Chapter Six

Heath

A ll I can smell is Juliana. She has seeped into my skin, burrowing in every cell. I want to shift and coil around her, never letting go. I had to tell her to leave, fearing I would lose control. I have exercised control in all avenues of my life, and she is shedding it. Love has been a missing element. I swore I didn’t need it. When you love, it can be ripped away instantly, leaving you with nothing. It has been better to cut anyone from my life that can cause my heart pain. I didn’t know if I was capable of loving again.

My feelings for Juliana can’t be categorized as love. I want her desperately. Killing for her would be so easy. The thought of her in pain or someone threatening her makes my skin heat. I want her happiness and safety above all others. I want to possess her body and make her desire me and only me. My heart was dead, but somehow, she brought it back to life.

My snake is hissing inside my head, cursing me for letting her leave the room. We have just had a taste, and we both want more and more. Neither of us wants to scare her with our need to keep her, but I have enough sense to stop before that happens.

I glare at my phone as it rings. Why the fuck is Hunter calling in the middle of the night?

“What?” I answer.

“Bane called,” he says. “He needs help.” I begin to redress.

“What’s the situation?”

“He was trailing Rylee and your friends. They decided to go to a private party. The shifters there are not letting them leave.” My blood heats, and I jerk on my pants.

“Not letting them leave,” I repeat softly.

“He’s outside the residence. There are at least fifteen shifters. Most of them are coyotes.”

“Stay here with Levi,” I instruct, tucking my shirt in.

“What about Jules?”

“She will stay here. I won’t put her in danger.” The soft pads of Juliana’s steps move quickly down the hall. She hovers outside the door. “If Sally is asking for help, it has to be bad.” I slip my arms into my jacket. “It’s too soon to show her what I’m capable of.” My sneaky mate slips into the room.

“I’m coming with you,” she states.

“No.” She narrows her eyes.

“I can handle it. You don’t scare me.”

“Juliana, I don’t know how dangerous the situation is.” She crosses her arms, and I sigh. Not being able to tell her no is not a good sign. “Bring me one of your knives,” I say to Hunter.

“Are you sure that’s smart?”

“You have five minutes.” I hang up, putting my phone in my pocket. I can’t hide what I am capable of. “Nothing can happen to you.”

“You won’t let it.”

Fuck, I wish I had her confidence. Wrapping my arm around her, I swipe my cane on the way out of the door.

Juliana will have to accept everything I am.

The car ride is silent after I explain the situation. Her gaze remains on me the whole time, and I can sense the questions she wants to ask. She is willing to wait and watch. I shouldn’t fear for her safety; she is with me. I do worry about her reaction to the beast I could become.

I park the car across the street and two houses down from the address Bane sent. I twist, reaching into the back seat, and I pull out the large knife Hunter gave me.

“Take this,” I say, holding it toward her. “If anyone comes near you, gut them.” I nod sternly as she takes it and I grab my cane. I turn off the car when I see Bane walking out of the shadows, and Juliana follows my lead, getting out.

“They are in the living room,” Bane says, stopping in front of me. “Rylee and the bear got a few hits in but got a fist to the face for their efforts.”

“They hit them,” I snarl, and Juliana steps close.

“Yes. I didn’t arrive in time, but Sally sent me a message. I lost them when they left the last bar. Without her text, I would still be tracking,” he says. I grab my mate's hand and walk across the street. The music is blaring from the house.

“Did they force them here?” I ask.

“No. They thought it was a regular party. When they showed, they were the only women.” Bane presses the back of his hand to my chest. I stop, looking down and then at his face. “One of them tried to force Gabby to sit on their lap. Roxanne protested. She killed him, and Sally another, before the others tied them up.” He drops his hand, and I grind my teeth.

“You will stay in front of Juliana outside the house. Kill anyone that threatens her,” I say. The situation is worse than I thought, and I regret letting her persuade me to bring her.

“I can help,” she says. “I can cut the women free while you take care of them.” She holds up the knife as if she has wielded one before.

“I didn’t grasp the situation. These are a pack of shifters who like to abuse women. I want you protected.” I let go of her hand, but she grabs my sleeve when I start walking.

