Forbidden Claim

by R. L. Kenderson

  Bram looked at Zane. “Did you teach her to talk like that? She knew better than to smart off when she was with me. Don’t you know how to control your woman?”

  Isabelle was afraid that Zane wouldn’t have any teeth left from the force of his grinding.

  “Unlike you, I don’t want a mate who’s a doormat.”

  If Zane had hoped to prove a point to Bram with his comment, it didn’t work. “Yeah, well, you should try it sometime.” He looked at Isabelle. “Of course, now, I’m going to have to retrain this bitch to keep her mouth shut again. I should shoot you just for that.”

  Isabelle hung her head. She was ashamed to admit that Bram was right. He’d put her down and degraded her so much that she started to keep her thoughts to herself.

  Zane grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  She looked up at him, and he shook his head. She knew he was trying to tell her not to beat herself up.

  With Zane’s strength and support, she finally asked Bram something that had been bothering her, “Why me, Bram? I’m nobody special. I’m a plain Jane. Why don’t you just find someone else?”

  Zane narrowed his eyes at her. She was confused because her question wasn’t meant to provoke Bram.

  Bram laughed. “That’s exactly why. I need the perfect mate to take back to my father to show him I’ve changed. If I took someone too important, he’d know it was a calculated move. If I took someone too pretty, he’d accuse me of thinking with my dick. Your lack of status and looks make you the best choice. That, and I’ve planned to knock you up to show my father that I’m going to be a family man.”

  Isabelle felt like she’d been slapped. She knew she wasn’t the prettiest person, but to have it put out there like that was humiliating, especially in front of Zane. But worse than the insults was the thought of carrying Bram’s child.

  She clutched her middle and tried not to imagine how horrible it would have been to be with Bram during her heat instead of Zane. She literally felt nauseated, but she feared throwing up would be too much for Zane to handle.

  She raised her chin instead. “What are you going to do with us?” She couldn’t imagine Bram would want her now. Not after she had mated with Zane and could possibly be carrying his child.

  Bram pointed to Zane with his gun. “Him I’m going to get rid of. I have no need for your stupid cat-shifter. But you, you’re coming with me.”

  Fear traveled down Isabelle’s spine, and she shivered. “Why?”

  “Because, at first, I was very angry. Very angry, Isabelle,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “I thought you had figured out what happened when someone left me, and I decided your punishment should be death.”

  Zane made a move to get up and attack, but Isabelle clutched his hand and pulled him back. She knew Bram well enough to know that he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Zane.

  Bram snickered. “Pussy.”

  Zane growled.

  “Anyway,” Bram continued, “I decided this situation was even better for me. I’m going to explain to my father that we broke up for a while, and you hooked up with some loser who got you pregnant and left you.”

  Zane growled again.

  “Oh, shut up,” Bram told him. He looked back at Isabelle. “I’m going to tell my father that I love you so much that I don’t care that you’re pregnant by another male.” He laughed. “It’s almost too perfect. After getting kicked out for my jealousy, what better way to show my father I’ve changed?”

  “And the baby?” Zane asked.

  Bram scratched his head. “Well, it’ll be a shame when it dies in its sleep now, won’t it? Everyone will feel so sorry for me.”

  Isabelle gasped and put her knees up, as if that would protect the potential life inside her.

  “You are one sick bastard,” Zane said.

  Bram shrugged and smiled. “I guess I am,” he said as if it was something to be proud of.

  “Did you get all that?” Zane suddenly shouted.

  ISABELLE JUMPED FROM the boom in his voice. “What?” she asked, not understanding what was going on.

  Several shifters stepped out from behind Bram, who turned around at the noise. “What the fuck?”

  “Got it,” Lachlan said, giving Zane a thumbs-up.

  Zane grinned. “While you were waiting for Isabelle to leave, we were waiting for you to show up. We finally decided that you were too much of a pussy to show up with so many shifters there. We had to do something different to draw you out.” Zane spread out the hand that wasn’t holding Isabelle’s. “And it worked.” He leaned forward. “We got every word recorded, so when you end up dead, your father won’t question our actions.”

