Wild Hearts (4 page)

Shyla’s heart shuddered. Her mother murdered? With her still inside?

“Why? Who would kill a pregnant woman?” she asked quietly. Her brow knitted. “How did I survive?”

“Your grandfather killed the wolf who killed your mother before she had the opportunity to kill you as well,” Jacy said. “See, that’s why we asked if Jacob told you about your kin.”

“He never wrote about my family. He wrote about legends.”

“And the white wolf,” Coal said.

Shyla’s eyes widened. She straightened up in her chair.

Coal nodded once, moistening his lips. “Ah, yes. He did write about the legacy, but apparently didn’t write the reason you were forced into hiding.” He leaned over the table a bit more. “He never wrote about your wolf’s blood, did he? He never told you the reason your mother was killed was because she came from white wolf’s blood.”

A chill, one that didn’t evoke pleasure, plinked down her spine. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. She did
not
just hear that. This man, as down-to-earth sinful as he seemed, did not speak of wolves and the blood in her veins in the same sentence. Oh no.

She tilted her head and pinned Coal with a narrow gaze.

“You’re kidding. You’re not gonna try and convince me my mother was a–a wolf. I don’t believe in that stuff,” she said, lowering her voice to a mere whisper. She cast a short glance to a table of attentive men, all eyeing her.

Coal didn’t laugh, didn’t smile, or show any signs he joked. The chill froze.

“You really believe that. You believe in folklore. Of you both, I thought you were more grounded than Jacy here. I’m sure he wouldn’t indulge in tales and legends. My grandfather died of old age. My mother died of complications due to childbirth, and I was already out of her womb.”

“Nope, sugar. The wolf who mutilated your mother was consort to a female alpha named Laela. She drew in her followers and formed an enviable pack of her own. You see, she wanted the men who belonged to the white wolves. She wanted to be on top of the local packs, the ringleader. Because your mother and your aunts were considered the rare exception to the pack leader status—remember, alpha males run the packs, not females—she saw them as a threat and decided to send her loyal fuck friends to kill them. No one thought the children survived. In fact, we’re not even sure your cousins survived. Jacob only just told us about you a month before he died,” Jacy explained. He spoke with a nonchalance and carefree air. Shyla could do nothing more than stare at him in disbelief as he casually checked his nails.

Len slid her cup of coffee onto the table. The strong aroma did little to reel her back.

“Can’t you boys be a little less direct? Look at the poor creature. She’s beside herself,” the older man said. His strong hand clamped down on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

Jacy sat straight in his chair, eyes locked with Len.

Coal growled deep in his throat.

Len’s hand lifted from her.

Shyla exchanged glances between her two bodyguards. When she turned to Len, his hands were raised in surrender and he stepped back.

“Down, boys. No challenge. I have my mate. I’m not taking yours. Just…take it easy on the sweet thing.” He chuckled and shook his head, hands dropping to his sides. The ferocious electrical current that had sparked to life slowly fizzled out. Jacy settled back in his chair. Coal pinched his forehead between his thumb and forefinger.

Shyla scooted her chair back to better see both men at her table.

Maybe her lost kin cream analogy wasn’t so far off track.

“Mate?” she asked.

“Wow, you say it like it’s a bad thing,” Jacy snorted.

“Maybe I did.”

“Maybe you should get used to the fact that you have two men who’ll nuzzle you night and day.”

“Stop with the crude remarks.”

“Jacy, shut the fuck up, and keep your cock in check,” Coal snapped. Shyla blinked at him. His dark eyes held the vaguest hint of frost blue slithering through them. His hand dropped from his forehead and he sighed. “Sorry, Shyla.”

“Wait. So you’re telling me you two are mates? Like, you and him…?”

“Like, no,” Jacy mimicked. “Like, he and I are not lovers. We’re
your
lovers.”

Shyla whipped her hand out and smacked him on the arm. He snarled, a real lip-pulled-back-teeth-bared snarl, the playful glitter in his eyes blinding.

