Possession of the Soul (17 page)

“When will I be on the receiving end, when will you give me something back? Where is the love, Chax? Hoyt? Sure, we have great sex, but there has to be more.” She looked over her shoulder at Hoyt. “You have planned my bonding ceremony without even asking me what I would like. Did you ever think maybe I’d like to have a normal wedding? No, you didn’t! I need time to think. Just go away…” she whispered the last part and stood.

“Tabatha,” Chax started to say.

“No, you come waltzing into my home and tell your brothers they can stay without asking me. You change me into a demon that I don’t know anything about. And you claim to love me. How can that be, Chax? Do you know anything about me? Both of you know nothing about me. Sure, I like to be dominated in the bedroom, but I can get that from any man, and I have. But what about romance? Maybe I wanted our first time to be with candles and flowers all around.”

She stopped and looked at both of them. “You two are the most handsome men I know. Well, the three of you are. Did you ever think I might want to explore your bodies? You’ve told me I’m beautiful, but with your actions, how am I to believe this?”

“Will you come have breakfast with us and talk to us?” Hoyt asked before she could say anything else.

“I’ll be down in a minute. Just give a few minutes alone. I know Chax’s brothers are guarding me.”

Tabatha watched them walk back down the bluff. Tears slipped down her face.

“You do know they love you, right?” Chax’s middle brother, Nicor, said behind her.

She whipped around and glared at him. “Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.” She sighed. “I know they feel something, but we’ve been together for such a short time. How can someone love someone else so quickly?”

She spun away from him and walked down the hill.

Nicor fell into step beside her. “You haven’t been around our kind. You don’t know what it’s like for us to have a mate. You’ve been raised as a human. I know being a demon is hard. Most of our kind don’t ever find a mate. My brother is very lucky to have found the both of you. He won’t give up, Tabatha.”

“I’m not asking them to give up. I just want my thoughts and feelings to be considered once in a while, instead of them just doing what they want and making all my decisions for me. I’d love to just be held and told I’m beautiful.” She glanced up at him. “Do you know what it’s like to hear you’re a freak of nature and your own kind wants you dead? It hurts. I’m a freak.”

The cabin came into view, and she saw her mates standing on the deck waiting for her.

“No, I don’t know, but I do know if you told them what you felt, they would listen. Give them a chance.”

“Thanks for listening. I’ll try.” She smiled up at him and turned to walk up the stairs to the deck.

Tabatha took a deep breath and let it out. She did feel something for them, but love them? There was something there that was stronger than she had ever felt with other men, but she didn’t know whether it was love or not. She looked up at Chax, meeting his smiling countenance.

“We set up some food on the dining room table while waiting for you.”

She stepped into the living room and stopped when she saw the candles and flowers scattered everywhere.

Tabatha walked slowly around the room, taking everything in. Candles lit the dining room table, and breakfast waited for them. Tears formed in her eyes when saw the red dress hanging on the door behind the table. She smiled, hugging Chax tightly.

“Thank you. This is so beautiful, and I love the dress. I was afraid if I went back to the store that it wouldn’t be there. Thank you for buying it for me.” Tabatha pulled his face down and kissed his mouth softly. Then she moved to Hoyt, who stood with his arms out, and she went into them willingly. She hugged him and kissed him. He led her to the chair to sit.

She eyed the chair for a moment and sat carefully on it. She hid a growl as her ass hit the seat. They sat down next to her and heaped food on her plate.

“Hey, what do you think I am, a pig? Slow down.” Tabatha laughed.

The phone rang, and she started to get up, but Hoyt shook his head.

Hoyt answered the phone while she dug into her food. Her stomach rumbled. Hoyt came back to the table, sitting down with a frown on his face.

Tabatha put her fork down, looking at Hoyt. “Okay, give it up. What else has gone wrong?”

“It seems my grandparents are also coming to our ceremony. They haven’t left their home in years,” Hoyt stated, digging into his food with a smile.

“Okay, that’s a good thing,” Tabatha stated, digging back into her food. “Don’t scare me like that.” She peeked up at her mates. “May I ask where Melody is?” Tabatha looked at her food. She heard Hoyt set his fork down, and looked up at him.

