The air in the forest suddenly got a blast of heat as four gigantic bears and six massive wolves jumped into the clearing, growling and howling.
The vampire spun around on the spot, and Jannie saw his face fall. His wicked grin and sure attitude had all but vanished as he took a step back and bumped up against a pine tree.
The bears began to circle him, and their roars were so loud that they made the ground shake.
The wolves bared their teeth and flanked the bears, readying themselves to attack. It was an incredible sight, and Jannie didn’t know if it was real or if she was in a dream.
“No,” the vampire said. “This isn’t right… You all fight each other.”
And that’s when it started to click.
The vampire had been counting on the wolves to come up the mountain alone. He hadn’t expected the bears to arrive too, and for them to have double the strength and power.
Jannie felt the heat returning to her as the shifters circled the clearing and rounded the vampire into the middle. The wolves snapped and growled their big jaws and with each step closer to the vampire they took, Jannie could see that, even though he knew he was screwed, he was still enjoying the chase.
The bears all reared up on their hind legs and roared so loud the pine trees shook and icicles fell from their branches, smashing to the ground.
“Even if you destroy me,” the vampire said, “there are still more… and they will come for you.”
Jannie flexed her hands and realized she could move them, and it was then that she managed to pry herself free from her frozen spot on the trunk, and she could see the huge black wolf with the incredible green eyes that was coming toward her.
The cold seemed to grip her again and she seized up. Her vision becoming cloudy.
The wolf brushed up beside her and moved her backward. He moved her away from the raging war in the center of the clearing and the heat coming from his body woke Jannie up and saved her from slipping into unconsciousness. She looked into the wolf’s eyes and smiled.
“Dash,” she said as she reached up and touched him on the side of the face.
His fur was thick and soft, and his power was overwhelming. When she felt him in wolf form, she felt her heart open, she felt her soul binding with his and she knew then that he had imprinted on her.
He had resisted for so long, and now that he was there, and the extent of his true animalistic nature was shining through, he hadn’t been able to go any longer.
And she hadn’t wanted him to.
In that moment, they had both wanted it so badly; their hearts had sealed them together as one.
She rested her forehead against his and his heat morphed into her. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, and she wrapped her arms around him as he nudged her back further and further to safety. When she was well away from the clearing, the wolf rubbed up against her. He was so big and frightening, but she wasn’t scared of him at all.
She waited and watched as his green eyes glinted and then he turned and ran back to the clearing and into the fight. The vampire was in the center of the circle of wolves and bears, and it was holding its hands up high.
Jannie didn’t know what she was bearing witness to, but she could tell it was intense and dark magic. Above the forest, the sky turned black and a flash of silver lightening moved across it, lighting up storm clouds and making them appear ghostly and thick. The wind began to rage and the trees in the clearing were bending with the force.
Jannie kept her gaze fixed on Dash and she prayed for him as she saw him bearing his wolf teeth, growling and howling and snapping his jaws. The vampire was trying to control the wind and the storm raging around them, but she could see that the shifters were all ready to get him and it wouldn’t be much longer. The bears closed in on the circle and began to block him from the heavens above, and the wolves snapped and started to nip out at him, tearing at him piece by piece with their ferocious teeth.
The vampire didn’t scream; he simply turned and stared at Jannie with a wicked grin and menace in his eyes as the wolves began to tear him apart. If he was experiencing pain, he certainly wasn’t showing it, and she saw Dash finally jump up high and crash down on him in the middle of the circle, before all the bears and wolves descended and tore him to shreds, leaving nothing left on the ground but a bloody smudge of black.
Jannie collapsed against the tree and cried out in pain. Her whole body was aching, and she was growing weary again. The cold was still there in the forest and as she saw the shifters begin to turn back into their human form, it was Dash she watched as his fur ripped and gave way to skin as he turned slowly from the large incredible wolf into the man she loved.
She laid on the ground and felt herself slipping out of consciousness. And it wasn’t until she felt his strong and protective arms around her, scooping her up from the ground and holding her close to his naked chest, that she felt safe again.
Her protector had come for her and he had saved her.
Her magical wolf.
The love of her life.
She nuzzled into him as she felt herself drift away…
She was safe now, in Dash’s arms.
17.
The warmth beneath her relieved her aching bones, and as she rolled onto her side and felt the wrap of warm duvet around her, she smiled and slowly opened her eyes.
Her memory was sketchy, and it took her a few moments to figure out where she was, but when she saw her closet door hanging half open, she smiled and was so relieved to be home in the cabin. She pushed herself up slowly and leaned against the headboard.
What the hell had happened?
She felt as if she had been hit by a truck. It was like she had the worst hangover of her life and a deep chill in her bones. She rubbed her head and pulled her hand away and found a pine needle in her hair… and it was then that it all came rushing back.
The vampire.
The fight.
The woods and the trick.
She had been lured there and had put Dash in danger. But he had saved her, and he and the wolves had defeated the evil.