“You brought me to see what you are,” she guesses as I stop.

“Yes,” I confirm.

“Then let me see.” She tips her chin up, and I tilt my head, my eyes narrowed.

“You may not like what you see.” I pull away but don’t protest when she and Bane follow.

I stop outside the front door and close my eyes. Bane was wrong. There are sixteen living shifters; all but three are coyotes. One wolf. One fox. One tiger and two dead coyotes. I lower my head, sliding my hand down my chest, welcoming the help of my snake. I rotate my head and open my eyes. Looking over my shoulder, communicating with my eyes, I promise Bane a horrible death if he leaves Juliana’s side. He nods gravely.

I open the unlocked door slowly and take a step.

“What the fuck is that smell?” whispers someone, and I grin.

I move to the large room to the right, stepping over the dead bodies. The moment I appear in the doorway, shifters jump to their feet. The women are against the wall across from me, their hands tied behind their backs. Rylee has a fading black eye. Sally and Roxanne have blood smeared across their mouth, and Gabby has large handprints on both of her arms.

“Who the fuck are you?” A coyote asks, jumping to his feet. I scan the room to see where the music is coming from. A stereo system is to my right. I walk to it and switch it off.

“Better,” I rumble. “I don’t know how that doesn’t hurt your ears.”

“Listen, motherfucker—”

“No, you listen,” I hiss, facing them. They have formed two groups on either side of the room. “Who hit the fox?” I ask. They tell me without thought, looking at a tall, brown-haired coyote with his arms crossed. I crook my finger, “Come here.” I tilt my head, trapping him in my gaze. His friends are shocked as he steps forward.

“What are you?” another asks.

“I’m really getting sick of being asked that,” I say and strike out. My cane transforms; the whip zings through the air and takes off the head of the coyote who dared touch Rylee. The room is in shocked silence as they watch his head roll. “No one can touch my sister. Who grabbed the bear?” I ask, and the bear runs. I flick my wrist on his second desperate step, and his head joins the other, his body dropping. “I don’t like men who use their strength to abuse women. It’s pathetic and shows what a piece of shit you are.” I recoil my cane, tapping it on the ground.

“They asked for it,” a blonde-haired coyote says. He’s the closest to my right.

“I’m glad you said that,” I hiss, transferring my cane to my left hand. I strike with my right hand, grasping his throat, pulling him close, and arching my cane in the air, taking the head of every bad shifter left alive. I ignore the gasp Juliana can’t contain. “You asked for this,” I whisper and rip out his throat. Silence descends, and I feel the stares directed my way. Shaking my hand, blood flies. “Cut them loose.” I take out my phone with my clean hand and hit Quinn’s name. “Come and get your sister-in-law. She was held in a house and assaulted.”

“What the fuck?” he growls.

“She’s fine.”

“Did you kill the assholes?”

“Of course. I will send the hotel's address.” I hang up and find the contact for the dragons. “Kingston, come get your mother.” I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder and clean my hand with a towel on the bar.

“What did she do?” he sighs.

“She killed a shifter who touched Gabby. I killed the rest.”

“Jesus.”

“They are fine. I’ll send you the address.” I hang up as the women get to their feet and rub their wrists.

“Jules?” Sally asks, and Juliana looks away from the head closest to her.

“Sally, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

I narrow my eyes, looking from Sally to Juliana.

“You missed a killer party,” Sally retorts. Only the rabbit can joke about the situation.

“You know each other?” I ask, moving toward them.

“We met at the hotel where I work,” Juliana explains.

“I had a feeling,” Sally whispers.

“She’s my mate,” I state.

“Hmm…” Sally nods slightly and I narrow my eyes. The rabbit always knows more than she says.

“You’re giving her a crash course on dangerous shifters,” Rylee says, touching her eye.

“Are you alright?” I ask instead of acknowledging her comment.

“Yes. Asshole got in a lucky shot,” she replies.

“Did you just speak to Kingston?” Roxanne asks in disbelief.

“I did.” I look at all the dead bodies and back to the line of women.

