Jericho watched the forest in front of him. The hunters were coming, and the pride was waiting for them. Even though the mansion was empty, Dominic had decided to fight in the forest and try to keep the hunters away from the house. He’d left some guards there, but they shouldn’t have to do anything. The plan was to stop the hunters before they could get there.
A jaguar—or was it a leopard? Jericho always confused those two—trotted to Dominic’s side. It shifted and became Nate, Dominic’s beta. Jericho looked away. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to seeing these men run around naked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It was, for them.
Jericho shook his head. He needed to focus, not to think about naked men. He’d have enough time to do that once this was over.
Something cracked to his right and he turned that way, his gun ready in his hand. He knew the hunters wouldn’t make things easy for the shifters. They’d be coming with guns blazing, and there was little a shifter could do against that. The Nix presence on the battlefield would help, but they could only do so much, and they couldn’t afford to be unmoving targets while they healed the wounded.
No, it was the element of surprise that would give the shifters an advantage, and they needed to use it as well as they could.
A hunter appeared, and Jericho took care of the guy before he even realized the pride was waiting for him. The ones following him now knew, though, and gunshots rang across the forest. Nate had shifted again and had darted between the trees. Jericho could hear growls and snarls mixing with screams.
No attack had ever been as hard as this one already was. He hoped he’d be able to deal with it.
Aeron swiped his paw at an approaching hunter and Jericho took his knife out. The hunters were closer now. They’d use blades to deal with the shifters.
A man he thought he recognized rushed at him. Jericho was ready for him, avoiding the knife coming for him and kicking at the hunter’s stomach. The man wasn’t that easily deterred. He launched himself at Jericho again, knocking them both to the ground.
“Traitor,” the hunter growled into Jericho’s ear as he tried to stab him. Jericho head butted him, pressing his lips together at the pain. He was used to pain, and he was able to push through it. So was the hunter, though.
“Brad is a shifter,” Jericho growled back. He wasn’t sure what had made him say it, but the moment of surprise was enough for him to be able to sink his knife under the hunter’s armpit, just above the vest he was wearing.
The man’s eyes widened and he tried to stab Jericho again, but Jericho rolled them. He quickly slit the hunter’s throat and got up, ready for the next one.
He’d already taken down three hunters when he noticed Brad from the corner of his eye. That was enough to distract him, and the hunter he was fighting against sank his knife into Jericho’s shoulder.
Jericho grunted and pushed the man away. The blade slid out and blood soaked Jericho’s jacket. He needed one of the Nix, but he needed to take care of the hunter first.
When the man came at him again, Jericho kicked at his knee. He remembered this guy—not his name, but he did remember the man had been hurt some time ago and that his knee would probably still be weak.
Just like Jericho had hoped, the hunter’s knee crumbled. He fell on it and tried to protect himself. Jericho slashed into the hunter’s arm and stepped away when Aeron threw himself onto the man’s back. He’d probably noticed Jericho was hurt, and Jericho wasn’t going to try to stop him from tearing the hunter apart. He’d do the same thing if he’d seen Aeron get hurt.
Jericho leaned against the closest tree and pressed against the wound in his shoulder. It hurt like a bitch, and he looked around, trying to distract himself as he made sure no one sneaked up on him.
He noticed Dominic and Brad facing each other a few trees down and he headed that way. Aeron was still fighting with the hunter but he was obviously winning, so Jericho wasn’t worried.
“You can still stop this,” Dominic told Brad.
Brad snorted. He wasn’t dressed as a hunter. In fact, he was underdressed, wearing only sweats and a T-shirt, and Jericho knew why. He’d try to fight Dominic in his wolf form. It was what he was best with when it came to weapons. He really didn’t care about the hunters, not anymore. Maybe he never had, but now he didn’t mind them finding out about him. He’d come here to die, and Jericho was torn between wanting Bradley to do just that and wanting him to survive.
“Stop this? Why would I want to?” Brad asked.
“Your men are dying.”
