A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing (Welsh Wolves), page 20
“Mine, too.” Reese fought Micah’s grip, but the other wolf was too strong. “Damn it, let me go.”
“And how are you going to get there?” Micah demanded.
“I’ll run.”
“In broad daylight? You’ll have every farmer in the county after you with a shotgun.”
“Yeah.” Dex’s slim hands tugged the shirt back down. “And you need to go in human form so you can talk to him. If you go as a wolf, he could kill you in the middle of transition.”
“I have to. I can’t exactly drive over there.” He jerked out of Micah’s hold, his panic rising at the thought of what Jason might do to Kieve every minute Reese delayed. Jason had been brutalized by the best of them. He had the most painful, most humiliating skills.
“You’re not going alone.” Micah’s voice held that implacable Alpha tone that made Reese’s wolf roll over and bare his belly.
“He’ll kill him if he smells any other wolves.”
“Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t. Rhian!”
She stood on the stairs. “I’m here.”
“Can you do something?”
“I can make it rain. That confuses your senses, right?”
“Perfect. Maddock, get your ass down here,” Micah called. “We’ll meet you over there.”
“How am I supposed to get there?” Reese demanded. He wasn’t going to sit this out. This was his mate being threatened. Useless. Reese brushed the word aside. He might not be much help but he could at least provide a distraction so Micah and Maddock could slip in and take down Jason.
“I’ll drive you,” Rhian announced. She walked down the stairs and he heard the clink of keys.
“What about this rain you were going to start for us?” Micah demanded.
“It’s done.” As the words left her mouth, thunder rumbled in the distance.
Reese couldn’t stop a weak smile. He did have some powerful friends.
“Let’s go,” she said, walking toward the front door. “If this twit makes a run for it, can I zap him with a lightning bolt?”
“Please do,” Reese muttered as he followed her out the door.
The drive to Kieve’s house was quick and quiet. Rhian might be the odd man out in their little pack, being the only one who wasn’t male and wasn’t a werewolf, but she fit in perfectly. She stayed silent for most of the trip as if she knew his mind was on the immediate future.
Rain pounded down as they pulled into the long driveway. Rhian didn’t do storms in half measures.
“Let me out here.”
“Don’t be stupid.” The car kept moving. “You’ll never make it to the front door.”
“He said no wolves.”
“And I’m not a wolf. I’m also not letting a blind man walk down a rocky path, particularly not when there might be a psychopath watching from the windows.”
Reese opened his mouth to protest.
“No.” Rhian smacked his lips. “I know normally you would have no problem navigating in that freaky weird way that you do, but you’re focused on your mate, so let me help you.”
Reese hated to admit that he needed help, but she was right. He’d probably trip over a cobblestone and wind up face first on the ground. What the hell...maybe Jason would end up laughing and not notice the three werewolves creeping in from the back.
Rhian stopped the car and they both got out. The rain instantly soaked his clothes and water dripped from his hair by the time he made it to the other side of the car.
“You don’t do things by half, do you?” he asked.
“You wanted rain. You got rain.” She offered him her arm. “He’s got those cobblestone steps up to his front door,” she said as they started forward.
“Yeah, he’s a fairly traditional man.” Reese couldn’t help but smile.
“And yet he’s mated to a werewolf. Nice.” She stopped. “Okay, we’re here. There’s one step and then the front door. Want me to ring the bell?”
“No. I’m just going to walk in. He’s expecting me.”
Rhian popped up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Good luck. Don’t get hurt and bring back that sexy doctor. He’s good for you.”
Reese nodded. “Now get out of here. I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby.”
“I’m gone.”
The space emptied beside him. He sniffed the air but couldn’t scent Micah or the others. He was pretty sure they were there or close by. It wouldn’t take them long to run through the woods and with Jason focused on Reese and the front of the house, they could come up the back and hopefully get Kieve out of there.
Reese cursed his blindness. He couldn’t save his mate. He really was as useless as the doctor said, only good as a fuck toy.
