Charity Received (7 page)

“Kash, be careful,” Hope called as Charity lunged and rammed her teeth into his forearm.

“Shit,” he cursed just as Hope exclaimed, “Oh my God!”

Charity backed away from him, and Kash could feel her horror at the wound she’d inflicted. But for Kash, it was barely a superficial cut. He ignored the small bite of pain, having experienced considerably worse injuries in his time on earth. He continued to edge slowly toward Charity, refusing to let her run from him.

“Kash, what are you doing?” Hope demanded, and Charity’s attention turned to the other female. Her entire countenance changed. No longer did she cower. For some reason, she viewed Hope as a threat.

“Charity, no!” he commanded roughly, and the wolf paused, giving him just enough time to reach for Hope and shove her behind his back before the wolf leaped, snarling.

Charity skittered to a halt, wild blue eyes fixed on him. Her pain lanced sharply through Kash, her sense of betrayal cutting deep. She believed he had chosen Hope over her. And while Kash tried to reason out the emotions she was sending him, he whispered her name softly.

His mate backed away from him, and Kash felt as if he’d been stabbed in the gut. He made a break to grab her, but Charity skirted him, her nails clicking against the stone floor. She bolted for the door and fled into the night, and only her anguish remained, burrowed deep in Kash’s heart.

“Oh my God, Kash. She bit you.” Hope grabbed his arm and held it up to the light to examine the wound.

He gritted his teeth, her touch decidedly most unpleasant, like a thousand tiny pinpricks across his skin. He jerked free from her grip and cradled his arm to his chest. “It’s fine.”

“Jesus, it’s not fine.” Hope stepped closer to him, reaching for his chest. “Your neck is bleeding also.”

Kash jumped away, having no desire to experience such pain again. Dancing around Hope, he moved toward the open doorway with every intention of finding Charity and bringing her home. Distantly he could still feel her, though the connection was growing fainter, and that worried him.

Then, as if they had sensed the recent disturbance, Remy, Arak, and Jet flooded his forge. He rolled his eyes. Just the distraction he needed. Arak was immediately upon him and checking the wound while Remy demanded an explanation. Before Kash could even open his mouth, Hope answered for him.

“Charity attacked Kash. Not once, but twice. And she almost came at me. If Kash hadn’t stopped her…” Hope shuddered, wrapping her arms around her torso. “She’s lost it.”

“She did not attack me,” Kash bit out. “It was an accident. And I’m fine.” He tried to pull his arm away from Arak, not wanting his brother’s soothing touch, but Arak wouldn’t release his hold. “Let go.”

Arak, whose unique power was the ability to heal, ignored him, his hand emanating a bluish glow, the bite on Kash’s arm sealing shut instantly. But when Arak moved to the spot on his neck, Kash felt compelled to break free. The thought of Arak healing the mark Charity had left filled him with dread, and he would have fought his brother to keep it. Luckily it didn’t come to that. Arak allowed Kash to pull away. “I don’t have time for this. I have to find Charity.”

“Then I suggest you explain what exactly did happen.” Remy moved to block Kash’s only exit. “Penny was pretty certain she saw a large dog fleeing the fortress as she was coming in.”

“Son of a bitch.” Kash grabbed his leather jacket off the workbench where he’d flung it earlier that evening before he’d started to work on the breastplate. Lord, had that really only been a couple of hours ago? It seemed a lifetime had occurred in the short span of time. He yanked the jacket on, not even bothering to waste time to find a new shirt. With a deep sense of frustration, he strode toward Remy, intent on reaching his Harley with all haste. “Get out of my way,” he growled when Remy refused to move.

“You are going nowhere.”

“Like hell.” Kash tried to force his way past, only to find himself locked in place by Remy’s mind compulsion. “Let me go, you bastard. She’s out there somewhere, scared and alone. I have to find her.”

Kash ignored the look that passed between Remy and Arak. Truthfully, he was too busy fighting Remy’s control to care about any of the others in the room.

“Leave us.” At Remy’s order, Arak led Hope from the shop. Jet seemed more reluctant, but finally he also conceded to the demand. Then Remy scowled at Kash.

“You are going nowhere until I receive a reasonable explanation as to why Arak cannot heal the wound on your neck and why there is a strange substance now traveling through your veins. What if Charity was contaminated by the wolf attack earlier?”