  A cold dread hit Isabelle, and she yanked her hand away from Zane’s.

  Had he just used her? Had he used her to draw Bram out, knowing she could get hurt? Her and their possible unborn child.

  Zane looked at Isabelle, confusion on his face. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then why hadn’t he warned her?

  But she didn’t say anything. Bram was still standing in front of them, holding a gun. And, now, he probably felt trapped and pissed off that he’d been tricked.

  “You forget that I’m still holding a handgun, cat. What’s to stop me from shooting you?”

  Despite Isabelle’s hurt that Zane had used her, panic flooded her. Bram had everything to lose now, and she had no doubt he would do just as he’d threatened. She only had one card to play in this situation because she didn’t want the male she loved to be hurt or killed.

  She stood and squared her shoulders. “I’ll go with you.”

  Shock came over Bram’s face, and Zane leaped from the blanket.

  “What the fuck, Isabelle? You cannot go with this guy.”

  “If it means you won’t be hurt, I’ll go.”

  “No way.” Zane stepped in front of her, keeping his front to Bram even though he was talking to her. “Over my dead body.”

  Bram shrugged. “Okay,” he said and pulled the trigger.

  Zane staggered back and fell to the ground. “Not again,” he said as blood bloomed all over his white T-shirt.

  All rational thought left Isabelle, and instinct took over. In a split second, she shifted into her wolf and attacked. She aimed right for Bram’s throat and clamped down with her teeth. She heard a loud noise and then felt a burning pain, but neither deterred her focus on stopping Bram.

  She bit down harder, and soon, Bram lay limp under her. But she still didn’t let up. Every horrible thing he’d said to her reverberated in her mind. The first time he’d slapped her. And the time he’d beaten her for leaving him when she needed some time apart.

  He was never going to hurt her or anyone else ever again.

  Slowly, she became aware of Damien saying her name and trying to pull her off Bram.

  “Izzy, he’s dead. You can let go now. He’s dead.”

  Isabelle released her teeth and growled at Bram. She nudged him with her nose, and his head flopped to the side, his throat a bloody mess.

  She looked over at Damien, who was stroking the back of her neck.

  “He’s dead, Izzy,” he said again.

  Isabelle took a step back, and a piercing pain in her leg had her collapsing on the ground. Damien rolled her over.

  “Shit. Isabelle, you’ve been shot.”

  It took almost all her strength, but she shifted back into her human form. She raised her own arm. It was covered in blood, and there was a large chunk missing from her bicep. She cringed. That was going to leave a mark, but at least Bram hadn’t hit anything vital.

  “Isa, Isa,” she heard from behind her. “Let me up, asshole. I need to see if she’s okay.”

  “Zane, you’ve been shot, too. You shouldn’t be moving,” she heard someone say to him.

  For a moment, adrenaline had made her forget why she’d attacked Bram in the first place. She rolled over and used the last of her strength to crawl to Zane, using only her good arm.

  Relief came ov
er his face when he saw her, and he started to cry. “Isa, Isa, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me.”

  She sat down next to him and cupped his face. “Shh…it’s okay. He’s gone. Bram’s gone.”

  She looked up at Chase, so he’d confirm her words to be true and reassure Zane, but he shrugged, not understanding what she wanted from him. She looked over at Ranulf, who was holding his shirt on Zane’s chest where he’d been shot.

  “We have to get him to the infirmary ASAP,” Ranulf said.

  “Isa.”

  She looked back at Zane.

  “You’re naked.”

  She laughed as she tried not to cry. It was so unimportant at a time like this. “Yeah, my clothes got ripped when I shifted.”

  “Oh, shit,” Chase said. “Here, I can give you my shirt.”

  “Do it and die,” Zane said.

  Isabelle chuckled again. “It’s just a shirt.”

