Growl for Me: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (8 page)

Mina's eyes darted down the
street, and she saw that the white wolves had emerged from their
houses and were standing silently behind the circle of red wolves.
Mina closed her eyes for an instant, seeing the bloodshed that would
ensue. Too many white wolves would die in the fight. The entire
street would be awash in blood. And Declan—might be killed.
It was clear that the red wolves were after his blood.

No, she couldn't let that
happen.

The white wolves had
protected her, and saved her. She couldn't let them sacrifice
themselves. And she couldn't let them lose their Alpha.

Mina pushed away from the
window and fumbled to the door. Throwing open her bedroom door, she
thundered down the stairs and flew out the front door into the
street.

“Stop!” she
yelled. “Don't hurt him! Please!”

Declan spun round at her
shout, his face a mask of shock and fury. Before he could reach her,
Mina was jerked back and a thick arm wrapped around her neck. She
found her back pressed against a hard, male body, and she felt a claw
trail down the side of her face.

“Ah, Declan, I
wouldn't come any closer, if I were you. I'll slice open her pretty
face if you take one step towards her.”

“Rhett, let her go,”
Declan snarled, his claws fully unsheathed.

Mina closed her eyes,
refusing to make any sound. She wouldn't scream and whimper, and
give Rhett the satisfaction of hearing the fear in her voice.

“Remember me,
sweetness?” Rhett breathed in her ear. She twisted a little
in his grip and stared into those sick, yellow eyes. She flinched.
She would never forget those eyes. She had stared into those eyes
and felt certain that she was going to die. Mina stifled a shudder.
The red wolf Alpha was even scarier in human form. She saw a long
scar down his cheek, and his naked body was covered with reddish
hair. He wasn't tall like Declan. Rhett was stocky and bulky, and
his voice was harsh and gravelly.

“I didn't manage to
bite you on the highway. But tonight, you'll feel my teeth in your
neck. And you do know what that means, don't you? I'm going to turn
you, and claim you.” Mina balled her fist when she felt him
press his erection between her legs. “You'll join my harem of
bitches.”

“Rhett, let her go.
She is human,” Declan said through gritted teeth. “This
is pack business. This doesn't concern her.”

“Oh, but it does.
This has everything to do with her.” Rhett tightened his arm
around her neck. “You shouldn't have interfered. I got her
first. She's mine.”

“She's not your mate!”

Rhett laughed. “I'm
not looking for a mate. I want a new female. A human I can turn and
claim.”

“You know you
shouldn't turn humans into werewolves without their consent. They
may not survive the turning, and they have to know the risks and the
life they are giving up. You are making them part of your pack.
They will be bound to you. They will have to heed your call, obey
you, fight for you, sacrifice their lives for you.”

Rhett laughed. “Oh,
but I didn't fully turn all those human women. I only half-turned
them.”

Declan looked sickened by
the revelation. “You should let them go,” he said
slowly.

“Oh, you're going to
interfere with what I do with my pack as well? You are not the Alpha
of the Red Fangs pack, Declan. I am.”

“Not for long,”
Declan muttered.

Rhett's claw dug into Mina's
side. “You can watch me turn her, Declan. It'd be fun...for
me.”

Mina screamed as jagged
teeth pushed into her neck and clamped down on her soft flesh. The
pain was so intense it was a wonder she didn't pass out.

Forcing her eyes open, Mina
saw Declan throw off a dozen red wolves, batting them away like
flies. The red wolves continued attacking, but they didn't slow
Declan down. He charged towards Mina with a deafening roar, his face
twisted in pain and wrath.

Mina tried to stretch out
her hand to him. “Declan...” she croaked, struggling to
remain conscious. Her body was going numb, even though her limbs
were jerking uncontrollably. There must be something in the
werewolf's saliva, some paralyzing agent or toxin that overrode her
brain's signals to her nerves. Mina tried to move her legs to kick
Rhett but she didn't even have the strength to remain upright.

Behind Declan, she saw a red
wolf with hazel eyes coming towards her. With a powerful leap, the
red wolf flew into the air, fangs and claws glinting dangerously.
Mina tried to shout out a warning to Declan, but her voice wouldn't
work. She twisted feebly in Rhett's grip and felt his teeth and
claws retract from her body abruptly. The red wolf wasn't aiming for
Declan. It was coming at Rhett.

The wolf knocked Rhett away
from her, and stepped back, shifting smoothly to human form. In a
blink, a dark-haired man stood in front of Rhett. He had his naked
back to Mina, and she saw red fur receding rapidly from his muscular
shoulders and corded legs.

Declan scooped her up in his
arms and snarled, “Step away, Logan. Move, Logan, or I'll be
forced to kill you!”

Logan turned and flicked his
hazel eyes down at Mina. Mina clutched at Declan's arm and wheezed,
“He...he saved me. He's not like...them.”

Turning to Logan, she
whispered, “I remember you.” She tried to smile at him
but her facial muscles wouldn't work.

Logan acknowledged her
comment with a grim nod. “Go,” he told Declan. “She
needs you.”

Rhett roared and tried to
lunge at Mina, but Logan's arm shot out and blocked him.

Rhett's fangs elongated as
he spat, “What do you think you are doing, Logan? Are you
challenging me, your Alpha?”

“Yes,” Logan
answered smoothly. “I challenge you.”

