Kodiak Moment: An Alpha Werebear Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Arcadia Knights Book 2) (12 page)

Then, only then, did his emotions come back to him, and the crash of them all at once left him a devastated ruin.

“
W
e weren’t
the only ones hit. Several Shifters in the Portland and Seattle communities disappeared overnight, and whoever attacked also tried to take on Haven. That one backfired on them pretty badly though, according to the reports coming in.”

Abby looked between Warren and her mate, who was staring vacantly at a nearby stump, then shook her head. “We’re going to need more time.”

“Of course.” Warren seemed to be holding up under the loss of his mother, but if loving Logan had taught her anything, it was that the more stoic they were, the greater the hidden emotions. The Enforcer’s face could have been carved from granite, but at least he was still able to function.

But, then again, he hadn’t watched helplessly as his mother committed suicide right in front of him.

Nearby, Ever was standing over her mate in a similar fashion. Aidan had retreated into bear form after being released from Eleanor’s mental hold, as if somehow his animal form might be a barrier against grief. Ever guarded him protectively, glaring at anyone who came too close and refusing to let anyone but her tend to him.

Abby had a feeling she and the other woman were going to be very good friends.

Beside her, Logan stirred, then squeezed her hand. Abby looked at him, then followed his gaze.

Damon paced beside Meredith’s body, a bundle of nervous energy as the doctors worked on the human woman. Logan caught his mate’s eye, then pointed towards the group with his chin. “Can you see how she’s doing, please?”

It was the
please
that made her melt. “Of course,” she said, laying a gentle kiss to the top of his head, but held off for a moment just hugging him close. There were no words she could say that would comfort him, nothing she could do that would take away the pain.

But she could go and see if one of his close friends would last the night.

Damon’s head snapped toward her as Abby approached, his eyes blazing bright blue as if ready to protect Meredith at any cost. When he saw who it was, though, he looked away, then resumed his pacing as Abby knelt down beside the older woman. “How is she?”

“Bad.” The woman who said it looked younger than Abby herself, but she was learning that appearances meant little around here regarding a person’s age. “The blast she took severed her spine and made mincemeat of her insides. I don’t even know if she’ll survive surgery - hell, I’m surprised she’s still alive now.”

“Doc, you ever been told your bedside manner sucks balls?”

Meredith’s words were soft, but Abby grinned down at her. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, you know. Been better.” The older woman gasped in a breath, holding it as she swallowed. “How’s he doing?”

“Logan? He’s holding it together, but just barely. And Damon here won’t leave your side.”

At the sound of his name, the wolf boy maneuvered his way to her side, hovering over Meredith as if not sure what to do next. “You won’t die,” he said in a firm voice.

Meredith’s laughter was wet. “That’s not something you can determine, kid.”

Damon’s whine sounded just like a wolf’s, looking from one person to the next. “Fix her!”

Abby bit her lip, tears pricking her eyes. She put her arm around his shoulders. “They’re doing everything they can.”

He looked up at her, tears shimmering in his bright eyes. “I have to do something,” he muttered, looking about wildly as if trying to find the answer.

“Damon…”

Then below them, Meredith’s body bowed upwards, blood spilling from the sides of her mouth. “She’s going,” the female doctor exclaimed as Meredith collapsed limp to the ground, then began to do chest compressions in the vain effort to keep her alive.

“No, no, no, no…” Damon repeated the word with each panting breath as people surrounded the dying woman. He looked at Abby, desperation etched all over his face, then grabbed up the human woman’s arm and brought it to his mouth.

“No!” The doctor stopped the compressions, reaching to push Damon away from Meredith’s side, but the boy just dodged her. “You’ll kill her for sure if you do that!”

“She’s dying already,” Abby snapped, praying this would work. “This may be her only chance!”

“But if he isn’t her mate, there’s a nine-in-ten chance this won’t work. Becoming one of us isn’t as easy as your human books made it out to be, there’s
rules
you have to follow…”

When Damon bit Meredith again on the shoulder, then above the older woman’s left breast, the doctor trailed off as if realizing the futility of arguing. Damon however didn’t stop, biting at any part of her body he could reach. When the medical team just sat there, watching it all happen, Damon lifted his head and snarled at them. “Keep trying to bring her to life!”

The lady doctor didn’t seem to appreciate being told what to do, but she restarted the chest compressions as Damon moved down Meredith’s body, biting through clothing and puncturing the skin. He then switched, lightening-fast, to his wolf form and continued his ministrations, until Meredith’s body was almost covered in bleeding punctures.

“If she hadn’t already bled to death before now,” the doctor muttered under her breath, but didn’t stop.

