by Leela Ash
“It’s starting!” Erik shouted over a loud rumble of thunder.
“Get in position!” Jonah shouted.
Everybody scrambled into position and Jonah stared through his binoculars. The bear shifters had no idea that they were there. This was going to be a sneak attack, with Nichols on the beach to take the stone and keep it safe.
“Hold steady!” Jonah ordered.
The men at the turrets were locked and loaded. All they were doing now was waiting for the signal from Nichols. After a few unbelievably tense moments, Nichols dropped his hand and Jonah bared his teeth.
“Now!” he shouted.
The rain began to pour down over their heads as the guns began to blare. Nichols, through a hail of bullets, shifted and ran through the crowd of shrieking men, half of them shifting as they sought the source of the attack, the other half simply confused and terrified, scrambling for the safety of the trees in the distance.
Jonah’s eyes locked on Thames, who was standing back along the grass before the beach began. His cool face was expressionless, watching as his men dropped to the ground and screamed in agony. However, his expressionless face changed quickly to contempt when he saw Nichols charging for the altar that the bear shifters had made in the center of the beach; the altar where the Serah Stone was positioned carefully in conjunction with a constellation that was supposedly present when the stone dropped to Earth.
“Nichols!” Jonah shouted, aiming his gun at Thames. But Thames dodged the attack and took off through the grass and disappeared into the trees. Fucking coward.
A roar of pain pierced the air and Jonah’s heart lurched. Thames had turned back after he had taken shelter in the trees and aimed his gun at Nichols. Blood was gushing from his shoulder and Jonah aimed at Thames. The tree caught his bullets and Thames once again moved back, protecting himself and leaving the rest of his men to die.
Finally, when the beach was cleared of threats, Jonah ran to the ship’s wheel and turned it sharply. He hadn’t planned on getting any closer to the beach; the plan had been for Nichols to swim to the ship and board it quickly with the stone. But now that he was injured, he simply couldn’t risk the life of his friend… or the possibility that an injured Nichols might drop the precious stone in the ocean.
The other members of the team were confused at first, but Jonah could feel their quiet determination as their faith in him silenced their protests before they ever left their lips. Soon, the destroyer was close to the beach and Jonah dropped one of the small life rafts to the water. Another loud clap of thunder brought a chill down his spine, but it didn’t matter. This was his responsibility.
“Stay here!” Jonah shouted. “Thames is armed, keep a lookout!”
The men saluted and Jonah leapt into the life raft and began to paddle with everything he had.
The ocean had other ideas though, and her angry waves whipped the little raft about. If he were a lesser man, it would have made him feel sick, but all Jonah could think about was doing everything he could to get to Nichols and to retrieve the stone.
After what felt like a century on the water, the bottom of the raft finally scraped the sandy banks of the beach and Jonah jumped out, dragging the raft to land and running to Nichols.
“Jonah, wait!” Nichols shouted, his voice weak and distant as it was carried away by the wind.
Jonah paused and searched for danger. When he didn’t see anything, he studied Nichols. He was soaked from the rain and huddled over the precious stone, blood seeping from his wound and covering his shoulder.
“It’s going to be all right!” Jonah shouted back.
“No!” Nichols growled.
A shot sounded from the trees and the life raft, a simple inflatable raft that Jonah had inflated as he threw it overboard, popped like a balloon.
“Shit!” Jonah growled. The wolf was angry now, and he shifted into his wolf form almost as quickly as he registered the sound of the gunshot.
Jonah bounded over Nichols’ body and ran with all his might into the trees, picking up the scent of Thames almost immediately. He growled and walked with caution, until he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Jonah leapt out of the way just in time to dodge a bullet aimed right at his head, and lunged at Thames, who seemed intent on staying in his human form. Apparently, bears couldn’t pull triggers.
Thames seemed fearless, his eyes cold and dark as he darted behind the cover of another tree, and Jonah’s mind worked quickly, calculating exactly where Thames was going to come out again.
