Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) (15 page)

Chapter 16

It had taken Melody a week, but she’d made her way down to Indiana from Canada.  It hadn’t been easy.  In the town of Field, she learned she was in Ontario, but the small town didn’t have any public transportation running overnight, so she continued on in her shifted form, coming to a larger town.  In North Bay, she shifted into her human form and found a bus station, where she caught a bus as close to the border as she could.  After getting off the bus, she crossed over into the states in her cat form, praying that she wasn’t being followed.  She knew she could have legally crossed over into the states. She had a passport in her bag along with her Ohio driver’s license, but she didn’t want to risk the females being able to pull up data from the government if they were looking for her.  And she had to assume that they were.

She reached the outskirts of Ashland on Sunday.

Cherie’s Diner boasted free Wi-Fi on a sign in their window, so Melody shifted into her human form, dressed, and hid herself at the back of the building next to a dumpster that reeked of spoiled milk and garbage.  Knowing that the females watched the diner, she couldn’t risk that they might see her inside, so staying out of sight was best.  If someone had figured out where she was headed, they might try to snatch her before she was able to warn the males.

Opening the white pages app on her smart phone, she entered in the last name of Fallon and found several addresses.  She pulled up the addresses on a map and found two to be on what looked like a large farm and one to be in town.  She knew enough from listening to the females talk about the boarding house to know that the majority of the males didn’t live on a farm.  Committing the directions to memory, she left the diner and began to walk towards the boarding house.

When she reached the house, she heard the sounds of fighting and knew she was too late to warn them.  But she wasn’t too late to fight.  If there was one thing her father had instilled in her, it was that where family was concerned, having each other’s back was the most important thing.  These males were part of her father’s pride and that made them family.

She dropped her pack at the side of the boarding house and stripped off her clothes, shifting into her form and slinking around the corner of the house.  The melee that greeted her eyes stole her breath.  Mountain lions fought against huge bears, and men fought against men.  A woman screamed and Melody recognized the woman who had been with Alek.  A big male held a knife to the woman’s throat.  Snarling in rage, Melody leapt at them, knocking the man away from the woman.  The knife hit the ground away from the man as he went down.  Melody rolled on the grass and found her footing, leaping at the man as he started to rise.  He saw her coming, and rolled to his back, kicking up his legs and connecting with her stomach.

She flew over his head and hit the corner post of the screened-in back porch.  The wind whooshed from her lungs on impact, and she fell to the ground with a thud, pain radiating through her body.

As she tried to focus and stand to return to the fight, she saw two male lions descend on the man who had thrown her.  The woman rose to her feet with a sharp roaring cry.

Melody felt herself slipping away and didn’t fight it, believing in her heart that the pride would protect one of their own.

Chapter 17

Jericho spun deftly, nailing his father in the chest and sending him to the ground.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a lion grapple with one of the bears who had grabbed Lachlyn, setting her free.

He froze in amazement as Lachlyn shifted into her bear form to protect Alek, who lay unmoving underneath her petite shifted form.

Stars lit Jericho’s eyes as his father slammed his fist into the side of his head.  Jericho went down on one knee, not giving in to the desire to just let the pain take him away into unconsciousness.

“Well, look at that.  The little bitch can shift after all.” His father chuckled darkly.

Jericho kicked out, connecting with his father’s knee.  The angle was off, so the knee didn’t dislocate, but his father still went to the ground with a howl of pain.  All around him, lions fought against the bears, those in human form against others in human form, with the shifted lions taking on the shifted bears.  He could smell blood and sweat on the air.  This was all his father’s doing.  Lachlyn was in danger.  Alek was hurt.  Jericho’s new family was fighting for him, with him.  And it would never stop as long as Detroit still breathed.

Jericho rose to his feet and grabbed his father by the collar, drawing him up.  “You could have left us alone,” Jericho snarled, his bear clawing under his skin.

His father laughed loudly.  “No matter whose thighs you’re rutting between, you’ll always be my son.”

Jericho shook him roughly, his vision straining as his bear tried to break free.  “You will not talk about my mate.  Ever.”

His father grabbed Jericho’s wrists and squeezed.  “You’re sharing a whore with another male.  Bears were not meant to share.  Someday, you’ll kill the male who shares your mate, and eventually, you’ll kill her, too.  You’re just like me, Jericho.  My living legacy.”

