There's Something About Werewolves: Seven Brides for Seven Shifters, Book 1 (23 page)

Phenomenal didn’t even begin to describe Lennox. They all knew it.

Garrett started to go to her. He wanted to whisper words of encouragement and pointers for fighting wolves, but he didn’t move quickly enough. Ian exited the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing, maybe coming from Dillon’s place. He carried a wooden case cradled beneath one arm. On an obvious mission, Ian walked a direct path to Lennox.

She gave him no more warmth than she’d given Garrett moments before. Undeterred, Ian opened the box, presenting the contents to her. She glanced from the box to him and back again. He nudged her, saying something Garrett couldn’t hear. She rolled her eyes and snatched two short but lethal knives from the case. The blades caught the sunlight in bursts of light when she held them up.

Ian dropped the box. Taking the knives from Lennox’s upright grip, he flipped them so the tips pointed down with the cutting edge out, and handed them back to her. Tentatively Ian took her wrists, cautious in case she dissented.

Garrett scowled, hurling forward to put a stop to Ian’s moves on Lennox. Gran’s firm grip on his arm stopped him cold. “Leave it,” she said. “He’s helping her.” Sure enough Ian guided Lennox through a range of attack and defense moves. The blades sliced the air. He stepped back. She ran through the motions on her own. A fast study, Lennox picked up what Ian taught her quickly.

She nodded her thanks. In turn Ian waved Faye and the two other mothers forward. They wore robes tied loosely around their waists. Garrett cursed. He couldn’t believe these three thought they were justified in ganging up on his Elle. He hopped Lennox shattered every one of their smirks with her fists.

“What is it?” Gran asked.

“They’re going to transform in front of Lennox to capitalize on her fear. They don’t want her to forget who they are or what they can do.”

Gran grunted. “I called it right. Bunch of bitches,” she hissed. “Let’s get to my girl.” They quickly crossed the clearing to take places behind Lennox. Gran patted her shoulder as they passed. “Remember you’re an Averdeen. You’ve got everything you need to take them down.”

“Okay.” Lennox breathed the word with less than her usual confidence.

Ian turned, waving her to her place. She paused, trembling so badly her teeth chattered. Somehow, through sheer will, she made it to the position Ian indicated. The moment her feet touched her mark all three wolfen women shimmered, blurred and transformed into red wolves. With deft movements they stepped free of their robes. Faye stood taller than the others, with darker fur and larger tufted ears.

Lennox dropped to her knees and retched, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the grass. Dammit, she wasn’t going to make it through this.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lennox dropped her blades. Garrett and Ian leapt to either side of her. They tried to lift her up but she smacked them away. “Leave me,” she said. Embarrassed, she kept her eyes on the ground while she swiped her mouth clean with the back of a gloved hand.

Someone else took hold of her, one hand on her arm, another at her back. She nearly cursed the person out before she heard her godson whisper,“You don’t have to do this, Leni.” His voice broke as he hefted her a few feet away from the puddle of sick. “I’ll go back to sparring with the kids my age. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He didn’t want her hurt. She wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt him. Such a vicious circle. She cupped the back of his neck with her clean hand. “Aw, baby, we all fight when it’s our time. When we believe in something enough.” She tapped him near his nape, squeezing just enough to let him know to put her down. Once her feet touched grass, they gazed at one another. “You’ll fight when it’s your time. Today is my turn. Okay?”

Her whole world fell into alignment when the light filled her godson’s eyes. “Okay,” Nox said. Lennox nodded and hugged him with one arm.

“Leni,” he said, holding up a transparent box filled with green and orange capsules. It rattled when he shook it. “It won’t be a fair fight if you blow puke breath in their faces. You might need a couple of these.” He paused and added, “Or five.”

Tic Tacs. No words of encouragement from her godson. Nope. He’d rather she died with lime-and-orange-flavored breath. Grudgingly she held up a palm. He tapped out three candies, tapped again and left her with five.

“That bad, huh?” She tossed the Tic Tacs back, crunched them, and gestured for more.

Nox obliged her. “You have no idea.” Pocketing the candy, he retrieved her knives and handed them off. She took them. The blades suddenly felt better in her grasp, as though the love of her child had imbued them with a kind of magic. Her sightline crossed with Faye’s golden wolf glare. Lennox did a gut check. Although her fear hadn’t abated, her resolve had multiplied.

Head up, shoulders low, knives held at the ready, she took a new start position. She’d learned plenty of tricks as an athlete: how to take an opponent down or dodge them fast enough to break their ankles from football; using one arm to clear an opponent out while making your move with the other from basketball; marshaling all your strength into a single shove from shot-put. All those skills would come in handy today.