Coal took her hand. “Don’t provoke him. He’s nothing more than a pup in an adult’s hide. You’re arousal isn’t helping matters. We can both smell you,” Coal said.

“You…you can
smell
me?” Oh God, how embarrassing. All this time she thought these men dressed her in affection for the sake of enjoying it. Well, they enjoyed it because of her pheromones and a hope of…what? Fucking her?

The image of herself being invaded by both men did little to tamp her growing attraction to them. In fact, heat moistened her panties, and her heart performed a strange little dance.

“Listen to the voice in your spirit. The true you, not the city-girl you. I’ve noticed your adaption to Hood River from last night until now. You’re comfortable here. You feel at peace in the forest, in the wild. It’s your suppressed nature, your true self, trying desperately to lock down and come out. This is your home. This is where you belong. Your grandfather told Jacy and myself that we were chosen as your mates. Whether you want to accept it now or not is up to you, but you’ll never find the comfort and solace you’ve only begun to experience with us anywhere else.”

Coal offered a small smile, and it softened his features to such a degree Shyla’s confusion and discord stepped into the backseat. The stifling air that suffocated her moments ago began to lift. She never once broke her gaze with Coal. His spirit called to hers, soothing her anxiety while petting the slinking shadow in her mind.

“Shyla, sweetheart, your life is in danger. It’ll always be in danger because you aren’t a normal woman. You’re a white. A revered white wolf.” His knuckles lifted to her cheek, and he stroked her with a tenderness only he possessed for her. “It would’ve been only a matter of time before they tracked you down in New York. Here, you have us. You have packs willing to sacrifice lives of their members to keep you safe. This is your haven, your playground. All you need to do is see that what we’re saying is true. You’re a were, half human, half wolf. Every patron in this diner is a were.”

“Well that explains the sniffing of the air.” She swallowed, recalling a similar motion from both men. “And you?”

“
Every
one,”
Jacy reiterated. He dropped his foot to the floor and angled himself to her with a smile. “How’s it feel to know you can let go of all your proper inhibitions and just
be
?”

“I’m not an animal,” Shyla said. She fisted a hand.

“None of us are
animals
. We’re weres. There’s quite a difference. We have the capacity to think and understand and be moral. We
are
human. We’re civil. We’re wolf too. It’s a nice change of scenery at times.”

“I can’t believe I’m still sitting here listening to this and not running out the door screaming.” She dropped her head into her hands and groaned. “This is crazy.”

“What’s crazy is that you’re still wearing clothes while smelling like sugar, sugar.” Jacy chuckled.

She didn’t say a word as her cheeks burned and slick wetness stroked the apex of her thighs. God, she wanted these men as if she
was
an animal. She wanted them in every imaginable way, fucking, loving, licking, sucking. She wanted it all.

“So
not
civil,” she muttered.

“You know, bro, she might just put your sorry ass in place,” Coal said.

“I’ll tell you what might put
her
cute ass in place.”

Shyla squealed, pressing her face into her arms and locking her hands behind her head. Her face burned near scalding. Just the thought of having Jacy put anything near her ass made her squirm in her seat, and not in a bad way.

“Coal, cool her off. She’s making me hot,” Jacy said.

His voice echoed through the thundering rush of blood in her ears. Her mind didn’t register his words. She shifted, her jeans teasing the itch in her pussy, and she moaned. Her hands trembled, her body ached, and she immediately recognized the whispering shadow rearing in her spirit.

Shyla tilted her head and crashed gazes with Coal. His hand still lingered on her arm as dark thoughts permeated the windows of his eyes. She wanted nothing more than to fuck him in his chair, anything to sate the powerful hunger erupting through her body. Otherwise, she might just vomit.

“Coal,” Jacy warned again.

“Give her room and bite your fucking tongue,” Coal said. He combed his fingers into her hair and lifted her head. His dark eyes pierced her, straight through to her soul. A hint of a smile tipped his mouth. “You’re fine. It’s natural when you can smell your mates.”