He’d struggled over the past two years to be a contributing member of their little pack—to be useful—but now, he saw how worthless he really was, waiting for others to save his mate.
He pushed aside the pitiful emotions and concentrated on what he was about to do. It didn’t matter who saved Kieve. Just that he was okay.
The rain dripped off Reese’s hair and down the back of his shirt, adding to his irritation. He hated being wet.
Reese went up the last step and reached for the door. He had to believe Jason wasn’t going to shoot him on sight. He’d said he wanted to talk to Reese.
Reese turned the knob and it opened easily in his hand. He pushed the door in slightly, calling out. He didn’t expect to surprise Jason.
“Jason? Kieve?”
“We’re here, Reese.” Kieve’s voice sounded tight, strangled.
Reese pushed the door open, scanning the room for heat signatures. He stopped when he ran into the familiar colors of Kieve, the bright reds and blues that usually infused his aura were dampened by a haze of black that Reese could only think was fear.
The other aura almost blended with Kieve’s—Jason. The pale colors—brick orange and pale green—made sense now. Jason’s spirit had been damaged either with the drugs Diana had given him or the abuse. Probably both.
“Let him go, Jason. Kieve has nothing to do with this.”
“No. You took my lover, now I’m going to take yours.”
Fear wrapped its fist around Reese’s heart, but he hoped none of it showed on his face. Jason was a submissive wolf. All Reese had to do was get Jason to listen to him and the wolf would naturally bow to Reese’s dominance.
He hoped.
“I didn’t take away your lover. The police have her.”
“You took her long before that. Ever since she heard about how special you were, that’s all she wanted. I wasn’t good enough anymore.”
You were the one who told her about me, Reese thought but kept the words to himself. He didn’t need to antagonize the crazy man.
“I’m sorry about that.” Reese took a step to the side, moving away from Kieve, hoping to split Jason’s focus. “But you need to let Kieve go.”
“I’m going to make you suffer the way I’ve suffered.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Jason.” Reese held out his hands, palms down, in the universal symbol for “everybody stay calm.”
“You? You can’t hurt me,” Jason sneered, pacing back and forth like a caged wolf. “You’re damaged, worthless. I tried to tell Diana that, but she wanted you. Wanted your fucking special DNA. You’re not so special, are you?”
“No.” Reese shook his head.
“Liar! Even blind you managed to take away my friends. Now I have no one. I’m all alone. I can’t be alone. I was alone for two horrible days before Diana found me. Loved me.”
“She didn’t love you, Jason.”
“Yes, she did. Until she heard about you, then all she wanted was you. It’s your fault. It’s all your fault. Why couldn’t you have just stayed in your cage? Behaved. If you’d behaved, none of us would have been hurt. We’d all still be together.”
Reese hesitated. The last time he’d been in the cage was in the lab.
“At the lab?” Reese asked unable to keep the incredulous tone out of his voice. “We were prisoners.”
“We were together and they fed us and—”
“And beat us and experimented on us.”
“They wouldn’t have beaten us so often if you’d have behaved!” Jason shrieked. “Like that time you tried to escape.”
The reality of that day suddenly hit him. He should have had more time to escape. The others had assured him they could keep the doctor and his goons busy. The doctor had found him too easily.
“You told them where I was.”
“I had to! You were going to ruin everything.” The colors of Jason’s aura became overwhelmed with the sickly green.
“They blinded me because of that, you bastard,” Reese growled. His whole world had been changed.
“You’ve managed okay. A pack, a home, a mate. I don’t have any of those things. Not any more.” The resolve in Jason’s voice told Reese something had changed. “And it’s your fault.”
“No!” Kieve’s shout blended with the sound of the gun shot but gave Reese enough warning to move. The bullet seared the outside of his thigh, sending fire into his bones.
The wolf evaporated from his brain and something dark and dangerous took its place.
“Shut up! It’s your fault he moved.”
