Instinctive (28 page)

“Guess she had to turn to her panther friends for
companionship
since her alpha wolfie couldn’t do it for her.” Slyck licked his lips and offered Vall a coy grin. “And here I never thought I’d ever acquire a taste for puppy.”

Vall twitched, and then unable to fight the pull any longer, his bones began to slide and his skin to stretch.

Running at breakneck speed, Slyck covered the distance between them in mere seconds and pounced on Vall. Summoning every ounce of strength and power he possessed, he drove his fist into the other man’s throat. Vall let out a deep guttural sound right from his belly, then lunged upward. Slyck pounced, gained purchase, and began mauling the hound. The sounds of cartilage popping and bones crunching echoed in the night. Vall yelped and dropped to the ground.

Vall’s snarl fueled the other lycans into action, and they rushed forward, frothy saliva and fresh blood dripping from their muzzles. Slyck could feel a set of fangs slice through his flesh, ripping his skin from his body. Claws dug and teeth clamped, and he feared there was no way in hell he was getting out of this alive, because the wolves would tear his head clear off his shoulders, and rob him of any lives he had left.

As that last image filled his mind, he thought about Jaclyn and how they hadn’t been bonded long enough for her to live on without him. She too would be robbed of her life, and he couldn’t, wouldn’t let that happen. A new energy pumped through his veins, giving him a strength he had no idea he possessed.

It was the strength from their bond.

Drawing on that strength, he tore the rest of his clothes from his body and shifted.

Scowling, Vall barked at his wolves, and then surprisingly, one of his loyal followers turned on him, sinking his teeth into Vall’s backside and spurring the others on. Vall’s low whine rent the air as, one by one, they all turned on him. How was that for love and devotion? Treating his pack like shit and bullying them had finally come back to bite him in the ass.

Literally.

 

Jaclyn’s stomach knotted and her body broke out in a sweat as she regarded the tumbling weed of fur and claws. The sickening sound of skin ripping and animals howling and the pungent coppery scent of blood saturated the air had her panther itching to surface. But her little panther wasn’t strong enough to take on one dog, let alone a whole pack.

Oh God, she needed to help Slyck. She needed to do something, anything. And she needed to do it fast. But what? How? Her gaze scanned the street until she came to the department store. Guns. The department store had a gun section.

Working to keep herself invisible, she crab-walked to the security gate, where Drake stood guard, fighting off a few stray lycans himself. With his back to the gate, metal bar in his hands, he dodged a set of canines and cracked the beast over the head. The animal fell with a yelp, blood splattering across the pavement. It remained motionless, but Jaclyn knew that after a few moments, it would regenerate and be as good as new.

Jaclyn pressed her back to the booth as one of the lycans turned on her. She maintained eye contact, not wanting to show fear or give the wolf any reason to attack. Lips peeled back to expose pointy fangs, it prowled closer. Its wolf nostrils flared, and she suspected it got a whiff of her panther scent.

Blood pounded in her ears and her nerves tingled. “How do I get into the department store?” she shot out to Drake, feeling her way along the booth in hopes of finding the door, getting inside, and securing a weapon of her own. “I need to get guns.” The sounds of animal cries reached her ears and her heart raced. She worked diligently to fight down the panic. Fuck, she needed to move fast, before it was too late, but she couldn’t do a thing with this damn dog at her heels.

Drake came around to her side and swung his weapon like a baseball bat. The lycan squealed and rolled backward. A second later it climbed to all fours and shook its head, dazed. “The bullets won’t kill them,” he exclaimed, then turned his attention back to the lycan as it prepared for another attack.

“But these ones will.”

The feminine voice came from behind, and Jaclyn spun around to see Sunray standing there in her human form, completely naked, gripping a gun, white knuckled. She squeezed the trigger, and the sound of gunfire cut through the air and startled the dogs. They tucked tail and ran, instincts driving them to seek safety in the woods. Only Slyck and Vall remained in the middle of the street. Both were injured and bleeding, yet they continued to fight.

Jaclyn reached for her friend but pulled her hand back when Sunray snarled and began morphing, her skin sliding away. “I
don’t know how long I can fight it,” she cried out, her voice cracking like broken bones.

