Page 49 of Happily Undead in Dark River

“Tex stop! He helped me, it’s okay.” But Tex was in a frenzy, no longer listening to me as he constricted Colton so tightly his eyes were starting to bulge. I looked at Brody. “Stop him?”

But Brody just roared back at me, herding me away. They’d obviously gone completely feral. Fine. I tried to replicate the feeling I had before I turned everyone into sheep. I let the power fill my chest before I spoke. “Tex. Stop!”

Tex stilled, relaxing his coils. Colton sucked in a deep gasping breath, his face going from puce to a regular color. I stared at my unexpected savior and noticed he looked a lot like his little sister. I slapped his back. “Big breaths, Colton.” I turned to Tex, who was shifting from snake to man, and as soon as the transformation was completed, I threw myself into his arms. He grabbed me and held me tight, his face buried in my neck as his body shuddered with adrenaline. “God. I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead again and I couldn’t handle it.”

I kissed his chest and then arms were wrapped around me from the back as Brody pulled us both into his arms. “Jesus, Woman. No more. I can’t take it anymore,” he whispered against the back of my head as he held me, and by extension Tex, close. He sucked in a deep breath of my scent, and then straightened his spine.

He whirled on Colton, who shrank back, falling to his knees and tilting his head to the side. “My Mate said you helped her. Explain.”

As Colton explained the whole sordid thing, from the formulation of the plan to steal me from the kitchen with a UV pulse to the back of my head, which apparently renders Vampire’s unconscious, to Clint arriving with me in the back of his pickup, burned and red, and staking me in the sun. Brody had growled so ominously at that, goosebumps flared across my skin as the primordial part of my brain screamed ‘DANGER’!

Poor old Colton looked like he was going to piss himself, but he held it together. Colton told them about secretly texting Annie when they staked me in the sun, then the fact he moved me to the shade and stayed with me.

When he got to the part about everyone turning into sheep, Brody looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. “Well, that’s an interesting development, one which we’ll talk about later. Continue, Colton,” he said, the power in his voice not giving Colton any choice. He got to the part where he offered to feed me, and Tex tensed beneath me. I rolled my eyes even as Colton explained I wouldn't.

Tex wrapped his hand in my hair, pulling me closer. “Feed baby,” he whispered soothingly, and he didn’t have to ask me twice. Healing my burns had made me starved, I felt like I was running on nothing. To the point I moaned and came when the first hint of his blood hit my tongue. It was like nirvana. Like the best thing that ever touched my tongue. Tex’s arms banded tighter around my waist as his blood whispered through my veins, giving us both pleasure. I had to stop, or this was about to get seriously un-PG rated. I pulled back and licked the wound. I hadn’t been gentle, and I felt a little guilty. Though, judging by how hard he was underneath me, Tex probably didn’t mind.

Brody cleared his throat, and I shifted off Tex’s lap. Colton was looking at me wide-eyed, and I looked everywhere but at him. I chastised myself that there was nothing wrong with that I’d just done. It was natural, but still.

Brody just grinned at me. “We should move. I can’t sense anyone else close by, but I’ll be happier when we are back on Pack lands anyway.” He looked at Colton. “We will talk about your involvement when we get back to the Meeting House. While I’m thankful that you helped my Mate, you were involved in a treasonous plot.” Colton winced and my heart kind of went out to the kid. “I understand your circumstances, and I will talk to the Elders on your behalf.”

Colton nodded, his face a mask of hopelessness. I went over and put my hand on his arm. “I got your back. Don’t worry.”

He gave me a wan smile. “You have pretty eyes, without your blindfold,” he said softly, looking at me a little awed.

Brody growled low. “Watch it, kid or I will kick your ass for making goo-goo eyes at my Mate. Tex still wants to constrict you and eat you alive, so I’d keep those thoughts to yourself,” he threatened, but there was laughter in his voice. I winked at Colton and wrapped my arm around Brody’s waist. He leaned down and kissed me. “I love you, Red. Let’s not do that again, okay?”

