by Dana Archer
The wood-paneled doors opened, and there he was.
Devin stood ramrod straight, a pair of sunglasses shielding his kitty eyes and Joe, her stuffed jaguar, clutched in his hand. She’d picked up the little toy after Rick had moved out five years ago. Sleeping alone had been impossible. She’d felt silly at the time, but her jaguar had made the nights alone bearable.
“Lena.”
He dropped the toy and strode toward her. She backed into the living room. Her legs smacked into a chair. A predator had her in his sight. She glanced from his hardened expression to the open elevator. Her only escape. Instincts took over. She shoved the stool at him and ran for the exit.
Devin’s curse rang out followed by a crash. She made it past the kitchen where Vader leaned nonchalantly against the counter with a smirk on his face, then stumbled to a halt. Devin was suddenly in front of her, lips raised in a snarl. She glanced from his glowing, completely yellow feline eyes to the slowly closing elevator doors and bolted under his outstretched arm. With one hand, he snagged her around the waist and yanked her against him.
“Lena.”
He wrapped his body around hers, curling his frame so his nose pressed into the base of her neck. He inhaled loudly, then brushed his open mouth over her skin. His warm exhale heated her body, easing the tightness in her limbs. He didn’t say anything else. Didn’t yell. Didn’t demand an explanation. He simply held her.
She curled her fingers around his forearm.
The hushed words of the other men drifted to her, Vader likely telling them about Molly, but all she could focus on was Devin and the way he held her, as if she was a treasure he’d lost.
After a long moment, he eased back so she was staring into his eyes. “Don’t ever leave me again without talking to me first.”
“I had to. Molly comes first, and I couldn’t trust you with her.”
Devin dropped his hands. “What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I’d hurt her?”
“Not intentionally, but—”
“I thought you understood that what happened to you was an accident.”
“I do, but—”
He fisted his hands. “But you assumed I’d lash out again. Maybe hurt Molly this time. Is that it?”
“Wait.” Vader stepped in front of her. “Back up. Who hurt you?”
“It was an accident.”
“Who struck the blow? Tell me now.” Vader’s order demanded her instant obedience.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t matter who did it.”
“Yes, it does. Tell me.”
“Go ahead, Lena.” Devin stepped to her side. “If it’s the reason you left me, then say it.”
It wasn’t. Not exactly. She didn’t get the chance to say anything. Vader slid his gaze from her to Devin, then curled his upper lip, revealing a fang.
Her heart skipped a beat. Vader appeared ready to attack Devin, exactly as she’d feared. “I ran because—”
“You did it, didn’t you?” Vader asked Devin. “You nearly gutted her.”
“Yeah, I hurt her, but I—”
Vader punched him, stopping whatever Devin was about to say. Devin’s body jerked, and the power behind Vader’s fist sent Devin flying across the room.
Vader followed him down, pummeling Devin’s face until something broke, the sound of cracking bone making her cringe. Devin returned the attack, an animalistic roar ripping from his throat.
They rolled across the hardwood floor, smashing furniture in their path. The retro seventies apartment with its lava lamps, funky sculptures and artwork was ruined as the two big men fought in a fast, vicious fight that should’ve killed one of them.
Devin’s claws swiped Vader’s side. Blood sprayed. Vader didn’t flinch, instead he increased the intensity of the fight until she couldn’t follow their movements. They slammed into the gun case. The metal chest that stood as tall as a man flipped and pinned Devin’s legs.
Time stood still.
She watched helplessly as Vader’s clawed hand tore gashes across Devin’s stomach. Another arc of red spewed over Vader’s face. Devin groaned. The sound twisted her gut. She couldn’t take it anymore
She ran forward. Kade pulled her into his arms before she reached Devin.
Kade held her firmly, arms banded around her waist. “Stay out of this. You’ll only succeed in getting yourself killed. Then Devin will completely lose his mind.”
