“No!” she screamed, arms and legs flailing to stop him. But she only managed to enrage him further, because he paused to wallop her again.
This time, her world went black.
* * * * *
Knox returned to Jaycee’s house. He’d stopped by one of her neighbor’s on the way, emancipating an outfit from some unknown male’s closet. He wasn’t used to clothing, rarely wore the shit. He usually preferred to stay in his wolf skin, which didn’t require such frippery. The olive slacks were a bit short, falling well above his ankles, and the cream-colored shirt fit too snug in the chest. But he wanted to be presentable when Jaycee made it home.
If he was going to win her back, he had to prove he could adapt to her world.
Tugging at his crotch, where his balls were being squished by the seam of his new pants, Knox froze as a scream sounded in his head. Frowning, he lifted his face and glanced around Jaycee’s bedroom. The room remained quiet, save for the quickening of his heartbeat. Skin crawling with a sudden terror he couldn’t explain, he sniffed the air but smelled nothing off.
His instincts continued to go crazy, blaring all kinds of warnings. Never one to ignore his internal radar, he shifted into his wolf, shredding his new clothes all to hell, and leapt toward the window, busting out the glass in his haste.
Jaycee, his panicked heart cried. She was in trouble. He didn’t know how he knew it, he just did.
* * * * *
Jaycee came to, her entire head throbbing, as Donald issued frenzied orders into a cell phone.
“I need reinforcements. Now. There’s an entire nest of shifters living right here in town. At Shaw Griffin’s house, no less. Yeah, the fucker’s kids are frickin’ tigers, or leopards, or something. I wouldn’t be surprised if Griffin was a shifter himself, infiltrating the organization all these years to work against us….yeah. Okay, good. I’ll neutralize the brats and put them down so we can work out a plan for their parents once your men arrive. We need to be stealthy to take on the adults.”
Jaycee surged to her feet just as he hung up, but her lack of equilibrium worked against her, making her stumble dizzily into the side of a chair.
Donald spun around and sneered at her. “Been keeping secrets from me, have you, princess?”
“You stay away from them, you bastard.”
He laughed and snatched her arm, his rough grip bruising. She struggled but couldn’t break free as he hauled her to the door of Shaw’s office and shoved her inside.
Tripping over her own feet, she staggered until she hit the corner of the desk. Spotting the phone, she tried to crawl across the desktop toward it, knocking over framed pictures of Riley and the triplets in her haste. Donald caught her ankle and yanked her back just inches from making contact with the cord. The corner of a desk calendar gouged her in the stomach, making her cry out.
She twisted, grappling for a handhold, but Donald was stronger and hauled her off the desk. She fell and landed in a jarring thump on the floor, busting her tailbone.
Stepping past her, Donald ground the heel of his boot into her ankle, ripping another scream from her lungs. He reached for the telephone and yanked it from the wall, throwing it through the opened doorway and into the hall. As he next shoved the computer off the desk, killing her chances of going online for help, Jaycee wrapped her arm around his leg and bit him as hard as she could on the meaty back part of his shin.
Probably not her brightest moment. He roared and kicked her off, catching her in the jaw and sending her tumbling backward.
“Now stay here and be a good girl,” he sneered.
By the time she realized what was happening, he slammed his way from the room. She heard a scraping sound, followed by something large shifting across the floor, then thumping into the door.
She stumbled and tripped toward the only exit, feeling like she’d just been run over by a bus. When she tried to push her way out, she discovered something heavy had been wedged in front of it. God damn it, he’d trapped her inside.
She slammed her shoulder against the closed portal, crying out from the pain that spiked through her shoulder. Sobbing, she did it again. And again. The fucking door wouldn’t budge.
“No,” she wept. “Not my babies.” Giving up on the door, she spun from it and dashed to the window.
Outside, Donald was already approaching the children, waving them to him. Since he wasn’t a stranger, they gathered closer, once again dressed and in their human form.
