Creed’s Claim(8)

“We—” The sound that emerged from his throat was so low and laden with his bear he had to stop and swallow to get it back within human hearing range. “We can rectify that easily.”

“Oi, skin.”

The harsh voice broke into their interlude, making them both look up. Creed scowled. Brad Harrison stood behind them, his bear already pushing through to change the shape of his nose and mouth with fur poking through his pores. It was not a good look on anyone, and Brad had been as ugly as sin to start with.

“You talking to me?” Creed lifted an eyebrow in question, his hands hard on Kait’s hips to hold her still. Anger roiled within him. Whatever bug Brad had up his ass, he didn’t want her upset.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you, skin,” Brad sneered, contempt in his eyes. “You’re barely even a fucking bear…you shouldn’t be in here, let alone on the enforcer team.”

Creed sighed. “This old chestnut again? Go and take it up with Dean if you’re so fucking hot under the collar about it.”

Brad snarled, and Kait flinched, imperceptibly edging closer to Creed. That she sought the safety of his arms made him feel ten feet tall. The movement of her hand to rest against his chest drew Brad’s attention.

“Oh, I don’t give a fuck about being an enforcer. What I am pissed about is that you claimed an available female without her being offered to the clan. There are other men…proper bears…who need women first. Half-skins should go to the back of the fucking queue.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. He should have seen this coming. Brad was an asshole, pure and simple, and hadn’t figured out that was the reason he’d been turned down time and time again. Instead, he consoled himself with excuses about women. They weren’t pure bred enough, they weren’t his fated mate…a hundred other reasons that he couldn’t get laid other than the truth. That he was a fucking dick and no woman in her right mind would touch him with a bargepole.

“Queue? What fucking queue?” The pocket rocket that was Lilly Braun exploded into the little scene like a tornado before Creed could answer. Rage shivered over her skin as she stared Harrison down. “We’re giving women out now like sweets to the deserving or those who can stand in fucking line are we? When did this happen?”

Brad snarled, fur poking comically through his shirt. “We are bears. Proper bears…we should just take what we want. Not pussy foot around with human laws and regulations.”

Lilly’s voice dropped dangerously low. “Laws and regulations are what keep order. What protect not just our clan but all the clans. And there are consequences for breaking them.”

One by one, her claws descended. Soft snicks in the sudden quiet of the room as all the occupants realized that shit had just gotten real and there was a very distinct possibility of an ass kicking. Anticipation raced through the room as people angled themselves to watch without appearing to. Creed stepped forward, pushing Kait behind him as he pulled power from his bear. He couldn’t drop claws like Lilly could, but he had a punch hard enough to shatter bone and put serious hurt on any bear that crossed him.

“I’m not breaking any laws,” Brad pouted mulishly, avoiding Lilly’s gaze. Instead, his eyes latched onto Creed behind her. A flash of something akin to cunning crossed his features as he lifted his voice, “I challenge Creed Morgan for the right to claim the human woman.”

The sharp intake of breath was echoed around the room, the silence so sudden that a pin dropping would have been deafening.

“Creed?” Kait’s voice was soft and unsure. “Can he do that?”

“He can challenge.” He didn’t recognize his own voice. It was so heavy with his bear. A bear who snarled and growled within at at the possible threat to his woman. Brad Harrison would lay a hand on Kait over Creed’s dead body. “But he has to meet me in the pit. And he’s not fucking walking out of it alive.”

“Yeah? Says who, you fucking skin?” Brad surged forward, his words mangled by his misshapen jaw as his bear started to push forward. “I’ll tear you to fucking pieces and fuck your woman before your corpse is cold.”

“Just try it, asshole.” Creed’s temper flared, his step forward automatic and only stopped by Kait’s hand on his arm.

“Down, boys,” Lilly’s voice cut the air like a knife. “Challenge has been called and accepted?” She looked at Creed in question. He nodded and she carried on speaking, raising her voice so the whole room could hear. “On behalf of Kaitlyn Turner, the challenged’s mate, I claim the rite of preparation. Challenge will be met in the pit in twenty-four hours.”

