Awakened Animals (A Shifter Novel Book 15) Read online

  Vesper coughed as the burning liquid went down. At a nod from the well-dressed man, two other men yanked her from the room.

  “Payment,” she heard Hayden say before the door closed behind them.

  “Where you taking me?” Vesper demanded, stumbling as they walked fast up some stairs. They didn’t answer her, and by the time they reached the top she felt weak and dizzy. In fact, she couldn’t walk. “Wh—what’d he give me?”

  Down a hall they swiftly moved, the men carrying her by the arms. A door opened and they shoved her into a bedroom. With blurry eyes, she saw a woman standing next to the bed.

  The men picked her up and dumped her on the bed as the woman moved to her side. The whole room swayed, and Vesper felt like she might get sick.

  “Everything is going to be all right,” the woman said. Her cold hands touched Vesper on the cheek. “Such a pretty thing. He’s going to enjoy you.” Those hands went down the front of her chest, and lower to her jeans, and as much as Vesper wanted and tried to stop her, she couldn’t lift her own arms to prevent her jeans from coming off.

  In full shifter form, standing over eight feet tall, Stray walked toward the house seeing red. Darkness of night kept him hidden, so that when the SUVs—all three of them—pulled away from the house, no one saw him or Mika.

  Mika went around to the front of the house, and Stray ended up at the back, looking up toward a window, breathing in deeply. He could smell her and another human. It was the other that had him snarling.

  Reasoning went right out the door for him. With a hard, long jump, Stray started climbing up the side of the house, breaking siding off with the claws on his hands and feet. About halfway up he stopped when he heard shooting. That meant Mika was now inside the house, no doubt causing his own kind of trouble.

  Another snarl and Stray was back at climbing upward to the window to rescue his mate.

  Reaching the window, he stopped to look inside. Vesper laid on the bed, a robe covering her body, if one could even call it a robe. The thing she was wrapped in was a sheer white lace that showed every inch of her body. A body that by rights of nature, man, and beast belonged to him and him only.

  Fisting his large paw-like hand, Stray busted through the glass of the window. A woman came running out from another room. When Stray crawled inside she screamed, so he looked at her and growled loudly, showing her all his sharp teeth. That had her fainting right on the spot, crumbling to the floor.

  Stray took one step toward his mate, only to stop when a man busted in the door dressed up in a designer suit with a very pale and panicked look on his face. Another joined him; this one Stray recognized. He was the one that brought Vesper here and from the scent on him had Stray thinking they might be related.

  “What the fuck is that?” the one in the suit demanded.

  “A fucking animal,” the other answered, bringing out a gun from his back.

  Another snarl and Stray lunged after the one with the gun. He swung wide, catching him on the side of the face. His claws cut into the flesh, slicing, leaving three long, deep cuts down the side of his face. He then grabbed him by the throat, slamming him up against the wall hard. The force from the slam had the gun dropping, but where fear should have shone in the human’s eyes, all Stray saw was hatred. The other one was forgotten for a moment as he looked this one right in the eye, and Stray growled.

  “There you are!” Mika also joined the group. He went toward the one in the suit and hit the guy so hard he went down to the ground—out cold. “That bastard is fast,” Mika huffed. “Um, cuz, we need to hurry this up. I didn’t take them all out down there. We were a bit outnumbered like I told you we would be.”

  From the corner of his eyes, Stray saw Mika go up to Vesper, wrap her up in a blanket, and pick her up. She didn’t once wake up.

  Still holding the one by the throat, Stray pulled back on the animal side. He allowed himself to change in front of the guy slowly, drawing it all out to the max. It didn’t take long for him to get back into human form, and when he was once more whole, Stray narrowed his eyes on the man.

  “She is your blood, and you treat her like this,” Stray said.

  The man had both hands wrapped around Stray’s wrists. “You…you infected…her,” he struggled to say.

  “No, I marked her.” With a hard jerk, he brought the guy close, and Stray brought him nose to nose with him. “And the next time you come near her I will kill you with my bare hands.”