She squirmed anyway, desperate to get to Devin’s side. Another roar rang out. Devin shoved the heavy case off him and staggered to his feet, but Vader leapt on his back. Devin fell to his knees with a partially shifted wolf gnawing at his shoulder. A chuffing sound fell from Devin’s bloody lips.
He was hurt.
Lines of pain etched his face. She had to help him, but Kade’s grip never lessened. He even sighed as if her struggles were nothing but a nuisance.
Lena gave up trying to break Kade’s hold and screamed, “Stop!”
Amazingly, they did. Both men turned to look at her. Devin glanced from her face to the man holding her and growled with long, wide fangs bared. Kade released her and stepped back. She was left standing there, more confused than ever.
Devin stood and advanced slowly, no sign of pain in the graceful way he moved. A predatory glint darkened his eyes. The whites had returned to them, but it didn’t dim the wickedness contained within him. It added to it. There was no blaming his primitive allure on his cats. The man watched her, and with blood and sweat coating his muscles, he looked wild.
Untamed.
With his gaze locked on her, she got the impression she’d been labeled as his prey…or maybe the prize he’d won. Either way, the careful stalking sped her pulse. She held up her hand and matched his steps backward. He stopped, a hurt expression stamped on his face.
“Please don’t.” She pleaded with her eyes, hoping he’d see her confusion and give her space. Seeing him hurt stirred up too many emotions, none of them ones she knew what to do with. “Although I’ve known about shifters for a while, I obviously don’t know the rules of your world.”
“Then let me explain them.”
She shook her head. “Unless they involve Molly, I don’t want to hear them. I am not a part of your world.”
“You are.” Devin focused on her shoulder. “You’ll always be a part of this world and my life.”
Lena clamped her hand over the scar Devin stared longingly at. “No. I’m not. Vader said this is equivalent to an engagement, but it’s not one I accepted. I’m breaking it.” For now at least. They could reevaluate later.
Devin closed the distance between them, ignoring her outstretched arm. He tipped her chin up with blood-coated fingers. “Don’t say stuff like that. Let’s go somewhere private and talk.”
She pushed away his hand and scrubbed at the wetness on her jaw. The sight of him covered in the evidence of the fight bothered her. She might be confused by her reactions toward him, but she didn’t want him hurt. Ever.
“You’re all sweaty and bloody. Go get cleaned up.” Lena stepped away from him before she gave in to the desire to tend to his cuts.
After grabbing her stuffed jaguar, she picked her way through Vader’s trashed apartment.
“Lena?”
She glanced over her shoulder, worry still simmering in her gut, but the first stirrings of awareness sparked too. Devin’s breath came in pants, chest heaving and drawing attention to the muscle packed on to his frame. He looked powerful. A male in his prime. He appeared capable of taking on the world. Or loving her all night.
He glanced from her shoulder to her face. The yellow of his eyes spread, overtaking the white, and short fangs dented his lip. “I won’t give up on us. We will find our way and be stronger together than we ever were apart. That’s my promise to you.”
She rolled her eyes to hide how the heat of his vow affected her. “There is no ‘us’. No ‘we’. We are not a couple. There is Devin, and there is Lena.” She pointed first at him then at herself. “Separ
ate entities.”
He chuckled, one corner of his mouth lifting, and her lower belly warmed.
“There will be, Lena, and once you accept that, you’ll be glad I pursued you.”
Lena stared at him. Unable to come up with any sharp retort, she huffed out a frustrated breath and retreated to Vader’s bedroom.
With the door closed behind her, she touched her jaw. The heat of Devin’s fingers still lingered there.
She feared he was right.
Chapter 20
Horace got up in Devin’s face as soon as the door closed behind her.
“What were you thinking? You could’ve killed her!”
Devin squeezed his eyes shut. It didn’t stop the memory from replaying. Lena falling and not getting to her in time. The fight, the rage, and the betrayal in her eyes. The scent of her fear filled his nostrils. Her pained cries echoed in his ears. And the blood…
“I wasn’t thinking. It was Edmund’s descendants who were trying to buy Molly. That knowledge pushed me to the edge, but when one of the Krisban males hurt Lena, I lost my grip on reality.” Devin opened his eyes and met the wolf shifter’s gaze. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. She got in the way.”
