Nature of the Beasts (20 page)

“Sarah,” her father said as he took a step toward her.

Sarah turned and headed toward her father’s office. “I need that book of spells.”

“Sarah!” her father yelled, but she kept going, ignoring her father’s plea.

She pulled her father’s book down off the shelf and laid it open on his desk. Her father rushed forward and tried to close it, but Sarah shoved his hand away.

“He’s trapped me here,” Sarah argued.

“He did it to protect you.”

“I can’t let him fight Razeen alone,” she pleaded.

“Sarah—”

“Daddy, I think the wolf that’s after Dastan is the same wolf that attacked Mom.”

Her dad stared at her, silent anger shining in his eyes. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I know it in my gut. I have to see him for myself. I have to be there when Dastan kills the son of a bitch.”

Her father slowly shook his head and used magic to close the book. “No.”

Her resolve hardened. Her brow creased into a scowl of determination. “I’m doing this with or without your help. Period.”

She’d never gone against her father like this. She loved him. She trusted him. This time he had to trust her.

His anger faded, and sadness took its place as he removed his hand from the book and took a step back. “I had always hoped this day would never come. That you would never know the truth, and, most importantly, that you would never have to face him. But I do understand why you would want to. I want to be there too. I would like nothing more than to see him die, but you are more important to me. Keeping you safe is more important.”

“Then go back with me.”

“We would be in the way, Sarah.”

“He might need us.”

“He has Dmitry.”

“Dmitry is at the other side of the ranch. Dastan has already told him to stay out of it, and Dmitry is going to honor his wish!” Sarah yelled. “Dad, please. I love him. I can’t leave him there to possibly die.”

Her father sighed, and Sarah held her breath, waiting for him to make his decision.

Dastan bent forward and touched his paws to the ground. Gravel bit into the pads of his feet as he slowly circled Razeen. As wolves they were identical. A result of being created by the same sire. But inside, they were like night and day. Razeen was evil, cruel, and sick. He should’ve never been turned, but then Dastan had to remind himself that if he’d never been turned, Sarah wouldn’t be here.

Dastan knew in his gut Razeen was Sarah’s natural father. Now that Dastan had mated with her, he could sense it. He could also sense that Sarah was nothing like Razeen. She was sweet and good. She was his light. It was time to rid her of her darkness.

“It’s time we end this, Razeen,”
Dastan said into Razeen’s mind.

Razeen snorted through his snout.
“I agree. It is time we rid the world of your sorry ass.”

Razeen rushed forward, and Dastan braced himself for the attack.

* * * *

Mike jerked awake and glanced around the bedroom. He recognized the furnishing and pictures on the wall, then frowned. It was the room he always stayed in whenever he’d been at the ranch helping his friends break in new horses. How had he gotten here?

He sat up slowly and winced at the wave of dizziness that threatened to overtake him. The last thing he remembered was seeing a wolf. Everything else was a fog. A very thick and frustrating fog.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and touched his feet to the floor. He was still dressed, shoes and all, but physically he felt as though he’d been ridden hard sexually. Must’ve been one hell of a dream.

In his mind he caught a glimpse of a gorgeous redhead with ice-blue eyes. She rode his cock slowly, undulating over him and moving her body in ways that had him captivated. His cock hardened at the images. They would flash for brief seconds, then be gone again. Something about the woman stayed with him as though she was part of him and he a part of her.

With a frown, he stood and walked to the window. That made no sense at all. Hell, none of this made any damn sense. He pushed the curtain aside and glanced out over the ranch. The barn was quiet, the trucks gone. Where was everyone?

A faint growl caught his attention, and he stared down at the ground. Two wolves fought roughly below, and Mike stared in shock. Why did he keep seeing these things? What the hell was going on?

He pushed away from the window and quickly scanned the room for his gun. Spotting it lying across the chair, he grabbed it and rushed to the lower level.

* * * *

Sarah appeared back at the ranch, her father by her side. Dastan and Razeen were fighting a few feet away, so they took a step back, allowing them room. Sarah’s heart raced with fear for Dastan. He would have to break Razeen’s neck completely in two. A complete separation of the spinal cord was the only way to kill a shifter.