She jumped to her feet and tried to steady herself so that she wouldn’t fall. She was walking on wobbly legs, as if she were still getting used to her ankles, and she rested against the door frame and looked down the hall toward the living area.
“Hey, sleepy head.” Dash’s voice came from behind her, and she spun on the spot and gasped.
She felt tears well up in her eyes and she fell into him, wrapping her arms around him, and never being so relieved to have seen anyone so much in her entire life.
She sobbed into his chest and he stroked her head and hair with his hand.
“It’s okay,” he whispered to soothe her. “I’m here, it’s okay.”
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “It was all my fault.”
Dash took hold of her face and cupped it in his hands as he looked her deep in the eyes and shook his head.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he said sternly. “None of us could have predicted how that would unfold. I’m just so sorry the evil used you to lure us there.”
He pulled her into his chest again and wrapped his big arms around her shoulder. Behind him, she could see that the bathroom was steaming up; he had run a hot bath, filled with soap suds.
“You need to get in the tub,” he said. “Your body temperature is low; it’ll help bring it back up.”
She nodded and let him scoop her up in his arms while she wrapped hers around his neck. He carried her to the bathroom, and she stood in front of him as he reached for her clothes and started to peel them from her. When he lifted her top off over her head and she stood there naked in front of him, his breath seemed to catch in his throat. She was so turned on, and even though her bones were still aching, her pussy was throbbing for him.
He peeled away her trousers and underwear and threw them on the floor, and then he lifted her at the waist and placed her in the tub. She sat in the water and let it flow over
her, and Dash stood by the side and watched her.
“How does that feel?” he asked, his eyes skimming every inch of her.
“Good,” she moaned. “But it would feel even better if you were in here with me…”
She smiled, and Dash’s eyes glinted.
She had been waiting for this moment since the second she had laid eyes on him, and now, he had imprinted on her and she had made her choice. She wanted to give herself to him properly. She wanted them to be together forever. She was his love. And she wanted him to claim her.
She held out her hand, and he rose to his feet. She could see he had scratches and cuts where he had been hurt as the wolf, but they were quickly healing before her very eyes and he looked so strong standing there with his bare chest and heaving muscles.
She watched intently as he reached for the buttons on his jeans and popped them open, one by one. When he started to slide them over his hips and his boxers came with them, she held her breath as she waited for his huge and completely perfect cock to spring free.
Her eyes widened, and Dash smirked.
He was so hard and thick. It was the biggest she had ever seen, and she pulled him close to her, urging him to climb into the tub. It was big, much bigger than the one she had back in her hometown, and it was almost as if the person who had installed it had exactly this in mind. Jannie pushed Dash against the side of the tub and she climbed up on his lap, wrapping her legs around him and kissing him hard on the mouth.
Her pussy was so wet and slick for him, and as she eased herself up and onto him, she groaned as he filled her good and proper. Dash grunted and she could still see the wolf behind his eyes. They flickered with the intense green and his pupils were wide and engulfing.
“My God,” he groaned as she rose up on him and then slid down the full length of his shaft. She hadn’t been able to wait a moment longer, and with each thrust of her hips and every time she lifted and brought herself back down on him, she felt a heat inside her increasing, and him getting harder and harder inside of her.
The water sloshed up around them, and the foam from the suds blew up into the air like bubbles in the wind.
She leaned forward and kissed him, and he gripped her soft, supple breasts with his incredibly strong and masculine hands. When she paused for a moment and let him kiss her neck and up to her ear, she quivered and sensed the power in him surging forward.
“I want to take you hard,” he said as he held onto her and got to his feet.
She still had her legs wrapped around him and his cock was still buried deep inside of her, but he walked with her out of the bathroom and to the bed where they collapsed and he kissed her again all down her chest and up her neck.
She was engorged and his cock was so hot and powerful, when he bent her leg and lifted it high, so he could drive himself into her further, Jannie braced herself.
This was it.
Dash grunted and growled, and within him, a ferocious power came to the surface. Behind his eyes, she saw the wolf, and as he fucked her and made her his, she moaned and began riding the most intense waves of pleasure she had ever known.
Dash’s strokes became harder and faster, and his huge, bulging shoulders and arms held her down on the bed as he worked up to his release and the moment she had been waiting for.
His cock thrust up inside her and he hit her deep in all the right places, a heat rocketing up her spine and right inside her cunt, making her juices drip for him as his cock thumped and pumped.
When she felt him beginning to tense, she couldn’t hold on any longer either. Jannie gripped him tight with her ankles and bit his shoulder as her orgasm surged through her. Her body bucked and shook beneath him, and Dash growled and howled up to the ceiling as he spilled his seed inside of her.
She cried out and collapsed as he flattened out on top of her, and their foreheads touched. She had never felt love like it before, her whole body quivered, and her bones were shaking.
“My god,” she panted as she smiled up at him, and he leaned in to kiss her.
The feeling was out of this world. It wasn’t sex. It wasn’t even making love. This had been much more than that. It was a life-changing experience.
