by B M Griffin
“No,” Adam’s tone was harsh, and his eyes were glowing brighter than before, but she knew it came from a place of love. He just wanted to protect her.
“Adam, we are in this together. If this is all I can do to help, then I want to do it. You’ll be right there with me. He won’t be able to hurt me.”
Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes and looked at her, they were still glowing, but it had dimmed significantly. “You stay by my side at all times, and if he does anything I construe as a threat to you, then you’re out of there.”
Shayla gave him a quick kiss. “No problem,” she agreed.
“Well,” Jared said, “since we all seem to be on the same page, let’s go see what this douchebag has to say.”
CHAPTER NINE
Adam
Adam’s skin was crawling. The last thing he wanted to do was take Shayla anywhere near this S.O.B. especially at the guy’s request. What was he up to anyway?
He held Shayla’s hand as they made their way down the stairs to the basement where the guy was being held. The logical assumption was Kevin had sent the guy to deliver a message, but something in Adam’s gut told him that wasn’t the case. When they approached the cage and the prisoner came into view, Shayla pulled her hand from his, covering her mouth with both hands as she cried out, “No!” The tears running down her face were instantaneous.
“Hello darlin’,” Eric said. He had a sickening smile plastered on his face as he addressed Shayla, and he moved as close to the front of the cage as he could get without touching the bars.
Adam was torn between needing to comfort Shayla and wanting to rip Eric’s head off. How was he here? He was supposed to be locked up for the foreseeable future for attempted murder. Flashbacks to the day he found Shayla unconscious and covered in her own blood, sent a heightened wave of rage through Adam, and he took the last two steps that had separated him from standing directly in front of the cage. Before anyone had time to understand his intentions, Adam had his arms through the bars of the cage and he grabbed Eric and yanked him forward. He held Eric’s face against the silver bars and listened to the sounds of his flesh searing. Werewolves and silver didn’t mix—that was one thing the fairy tales got right.
Eric was yelling out a string of profanities that would make the devil himself cringe as he fought to pull Adam’s arms away. He was fighting a losing battle. Adam had never been happier to be the strongest of his kind than he was right at that moment. He could hear his brothers yelling at him to let the guy go, but they didn’t know who Eric was, and how he’d tried to kill Shayla. If they knew, Adam was sure they’d be right there trying to help him rip the guy to pieces. He also knew that none of them would try to pull him away for fear of getting burned—literally. They wouldn’t risk becoming a victim to his blue flames, so when he felt hands tugging at one of his arms, he knew it could only be one person. He turned his head and came face to face with Shayla. Her face was tear-stained and her hands were shaking, but she was still putting every ounce of strength she had into trying to pull him back. His need to comfort her overrode his desire to kill Eric, and he let his arms drop from where they were holding the asshole’s face to the bars.
Adam wrapped Shayla in his arms and she quickly buried her face in his chest. He bent his head and kissed the top of her hair before lowering his mouth to whisper in her ear, “I’m sorry, Shay. Let’s get you out of here.”
He felt her shake her head against his chest, before she pulled back and looked up at him. “No, Adam. He can’t get to me and I won’t run from him. Not anymore.” She roughly wiped her own tears from her cheeks and squared her shoulders like she was ready to take on the world.
The sound of Eric laughing had them both turning to look back at the cage. “So, you finally grew the balls to make a move on my girl while I was away. Too bad for you, I’m back now and Shayla is mine.”
“I am not your anything,” Shayla told Eric. Her voice was strong and steady and Adam felt a sense of pride in her new-found strength. A week ago, he was sure that seeing Eric would have sent her backward into a deep depression. Now she was facing him, with the new-found knowledge that he was a werewolf, and she wasn’t backing down.
“See, darlin’, that’s where you’re wrong. See, if your boyfriend, Adam, here had been smart, he would have turned you himself. Now, when you go through the change, you will be a member of my pack, like it or not, and Kevin has already promised you to me.”
Adam felt his heart jump into his throat. He grabbed Shayla by the shoulders and quickly turned her so he could examine her back where wolf-Eric had been carrying her in his mouth by her clothes. He should have checked her sooner, but everything had happened so fast and Shayla hadn’t said anything about being bit. He moved the ripped fabric out of the way so he could get a good look at her skin. There it was, right on her lower back, a fresh werewolf bite. Adam felt his heart stop and he nearly fell to the ground as his knees went weak.
“Adam?” Shayla’s voice was shaky. “What is he talking about?”
“He bit you, Shay. He’s right. Once bitten, every new werewolf is automatically a part of the pack their sire is in. In this case, that means Kevin Hall is going to be your alpha.”
Shayla stood there, unmoving and in shock, just staring at him for what felt like an eternity. Adam turned back to Eric. He was going to kill him right now. If Shayla was cursed to become a member of Kevin’s pack, he would at least spare her from being given to Eric.
Adam took a step toward the cage and Shayla’s hand shot up and grabbed his arm, stopping him before he could move closer. “You can fix it,” she said.