“Danica,” one of the other doctors at Meredith’s head said to the doctor, “she’s not breathing.”

“Shit.” Danica continued the chest compressions, pressing harder. “Come on, you old lady, make me a liar with this boy’s idea. Come on!”

Damon stopped what he was doing and switched again back to human form, taking one of Meredith’s hands. “Please,” he begged, kneading her hand desperately, “come back to me, I can’t…”

Meredith’s body bowed upwards again, her intake of breath a loud and wet wheeze. She coughed, small flecks of blood flying through the air, then heaved another gasping breath.

“Fuck.” The doctor looked from Damon to Meredith. “I can’t believe that worked.”

Damon didn’t seem to hear her, still holding the older woman’s hand. “I told you that you wouldn’t die,” he murmured, laying a kiss to her palm.

Meredith’s eyes didn’t open, but after a few wet and stuttering inhalations, her breathing slowed to something almost rhythmic. “Is she going to be okay?” Abby asked, looking worriedly at the doctor.

“I don’t know,” Danica muttered, checking the woman’s heart with a stethoscope. “That wound on her abdomen is still really bad and she’s lost a lot of blood.” She gave the hovering wolf-boy a narrow look, then sighed. “But I think he’s bought her a chance, if she can survive the Change along with these wounds.”

“She’s strong.” Damon rocked in place over Meredith, holding her lip hand tight against his chest. “She can do anything.”

“Uh-huh.” The doctor looked dubious about that comment, but shook her head. “There’s nothing more I can do here until we get her to the hospital. Excuse me, I have a few others I need to go see.”

“Of course.” Abby stepped back and turned to go tell Logan the news, and was startled to find him right behind her. She let out a surprised laugh, then sobered up immediately as she reached up to touch his face. “You okay?”

He didn’t reply, and she really hadn’t expected one, but his large hand covered hers and he turned into her touch, kissing her palm. Abby’s gut tightened, and she suddenly wanted to cry at the tenderness she saw in his eyes. Weaving her arms around his body, she hugged him tight and whispered, “I love you.”

It didn’t occur to her until she felt him stiffen that she’d never said those words aloud to him before. But he immediately relaxed again, bringing his thick arms across her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Once again, he didn’t speak, but she felt the emotion pouring out of his eyes, and read the response there.

I love you too.

“
T
wenty-one dead
, six definitely taken and ten still unaccounted for. We’ve completely lost power to the town, all our security measures are in shambles, and we’ve got a mass exodus on our hands. That reporter lady was among the ones taken so, now, we’ve got absolutely no leads.”

Warren listed off the statistics to the small group around him. When nobody replied, he continued. “Haven was hit but remained intact, mostly because they’re ready for situations like this and have Marshall Tucker, the Brahm, patrolling the forests around them. Here in Arcadia, many of our defenses were structured around his presence and…”

He trailed off, looking out a nearby window. “We’re completely defenseless now,” he said in a low voice. “If they send another wave, we won’t stand a chance.”

“Or they could just nuke us from the air,” Amelia supplied in a helpful voice, then shrugged when everybody glared at her. “What, it would be the easiest way.”

“This was a snatch-and-grab operation, pure and simple. Everything else was designed to decrease our numbers.” Warren looked at everyone in the room until his eyes fell on Julian Murphy, and his gaze softened slightly. “How’s your father?”

“Breathing.” Julian’s voice was clipped, his expression distant. “The healing factor isn’t…” He swallowed. “It’s going slow, but he hasn’t woken up yet.” He raised his head and met Warren’s eyes. “Were there any dead from Haven?”

Warren shook his head. “What enemies my father didn’t obliterate, Nadine’s defenses took down. They had some injuries, but not much.” When Julian looked ready to ask again, Warren held up his hand. “We got word an hour ago. Anna is fine, as is everyone else in Haven.”

Julian’s shoulders sagged with relief, as did Aidan’s. Logan let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Anna Landry was his half-sister and Davis’ twin, all of them sharing the same mother. He’d been away when they were both born so he’d never met the girl, but with Eleanor’s death, he felt a kinship with the unknown girl. Aidan had also mentioned in passing she was Julian’s mate, although she’d fought that because of her dislike of the snarky man.

He liked her already, now to just meet her in person.

“What about the human lady and the
mowgli
?”

Abby glared at Amelia. “Her name is Meredith.”

“Fine, her and that wolf boy.” Amelia shook her head. “It’s plain to see something strange is happening with her. The Change isn’t supposed to work like that.”

“What’s it supposed to be like,” Abby demanded.