Now, Dash had claimed her, and now, she was his for the rest of time.
They clung together in the messed-up bedsheets and both fell into a deep sleep. The day had been wild and drained them both of their energy. But now that they were fully joined together, it wouldn’t take them long to recover.
Two halves had become a whole… and their power was endless.
Jannie woke to Dash kissing her shoulder and holding her tightly from behind. He spooned her, and the warmth she felt between their bodies was soothing and calm. She moaned and pushed her ass back into his crotch and she felt him grip her harder.
“Tease,” he said sleepily as he kissed her again and then rolled her over, so they could look into each other’s eyes.
His cuts and grazes from the fight had completely disappeared and he held her there in his incredibly powerful arms and traced his fingertips up and down her perfectly soft skin.
“I can’t believe I’ve found you,” he said with a smile. “I never imagined how amazing it was going to be.”
Jannie smiled back at him and had to agree. This was amazing. It was more than she had ever dreamed. When she had come to Bridge Hollow, with a vague idea of a story in her head about a shifter, she had no idea she would meet one for real. Let alone, fall in love and be claimed by one, a brutally handsome Alpha Wolf who had now saved her life in more ways than she could count.
She reached up and touched his neck, running her hands through the back of his hair.
“I’m staying here now,” she said. “I already extended the cabin by two weeks.”
“Well,” Dash grinned. “You better cancel it.”
Jannie furrowed her brow and looked at him sternly.
“Because there’s no way I’ll be able to stand you being all the way over on this side of the lake,” he laughed.
Jannie slapped him playfully on the arm.
“I want you over there with me.” His eyes sparkled. “You’re my woman… the other half of me… you can’t be over here.”
She bit her bottom lip and smiled.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll sort it out.”
Dash pushed his forehead up against hers, and it reminded her of the wolf inside him. How, when he had saved her, he had done the same thing to calm her and reassure her.
This man was so incredible. He truly had stolen her heart.
“Plus, with everything that’s happening,” he said, “I’ll want you close by.”
“But you defeated the vampire…” Jannie said. “Doesn’t that mean everything is okay now?”
Dash smiled sadly and shook his head.
“I have a feeling this is only just the beginning…”
Jannie remembered something… a snippet of conversation… cold words spoken with malice. And she saw the vampire’s face and the way he had grinned when he had told her he was there to survey Bridge Hollow and make sure the bears and wolves were out of the way… for the rest of us…
“There’s more of them,” she said. And Dash nodded. “He told me, out there in the woods. Before you all got there, he told me he was there to clear the way for the rest of his kind.”
Dash exhaled and looked down.
“We had the feeling,” he said. “And when we turned up to see his surprise that we had joined together, well, that’s when I knew… their energy had been trying to drive us apart and encourage inter-pack wars. Luckily, we solved all our disagreements before he came here. And we had a little extra help from an old friend higher up on the mountain.”
Jannie looked at him and cocked her head, but Dash shook his.
“Trust me,” he said, “you’ve had enough to deal with for one day. Let’s just enjoy this time together, just me and you… before everything goes crazy again.”
“And do you think it w
ill?” she asked. “Go crazy, I mean?”
Dash rubbed his temples.
“I think we’re in for a bumpy ride,” he said. “But, this time, we know more about what we are up against… and we’ll be ready.”
Jannie cuddled into him and closed her eyes.
This man was so strong, she didn’t know how he did it. He was truly incredible, and she knew how lucky she was to have found him.
“I’m so lucky,” he said, as if he had read her mind, “to have you by my side. You’re an amazing woman.”
Jannie felt the love between them and she reached down as they took hold of each other’s hands. Dash lifted hers to his lips and kissed it softly and as they laid together, and the sky outside got darker and darker, Jannie knew she had found her true place in the world.
She had come to Bridge Hollow to research a book, but she had quickly found that the real research she had needed to do was on herself. She had embarked on an intense journey of self-discovery, and had found something life-changing and amazing along the way. In letting down her walls and opening herself up to some of her biggest fears, she had found danger, but she had also found the love of her life and the man who had been looking and waiting for her all along. Maybe all the danger and hard times she had experienced before Bridge Hollow hadn’t been to break her… but to build her up and get her ready for the fight to come.
She was prepared for whatever was to come their way. And with Dash by her side, she knew they could take on anything.
18.
Five weeks later…
As October got into full swing, Bridge Hollow enjoyed a lull of activity from deep within the forest. The cold winds and ice stayed at bay, but the threat still remained. Dash looked out across the lake and sniffed the air. He had spent the morning out, running as the wolf, with Jet by his side. And now that he had returned home, he was eager to get moving on the next task at hand. He had to arrange the next recon group of his pack to go out into the forests and mountains, to try to find how the evil had slipped past the dragons at the mine. Somewhere, there was another break… a portal between two worlds that was letting in danger. But he had to remain positive. They had defeated one vampire; maybe this would mean the others wouldn’t take so lightly coming here and trying to overtake a power they didn’t fully understand.
Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection Page 31