  Zane raised a bloody hand and brushed a thumb over Isabelle’s cheek. “No other male’s clothes are going to touch the body of the woman I love, except for mine.”

  Isabelle gasped, and tears welled behind her eyes. He loves me?

  At the same time, Raven came over and handed Isabelle her coat. “Here, hon. It won’t hide everything, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “Thank you,” Isabelle said, taking the jacket from the female and slipping it on, being careful of her wounded arm. Her adrenaline was starting to drop, and she was getting cold. “I’ll try and get it back to you clean.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Raven said. “Good job on killing that fucker. Turns out, you didn’t need us after all.”

  Isabelle blushed from the praise. “Thank you.”

  Zane coughed, and blood showed at the corners of his mouth. “Where is the ambulance?”

  “Two minutes out,” Damien said as he came up behind her. “I just talked to them.”

  Two minutes felt like forever when the male you loved was bleeding out.

  She suddenly felt exhausted.

  Isabelle lay down beside Zane. “Please don’t die.” She started to cry. “Please don’t die,” she said again.

  I can’t lose him, was the last thing she thought before she passed out.

  Damien watched the shifter ambulance pull up a minute later. They hauled Zane and Isabelle into the back and took off. The EMT said that Isabelle was probably just in shock and would be fine. It was Zane who was touch and go. Damien really hoped the cat-shifter would be okay.

  He looked to the group of them who was left. They were all covered with blood and looked like hell.

  “What are we going to do about the body?” Chase asked.

  “I’m going to call Quentin and tell the police the truth. He was attacked by an animal. He’ll send the right people out to pick up Bram and investigate.”

  Quentin was at the hospital again with his sister. He’d wanted to stay, but Damien had insisted he go.

  “And where’s the wolf?” Ranulf asked.

  Damien shrugged. “Who knows? Probably ran off into the woods, far away from here, after Bram tried to shoot it.”

  “And the other blood on the ground?” Raven asked.

  “Zane and Isabelle got attacked, too, when they tried to stop the wolf from killing Bram.”

  “Damn, Damien, you make me think it’s the truth,” Chase said.

  Damien looked his sentinel in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It is the truth.”

  Chase smiled. “Got it. Remind me never to cross you.”

  Damien raised an eyebrow. “Were you considering it?”

  Chase’s eyes widened. “Never.”

  Damien smiled. “Good,” he said. Then, he pulled out his phone and called Quentin.

  LATER THAT NIGHT, Quentin returned home from spending the day in his sister’s hospital room.

  Things were looking up. Bram was dead, and Quentin’s law enforcement colleagues had taken Damien’s word and classified it as an animal attack. Of course, animal control was never going to find the wolf that had killed Bram, but that was okay.

  Bram’s father had been given the recording of what had happened and said he had no ill will toward the Minnesota Pack. It helped that Damien had talked to Bram’s father before Bram died. Damien had explained that he was going to give Bram a warning to stay away, and if he cooperated, nothing would happen. It wasn’t Damien’s or Isabelle’s or the other Minnesota shifters’ faults that Bram had come after them. Damien had later told everyone he suspected Bram’s father was partly relieved that he wouldn’t have to clean up after Bram anymore.

  Quentin’s sister had opened her eyes that afternoon, and they had removed her breathing tube. It looked like she might make a full recovery. Their parents had broached the subject of the recovery facility in Switzerland, and amazingly, his sister had agreed to go.

  He had seen the worry on their faces, so after talking to Damien and his captain, he had told them that he was going to be the one to go with Larissa. Damien had promised his position would be waiting for him when he returned home, and it would be good for Quentin to get out of town anyway.

  He hadn’t seen much of Hunter since he cried in front of him several nights ago. When Quentin had woken up alone, he hadn’t been surprised, but he had been hurt. He’d known that Hunter wouldn’t want anyone to know he’d slept in Quentin’s room, yet he had thought something had changed between the two of them that night.

  He had been wrong.

  Hunter would never come out of the closet, and Quentin didn’t want to be anyone’s secret. It was too hard, and in the end, it wasn’t worth it.