  “No,” the man said with a smile, the cruelty coming out in his brown eyes. “The next time…we meet,” he struggled some to breathe, “I…kill…you.”

  “Stray,” Mika said with a slight warning in his voice. “Time, buddy.”

  Stray took a step back. “Till the next time then, which I will look forward to.” He let go of the guy’s throat and swung fast with a fist, hitting him in the same jaw he just slashed open with his claws. The hard swing dropped the guy unconscious to the floor. Then Stray kicked the bastard in the gut with the hopes that he might’ve clipped a lower rib. “Window.”

  “On it,” Mika handed Vesper to Stray, then went to the window Stray had busted in, kicking it the rest of the way out.

  Stray looked down at the lifeless form in his arms, itching to just touch her face. He saw some bruises that were old and one that looked a bit new. Going back to the bed, he put her down and started to inspect her body. Moving a hand from the cheek he touched to the throat, he turned her head and saw more bruising. Just the sight of her pale body bruised like this had him once more seeing red. He wanted to hunt down each person that hurt her and kill them for what he saw.

  “Um, Stray, we need to go.”

  Hearing Mika’s voice snapped him out of his anger. He had plenty of time to look over her injuries once they were safe.

  Carefully he scooped her back up in his arms and went to the window. Mika jumped out first, and before Stray did he glanced behind him at the man who should have protected her, the rage to do bodily harm still there. Stray wanted nothing more than to go over there and kill that bastard for all the pain. But now wasn’t the time. He needed to get her safe. That is his number one now—her.

  “Stray!” Mika yelled from below.

  Holding her close and tight, Stray jumped from the window. He landed with a soft thud on the ground, then started running behind Mika toward the truck. When they reached it, both looked back at the house. More men had arrived, all very heavily armed.

  “We so pissed a few off,” Mika said.

  “Yeah, but they have no idea what they just pissed off in me.” Stray huffed, looking back at the house. “I so want to go back up there and kill him.”

  “Another day. Come on.” Mika gave Stray a nudge. “We need to get lost fast.”

  “Where?”

  “I know a place.”

  Stray put Vesper in the back seat of the truck gently, then grabbed his clothes that Mika tossed in. He dressed as fast as he could, keeping all senses on high alert. He was ready if anyone came up on them.

  “I’ve got camping gear,” Mika said. “But the best thing to do for now is get lost in the woods. Get the heat off us.”

  “Agreed.” Dressed now, Stray climbed in the back and gently pulled her onto his lap, holding her close and with care. He didn’t know if anything might be broken or cracked. “Let’s head to the bus depot. I have things in a couple storage lockers. I’ve got some of her things there and a few of mine. If we are going to get lost in the woods, we are going to need more supplies than what you have. Another tent would be nice.”

  “Yeah,” Mika said as he got in and started the truck up. “Don’t care much to be sharing that with you. You might go all animal on me now that you have her in your arms.” He pulled away. “I know a place we can stop on the way and get you some camping gear.”

  Stray kept his mouth shut on that. Mika was right. Now that he had his mate in his arms, where she belonged, Stray was going to be a bit edgy to deal with. His one and only concern
at the moment would be her and only her. Newly mated males could be hard to live with, and in general, just to be around. Add one forced to stay away from his mate for years and you had a case of hostility to deal with.

  But Stray could keep it under control. He trusted Mika. His cousin happened to be one of the very few he could trust with his life and to be around his mate right now.

  Looking down at her face, Stray didn’t think he would see anything so perfect as what he had in his arms. And nothing felt so right as how he felt just holding her. She made him feel complete, and that was something he never thought would happen, not after all the hell that bitch put him through.

  Mika stopped at a place to get more camping gear, leaving Stray alone with Vesper. With that time, he looked her over some, without taking off clothing. It upset him greatly to see her face not only pale but with the discoloration of beatings.

