ã€ŠTouched by a Demonã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Lucian parked his Dodge Avenger just three houses away from his rental, it was one of the drawbacks to living in a house without a garage or a driveway, but it was a necessary evil since he didn¡¯t want to deal with a yard and his roommate was always a fun person to hang out with. And working at Integrities Securities meant he had to work long hours and almost always arrived home late just like tonight.

    He walked a couple of houses and pulled his keys from his jacket pocket, started up the front steps, and reached for the doorknob as he noticed something was wrong.

    The door was just slightly ajar and the inside was still dark, he hadn¡¯t seen Carl¡¯s Jeep so he knew there was no one home. Reacting to the possibility of an intruder he drew his sidearm, a Bersa Thunder, .380, and pushed his door open slowly so he could enter. He knew he should have said something to let whoever was inside know that he was going to shoot if they didn¡¯t leave, but he also didn¡¯t want to give them the chance to be ready for him in case they weren¡¯t expecting him.

    He checked the downstairs slowly, hoping he was either too late or that he¡¯d scared them off when he opened the door. It was probably the Jefferson boy who¡¯d been caught a couple of weeks ago doing the same thing just a few houses down on the other side of the street, he was let go with a slap on the wrists because his uncle was the state senator and pulled some strings. Gods above he hoped it wasn¡¯t that boy because he¡¯d never hear the end of it if he shot the boy even as an intruder.

    All three rooms downstairs were clear, no one there, and even the valuables like Carl¡¯s game systems were safe and sound. That fact alone made him more on edge, if someone was in the house they weren¡¯t your average everyday thief. There could be a rational explanation for the slightly open door, perhaps Carl had forgotten to lock the door and the wind blew it open. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time something like that happened in his house, the foundation wasn¡¯t the best and the whole thing was just ready to fall down. But he hoped for the best and prepared for the worst as he walked back tot he front door to close it when he heard a rustling sound coming from upstairs.

    Taking a breath to steady himself he went up the stairs, pistol in front of him as he began checking corners, and leveling his weapon as he looked for the source of the noise while praying it was just the wind.

    The sound continued and as he crested the stairs he saw it was coming from his bedroom, the light was on and he knew for a fact that he¡¯d turned it off before he left for work. Walking into the room he saw a man hunched over his bed, in Lucian¡¯s nightstand looking for something. All over the floor were his clothes, prized possessions were strewn about. He saw his anime waifu figurines all over and hoped the intruder realized how much he was going to pay for rifling through the sacred space.

    He aimed the Bersa at the man¡¯s back, center mass just like he was taught, and said ¡°You there, put your hands up.¡±

    The man¡¯s head popped up and he began to turn around, his face was feral like a rabid animal. Eyes red as he stared Lucian down, just the look of him was enough to make Lucian start, the man wasn¡¯t massive like a linebacker but he was built.

    ¡°I said put your hands up. This is the last time I ask before I put you in the ground.¡±

    It sounded threatening enough, but the man stood and charged Lucian. Lucian pulled date trigger three times in quick succession and the bullets found their mark, in the man¡¯s torso, specifically his chest and he dropped to the ground. He leaned back against the doorframe and was about to pull his phone out of his pocket so he could call the police when the man¡¯s eyes popped open and he launched himself upwards letting out a growl at Lucian. ¡°What the fuck!¡± He screamed as the man charged him again.

    He fired again, the loud rapport of the gun filling the room as the man took him to the floor with the veins in his face pressed against his skin as he bared large sharp teeth at him. As Lucian looked up at him the man¡¯s teeth elongated even more and changed into fangs right before his eyes. He tried to bite Lucian, his head striking like a snake with Lucian barely moving his head in time and the man¡¯s teeth narrowly missed his neck. The man was trying to bite him to death. If half a dozen bullets wouldn¡¯t stop him then what the hell would?

    Lucian tried to push the man back and drove his knee into his balls hard enough to push the man up just a bit as he lunged for Lucians¡¯ throat again and failed.

    ¡°You are an abomination, you will die!¡± The man growled at him and drew his arm back as his nails lengthened into claws and he drove them into Lucian¡¯s shoulder making him cry out from the pain. ¡°Your friend is going to die with you.¡±

    Lucian tried to move, tried to push the man off as the words registered with him and he heard something from downstairs. The front door closing and not just Carl¡¯s voice, but also a woman¡¯s voice. The one time I need him to focus. He thought to himself as he kneed the man in the balls again and drove his forehead into its face. Pain radiated throughout his head, the hold had loosened enough he drove his good arm into the things throat and shoved him back just as the man¡¯s eyes turned deep red and he knew that if the man had it his way all three of them would be dying tonight.

    Something inside of him snapped, just shattered into a million pieces and his vision swam with a red haze as the man¡¯s face changed to one of surprise and not Unger or anger or whatever the hell he was showing just seconds before.

    All that Lucian could think of was the need to save his friend and the innocent woman downstairs. That was all he needed to think about as he threw the man off of him with a surge of strength he never knew he possessed and shot to his feet staring him down. The talking was becoming more and more clear as Carl was coming up the stairs now and Lucian knew he had to keep him safe.

    He rushed the man and swung his arm in a chop, his hope was to crush the man¡¯s windpipe and he would suffocate. If you couldn¡¯t breathe you couldn¡¯t fight. His strike was lightning quick as his hand collided with the man¡¯s through and went into it, crushing his throat while caging his hand inside the man¡¯s neck, he stared in fear and shock at Lucian for a second and then laughed. It was the most unholy thing Lucian had ever heard and the man reached up with his own hands and drove his claws into Lucian¡¯s chest making him howl in rage.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Ripping his hand out he drove his other hand at the man¡¯s chest for a palm strike and was more than a little shocked when his hand went right through his chest and he felt a pulsing in front of his hand. His eyes widened with surprise as he realized it was the man¡¯s heart.

    Closing his fingers around it he yanked, pulling his hand and the heart out of the man¡¯s chest cavity in one wet squelch sound and he looked at the red thing beating away in his hand as the last little bit of blood was pumped out of it. Lucian stared into the eyes of the thing in front of him as it¡¯s skin turned from a human pallor to a gray with darker gray veins covering his flesh in an intricate latticework as his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the floor, turning to ash as he fell leaving a mess on the floor that Lucian wondered how to clean up.

    He felt the heart in his hand turn to dust and as he looked to his side he saw himself in the mirror he kept and couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    It was no wonder his hand had gone through the man¡¯s chest so easily, his nails had become two-inch long talons tinged a dark purple. His skin had turned to light lavender, and his body had bulked up as his shirt could attest, barely able to contain his mass. Before he could see any more of his body there was a scream and he turned to see Carl and the woman he¡¯d brought home standing at the top of the stairs staring right at him.

    She stared in terror, while Carl stared in pity and Lucian felt something inside himself shift, but he couldn¡¯t be sure what it was.

    ¡°Rose, go to my room, now. I¡¯ll be in, in just a minute.¡± When she didn¡¯t move he looked at her and said, ¡°Please, it¡¯ll be okay I promise.¡±

    Rather than walk away though she moved closer to Lucian, he noticed her eyes were dilating and he could feel a pull coming from her. Could hear her body sing to him and he couldn¡¯t figure out what the hell was going on. He could smell her arousal even from here, just how much she wanted him, and yet he could see how hideous he looked so it made no sense to him. But she gave him these fuck me eyes that told him she wanted him right there in the hallway. ¡°He¡¯s so¡­yummy.¡±

    Carl was just about to reach out and grab her arm when Lucian reached out and pulled her close. Pressing her against his rock hard body she felt perfect against his skin, her warmth calling to him as his cock rose to the occasion. She ran her fingers over his skin-tight shirt and gasped as he kissed her, taking her breath away. As he pulled back to kiss her again he saw purple energy that seemed to be floating between them, her body went stock still and Carl rushed to save her as he shoved Lucian away hard and pulled her down to the floor. ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t you listen to me?¡± He said kneeling over her still body.

    Carl stood and pushed Lucian again back a few more steps, ¡°Get a hold of yourself boy, focus on my voice and take a few deep breaths now.¡± Lucian was shocked by the tone of his voice and listened following his instructions as he counted for him to breathe in for a three count, and out for a five.

