“I want to see her.”
“Let me see if the nurse is finished with the stitches. She’ll also need to stay a day or two just to make sure that rib stays put.” He nodded to both Mika and Maddock before turning and walking back into the room.
“Mika, I know that look,” Maddock said. “You need to let me handle this.”
“You can’t handle this, Sheriff.” Mika spoke slow and with as much control as he could gather. “This is beyond human control.”
“I don’t need bloodshed around here by your kind. Don’t think I don’t know what you guys can do. I’ve seen it before.”
“Then I don’t need to remind you of things. This is an inside matter. Stay out.” Mike made to move around him and follow the doctor but Maddock grabbed his arm.
“I’m warning you, Mika. You start a war here in blood and I’ll bring you down myself.”
“You forget your place, Sheriff,” Mika said low and deadly. “This is our kind of problem and it will be dealt with our way.”
“Damn it, Mika, I’m warning you.”
Mika jerked his arm free. “Save your warnings. They mean shit to me right now.”
“Mika…”
Mika didn’t want to hear anymore. He walked into the room, shutting Maddock out. Grabbing the curtain, he pulled it back just as the nurse was finishing up with Kaley. She gave Mika a smile, then pulled off the gloves and touched Kaley on the shoulder.
“I’ll be back with the boot and to take you to a room.”
Mika didn’t move. He stood rooted staring at her. Kaley didn’t look at him, only hung her head down. So many things went through his head that he wanted to say to her, but none of it came out. In the past twelve hours his world, his life, has changed in ways he never thought it ever could.
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered.
The way her voice shook when she spoke had him moving to her fast. He didn’t say anything, only wrapped his arms around her body as gently as he could and held her as tight as he dared. She didn’t pull away from him, but raised her arms up and returned his embrace.
He didn’t mind holding her, but he needed answers. Already he could smell the scent of another. And he knew who that scent belonged to.
Slowly he pulled back and tipped her head up to look at her face. Sure enough she was bruised and swollen. A line of stitches across her forehead and down the side of one eye and another line by the jaw, on both sides of her face. She also had one red eye from busted blood vessels, and the other eye was nearly swollen shut and purple.
Her arms had bruises, a few spots were definite markings of fingers. Her shirt on the chair was ripped. They had changed her into one of the hospital gowns, and when he lowered it he saw a wrap going around her chest. No doubt to stabilize the rib. Holding onto her hand, he leaned back for the small chair and brought it over, sitting down in front of her.
“So what happened?” he asked when seated.
She met his eyes, and right off he could tell she didn’t want to tell him. “I…I went to Kurt’s,” she whispered. “I…I went to tell him that whatever he thought might happen between us wasn’t going to. He, um…he tried to do his charming thing. Even tried to kiss me. I…um…I pulled away and he saw the mark. Mika, I’ve never seen him like that ever.” Her voice trailed off and a tear slipped free. “He became so angry. His face turned red, and the things he said…” She closed her eyes and pulled her hand free of his, covering her face. When she sniffed and dropped her hands, she continued. “I’m so sorry about all of this. I never meant to trap you.”
“You didn’t trap me, Kaley,” he protested. “Doesn’t work that way. Sure, I could have been pulled to your cycle, but you know as well as I do that we don’t mark unless it’s the right thing.” Mika reached out and touched her face gently, brushing a tear away. “And if my memory is right, I think you bit me first.” She blushed and smiled a little which had him feeling good. Mika leaned in and lightly kissed her on the lips. “We should have started out with a kiss first.”
“We did kiss, remember?”
“Yeah, that caught me off guard, and doesn’t really count I think. Hell, you’ve caught me off guard more than anyone I’ve even known in my life.” He stood up and put his arm around her shoulders. “Lie down. You look like you’re about to fall over.” She did and he covered her with a blanket. “I think I’m the one to be saying sorry here, Kaley. I’ve been so fucking blind.”
