Taming Her Hybrid Beast

by Jenika Snow

  The scent of Roake intensified, and then she felt him wrap his arm around her waist. She looked at him and saw the way his eyes flashed black from his lion and tiger pushing forward. God, she loved that he couldn’t control them all the way, loved that they desired her so badly that they wanted to make themselves known.

  “So, I have some news, and I’ll let you guys decide whether it’s good or bad,” Declan said. Maverick pushed away from the wall and came to stand beside Declan. As far as Emma knew, or more accurately, as she had heard from some of the other shifters that had used their services in town Maverick and Declan tended to go after people that didn’t want to be found.

  “The girl’s mother was easy enough to track down,” Maverick said, but he shifted on his feet, and Emma could tell that what he was about to say wasn’t going to be good. “She died in an MVA about six months ago,” Maverick said in a softer voice, and although the lion shifter used to work for some of the most deadly men in the shifter mafia, right now he just seemed … human. “She had been coming home late from work and fell asleep at the wheel.”

  Emma’s heart sank in her stomach, and she looked at Annabelle. The little hybrid shifter looked in shock, but she wasn’t crying, wasn’t speaking … she wasn’t even moving.

  “Annabelle, honey.” Emma reached out, but Annabelle shook her head, moved out of the way, and then turned and left the office. No one did anything for a few seconds, and then finally Jason cursed and headed out after her. The room was silent, and Emma glanced at Declan and Maverick again. “Can you give us all the information you have on her mother?”

  Declan nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry for the bad news.”

  “Me, too.” Se scrubbed a hand over her eyes and felt empathy for Annabelle. She may have only known the young woman for a few days, but she’d connected with her. The softly spoken, wounded shifter had a lot on her mind, and this was the last thing she needed.

  “What about the information I gave you?” Roake spoke from beside her, his voice harsh. No doubt he felt the anger and sadness from Annabelle as much as she had. He pulled her close to him, and the scent of his wild and turbulent emotions filled her.

  Declan leaned forward and braced his arms on the table, and Maverick crossed his arms over his chest again. “We did find out that this man Ormond Wellis, going as O, has been involved in the Purebred Shifter Brotherhood for the last twenty years.” Declan looked over at Maverick, and the two shared this silent communication. They worked well together, because it seemed they knew how the other thought.

  “Okay, good, so where is he?” Roake’s voice dropped lower, and she could feel his rage start to rise again. He was fine when it was just the two of them, but as soon as there was any mention about what had happened to him over the past year, or the people involved, he became this animal inside, and his need for bloodshed was great. She hated that this part of his life ruled him, but couldn’t fault him either. She honestly didn’t know how she would react if she was in his or Annabelle’s shoes.

  “I could give you his whereabouts, but it wouldn’t help you tomorrow,” Maverick said.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Roake growled out.

  “Ormond moves around daily, getting farther away from Sweet Water each day. I can only assume he’s stopping frequently and lying low like that because of the explosion. I have to assume he is heading to one of the facilities the Brotherhood has in another state. But because the heat is great right now from the blast, and the fact it is splashed all over the news that the Brotherhood was involved, he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself.”

  Roake knew enough that O was trying to get across state lines.

  “He’s smart, but fucking stupid, too,” Declan said, and went to stand. He walked over to the printer and grabbed a stack of papers from it. When he walked back over to them he set a map on the table from the papers he held, and pointed to the middle of it. “Right now he is in Steamboat.” Declan handed the papers to Maverick and grabbed a red pen. He drew a line from Steamboat to the edge of the map. “I sent out a couple of men I know from the SIL to gather this information. If you want I can have them bring him in, but it’s going to be tricky because he has an entourage with him at all times.” Declan placed his hands flat on the table and stared at Roake.

  “No, if anyone is going to get his motherfucking ass it’s going to be me.” Roake had since let go of her, and he now paced the length of the small office.

  Declan rolled his head around on his neck. “Brave, but stupid and cocky, too,” Declan said, and Roake gave a low growl of warning.

  She placed a hand on his arm, hoping that Roake would get control of himself. “Now is not the time, Roake. They are just trying to help.”

  Declan spoke his mind without a filter, as did Maverick, and then of course Roake was alpha all the way, too. The three of them in the same room was trouble just waiting to happen, especially with Roake being so hell-bent on going after this O guy. “Please,” She said to Roake, but looked at the other two shifters in the room with them, too.

  Maverick had since come to stand closer to them, as if he were prepared for Roake snapping. That was smart on their part.

  Declan breathed out and ran a hand over his dark hair. “Listen, man, I know what you went through, or at least what you told me and I can put two-and-two together, but—”

  “You need to play this smart,” Maverick finished.

  “Could you even guarantee that your guys are trained enough to bring in a man like O?”

  “The guys I have working on it are trained shifters—”

  “O is a sadistic bastard, and dangerous,” Roake said. “Besides, this is my fight, and although I appreciate you guys pointing me in the direction he’s at, I need to do this.”

  “Roake,” Emma said softly, pleading with him in that one word and in her eyes that he let Declan and Maverick help him with this.