    He raised a hand and noticed his skin was back to its normal color and his nails were returning at well. ¡°What the fuck is happening to me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re turning back to your human form. Don¡¯t worry this is normal.¡±

    ¡°Normal? How the fuck is any of this normal! Some guy turns to dust in my room and I have purple skin, and then your girl just throws herself at me. What the fuck man?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what I¡¯d scented when I came in.¡± Carl walked to the room and looked at two piles of ash on the floor. ¡°How many were there?¡±

    ¡°Just one.¡±

    ¡°Then why are there two piles here?¡±

    Lucian scratched the back of his head and said, ¡°Well, one was from his heart, I just yanked it out of his chest and it turned to dust like him.¡±

    Carl shook his head, ¡°Okay, I need to get Rose to my room so she can recover from your lust feeding, you need to get the vacuum and clean this mess up. Then I will explain everything okay?¡± Lucian nodded as he walked back and picked up Rose from the floor.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot you¡¯ll be learning and it¡¯s just going to have to be a crash course from now on since none of this went according to plan.¡± He walked her to his room and Lucian stared after him for a second before he went for the lightweight vacuum they had and began cleaning the mess in his room.

    It was oddly satisfying to do something normal after something so abnormal had happened.

    ¡°Okay, she¡¯s sleeping it off so she should be okay.¡± He looked around the room and saw everything that had been thrown around carelessly. ¡°Damn he really did a number in here before you got home.¡± Bending down Carl picked up one of the waifu figurines and placed it on its rightful shelf. ¡°Let¡¯s clean this mess up real quick okay?¡±

    ¡°Not before you explain what the hell is going on and why my hand changed like that.¡±

    Carl took a deep breath and sighed, ¡°Oh, I knew this day would come when the shit hit the fan, but I really hoped I wouldn¡¯t be the one telling you this. Not because I¡¯d be dead or something dark like that, but because I¡¯d be retired in Boca or Jamaica enjoying my life.¡± He lifted the computer chair back upright and took a seat. ¡°You may want to sit a bit, this is going to be a bumpy ride.¡±

    He waited a moment until Lucian was seated on his bed and said, ¡°You aren¡¯t human, well, you aren¡¯t fully human. That is partly why your hand and body changed the way it did. The other half of you is demonic and the change was your demonic side coming out to save you because something supernatural was causing you harm. Think of it as a defense mechanism right now, when you¡¯re in danger and it¡¯s needed it¡¯ll show. Or when you end up feeding from now on it¡¯ll manifest. Which I¡¯m going to assume, safely, that the danger was the fanged dick that you killed, just ripped his heart out like it was nothing which had to be epic to watch. I never knew you had it in you to kill so easily.¡±

    ¡°I really wasn¡¯t trying to kill him actually.¡± He looked down at his hands and sighed. ¡°I meant to knock him out with a shot to his throat, that didn¡¯t work and so I tried to palm strike him and it just got a little out of hand. I couldn¡¯t stop him with bullets so I thought, stop him from breathing and it¡¯ll do the same thing.¡±

    ¡°Well, you did the right thing in killing him. Those bastards are a stain on the entire supernatural world, they eat whoever they want and don¡¯t bother trying to make sure the person won¡¯t be missed. They just do it because they can and they think they¡¯re all so great.¡± He spat on the spot where some ashes remained. ¡°They can all go suck a spike in hell.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so you tell me I¡¯m part demon, that vampires are real, my skin turns colors and I can rip someone¡¯s heart out with ease, and let¡¯s not forget while I look hideous a woman tries to fuck me. What the hell else can you tell me to make this all make sense?¡±

    ¡°How about that you nearly killed Rose because you were draining her energy and in turn nearly devouring her soul. You are part demon, an incubus to be precise. Have you ever heard of those?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m part sex demon?¡± He stared at his friend with a mixture of shock and wonderment. ¡°I thought all of those stories about creatures that go bump in the night were fake.¡±

    ¡°Congrats man, we are very real.¡±

    ¡°We?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not human either. I¡¯m a shifter, a black panther to be precise.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­really? A black panther?¡±

    Carl looked at him and sighed, ¡°Look I¡¯m going to go make sure Rose is okay, and then we need to get on the road. If one of them showed up then there¡¯s no reason to think there won¡¯t be more of them on the way.¡±

    ¡°Great¡­¡± Lucian hung his head as he thought about fighting a lot more vampires. More of those fanged dicks running at him and trying to bite him like the last one.

    ¡°You¡¯ll need some training in using your demonic abilities. I think we¡¯ll take care of that on the way to safety, there¡¯s a place we need to go, but first I need to check on Rose and you should get things together, we won¡¯t be coming back here for a while, if at all.¡±

    He watched Clark walk towards his room, the farther he walked the more uneasy Lucian felt about the whole thing.

 Chapter 2

    Lucian spent the next few hours putting his house back in order, literally. He had to put his room back together after the vampire tore his room apart, and he still wasn¡¯t sure why. It was also strange to think that vampires were real, that demons and such were real as well. And he was apart of that world now whether he wanted to be or not, he was in it for the long haul. He couldn¡¯t believe there was all this craziness going on in his small hometown, but now he wasn¡¯t even sure it was his real home town. Or even the state he was born in since he¡¯d been lied to for so long.

    Thankfully Carl was able to help Rose so she wouldn¡¯t die from him sucking part of her soul out, and Lucian still had to figure out how he¡¯d done that so he could keep from doing it in the future. There was so much to learn, so much he had to accept as real that was once fantasy.

    ¡°Got some good news and some bad news.¡± Carl said as he walked into the room finally, with Rose following behind him and keeping a wary eye on Lucian. ¡°The good news is Rose is going to be okay, she¡¯s never encountered one of your kind before so she wasn¡¯t expecting that. The bad news though is that we need to get out of here, before your clan shows up.¡±

    ¡°My clan?¡±

    ¡°All of the demon species have their own clans. Your clan would be the sex demons clan so both incubus and succubus are included. They¡¯re looking for you after you manifested and if they find you they¡¯ll kill you. We¡¯ve gotta get you out of here. Now.¡±

    ¡°Why would my own people murder me?¡± Carl threw him a duffle bag. ¡°Answer me!¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s how they deal with an unregistered birth. They kill the child, which means they¡¯ll kill you just as soon as look at you. That¡¯s why we need to get packed and get the hell out of here, they won¡¯t have an exact location, but they¡¯ll know roughly where you emerged. We also have to keep you from emerging again if you want to stay safe.¡±

    ¡°How can I learn how to control it if I can¡¯t emerge?¡±

    ¡°Just get packed for a few days on the road, we¡¯ll stop as often as we need to but we need to get moving now if you want to stay safe.¡±

    Lucian opened the duffle begrudgingly and began packing some of his clothes in it, all tees and shorts to fit the weather. He looked up at Carl after he was done packing and asked him, ¡°Who¡¯s car are we taking, yours or mine?¡±

    ¡°Mine, but it¡¯s my other car.¡± Lucian gave him a look and he smiled as he led him down the stairs and outside to his Nissan Sentra and told him to get in the back seat.

    Lucian knew they¡¯d be in for a long trip, he just hoped he would be safe from nearly killing someone else until he could learn to control his powers. ¡°So are we all going on this trip or what?¡±

    ¡°You and I are, Rose is going back to her place soon because it¡¯ll be safer for her there. It may be the middle of the night, but there¡¯s plenty of things out there that don¡¯t sleep and they¡¯ll be after you. Especially if they figure out you killed that vamp, anyone who kills one of us ends up on a shit list if you will. Until they get taken out that is.¡±

    This was a lot to take in, no doubt, but at least this way he¡¯d be safe if he knew what was coming for him. ¡°So there¡¯s things worse than that vampire I killed? How much worse?¡±

    ¡°With how little you seem to be able to control your powers, there¡¯s a lot worse. Any one of a number of different creatures could take you out before you even knew what was happening. There¡¯s witches that can destroy your mind in seconds if they use the right spell, werewolves who would rip your heart out just for looking at them wrong. You don¡¯t even want to get me started on the vampires, they¡¯re the worst of the worst, even worse than what your people do to their rule breakers.¡±

    ¡°What can a sex demon do that¡¯s worse than fuck you to death?¡±

    ¡°They steal your soul, that¡¯s what you tried to do to Rose last night. I told you this, didn¡¯t you listen?¡±

