Chapter Twenty One
We burn. We burn free.
Ratchet glared at Felix. At Skittles and Monster. At his entire clan.
We burn. We burn free.
They wouldn’t be hurting anyone tonight.
We burn. We burn free.
The beast inside chanted the phrase, directing Ratchet’s fury to the heart of him and letting it fuel something brand new. Something amazing. Something that was going to change everything.
Because he knew the truth now.
He was enough for Marlee. He’d only needed to believe it.
Letting her go had finished the curse. The ultimate sacrifice. One done in love. True, unconditional, unselfish love. It was the key.
It was the cure.
For so much more than just the curse. It was the thing that would save them all.
Starting with his mate.
He was enough. He would be her protector for the rest of his days and show his clan the way. Show them how to be human enough to deserve a shifter.
The most powerful shifter of all.
Pain like he’d never endured shot through his limbs. Pure fire hotter than any hell flame, reminding him of his past transgressions. Reminding him this was his new beginning and payment for the sins he’d committed all rolled into one burning purification.
This was his redemption.
The firecat ripped Ratchet’s body to pieces as it roared to a victorious shift. Human skin became rippling lion’s fur. Fisting fingers became deadly razored claws. His golden hair became a mane of fire, flickering around his head, roaring in his ears as it burned. So hot.
But not consuming.
He let off a vicious roar, twisting his massive head in every direction. A declaration to the world.
I am a King of beasts. And my Queen will not be harmed.
“Fuck.” Felix cowered backward, too close to the burst of fire Ratchet spewed from his throat. He smelled the sharp scent of singed hair from his leader’s arms.
It was a warning.
The next time, he wouldn’t miss.
Felix’s hands went up, feigning surrender. “How?” he asked. “Tell me how you broke the damn curse.”
Ratchet paced a boundary in front of the Alley Cats, letting his flaming body lick heat at them as he made pass after pass.
Look on me. Never cross me.
“Son of a bitch,” Felix snarled. “Tell me how you did this.”
Ratchet let off another roar.
“He didn’t,” Skittles spoke up. “The female did.”
Felix glared at his second. “Explain.”
Skittles pulled the photo from his vest pocket and held it up for all to see.
Monster let off a warning growl but Skittles ignored him.
“These are Bastian’s dolls. Like this one, we have to free them. They are the answer to healing our beasts. Or… some of them at least. One is mine. She calls to my beast. Whatever happened to Malcom, Ratchet… it can happen for all of us. But we have to change. That’s what the Sorcera said. The curse only breaks with a change.” He turned to Felix. “You want to know how? His girl made him feel. Changed him. Like the fathers did with us, except pure. She made him fear something bigger than… you. Bigger than this clan.”
Felix shook his head, glaring, but Ratchet saw the wheels turning behind his eyes. The hunger for power. The desire to be strong again. Feared again.
“Fear what?”
Skittles stared at the photo. Squinted hard. Swallowed until his throat bobbed.
“Life without her,” he muttered.
He shook his head, looking uneasy and stuffed the picture back in his vest. Edging forward, he drew near to Ratchet, head bowed in deference to the beast. When he was close enough that the heat from the firecat could burn him, he dropped to his knees on the gravel… and bowed.
Ratchet growled warily, smoke chuffing from his nostrils as he stared at his brother.
What was this?
“I want to fight for the future,” Skittles rumbled. “This is the way. I pledge to you.”
One by one, Alley Cats took to their knees, following Skittles’ lead. Half of them were drunk, but you couldn’t tell it from their sobered expressions. Hopeful even. Plenty would want the firecat for the wrong reasons. But the best part of the curse was that they couldn’t get it unless it was for the right ones.
A failsafe that had almost cost him his future. He was so glad he chose right. Chose freedom.
Ratchet needed to thank the Sorcera someday. With or without the curse, he might’ve found Marlee. But without it, he wouldn’t have become the man she needed.
The fire of the beast faded as he stared at his brothers. They wanted him to lead them out of the darkness. But it wasn’t his job.
He found Felix desperately trying to hide the devastation of seeing his clan bow before another. One more powerful than him.
Ratchet shifted, letting his new animal fall away until he was human again. Skin and bone reforming, and he stood, taking in his brothers. The raw feelings rushing at him as they struggled to make sense of all that was happening.
“I’m not your leader,” he bellowed. “Felix is. He put you here. He’s your fucking Moses. I’m only here to make sure he does right by you. Understand?” Ratchet turned to the broken man with the broken beast. With his crippled, fucked up heart that maybe could never be redeemed. “You lead your people. Do it fucking right. And we will all follow.”
Felix stared him down, jaw tight. Stared for so long Ratchet wondered if they would battle. He didn’t want to put Felix down. He knew the man had been formed with cruel and vicious hands like they all had. But if Ratchet could change… if Skittles could, or Monster… then there was still hope for the cruelest of them all.
