Claimed by the Beast Bundle (50 page)

Chapter 21

Mr. Edgerton snapped out of his shock at Crystal’s sudden nudity and jumped to his feet. “They? They who? Your people, or mine?”

“Mine,” Crystal said. She turned and glanced at the room. She turned to Stephanie and said, “Get Jimmy and your mom and find a safe place.”

“This is the safest place in the house,” Robert said. “Soundproofed, reinforced solid core oak door, and it’s been blessed and sanctified.”

“Dad!”

“I told you, we’re not devil worshippers,” Crystal snapped. She shook her head. “Whatever. Go and get the others and stay here. Don’t open the door unless it’s me on the other side.”

“I’m coming with you!” Stephanie said.

“No you’re not,” her father demanded.

“Her friends know me,” Stephanie protested. “And they know I’m a witch. They’re cool with it.”

“Not this time,” Crystal said, agreeing with Mr. Edgerton. “I need you in here, safe. I have to talk to them and it might get a little rough.”

“A little rough?” Stephanie asked.

“Don’t worry, I can handle them,” Crystal said. She sounded convincing enough she almost believed herself. “Now go and get the others.”

“You can’t go out there naked!” Mr. Edgerton hissed.

Crystal turned and smirked. “I won’t. I plan on wearing a fur coat.”

She turned away but not before she saw his eyes widen. She fell forward and hit the ground on four paws. She shook, making her reshaped body work for her and pushing away the sharp pains that were coming and going faster with each transformation. She padded out of the office and paused in the hallway.

“Beast,” Mr. Edgerton muttered behind her.

Stephanie moved beside Crystal and reached down to run her fingers through the white fur on her back. Crystal shivered from the sensation. “No, she’s beautiful.”

Crystal rubbed against Stephanie’s leg on her way passed her down the hall. She turned and padded through the house quickly, getting a feel for the layout and finding the front door. She couldn’t see through the peephole in the door even when she stood on her hind legs, her snout kept her eye too far from it, so she hurried over to a nearby window and looked out.

Crystal jerked back from the window. Not only were her friends almost there, but the meeting with Steph and her dad had taken a lot longer than she thought. The sun was already setting. She glanced back when she heard a gasp and saw Stephanie pulling her mom through the house. Mrs. Edgerton—Colleen—resisted and pointed at Crystal.

“There’s a dog in the house! Oh my goodness, is that a wolf? The wolf? Robert! Help! There’s a wolf in the house!”

“Mom, shut up,” Stephanie snapped. “I’ll explain later. Come on!”

Crystal took a moment to lick her lips, making Colleen gasp, and then turned when she heard the scuff of boots on the welcome mat in front of the door. She backed up and glanced around, looking for a place to hide. She retreated to a hallway that ran to the garage just as the first knock on the door sounded.

She watched around the corner as the latch turned and the door opened. Crystal slunk back out of sight and used her other senses to tell her that her friends were coming in. She waited until she saw a boot hit the ground and dug her claws into the rug on the tile floor. She bolted forward, slipping a little as the rug slipped under her feet. The awkward start put her off balance and made her pounce half a step earlier than she’d planned.

Crystal flew through the air and extended her paws. Adrian twisted and saw her, reacting faster than she thought possible. He leaned back and reached out, grabbing her even as her teeth snapped together within inches of his chest. Her paw slid along the top of his arm and off while his hands hit her chest and hip and sent her off course and into the corner where the hallway wall and a formal living room met the entryway.

Crystal’s breath burst out of her mouth and the house around her disappeared in blackness for a fraction of a second. She scrambled to get back to her feet and turn to face him when a wolf landed on top of her. Teeth ripped at her shoulder and back, tearing through her skin and grating across a bone.

Crystal heard herself yelp as she tried to twist away from the razor-edged teeth and weight on top of her. She kicked with her hind legs, trying to dislodge Adrian. She should have never attacked him—it was a stupid idea. He was older and more experienced. He was a fighter. She was just a kid.