At his words, all the red
wolves stopped fighting and backed away from the growling white
wolves.

Logan and Rhett shifted into
their wolf form at the same time, and howled. All the red wolves
howled to acknowledge the declaration. Logan had just declared to
his pack his intent to challenge the Alpha. The Red Fangs pack would
now be split. The wolves would have to take sides. They could
choose to back their Alpha, or support the challenger. Loyalties
would be split, and blood would be spilled.

It would be a fight to the
death.

If Logan won the challenge
and became the new Alpha, all the wolves who had declared their
loyalty to Rhett would either be executed or banished from the pack.

But if Rhett defeated and
destroyed Logan, then all Logan's supporters would be banished.
Banished or killed.

The white wolves ceased
their attack on the Red Fangs pack. The red wolves had just bayed
for blood. Blood and change. A change in Alpha would mean a change
in the entire structure and size of the pack. When a leadership
challenge was declared, there was a moratorium on the pack's external
affairs. Other packs and clans would have to back off, and allow the
pack some time to reorganize itself.

Declan held up a hand to his
white wolves, and nodded once. They were to stand down and let the
red wolves leave their territory.

Turning to Logan, Declan bit
out two words, “Three days.”

The red wolf nodded and
barked a command to his followers. Mina raised her head from
Declan's chest and watched Logan lead the majority of the Red Fangs
pack away from Snow River territory.

“They are leaving?”
Mina asked dazedly.

“Yes,” Declan
answered. “Logan has just issued a challenge to his Alpha. He
is going to fight him for leadership of the Red Fangs pack. The
wolves who are following Logan right now are supporting him in his
challenge.”

Mina smiled when she saw
most of the red wolves running after Logan, throwing their support
behind him.

She glanced down at the huge
wolf eyeing her from a few feet away. “You...are going down,”
she spat at Rhett. “I hope you lose!”

Rhett growled but he
couldn't do anything to her. She was in Declan's arms, and six white
wolves had positioned themselves between Rhett and Declan.

The white wolves watched the
rest of the Red Fangs pack follow their Alpha silently back to their
territory, where the challenger was waiting. Blood would be spilled
in the Red Fangs pack this night. There would be blood and death,
and the pack would be radically changed. The white wolves would just
have to wait and see if the Red Fangs pack emerged stronger, leaner
and better after the challenge.

Mina clawed at Declan's bare
chest, digging her nails into his smooth, tanned skin. “I...I'm
cold, Declan,” she whispered through chattering teeth. “I'm
so cold...so very cold...”

Declan pressed his lips to
her forehead as he turned and strode back into his house. His wolves
watched him in silence. Without glancing back, Declan kicked his
front door shut with so much force the walls shook. Taking three
steps at a time, he carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Without a word, he laid her
on the bed and started stripping off her clothes.

“W-what are you
d-doing?” she protested weakly. “Stop...”

“I have to do this,
Mina,” he snapped, tearing off her bra and panties. She tried
to turn away but he held her and covered her shivering body with his
own. Immediately, she felt the heat of his body seep through her
pores, warming her up and easing the acute pain all over her body.

“W-what's happening to
me, Declan?” she stammered.

He inhaled a sharp, painful
breath. “He bit you. Rhett bit you with his fangs. He
injected you with his toxin.”

“Toxin?”

“If we want to turn a
human, we inject a toxin from our fangs into their bloodstream.”

“T-turn? I...I'm
turning...into a werewolf?” Mina could hear the hysteria in
her voice.

“No. Rhett didn't
inject enough toxin into your bloodstream. He intended to only
half-turn you. You will experience the wants and cravings of a
werewolf, but you will not have the strength and power of the wolf in
you. You won't be able to shift into wolf form, and you won't have
the instincts and the power of the beast.”

Mina tried to swallow.
“Then what...”

“You'll just have the
appetite of the wolf. You will want, but you won't have the ability
to fight for what you want.” Declan's eyes blazed with fury.

“Want? You mean...no.
No,” she whispered, remembering the agonizing ache she'd felt
earlier with Declan. “I'll be...in need, in heat...”
She shook her head.

“Yes. You will want
to mate. But you won't be able to claim your mate. You won't be
able to hunt, to fight, to survive.”

Mina's eyes widened at the
realization. “I'll die...”

“No, Mina. You have a
choice. You can either go back, or go forward. You can try to
reverse the turning. Some witches have succeeded in purging the
toxin and erasing the trauma from the victim's mind. But the process
is dangerous and not always successful. Some of the humans survive
the reversal, but their minds and memories are damaged forever...”

Mina shuddered. “W-what's
the other choice?”

Declan stared into her eyes.
“You can choose to reverse the turning...or—complete the
turning. You can choose to be turned into a full werewolf.”

“A werewolf.”
Mina closed her eyes for an instant, then opened them to gaze into
Declan's intense blue eyes. “Like you.”

He nodded. “Like me.”

Mina cried out as a crushing
wave of pain pulled her under. She gripped Declan's huge hand and
crushed his long fingers in her palm. She must have broken all the
bones in his hand, but he didn't pull away. When she could open her
eyes again, she panted, “Do it. Turn me, Declan. I don't want
to lose my mind and my memories. I want to fight! Like a wolf!”

Her body began to spasm and
convulse violently. Gritting her teeth against the agony, she
screamed, “Do it. Now!”