The image sent her mind reeling and turned her hot, and she got out of there before she could give in to temptation. When she was safely far away from him, Angel realized that while she still had her skirt, she forgot her panties and wasn’t wearing anything underneath, causing her to finally get out the laugh she’d been keeping inside.
Trust it to Garrett to make her act like a giddy, horny teenager.
Trust it to a damn shifter to make her want to have him inside her again.
She let work consume her time for the rest of the day. When night fell, she walked in bliss, excitement filling her as she passed by a shortcut towards his cabin and tried not to think of all the exciting things she wanted to do tonight.
Like him.
Oh, yes, she wanted to do him.
Rope sounded good. She just couldn’t tell yet who would submit while the other was tied up, but the thought alone made her hot and heavy.
Oh, yes.
The moon wasn’t too bright, and the fields were filled with crickets and insects that competed with the sound of the wind. She appreciated the nature, rubbing her belly, the worry flitting in and out at how she was still small but no longer flat.
Something creaked behind her, and she froze and reacted by letting her fangs slide out.
But it was too late because something painful hit her on the head and made her dizzy. She turned around just in time to see a familiar face.
Something hit her once more before darkness surrounded her.
Chapter 13
Garrett realized the exact moment Angel was already his mate because he was doing a very ordinary thing: cutting sausages for the dinner he had in mind for them. He knew she was craving pizza, knew she was trying not to say anything to him about it because she ate it for one week straight and thought he was sick and tired of it. But he wasn’t, and amusement slid through him at the thought of her coming home to more pizza. He imagined her smoky eyes would light up in pleasure, followed by her giddy body vibrating as she tried to make excuses on why she shouldn’t have pizza anymore—followed by her taking one big bite and losing all sense as she’d end up destroying the whole thing.
It had him chuckling, and he found he was looking forward to the same reaction again. Then the scenario earlier came to mind and amusement fled, replaced by a dizzying desire as he recalled exactly what they did inside that damn closet where anyone could have walked in on them. It was a risky move, but he’d been craving her so much that he couldn’t have stopped it even if he wanted to. Her quiet moans had been the sexiest thing he ever heard, and he craved for her all over again and had to pause from slicing, else he’d cut his finger off.
When he was relatively calmer, he resumed slicing and thinking random thoughts, remembering how peaceful the work environment had been so far.
And it was while thinking about this that the pain came, jolting him into almost slicing his hand off as it jerked and he lost control.
It blew up in his head, heavy and potent, making him drop the knife as his knees wobbled and his skull felt like it was being hammered. Images bombarded him, sinking one by one that showed him what happened: Angel being hit on the head and dragged somewhere that looked like an abandoned warehouse. Recognition flared, but even more than the recognition of the area was the knowledge of why he could see things clearly.
Only mates could feel danger once it came for their partners.
He forgot all about cooking. He furiously tried to scan his mind for anyone he could involve in this and only got one: a cop just like him who never cared for the prejudice and was friendly with everyone. The shifter answered on the second ring, voice pleasantly greeting him.
“I need your help.”
Evan Malone’s pleasant tone changed immediately. “What?”
“My mate may be in trouble. Not yet sure if it’s vampires or shifters.”
There was no need to explain who or why because Evan didn’t delve into details like that—he offered help right off.
“Tell me where we’ll meet up. I’ll be there right away.”
“Don’t tell anyone. Not yet.”
“I know. I won’t.”
*****
(Author Warning: Possible emotional trigger for some readers)
They met up in the fields, where Angel usually passed on her way home. Garrett scented and saw other things that weren’t there before—blood and flattened grass, indicating she’d been dragged. It sent fury inside him, but he banked that down as Evan appeared, golden eyes already zoning in on the ground and seeing exactly what he was seeing. Garrett gave him a brief explanation of what he saw in his vision, as well as the name of the person they were supposed to find. Surprise flitted in Evan’s eyes, but he nodded his head without comment.
And they were moving.
The warehouse he saw in his vision was in human territory, a bodega for shipments before the owner left town and it was abandoned. He knew there was a No Trespassing sign on the tall, front chain fence, but they bypassed that and rounded the area until they found it: a small tamper at the back, where any regular-sized adult could slip in. The warehouse itself was locked up tight, with broken glass windows at the top too high to climb—but there was no need to delve further in as they heard voices at the side they hadn’t explored yet.
Slowly, the two moved in unison, footsteps quiet and wary. They crouched to avoid detection, and a quick peek in between some stacked boxes showed them what the scenario was.
There was a small fire raging inside a large drum, and there were three shifters manning the area: the same two shifters who attacked Angel previously, Dan included, and another one who looked vaguely familiar. They were gathered around a chair, where a person was tied in up in chains.
That person was Angel.
The sight of her marred cheek almost had him moving forward, but Evan must have anticipated it as he clamped a hand on Garrett’s wrist in warning. A few seconds later, a fourth shifter appeared, just as young and holding another person in chains.
Zeke.
