Roaring for Him (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Wicked in Wilder Book 1) (27 page)

“I’m sure you do,” she drawled.

“I can put it other places, too.” He left one hand in place while he slid the other to her hip, his thumb resting just above her pussy. He rubbed her mound in tiny circles, increasing his pressure as he eased it lower. “Like right here.”

It was so very, very close to where she wanted him most. Her pussy warmed with his teasing and her clit throbbed and ached for a firm touch.

“We can’t do this right now,” she whined some more. “Phoebe is—”

“Baby, if you’re gonna talk about other women when my hand is so close to your pussy, do me a favor and talk about someone other than your sister. Maybe Emma. She’s a cute little—”

Tilly’s lioness rushed forward, bursting free of her between one breath and the next. She bared her fully formed fangs with a threatening hiss. Fur burst from her pores, skating over her skin, covering her arms and chest to coat her in the golden strands.

“Mine,” she snarled and buried her fingers in his hair. She tugged and forced his head back. She knew he moved only because he allowed it, but it made the cat feel powerful, strong. “Mine.” She leaned down and licked his neck, tracing the long column from the hollow of his throat to just below his ear and then she snarled again. “No other women.
You’re mine
.”

The annoying man chuckled and his tormenting thumb lowered and teased the top of her slit through the fabric of her pants. He pressed and rubbed, arousing her further and sending a thrum of pleasure into her veins. “Yeah? All yours, am I? Is this pussy all mine?”

Tilly snaked her hand between them and stroked his hardness, his thick cock trapped by his jeans. “As long as this cock is all mine.” The dirty words sounded odd on her tongue, but the flare of his amber eyes told her he liked it and she liked that he liked it. “Does your dick belong to me, Mitchell?”

He rocked his hips, thrusting against her palm with a deep moan. “Fuck, yeah it does. All yours, baby.”

Oh, she liked this. Liked it a lot. Being in control, having him beneath her, was hot as hell.

“How much do you like these pants, Tilly?” he rasped and she felt the sting of his claws digging into her ass.

“Depends.”

“On? Don’t tease me.”

“Depends,” she scraped her fangs down his neck. “On what you’ll give me if I let you rip ‘em.”

“I’ll make you come so hard you’ll see fucking stars,” The words low and his voice hoarse and scratchy.

“Then—” Then nothing because a timid knock cut through the sound of their heavy breathing. It was soft, almost too low to hear, but she caught the sound. Tilly groaned and rested her head on Mitchell’s shoulder for a moment. “Dammit.”

“Ignore it.”

“It might be Phee,” she grumbled.

“When has Phoebe ever done something soft or half-assed?”

He hadn’t spent much time with her sister and already he knew her well. “I can’t ignore it. Keep hard for me. I’ll be right back.”

Her mate snorted and followed her as she rose from the couch. “You think I’m gonna let you answer the door alone when we’ve got this bullshit from Seth and your mother going on? Think again.”

Tilly rolled her eyes and ignored him as she made her way to the front door. The low knock came once more and she flicked the lock and tugged the panel open to reveal… “Darcy?” She frowned and opened her mouth to ask the woman what the hell she was doing, but Mitchell cut her off.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Darcy flinched and lowered her gaze, staring intently at the floor. “I heard Kade telling the sentinels you haven’t seen Phee—”

“Phoebe.” Tilly corrected. Only loved ones got to use the name Phee.

“Phoebe.”

“Why were you listening in on their conversation? Being the beta’s mate doesn’t mean—”

“No offense, Alpha, but you can kick my ass later. You haven’t heard from Phoebe and I wanted to tell you that…” Darcy’s attention rose slightly, meeting Tilly’s gaze for a bare moment before the woman looked to Mitchell.

Her mate’s fury increased, the air growing heavy with his anger and dominance. The alpha was out in full force and the wolf was pissed by Darcy’s presence. Yeah, Tilly wasn’t happy about being cock blocked either, but if Darcy knew something about Phee, Tilly would listen.

“What did you come here to say, Darcy?” Tilly ignored her mate’s annoyed growl.

Darcy took a deep breath. “You know Kade’s pissed at me and I’ve been making myself scarce.” The woman met Tilly’s gaze, firm and determined. “I made assumptions about you and I can’t pretend I’m happy to have a lioness alpha bitch, but I’ll get over it. The pack as a whole hasn’t been this happy since I moved here. I can’t promise roses and rainbows, but I’ll stop being such a bitch if you can give me a second chance.”

