Sassy Ever After: Kiss My Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (16 page)

It was as she crossed the room to Cretia’s side that the unthinkable happened, and all so fast if she would’ve blinked she’d have missed it. Lilly cried from the other room and both Cretia and Ashe were distracted just long enough for James to strike.

He dove, an arm wrapping around her throat and pinning her to the front of him. His own personal human shield, and she couldn’t break his hold. Something sharp cut into her side and she immediately halted her struggles to get free.

“Listen badger, you don’t want to be hurting her. There’s a very angry wolf and a grizzly heading this way. Now, while you’re holding the only human in the room, you’ve got three other beings ready to drop you like a stone if anything happens to her,” Cretia warned, edging to the bottom of the stairs.

Ashe watched, mesmerized as her red curls began to lift and float about her head, like there was some unseen air currents swirling around her body. Magic. So much power was building up around Benson’s mother, and while fascinated, Ashe didn’t know what to expect.

“I’ll let her go just as soon as I’m a safe distance away. If she’ll let me go on my merry way and never speak of, or seek me out again, then I’ll do the same.”

“What the fuck, James? I was already set to do that. There was no reason to come here and do this.” In fact, the only thing that made sense was if he never intended to leave her alive with the knowledge of who he was in the first place. “You’re planning to kill me anyway, aren’t you? Whether it’s here or not, you’re not going to allow me to live. You can’t risk the people who killed your parents discovering who you are.”

“Awe, the smartass does figure things out quickly.”

She angled her head down, expecting to find a knife or something being held to her side, but instead saw huge claws extending from the end of his fingers. He’d somehow gotten his hands to change just enough to provide him with the ultimate weapon. And sadly they were the only ones in the room.

Cretia’s hair was now nearly standing on end, air and a strange fog encircling her, moving faster and faster as she stood in place with her eyes closed and her head tilted back.

“Stop whatever you’re doing
now
witch, or I’ll end her. Do you hear me?” he threatened, his claws pressing tighter and breaking the skin with ease.

When Cretia’s head snapped forward, eyes opening to reveal two glowing violet orbs, James did it. He sunk his claws into her side with a flick of his wrist and all Ashe knew was white-hot agony.

He dropped her to the ground and made to run for the stairs, but not before a blast rocked the room, leaving Ashe’s ears ringing and her eyes burning from the flash. When her vision finally cleared, she saw Cretia leaning over her, hands pressed firmly to her side as she chanted strange words in a low cadence.

Footsteps pounded above, and Ashe saw the guys come barreling down the steps.

“What the fuck happened in here?” Benson demanded. “Where is everyone? Mom, what’s going on?”

Luke was right behind him, and when his eyes met Ashe’s he let out a pained cry. “
No!
No, no, no,
Ashe
.” He rushed over, dodging some furry little animal scurrying across the floor, only for it to be stomped by Benson’s big boot.

“How the fuck did a rat get down here?”

“Not a rat. That
was
Ashe’s uncle,” was Cretia’s reply.

It was all Ashe heard before her eyes closed, despite Luke’s pleads to remain with him.

Chapter Eleven

Luke

              “What the fuck is happening? We need to get her to a hospital,” Luke wailed.

His mate, his beautiful, brave mate was dying before his eyes and he’d never felt more helpless in all his life.

“She needs no further medical treatment than what I’ve already given her,” Benson’s mother replied in a tired voice. “I’m a white witch, Luke. A healing witch for the most part, and I’ve set her wounds in motion, but she’s going to require rest for the next several hours so that my magic can do its work.”

“Where’s Lilly?” Benson asked, and Luke felt his panic welling up again.

“Ashe was smart enough to hide her away down here, but I believe she is somewhere in the bedroom. She cried out once and our attention was diverted long enough for that bastard to get his hands on Ashe.”

Benson went in search of Lilly, and Luke carefully lifted Ashe into his arms and followed Cretia into the bedroom to place her on the bed. They gently cut her tattered shirt away and cleaned the blood from her wounds that were already beginning to close.

Luke shut his eyes, sending up gratitude to whatever higher being had been guiding Benson’s mother. Without her being there for Ashe, he may very well be holding a cold hand instead of the warm one he was kissing the back of.

“I want to thank you for everything you did. After the way I spoke to you, I’m not sure why you would want to help us, but I appreciate it more that I could ever say.”

She reached over and patted his cheek. The move might have been sweet or comforting if her hands hadn’t still been covered in Ashe’s blood. “Sorry, about that,” she offered, handing him one of the towels Benson tossed their way. “I know I was wrong to trick the two of you into mating so quickly, but if I hadn’t done so, then you might have lost her today. By giving her your mark, you gave her a part of you, and it is that part which allowed my healing powers to save her. Without that bit of shifter magic also in her, she may well have succumbed to the injuries the badger caused when he sunk his claws into her.”

“But how could you have been certain she would take to the change? Not all mates do.”

“Oh, I have my ways,” was all the answer he got, but Luke didn’t care as long as Ashe was going to be okay.

