Page 98 of Nita's Redemption

Chapter Twenty Eight

TANK DROPPED THE CROCODILE he’d killed. He and his Lycan were both in total control together, for the first time in his entire life. He’d always felt strong and was always larger than every other wolf he’d encountered, yet now he was bigger, meaner, and more centered.

‘Titan, can you sense our mate?’ he asked his Lycan while keeping an eye on his brothers as they battled crocodile shifters.

The sound of a howl, unlike anything he’d ever heard, had him spinning toward his female. He and the others were more than a little shocked she could wield fucking lightning and thunder. Hell, he wasn’t sure if it was a new thing or a borrowed thing. When they finished killing or maiming the fuckers, they were going to have a long talk with her.

“Mate. Mine. Kill you,” a deep grating voice said.

Tank spun, finding who had spoken was doing a weird walk run toward Nita. The male was huge, easily eight to nine feet tall with a greyish green hue to his skin. He looked human other than being fucking enormous with the skin tone of his crocodile.

“Yo, that’s my mate.” Tank stepped in front of the male, for the first time looking up at another shifter.

“I kill her and then you.” The male lifted his arm, trying to swat Tank out of the way. Tank dodged the hit, slamming his own fist into the male’s stomach. He grunted and doubled over. “You will die,” he growled.

Tank shifted into his half beast, so he’d be on an even field with the other. His muscles growing while his bones expanded. The male charged him, his head down and aimed for Tank’s abdomen. He met the hit with a firm hold, flipping him over his shoulder. The ground rocked under the immense weight. Tank didn’t give him time to catch his breath. Knowing the male was big and muscular, and he could do major damage, Tank could tell he wasn’t used to fighting in human form. With the power of his Lycan, Tank pummeled the male beneath him, using his fist to knock the shit out of him until the other male stopped fighting. Tank gripped him by the throat, pulling him up so that his feet dangled from the ground. “I do not want to kill you. Your female was doing bad shit and was going to kill my female. What the fuck were you doing allowing this to happen?”

Shifters for the most part had a morality level that wouldn’t allow them to do shady shit like kill those weaker than them, and they sure as shit didn’t fuck with humans who were into the kind of stuff the ones who’d tried to take Nita were.

“We mate. They give us hatchlings to raise, and then we watch over them. When we need them, we come for them.”

Tank stared at the male like he’d lost his damn mind. Come for them when they need them? “You mean, you only go to your mates when you’re like in heat?” he asked, wanting to be sure he was understanding the males.

Hurricane and the others had four males subdued with some sort of binding around their mouths and all four feet, keeping them motionless.

The male gave a jerky nod. “We mate with a female, make her ours. She will be ours forever. We get them with hatchlings, and then they are safe to live with their people until we have need of them. I have had four full life mates in my lifespan. She killed my fifth mate who only gave me the one hatchling. She also killed my hatchling. She must pay.”

Tank shook him, cutting off his air again. “Your female and your hatchling tried to kill her. Now you are trying to kill my female. In all fairness, I have every right to kill you. To kill all of you that are here. You came to our home, our territory to kill our female. Why?”

“No, that’s not why we are here. We came to save our mates.” He tried to wiggle free and point at one of the beasts on the ground.

“Tank, this male is trying to speak to me. I don’t know what he’s saying. It’s weird,” Hurricane said, nudging the croc by his feet.

“That is my hatchling twin. The females who were killed were ours. They had us come here to save them and our hatchlings. We found the hatchlings tied up in the woods. They had their mouths taped closed. They said a female did it to them and led us here. We only attacked when our females called us to action. That is only right thing a male can do to defend our females.”

“Wait, you said you had four other full mates or whatever. How old are you?” Abe asked.

“I’ve lost count of actual years. We spent most of our time in the salt waters, until we moved up to the swamps after scenting our females twenty years ago. Prior to that, it was many years. I think five or six hundred would be close. I have no wish to kill you or your people now.”

Tank looked toward Hurricane and then at Nita and Bakra who had sidled up to them. “Why does your mind feel different than ours?”

Bakra raised her hand. “Because they are an ancient species completely different than you. While your primary shape is human who can shift into another, their primary shape is crocodile that can shift into man. For them, they can go years without shifting to the form in front of you, which means they go without speaking for a very long time. Did you not pick up on the fact he had a hard time saying words until after a bit of talking and listening?”

The male eyed Bakra appreciatively. “Who are you?”

“Not your female, ever.” Bakra waved her hand at the male dismissively.

“Hurricane, you want to help these males get back to their swamp or whatever?” Tank asked his brother.

Before he could answer there was a flash of light. Nita cursed at the same time as the demoness females. They all said Zeus, and then the huge God was standing by the onyx altar.

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