  Time flew by and Mika was back, tossing things in the truck. Within minutes they were back on the road, and a couple of hours later Mika pulled up in front of a bus station. Right after Mika fixed him up, Stray went back to her place and packed up clothes and anything else he thought might be important to her. Good thing he did, because when he left with his last bag, that fucker who gave her away came with his men and trashed the place. What they were looking for, Stray didn’t know, and he didn’t stick around to find out.

  “You want me to get the stuff?” Mika asked, turning the truck off.

  “No, I’ll get it.” Carefully, he scooted away and put her head down on the seat. “If they come, you take her and go. First priority is her.”

  “I don’t think those guys are going to show up here.”

  Stray opened the back door and got out. “Never know anymore.”

  Man, it nearly hurt him physically to leave Vesper in the truck with Mika. But he did it. He walked toward the front entrance without looking back, and went inside. Like always, the place was busy, so blending in didn’t take much. He went over to the lockers, pulled out the four keys, and took out each large bag he had stuffed in the largest lockers.

  Some people looked at him with strange expressions on their faces as he pulled them out. Stray just smiled and nodded at them. Two of the large duffel bags were clothes for Vesper. One was full of clothes for himself, and in the other bag more personal things from Vesper’s home. Stray slung two over his shoulders and picked the other two up, then walked away, blending in again as he made it to the exit.

  Mika pulled up just as Stray came out. Stray tossed the bags into the back of the truck, jumped into the back seat, and off they went, both looking behind just to double check and make sure they weren’t being followed. With Stray changing, attacking, and taking Vesper, he knew it would be only a matter of time before those men came looking for them. That meant they needed to get lost and fast.

  They traveled for hours and Vesper didn’t wake up once. When Mika turned off the road onto a dirt one, Stray relaxed but not much. He needed to stop. Needed to check her over for injuries. With her not waking up at all he started to worry, fearing they’d given her some drug that would prevent her from ever waking. That had his stomach turning.

  “Didn’t you used to camp out here?” Stray asked after they stopped. “With what’s her name?”

  “Yep.” Mika didn’t look at him but worked at unloading the back of the truck.

  “How far away is it to—what is that town called?”

  “Haven,” Mika answered.

  Stray noticed the difference in Mika, and he had a pretty good idea why. Returning to Haven wasn’t a place Mika ever wanted to go. He never spoke about the place, and for the most part, Stray never asked him about it. What he did know was that the female Mika almost mated with ended up dying in a car crash with her mother. That was all he knew.

  “Okay, if you hate this place so damn much, then why did you bring me here?” Stray asked, taking the bag that held the tent.

  Mika shrugged. “Because it’s safe. We’re only here for a couple of days, then we leave.”

  “Yeah, right,” Stray mumbled, pulling the tent out.

  It didn’t take too long to get the tent up, then they added a blow-up mattress, sheets, bags tossed in, and then Stray carried Vesper inside. He zipped the tent closed and went to work at not only tending to her, but testing his control—from the memory he clung to for so long now shattered.

  Stray stripped her down to clean her up. Vesper no longer had the curves he hungered for at night. Instead she seemed to have lost so much weight, as if one might’ve starved her. Bruises covered a large amount of her body. Few he could tell were from falling into things. Other spots were definite finger marks, and when he rolled her over he growled low at the back of his throat. Marks from a belt crisscrossed her back. He knew it had been a belt as he could see the deep bruise from the buckle. That mark had Stray wanting to go back and kill the male. Instinct told him that bastard was the one responsible for her injuries.

  Due to his anger, cleaning her up was easy, the lust and hunger that first hit him disappeared. He was very thankful, for it meant he could do what was needed. On the flip side he was also glad he felt that. Stray started to worry and even got scared that he might now feel normal around his mate. But the lust and hunger was only one step. He still had to see if he could be a normal shifter again, or if that bitch ruined him for life.

