Page 29 of Nine Inch Nasty (Hemlock Academy #9)

The cousin snarls at the dismissal, taking a menacing step forward.

“We are not done here. Prime, I challenge you for leadership.

I'm better suited for the role, and we both know it.” Then he reaches a hand behind him, and a small, shaking frame of a woman attaches herself to the other end of it.

She can't be more than 18, and she's clearly terrified.

Delaney and everybody else in our group clock immediately this lioness is not there willingly. She's already marked on her throat, so the bond has already been forced on her. Definitely assuming.

Delaney starts stripping, and Ash doesn't even bother. He just shreds his clothes, shifting midair to pounce on his cousin and pin his chest to the ground. As soon as she has enough clothes off, Delaney's right there with him, her beautiful lioness snarling in the still-very-human face of Max.

He clearly isn't as intelligent as he thinks he is, because he spits right into Ash’s face, even though there's a massive mouthful of sharp teeth and a head several times bigger than his own, growling at him.

“Looks like the challenge was accepted, friends. Max was pretty clear about his intentions; there's nothing in the rules that say he has to be shifted in order to fight. You going to shift so you can fight your prime male for his position, Max?”

While Max is otherwise occupied, Cory and Adam have tried to get the other lioness away from him.

She seems wary, eyeing me strangely, well all of us actually, because I can't imagine we would come off as a group that won't protect our mate.

Eventually she takes a few steps towards us, and the closer she gets to us, the easier it seems to be to leave her seemingly reluctant mate.

Ryan's mate, Mark, steps up beside him, kissing him on the cheek and putting an arm around his shoulder. “Good timing, guys. I was about to try and rip their throats out myself. That man is impossible to be around for any length of time.”

“Does anybody here contest Prime Wilder’s claim to the title? As you can see, he's very much dedicated to us. And he comes with a large family of others that can also guide us if need be. We may not be the largest pride in the country, but I promise you, this lion is the one for the job.”

Midway through Ryan's speech, Max finally shifts. His lion is much smaller than Ash’s, but he wastes no time in taking what he thinks he's due. The scent of blood is heavy on the air with the next breath I take, hot viscera leaking out of Ash’s abdomen.

Max has run his claws from sternum to groin, not sparing any strength.

The second Delaney registers what's happened, she literally bites the guy's face off.

All of this before Ryan says his last word.

And after the face is chewed off, her teeth are buried in his neck, biting down until his legs stop twitching.

Her own mouth is covered in blood and gore, but right now, it's Ash that needs our attention.

People are screaming now, Ryan pale and hands fluttering, trying to help out his superior and friend, but Spencer is the one that knows who can actually help him.

We may be a ragtag group of random species, but it's nice to know that when it comes down to it, we can instantly snap our focus to where it counts and work together.

I find that I don't even need much instruction, I understand what Spencer is saying even though I'm too in shock to process the words. We need to give Delaney and Ash privacy, because in order to heal her mate, Delaney’s going to have to get a bit freaky. Which is quite weird considering Ash’s current state, but she has no qualms about getting dirty if it means saving one of the loves of her life.

Everything is happening so fast, but I know this man must only have moments to live. Ash could have ended that pretender at any moment, but he was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, to be honorable about it. Only for the fucker to shift without warning and go for a coward's blow.

Adam is also super attuned to Delaney because they've been friends for so long, so he's right there with her, supporting her and trying to keep her calm so she can focus on her healing work. She reaches her hands into Ash’s ruined torso, physically pulling his skin back together as she kisses him.

He's barely breathing and choking on blood, but somehow, she makes him feel sexy because he still has enough blood left in his body to get an erection.

Okay, that's kind of impressive.

I feel useless, but I figure one thing I can do while they're taking care of Ash, is to get rid of the body of the man that caused it. I don't want Ash to have to see the mess next to him when he's aware enough.

So I get Rush to help me with the body, regardless of the fact I don’t need help, mainly because he looks squeamish for some reason, even though he's literally from Hell where torture is a treasured pastime.

I'm reassured when I check that Ash's body is starting to stitch itself back together as Delaney uses her lust to heal him. She's shaking, so I know she's terrified, but she's strong because she keeps going anyway.

“There's a cliff over here,” Mark informs us when he sees what we're doing and leads the way.

We don't have to be told twice. There's a dead body between us, but does it still count as a romantic midnight stroll when you and your potential lover are staring into each other's eyes, walking through a forest?

I'm going to say yes. Rush has never looked more handsome than he does under the stars, and there's a part of me that just wants to tuck him under my wings and protect him from all the danger out there.

I know he doesn't need me to, but it's an urge I'm having a hard time fighting.

We follow Mark until the ground abruptly ends, a river far below coursing through the gorge. Rush and I heave the body over, turning before it goes splat because I can tell that he needs something from me, and I know he's not going to outright ask for it.

Good thing I have all these muscles. I'm bigger than him physically, and he feels so right tucked against my chest, his face tucked into my neck. He's stiff at very first, but as my wings descend, blocking out the sounds and sight of the night, he relaxes into me.

Mark pats my shoulder before leaving us out here alone, and I sink to the ground, wrapping Rush's legs around my hips as I do. My body remembers holding him like this in my lap, even if it wasn't in this exact body last time it happened.

“I've got you. Nobody knows what's going on right now, so you just take what you need, Rush.”

“What if I can't stop needing it though?

What happens when you realize how much I actually need from you?

Because I'm terrified now that you're back in my life, that I'm too much.

That you can't handle all the things I've been dreaming of doing while I was a tree. I should be over there with Delaney. She needs me.”

Rush tries to stand, but I keep my arms firmly locked around his waist. “She's got plenty of other mates over there caring for her.

You need to take care of yourself as well.

She can't give you this right now, she's dealing with other trauma. So let me take care of you instead. Let me be what you need.”

With a gray tinged face, he tilts his head up so we're looking face to face, inches apart.

“Tell me you feel this. Tell me I'm not crazy, that this connection we had before is still there.

I've stared at this body for so long, Leo, wanting.

Wanting so much. Unable to touch you. I know I'm a demon, so I'm not supposed to be soft, but when you're stuck in one place for as long as I was, you tend to focus on what you can see.

And you were the only thing I could see.

The only thing I wanted to see. The only thing that mattered .

It didn't take me very long after the curse took, to realize I'd choose to be cursed all over again if it meant getting what I had with you.

“And you don't even have memories of me; we were so good together.

But it wasn't just physical. Every part of me needed you when she took you away from me.

I hate that I was so weak that I couldn't save you.

I hated myself for being unable to take you off the side of that damn building and bring you somewhere soft and warm.

That was torturous, more so than being stuck as a damn tree.

Because when I couldn't anymore, all I wanted to do was take care of you.

And I know this isn't probably what you want to hear, but I'm sick of tiptoeing around you, wondering if you want any of what I want with you.

“I know Delaney understands this, that she won't have any objections to us also being together, if you even want that.

I have spoken with her though, and she loves us both enough I think, to know that we need each other.

But I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, aren't I? You haven't even answered me.”

Since being awoken, I thought I had it good.

I had my mate, I had this incredible group of people that came attached to her, that I could live with and learn from.

But there's been a hollow spot in my chest all along, and I've been trying to convince myself that I had everything I could ever want, and that Delaney was all that I needed.

But what if there's something else I need?

What if the goddess did what she did, so that Rush and I could be together like this ?

Able to be together, as well as bound to the same woman because we need her even more?

He's staring at me, trying to read my mind, and all I can think about is that I want to kiss him.

These lips that are stone, they've only known Delaney’s touch. “I don't want to hurt you.”