“Who cares? They’re just a means to an end, the best way I could find to get to you and your pride.” The last word dripped venom, and Jericho wondered how he’d never realized it.
Brad hated Dominic and what he represented. He’d wanted revenge for what had happened to his family, and his mind had twisted in time. Now he seemed to think Dominic was the source of his pain, and that eliminating him and the pride would achieve what he’d wanted to do for years. Jericho was glad he’d been able to pull away in time, that he hadn’t let revenge take over his mind.
“Why are you doing this?” Dominic asked.
“You killed my family. My mate. You need to pay.”
“I never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. I had nothing to do with what happened to your family.”
“We just wanted to live in peace! You took them away from me, left me with nothing but vengeance. You created the council and put yourself in charge. I can’t make the wolves pay. You’ll pay for them.” Brad’s gaze shifted to Jericho.
Jericho tried not to let Brad see how much this was affecting him. He thought he succeeded, but only because Brad was obviously half-crazed right now.
“And you,” Brad said, waving at Jericho. “You betrayed me. What did they promise you to do it? Does the past two years mean nothing to you? The death of your family? Why are you fighting with the people who killed them?”
Jericho shook his head. He knew who had killed his family. He’d killed those two shifters the year before. The pride had had nothing to do with it, just like it had had nothing to do with the death of Brad’s family.
Jericho felt someone behind him and started to turn, but it was Aeron, so he relaxed again. The werewolf was dirty with blood, and Jericho could see the worry in his eyes when he gently touched the hand Jericho was pressing against his own shoulder. Aeron didn’t mind-speak to him, but he didn’t need to to let Jericho know he was worried.
“Ah, of course. I should have known. So you’re a werewolf’s mate. And you accepted him? You should watch out. He’ll eat you on the next full moon.”
Jericho shook his head. He had nothing else to say to Brad.
Dominic took a step forward, and Brad’s attention snapped back to him. Dominic raised his hands, but Brad wasn’t going to stop. They could all see it.
Brad’s clothes exploded around him, and Jericho took a step backward. Aeron wrapped a huge furry arm around Jericho’s chest and pressed his other hand on the wound in Jericho’s shoulder. His hand glowed, and Jericho’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t known Aeron’s powers worked even when he was a werewolf.
He was fully healed when Aeron let his hand fall. When he looked toward Dominic and Brad again, he wasn’t surprised to see Dominic in his lion form, his mouth dirty with blood. Brad was a big wolf, but Dominic was bigger.
When Brad jumped toward him, he swung his paw and knocked Brad away. Brad’s back hit a tree, and Jericho noticed one of his shoulders was bleeding.
Brad was slower to get up. He shook his head and launched himself at Dominic again, and again. Dominic knocked him away every time. He obviously didn’t want to kill Brad, no matter what Brad did.
Brad snapped his teeth at Dominic’s face and Dominic growled. He raked his claws down Brad’s chest and Brad howled in pain. He stumbled, and Dominic took the opportunity to knock him down with his paw.
Jericho held his breath
as the alpha pressed his paw against Brad’s throat. He expected him to kill Brad, to see more blood, but instead, Dominic stopped moving. Brad’s chest was heaving and his fur was red with blood.
He’d lost. That much was obvious to anyone looking, and it should be obvious to Brad too.
Dominic stayed still for a few moments. When he removed his paw, he stepped away. Jericho knew what was going to happen before Dominic turned. He knew Brad was going to take whatever opportunity he got to kill Dominic. Dominic might try to keep Brad alive, but Brad wanted to die.
Brad surged up and snapped his teeth. Jericho thought he’d managed to bite Dominic, but Dominic roared and closed his own teeth around Brad’s throat.
Jericho looked away. He’d known what was coming, but it didn’t make it easier to see.
Silence fell in the forest, as if all the fighting had stopped, and Jericho knew what it meant.
Brad was dead.