“Give me the gun,” Jaclyn spoke softly, and with slow, unhurried movements, she stepped forward.

The gun fell to the ground as Sunray dropped to her knees in pain. Jaclyn kept a close eye on the wolf as she stooped to pick it up. “Easy, Sunray,” she whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Gun in hand Jaclyn stood up and walked backward. When Slyck roared behind her, she twisted around and pointed the gun. Jesus, she couldn’t pull the trigger, couldn’t tell who was who as they struggled on the ground. When she thought she had caught a flash of wolf fur, she squeezed her index finger, discharging the gun. The hot silver rocketed from the chamber. The sound cracked the air and the smell of sulfur curled around her. She glanced at the two still animals, and suddenly the world around her went hazy. The gun fell from her hand and clattered against the pavement as she waited for movement.

“Slyck . . . ,” she whispered. “Get up.”

Breathing heavily, Drake came up beside her. Three injured lycans crawled away from him to safety. Drake’s hand closed over her shoulder and squeezed, a gesture meant to calm. She turned to face him and watched a smile pull at his mouth.

Confused, she fixed him with a stare. He gestured with his head and said, “Look.”

Jaclyn spotted Slyck morphing back to human form. He climbed to his feet, his naked body broken and bloodied.

“I’ll go open the gate again,” Drake said. “There are clean clothes in the car for you both.”

Her heart soared like a leaf caught in an updraft, and she bolted forward. She threw her arms around Slyck and kissed him with all the love inside her.

“Easy, baby,” he murmured and kissed her back.

Jaclyn cringed and inched away. “Oh, sorry,” she whispered almost giddy with relief.

Slyck’s grip suddenly tightened and she heard him curse under his breath. In wolf form, Sunray moved toward them.

“Where’s the gun?” he bit out.

Jaclyn stepped in front of him and positioned her body between man and wolf. “No, Slyck, don’t.”

His muscles tightened and he bit out between clenched teeth, “Jaclyn, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“Yes, she does. She won’t hurt me. She’s proven that to me already.” Jaclyn pointed to the open gate, and in a low but firm tone, she said, “Go. Run. Stay safe, and at sunrise meet us in the next town. We’ll be waiting for you.”

Sunray bared her teeth and took one small step forward. Slyck widened his stance and prepared for an attack. Sunray turned her eyes on him and growled, then swished her long golden tail and spun around. With strong, rapid strides, she raced through the open gate.

Drake came back and touched Slyck’s shoulder. “You need to get out of here now too. Vall’s first-in-command, Ciaran, is a good man who has the town’s best interests at heart. Tomorrow I’ll meet with him, and together we’ll cover for tonight’s carnage. I’ll tell the council you two fought, and both ended up dead, and Sunray got caught in the cross fire. I’m not sure anyone in this town will be
sad to see Vall go anyway, not even his own pack. In fact, I think they’ll be grateful.”

Jaclyn spotted the uncertainty in Slyck’s eyes when he nodded and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like
Harmony, Herbs, and Incantation
.

He put his hand on the other man’s shoulder and began, “Drake—”

Drake must have seen the unease in his friend’s eyes as well because he cut Slyck off and said, “It’s time for you to go, Slyck. You’ve lived your life for everyone else. Now it’s time for you to have a life. You deserve this.”

Bile rose in her throat now that the moment to leave was upon them, and she began wringing her hands together. Oh God, she couldn’t ask him to leave everything he’d ever known because of her, she couldn’t be that selfish. Nor would she be responsible for the downfall of his community. They needed his strength, his power, and his command.

She took a moment to run over the events of the last month, her mind searching for an answer and coming up with only one.

Jaclyn took a step back as she came to a decision—she knew what she had to do. With her fate sealed, she began to walk away, slowly. Sure she’d die, but life without Slyck wasn’t a life she was interested in living, anyway.

“Jaclyn, what are you doing?” Slyck turned toward her as Drake made his way back to the security booth.

His questioning tone stopped her cold. She swallowed and met his gaze unflinchingly. “You have to stay,” she answered, deadpan.