The next few things that happened were too shocking to comprehend, even while Garrett’s eyes followed the movements: a pail of what appeared to be animal blood, tossed in Angel’s direction until she was coated in it. Zeke was brought closer to her until his pupils dilated, and Garrett realized what was going on based on how Zeke’s cheeks hollowed, and his fangs came out: that the vampire was probably kidnapped beforehand and starved for this moment. Zeke struggled against the chains, snarled at the shifters, even while his feet kept moving forward in Angel’s direction.
“Fight it, Zeke. Don’t do what they want,” Angel said through gritted teeth.
Dan sneered at her. Then Dan’s claws came out as he slapped her, sending her coughing blood. Instead of submitting, she glared.
“Do you think this will help? Pitting vampires against vampires?” Angel asked, disgusted. “That’s stupid.”
Dan smirked. “If he kills you, the cops will investigate. The cops will know that bitches and bastards like you don’t deserve a place here.”
“Fuck you. You’ve been fired. Those cops will throw a loser like you out first.”
Fury changed Dan’s face, causing him to remove Angel’s chains. She struggled, but she was weak from plenty of injuries, and he added one more in as he punched her stomach and had her crying out in pain. Then he tossed her right in front of Zeke, who looked stricken and hungry.
It was the last straw.
Garrett moved forward, shifting on the spot and knocking out the first shifter that was in the way. Said shifter was down on the floor immediately, but the three shifters left moved right away, shifting into their bear form and ganging up on Garrett. Evan shifted and pounced a few seconds later, but a fifth shifter came and jumped on him, rendering Evan preoccupied. Angel crawled over to where Zeke was and murmured things to him, even while Zeke snarled and told her to stay away. But she stubbornly refused and unchained the vampire, who wobbled on his feet and struggled to crawl away f
rom her.
Garrett became too preoccupied with his own fight to see the rest, especially when Dan latched on to him like a leech and didn’t let go. He saw the hatred in the boy’s eyes and knew there was no reasoning with him anymore, and the strength the boy portrayed only told him one thing: it was kill or be killed, and there was no in between. The beast in him knew it was necessary, but the man in him tried to hold out as much as he could.
Until he heard Angel cry out and realized only Dan was on him now and the others were trying to kill the vampires.
Energy surged in him, and Garrett used it to turn the fight around. Swipe after swipe came until he gained the upper hand, and he threw Dan’s bear form to the ground. They roared. They rolled around. Dan reached for his neck again, then leaned up to bite in, a blur of a movement. He was fast.
Garrett was faster as he took hold of Dan’s neck and snapped it—hard.
It all happened too fast. The bear form underneath him groaned, then slumped, heartbeat slowing down before stopping completely. The scent of blood filled Garrett as he stumbled back, then was face-to-face with another bear, who he had no choice but to subdue and injure to the point of unconsciousness. Evan was taking care of his second shifter, and Garrett finally went to where the two vampires were.
There were two sights he took note of instantly: first was Zeke on his back, blood flowing out of his open chest and eyes unstaring.
Second was Angel beside him, breathing harshly and clutching her stomach as she coughed more blood.
Garrett ran towards her, kneeling down and lifting her head up with shaking fingers. Her eyes were glazed, and her fangs flashed at the touch, but she settled down when she realized it was him.
“You’ll be okay,” he murmured.
“No,” she murmured back, tears falling from her eyes. They were full of grief. She tightened her hand on her stomach, and he looked down, finally catching on to what she was doing.
Someone had clawed her stomach open, and blood was flowing freely out of it and in between her legs. It was her blood, not the one poured on her. Her heartbeat was weak, but it was there.
The same grief struck him when he realized the heartbeat inside her stomach was gone.
Chapter 14
“You had a baby growing inside you, and you didn’t think the council would want to know about it?”
Angel looked down—not because of the harsh tone, but because of the word and how it reverberated in her mind and shot down her heart. The pain came as it usually did when she heard the word baby, even when she had days to recuperate and recover from it. Her wounds were partially healed, the witch doctor’s stitching and some magic helping a lot to hasten things up.
But the wounds inside were still there, and she ached with the thought that it wouldn’t be going away anytime soon.
Still, Angel straightened her shoulders, willing herself to be strong.
“I knew the council would want to know about it. But I was still coming to terms that actually having the baby and keeping it was the best solution rather than hiding it from our kind. And then I was kidnapped, and now…it’s too late.” Her voice almost cracked at the last part, but she managed to keep it steady as she finally gathered the courage to look the council members in the eye.
The reactions from them differed, from concern to utter disbelief to wariness that what she was saying was real. But the witch doctor, Hazel, had already come earlier, stating that everything Angel was saying now was true and she really did have a developing child inside her stomach before the shifters kidnapped her and sliced her open. It had been too late to save the baby, but the witch doctor had done her best to save Angel, declaring her as a regular healing vampire.
No one knew how a regular vampire could come to be pregnant, and even Angel had no explanation. Everyone thought it was a shocking miracle, but many disapproved her hiding it, as it went against the council’s agenda to bring all the creatures together here—and that included bringing every secret forward to see how it would be dealt with.
