Chapter Ten

Today had been the best day. The absolute best that Corey could even remember.

She’d ended up spending almost the entire day with Ace. The only time they’d been separate was while she got her nails done, when he’d made some calls to his boss, and talked to the realtor about his offer and what the sellers had countered with. He’d even come in at the end and paid for her nails to be done, and she had warned him that he was spoiling her. “Good,” he’d said.

Tonight, he’d driven her back to her car and then followed her to Winding Creek Way, then rolled down his window at the fork in the road that would lead him to Gunner and Hallie’s property.

He’d waved at her and said, “I had fun with you today.”

She’d called out her open passenger’s side window, “I had a good time too, friend.”

He had narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head, but he hadn’t corrected her. Test failed.

And here she was, getting ready for bed, completely consumed with the thought of him. She’d even showered and done her full skincare routine trying to settle down after the fun day, but she was going to have trouble sleeping tonight. She just knew it.

Her phone lit up with a text as she was rubbing moisturizer all over her face.

Want to see my tent?

It was Ace. She turned around and sat on the counter as she texted back. I don’t do booty calls. Send.

I’m sorry if you thought that’s what that was. It wasn’t. I’m being a gentleman.

She narrowed her eyes at the text. I have to work in the morning. Send.

Ten minutes to get up here, the tent tour will be fast. Ten minutes back. Promise. Hallie is still awake. She and Gunner are hanging with us.

Oooh, that changed things then. Party without me? Send.

Not if you come over. I’m trying to include you.

I’m already in my pajamas.Send.

I hope it’s that sexy number on my lock screen.

Her laugh filled the bathroom.

Fiiiine. Send. I’ll be over in a few. Send.

Good. See you soon.

She trotted into her room, excitement trilling through her. She pulled on a pair of cutoff jean shorts, a sports bra, and a baggy black sweatshirt, pulled her hair up into a bun, and hesitated at the mirror. She had already taken her makeup off.

She ran into the bathroom, put some mascara on, and called it good.

Ten minutes later she was pulling up to the clearing in front of Hallie and Gunner’s single-wide. Off to the side, by the trees, the tents had all been set up. They were nice! And huge. They were each the two-room kind, and each had a couple of bag chairs set out in front of the doors.

The firepit was blazing in the middle of the clearing, and Hallie, Gunner, and Owen were standing around it. Ace was already striding toward her car, like he’d heard her coming. He probably had.

When she got out, he was already around the front of her car. She instinctively drifted into his arms for a greeting hug, and he held her a few seconds longer than she’d expected. “I’m already homesick,” he admitted.

She laughed. “You’ve only been here two hours.”

“I already want to fight Owen, and his damn tent is next to mine.”

She laughed and leaned back to look up at him. “You can do this. Staying here will help you make the decision.”

The smile drifted from his lips but hung there softly, just at the corners. “Okay,” he murmured in a deep, rumbling voice.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, held for a few moments, and then eased back.

“You’re playing with my mind more,” she admonished him.

“I don’t give a fuck about the friend stuff. I like being around you. Call it what you want, Corey.”

“Don’t hurt me, okay?” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Woman, you’re safe.”

She didn’t know why, but that felt so good to hear. She rested her forehead against his chest and exhaled slowly. “You’re the one who’s trouble with a capital T.”

He slipped his hand around her throat and used his thumb to tilt her chin up as he drew his lips next to her ear. “Lion.”

The stars above were so bright and beautiful from here, and her racing heartbeat was the soundtrack to this moment. He’d just told her what he was.

She didn’t know why, but that trust meant so much to her. Corey slid her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly, buried her face against his neck. He smelled like cologne, firepit smoke, and Ace.

He pulled her up off her feet and hugged her, swaying them slowly, his cheek pressed against hers.

Was this all right? She’d never fallen for anyone this hard, or this fast. “Is this the way it is with shifters?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“It happens fast?”

“Only if it’s right.” He settled her onto her feet and slid his big, strong hand around hers, then led her toward the firepit.

Hallie waved. “Hello stranger, long time no see!”

Her flip-flops clacked loudly in the night as she tried to keep up with Ace’s long, powerful strides. “Ouch!” she yelped as she stepped wrong on a stick and it poked the inside arch of her foot.

She lifted her foot and studied the blood that welled from the scrape.

