Chapter Ten
April’s eyes snapped open. She wasn’t sure what had possessed her to claim love so easily, but she hadn’t been expecting James to respond in kind. Her chest squeezed tightly, pushing the air out of her lungs as she clung to James.
“Do you mean that?” April whispered. Her blood ran cold; she could only hope that James hadn’t been caught up in the heat of the moment. Every nerve in April’s body screamed at her to look at James, but she couldn’t bring herself to move, paralyzed.
James carded his fingers through April’s hair, paying particular attention to the hairs at the base of her skull. “I do mean that,” James confirmed.
The door to James’s bedroom slammed open.
April screamed as she sat up, clawing the blankets up to her collarbone. James leapt upright with a vicious snarl that was all wolf and no man. His lips pulled back over his elongated canines as he glared at the intruder in his bedroom.
“What a happy couple,” the stranger crooned.
James growled again. April was sure that if he was a wolf, his hackled would have been raised high. She stared at the stranger, and registration flashed through April’s mind. April’s eyes flew open wide. The man across the room was still dressed in the same suit that he had been earlier.
“Oh, you recognize me?” Corbin sneered, turning his attention to April.
James’s eyes flicked to April, but he quickly regained focus on Corbin. His sons flanked him, both entering the room. The blond man was behind the three of them, guarding the hallway with his arms crossed.
“I was surprised you didn’t tell your dear boyfriend about the strangers that came looking for him today,” Corbin purred. “Otherwise he might have turned tail and ran from this place like the good coward he is.”
James bristled. “Don’t you dare talk to her,” he snapped. There was enough venom in his voice to scare April.
She pushed herself back against the pillows, damp from her wet hair. April wound the sheets tight around her fist, keeping her hand pressed against her chest to cover herself. James was unconcerned about his nudity, overwhelmed by the desire to drive out the threatening males from his den.
Corbin raised an unimpressed eyebrow at James’s snarling. “All bark and no bite, hmmm?” he mused. “If only you were a wolf. You might have transformed by now and torn out our throats. I take great pleasure in knowing that you only inherited the attitude of your father.”
The snarl was wiped from James’s face for half a second. Shock tore through his eyes before he regained himself once more. His eyebrows pinched together. Recognition replaced his confusion as he returned to snarling.
“James?” April whispered.
“Stay here,” James ordered. “These men are dangerous.” James got up from the bed, moving in slow and calculated steps. “And they’re not human.”
Corbin chortled. “Are you only just now realizing this?” Corbin tucked his hands into his pockets. “I’m honestly surprised that you know what a shifter is. You were left on your own for so long without any around you. I’m impressed, James.”
James’s body rippled; a blink later and a wolf stood where the man once was. Thick saliva dribbled from between his parted jaws, his tongue flicking out slowly to wet his front teeth as he snarled in a hideous way. James pulled his big red ears back as he growled, moving slowly around the bed to remove the obstacle between him and the men.
Corbin’s haughty smirk fell away, replaced by a scowl. A muscle under his eye twitched as he stared down the wolf in front of him. James was imposing even in the large room, taking up as much space as possible with his fur fluffed out and his tail raised as high as a flag.
Corbin sighed heavily through his nose. “I was hoping this would be a clean job,” he grumbled. “It was just supposed to be a couple humans.” He jerked his head at his sons. “Take care of him.”
In a flash of black coats, the room burst into chaotic noise. Snarls and barks ripped out from the three wolves that tussled and struggled. April leapt to her feet, desperate to get her limbs far away from the threat of snapping jaws. Her eyes coursed frantically over the three tangling bodies. There were two brown wolves, as burly as James, and a single red wolf. April didn’t know when it happened. Suddenly the men were there, and then they were not.
James fought with all the vigor of a demon. He tore into his opponents. It barely mattered to him that they were shifters as well. He had no time to spare on thoughts of seeing more of his own kind. All he cared about was protecting his mate from the other males threatening her.
James had no experience fighting other wolves, let alone two, but he twisted and wound his way between snapping jaws and heavy paws with the agility of a snake. He lashed out twice as fiercely as the other two in the brawl. His jaws snapped at their fur, tearing through their plush coats and skin straight to muscle. Blood sprayed whenever he got in an especially deep bite.
April hated watching James fight against the two other wolves. They had the advantage over him, but he fought without rest. April was unable to look away, despite how badly she wanted to. She needed to make sure James was okay.
“I’m getting bored of this,” Corbin growled. He snapped his fingers at the blond man behind him.
April turned around a second too late. A pure white wolf with blue eyes was on the bed across from her. It was a larger wolf than James. Each massive paw sank into the bed as it stalked closer to April.
