by Haley Weir
“Corey? What the hell?” Vanessa climbed to her feet with a wounded expression on her pretty face. “We always joke about killing those things!”
“Are you going to insult my intelligence by implying that what you said was to be taken as a joke?” Corey wrapped his fingers around Vanessa’s throat and squeezed. “You are nothing, do you understand me?”
Vanessa nodded, though Jenny could tell it hurt the woman to hear such cold words from a man she had shared her body with. “I understand, Corey.”
“Good. Now get to your post.”
Jenny almost pitied Vanessa. “You could have taken it a little easier on her,” she said to Corey. “After all, she does love you, you know?”
“Vanessa loves what I allow her to. She chose a life of servitude in my unit. She is not my partner, my friend, nor someone of significance. Her sole purpose is to act as my witness, my weapon, and my—”
“Lover?” Jenny interrupted. “Because I know the look of a woman who’s had her heart broken. Vanessa cares about you, whatever version may be I don’t know, but she does. It’s sad to fall in love with a lie, but it does happen.”
“Spoken from experience?”
“It is.”
“Tell me,” Corey said. “What will you do when your abomination arrives? Will you reject him or will you fall into his arms like a lovesick teen?”
“That all depends on what condition he arrives in.”
Corey laughed through his nose and dipped his fingers into grease paint before streaking them across his cheeks. He grabbed her rope-lease and pulled her through the cave entrance. Jenny heard voices not far away and her heart squeezed. She missed Dorian, but she couldn’t let Corey see that.
Not until she was in a position to save herself.
Dorian and the others could protect themselves, right? She was no match for anyone here. Jenny Owens was a lover, not a fighter. She wouldn’t even know where to begin if someone attacked her. The only way to ensure her survival was to stay sharp and not allow herself to get distracted. A gunshot reverberated off of the mountain and Jenny felt her pulse quicken.
“No sudden moves,” Corey ordered as he shoved her in front of him, using her body to shield himself. He balanced a gun on her right shoulder, aiming straight ahead as if he could see something that she couldn’t.
“Chicken,” she chuckled dryly and shook her head in disbelief. Dorian and his friends walked into the light, joining them on the patch of grass with a few feet of space between them. Jenny wanted to cry, for the love she saw in his eyes seemed too good to be true. Everything she had said to keep herself alive made her feel sick.
“Jenny…” he breathed with a sigh of relief.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Corey eyed the three bears standing in front of him. He felt Jenny stiffen at the sight of her mate, but she made no move to speak to him or get closer. The obedience caused a shudder to course through his body. “Good girl,” he drawled into her ear. “Now take a step forward.” Corey wanted to praise her again when she did as he said. Jenny had enough fight in her to argue, but she held her tongue, smart enough not to challenge him in front of his enemies.
Her mate took a step forward. Corey pulled back on the hammer of his pistol as one of the others stopped Dorian from moving again. The one he assumed was their leader kept his eyes on Corey. “My name is Michael. And you must be Corey.”
Corey’s expression remained blank and his aim never wavered. He tilted his head, without confirming or denying anything. Michael rolled his powerful shoulders, causing the fabric of his long-sleeved sweater to bunch on his arms. It was a stance of authority, one meant to establish an alpha-like dominance, but Corey didn’t react.
“We know you and your friends are hunters, that you kill creatures like us and cash a check big enough to take away the guilt,” the bear said. “But all we want is to live normal lives. Your fires have hurt so many people and no one has died by our hands. Let her go and we can continue this conversation peacefully.”
“That isn’t true, now is it?” Corey goaded. “You see…one of my friends has been digging around as much as you clearly have.” He whistled to signal the attack. Patrick and Travis came out of the trees with their guns ready to fire. “We don’t take kindly to murderers.”
“It was an accident—”
“Shut up, Anders!” Michael growled. His gaze returned to Corey’s as he snarled, “We came here to get Jenny. That’s it.”
Corey shook his head in defiance. “The reason I sympathize with that story is because mine is quite similar. Eight years ago, a bear shifter went on a rampage and killed my daughter. I killed it with these two hands and dedicated the rest of my life to hunting down abominations like you.”
“I’m sorry about your daughter,” Michael said cautiously. “But you got your revenge. We’ve done nothing to earn your hatred, no matter what you might have found. The peace the four of us have established in Haden Springs is a testament to that.”
A familiar face limped toward them. All heads turned to take in the newcomer. Brock Wasting leaned against the trunk of an oak tree with his hand clutched against his chest. “This wasn’t part of the deal,” he gasped. “None of this was.”
Brock walked over to Corey’s side and his friends took it like a blow to the head. One of them even teetered to the side a little.
“You were supposed to come here and take photos, that’s it.”
“You know what they say about being careful of who you trust,” Corey laughed. “Maybe that’s one piece of advice you should have listened to. Hunters are out there, you fool, and we’ll say whatever it takes to get you where we want you.”
“Just let the girl go.”
“Oh, not just yet,” he said. “Jenny and I need to have a little conversation with Dorian. Go sit down over there and don’t move.” Corey watched Brock battle against his pride until he finally submitted. It tickled the hunter to see a creature like that bow to his will.