Ace knelt down, and she rested her hands on his shoulders as he studied it. He wiped the blood with his forearm, but it instantly pooled again. He stood and stared down at her foot with an unfathomable expression. He seemed…confused.

He leaned forward, scooped her up, and carried her the rest of the way to the firepit.

“I’m really okay,” she said with a laugh. “It just surprised me.”

He sat her down in an empty chair, knelt down and wiped it with his forearm again, and frowned at her foot as it oozed more.

“You good?” Hallie asked.

“I’m totally fine. Just clumsy and hit a stick.”

Ace stood again, and just as before, he frowned down at her foot. “It’s not stopping.”

She giggled and told him, “It’s okay. We humans don’t stop bleeding as fast as you shifters do.”

“It was only a stick,” he murmured, his eyes trained on the drop of blood that fell from her foot.

“Look at your stupid face as you realize it,” Owen jabbed.

“Realize what?” Corey asked.

“How fragile you are.”

Ace tossed him a snarl. “Shut the fuck up, Owen.”

Owen tossed his hands in the air in mock-surrender. “Just pointing out the facts. Smell that, Ace? The scent of her blood. Is that why you’re growling? You’re realizing she’s not something to fuck, she’s something to hunt.”

Ace blurred, and Corey’s brain couldn’t keep up with what happened next. Owen went flying, and the sound of the hit to his face sounded almost delayed.

Owen’s face transformed into something awful, and he hopped up to his feet and caught Ace’s charge.

“Shit,” Gunner murmured. “Don’t Change!” he roared as Owen’s face elongated. “God dammit, Owen! Don’t Change!”

Too late. Owen was thrown again, but he disappeared before he hit the ground. Just…no more Owen. A massive monster exploded from his skin, and then Hallie was there, yanking her arm. “We gotta go,” she murmured as the huge boar with enormous tusks kicked dust up with his front hoof as Ace sauntered toward him.

“He’s a…” Shock consumed her. She couldn’t be seeing this. That thing had been in Owen? It was as tall as a man, with raised black hair in a spiked mohawk down his back. His tusks alone had to be a foot long! And his eyes were bright blue!

“Corey, move!” Hallie ordered, bodily pulling her from the chair.

Gunner was already headed for them, bellowing threats at the top of his lungs. The trees rattled with the force of his orders, and the ground vibrated under her feet as she limped behind Hallie, who was dragging her toward the trailer.

She could see the exact moment Owen shifted his furious blue gaze toward them as they ran away. She couldn’t quit looking behind them. Owen’s boar dodged Gunner and Ace and charged toward them.

“Oh my gosh, run, Hallie!” she screamed, shoving her cousin forward. “Go!”

The chaos that ensued was terrifying. A massive grizzly ripped out of Gunner and tackled Owen, cutting off his charge, and Ace blurred to cut off her view of the fight. He stood between them, facing off with the boar and the bear who were a mess of violence and rage.

“Get inside!” Ace roared in a voice Corey didn’t even recognize. He sounded terrifying, like a demon. When he tossed her a look over his shoulder, his face was morphing into something horrifying. His bone structure was changing, sharpening, and his eyes were glowing an ice-blue. His canines were elongating. One moment she saw a glimpse of the animal peeking out, and then he disappeared into a cloud of dark purple smoke. The screeching of some kind of animal was deafening. A mass of movement consumed the cloud as it reappeared around the fighting animals.

“Oh my God,” Hallie whispered in horror.

“What is that?” Corey yelled over the deafening screeching noise. She clapped her hands over her ears as the cloud of smoke grew and grew, bigger and bigger until it consumed the entire clearing.

“We have to get inside!” Hallie yelled at the top of her lungs.

Corey could barely hear her, but she could read her lips. Yep. Right behind you. She bolted with Hallie to close the gap between them and the trailer. They took the stairs at a panicked pace, two at a time. Hallie yanked the door open and closed it as hard as she could behind them.

They both spun and pushed their hands against the rattling door to keep it closed.

“What is that?” Corey yelled. “A tornado?”

Hallie’s eyes were wide with horror as she panted beside her. She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The wind died in an instant, as if it had never existed. The trailer stopped rattling, and the door stopped threatening to blow right off the porch. The clearing went still.