  “Emma, baby, I can’t expect you or anyone else to know why I need to do this, but please, believe me when I say I can’t move forward without doing this on my own.” He looked at her, took her face in both of his big, calloused hands, and stared right in her eyes. “I can’t have a life with you if I don’t do this and appease the need to get vengeance against those that hurt not only me, but all hybrids they had taken.”

  Tears fell down her cheeks, but they were of mixed emotions. She knew he needed to do this, but if he left there was a possibility he would die in the process and not come back to her. Hell, he may decide he was still too damaged to be with her even if he succeeded. “I know, Roake.”

  He brushed her tears away with his thumbs and smiled. But it was one of those smiles that didn’t really make it to his eyes. He leaned in close and said in a soft voice, “I know what you’re thinking, baby.” He searched her face. “I will succeed, and I will come back to you.” He leaned in and kissed her. “No way in fucking hell am I going to leave you after I just found you,” he said against her lips. “You’re my mate. I’ve claimed you, marked you, and no one will have you but me.” He moved his mouth to the mark at her shoulder and kissed it.

  She didn’t care that Declan and Maverick were in the room and watching this interaction, and she didn’t care that it hadn’t even been a week since Roake had come into her life. Mating was not a science; it wasn’t something that could be controlled, courted, or wooed. It was in their blood, and once their mate was in their life, little else mattered in the grand scheme of things.

  “Just come back to me whole, Roake.”

  He leaned back and smiled down at her. “You’re stuck with me, baby.”

  “If you’re serious about going at this, then I need to give you the rundown as Ormond moves fast,” Declan said, breaking up their intimate exchange.

  Emma kissed him once more and moved away just as Roake went over to stare at the map still spread out on the desk.

  “He laid low for the first forty-right hours, but the roads had been heavy with the cops and National Guar
d, not to mention the SIL’s involved because it was their facility. They had roadblocks set up, so you have a good couple of days on him still,” Maverick said and traced his finger along the line of red that Declan had made.

  “The last three days he’s stayed to the back roads, only traveling for a few hours at a time before stopping for the night.” Declan glanced up at Roake. “He’s only about eight hours out, and my informants have told me they stopped at a small motel, but for how long we aren’t sure.” Declan straightened. There was a heavy silence for a few moments. “You’re Emma’s mate,” Declan said without question.

  Roake straightened himself, and the air became frigid. “Yeah, I am.” There was a bite to Roake’s voice, and he reached out and pulled her closer to him in a show of possession. Declan glanced at the mating mark on her neck and nodded once.

  “Emma’s a sweet girl, and this mission you want to go on alone is suicide,” Declan stated flatly.

  Maverick made a low sound in his throat when Roake took a step closer to Declan. Roake moved her so she was behind him now.

  “I mean no disrespect. What I’m saying is that my mate and your mate are close, as is Maverick’s woman. I’d hate to see Emma hurt because you were full of vengeance and went on a suicide mission.”

  Roake made this low, animalistic growl, and she gripped the back of his shirt. “Roake, stop.” She had known Declan and Maverick for years, and even had dinner with them and their mates. These men were good, but they were also deadly, and two of them up against Roake, even if her mate was mixed with two breeds, wouldn’t fare well.

  “We want to come with you.”

  “I don’t need back-up,” Roake growled out.

  Maverick cocked a dark eyebrow. “No? Seems like you did when you were stuck in a cell for the past year.” Declan whipped out his arm and stopped Maverick from going forward, and she grabbed onto Roake’s shirt. If he had really wanted to go after Maverick there wouldn’t have been anything she would have been able to do anything to stop it. But the fact Roake stopped meant he listened to her, and had some self-control.

  The air became thick, heated, and the fully-grown shifter males stared at each other. “We just want to make sure Emma has her mate, because I can see that she cares about you.”

  “And I care about her,” Roake said, and he reached around to pull her body closer to his.

  “Then let us help you. Let us use our knowledge to take down this motherfucker that is hurting shifters, and that made that little girl out there lose her mother.”

  Emma swallowed harshly at Maverick’s words. The lion shifter was hard and unyielding, and she knew he had a past that haunted him still. But he had Kettah, his little Pallas’s Cat shifter mate, and Declan had Candace, his wolf shifting, stubborn mate. Maverick was showing emotion and wanting to help a man he didn’t even know.

  More silence.

  Roake looked at her for a second, and then breathed out. When he faced the other two men she knew he was relenting. “I mean to take out O, and any fucker that works for him and is in my way.” He looked between Declan and Maverick. “If you think you can keep up, and don’t mind a lot of blood, then your help is welcome.” Roake had this hard tone to his voice.

  Emma knew he was in that place in his mind. She was already feeling antsy as it was, and listening to Maverick and Declan talk to Roake about killing the man that had hurt him and Annabelle made her even more uneasy. She turned and left the small office, giving the three of them privacy because she knew they’d go into details about whatever they had planned. As soon as she stepped outside of the office she wrapped her arms around her middle. But then she heard the soft cries coming from Annabelle, and she felt selfish for thinking about herself when Annabelle was hurting terribly. Emma moved toward Annabelle, saw Jason holding her, and felt his pain, too. Her brother didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to handle his little mate hurting.