Horace backed up and scrubbed a hand down his face. “So you mated her to save her life?”
“Yes.”
“How far did you take it? Did you take a piece of her soul too?”
Devin’s cats stirred. Something about Horace’s tone bothered them. Devin studied the other male, looking for the reason behind their unease but seeing none. “What does it matter to you?”
“Just answer me.”
“Why?”
Horace smirked. “Because.”
There was interest in Horace’s expression. That was what had prompted the question. The wolf Royal wanted to steal her away.
Devin advanced on him until they were face-to-face. “It’s none of your business. That female”—he waved toward the bedroom Lena had retreated to—“is mine. You come between us, and I’ll rip your head off.”
“I don’t have to. Lena came to me.” A sneer spread over Horace’s face. “And when she does the next time you anger her, I’ll welcome her with open arms. It’ll take a lot more than smelling your stench on her to stop me from taking her to my bed.”
He lunged at Horace, but Kade blocked Devin from attacking the other male. “Enough, Horace. Devin is right. Stay out of this.”
A flush stained Horace’s cheeks. “Don’t call me by that awful name.”
Xander pushed off from the section of the wall he’d been leaning against. He brushed a hand over his favorite T-shirt with its advertisement for Josh’s bar. Splatters of blood dotted it. “Why? Horace Vladimir Winchester is a good, strong name. Your pappy would roll over in his grave if he heard you say that.”
Horace cringed. “It’s not good when you’re a wolf trying to fit in with humans. Lena’s stepdad gave me the nickname, Vader. It stuck. That’s what I go by now.”
“So you know Lena from working with her dad?” Devin asked.
Horace—aka Vader—gave him a scathing look as he blatantly let his disgust show. Claws sprang from the male’s hands and blood dripped from where he impaled his own palms with the sharp talons.
“Yes, Lena and I are close.”
Devin watched the other male pace, his strides quickening with each loop around the bar, and an ugly suspicion grew. “How close?”
Vader pivoted and took a threatening step forward. “It means she’s important to me, and I will not allow any male to keep her unless she’s willing. Mate or not.”
“You don’t have the right. She wears my bite. Not yours.”
“Yeah? Are you invoking mating law?” Vader grinned. “’Cause that’ll only help me. She’ll see me as her savior when I get her away from you, and reward me properly.”
Kade stepped into Devin’s line of sight before he could respond to Vader. Kade didn’t touch Devin, but his tense body suggested it took a lot not to.
“Remember your plan. After seeing what happened here, I agree it’s a good one.”
Devin nodded, then walked toward the bathroom. “Keep Vader away from my female. I’m going to get a shower.”
Chapter 21
Lena pivoted at the sound of the door opening. Devin entered, closed it behind him, and leaned against the wood.
He swept his hungry gaze over her. She did the same and greedily took in every delicious inch of his powerful frame. The pair of exercise shorts, hanging low on his hips, didn’t leave much to the imagination, and the sight of his impressive body excited her instantly, flipping a switch inside her.
No sign of his tussle with Vader showed on his bare chest. There were no wounds. No bruises. Nothing. Had she not witnessed it, she never would’ve known he’d been in a fight.
She understood what that meant. He was powerful. All multi-shifters were, but with Devin there was a subtle difference, a primal edge no shifter she’d met had carried.
Dangerous.
The word could’ve been tattooed on his forehead. Even if he had come with a warning label, she wouldn’t have been able to resist him. She was caught, enthralled by his beauty and his aura.
Fresh from the shower, a few droplets of water dripped from his towel-dried hair. She followed the path of one as it slid over his shoulder, down a heavily muscled pec to his well-defined abs.
She let her gaze travel over him, head to feet, and accepted the truth. Despite everything, Devin meant more to her than any man she’d ever known. Yes, her feelings toward him still confused her, but watching him fight Vader brought one fact to light—she didn’t want him to die. Ever.
