Claimed by the Beast Bundle (8 page)

The only questions she had
: how would she manage to get him alone and why had Ember called him Tiny?

Chapter 13

True to her fantasies, Crystal rested her head against Hank’s back and breathed him in while she pressed on his hips with her legs and kept her hands locked on his stomach. She felt each breath he took and daydreamed about making him breathe hard while he was on top of her.

Hank shifted and caused the powerful engine to send vibrations through the seat that made her tingle. She smiled and thought about the nature of Ember, Hank, and the others. Maybe having Hank on top of her wasn
’t the best option. Maybe he’d like to be behind her. Reaching around and leaning forward to sink his fingers into her—

“
You doing okay?” he asked over his shoulder, jerking her out of her vivid fantasy.

Crystal jerked her head up, glad he couldn
’t see her blushing. “Yeah, why?”

He lifted his massive shoulders
in a shrug. “Making sure. From what I’ve heard, it’s not often somebody gets away from one of these things.”

Crystal stiffened against him.
“You mean there’s more than one?”

He nodded.
“Yeah, not a lot, but whenever we run across one, we try to take ’em out.”

“
Why? I mean, if they’re so dangerous, why risk it?”

“
Just something we do,” Hank said.

Crystal fell silent and found her mind wandering. The air chilled her enough that she was pressing her chest against his back. Her bra was pinching her and she itched underneath it. She almost giggled at the thought that her nipples were the part she wanted to scratch the most. They were aching as they pressed into the bra
’s cups.

“
Your friend’s going to get herself pulled over if she keeps driving like that.”

Crystal looked around his shoulder and saw B
eth’s Ford racing ahead of them as they pulled out of the busy downtown area. “She’s upset,” Crystal said. “Worried about me.”

“
She’s a good friend.”

Crystal nodded and realized he couldn
’t see her and definitely couldn’t hear that. “She is. My best friend. Tell me something about you? How’d you get so big?” She bit her lip to keep from asking if he was big all over.

“
I was always big,” he said. “Joined the wrestling team and played football in junior high and spent a lot of time in the gym.”

“
Cool. What about Ember and the others?”

“
What about them?”

Crystal raised an eyebrow. His quick response made her hesitate. Was she asking too much?
“Nothing, I guess. Ember’s cool, just kind of bitchy.”

Hank chuckled.
“Yeah, she can be.”

“
Can be?” Crystal asked. “She hasn’t given me a break yet.”

“
All right, she is,” he admitted. He twisted his head to say something and stopped. He jerked his head back as a dark blur shot out from between the bushes on the side of the road.

Crystal turned
to look and then screamed as Hank twisted the throttle and made the tire squeal as it slipped against the pavement. It lurched forward and rocked her back. She held on to Hank’s belly and squeezed his hips between her thighs as the bike tilted and twisted. She hit the ground and rolled and slid across the pavement.

She stared at the bike and saw the rear fender had gashes and twisted metal
, exposing a shredded tire on a bent rim. It spun unevenly a few times and then the entire motorcycle jerked on its side as the engine died. Crystal rolled, crying out at the pain that shot through her body. A dark shape leapt across her vision, passing from left to right. She tried to follow it but the world was still spinning around her.

When she lifted her head up again
, she saw a huge shape pick itself up and turn towards her. She blinked, trying to clear the blood from her eyes. Was it Hank? She couldn’t make out the details. Was it the blood in her eyes that made it so blurry?

She shook her head and whimpered at the pain in her neck and back. Her eyes fell on the shape of something on the ground behind it. Something furry and large. No, not large
—massive. Was it a bear? She turned and looked up as a fur-covered hand passed in front of her face. Thick dark nails stood out and then disappeared and grabbed her hair.

Crystal screamed as she was picked up by her hair.
The Beast’s other hand wrapped around her waist and tucked her against his side. He turned and took off, running off the road and between the houses. She caught a glimpse as it ran of a leather jacket and the shredded remains of Hank’s jeans and shirt on the ground.

She screamed again and received a stunning slap to the back of her head. She bit her tongue and fought to keep herself from throwing up from each jarring step
the Beast took.

