Claimed by the Beast Bundle (43 page)

Chapter 7

“I wish we knew what happened to her,” Gwen said in a hushed voice that still carried through the open windows of the trailer.

“She shifted and got shot,” Guntar said. “Farmers have been killing wolves as long as they’ve been farming. It’s like dogs hunting cats.”

“I know that,” she replied. “There’s got to be more to it, though. Her shoulder didn’t heal when she shifted. Not all the way.”

Crystal turned her head and looked at her shoulder. It was covered by Hank’s blanket and she didn’t feel like moving yet. Or at all, for that matter. She was exhausted, but not so tired she didn’t flick her eyes to the clock on the stand beside his bed. Ten thirty-two. In the morning. How much time had she lost?

Gwen and Guntar kept talking, but their voices faded until she couldn’t hear them. The trailer shifted, drawing her eyes to the door that led out of Hank’s bedroom. It stayed shut.

“Hank, stop pacing!” Ember hissed. Her voice was muffled by the thin trailer walls but there was no mistaking the edge in it.

“I’m just going to check on her,” Hank mumbled.

“You just checked! Let her rest. She’s had a rough couple of days.”

Couple of days? How long had she been sleeping? Crystal tried to sit up but she only managed to push the blanket down to her waist before she fell back into bed and let out a breathy groan.

“Did you hear that?” Hank hissed.

“Stay here,” Ember barked.

“Like hell! She’s my—”

“That’s why you need to stay out here. Just give me a minute. Girl stuff.”

“Girl stuff? That’s bullshit!”

Silence followed for several seconds while Crystal watched the door. Finally it opened and Ember, not Hank, slipped through. She shut the door behind her and met Crystal’s eyes. Ember smiled, erasing the tension that lined her face and made her look stiff and angry.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

Crystal’s lips twitched. She opened her mouth but Ember shook her head. The redhead walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Looking good,” Ember said.

Crystal blushed and reached for the blanket to pull it up to cover her breasts. Ember’s hand went to her arm and stopped her. All it took was a feather touch.

“You had us worried,” Ember said. “I had to sit on Hank to keep him from tearing that farmer apart. Why didn’t you come to us when you shifted? Hank said you wanted to go home and have some time to yourself. I get that, but two days without telling us anything? Crys, we’re a pack now. That means family. If you had any doubts, you shouldn’t now. You’re one of us.”

Two days? Crystal frowned and forced herself to whisper, “How long?”

“Adrian found you a couple of days ago.”

Crystal picked her head up, her surprise giving her strength. “What day is it?”

“Friday. He found you Wednesday. You left us Monday night,” Ember said, answering Crystal’s unasked questions.

“Holy cow,” Crystal breathed.

“So what happened?” Ember asked. “And are you hungry?”

The thought of food made her shiver. She nodded. “Oh my God, yes!”

Ember smiled and stood up. She went to the door and opened it up. “Hank, bring her some soup.”

“Soup?” he asked.

“Go!” Ember barked.

Crystal smiled when she heard the door to the trailer open and shut. Hank was so wonderful to her. She knew he had to be dying inside but he was doing what was best for her. She loved him so much.

Ember returned to the bed and crawled onto it. She slipped up next to Crystal and hugged her, burying her face in the crook of Crystal’s neck. The redhead’s behavior reminded her of a dog greeting her owner when they got home. She even felt wetness on her skin. Crystal found the strength to move one arm and place it on Ember’s back. She blinked tears from her own eyes that ran down and soaked into Hank’s pillow.

Ember straightened and moved to sit next to her again. She sniffed and wiped her eyes before saying, “You tell anyone and I’ll bite your face off.”

Crystal smiled. “Same here.”

“Good,” Ember said. “So tell me what happened, already. How did you figure out how to shift?”

Crystal opened her mouth before she thought back to the confusing events of the last few days. She remembered shifting and then had to remember why she’d needed to: a vision of red and pink mist splattering over her as Chad’s father shot him. She gasped.

“What is it?”

“Chad! He’s—”

“They’ve got him hidden away,” Ember said. “We haven’t been able to find him all week.”

“He’s dead.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “Dead? Did you do it?”