Adam turned to face her and ran his hands down her upper arms. “I wish I could, but…”
“No,” Shayla cut him off, “you can. You told me you are stronger than any other werewolf you’ve ever met, and if I guessed right, you were able to resist Mike’s alpha commands earlier tonight, right?” Adam nodded. “Then we could assume your bite would override Eric’s.”
Adam’s eyebrows drew together as he ran her words through his head. When he didn’t immediately respond, Shayla put her hands on either side of his face and locked on his gaze. “I believe if you bite me now, it can override Eric’s venom, or whatever you call it.”
“I think she’s on to somethin’,” Jared said. Adam looked at his friend. Jared had stayed back and let things play out since they came down to the basement, and Adam had temporarily forgotten he was there. “You are the most powerful wolf anyone knows of, and considering you can ignore the demands of your own alpha, I bet you could alter her path.”
Adam brought his gaze back to Shayla’s. “You want me to bite you? I don’t know if…”
Shayla reached up and pressed a finger against his lips silencing him. “You can. I won’t be a part of Kevin’s pack.” She turned to glare at Eric who was still just watching them and smiling like a jackass. “I won’t let him touch me, ever.”
He knew that she was right. If there was any way to save her from Eric, it would be this. “I’ll do it, but not here with him watching.”
“You can use one of the rooms upstairs if you want privacy,” Jared told them.
“Thanks,” Adam nodded to his friend. This was going to be hard enough. He didn’t need an audience watching them. He took Shayla’s hand and led her up the stairs to the main floor. Eric was yelling taunts at them for a few seconds before Adam heard the sound of searing flesh and Eric’s words were cut off by the sound of him screaming. Adam smiled and said, “Thank you,” quietly knowing Jared would still be able to hear him.
Adam led Shayla to one of the rooms upstairs and shut the door behind them. His palms were sweating and his stomach was rolling like a hamster wheel. Shayla walked over to the bed and sat down, and he just stayed by the door watching her.
She was watching him and he knew she was waiting for him to do what had to be done, but he was frozen in place. “Adam, we have to do this,” she said. “I k
now it’s not gonna be pleasant, but it has to be done. I can’t…” Her words were broken off by her tears and Adam suddenly remembered how to move.
Adam was across the room and had Shayla in his arms in the blink of an eye. “You don’t ever have to worry about that, Shay. I won’t let him touch you. I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never done this before.”
Shayla leaned back and looked at him, her face drawn in confusion. “You’ve never bitten anyone?”
“No,” he said, “I’ve bitten people in a fight, but they were already werewolves. I’ve just never changed anyone.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Yes. There aren’t many of us who have enough control, in the beginning, to prevent ourselves from turning someone accidentally. It’s an instinct that we must fight. It’s like our wolves drive us to grow the pack, and when we’re newly turned, it is hard to fight that instinct. Jared is the only other werewolf in our pack who has never turned another werewolf.”
“Does that mean you don’t know how?”
Adam chuckled and ran his hand through her hair. It was a calming gesture, but he really did it to calm himself more than Shayla. “No. Like I said it’s an instinct. My wolf knows exactly what to do.”
“So, do you have to shift before you can do it?”
“No, not really. If I just let my canines extend that will be enough.”
Shayla let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve got to admit that is good to hear.”
He smirked at her. “Are you saying you don’t like my wolf, Shay?”
“It’s not that. You are actually pretty striking as a wolf, but you have to admit you’re also more intimidating…and large.”
Adam was smiling. He’d never had anyone tell him he looked striking as a wolf or a man.
“Do you think you have to bite me in the same place he did?” Shayla asked him.
That wiped the smile off his face. “I don’t think that will matter. If this is going to work, it shouldn’t matter where I bite you.”
Shayla pushed her hair off her shoulder and exposed her neck to him. “I’d like you to bite me here.” She touched the side of her neck with her fingers.
“You know I’m not a vampire, right?”
Shayla rolled her eyes at him. “Obviously. Vampires aren’t furry. I am assuming your bite will leave a mark. I want others to see it. I want him to see it.”
Adam hadn’t even considered biting her on the neck, but when she put it like that, he couldn’t deny that it made the bonded wolf in him happy. “Are you sure? The scar will never go away.”
“It won’t be the first scar a man ever gave me.” She ran her fingers over the large scar that ran down her face, “but it will be one that I chose. One that brings me strength and actually represents love instead of knocking me down.”
Adam searched her face for any sign that she wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but she didn’t waver. He would do this the way she wanted him to. “Alright. If it’s what you really want.”
“It is,” she said, without any hesitation.
Adam moved in closer to her. He pressed a soft kiss to her neck, right where she’d indicated wanting his bite, then he let his teeth descend, and pressed them into her flesh. He went slow, trying to make it as painless as possible for her, but there wasn’t much that he could do. Shayla gasped and he had to resist the urge to pull away too quickly. He didn’t want to rip her throat by snatching back. It only took a minute and then he slowly pulled his mouth away from her neck and retracted his elongated teeth.
Shayla brought her hand up to cover the wound on her neck. “How long will it take?” she asked him.