“I’m nothing like you,” Jericho swore.  His father’s allegations tipped his rage from white-hot to nuclear.  His bear broke free, and he gave himself over to the shift.  His bones cracked and reformed as his body changed.  His father’s eyes flashed with fear, and he began to shift as well.

Taking advantage of being faster at shifting than his father, Jericho grabbed his father’s still-human leg in between his jaws and moved as quickly as he could, dragging his father behind him into the woods.

He wanted to end things in the way of bears.  The two of them alone.  Fighting for dominance.  Without the lions watching or interfering.  Without subjecting Lachlyn to the sight of his actions.  She might have known he would eventually kill his father, but she didn’t need to be burdened with the memories.

He would shoulder those alone.

Chapter 18

Alek slowly regained consciousness to a world of aches and pains.  Even his fur hurt.  His thoughts shifted swiftly back to the situation at hand, and he staggered to his feet to help Lachlyn.

A nose bumped his back leg. He looked back and was startled to see a brown bear lying near him.  He inhaled and knew it was Lachlyn.  But how had she shifted?  He turned to her and pressed his nose into her thick, furry neck and inhaled again.  Her naturally sweet scent had deepened, but it was definitely his mate.

He sat on his haunches and looked at her, wishing he could talk in his shifted form.  His injuries were still healing, and he’d heal faster in his form than if he shifted back to human.  She was bigger than him — by at least several hundred pounds — and covered with thick brown fur.  Lethal-looking black claws tipped her large paws.  Pride wove through him.  His mate was a bear who no one would tangle with.  He rubbed his cheek against hers and purred, and she made a soft, rumbling sound.  When they both shifted back, they’d have plenty to discuss.

He’d start off by telling her how beautiful she was.  And how proud he was of her.  He’d been unconscious after the bear tossed him, but he knew that she’d protected him.  If that had driven her to shift to protect him, then he was grateful for the aches and pains.  He scented over her to make sure she was okay, and after finding no open wounds, he settled against her belly, resting his head on her back.

Around them, the bears had been defeated.  He didn’t see Jericho or his father, but he knew the male would not have left unless he’d known that Lachlyn was safe.  Six other bears had come with Detroit and most of them had shifted.  The cats had outnumbered them, but the bears were trained fighters in their shifted forms and the cats were not. They teamed up against the bears.  Alek didn’t remember much after getting knocked out.

Some of the cats had shifted back, including his father and his uncles.  Grant and Aaron raced into the house to check on Sam and Henry, and his father and Uncle John were standing near a mountain lion who appeared to be unconscious.  He tipped his head and listened.

“Where did she come from?” his dad asked.

“No idea.  But it can’t be a coincidence that a female showed up just when the bears did,” John mused.

His dad looked up at the house and said, “Aaron, bring out some of that rope from the garage.”

“Rope?” John asked.

His dad shrugged, rubbing two fingers along his jaw like he did whenever he was in deep thought.  “She’s a female and can’t be trusted.  We’ll tie her up and put her in the storage room on the first floor.  When she shifts back into her human form, we’ll arrest her for trespassing and take her to the station.”

Aaron walked out of the house with a length of rope and gave it to Alek’s dad.  His dad moved to the female and lifted her head to put the rope underneath her when Micah and Tristan stalked forward and growled.  Tristan snapped at James as he and Micah closed in on the group, trying to put themselves between the female and the males.

His dad stepped back in surprise, dropping the rope.  “What the hell?”

Aaron said, “Guys, we know she’s a female, but we need to keep her until she shifts back into her human form.  Then we’ll get her the hell out of here as fast as we can and find out what she knows.”

John nodded.  “Don’t worry.  She won’t be here long.”

They growled again, and his dad snarled.  “Enough!  We need to get her locked up before she wakes up.”  He shouldered the cats away, ignoring their loud complaints.  Alek watched as his father tied the rope around the female’s neck, leaving enough room so that when she shifted, she wouldn’t choke, and then he and John lifted her and carried her into the house.

Micah and Tristan tried to follow them into the house, but Aaron shut the screen door on them.  “She’ll be gone before you know it, guys.  Settle down.  Go hunt some rabbits if you need to run off some steam.”