“I have two requests,” Angel said once the questions were done.
“Yes?”
“I’d like to step down from my council application.”
Some of the members narrowed their eyes, but no one protested, which only meant one thing: that that had been their decision the moment they found out about her secret. She waited it out.
“And the second?”
“I’d like to request time away from Orville. And I would like to return still a citizen, if that’s possible.”
The frowns came, and she could tell her second request had them all surprised. No vampire, shifter or witch who already lived here for years ever volunteered to leave, and she supposed she was the first one.
“Fine,” Miriam said. “We hold no grudges against you, despite what happened. And the baby’s father?”
A few leaned their bodies forward, the anticipation clear. Angel met their stares head-on, keeping her voice calm and no emotion coming out.
“He’s an upstanding citizen. That’s all you need to know. I promise you; he will stand by this town no matter what.”
An hour later, the meeting was overdone, and she was granted all the leave she wanted. She waited for the relief to come, but it never did, and Angel found herself in a trance as she walked where her feet took her and tried to keep her mind blank. The sun shining above made her skin itch, but it was a welcome feeling compared to the numbness inside her, one that had her crying every night and dreading every day.
She kept walking, not stopping until her feet grew tired. Realization came that she was headed to the place she considered home these past few weeks, where the man she hadn’t seen since the night he saved her lived. She looked at the back of the cabin now, the wood rough but sturdy.
Exactly like him.
She couldn’t sense anyone inside, so she turned back around and walked the other way.
Fifteen minutes later, she bumped into the last person she expected to see in broad daylight—Orbit, holding two boxes of great-smelling fried chicken and wearing a restaurant employee uniform. The short young man’s eyes widened in surprise before pleasure came. Then the pleasure was gone instantly, replaced by sadness, and Angel knew what the vampire was thinking.
“Hey,” Orbit said after a while.
“Hi.”
No questions were asked about Zeke, and she knew they were already briefed—just as she knew the shifters who’d done the crime were all either incapacitated or killed by Garrett, who…
She shook her head, trying not to think about it. She and Orbit chatted for a bit before they parted ways, and a light feeling came as she realized she hadn’t had a proper conversation with anyone in a while.
She kept walking. Garrett came to mind again, then the council members. The fact that he’d been convicted for the crimes probably already clued them in on who the father was, which was probably why she was no longer grilled about it. She remembered Hazel’s words about Garrett’s conviction, realized her feet were already taking her to her second destination without thought. Angel didn’t fight it. She kept walking until she reached the police station, where she found a couple of staff inside—Evan included.
Evan saw her right away and stepped forward, greeting her in a pleasant manner. She always did like him, and the way he helped rescue her and backed the witch doctor’s words only cemented that.
“Hey, Angel.”
“Good morning, Evan.”
There was a pause and an elephant in the room, and she decided to bite right into it—no pun intended. It would change everything.
It didn’t matter.
“Garrett?”
“He’s in prison. He’ll be there for a while as punishment for what he’s done.”
“But he only did it to defend me.”
“We know. The council knows. It’s just for self-reflection. It’s the least we can do for the grieving families, even when the crime committed by their sons was too horrible. Gar
rett killed three of the shifters, and they were young boys.”
It made sense, and yet it didn’t.
“Can I see him, Evan?”
The other officers looked in their direction, comprehension dawning on the faces of some, speculation on the others. She ignored them and waited. Evan shook his head.
“I’m sorry. No one can. He’s to be starved for two weeks. Next week is his last week, and he’ll be too weak after. You know how it works.”
Yes, she did. Murder of one of their kind often resulted in suspension, so long as it was reasonable. But murder of three of their kind, no matter how reasonable, required harsher punishment to ensure that it wouldn’t be done out of malice. Hunger could do so many things to shifters and vampires, such as drive them crazy and make them regret everything they’d ever done.
She worried about him. Her heart reached out, wanting to wait. Aching. But she was already so tired, too, and she wanted to get out of this town as soon as she could—to breathe fresh air.
To give herself time to heal.
To move on.
She looked at Evan again, who was patiently waiting.
“Can you pass a message on for me? When he’s free?”
“Of course. What is it?”
She looked around, waited for the others to stop looking at her—then, to grow uncomfortable enough at her stare and finally leave. When it was just her and Evan in that area, she straightened her shoulders.
“Tell him I’m leaving town for a bit, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. But I will be back. Tell him thank you for saving my life. Tell him…the baby’s really gone, so he has nothing to worry about that. Tell him I’ll be okay, and he should move on and live his life. Tell him…just tell him all of that.”
There was one more thing she wanted to tell Garrett, but she clamped her mouth shut and didn’t say it. She held on to it in her heart, which felt hollow but was still beating. She kept it, knowing it wouldn’t make any difference because Garrett was Garrett, and she was she—different worlds, different lives, tied together by their creation that was now gone.
Bear Guards: A Paranormal Romance Page 14
