the ground and sinking my fangs deep into his neck before he even had a chance to react. I bit deep. I wasn’t attempting to scare or maim. I wanted to kill. The second lion pounced, and I kicked out, using my back claws and tearing a gash in his belly. He fell to the side, seeming to need to regroup.

  The lion under me struggled, trying to flip me over, but the force of my anger at my mate’s mistreatment gave me the strength to hold on.

  The second lion clawed at my back, trying to drag me off Leon’s brother, but before he could succeed, another wolf raced from the house and knocked him off my back.

  It was Garrett. My mind was too fogged with bloodlust for me to question how Garrett had gotten to Leon’s den ahead of me. My seconds of distraction gave the lion under me the time he needed to shove at me and roll me under him. I snapped my mouth back down on the gaping wound in his neck, sinking my fangs as deep as they would go. The lion fought me, trying to get his legs under him so he could pull away, but he wasn't going to win.

  The lion Garrett was fighting freed himself from my brother’s hold, but Garrett pounced on his back, digging in with fangs and claws. He gave a cry of pain as Garrett pulled him down to the ground.

  My opponent freed himself as well. We circled each other, but all I had to do was wait him out. Blood was running too fast from his ruined neck. He’d been caught off guard by the force of the initial attack, and he was losing strength quickly. He lunged at me, teeth snapping close to my shoulder, but he was too slow. I jumped out of the way, and he wavered, nearly going down. I leapt at him again, and in seconds, I’d finished him off.

  When I turned to see how Garrett was doing, I saw that the second lion had also drawn his last breath. Garrett had a few scratches, but he wasn’t seriously injured, and neither was I. Even if I had been, I wasn’t going to stop until I’d freed my mate and made every lion who’d touched him pay.

  I took off toward the house, ignoring the twinge in one of my hind legs. Garrett overtook me and jumped in front of me, blocking my way onto the porch.

  I growled and pushed at him with my snout. I had enough control not to hurt him, but I wasn’t going to let him stop me.

  He shifted to human form and held up his hands. “Wait, you need to listen to me.”

  I growled again, baring my teeth this time.

  “Emerson is safe.”

  He was wrong. I could smell my mate’s fear and his blood. Why was Garrett keeping me from him? I shoved against him, knocking him to the side. When he stumbled, I jumped onto the porch and rammed myself against the door. It rattled but didn’t give. Someone had locked it since Leon’s brother and his friend had run out.

  Garrett growled, and I turned to see him changing back to wolf form. He lunged at me, nipping me and knocking me away from the door.

  I snarled, rage filling me. I had to get to my mate. We circled each other, then I lunged, knocking him sideways and rolling us until I had him pinned.

  “King! Stop!”

  It was Storm. I turned to see him rush toward us, followed by Bryce.

  Garrett took advantage, rolling us again. I snapped at him and bucked, throwing him off. The second I was free, I rushed toward the door, but Garrett’s leaner body was faster, and he slipped in front of me once again. I growled, willing him not to force me to hurt him, and he transformed again. He’d always been able to move between forms more smoothly than most shifters. “King, Emerson is safe. I swear it. Please listen to me.”

  Bryce growled and grabbed Garrett’s arm. “We saw two dead lions on the way in. Where are the others?”

  “Dead or gone except for those willing to negotiate with us.”

  That got through to me. Maybe I should give him a few more seconds to explain.

  “What are you doing here?” Bryce asked Garrett. “You didn’t answer our calls.”

  “I got the message and took a shortcut.”

  That was a lie. I could smell it. What was he hiding?

  “Leon’s youngest brother, Aidan, has taken over as leader. He’d like to meet with us.”

  I snarled, pushing past Garrett to hammer at the door again.

  “Explain more before King hurts himself,” Storm demanded.

  The door flew open then, and I fell, rolling before I could get my feet under me. Aidan stood in front of me. He held up his hands in surrender, but I charged anyway, knocking him down and putting my teeth against his neck.

  “Talk fast, Aidan,” Bryce ordered.

  “Your mate is safe. I will take you to him.” His voice was steady, despite my hold on him.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Garrett said.

  “How do you know?” Storm asked.

  “I’ll explain later,” Garrett said.

  Damn right he would. What part was he playing in all of this? I didn’t smell guilt or fear, but there was something he was hiding.

  “He can’t be lying about all of it, King,” Storm said. “No one has come for us. I can smell Leon’s blood, lots of it. If he were here and able, don’t you think he’d be fighting us?”

  “I assure you,” Aidan said, “my brother is quite dead.”

  Storm was right, Leon’s blood had been spilled. Lots of it. I backed off Aidan and transformed into a human. “Take me to my mate now. Then you can explain yourself.”

  “There are clothes in the cabinet behind you if you’d like to dress first,” Aidan said.

  “Mate. Now,” I demanded.

  “This way.” Aidan motioned for me to follow him.

  Garrett tossed a pair of pants over my shoulder, and I yanked them on as I followed Aidan upstairs. Emerson’s scent grew stronger with every step.

