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Thunder
Savage Brotherhood MC: Book Three
A Paranormal Romance
By Jasmine Wylder
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Further Books in the Savage Brotherhood MC Series
About Jasmine Wylder
Jasmine’s Other Books
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Chapter One
Melanie
If coffee came in a needle, Melanie would be tempted to shoot it directly into her veins. She slumped at her dressing station, resting her head in her hands, as she considered how long it had been since she had sat down. Her old, well-worn, strappy high-heels didn’t hurt as much as her new pair would have, but not for the first time, she wished that she could just dance barefoot.
Ten hours at the cafe followed by ten hours at the club. The only thing keeping Melanie from quitting both her jobs that instant was the desire to someday leave this armpit of a town—and the fear of getting another bill from the hospital ranging into the thousands.
“Hey there, pussy-cat.” The owner of the Chubby Kitty, the strip club which she danced at four nights a week, came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. It would have been an innocent enough touch, if it wasn’t for the fact that no touch was innocent when it came to Rodger. “You were looking dead tired out there tonight.”
Melanie dipped her shoulder so his hand fell off. “Yeah, well, it’s been twenty-four hours since I was home, so I’m going to be tired.”
Rodger pulled a sympathetic expression, as though he was actually concerned for her. He hadn’t paid any attention to her, other than the usual leers, until his old favorite, Chrissy, abruptly quit. That was after he fed her tainted drugs that nearly killed her. Melanie wished she had that luxury. It wasn’t so much the dancing or taking off her clothes that bothered her — it was the condescending looks, the sneers, the superior gleam in men’s eyes when she did so.
Unfortunately, she needed the money. If she was ever going to get herself and her father out of Coalfell, then she needed to save enough to get a start in a new town. God knew that she couldn’t rely on selling the house they lived in now. Its value would hardly cover the mortgage she’d had to take out to cover her father’s medical bills when he first got sick.
“You have too much on your shoulders.” Rodger sighed as he placed both his hands on her shoulders. His thumbs ran in circles, making her cringe. “You know, I know a few ways to help you relax.”
What in the name of all that was holy had she done to deserve this? Had he found out that it was her who told Sheriff Cunningham that he was selling drugs to the girls? Not that it made much of a difference. Melanie pulled herself out of Rodger’s grasp and gave him the most chilling smile she could muster.
“Maybe later. I have to go pick up some tampons.”
He snatched his hands back so fast she might as well have put a gun in his face. His nose wrinkled in disgust. “Fuck. I don’t need to know that.” He stepped back, eyes narrowing. “Wear black underwear for the show tomorrow night.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t wear black underwear tonight. I know how to keep the clients from seeing my bloody lady parts.”
Rodger growled this time, looking sick. Melanie repressed a triumphant grin as she quickly shucked off her robe and wiped the sweat from her body. She ignored Rodger’s look—she’d learned to deal with him and his stink long ago. He went after the most vulnerable girls and always mistook her as one of them. Yeah, she’d be screwed if she quit—but she’d find a way out of it.
After dressing, Melanie left out the back. The air was thick and heavy with rain, but after the oppressing air of the club, she had to stop and pull in a few deep breaths. Her cat purred, happy to finally be out of there.
The Chubby Kitty was named quite literally, though most of the clientele wouldn’t know that. Every girl that worked there was a feline shifter. Most were fairly exotic, like jaguars or pumas. Melanie herself was what she deemed a ‘feral cat’. In her animal form, she was hardly different from the strays that would sometimes hang out around the dumpsters. Her coat was long and fluffy, giving her an appearance similar to a Norwegian Forest Cat, but the truth of the matter was that she was nothing special. Too round-figured to get a job at a normal strip club. So, she was here, working her plus-size self in front of a bunch of chubby chasers.
Voices came from down the alley and Melanie tensed. Her hand went to her pocket, where she kept a small knife on her at all times. The club’s clients were infamous for trying to convince the girls that they ought to do some private entertaining. As she headed for the parking lot, though, a smallish man suddenly barreled past her. She leapt back, jumping back into the entrance of the club.
A bear and a wolf shot across the doorway and pounced on the man. He screamed, an inhuman screech, as the bear clamped his head in its jaws and the wolf leapt for his throat. Melanie’s scream caught in her lungs as the two tore the man apart.
The sickly-sweet scent of rotten fruit filled her nostrils along with the copper of blood. The bear’s form rippled, shifting into a man’s form. He hefted the dead man’s corpse into the nearby garbage bin, while his companion slapped him on the back and laughed.
“That’s the fourth this week. When will they le—” The wolf shifter’s eyes widened when he saw her there.
“What’s—” The bear turned. His jaw dropped at the sight of her, as well.