“What wolf attack?” Kash had ignored the comments Remy had obviously gleaned telepathically from Arak. This was the first Kash had heard of Charity being injured, and he was awash with a mixture of anger and fear.

“Before Zeke dispatched the male, he bit Charity. And now it’s possible she has infected you.”

“For the last time, Charity did not attack me, damn it! I told you it was an accident.

Hope startled her, and she bit me.”

Remy sighed. “Kash, you have always been a champion for any female in need, but this one harmed you. She might be feral, and she must be dealt with.”

The implication of Remy’s words sent a chill through Kash. “If anyone so much as harms one hair on her head, they will answer to me. I declare Charity under my protection.”

His words clearly shocked Remy, and the other male gasped. “Kash, what are you doing?”

“She’s mine, damn it. My mate.”

Remy’s jaw almost hit the floor. “Mate?” His tone left little to the imagination—he thought Kash had lost his mind.

“Yes. And somehow we’ve bonded. Not in the traditional way. We do not mind-speak. But I can sense her emotions. The bite on my arm was accidental.”

“And the one on your neck?”

Remy’s questioning his ability to know his own mate was bad enough, but that seemed far too personal, even for Remy. “None of your business. Now release me so I can find Charity.”

“Zeke has already headed out after her. I would have preferred Jet, but there was no stopping Zeke.” At Remy’s words, Kash found himself free.

“Consider yourself lucky, Remy, because Jet would have thought nothing of harming my mate.” And even though the thought of Zeke anywhere near Charity irritated Kash to no end, at least he knew that brother wouldn’t hurt her.

“Just be careful, Kash. We don’t know who or what is controlling these wolves. If Charity has been infected…”

Kash growled in warning. “Don’t threaten my mate, Remy.” Then he brushed past his leader, unwilling to listen any longer. He had wasted far too much time and could barely feel her any longer. That she might be lost to him filled Kash with such terror, he could barely concentrate on anything else. He was thankful it was dawn, at least. He wouldn’t have to worry about demons harming Charity, not until nightfall. And he planned on having her back safely beside him before then.

The red wolf cautiously crept toward the cave, sniffing the air for any sign it already had an inhabitant. Once assured she was alone, she scampered inside.

She curled into a ball in the darkest recesses, and a pitiful whimper bubbled up from her chest. She’d tried to leave the area, to get as far from her misery as possible, but the wolf would go only so far before turning back. She couldn’t leave her mate. And she was a fool. Charity had given the only thing of worth—her virginity—to a male who had chosen another.

If she’d been in her human form, Charity would have laughed. What had she expected? That Kash would want her? Not when he had Hope. The female embodied everything desirable in the vampire species. She was petite, had a daintiness to her that called to a paranormal male’s innate need to protect. Her lush figure and large breasts had both humans and paranormals alike panting for a taste.

Charity, on the other hand, was a mixture of both her parents—shaken, not stirred—

a freak of nature that even other shifters abhorred. Had she really expected Kash to feel any differently? Maybe if he had been a shifter, the animal’s need to mate would have overruled the human side of his psyche.

But any hope she’d had had been dashed. Her wolf had attempted to challenge the female, to duel it out until the stronger remained. The reasonable way, to her mind.

A chance at happiness. But the male had chosen for them. And Charity had lost.

She’d held on these past six months believing a demon had killed her mate, and her sole purpose for remaining on this earth had been revenge. To destroy that demon.

But he wasn’t dead. Now there was nothing left to live for.

* * *

Penny was nosing around his shop when Kash returned to the fortress. With a sigh, he slid the door closed behind him, really not in the mood to deal with anyone, but especially not Penny and her sullenness. He’d been out searching for hours, hadn’t slept in over twenty-four. He was anxious, frustrated, and dead tired. He could still feel Charity, though distantly, but he couldn’t find her. And knowing she was out there, just out of reach, was killing him.

All he needed was to catch a couple of hours of sleep, just enough so he didn’t drive his Harley VRXSE into a tree. Then he would return to the woods. He wouldn’t stop until he’d brought Charity home. And the last thing he needed was shit from Penny.

She studied him, which only strengthened the defensiveness he already felt as he waited for her to strike. “You haven’t really been out all day looking for that werewolf, have you?”