She took a shaky breath as she looked him in the eye. “You’re going to challenge him, aren’t you?”
Mika sat on the side of the bed, then leaned in to move his thumb back and forth lightly over one of the bruises on her cheeks. “Yes.”
“Mika, please don’t,” she whispered. “I…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“Then why?”
“I have to defend my mate.” That had tears filling up in her eyes, spilling forth and down her cheeks. He leaned in, rested his forehead over hers, and said very low, “Kaley, understand this right now. I’ll fight for you, I’ll draw blood for you, and I’ll kill for you if I have to.” He closed his eyes and touched her lips ever so gently with his own. “And I’ll die for you. You are my mate, and if it takes me the rest of my life to make up for the stupid shit and my blindness, then so be it.”
Kaley broke down, sat up, and wrapped her arms around his neck, crying against his shoulder. Mika held her, but not as tight as he wished. “Don’t go, please,” she begged softly.
“You are everything to me,” he said low. “Everything. He will pay with his life for what he’s done to you. It’s my vow.”
He held her until the nurse came back. Mika stayed as they put the boot on and gave Kaley a shot for pain as well to rest. He even stayed as she was placed into a room, changed and was sleeping. Mika stayed in the room at her side, waiting for the call from Stray before he went to deal with his own business.
Knowing Kurt Stockton, that sleazy prick would be packing shit up to run away. Mika wasn’t going to let that happen. That bastard put his hands on his mate. Hurt her. That meant only one thing in Mika’s eyes.
The fucker is going to die.
11
Stray parked the truck about a mile away from the house. He remembered how to get there, didn’t need any help. He also stripped down to his bare skin and now hid in the shadows staring at the house, watching the men that walked around with their weapons. He took out the phone to text Mika instead of calling him.
I’m here. Will contact when done.
A few minutes later he got one back.
Watch your ass. Kaley is resting. Going to take care of Stockton in a few myself.
Watch your ass also, cousin.
Stray put the phone inside his jeans pocket and made sure all of his things were covered up. He moved closer to the house, keeping to the darkness, keeping hidden. He also studied the layout of the grounds, the house even more. Last time he was here all he focused on was Vesper and getting her out. Now things were much different and well-guarded.
He counted six walking the grounds with weapons in hand. Six. Stray felt a bit offended over such a low number, but then again from what little he learned of this brother of Vesper’s, he got a sense that the shit thought he was invincible or something. Stray couldn’t wait to let him know he wasn’t.
“Okay boys, let’s see how strong the bones are.”
Vesper sat in the oversized chair, staring at her brother as he drank heavily while they waited. She never saw Hayden like this, never dreamed he would turn completely into their father. Yet, he did just that. He also had a scared, almost terrified look in his bloodshot eyes, and looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, bathed, or eaten much either. Something clearly had him scared to death, and she could only imagine what that something might be.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Hayden snapped at her.
Vesper didn’t look away from him, like she might
’ve before. “I think I’m looking at a stranger.”
Hayden stilled with the glass of booze to his lips. He snarled and smiled, finished off the drink in one gulp, and stood up. “You think you’re so much better than me now, don’t you?” He looked her up and down. “The way you dress now. A kept fucking woman. A whore for an animal. Just like her.” He went over to a window and looked out. “Do you think he’ll come? You think you’re worth shit to something like that?” He was trying to bait her, just like their father had done to their mother. “Fucking animals move on. Go through girls like you as if you’re nothing. A quick fuck, that’s it.”
“When did it happen, Hayden?” she asked softly. “When did you become the monster you are now?” Hayden slowly turned around, looking right at her. “When did you become our father?”
“He is a strong man.”
“He’s a killer!” she yelled, getting up. “Don’t you see what he did? What you’re doing now? You’re becoming him.”
He came at her so fast, a backhanded slap landing hard enough that Vesper flew to the side and crashed to the floor. A kick followed, one that had her unable to breathe for a short moment that felt like hours.