She whimpered and struggled to stop his jaws from squeezing around her neck. It was too late; even her whimper sounded strained. Breathing hurt, both from his weight on her ribs and his vicelike grip on her throat. She tapped his side with her front paw, surrendering. She couldn’t breathe and her lungs were burning!

She saw a shape streak across the spots in her vision. Adrian’s teeth dug into her throat and tore through her flesh as his weight disappeared from her chest and rolled across her hip. She gasped for breath and knew instantly that something was wrong. Her first breath had a whistle to it. The second pant was hot and wet. She choked and coughed, spraying her blood across the wall and floor. She tasted it and knew that Adrian had just ripped her throat with his teeth. She was going to die.

“Crystal!” Crystal heard Ember’s voice and scrambled to roll to her feet.

She gagged and coughed, choking on each salty breath. Crystal looked back and saw Hank had shifted and was squaring off against Adrian. The older wolf had already laid open Hank’s shoulder and left him limping, though. Crystal stumbled and tried to tuck her chin close to her chest to seal the hole in her throat and stop the burning. It made her chest convulse as fresh blood ran into her lungs.

“Shift, damn it!” Ember shouted.

Shift? Crystal blinked and tried to make sense of the redhead’s words. It was hard; all she could think about was the pain in her throat and chest. It consumed her and she needed it to stop. Shifting would only—it was how they healed! She collapsed on the floor and rolled to her side, out of breath and strength to fight gravity any more. She had to focus on the pain going away. She could heal herself; she just had to focus.

Crystal tried to pant in tiny gasps but it wasn’t working. She squeezed her eyes shut and fought, pushing the pain into another place. A place where it didn’t affect her. She needed to be a person again. A person who could talk sense into these people. She shifted, her body rearranging itself slower than ever. She needed air to fuel the change and all she had in her lungs was blood.

“Oh no! Crystal!”

Crystal tried to turn her head to Stephanie’s voice but she couldn’t. She needed to wave her back. To tell her to hide. She couldn’t stop Adrian. She’d failed. Hank was hurt. Ember couldn’t face the vicious elder. Even Guntar was staying out of his way.

She felt something grab her and jerk her. Blood dribbled out of her mouth and she wanted to cough but she couldn’t. Her body twitched but she was so tired. Too tired. She was jerked again and then felt something press against her lips. The pressure relented and she heard someone spitting. Someone close to her. Crystal blocked out the sounds of growling and fighting in the background.

She stiffened when her nose was pinched and then she felt pressure on her mouth and in her chest. It filled her and made her ache. The pressure was released and she collapsed as blood and air sprayed from her mouth. A second later, she felt her chest swell and start to hurt again. It was working, though. Her heart beat faster as air reached it and then began to spread through her body. A third breath left her coughing and retching onto the expensive rug. She gagged on her blood and vomit and lay in a stupor while her aching lungs pulled air through her burning throat.

Her life was turning into one session of pain after another. She really needed a vacation!

Chapter 22

Someone held her and cradled her against them. She felt the heat of their body behind her and felt their arms holding her tight. She glanced down, blowing strings of bloody spit from her lips as she did, and saw slender arms locked tight around her.

“I’ve got you,” Stephanie whispered.

“No,” Crystal moaned. Stephanie shouldn’t be there! She was supposed to be protecting Stephanie and her family, not the other way around.

She saw Hank was out of the fight, though the large wolf refused to admit it. His hind leg had been torn apart, hamstringing him, and his front shoulder was laid bare to the bone. Ember had shifted and stood between her and Adrian while Guntar and Gwen watched near the open door. Guntar’s arm was out to keep Gwen from getting any closer.

Movement to her left distracted her. She heard footsteps rushing towards her and then past her as a tall man stepped up next to her. Mr. Edgerton held a shotgun in his hand and pointed it at Adrian.

“That’s enough!” he shouted. “This is loaded with silver hollow point twelve gauge saboted slugs. They will tear a hole through you bigger than my fist and take the wall out behind you too.”

