THE DAY WAS too perfect, and I should have known it wouldn’t end well. I’m trapped in a very small cave with an injured beast-man with someone trying to kill him close by. The injured party in question has decided I need to be practically sitting in his lap while I try to remember not to look into his eyes. We stay this way for the longest time and strangely I feel safer than I ever have. The sun begins going down and I hear his slight snore before I have a chance to take a good long look at a Shadow Warrior in beast form.
He’s amazing.
If I had to compare him to anything, it would be a wolf, but no wolf holds a candle to this creature. Short hair covers his body that once had smooth skin. His legs are larger and his arms have grown too. His wicked claws are sharp and deadly. It’s his jaws and skull that have changed the most, though. Whereas his skull was round before, it’s narrower and larger. His enormous teeth overlap and make it look like it would be impossible to close his mouth.
I’m unafraid and yet I have no idea why. I don’t feel threatened by his beast any more than I feel threatened by King. I lift my hand and run my fingers along his upper lip all the way to where his jaws connect. The area is soft, the few bristles I touch, poky. I go to my knees and lean in and smell his throat. His animal scent is stronger here, though not unpleasant.
A shudder runs through King’s body and the cave grows warmer. I’ve noticed the rise in room temperature before when King is agitated. The heat of his body warms mine and I’m hoping he’s healing. We can’t stay here forever, and I’m worried his team won’t find us.
King’s beast eyes flutter and open, the blue so vivid in the waning light. He turns his monstrous head and his snout runs through my hair. He sniffs, tickling the area at my neck.
“How are you doing?” I whisper.
“Grrr.”
“I’ll take that to mean okay,” I say while holding eye contact with him. He isn’t biting my face off, so something is going right.
“They must be up in the rocks,” a voice comes from below us. It’s a decidedly American voice and I’m relieved King’s men found us. Beast is not. He quickly gains his feet, pushes me back against the cave wall, and stands to the side of the entrance.
It must not be his men.
“There’s the bike. We need to find and eliminate both of them. I think he took a bullet. If he’s injured, he’s easier to kill.”
“They’re talking about killing us. Who are they?” I whisper.
King’s beast watches, listens, and waits. I look around for a weapon and see the knife sitting on the saddlebag that King used to cut his shirt off before he transformed. I inch my way along the wall until I’m close enough to grab it. Beast’s eyes follow me, but he doesn’t try to stop me from picking up the knife. When it’s in my fist, I begin inching along the wall closer to the entrance.
A loud rumble sounds above us and King’s monstrous head goes up. He lifts one long claw in front of his jaws and I remain quiet.
“His men are here. We’ll get them another time, we need to leave,” comes from below. They stop talking and I can no longer hear them moving around.
Minutes pass before a whistle from above causes King to move out of the small cave. “Circle around,” he yells at them, making it appear easy for him to talk with his misshapen mouth. There’s so much about Shadow Warriors that I need to know. Not for the Federation, but for my own personal agenda. If I don’t understand exactly who they are, I’m no good to the Federation or King.
It takes ten minutes for his men to get below us. King’s clawed hand comes out and grasps mine. We stand after leaving the cave and he towers over me. He’s mostly behaved, grabbing my breast aside, and I have no idea why King was worried about what would happen. I can easily handle a momentary stray hand.
We travel down the rocks and I realize I haven’t worried about my footing since King was shot and I haven’t stumbled once. Miracles do happen. Half the men waiting below are in beast form. King still towers over them by at least six inches. Beck, who I gather is King’s second, keeps his human form.
“Track them,” King tells his men.
“Who’s hurt?” Beck asks.
“King was shot in his shoulder. He wouldn’t allow me to remove the bullet and he’s still bleeding,” I respond when King doesn’t answer immediately.
Beck arches his eyebrows but does not address me directly. “Can you ride?” he asks King.
“Yes. The bullet is almost out.”
“We need to get you back. The woman can ride with me.”
For someone so large in his animal form, King moves fast and Beck is picking himself up from the ground a second later. “Now that it’s settled,” Beck says dusting the sand from his pants like nothing happened, “she rides with you.” He directs half the men to follow the fresh prints leading away from the bike.
All righty, then. I guess I’m hanging onto a Shadow Warrior in beast form. I just hope he can drive.
There isn’t as much room on the back of the bike with King this time, but I’m able to squeeze in and then hang on for dear life. While King rides fast, his beast shows no restraint and takes the corners as crazy as he drives the straightaways. I recite every prayer I can remember, adding a few ad-libs as we take the corners at breakneck speed. The thrill of riding is gone now and all I can think about is walking on solid ground. Getting to know the pavement up close and personal terrifies me. With a sigh that no one but I can hear, I bury my face against King’s fuzzy back and inhale his strong scent, which comforts me. If he minds my fingernails digging into his skin, he doesn’t show it.
