"What the hell, woman. Why are you out here instead of still in my bed where you belong?"
"Excuse me? Where I belong? What is that supposed to mean?"
Finally close enough to reach her he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her against his front. "Exactly as it sounds. You belong in my bed."
"But—I—you should probably tell that to your friends. I was escorted off the island."
"Yeah, I heard you were out snooping through the island on your own. You should have woken me."
She frowned, her lips pursing. "I was not snooping! I was simply trying to find my plants. I seriously do not understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of that. In fact I would think that if your island has a plant infestation that is luring wild wolves to the area you'd appreciate someone like me solving that problem before someone gets hurt."
He nodded. "Speaking of that. We need to talk. I was hoping to have this conversation after a few more orgasms, but I guess that's not the way it's meant to go down."
Her mouth dropped open and he took that opportunity to swoop forward and capture her with a kiss. Time to remind her how insane they sizzled together.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
They broke free from the kiss and Brody whirled to the familiar unfriendly voice, shoving Prue behind him. His uncle on his father's side stood less than ten feet away. Two more men behind him with sawed off shotguns pointed in the direction of him and Prue.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, keeping his eye on the men and their weapons.
"I guess I could ask you the same thing, but I think we both already know the answer."
Brody's body vibrated from tension as he surveyed the area behind his uncle.
"He's fine for now. Two of your cousins are currently detaining your friend back at his truck. Feisty that one. Hope he doesn't try anything crazy."
"You're asking for more trouble than you know by coming here. How did you find me? No, never mind. It doesn't matter. You should leave before the others figure out you're here." Not that he believed for even a second that his uncle would just walk away or tell him the truth.
"Brody, what's going on?" Prue tried to walk around him and he forced her behind his back.
"Stay still, babe. I need to finish this."
"She yours now?" his uncle asked. "She's been very helpful in our investigation and led us straight to your front door."
Brody growled, baring his teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about, old man."
His face twisted into a smug grin. "Oh I think I do. Doc here reports there's an island with an unusual number of wolf sightings. I don't need science to tell me what's happening. I know exactly what's going on. We've got ourselves another infestation of nasty shapeshifters. That's what is going on."
"Whaaaat?" Prue said, behind him.
"Oh have you not told her?" His uncle chuckled. "My bad."
"Shut up," Brody roared, the haze of red returning to his vision. His control was slipping faster than he could contain it. Shit. This was not how he wanted her to discover his secret.
"You have no rights in this family anymore, Brody boy. You're one of them now. That means you'll die with the rest of them right here in front of your pretty new girlfriend. I sure hope you were kind enough to use a condom when you fucked her. Forcing your pups on her would be cruel and unusual, especially when they turned and had to be killed."
Brody exploded at the same time Prue gasped behind him. "You son of a—" Hair burst through his skin and muscles and bones popped causing extreme pain that he ignored thanks to the overdose of adrenalin pumping through him.
The only thing that registered were the sounds of his clothes ripping and the wolf wresting him for control.
"Jesus Chr—" His uncle’s words died in the wind as Brody jumped on his chest and slammed him to the ground. He rolled, pulling his prey with him and using his body as a shield from the men with guns.
A howl broke the silence and Brody turned in the direction of Sawyer's truck. A large gray wolf bounded toward him and the two men swiveled in his direction.
"Put your guns down now or I rip his throat out," Brody growled, regaining their attention. To emphasize his intent, he slid his claws through the flesh of his uncle's neck, drawing blood and making it clear how vulnerable the man's throat was.
His agonizing moan helped too. The two men froze and looked at each other. Sawyer partially shifted from wolf keeping his claws and fangs as he approached them.
"Brody, don't do this. Don't kill him. You can't come back from that."
Prue's worried voice penetrated his thoughts. She didn't understand what was at stake here.