by P. Jameson
He tightened his grip on her. “Very true, mate. And for that reason only, they get to live.”
“I’m sorry your family sucks too,” she murmured.
Gash’s jaw ticked, and she knew the awful stuff was coming.
“Growing up was bad. Real fucked up shit,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to know it all. Don’t want it in your head.”
“Okay.”
“But the truth is, I’ve done bad things. I hate that it’s true because I wish your mate was somebody better than me. You deserve someone perfect. Someone who hasn’t killed or taken advantage of others. But you get me. And the thing is, I’ll try for the rest of my life to do right by you. That’s a promise.”
“Everyone makes mistakes. What’s important is what you learn from them. Your past makes you try to be better. You don’t want to see that part, but it’s true.”
Gash nodded, staring down at her hand where it rested on his chest. “I never liked doing the things I did. I just did them because it was required of me. If I failed, they took it out of my skin.”
“What do you mean?”
Easing her away, Gash sat forward and twisted to show Bailey his back.
At the sight, she pressed her fingers to her lips to stifle a horrified gasp. In his skin, was a roughly shaped S that stretched across his shoulder blades, slanted to his ribs, and curved around to end at his waist. Various slashes that had healed with thick scar tissue formed the letter she could only assume stood for shadow.
Bailey let her fingers brush over the old wounds, and Gash flinched, breaking her heart even more.
“They did this to you? Your family?”
He gave a single sharp nod, and then twisted back to lie down, urging her against his chest again.
“And your face?”
“Remember what I said about mating marks?”
Bailey froze, her stomach lurching.
“Felix gave me a fake mark one night when I refused to kill for him and he couldn’t take anything else from my back without my cat retaliating. Said…” Gash hesitated until she wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “Said I acted like a bitch so he was going to make me look like one. It was the ultimate humiliation. It guaranteed none of my brothers would ever respect me. It made my life hell. They ruined my body, but it was the price of refusing an order.”
Bailey felt sick. The things his clan had done to him were heinous. Unforgivable. Her tiger might be uncharacteristically submissive, but she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t go for blood if she ever came face to face with these monsters.
“You must have refused them a lot.”
“I did. But not enough.”
Bailey shook her head. “You did what was needed to survive.”
He grew quiet again, his palm brushing along her arm in a soothing pass.
“Felix wants to hurt you to get back at me for leaving.”
“We knew that was a probability.”
Gash nodded. “Yes, but I’ve known for longer.”
Bailey lifted her head to watch him. “What do you mean?”
“Remember I said I came here for you? To keep you safe?”
She nodded.
“I knew about you from my nightmare. It’s reoccurring. Every night for a year now, I’ve had one of two dreams about you. Well, it wasn’t you at first. You were just a female I couldn’t quite make out, but I knew you were mine. In the dreams, either you live or you die. Both by Felix’s hands. It started when I was still in Memphis. I’d been looking for a way out of the Alley Cats, thinking I could just get lost and they wouldn’t be able to find me. When I dreamed of you, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. Because even though in one version of the dream you live… well, Felix isn’t the type to let live, so I wasn’t willing to risk it. Had to find you and keep you away from him.”
“And that’s the dream you had tonight? The one where I die?”
His face pinched up in agony. “I fought so hard to get to you. I took down so many Alley Cats, but it was never enough. No matter how hard I try, I can never fucking get to you.”
“But you’ve got me now.”
His tension seemed to ease a fraction at the reminder. “Yeah. I do.”
“And you’ll take good care of me, I know. And we’ll find a way to get your brother off our backs.”
She leaned up to give his cheek a kiss, and a soft growl rumbled his throat. This time not from pain or anger.
“Will you say it again?” he asked softly, and her heart grew twelve sizes.
“I love you, Gash.”
The remnants of grief drained away through their bond, replaced by something sweet and satisfying. His love.
“Will you say it to me every day?”
Bailey grinned. “Several times a day in fact.”