Melanie bolted. Both men lunged at her. Without a thought, she shifted into her cat form. Her clothes melted off her. The men shouted in surprise, pulling up short as she darted between them. A fence blocked off the alleyway from the parking lot and she slipped underneath it.
There was a roar and a crash behind her. She didn’t need to look to know that the bear and wolf had broken through the fence. Heavy footsteps followed after her. Her fur stood on end as she pushed herself harder.
The wolf barked, sounding closer than she would have liked, and she zagged to the left. Teeth snapped shut, pinching the hairs on the end of her tail. She whipped around, throwing herself into the wolf’s face. Claws raked down his face while she bit at his eyes. The wolf yipped, skidded to a stop and shook his head wildly. Melanie bit through one of his ears before she sprang away, this time darting under the bear’s belly as he joined them.
She spied a drainage tunnel and darted into it. If she kept herself crouched down, it was just big enough to hold her. Too small for either of the other shifters. She settled down in the center, well out of reach from either side. Her chest heaved, and her heart pounded. The tunnel smelled of rotten things that were sure to stink up her fur.
If she got out of here alive.
The wolf’s face appeared at one side of the tunnel blocking out the sun. The bear came at the other side.
“Hey there,” the wolf rumbled, panting. “That’s quite the chase you set us on. Why don’t you come out and let us talk, sugar? See, you saw a little misunderstanding and we just need to talk it out. Come on out, kitty. We’re not going to hurt you, wolf’s honor.”
“What are you talking about?” the bear snarled. “She saw what we did! We can’t let her go running around and blabbing. You want Blizzard to arrest us? Or worse… Shadow’s going to kill us if she knows we took out a target in front of a witness. But not if we don’t have a witness.”
The wolf propped himself on his knees, hissing. “You idiot! How are we supposed to get her out of there if she thinks we’re going to kill her? What the fuck is wrong with your head?”
“What’s wrong with yours?” the bear shot back. “We can’t just let her go!”
Melanie shrank smaller in the center of the drainage tunnel. Her mind whirled to a thousand thoughts per second. Could she dart out while they were distracted, or would she just end up in their hands? If she was killed in this form, she would stay in this form. Nobody looked twice at feral cats on the side of the road. She’d be hauled off by the sanitation department. What would happen to her dad?
If she tried to shift in here, the pressure of the enclosed space would crush her. She’d end up dead. Perhaps never found—what would happen to her dad?
She couldn't see any way out of this… what was her father going to do without her?
“Idiot,” the wolf growled. “Don’t you know who that is? It’s Ava’s best friend. Mary or something like that. Do you know what Tornado would do to us if he found out we hurt his mate’s best friend? We’d be better off skinning our own damn selves and staking our pelts to the wall.”
“Fuck,” the bear said, sounding surprised. “What the hell are we supposed to do, then?”
“Hell if I know! That’s why we need to get her out, so we can talk. Maybe she’ll be reasonable.”
The bear crouched down again and peered in at her. “If I got a stick, I could poke her over to your side and—”
“Hell no! Did you see what she did to my face already?”
“Improved it, looks like,” the bear chuckled.
His face disappeared again. Melanie laid her ears flat against her skull, beginning to creep that way. The bear seemed to be a real idiot, she might be able to slip past him and get away. The voices were more muffled now. The way the bear was kneeling, his naked crotch was right at the exit of the tunnel. If she had to, she’d take a swipe at it—that ought to put him out of commission.
When she got to the end of the tunnel, she glanced back to make sure the wolf wasn’t watching, then sprang forward.
The bear let out a shout as she flew out of the tunnel. Claws unsheathed, she made to attack. Something heavy slammed into her back. A fist grasped her at the back of the neck and yanked her into the air. Her skin went tight around her throat as the bear lifted her by her scruff. She growled in her throat, trying to make her legs kick and scratch. It was useless as the pressure on her scruff increased, forcing her body into shut-down mode.
“Got her!” the bear shouted triumphantly. “Hurry, if we wrap her up in your jacket she can’t claw your face off again.”
“Good thinking, genius, only I left my jacket at the car. Shit. We need to get back there before someone calls Blizzard down on us for being naked in public again. You’ll just have to carry her like that.”
The bear crossed the road in a few quick strides, grunting as he did so. He swung Melanie so much, she thought he might end up snapping her neck by accident. The two shifters hurried back the way they had come, half-hunched now to hide their nakedness.
“I don’t like this,” the bear grumbled, glaring at her. “What if she shifts and gets away?”
The wolf growled, but it was too late. Melanie had already shifted. The grip on her scruff became a hand on her neck. She stomped on the bear’s foot while elbowing him in the gut. He released her, leaning over with a twisted expression. Melanie struck at the wolf, but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her off balance. Something hard knocked her in the head and everything went black.
***
The world was still black when she woke, her head throbbing. She lay on something scratchy and there were walls pressing in on every side. Something lay over her, a blanket, she thought, but she was naked beneath it. The space was hot and stuffy, and she was curled up into a fetal position.