“Shane and Ben took her to visit Shane’s parents for the day. We wanted some time to spend alone with you before everyone starts showing up for the ceremony. The pack will be arriving tomorrow to help work in building the pack house before our bonding.” Hoyt cupped her face in his hand.

She smiled, rubbing her face against his palm. “Are Shane and Ben furious with me?”

“They’ll get over it. They know Melody had a part in you two taking off,” Chax said around a mouthful of food.

She laughed as a drop of syrup fell onto his chest. Tabatha stared up at Chax, then she stood, leaned over the table and licked the syrup off his bare chest.

Desire rose in his eyes. Tabatha always did have a fantasy involving syrup and/or Cool Whip.

She started to sit back down into her chair less carefully than she had before, and she hissed at the pain. Hoyt’s chair fell backward and he came up behind her, lifting her sundress up over her hips.

“Shit, why didn’t you tell us what we did? This is bad, baby,” Hoyt mumbled.

Chax pushed his chair back and came around to examine her ass.

“I did tell you.” Tabatha scooted away from them, shoving her dress back down, the good mood totally ruined. Grabbing a muffin and her coffee from the table, she ignored them and walked outside to the back porch. She felt them come up behind her.

“I bruise easily, I always have.” She shrugged. Her muffin crumbled and fell onto the deck as she tried to take a bite. She bent to pick it up when something whizzed by her ear.

The next thing she knew, she had landed flat on the porch floor with Hoyt on top of her, growling. She tried to move, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Stay still! Someone just took a shot at you, Tabby,” Hoyt growled.

Her stomach lurched.

“Chax and his brothers are after them now. We have to get you inside.”

“If you let me up, I can crawl to the door.”

He cussed up a storm, but lifted a little, still covering her as they crawled to the door. As he pushed it open she looked up and noticed the bullet hole in the door.

Tabatha’s body shook as she realized she could’ve been killed. Her stomach pitched, and she felt sick. She stopped moving and lowered her head to the side. Her breakfast came back up all over the doorsill. Hoyt held her hair back and kissed her neck, holding and rocking her, shielding her with his body for about five minutes till her stomach seemed to stop twirling.

Chax knelt down beside them. “We got one of them, but the others got away. You can get up now, baby.” After her stomach stopped heaving, Chax helped her up. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. They moved her to the couch and Tabatha curled into a ball. Hoyt sat next to her and rubbed her arms.

She knew Hoyt and Chax were worried about her, but she couldn’t stop shaking.

“This has to stop! I’m calling in the pack now.” Hoyt reached for the cell phone on the coffee table. “We need to start building that house now. We need guards patrolling the grounds. That was far too close a call,” Hoyt growled to Chax.

Chax paced back and forth. “Caym is on his way. He has heard that some demons might have joined forces with some local werewolves to stop our joining ceremony. The Master is furious. No one has gone against his word in ages.”

 
“Tabatha, I’m going to wake the Others. I can’t stand to be so far away and not do anything,”
Drakos snapped.

 
No! Please, it will only bring more trouble. I miss you, but I can talk to you, so that is enough for now. I don’t want you hurt or in trouble because of me. Please, Drakos, I couldn’t take that too.

Tabatha felt the room tremble as his anger moved the Earth below them.

 
“That’s going to wake them, so you better stop it. You don’t want to draw attention to us.”
Chax interrupted their thoughts.

“There has to be another reason they’re going after her now. We need Ben here and we need answers about this mess,” Hoyt said, as he picked up his cell phone and called Ben.

Tabatha took it all in. “Maybe they don’t want a freak with you guys?” she mumbled to herself.

They both heard and stared at her for a moment.

“Why would you say that? You’re not a freak.” Chax pulled her up and hugged her as he sat next to her. Hoyt joined them on the couch and sat on the other side.

“Hell, Chax, they’ve wanted me dead since birth. I think they left me alone when I wasn’t involved with the pack. But now that I am, they’re not going to stop now. Maybe they know about Drakos already?”

She couldn’t stay there all day, though. She tried to get up, but Chax pulled her into his arms and held her. That’s when she noticed her butt didn’t hurt anymore.