“B–but I don’t smell anything other than c–coffee, food, and your cologne,” she moaned.

His hand cupped her face. His firm skin induced a satisfying fullness in her, and she released a breath.

A purr filled her ears.

“Aw, how cute. She’s adorable when she nuzzles,” Jacy said.

Shyla closed her eyes and focused on breathing. Small spasms wracked through her, and she worked to stop them.

“You smell more than that. You’re reacting to us just as we’re reacting to you,” Coal cooed.

Shyla let out a sharp laugh on a breath. “I don’t see you making idiots out of yourselves.”

“Jacy’s been racking up idiot points.”

“And you?”

“Oh, I’m suffering.”

“He’s one to inflict pain on himself. Trust me, the man’s hard as a rock right now,” Jacy said. Shyla shivered when he licked her from the base of her neck straight up to her ear. “Fuck, woman. You’re outta control.”

“Shyla, relax, sweetheart. Breathe and relax. Ignore Jac—”

Coal’s hand stiffened against her cheek, and frost bit the charged air around them. Shyla peeled open her eyes and observed Coal and Jacy through a haze. Both men sat ramrod straight in their chairs. Coal tilted his head and inhaled sharply. Dazed, she looked around the diner and noticed a similar unease tense every patron.

“Shit,” Jacy grunted.

The brass bell jingled a split moment before the door crashed into the window, shattering both panes of glass.

A huge man filled the doorway, glowing golden eyes shooting around until they landed on her. He pulled back his lip in a feral sneer, white teeth glistening with saliva.

“Rian,” Coal growled.

Shyla could barely follow him. The table shoved into her ribs, and the painful screech of the chair on the floor came only after she noticed Coal diving through the air, barreling toward the massive stranger.

Before her eyes, she watched what her mind fought to deny.

Black melted over Coal’s skin. His body contorted and twisted unnaturally. Shreds of clothing dropped from the changing form arcing through the air. Black fur bristled and extended, covering every inch of what once was a man.

His face narrowed and elongated into a snout with fatal white fangs. Fingers molded into paws, and arms drew in to form front legs. Hips narrowed and legs crooked like those of a dog. A tail emerged.

A huge black wolf crashed into the unwelcome patron who had already begun a similar transition. Within seconds, two wolves thrashed across the floor, knocking tables aside while Shyla sat in complete shock, watching what should have been two humans battle it out in the dining room.

Chapter Four

Jacy bounded off his chair and lunged across the room. The threatening growls and barks from the wolves echoed above the clashing of furniture. His fellow wolf buddies looked on in horror as two of the strongest wolves in Hood River took to each other in a frenzy of snapping teeth and fur.

Coal locked down on Rian’s throat and whipped him across the diner. The larger wolf grunted as he slammed into the wall, leaving a smear of crimson blood against the wood planks. The acrid odor stung Jacy’s nostrils and made him salivate with the primitive thoughts of a kill close at hand.

Jacy began to transform when a piercing shatter erupted behind him.

Shyla screamed.

He spun around to see another man grab her in a bear hug and rip her out of her seat.

He looked at Coal.

“Get her! Don’t worry about me, you idiot. Get Shyla!”

Jacy nodded, glancing at Rian as he stumbled to his legs. His friend would be fine.

He bolted after the second man, who rushed out toward the back door. Banking on his wolf speed in leaps and bounds while remaining in human form, he caught up to the man halfway across the back parking lot. He swung an arm around his neck, bringing him to a sliding halt. Shyla shrieked as the stop pitched her body forward. She slammed into the gravel ground and slid to a stop, curls of dust rising around her. Jacy ignored the twisted expression on her face and the pain her mind screamed to him. He heaved Rian’s accomplice to the ground. The man’s head bounce on the uneven gravel. Jacy crouched down beside him, bearing his sharpened wolf’s teeth despite still being in his human body.

