Crossing Paths: A Brooklyn Shifters Romance Book 1

by Daphne Snow

  "Did he tell you how much money we were giving him?" Raymond nodded his head. The blade of his old knife lowering a bit from her chest to her stomach. The movement made her breath hitch and she took a sharp inhale through her nose. He could very well hurt her baby. That was the last thing she would want. A stab wound here or there was nothing if it meant her baby was safe. The flicker of concern in Alexander's eyes as he watched that movement didn't go unnoticed.

  Calm. We will not let him hurt us. They will not let him hurt us. Fey's quiet voice was in the back of her mind soothing the instant panic that arose.

  "You're giving him one hundred thousand. Kaiser told me everything, we are partners in this. I know about everything!" He spat and the putrid smell of his breath made Fran flinch slightly.

  The cocky grin Raymond wore was comical even Frannie could see it was idiotic. There was no way on goddess green earth that Kaiser would only ask for one hundred grand. Not to go through all this.

  "Four million. And that doesn't account for the hundreds upon thousands in weapons he's demanded of Zelik." Alex said coldly. If he was surprised by the lie Kaiser had told Raymond he didn't show it. Again Raymond's hand faltered the blade shifting lower and rattling a bit in his hands.

  Slowly Frannie wiggled out of the way of it. Alexander continued drawing Raymond in further.

  "Do you think you are gonna see a dime of that? If he didn't even tell you the real amount it sounds like he was planning on getting rid of you." She watched Alexander's eyes shift quickly from her to the wall and she knew what he wanted her to do. He was looking for an opening.

  That's why he was talking up a storm. She had to admit he was pretty good at it as well. She could feel Raymond's nervous energy coursing through him.

  The more she wiggled to the side though the more she realized the grasp he had on her wouldn't allow for her to go far. She didn't know if she could give him the opening he was looking for.

  "No no. We have a deal! You're lying!" Raymond looked panicked now looking past Alex who stayed utterly still. He just ran a hand through his mussed hair bored.

  The horde was descending upon Zelik quicker as the two men fought for control. Frannie could see Kaiser trying to form various limbs to escape to no avail. Zelik continued to scratch Kaiser everywhere, the attention of the horde solely on them as they shambled forward. Zelik started to shove and kick them away as they closed in, but there were so many. Dozens of them snapping their teeth and trying to claw at him.

  Again panic and fear but for Zeliks sake not her own.

  Frannie fully knew what they were capable of. They devoured her mother like she was some midnight snack. The gnashing of their teeth against organs and bone made her shudder in remembrance.

  "If he dies you have no deal and if he lives you have no deal. Kaiser will use you and kill you, Raymond. You know that just as well as I do." Raymond shook his head.

  "No! He said I bring him you and the girl. I get to have the gift to and the money. That's what he promised." He was getting angry now as he spoke in earnest through gritted teeth.

  "What gift?" Alex questioned a look of confusion he couldn't stop from crossing his features.

  "The bl-" A startled shout shot through the night sky stopping Raymond. This time Alex looked back. Kaiser had shoved a small blade into Zelik's side and he was bleeding profusely.

  Kaiser scrambled through and over the hungry mob who toppled onto Zelik. The fleeing tattered man said nothing as he scurried up the steps of the dry bay. He held a hand to the right side of his face that seemed to be gushing blood. Kaiser didn't even look back or turn not an ounce of concern for anyone besides himself.

  Raymond was stunned at his actions. He shouted the man's name a few times into the night sky but got no response. The screech of tires on pavement told them all he was gone leaving behind the bloody scene and Raymond. Then just the violent sounds of the horde and Zeliks leopard fighting.

  A flash of a large white shimmering creature jumped into the mob taking out several of the monster men. It moved like lightning as it attacked them The lapse in attention gave Frannie what she needed. She called to Fey internally and the bear ripped through her like a freight train.

  The tape broke as her muzzle formed and Fey's large paws made the rope bindings splitter and snap apart. Fey roared forth pushing Raymond back. The bear leaped far out of range from the rusty blade and then in the next moment she saw a huge grizzly bound forward landing on top of Raymond.

  Alex.

  Well, technically Axl. The bear growled in his face and for the first time since he had drunkenly stumbled into her life, Raymond looked scared. Fey wrinkled her nose and Frannie did too as the smell of a man pissing his pants permeated the air. She snickered, Axl turned to look at her, his heavy paw pressing and curling into Raymond's chest, tearing at the fabric there and pressing into the skin. His eyes narrowed and the emeralds shone so bright they were almost blinding.

  He was going to kill him.

  He cannot. He will know where Mina is. Where the other women are. Fey muttered sounding none too happy at the thought of letting him live. There was a sense of satisfaction Frannie knew she would get if she said nothing. If she let this slobbering bear kill her stepfather. But in truth Fey was right. Kaiser got away, Raymond would be the only link to finding him and Mina.