“Can I say it to you?” His question took her by surprise, and he looked so vulnerable in that moment, her smile faded. “If not,” he rushed out, “I can just think it to myself.”
“Of course you can say it,” she gasped, holding back a sob.
He reached up to brush a thumb over her cheek, whispering low, “I love you, Bailey.” He hesitated, clearly struggling, and shook his head. “That… I didn’t do it right. That was a test. Trying it out to see if you like hearing it. If… if you do, I’ll say it again for real.”
“I do. I like it very much.”
Gash let out a shaky sigh. “I love you, Bailey.” The words danced along her skin like a breeze whispering secrets. Gash loved her.
“Will you say it to me every day?”
A fierce look came over him. “Every. Day. And every time we’re in the same room. And when we’re not, I’ll call you. Or text you. And if you get tired of hearing it, you’ll have to tell me so I can write it down somewhere for you to see later when you’re not tired of it anymore.”
She kissed his shoulder, smiling against his skin as happy tears spilled over her eyelids. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you love me. That’s a promise.”
Chapter Nine
Gash felt lighter than he had in… well, in ever. He’d secured his mate. Claimed her body and her heart. Now he was going to keep her forever, to love and cherish as he saw fit. And the best part was, she wanted him too.
He brushed his lips across her forehead, breathing deep her new scent. Bailey mixed with him. It was perfect. And he couldn’t fucking wait for the rest of the clan to notice it. He was so damn proud.
A banging on Bailey’s cabin door had him jerking to attention. Easing her from his chest, he stood and pulled on his jeans. But the pounding became more urgent and was accompanied by yelling.
“Gash, you dog, I know you’re in there. Open up.” Ryan’s words were humorous, but his tone was urgent. If the human was looking for him instead of at home with his Layna, things couldn’t be good.
Bailey threw the sheet off, frowning, while Gash pulled his shirt and boots on, not bothering with the laces.
“Get dressed,” he ordered.
She picked up her shirt and leggings from the floor.
“Not those,” he said, rifling through her drawers for acceptable clothes. “Those are um, I won’t be able to think with you wearing those.”
He glanced up to catch her smirky grin, and tossed her a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt as she dragged that cotton bra back over her tits. She pulled the shirt on and he read the words stretched across her chest. Chubby Single & Ready For A Pringle.
“Take it off,” he demanded.
“What? Why?” Bailey looked down. “Oh.”
“You’re not fucking single anymore.”
She grinned. “Nope. Sure not.” Reaching around him, she pulled another t-shirt from the drawer. “How about this one?”
She held it up for him to read. Bite My Muffin Top. A growl rumbled his chest. Yep, he’d be biting a lot of her later, for sure.
Gash nodded and tossed her a pair of boots from her closet while she dressed.
“Gash, come
on,” Ryan hollered. “The alarms went off. Open this fucking door.”
Shit. The alarms. But the app on his phone was supposed to alert him when something was tripped. He dug it from his pocket to find several missed notifications.
“Shit.”
He grabbed Bailey’s hand and pulled her through the living room to answer the door.
“What’s happened?” Gash snapped, pushing past Ryan and dragging Bailey outside with him. She wasn’t leaving his sight. If this was Felix, he wasn’t getting near her without a serious fight.
“The alarm at the front road was tripped. Three females were caught on the cam.”
Gash frowned. “Females?”
Ryan nodded as they hurried toward the lodge, cutting through the woods again. “Yeah, females. Three of them. Dressed old-fashioned like. Long dresses and funny hair.”
“Funny hair?” Bailey asked.
“Kind of… poofy? Reminds me of a woman out of a western.”
Gash stomped over a fallen log, pausing just long enough for Bailey to clear it. “Maybe Rigor sent them. Doesn’t sound like Felix,” he grumbled. “But who knows what he’d do to get inside our boundaries. Where are they now?”