Jaycee pounded on the glass. With their enhanced animal ears, the children heard her and glanced her way, but obviously couldn’t make sense of the garbled, hysterical screams that gushed from her sore jaw.
With Donald’s back to her, she could see the triplets’ faces. They turned to him with such innocence, probably seeking his guidance since she’d just alerted them to danger. She pounded again before her scattered brain told her to slide the damn thing up. She fumbled a moment to unlock the latch and then shoved with all her might, opening the window.
“Run!” she screamed. “Dane! Get out of there. Rhea! Brynn!”
Finally, the kids realized Donald himself was the threat. Their eyes went huge just as Donald snarled and leapt for Brynn, catching her arm.
“No!” Jaycee kicked out the screen.
Wasting no time, Dane shifted into his jaguar and bit Donald’s leg, making the man release his sister and swing out a booted foot toward the cub, who leapt stealthily out his way just as a flash of black, white and gray exploded from the woods.
Jaws gaping and sharp fangs gleaming, the wolf pounced upon Donald in three bounds, knocking the human to the ground and going for his jugular. He ripped out Donald’s throat, leaving the corpse lying limp under his paws.
Knox backed away from his kill, and the cubs clambered to him, seeking his safety as they trembled around his legs. No longer feeling pain, Jaycee jumped out the window and called to her babies.
Morphing into humans, the children dashed toward her. She fell to her knees and gathered up all three in one swoop, pulling them close and weeping against them. They burrowed against her and cried right along with her.
Someone knelt behind her. She knew it was her lover even before he wrapped his arms around her, encompassing Dane, Rhea and Brynn in his strong arms.
“Knox,” she rasped his name.
He nuzzled his face into her hair. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay. We’re all okay.” Her babies were alive, and she’d heal. That was all that mattered.
After kissing her temple, he sniffed the air. “More hunters are coming.”
The girls whimpered and cuddled closer to Jaycee. Dane scooted in toward her as well, but he lifted his nose to the breeze. “Five more,” he added.
With a nod, Knox agreed. “We need to move. Now. We need to get you and the cubs to safety.”
“But Riley and Shaw—” Jaycee started until Dane cut her off.
“They’re coming.”
“They’re already here,” Rhea cheered, breaking away from Jaycee, Brynn hot on her heels, just as Shaw’s Hummer veered into the Griffin’s driveway, nearly screeching on two wheels as it plowed to a stop in front of them. Both Griffin parents shoved open the doors and flew out.
Jaycee shook her head. “How in the world did they know their children were in trouble?”
Behind her, Knox tightened his grip. “Probably the same way I knew you were in trouble.”
She glanced at him as he pressed his palm to his chest. “I felt the disturbance deep inside and heard you screaming.”
“Jaycee,” Shaw called, pulling her attention from the naked wolf-man holding her. Her own heart thumping hard in her chest from Knox’s declaration, she turned toward the Griffins, where Riley had already gathered up her children with both arms. Hovering behind him, Shaw urgently waved her over.
Releasing Knox, she jogged their way, thrilled when her lover followed. “How did you—”
Shaw lifted his cell phone. “The Organization forg
ot to take me off their call list when I retired. Most frightening text I ever received. They’ll be here within minutes.” Looking deep into Jaycee’s eyes, he took her arm. “Riley and I made a contingency plan years ago in case something like this ever happened. Now that the hunters know what we are, we have to disappear off the face of the earth. Right now. I know this is sudden, but…if you want to come with us, we’d love to have you. You’re family, Jaycee.”
Jaycee bit her lip.
“Plus you’ll be in danger if you stay here,” he added with a wince.
Well, that helped tilt the scales a little more. But as Riley shuffled the children toward the back door, telling them they had two minutes to grab whatever they wanted to bring, the severity of the situation rattled Jaycee. The Griffins were ready to drop everything, all their worldly possessions, and flee for their lives. And they wanted her with them.