“What do you and I have to talk about?”
“Jenny here says that things between you and her aren’t as peachy as you think,” he teased. “She says she’s willing to reject your bond and take a chance on me. And I just hate the thought of a nice human woman being tainted by something as vile as you.”
Something snapped in Dorian. He lunged, but this time Michael hadn’t been able to catch him. The gunshot from early had been Vanessa’s signal, but this time the shot hit Dorian in the shoulder, just a few inches from his heart. It triggered the man to shift into a wild-looking bear with a dark brown pelt. The deafening roar was answered with a battle cry from Patrick, who jumped on the bear’s back.
The bear bumped into Corey and Jenny, breaking his hold on the rope and dropping his pistol to the ground. She took off into the trees before he could stop her. He searched for his weapon and Michael kicked it to the side and advanced. Fists swung with all of the power of the bear shifter’s beast counterpart, but he didn’t change into his animal form. Somehow, he knew how to harness the abilities of his bear without needing to alter his appearance.
***
Once Jenny disappeared from sight, Dorian unleashed his anger. Claws slashed furiously toward his knife-wielding opponent as Anders dashed around the small meadow to avoid being sniped down by the sharp shooter. Dorian dodged the hunting knife that sliced through the air, but the wound in his arm caused him to miss his target.
The man capitalized and buried the blade to the hilt in Dorian’s back leg. He whirled around and clamped his jaws around the human’s arm, causing him to drop to his knees with a pathetic scream. Dorian didn’t go in for the kill, however, for the other man he recognized from the file lifted one of the pressure plates from the ground carefully and hurled it towards Michael and Corey.
Debris kicked up in the wind and rocks pelted their skin. The hunters groaned as they caught the full force of the small explosion. Anders yanked the female out of the tree that had shot Dorian. She jabbed the end of her
rifle into his nose without thinking. Terror filled her eyes as Anders began to shift, his grip around her arm tightening into a punishing hold until he was forced to let go.
Corey looked around with an equal amount of fear and called a retreat, grasping his side as he hobbled away. Dorian attempted to go after them, but the pain in his body forced him to change back into his human form. The heat from the fever increased ten-fold. “Something’s wrong,” he gurgled. “The bullet…it isn’t coming out.”
Michael lifted Dorian into his arms, not bothering to check if Brock had survived the fight. Anders shifted with a little more difficulty than Dorian, but he came over to check the wound.
“The bullet appears to be lodged in bone. I’ll have to operate. Let’s hope the fever from his shift doesn’t make him vulnerable to infection,” the doctor said. Dark spots swam in Dorian’s vision, but he sensed the moment they made it back to the river. Michael carried him all the way to the truck, but broke away from him and Anders once they reached town.
Thankfully, the clinic was only a few blocks away. Anders hurried him into the emergency entrance. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one driving people to the clinic?” Dorian joked lamely, but without shame. Before he was carted off to the surgical table, Jenny burst into the clinic wearing dirty clothes. The cut on her lip infuriated him as did the rope around her wrists and the bruise appearing beneath her right eye.
He was sedated and placed in the capable hands of one of his dear friends, so Dorian allowed himself to drift away. When he came to, he was in a hospital room with his mate by his side. He brushed a lock of hair from her forehead, startling her away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Dorian,” she said softly. “You didn’t believe any of what Corey said, did you? I only told him what I knew would keep me alive, but I meant none of it.”
“It hurt to hear him say that, but…no, I didn’t believe him.”
She released the breath he feared she had been holding for far too long. Jenny crawled onto the bed carefully and pressed her lips to his. After over a week of being denied the right to touch her, Dorian felt his body react. He tried to wrap his arms around her, but the pain in his shoulder stopped him from doing so. “I don’t heal as quickly as Brock,” he mumbled. “You’ll have to play nurse.”
“I think we can arrange something,” she replied, smiling.
The atmosphere grew tense once more and Dorian couldn’t hold back any longer. “What happened while you were up there, Jenny? Did they hurt you?” he asked, gesturing to the cut on her lip and bruise on her face.
“Not really, but Vanessa liked to shove me around a bit. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” she answered. He believed her. “Most of the time I just thought about you and how far we’ve come in our relationship.”
“I didn’t like being away from you, Jenny. Waking up without you has been unbearable. My dreams of you getting caught in the fire came back and I don’t want to live in fear that I might not be there to save you if anything else happens.”
Jenny tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed him again. “Move in with me...at least until you’re better. I can take care of you and we can see if it’s something we want to make permanent.”
“I love you, Jenny. Of course I will.” Dorian kissed her until she clutched the back of his head and angled his mouth for the perfect depth. She smelled of rainwater and tree sap, but she felt like home in his arms.
“Next time wear the gown backwards,” she complained when she couldn’t touch enough of his skin. Dorian laughed in the crook of her neck as Anders walked through the door after a light knock. He curled his lip in disapproval, but said nothing about their inappropriate proximity to one another.
“He’ll have a full recovery from the operation, but I suggest minimal use of his arm until the cast can come off,” Anders said strictly. “I take it you’ll be the one looking after him, so I suggest no…adult activities until he is well enough to support his own body weight. I’ll expect him back here in a few weeks to check on his progress.”
