Kerry could hardly breathe as his weight pressed down on her. One of the men seemed to be protecting her. Although ‒ panic threatened to overwhelm her ‒ he couldn’t be called a man. Could he? Men didn’t change into other things. Into beasts. Men didn’t have feathers and fur and long claws. They didn’t have wings; they didn’t screech and growl. They didn’t evoke such terror.

The one on top of her ‒ thankfully he wasn’t putting his full weight on her ‒ seemed to be protecting her. At least, it seemed that way. She was sure it was Worth…or the creature who used to be Worth. It boggled her mind. What was happening? Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear it. She was making panting, sobbing noises but couldn’t seem to stop. Her eyes were clamped shut. Those fighting noises were still ongoing. Thuds, growls and unearthly shrieks filled the air.

Then the guy on top of her shrieked as well, making her ears hurt. He moved backwards and she opened her eyes, watching as his body shuddered and vibrated. His eyes were wide, his beak open. She realized he was being pulled away. One of those same creatures was behind him, its claws digging into Worth’s back and wing. The beast was so big its head was bent against the high ceilings. The animal that used to be Worth screeched and turned, slashing its claws across the other creature’s chest. There was a spray of blood that made her insides clench and her stomach roll. Another creature came up behind him. Two against one.

“No!” she screamed, trying to warn Worth but it all happened so quickly. Almost too quickly for her eyes to register. It attacked from behind, using one of its giant talons and its long thrashing tail. Two thuds landed one after another. Hard and meaty. Worth fell next to her, eyes rolling, claws grabbing at nothing. Tail lashing. She scrambled to get out of the way and just in time too, as one of the creatures leapt onto him, claws raking, that sharp beak came down. When it lifted its head, the feathers on its face were dripping crimson.

Kerry rolled over, gagging, trying to get away. There was nowhere to go. There were similar fights taking place in other parts of the downstairs area. All two or three against one. Beasts fell one after the other, blood pooling beneath their big bodies.

Worth was twitching. Blood pouring from the slash across his belly. His intestines coiling out of the gaping wound. She dry heaved as he began folding into himself, becoming human again.

Someone stepped into her line of vision. He was big and naked. Yellow eyes starred down at her. Those same eyes. It wasn’t a family thing. Not really. He was smiling. His hair was black as the night and hung about his shoulders. His face sported a bushy, unkempt beard.

Kerry scrambled back a few more feet until she met wall. “Leave me alone!” she yelled. “Go away!”

He cocked his head. His mouth twisted in a smirk. His eyes narrowing in on her. In short, he scared the hell out of her. “Human,” he said, scrutinizing her.

There were shrieks and thuds behind them. Three creatures to one. The lone beast fought with such ferocity it took her breath away. The strange man in front of her turned towards the heated fight. “Finish him!” he yelled, his voice deep and guttural.

Kerry looked around the room, spotting several downed men. Andy, it had to be him, lay mangled on the far side. She made a sobbing noise and covered her mouth, looking away. Zaire was on the other side, his chest ripped open, the blood…she gagged again, forcing herself to look up at the ceiling and to breathe through her mouth. A coppery scent hung in the air. She couldn’t see Locke but he had to be down as well.

“So timid,” the man said, as he walked towards her.

“No!” she yelled. “Stay away.” She put up both her hands. “Leave me alone or you’ll…you’ll be sorry.”

He laughed. Those yellow eyes glinting. “And why is that? What could you possibly do to stop me?” He kept on coming.

The answer was nothing. There was absolutely nothing she could do. She swallowed thickly. “Cadon wouldn’t be happy if you hurt me in any way. You’d have to answer to him.” It was a reach in the dark. Only because Cadon seemed to be in charge of this group. Maybe he held weight. It was also clear that they were the same creatures, even if they weren’t on the same side. She wanted to freak out all over again about them not being human, but this was not the time. There were more pressing issues, like how he was sizing her up.

As soon as she mentioned Cadon though, he stopped advancing on her, the muscles on the sides of his neck bulged.