Chapter Seven
Aeron stretched, and the arm around his waist tightened. He smiled and turned to his side, facing Jericho. Jericho was still asleep, and Aeron skimmed his fingertip over the scar on Jericho’s shoulder, the one Heath, Jayden’s mate, had given him.
Noem had told Jericho he could heal it completely, but Jericho had refused. He hadn’t told anyone why, but Aeron thought it had to do both with the fact that he wanted to keep a hold on his humanity, something that wasn’t easy when living with a pride of paranormal creatures, and with the fact that it was a reminder of the battle. Jericho had seen his friend die in front of him, and even though he knew it was the only thing Dominic could have done in that situation and that Bradley had decided he wanted to die, it couldn’t have been an easy thing to deal with.
It had only been a few days since the attack. The pride was still recovering, and more members than Aeron liked to think about were still in the infirmary.
Nate had been wounded badly in the attempt to protect one of the enforcers. There had been nothing to do for the enforcer, but Nate would be fine, in time. He might never walk without a limp again, but no one was sure for now.
Denver had almost lost an arm. He would have if Finn hadn’t been close enough that he’d been able to heal him. Noem was still working on it, slowly healing the scars, but Denver had been able to go back home to his mate and their son the night before.
Sebastian was still in the infirmary. His stomach wound was still pretty bad. The hunter who’d stabbed him had dragged the knife along the entire length of Sebastian’s lion form. He’d lost so much blood that Jared and Noem hadn’t been sure he’d make it at first. Oliver had been a mess, but everyone had rallied around him. More Nix had been called in from the hospital so that Noem could focus on him. They were still taking turns healing him, but Jared was sure he’d survive.
There had been a few deaths, but incredibly, all the pride members had survived. They were wounded, both physically and mentally, but they’d made it. They’d be fine, in time.
Jericho had been lucky. If the hunter had stabbed him a few inches to the right, he’d have nailed Jericho’s heart. Just that thought was enough for Aeron to cling to the arm around his waist.
He’d just met Jericho. They’d been talking for about a week, yet it felt like they’d known each other all their lives. It shouldn’t be possible, but Aeron couldn’t deny the feelings. From what he could feel coming from Jericho, he felt the same way, but the moment still seemed too fragile to talk about it.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Jericho said in a sleepy voice.
Aeron smiled. “How hot you are.”
Jericho’s hand on his back lowered to his ass. Aeron tensed, but he quickly managed to relax. They weren’t there just yet, even though he wanted to be, but Jericho hadn’t said anything. They hadn’t had the opportunity to have sex since the attack. There was too much to do—cleaning up, taking care of the people in the infirmary and their mates, getting everyone back to the mansion. The Nix enforcers had taken the surviving hunters to the council jail, but the pride had taken care of the dead ones. No matter what they’d done, they’d deserved a decent burial.
“What’s happening today?” Jericho asked.
“You know what’s happening today.”
“I thought we’d be able to get out of it. Or me, at least.”
Aeron pouted. “You’d leave me on my own?”
“I want to spend Christmas day with you, but I’d rather not have to spend it with everyone else. Most of them still look like they’re planning to poison my food or something.”
Aeron kissed Jericho’s shoulder. “They’re not. You fought with us, saved lives. They just need to get used to you being around the house. You can’t blame them for being a bit wary.”
“I don’t, but you can’t blame me for not wanting to spend Christmas day with people glaring at me.”
“They’re my family, Jericho.”
Jericho sighed and Aeron knew he’d given in. “I know.”
“But if you’re really uncomfortable, we can spend Christmas alone. In this room. Where there are no decorations or gifts. And no food.”
Jericho poked Aeron’s naked side and Aeron laughed, trying to wiggle away. “Fine, we’ll go downstairs and spend the day with your crazy family. I’ll let them glare at me as much as they want. That’ll be my Christmas present to all of them.”
“Aww, come on. They’re not that bad.”
“Some of them are.”
“Then stick with the ones who aren’t. You know Noem and Jared don’t have anything against you. Neither does Dominic, or Ani. Or Nysys.”