Panic started to crawl up her throat, so she shifted. The space became much less confining once she was in her cat form. She purred to reassure herself that she was fine, trying to force herself to be calm. It didn’t help. In her cat form, though, she saw that it wasn’t entirely black in here. Thin strips of light came in a blocky pattern, allowing her to take a better look at her cage. The smell of gasoline and old shoes assaulted her.
A car trunk. She was in a car trunk. Well, thank God she hadn’t suffocated! She licked her lips as she padded to the back of the trunk. They weren’t moving and there were no voices around, which meant she might be alone here. If she could find the emergency release, then she could let herself out and be out of here before that bear and wolf knew what had happened.
Relief washed over her when she found it. She had been afraid that it would end up being an older model that didn’t have one. Just as she maneuvered herself back into human form while maintaining a position she could open the trunk from, it suddenly opened.
Light stabbed her eyes, making them water. Melanie flinched back, a hiss on her lips. She let her nails turn to claws, ready to savage whatever gangster tried to make his move. When her vision cleared, and she saw the man looking down at her, she froze.
Fury radiated off him like a wildfire. His dark eyes narrowed and the hairs on her arms stood up. His lips pulled back in a half-snarl. He was shirtless, though he wore a leather jacket. A long scar ran from one shoulder to the opposite hip. The scent of wolf, wild, dangerous, rolled off him.
But that wasn’t why she froze. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Tanned skin, chiseled abs, a strong jaw and a high forehead. Thick, dark hair. Her cat purred at the sight of him, batting paws against her ribs.
What the hell? Did her cat think this was a game?
Melanie shifted, leaping out of the trunk. The man grabbed at her and she swiped her claws over his muscled forearm, but he caught her without any difficulty. She twisted and snarled, biting and scratching his arms. He flung her back into the trunk and seized her by the back of the neck. He held her down, growling.
Her cat arched its back, telling her to stick her rear into the air as an offer. She hissed in annoyance at it. Here she was, liable to get her neck snapped, and it wanted to throw away her virginity on the gangster who was going to kill her? She hadn’t saved herself all these years to get caught up with some selfish son of a bitch—not to mention that he was probably going to kill her now!
“You could have told me she was a shifter,” the man growled. His voice was deeper than either of the other’s, more authoritative. “Just what the hell do you expect me to do with her?”
Chapter Two
Thunder
Zane pulled the cat from the car and held her away from him, one hand gripping her scruff tightly while using the other to support her so he didn’t accidentally choke her. He glared at her, though he was angrier with the idiots from the Coalfell chapter than he was her. It was a wonder she hadn’t suffocated in the trunk during the couple hours it took them to get here to Ivywood.
“Stop fighting me, sweetheart,” he ordered, infusing his voice with the authority of the alpha he was. “Nobody’s gonna touch you here.”
The cat’s green eyes bulged slightly. She let out a yowl and attempted a stiff swipe at his wrist. Zane rolled his eyes, released the hand holding her weight, and shrugged his jacket off that arm
. He wrapped her tightly in it before he freed his other arm and held her to his chest. He could feel her heart pounding as he jerked his head at the two clowns from Coalfell and marched into the warehouse they’d come to. Several of his men gave them curious glances, but he ignored them and headed for his office.
Once inside, he shut the door and set the cat down on a chair.
“Feel free to shift back to your human form.” One of the Coalfell idiots had brought the blanket, and Zane took it and laid it over the cat. “For your modesty.”
The cat glared at him for a moment before she slowly shifted, clinging to the blanket around her body. “What are you going to do with me?”
The bear tapped Zane’s shoulder. “She’s best friends with Tornado’s mate.”
Zane gave him a glare that had him slinking back. “Are you telling me that you kidnapped your alpha’s mate’s best friend?”
The wolf shifted a little closer to the door. “She saw us taking out a target. We weren’t going to kill Ava’s best friend. But you’re the alpha of Ivywood, Tornado won’t go after you for taking care of her.”
It took a great deal of self-control not to turn and rip out the idiot’s throat. Because they were afraid of what Tornado would do, they had decided to bring her over here for someone else to kill? The cat whimpered, pulling the blanket higher over her chest. Zane spared her a moment to frown at her, noting the terror in her face, before turning back to the others. His wolf paced and snarled in his chest, eager to make them see that he wasn’t some garbage disposal.
They were meant to protect civilians from vampires, not kill them. Unfortunately, she had seen too much. If she knew about vampires, then this wouldn’t be such a dramatic situation. No. He couldn’t let her go. He wasn’t going to tell Tornado about it, either. Not since he’d become so soft for his mate. Zane shook his head—Tornado would probably just let her go running off to the authorities to spare his mate any distress.
Thunder Page 1
