Claimed by the Beast Bundle (21 page)

Clover turned and grabbed one of the vines growing on the wall. She twisted it, broke it off and then picked at it until she peeled off a strip of the outer layer. She kept going until the outer layer was gone and then handed it to her. “Try this.”

Crystal grabbed it and shoved it in her mouth. She ignored the bitter taste and chewed it into pulp and swallowed it. She started to bite another piece off when Clover grabbed it out of her hand.

“Too much,” she warned.

Crystal licked her lips and swallowed the last of the bitter pulp down. It tasted terrible but it had a soothing effect. Her throat stopped burning and her stomach eased up. She straightened and dare to smile. “I feel better.”

“It’s temporary,” Clover said.

“I’ll take it.”

Clover smirked and placed the vine on the table. She turned and pointed to the corner of her hut where several vines grew with leaves and flowers. “When you’re ready, you can use that corner.”

“Ready? For—oh! Something’s not right!” Crystal grabbed her lower abdomen. She felt a different kind of cramping. She looked up, her eyes rounded and her lips parted in an
O
. She turned and yanked her arms out of Ember’s and Hank’s hands so she could rush over to the corner. Sure enough, there was a wreath of vines with a hole in the middle of it that was open all the way to the water beneath the hut.

Crystal ripped the button off her pants in her haste to push them down. She’d reached the point again where modesty no longer mattered. There was no stopping or even delaying what came next.

Chapter 9

Several agonizing minutes later, Crystal looked up from the weed-covered floor and found Ember standing only a few feet away from her. She had to lean to the side to see the others clearly. Other than Clover, they had their attention directed anywhere and everywhere but at her. Clover, on the other hand, was staring intently at her.

Crystal blushed and glanced around. She felt better, but she was worried for the well-being of the fish in the water beneath her. A chill crept down her spine as she realized there wasn’t any toilet paper. “Um…”

“Use the leaves,” Clover advised.

Crystal’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. She stared at the leafy vines growing all around her. “What? A leaf? That’s nasty. What if it’s poisonous or something?”

“They aren’t.”

Crystal frowned and heard somebody chuckle. She was pretty sure it was Adrian. She grumbled under her breath and plucked a couple of larger leaves before using them to clean herself. The texture felt weird, but cool against her sensitive flesh. After a few seconds passed, she sat up straighter when she felt the burning subside. “Oh!”

Ember glanced back over her shoulder. “You done yet?”

“What? Oh, yes.” Crystal pulled her pants up and stood up. She tried to fasten them, only to realize she’d ripped the button off and ruined them. All she could do was zip them up. With her recent weight loss, it didn’t do any good; she had to hold onto them to keep them from falling. “Jesus, I’m a wreck.”

Ember smirked and stepped aside. “Stop worrying,” the redhead advised. “We’re all friends and for us, clothes are an inconvenience.”

Crystal glanced at Ember and the others. Only Hank still had his clothes on, but they were wet and muddy and he only wore them because he’d carried her instead of changing into a wolf. “Yeah, well, I’m not ready for that.”

Ember looked her up and down. “Oh yeah? I didn’t know shredded jeans and a filthy bra was the current fashion trend.”

Crystal glanced down at herself and saw that Ember was right. She had her sneakers on too, but they were filthy and scuffed up from the wreck earlier. Crystal rolled her eyes and turned back to Clover. “Anyhow, I’m sorry about that. Is that what you meant by the unwanted blood being cast out? Is that why I’ve been puking and, um, stuff?”

“Yes,” Clover said.

“Is it going to stop? I mean, do I have that much blood in me?”

Clover tilted her head for a long moment and then turned to glance around her hut. “I can help you, but there is risk and you still might die.”

“Anything is better than this!”

“Crystal, wait,” Hank argued.

Clover shot him a look and then turned back to Crystal. “There is a price.”

“Oh, um, what is it?”

Clover shook her head. “The price depends on how much help you will need.”

“What do I have that you could need? You don’t need money out here, and it looks like you have plenty of food and, um, other stuff.”

“My needs are mine alone. Just as you have needs. You must decide if your needs are great enough that you will barter with me. A chance at life is a worthy thing, yes?”

Crystal’s voice caught in her throat for a moment. When she could speak, it was barely above a whisper. “Will I die without your help?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t know that!” Adrian growled.