  Frannie nudged the bear to move forward to stop him. Evidently, Fey wanted Raymond to stew in his piss for a while longer as she took her time before moving. After several long moments, Fey eventually moved toward Axl, nuzzling into his face. Axl nuzzled back before stepping off of the now weeping man.

  Axl swiped a huge paw onto the man's face knocking him unconscious. The two bears nuzzled each other until Frannie forced Fey to finally give up control. With a huff of derision, Fey allowed Fran to take over.

  Frannie was weak and tired and couldn't help the sway in her step as she changed back. Axl was there lending her his back to lean on. She flopped onto it for a moment just wishing this could be over already. She was so tired of the fighting and the pain. Her back ached from the shift and she just wanted to take a very long nap.

  Fran sunk her fingers into his thick fur before pushing herself off him and patting his head. He nuzzled his gigantic head into her stomach and she chuckled only slightly. The noises of the fight were still at her back. Just a little longer. Fey calmed her with soothing feelings making her feel it was all going to be okay once it was over.

  "Let's finish this big guy." She rubbed a surprisingly soft ear and pet his head once more before stepping back.

  He swung his head to look at the mess of blood and fighting and took a step in that direction. He stopped though and looked back as if to make sure she would be okay. His glowing emerald eyes turned chilly for a moment and she knew Alexander was there. She nodded her head and he took another step.

  Frannie followed fully intending to help. She could keep her baby safe and do something, anything to take down these monsters. Her mind was a mess with how to keep her belly from getting raked or bitten on when she bumped into a hard naked back.

  Alexander had shifted back his grand nudity on display. He was beautiful even with a fierce scowl on his face.

  "No." She took a step to go around him and he blocked her path without so much as a huff.

  "I have to help! I can't sit here and do nothing. I'm tired of doing nothing."

  "No."

  "Alexander!" She cried anger simmering. He can't stop her, he shouldn't stop her. She looked over to the fray. It seemed others had joined the battle. Besides Zelik and the giant white mass that moved too quickly for her to keep track of, she noted other bears and a lion shifter. As well as men and women dressed in black from head to toe in what appeared to be tactical gear. Bulletproof vests and hard helmets, they wore black goggles and had guns in their hands and at their sides.

  She hadn't known where they came from but they were taking out one crazed monster man after the other. The sounds of bullets had her crin
ging away as some strays pinged off the walls of the dry bay. She wouldn't argue with their help even if the idea of being accidentally shot sent her anxiety through the roof.

  "Stay here. You can tie him up." His tone commanding, it was the same tone he used with his guards.

  "Not a chance. I will not just sit here and watch you get hurt!" Frannie stomped her foot. Her exhausted body jiggled and her skin pimpled as the blisteringly cold wind blew through. Alex looked at her with a hint of amusement in her eyes. He looked behind him a moment and then walked away.

  Assuming that meant she was in the all clear. Frannie summoned the rest of her courage and reached out to Fey. The bear was just as dead tired but understood what needed to be done. She waited right under the surface ready for the change when needed.

  Sure there big bad bear could protect himself but he needed someone to watch his back. And Frannie admitted she liked the idea of being the one that did.

  She took about two steps before Alex had come back and was draping what looked to be his suit jacket over her shoulders. He was accompanied by two other men equally as naked. Both were covered in blood and other filth. She focused her gaze past them not wanting to look at their various bits on display.

  One of them she recognized as Edgar the same man she had fooled earlier that day. The same man she was sure Alex almost killed when he heard what had happened.

  Edgar looked at her and she expected to see hate or anger. Instead, he just looked sorry for her. His eyes soft as he crossed his arms. He was a strange one that's for sure. The other she didn't fully recognize but thought she saw him a time or two patrolling the grounds.

  They both wholly regarded her with business like intent. Alex helped her into the suit jacket which felt like heaven on her skin and a hell of a lot warmer than standing out here naked. But she wasn't so ignorant to think he gathered these two men to help her fight. They were her guards. Alex was putting his foot down.

  "Take her and the man to the cars. Edgar, you stay. Matteo come back and help us clean the rest of this up." The men nodded.

  "Alex-"

  "No!" He bellowed, halting any further arguments. His dark hair was slightly shiny in the moonlight and his sharp features twisted in frustration.

  "If you think I am going to let you get in there and get yourself killed, you're wrong. You are my mate and right now you will do as I say." His scowl deepened and he simply walked away. He walked up to the dozens of creatures left and shifted. Axl was there now swiping left and right at them hurling the monsters back into the walls of the dry dock.

  Not another single glance back as he headed into the mass without fear. A surge of pride came forth. That was her mate. Protecting her and others. A good man at heart even if he couldn't fully see it himself.

  But as she lost sight of him, his huge bears form tackling the dozens that were still left, she couldn't deny the pang of utter hurt. He made her feel useless when she believed he needed her most. Her shoulders slumped and she was on the verge of tears.

  "Come, Miss Bianchi." Edgar said his tone crisp but gentle. the other man slung Raymond over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He groaned but otherwise said nothing. Both men guided her off to the side and up the dry docks stone steps. She passed the brawling noting the pile of unmoving bodies that stay at the edge of the battle like a barrier.