“J-James,” April sputtered. Her voice was nothing, even to her own ears. Fear pulsed through her body as it warred between fight and flight. Too conflicted to act, April froze as the white wolf stared her down. “James!” April called a little louder.
The snarling of the other wolves drowned out her voice. There was no way she could call to James and be heard above the fighting.
The white wolf’s muscles coiled, and then he sprang.
April screamed at the top of her lungs, her arms flying up to protect her face and throat from the oncoming attack.
April waited for the pain, but it never came. She was gasping frantically, and black dots danced across her vision. She faintly registered that she was hyperventilating. April’s body was wracked with shivers as she took stock of the situation. Tears poured down her cheeks, streaking across her skin and dropping to the bed below.
The white wolf was above her, one heavy paw placed on her chest to keep her pinned down. The wolf’s jaws were open around her throat, and his teeth grazed across her skin. Hot saliva dripped from his jaws, flowing slowly across her racing pulse. April’s hand twitched, and the wolf’s jaws closed a fraction of an inch more.
April’s eyes tore away from the white wolf, focusing on James again. He was human again, and trashing against the grip of Corbin’s sons. They held him in their big arms; the two of them were strong enough to keep him from escaping.
Corbin clapped his hands together.
“There!” he exclaimed. “Now we can be civil, and have a conversation. That was all I wanted in the first place,” he said. His smirk was dirty, and made April want to scream. “I’m especially interested in you now, James. I had no idea that your whore mother managed to birth a shifter. If I’d have known, I would have spent more time tracking you down as a child and ripping your throat clean open.”
James’s golden eyes couldn’t settle. They darted between April and Corbin. April was in danger, but it appeared the white wolf wouldn’t clamp his jaws until he was given the order by Corbin.
Corbin’s eyes tracked James’s, and settled on April. She was sobbing beneath the wolf, holding in her shuddering breaths.
“Oh, her,” Corbin groaned. “If you cooperate, James, she won’t be hurt. As you can see, Danny is very controlled in his wolf form. He won’t act unless I tell him. But if you put a single toe out of line, James, I’ll have him break her neck.” Corbin’s head tilted and his smile broadened in feigned innocence. “How does that sound to you, James?”
“Kill him, James,” April croaked. The fangs around her throat clamped a little tighter and she yelped.
“You keep your mouth shut!” Corbin snarled. His eyes were flashing the same golden as James’s, when his wolf began to take over. Corbin composed himself instantly. He smoothed his hair back, and straightened his suit jacket. “Well, James? Will you cooperate? All I want is a discussion. I may have wanted to kill you a long time ago, but things change after three decades, don’t they?”
James forced his gaze away from Danny and April. Seeing another male above his mate made his blood boil, but he had no choice.
“I’ll cooperate,” James agreed. “As long as you don’t hurt April.”
Corbin shrugged. “I had no intention of hurting her in the first place. It was simply a mistake she was here when we came for you. If it wasn’t for that, things might have gone quieter tonight.”
Corbin stuck his hands back into his pockets. “Go ahead and take him downstairs,” he said.
Corbin’s sons hefted James to his feet, and dragged him out of his bedroom. Once he was gone, Corbin snapped his fingers at Danny. The white wolf hopped from the bed and took a post by the door of James’s room.
Corbin approached the bed and a prone April, who was still too stunned to move. Her eyes locked onto him. She could only hope her anger and hatred was visible on her face, rather than her terror. Corbin grabbed a handful of April’s hair, and yanked her head up.
April screamed.
“April!” James’s voice was far away as he called her name. His shout was followed by a scream of his own that made tears spring from April’s eyes.
Corbin took a deep sniff of the air around April, and he recoiled.
“At first I thought you were a shifter, until I realized the scent was that of James’s mother. More correctly, of his father. But it turns out you’re just another disgusting human.” He took another deep drag of the air, this time followed by a shudder. His eyes roved over April, with his nose curled back, like he has smelled something rotten. Corbin’s eyes stopped on April’s shoulder and he sneered. “That fool boy mated you?” He seethed. “Disgusting.” Corbin dropped April back to the bed.
April’s hands clasped the back of her head where Corbin yanked on her hair. She curled up on her side, attempting to make herself as small as possible.
“You have an hour to get dressed, human,” Corbin growled.
“Why?” April breathed. Somewhere far away, James screamed again. April sobbed. He sounded like he was in pain. It was a horrific noise.
Corbin clicked his tongue in an annoyed way. “Because I can drag you and James out of Aconitum as naked as the day you were born, or you can get dressed. It’s going to be a long trip and you’re going to be in a vehicle with five male wolves for a long time. It’s your decision.”
Corbin’s shoes were soft against the carpet of James’s room as he left. James screamed again. His voice was wrenched open with agony. Each scream became more desperate. He sounded nothing like the man he was less than an hour ago, overcome with pleasure.