He cut the man off before he appeared again and pounced, ripping a deep gash into the tender muscle of Thames’ shoulder. The gun dropped from his hand and Thames shouted in agony, shifting into his bulky bear form. Jonah’s stomach dropped when he studied the man’s face. He was another of the ugly shifter hybrids; his face mangled by a combination of hideous wolf and bear features. He almost seemed alien, in a way, and Jonah looked away.
Thames was huge, but he was already injured when he struck Jonah. Jonah flew back into a tree. It knocked the wind out of him, but he recovered quickly and ran back at Thames, biting him again in the area he was injured. Thames roared in agony and Jonah bared his teeth down on him until Thames collapsed onto the ground. He wasn’t sure if that would be enough to finish him off when a shot rang through the air.
Jonah looked up quickly just in time to see Nichols staggering toward them, clutching the stone tightly in his one good arm. When he looked back down at Thames, it was clear he was gone.
“You might have good timing,” Jonah said, getting painfully to his feet. “But damn do you have the worst luck in battle.”
Nichols glanced at his wound and grinned. “I’ll get over it.”
Jonah grinned and walked to his friend, shaking his hand and taking the stone into his possession. If they were going to have to swim to the destroyer, they might as well do it safely.
“Damn right you will,” Jonah said, walking carefully around the corpses of the bear shifters that littered the beach. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
***
“I don’t believe it,” Betsy breathed. “You’re back!”
Jonah grinned and opened his arms to allow his sister to embrace him.
“It’s good to be home,” Jonah said, his eyes scanning the house. Last time he had come home like this, Lyla had been waiting in the shadows, ready to turn his life upside down. Now, it was just his sister in the lonely old place.
“I don’t have anything made,” Betsy said, suddenly frantic. She rushed to the kitchen and the cupboards were clattering before Jonah’s feet made it to the kitchen doorway. “I’ll get something done as soon as I can!”
“There’s no rush, Bets, I’m fine,” Jonah said with a small chuckle. “How are you? Sit down.”
Betsy sat and they looked at each other, both of them so full of things to say that no words came. Finally, Jonah cleared his throat.
“How’s Shifters United been getting along?” he asked. It was the first thing that sprang to his mind, other than the awkward conversation he had overheard between Betsy and Douglas.
“It’s actually been harder and harder since Lyla moved away.”
Jonah’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
Betsy chuckled nervously. “I guess after she got pregnant she just decided Stonybrooke wasn’t the place to be anymore. She left without even saying goodbye.”
Jonah stood abruptly from the table, nausea and confusion overwhelming him. “What do you mean pregnant?” Jonah asked, his voice hoarse.
Betsy furrowed her brow, then understanding dawned suddenly on her face. “Ohhh…”
“She was pregnant? And she didn’t tell me?!”
Betsy pursed her lips. “Well, Jonah… I’m sure she had her reasons. Lyla’s a very bright and sensible person. There’s a reason we…”
“When did she leave?! She would have had the baby by now!” Jonah exclaimed, running to the calendar.
“The day
you did, Jonah,” Betsy said quietly.
Jonah kicked himself. How could he have been so stupid?! It all made sense now. Lyla had been terrified when he’d seen her last. Everything about the last time he’d seen her had felt wrong. And now, he knew why. She knew he had his job to think about. His life. And she had resigned to take care of their child on her own. No matter how they had felt about each other. No matter how much he…
“Bets, I have to go,” Jonah said. The wolf in him was pacing, itching to take over. If he stayed a moment longer, he would shift right there in the kitchen. A big no-no in the house.
“I know,” Betsy said. “I wish I could tell you where she’d gone, but…”
“I’ll find her,” Jonah said. He barely made it out the door before his wolf took over, and with that, he was gone.
18.
“Good morning, Benjamin Jonah Lucas,” Lyla cooed over the cradle in her son’s tiny bedroom. “It’s a beautiful day to celebrate your half-birthday.”
