Jungle Freakn' Bride (12 page)

And then bit her
at the pulse points
!

She let out a scream to beat all screams.
Not because it hurt, but in rage that they dare
d
. The piercing shriek
didn’t stop their longer
and more pointed
than human teeth from entering her skin, piercing her
,
dammit!

Initially
,
she pulled, only to realize as they held her fast, that yanking might cause more damage. But then again, getting eaten alive was bound to be worse than a few jagged tears.

“Son of a bitches. I won’t let you eat me. I am not your freakn’ dinner, you cannibalistic
bastards
!”
D
espite her fear,
and futile struggle,
they didn’t tear at her flesh but sucked at her, drinking her blood like vampires.
It last
ed
only about thirty seconds
,
then t
heir mouths released their grips
at the same moment
to reveal matching bleeding wounds
on her arms
, wounds they then sprinkled with drops of their own life essence as they tore the skin
of their own wrists and held
them
over hers
.

What the hell were they doing? With each drop of
their
blood that hit her sluggish
ly oozing
wounds
, the more a fierce heat invaded her
,
a
lmost as if they injected her with something.
The
temperature
around her
increased
– or did she grow feverish? S
he tried to squirm,
to break free of their grip
,
but found herself unable to move.

Oh crap, not again.

This time, the pain proved fairly quick, or she passed right out, because next thing she knew, nothing hurt.

And yet
…
s
he didn’t feel quite right
, n
ot all there. She blinked her eyes and saw,
saw with a clarity she’d never imagined, and
yet, as if from a distance
–
and
even that appeared
odd. The shapes around her curv
ed
differently
than she expected
, the hues
, colors she’d come to know,
were
off
to a certain degree
. She opened her mouth to speak,
and
nothing happened. Panic fluttered
in her stomach
. She couldn’t talk, move, scream
–
nothing in her body worked, but she had no problem letting terror take over.

A soothing rumble vibrated from without, or within, she couldn’t quite tell. The warm sound wrapped around her, lulled her
,
and if a sound could speak,
it
let her know she wasn’t in danger. From now on
,
she was... She didn’t understand the
strange
glimpse, a
ctually more the
feeling
she got,
of many beings running together,
cavorti
ng…like animals?

The cry that emerged from her throat didn’t sound right. Not for a human. And definitely not coming from her.

Except it was her making the
noise
,
an animalistic howl almost. Pain, exhilaration, anticipation
,
all rolled into one
, flooded her senses. S
he withdrew further from the forefront of the action, pushed aside for something other
,
s
omething intrinsically wound around her mind
. Something alien
took over her body
,
b
ut it didn’t just take over, it changed her
;
that was
if her disbelieving eyes could be believed.

As her limbs moved, not under any command by her, she noted the impossible changes.
Goodbye pasty skin. Hello
golden
fur.
Bye
-
bye hand
.
My
,
that’s a big paw.
Holy shit, loo
k
at those claws.
That was probably her last conscious thought before madness hit along with the biggest burst of pain.

Lightning quick and sharp, the agony receded and on shaking legs
,
she rose to her feet. A muscle twitch rippled through her, from the tip of her hind toes, up her legs, across her back until it hit her shoulders. A roll of those body parts and a twitch of her tail let her know everything worked.

A tottering step and she fell over, limbs tangling. The other one squeaked in their shared consciousness. She snorted. So fearful
that one was
, yet, with a fiery core. She would teach her
other
to believe in the strength they shared. But first, she needed to learn how to use it.

Bracing her four paws, she raised herself, legs trembling as the muscles, in their new configuration, learned how to work. Steady and upright, she moved forward and promptly fell flat on her nose.

A chuffing sound
made her whip
her head sideways and she observed a smooth
-
skinned male, his mouth flashing teeth, his eyes familiar.
Ours.
A word she understood
,
as did her passenger.

It didn’t stop her from baring her canines when he approached. Laughing,
the male
didn’t slow, but neither did he hurry, his long limbs graceful in both look and movement.

Inhaling, a rumble went through her at the scent of him, a musky aroma
underlying his very being
that promised more, that declared him
like her
. The deliciousness of it sent a shiver down her spine
,
ending in a twitch of her tail. A snarl left her as he reached down to stroke her, rubbing
his fingers
along her cheek to the back of her ears.

Oh yes. Yes.
More. Right there.
A purr erupted as he tickled a spot and she forgot about perhaps eating him. If she ate him
,
he would stop scratching
, a
nd she didn’t want that.