The savage heart.
Felix nodded slowly. His eyes went dull and he stared across the lot at his people before turning back to Ratchet.
“Fine. You want war with Bastian? You better be prepared for the fallout.”
With that, he stalked off toward the warehouse.
Little by little the cats scattered until only Skittles, Monster, and Fang remained. They got to their feet, none of them looking unshaken.
Fang eyed Ratchet. He still had his beer in his hand and his fly was down. “So, uh… cool trick, bro.”
“Shut up, asshole.”
Fang shrugged. “What? Just saying.”
Ratchet turned to find Marlee, but she was nowhere to be seen. His mother stood in the door of the shed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Where is she?” he asked.
But she shook her head sadly. “She left. You said run, Thomas. She did.”
Wait. Marlee was gone?
His breath stalled imagining what she must have thought when his beast came out. Shit, she probably thought he was a monster. But the monster was who he used to be. The thing he was now could protect her. Would guard her like the most precious treasure.
He could finally keep her safe and now she was running from him.
Fuck.
He had to find her.
Hunt mate. Track her scent.
Ratchet’s lips twisted in a satisfied smirk. He could do that now.
“Spread out. Find her. But don’t fucking scare her.” He gave Fang a warning glare. “I need your pants.”
It wasn’t a good idea, wearing Fang’s pants… shit, nasty bastard… but he couldn’t go looking for his mate buck-ass naked.
“Excuse me, what?”
“Your pants. Give me your fucking pants.”
Fang laughed. “Not happening. These are mine. Go find your own drawers.”
“Hand ‘em over or I take your nuts.”
“What would you do with them though? That’s the question.”
Ratchet let off a smoky growl and Fang jumped back.
“Okay, okay. Barbecued nuts don’t sound like my kind-a fun.” He dropped his jeans, hopping on one foot to get them past his boot. But he was too wasted and ended up on his ass while seconds ticked off and Marlee got farther away.
Ratchet sent Skittles and Monster ahead, following when he was finally in Fang’s nasty jeans. He left his mother to deal with the cat.
He had a mate to catch.
He ran, barefoot across the lot, letting his new beast be his guide, feeling the freedom of being whole. He’d never take his power… his gift… for granted again.
Mate is close, the beast purred.
He’d follow her scent like a fucking bloodhound until he found her and kissed her silly. He’d explain his firecat. Show her he was safe. Like he had before. With gifts and soft touches and patience.
Then he was keeping her.
Forever.
***
Marlee paced the darkness of her small hiding spot with only the flashlight to keep her steady, trying to make sense of what she’d just witnessed.
A burning lion.
Her man was a burning lion.
Okay.
No. Not okay.
What the hell.
Ratchet told her he had an animal inside him. He’d warned her. But couldn’t he have done more? Like… like…
She sighed.
Right. How did you put a warning label on that?
She recalled what he’d said to Skittles and Monster when she was hiding in the bathroom. To heal our animals, break the curse the witches put on us, we have to change in our hearts.
It had all seemed so symbolic. She thought they were talking their clan speak.
Or when Ratchet sensed she was pregnant. My animal, it’s in me, and it knew.
Which made her wonder…
She pressed a shaking palm to her belly. Was this baby a burning lion too?
Or when he set her free because he had no way to keep her safe. I wasn’t enough. I can’t bring the firecat out, no matter how much I love you. I can’t protect you.
But now he could. He had.
Ratchet stood up to his clan, to Felix. And he would do the same against Bastian.
This meant she could stay. It meant they could be a family. That she didn’t have to do things alone.
It meant…
It meant she’d be living with a beast. And while that worked out for Belle, this wasn’t a fairytale. This was somehow real life.
Ratchet was a burning lion. And she was a lamb.
Did she trust him enough to swallow all this down like it was nothing? To be with him in this strange existence. To fight for the dolls with him and the others.
For the first time in a long time, she had a choice.
What will you do, Marlee?
She gripped the flashlight to her chest as she paced in the dark. The dark she so hated.
She stared at the light. It was one of those hard metal ones that was bright as day. It lit up her entire hiding spot.
Ratchet packed it for her. So she’d have it for a time just like this. In case she was forced into the darkness.
He’d done that. Thought of her fears and made a way to battle them back.
The breath eased out of her chest as she realized… he always would.
Because that’s who he was. What he was didn’t matter.
Treasures from the trash. “Glitter” Girls and chocolate cake. Holding pinkies and taking her no as law. That was the Ratchet she knew and loved. The one who cared so much about her safety he’d set her free. If he happened to have a burning beast in him, then yeah, fine. She loved a beast.
And now she was using her freedom to return to him.