Silverbow (30 page)

“You mean, me,” came a deep husky voice from the back door. Murphy stood in the open door with the heads of the two men that I had seen in Darius’s truck.

“What the…,” Darius lost his words and swung the shotgun’s aim to me. “Let me walk mother fucker or she gets it. Then you will suffer what I just had to suffer!” Murphy tossed the heads into the kitchen and I cringed as they rolled to Darius’s feet with a sickening plop. He kicked one away and reached down for me, yanking me to my feet aggressively. He made a big mistake. Taking me in one arm, he turned his back to Greyden.

Before anyone could blink, Greyden lost his control. Lurching forward, two clawed hands came up behind Darius and ripped at his throat from both sides. Blood sprayed the side of my face and I fell from Darius’s grip. Darius started to shift as panic and fear widened his eyes. Greyden’s jaw unhinged and clamped shut between his shoulder and the gaping hole in his throat. Darius’s limbs flailed about as he tried to turn to face his attacker. The beast bit harder until the sickening crack of Darius’s clavicle echoed in my small kitchen. Claws carved Greyden’s cheek and he let go long enough to get a better bite of the neck. Blood covered my kitchen and Darius grew weak. Greyden continued to attack and feed until Darius’s, too, was decapitated.

I sat in the floor with Murphy above me as I watched Greyden finish and back off into a corner. He slowly shifted back and tried to wipe the blood from his face but failed. He had three deep cuts in his cheek but they were quickly healing. His chest rose and fell as he took husky breaths and tried to calm down. Sapphire eyes fell upon the carcass in the middle of the floor and then lifted to me.

I carefully picked myself up and walked over to him. He stood and took me in his arms. I quickly checked him for other wounds but if there had been any, they had healed. I hugged him tight and sobbed into his neck.

“Thank you! I am so sorry,” I cried. I felt horrible that he had been pulled into this trouble but was very thankful that he had been there. He had saved my life. His hand lifted to the back of my head as he cradled me to him. I could hear Murphy shift behind us.

“I will get this cleaned up,” Murphy said flatly. I could feel Murphy’s heat retreat a little and realized he was probably not too happy with the scene. I didn’t give a damn. After a moment more, I slowly pulled back and looked up at Greyden.

“We should help,” I said as I pulled him towards a sink and turned the water on. We tried out best to rinse as much blood from ourselves as we could. Greyden was covered from head to toe. “Go get in the shower. I’ll be fine now,” I told him. He looked over his shoulder to Murphy and then somberly back to me. “I’ll be fine.”

Without another word, Greyden headed upstairs and I gathered a mop and bucket. Murphy was carrying out the bodies of my mother and Darius when I turned to survey my home. My knees felt weak and my eyes burned. My kitchen looked like a slaughter house and the adrenalin rush I had been on was now crashing. My hands trembled and I leaned back on the counter to stop from falling to the floor. I began crying as I looked at the spatter through the doorway where Viv had fallen. All of this would have killed my father had he still been alive. After all that I had learned and had been through…just like that, it was over. My eyes went blind with tears and before long Murphy’s arms were around me.

I cried into his chest and found comfort in our heat. As much as I loved being the tough girl, this required a melt down. He rocked me until I stopped crying and then let me go when I stopped.

“Let me take care of all of this,” he said as he took the mop from me. Greyden joined us after a moment, clean and dressed. He held clean clothes for me in his hands. His sapphire eyes met Murphy’s and he nodded without a word.

“Let’s get you changed and out of the house.” Greyden led me to the laundry room where I changed clothes. Before I slipped out the back door, I glanced back at Murphy. I could feel his static touch slip from my neck to my cheek. He nodded for me to leave and I turned to follow Greyden.

CHAPTER 25

Greyden took me back to his old trailer until nightfall. Once we were under the blanket of the moon, we ran and fed on wildlife. Running was, indeed, the best therapy for me now. Greyden stayed close without smothering me and I appreciated that. I owed him my life now and would not push him away. I felt a pack bond with him and would do anything he asked me to. I did love him; no matter how much I wanted to deny it because of my Bind. This was a battle I would have to face but I was willing to do so.

Late in the night, we made our way back to my place. My truck sat alone in the driveway and all the lights in the house were off. I felt myself reaching out to see if I could feel if Murphy was around or not. When we walked in the house was void of his heat but not his scent. The place was spotless. Murphy had done a flawless job and I hoped I could wipe the scene from my mind as well as he actually had. Greyden kissed me on top of my head and climbed the stairs.

I flipped the light on in the kitchen and spotted a note on the table.

“I’ve gone to make my report. I don’t know when I will return. Please, stay safe. Love, Murphy.” I folded the note and tucked it into a drawer. Now the waiting game would start. I would have no idea when he would show up again. Would I carry on with my life and then get that ache that would send me searching for him? Would Greyden ever fully understand? Would Murphy ever understand my relationship with Greyden? Would I ever have to truly choose? Could I keep from hurting anyone? Would I be able to keep Hines out of trouble? Would the government buy Murphy’s report blaming Darius for everything? I took a deep breath and shoved all my questions into the depths of my mind. I would try hard not to question my every move and just
live
.

