Creed’s Claim(11)

But…damn…with the warm sunset streaming through the bathroom window to highlight her hair, turning the chestnut to fire, and giving her ivory skin a pale glow…she was the angel he never thought he’d get to call his own.

His own. His, all last night and most of the day. He lay back on the bed, head pillowed on his arm, his gaze following her as she moved around the bathroom. She looked a little tired, but that was to be expected. Finally his after so many years, he hadn’t let her sleep much. A few naps scattered here and there before he couldn’t stop himself waking her again to take her. She was a drug, one he was happily, helplessly addicted to.

His gaze dropped to the tattoo he’d inked on her hip, revealed by the bra and tiny panties she wore, and a small smile curved his lips. She didn’t know it, but he’d drawn that tattoo just for her…which meant he’d marked her before he’d given her his bite. The thought amused him. As soon as she’d stepped into his world, she’d had no chance.

But he’d always known that, somewhere deep in the back of his mind. For years he’d told himself that he couldn’t have her. She was his best friend’s sister and she was human, but they’d been just excuses. Because he’d been a coward who hadn’t thought he was good enough for such an angel. A broken monster not human enough for the human world, and not beast enough for the one he’d been born into.

But then he’d kissed her and he’d known. She was his mate.

His fated mate…

The sudden knowledge had blown him away. He hadn’t intended to bite and claim her, but as soon as his noncompliant bear had caught her scent, the beast had roared to the front in demand. The feeling had been so strong it had taken him by surprise. Normally his inner beast was well hidden and painful to extract for a shift. Sure, it fed him power in his human form, but it didn’t like the light of day… or night. Unable to shift for the monthly runs, the fucker had made him an outcast in his own community.

He watched as she brushed her hair, then turned to walk out of the bathroom. Catching him looking, she smiled and the sheer beauty of it took his breath away. His bear surged upward again, protectiveness and determination coloring its snarl. She was theirs, their woman, and fucked if that asshole Harrison was taking her from them.

“Lilly dropped off some stuff for you while you were in the shower.” He motioned toward the bag on the end of the bed.

“Oh? That was thoughtful of her.”

The look of surprise and delight on her face was just fuel for his addiction. So expressive, everything she was thinking flowed across her features as she pulled the zipper and delved into the bag. Quickly, she pulled clothing out. Lilly was good, he had to give her that. She’d packed clothing suitable for tonight, at the pit.

“Hey.” His voice was rough, but he didn’t care. Kait looked up at him and he beckoned. “Come here.”

She didn’t answer, just dropped the clothing and walked toward him. Something changed halfway though, perhaps the way he looked at her, and she added a sway to her hips that had him hot and hard in an instant. And the way she looked at him… a combination of bold and shy with a kick of sultry. When the hell had he gotten so lucky? Who did he have to kill to ensure he stayed that lucky? And that maybe one day, if he was lucky enough, she’d love him back. Because one thing was for sure…

While he had breath left in his body, there was no way he was letting her go.



* * *



Seeing Creed fight was the scariest thing Kait had ever witnessed. She’d thought she had a good stomach for violence. She’d lived in the city, after all, where gang warfare was rife, and she was the first in line for a good horror movie. But there was violence on the safe confines of a screen or in a police report and then there was seeing it up close and personal.

The pit turned out to be just that. A hole dug into the earth in the woods behind the lodge, its sides shored up with planks. Chest height, it was at least thirty feet in diameter, which had seemed huge to her at first. Now though, with Creed and his opponent in there, it seemed tiny.

“Sure you want to do this, skin?” Harrison taunted as the two men circled each other.

Both were still men, but the heavy claw marks on the wood around the edges of the pit told her that it wouldn’t stay that way for long. She held her breath as Harrison threw a punch but released it when Creed slid to the side in a smooth move.

“Don’t panic,” Lilly murmured next to her. “Creed’s one of the best. This’ll be a walk in the park for him. You’ll see.”

Kait wasn’t so sure, her eyes wide as she looked around the crowd gathered at the edges of the pit. Anticipation and eagerness filled each and every face as they watched the fight unfolding. “Some seem certain that Harrison will win.”