    ¡°I did, but I didn¡¯t think you were serious about it being her soul.¡±

    Carl actually turned and looked at him for a second with a glare, ¡°You seriously think I would lie about that? What the fuck is wrong with you?¡±

    ¡°Maybe the fact that I¡¯ve been lied to my whole life. I mean hell you even lied to me and you¡¯re supposed to be my best friend, how the hell am I supposed to trust anyone right now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never lied to you, I¡¯ve kept the truth from you, but never once did I lie to you. Never.¡± His eyes went back to the road and he white-knuckled the wheel. ¡°You¡¯re a once in a lifetime being. You might not realize it yet, but you have a purpose, and you need to listen to me and you¡¯ll learn enough to protect yourself.¡±

    Lucian looked out the window, he could see the buildings around him going past quickly, a blur as they sped down the road going forty in a twenty-five. He just wanted to go back to yesterday, to when this wasn¡¯t happening and he was living a normal life. Now vampires were real, he was a sex demon, which still made him question his abilities with the ladies and reminded him about his dry spell.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve emerged you¡¯ll need some extra lovin¡¯ and by that I mean you need to find yourself a girl every few days or else you¡¯ll get weak. The sex will also help you heal so if you ever get hurt don¡¯t go to an ER, go find a brothel.¡±

    ¡°Do I really look like someone who would pay for sex?¡±

    ¡°No, you look like someone they¡¯d pay to have sex. From what I¡¯ve heard about your species is they can be pretty crazy in bed, and pretty rich when they start pimpin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so have sex when I get wounded, because that¡¯ll be easy enough to do. What else do I need to learn? I already know how to throw a punch and handle a gun.¡±

    ¡°Lucian you have no idea the wonders you¡¯re about to learn. You¡¯ll be able to use magic to a point, you¡¯ll be able to use this musk that your species exudes to make women, and men if you¡¯re into that, want you like you¡¯re their tall drink of water after a week in the Sahara. Man being a sex demon is something I¡¯d enjoy the hell out of. But I¡¯d just be used up in a few years as a porn actor, you won¡¯t age so you can do it for decades. But then your face gets known and it just turns into a shit show.¡±

    ¡°Yea.¡± Lucian said and then looked back at Carl, ¡°What was that about not aging?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I guess I should¡¯a led with that right? Yeah, most of the supernatural creatures have long lifespans, take us shifters for example; we can live for almost a thousand years before our tickers give out, unless someone chops our heads off or we get a shotgun round to the heart. Vamps are nearly immortal, some of the stuff in movies is real, sunlight won¡¯t kill them right away if they¡¯ve been around a few hundred years but newly turned vamps fry up like fricase. Oh, and don¡¯t think garlic will help you, they¡¯ll still kill you they just won¡¯t feed on you.¡±

    ¡°Jesus, so how many of these things are there?¡±

    ¡°Probably like twenty or thirty genus and then multiple species. Take elves for instance¡ª¡±

    ¡°Elves are real?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯d let me finish, yes they are. But there¡¯s, sun elves, wood elves, dark elves even blood elves, those ones you do not want to deal with. Then there¡¯s shifters; panthers like myself, wolves, dogs, pretty much if it¡¯s an animal it probably has a shifter cousin or something. Demons have almost as many types it¡¯s insane, like your species is only two types of demons, but there¡¯s hundreds of types of demons. Even I don¡¯t know them all and I¡¯ve been around for almost three hundred years.¡±

    Carl continued talking, but Lucian had tuned him out for a second as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that his best friend just admitted to being a few hundred years old.

    They traveled for three hours and arrived at an all night diner, Diner 51, and stopped for some food and to grab a few hours shut eye at the hotel across the street. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here in years.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I picked this place, almost no one comes to Martinsburgh anymore, so it¡¯s the perfect hiding place for a little R&R.¡±

    They walked into the diner and were seated by a waitress with auburn hair, a round ass and b-cups at best, Lucian eyed her and took in her measurements as she spoke to Carl, telling him their specials. But as Lucian looked her over his eyes continued to lock onto her chest and ass, he certainly appreciated her beauty, and she caught him staring but just smiled at him. ¡°What can I get for you hon?¡± her voice was flirty and she batted her eyelashes at him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the fritters and fries, a coffee and your number would be great.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    She smiled at him, ¡°I¡¯ll be right back with your drinks gentlemen.¡± She giggled.

    ¡°Does that line always work for you?¡±

    ¡°Honestly? Nope, it¡¯s never worked before but since you said I have some sexy juju I figured it was worth a shot.¡±

    ¡°We need to get some food and a little sleep and get back on the road, I have somewhere safe to take you, so we don¡¯t have time for your sex juju.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t told me about where we¡¯re going, where is it?¡±

    Carl looked all around and finally said ¡°we aren¡¯t going to talk about that here in the open, that can wait until we get to the hotel.¡±

    Bonnie, their waitress, returned with their drinks and passed a slip of paper to Lucian, ¡°My shift ends in two hours if you want to stick around.¡±

    ¡°What luck, I have a hotel room just across the street.¡±

    ¡°What about your friend?¡±

    Lucian could feel the lust coming off of her, that was the only way he could describe it, and he smiled. ¡°Well what do you say? You interested in joining mate?¡±

    Carl rolled his eyes and said ¡°Fine you two have your fun, but leave me out of it. I don¡¯t do sharing.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad, I guess I¡¯ll just have to settle for your handsome face.¡± She said as she ran a hand over Lucians¡¯ and blew him a kiss. ¡°Remember, two hours. My safe word is Freedom.¡± With that she walked away, swaying her hips and ass right in his face, wanting him to see her.

    ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to join in? If you do you can always make sure I don¡¯t lose control.¡±

    Carl let out a huff and shook his head. ¡°I won¡¯t join in, but I¡¯ll stay in the bathroom or something and stop you if you lose control. Sound good?¡±

    ¡°Sweet, looks like my dry spell is over.¡±

    His jaw hit the floor and Carl said, ¡°You¡¯ve been having a dry spell? A sex demon having issues like that? It¡¯s unheard of.¡± He began laughing, a deep belly laugh.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that funny, seriously it¡¯s not.¡± Lucian was getting angry, he didn¡¯t find it as funny as his friend did. Having a dry spell for a week and a half was hell enough, but hopefully finding that beauty would make it all better.

    Bonnie brought them their food and Lucian invited her to take a seat next to him and she looked around a second before smiling and taking a seat next to him at the booth. ¡°I hope everything is to your liking honey.¡± She said smoothly as she ran a hand over his thigh.

    He took a bite of fries and smiled to her seductively, ¡°It¡¯s cooked to perfection.¡± And put his hand on her thigh before slowly moving up her leg, her eyebrows rose as he leaned in towards her and kissed her neck, ¡°Just a taste of what you¡¯ll get later on. I hope it¡¯s to your liking.¡± He chuckled and when she nodded he pushed his hand under her miniskirt and found she wasn¡¯t wearing any panties.

    She jerked at the heat of his hand and when his fingers found her slit she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, doing her best not to let out a moan in the restaurant. ¡°It¡¯s definitely to my liking.¡± She said as he pulled his hand away and smiled at her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you after work then.¡±

    She tried to get up and walk away but ended up stumbling a little bit. Lucian looked at his friend who just continued to eat his steak salad and grinned. ¡°So is that my musk thing you were talking about?¡±

    ¡°Kind of. You¡¯ll get to where you automatically just exude this scent, it¡¯s like a super pheremone and it¡¯ll turn the lady on so much she¡¯ll be basically climbing you trying to fuck your brains out. That was a very mild version of that, very mild.¡± He speared some more of his lettuce and chewed, eyeing his food intently.

    ¡°Oh, come on, you can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re really this upset at me. Seriously it¡¯s just my nature.¡±

    ¡°No, it is your nature but you¡¯ve done things like this before you learned about your other half, so don¡¯t try using that as an excuse already. Let¡¯s just finish this and get going.¡±

    They finished eating and Carl paid for them, and they walked across the street to the hotel. Lucian made sure to leave their room number on the ticket she left at their booth. Inside their room was two single beds, a TV that had seen better days, a single dresser which they wouldn¡¯t need to use, and a nightstand with a light and landline. In the bathroom, which was small enough you could shit, shower, and shave at the same time, they had a cramped shower that if you weren¡¯t claustrophobic before using you sure would be afterwards.