  She noticed one of the dead monster men's eyes had returned back to normal. As if now in the face of death he was himself again. They were dull and haunting. All this pain, all this murder, and for what? What is it that Wilfred Kaiser intended to do?

  Frannie kept an eye on the fighting as she passed. The men kept her at a brisk pace but she observed it all. Zelik took down another half-formed man. But as his leopard stepped off of it another jumped on his back biting down fiercely. The cat yowled before rolling over to shake the man from his back. Axl was there wrenching the creature off Zelik and biting firmly onto its throat. His mouth was bloody and he had cuts and bites along his sides.

  Another half-shifted man grabbed onto the bear's thick hide and bit down hard. He was like a leech embedded into his side. Fran could see the stark pain on Axl's face and the idea of her mate, her child's father in pain was too much for her. Everything else she could deal with in some way. But watching her man get torn to pieces she simply couldn't. She loved him.

  Unknowingly she screamed his name. Axl looked up instantly. Blood and gore dripped from his muzzle. He roared at them.

  "Miss Bianchi the longer you stand here the more distracted he will be. He needs to focus." Edgar said again, trying to get her to move along. When Axl roared again paying no attention to the three other creatures that had clung to him, Edgar picked up a stunned Frannie and continued up the steps.

  They emerged from the dry dock with Frannie as stiff as stone in Edgar's arms. The potent fear of Alexander's potential death was freezing her from the inside out. She managed a small word of protest when Edgar tried to keep carrying her. He set her down gently on the rocky pavement beneath her feet bringing her back to earth somehow. He wasn't warm like her mate and honestly the idea of anyone else touching her made her skin crawl no matter the intention.

  Frannie looked back a small glimmer of hope that she could brush past the two men and get back to him. But they were looking at her, their eyes boring warning signals into her face. We need to trust him. He is strong and he will live. Fey countered her dreadful thoughts.

  She conceded and allowed them to walk her over to a large black SUV. All around them there were large vehicles mostly SUVs and they all had tinted windows. There were a few street lamps here though they were dull and provided the barest lighting. All around the dry dock were other ones equally as abandoned. She didn't know where she was but she knew she would never want to be back.

  Eventually, they stopped, off in the distance the dark cold salty sea laped at the edge of the cement platform that seemed to go one for miles. They came to the side of one of the cars. Frannie felt numb wondering where the constant onslaught of emotions had gone.

  Edgar opened the backseat door. It was dark but she could make out the large seats with soft looking cushions. The backseat looked inviting and comfortable but she didn't want to be here. Edgar was going to keep her here. Not knowing if Alexander was hurt or even worse dead. She was just going to have to wait. That was a kind of torture she didn't know if she'd survive.

  The other man slumped Raymond to the ground with a loud thud against the wheel of the car. The driver side door opened next and the kindest face in the world appeared.

  She wanted to cry as the older man approached her with a blanket and hand and zip ties in the other. He handed the zip ties to Edgar and draped the blanket over her shoulders.

  “It's good to see you Miss Bianchi. I was worried about you.” She hugged the man tightly who returned her affection and then a moment later she stiffened remembering the zip ties.

  When she turned back however Edar and the other guard Mateo had tied up Raymond and had nothing else in their hands. She was thankful they weren't planning on tying her up. They had zip-tied Raymond's hands and feet tightly and sat him up.

  He stirred, swinging his head to and fro. He stopped as his unsteady gaze focused on her and then the others. The two lucid men looked at each other with silent words crossing between them.

  "He won't shift. I don't think he can anymore." She said flatly. They seemed to relax at that. Raymond's brow drew forward though and he had the nerve to sneer at her!

  He was lucky he was even breathing right now. After what he did to her mother the man should be on his way to the deepest pit of hell.

  “Come Miss Bianchi let get you in the car and warm.” Carl said gently, ignoring her step father and trying to guide her into the back seat of the vehicle. Only because it was him she was going willingly.

  A deep guttural roar resonated out from the dry bay and Raymond chuckled. Frannie was done.

  She turned from Carl and pushed away Matteo and Edgar fr
om Raymond. She was so angry so fucking angry.

  She kicked him her barefoot stinging as it connected with his ribs. He swore at her groaning but she didn't care. She kept kicking and kicking. A decade of pent-up anger and feelings of inadequacy boiling to the surface. Now the man dared chuckle at what could be the dying breaths of her mate. The confusion of the mate bond and the stress of not knowing whether her best friend was dead or not. Her mother was dead. Murdered by her own husband. Eaten alive by her own kind.

  Everything she held inside she let loose in her assault on him. No one stopped her, no one said anything. Not even Fey. She remained quiet knowing this was what Fran needed to finally let go of everything.

  She cried as she kicked him harder until her gut bellowing wails made it too hard for her to swing her leg anymore. Her foot hurt and her heart clenched. As the tears continued to stream she collapsed to her knees. She felt too weak to do this.