Lilly snorted and shrugged one shoulder. “Can’t cure stupid. You can numb it with a 2x4 but you can’t cure it. There’s always been dissent, but it’s more to do with Dean than with Creed. Creed’s just an easy target because he’s different.”

Kait nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. It seemed bears weren’t so different from humans for that, she’d just never thought racism could morph over into speciesism. But then, she hadn’t realized other species walked unseen amongst humanity.

“Come on, skin…” Harrison kept up the jabs. Creed circled him around the pit, throwing the occasional punch that Harrison easily shrugged off. “What’s the matter with you, scared to fight me?”

Creed didn’t answer, his guard up as he rolled his shoulders like a boxer. Harrison laughed and dropped his hands. The laugh deepened into a roar as…he changed.

Kait was locked into place as she watched something from a horror movie unfold in front of her. It was all well and good being told that there were werebears but, apart from thinking that she’d seen the guys in the alley with claws, she’d not actually seen any of them change. So far, her mind had skittered away from the thought, the faint hope that this might indeed still be some sort of elaborate hoax lurking in the back of her mind.

The instant fur flowed over Harrison’s skin, rapidly spreading like an oil slick, that hope shattered into dust. Sharp cracks filled the air, his body jerking as he walked forward. His bones creaking, she realized, as his limbs lengthened and changed shape. His shoulders grew and rounded before he dropped onto front paws bigger than dinner plates. A muzzle punched out of his face, eyes darkening to black as they fixed on Creed with murderous intent.

Her lover just stood there, watching the show with what looked like boredom. As Harrison roared, Creed lifted his hand to study his fingernails. Like he was checking whether they were dirty.

“He’ll kill him,” she gasped, hand rising to cover her mouth. “Lilly, you have to stop this…there’s no way Creed can win this.”

Only Lilly’s hand on her arm stopped Kait from surging forward and leaping into the pit herself. Stupid move, but she couldn’t bear the thought of Creed getting hurt.

“No, Kait. He’s good.”

Lilly’s grip was harder than Kait remembered and she looked up to find her friend’s eyes dark with her bear. A shiver hit her. It was odd, knowing even her sensible, ditzy but gentle friend was a werebear. If she’d had to pick one of the three of them as a large, furry killing machine, it would have been Kacie. Not Lilly.

“Watch,” Lilly ordered, and she did.

Harrison roared and charged. As one the crowd dragged a sharp breath in. For a moment it seemed like that was it for Creed. He was going to be crushed against the side of the pit and sliced to ribbons on the big bears claws. At the last moment though, he dropped and slid to the side, ducking under the bear’s arm as he swiped. His claws made new furrows in the wood, but Creed had already moved. His fists hammered into the bear’s furry sides with impossible speed. There was a sharp crack and Harrison bellowed in pain, breaking away to lumber to the other side of the pit.

“One rib down. Creed loves that move,” Lilly grunted in satisfaction. “You’d think they’d expect it by now…but they always walk into it. With some,” she explained quickly, “their bears aren’t that clever, so when the beast takes over…”

Kait nodded. That made sense, two minds in one body… there was always going to be some trade off.

“That’s why he likes to fight human?” she asked as Creed stopped playing and began to stalk his opponent. The bear huffed and changed direction, watching his opponent warily.

“I guess so.”

Creed launched an attack, scooping up a handful of dirt to throw in the bear’s eyes before he stepped in and slammed blow after blow into the furred hide. Watching him fight was like watching a work of art in motion. His sleek, tanned skin moved smoothly over the heavy muscles underneath as they bunched before releasing explosive power. Everything about him was lethal. He danced around the bear, making it howl as he landed strike after strike, always staying out of reach of its claws.

He didn’t taunt the bear. Didn’t say a word as, silently, he took the creature apart. The crowd winced with each blow, gasps whispering through their number as a heavy right hook to the jaw threw the bear’s head to the side, blood and a tooth striking the wood at the edge of the pit.