“I’m way stronger than our father,” Hayden said low and deadly. He bent down, grabbed her by the hair, and jerked her head up. “And once I kill that animal and take it back to my boss, you will know it for sure.”
“You’re gonna die, Hayden. You just don’t see it.”
Hayden’s fist went up but never came back down. The glass shattered from the window and a huge animal came through it. The growl that came forth shook the walls as well as had everyone in the room still in fear.
Vesper gasped and didn’t move. She didn’t need to ask what it was she saw. She knew what was in the room—an animal that stood at least eight feet tall and so thick that one hand or paw could wrap around a head and crush it.
Thick fur covered every inch of the huge body. Hands and feet were a mixture of paws and human hands and feet. It didn’t really have a neck. What would be considered one had almost the same width as the shoulders. But what had her unable to move were the eyes. So red, so sharp they were.
“Stray,” she breathed out.
“Kill it!” Hayden yelled.
Vesper was grabbed roughly by the arm and jerked up to her feet. Firing started and with it loud growling. She didn’t get to see what went on but could hear the screaming, and then all went silent.
Hayden stopped midway up the stairs. His face drained of color as he looked back toward the room they had just left. The shooting stopped as did the screaming. However, neither was expecting the body that came crashing through the closed door. Vesper screamed.
“Move!” Hayden yelled at her, pulling a gun from his back. He yanked on her hand as he pulled her up the stairs.
Vesper dug in her heels, but her brother grabbed hold of her arm again, jerking her with him and shot a couple of times at nothing. She stumbled upon the stairs but he didn’t care. Hayden kept pulling on her arm, dragging her up the stairs, bruising her side.
When they reached the top, Hayden stopped. He had a wild look in his eyes and that gun pointed below, waiting for Stray to come at it any moment. Vesper held her breath, fear wrapped around her so tight she didn’t think she could breathe.
Everything went deathly quiet.
Vesper thought she could hear her own heart pounding in her chest. She shook in fear, looking around slowly, waiting along with Hayden for Stray to come again. She wanted him to, yet didn’t. She didn’t want her brother to shoot the man she loved.
“Where the fuck is it?” Hayden asked, backing away from her but keeping the gun aimed at the stairs.
Then it happened—fast.
A second-floor window busted and in came the animal. Stray charged at him, Vesper screamed, and shooting went off. She didn’t know if any of the bullets hit Stray or not. He charged full speed toward Hayden, grabbed him by the throat, and kept running to the other room at the far end. Stray used Hayden’s body to crash through the door.
Hayden’s screams were faint and distinct as he was taken away. More crashing sounded and Vesper thought for a moment that her brother was being tossed around the room like a ball. She didn’t want to see it, feared to even move.
Another crashing sound had her jumping, then all went quiet once more. She began to shake, fearing what or who was going to come out of that room.
Time felt like it stood still. Then she heard a crunching sound and she jumped, scooting backward as fast as her bruised-up body allowed. Out of the darkness, out of the busted-up room, Stray came and she couldn’t hold back the sigh mixed with a cry of pure raw happiness attached to it.
Vesper managed to get herself up and run to him, jumping in his arms. Stray caught her, holding her close, pulling her off the floor. She broke down crying against him.
The moment didn’t last too long. Stray stiffened and she pulled back, looking up at him. “What?”
“We need to go,” he said. “More men are coming.” Vesper felt a panic set in this time and looked to the right and left, unable to see anything. “Do you trust me now?”
She looked him in the eye. “With my life.”
“Hold on, and close your eyes.” She did and the second they closed she felt him move, or better yet change under the hold as he began to run.
Vesper made the mistake of opening her eyes just as he took a jump from the same window he’d busted in. She screamed and tightened the hold on the hairy body. He landed with a light thud, one thick arm and paw on her back. They looked up as a few men appeared at the window, but Stray didn’t stay long. Still holding onto her tight, he ran away.