She looked up into his face. “You healed me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get punished next time. We’ll just have to be more careful of that tender little ass. Now, I don’t want you to think that you’re a freak, because you’re not. You’re perfect for us.” He kissed her softly.

“When will Caym be here? Why don’t I put some more coffee on since it’s going to be a long day?” Tabatha pushed herself up, needing to brush her teeth and rinse out her mouth.

Hoyt looked sharply at her as she avoided his hands while he tried to grab her. “I need to brush my teeth,” she mumbled.

Hoyt stood right outside the bathroom door refusing to allow her out of his sight. He yelled at her brother on the phone about the attack.
Will I ever have a nice quiet life, and do I really want this?

Chapter Fourteen

Tabatha stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was pale.

 
God, my lips are so thin, and look at my stringy hair. Why can’t I have hair like Melody’s? Hell, for that matter, a body like hers, too.
She sighed and splashed some cold water on her face, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts that ran through her mind. Her men liked her, so that’s all she had to worry about.

Tabatha jumped at the sound of pounding on the door.

“Tabby, open up, it’s me,” Melody yelled and banged again on the door.

She smiled ruefully and let her in.

Melody flung herself into Tabitha’s arms. “I’m sorry about not being here earlier. I made Ben and Shane bring me here directly when we got the call in the car. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” She stepped back and inspected Tabatha.

“I’m fine, Mel. Just feeling a little sorry for myself, that’s all.”

They linked arms and walked out into the living room already filled with pack members. Demons worked together to set up guards.

Tabatha noticed two of the women from the club. They hung onto Hoyt and rubbed their bodies up and down his. He snarled at them and pushed them away, but they didn’t cooperate.

Anger ripped through Tabatha, and a growl escaped her. Her skin burned, and claws sprouted from her fingers. Fur started to grow out of her skin, and her bones crunched.

Melody jumped back and stared at Tabatha in her werewolf form. She whispered, “What’s wrong?”

She nodded to Hoyt, her clawed foot tapping the ground.

Tabatha knew they were staring at her, but she didn’t care. She looked at Melody, who had changed form as well. Melody’s fur was black, while hers was white. They each moved in opposite directions circling their targets. The nightclub women attempted to cling to Hoyt, but watched Tabatha and Melody approach.

The muscles in Hoyt’s shoulders tightened, and he raised his head, growling louder. Was his noise of warning directed at her? If so, she didn’t care about that, either.

“Stand down now, Tabby!” He ordered and turned, frowning at her.

The women shot her smug smiles.

“
Get away from my mate,”
she barked in the women’s minds. Tabatha moved closer, ready to attack.

Ben and Shane had moved in and both now held onto Melody.

Tabatha heard Melody cussing and yelling at her mates through the pack mind link, but paid no attention to it. She could do this by herself.

“
I won’t warn you again. If any female goes near my mate, I’ll tear her head off. Do I have to prove it to you?”
Tabatha asked through the link she found in Hoyt’s mind. She moved in close and pushed her face next to one of the girls and growled. Hands surrounded her waist. Her beast roared with anger as Chax threw her over his shoulder.

“Let me down, you jackass!” She shifted back into human form. “This is between me and those bitches.” Try as she might, she couldn’t free herself from her mate. Chax held onto her as he made it to her bedroom.

“They’re here to protect your ass, and you try to attack them? What the hell’s your problem?” Chax threw her onto the bed and glared down at her. Hoyt followed them into the room and stood next to him.

“They’re purposely flaunting their bodies all over you, Hoyt. You keep telling me I’m your mate, but I don’t share my men! And I don’t need your protection. I can kick both of their asses.” She stared at him.

“I have things to deal with right now. I don’t need this crap, Tabby. If you would just ignore them, they would stop acting that way.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m trying to be patient, Tabby. They’re here to help their Alpha. I can’t have you threatening anyone because of your insecurities!” Hoyt yelled.

“My insecurities? Tell me something. Would the three of you just ignore a couple of men if they had their hands all over me? If they rubbed their bodies against mine” Tabatha stood and studied them with defiance.