Caught in Heat [Half-breed Shifter Series Book 1] (9 page)

Afterward, he collapsed forward, catching hold of the table behind her to rest his entire weight on his hands. “How…” he paused to pant. “How did you come without me being inside you?”

She licked the last dollop of peanut butter off his cock and rested her head on his thigh. “Well, that was a neat experiment,” she mused. “I think swallowing your semen stimulated an orgasm.”

He shook his head in amazement. “This shapeshifting mating shit just keeps getting cooler and cooler.”

She nuzzled her nose in the dark hair ringing his glistening dick. “Maybe I’m so different from the other females I’ve talked to about their fevers because I’m only half.”

“Half?” He yawned. “Half what?”

“Hmm? Oh. Half shifter. My father was fully human. My mom fell for him and tricked him into thinking she was pure human, too. But one night when she fell asleep, she reverted to her natural state. And since she was fully shapeshifter, her natural state was her animal, so my dad woke up in bed with a—”

Shaw lifted his hand to pause her. “Wait. Humans and shapeshifters can breed together?”

She wrinkled her nose and looked up to send him a well-duh look. “Of course.”

“But…” He shook his head. “You’re in heat. Isn’t that when an animal is fertile?”

Riley’s mouth dropped open. Oh, shit. He had a point. “Yes,” she said in a small voice.

He moved back to gape at her. “So, you could be—”

A harsh, guttural alarm cut into his question. Behind a cover of wire mesh, a red light on the wall blinked on and off.

Both Riley and Shaw popped to their feet.

“What the fuck is that?”

“Another one of my traps has been tripped.” His face was grim as he strode to a table full of technical devices to slap a button and silence the strident noise.

Riley’s mouth sagged open. “How many traps do you have?”

He shrugged, not making eye contact as he moved away. “About a dozen.”

Shadowing his every step, she hurried after him. “What are you going to do?” The pitch in her voice rose as he grabbed his gun off the wall and slung the strap over his shoulder.

Glancing at her, he sent her an unreadable look. “I’m going to check the trap.”

“But—”

“Stay here,” he said, his voice uncompromising. “Keep the door locked.” Striding toward her, he grasped the back of her head and tugged her close.

His lips were warm and compelling. She started to melt toward him just as he pulled back. “It’s probably just a squirrel. I’ll be right back.” He kissed her again gently on the forehead before turning away.

“But—”

He closed the door behind him and locked it.

Riley frowned. Oh, no he didn’t. She was the shapeshifter here. If anyone should check the trap, it should be her.

And squirrel, her ass. She knew deep in her bones, there was no squirrel in that trap up there. From the way she’d been running all willy-nilly through the forest, she’d probably left a mating scent trail even a human could follow. She’d probably led a whole horde of horny shapeshifters here, and some dumb lust-crazed male too intent in following her smell to pay attention to where he was going had more than likely landed himself in one of Shaw’s traps.

Surging toward the door, she yanked on it, but the damn thing wouldn’t open.

He’d locked it from the outside. Gritting her teeth, she wrenched again, putting all her muscle into it. The hinges groaned and protested before they popped off the frame. She shoved the useless door aside and hurried into the stairwell just as Shaw closed the hatch back over the top.

Her jaw dropped. For a human, the man could move fast when he wanted to. She stepped toward the stairwell, and her bare toes tread through broken glass. Glancing down, she found the broken remains of the flashlight, which only lifted her level of anxiety. Enough time had passed, it was night again. Dark outside.

He was charging out into the night without a light.

Stupid, fool man. He was just begging to get hurt, wasn’t he? Any predator he stumbled across would see him coming, where he wouldn’t be able to see shit.

And though she hadn’t lied when she’d told him most shifters were as normal as humans, that didn’t mean they were a huge fan of humans, especially if that human had just caught them in a trap.

With the need to protect him surging through her bloodstream, Riley leapt up into the ladder cage and shifted into her animal. She reached the top in seconds, where she shifted back to human so she could throw off the hatch and climb through. She stormed her way out of the tree and burst into her animal, diving into the forest at top speed.

Chapter Seven

It took Riley a few seconds to catch up to Shaw. Her initial plan had been to charge after him and order him back down to the compound so she could check the trap by herself and free whatever was inside. But when she caught sight of him in front of her, gliding through the forest, she fell to an amazed stop.

He was beautiful. She’d never seen a human move so silently, so stealthily. Sure, she could see him as bright as daylight and he obviously didn’t sense her behind him at all, but his skills were frankly impressive.

When he paused to crouch down and listen, she paused, too, keeping his flank covered as he looked around, glancing directly at her without seeing her. His breaths were even and quiet, but she could still hear each draw of his lungs as clearly as if she were pressing her ear to his chest.

God, he had to be the bravest man alive. Or the stupidest.

Awed by his determination, she stayed back as he straightened and trudged onward.

Riley heard the commotion at the trap before he did. Obviously. He kept moving forward, unaware. She was about to call out a warning when he finally paused.

Definitely not a squirrel.

By the low growl, she guessed wolf.

Closing her eyes, she issued a silent curse in her head. Of course, it had to be a fucking wolf. Her poor Shaw, having to face a demon from his past right after learning they weren’t all bad. She wanted to warn him to be careful. But she didn’t want to give away her own position in case she needed to surprise an attacker. Wolves typically didn’t travel alone, unlike her kind.

And sure enough, she spotted movement from the corner of her eye. A mangy wolf crept toward Shaw from the left. The smell wafting off him was rotten and putrid. Bloodlust.

Oh, shit. Only Shaw would encounter two packs of wolves under the influence of bloodlust in his lifetime.

Her fur bristled with anger. No one threatened her man and got away with it.