“Cornered, just beyond the parking lot. Out of sight of the guests. Hopefully. The bears are there, and all the cats except you two, Doc, and Josie.”
“Good.” The three females weren’t getting far with that many shifters on them. He’d question them and find out who they were working for.
Exiting the forest near the barn, Gash rounded the parking area and headed toward the gravel road that led down the hill to the highway. But he pulled up short when he spotted the three strangers standing in a circle of naked males with Layna on the side, screaming obscenities. None of the shifters were in their animal form, and in fact they all looked a little ill. Both bears wore wary expressions. Magic, Owyn, and Renner were sweat-drenched and barely standing. And Mason was bent forward, hands braced on his knees like he was about to lose his dinner.
“Explain,” Magic snarled, brushing his damp hair back with one hand. “And you better do it really fucking fast. Because I don’t need my panther to take you out.”
One female with long blond hair tilted her head to the side. “Maybe not. But I think we should go inside first, and get you all some…” she glanced away, waving her hand absently in the direction of Magic’s groin. “Clothes.”
Mason’s ragged chuckle sounded eerie in the quiet of the night. “You’re kidding right?” he asked, straightening.
The blond frowned. “I’m not actually. This conversation would be easier if your… your…” She glanced to his hips, her gaze quickly skittering away. “…manhood wasn’t hanging out.”
He raised his brow. “Oh, I wasn’t talking to you, Sunshine. I was talking to this bobcat shifter I have stuck inside my head. I think you know her as Destiny. She just informed me we’d be having visitors soon. Three of them. Females with magical powers. I just informed her she’s a tad late with that memo.” He drew his shoulders back and thrust his hips forward obnoxiously. “But now that you mention it, I happen to prefer having conversations with my manhood hanging out. It’s my favorite way to have conversations in fact.”
Right. This coming from the male who had to put his jeans on to have a serious conversation with Gash a few nights ago.
“And besides,” Mason continued. “If your lady-balls are big enough to manhandle my animal back into my body, they’re also big enough to say what you need to say in front of a few dicks.”
Gash sauntered over, eye on the blond the entire way, Bailey and Ryan following. The female’s jaw dropped as she and Mason faced off. It was quite a sight with him buck-ass naked and her buttoned up to her chin in a high collar dress.
“Enough,” Magic said, shooting Mason a warning look and facing the female. “Start talking.”
She snapped her mouth shut, dragging her gaze away from Mason. The other two females stood nearby, one with bright crimson hair and the other with pitch black. All dressed similarly in neutral colored clothes.
“My name is Adira The Lightest, and these are my coven-sisters, Mirena The Bravest…” She pointed one hand elegantly to the dark haired female. “…and Nastia The Wisest.” This time to the redhead. “We are Sorcera.” At Magic’s confused look, she continued. “Commoners would call us, um, witches. But we feel that term really has so many negative connotations and doesn’t especially showcase our abilities so we aim to avoid it.”
Magic hooked his hands around his hips, giving Gash a questioning look.
Gash shrugged, crossing his arms and glaring at the female.
“Who sent you?” he growled, capturing her attention. She seemed relieved that he was dressed. “Alley Cats? Junkyard Dogs?”
“Who?” She shook her head, unfamiliar with those names.
“Felix? Or maybe Rigor?”
“Destiny,” Mason said. “She claims she was sent by Destiny. And if the loud voice in my head is any indication, she’s telling the truth.”
“He’s the one,” Nastia murmured, staring at Gash oddly. “I recognize the darkness clinging to him. Like a… shadow.”
Adira glanced at her sister, then at Gash, her eyes narrowing as they combed over him. A chill ran the length of his spine at her shrewd look. “You sure?”
Nastia nodded.
Gash opened his mouth to demand answers, but then Adira gave him a kind smile before twisting her gaze away to focus on Bailey. He pulled his mate close just in case the witches tried any witchy stuff on her.
“No one will hurt you. Either of you.” She turned back to Gash. “You will be safe in your new home, away from the darkness which you are trying to escape. We shall see to it.”