Clover snapped her head around to look at him. “Do you know how to help her? Are you sure of her strength and vitality?”

Adrian’s lip was curled up in a snarl but he shook his head after a long moment. “Nobody’s seen this before,” he said.

“This is true,” Clover agreed. “But it has always been a rare possibility.”

Crystal took a deep breath and stepped forward. “What do I need to do?”

“You agree to my price?”

“Um, you’re not going to make me give you my firstborn or anything, are you?”

Clover’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “No.”

Crystal nodded. She glanced at Hank and saw the concern in his eyes. Her heart warmed in her chest and she smiled at him before turning back to Clover with her business face on. “All right, I agree.”

Clover nodded. “Make yourself comfortable. I have preparations to make.”

“Preparations for what?”

“For helping you,” Clover said.

“Um, what does that mean?”

“You will stay here tonight. That is when I will have everything ready. I must brew a soup for you and gather the right herbs to smoke.”

Crystal’s brow furrowed. “Smoke?”

“Incense, not like cigarettes.”

“Oh. Um, okay, then what?”

“Then we will call on the blood. The Hunter, the Beast, and the Witch will be made to understand that fighting will only kill you. One must prevail.”

Crystal clamped her mouth shut and glanced at the others. Guntar was frowning and Adrian looked irritated. Ember was leaning against the tree in the middle of the hut with her arms crossed and her fingernail repeatedly scratching her other arm. Hank seemed like he wanted to say or do something, but he remained stiff and silent.

“Um, so which will it be?”

“That’s up to the blood and up to you.”

“Up to me?”

Clover nodded. “It’s your body; you have some say in it.”

“Fine, then, um, I want to be—”

Clover laughed, stopping her. “Don’t speak on things you do not understand.”

“But you just said—” Crystal stopped herself and groaned. “Okay, I know what happens if I become a beast. Not what I want. What about being a witch? I, um, I mean no offense but living like you are isn’t what I really want.”

“We are few and far apart, but we live in different places and in different ways,” Clover said. “After you were trained, you would need to move on and find your own place. The coven does not permit us to gather together in numbers for long.”

Clover’s words confused Crystal and filled her with questions. She was going to ask more when she glanced at Hank again and saw the strange look in his eyes. Her questions were flushed in the realization that if she was a witch, she’d be forced to be away from Hank. She shook her head. “I’ve decided.”

“It’s not for you to decide.”

“What?” Crystal blurted. “You just said—”

“Your heart has a say in it, but the blood will be what it will be.”

“I’m so confused,” Crystal muttered. She turned to glance back at the primitive toilet. “What about me getting sick? It’s been every what, twenty, thirty minutes?”

“You should be okay until tonight,” Clover said.

“Thank God!” Crystal gushed. “Okay, so, uh, we just wait?”

Clover nodded. “Wait and get ready.”

“What’s the difference?”

Clover began gathering items hidden behind flowers and leaves on shelves and put them on the table. She continued working, collecting jars and cutting or snapping off pieces of vegetation from the walls of her hut. As she gathered the items, she said, “When the time comes, you will need to take off all of your clothes, drink what I give you, and then let your friends tie you up outside my hut while I light the herbs beneath you.”

“What?” Crystal gasped. “You’re going to burn me alive!”

“You agreed to the deal,” Clover reminded her.

Crystal turned to stare at Guntar. He shook his head. She felt Ember’s presence behind her before the woman touched her shoulder with her hand and whispered, “Never cross a witch.”

Crystal turned her head and found Ember staring at her with a bright intensity in her eyes. “But—”

“You’ll be okay,” Ember said. “We’ll be here for you.”

Crystal tore her gaze away and looked at Hank. He nodded, adding his unspoken promise of support.

Crystal let out her breath. She wasn’t ready for this, but she didn’t have a choice. She walked to Hank and leaned into him, kissing the surprised man before he could react. “If this is it, then I want to spend the rest of my time with you.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Hank mumbled.

“I don’t need to know what you’ve done to know who you are.”

Chapter 10

Crystal buried into Hank’s side and looked up over her shoulder at where Ember sat on a large root beside her. Throughout the long afternoon and evening, Ember’s leg remained in contact with her shoulder. The fiery haired and tempered woman kept looking around the room as Clover worked, or towards a bird or animal that happened by, but she never moved away from Crystal. Crystal didn’t understand why Ember insisted on being near her and touching her, but she appreciated it. It was comforting.