    Lucian looked at the clock and knew she wouldn¡¯t be there for another forty minutes or so and went to shower, knowing he¡¯d get dirty right away again, but it would be so worth it. He used his favorite body wash and as the hot water cascaded over his body he thought of the woman he¡¯d be in shortly and felt himself harden at the thought. Reaching down he grasped himself and gave a few tugs with his soaped up hands before he felt lust coursing his veins and he was back against the wall, water hitting his chest as he stroked his cock, feeling his climax edging closer before he let go and tried to calm himself.

    He could feel something inside himself getting looser, like a binding was coming off of a sprain and as he looked down he saw a slight lavender hue to his skin. And he noticed that not only was his hand larger like before, but his cock had grown as well, engorged with even more blood it was a deep purple from tip to base. Stepping out of the shower he dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be in the room because that was too close to a full emergence for safety¡¯s sake.¡±

    ¡°How did you¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m part animal, I can smell your arousal and I can smell the musk you¡¯ve been exuding the past few minutes.¡±

    ¡°Fine, just remember if you want to join in you just gotta ask.¡±

    There was a knock at the door and he knew it had to be his waitress friend. Opening the door she looked him up and down like she was ordering a steak and he knew she was ready. Letting her in he shut and locked the door as she looked at Carl and smiled, ¡°So it¡¯s a threesome then, I haven¡¯t done one of those for a while.¡±

    ¡°No, sadly my friend¡¯s not joining in, but he does like to watch.¡±

    She wore her red and white waitress uniform, the miniskirt looked rumpled and he wanted to rip it off of her, throw her down and fill her. Bonnie walked to the bed, pulling at her clothes the whole way. She climbed onto the bed and looked at him seductively as she pushed her breasts together in the lacy black bra. ¡°Hurry up cowboy.¡± She said as she knelt there with just her miniskirt and bra covering her creamy skin, her auburn curls spilling over her shoulders.

    It was instinct for Lucian now, he could see the change in her eyes as his musk hit her, her pupils dilated and her breathing got ragged. He could feel his cock hardening and he could see the musk taking effect on his friend as well, Carl¡¯s eyes dilated as well and he could see him begin panting, a thought flashed through his mind unbidden that it would be good to have him join, more sexual energy for him to siphon.

    Reaching out he took Bonnie by the hair and pulled her closer so he could press his lips against her thin neck, kissing along her jugular vein even as his other hand found a handful of her lace covered breast. She moaned against him as she reached down and yanked his towel off, exposing his hardened length.

    She looked down at him and sucked in her breath as she looked at him. ¡°My god, are you a sex god?¡± she asked playfully and he smiled back at her.

    ¡°I like to think so.¡± He said as he unlatched her bra and pulled it off of her milky mounds, he could see her nipples rise to the occasion as he took one then the other in his mouth, his tongue gently caressing each in turn before working his way downward as he kissed her navel and pulled at her miniskirt with both hands dragging it off of her.

    He pushed her legs up and apart as he eyed her core, she had only a happy trail of light hair leading to her womanhood and he smiled devilishly as he leaned down and took her in his mouth. She moaned out loud as he ran his tongue over her clit, spreading her lips farther apart so he could insert a finger in a come hither motion making her squirm against him. As Bonnie bucked against his finger and mouth he used his other hand to hold her firm to the bed and turned all of his attention on her tunnel, inserting another finger he used them both in the same motion as he began spelling her name with his tongue.

    He felt a tugging motion and realized he was drawing in her energy as well, pulling away from her he looked at her body as she lay there, moisture glistening on her breasts and pussy. He reached down and gripped himself as he lifted her legs and her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do. With one hand he rubbed her clit in a circular motion and he could feel how close she was to her climax, he could practically taste it.

    As she screamed out he slid the tip of his cock inside and her eyes widened at his thickness. He looked into her eyes as he pushed further into her core, she squirmed with each push as he filled her and leaned down to take her nipple in his mouth. She moaned as he fully entered her and she could feel herself stretched to the limit as he nibbled on her sensitive nipples.

    Lucian looked to his friend and saw Carl rubbing his crotch and smiled, so it did effect his friend then.

    Lifting his head he whispered in her ear, ¡°Are you ready for more?¡± when she nodded he grinned and pulled all but his tip out and thrust in hard enough his sac slapped her skin. Her eyes went wide as he increased his speed, slamming balls deep inside her and making her quiver with each stroke. Her hands gripped his shoulders, nails digging into his skin leaving deep scratch marks.

    He felt himself turning, his skin changing and as he looked back at her face as he nibbled on her neck as he thrust faster and faster into her. She called out as her climax hit her and she shattered from the intensity of it, digging into his shoulders deeper even as she tried to thrust against him, begging for more.

    Lucian pulled himself from her and she whimpered at the feeling even as he began rolling her onto her stomach. ¡°Get that ass in the air for me.¡± He ordered as she started to move, turning her sideways he made sure his friend got a beautiful view of her giggling tits. Grabbing each hip Lucian lay his cock on top of her ass and looked at how it glistened from her juices before he slid balls deep inside her, her tunnel gripping him tightly as he thrust in and out, increasing his rhythm.

    Bonnie moaned louder as he rammed into her hitting her most sensitive spot with each thrust. Letting go of her hips he grabbed her wrists, holding her arms back he slammed into her as his change began taking hold again. He could feel his cock engorging, being pushed into the mat she was spread wide for his sac to slap her clit with each forceful thrust.

    She screamed his name as her eyes began rolling, she was so high on sex she didn¡¯t want it to end. Carl made his way to her face with his cock in hand, precum leaking from his tip as he fisted his cock. Bonnie grinned and licked her lips as he stroked himself and as she came again he erupted. Cum hitting her cheek and spurt after spurt of creamy hot liquid hit her neck and the top of her tit as he milked himself and collapsed in a huff on the side of the bed.

    Lucian slammed into her as his climax hit and he filled her entire channel with seed. He kept himself inside her and continued coming for what felt like an eternity as her tunnel overflowed and he felt his cum spilling out over his sac. She went limp against the bed, her every nerve alight with pleasure as he pulled out of her gently and noticed he was still hard.

    She lay on the bed and as he stood over her he spanked her rear while smiling devilishly as she lay limp enjoying the high from so many climaxes. He saw she was leaking his seed from her tunnel and it made him proud to know he¡¯d filled her so full. ¡°Goddamn you¡¯re a good lay.¡± He said before walking to the bathroom to clean up. A warm washcloth did wonders and he saw his skin turning back to normal as his cock deflated, finally going limp after his orgasm.

    He wet another cloth intending to help her clean up and as he turned back to the door he heard a scream split the air.

 Chapter 3

    The scream filled the hotel room, Lucian¡¯s head shot up and he raced out of the bathroom to see Carl against the wall with panic on his face, his hands raised to keep his face protected. On the bed was Bonnie, and she didn¡¯t look a thing like she had a few minutes before. Her hair was pale white, her skin alabaster, and her mouth stretched wide as the scream erupted from her mouth and turned into a wailing sound.

    ¡°Lucian White, death follows you incubi.¡± She went silent and Lucian stared at her a second before rushing to the bed to see what he could do to help. Bonnie was silent but she was awake, she stared at him with horror filled eyes. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I don¡¯t¡ª¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a banshee.¡± Carl said with disbelief. His eyes were wide but Lucian saw it wasn¡¯t fear or panic, it was out of surprise. ¡°But, but I thought your race was dead.¡±

    She looked at him and tried to push herself up to gather her clothes, but Lucian stood in front of her and held up his hands. ¡°You know what I am and you¡¯re supernatural too.¡±

    ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t explain¡ª¡±

    ¡°What is there to explain? You¡¯re a banshee, you predict death and wail when someone close is going to die. He¡¯s a panther dude, and I¡¯m a sex demon. There, all caught up no need to freak out.¡±

    She looked between them and looked at Lucian. ¡°It was your name I wailed, you¡¯re the one that death follows, which means you¡¯re in trouble.¡±

    ¡°I already know that. Carl¡¯s been telling me how much trouble I¡¯m in, I¡¯m just waiting to find someone holding a gun to my head.¡±

    ¡°Did you see anything when you wailed?¡± Carl asked her as he pushed away from the wall and adjusted himself so his cock was back inside his jeans.