“Hey, no! She’s not his mate, not yet. The rite of preparation doesn’t apply,” Brad snarled, backed up by a couple of his bully boys. Creed glared at them, then looked at Lilly. He’d take on every single one of them right now if necessary.

“In this case,” Dean Sterling drawled from the back of the room. He’d emerged from his suite, blood stains across his shirt, to lean against the door frame. “I rule that it does. Brad, if you have a problem with that, you can meet me in the pit now.”

Brad blanched, all the color leaving his face at the very real possibility of facing off with the Itan. No one wanted to face Dean. He was literally a lean, mean fighting machine. Not the biggest bear in the clan, he was without a doubt the most lethal, which was why he was Itan.

“No, Itan,” Brad mumbled, not meeting Dean’s hard gaze. “No problem at all.”

“I didn’t think so.” Dean transferred his attention to Creed and Kait. “Creed, take your woman home and prepare for the pit tomorrow.”

“Itan.” With a nod, Creed turned and, Kait’s hand in his, left the lodge.



* * *



The drive to Creed’s house was silent. Kait stole glances at his profile to find him brooding and closed off. His expression was set and forbidding. Biting her lip, she curled up in the passenger seat and looked at the town as they passed through. Now that she knew the truth, she’d never look at the sleepy town the same way again. And to think she’d left Lizard Lick convinced that she’d only find adventure in the city…only to find one asshole, Mr. Oh-So-Wrong, and that all the excitement she could ever want was right here at home.

Home. She let the word settle and take root in her mind. It felt right. She was home. Here. With Creed. When had that happened?

She looked at him again as he turned the big truck off the main road through town just after the tattoo shop, then a sharp right again to pull up behind the row of shops. Killing the engine, he looked up through the windscreen.

“It’s not much.” He indicated the apartment above the shop. “But it’s home…for now.”

“I don’t mind. I’m sure it’s lovely,” she murmured as she opened the door to get out. Everything had changed so quickly she felt like her head was swirling. Perhaps getting her feet on solid ground would help with that feeling a little. Before she could slide from the seat and drop from the high cab though, he was there, his hands around her waist to ease her to the ground. Automatically her hands curled around his upper arms.

Her lips quirked. “I’m not delicate. I won’t break.”

He hadn’t let go, his hands spanning out on her waist. “I know, but you’re mine to protect now. Mine to look after the way I’ve always—”

She went up on her tiptoes and cut off the rest of his sentence with her lips on his. With a rumble of surprise and pleasure in the center of his chest, he pulled her closer and tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

A wave of heat and longing hit her as she molded herself to his bigger, harder body. She kissed him back, hot and open-mouthed, their embrace going from sensual to torrid in less time than it took for either of their hearts to beat. He tucked her closer. She whimpered and slid her hands up around his neck, pulling his head down so she could tangle her tongue with his.

Urging her back against the side of the truck, he pinned her against it. With a hard hand behind her knee, he hauled one leg up high over his hip and pressed forward. The thick, hard bar of his cock rubbed right where she needed him and she moaned in pleasure.

“Mine.” The word was more growled than spoken, but she didn’t mind. As long as he kept kissing her as he was, leaving a trail of white-hot kisses against the skin of her jaw and throat, she didn’t care. She needed more. More of his touch. More of his kisses. More everything. Now.

He stopped kissing her, leaning his forehead against her shoulder as he took a shuddering breath. “We have to stop, or I’m going to fuck you here. Up against the truck.”

Heat hit her. Anyone could come upon them here, but she didn’t care. Just the thought of him taking her like that, hard and fast with most of their clothes on, made her hot as hell.

Squirming against him, she rocked her hips to meet his. “The idea has its merits.”

He pulled back to look down into her eyes, surprise written in his. Then a heat so complete consumed his gaze that she was surprised it didn’t burn her to a crisp.

“Shelve that thought for another time,” he murmured, lips teasing hers.