  “I smell Emerson’s blood. How badly is he hurt?”

  “Leon and his minions were rough with him, but he was not seriously harmed. I got him away from them and hidden, but I haven’t had a chance to tend to his minor injuries.”

  I growled. “What happened to him?”

  “I believe he sustained a mild concussion when one of my brothers slammed a car into the one your mate was in. Otherwise, he has scrapes on his knees, some bruises, and a few claw marks. Were he a shifter, he would already have healed. I promise you, it’s nothing serious.”

  “Your brother took him. Why should I trust you?”

  “Because if I hadn’t put a stop to it, Leon would have let his men play with him, and you know how that would have ended.”

  The matter-of-fact way Aidan spoke made this whole night seem more unreal than it already did. The need to find my mate had filled me with such rage, the rest of the world had faded away. Only getting Emerson back would calm my wolf enough to let me think clearly again.

  Aidan led us into a bedroom. Emerson wasn’t there, but I could smell him. He was close. “Where?” I demanded.

  “In here.” He pointed to a door. “There’s a hidden space behind the closet.”

  “Emerson!” I shouted. “I’m here.”

  “King?”

  “Pull the hook on the back wall,” Aidan instructed.

  When I did, Emerson leapt into my arms. I scooped him up, kissing his head, his face, and then his lips. He clung to me, and I’d never felt anything as good as having him there, alive and whole.

  “I was so scared,” he said, voice muffled as he buried his face in my neck.

  “I know. I’m so sorry. I didn’t keep you safe.” I didn’t deserve him.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “We’ll talk about that later. Right now,
I have to figure out what’s going on.”

  Emerson frowned. He looked exhausted, and I could still smell fear on him. My wolf wanted to take him away somewhere no one else could find us, but that wasn’t an option.

  “How did you get to me? You don’t look like you’ve even been in a fight.” Transforming had healed most of the scratches and my head barely ached anymore.

  “My plan worked,” Aidan said. “By the time your mate and his brothers arrived, most of the lions who wished to move against him were dead.”

  “Dead?” Emerson squeaked. I cuddled him tighter.

  Aidan nodded. “A few of the other lions and I took care of things here before your mate and his brothers arrived.”

  I nuzzled Emerson’s hair. “Don’t worry, baby. Aidan has a lot of explaining to do. I’m going to make sure we learn all we need to know.”

  “You’re not leaving me, are you?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled his scent deeply. I had to leave him. For his own good. But not yet. “No, you can stay with me.”

  Aidan showed all of us downstairs into a sitting room. But as we walked down the hallway, I glanced into a dining room with a massive table. The furniture was shattered, glass was everywhere, and there were bloodstains on the floor. The smell of death was in the air. What exactly had Aidan done?

  I settled Emerson on my lap. He seemed half-asleep, but that was fine. He didn’t need to relive any of this night. I turned to Aidan. “Garrett tells me you’ve taken over as leader of the lions?”

  “I have,” Aidan said. “And I intend to take Leon’s place on the council.”

  He said it as a statement, making clear he wasn’t asking my permission.

  I needed to hear more of what had happened, but so far I couldn’t help but be impressed with this young man. He showed no fear in front of me, not even when I’d been in wolf form. And Emerson hadn’t been afraid of him, so he hadn’t lied about helping him. For now, I was willing to entertain him as a council candidate and to hear his story. “I want to know everything that happened tonight.”

  “You will,” Aidan said. “Though I don’t wish to upset your mate.”

  I looked down at Emerson and brushed his hair off his face. His eyes fluttered open and met mine. “Did they hurt you?”

  “They were rough with me. They were going to do worse, but Aidan stopped them. He warned them that they needed to keep me unharmed until you came.”

  “My brother liked to pretend otherwise, but we did not have the numbers or the strength for an all-out war with the wolves, which I knew would happen if Emerson were seriously harmed.”

  “Was your goal in dispatching Leon and his allies to take his place on the council?”

  “In part, but primarily, I wanted to forge a different future for our species than his mindless aggression ever could.”

  “Do you intend to challenge my leadership?” I asked, a growl in my voice.

  Aidan shook his head. “I’m happy to take my place on the council while you remain its leader, but I will expect the same amount of respect given to every other member. I’m not my brother, but I will stand up for the rights of my family and the other lions.”

  “Show me you’re different than your brother, and you will get that respect.”

  “Once I secured your mate’s safety, I knew it was time to act on the plan I’d slowly been putting in place to rid us of my brother’s tyranny. With the exception of Leon and a few of his most loyal minions, the rest of us are opposed to many of the actions he’s taken in the last few years. We never wished to be involved in human trafficking or sales of natcylid. I’ve been working to build up enough allies to move against him. I wanted more time, but he forced my hand. Once he and the others gathered for dinner, I waited for them to drink enough to slow them down, then I moved on them.”

  “How did you kill him?”

  “A crossbow and a natcylid-coated arrow, and an aim good enough to make it pierce his heart.” Without the ability to shift and heal the wound, Leon would have died in seconds.