Silent but deadly, Riley streaked forward. She flew past Shaw and was only five yards from the wolf before the male lifted his head, realizing she was almost upon him. He bared his teeth and she leapt. They came together in a clash of fur, snarls and snapping teeth. She swiped at his muzzle, catching him hard across the face. He yelped like an injured puppy and tucked his head down, ramming her off balance.

But like any cat, she landed on all fours, steady and balanced. He snarled and charged again, going for her shoulder. She would’ve dodged out of his way, but she could smell Shaw approaching. It threw off her concentration.

Razor-sharp, rank teeth sank into her shoulder. She cried out and flashed into her human form as the pain consumed her.

Realizing she’d shifted, the male did, too, sprawling on top of her and pinning her to the ground. Naked as she was, his hard cock pressed against her thigh. “So, that’s how you want it, huh, kitty-kitty?”

He rubbed his dick along her leg, and her traitorous body responded. Squeezing her eyes closed, she gritted her teeth and tried to buck him off, but he clutched her hard, staying on top of her.

Reeking of all the recent kills he’d made, he breathed into her face, gagging her. “We smelled your pussy-cat pussy from five miles away and knew you’d need a few extra cocks to ease your fever.”

He reached down to lick her mouth, but she turned her face away and clamped her legs together. “Eat shit and die, asshole.”

“Come on now, baby. I know you want it. I can smell your cunt getting wet.”

“Then your sense of smell is seriously lacking,” came Shaw’s voice from the dark, just as he pressed his shotgun to the wolf’s head.

The shifter looked up in time to see his killer’s face before Shaw pulled the trigger.

Wrinkling her nose, Riley kicked the corpse off her.

Shaw’s hand wrapped around her arm, and he pulled her to her feet. With her human eyes, she couldn’t see anything but his outline in the dark, but she could smell anger radiating off him in waves. “I thought I told you to stay in the compound.”

Straightening her shoulders, she brushed off dirt and twigs from her backside. “I thought you might need backup.”

He snorted, letting her know how helpful he found her backup.

“Hey, if there’s a shapeshifter nearby, it’s because my scent led it here. I’m not going to let you deal with a bunch of wolves under bloodlust all by yourself.”

She felt his attention snap alert. “Bloodlust?”

Opening her mouth to answer, she sensed before she saw or smelled the second wolf. Zapping into her animal, she roared past Shaw so fast, she knocked him back a step.

No way was she going to let another mutt sink its teeth into her or get anywhere near her man. She pounced on the wolf, going straight for its jugular. It was stronger than the first mutt and ten times more fierce. Deadly.

But she was more pissed. She dodged and parried its every attack, making herself tired and winded before she realized its weak spot. Her scent turned it on. Twisting her hindquarters toward its face, where it could get a healthy whiff of something she’d never let it have, she watched its penis grow. When it made to mount her, she twisted and clawed its face to the bone.

It yelped, and that was that. Game, set, match. She attacked full-bore, crunching down on its jugular with her massive jaws. Twitching once, then again under her, the shapeshifter breathed its last.

“God damn,” Shaw murmured from not so far away.

Riley shifted to her human, scared she’d disgusted him. But in the sparse light, she could only see awe on his face.

“I would’ve shot it as soon as I had a clear shot,” he said, “But it looks like I didn’t need to. Come here.”

Grasping her hand, he tugged her close and kissed her hard. “You okay?”

She began to nod when a strong odor wafted past. Body going rigid with fear, she stepped protectively in front of him.

“What?” he whispered.

“There’s one more,” she said, keeping her voice low.

“The trap—” Shaw started.

But she shook her head. “No. He’s already gotten out of it.”

“He?”

Riley nodded. “The alpha.” The drugging pull of the lead wolf’s scent almost made her step away from Shaw and hurry toward the more powerful male. She could smell the alpha’s arousal and it made her thighs tingle.

She clutched Shaw’s hand hard, refusing to leave him.

A deep chuckle echoed around them through the forest, as if the alpha knew exactly what effect his scent had on her and was amused by it.

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” he called. “I know you want me over that useless human. You’d rather have my big, juicy cock in your tight little hole. Well, lucky you, I’m willing to oblige. I lost my latest mate this winter and need a new one.”

Riley cleared her suddenly dry throat. “No, thanks,” she said, pressing even closer to Shaw. His grip on her hand almost broke her fingers, but she appreciated his support as they pressed their backs to each other and braced for the threat surrounding them.

Suddenly the alpha appeared before her, making her jump. “What? You think that limp, little human dick was good? Baby, you ain’t had nothing until you’ve tasted wolf. I don’t even care that he’s already impregnated you. We’ll just drown the litter when it’s born.”

At her choked sound of surprise, he flashed an evil grin. “Oh, yeah. I can smell the cubs growing in you already. The two of you fucking and creating life carries a potent aroma. But the two of us together will be stronger.”

Shaw slid in front of her, aiming the gun at the wolf’s head. “Touch my woman and die.”

The wolf froze, and Riley could smell his surprise.

Frowning, he squinted at Shaw. “What did you say?”

“I said—”

“Holy fuck, it’s
you
.” The wolf lurched closer. His nostrils flared as he inhaled Shaw’s unique scent. The wolf vibrated with fury, his eyes blazing with recognition.

Shaw racked a shell into the chamber, but the shifter moved faster, snatching the gun away from him and throwing it off into the brush so he could confront the human face to face.

“You’re that snot-nosed little kid who killed my first mate.”

Since she was plastered to his side, Riley felt the jolt of astonishment pass through Shaw. She couldn’t believe her ears. But, seriously? This was the very monster that had killed his sister?