A new chuckle joined his as a second body settled on her other side.

Danger?

She snatched her head from the wonderful fingers to face the new possible threat. Eyeing her with mismatched eyes, eyes she also knew, the dominant perused her.
She sniffed and tossed her head. He would have to do more than stare if he thought to rule her.

A sound rumbled forth from him, a word, a meaning she should know, or at least her other half should
,
b
ut exhausted from the change, not just physically, the other who shared this shape slept.

Good. It would make the learning quicker
,
s
tarting with imprinting the aroma of her males. She ran her nose over the second male’s hands, then his arms, sniffing closer and closer to the source of his musk. She never reached her goal. Hands gripped her head and he stared at her.

Ha, like she would bow. She stared right back, steady gaze and fascinated. His eyes contained such emotion for a skin
-
walker. Pride. Affection. Regret. Dominance. A demand for obedience. But she didn’t submit to any male. Newborn, but with knowledge because of her passenger, she knew they could defy this one and not pay the consequences.

Her alpha
male
would need a strong mate. As would his beta. Turning to view the first one, she noted the man gone, in
his
place a dark shadow with glowing eyes, twitching tail
,
and luxurious fur
, almost as pretty as hers.

As if she’d let his vain appearance sway her. If he wished a spot as her ma
t
e,
he
would have to earn it
;
they both would. Once she learned to walk.

A
gain
,
she got
u
p
,
in time for the nose that nudged her in the side
as
her mismatched male, the alpha who would be her mate, stood. She should have expected his rarity from his eyes, but still, there was rare
,
then there was the
male
who
thought he
would rule her.

Big, bigger than most, he
r alpha
possessed the most odd fur combination, a speckled body, as that of a normal of their kind, or so her fuzzy memories and knowledge stated. But then
,
as if to leave a stamp showing his greatness, a band of black wound around him in a thick stripe from the tip of his tail in a thin line that thickened as it wrapped around his torso until it wound around his eyes, leaving them in a dark mask.

Tossing his head, his tail twitched and his musculature rippled. Show off.

This time
,
using recollections and paying attention, she moved her new body.
She d
idn’t fall, and turned to walk back. The males didn’t follow
. Instead,
each collapsed on the floor, head
s
on
their
paws
,
watching.

Lazy things. She could smell what they wanted
.
H
owever
, she didn’t plan to waste her first outing pleasing them. They’d have to earn that privilege. The large portal to the enclosed space was closed and she didn’t think her claws could manipulate it like a skin
-
walker.

But, they’d left other options.

Bounding across the room, before they could react, she leapt for a smaller opening, teetered on the ledge, almost fell, but managed
to
catch herself
–
u
ntil something swatted her rear.

Leaping, she landed on a branch, claws digging in for purchase. Peeking back, the face of
t
he
alpha
stared back. She ignored his impertinent snarl and turned to glance ahead.

Off she bound
ed
, slow
ly
at first as she carefully gauged distances and leapt
,
t
he swaying of tree boughs at times alarming, but gradually ignored.

As for her males? They shadowed close, but not too near. They guarded over her virgin voyage, but also waited for the moment they could pounce and claim.

And claim her they would once she’d run, hunted
,
and explored her new world a bit.
It felt good to stretch out her limbs. To feel the moist jungle breeze flutter through her fur. It felt great
to
be alive.

Waking up, always a good sign. Waking up naked with no idea how she got that way, lying in a room she’d never seen made of stone blocks with a naked guy on either side? Kind of kinky – and freaky!
Especially since
Carlie
retained no recollection of how she got there.

Carlie bolted straight up and off the bed
–
make that pallet
–
onto a debris free,
rock slab
floor.

“Where am I? What did you guys do to me?” Last she recalled, she drank something vile, not by choice, then… “You drugged me.” For some reason
,
that shocked her more than the initial kidnapping. Anger
at the betrayal
made her fists clench.
I thought I could trust them.

The men, as per usual, didn’t answer her accusation
.
T
hey just lay back on the wide sleeping area, arms under their heads, expressions
bland
and bodies relaxed – except for one part. Sans
loincloth
, their erections pointed up
,
menacing. Hmm, maybe not threatening so much as thick, long
,
and strangely arousing if the curl of heat in her tummy was any indicator. Damn them. Did they have to look so freakn’ yummy? How was a girl to stay mad when every atom in her body wanted to jump their bones?