He furrowed his brow and in two strides closed the distance between them. He cupped her face and she bit back big hiccup-ping tears. The tenderness in his tone nearly dropped her to the bloodied ground when he said, “What are you talking about, sweetheart?”

She lifted her chin and met with deeply tortured, beautiful green eyes. “I saw your uncertainty, Slyck. You can’t leave your pack. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the greater good. You told me so yourself.”

She felt his body tremble and saw the worry in his eyes. “Jaclyn—”

She tried to keep her own voice steady but failed miserably. “Your family needs you, Slyck.”

“You’re my family now, Jaclyn, and we need each other. I’ve prepared Drake for my position.” He spoke softly and pressed sweet kisses to her forehead, her nose, her mouth. “And now with Vall gone . . .”

“But your hesitation . . .”

“I can’t deny that leaving my pack is hard, Jaclyn, but I also know it’s right, and I’ve come to terms with the decision. Everything I’ve ever done was for my community, and maybe it is time I did something for myself. I think I deserve that. We deserve that.”

She gulped.

“Baby, don’t think for one minute I’m letting you walk out of here without me. I’ve spent a lifetime searching for you, and whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”

Relieved, Jaclyn let out a big, inappropriate, unladylike snort. She swung her arms around him, and when he spun her, she spotted
Vall crawling across the pavement on his belly, leaving a big streak of red in his wake.

“Oh shit.”

Slyck pivoted, and the second he spotted Vall, he pushed Jaclyn to safety, but before he could counterattack, Vall got a shot off and Slyck fell to the ground at her feet.

She dropped to the ground beside him. “No,” she cried out, and wrapped her arms around him, offering him her strength, her life.

The sound of Vall scraping across the pavement propelled her into action. Acting on instinct, and barely aware of what she was doing, Jaclyn bolted across the pavement and flung herself on top of Vall. She grabbed the gun and shot him again, ensuring this time he was dead once and for all.

As she crawled back to Slyck, her eyes stung and she finally broke down. “Slyck—” she cried out, and cradled his head in her hands. “Oh God, no.” She scanned his body, searching through the numerous gouges on his skin for the bullet wound. When she saw a hole through his heart, she buried her face in her hands and cried. She stayed there for a long moment, choking on her sobs.

Slyck had been right when he said that someday she’d understand the power of the bond between them, because not only could she
not
live without him—she didn’t
want
to live without him. She lay down beside him, accepting that they would die together—the way it was meant to be, the way she wanted it.

“Jaclyn.”

She scurried backward, startled. Her eyes sprang open.
“Slyck!” she screeched, her gaze racing over his body. “How? The bullet. Your heart. It’s not possible. We don’t have regenerative abilities. You told me so yourself.” Her words came out hurried and broken.

“Um, we have nine lives. Did I forget to mention that to you?”

Oh. My. God. Of all the frigging things to forget to mention.

She looked heavenward, briefly squeezed her eyes and prayed for strength. “Yeah, you did,” she murmured, then turned her glance to him and asked, “How many do you have left?”

He gave her an apologetic, lopsided grin that turned her insides to mush. “Why?”

Her heart filled with love as she smiled down at him. “Because you scared me half to death, and I’m about to kill you again for forgetting to tell me that vital piece of information.”

He laughed out loud and pulled her to him. “I have one left, sweetheart, and I plan on spending every minute of it with you. Every day I plan on teaching you how to tame your panther and use it as a strength.” He gave her a wink. “And every night I plan on unleashing your wild side and showing you the power of our bond. Like I told you, you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”

 

 

Jaclyn put the last of her files into her briefcase and looked around her beautiful new corner office. Every time she glanced at the “President” sign on her desk, or on the outside of her door, it brought a smile to her face. Everything in her life had fallen into place, and sometimes she had to pinch herself to prove it wasn’t just a dream.

Her stint in Serene might not have been all it was cracked up to be, but her ability to restructure and move product certainly proved to the board that she was serious about the business and that Benjamin was leaving his empire in capable hands. Of course, she hadn’t expected to walk away as a were-cat, with the most amazing man in the world at her side, either. In fact, there were moments when she’d thought they’d never walk away from Serene at all.