Ben had been born exactly six months ago…which meant it had been about a year since she had seen Jonah last. The thought nearly made her cry.
She lifted her son carefully and cradled him to her chest, smiling down into his face. He was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. He had his father’s dark features, but with her clear blue-green eyes. Never had a person ever looked so perfect. Except for his father.
“Let’s go to the park today,” Lyla decided, taking Ben into the kitchen to feed him. After they were both fed and dressed, she pulled a tiny jacket over Benjamin’s little arms and unfolded the stroller.
“Have a good walk!” Mrs. Nelson called from across the street.
“Thank you! It’s Ben’s first half-birthday!”
“Oh, the precious little dear,” Mrs. Nelson cried.
Lyla laughed and continued on her way. Mrs. Nelson was a warm-hearted young woman, and, just as Lyla had suspected, she was a wolf through and through. She had been there to coach Lyla throughout her son’s difficult birth, about two and a half months earlier than she had expected to have him, and had done everything in her power to make sure the two were well provided for; even taking over the cost of utilities in the apartment just so she could sleep better at night knowing they were all right.
Ben gurgled in pleasure when they reached the park and she lifted him out of his stroller to sit him in the baby swing. He laughed so hard that Lyla couldn’t help but laugh along with him. He was everything she had ever wanted. Her life would be perfect, if only…
“Lyla!”
Lyla’s heart lurched at the familiar sound of Jonah’s deep voice. “You’re kidding…” she whispered, whipping around.
Although she had thought she’d heard Jonah’s voice many times before, this time, it was unmistakably real. Jonah was standing in front of her, his dark eyes flashing.
“Jonah, I can explain… I’m so sorry! Please, don’t blame Benny…”
But to her surprise, the first thing Jonah did, instead of yelling or demanding to take his child, was embrace her tightly. His soft lips were suddenly on hers, and the wolf’s claim became unmistakable. No matter what, they had been fated to be together.
“Come meet your son,” Lyla said, dazed, pulling Jonah by the hand to the swing, where Ben was watching them curiously.
Jonah stood in front of the swing, staring intently at the child. Lyla’s stomach knotted. If Jonah rejected her son, it would be devastating. Finally, after several moments of silence, as Jonah and her son stared at one another, he walked forward and picked Ben up.
Lyla rushed forward–Ben always burst into tears when any stranger approached him, let alone picked him up–but stopped short. A surge of warmth coursed through her body. Ben wasn’t screaming. He wasn’t even nervous. He was smiling widely at Jonah, and Jonah was smiling at him.
“He’s perfect,” Jonah whispered.
***
Lyla and Jonah spent the rest of the afternoon at the park together, playing with Ben. Nothing in the world made her feel as full of love as seeing her son bonding with his father, and when Jonah asked if she was ready to go home, she took his arm and smiled.
They walked together arm in arm until they reached her small apartment, and she hesitated, checking for Mrs. Nelson before inviting him inside.
“Wow,” Jonah said with a low whistle. “This is tiny.”
Lyla blushed and turned away as she pulled Benny’s coat off. “I know. We don’t need much space.”
“It’s still better than that rundown little bungalow of yours,” Jonah said.
“Yeah,” Lyla agreed, carrying Ben to his room. He was yawning deeply, and had been dozing blissfully in the stroller on the way home. “That place was a dump. I’m still waiting for it to sell.”
Jonah nodded and stayed quiet until she returned from their son’s bedroom.
“I missed you,” Jonah said, his dark eyes boring into hers. She was electrified by his presence, and shocked by the liberating realization that there was no longer anything that they had to keep from each other. They could be honest.
“I missed you,” Lyla said, tears welling in her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I tried to tell you how much.”
“I just might,” Jonah said, suddenly closing the space between them and holding her tightly in his arms. She had longed for him to hold her for so long that it almost didn’t feel real.
