Page 35 of Ivory's Familiars

A spine-chilling roar echoed around the room, forcing Ivory’s eyes up and past a concerned-looking Ronan who was kneeling in front of her. Vaughn had picked up her phone and had seen what she had seen; Seth bruised and bloody and pinned to a tree, his left hand impaled with a knife into the trunk behind him. His eyes were closed – he must have been passed out. At least Ivory hoped he was only passed out. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about. Besides, her stalker – whoever it was – was obviously using Seth as leverage. He wouldn’t kill him. He needed him.

Brushing aside Ronan’s hand, she stood firming her jaw, “I have to go.”

Vaughn met her eyes as Ronan snatched the phone from his hands, a low whine sounding from his chest. Vaughn’s eyes were glowing with his inner animal – a pure predator ready to hunt and destroy the adversary who had dared to touch his mate. Ivory knew hers were the same and as she looked towards Ronan, his claws were already out and flexing as if he were already envisioning her stalker’s death;

“Let’s go,” he growled.

Ivory felt her heart stutter. She was not jeopardising anyone else she loved – wait,loved?Did she love them? She wondered one second and then realised that yes, she did – so very much, in the next second. She loved them – all three of them. They were hers and she was theirs and there was no way she was allowing any of them to get hurt more because of her. She raised her chin, “He said to come alone. I’m going alone.”

The tension in the room seemed to cause the walls to expand and the air to thin. Both Ronan and Vaughn had stilled at her words. Ivory had one second to gulp before they both stalked forward, reaching her in two strides. They backed her into the wall behind her – dominant alphas enforcing their will over their woman. Ivory shivered, feeling her body respond to the display in the way her nipples tightened and her sex clenched hungrily. It was completely inappropriate and they didn’t have time for this but she simply couldn’t help it. Her breath quickened and she licked her lips, two sets of green eyes following the movement as if entranced.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Vaughn’s voice was so gravelly, she could barely make out the words. Eyeing his mouth, she figured that was probably due to the fact that his canines had extended and were pressing against his bottom lip. A quick glance to her left showed that Ronan was in a similar state, his chest expanding under the force of his breathing and his height towering over her as his animal exerted its dominance.

She had to stop this before things got too out of control – they were acting on their instincts right now. Their animals were in charge, in fear for their mate, and although she understood it –feltit – she needed the men to be in charge. Besides, she wasn’t willing to be a submissive mate, obeying her male partners’ every command just because she was the only female in the shadow. She had been taking care of herself since she was eighteen. She was a strong, independent woman and a powerful witch on top of all of that. She really wished her powers would work on them so she could flatten them to a wall until they calmed down. But after a few days experimenting with them, she had accepted the fact that they had been telling the truth – her telekinesis and her spells had no effect on any of them. That only left her words as a weapon.

“I need you to listen to me …” she began.

Twin growls met her ears, causing goose bumps to erupt over her skin, “No, Ivory. We’re done listening and you’re done talking. We’ve done things your way and done nothing but talk and listen for days. It’s our turn now,” Vaughn informed her.

She tried to open her mouth again only to find it crushed by his mouth. His plundering was swift but thorough and she was left breathless when he pulled back, tugging on her hair to keep her attention; “We are going to shift and follow you into the forest. End of discussion.”

His arrogant tone, made her hackles rise, “He said to come alone. Are you willing to risk Seth’s life for mine?”

“Yes. You are our woman, our female. Seth would expect nothing less,” Ronan pinned her to spot with his words, “No-one will see us and no-one will be expecting two panthers to be there anyway,” Ronan pointed out.

Ivory felt her reactive fear decrease a little when she heard that logic. He was right. Although she could hardly believe they would be willing to risk losing their long-term lover just to keep her safe, she couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a giddy beat upon hearing the words. They loved her too. They must. Without further ado, the two men she loved beyond comprehension shredded their clothes as they morphed into huge, sleek, black panthers in her living room.

Her pulse picked up when she thought about that ‘L’ word again. She had only met them two weeks ago. She knew it was fast but she wasn’t going to diminish the moment by qualifying it in any way. Regardless of the exceptional, highly emotional circumstances they had met under, she realised that none of that mattered. She loved them and she was going to revel in the discovery.

Just as soon as they got the fourth member of their quartet back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

She made her way quickly down the familiar path, keeping a sharp ear out for any noise to alert her where Seth was being held. Her stomach was in knots but she was also resolved; this would end today. She knew Ronan and Vaughn were somewhere close in the dense trees because she could feel them. But she couldn’t see them or hear them. They were truly predators stalking their prey. A small fork to the left caught her attention because of Seth’s strong scent and she hastened down it, her need to get to Seth rising more with each passing second. A few minutes later, she reached a small clearing and gasped, clutching her hands ineffectually.

Seth was still pinned to the massive tree with a knife all the way to the hilt through his hand and the thick trunk. He had a makeshift gag over his mouth and blood ran from a terrible head wound. He must have heard or sensed her because he opened his eyes, immediately shaking his head in agitation. She tried to tell him with her eyes that everything was going to be okay, that they had a plan. He had to know that Vaughn and Ronan would never have allowed her to come on her own – despite the danger to themselves. They were hiding in the trees, watching and waiting for their chance to pounce.

Just then, Seth’s beautiful green eyes, now blurry with pain, widened and he tried to talk around the gag. She felt movement behind her and knew her stalker must be there. Plucking up her courage, she squared her shoulders and spun around slowly. She thought she had been prepared to confront the person who had been terrorising her for the past few months. She was a strong, independent woman –blah, blah, blah. But the person standing in front of her was the last person she expected to see and she found herself blinking in confusion;

“Libby?” her employee, her confidant, her best friend, simply stood in the middle of the clearing, not saying anything. Her face was a blank, emotionless mask and her lively blue eyes looked dead, “No,” Ivory shook her head.This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be Libby,“How could you do this?” she cried.

“She didn’t. Well, not alone anyway.”

The voice came from behind her and startled her so much, she fell backward onto her butt. She recognised that voice. What the hell was going on here? How could she have misjudged these people so gravely? “Lee?”

“Got it in one, babe,” he walked to her slowly, bending down to touch her cheek. She flinched under the light touch, her stomach revolting, and he gave her a sharp slap, “Bad Ivory,” he reprimanded, just as he had in the notes and the phone calls.

She was in such a state of shock that she barely felt the sting from his hand. Her men must have taken exception to the treatment, however, because they exploded from the trees, leaping with claws outstretched, ready to take off Lee’s head … only to be brought up short by an invisible force that seemed to lift them up and fling them away as if they weighed nothing. They landed with sickening force on the hard ground, yelping. But that didn’t stop them, only seemed to enrage them further and they were back on their feet in seconds.

Lee sighed, weaving an intricate but invisible sign in the air and she watched the two panthers writhe in agony, “Stop! Stop it!” she screamed, launching herself at her tormenter. But before she could make contact, a leg swept out and knocked her back down.

“Stay down,” Libby’s voice was cold and flat.

Ronan’s and Vaughn’s furious growls abruptly cut off and she turned her head quickly to find them both panting on the ground. At least they were still breathing. She turned back to Lee only to find his face was twisted into an evil sneer and his blue eyes dancing with sadistic pleasure.

“You’re a witch?” she knew her voice sounded incredulous – it was exactly how she felt.

“Give the lady a gold star,” he applauded, “Oh, come now. Don’t look so surprised. After all, you’re a witch too,” he pointed out.

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