“You should start noticing the changes in your body in a few hours. You’ll start feeling stronger, and your vision and hearing will get sharper, as well as your sense of smell. Basically, all your senses will become more intense and then you’ll shift. The length of time it takes for the change to complete is different from person to person. It just depends on how strong you’re going to be, but it is usually completed within twelve hours. The longer it takes, the stronger you’ll be.”
“How long did it take for you?”
“Forty-eight.”
Shayla’s eyes grew large. “Do you know anyone else who took that long?”
Adam shook his head no. “Jared’s transformation took eighteen hours. Other than myself, that is the longest known change for any werewolf we are aware of.”
“So, Jared is exceptionally strong too.”
“Yes. He is stronger than anyone other than myself. He just doesn’t have any special abilities. I’m the only one who is known to have developed special gifts.”
Adam noticed Shayla’s eyes beginning to droop. The change was beginning and he knew she was on the verge of passing out. Becoming another species was exhausting work. He rubbed her back as he said, “You should lay down before you pass out. The first half of the change is tiring. Just lay back and close your eyes. I will stay with you and I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Shayla barely nodded, her eyes were already closing, and he moved her up the bed and put her head on the pillows, then he pulled the blankets over her. Adam climbed in behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He closed his eyes and sent a prayer up to whoever might be listening that this would work. He’d never wanted this life for her, but he damn sure didn’t want her to wind up in Kevin’s pack. At least this way she would still be with him and he would be able to protect her. At this point, it was the best he could hope for.
CHAPTER TEN
Shayla
Shayla could hear so many voices. It sounded like somebody was having a party while she tried to sleep. “Ugh, so loud,” she mumbled, in her sleepy haze.
She felt soft lips being pressed against her neck and opened her eyes. It was dark in the room, but she could see everything. Even though she couldn’t feel anything on her face, she was sure this was what looking through night goggles would be like. She rolled over and came face to face with Adam. He gently pushed her hair back from her face, and leaned in placing a soft kiss on her lips. Shayla noted that this kiss felt different from before—more intense. Shayla brought her hands up to the back of his head and twined her fingers in his hair at the base of his neck as she deepened the kiss. Adam groaned into her mouth making her sigh.
Shayla had the overwhelming desire to get closer to him, so she wiggled her body as close to him as she could get. She felt like her body was on fire and she needed Adam to put it out, but Adam apparently had other plans. He took her wrists in his hands and pulled her hands down and away from his hair, then he pulled his head back, separating their mouths and ending their scorching kiss. Shayla groaned, making Adam chuckle.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her, then kissed the tip of her nose.
“Well, I was feeling pretty great until you pulled away and ruined my fun.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t easy, but we need to make sure you’re okay. That is what’s most important right now.”
“I feel great. Better than I ever have, actually. How long was I asleep?”
Adam’s face changed. He looked nervous. “You’ve been asleep for more than two days.”
Shayla’s eyes grew wide with shock. “Does that mean…”
“That you’ll be as strong or stronger than me,” Adam interrupted, reading her thoughts before she could get the words out. “Yes. Or at least that is the way this usually works, and since your transition isn’t complete…”
It was Shayla who cut him off this time. “Wait—what?”
“When it is complete, you will shift for the first time. It’s not something we consciously do the first time around. It’s instinctual. Since you haven’t shifted yet, your change hasn’t completed. Considering you’ve already surpassed the time it took for my change to complete, there is no telling how strong you’re going to be in the end. Even if you were to shift right now, it has still been more than forty-eight hours.”
Shayla narrowed her ey
es at him. His voice was becoming louder, higher-pitched, his eyes were dilated, and she could tell his was fighting to hold back a smile. He was excited. “You’re happy about this, aren’t you?”
Adam sat up and she followed his lead, then he took both of her hands in his. “I never wanted this for you, Shay, and I still have no intentions of letting you fight anyone, but I can’t deny it helps me rest a little easier knowing you’ll be able to defend yourself if you must.”
Shayla shook her head and smiled. “So, you will stop worrying about me so much then?”
Adam let his smile drop and gave her a stern look. “That is not what I said. I’ll never stop worrying about you.” The sound of a phone ringing interrupted their conversation. Adam huffed and rolled his eyes. “That’s probably Megan. She has been blowing up your phone. I finally answered after like the millionth time she called. You should answer it or she’ll just keep calling back.”
Adam turned to the side and grabbed her phone from the nightstand then turned back to hand it over to Shayla. It stopped ringing before she had the chance to swipe the screen and answer it. Before Shayla could pull up her contacts and return the call, it was ringing again. “Hey Megan,” she answered. When her friend started talking, or yelling if she were being totally honest, she had to hold the phone away from her ear to keep her eardrum intact.
“Shayla, what the hell’s goin’ on?” Megan yelled. “I’ve been trying to reach you for two days, and Adam won’t tell me shit. He said it’s not his place, that it’s yours. Somebody better start telling me something or so help me I …”
“Megan,” Shayla interrupted her friend’s rant. She was afraid that Megan was going to give herself a coronary if she didn’t calm down asap. “Please, just calm down. I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Adam at,” she covered the phone and looked at Adam, “do I still call this Mike’s house?” she asked him in a whisper, knowing he’d be able to hear her fine, but hoping Megan wouldn’t.