“Stop!” Crystal growled. She coughed and tried to sit up but Stephanie hugged her tighter against her. She struggled and turned to look back at the bloodstained woman holding her. “Let go.”

Stephanie shook her head and before Crystal could respond, Adrian growled and crouched low to pounce. Crystal reached out her hand as though she could stop him.

“Adrian!” Guntar barked.

Adrian trembled and then calmed. He turned to look at Guntar.

Robert looked down at his daughter and Crystal, and then turned to glance down the hallway behind him. Jimmy and his wife were peeking around the corner of the hall. He turned back and lowered his gun to point at the floor. Without a word, he pulled the bolt on the action and ejected five shells from it, each glinting in the light cast from the recessed bulbs in the ceiling as a testimony to their lethal silver nature. When the gun was empty, he set the butt on the ground and leaned it against the wall.

“Dad!” Stephanie hissed. “What are you doing?”

Crystal and the pack of hunters watched him, every bit as curious as the cheerleader was.

He ignored her. “Leave Crystal and Stephanie alone. Leave my family alone,” he said. “If you need to hurt someone, take me.”

Adrian growled and stepped forward. Guntar let out an honest-to-God bark from his human-shaped throat and stopped him.

“No,” Crystal said while shaking her head. She cleared her throat and spat the blood onto the floor before pushing Stephanie’s resistant arms away. She’d gotten enough of her strength back she could force her way free. She stood up and stepped over to where Ember had turned to be able to keep Adrian and Mr. Edgerton in her sight at the same time.

Crystal glared at Adrian and asked, “How many have you killed today? Hank and I killed the sheriff.”

“But you didn’t shoot the deputy,” Stephanie said.

Crystal sent a scowl her way to shut her up. “How many more have there been? How many more does there have to be until you’re satisfied?”

Guntar took a step and said, “You don’t know the history of things. We have been hunted since before time has been counted.”

“You’re not being hunted right now! You’re doing the hunting!”

He nodded. “If we don’t, they will find us and kill us. You should know this as well as anyone—they had you.”

“And I’m still alive.”

“Because they made a mistake,” he snapped. He looked at Robert. “Isn’t that right?”

Mr. Edgerton nodded. “It is,” he admitted. “But I’m standing here to atone for that mistake. I have a lot of things to atone for, and if my life is the cost, so be it.”

“Dad!” Stephanie cried out.

From behind him, his wife called out, “Robert, what are you saying?”

He held a hand out behind him and then looked down at Crystal. His eyes, she noticed, never strayed from hers. “This remarkable young woman was at my mercy. I hurt her and then I tried to kill her. I thought I did. Somehow she lived and escaped, a testimony to the nature you all share. I believed you were the devil’s creatures and that you did his work. Her survival seemed proof of that. Now I believe otherwise.”

Adrian lowered his hindquarters a couple of inches. Guntar’s nose flared as he sniffed the air and then he nodded. “Why?”

Mr. Edgerton looked down at Crystal again. “Because of her. She came here and risked her life to protect us. She stood up against you, her friends and allies. For my family’s sake, even though I deserve nothing but hate from her. She proved to me that she’s a better Christian than I am, and it’s about time I live up to what I preach.”

“Dixon is dead,” Guntar said. “And so is the man named Adam Peterson. You and one other are all that’s left as far as we know.”

“I know the other man. If you let me, I’ll try to talk to him.”

“Who is he? Crystal didn’t recognize him and we haven’t been able to figure him out.”

Robert shook his head. “You can do with me what you will, but I won’t give up someone else to save my own hide.”

Adrian’s lips curled up in a snarl but he sat still.

Guntar nodded. “If I find out you ever hunt one of us again or return to the ranks of the paladins, we’ll come back. We want nothing to do with any notions of the devil, but cross our paths again and I’ll see to it that your family is hunted down and gutted one by one until only you are left. Only then will we come for you.”

Robert’s breath hissed between his teeth. Crystal ignored him and stared at Guntar. “Really?” she breathed. “You’re going to let him live?”