“Why are you looking at me?” Ember asked even though she was watching a honeybee that was drinking nectar from a flower in a windowsill.

“Trying to understand,” Crystal said. “That’s all.”

Hank squeezed her with his arm that was around her back. “It’s what we do,” he said. “Takes some getting used to, but it’s how we show that we’re a pack. We care.”

Crystal shifted her attention to where Gwen and Guntar were sitting along another wall and then glanced at the front door that Adrian stood outside of. In a soft voice, she asked, “Does that mean they don’t?”

“No,” Gwen answered, proving she’d heard her. “It means we’re watching threats.”

“Oh.” Crystal looked around. “What threats?”

Ember pressed her leg against Crystal’s shoulder to get her attention. She nodded at Clover while she explained, “Adrian’s making sure nothing comes after us and Guntar and Gwen are the second line of defense against anything coming from anywhere else.”

“We’re the final line,” Hank added.

“This should feel weird,” Crystal said as she looked up at Ember.

Ember glanced down at her and smiled. “Why? Because you’re not gay?”

“Um.” Crystal paused, not wanting to offend the feisty woman.

“This isn’t about sex,” Ember said. “We share the Hunter’s blood; it’s about protecting our pack mates.”

“Sharing blood sounds like a family.”

Hank fidgeted beside her and glanced down at her.

Crystal turned to look up at him and patted his hard stomach. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let it stop me from being with you. We’re not that kind of family.”

She felt his body relax and his eyes lit up. Ember chuckled beside her. “It is like family. We don’t have to like each other, but we’re bound together. Not so different from love.”

Crystal frowned. “Um, it’s not?”

“You risked your life to help us kill the Beast,” Ember reminded her. “And all of us will fight to the death for you now.”

“Okay, but that’s not what I think about when I think about love. I don’t mean romantic love either.”

“Would your mom nurture and tend to you when you’re sick? Would she, or a sister or brother if you had one, do something they didn’t want to if it meant they could help you out?”

Crystal licked her dry lips and nodded. “Yes.”

Ember nudged her with her leg again.

Crystal looked down at it and then looked up the lean and long limb to the rest of Ember’s body. It didn’t bother her that she was nude. It felt normal. More than normal, it felt good to know that Ember was showing her so much compassion and trust. She made herself vulnerable, physically and emotionally, for Crystal.

Crystal leaned her head over and pressed her lips to Ember’s knee. She smiled and then leaned back into Hank. “Thank you,” she said.

Ember scowled. “Don’t be getting any ideas.”

“I’m not,” she said. “I’m just trying to show how much I appreciate you all.”

Ember harrumphed and turned to look around the hut some more.

Hank was smiling when Crystal turned to look at him. It was such a cute smile she wanted to kiss it off his face. She shifted and felt her body tremble and ache. Crystal relaxed back into his grip and sighed. “I can’t wait for this to be over.”

“What if it ends badly?” he asked.

She frowned. “Okay, good point. I can’t wait for this moment in time to be frozen forever.”

Hank chuckled and squeezed her again. His lips brushed her forehead and she heard him inhale her scent. It made her heart beat faster and sent tingles through her belly. Good tingles, not the kind announcing a fresh bout of diarrhea.

“Ember told me her story,” Crystal murmured into his side. She looked up at him and asked, “What’s yours?”

“Blew out my knee wrestling in college,” he said. “I’d always been a big, strong guy and that was like a bullet to the heart.”

“Silver bullet,” Ember added.

He smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t know what to do if I couldn't be who I was. I’d heard about leaving it all on the field or mat so I didn’t have any regrets when I was older, but I’d never paid attention to the banged-up old guys. They talked about how sports ruined their bodies and left them with nothing but memories and prescription painkillers. Sometimes worse, like disabilities.”

Crystal winced and hugged him. She pressed her lips to his side, ignoring the stains on his shirt, and then laid her head against him. He was big and strong now so she knew there had to be a happy ending for him.

“I moped around for a while. Almost got kicked out of school. Then I started reading. Really reading, I mean, not just textbooks. I found that my life didn’t suck as much if I could escape for a while and pretend to be living the life of someone else. Sooner or later, I got the crazy idea that maybe I could write too.”

“Crazy doesn’t cut it,” Ember teased.

