Chapter Seventeen

 

Noah

 

The cracks faded from my skin as Chloe vanished into the waves.

Something slammed into me from behind.

Water filled my mouth, followed by sand as I crashed down. A fist like a rock hammered down on my back, and then another sent an explosion of light across my vision when it pounded into my head.

Heat raced through my body. Pain retreated to nothing and adrenaline flooded my veins as every muscle tensed with the overwhelming desire to kill whatever was attacking me.

I never felt so alive as when I let my greliaran side free.

Snarling, I shoved away from the ground and something tumbled from my back. I spun, my heightened vision zeroing in on the nearest thing that had threatened me. The nearest thing I could tear to shreds.

Brock, the youngest of my cousins and the only one close to me in age, scrambled to his feet several yards away. Cracks showed in his skin, with smoke and light pouring from them. Beneath his dark, buzz cut hair, his eyes were red-hot coals. On the beach, his older brothers watched us, unchanged yet, but with rage clear on their faces.

A growl slipped from me.

“You bastard,” Brock spat, the words barely human through his gritted teeth. “That scaly bitch was ours and–”

I slammed into his chest, driving him to the ground, and my fists followed. Blood swirled in the tide rushing past.

One of his brothers grabbed me, hurling me aside. I hit the sand and rolled to my feet.

Wyatt stood beside Brock, who was climbing from the waves with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth despite his defenses. By the bluffs, the middle brothers, Owen and Clay, both watched me.

“Well, come on,” Wyatt taunted. “You little dehaian fucking–”

I ran at him.

Owen crashed into my side. I tumbled into the water and then scrambled back up, lunging at him. His hands caught me, and his feet skidded through the sand with the effort of stopping my momentum. Twisting in his grasp, I tried to knock him off balance, but he wouldn’t give.

Wyatt slammed into me, throwing me back to the ground again, and then Clay was there. White light burst across my vision as he drove his fist into my face.

And then he disappeared.

I shoved to my feet.

Maddox stood between us, his hands raised to keep us apart. By his brothers, Clay was pushing away from the ground.

“Back off,” Maddox snapped.

Contempt curled Wyatt’s mouth.

Fissures spread through Maddox’s skin. “I said, back off.”

“And what’re you going to do if we don’t?” Wyatt sneered.

The fissures grew. “You don’t want to find out,” Maddox replied quietly.

Wyatt paused, looking Maddox up and down. He gave a disgusted scoff. “You’re not worth it.” His gaze slid to me. “And you… well. Your precious dehaian bitch came back. Who knows? Maybe she will again.” He smiled. “This isn’t over. And we’re not going anywhere.”

With a jerk of his chin toward his younger brothers, he turned and headed for the stairs.

Barely restraining a growl, I watched them walk away, my muscles shaking with the desire to go after them and end the problem once and for all.

“Noah.”

I twitched, Maddox’s voice like an annoying buzz in my ear.

“Breathe, dammit,” he ordered in a low tone. “Get a hold of yourself. Someone might see.”

The growl escaped.

“Noah!”

I drew a sharp breath. I closed my eyes, struggling to do as he said.

The heat faded. The vivid rush of sensation from the world around me did as well. I trembled as my skin returned to normal and when I opened my eyes, the colors were dull enough for me to be sure my greliaran side was gone.

I winced, the pain of that first punch returning.

“What happened?” Maddox asked.

Lifting a hand to rub my jaw, I didn’t respond.

“Wyatt said Chloe was here?”

He waited.

“Noah?”

I nodded. “Her and some dehaian guy, yeah.”

“Will she be back?”

“I doubt it.”

Maddox paused. I glanced over at him, and his mouth tightened as he read between the very short lines.

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I nodded again, not wanting to talk about it. I hated what I’d said to her. What I’d done. But there hadn’t been time, and if she’d stayed even a second longer…

Nausea twisted my stomach. My cousins had tried to take their frustration out on me, but it wasn’t anything compared to what they would have done if they’d gotten their hands on her.

But that look on her face. Confused. Hurt.

Terrified.

I couldn’t stop seeing it.

“Come on,” Maddox said quietly.

I shook my head, my gaze going back to the ocean. “I’ll be inside in a minute.”

He hesitated and then nodded. Clasping a hand to my shoulder briefly, he turned and walked to the stairs.

I closed my eyes, an ache pressing down on me that had nothing to do with my cousins’ fists. She wouldn’t be back. Not after what I’d said or the way she’d looked at me. And maybe that would keep her safe. From my kind, anyway.

It was all I could do for her.

Even if it meant she hated me.