    ¡°That is a very rare ability. I don¡¯t know anyone who¡¯s had it since my grandmother was alive and that was a very long time ago.¡± She looked them both over and then her eyes stuck on Lucian¡¯s face, ¡°You¡¯re a sex demon right?¡± he nodded. ¡°That explains a lot of tonight then, I¡¯m normally not the type to just go screw some guy first time I see him, but with you it was hard to say no. Hell after what you did in the restaurant I was walking around soaked and actually wished I wore panties today.¡±

    ¡°Why did you go without today?¡± he asked, he was curious if she wasn¡¯t the type to just sleep around why work in such a skimpy outfit.

    ¡°Honestly? It¡¯s because some of the older men like to see my bare ass and when they see it they end up tipping me more. I should be working at a strip club but this is the closest place to where I live so¡­¡±

    Lucian smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Well, if it makes you feel any better I know I¡¯d tip better if I saw that ass.¡±

    She grinned at him, ¡°It does, but something tells me we aren¡¯t going to see each other again. Not after the wail.¡± Her eyes downcast she stared at the floor, wishing she wasn¡¯t a banshee, that she didn¡¯t have to wail.

    ¡°Pfft I don¡¯t care about that, from what I¡¯ve seen I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°You might not be¡­¡± Carl said chiming in. He sat down and stared up at him, ¡°If you¡¯re the target of someone you need to take it seriously, depending on who they send after you they might not be a pushover like that vampire was.¡± He looked Lucian dead in the eye. ¡°There¡¯s plenty you can do to fight them, different ways to kill them, but you can¡¯t take it so blas¨¦ and stay alive.¡±

    Lucian thought about his friend¡¯s words, was it just luck that he won against that vampire? Or was it something else, maybe the vampire wasn¡¯t in his right mind and it was easier to take him out because of it? Maybe the adrenaline flowing was enough since he didn¡¯t want his friend to die? ¡°Then I guess you¡¯ll just have to make sure I can fight these things.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±

    ¡°What about the blood sports?¡± Bonnie asked as she began getting dressed.

    ¡°Blood sports? Like boxing?¡± Lucian asked.

    ¡°No, much worse. It¡¯s basically gladiator matches with supernatural creatures, and while there¡¯s no weapons that get thrown in you can use whatever your natural abilities are so I could shift into a panther and rip into a vampire with my claws.¡± Carl stared at her closely. ¡°How do you know about those? It¡¯s like fight club, no one talks about it.¡±

    Bonnie began fidgeting a bit as she dressed and lied. ¡°I heard about it from my roommate a few months ago.¡±

    Carl stared at her and Lucian began dressing too. ¡°Either way it doesn¡¯t matter man, we gotta get moving since I changed again, those freaks¡¯ll be after me.¡±

    ¡°Fuck, yea we gotta get moving.¡± Carl moved and grabbed his bag, he hadn¡¯t even unpacked and they had to run.

    ¡°So soon? That¡¯s no fun.¡± She said poutily as she reached for Lucian¡¯s hand and held it tight. ¡°Can we have just another few hours?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we aren¡¯t going to have the time for that.¡± He kissed her hand and smiled at her. ¡°I would love another go around with you, but to be honest the longer I stay with you the more danger it puts you in.¡±

    Bonnie opened her mouth to say something and the door exploded inwards, shards of wood peppering them both. In the doorway stood a tall beast of a man, he was easily over six feet tall and bulky like a bodybuilder. His silhouette showed how massive his body was, and each of them were afraid to find out just how powerful he was.

    The man stepped over the splinters from the door and the inside light showed just how massive he was, with his arms fully muscled and barely keeping his shirt from splitting. His head found Lucian and he growled at him. ¡°Half-breed, you¡¯ll come with me.¡±

    Lucian found his voice, finally shaking the shock from his head and shook it. ¡°Hell¡¯s no.¡± As he reached for his jeans so he could pull his pistol the man tackled him to the floor.

    The beast pushed Lucian to the floor with one hand and the other massive paw he put on Lucian¡¯s throat. ¡°That wasn¡¯t a request. Come with me now and I¡¯ll spare your whore and friend.¡±

    Lucian felt the anger inside him rise, he could feel that now familiar feeling of the change coming on. His skin started to change color before he felt the temperature in the room drop drastically. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you.¡± He choked out as he grabbed the brutes thumb and wrenched back hard dislocating it and causing him to scream in pain.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill him.¡±

    The voice came from the other side of the room, everyone froze and looked up to see Bonnie go full banshee as she stood in front of the bed, still not fully dressed. Her hair was down past her ass and had changed to pure white, her eyes were sunken and ice blue as she stepped forward. Her skin was alabaster and Lucian felt a chill that went to his soul as she fixed her eyes on the beast he wrestled with.

    She stared at him let out a wail, it slammed into his body and sent him flying backwards into the wall next to the doorframe. Lucian stared up at her in awe. ¡°You do not call me a whore and live to tell the tale.¡± She stepped over Lucian and as the beast stirred she sent another wail into his face, driving it into the wall itself. ¡°I know, you wolves don¡¯t like high pitched sounds do you?¡± she reached out and put a hand on his head, leaning in close so her mouth was next to his ear.

    Bonnie was launched backwards, a thud echoing through the room as she slammed into the floor with a sickening crunch, she left a painful cry and lay still. Carl shifted into his panther form and launched himself at the beast man, his claws fully extended. He stuck the landing on the man¡¯s arm, his claws rending flesh as it struck over and over at his arm as he tried to bite his throat out. The beast kept moving his head to and fro keeping Carl from being able to sink into his flesh and hold fast.

    ¡°He¡¯s a werewolf Lucian.¡± He turned at the sound and saw Bonnie trying to move ever so gingerly towards the bed while laying on her back. ¡°He heals quickly, but if I can get close to his ears I can pierce his eardrums, my wail will turn his brain to mush and he won¡¯t be able to keep attacking you.¡±

    Lucian stared at her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. ¡°I think I know a way to stop him without risking you getting hurt even worse.¡±

    He stood and tried to center himself while his friend dealt with the werewolf, he focused on bringing out his demon, his darker nature. Trying to get his claws to come out so he could behead the wolf and end this fight once and for all. As he tried to focus on protecting his friend¡¯s, thinking it would bring the demon out quicker like the vampire he¡¯d killed just hours ago, he heard something else outside. Talking, voices saying their room number.

    Lucian¡¯s eyes opened when he realized the wolf had backup, there were more of his kind coming to assist him. Giving up on bringing out his demon he went to the next best thing. His duffle bag, and he pulled out the pistol he hid there for an in case of emergency scenario.

    Taking out the gun he checked to make sure it was loaded and that he had the speed loaders still in their case before turning it on the wolf in their room. ¡°Carl, down!¡± he shouted making the panther drop to the floor. Lucian fired the hand cannon just a few feet away, aimed right at the wolf¡¯s forehead.

    Before he knew what hit him the bullet pounded into his skull and straight through, the man dropped like a lead balloon as the raport of the gun filled the air. The voices outside became angry and he could hear them rushing up the stairs now. Keeping his pistol aimed at the doorway, waiting for his next victim.

    A head popped around the frame and he fired a shot that caught the man just above his left eye. He dropped to the ground dead. The gun¡¯s raport filled the room as another wolf came rushing to the door, this one was larger than the other two and when Lucian fired he hit him in the chest, but it didn¡¯t drop him.

    Three more of them came in and they took fire from Lucian as they swarmed him and Carl, using their numbers to try to subdue them.

    Lucian felt his anger rise as he tried to fight them off, one of them was on his chest trying to choke him while the other was attempting to rip the gun from his hand. Bonnie screamed and his eyes changed, his anger winning out.

    His body began changing and the wolf on his chest started hammering his right fist into Lucian¡¯s face, once the second fist connected with his nose Lucian felt a starburst of pain that only fueled him more. Letting go of the gun he brought his hand up and sliced through the front of one man¡¯s shirt, leaving blood trailing his chest.

    Bucking his body to twist he threw the other wolf off of his chest and popped up to a crouch with his hands down and outstretched by his sides, one claw glistening with blood. The wolf stood and Lucian launched himself into his chest claws first, with both a roar and his weight behind him he drove the wolf into the wall by the TV. Lucian stared into his eyes as he twisted his hands ripping his skin even more causing the wolf to howl in pain before Lucian pulled one hand and slashed the wolf¡¯s throat with a quick strike.