Tilly wasn’t ready to address the woman’s apology—no matter how sincere it sounded—when something was going on with Phoebe. For now, she ignored it. “What about Phee.”

“That’s why I said what I said. I can’t deny that Seth is my cousin and I’ve been a bitch, but I need you to believe me because I think Phoebe might be in trouble.”

She stared into Darcy’s eyes and scented the air. There was no lie lingering in the area, just hints of fear and determination. “What happened?”

“I was in the park feeling sorry for myself, and I saw Phoebe and Marcia hanging out near the diner. But when Marcia hopped in her car and left, Phoebe hung around. A car pulled up and she went toward it, clutching her big assed purse.”

Tilly knew which purse Darcy mentioned. It was a bottomless pit of stuff that Phee
had to have
everywhere she went.

“And?”

“And she tried to shove it through the window, at the driver, but the man got out.”

“Who?” Mitchell’s voice was harsh, but all Tilly could think about was her sister, of Phee being forced to go somewhere.

Shit, this was bad. Not just for Phee, but for whoever tried to run off with a half-crazed werebear.

“She struggled against him, but he said something to get her to go with him. He took her. He peeled out, but I ran across the street and caught her scent. She was angry and scared. Really scared.”

“
Who?
”

Darcy swallowed hard, her fear overwhelming every other scent in the entryway. “The Hart alpha.”

Tilly sucked in a harsh breath. “But what would he want with…”

“I don’t give a fuck. Ash took my kid.” Mitchell growled and yanked his phone from his jeans. He swiped his thumb across the screen, tapped it, and then brought the cell to his ear. Someone must have answered because then he barked orders at the person. “No questions,” he snarled. “Every sentinel to the north end of town at the Hart border. Every gun in the armory. Fifteen minutes.”

Ash took my kid.
The words echoed through her mind and the lioness roared its approval at Mitchell’s claim.

Mitchell ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket before focusing on Tilly. “I’m getting her back.”

“I have to go with you.”

“Tilly, we don’t have time—”

“She’s scared and angry and that is a very deadly combination,” she cut him off. “Normally it’s me dealing with that part of her and I can put her down without bloodshed. How do you think Ash and the clan are gonna react when she blows up? He said something to make her go with him. Only one thing could get Phee to do something she doesn’t wanna do. You threaten what she loves most.”

Mitchell’s blue eyes bored into hers as he absorbed her words and then jerked away from her and tilted his head back. “Fuck!”

Fuck was right.

They were fucked.

Phee was fucked.

And if they didn’t get to Phee—soon—the whole Hart clan would be fucked.

Fifteen minutes felt like an eternity to Mitchell. Every second seemed like hours and minutes like days. Tilly paced in front of the SUV, anxiousness coming off her in waves, but he couldn’t comfort her until he knew more.

Kade was the first to arrive with Austin, Cooper, Roman, and Jake. The males jumped from the SUV the moment it rolled to a stop, but it was Kade who approached him.

Yeah, Kade came close, but his gaze was entirely on Cooper and Roman.

“Where the fuck were you when she was taken?” He didn’t care that he roared the words. Not when pure fucking agony burned him from inside out. Not when he craved the blood of the Hart alpha. He wanted to bathe in that shit for even daring to touch Phee. “
Where were you?
”

He took a step forward only to have his path blocked by Tilly, her small hands on his chest. “It doesn’t matter. Our focus needs to be on Phoebe. You can deal with that later. Phoebe now.”

Mitchell looked into her eyes. He expected tears, he expected his mate to be on the verge of collapse. Instead, she looked deadly. Golden fur coated her cheeks and her long fangs replaced her human teeth. Her eyes were completely absorbed by the lioness. Yes, Tilly was on two feet, but the rest of her—her mind—was pure cat.

He jerked his head in a quick nod, knowing she was right. “We’ll deal with that shit later.” He focused on the two males, their faces pale. “I trusted you two to watch her. You failed. God help you if we don’t bring her home safe and whole because I will hunt you motherfuckers down and make it hurt.”

Mitchell turned to Kade, keeping his mate between him and the other males. She kept him from venting his rage on the wolves. “Ash has Phoebe and she sure as hell didn’t want to go with him. I don’t give a fuck why he took her. I want her back and I don’t care how.”