His brow furrowed, trying to follow the female’s logic but not having any luck.
“Look,” Magic said. “I don’t care who you are or what the hell they call you. Frankly, I don’t even care who sent you. What I want to know is what the fuck you did to our animals.”
Adira pressed her lips together.
Mirena, the dark haired witch, spoke up. “Do all of you use such crude language?”
“Yes,” Eagan snapped.
“Fuck yes,” Layna added.
Theron raised his hand in the air. “I second Layna’s fuck yes.”
Thames rolled his eyes and Owyn brushed a hand through his hair. But Renner, Magic, and Mason stared at the witches like they were mortal enemies.
Gash shook his head. What was he missing here?
“Your animals will be fine,” Adira assured. “With time. The spell we cast to force you back to human was only a temporary one, to get your attention.”
Whoa. The witches had turned them all human? Disabled their animals? How the hell was that possible?
Magic scoffed. “What, you couldn’t have just come out and said what you were and why you were here?”
Adira crossed her arms. “You weren’t exactly prepared to listen were you? It seemed to me, you were more concerned about making us leave.”
“Seemed that way to me too,” Nastia added.
Mirena nodded. “Agreed.”
“Wait a goddamn second,” Gash interrupted. “Are you telling me you three took down seven full grown shifters by yourselves?”
Adira seemed to think about it. “I wish to be honest, and so I must tell you we do nothing by ourselves. The power we draw from the light enables us to succeed at many things.”
“The light?”
“The moon, the stars, and the light within us. The soul.”
Mason scoffed, crossing his arms angrily over his chest. “Lit this place up like fucking daytime. We’ll be damn lucky if none of our guests saw it. Layna will be doing damage control all week. So, you know. Thanks for that, on her behalf.”
Layna narrowed her gaze at him. “I can speak for myself.”
Mason flipped her his middle finger, and Ryan gave him a murderous look. “Watch it, nut sack.” To which Mason rotated his f
inger to aim it at Ryan.
Gash turned back to Adira. “How does this help me cut ties with my old clan? How does it help me keep my mate safe? And Ouachita?”
Smiling, she reached behind her to pick up a small suitcase. “Well now, that’s where we come in. The thing is, this is a game of cat and mouse. And you’ve been mistaken for the mouse. You need to be the cat.”
She marched forward, right past Magic and Layna, the other two witches following close behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Magic called after them.
“We’re moving in of course. And you all must be tired after what we put you through, so we’ll work out the details in the morning.”
“Goddamn it,” he muttered. “Layna, show them rooms. Thames and Theo, you watch them.”
Theron nodded. “Yeah, boss.”
“Mason, you tell that bobcat she’s in trouble.”
Mason gave a blink that lasted several breaths, then in a dull voice he said, “She heard you, and she says to tell you neener neener. And that you’ll be thanking her one day, possibly even worshipping her. And that if you come near her, her mate will use you as a chew toy. The end.”
Magic hung his head, pressing his lips together for patience. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Okay, like the witch said, we’ll deal with this shit in the morning.” He looked up, catching Gash’s gaze. “Gash, you do your thing. Keep an eye out tonight. Stay alert.”
“Will do.”
Magic shivered. “And by god, those females better be telling the truth about this spell being temporary. Or I might just have to get mean.”
Chapter Ten
The next afternoon Gash sat in his office staring blankly at his wall of monitors. After today, he wouldn’t be spending his nights holed up here keeping watch. He was moving in with Bailey and setting up a portable monitoring system that he could use from his laptop. That way he could sleep in her bed at night—their bed—and if there were any security issues he could still deal with them.
But soon, there was going to be a lot less to worry about. The threats to Ouachita wouldn’t be a problem for long.
Gash tapped his fingers along the desktop. There was nothing interesting happening on the screens, but even if there was, it wouldn’t have held his attention. Not with what he had to do.