  “Take her back to the house, Jason,” Emma said softly. She was thankful they had driven down to town, because Annabelle needed to be alone, and having the residents of Sweet Water glancing at her as they passed wasn’t offering her that privacy.

  Jason nodded, ran his head over Annabelle’s head, and then just held her for a few more seconds. He said something low to her, and Annabelle pulled back to look into his face. For the first time in her life Emma watched this gentleness come from her brother as he brushed Annabelle’s tears away. He turned both of them toward his SUV, and she watched as they left town. She lifted her hand and touched her cheeks. She wasn’t crying, but she remembered well enough when Roake had done the same to her, and had collected those little beads with his thumbs. She knew her mate had to do this, but if he didn’t come back who would brush her tears away?

  Chapter Eleven

  Roake had gone back to the farmhouse only long enough to throw some clothes in a duffle. He was to meet Declan and Maverick back in town in an hour, and although they would drive straight through the eight hours, and, they hoped, still find O wherever he was hiding out like a pussy, there was a chance they’d have to track him. The informants were still watching O’s placement, and Roake was feeling even more anxious to be on the road. He didn’t want to leave Emma, he really didn’t, but he had to do this for himself, Annabelle, and most importantly his mate.

  “Are you afraid?” Emma asked.

  He glanced over at her. She sat on the bed, worrying her bottom lip, and smelling heavily of her fear.

  “Baby.” Roake went over to her, got down on his knees, and took her hands in his. They were sweaty from her worry, and to have this woman care for his wellbeing with everything in her had this pain settling in his heart. “I’ve never had anyone give two shits about what happened in my life.” He glanced down at where their hands were wound tightly together. “My mom, a tiger shifter, and my deadbeat dad, a lion shifter, didn’t even know if they wanted me.” He chuckled humorlessly. “Hell, I know they didn’t want me, but getting a paycheck from the human and shifter government because they were poor-ass parents, and had a fucked-up hybrid to take care of, was enough incentive to them.”

  She squeezed his hands, but didn’t say anything.

  “I’ve never told anyone my background, because frankly no one cares.” He stared into her eyes, and felt his heart swell. “I lived my life through sex and violence, not caring about anyone else because I didn’t care about myself. But Annabelle will never be the same if I don’t do this for both of us and all of the hybrids that are abused like we were.”

  She nodded slowly, and he could scent that she wasn’t against what he said.

  “All it took was this short time for me to realize that my entire shitty existence has led up to this one moment.”

  She swallowed audibly. “To exact revenge?”

  He shook his head and cupped her cheek. “No, baby, to be with you, but I need to put this behind me in order to be the best mate I can for you.” He leaned in and kissed her. “And I am going to be the best mate for you, Emma. I’m going to be the best fucking mate in the whole goddamned world.”

  She chuckled, and he grinned.

  “I meant when I said I’m not going anywhere. You’re mine.” He kissed her once more, stood, and took her hand in his. When she was standing right in front of him he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of everything that made up Emma Leno. “I have never wanted anything for my own, never wanted to protect another person because I care about them more than I cared about myself.” He stared into her green eyes, and pictured the beautiful animal that she became. That time in the forest when she’d approached him, not afraid or disgusted by his appearance but submitting to him because she wanted to be his, had meant more than she could ever know. She had been gorgeous, in human and animal forms, and she was all his. “But I have to go now, and I promise you this.” He stared right in her eyes. “I will not let them take me down. I will come back for you.” He kissed her hard, demanding, and full of possession; then he turned and made himself leave,
because if he stayed another minute he might just say fuck it and hope that not exacting revenge wouldn’t eat him alive.

  ****

  Emma paced the entire length of the living room. She stopped and looked over at Annabelle, who was curled up on the couch. Jason had her feet in his lap, and he was running his hands over them. Her brother had his focus on the little hybrid, and although Annabelle had wanted to be alone in her room, Emma and Jason knew that wasn’t what was best right now. She had lost her mother, and all being alone would do was cement the fact that Annabelle would be isolated and truly by herself.

  “You need to stop moving back and forth like that. It’s making me nervous, and isn’t helping anything,” Jason said, but he was staring at Annabelle.

  “It’s not that easy, Jason.” Emma was getting pissed, not so much at her brother, but at the situation, too.

  Jason looked at her then. “Declan and Maverick went with him,” he said without question.

  She nodded.

  “And Roake seems like he can handle himself,” he stated again.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then everything will be okay.” But even as her brother said that Emma thought the worst. It was only natural to think something bad would happen, right?

  “I’m sure everything will be okay,” Annabelle said, and when she looked at Emma her pain was so tangible Emma felt it in her bones.

  Emma smiled and walked over to the small woman. Annabelle was so very gentle in some cases, but not because she couldn’t handle herself. Some may say being gentle or empathetic was a weakness, but Emma saw it as strength. Those emotions weren’t a bad thing, but a human and authentic thing, and that made Emma feel something profound for this woman. “I wish I had the kind of strength you did.” Emma smiled.