“Well, for one, when a human survives being turned, they stay the same age they looked like when they were bitten.” The dark-haired lady folded her arms. “Your old girl is visibly getting younger, losing the grey in her hair and all those wrinkles. That does
not
happen, like, ever.”

“Maybe you can ask her when she wakes up,” Abby snapped, defending the other woman.

“That’s the plan. Hey, maybe it’s because of that
mowgli
wolf boy. Do you think he’s her mate?”

Logan could tell Abby was about to jump feet first into this fight, and pulled her against him, giving her a soft nudge with her hip. His mate subsided, but continued to glare at Amelia, who didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. Truth be told, Logan was worried too about what was happening to his old friend. For now, however, they had other things to worry about.

“Is this related to Hendrix and his cult?” Aidan looked dubious even as he said it, and Warren shook his head again.

“I don’t think so. That was a shifter-only group, while this one is human-only, and I think, given their firepower, this is a bigger threat than a bunch of religious zealots.”

“When are we going to rescue the people they took?”

Everyone nodded at Ever’s question, including Warren. “That’s the plan. We need more details, anything that can give us some clues. Davis is already looking through every electronic device we could salvage of theirs, but he’s handicapped without his own gear, which the EMP took out. As soon as we know more, we can plan something.”

“So right now, we sit on our hands and do nothing.”

The impotent rage in Julian’s voice was echoed by several others in the small circle. Warren put a hand on the werepanther’s shoulder, but it was quickly shrugged off. “We rebuild what we can, mourn our dead, and regroup to make sure this never happens again.”

“Where are the people leaving Arcadia going?” Abby asked, intertwining her fingers through Logan’s.

“Anywhere but here. Some want to go to Haven, but I’m not sure Nadine’s willing or able to take on new guests just yet. Others are heading out into the human world, figuring it’s easier to hide in plain sight.” Warren sighed. “We can’t keep them here against their will, and frankly I understand where they’re coming from. Fortunately, it’s not a huge percentage of people leaving; for most, Arcadia’s their home, and they want to stay.”

“And defenses?”

“That’s the next order of business, but not tonight. Go home, get some rest. Tomorrow starts the real job of rebuilding everything from scratch.”

I
t felt
strange lying in a soft bed, secure within his own home, after such a disturbing and world-changing day.

But his mate was curled up at his side, making slow circles with one finger around his nipple, and Logan was content.

“What do you think they’ll start with tomorrow?”

Logan shrugged one shoulder. “Rebuilding, I’d guess,” he said softly, pulling her closer in beside him. “People’s homes were destroyed, their lives shattered. Getting some of those structures back up could help a few people settle back into normalcy.”

Abby just made a small sound against his side but didn’t reply. Logan looked down at her, tracing her face with his fingers. “Where do you think we should start?”

She was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I’ve never been in a situation like this where so much was destroyed and lost.”

Gathering her into his arms, he laid his chin atop her head, taking a moment of his own to breathe in her sweet scent. Having her at his side calmed the anger and helplessness raging inside of him. It was easier to focus on that than to dwell on the day and everything he’d lost. So he held her close, focusing on the softness of her body against his and letting everything else about the day fall to the wayside.

After a moment, she stirred in his arms, turning her face to look up at him. “When will I know what kind of animal I’ll become?”

Logan considered her for a moment, counting back the days. “It usually takes about two weeks for everything to fall into place, so probably any day now.” He moved, sliding one leg between hers to bring her closer. Heat automatically fired through his groin, but for right then at least it wasn’t sex that was on his mind. “Have you felt anything in your mind, like another presence itching to get free?”

Abby frowned, deep. “Maybe? I’m not sure what I’d be trying to find.”

“Everyone’s connection to their animal is a little different. For me, it’s like an old friend, one that I can talk to and even sometimes argue with. A stubborn voice in your head that seems separate from the rest of your thoughts.” He paused to see if she’d understood, but she still seemed blank. “Okay, tell me: what do you want to do to me right now?”

The sassy smile Abby gave him got him hard within seconds, but then her eyes widened in surprise. “Okay, that’s weird.”

“What is?”

She laughed. “A part of me wants to jump your bones, while another part is… Do we have any milk?”

“Should be some in the refrigerator. Power’s out, but it should still be good for a little while longer.” Reluctantly, he released her, nudging her toward the bedroom door. “Go on, humor it and see what happens.”

Abby gave him an incredulous look but got out of bed, moving quietly across the floor. He listened as she padded into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and pulled out the milk, then smiled into the silence.

“How do I get it to come out?” she asked as she climbed back into bed a few moments later, sitting atop the mattress on her knees and staring at him with wide-eyed surprise.