Memories were equally useful. Both Ian and Garrett had told her the truth. Lennox avoided hard decisions at every turn. She didn’t fight unless trapped in a corner. That flaw would work in her favor today.

Lennox glanced around, finding herself surrounded by wolves. Her back had truly hit the wall, so she did what the older, weaker version of her always did in these situations, but this time she’d turn her fault into an advantage. Gathering her newly acquired strength, Lennox Averdeen came out swinging.

Her sudden attack took the wolves by surprise. They scattered in two directions. Her blades missed them by nanoseconds. The wolves rebounded. One caught her from behind with a head butt. She lurched forward, falling to her knees. She spun. Wolfen Faye landed on her chest. Lennox screamed. Kicking out, she jackknifed and sent Faye flying.

Another wolf pounced from the other side and teeth sank into Lennox’s forearm. Pain exploded behind her eyes. Blood flew as she slashed out. Her blade sliced the wolf’s muzzle. The wolfen let go with a whimper, retreating.

The third wolfen snuck up on her. Lennox whirled. Cut her deep, up one leg and down the other. Finished her. Members of the pack inched forward, pulling the downed wolf off the battlefield. Two left.

Lennox narrowed her eyes. The two remaining wolfen stalked her from separate angles. They leapt in tandem, one high the other low. The pumping of her blood filled Lennox’s ears. Adrenaline heightened her senses. Time pressed the slow-mo button and the wolves hung in midair.

Great athletes speak of a state they enter when they’re at the top of their games. Basketball players said the basket becomes the size of the ocean. They can’t miss. Football players recall the opposing team slowing to a snail’s pace. They couldn’t be caught. Cyclists claimed their cramps faded and their legs churned as though robotic. They couldn’t be stopped. Athletes have a name for this state of mind body spirit cohesion: The Zone.

Lennox entered that same state of mind and she knew she couldn’t lose.

She ducked under one wolf, cutting the furry underbelly. Spun away from the other, slicing the she-wolf’s side. The first wolf scratched her across one thigh. Lennox hissed into the pain and struck out, punching the wolfen in the eye with her knife wielding fist. The wolfen went down with a whimper.

The next few moments were a whirlwind of blade, claw, and tooth. Lennox lost herself to bloodlust. She wouldn’t stop. No matter what it cost her. No matter what happened she would defend Nox to the death.

A wolf lunged for her throat. Lennox caught her, impossibly fast. Squeezing her opponent’s neck between fisted hands, Lennox tossed her at a tree. The wolfen hit the trunk in a furry missile. Bark exploded off the trunk. The wolf sank to the ground with a cry of hurt. She didn’t get back up. Done. One left. Faye.

Lennox and Faye circled each other, pacing left then right. Faye snarled. Lennox sneered. They leapt, clashed in midair, came down in a whirring heap of knife and fang. Lennox twisted, wrestling onto Faye’s back. Her knives scraped across fur and teeth snapped an inch from her ear as she climbed. Lennox snapped back, baring her own teeth. Once in position, straddling Faye’s spine, she threw her blades away. The gathering gasped around them.

Ignoring the crowd’s surprise, Lennox grabbed Faye in a headlock, one arm encircling the wolfen’s neck, the other braced in a closed fist for leverage. Marshaling her remaining strength, Lennox clamped down. Faye went wild, fighting as vehemently for dominance as she fought for breath.

“Ree-lent,” Lennox roared into a tufted ear. Faye fought on, running and twisting to dislodge Lennox from her throat. But Lennox refused to let go. She increased the pressure until she thought her own arms would break. Faye slowed. Zigzagging dizzily she fell face first into the dirt.

“Are you done?” Lennox asked for all to hear. Faye jerked her head in affirmation. Lennox let go. Backing away she looked first to Garrett, pride filled his gaze. She turned to Ian. He smiled with equal delight. Throwing his hands into the air Ian proclaimed, “Lennox takes the challenge.”

Garrett and Nox threw back their heads and howled for her victory. Lennox dropped to her knees, trying to remember how to breathe. When Garrett yelled her name she looked up and began to smile, but Garrett’s call had been a warning. Faye had risen. The wolfen lurched at Lennox. Claws slashed her chest. Teeth bit into her biceps. Lennox bashed her free fist into Faye’s snout. The wolfen fell back. Lennox backhanded the cowardly bitch with everything she had left. Her fists finished the job. Faye slumped to one side, out cold.