Maybe she was on to something. “If you hurt me in any way he would hunt you down, to the ends of the earth if need be; he would kill you.”

“Interesting.” The male nodded his head, he seemed to consider what she had just said.

“Are there any more of you?”

“What do you mean, more of me?” She felt herself frown. Fear and dread still coiling in her stomach.

“Females…are there more females here?” He looked up at the ceiling. “Kwan, go and search upstairs. There may be more. Leave no stone or fur unturned.”

When she looked behind the man in charge, she noted that all the creatures had returned to their human form. They all had long hair and hard eyes. All the same yellow color. One of the men broke away from the rest. He nodded, heading for the stairs, then took them four at a time.

Then the black-haired one grabbed her wrist and hoisted her to her feet. Her knees almost buckled when he sniffed at her. “Mmmmmmm, sweet.”

She tried to move away but he held on tight. “Stop it! Leave me alone.” She grit her teeth, trying not to react too much when all she wanted to do was kick and bite. It wouldn’t help her. It might enrage him.

He kept on sniffing, putting his nose against her. She finally grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled, trying to get him off of her. “No!” she yelled.

The man finally backed off, that same vulgar smile on his lips. “Funny, my sense of smell might be off, but I don’t scent a male on you. Not Cadon or otherwise.”

This was bad. The way he was looking at her was even worse. Kerry swallowed thickly.

Cadon hovered. The side of the house had a gaping hole in the east wall. It was clear to him that the breach had come from the outside as there was very little rubble on the outer perimeter. There were two possibilities. He hated both of them in equal measure.

Moving quickly and quietly, he dropped in for a closer look, careful not to alert any humans to his presence.

Blast! How did they know? Why were they here? Leukos was going to be beyond enraged.

“Mmmmmmm, sweet.” It was that bastard Magnar. He’d recognize the evil fuck’s voice anywhere. Cadon dropped lower, moving in behind an outcrop of trees. His males were down. Possibly dead. None had been decapitated. Magnar might still burn the bodies though. This was a mess!

Movement brought his attention back to Magnar. He had the human in his grip. By all that had feathers he was smelling her. This was worse than he thought. “Stop it! Leave me alone.” She squirmed and tried to pull away but Magnar held on tight, continuing his study.

Cadon had to hold back a shriek of rage. The male had zero scruples, he’d have a female on her knees in seconds if he wished and it seemed like he did. The clever thing to do would be to cut his losses and to head back to Feral territory. Leukos needed to know about this. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot.

The female finally took a fistful of Magnar’s hair. “No!” she yelled. Her voice filled with equal amounts of fear and anger. Cadon grit his teeth and clenched his fists to keep himself from going over there. What could he do? Magnar had a whole team of males. It was just him. He couldn’t leave his males though. Magnar might finish them.

When the bastard finally pulled away, he had a smile that made Cadon want to slash his face to ribbons. The way he looked at the female made him want to rip his eyes out while he was at it. “Funny, my sense of smell might be off, but I don’t scent a male on you. Not Cadon or otherwise.”

Damn!

This was a disaster.

The female squirmed some more. “It’s not my fault you have such a bad sense of smell.”

“Hagan,” he called to one of the males. “Come and scent this female.”

“Can I have her?” The male’s cold eyes glinted as they raked across her body. She wore an oversized sweater that did a good job of concealing her tiny bump.

“No!” Magnar growled. “I haven’t decided what to do with her yet. I might just keep her for myself.” The bastard pulled her against him, folding an arm around her.

“You can forget that!” Kerry yelled, kicking Magnar in the shin and pulling away.

The male threw his head back and laughed. “I like a female with a bit of spunk. Maybe I’ll try you out. I have a feeling I’d like you.” He grabbed at her ass, making Kerry kick and punch at him. Her blows had no effect.

What she didn’t realize was that a male like Magnar would get off on her fear. He would love that she was fighting him. This was headed in the wrong direction. It would probably cost him his life, but he needed to intervene.