“Ask it.” He tugged at her shirt. “Although you might want to take these off first.”

She gave him a saucy grin. “You just want to see me naked.”

YES!
But Logan didn’t say his thoughts aloud, just enjoyed it as his mate removed the old tank top of his that she’d been wearing, revealing the thin bra beneath it. When she unclasped it, his dick went from half-hard to full-blown NEED within a second.

“Maybe we’ll hold off on calling out the animal,” he growled, grabbing Abby around the middle and pulling her atop him. She laughed loudly, straddling his hips as his hands roamed over her torso.

“I thought you wanted to see what I turned into,” she teased, but he could smell her growing arousal, and it only made him need more.

“In a minute.” Both of his hands went around behind her and underneath the thin underwear she wore, squeezing her buttocks. She gasped, grinding down against him and setting off sparks in Logan’s head.

He was already naked but, in true human fashion, Abby still had too much clothing on. Grabbing both sides of her underwear in each hand, he tore them sideways, ripping them into shreds and discarding the pieces.

Above him, Abby giggled. “I won’t have a thing to wear soon,” she murmured, leaning down to kiss him.

“Good,” he murmured against her lips, suddenly desperate for their union. His hand snaked down between them, and found her wet and eager for him already. Grabbing her hips, he positioned her above him, then thrust upward with his hips, burying himself deep inside her body.

Abby gasped, throwing her head back. Logan grabbed a breast with one hand, while steadying her with his other. Being inside her was heaven; she was warm and wet and
his
. The mate he thought he’d never find rode him hard, moaning her pleasure, and Logan reveled in the feel and look of her.

The image of his mother crying over her dead mate flashed across his mind, breaking the mood for a second. He understood now what would drive someone to do such an act…

“What’s wrong?”

Abby’s sweet voice above him pulled him back to the present. She was watching him, concern in her beautiful eyes. Shaking his head to clear out the memories, he reached up to cup her face in his hands. “I love you.”

Her smile was so very precious to him. She leaned down as if to kiss him, but instead tweaked his nose with one finger. “Of course you do.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed, and he slammed his hips upwards, planting himself deep inside of her. Her eyes fluttered closed, small hands fisting against his shoulders, as Logan fucked her from below. His powerful hands held her in place as he dominated her from below, and was pleased when he felt her muscles quake around him as she let out a cry.

He came with her only seconds later, giving a hoarse shout as he filled her, Abby’s pulsations around his cock milking him of every last drop. The sex was a welcomed relief, and Logan pulled Abby down beside him, but his mate seemed to still be fired up.

“Hang on,” she said, rolling off her side of the bed still naked. Logan watched her walk away, appreciating the curves to her legs and ass. He could admire that view all day, every day, for the rest of eternity, and still never grow tired of it.

But then she turned around, holding up one finger. “Hang on, I think I’ve got this.”

For a moment, Logan wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Just for a moment. But as he watched, pale hair rippled across her shoulders and belly, her arms elongating and growing thicker. Her head changed, growing wider and longer, the hair atop her head receding and being replaced by fur. She collapsed to her hands and knees, just in time as her legs shrank and her spine elongated into a long, thin tail.

Logan’s lips spread into a huge smile as, where his human mate had once stood, now a tan-and-black leopard stood in her place. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly as she examined first her paws, then her body and tail. When she seemed to chase her tail, trying to catch it with one paw, he laughed out loud, the sound capturing her attention.

Suddenly she sprang at him, landing atop his chest and driving Logan back into the headboard. Beneath them, the bed groaned but somehow didn’t break as she curled up atop him, hugged his head between her two huge paws, and started licking his face with a thick, raspy tongue.

He ran his hand across the fur atop her head, following the contours of her ears and down along her back, then repeated the motion. The huge cat began to purr, nudging her head under his chin and laying out over him, demanding attention that he was happy to give. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured again, laying a kiss to the top of her head and marveling at his mate’s animal.

Then, a bit faster this time, she grew smaller and thinner, fur receding and hair growing out again atop her head, until it was Abby lying on top of him. She gave him a big grin, then laughed in delight, rolling over onto the bed beside him. “That was incredible,” she murmured in an awed voice.

Logan growled, hooking an arm around her torso and rolling them over until he was behind her, the rise of her buttocks beneath an already-hard cock. “If you think
that
was amazing,” he said in a low voice, nipping one ear lobe, “what would you call this?”

Then he gave her something to truly be in awe about, not just one or twice, but
four
times, before they both settled into sleep, entwined in each other’s arms.