To Alek’s surprise, the two brothers didn’t take off, but instead paced back and forth in front of the screened-in porch, yowling and snarling their complaints.  Alek wondered what their issue was.  He personally didn’t care about the female except for what information she could give to them about the females, and he was leaving that to his dad and uncles.  He had much bigger things to deal with.

Lachlyn lifted her head and scented the air and rumbled an approval.  She nudged Alek’s side and he stood, giving her room to get to her feet.  She turned towards the woods, and within a few minutes, an enormous brown bear moved through the trees and into the grass.  She made a happy, barking sound, and Alek realized he was looking at Jericho.  He was at least twice as big as Lachlyn, if not bigger.  He limped and Alek could smell blood on the air.

Lachlyn and Jericho met, and Alek let them have a few moments together as they met for the first time in their bear shifts.  After a few minutes, they joined him, and Alek saw that Jericho had a wound to his shoulder that was restricting his movements.  Jericho nodded his head at Alek, and he returned the gesture.  Jericho slumped down to the ground and exhaled a deep sigh.  Lachlyn lay next to him and motioned for Alek to join them and he did, sitting on his haunches and watching the goings-on in the yard.

His dad and John came from the house, and along with Grant and Aaron, they began to check on the cats and the bears.  The bears were all either injured or unconscious.

Alek was surprised when Lachlyn’s Uncle Don stepped around the side of the house along with many of his people.  Alek’s dad went over and shook Don’s hand.

“I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but it looks like you and your pride handled them.  Is anyone in need of medical care?”

Don instructed his people to handle the bears from Jericho’s former den, and he walked around to the cats to see if anyone needed help.  From what Alek could tell, most of the cats were banged up, but no one was seriously injured.  Don stopped in front of them and looked at Jericho’s shoulder.

“It’ll be good in a few hours if you stay in your shift.”

Jericho made a sound of agreement.

Don turned to Lachlyn and touched the top of her head.  “Look at you, Lachlyn.  Aren’t you gorgeous?  You look just like your mom, darlin’.  She’d be really proud of you.  Both your folks would be.  In a few hours, your body is going to shift, and it’s going to hurt like a son of a bitch.  Don’t fight it.  Just let it come.”

He moved to Alek and looked him over and then said, “When she shifts, she’s going to be exhausted and sore.  Run her a hot bath to soothe her muscles and give her some ibuprofen for the pain.  She’ll be starving, so make sure she eats before she falls asleep, and expect her to sleep for at least twelve to fifteen hours.  I know you’ll take good care of her.”

Alek yowled in agreement and Don smiled, gave a tug to Lachlyn’s ear, and moved back over to help his people with the bears.  The bears in their shifted form who were conscious were fitted with thick collars attached to chains and led to the front of the house.  The unconscious bears were rolled onto some kind of wheeled cart and pushed away.  The one bear who had remained human was unconscious, and he was strapped to a backboard and taken to the front of the house.  Don told Alek’s family that they were going to deal with the bears according to den law and left.  Alek didn’t know what “den law” was, but if his father hadn’t insisted on taking the bears into actual police custody, then he had a good reason for it.  There were things that were just were-business, and this was definitely one of those occasions.

The cats had all shifted and gone into the house, leaving the three of them alone in the yard.  Alek allowed himself to shift, knowing that he would need to prepare something for Lachlyn to eat and draw her bath.  He knelt and stroked the top of Lachlyn’s head.  The fur there was short and soft.  She lifted her head and made a humming sound.  “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart.  Thank you for protecting me.  I’m so proud to be your mate.”

Torn clothes littered the backyard, but he left the cleanup for someone else and headed inside.

Tristan and Micah were arguing with his dad and uncles.  “You don’t understand,” Tristan said with an aggravated groan.  “We need to see her.”

Aaron shook his head.  “No one gets in until she’s conscious and in her human form.  Until then, the room is locked and she’s off limits.”

Micah scrubbed a hand over his short blond hair and growled.  “We don’t want to hurt her.  We want to take care of her.  Please!”

Alek raised a brow at his father who shrugged.  Opening the fridge, he rummaged inside looking for something for Lachlyn to eat.  Because of the sheer number of people in their house, there weren’t often leftovers, so he made two roast beef sandwiches for her and grabbed a bottle of cranberry-peach juice.