Another shot erupted from the gun. Reese heard a thud and Kieve’s cry of pain.
The creature inside Reese roared and broke free. Unlike the change to his wolf, this transition didn’t hurt. Or maybe it would later, but it happened as his third form took over, his legs stretching, the clothes shredding from his body as the werewolf took over.
The bones in his face cracked and extended, but Reese didn’t feel a thing. All he knew was blood lust—revenge on the thing that dared hurt his mate.
In the back of his mind, he heard a noise that he vaguely acknowledged as a scream, but the beast didn’t care. It rose up on its hind legs. Another loud pop filled the room followed by a sharp pain in his shoulder. The beast screamed its rage and lunged forward, swinging its arm, slashing its sharp claws across the puny creature’s neck, ripping out the muscles in one fast stroke.
Blood spurted across his skin, a hot rush of life leading quickly to death.
The beast tipped back his head and howled.
Kieve held his breath, hoping the thing that had just killed Jason—because there was no way he could think of that thing as being Reese—didn’t notice him. The windows rattled as it screamed, the sound triumphant and challenging at the same time.
Blood dripped down the beast’s thigh and chest, but it didn’t seem to notice. It stood about seven feet tall, its back legs jointed like a wolf’s but thick and powerful, strong enough to keep that huge body upright. This, this was the stuff of nightmares and horror movies.
Pain rippled through Kieve’s body. The bullet had lodged in his shoulder-chest area. He moved and a jolt of pain tore through his chest. He couldn’t contain the cry.
The werewolf tipped its head back and sniffed the air. The big wolf-like head snapped right and stared at Kieve.
Red glowed from deep in those black, blank eyes.
The breath Kieve had been holding escaped and he gasped in his next inhale. This thing was nothing like the friendly wolf Reese had turned into before. The mouth hung open, a full set of vicious, canine teeth bared.
The beast lurched forward, its wolf feet clearly not designed to walk upright. He stopped inches from Kieve, leaned in and sniffed Kieve’s neck. A low growl swayed Kieve’s hair. The werewolf bent down, its snout inches from the wound. Its tongue flicked out, brushing across the bleeding hole.
Kieve kept his breath to shallow pants, not moving.
The back door burst open and a very naked Micah, Maddock and Dex ran in.
“Oh shit.”
“Reese?” Dex asked.
“Who the hell else would it be?” Micah replied.
The beast snapped its head around. Its lips spread apart, revealing the bright white row of sharp teeth. It spun around and placed itself in front of Kieve. Kieve wasn’t sure if it was protecting Kieve or protecting its own kill.
A snarl erupted from his throat as he crept one step forward, then another, moving slowly across the room toward Micah, Maddock and Dex. The huge body hunched down and its fingers spread wide, blood dripping from the claws on its right hand.
“Now, Reese—” Dex held out his hands, but he still took a step back. “Calm down.”
But the threatening growl returned, louder, deeper.
Micah didn’t retreat. He raised his chin and moved forward, putting his body between Dex and Maddock and the beast. Micah was clearly the dominant animal, and willing to fight.
“Back off,” Micah warned. His voice rang through the room and even though he wasn’t a werewolf, Kieve could feel the compulsion to obey.
“I don’t want to have to hurt you,” Micah said.
The werewolf howled and lunged forward, swiping at Micah. Micah jumped back, narrowly escaping the sharp claws that had ripped out Jason’s throat.
Micah’s back hunched over, as if his body was getting ready to change.
Kieve stared. They would never survive if the two of them started to fight.
“Reese—” Kieve called. The beast’s head whipped around and he looked at Kieve. “Come here, babe.” He couldn’t believe the words were leaving his mouth, but he knew Reese wouldn’t hurt him. Reese had promised the wolf wouldn’t hurt him.
He wasn’t so sure the others were as safe.
“Kieve, that’s not really a good idea,” Dex called out softly.
“Reese won’t hurt me,” Kieve said, trying to insert as much confidence as he could with this thing coming toward him.