  Washing her from head to toe, then putting her into his shirt instead of one of her own, he eased her under the covers of the blow-up bed. He sighed, hunched down next to the bed, and stared at her. She didn’t stir at all when he cleaned her up, even when he pressed on the bruising to make sure nothing was broken. That worried him.

  “You okay in there?” Mika called.

  “Yeah,” Stray answered.

  “Get some sleep. I’ll stay up and watch, just to make sure we weren’t followed.”

  Sleep. Yeah, as if he was going to get any.

  Staring at her for a bit longer, Stray finally moved and it was onto the bed, next to her. He didn’t bother taking off his shoes. Like Mika, he needed to be ready in case they had to get up and move fast. And he also needed the rest in order to fight for her. Kill even, if he needed to.

  “Rest,” he said low, brushing the tips of his fingers across her forehead and down the side of her face, over a bruise. “You’re safe. Always safe with me by your side. I promise.”

  2

  Mika sat in front of a fire as Stray and his mate slept. He stared at the flames, a cold beer in hand, his own tent up and ready for him to get some sleep, but he was restless. He didn’t want to sleep, which was why he offered to keep watch over the camp.

  It had been years since he’d been up here. Years since he came close to Haven—the one place he just couldn’t see himself coming back to. Not after her death. And yet here he is.

  Mika closed his eyes and rubbed them. He didn’t feel tired but he sure as hell felt drained. So many emotions were hitting him at once, emotions that he wanted to leave buried with the dead. Emotions he thought were dead. But something about seeing Stray with his mate, seeing that small bit of completeness in his eyes had Mika wanting it all over again. Wanting what he feared he could never have.

  “What do you mean she’s gone!” Mika yelled over the phone. “I don’t understand. Where’d she go?”

  “Mika, please,” Kaley cried on the other end. “She’s gone, all right. Her, and, and, oh God!”

  The crying had him pacing, fear twisting his gut into a knot. Gone could mean many things. In fact, he would have thought she just left, but for Kaley’s crying on the phone, he feared something else.

  “Kaley, I don’t understand,” Mika yelled over her sobbing. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I’m sorry, Mika,” Kaley whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  He heard the phone drop and that stilled him. “Kaley?” Nothing. “Kaley!” he yelled, but still nothing.

  Mika shook his head and pushed the memories away. He didn’t need to think
about his past. Stray needed him, and that was what he had to focus on. Nothing else.

  Getting up, he glanced at Stray’s tent before taking a walk. Everything was quiet, as he knew it would be; not many people came up to this spot. He did—with her, and when that chapter in his life ended, so did his trips up here. He just didn’t feel the comfort that these woods used to provide him. Even now, he didn’t feel it. What he felt were the ghosts of the past.

  He walked for a while, not really paying attention to where he might be heading—until he stopped. Mika found himself at the ledge, overlooking Haven. The town was lit up, people still awake this late at night. Houses still had lights on, shops were still in business, and cars still moved around. Life in Haven went on, just as it did in every other town, the dead forgotten, and buried.

  The sound of crunching leaves had him turning, ready to fight. Stray came out of the brush, and Mika let out air he didn’t know he was holding in.

  “What are you doing?” Mika asked, turning back around to look at the town. “Figured you’d be curled up next to her deep asleep.”

  “Can’t sleep,” Stray answered. “I’m too worried about her and she hasn’t woken up yet.”

  “They drugged her.” Mika turned back and looked out at the town. “You can smell it.”

  “I did.” He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Air is crisp.”

  “Always is up here.”

  “You never talk about it,” Stray said. “Never talk about her. What happened that night?”

  “Nothing to talk about, and nothing happened,” Mika answered low. “That’s the problem.”

  “What was her name again?” Mika didn’t answer. “Look, I’ve never pushed you. We both have our own rules when it comes to our dark pasts. We never ask. But this here, this shit on your shoulders, I can feel it. You need to talk about it, or it’s going to eat you up from the inside out. It’s past time you tell me the rest so I can help you, man. Hell, we help each other, remember?”