Crystal shook her head. “No. When I left, I—”

Ember held up a hand. “Wait. Everyone needs to hear this,” she said.

Crystal bit her lip and nodded.

“Is there anything special, though? Anything private? Anything you don’t want the others to know?”

Crystal frowned. “What? No. Why?”

Ember shrugged. “I wanted to give you the chance. Once I turn you loose to Hank, there’s no telling when we can have a private moment again.”

Crystal smiled. “Thank you, that’s sweet.”

Ember scowled. “I don’t do sweet, I—”

“Shut up, yes you are. You just want people to think you’re a bitch.”

Ember sniffed and looked away. After a few moments she asked, “So, what was it like?”

“What?”

“Shifting. Becoming the wolf.”

“I am the wolf.”

Ember tilted her head. “No, I meant—”

“I know what you meant,” Crystal said. She reached out and placed her hand on Ember’s. “I’m not upset or confused. I am tired, but I’ve been sleeping for days now.”

“Food will help, you’re starving.”

Crystal nodded. She felt empty. Not just her stomach—her entire body. “At Clover’s, when I joined with the wolf, we became one person, not two.”

Ember’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”

“You fought the wolf and live together, right?” She waited for Ember to nod before continuing. “You tell it when it can come out and when you need to put it back in its cage. It’s not like that for me.”

Instead of arguing, the redhead asked, “So what’s it like?”

“It is me. All of me. The white fur when we ran, shifting fully to a wolf, or looking like this.”

“You’re beautiful in all three.”

“Thank you.” Crystal smiled and then added, “Lesbo.”

Ember rolled her eyes. “Knock it off. I think you’re beautiful. It doesn’t mean I want to sleep with you.”

“You don’t?”

“Not like that,” Ember said.

“What?”

“I’d cuddle with you anytime,” Ember said with a shrug. “Nothing sexual about it, though.”

“Cuddle? Oh. Um, okay.”

“It’s not as weird as you think,” Ember said with a chuckle. “It’s something we do sometimes, especially when somebody’s hurt.”

Crystal didn’t understand, but she smiled like she did and said, “Okay, maybe sometime then.”

The door to the trailer opened, sparing her any more awkwardness. It was several seconds before it shut again. The door to the bedroom opened and Hank stood with a bowl and a spoon in one hand. Guntar, Gwen, and Adrian were behind him.

“Can we come in?” Hank asked.

Ember smiled and nodded. She stood and carefully climbed over Crystal before sitting next to her on the far side of the bed. She was pinned between Crystal and the wall but didn’t show any concerns about the tight space. Crystal remembered how Ember had done something very similar when she was hurting at Clover’s hut in the swamp. She smiled and realized this was an example of the cuddling the red-haired woman had been talking about.

Hank sat on the bed next to her and held the bowl in one hand while lifting a spoon full of the soup out of it.

“Hank! Help her sit up first,” Ember chided him.

“Oh, good idea,” he mumbled. His cheeks flushed under his stubble as he turned and set the bowl on the table. He turned back and between the three of them, Crystal managed to end up in a sitting position with her back against the headboard of the overloaded bed. He picked the bowl up and tried to feed her again.

“I can manage,” she said with a smile. Hank’s face flushed again so she added, “But thank you. I really appreciate it.”

He grunted and nodded before handing her the bowl and spoon. She took it and raised the bowl and the first spoonful of the steaming soup to her lips. She winced at the pulling in her shoulder and lowered the bowl to her lap before switching the spoon to her left hand. Her right shoulder was still aching where she’d been shot.

She tried the soup again and smelled beef and chicken in it, as well as a collection of vegetables. It was hot. Hot enough to sting her tongue and lips, but it also ignited a fire in her belly that demanded more. She slurped spoon after spoon, even spilling some down her chin and onto her chest before the bowl was empty. She looked up and around, noticing all five of them staring at her with grins on their faces. “Good,” she mumbled, embarrassed by the spectacle she’d made.

She wiped her chin with a towel Gwen offered and then realized her blanket was still around her waist. She was naked. Her eyes widened for a moment and then she reminded herself they’d all seen her naked. For a couple of days now, at least. Before that, she’d gone for nude runs in the woods with Gwen and Ember. And Hank, well, he’d seen her most private areas.

