Page 5 of Thayne
Scarlett
Let me at him.Let. Me. At. Him.He backed off, chill out and shut up. Not to mention based on his body language before he changed back he was laughing at us. We had zero chance of taking that fucker down. Why would you even do that? Are you freaking crazy?
He went after our mate, therefore he deserved to be chomped on. I could have taken him.She pouted.You’re freaking suicidal, that’s what you are, you’re trying to die by bear and not just any bear a mother-flipping grizzly bear. Did you see his claws? Did you see how he fileted those guards? He slices, he dices, and he can make mincemeat out of us. I swear I must have the world’s craziest fox. Her only response was to huff and turn her back on me.
“Give your fox a break she was only trying to defend your mate and he was only trying to keep me from killing that asshole.” Baron flung his head in the direction of the remaining guard. He was moaning in pain while trying to escape Thayne’s grip. He had about as much chance of that happening as he did of winning the lotto in the next five minutes.
Thayne gave Baron an indecipherable look, as if he was trying to figure the giant man out; almost like he was trying to decide if he fully trusted him or not. I was having a hard time deciding if I trusted him after he almost mauled my mate. Granted he helped us escape, and he helped take out the guards, and then there was the whole he was helping me communicate with my mate. All right, so he wasn’t completely untrustworthy, just a little sketchy when he was in his animal form.
Growling in what sounded like frustration, Thayne started dragging the wounded man through the back door. Baron and I shrugged at each other before we followed closely behind. Thayne threw the guard into a chair in the office space. Blood was already starting to pool at his feet and the guard groaned in pain. If they were going to get answers out of him it needed to be quickly, he wasn’t going to make it long. I watched as Thayne signed to Baron what to ask the guard.
“Yeah, yeah I talk, you get the answers, I got it. Hey asshole, who is running this auction?” The guard glared at Baron and spit on the floor near his feet.
“Fuck you shifter scum.” Baron looked over at Thayne and when he nodded Baron continued like the guard hadn’t even spoken. My guess was Thayne didn’t really need the guy to say the words, he could find the answers inside the guy's mind. Guess there would never be any secrets between us, well at least not on my end.
“Who owns this building?” Baron growled out his animal was getting closer to the surface again and I wondered if he was going to be able to hold out until Thayne got the answers he needed.
“Your momma, fuck off. I already know I’m dead, I'm not giving you nothing.” His bravado vanished slightly when Baron let out a growl and his teeth started elongating. The smell of urine and fear filled the small office space. I backed as far away from the chair he was sitting in as I could get but remained close to Thayne.
“Fuck.” Baron growled out as he covered his nose with his hand. Thayne looked over at Baron and gave him an apologetic look.
“Can I just kill him already so we can turn this place into ash and get the fuck out of here?” Thayne held up one finger before advancing on the guard. He placed a hand on each side of the guard's head. The guard started to convulse in the chair, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, he screamed out in pain, and then went limp, falling to the ground into his own pool of blood and urine. I could no longer hear his heartbeat, and he smelled of death.
“Did you just fry his brain?” Baron asked Thayne as he looked down in awe at the guard lying dead. Thayne simply shrugged his shoulders and then motioned for us to start moving. I watched as Thayne and Baron gathered some cooking oil they found in the storage room, yet more evidence the building was a restaurant of some kind.
All right, you can give me my body back now; the danger has passed. Not that I’m in a hurry to be naked in front of Thayne or Baron, but I wanted my body back. My fox tended to keep me from shifting when she thought I was in danger, especially when we were out for a run in the forest. I just figured that’s what she was doing now.Bitch if I could give you your body I would, but I’m not in control right now.She whined before giving me a helpless look.
What do you mean you’re not in control? If I’m not in control and you’re not in control then who or what is keeping me from shifting. I remembered Baron saying something about suppressants, but those were stories parents told shifter children to scare them into being good. Weren’t they? There couldn’t possibly be hunters and suppressants out there, could there? Suddenly I felt very small and very weak, my breath started coming in short pants, and the room started feeling like it was closing in on me.
What if I was never able to change again? What if I was stuck as a fox for the rest of my life? My fox, surprisingly, doesn’t seem so thrilled with that idea. Instead, she’s curled in a ball in the corner of my mind whimpering softly. Thayne looks over at me sympathetically as he continues to spread the oil onto all of the cages lining the floor.
