Page 87 of Shrouded in the Dark
“Thanks for the food. Can we all talk now?” He pushed his plate away from him a few inches. “Gary should be calling soon. He’ll explain any questions you have that I can’t answer. But I know you have questions now. I’d rather get done with what I can answer. Then I’d like to get some sleep.”
“A shower wouldn’t hurt, either.” Cody’s quip only got me to giggle. The others just rolled their eyes at him while Wyn quirked an eyebrow at him.
Seth shifted in his chair and moved his arm over the back of my chair. I leaned back and his fingers started to play with the tips of my hair.
“Alright. You’re a hybrid. Apparently, the only one in existence, until Becca. How has that worked? Shifters need packs to survive.” He looked relaxed, but somehow, my animal knew that he’d not relaxed once around Wyn. “Loners are rare.”
“I’m not like other shifters. My animal doesn’t need a pack like yours do. Even if it did, I’ve had no choice in the matter. I was made to be the apex prime killer for the Venandi.” Wyn’s pupils constricted in the light for a few moments. “Unbeknownst to them, I’ve managed to save most of the shifters they’ve sent me out to kill. Relocated them to a safe location, for now. I’ve been working with Gary for several years, even before I wasvoluntoldfor the hybrid shifter program.”
He sighed before he ran a hand along the scruff on his chin. “The Venandi are world wide, but they’re fracturing. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been able to do what I’ve done without them getting suspicious.”
Jasper leaned forward, his right hand was tapping on the table. “What do you mean that they’re fracturing?”
“It’s in part, due to those like Gary, who sabotage their efforts, but it’s also the newer generation. They aren’t mindless sheep anymore. They’re questioning whether what the Venandi believes in is actually just.” He met my gaze. “Like my younger cousin, Felicity. She hates their ideals. She’s a gentle soul that they’re tearing apart.”
I didn’t know how to feel about that statement. I wasn’t shocked to hear that she was part of the Venandi. With the way she had been acting all summer, it explained it. Yet, one thing bothered me.
“If she is part of the Venandi, she should have known that Axel is a shifter, right? Why did she start seeing him?” My animal hissed at the thought of them kissing. Overwhelming possessiveness overtook me.
I stood from my seat, walked around the table, pushed Axel back just enough, and sat in his lap. His arms wrapped around my waist as I laid my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.
Wyn cleared his throat from beside me. “For new Venandi, they have a graduation requirement where they have to find a shifter, gain their trust, and kill them. There’s a spray she would have used that entices shifters. It’s only used in these situations because it takes time to work.”
Claws sprang out of my fingers as a loud growl erupted from me.
“She what?!” Fur sprouted along my arms in a mess of black, orange, and browns. “He’s mine!” The fangs were back.
“Becca? It’s okay. I’m alright. She can’t hurt me, cub.” Axel soothed his hands down my arms as he held me closer to him. “Deep breath.”
The fur receded slowly with my fangs, but the claws that had grown were still out. I brought my hands up to look at them. They were sharp, long, and probably lethal.
“What’s going on with me?” I was starting to scare myself. First the fangs, I eat like a starving woman, and now this. I had seen red at the thought of Axel being hurt.
“Your animal rages within you. She is unlike those of your mates.” Wyn leaned close, briefly glancing up at Axel before he touched my cheek. “You and she must bond. She is multiple animals in one. You must be the alpha, not her. I can help you with learning how to calm her, if you’ll let me.”
My animal didn’t rage on purpose, necessarily. She was more annoyed than anything and protective of whom she viewed as hers. We were a team, she wasn’t stupid.
At least that was the message she sent me in reply to his statement.
“Remove your hand from her,” a snarl from across the table from Seth had me glancing over. His eyes had transformed into that of his tigers. He was staring at Wyn as his lips pulled back.
Axel’s arms tightened around my waist.
“You’re not my alpha, cat,” Wyn hissed violently.
“Enough. Both of you.” Jasper slapped his hands on the table as he stood up. “This is not about you two! This is about Becca! We need Wyn’s help, Seth. Wyn, you know that she’s our mate, yet you touch her as if you have her permission! You did it to antagonize us.” Jasper’s hands moved to his side as he curled them into fists. “For the sake of Becca, stop. She seems to like you.”
Wyn’s shoulders relaxed as he took his hand away from my cheek before holding up his hands. “Alright. I might have done it on purpose. I’ll watch myself for now.” He sighed. “We’ll talk more about this later.”
“Felicity obviously hasn’t killed Axel. Does that mean she isn’t a Venandi?” Changing the subject was the only way I could think of how to defuse the situation.
He turned his attention back to me. “No, she’s not been initiated, yet.” Wyn seemed fond of Felicity when he spoke. “I’m hoping I can get her out of there before it happens. There’s not a lot of safe places, though.” He ran a hand down his face. “That’s beside the point. Look, I came here because Gary asked me to, and,” he met my gaze and a low burning sensation started in my pussy. “You know why.”
I did. My animal had been saying it since we’d awoken, I just hadn’t had time to think about it. She’d called all of these men my mates, including Wyn. I could sense that Wyn was a good man, somehow. The other guys may not be happy about it, though.
Cody had been quiet this whole time, watching all of us. I looked at him on my other side. He was pushing the remaining part of his food around on the plate with his fork.
“Cody?”