This wonderful family was her life. Away from them, she had nothing. No one. Except—
Glancing over her shoulder at the handsome man with the big brown deer eyes, she asked, “What about Knox?”
Shaw nodded. “If you want him with you, he’s welcome to come too.”
Knox’s gaze bore into hers. “Do you want me with you?”
Jaycee grinned. “More than anything.” Leaping at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. Knox growled low in his throat as he thrust his tongue into her mouth, claiming her possessively.
“I’m so sorry I overreacted this morning when I woke up. I—”
“No,” he cut her off. “I’m the one who owes you an apology. I shouldn’t have scared you by—”
“Hey, can we save this for later?” Shaw broke in, waving his arms. “Hunters are coming to murder my family. Remember? Now, you…” He pointed to Knox. “I have clothes you can wear. “You.” He motioned to Jaycee. “If you’d like, we’ll swing by your place on the way out of town. But you’ll only have a minute to grab whatever you want.”
Jaycee nodded, growing excited by the new future cropping up before her. Excited, and scared, yet totally happy. “Okay.”
Clapping his hands to break up the huddle, Shaw hollered, “All right then. Let’s get to it.”
Epilogue
A sharp cry brought Knox’s head up as he entered the back door after returning home from his afternoon frolic in the woods. Since becoming domesticated and moving to the Northwest with the Griffins, where he and Jaycee had bought a home near theirs, he’d taken up jogging every day, just to let his animals loose. Today, he’d been his deer, scaring up a herd of does as he’d dashed through the forest.
But now that he was home, his human took over. Following the wails to the second floor and the doorway of the nursery, he paused in the threshold to watch his two girls a moment as Jaycee guided the tiny human mouth to her exposed breast. The infant latched on, and her whining ceased. Jaycee stared down at the dark-headed girl, a soft smile lighting her features.
He could hardly believe a year ago he’d despised humans, raiding their kitchens and scavenging for food. Now he damn near was one. Jaycee claimed he remained plenty wild, but he had a whole closet and drawer full of clothes to argue his point, plus a job. He even drove to work.
And he had to admit, he’d never been happier.
“Are you going to stand there and watch, or are you going to come in and say hello?” Jaycee lifted her face and sent him an arch look.
He stepped into the room to tiptoe closer to the feeding baby and her mother. His fears had nearly swallowed him whole when Jaycee had gotten pregnant. He’d had no idea what kind of creature she’d give birth to. But being that little Ari was half-human, while merely three-eighths wolf and one-eighth deer, she’d come out a healthy, two-armed and two-legged baby girl. She’d yet to turn into either of her minor forms. Riley Griffin had assured him she wouldn’t start shifting for a few years.
Jaycee had been a trooper through it all, taking everything in stride. The more she learned about the shifter world and the more she accepted it, the more Knox fell in love with the human he’d mated and married.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you look feeding our young?”
Grinning up at him, Jaycee winked. “Only about every time I feed her.”
Kneeling next to the rocking chair, he paused to plant a tender kiss on his wife’s cheek before pressing his lips to Ari’s thin tuft of dark hair. The child whimpered in protest but continued suckling.
“Are you sure she’s a wolf and deer, not a little pig?”
“Oh, stop it,” Jaycee scolded. “She’s a perfect little angel.”
Knox chuckled. “Just like her mother.”
Jaycee met his gaze, and love—strong and powerful—passed between them. “Have I ever thanked you for invading my dreams?”
“They were never dreams,” he reminded her.
She just smiled. “Oh, yes they were. They were a dream come true.”
The End
Author Bio
Miranda lives with her wonderful, Brad-Pitt-look-alike husband (hey, they're both blond and blue-eyed) and adorable still-needs-to-learn-the-meaning-of-NO toddler daughter on their spacious corn-field-and-cow-pasture-front property in Kansas. Librarian by day and author by night, she is also published in YA and contemporary mainstream romance under a different pen name.
Dreams of Wolf [Half-breed Shifter Series Book 2] Page 8