Benson bounced a none too happy Lilly in his big arms, speaking softly to her, and keeping her eyes away from the sight of her poor mother. “I’m going to take Lilly up and try to give her a bottle, but before I do that, there’s something I want to know. How the
hell
did Ashe’s uncle end up looking like a New York sewer rat?”

Cretia laughed, long and hard, the sound coming from deep in her belly, and actually had the men cracking a nervous smile themselves. “When I saw him punch those nasty claws into her side, all I could think was ‘
You dirty rat!
’ as I unleashed the power I’d been building. I was going to merely lock him into his human form for eternity, but then having him turn into a rat really was more fitting, now that I think of it.”

“Well, now he’s a smear on my floor. Do me a favor and bibbity-bop that mess up, would ya?” Benson asked, turning to take Lilly upstairs.

“Give me a few to get my strength back up and I’ll get right on that.” She turned back to Luke and he saw a certain level of apprehension in her eyes. “I didn’t mean for her uncle to die, Luke. That wasn’t my intention. I’m not that kind of witch. My methods may not be conventional, and might come off a bit cooky, but I mean well.”

“I’m starting to see that. Had I known you were pushing our mating in an attempt to insure Ashe would survive this attack, then I would have been fully on board.”

“That’s just it, the spirits don’t exactly show us what is going to happen. I’m a healer, not one of those blessed with the sight, so I wasn’t given full disclosure as to what was going to transpire. They said to make sure you two mated last night, no matter what, and I did it.”

“Thanks to you, we’ll have a chance at a happy life now,” Luke said softly, gazing down at Ashe’s sleeping form. “She looks like she’s taking a nap, not recovering from a potentially fatal injury. Is that normal?”

“I put her in a sort of trance, so she could heal. She won’t feel the pain this way. Her internal injuries were pretty severe, and I can’t do anything about the blood loss, but she’ll recover from that too. A few more hours of rest and she’ll be well enough to move around, but nothing strenuous.” She waggled her brows at him with a sly grin and Luke actually felt himself blush.

“You’re a dirty little witch,” he accused with a chuckle.

“Don’t I know it!” she exclaimed with a cheeky smile. “I’m going to head upstairs and clean myself up, then see what I can do about the destruction in the house. I could help with Ashe’s home too, you know. Just say the word.”

“Thanks again. The damage wasn’t too extensive mainly the front porch, and living room that got the brunt of it. A lot of her family pictures were ruined though, so I’m hoping she has more stored away somewhere.”

With her parents having passed, he really hoped there were some photos and such stashed in the upstairs rooms she hadn’t gone through yet. He figured the fire was set for one of two reasons. Either to draw Ashe out of the house, or to destroy whatever it was her uncle was so keen to get his hands on.

The stench of badger had been all over the place when they’d arrived to find the local fire department already bringing the blaze under control. Both he and Benson had figured he’d have been long gone by then, but when Luke spotted a middle aged man with beady eyes slinking away from the scene, his gut told him he’d been wrong.

They’d left the truck out by the main road so as not to block any emergency vehicles from getting through, but when they arrived back at it, there was a chilling message scratched into the hood with all four tires slashed to ribbons.

You’ll never make it in time
.

Those six words played over and over in Luke’s mind the entire time he was sprinting through the woods in an attempt to get back to Benson’s as fast as possible. They’d followed her uncle’s scent, knowing he had a lead on them, but not sure exactly how much of one.

What they’d found upon their arrival to the house had turned Luke numb with fear. The front window had been smashed, the living room looked like a cyclone had blown through, and then there was the splintered door to the basement.

He couldn’t say he was all that broken up when Benson stomped the rat Cretia claimed to be Ashe’s uncle. Luke was only sorry he hadn’t gotten the chance to do it himself.

“Quit fretting, wolf. She’s a strong one, and you’ll have plenty of time to fill the walls of your home with family photos of your own. I’m sure she’ll find much more than she bargained for when she searches her parents belongings,” she said with a wink. “You stay with her until she wakes. Benson and I will see to Lilly and the mess upstairs.”

Luke gave a nod, settling down next to Ashe and drawing in the comforting scent of his mate.

Cretia was right. They would rebuild what was lost materially, and they would grow as a family. This was just the beginning for them, and he intended to make sure things only got better from here on out.

Drawing her into his arms, Luke held her like the precious gift that she was—one he never intended to let go of as long as he lived—and he joined her in rest.

Epilogue

Luke

              It took them about two months, but he finally fulfilled his promise to bring his mate back to Blue Creek to meet Barbara and the rest of the crew.

There was a large outdoor gathering with the Wolfe family, their mates and children all coming out to celebrate the success of another scenting ceremony, and the expansion of their family.

He could tell that having Matt’s daughter take part made Barbara happy. She was what he imagined the all-American mom to look like with her blonde hair cut into a stylish bob, fair skin, and sparkling blue eyes. Well, if you could get past the fact that she turned into a sleek white wolf whenever the mood struck her.

              After Ashe had healed from her injuries, Luke had been anxious to see if she would be able to shift into her wolf. He needn’t have worried because she took to being a shifter like it was second nature. Yes, her first shift was a little sketchy, but once she was on four legs, she was incredible.