    He looked to his friend and saw him rip out his attacker¡¯s throat with his teeth, blood spurted and he fell dead, Carl dropped to his paws and looked towards Bonnie. She lay on the ground, the final wolf above her with two clawed fingers pressed against her throat ready to take her life.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to surrender or I¡¯ll slit her throat.¡± The wolf demanded as he pressed his nails into her throat, drawing a bead of blood to show his seriousness.

    ¡°No, you are going to die before either of us surrenders.¡± Lucian said as he started towards the man. His training was kicking in, he was calm, but his adrenaline was surely racing through his veins. He kept his hands loose in case he needed to use his claws, he only wished he¡¯d been able to keep a hold on his gun.

    The wolf kept his eyes on the pair, focused on their movements, on every minuscule movement. As he started to lift Bonnie up he realized his mistake as she wailed into his body and sent him up and backwards away from her. He slammed into the bed and bounced off onto the floor in a heap.

    Lucian went to her, pressing a finger against her neck he tried to see how badly she was hurt and she whimpered in pain. ¡°Get him, keep him alive though.¡± She begged him and he nodded to her before he stomped over to the fallen wolf, Carl shifted back to his human form and picked up Lucian¡¯s gun and aimed it at the wolf¡¯s head.

    His anger was almost too much and Lucian grabbed the wolf by his throat, squeezing just a little tighter than needed as he stared into his eyes. ¡°Who sent you?¡±

    Rather than speak the wolf spat in his face, thick phlegm that he had to wipe off. ¡°Piss off.¡± He growled through gritted teeth.

    Lucian punched him in the nose, his fist breaking it at an angle and sending blood all over his own hand as he held the wolf down. Dropping another bomb he split the wolf¡¯s lip and then another one closed his right eye as it swelled almost immediately. ¡°Who sent you!¡± he yelled at the man.

    Before he could answer they heard a commotion outside and Carl looked out their window to see the gathering crowd of humans and knew someone would have the police there shortly. ¡°We¡¯ve got to hurry this up man, the human authorities will be here shortly and we can¡¯t really explain this to them.¡±

    ¡°Is there a back way out of here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just got to go through the window in the bathroom and drop a few feet to the ground.¡±

    Lucian thought about that a second before he jabbed the wolf again and put him out, he¡¯d have a massive headache when he woke up but it was better than killing him and losing valuable information. ¡°We can¡¯t leave her here or they¡¯ll think she¡¯s got something to do with this and arrest her for it.¡± Though he wasn¡¯t an expert on police he¡¯d seen enough innocents sent to jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even for being a victim and trying to get out of that cycle. It disgusted him but there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about the past.

    ¡°My back is broken, you¡¯ll have to leave me here. I¡¯ll tell them the truth, I was here to meet a customer, these guys showed up and I got injured in the crossfire.¡± She looked up at Lucian as she grabbed his hand in hers. ¡°I¡¯ll be okay, I can¡¯t feel my legs so they¡¯ll have to take me to a hospital but I should heal in a few days. It¡¯ll be fine I promise.¡±

    He looked between the unconscious wolf and the beauty laying before him and made a decision. ¡°Carl is there anything you can use to restrain him in the car?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s my leather cuffs, but those are for when I go to the club only.¡±

    ¡°Take him down the back, I¡¯ll carry Bonnie and we can get him in the trunk. I¡¯ll have to buy you some new cuffs is all. Is there a safe house nearby we can go to?¡±

    ¡°I might know somewhere¡± Bonnie said. ¡°If you can carry me we can make it.¡±

    Lucian smiled at her and scooped her up gently as Carl took the wolf and opened the window in the bathroom. It wasn¡¯t huge and he realized that there was no way he¡¯d get the man through it. He shook his head as he looked back at his friend. ¡°We can¡¯t go through the front, and if we go through the back we have to leave him here.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always a way. We just have to figure it out that¡¯s all.¡±

    Standing there they heard sirens in the distance, the local authorities would be there in less than five minutes.

 Chapter 4

    ¡°What are we going to do now?¡± Carl asked looking at the doorway.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to risk it, grab him and bring him with us down the front steps. There really isn¡¯t another option.¡± Lucian said.

    Carl picked up the unconscious wolf and threw him over his shoulders in a fireman¡¯s carry, stepped into the room and past the bed before looking back at his friend. ¡°Just so you know, it¡¯s going to take a decent bit to kill us, so if the cops shoot you don¡¯t worry too much. It¡¯ll hurt like hell, but unless they get a headshot you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Lucian nodded and held Bonnie closer. ¡°I¡¯ll keep you as safe as I can.¡±

    She smiled at him and caressed his cheek before he nodded to Carl that he was ready. They moved as quickly as they could out the door, once on the small open walkway connecting all eight rooms on the second level they rushed towards the stairs, the sounds of sirens increasing as the authorities got closer.

    Quite a crowd had gathered from the sounds of gunfire and the trio realized how lucky they¡¯d have to be to make it. Carl led the way down the stairs and pushed his way through the handful of people by the foot of the stairs, shouldering them away and clearing a path for Lucian and Bonnie.

    He sprinted for the car and everyone just stood there, some staring in disbelief and others using their damned phones to record everything as he threw the unconscious man in the trunk of his car and slammed it shut. Carl helped get Bonnie in the backseat and Lucian sat with her head on his lap, holding her hand as Carl got the car started and peeled out seconds before the police arrived.

    They were on a side-street attempting to follow the speed limit and not draw attention to themselves until they could get out of town. Carl kept a white knuckle grip on the wheel as they drove through the small town, he hoped they could get too somewhere safe soon enough.

    ¡°Take a left up here, the house is on Third and Sycamore.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re absolutely sure it¡¯s safe here right?¡± Carl couldn¡¯t help it, he had to know they¡¯d be safe until he could get Lucian where he needed to go.

    They wove through the streets trying to avoid both the police, and any other werewolves that were hunting them. The windows were kept up to keep their scent from escaping the car and luring their pursuers to them. ¡°It¡¯ll be safe, there¡¯s plenty of wards on it and it¡¯s a family home so there¡¯s a reason it¡¯s safe to any I allow in.¡±

    Carl didn¡¯t like the sound of that one bit but he couldn¡¯t refuse her help at this point. If it wasn¡¯t for her they might still be back there dealing with the human authorities and possibly dealing with a firefight that ended in their deaths, if the police were lucky that is.

    He drove a few more blocks and he knew he¡¯d found her house when he felt the aura around it. The fear was palpable as he got closer, but the house didn¡¯t look scary in the least. In fact it looked like a common colonial house complete with an American flag hanging off of a pole attached to the porch. But when they pulled into the driveway she explained the truth.

    ¡°This house has been in my family for generations, ever since before the revolutionary war it was a home to banshees, and because it¡¯s in my family line only those I choose to allow entry can enter it without consequences.¡± She tried to sit up some and the pain in the areas she could feel healing was excruciating.

    ¡°What sorts of consequences?¡± Lucian asked her as he helped her back to his lap while Carl turned off the car and got out.

    ¡°They¡¯ll feel a sense of foreboding, it¡¯ll get worse the longer they stay around. If they choose to try coming into the house without my permission they¡¯ll end up feeling all of the fear my victims have over my entire lifespan. It¡¯s paralyzed people before, it¡¯s even killed some back in the day. But we always make sure that we aren¡¯t going to harm an innocent. That is one thing my family is big on is we only harm the guilty.¡±

    ¡°This is a little crazy, you have a house that can scare people away. But it¡¯s safe for us?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m allowing you entry. Don¡¯t worry about the car, anyone passing by won¡¯t be able to see it anyway,¡± Carl looked at her funny and she explained. ¡°There¡¯s a glamour spell on the house that it only shows what I want it to show, and it hides what I don¡¯t want shown.¡±

    ¡°Well that¡¯s pretty convenient. Is there any other tricks this place has?¡±

    ¡°I wish it cleaned itself, but sadly I have to do that.¡± She said chuckling as Lucian helped her out of the car and to the front door. She pulled her key from her waist and once it was inserted she said ¡°It¡¯s okay, they¡¯re friends of mine.¡±

    It was said too thin air, but something was listening as they both felt the fear and foreboding suddenly lift off of their shoulders.