“Who sent you? That measly little bitch Laela? Pathetic, worthless shits that you are,” Jacy snarled. His fingers thickened, his joints popping and the bones in his hand reforming to those of his wolf. Razor-sharp nails extended out of the tips, and he raked them across the man’s face, leaving deep, gushing wounds. The man growled, but the dazed look in his eyes from the impact of his skull on gravel assured Jacy he would be no challenge. “You aren’t getting your paws on our mate. You got that? You would’ve been better off staying at home with your whore today.”

Feeling for Shyla’s thoughts, latching on to the telepathic link and making sure she wasn’t watching, Jacy ripped open the man’s throat where he lay. He climbed to his feet and rushed to Shyla’s side, his paw changing back into a hand and his teeth retracting. He brushed aside her mussed hair and kissed her forehead. She grimaced.

“Where does it hurt?” he asked.

“Elbows. Back.” Shyla lifted her palms, scraped and bloody. Jacy shook his head. “Hands.” She tried to crane her neck to see past him, but he barred her view from the dead man. “What happened to the guy?”

“You don’t need to worry yourself about him. Let’s get you inside, and we’ll take care of those wounds.”

Jacy scooped her into the cradle of his arms, hesitating for a moment as he held his woman for the first time. A sense of pride washed over him, and he bit back a smile. He needed to clean her wounds and give Coal a hand.

As he stepped through the back door, a pained yelp filled the diner. He stilled. Shyla looked up at him, worry etched into her face. The heavy thudding of her heart sped up as her breaths ceased. All signs of concern and anxiety he detected in her he felt himself.

Glass crunched under weight. Commotion erupted, whispered talk and questions.

Jacy shook out of his paralysis and rushed into the dining room. The place had been destroyed in a matter of minutes. Tables and chairs were strewn everywhere. Two fan blades hung by splinters from the fixtures in the ceiling. Another of the large storefront windows had been shattered. Blood stained the walls, the floors, and the glass.

Brethren of local packs converged to the center of the room.

“Bro, you okay?”
Jacy asked. He received a bemoaned grunt in response. “
Hey, man. Don’t fuck with me. I got Shyla. She’s okay.”

He was met by silence.

Len burst out of a side door with a blanket.

“Move out, people. Show’s over. Get moving, folks,” he instructed, shoving his way into the crowd. Several curious onlookers backed away, eyes shooting toward Jacy and Shyla.

He edged forward, trying to turn Shyla away in case…

In case what? Coal lay dead on the floor?

“Fuck,” he spat. Shyla twisted in his arms until she clamored to her feet. She rushed forward, pushing the remaining patrons aside, Jacy right behind her.

The blanket spread over Coal’s naked body, covering him from the chest down. It didn’t shield anyone from the viciously torn skin on his shoulder and arm. Blood smeared over his bare skin and the floor beneath him.

Shyla dropped to her knees at his side. Jacy lowered to his haunches and tried to speak with Coal again.

“Hey, bro. Don’t you go messing with our woman’s heart now. She needs you here. Where’s Rian? Did you kill the bastard? ’Cause I’ll do it myself for mauling you.”

Coal’s thickly lashed eyes fluttered. Whether Jacy’s threat or Shyla’s caress against his cheek stirred him back to consciousness remained to be seen.

Coal lived and needed immediate care.

“I’ll help you get him to the car,” Len said. Jacy nodded, guiding Shyla away from Coal. She made one feeble attempt to defy him but decided to stand down as Jacy hoisted his friend by the shoulders and Len grabbed his legs. Coal growled, pain twisting his features.

“Sh–Shoulder, you ass
,”
he hissed. Jacy snickered humorlessly.

“Just a warning if you decided to slip off into blackness.”
Jacy shuffled backward, leading Coal’s massive body onto the sidewalk. He cast a concerned glance toward Shyla. Although he and Coal understood the significance of their birthrights, the tears shimmering in her eyes still caught him off guard. She followed behind Len to keep out of the way with her folded hands pressed to her mouth.