Chapter 14

Crystal hit the ground and cried out. Unlike the pavement, the spongy ground she hit had grass on it. She rolled over in time to see a dog go flying and hit the ground rolling. It leapt to its feet and snarled before charging at the Beast standing a few feet from Crystal.

The dog wasn’t a dog
, a voice in the back of her head reminded her. It was a charcoal and red wolf—Ember.

Ember leapt at
the Beast but he smacked her aside with one massive arm. Ember’s breath blasted from her lungs in a yelp even before she hit the ground and rolled end over end. She struggled to rise and fell back down when she put her weight on one of her legs.

“
Wait!” Crystal whimpered as the Beast grabbed her by the shirt and lifted her up. The material ripped and tore, releasing her from his grasp. He caught her before she hit the ground and tucked her under his arm again.

Her struggles made him tighten his grip on her and threatened to crush her chest. She gasped and relaxed, forcing herself to focus on breathing. She could see behind her and saw Ember struggling again to pick herself up. She limped and tried to come after her. Crystal wanted to reach out for her but she knew it would only get her beaten again. Or worse.

Ember would keep coming. Hank was already down. Probably dead, she hated to admit. Between the motorcycle wreck and the Beast, he hadn’t moved. The same thing would happen to Ember if she kept coming. She wanted to scream for her to stop. To go back. To do anything. She felt the Beast’s strength. She knew how hard he was. She could tell they couldn’t stop him. She was screwed, figuratively and soon literally. Nobody else had to get hurt.

The ground blurred past her as
the Beast ran. His loping stride cleared distances greater than she thought possible. She shifted as much as she could and studied him, noting first that while he was naked, he was covered in a dark-mottled fur. She could smell him, too: he smelled musky and damp. Like the swamp, but without the sickly-sweet stench of rotting plants.

Her body went from numb to aching and then started to fade back towards numb as
the Beast ran. She lost track of time but did notice it was getting darker out before he took her into a forest.

Crystal cried out when he dropped and left her feeling weightless. It ended a heartbeat later with a jarring landing that splattered her with cold water. He changed directions and ran down the stream, splashing her again and again until she shivered and clung to his warmth.

They left the water behind and slowed down once the Beast was on dry land again. He dropped her on the ground without warning, knocking the wind out of her again. She scrambled, twisting around enough to see him roll a massive rock several inches and then grab a fallen log as big around as her waist and pick it up to move it aside. The Beast revealed a dark hole dug out of the side of a hill.

“
Oh, hell no,” Crystal muttered. “Not in there. Please, not in there!”

He grabbed her outstretched arm and yanked on it hard enough to make her scream. Her shirt, already torn, ripped some more before he used her legs and arms to take the pressure off her shoulder. He let her go once she was in the mouth
of his den.

The dusk light was blocked by
the Beast as he stood outside of it. She stared up at him and got as good a look as the darkness would allow. He resembled a man, if a man were covered in fur and stood as tall as a tree. His arms were not only thick but long. Long enough his thick fingernails were closer to the ground than to his knees. Middlebrook High’s basketball coach would have killed to have him try out.

She looked up and noticed his arms weren
’t the only thing thick and long about him. He sniffed loudly and let out a lusty growl. The growl broke through her terror and helped her jerk her eyes off his swollen member. She whimpered and stared at the wide chest and savage face of the Beast. He had two eyes, but his mouth and nose were on a short snout. His teeth were sharp and stained.

He took a step and reached for her. She scooted back, dodging his clutching hand. He growled again and lunged forward, making her cry out in fear and then pain when he grabbed her leg. He dragged her towards him and reached for her jeans.

Crystal struggled, twisting and turning and rolling over so she could use her hands to pull herself away. He pushed her down, driving her belly and hips into the ground and making her grunt. She tried again, flailing her feet to no effect and then lifting her chest up on her elbows.

The Beast
grabbed the waist of her jeans and tugged on them. Her flesh scraped as the denim rubbed it raw. Her belt snapped and the button on the front tore free. The skin of her ass stung as he pulled her jeans over her hips and left her exposed.