    ¡°That was amazing. Your house did that?¡± Lucian asked her and she nodded. ¡°Incredible. Now let''s get you inside and somewhere safe.¡± He took her in the front door and immediately saw the couch in the living room which was her middle room, he took her to it and lay her gently so she wouldn¡¯t be jarred too much. ¡°What are we going to do with that wolf?¡±

    Carl set his keys down and looked over the house. There was a small foyer when they first walked in and it broke off into two directions as well as a staircase that led upstairs, the middle room which was the living room with a couch and loveseat, her television and a rack of Blu-ray discs. One wall had some paintings and some black and white prints hanging on it and the other had a picture of her with a cap and gown on receiving a diploma in something from a woman.

    On the other side of the break was the kitchen with a tall counter bar, two stools and on the other side plenty of counter space to make any kitchen crazy happy for a lifetime. There was a small bowl on a stand next to the doorway for keys and such and he wondered just what sort of protections the house had against sound.

    ¡°Is this house soundproofed?¡± he asked her.

    ¡°No, however the garage is, if you take the wolf in there you can do whatever you want and no one will hear.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess we have our answer for that, mind if I take this chair and do you have any bungee cords or duct tape?¡± he asked her.

    ¡°In the garage and I have some gorilla tape out there. Don¡¯t worry about the chair though there¡¯s something better out there for you.¡± She said smiling and it was the first time her true dark nature came through, a smile creepy and cold enough it could have frozen both men solid.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    As he and Lucian walked to the car, after he¡¯d been assured by Bonnie that she would be okay, Carl explained a few things to him.

    ¡°Okay so here¡¯s the deal. There¡¯s a breakdown to the different races of creatures, most of us have a strict some are good, some are evil like with werewolves and shifters. Then there¡¯s the purely good creatures like the angels and the nymphs. But there¡¯s also the evil races like the vampires, and demons.¡±

    Lucian put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. ¡°Wait, if the demons are all supposed to be evil then why are you helping me? Are you evil too?¡±

    ¡°No man, it¡¯s because you are nothing like the other demons, you didn¡¯t even know you were one for how many years, that being said if you didn¡¯t know then you couldn¡¯t be influenced by it. Who knows how many other demons could have come out as good as you if they were raised by humans and not other demons?¡± he shook his head and opened the trunk. ¡°There¡¯s some separation between shifters because some of us are good like the panthers, the lions and a few others. But there are some shifters that give us a bad name, namely the ones who shift into snakes and dragons. The dragons are most definitely a story for another time, but suffice it to say there¡¯s some issues with my people that go skin deep and some that go soul deep.¡±

    He pulled the wolf from the car, he was still unconscious and it made him wonder if the damned thing was in a coma or something. But as he lifted the wolf¡¯s arms his eyes snapped open and he let out a howl. Lucian reacted and punched him in the jaw, hard, to make him stop. The wolf with limp again and he looked to Carl. ¡°How bad was that?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s not as bad as it normally is, that was a call for help and if the spells on the house don¡¯t keep the other wolves away, well we could have a dozen or more to deal with. The pack here isn¡¯t large but their packmaster is brother to the packmaster in Pittsburgh, a half hour for a wolf to run isn¡¯t really as much work as you¡¯d think.¡±

    He hefted the man and they walked him into the closed door of the garage, Carl lifted the door and they took him right inside before shutting it. They needed some sort of privacy before torturing the poor soul, right?

    Inside the garage they lay him on a work table near a circular saw, Lucian wondered if Bonnie used this space for torturing others or if she was the handy one out of the three. He used movers straps to anchor the wolf to the table so he couldn¡¯t move, one strap wrapped around his upper chest area, one around his midsection and wrists, and the last around his ankles. Lucian wasn¡¯t taking any chances here. Then they had the pleasure of waking him up.

    A slap to the face brought the wolf to the fore as Carl smirked and the man bucked against the restraints holding him, trying to get free from them, his teeth gnashing together as he fought. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± he screamed at them.

    ¡°No one will find you here. And we have all the time in the world right now, so how about you answer some questions for us and I keep my friend from exploring everything he can do to you with his incubi side?¡± Carl was good at threatening, and his words were delivered with such ice even Lucian felt a little afraid for the man.

    ¡°He¡¯s new, he can¡¯t do anything worthwhile.¡± The wolf spat back, venom dripped from each word.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, he¡¯s new. Just emerged and that means he doesn¡¯t have much control over his demon half. So if he can¡¯t keep enough control over his abilities, well you just might end up with your soul ripped from your body and you¡¯ll end up telling us what we want to know anyway. What¡¯s the point in fighting?¡± Carl leaned forward and placed a hand on the wolf¡¯s jaw, turned his head to stare him in the eye and let his hand begin shifting into the panther paw, his claws extended slightly so he could draw blood. ¡°Or if you want to do this the hard way, sorry, I mean the fun way¡­¡±

    The wolf stared at him with disdain but when he looked to Lucian he saw how excited he was and it terrified him. Lucian wondered just how much of what Carl said was improvisation and how much was truth, though he was a little worried to find out.

    ¡°If you promise to leave my soul alone, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± He finally said. He looked defeated and both men were excited they didn¡¯t have to torture him.

    ¡°Well damn, I was hoping for some excitement.¡± Carl said as he looked over to Lucian, then back at the man on the table. ¡°Who sent you after him?¡±

    ¡°My packmaster did, Michael, he runs the pack here, and his brother runs the one in Pittsburgh. I don¡¯t know who told him to send us, I just know he told us to get to the hotel as soon as possible.¡±

    Lucian cut Carl off before he could ask his next question. ¡°What exactly were your orders?¡± he asked as he moved closer to the table, his arms crossed over his chest.

    ¡°We were told to capture you, as unharmed as possible. But you were supposed to be killed if you got in our way. Michael doesn¡¯t like cats.¡± He said it with a snarl and Lucian wanted to slap him, Carl beat him to it and slapped the taste out of his mouth.

    Carl pulled his hand back to slap him again and Lucian grabbed him. ¡°So this Michael is interested in doing what exactly? Killing me? Torturing me? Huh?¡± he looked into the wolf¡¯s eyes as he tried to find out just what he was up against.

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s going to kill you alright, after a good bit of torture. He hates your kind with a burning passion.¡±

    ¡°Good, then where can I find him?¡± Lucian was done being nice, he couldn¡¯t do it any longer and he could feel something slipping inside his mind. It had to be his demonic side coming to the fore a little more with each question and each slap. It was a dark need to hurt someone, he could feel it deep in his very soul. Did he even have a soul?

    ¡°Find him? He finds you little man. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to be here any time now and when he is, woo-hoo this place is going to be burned to the ground. And he¡¯ll kill your friend without a second thought.¡±

    Lucian looked to Carl who was seething and asked him ¡°You said that I wouldn¡¯t be able to control taking his soul. How does that work exactly?¡± this got the wolf¡¯s attention as his eyes darted between the pair.

    ¡°From my understanding all you have to do is have a physical touch, get your mouth close to his and suck his soul out of his body. That might be the best thing you can do though, if you take it then it¡¯ll give you a boost and if his men are following so close then it¡¯ll be welcome.¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°I was thinking something different with it.¡± He whispered into Carl¡¯s ear and when he finished he stepped back and looked at the wolf.

    Carl rubbed his chin and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll work, I¡¯ve never heard of it before, but it¡¯s worth a shot at least.¡±

    Lucian leaned over the wolf and tried to keep some sort of control over the demon clawing at his mind, trying to break through the barrier. Lucian gripped the wolf¡¯s head tightly and forced him to stare into his eyes. ¡°This won¡¯t hurt me in the least.¡± He said as he tried to control how much of his demon he let out. Focusing on the demon inside him, he kept telling himself the same thing over and over to keep mental control over the beast.

    He could feel the thing take hold of him, could feel a slight change in the air as the hair on his arms rose, but his skin didn¡¯t change color nor did his claws extend. But the look in the wolf¡¯s eyes told him he was on the right path.

    Drawing in his breath he began to see the glow of the wolf¡¯s soul as it was dragged from his body. The ethereal blue of his soul pulled, it mirrored his face as Lucian did his best to swallow the soul, he could feel the power of it even before it entered him.

    He drew it in completely and the wolf fell back to the table, dead. His eyes lifelessly staring at the ceiling as Lucian felt the rush of power. ¡°Okay, now what do I do?¡± he asked as he stepped away from the now dead wolf.