Lennox fell to the ground again. This time it wasn’t relief that fueled her. Instead, two words ricocheted through her mind as Garrett lifted her into his arms: Tooth and Claw.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lennox curled into a ball within the circle of his arms. “Tooth and Claw,” she mumbled the words over and over, although her eyes remained tightly shut. If Faye weren’t someone’s mother and another’s wife, Garrett would slash her jugular and call her lucky he didn’t do worse.

He walked back to the manor and laid his Elle on her newly built back porch. Ian handed him a bottle of orange juice. He snatched it. Thought better of it. Muttered his thanks and made Lennox drink. She finished the juice in a single gulp. “More,” she croaked.

“Here, Leni.” Gran put a peach in her hands. “Don’t you worry, baby girl. Everything will be fine.”

Lennox devoured the fruit in four bites, reaching for another before the pit dropped. Six peaches later she relaxed against Garrett’s body. Her eyes finally fluttered open “Where’s Nox?” she asked no one in particular.

“I’m here.” Nox prodded her leg.

A wan smile curved her lips. Sitting up a little straighter she asked, “How’d I do?”

“Awesome!” Nox threw both thumbs up. Garrett chuckled, dropping a kiss onto Lennox’s hairline. Her internal strength hadn’t failed her. Maybe she would get through this. If she could survive the first change into a wolf, she might make it.

“Good,” she said to Nox. “Where’s Paolo?”

“Right here.” Nox pointed and Paolo stepped up for Lennox to see. She reached out to him. He gripped her hand. “It is okay?” he asked.

“It will be. I’ll find a way to deal with all of this.” She squeezed before releasing Paolo’s hand. Then she flicked the fingers of the same hand toward the yard. “You two go ahead and let me see.”

“See what?” they echoed each other.

“Let me see you turn.”

Nox and Paolo looked stunned. Garrett imagined their expressions were replicas of his. “Lennox,” he began.

“Garrett, let them do it now before I lose my nerve. I’m not scared at the moment. I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

Dillon muscled his way in. Kneeling beside Lennox, he took inventory of her various injuries. He reached inside his doctor’s kit, took out a pair of scissors and began to cut away her clothes where they covered her larger wounds. “Sorry it took me so long, Leni. You weren’t bleeding too badly and there were broken bones to be set on the others.”

She made a face at him. “I’m warning you, Dillon. You better not leave any scars.”

“Oh, hush up,” he said, imitating Gran and laughing about it. “I’m a former plastic surgeon. I’d fix that jacked-up nose of yours if you let me.”

Lennox covered her nose. “What’s wrong with my beak?” She pushed down hard enough to make a honking noise. They laughed. Elle always knew how to take the sting out of a situation even if she hurt the most.

Dillon soaked a cotton pad in antiseptic and cleaned the claw marks on her chest. “Holy shit, Lennox,” he said, stunned. As they watched, the cuts knitted back together, leaving only faint pink lines where the bleeding gorges had been. Garrett, Ian, and Dillon all exchanged glances. Not even wolfen healed big wounds that fast. Nothing Garrett had ever seen healed that fast.

Lennox looked down at her chest. She shrugged, too tired to deal with anymore supernatural weirdness. “That’s a new development.”

Remembering the conversation he’d had with Gran in the gazebo, Garrett turned a suspicious gaze on the elder Averdeen. “Oh,” she said, with a sheepish moue. “About that—”

“We’re ready,” Nox yelled. Before Garrett could stop them and get answers from Gran, Nox and Paolo transformed. Lennox shuddered but pushed up into a full sitting position. She reached out to them. Nox’s larger, fuller coated gray wolf and Paolo’s sleeker more coyote-like red one padded forward. Lennox petted them when they got close enough. They loved it. She scratched both behind the ears and they fell over themselves to get into her lap.

Lennox grinned on a heavy sigh. “Okay, that’s enough. More later.” Nox yipped in the glee of her acceptance. Grinning, well, wolfishly, they both ran off into the woods. The younger members of the pack, from juveniles to the early adults went wolfen and chased after them. Faye’s son Cary joined in. Challenges were a part of pack life. No one held grudges once a winner rose.

“Should I show you my wolf too?” Ian asked, going for the buttons on his shirt. Lennox bopped him with a lighthearted fist. “Don’t you dare, Ian. I’ll kill you. I swear I will.”

“What about me?” Dillon waggled his eyebrows.

“No!”

Garrett wrapped his arms around her waist. Sliding her body snuggly into his as he nipped her earlobe. “Or me?” he husked for her ears alone. “I could show you mine.”

She giggled. “I’ve seen enough of you.”

“I don’t think you have.” He kissed the juncture of her neck and jawline. She shivered, this time with pleasure.