“
No! Please, no!” Crystal whimpered.

She felt something hot blowing against her and smelled his fetid breath. The den grew darker as he descended on her.
He licked her exposed shoulder where her shirt had been torn away. She gagged and then froze in terror when she felt his sharp teeth clamp down on her skin. He bit, breaking the skin and making her body stiffen. A whimper slipped through her lips from the pain and then it turned into a moan as something hard and searing hot poked against her exposed butt. Her paralysis ended as she felt him trying to spread her legs. Her jeans, now around her hips, worked to protect her.

She squirmed under him, ignoring the
teeth next to her neck and the sharp claws piercing her lower back. She had to get away! She started to make headway when he relinquished his grip on her shoulder with his mouth and grabbed her hip in his hand. He picked her butt up and drove her shoulders and chin into the ground.

He stabbed at her again, his throbbing heat jabbing against her thighs and sliding wetly against her skin. She started screaming and thrashing at the same time she felt his hardness slide against her and begin to stretch her open.

Crystal’s breath was blasted out of her as he crashed on top of her and drove her into the ground. His manhood slipped free instead of piercing her but the pain left her breathless. He lifted himself off her, letting her breathe in some of the damp air from the den and then groan at the fiery pain in her crotch.

She spun after she realized he wasn
’t trying to breed her anymore. Instead, she heard noises. Growling and snarling. She yanked her torn pants back up over her hips and held them there as she stared out of the opening. The Beast was out there, standing between her and two wolves she could barely make out in the darkness. One was a big wolf, maybe big enough to be Hank? The other was picking itself up off the ground and snarling at the Beast.

“
Ember!” Crystal realized even though she couldn’t understand how she was moving without limping. Her leg looked healed, and Hank was walking back and forth while growling. But where were the others?

And if
five of them couldn’t stop the Beast by the river the other night, what hope did only two of them have?

Chapter 15

Ember kicked up dirt as she darted in from the side towards the Beast. She stopped and darted away as he turned to face her and swung a long arm. Hank pounced from the other side, barreling in and leaping up to land on the Beast’s back.

The Beast
staggered forward and then spun around, sending Hank falling off. Blood and fur splattered on the ground from where Hank’s paws had dug into him. Hank hit the ground with a hollow thud and began to flop. Ember was back, nipping at the Beast’s leg and darting away.

Crystal
’s hand went to her mouth. She started forward and then stopped when the pony-sized wolf sprung to his feet. His flopping hadn’t been an injury; it had been a contraction of muscles to bounce back. She felt her chest loosen but she was still terrified.

Crystal moved to hide between the fallen tree trunk and the rock wall beside the den. She held her pants up with one hand and pulled her shirt together over her breasts with the other.
“Get him, Hank!” she urged in a whisper.

Her champion
ran across the small battlefield and crossed in front of the Beast as he swung an arm at Ember and clipped her hindquarters. She went sprawling across the ground and sent fallen leaves and sticks plopping into the nearby stream. She yipped and twisted her back to stare at the deep gouge in her flank.

Hank
’s distraction kept the Beast from going after her. He followed Hank as the wolf turned and ran back at him. Crystal winced as her would-be boyfriend’s paws dug into the ground and he crouched low to build up strength and speed. The Beast was ready for him and leaned forward to catch Hank as he leapt.

Crystal squeezed her eyes shut and then realized she couldn
’t miss what was going to happen. She opened them in time to see her wolf leaping through the air and shifting as he jumped. The Beast hesitated and barely caught the flying man. Hank’s left arm came across in a hook that drove the Beast’s head to the side.

Hank used the distraction to rip his right arm free of
the Beast’s cruel grip and twist around so he could wrap his arm around his opponent’s neck. He grabbed his right hand with his left, locking the Beast’s head against his side, and slipped his right leg between the legs of the Beast and tripped his right leg forward. The one-time wrestler threw his weight back and drove the Beast onto his back, with Hank landing on top of him.

