Mr. and Mrs. Monster (8 page)

“Yeah, whatever, dude. Anyone ever tell you it’s time for a bath? You reek.” The more she riled him up and kept him talking, the longer Artie had to think up a plan. Kyla tried not to think of Damien, but her mind kept replaying that last scene. She wished she had the time to go back and redo it. She wouldn’t have broken the news to him so harshly. Maybe he could have dealt with it, but now she’d never know. Actaeon wouldn’t let her live. Not with his hatred of her father.

Actaeon moved forward and swung his arm for a blow, and Kyla held her breath as she waited for the pain to rip her face apart. A shadowy form of silver shivered into being right behind him.

Damn it.
Artemis was playing right into this freak’s deformed hands. Noticing her wandering attention, Actaeon swung round to confront the ghostly form of the goddess.

“Artemis, no. Get lost. You don’t know what’s going on here.” Kyla struggled wildly.

“Nice of you to join our festivities, Artemis. But I’m afraid you won’t be leaving anytime soon.” Actaeon raised the bow and notched an arrow into it.

Kyla screamed, trying to distract him as the bow and arrow settled into its deadly firing position. On the heels of her yell, a red wolf smashed through a forward-facing window and crashed into Actaeon, knocking him onto the stained concrete floor. The bow flew into the air and clattered to the concrete floor. Artie shimmered in front of Kyla and reached for her bonds.

A sudden movement grabbed Kyla’s attention and she kicked out, using her legs to shove Artie out of the way as Actaeon flung the unfamiliar wolf back toward Kyla. The wolf slammed into her. The chair he had bound her to rocked on its back legs then toppled over. Kyla hit the floor hard, the heaviness of the unknown wolf weighing her down. They landed in a heap, the other wolf’s muzzle shoved into her face. Kyla stared straight into his eyes, puzzled at her sense of familiarity. She knew this wolf from somewhere.

A light clicked on in Kyla’s head, and she knew exactly the last time she’d seen this animal. In his bedroom, after she’d just shocked him and turned into a wolf. It was Damien, but he hadn’t been a wolf then. Something had happened in the last few hours. She knew his father came from Greece and had disappeared a long time ago, but he must have been Lykos for Damien to be a wolf now. The power must have bred true. Damien was a hybrid. Hopefully, a powerful one, or they were all dead. At least Artie had disappeared. One less casualty to worry about.

“Something you have to tell me, buddy?”

The wolf whined and licked her. The sooner she got hold of Damien for training, the better. Wolves just didn’t lick faces like Lassie. It lowered their street cred. Making a face, Kyla kicked the wolf off her and started working at her bonds as Actaeon changed and launched at Damien.

The sound of rabid growls and high-pitched screeches echoed like a savage opera through the deserted building. Kyla winced at an especially harsh claw strike from Actaeon. The killer’s skills were speed and strength, but for a novice, Damien was no slouch either.

The silver bonds burned into the skin of her wrists. The smell of cooking flesh made Kyla heave and she forced her stomach and nose to ignore the scent. The restraints would scar, but better that than dead. She just needed to loosen them enough to slip her wrists out. The rest would drop as soon as she got her hands free.

Gritting her teeth, she gripped the bonds and pulled tight, wanting to jump up and down as one wrist slipped free. Quickly untangling her hands, she grabbed her forgotten gun. Actaeon, contemptuous of modern weaponry, had thrown it out of the way when he had tied her up. Pointing it at the dueling wolves, she tried to paint a target, but found it unnecessary as Damien shoved his clawed fist deep into Actaeon’s chest. Falling limp to the ground, the body twitched once then remained still. Kyla concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until she reached the red wolf.

“Damn you, Damien. You scared the shit out of me. And by the way, we have to talk about the proper etiquette on licking your future training officer. Now, change back.” She stood with her hands on her hips, fighting a grin, as Damien shimmered back into his human form, a huge erection bobbing with the motion of his change.

Ignoring the blood, she trailed her finger down his chest and stopped the movement just above his groin. “You know what they say about a wolf and his ears? Just like a man and the size of his feet. On you, it’s the truth.” She dropped all semblance of play and demanded an explanation. “Now what the hell is going on?”

Damien held his hands up in a time-out motion. “I had no idea when you spilled your little secret this would happen to me. But if you had stayed around instead of running away, you’d have found out I wasn’t all that freaked out. I changed, sensed you were in trouble and your boss showed me how to track you. We worked out a plan and here we are.”