Tex made an annoyed noise. “She’s a magnet for trouble. Thank god we’ve got back up. She’s enough to give one man a heart attack.”

I blushed and gave him an annoyed look, but he was grinning back at me with so much love, I couldn’t help but reciprocate.

Brody kissed my head. “Everyone shift. We’ll run home. I want to be as far away from here as possible before dusk.” He looked at the sky. It wasn’t far enough away from nightfall for my liking. Tex turned into his ginormous snake and Colton into a giant hare. I raised my eyebrows. Well, okay then.

Brody shifted into his tiger, and Tex slivered over, wrapping his huge bulk around the giant tiger. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen, the three of them before me. I picked up Colton’s discarded clothes, slipping them on over my own. The kid was huge, but his clothes would provide some kind of protection from the late afternoon sun, even if I did have to run holding my pants up with one hand. I put on his sunglasses and the polarization helped, but the light still burned my eyes. I squinted, letting in as little light as possible while still being able to follow the shape of Brody’s tiger. Brody fell into step in front of me, keeping an eye on both me and Colton. Tex lifted his head from the striped back of Brody, looking at me with his snake eyes, his forked tongue flickering out to taste the air. I blew the snake a kiss and ran on, a heavy cloak of fear starting to coat my body. Although I wasn’t safe in Nîso either, at least there was only one threat. Out here, I had my back exposed to an enemy far more dangerous than some malcontents.

We ran impossibly fast for an hour, and when I felt the magic of the Pack lands border, I could have cried with joy, if I wasn't already crying tears of blood from the injuries to my eyes. But because this was my life, that happiness was destined to be short-lived.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sometimes, I wondered if I’d pissed off some kind of deity by not dying when I was supposed to. By waking up in a ditch after I was murdered, did I screw with the circle of life so bad it was set to punish me until I was definitely dead for good?

I struggled to stop as five Enforcers stepped from the shadows, blocking our path to the border. My heart sank even further when I realized one was Raul, Lucius’ second-in-command and the dick from my house.

I wanted to cry, I was so, so close. “Colton, stay behind me,” I whispered and he hopped back to me. We slowed, and Tex slid from Brody’s back.

“Ah, I would like to say it is nice to see you, but that’s a lie. You are never where you are supposed to be, are you Fledgling? If you come now, I will leave your animals alone,” he sneered, and Brody roared. One of the Enforcers sneered.

I bared my fang at the smarmy asshole. “Listen, Douche Canoe, I’m not going anywhere with you. You have no rights over me, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Raul laughed like I said the funniest thing ever. I’m glad he appreciated the moniker because I was never going to call him anything else. “Stupid bitch. We aren’t here in an official capacity. Lucius wants you, and he always gets what he wants. He is going to break you slowly, and if I am lucky, he will let me watch.”

I screwed my nose up at him and hoped he couldn’t hear the roaring of my heart or see the shaking of my knees from back here.

I spoke as softly as I could, without moving my lips. “Colton, you need to get across the boundary and then run as fast as you can to the Protectors. Get Nell to call Judge, then Nico and Walker.” I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. “I’m relying on you kid. I hope for everyone's sake that you really don’t want me and you Alpha dead.”

The Hare stared up at me with big, brown, unblinking eyes. Jesus, I hope he could understand me in this form like the guys and it wasn’t something you grew into. Finally, his long bunny ears twitched, and he shot off like a blur toward the barrier. It drew everyone’s eyes and one of the vampires gave chase.

Colton zig zagged, throwing the vampire off his pace a little, and it gave me time to get there, and I crash tackled the chasing vamp. I took him to the ground, more from surprise than finesse, and I rolled with him until I connected my knee to his balls. But he was a professional, and it would take more than a little kick to the nuts to keep him down. Tex was suddenly there, constricting around the Vampire's head. The Enforcer just pulled him off and tossed him across the field where he landed with a heavy thud.

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