The disdain in her voice didn’t sit well in his gut. “Be careful what you say, Penemuel. I will not be as inclined as Bale is to listen to your snide remarks about my mate.”

Kash was saddened by the distress that passed over Penny’s features, but he didn’t soften his stance. Penny had changed. Once, she would have welcomed Charity with open arms. Now she took her anger over Raym’s betrayal out on Faith, and he knew Charity would fall victim next if he allowed it. Things were uncertain enough with his mate. He wouldn’t bring her home to Penny’s sniping.

“Your mate? So then I’ve lost you too,” she whispered, her gaze falling to the floor.

Moved by the tears hovering on her lashes, Kash reached out to embrace her, only to have pain shoot up his arms.

“Shit.” He hissed, immediately jerking back.

Penny’s face lit with concern, and she reached out to lay a hand on his arm. “Kash, what is it?”

“Please, don’t touch me.” He cleared the hoarseness from his throat, hating that he couldn’t touch Penny or embrace Hope. He was affectionate by nature, which was why he was always the most likely to offer his protection to the various females who had crossed his path over the centuries. And it didn’t hurt that he liked women, enjoyed the time he spent with them, in and out of the sheets.

“Kash?”

He raked a hand through his hair as he moved across the room. He dumped his jacket on the bench next to the unfinished breastplate, then tossed his keys on top of the leather. “Somehow the bond between Charity and me has left me sensitive.”

“Sensitive? What does that mean, exactly?”

“Feeling as if I’m being stabbed by thousands of needles wherever I’m touched,” he bit out harshly, just daring Penny to say anything to set him off.

She bristled at his unspoken threat, asking, “Did Arak’s touch hurt? Or just mine?”

Kash thought about her question for a moment. “Just yours…and Hope’s. When Arak healed the bite on my arm, I didn’t feel a thing.”

His admission seemed to trouble Penny as much as it unnerved him. “Are you sure it’s the bond? I’ve heard it bandied about that there are infected wolves.” Penny studied him closely. “Kash, I understand your not wanting to confide in the others, but are you certain she wasn’t infected also?”

“I sense nothing tainted in Charity, no outside force controlling her.” He thrust his fingers in his hair again, ripping through the short brown strands in frustration.

“Interesting,” she murmured.

“Interesting? I don’t understand a damn thing about any of this. Shit. We’ve bonded.

I sense what she’s feeling, and still I don’t understand her.” And it hurt. Kash kept reliving that moment in his head, when Charity had turned from him and fled.

What could he have done differently? Not knowing only made him angrier.

“Yeah. We don’t understand why you assholes do the shit you do either.” Kash smiled faintly at the trace of amusement in Penny’s voice. “You know I’d do anything for you. And if it would help, I’ll continue searching while you rest.”

“I appreciate the offer, and while it would ease my mind, I don’t think I want to risk Charity attacking you. She’s scared. I need to calm her down before I bring her home.”

“All right, Kash, but it’s an open offer.” Penny paused at the door, her sad gaze meeting his. “You do realize, don’t you, Kash, that werewolves have a finite life span.”

Kash stilled as her words sank in. “How long?” he demanded, the words souring his stomach.

Penny shrugged, glancing away uncomfortably. “I don’t know for sure. Bale’s mate might.” Then she closed the door behind her.

Nausea swept through him, but he swallowed back the bile rising in his throat. He refused to believe that after waiting all this time, he would only lose Charity to death.

Pushing Penny’s words from his mind, he trudged up the narrow staircase to his private quarters. He stripped off his clothes and didn’t even bother to shower as he normally would, but collapsed into bed. The sooner he got some sleep, the sooner he could hunt down his mate and drag her ass home.

Christ, he longed for Charity to be by his side. Rubbing his chest, he tried to assuage the ache deep inside, but nothing seemed to help. And it was growing worse.

* * *

Kash was sitting at the kitchen table, consuming a pot of coffee as quickly as possible, when a distinctly feminine voice drifted up the winding staircase.

“Kash?”

Hope’s voice had him running a hand wearily over his face. He’d managed five hours of rest and was now ready to resume his search. The last thing he wanted was an interruption. After grabbing his shirt, socks, and boots, Kash headed down to his shop.