Cadon shifted and closed the distance in a few heartbeats. He hovered outside, a screech was torn from him.

Magnar turned to face him, finally letting the female go. “Look who decided to join the party,” the male sneered. Most of his team moved in, leaving one or two males at the perimeter to keep an eye on the downed shifters.

Cadon slowly entered through the gaping hole and carefully dropped to his feet.

The female moved away from Magnar, putting her back to the wall. Her eyes were wide, her chest heaved. Within seconds he was in his human form. Eyes on the Fallen king’s general. “Why are you here?” May as well get right to it.

“Good to see you too.” Magnar smiled. There was no humor in it. Not a shred.

“Let’s drop the pleasantries, shall we?” He knew he was skirting a fine line. Despite them being evenly matched. Right now, if Magnar wanted him dead, he was a goner. “Tell me why you are here,” he added. There was no way he was sucking up to this male. Even if it meant his own death.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Magnar’s gaze moved to the female. “I’m here to mount, to mate, to breed.” He kept his eyes on Kerry the entire time he spoke.

Cadon couldn’t help the deep rumble of warning that left him.

Magnar moved his gaze back to him. “Human females are abundant. It seems you have decided it is fine to take them, so why not us?” The males behind him cheered. “We may no longer be welcome amongst The Feral but we are still living and breathing beings.”

“Here, here!” someone cheered to the right.

“Can we find some right now?” another male asked.

“It has been so long,” yet another added.

“That’s not how this is going down,” Cadon growled, his eyes narrowed. “We can’t just take females. The human race would end up waging a war against us.”

Magnar snorted. “Let them try.”

“The Feral do not want to start a war with the humans and possibly the other species as well. We are not taking females against their will. That would be wrong. Surely, even you can see that. Do you have no honor?”

The male visibly bristled. “Do not speak to me of honor.” Magnar’s eyes narrowed. “I am strong and capable. Any female would be lucky to have me choose her. To let any of us mount them. I have seen human males.” He laughed. “They are weak and lacking.”

“Human females are different to ours. They look for different things in a male. They are not affected by the mating call like we are and are hard won,” Cadon tried to dissuade Magnar. Even if he could see it was futile.

“Females are females.” Magnar shrugged.

Cadon couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. “That is where you would be very wrong. If you try to take one she would fight you. We tried it and failed. You would have to force mount any female you took. Forget mating, forget breeding.”

A look of disgust crossed Magnar’s face. “Nonsense!” he spat. “You won a female.” Magnar glanced at Kerry. Then looked back at Cadon. He cocked his head, scrutinizing him. The male’s eyes roamed Cadon’s face. “Is the female really yours?”

“She is with child.” Cadon needed to handle this delicately. He didn’t want to claim the female but maybe he would have to in order to save her from Magnar. He trusted The Fallen not at all.

“Child?” His brow furrowed. “What do you mean with …” Then his eyes widened with realization. “Oh! I see, she is with clutch.” He turned back to Kerry, studying her more closely. “I seem to remember you having a mate, but I must have been mistaken.” Magnar smacked the side of his arm. “That is good news. It means we will be able to take mates, that we can get them with clutch. This will work!”

A chorus of shouts and cat-calls reverberated around the room. “Thank you for the information!” Magnar shouted.

“Wait!” Cadon tried to interrupt. “You can’t just—”

“I am Magnar, General to Ekon the Fallen king and in my mind, the only king. I can do as I please.”

“You need to—”

“I need a female and nothing more. You have your female, your clutch. I will have mine. To the sky.” He gestured to his team who yelled and beat their chests.

“I urge you to reconsider…” But even as he spoke, the males shifted, one by one, leaving through the decimated wall.

“It won’t work!” he shouted at their wings as they made a hasty retreat. Not sure why he was even trying, he should be happy they were leaving. It would give him a chance to regroup. To tend to his males.

From somewhere behind him the female sniffed, reminding him of her presence. What the hell was he going to do with her now? She knew too much.