“So you called my sons on me,” she says, glaring.

“Quinn is pissed, isn’t he?” Gabby asks, rubbing her arms.

“He’s angry that you got hurt.” Her bruises are fading slower than the others. The bear who hurt her must have had a nasty grip.

“We shouldn’t have come,” she says.

“There is no excuse for putting your hands on a woman in anger,” I say.

“Thank you, Heath,” Sally says. “We couldn’t handle all of them.” I nod slowly.

“It’s almost morning. You need to return to your hotel, and I need to get Juliana home.” I don’t meet my mate's eyes as I walk to her, pressing on her back. “Bane, escort them to the hotel and Rylee home. I will send Hunter. Take care of the bodies.”

“Yeah, Boss,” he grumbles. “Tomorrow, we’ll talk about a pay raise.”

“We can do that,” I say, my lips twitching. Hunter and Bane are invaluable to me, and taking care of two wild rabbits is not part of their job description.

“Wait,” Rylee says, and I stop in the doorway. “I want to get to know my new sister.”

“There will be time later,” I say and leave the house. I stay close to Juliana as we walk to the car, wishing I could read her mind, but thankfully, I don’t smell fear. I open her door and wait for her to drop in the seat. Taking my time, I circle the back of the car, containing the rage that still simmers inside. When I use my power, my energy rarely drops drastically like most shifters. I don’t use my gifts to that extent daily, so I have reserves, but this time, my emotions are pulling at me. Having my mate near those men wasn’t my best idea.

“Who is Rylee?” Juliana asks when I sit in the driver's seat. She puts the knife by her feet.

“Rylee is a fox shifter. I found her on the street outside my casino. She was badly beaten, and her clothes were barely hanging on her body. She was hiding behind the dumpster and terrified when she saw me. Her arm was broken, and she was struggling to shift. When a shifter is hurt, the ideal way to heal is to turn into your animal; she didn’t have the strength to do it.” Her pain and distrust was understandable. “I somehow convinced her to allow me to take care of her. Usually, if I found a hurt shifter, I would instruct someone else to help them. For some reason, I felt a need to take care of her.

“I brought her home and bandaged her, cleaned her up, and gave her a safe space to heal. Human medicine doesn’t work for us; anything I gave her would have burned away before it took effect. She had to deal with the pain. Slowly, she began to heal. She didn’t know what I was, and I didn’t share. I gave her a room, food, and calmness. She stayed in the room for three weeks without a word. Eventually, she shifted and healed completely, at least on the outside.” Remembering the early days of our relationship is difficult. “Both of us were unsure of what to do in the situation. Slowly, our friendship grew. We ate meals together, and she started to open up.” My hand tightens on the wheel. “She shared some of the abuse her kidnappers had done to her. I feel uncomfortable speaking of her experience.”

“You don’t have to,” she says. “It’s her choice to share.” I nod gratefully.

“It was despicable, and it took years for her to reveal all of it to me. She didn’t have a family and didn’t have anywhere to go. She was seventeen.”

“So young,” she mumbles.

“Our world is different. At her age, she was mature. Shifters live with magic and grow up with it. It’s not the same as a seventeen-year-old human. The things she lived through made her older than her years. I asked if she wanted to stay with me as my sister, and she accepted. I taught her how to fight and gave her everything she deserved to have. I tried to give her a normal life, even though I am far from normal. We battled those who assumed she was with me romantically. We have never felt that way about each other. She is my chosen sister, and I have defended her as such. She lived with me until she was twenty-three and thought she was ready to live by herself. I felt like a father losing their child when she moved out, but she stressed the importance of taking charge of her life.” I laugh lightly. “It’s a weird sensation.

“I see her all the time. She fights for me and wins almost every time. I don’t worry about her as much. I think she uses her fists to fight back the memories of the men who abused her.” I stop the car and turn to Juliana. “She doesn’t know it, but I have been tracking down the men.”

“Have you found them?” she asks, removing her belt.

“Some.” I turn off the car. “Ten men hurt my sister. I have killed six.” I open my door. “I won’t stop until they are all dead.”