Jericho shuddered. “Nysys might not have anything against me, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go blind just by looking at his clothes.”
“You might as well get used to it. I always dress this way.”
Jericho jumped from the bed while Aeron pulled the sheet higher on his naked chest as he sat up. “Nysys. I thought Nicky had managed to get this bad habit of shimmering into other people’s rooms out of you.”
Luckily, Jericho was wearing boxer briefs, not that Nysys would have cared or minded if he’d been naked. Aeron would have, though.
Nysys tsked. “As if anyone could get anything out of me. Unless you’re talking about Morin’s cock, although once it’s in I don’t usually—”
“What do you want?” Jericho asked as he slipped on pajama pants.
Nysys turned to look at him, a big smile on his face. He was wearing a red sweater with two reindeer high-fiving each other on the front and pine-green yoga pants. The outfit was actually pretty tame, but then Nysys had had to stick with the Christmas theme, and that didn’t usually include neon pink and lime green. He was also wearing reindeer horns on his head, though, probably just to spice things up. They suited him.
“Are you coming downstairs? We’re waiting for you to have breakfast and open the gifts.”
“Yeah, yeah. Give us the time to dress and we’ll be right there.”
Nysys’ smile widened and he hugged Jericho. “Great.”
He shimmered away, and Jericho gave Aeron a wide-eyed glance. Aeron laughed and got up, grabbing his pajama pants and a sedate blue T-shirt and putting them on while Jericho finished dressing. They made their way downstairs holding hands, but once they got to the entrance, Aeron hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Jericho asked.
“I think Sebastian and Nate should be with us when we open the gifts.”
“They’re still in the infirmary.”
“I know that, but I could shimmer them to the living room. They wouldn’t even have to move. I just need to be sure the couch is free. I’ll shimmer them straight from their bed to the couch.”
Jericho stared at him for a moment. Then he kissed him, all tongue and lips, and Aeron clung to his shoulders. He was breathless when Jericho moved away. “What was that for?”
“For being you. Go on, go to the infirmary. Give me five minutes and I’ll make sure the
couch by the window is free.”
Aeron watched Jericho walk away. He shook himself and hurried to the infirmary. It was empty except for Sebastian and Nate, who were in two beds next to each other. “Where are your mates?” he asked when he neared them.
“We had to force them, but they went to the living room to open the gifts,” Sebastian said. He wasn’t as pale as he’d been the day before, and Aeron was glad.
He went to stand between the two beds and held his hands out. The two men looked at him, and he wiggled his fingers. “Come on. There’s a couch in the living room with your name on it.”
“We can’t move,” Nate said.
“You don’t have to. I’ll do all the work.”
Nate and Sebastian looked at each other. Sebastian shrugged and grabbed Aeron’s hand, and Nate mirrored him. Aeron shimmered to the living room, relieved when he saw the couch was really empty.
The level of noise was astounding, but then almost the entire pride was there. Kids were already opening their gifts, and grown-ups were passing theirs along.
“Nate!”
Aeron stepped aside so Derick could sit on the couch arm, as close to his mate as he could without jostling him. Aeron left them, searching for Jericho and wincing when he saw he was sitting in the corner with Nysys next to him. Nysys was obviously talking his ears off, and Aeron hurried to save his mate.
“—but really, you should try it. I’m not sure Aeron will like it, but you can always be the one who’s tied up, right?”
“Everything okay?” Aeron asked and he flopped onto Jericho’s lap.
“I was just telling him that you two should try to tie each other up during sex,” Nysys answered.
Aeron rolled his eyes. He was used to this kind of talk from Nysys, and he knew just how to distract him. “So I was in the entrance and I think I heard Nicky say he’d exchanged all your gifts with ugly ones.”
Nysys gaped. “Really? That asshole!” He got up and hollered. “Nicky! Did you mess with my gifts?”
Whitedell Pride 25 - Aeron Page 12