She handed Hank the bowl and gave him a thankful smile. He returned it and she could see the tension in his body. She tilted her head and considered why he was upset. It was because of her. Not her fault, but because she was hurting. He wanted to help. He wanted to take care of her. Just like she’d want to do for him.

“I’m okay,” she assured him.

She saw some of the stress flow out of his face. He closed his eyes and exhaled before opening them and nodding. “Good.”

“So, tell us what happened,” Ember said.

Crystal nodded. She opened her mouth and a bit of air slipped out of her belly to escape in a surprise belch. Her hand flew to her lips. “Oh! Excuse me. I ate too fast.”

Gwen laughed silently while Guntar and Adrian showed no reaction. Typical men. Crystal put the faux pas aside and took a deep breath. She could do that now and it felt good. “Well, this is long and confusing, but here goes…”

Chapter 8

Crystal suddenly felt uncomfortable. Everyone was staring at her but she wasn’t doing anything. Her mouth felt paralyzed. Ember squeezed her hand, startling her out of her stage fright. Crystal turned and gave her a quick smile.

“Sorry,” she said. “So I left here Monday night after Hank and I, um—”

“You said you wanted some time to think about things and figure stuff out,” Hank offered.

“Yeah, that,” Crystal agreed. This time he earned the appreciative smile. “Anyhow, I ran through the woods because running felt so good. I was trying to figure myself out and I thought that would help. It wasn’t until I made it to the road that I realized something wasn’t right. Somehow Chad must have tracked me. I was just about to come back when he surprised me. Before I could get away, the others showed up.”

“The others?” Guntar asked. “You mean the three we found near the bridge?”

“Yes, and two others. One of them is the sheriff.”

“Wait.” Adrian stopped the conversation with his need for understanding. “You mean they used Chad to find you?”

Crystal swallowed and nodded. “Yes. That was exactly it. They used him and then, uh, then they,” she hesitated and took a deep breath before saying, “then they killed him.”

Ember squeezed her hand again and Hank stiffened beside her. Adrian scowled. “They preach against people like us and him, but they use him for their own ends.”

“Why’d they kill him?” Guntar asked.

Adrian looked to Crystal and asked, “Had he changed yet?”

“He was messed up,” Crystal admitted. “Didn’t look very different yet, though.”

Adrian nodded. “They killed him before they lost control and he got away. Or killed them.”

Gwen shivered. “And they call us animals.”

Guntar shrugged. “He’s dead, that’s what matters.”

“What about you?” Hank asked, bringing the conversation back to Crystal. “How did you get away?”

“I didn’t,” she answered. “They gave me something. Nightshade, I think. It was in a needle they stabbed me with and it knocked me out really quick. When I woke up again, I was in a shed somewhere and they wanted to know if I was like you guys or not.”

“They didn’t know?” Gwen asked.

Crystal shook her head. “Speaking of that, though, they know about you guys. Maybe not who you are, but that there are some others out there.”

“How did you get away?” Ember asked.

“I figured out who I was,” she said and then looked at the frowns and confused expressions on everyone’s faces. It made her smile to think she knew something they didn’t for once. “I thought back to all the times my feet and hands had changed. My body did it because it was needed. That meant I had some control over it, but not the way you guys do.”

“I don’t understand,” Adrian admitted.

Ember stiffened beside her. “This is the thing where you don’t control your wolf, you work with it?”

“Not just that, I am the wolf. And she is me,” Crystal said. She turned to Adrian and clarified. “At Clover’s when I beat the Beast, I couldn’t do it without my wolf. She agreed, so we joined together. We merged, became one person. One wolf. One being.”

Adrian tilted his head. “Fascinating.”

Crystal nodded. “You have no idea. Anyhow, Mr. Edgerton, Mr. Dixon, and the other guy we saw in the woods wanted to find out if I was special or not. So they stabbed me in the arm with a silver knife to see if it would heal.”

“That’s stupid,” Adrian growled. “Nobody’s going to heal from a wound like that!”