“But that’s not Reese. Not now. He won’t know who you are.”
The werewolf cocked his head to the side and looked at Micah as if assessing the threat, then took another halting step toward Kieve. He came closer stopping inches away. He met the creature’s eyes hoping for some sign of recognition, but there was nothing.
“Reese? Babe? Come back.” Kieve’s fingers trembled as he reached out and placed his fingers on the werewolf’s chest. The fur was softer and thinner than the wolf’s, but still it wasn’t human. “I need you to come back to me.” He thought about the previous night. He’d been saying the same things to the wolf.
He petted the soft fur and hummed. The beast blinked and a flash of blue returned to his eyes. “That’s it. Come on, Reese.” He kept touching the werewolf, feeling bold enough after a few minutes to reach up and scratch behind the creature’s ears.
It whined like a puppy and rolled its head into Kieve’s touch.
“That’s just wrong,” Micah muttered.
The werewolf growled and his eyes turned black once again. He glanced toward the other men.
“No, don’t worry about them. Think about me.” He touched the werewolf’s jaw, and froze, realizing how close he was to those massive teeth. The werewolf’s mouth opened a little farther and he licked Kieve’s wrist. “That tickles, babe.” He leaned in and dropped his voice, putting a little sex in his voice. “Come back to me.”
The werewolf whimpered and that sickening crack of bones followed. The snout shrunk back, reforming into Reese’s handsome face.
It seemed like hours, though it probably only took a minute or so before Reese was standing there, his eyes once again blue. He blinked and stared up at Kieve.
“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No. You would never hurt me,” he said feeling much more confident than the last time. The world spun a slow circle and he realized he was dizzy.
“Damn it!” Reese’s voice pierced the fog that tried to cover Kieve’s brain. “Get some help!”
“I’ve called Chance and an ambulance.”
He vaguely heard them discussing how they were going to explain a gunshot victim and the dead body bleeding out on the living room floor. He looked up and realized he was on the floor as well, Reese kneeling beside him, pressing his own shirt against the wound.
“Wait, weren’t you shot, too?” he asked, trying to keep his lover in focus.
“My werewolf metabolism is high. The bleeding has already stopped.
Kieve coughed. “I knew you had fast recovery time.”
Those wicked lips bent into a dangerous smile. Reese leaned in close until his lips were pressed right up against Kieve’s ear. “I do. And when you get better, you’re going to find out how fast. I’m going to spend the night fucking you, loving you, making you scream my name.”
Kieve groaned and swallowed the lump out of his throat. “I don’t think we have to worry about me bleeding out,” he murmured. “All the blood in my body is rushing south.”
Reese chuckled.
“What about—?” The world around him started to wobble and he felt his eyes roll back in his head. It was really hard to focus. Lights swirled behind his eyelids. “Reese?”
“Micah! Dex! Something’s wrong.”
Kieve heard Reese’s cry, but it was difficult to make sense of it. The wobbles in his world had turning into full on swirls.
“He’s bleeding too much.”
Kieve accepted the words but didn’t recognize the source.
“It’s not that much.”
“He’s human. It’s too much. Bite him.” He thought that came from Dex, sounding strangely commanding.
Kieve blinked and tried to focus on one of the three male bodies crouching over him. Reese. Where was Reese?
“But won’t that make it worse?”
“It shouldn’t. The bite will heal quickly and Dex is right—your saliva might help him heal.”
“You okay with this, lovely?”
Kieve forced his eyes open. Two, no three, Reeses stared down at him. Damn, the man was gorgeous, even when he was doubled and tripled.
“There are so many of you.”
“Oh fuck.”
“He won’t live to hate you if you don’t do it.”
Kieve felt his body being shifted, pulled up. Reese leaned down and kissed Kieve’s neck. The warm feel of his lips made Kieve smile. He did love Reese’s mouth. So pretty, so—
Fire pierced his shoulder, burning through his body. He arched up, trying to fight it, but the hold on his body was too strong to resist.