  Aidan continued. “I dropped Leon and his two most dangerous minions before they even registered my presence. We fought with others, and two of them got away, but—”

  “No, they didn’t,” I said. “Garrett and I took care of them.”

  “Excellent. As I was saying, I have firm control now. That is why no one moved against you when you arrived.”

  The way Aidan spoke so casually about killing his brother reminded me that I couldn’t underestimate him. There was a cold, calculating man behind the polite exterior. He might be smaller than most shifters, but he was far more dangerous than one would expect. Leon had obviously discounted his abilities. No matter how much Aidan might have helped me that night, I couldn’t forget how lethal he could be.

  “Thank you for taking care of my mate and for your assistance in solving this problem for the entire shifter community. I will call a council meeting tomorrow night, and I expect you to be there. I will lay some ground rules for where we will go in the future. If you agree to those, your place is secure.”

  “And if not?”

  “If not, then we might have a problem.”

  “See that your expectations are reasonable and respectful, and there will be no problem.”

  I rose, lifting Emerson in my arms. Bryce, Storm, and Garrett stood too. Aidan turned to Garrett. “I appreciate your assistance, and your belief in me.”

  “Make no mistake. My loyalty lies with my family, but I was happy to be able to bring our differences to a peaceful conclusion.”

  I had many questions for Garrett, but those would have to wait. I needed to get my mate home, tend to him, and then do the hardest thing I’d ever done. Fighting Leon and all of his minions would’ve been far easier than taking the steps I needed to make sure my mate was truly safe.

  20

  Emerson

  I must’ve fallen asleep on the ride back to King’s house. I had no idea what time it was, but I felt like this day had lasted forever. I’d felt warm and loved and cared for during the hours that I’d spent by King’s side as he worked. And then I’d experienced more terror than I ever had in my life—for myself, for King, for his family. I still didn’t understand completely what had happened with the lions except that when Aidan had told me he’d made provisions for himself, he’d actually meant he intended to do away with Leon and those who supported him. That was good, I supposed. Although Aidan was obviously a scarier man than I’d realized.

  But now I had King back, and I was safe there, cuddled against him. He insisted on carrying me into the house. It was obvious even in my half-asleep state that his brothers had questions for him, but he ignored them and carried me straight to his bedroom.

  “Take off your clothes,” he said. “I need to check your injuries and clean you up.”

  I frowned. I’d been expecting something more exciting than him poking around my scratches and bruises. “I’m fine. I promise.”

  “Do as I said.”

  I didn’t understand. I expected him to at least hold me and hopefully to remove my cock cage and fuck me until we were both senseless. Despite my exhaustion and the aches in my body, I wanted him. He could help me chase the bad memories away.

  I winced as I lifted my shirt. Lifting my arms over my head was more painful than I expected, and the fabric of my shirt was stuck to some of the scrapes, but I got it off and tossed it aside.

  King growled. “Look at what they did to you.”

  “I really am fine. It’s just scratches.”

  “Nothing about them putting their hands on you is fine.”

  I shrugged. “No, it wasn’t, but they’ve paid for that, and I’m safe now.”

  “No, you’re not safe. You’re never going to be safe with me.”

  “King? What are you saying?”

  He ignored the question. “Let me clean you up.”

  I had to bite my lip as he washed away the dried blood and skimmed fingers over my bruise
s. I whimpered when he touched the knot on the side of my head. “Are you feeling nauseous, or dizzy, or having any trouble with your vision?”

  “I had all of that initially, but not anymore, not since Aidan took me to the hiding place. So I don’t know if that was from fear or the head injury.”

  King frowned, but he didn’t question me anymore. He dabbed antibacterial ointment on my scrapes and then surveyed me once more.

  “I really am fine, can’t we just—”

  He opened a drawer in his dresser and I heard him rustling things around. I was so ready for him to touch me with something other than the efficient hands of a nurse. It had felt so right when he’d held me as we’d listened to Aidan’s explanation of what happened with the lions, but since we’d gotten home he’d seemed distant. It was worrying me.

  When he turned to face me again, he had a tiny key in his hand. I remembered him telling me there was a spare key to my cock cage in his dresser, but rather than reaching for the cage as I expected, King lifted my hand and placed the key in it. “This is yours now so you can free yourself. I should never have tried to hold on to you. I can’t protect you. That became obvious tonight. I have a safe house where you can go until things are more settled with the council. It will be better than staying here. Once that’s done, Storm will see that you have a home, a job, and anything else you need.”

  I refused to close my hand around the key even as King tried to push my fingers up. “I don’t want this. You did everything you could to keep me safe. The lions wanted to hurt you, and they were going to find a way to do that no matter what. That part is over now.”

  “There will be some new danger. There always is.”

  “And we’ll figure out how to deal with it together.”

  King shook his head. “I can’t do this to you. You don’t deserve to live like this. You don’t deserve to be nearly… I can only imagine what it was like for you while they held you. If Aidan hadn’t rescued you…”

  “But he did. And you came for me.”

  King clenched his jaw. “It’s not right for you to have to go through that.”