I was excited to get the shop opened again and to not be looking over my shoulder every minute. I just wanted a taste of my old life. I needed normal.

I kicked off my boots and headed upstairs. I started to turn towards my old bedroom and paused. Glancing over my shoulder at the light coming from under the bathroom door, I sighed. Turning, I pulled off my t-shirt, slid from my jeans and entered the steamy bathroom where Greyden was already waiting for me.

Preview of
Silverbow: Double Trouble

Chapter 1

My boots hit the sand as I jumped from the bed of my truck with much more grace than I had had the first 26 years of my life. My eyes slid over the scenery of the empty desert ahead of me and my ears perked at the distant howl of a coyote. I had been waiting for the sun to set while cleaning my 9mm. Hungry, I was ready to run and hunt. I had been hunting a lot on my own over the last two months. Murphy had been gone for nearly five months and Greyden had been working double shifts at the fence line. Hines was still struggling with his human-free diet so I refrained from inviting him to hunt so close to the highways. His long list of victims along Routes 6 and 375 out here in Nevada dubbed him the ET Killer. Living on the border of Area 51 always kept things interesting here in Silverbow.

March had brought warmer temperatures and I was enjoying wearing less. I tugged off my dark red tank top, removed my boots and dropped my cut-off jean shorts. Less was best when it was time to shift. Hines had been working with me on controlling my shift and building a tolerance to the discomfort of it. I was learning quickly. The only thing I wasn’t too fond of was the appearance of the beast we shifted into. The movies would have you think my new Were form would be a beautiful wolf that howled at the full moon. Wrong.

I could feel my spine bow, pop and stretch. My shoulders ached and my hands curled as my nails turned into thick claws. My legs buckled as fire ripped through them and their strength multiplied. My jaw unhinged as my muzzle grew slightly longer and my teeth turned to razors. I sniffed the air with my heightened sense of smell and listened again for the coyote with my pointed ears. As Weres, we looked like a harsh mix of human and K-9. I could run upright or on all fours. I could pull my prey to pieces like pulling cotton candy from its stick. The moon called to us but it didn’t take a full moon to shift us or drive us mad. There was nothing sexy, romantic or comforting in what I had become.

However, I was learning to embrace my new life and the deepening of the relationships I had with those who shared my nature. Hines and I had become the best of friends and I was trying to warm back up to Laney. I had stopped talking to her for a while after I learned Greyden had been cheating on me with her. Greyden and I were still very close. I was the one that changed him with a bite and he saved my life so we were still caught up in the loyalty blanket. I wished Greyden and I could have carried on as we once were but me being
bound
to Murphy put a dent in things. Some nights we picked things back up but it was always short lived. Greyden and I loved each other but knowing that he could never have
all
of me kept us from keeping steady. I often felt guilty too when he and I had steamy nights and all I could think about was Murphy.

The last word I got from Murphy was the note he left on my kitchen counter the day my mother and her lover were killed in my kitchen. He had to report to whoever he worked for and didn’t know when he would return. As much as it sucked, I understood. Murphy was hired by the government to sheriff those like us. It was his job to kill the worst of our kind and help keep us all on some invisible leash. The government wanted to stay on good terms with us so they could use us as their muscle so Murphy was made the bad guy. However, if he were to ever lose his control they would wipe us
all
out. I am sure there are more people out there like him but he is the only one I know of. Our Bind makes my life a little harder. I’m the perfect target if someone wants to get back at him. We make each other stronger…but weaker in the hands of an enemy. I was sure Darius wouldn’t be the last to try to use me like that. With him and my mother dead though, I felt a little safer.

My ears shifted when I heard the coyote again and my second sight took over. Vivid colors danced in hypnotic waves as I sped over the sandy plain. The coyote’s body heat made him appear like a dancing yellow and white flame over the purple and blue hues of the cooling sands. The sun was gone and the moon’s relief from the heat was welcome. I darted across Route 375 and caught up to my dinner. I lunged out and landed with the small creature in my arms. My teeth tore into its neck and its panicking pulse fed my starving beast. I left what little I didn’t want for the vultures and continued the hunt. It took two more coyote before I was satisfied.

With a full stomach, I returned to my old black ’62 Chevy pickup truck, dressed and laid in her bed. The stars were bright and the cool desert night calmed me. I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep breath. I had been working so hard at the shop to keep my mind off Murphy. The longer he was away the more my beast craved him. Greyden helped ease the pain a little but only Murphy would ever be able to cure it. I held my bottom lip prisoner between my teeth as I felt my hormones tense. I wondered where he was and if he had been keeping an eye on me. I wondered if that fire burned inside of him too. It’s a discomfort in my gut, a craving in my veins and a suffocating need in my heart. It makes me feel completely…incomplete.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the night sky was set ablaze in the distance and a ground shaking boom quaked my truck. I sat up and quickly jumped to my feet in the bed of my truck to find the source of the commotion. The sky slowly went dark again and I could see smoke blacking out the stars in the direction of the fence line. Worry struck my gut as I thought about Greyden being out there. Before I could blink again, I was behind the wheel and kicking up dust as I headed towards the smoke filled sky.