Claimed by the Beast Bundle (7 page)

Chapter 12

Crystal met up with Beth at the school doors and rolled her eyes when Beth grinned at her. They pushed through the doors and took a few steps before Beth burst out, “So now what?”

Ember slipped in on Crystal
’s other side from the shadows beside the door. “Now you take us to Crystal’s place and you go home.”

Crystal gasped at her sudden appearance. She forced her heart back into her chest and tried to glare at her.
“Don’t do that! You scared me half to death!”

“
You bang anybody at school?”

“
What? No!”

Beth laughed.
“Whenever I saw you, there were guys checking you out.”

“
No there wasn’t!”

Ember smirked.
“Boys don’t have a clue. Their instincts can tell, but they’ve learned to ignore them.”

“
Ignore their instincts? I don’t think so,” Crystal argued. “We all have those!”

Ember shook her head.
“Humans have lost touch. A baby who’s hungry will lie on the floor and cry until someone feeds it. An animal? It will crawl, walk, or do whatever it can to try and find something to eat. Pathetic.”

“
Um, hello, we’re humans too,” Beth pointed out.

Ember smirked. Crystal was afraid she
’d say more so she clapped her hands and said, “So, I told Beth about Friday night. The thing at the bridge. And, uh, that you guys think it’s still after me.”

Ember scowled.
“You shouldn’t have told her.”

“
Why not?”

“
She’s already got your stink all over her. You should go home and take a long shower. Lots of soap. Then stay inside. With any luck, he won’t smell you.”

“
That’s creepy,” Beth argued. “Why? And how could he smell me? I don’t smell like her.”

Ember stepped in front of them and turned to face them. Both girls had to stop to avoid running her over. The redhead leaned towards Beth and inhaled through her nose. She sneered and licked her lips.
“What have you two been doing?”

“
What?” Beth protested.

“
She hugged me earlier,” Crystal said. “Friends do that.”

“
Uh huh.” Ember didn’t sound convinced. “Well, knock it off. You’re marking her every time you do that.”

“
Marking her?”

Ember nodded.

“Isn’t she marking me too?”

Ember sniffed her.
“You’re the dominant,” she grunted. “Huh, I didn’t expect that.”

“
The dominant?”

Beth gasped and whispered,
“That’s kind of kinky.”

“
Oh my God!”

“
Not that kind of dominant,” Ember said. Her eyes raked up and down Beth and she shrugged. “Well, not usually.”

“
Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Beth asked.

A rumble in the distance ripped Crystal
’s attention to the parking lot. She saw Ember shaking her head and then noticed Beth looking back and forth. Beth gasped a moment later and whispered, “Motorcycle!”

Crystal couldn
’t stop herself from grinning.

“
You knew,” Beth accused. “You did that last time too! How did you know?”

“
I heard it,” Crystal said.

“
You have to know what to listen for,” Ember offered. She glared at Crystal for a long moment and then turned as Hank rumbled into view on his cruiser.

“
What is that, anyhow? A Harley?”

“
Indian,” Ember said.

Beth frowned.
“Native American or do you mean India?”

Crystal nearly stumbled from the strange comment her friend made.
“What?”

“
Indian is a brand of motorcycle,” Ember said.

“
It is? Oh!”

“
Oh my God.” Crystal resisted the urge to facepalm herself for Beth’s mistake and shook her head. “You are such an indoor girl.”

Beth shrugged and kept her mouth shut.

“Ember, Crystal,” Hank greeted as he climbed off his bike and stood to face them.

“
Jesus, he’s a tank,” Beth mumbled.

Ember grunted and nodded while
Crystal grinned and barely resisted the urge to skip and jog ahead to meet him. She still walked fast enough that she almost didn’t slow down in time to meet him. Hank smiled when Crystal’s eyes widened and she stumbled with the effort to slow herself down.

Hank reached out and caught her shoulders before she could fall. He chuckled.
“Well, hi there.”

“
I’m such a klutz!” Crystal groaned.

He shrugged.
“I don’t mind.”

Ember smacked him in the arm as she walked up next.
“What’s the word?”

“
He hasn’t been back to the bridge,” Hank said with his rumbling voice.

Crystal picked up a touch of an accent. Tennessee, maybe?

“We couldn’t track him or find him. He healed before he came out of the river. No blood to follow.”

“
I should have been there,” Ember mumbled. “I could have found his scent again.”

“
Found his scent?” Beth asked as she joined them. “What are you talking about?”

“
Ember was the one who knew the Beast was there when we rode past Crystal,” Hank explained.

“
Hank, shut it!” Ember hissed. “She doesn’t know.”

“
I know about Crystal getting hurt,” Beth protested. Once all eyes were on her, she held out her arms and said, “What? She told me!”

“
What did you tell her?” Hank asked.

Crystal felt herself withering under his bright
-eyed gaze. “I told her about the thing that bit me and how it was making me sick. And that it was hunting me.”

Hank nodded. He glanced at Ember.
“Soon.”

Ember laughed.
“Better be.”

Crystal scowled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ember glanced down between the two of them and nodded.
“Two of you are getting awfully close and it looks like somebody’s getting happy to see you.”

“
Ember!” Hank growled.