“He’ll be fine. You’ve got a strong boy on your hands,” Jacy assured, readjusting his grip on Coal as they approached the Benz. They’d parked outside Len’s place with the intention of eating breakfast before window shopping. Good thing, because he didn’t want to haul his naked buddy through the streets of town looking like this. “Sugar, I have a spare set of keys in my pocket. Grab them and open the door for us.”

Shyla nodded, coming up to his side. She didn’t hesitate to dig her hand into the pocket of his jeans. He held his breath as she rummaged around loose change and his wallet, barely brushing his hip but reigniting his hunger for her within a moment’s time. He sighed inwardly. Once they cared for Coal’s wounds and settled him in for rest, Jacy planned to follow that hunger straight to bed, with Shyla.

She finally withdrew the keys. The car beeped, and she pulled the back door open.

“Let me slide in first,” Len said. Jacy nodded, turning Coal’s suspended body around. Len slipped into the backseat of the car without as much as a stumble. Jacy fed Coal to the older man’s guiding hands until his friend was tucked safely in the seat. Len climbed out the opposite side, brushed blood from his hands, and hipped the car door shut. Jacy looked at him over the roof. “Get ’im home, and make sure you wash that wound out completely. He might need a stitch or two until he heals.”

“He should be better in no time,” Jacy said, his attention lowering to his worried mate. He leaned over and graced her mouth with a small kiss. “Promise. He’ll be fine. He’s had worse and survived.” Back at Len, he asked, “What happened to Rian?”

“Took off, but not without some severe damage.” Len nodded to the sidewalk. “Look at the blood trail he left. Coal got ’im good. I’d be surprised if you see him out and about anytime soon.” He rounded the back of the Benz and sighed as he assessed his storefront. “What about your man?”

“Roadkill out back.”

“Mm. You make the mess, I clean it up. I’ll be cleaning this up for a while. Damn,” he groaned.

Jacy looked away from Len and gathered Shyla in his arms. She sank into him in a big step toward acceptance. Her fingers splayed over his chest as she fought back tears. Her concern touched him deeply and would surely touch Coal.

“Well, better get back home, Jacy. Keep our white outta danger, and get that man in order so you can help me fix my place. I’m gonna head to Kimble’s and get myself one of his twelve-gauge shotguns. Let’s see what Rian’ll do when he comes face to face with a barrel loaded with silver.”

“Coal and I’ll track him when he’s better. It’ll be good to find out if Laela’s behind this and where she’s been hiding all this time.”

* * * *

Laela screamed and pulled at her hair.

Two men carried Rian out of the cottage, leaving a smeared trail of blood over the wooden floor planks. The smell of hovering death, raunchy and rotten, made her sick to her stomach. It permeated the heady scent produced from hours of sex like a dagger through her heart.

Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away. Breaths came in short gasps through her clenched teeth. Blood pounded in her ears. Her chest ached from the fierce knocking of her heart.

This wasn’t supposed to happen!

Rian was one of her best men, one of the strongest, most loyal wolves in the pack. How could he be leaning against the door into the spirit realm?

He would not die at the hands of a rebel wolf and his friend.

Not over that fucking white abomination!

“Timothy, I want you and Josef to go over to Jacob’s. Watch that place tonight. Come back to me in the morning with what you’ve seen,” Laela said, her voice laced with venom. She turned to the pair of men still lying in their mussed bed. “Whatever you do, don’t let yourself be found. If you must leave the vicinity to prevent detection and return later, do it. You’ll tell me if Coal is dead. You’ll also tell me everything about that bitch.” She snarled. “And I mean bitch.”

“Who’ll stay here with you?” Timothy asked, climbing out of the bed. She waved him off, turning her back to her naked and hard bedmates.

“I’ll be just fine. I have to prepare for tomorrow.” She grabbed a robe from the single chair in the cottage and tugged it on. “Go. Now.”

As the two men transformed into wolves, Laela contemplated her options for Smith’s long-lost kin.

First, she needed to eat something raw and bloody.

She needed something fresh.

She needed to kill.