“Gunner,” Hallie whispered. She rushed to the window beside the door and looked outside. The lights flickered, went out, and then returned.

“They’re fine.”

With a gasp, Corey spun to find Ace sitting on one of the dining chairs, his elbows resting on his knees and the remnants of purple smoke dissipating around him.

His too-bright eyes lifted to Corey. He must’ve been able to see the fear etched into every facet of her face, because he put his hands out in a soothing motion and said, “I won’t hurt you.”

“Where’s Gunner?” Hallie demanded, heading for the door.

“Heading in here,” Ace assured her.

The door swung open and Gunner stood there—bare-ass naked, every muscle tensed, rage roiling off him. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” he roared at Ace.

“Tell you what?” Ace asked softly.

“You’re a fucking vampire?”

What the hell. Corey shrunk back into the corner of the living room with Hallie, who held her hand tightly.

Ace’s glowing gaze drifted to Corey, then back to Gunner. “Get away from her, and we can talk.”

Gunner paced in front of where Hallie and Corey cowered.

“She’s my mate. I don’t want you near her.”

“I’m not talking about Hallie. Give Corey some space, and I’ll answer your questions.”

“You said you were a lion,” Corey uttered in a shaking voice. “You lied to me?”

“No, no. I didn’t lie. Ask Gunner. He knows I’m a Holland lion.”

“Who is your mother, Ace?” Gunner demanded.

Ace inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring with annoyance. He shifted his feet and leaned back in the chair. “Her name doesn’t matter, you won’t know her.”

“She’s a vampire?”

“Was. She’s dead. Staked in the war.”

“Oh my gosh,” Corey said, feeling like she couldn’t draw enough oxygen into her lungs.

Gunner huffed a dark laugh. “That’s why you’re unregistered. That’s why you’re in hiding.”

Ace was still as a stone, unblinking. He didn’t answer.

“Okay,” Corey whispered, slowly making her way toward Ace. “Okay.”

“Corey,” Gunner warned.

“What? He won’t hurt me.”

“You’re still bleeding.”

“I don’t drink blood,” Ace growled, standing. “I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“What the fuck is happening?” Gunner snarled, pacing away, his hands gripping the back of his head. “What the fuck, Ace? You didn’t think this was important information?”

“It’s no one’s business!” he roared, his face sharpening into something terrifying again. “It’s for me and my dad. It’s for me to manage!” He clapped his hand against his chest. “It’s mine!”

“Did your dad realize how powerful you are?” Gunner asked.

“Yes.”

“Does Damon know?”

Ace clamped his mouth closed. He pointed at the floor beside him and slid a glance to Corey. “Here. I can settle down if you’re closer.”

Okay, was she scared? Yes. But was it super-hot that Ace had pointed to the ground and bossed her around with that sexy dominance of his? Also yes. She slunk over and placed her hands behind her back, shifted her weight from her toes to her heels and back again. Ace was staring at her foot again.

“If you don’t drink blood, then why are you so interested in her damn wound?” Gunner asked.

“Because she’s bleeding too much, Gunner! If Hallie was hurt, could you drag your attention off it?”

Gunner crossed his arms over his chest.

“Excuse me,” Corey murmured, “but I can see your wiener.”

Gunner covered his nethers and Hallie slunk down the hallway, probably to grab him some pants. Thank goodness. It was weird seeing her cousin’s fiancé’s ripped bod.

“Can I take Corey home?” Ace asked. “I need some space to settle down.”

“No! I don’t fuckin’ trust you!” Gunner belted out.

“I. Won’t. Hurt. Her,” Ace said, enunciating every word. “Ever. And you can hear the truth in my words.”

Gunner lifted a hand and caught the pair of sweats Hallie tossed him without breaking eye contact with Ace.

“Owen is in the woods. Leave him alone. Just go to Corey’s and stay there for the night, until he’s Changed back.” Gunner hugged his sweats to his dick and shook his head, turned, and yanked the door open. “This is bullshit. Damon giving me a fucking vampire-hybrid for a Third. Seriously?” he slammed the door closed behind him. A long, drawn-out, echoing, “Fuck!” bellowed from outside.

Hallie looked pale as a ghost, Gunner was loudly destroying something outside, there was a monster-boar running somewhere in the woods, and the vampire-lion Corey had a crush on was staring at the blood on her foot. Again.

Everything was on fire.