John sighed loudly.  “Look, guys, we understand your feelings.  It’s hard to see a female and not wish that things were different for our kind.  But you can’t forget that she is a female, and females are not known for their touchy-feely behavior.  She was here for a reason, and until we know for certain, no one but James, Grant, Aaron, and I are allowed in.”

Tristan opened his mouth, and James said with a loud voice, “It’s not up for discussion.  Go get cleaned up, and we’ll have a pride meeting in the morning to discuss things.  But nothing is changing the fact that she is going to leave here in her human form in handcuffs and will be spending some time in jail.  Understand?”

For a brief moment, it looked like Tristan would argue again, but Micah touched his arm and shook his head.  The two turned away and headed upstairs without another word.

His dad looked at him.  “Were you hurt at all, Son?”

“Just a little banged up, but I’ll be fine.”

Grant smiled.  “Your girl shifted.”

John said, “I thought she wouldn’t ever be able to?”

Alek shrugged, unable to stop the proud grin that spread across his face.  “The situation must have provoked whatever latent shifting abilities she had.”

Aaron nodded.  “Stress and fear are powerful motivators, especially for shifters.”

His dad said, “Take good care of her and Jericho.  We’ll see you all tomorrow.  And let us know if you need anything.”

“Will do.”  He left the kitchen and paused at the backdoor to see that Jericho and Lachlyn were standing at the door to the screened-in porch, still in their bear forms.  He opened the door for them and they ambled inside.  He followed them upstairs, chuckling at the absurdity of the situation, and opened the door to their bedroom.

Flipping on the light, he watched as Lachlyn stretched out on the floor and Jericho joined her.  Alek put the food on the dresser and went to clean up in the bathroom.  An hour later, he and Jericho, who had returned to his human form with only a scar on his shoulder to show where the wound had been, were trying to coax Lachlyn to shift.

“Just let go, Sunshine,” Jericho urged.  “Don’t be afraid of the pain.  It’ll pass quickly and you’ll feel better.”

“Aren’t you hungry, sweetheart?” Alek asked.  “You have to shift so you can eat.”

She lifted her head and glared at him.  He laughed and shook his head.  “Don’t be mad at me, honey.”  He sighed and crossed his legs, resting his forearms on his knees.  “When I shifted the first time, I was scared as hell.  I’d watched my brothers shift and all my uncles and my dad, so I thought it was no big deal.  But the closer it came to my time to shift, the more worried I grew.  I was standing outside in the dark with my family, butt naked and shaking like a leaf.  My dad told everyone to shift and hunt so I could have privacy, and then he whispered something to Eryx, who nodded and disappeared.  A few minutes later, Eryx came back into the yard with a squirming rabbit in his jaws.  Everything inside me went on high alert, and I actually felt myself starting to shift.  ‘Don’t fight it, son,’ my dad said, and then he took the bunny from Eryx’s jaws and held the squirming thing up in front of me and then put it on the ground and patted its fuzzy butt, and that thing took off like a shot.  That’s all it took.  I dropped to the ground and shifted and went looking for that bunny.”

Jericho chuckled.  “In our former den, the male’s first shift was always watched by everyone.  I wasn’t allowed to show any fear, but inside I was terrified.  I mean, picture being a sixteen-year-old kid, standing naked in front of everyone you’ve known your entire life.”  He shuddered as if remembering the scene.  “I was screaming in my head for the bear to shift so I could get it over with.  I’d never been so happy to be in pain in my entire life.”

A soft, groaning sound came from Lachlyn, and he and Jericho watched as she began to shift.  Alek’s eyes filled with tears as he watched her struggling to change back into her human form.  Her furry body jerked and twisted, and the sounds of her bones cracking and snapping back into place filled the room.  The fur and claws receded and she held herself up on all fours for just a heartbeat and then collapsed onto the rug.

“Ouch.”

Alek and Jericho chuckled, and Alek wiped a stray tear from his cheek.  He got up and went into the bathroom, turning on the faucet to fill up the tub.  Jericho carried in a clearly exhausted Lachlyn and settled her in the tub.  She moaned and her legs moved restlessly in the water.