  Once he reached his bedroom, Quentin pulled out his largest duffel bag and started packing his clothes. He wanted to take as many as possible so that he wouldn’t have to buy clothes. The nice thing was, he would have his own little furnished apartment to live in, so clothes and personal belongings were the only things he had to worry about. Everything else he’d leave in Minnesota.

  Quentin heard the sound of Hunter coming down the hall. He was pretty easy to distinguish with his crutches and cast.

  Quentin paused in his packing to listen. He waited to see if Hunter would go to his room or come down to Quentin’s. Quentin’s door was partly closed, so he couldn’t see anything, but when he heard Hunter keep moving, he held his breath.

  But it was for nothing because Hunter stopped at the bathroom instead.

  Quentin wanted to beat his own head in. Hadn’t he just told himself that nothing would come of him and Hunter? Yet his stupid heart had hope. Lame.

  He was pathetic.

  Quentin plugged his phone into his stereo on his dresser and turned on some music. Then, he would be able to block out Hunter walking away.

  Quentin sat down on his bed, facing the wall, and opened up his nightstand drawer. He had something he wanted to take with him to Switzerland, but he had to go through the items first.

  A few minutes later, he was deciding if he should bring his stack of books or buy them as e-books when the music was turned down.

  Quentin spun around on his bed. “Hey, what…” He trailed off when he saw it was Hunter in his room.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” Hunter said.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  Hunter pointed to the duffel on the other side of the bed. “You’re packing.”

  “Uh…yeah. I’m going to help my sister for a while.”

  “How long are you going to be gone?”

  “A year.”

  Hunter’s face drained of color.

  Oh, shit.

  Quentin was an asshole. Hunter was standing there on his injured leg. He jumped up and went to Hunter.

  “Hunter, man, I’m sorry. I’m not a very good host.” He helped Hunter over to his bed, so he could sit.

  Quentin knelt before Hunter and inspected his leg the best he could. It was pretty hard to do when most of the lower half had a cast on it. The part he could see didn’t look red or
swollen though. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem.

  “Are you okay? Are you in pain? Is there anything I can get you?” Quentin straightened. “Do you need to feed?”

  Hunter reached out and touched Quentin’s mouth. “Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of you kneeling before me?”

  “No,” Quentin said breathlessly and then chided himself for such a stupid response.

  “I do,” Hunter said. “I can’t seem to forget about you.” He shook his head. “And I’ve tried.”

  Quentin picked up Hunter’s hand and kissed it. “I’ve thought about you, too. Except, in my fantasies, you’re doing a lot more than kneeling.”

  “Are you really leaving?”

  “Yes. I’m going to Switzerland with my sister for a year. It’s something I need to do for my family.”

  Hunter swallowed. “Switzerland. That’s so far.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know. I’m going to miss it here.” I’m going to miss you.

  Hunter leaned forward and kissed Quentin. It was just a brushing of his lips, but it was the sweetest kiss Quentin had ever received.

  “I want you to make love to me before you leave. I want to feel you inside me,” Hunter whispered against his lips.

  Quentin sucked in a breath. He should say no. He needed to say no. But he couldn’t say no.

  “Are you sure? I want that more than you know, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop like I did the other night.”

  “I don’t want you to stop,” Hunter said.

  Quentin stood and looked down at the vampire. Am I really going to do this?

  Hunter looked up into his eyes.

  Fuck yeah, I am.

  “Take off your clothes,” he told Hunter and went to close and lock his door. Then, he went to his other nightstand that didn’t hold his books. It was the one that held his lube.

  He came back to Hunter, who was almost naked but struggling to get his shorts off his cast.

  Quentin knelt down again. “Here, let me help you.” He got the piece of clothing off and threw it to the side. As he did so, he couldn’t help but notice that Hunter was already at full mast.

  Quentin stood, pulled off his T-shirt, and shucked off his jeans. He took a step closer to the bed. “Suck me, Hunter.”