“And your father? He was Lykos too. What happened to him?”

“He was killed while defending me and my mother from a rogue pack. I never realized what he was and Mom kept silent—until I turned thirty and she gave me some of Dad’s stuff. I touched a medallion like yours and I saw him killed. When I left the house, I heard you scream in my head and that triggered the change.

“The rest you know. Me, saving your butt. My naked damsel in distress.”

Kyla looked down at herself and realized she was naked. Oh, well, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it all before. Besides, if she were going to train him, he’d have to get used to it. Everyone ran naked at the compound. “My hero. But as I said, do it again and I’ll kill you myself.”

A slight noise registered, and Kyla stealthily reached for her gun. Actaeon grabbed Damien around the throat and held a sharp, silver-tipped talon to his jugular.

“Isn’t that pretty. The Captain of Artemis’ Guards making love faces at a new hybrid cub. As sickening as this is, it’s time for me to have a say in what’s happening next.”

“What do you want?” Damien spoke up, shifting his body and bending his knees slowly so as not to alert the man behind him.

Kyla could see what her lover was doing. Angling his body down so she could get a shot. Normally, silver bullets would kill a Lykos, but Actaeon had already survived a massive blow to the chest that would have killed in a normal situation. Luckily, she’d had these bullets blessed by Zeus. The Supreme God of Gods always had a weak spot for her kind.

Damien made his move with an elbow to the stomach, and Kyla shot from her hip at an angle, not even wasting the time to bring the gun up to aim. The bullet took Actaeon through the heart and he dropped like a stone. With his death, she was finally able to get a mental call out to her crew to come and burn his body, just to make sure he was dead.

Damien nodded his thanks and walked slowly toward her. Kyla’s stomach tightened and her palms began to sweat. He had that I’m-about-to-say-something-serious look on his face. Maybe her changing hadn’t repulsed him? Or was he one of those wolves who wanted human woman not wolf? Swallowing the golf-ball sized lump in her throat, she tried to tell herself she didn’t care what he felt. One thing was for certain. She wasn’t going to hang around waiting for him to make up his mind.

Kyla backed away, dithering whether or not to stay and face Damian or just bolt. She needed distance, comfort—room to hunt and time to decide what her next step was. Damian was in her world now, but he had no concept of the sacrifice needed or the blood that would be spilled. The last thing he needed was an old bitch hanging off his front paw.

Her nose twitched and her change ripped down her back, shredding her clothing. Her wolf had made the decision. Bolting it was. With a twitch of her tail, Kyla took off at a fast pace, dodging Damien as he tried to stop her. Little wolf would have to be a damn sight quicker to catch her furry ass.

“Damn it, Kyla. Stay put.” Damien ran his hands through his hair then threw them up into the air. The woman never stayed still. She’d bolted before and here she was, repeating the mistake. He was a wolf now. Whatever barrier forbade Artemis from letting them be together was gone and so was Kyla.

“She’s running scared, pup.” Artemis sauntered up to him. She patted his back, lingering on the swell of his muscles.

Damien stepped away with a frown.

“See?” Artemis smirked, lifted her hand and waggled her fingers. “You can’t even handle me touching you. You and your wolf side have already tuned to Kyla. Mated.”

“Mated?” He knew he felt something for his prickly fanged partner. But
forever
? Did he want that? His wolf rose and clawed his insides. He gritted his teeth and fought the need to angle his head back and howl.

“Mated, married, lovers—you name it. Your wolf won’t tolerate anyone else now.” Artemis shook her head with a dazed look in her eyes. “I never thought it would happen to my lovely captain. She’d been hurt so bad before. But then you came along. One would think the gods had a hand in fate.”

Could Artemis have organized all this? “Did you mate us? Was this all just a game?” Damien growled the last word.

Artemis spat a curse. The light around her flickered, and she loomed over Damien. “I’ll forgive your words, puppy, since you’re new to my world. But you will never question me. I always look after my wolves. Kyla cares for those she commands and for the innocents, both human and other. But lately her edges have hardened. Her caring’s still there, but buried under the pain of our world, of her life and loves.” Artemis sniffed and moved away slightly. She dropped her head and scrutinized the concrete floor. “The last man she told about her true self tried to hunt and kill her. That’s why she ran after she’d made sure you were safe. My lovely strong captain is scared of loving again.” Artemis bent down and lifted cardboard away from the ground, looking for something.