Guntar nodded. “Adrian and I are old. We’ve seen a lot and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve even reached the point where we think we’ve seen and learned all there is. You’ve reminded me that’s not true. If you can fight for the man who tried to kill you and if he can realize his own mistake and offer his own life in exchange for yours, then maybe I can change too.”

Crystal’s grin burst through her lips like sunshine on a cloudy day. Her smile brightened the room as she said, “So you can teach an old dog new tricks!”

Guntar scowled and jerked his head in Hank’s direction. “Help Hank.”

Gwen and Ember rushed over to Hank. Ember shifted on the way and crawled the last few feet towards him. He growled and shifted, letting out a yelp in the process. In his human form, he lay on his side and grimaced. His right hand went to his left shoulder, which was still mangled and raw even though blood was no longer dripping from it. His leg still looked like curled up hamburger but it, too, showed signs of mending.

Hank took Gwen and Ember’s hands and climbed to his feet. He leaned against Ember to take his weight off his damaged leg and stared at Crystal.

A whimper slipped from Crystal’s lips. “Hank,” she breathed.

“I’ll be okay,” he said.

She shook her head and tried to ignore the tears that fell down her cheeks. “I won’t,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

He smiled at her and motioned with his hand for her to come closer. Crystal rushed across the room and had to force herself to slow down before embracing him. Ember grunted as she took on more of his weight for a moment.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Crystal breathed as she kissed him. “Sorry I ran off. Sorry I left. Sorry about everything!”

Hank chuckled when she finally stopped kissing him and gave him a chance to speak. “You showed how strong you are—don’t be sorry about that. Maybe don’t be so impetuous next time, though. I’m willing to let you make it up to me, though.”

Crystal grinned and kissed him again before turning and staring at Stephanie. She was streaked in blood. Crystal’s blood. It was smeared on her face and lips and all over her bikini clad body. In fact, Crystal’s blood hid more of her skin than the bikini did. She turned and glanced at Guntar. “Is she, um, okay?”

Guntar looked at Stephanie. “Are you hurt? Any cuts or open wounds?”

“What? No!” Stephanie shook her head. “I got her blood in my mouth, though. Is that bad?”

“I doubt it,” he said. “You’d need to eat her heart to be one of us.”

Stephanie’s eyes widened. “Gross! No way! Besides, I’m already something else, remember?”

Guntar smirked and nodded.

“Robert! What in the hell is going on? Where’s that white dog at?” Colleen snapped as she disobeyed him and came down the hall. Jimmy trailed behind, moving as quietly as he could. “And why are there so many naked people in my house?”

Adrian shifted and stood up, his wounds from fighting Hank and Crystal mending as he became a man again. Colleen gasped and stuttered before her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell back on top of her son. They crashed to the ground with a grunt from Jimmy.

“I got her,” he called out from beneath her. “We’re okay.”

Adrian walked up to Mr. Edgerton and kept his gaze locked with the reformed man. His nostrils flared as he inhaled. “I’ve got your scent now,” Adrian said. “It will only take one mistake to bring me back.”

Robert nodded and opened his mouth to respond but Adrian had already turned away and taken a few steps towards the door. He looked at Crystal and nodded. “You got balls, kid. Glad you’re not my bitch.” Crystal gasped and then smiled as Adrian turned and scooped up his clothes. He was putting them on as he walked out the front door.

“Did he just call you a bitch?” Stephanie asked.

She nodded.

“He’s kind of a dick,” she whispered. “And didn’t he just try to kill you?”

“No,” Guntar said. “It was a challenge. If Hank hadn’t interfered, she would have passed out.”

“Sorry,” Hank offered. “I kind of lost my head.”

Crystal grinned and made a mental note to give him a special thank-you later. She turned to Stephanie and explained, “It’s okay. What he said was a compliment.”

Stephanie stared at her. “It was? But you’re like the nicest person I know!”

Crystal smiled. “Thanks, but I was too nice. These guys taught me how to stand up for myself. Now I know when I should be a bitch.” She stopped and shrugged. “It just depends on whether I do it on two legs or four.”

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