Crystal found the strength to lift her arm up and lightly swat Ember on the thigh. “Hush, it’s his turn.”

Ember waited until her arm was back in place and retaliated by nudging her again with her knee.

“Yeah, she’s right. I wrote some crazy stuff at first. Fantasy mostly, about heroines that were part superhero and part porn star. It was stupid, but I ended up working on a book about werewolves.”

“Uh oh,” Crystal guessed.

Hank chuckled. “Yeah, I started digging in for research and did a lot of guessing. Posted on a lot of writing message boards, trying to figure things out and get ideas. Ended up going to some hole-in-the-wall shops people told me about and talked to people there, too. Before too long I met this lady named Wenona.”

“Winona? Like the actress?”

Hank shook his head. “No, Wenona, with an
e
.”

“Oh, that’s weird,” Crystal said.

“What’s wrong with having an
E
in your name?” Ember growled.

Crystal smiled up at her and then leaned back into Hank. “Sorry, go ahead.”

He sighed. “Not much more to tell. Wenona had the blood. I didn’t know it, but she asked me as many questions as I asked her. More, probably, because she was sneaky about it. More than that, she had a way of knowing things.”

“She could smell you,” Crystal breathed.

Hank nodded. “I had no idea then. But she played me and then, when we were done and she’d told me more than a norm should ever know, she, um, tricked me.”

“Tricked you?”

“She seduced him,” Ember supplied. “Rode him like a bitch in heat.”

Hank grimaced and Crystal gasped. She stared at Hank and then lightly slapped his belly. “She did, didn’t she?”

“I was a kid—I didn’t know!”

Crystal shook her head and sighed. She leaned back into him. It upset her a little, even though she knew she had no right to be upset. That was before she’d come into his life.

“It wasn’t love, anyhow,” he said. “She tore me up and left me for dead.”

Crystal gasped and hugged him as hard as her exhausted body would allow her to. Her jealousy drained away to nothing.

“They found me,” Hank said, nodding towards Gwen and Guntar. “I should have died, but Gwen made Guntar give me the blood.”

“She made him?”

Hank nodded and smiled. “Guntar’s our alpha, but sometimes even he has to take orders.”

“But why?”

“Gwen reads a lot of smut.”

Crystal’s breath hissed through her lips. “Smut?”

“I don’t write smut!” Hank protested. “Mostly.”

Ember laughed and a moment later he joined her. Crystal frowned, not understanding.

“A lot of my stuff is kind of sexy,” he admitted. “Turns out Gwen had read some of my stuff and liked it. She felt like she knew me. Or at least she knew my story. Now she had a chance to help me so they agreed to do it. They gave me the blood and helped me get better. A month later, I survived the change and now, a few years later, here I am. Here we are.”

“Here we are,” Crystal agreed. She kissed his side again. “Remind me to thank them later.”

“Thank us when tonight’s over,” Guntar called over to them. Gwen looked like she was sleeping again as she lay with her head on Guntar’s lap and a soft smile on her face.

Clover stepped away from the cauldron she’d been tending and walked over towards them. “Stop worrying about what happens tomorrow,” she advised. “Worry about what’s going to happen now.”

“That’s reassuring,” Crystal complained.

Clover smiled and leaned over them to pluck a bowl off a shelf concealed by leaves and vines. She pinched a giant ant out of it and popped it in her mouth. Crystal heard the crunch as her teeth bit down on the inch-long insect and felt her own stomach twist. Clover turned away, uncaring of the effect her actions had caused.

She walked back to the cauldron and dipped the bowl into it. When it emerged, she held it out towards Crystal. “Disrobe, child, and return as nature intended you to be.”

Crystal gulped and looked at the two people resting with her. Hank looked more concerned but both offered supporting smiles. She rose up, forgetting to hold her pants, and nearly tripped when they started to slide down her legs.

Crystal cried out and caught herself and her pants, but only because Ember lunged forward and grabbed her arm. She regained her balance and straightened, pulling her pants up over her hips again. Clover raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “You must be as bare as the day you were born.”

Crystal glanced around and then sighed. She forced herself to keep her back to Hank. If she saw the look on his face when she exposed herself and knew that he saw she was still fat, she’d die. Not that wearing pants and a bra hid much, but she’d at least kept her stomach covered and the bra made her boobs look like they didn’t sag.

“This better work,” she muttered before she let go of her pants and reached up to slip her bra off.