Ian made a rude noise, ready to protest.

A rifle blast sounded. Followed by a yelp of pain and several more shots.

The sound jolted Garret’s memory. Lennox’s gun-happy new neighbor, he’d forgotten to have a talk with Stan about him. Garrett laid Lennox down swiftly but gently and took off with Dillon and Ian on his heels.

Garrett couldn’t breathe. His legs pumped faster than he’d known they could. He had to get to his son. History couldn’t repeat. No more losses. No more mourning. Rifle blasts had stolen too many of the people he loved. He wouldn’t allow a gun to destroy him again. Not this time. Not with Nox.

Some of Ian’s juveniles passed him, running in the opposite direction. The young adults didn’t show themselves. If Nox had been shot he’d… He didn’t know. He should’ve been more careful. Packs and Westlakes didn’t mix. The Westlakes always came out on the losing end.

“Hold your fire,” Ian yelled. “There are people out here.”

Garrett found his son by scent. He rushed where his nose led and froze. Nox lay on the ground with Paolo by his side. A puddle of blood spread around them. No. Please no. Not again. He couldn’t lose another family member, especially not his son. He couldn’t lose Nox.

Nox whimpered as Garrett fell on the ground beside him. He was alive. Alive was good. But blood streaked a line across Nox’s shoulder. He let out a yelp of discomfort when Garrett’s fingers examined the wound. A paw landed on his hand, pushing it down and away. The bullet had merely grazed his son’s shoulder. It would heal quickly, probably during his next change.

Nox nuzzled him and then Paolo. Garrett exhaled in desperate relief. Looking to Paolo, he immediately hated himself for his momentary reprieve. The younger wolfen had been hurt too but worse. A gaping hole of raw red glistened in his side. Sharp shallow breaths racked his body.

“Move,” Dillon said, falling in beside them. The doctor gingerly examined the damage to Paolo’s side and cursed. A sob sounded behind them.

“No, Paolo, no.” Garrett caught Lennox in his arms. She pushed away. Going to Paolo, she slowly lowered herself to the ground and petted her friend’s head with quivering hands. “Stay,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss his furry brow. Paolo whimpered, weakly nuzzling her hand.

“Cash and a couple members of the pack took the shooter down,” said a gruff voice. “They’ve got him locked in his house.” Ian stood on the other side of them with his arm around Nox—who’d changed to human form.

Dillon finished his examination. He turned a hard gaze on Ian. “I don’t think he’ll survive the trip to the hospital. He’s going to have to change.”

“Why?” Lennox nearly shrieked.

Dillon gave her a gentle expression. “The act of shifting—breaking down and rebuilding our bodies—is healing in a small way. It’ll help close the wound and slow the bleeding long enough for us to get Paolo to the hospital, Leni.”

“No,” Garrett growled. “The energy expended in a change could kill him before it heals him.”

Dillon swiped an open hand through the air, cutting Garrett off. “What do you want me to do, Garrett? I can’t save him here. He’s bleeding too fast and the wound is gaping. The partial healing during a change is the only way to buy us enough time.”

“Paolo,” Lennox pressed her face to his fur. “You’re going to have to change so we can take care of you. Can you do that?” Paolo whimpered in response but managed the slightest nod. She cradled his head in her arms. “Okay. Do it.”

The transformation should have taken seconds, a shimmer and a blur then human again. Not this time. Paolo’s body quaked. Ripples rode his fur as he gasped in pain. Skin appeared only to be swallowed by fur again. Bones cracked and stuttered between two shapes. After several agonizing moments Paolo lay on the ground naked, bleeding, and human.

Ian’s people had a cloth gurney at the ready. Under Dillon’s direction, they rolled Paolo onto it and took off. Ian followed them, leaving Lennox, Nox, and Garrett behind. Lennox took him by the hand and tried to pull him after them.

Memories attacked Garrett. He’d been shot once. His own gunshot wound burned anew. He’d watched most of his family, almost everyone he loved fall, forever. Never again.

Nox touched Garrett’s arm. The kid had returned human form. “Let’s go,” Nox pleaded. Garrett couldn’t move, even after Lennox tugged his hand.

“Dad, Lennox, let’s go!” Nox snapped him out of it with the pleading in his voice. Garrett allowed Lennox to guide him through the trees as they ran behind his son.

Back at Garrett’s roadster, Cash stood at the ready. Gran waited in the front seat. Nox climbed in, Lennox got in beside him and pulled Garrett in behind her. He’d barely closed the door when Cash peeled out.