Crystal glanced down in spite of the sudden heat in her cheeks and saw the bulge in his pants. She gasped and felt her knees tremble.
“Uh—”

“
Crys! Wait up!” Stephanie’s voice broke over her like a tidal wave of freezing water.

Crystal jerked herself around, twisting and ending up brushing her arm against Hank
’s chest. He caught her and held her still so she didn’t trip. Crystal felt the quiet strength in his grip and hoped the moan she heard was only in her head. Ember was right: if she wasn’t careful, she was going to jump his bones the first chance she got!

“
You said you’d introduce me to your boyfriend,” Stephanie said as she closed the distance on her long legs.

“
Boyfriend?” Hank whispered in her ear.

Crystal shivered.
“It kind of slipped,” she mumbled.

“
So?” Stephanie said as she slowed. She looked up at him and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Stephanie.”

Crystal jerked and turned to look at Hank. He had his head tilted a little as he looked down at her.
“Stephanie, this is Hank.”

Hank took his hand off Crystal
’s shoulder and extended his arm to her. Crystal’s stomach tightened and her teeth felt like they would crack under pressure any second as Hank shook her hand.

“
Oh my, you really are big,” Stephanie said with a smile.

“
We were just leaving,” Crystal said. “We can catch up later.”

“
Oh? That’s too bad,” Stephanie said. She smiled at Hank and nodded. “Later then. I’m holding you to that!”

Crystal grabbed Hank and turned him around.
“Let’s go,” she muttered.

“
What was that all about?” he asked.

“
Long story. She’s the reason I cry myself to sleep at night.”

“
You what?”

Crystal sighed.
“Never mind. I’m kidding. About the crying, at least. Do you want to come to my place?”

“
Everybody’s already there,” Hank said.

“
What? My mom—oh, she’s working a double. Wait! How’d they get in my house?”

“
They’re not in your house,” Ember said. “Camped outside. Probably on the back deck.”

“
Oh, okay. So the neighbors will see them. Great.”

“
If you’d prefer, we could leave you to face this on your own?” Ember asked.

Crystal clamped her lips shut and glanced at the ground.
“You’re right,” she mumbled before looking back up. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“
Crys,” Beth said. “Can I stay with you, please?”

Crystal looked at Ember and Hank and saw both of them shake their heads. She sighed.

“It’s not safe,” Hank said. “This is dangerous and if we have to protect you too, it will spread us too thin.”

“
How can anything be dangerous with you around?” Crystal asked him.

Hank chuckled while Ember made a gagging noise.

Beth pouted as they got to her car. “All right, let’s go. But you call me if anything happens and you’d better respond to my texts!”

Crystal looked at Hank and said,
“I will, unless, I’m, uh, busy.”

Ember slammed the back door of the car as she climbed in, jarring Crystal out of her pleasant thoughts. She glanced at Beth and saw her friend roll her eyes. She climbed into her car and left her standing on the passenger side with Hank beside her.

“Sorry about the boyfriend thing,” Crystal mumbled into his leather-covered chest.

He chuckled.
“Anything that helps you find the strength to fight through this. I don’t mind.”

Crystal smiled and glanced away from him so his blue eyes wouldn
’t pierce through her heart again. She saw Stephanie standing near the school with a crowd of her friends. They were gossiping, probably about her, but Stephanie was staring straight at Crystal.

“
Oh damn, why won’t she leave me alone?” Crystal groaned.

“
Trust me,” Hank whispered before he spun her around and pressed his lips to hers.

Crystal
’s mind exploded. She felt the sensation of his lips, firm but soft, crushing hers. The whiskers on his face scraped at her skin but it felt so raw and powerful. She could smell the leather mixing with the odor that was pure Hank. It filled her and made her moan into his mouth. Without realizing it, she parted her lips and felt his tongue against hers. He invaded her, filling her with his essence.

“
That should take care of her,” he whispered.

Crystal blinked and blindly reached out to grab the car door. Her knees were weak and she wanted nothing more than to rip Hank
’s clothes off and throw herself on him. “Oh. My. God,” she breathed.

Hank grinned and winked at her,
and then turned and walked to his bike.

“
You’re such a slut. Get in,” Beth chided her.

Crystal hesitated as she stared after her dream man. Her mom was gone until six a
.m. tomorrow. “Go ahead. I’m going to catch a ride with Hank.”

“
Oh hell no,” Beth groaned.

Ember threw her door open and stepped out.
“Crissy, what are you doing?”

Crystal grinned.
“I’m just catching a ride home.”

“
Did you hear me, Crissy?”

Crystal turned slowly and blinked. She called her Crissy. Twice. She smiled at her assigned protector and said,
“Yes, I heard you.”

Ember sniffed and leaned to look past her.
“Hank!”

The large man stopped and turned around. He had a grin on his face.
“What’s up, Red?”

Ember scowled.
“He won’t come until it gets dark. Go ahead and give Princess a ride home. Follow us and don’t stop anywhere, got it?”

“
Why would I stop?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“
You know damn well why,” she growled. “Keep it in your pants, Tiny.”

Beth groaned from inside the car.

Crystal blushed and looked away. “I’ll see you there.” She hurried after Hank and then turned to glance back when Beth chirped the tires on her car and raced out of her parking spot. Crystal grinned and couldn’t wait to wrap her arms and legs around Hank.