It takes two hours to get back to our quarters and I’m exhausted by the time we arrive. Axel is waiting out front when we pull up. Two of the men grab King when he lifts his leg over the bike and stumbles. They half drag him past Axel, who takes a long look at me before following the men. I hope his regard had to do with seeing if I had injuries, because he doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t look happy.
I follow the men and they fortunately don’t stop me from entering the medical room. King is moved to a bed and Axel quickly unwraps my makeshift bandage. “I’m administering a shot to relax you so I can help the bullet out the rest of the way,” he tells King.
“No.” King lifts his hand and grabs the doctor stopping him from injecting the needle. King glances around the room until his eyes land on mine. I walk over and the men move back. I take King’s free hand and hold it. He slowly releases Axel.
“I don’t think he wants an injection.”
Axel looks at me in frustration. “I really don’t want to lose my head or risk him attacking you either when I cut into that shoulder.”
“He’s fine. I’ll keep his mind off what you’re doing.”
Throughout the procedure, I talk to King like the doctor or the rest of his men aren’t in the room. “I enjoyed the cove though getting shot so I’ll feel sorry for you went a little overboard.” Axel gives me an indescribable look as I keep talking. “The sandwich could have been a little more filling too. I’m starving. Next time we go on a picnic, I want to handle the food part.” I turn when someone in the room makes what sounds like a laugh.
Beck points the unlucky Shadow Warrior from the room with a grunt and a finger aimed at the door. I smile at Beck, but he has the whole stone face thing down pat. I continue blabbering non-stop while the doctor works. He cuts a small incision at the bullet’s entry and presses the sides until the lead slides out. Quite the trick not having to use forceps to remove it.
After the wound is cleaned, Axel wraps it with large strips of gauze. There’s a commotion at the door and another Shadow Warrior is carried in by two others. “Hellhound attack,” one of them says. The Warrior is moved to a smaller room and Axel leaves us.
There are hellhounds out there and for some reason that fact keeps slipping from my mind and I haven’t brought it up with King. Now’s not the time either, but I need to know more about what’s happening. I also need to know who tried to kill us. It wasn’t lost on me that they wanted both of us dead.
Beck slides a chair to me and offers it with a small grimace. King looks at him and growls. “I’m only making her comfortable,” Beck tells him. “No touching.”
King growls again. “Get her food.”
He was listening. “I made all of that up,” I tell him with a small grin when his sharp gaze meets mine. “You think you’re so bad in this form but really, you’re a big baby.” King growls again and pulls on my hand, bringing me closer to his jaws. The entire room comes to attention when King slowly reels me further in and sniffs my throat. I end up with my cheek on his chest, and he seems to like it because his claws slide around and he rests his hand on my back. His chest is fuzzy too and muscular, though different from the muscles of the man. He’s huge in this form and I’m just now noticing exactly how big. His other hand rests on the bed and it’s possibly double the size of his human hand. The claws are entirely too wicked, and even so they don’t scare me.
The men behind us settle when King makes no move to harm me. “We’re fine,” I tell Beck without lifting my head.
“Get her food,” King says again. “Everyone out,” he adds with more force.
All but Beck hurriedly exit. Beck looks from me to King and shakes his head. He doesn’t say anything, turns, and enters the room with the other injured Shadow Warrior. I stay where I’m at and allow my exhaustion to take over, closing my eyes and appreciating the warm body beneath my head. I have no idea what’s going on or why King’s beast has decided to keep me near. I feel King’s presence, but I also feel the wildness that accompanies this form.
It’s at least ten minutes before food is delivered for both of us. King’s food is in a large bowl, which he lifts to his mouth. I place a hand on the bowl and push it away. “I’ll feed you,” I tell him and place a spoon from my meal into the mush-like red stuff in his. It looks nothing like my plate, though smells surprisingly appetizing. King opens his jaws and his teeth drip saliva. Normally, I would think it gross, but really his animal form fascinates me. His teeth scrape the spoon, the sound lifting the hair on my arms. “Try not to do that,” I tell him when I raise another spoonful from his bowl. “What is this anyway?”
“Liver, blood, rice,” King says before I shove the spoon in his mouth. I should be gagging, but more than anything I want to try the concoction. I can’t believe I’m this hungry.
I wipe his jaw and don’t miss the roll of his eyes. “Am I talking to Beast or King right now?”
“Both.”
“How’s your shoulder?” I receive a grunt for that question and try again. “Who tried to kill us?”
He gives me the last explanation I expect. “The Federation,” he says with absolutely no hesitation.