Jenny gave a mock salute, but cuddled up to Dorian once the doctor retreated from the room. “We did just fine with adult activities while you were gripping the headboard last time. Want to test your control again?”
Dorian felt himself swell beneath the robe and Jenny purposefully bit down on the spot beneath his ear that caused his hips to lift up from the bed. “You’re fighting dirty, Miss Owens. I might have to teach you a lesson.”
“Until you’re able to retaliate, I think I’ll take advantage of the situation.” She slid off the bed and sat back in the chair, taking away the warmth of her body so he could regain his composure. There was a naughty twinkle in her eyes that made Dorian want to throw caution to the wind and pounce on her.
“I’ll head out once you fall asleep and pack your things, though I don’t suspect you’ll be needing much to wear.” Her gaze trailed up his body suggestively and Dorian was forced to look away unless he was ready to explain the state of his arousal to the nurse who came to change his bandages.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Michael Adair considered himself a man of patience, but not when it came to his brother. He finished draining the decanters of scotch and brandy less than an hour ago, but still his mind would not allow him to think of anything other than strangling Brock. Hearing that his brother was the one responsible for the grief and misery that befell Haden Springs was something he didn’t think he could forgive or forget.
Corey could have killed them with his military tech; Michael didn’t doubt that. The war was far from over and the hunters would wait for the opportune moment to strike. They were lives at stake and Michael was the only one who could keep them safe. He didn’t feel as though he could count on his friends anymore, which was painful to admit. How could he rely on them when Jenny distracted Dorian and Anders had no interest in getting involved?
It was strange to think that the one person he despised most would have been the perfect ally in helping him take care of their hunter problem. Sapphire White was a lot of things, many of them distasteful, but she was useful in a fight. During her protests in Washington, she made quite a few enemies just with her biting words alone. Unlike Jenny, Sapphire knew how to defend herself and would never have gotten herself captured by someone so insignificant as Vanessa Havens.
In another life, he would like to think that they would have been friends, but fate had different plans for them. Michael heard the elevator open followed by a key jingling in his front door. He curled his fingers around the grip of his firearm and approached the door slowly. “Who is it?” Michael asked.
The door opened and his gun leveled with the eyes of his father. Well, not his father, but his brother who shared the same eyes. Brock didn’t even bother raising his arms in surrender of offering an apology. “Don’t act like you were surprised,” he slurred drunkenly. It appeared that both siblings had chosen to drink their feelings away that night. Michael didn’t know if he should be ashamed or proud of himself for flicking the safety in place and tucking the gun in the back of his belt again.
“I was surprised. It’s not every day that I hear that my brother betrayed me.”
“Look, it wasn’t anything personal,” Brock said pathetically. “I owed some very powerful people a lot of money and I knew I could make something of this stupid curse we’ve been living with. I sold a few photos and videos of myself shifting, but I never showed my face or anything that could identify me.”
“Then how did Corey Reed find us?!” Michael grabbed another glass and walked to the wine rack to pour himself yet another drink. He couldn’t be sober for this conversation. “He knew you on sight. Explain that.”
“I called into a radio program for conspiracy theorists. No one ever believes what those people say, so I thought it was my best bet. At first, I got nothing but spam emails and phony offers in exchange for proof.” Brock waited for Michael to sit down before he continues. “Then I got
a phone call from someone named Hydra. He hires contract hunters to find people like us, but he doesn’t kill them. All he wanted was what I had already been selling, but more.”
“You think that would have been enough?” Michael asked. “You think he would have stopped at photos and videos when they’re a dime a dozen whether it’s the real thing or not? We’re freaks, Brock! Dad sure as hell never let me forget that. To be treated otherwise would be a lie.”
“Jenny doesn’t think we’re freaks. The other members of their book club don’t think we’re freaks. Sapphire might hate you for being an asshole, but she doesn’t think you’re a freak.” Brock swiped the glass from Michael’s hand and gulped down the wine.
“It’s a fantasy for them. It’ll wear off and when it does, Dorian will be the one hurt. Anders will be the one hurt if he even gives Sapphire the time of day.”
“What does Anders have to do with Sapphire?”
Michael looked at his brother for a moment, finally realizing how many conversations he hadn’t been a part of. “He sensed when she was afraid. It woke him up out of a deep sleep and urged him to go to her. Anders was the one who pulled her out of the fire alive and then saved her life after. It makes sense after Dorian’s dreams.”
“You’re saying we’re hyper aware of our mates?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying all along,” Michael said in mock happy tone. “If you’d open your eyes and see past your own bullshit, you might learn a thing or two about the people in your life. But I guess that's something you and Dad always had in common.” The punch was expected, but not the force behind it.
Brock’s chest heaved up and down as he breathed through his nose.
Michael took out an unfolded the silk handkerchief from his pocket and spit out the blood that filled his mouth. Their father had always been a touchy subject, but one that was never entirely avoidable. Brock looked at Michael with so much hatred that was like being a boy again. His brother really couldn’t see how much he was like their old man.