Crystal winced and then gasped as they struck the ground together. Hank bounced off
the Beast and struggled to keep his grip. He growled as the Beast bit at his arm and side and then used his arms to push Hank off him. Hank rolled and came up gasping for breath. Blood coated his side and right arm. Hank snarled and threw himself to the side in another roll while he shifted back into a wolf.

The Beast rolled onto its hands and feet and crouched down to pounce. He turned as Ember slammed into him from the side, deflecting her towards Hank with little more than a tuft of hair lost from his shoulder. Ember bounced to her feet and snarled,
and then risked a glance at Hank as he moved to put some distance between the two of them.

Crystal realized
they couldn’t win. The Beast’s wounds were closing almost as fast as they made them. It wasn’t possible, but nothing that had happened to her had been possible since that fateful night.

They could hurt
the Beast, but not enough. Hank had said they’d killed creatures like him before, but how? If they hurt him bad enough, maybe. But how could they strike a killing blow when he was so strong and so fast? She watched Ember and Hank pace back and forth, keeping the Beast shifting to face them. Soon one of them would make a mistake or attack, and then it would only be a matter of time until the Beast hurt one of them bad enough to turn on the other.

They weren
’t what he wanted, though. It was her. The Beast wanted her. He’d marked her and claimed her as his own. Now he only needed to breed her and he’d be satisfied. Her friends didn’t want that to happen. Hell, she didn’t want that to happen! But it was looking less and less like she would have a choice.

Crystal
stepped out from behind the trunk and let go of her pants. They fell all the way to her feet, proving that she’d lost some weight in the past week. She kicked her shoes off and let her hand fall to her side. Her shirt hung in tatters, showing off her bra and doing nothing to hide her stretched and ripped boy shorts. She saw Hank stop and stare at her. His jowls lifted in one of the biggest and meanest snarls she’d seen yet.

“
Hank! Ember! Just go. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt,” she called out to them. She turned around and fell forward to her knees. She kept going down to her hands and looked back over her shoulder. “Leave my friends alone! Come on, you sick fuck! This is how you wanted it, isn’t it?”

Crystal barely caught her breath before
the Beast had her. His arm, fur slick with blood, wrapped under her belly and hoisted her up. She was already kicking back and felt her heel glance off the inside of his thigh. She let her arms go limp to throw herself forward and kicked up with her other leg. She felt her heel hit tissue that was softer than what she’d come to expect from the muscle-bound monster.

The beast
’s snarl turned into a yipping howl in her ear. She felt herself jerked left and then right before she fell to the ground and had her breath blasted from her. When she tipped herself up on a hip and lifted herself up with her elbows, she saw Ember had her teeth sunk into the Beast’s right leg and Hank had his jaw wrapped on the back of the Beast’s neck.

Crystal turned some more as her heart skipped a beat. She sat up, ignoring the ache in her butt as she scraped her gashed bottom across the ground. A flash of gray out of the corner of her mind made her turn. Another
two wolves streaked out of the dark woods and leapt onto the beast.

Crystal found herself grinning and rose up. She licked her lips and to
ok a step towards the battle. The Beast rose up on his legs in spite of being covered in wolves. Fur and flesh hung from him and blood fell like rain from his wounds. Crystal stopped and stared, and then her eyes narrowed as she felt something twist in her belly. She snarled and curled her fingers into fists and took another step before a wolf with silver streaks leapt up onto the Beast and bit down on his snout.

The wolf—Gwen
, Crystal guessed by the silver fur—slid off the Beast but left his face torn and bleeding. He tottered and crashed to the ground on his back. The pack of wolves fell on him anew. Blood, dirt, and patches of fur filled the air as the Beast’s struggles grew weaker and weaker. After a few minutes, the only ones still moving were the wolves.

Crystal straightened and watched the fight turn gory. Her brow furrowed, confused, and then she saw one of the wolves rip a bloody morsel from
the Beast’s corpse and swallow it down. Her mouth dropped as she watched the feeding frenzy unfold.