He put her down when they got to the truck. Vesper didn’t stop. She got in fast as he went to pick something up from the ground, then joined her. Still naked, Stray got into the driver’s seat, started the truck up, and peeled away. He floored it, not once looking back or turning the lights on to see where they might be going.
Adrenaline raced through her body. She didn’t move, flinch, or say a thing as he drove. Even when he took a turn and they were lost in some brush and in the darkness, she said nothing.
Stray stopped driving after a while, turned the truck off, turned in the seat, and watched the road behind them. Vesper didn’t know what to say or what to do.
“You okay?” Stray asked, touching her cheek.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” she asked, hating how detached she sounded.
“Yes.”
Vesper turned her head, then threw herself into his arms, holding tight, ignoring the steering wheel at her back or that he was still naked. “I love you, Stray.”
He wrapped his arms around her, holding tight. “I love you, mate. God, do I love you.”
“What did you do this time?” Jim Stockton yelled at his son, Kurt, as the boy walked around his room, tossing things into a bag. He knew the very second he walked into the house that a big fight had happened. Hell, he could smell the blood in the air, but he couldn’t fathom who his son fought with. “I’m talking to you!”
“The little you know, the better,” Kurt said. “Trust me.”
“Trust you!” Jim raised his voice. “From the looks of my house, that is the last thing I need to be doing.”
“I’ve got it all under control.”
“By running away?” Jim went up to Kurt and grabbed his arm, stopping him from going back to the closet. “What did you do?”
“Kurt Stockton!” Both men stopped at the loud shout.
Jim stilled and then went over to a bedroom window, looking down. “What is he doing here?” He looked over his shoulder at Kurt. “What the fuck did you do?” he yelled at Kurt.
Kurt didn’t bother answering him. He walked away from his father, out the door and down the stairs. When he opened the front door, Kurt stilled at what he saw. Mika stood at the end of the long driveway, all alone.
“What do you want, Mika?” Kurt yelled out.
&nbs
p; “You know why I’m here,” Mika yelled back. “You hurt my mate, and I want your blood.”
Kurt chuckled. “Are you here to challenge me?”
“No. I’m here to kill you!”
Kurt narrowed his eyes and then let himself begin to change. Mika changed, too. Bones began to snap and reform as did muscles. Their height grew, arms extended out, and within seconds both males were in full shifter form. Clothes were in torn rags on the ground. Kurt went down to all fours and lunged from the house toward Mika.
Mika bounded across the ground, and the two met in the middle of the drive, colliding. Mika, it seemed, had a bit more strength and speed. When the two hit, Mika slammed into Kurt, knocking him to the ground hard.
They both went rolling, with wide swings from their paws. Kurt got Mika across the chest, leaving three long red marks with blood. That had Mika taking a couple steps backward then he snarled and released a loud animal yell before lunging at Kurt. Mika raked his claws across Kurt’s face. Kurt yelled and reached up to the gash Mika just left, and while he was distracted, Mika grabbed him by the throat. Up he went, feet dangling, and down hard to the ground. Mika then swung hard around, tossing Kurt away like trash. He landed hard on the ground under the force of his massive body, then slid to a stop, scraping his back, drawing blood.
“Kurt!” Jim yelled from the doorway of the house and it distracted Mika enough that Kurt was able to get up and land a nice fisted hit to the center of Mika’s chest.
Mika flew back, landed on the ground, and was a bit slower at getting back up to his feet. He took one deep breath and was right back at Kurt. He jumped up in the air, swung around, and had his whole arm tightly wrapped around Kurt’s throat.
“No!” Jim yelled again.
Mika looked right at Jim and reached around with his free hand. He met Jim Stockton dead in the eye, then struck fast and hard. He swung down with his free hand, grabbed Kurt’s windpipe, and ripped it out with his bare hand. Jim screamed and Mika just dropped Kurt like trash. He made a few gurgling sounds, then nothing.
Awakened Animals (A Shifter Novel Book 15) Page 15