Taking a determined breath, I refuse to believe that I won’t ever shift again. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel to send me my mate only to keep us apart like that. Baron was able to shift so therefore the medicine, or whatever, they gave me would eventually wear off. The other shifters hadn’t shifted before they were loaded up on the trailer. I just had to give it more time, that’s all, just some more time. My fox perked up a little at that revelation, but looked skeptical.
I was so far in my own head that I hadn’t noticed that the guys were done. Suddenly I found myself hauled against Thayne’s chest as he ran out of the building followed closely by Baron. That’s when the smell of burning oil reached my nostrils followed by the stench of burning flesh. Sometimes it really did not pay to have a shifters sense of smell.
“Fuck dude did you need to put that much oil all over the floor? I about slipped on my ass back there. I might be a shifter but I’m old; I’m liable to break a damn hip.” Thayne just shrugged his shoulders at Baron as he complained. Baron barked out a laugh and said something about ‘crazy sonofabitch’ under his breath as we kept running down the street away from the building. By the time we made it down the block and across the street to an old Ford pick-up, I could hear the fire trucks coming from across town. It wouldn’t be long before the police sirens followed.
“Damn kid, is this your ride? Now that's what I call a work of art.” Baron whistled loudly looking over the truck like it was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. Sure, I could see it was a nice looking old truck, but it was just a truck. At that thought, Thayne gave me an offended look before unlocking the passenger side for Baron to get in and heading to the driver’s side.
“Girlie this isn’t just any truck this is a cherry 1964 Ford F250 and I’d bet money your boy there rebuilt it himself.” Thayne set me down in the middle of the bench seat as he hopped up inside the cab. His chest puffed out a little when Baron talked so fondly about his truck. Maybe I had offended him after all when I thought it was ‘just a truck’. To him it wouldn’t just be a truck it would be his baby if what Baron said was true. I nuzzled my head against Thayne’s thigh and hand resting on the seat next to my head. He ran his fingers through my fur and smiled down at me before cranking up the truck and high-tailing it out of there.
Thayne
Stop pouting.I’m the one who didn’t get to do any chompy chomping. At least you got to set the place on fire and torture that guard. So she doesn’t think your truck is all that and a bag of Cheetos. Big deal. I haven’t even been able to introduce myself to her yet. Are you ashamed of me?
It’s not that asshole. I was too busy trying to keep her safe. I couldn't let you out. She was scared enough without adding your level of psycho in the mix. You’ll get your chance as soon as I know she can handle you. Until then, just be patient. I know it’s not exactly your strong suite but for her you’ll do it.
My leopard went quiet after that, letting me get lost in my thoughts. I knew she was worried she wasn’t going to be able to shift back to her human form, but I didn’t know how to help her with those fears. What if she couldn’t shift back? What if whatever they gave her was permanent? She was putting on a brave front but I knew what she and her animal were feeling deep down in her heart.
A shifter was only half of shifter if they couldn’t change. They needed each other to achieve balance. Without that balance, she would start losing it. Eventually she would go feral, and then she would have to be put down. My leopard let out a low growl at the thought. We were both in agreement that we would never let anyone lay a finger on her.
The drive from South Dakota to Montana would take about seven to eight hours as long as we didn’t hit traffic. I thought about taking her to my ranch in Nebraska; it was a helluva lot closer. The only thing that stopped me was the thought that she might need some kind of help and Colton’s ranch was the best place for that. Scarlett was sleeping all curled up on the bench seat between me and Baron. Baron had his legs stretched out as far as he could let them, which wasn’t nearly far enough. His arms were crossed and his head was tilted back against the seat. To anyone passing us he would look like he was sleeping, but I could tell he was still awake and watchful.
I wasn’t sure what his gift was but whatever it was, it was powerful. His whole body practically vibrated with it. While he looked to be in his fifties I was pretty sure he was much older. His skin was reddish brown covered in intricate tattoos that spanned his entire body. Salt and pepper hair that framed his high forehead, almond shaped eyes, and high cheekbones reached his waist. He looked weathered but held himself with a regal bearing.
Whatever or whoever he was didn’t really matter to me, I owed him. He could have left, ran off as soon as he shifted back, but instead he stayed and helped get the other shifters to safety. As I glanced over at him, his left eyelid lifted and he gave me a knowing look. Now I knew how others felt when I knew something before they told me. It was downright hella creepy.
We were about thirty miles over the border into Montana when I decided we needed a break. I needed gas and food, not necessarily in that order. A truck stop seemed like the perfect place to get both. Pulling in I drove to the last gas pump, no one needed to take a peek inside the truck and see foxy momma. I could only imagine the questions I’d get asked.