“How do we know she was coerced?” He knew Kade was trying to be the voice of reason, but Mitchell just didn’t care.

“Your mate saw her and scented her after the alpha took off.”

Kade raised a brow in question.

“I trust her. I trust her word in this.” There was no mistaking the woman’s fear when she’d stood on Tilly’s porch. There was also no mistaking the truth in Darcy’s scent.

“Okay. What’s the plan?”

More SUVs pulled up, more of his wolves pouring from the vehicles. Some already sported claws while others had guns strapped to a leg or in a shoulder holster. He waited for them to draw close, to form a semi-circle. And still Tilly remained plastered against him. Her presence was the only thing that kept him on two legs.

He spoke loud enough for the newcomers to hear him. “The Hart alpha took Phoebe and we’re gonna take her back. I don’t care how we do it—guns or claws—but she’s coming home tonight. Don’t engage unless they stand in our way. If she’s—” Mitchell cupped Tilly’s head and placed one hand on her back, holding her tightly to him. “Eye for an eye. They hurt her? We’re going to make it hurt right back. Twice over.” He leveled his gaze on each male, meeting their eyes one by one. “They started a war by taking my family. We’re gonna finish it. You don’t want in, then get the fuck out because this is happening. Now.”

Not a single wolf moved and determination mixed with fury filled their expressions. They may have been unsure of a lioness alpha bitch before, but there was no hesitation in this. They wanted Phee back, wanted retribution, just as much as him.

Only the ring of his cellphone split the silence and Mitchell released Tilly to snag the phone. The Hart alpha. Goddamn, the male was an idiot.

“You got some balls, motherfucker. We’re bringing war to your doorstep.” He growled into the phone.

“It’s Gabe.” Gabe, the bear alpha’s son. “It’s going to be a war between your pack and the alpha’s followers and I doubt they’ll be a problem after today. You need to get to our land. Get Tilly to tell you where we gather. Fast. I don’t know what my crazed father is pulling, but he, his beta, and two enforcers have Phoebe in the clearing. Now her mother just showed up with another bear alpha.” His voice was low and hardly a whisper. “My men are twenty minutes out. Gather your men and Tilly here as soon as you can. Phee’s hanging on, but it’s gonna get real ugly, real quick if Tilly doesn’t come.”

Mitchell wanted to vent his rage and roar at the sky, but he didn’t have time for that bullshit. “Done.” He shoved it back into his jeans and stepped back, retreating from Tilly’s embrace. “We gotta move. Phee is with her human mother and two bear alphas.” He had to ignore his mate’s gasp followed by her rumbling growl. “Follow us and be ready.”

He grabbed his mate’s wrist and pulled her toward their waiting SUV. She didn’t resist when he helped her into his vehicle and didn’t say a word until he had them roaring down the road. “Directions?”

“Three miles, turn left at the farm house, follow it until you get to a sharp bend. You can park there and then I can take us through the forest.” Her words were clipped. “It’s how we go in so she can avoid the rest of the group.”

“How far from there?”

“Half-mile southwest. It’ll drop us at the north end. The trees are tighter there. Too thick for a male if they got it in their head to chase us.”

Mitchell squeezed the steering wheel so tight he was surprised it didn’t bend. “They’re going to die for that alone, you hear me? I do not care how many I have to go through, I will gut every bear that scared the hell out of you and Phee. Every single one that chased you.”

“Good.” Tilly tugged on the door handle and hopped down and Mitchell did the same, meeting his males at the front bumper of his SUV.

Rage continued to pulse through his blood, his heart pounding with the anger that consumed him. His wolf ached for blood, craved it, and wanted to destroy every person who stood between him and Phee. When he noted the fury and worry that coated Tilly’s features, his need for vengeance rose even higher.

If they laid a hand on Phee, they’d die. Done. No apologies, no second chances. Gabe tried to tell him his father was acting alone? Well, they’d see when their group got to the clearing, wouldn’t they.

“Roman, Austin, Jake, you keep to two feet. I need your guns on the clearing. We’re going in with claws, but if they try to run, you make it so they can’t. Start at the calves and work up with your shots. I don’t want ’em dead. Yet.” He turned to the other males. “You take fur. Three on me to distract them so Tilly can get Phee out. Then it’s on. Gabe is out there and he’ll be bringing in his own guys. Keep an eye out. We want Ash, his guys, the mother, and the bears she brought with her.”