In cases of emergency you wanted a stuntman driving. Garrett knew they’d get there fast with Cash at the wheel. He held on to that knowledge to keep him sane. Cash watched him in the rearview mirror. “Hang in there, Garrett,” his second-in-command told him.

Lennox rubbed his arm. Confusion furrowed her features. She knew they were all worried for Paolo but she clearly didn’t understand the depth of his reaction.

“It happened this way before,” he said.

“What did?” she asked.

Garrett shuddered as bad memories clawed at him. “I was on the run when we met. That’s the reason I went by Garrett Anderson rather than my actual name.”

Lennox gasped. “What were you running from?”

“Who,” he corrected, his words sounded so distant. Garrett didn’t know if he’d spoken them aloud or merely thought them. “A homicidal big game hunter discovered the truth about my family.”

Cash jumped in to help. “The Westlakes are old wolves from an ancient land. Their bloodlines are strong and they’re hard to kill.”

Garrett scoffed. “Not for McNamara. He killed us so easily. He didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. He hunted us down one by one.” Coldness seeped into Garrett’s bones. He shivered against the chill but couldn’t shake it. “Turn on the heat, Cash,” he said.

Lennox stroked his cheek and pulled him down to lie on her shoulder. “It’s the middle of summer, Garrett. You’ll burn alive with the heat on.”

“Oh,” he said. “McNamara was a genius. He’d wait until we’d turned wolfen to kill us. That way he left a long line of missing persons and dead wolves behind. If he’d killed my family in human form, the police would’ve recognized him for a serial killer.”

The arms around him tightened. He wanted to lay in Lennox’s lap the way he used to in college. He shifted, bending his body in an awkward position and pushing Nox and Lennox to the far side of the car, until his head rested against her chest. Close enough. He sighed when she stroked his brow.

“My father disappeared first, then a few cousins here, an aunt there, more and more of us. We knew we were being hunted but we couldn’t find the bastard and we couldn’t turn to the law.” When Lennox looked ready to question him, Garrett clarified. “It’s hard to explain to a detective how a couple of wolves went missing while out on a midnight run. And no matter how many friends we had in law enforcement, prosecution required a trial among non-shifters and shifters alike. We couldn’t risk it.” He took a breath. “Finally only three of us remained. My mother sent my uncle and me away. She wanted me to go to college and she wanted to protect me. She decided to stay behind to manage our holdings. That’s when I started calling myself Garrett Anderson.” He covered his eyes. “Mom told me not to worry, said she wouldn’t go wolfen so the hunter couldn’t get her.”

Lennox patted his chest in a soothing thrum. His Elle. His comfort. “I escaped to college. My uncle stayed on the run, coming to visit now and again.”

“I remember,” Lennox said.

“It worked for a long time. I got married. I graduated. We had Nox, I buried my wife, and what was left of my family settled down to help me raise our son. Then my mother slipped up and McNamara got her.”

He roared. The memory stabbed him in fractured shards. “My uncle and I had to do something. We refused to leave Nox with no sense of his heritage and no one to protect him from the hunter as he grew, so we came up with a plan. We moved into my mother’s home where we knew the hunter could easily find us.” A shudder shook him to the bones. “Every few days we set aside pints of our blood. Then on the chosen night we blood doped, transfusing ourselves to up our red blood cell count. It made us stronger.”

“I don’t understand,” Lennox said. Nox and Cash remained quiet. They’d heard the story before. He didn’t know why Gran remained silent.

“We wanted him to follow us out into the forest. My uncle had already called a sheriff he knew and we timed his arrival the best we could. We figured if we got shot with the extra red bloods cells in our systems we’d be juiced up enough to turn back into humans and heal. Then McNamara, that sadistic serial killer bastard, would be arrested for attempted murder.”

He scrubbed his hand over his thickening beard. He’d forgotten to shave that morning, the same as he’d forgotten his uncle had gotten old back then. “McNamara shot us both that night, me in the side, my uncle in the stomach. But we hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to change back after a gunshot wound. We both returned to human form but we struggled with it. I survived. My uncle didn’t.”

Lennox kissed his cheeks, his eyes, his forehead.
His Elle. His anchor.
“The sheriff and his men arrested McNamara. Our lawyer made the jury believe McNamara had a sick obsession with my family. That he’d systematically stalked and killed most of us. So many Westlakes had disappeared, never to be seen again.” It still hurt, so badly. “Then I testified about the night McNamara had killed my uncle while I watched and that he had nearly taken me out too. No defense attorney could get past my testimony or the pictures of my gunshot wound. The courts parked McNamara’s ass on death row. And I’ll be there whenever they decide to flip the switch.”