One of the
wolves, a long-haired gray one, snapped and roared at the others. The other wolves backed away and looked up at him, each of them licking the blood from their chops or swallowing whatever gibbets of flesh were in their mouths. The wolf shifted, blurring and contorting before her eyes until a nude man rose up from the blood-strewn ground. He bent over and shoved his hand into the disemboweled monster’s chest. He pulled his blood-soaked arm out and held the Beast’s dripping heart in his hand. She gasped as she saw it still quivering.

Guntar turned and walked towards her, mindless of his nudity. Crystal was equally ignorant
; her eyes were on the gift he carried. He stopped in front of her and lifted it to her. She noticed the blood soaking his cheeks and beard, and then looked down at the heart of the monster. He nodded to it and raised it to her face. “Eat,” he said in a voice barely recognizable as human.

The coppery smell of blood and tissue
filled her nose. Her stomach twisted again and her mouth watered. She licked her lips and tasted something that made her tongue tingly. A rush of heat spread through her body. She glanced down and saw blood splatters on her skin and tattered clothes. She lifted her head up and saw the heart was closer still. She sniffed and filled her senses with the taste of the Beast’s flesh.

She leaned forward and spread her lips. She felt the near searing heat of the heart and let the taste overwhelm her. What she knew rationally was a disgusting thing her body suddenly craved. She captured Guntar
’s arm in her hands and sawed her teeth into the muscle. She ripped it away and chewed the strong tissue before swallowing. The act only increased her appetite. Crystal attacked the heart, tearing, chewing, and swallowing so fast her throat ached as it had to stretch to let the partially chewed meat pass through.

When her senses returned
, someone held her back while Guntar pulled his hand from her. He grinned, his teeth pink contrast to the red of his face. She blinked and looked down at the stains on her body. Her shirt was soaked and her hands were coated with the sticky substance. She gasped and felt her belly rumble. It was a happy and contented sigh. She blinked, horrified at what she’d done.

“
Oh my God,” she whispered. “What—”

Guntar nodded to her and looked at the other naked people surrounding them.
“We need to burn the remains.”

“
That’s it?” Crystal asked. “Just business as usual?”

Adrian smirked.
“Nothing is ever usual with a beast like this. They’re all different, and this one died because of you.”

“
Um, great,” Crystal said. She looked over at the remains and shuddered. “I just ate his fucking heart!”

“
Might help you,” Guntar said.

“
Or it might kill her,” Adrian said.

Hank touched her arm, startling her. Crystal turned to see him holding her jeans and shoes. Crystal blushed and took them.
“Thanks,” she mumbled and found herself unable to think of anything except how magnificent Hank’s body was. Magnificent and naked. And close enough to touch.

Ember cleared her throat and stepped up.
“Back off, Tiny. She’s still in heat.”

“
Tiny?” Crystal asked. She glanced down and saw that Hank was anything but small.

“
Because I’m so big,” Hank explained.

Crystal glanced down again and said,
“I’ll say.”

“
Okay, let’s get these two apart,” Gwen agreed. She stepped up and grabbed onto Crystal’s hand. “Put your clothes back on, dear. We’ve got to get you home.”

Crystal frowned and realized she was still holding onto her pants. She bit her lip and nodded.
“Hey!” She looked at Gwen and then Guntar. “If he’s dead, why am I still, um, like this?”

“
The poison doesn’t die with him,” Adrian said.

“
But, I thought—”

“
There’s no amount of thinking that will help. This is blood and magic,” he said. “Might be eating the Beast’s essence will give you strength to fight it. Or it might be that it will make it worse.”

“
Worse? You mean, like, kill me faster? Turn me into a slut?”

Adrian shrugged and looked away.

Crystal sighed. “So now what?”

“
Get dressed,” Gwen repeated. “We’ll get you home and get you cleaned up. We’ll watch you and figure it out from there.”

Crystal nodded and balanced on one leg while she slipped her jeans back on. She glanced back and saw Hank
staring at her butt and she jerked her head away. Her cheeks burned and then she realized that Hank was interested. She glanced back and saw him raise his gaze to hers. His cheeks flushed beneath the drying blood and she smiled.

She would have him
; it was only a matter of time. She didn’t understand how, but she knew that she’d staked her claim.

###