“I can’t believe you aren’t angry,” Lyla said, pulling away. She couldn’t forgive herself so easily. “You can tell me if you are, you know. It’s not good to hide that kind of thing.”
Jonah stared at her incredulously. “Why would I be angry?! I know why you did it. You were scared. For me, for yourself…for the baby…why would I be angry at you for just trying to do the right thing?”
Lyla collapsed against him in tears and Jonah caught her, holding her tenderly until she was done crying.
“I love you, Lyla. I always will. Nothing could ever change that, because I love you for a reason.”
Lyla squealed in surprise when her body suddenly became weightless and Jonah pressed her against him, his need for her apparent through his clothes. She gasped in surprise and pleasure as he buried his face in the nape of her neck and slammed her against the wall, tearing her shirt off and taking her breast into his mouth. She shuddered in ecstasy as he continued to strip her. She was suspended in the air by his powerful arms, and ran her hand down his broad chest, urging him to take his own clothes off as well.
He obliged, and soon, his naked body was pressed sweetly against her. Lyla closed her eyes; she could feel every inch of his member pressing against her, and, with a swift and sudden thrust, he was inside her.
Her body was electrified as Jonah unleashed the ferocity of his desire upon her, assaulting her again and again with slow, sensual strokes of her nipples and the deep, gratifying rhythm of his hips. It felt so good; so right, and she held him close, almost afraid that if she let go, Jonah would be gone.
When she opened her eyes, however, Jonah was looking at her hard, present and reliable; her rock in a tumultuous ocean of pain and loneliness.
He loved her fiercely, with the same tenderness that she felt for him, and as they made love, she nearly cried from the weight of emotion she had been holding back all this time.
But before even a single tear could fall, she cried out in bliss as Jonah quickened his pace, pleasuring her body fervently as they sampled each other’s sweet lips again and again, each of them coming closer to the height of their desire. Jonah let out a deep growl in her ear which made her tremble in his arms, and suddenly, she saw the flash of the wolf in his eyes. Tender time was over. Now, it was time to truly feel.
Jonah’s strong body took over and before she knew what was happening, she was on her back on the small living room couch and Jonah was on top of her, his entire body pressed against hers. He parted her legs with his hands and was suddenly inside her again, prying her open and entering her again and again, until, with a pow
er unlike anything she had ever felt before, she could feel the build of her climax reach its breaking point.
Jonah seemed to sense her resistance fading, and the powerful contraction of her orgasm pulled him closer to her. They gazed at each other, need–and love–creating a thrall that somehow gave her more pleasure than the sex itself ever could. Finally, with a passionate, languid kiss and a rapid thrust, Jonah plunged into her one last time and together, they reached an earth-shattering climax. He emptied himself into her as she cried out in bliss, their bodies entwined in a sacred dance that nearly took everything she had out of her.
When they were finished, Jonah pulled her up and held her close to his chest, caressing her hair and kissing her forehead gently.
“You know, you can move back to Stonybrooke if you’d like,” he said softly. “Betsy would be really happy to see you.”
“But what about your job? Isn’t it too dangerous?” Lyla asked, quickly pulling away. “And Ben…”
“Actually,” Jonah said carefully. “I talked to my commanding officer, and he said it would be better for Stonybrooke if the team and I stayed put to keep an eye on things. So… I’m moving back home For good.”
Lyla’s heart thudded powerfully and she threw her arms around Jonah.
“You mean it?”
“I mean it,” Jonah said, kissing her deeply. “And I think Betsy’s sick of minding that old house herself anyway. It would do her some good to get out a bit and see that boyfriend of hers.”
“Boyfriend?!” Lyla exclaimed.
Jonah grinned. “You and the baby come back to Stonybrooke with me, and I’ll explain everything.”
Jonah touched her lips gently, a tender smile creasing his face, and Lyla sighed. All was right in the world again. And now, finally, she could go back home.