“Yes, but then they stabbed me in the other shoulder with a normal steel knife,” Crystal said.

Adrian grunted and nodded.

“I was able to keep myself from healing that one so they’d think I was normal.”

“Impressive,” Guntar said.

“Except they decided they didn’t need to keep me around if I wasn’t a shifter,” Crystal said. “So Mr. Edgerton stabbed me in the chest.”

“In the chest?” Gwen gasped.

Ember’s hand squeezed down on hers, and Hank started to rise to his feet. Crystal grabbed onto his leg and kept him sitting beside her.

“In the heart,” Crystal said. “I was lucky he used the steel knife last, so he had that in his hand instead of the silver one.”

“How did you not die?” Gwen whispered.

Crystal shook her head. “I’m not sure I didn’t,” she admitted. “My heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe. I fought to stay awake and conscious so I could heal enough to stop bleeding.”

“You don’t bleed if your heart isn’t pumping,” Adrian grumbled.

Crystal jerked her head up. “Oh my God! I never even thought of that!”

“Not the recommended way to stop bleeding, though,” Guntar added.

Crystal let out a laugh. “You got that right! He figured I was dead so he threw a tarp over me and walked out. I had a weird vision of chasing some rabbit while you guys were watching me. Then I stopped chasing it because something didn’t feel right. The rabbit came to me, and I almost killed it before I realized an animal would never do that. Then I woke up, coughing and gagging and hurting like I’d never hurt before.”

Ember’s hand was squeezing hers so hard it was beginning to hurt. Crystal turned and saw the trails of tears on Ember’s cheeks. She smiled at her and got a smile and a sniff in return. She turned to deal with Hank’s trembling leg under her other hand. “I’m okay. Really.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. She saw the anger in his eyes.

“I was tied down with some ropes that burned if I pushed against them, but I knew I had to get away. Only way I could figure to do it was shift. So, um, I did.”

“Just like that?” Gwen asked.

Crystal nodded. “Pretty much. I figured out that I was trying too hard and doing the wrong stuff. What I wasn’t ready for was the pain. Oh my God, it hurt!”

“We told you it did,” Gwen said.

“You get used to it,” Ember said.

Crystal blew out a breath. “I hope so. That first time was a disaster!”

“Because it hurt?”

“No, because I didn’t know what I was doing and was clumsy. By the time I got my feet under me, I’d been seen by a dozen different people and was running for my life. Stephanie saw me, too, but she didn’t know it was me.”

“That was when I found you?” Adrian asked.

Crystal nodded.

Guntar grunted. “That explains your shoulder.”

“My shoulder?”

“Why it didn’t heal when you shifted,” Gwen said. “You were stabbed with a silver knife.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “It didn’t bother me much when I was shifted, but now it’s tight and kind of sore.”

“It’s healing, just not as fast,” Guntar said. “That explains the new scar too.”

“New scar?” Crystal looked at her shoulder. It was still scabbed over; a scar hadn’t had a chance to form yet.

“Your heart,” Hank mumbled.

Crystal dropped her eyes to her chest and saw, just left of her sternum in the soft skin of her breast, a thin pink line. “Oh! I never thought about that.”

“You’re still beautiful,” Hank reassured her.

Crystal blushed and squeezed his leg. She glanced at Ember out of the corner of her eye but the redhead wasn’t looking at her. She wondered if maybe Ember’s strange affection wasn’t so strange after all. Maybe she really did care for her as a friend and a sister instead of in a romantic way. Crystal smiled. She was in need of a new BFF.

“Oh my God!” Crystal gasped. “Beth!”

“Between looking for you and keeping an eye on her, it’s been a busy week,” Guntar said. “She’s doing okay. Anxious to see you, but so is everybody.”

Crystal groaned. “I’ve been gone a week. My mom! Oh crap.”

“She’s never going to let you go somewhere with me again,” Hank said with a weak chuckle.

Crystal winced and leaned into his side. He put his arm around her to side hug her to him. “Then I’ll move out,” she said.

Hank sucked in a breath. “Really?”

“Nothing’s going to keep me away from you again,” Crystal vowed. She turned to look at the others and ended up meeting Ember’s eyes. “All of you.”