She simply didn’t think she’d survive knowing Devin wasn’t somewhere in the world, happy and safe.
“Hey.”
He hadn’t used her name or any form of endearment, but the emotion laced into the word warmed her belly and quickened her pulse.
Her attraction to him was intense, immediate, and inexplicable. That hadn’t changed in the few hours they’d been separated. The only difference was the ache in her chest. Or more accurately, the lack of it. The pain that had plagued her after she’d run from him had disappeared. Maybe guilt had caused the physical aliment. She didn’t know. Didn’t care. She felt good with Devin’s gaze on her. It was a feeling she was beginning to crave.
She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here?”
“You told me to get cleaned up.” He shrugged. “I did.”
“Did Vader tell you about Molly?”
He nodded absently, his gaze focused on her face before traveling down to her feet. He reversed the direction he’d taken, leaving a burning path, before meeting her eyes. “Kade is arranging for a private plane to fly us to Alaska. He’ll let us know when it’s time to go.”
She let out a relieved breath. “Good. I tried Gwen’s cell again. No answer. So, I called Maggie, but Gwen and Molly haven’t arrived yet. She’ll call as soon as they get there. She said the recent bout of rain has made travel difficult. Maybe they got stuck. Flat tire or something.”
His unblinking stare unnerved her. Heat crept up her neck. Lena crossed her arms over her chest. “You were talking about taking Molly to see a Shifter Affairs’ doctor. I won’t allow it. Molly will not be institutionalized or studied or whatever the government wants to do with her.”
“Dr. Missy Reed is the mate to a Royal who is a liaison to Shifter Affairs. She’s not associated with them per se. Her mate is, but only as much as I am. You didn’t give me the chance to explain.”
Her shoulders slumped. “And Colonel Malory? You said you trusted him.”
“Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?”
“He’s the one who betrayed us. He showed up with those lion shifters, took a suitcase of money from them, then left us alone to face them.”
Devin curled his fists, but no rage showed on his face. Determination did. The calculating look chilled her.
“Then he’ll pay for it.”
She wanted that, but not at the expense of Devin’s future. “You can’t hurt him. The government won’t believe he betrayed us. There’s no evidence. You’ll be treated as a murderer.”
A small smile graced his face. “Does my fate concern you?”
“Yes. That’s why I was trying to prevent the fight between you and Vader. I knew he’d react that way.”
“Vader can’t defeat me. I’m too strong.”
“He could’ve ripped your throat out while you were stuck under that gun case. It wouldn’t have mattered how strong you were then.”
“Kade or Xander would’ve stopped him.”
“And what if they weren’t there?” She looked imploringly at him. “I’ve never seen Vader act that way. There was murder in his eyes.”
“It didn’t happen. Let’s worry about our future, not the past, okay?”
“No. Let’s not. ‘Our’ is the same as ‘we’. Do I need to explain again why that label doesn’t apply?”
She hoped not. It’d be a lie. There was a ‘we’ where they were concerned. She just didn’t understand it. The confusion over their connection, the one Devin had insisted they shared, jumbled her thoughts.
And that was another lie. When Devin looked at her, she knew exactly what she wanted. Him.
She inwardly sighed. It was the minute he wasn’t close that her mind unraveled, letting all her doubts surface.
“If you want to hear yourself talk, you can. I don’t need a repeat. I heard you perfectly fine the first time.”
Stubbornness was stamped on his expression. Seeing it brought his vow back to her. “You’re mine, Lena. Mine. Never letting you go.”
She forced herself to recall the fights with Rick and Vader, the crazy rules they’d insisted she follow and the jealousy they’d shown whenever a guy so much as looked at her. She did not want that kind of life. Devin had already shown his possessive nature toward her. His attitude had angered her. It still did. Unfortunately, her annoyance with him didn’t kill the urge riding her to wrap her arms around his waist, locking him to her so she didn’t lose him.