They were identical. The only reason she knew which was which was due to a sixth sense. Instinctively she knew that had come from mating with Dastan. She was connected to him now.

Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she looked to the back door in shock. Mike stepped out, rifle aimed to the sky. He fired off a shot, and Sarah jumped.

“Who the hell is that?” her father asked as he pulled Sarah back.

“The sheriff. He should still be passed out upstairs.”

Both wolves stopped and looked up at him. Razeen took advantage of Dastan’s attention briefly being somewhere else and attacked, catching Dastan by the neck.

Sarah gasped. “No!”

She jerked away from her father’s hold and threw her hands to the ground. It was pure instinct to shift. Pain raced through her body, but she ignored it in her desperate need to get to Dastan. She jumped at Razeen, hitting him in the ribs and forcing him to break his hold on Dastan’s neck.

He growled and started toward her. Sarah braced herself for the attack, growling back in a show of bravery she didn’t really feel. Dastan used the opportunity to catch Razeen from behind, latching on to his neck with his teeth. Razeen yelped and tried to shake Dastan off, but Dastan shifted his body, forcing Razeen to the ground.

On the porch, Mike raised his gun again, this time aiming at the wolves. Sarah’s heart stopped as her father rushed forward and used magic to knock the gun from Mike’s hand. Mike stared in wide-eyed shock at the gun now on the ground several feet away, then at the older man.

“You might’ve hit my daughter,” her father said.

Mike scowled and turned back to the wolves. He met Sarah’s gaze as she backed away from Dastan and Razeen, giving them room to fight. It was then she could see that he finally knew what was going on. He’d seen her shift. She could also see the uncertainty and the fight to accept what he had seen.

Sarah heard the snap of Razeen’s neck and winced at the morbid sound. His body fell lifeless to the ground, his eyes locked onto Sarah. She glanced at her hands and realized she’d at some point shifted back to a human. It finally registered that the hard ground was biting into her hip and hands. She looked down at herself in confusion, wondering when it had happened.

Dastan moved away from Razeen’s body and came to stand before Sarah in human form. He offered her a hand, but all she could do was stare at it. Was it over? Had she really shifted? It all seemed like a bad dream.

“It’s over, princess,” Dastan whispered as he leaned down and took her hand in his.

Sarah looked up at him before jumping to her feet and throwing her arms around his neck. Dastan hugged her back, holding her close as her whole body shook. The smell of blood invaded her nose. She pulled away and noticed the puncture wounds toward the back of Dastan’s neck. She gasped.

“Dastan, your neck,” she cried.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It will heal.”

She ripped a piece of her shirt off and gently wiped away some of the blood. The holes were deep and starting to swell but didn’t appear to be life threatening.

“You’re not mad at me for coming back?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“I didn’t say that.” He pulled back and smiled down at her. “I can assure you that lecture is coming.” He kissed her forehead. “But not right now.”

“Guys, I think we have a problem,” Dmitry said.

Both of them turned to Dmitry, who stood at the base of the stairs leading up to the deck. Sarah frowned, wondering when he’d gotten there, but she didn’t have to wonder about which problem he’d been referring to.

Mike stood halfway down the stairs, his eyes flashing anger, his stance one of formidable determination. Sarah noticed that his eyes were no longer gold, but they weren’t their usual brown either. They were somewhere in between with flecks of ice blue. Sarah’s eyes widened. Ari had given him part of her soul.

“I want some fucking answers, and I want them now!” Mike shouted. “What the hell
are
you people?”

Without thinking about the consequences, Sarah raised her hand, knocking Mike backward. He hit the deck on his back and closed his eyes, the magical blow rendering him unconscious.

“Sarah,” her father chastised.

“What else was I supposed to do?” she asked.

Dastan rubbed her back with the flat of his hand. “We need to try to wipe his memory. Can you do that?”

She glanced at her father. “Will you help?”

Her father frowned and shook his head. “I tried that with your mother after she was raped. It didn’t work. The spell is too unpredictable. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it only jumbles the memories, making them come out all wrong.”