“A boyfriend tried to kill her?” She’d done a runner when she’d exposed herself as a wolf. She probably thought he’d take out his weapon and shoot her like a rabid dog. No damn wonder.

Artemis looked the warehouse over again and pursed her lips in thought. “I didn’t engineer your mating. But I could see how your wolves would match, and I just put you close to one another and let nature take its course. That’s all. But now you need to decide what you want, wolf, because you get one shot.” Artemis shimmered.

Damien grabbed at the goddess. “Wait. How do I find her?” His decision was made in a heartbeat between the shimmer of a goddess disappearing. He needed Kyla. Wanted her, craved her. She was his and she’d damn well shut up and listen to him. But he had to find her first.

Artemis solidified for a moment with a light laugh. “For goddess sake, little man. You are a wolf. Find her with your nose. Besides, your heart knows the way. Your bonds, even denied, tether you together. And hurry up. I need furry pseudo grandbabies.” Artemis paused for a moment and tapped a finger against her lips. “By the way, have you seen my bow? It seems to have disappeared after Actaeon dropped it.”

Damien shook his head. The bow was the last thing on his mind. All he wanted was Kyla.

“Hmm. I’ll send my personal assistant out to find it. Good hunting, puppy.” She disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

“Follow my nose?” Damien closed his eyes, imagining Kyla. Seeing her. Feeling her touch. A silver line seemed to snake out from his heart. He opened his eyes and it stayed in place in the corner of his sight. Follow it was. He dropped to all fours and ignored the tearing of his clothing as he changed into wolf. He took off at a quick lope, tracking his love. He was a wolf, and he’d scented his prey.

Suddenly he was hungry and there was
one
woman who could help him with that.

Chapter Nine

“Eew.” Kyla shook the candy wrapper away from her hand and glared at the offending piece of trash. National parks were supposed to be lovely and clean, full of flora and fauna—not piles of trash that flowed from overfull garbage bins. She’d thought the park would allow her time to run and think, but now that she was here, Damien still filled her thoughts.

“Damn the man, anyway.” Grow fur and suddenly he was an acceptable choice. She didn’t want him to be just acceptable. She wanted them to need each other more than breathing. She wanted a mate, someone who would share his life with her and share hers. Someone to hunt with, guard alongside.

Someone, in short, who probably didn’t exist. She’d barely had any time with Damien, and judging by her last encounter with love, he might hunt her down in the end. “I suck at this love thing.” Kyla kicked a rock out of her way. “Artie? You hearing me? I swear to Zeus, Artie, you better not have set me up again. Don’t think I don’t know who put me into Damien’s path. Artie?”

That’s weird.
Kyla nibbled on a claw. Artie always answered her. Even when they were pissed off with each other. She never failed to stick her nose in a good argument. So why wasn’t she picking up now?

A stray scent had her head snapping to the side and a growl ripped out of her throat as all thought of Artemis was forgotten. Another wolf, a shifter in her territory. Maybe her fight wasn’t over yet. Kyla dropped to the ground and arched her back, letting the change roll over her.

If she couldn’t have love then let the blood flow. A fight was almost as good as sex.
Who am I kidding?
Kyla shook her head and steadied her paws, waiting for the other wolf to show.

It leaped into the clearing, shaking its furry head. Kyla snarled and launched herself into the air, without checking its scent to see if it was an ally. She landed with claws extended. The other wolf backed away, holding a paw out like someone begging for mercy. Kyla smirked, knowing her sharp fangs were on show for the other to see. She trotted forward, confident, her tail high in the air as if she had not a care in the world.

She took another few steps, eyes on her target. The intruder dropped to the ground, gaze lower than Kyla’s. The wolf admitted she was the dominant one. She was stronger. It was lucky she was still exhausted from the fight with Actaeon, so she’d let it live. But maybe a nip or two would teach it to stay out of someone else’s territory. She considered the animal at her feet. Something familiar about this animal. In fact, the wolf looked suspiciously like Damien’s new wolf form she’d seen earlier in their fight with Actaeon. Obviously, the fight with Actaeon had scrambled her wolfy brains. Maybe she had trust
and
concentration issues to work on. She opened her senses and let his scent roll in. Damien’s musk mixed with the earthy scent of damp fur. This was Damien. Didn’t matter whether or not she loved him. Time for her lover to learn wolf etiquette.