Now what? Sighing, Sarah walked over to Razeen’s lifeless body. He’d returned to human form, his neck bent at an odd angle that made Sarah wince. “Are you him?” she whispered.

She reached out to touch his forehead with the tip of his finger. She wanted to try to connect with him, to try to see if her mother was in his memories. It was something that only worked if both were of her dimension. She couldn’t do this with a human. Her father grasped her hand, holding it back.

“Don’t, Sarah,” he said in a strained voice.

“I want to know.”

“Do you really?” her father asked. “I’m your father. I’ve been your father your whole life. You may not biologically be mine, but in my heart you are. That should be all that matters. He doesn’t.”

She looked up and saw both Dastan and Dmitry watching her expectantly. They were worried about her. She could see it in their eyes.

“You don’t want to get in his mind, Sarah,” Dastan said.

Maybe they were right? She pulled her hand away and slowly stood. Did it really matter? Would she be any better off if she knew for sure?

She turned her gaze to Mike, who still lay on the deck, unconscious. “We need to do something with the sheriff. I could try a memory block. If it works, that would be better than having to explain all this.”

“You’ll need the spell book. I’ll go back and get it.”

“Before you leave,” Dastan said as he narrowed his eyes at Sarah’s father. “What were you thinking? Bringing her back here?”

Her father’s lips twitched slightly. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s a little hard to say no to sometimes.”

“We’ve noticed,” Dmitry answered. He gave Dastan a pat on the shoulder. “Besides, things worked out for the best. From what I saw, she saved your ass, Dastan.”

Dastan rolled his eyes while the rest of them grinned.

“That’s right. I believe I did,” Sarah replied.

“Hurry back with that book,” Dastan said to her father. “I might like to use it as well. I think my life would be much better off if these two didn’t remember that part.”

Sarah’s father disappeared, but his chuckle of amusement remained behind as though mocking Dastan.

* * * *

“Good morning,” Sarah said as she walked out onto the front porch and handed Dmitry and Dastan each a cup of coffee.

“Well, aren’t you in a good mood today,” Dmitry teased. “We didn’t wear you out last night?”

Sarah slapped at his arm and magically conjured up herself a cup. “The two of you always wear me out, but it’s a good fatigue.”

Dmitry grinned and leaned down to kiss her cheek. Sarah raised her hand and lovingly cupped his cheek. Dastan walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her stomach. He dropped his chin to her shoulder as they watched the sunrise. “Things worked out well. I think your parents have finally accepted Dmitry and me. The barn and the house are finally finished and the ranch is back to normal, and most importantly, the ranch hands don’t know a thing about what happened.”

“Thank God,” Sarah mumbled. “What about Mike?”

Dastan sighed. “I haven’t seen him since you wiped his memory.”’

“I just hope the new one we gave him stuck.”

“I tried to come up with one that would be close to what I think may have happened between him and Razeen,” Dastan said softly as he watched the headlights in the distance turned down the driveway. “He at least got his killer. That’s the important thing.” Dastan stood straight. “Is that who I think it is?”

“What’s he doing out here so early?” Dmitry asked.

“I don’t know. You guys head back into the house. I’ll go meet him by the barn and see what I can find out.”

MIKE PUT THE truck in park and opened the door. He spotted Dastan by the fence and headed over to talk to him. He knew it was early. He also knew they should be up now. Ranchers rose at the crack of dawn. So did he. Habit, he supposed, but it also had to do with the fact that he hadn’t been able to sleep lately.

He kept seeing weird things in his head. Things that didn’t make sense but at the same time felt right. Something about his memories was off or wrong or something. He needed answers, and he had a feeling Dastan had them.

“Morning, Mike,” Dastan called as Mike made his way to the fence. “You’re out awfully early. You didn’t find another body, did ya?”

Mike frowned. “Funny. No bodies, just questions.”

Dastan nodded and took a sip of his coffee as he braced his arm against the fence and turned to face him. “Yeah, I thought you might.”

“There’re too many holes. Too many things I can’t remember, and some things I can that can’t possibly be right.”