    Carl led him into the house and up to Bonnie. ¡°So we might have some good news.¡± He told her as Lucian walked up and knelt next to her.

    ¡°I hope I do this right.¡± He said as he placed a hand under her head and drew her in for a kiss. Using his mind he forced the soul he¡¯d just taken into her body, and he felt himself harden at the feelings it stirred in him and he smelled her arousal, knowing she was just as excited as he was. Leaning back he smiled at her and held out his hand.

    She took it and he helped her stand up, she was using her legs now and he couldn¡¯t help but smile at it. ¡°This is amazing! I didn¡¯t know you could heal me like that.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure I could either, but I had to try something because we¡¯ll need the help. That wolf told us who was after us, and we¡¯re going to need your help fighting them off.¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°They won¡¯t know what hit them when we¡¯re done with them.¡± She did a spin just to make sure it was real, that she¡¯d healed a hell of a lot quicker than she normally would. Then waived them to follow her as she walked out to the foyer and up the stairway to the second floor. She took them along the open hallway to the second door on the left and opened it. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be covered if they try anything here.¡± She said as they walked into the room and realized just what it held.

    It was her own armory.

 Chapter 5

    They looked at the room, at all of the weapons there and grins broke out on both of their faces. There were a few different models of both pistol and rifles, about thirty weapons in all and more than enough ammo for the coming storm. On the far wall was a large work station that had multiple drawers and a vice grip at each side, on the right wall there was a gun cabinet with a glass front, the rifles standing up and next to those inside the safe were a few boxes of ammo. To the left there were hooks on the wall that held different size blades from machetes to boot knives.

    Lucian was the first into the room and he grabbed a 1911, checked the slide and looked down the sight before he mimed holstering it and glanced back at her. ¡°Is this really all for us to use?¡± he asked as he eyed up the extra magazines.

    ¡°It¡¯s all been taken from the men and women who¡¯ve tried to kill me, and a few personal purchases of course.¡± She said as she walked up to the Mossberg tactical shotgun and caressed the side of it, ¡°When I saw this one in the hands of the man who killed my older sister I just had to take it from him. He wasn¡¯t able to use it after I was finished with him anyways.¡± She looked the weapon over lovingly, it sent a chill down Lucian¡¯s spine to see her look at it so.

    ¡°What other defenses does this house have? If they are really going to come attack us here we need to be prepared.¡±

    ¡°Other than the wards that cause people to go mad when they try to enter there¡¯s these weapons. Honestly we banshees never had to worry about someone attacking us in our homes before, even when that freak Dugan tried to kill us for his god he wasn¡¯t able to break our defenses.¡±

    Lucian couldn¡¯t believe the venom he heard in her voice as she spoke, it made him wonder just how many of her sisters this Dugan had killed. And just how vicious she was when she finally got her revenge.

    ¡°Then we should be able to kill them easily enough.¡± He said as he picked up another pistol, this one a Taurus Judge revolver, one that would pack a hell of a kick and the .45 caliber round through the head of any wolf would end their existence. ¡°I¡¯ll need some speed loaders for this thing, got any in here somewhere?¡±

    She showed him the drawer where the accessories were and he found an extra two speed loaders, then took a handful of .410 bore rounds and shoved them unceremoniously into his pants pocket.

    ¡°How long do you think we have until they get here?¡± he asked Bonnie.

    ¡°Not long if they¡¯ve been tracking him by scent. Werewolves are excellent trackers, there¡¯s nothing the wards on the house will do to keep them from finding him, just keep them from getting inside.¡± She hung her head, ¡°I¡¯m sorry there isn¡¯t more I can do to protect everyone.¡±

    ¡°You might not, but I might.¡± Carl pulled out his mobile and began dialing a number as he walked out of the room, ¡°Give me one minute and I might be able to get us some help.¡± He began speaking into the phone as he moved to another room, leaving them alone for the first time since they¡¯d met.

    He set the revolver down and stepped up to her, taking one of her hands in his. ¡°How are you feeling since the soul transfer?¡±

    ¡°I feel like I have energy to spare honestly, like I just can¡¯t use it all up. And the healing it did for me, it¡¯s extraordinary. I never thought I¡¯d heal that quickly anymore.¡± She said as she looked into his eyes and smiled.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    He could feel the pull, that feeling of not only lust, but of something more. Something worthwhile, as he stared into her eyes, those beautiful pools of ice, and tilted his head to hers. Their lips touched and he could feel the electricity in the air. He pressed a hand to the small of her back, pulling her to his chest as her arms encircled his neck.

    Lucian lifted her and felt his incubi stir, it was enough to jar him back to reality and he set her down, breaking their kiss, and took three steps backwards. ¡°Fuck, how can I kiss you if I can¡¯t control this fucking beast?¡±

    She put her hands on his shoulders, he looked down at the floor, he was so embarrassed because it was just like going through puberty. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay, you just have to calm down and focus. Find your center and you¡¯ll be able to start making contact with him.¡±

    ¡°Making contact in what way?¡±

    ¡°Talking to him. You¡¯re half demon which means your demon half is inside you and you need to find a balance with it. It¡¯s like two becoming one. Your self and the demon self working in harmony which means you¡¯ll have access to all of the power without worrying about going too far.¡± She kissed his cheek and smiled at him, ¡°Does that make sense?¡±

    He just stared down at her as everything processed. ¡°So, it¡¯s literally another consciousness in my mind, and that¡¯s what happens when it feels like I¡¯m losing control. I really am because someone else is taking over me.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But it also means that you can control it with time.¡±

    Carl walked back to the room, cursing under his breath. ¡°So, good news and bad news.¡± He said as he walked in and looked between the two of them before saying, ¡°Oookay¡­ so the good news is the rest of my family and the shifter council, and they¡¯ve agreed to help us, they¡¯ll send some good soldiers.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the bad news then?¡± Lucian asked.

    ¡°They won¡¯t be here for another three hours between getting their gear and the travel time. So if they attack us before then we¡¯ll be screwed.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess we hope for the best.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to explain to him how to control his demon, didn¡¯t you explain anything to him yet?¡± she yelled at Carl who raised his hands defensively.

    ¡°Look in my defense first I had to keep him from killing my friend, then help calm him down after he killed a vampire, then oh yeah, he had to fuck you and get attacked again. So I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t have a chance do any real explaining.¡±

    She stared at him, locking eyes and staring him down for a few seconds before Lucian stepped between them. ¡°I mean in Carl¡¯s defense as soon as I saw you I wasn¡¯t listening to a damned thing he said, he could have told me the secrets to the universe and I wouldn¡¯t have been listening.¡± He said this as he flashed her that million dollar smile and she melted, leaned against him and tilted her head up so he could kiss her quickly and wrap his arms around her.

    ¡°Just be happy those words work on me mister or I would rip you a new one.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. You just tell me when and where and my body is all yours.¡±

    ¡°How about my room in twenty? I need to wash all this sweat off.¡±

    ¡°I could join you, make it real fun.¡±

    She smiled and kept a hand on his and began pulling him towards the hall.

    ¡°Hey! Look I get it you guys wanna have some fun to pass the time but we need to keep ourselves ready for either the rest of the shifters to arrive or for the wolves to get here.¡±

    ¡°Damn, you gotta be a mood killer don¡¯t you?¡± he replied as he stared daggers at him.

    ¡°Cock blocker.¡± She said before she looked back at him. ¡°I told you there¡¯s plenty of wards on this house, if anyone even your shifters, come within ten feet of the door it¡¯ll scream at them and we will hear bells ringing.¡±

    ¡°Good, then let''s go have some fun.¡± Lucian said with a growl to his voice, he knew his eyes were changing and his cock began to harden.

    ¡°Focus sweetie, focus on your center.¡± She pressed her hands to his temples and looked into his eyes. Trying to make some kind of contact with his demon before it got out of control. ¡°Focus on my voice. You can control it, you can come to some sort of understanding with him.¡±

    Carl stood by and stared at them both, waiting for some sign that either his friend lost the battle or he¡¯d taken back control.

    Lucian stared into her eyes, the color began changing, slowly fading as she continued to talk to him. Telling him to just focus on her voice and that he would be okay. They all began hearing bells ringing, the sound echoing throughout the house telling them the wolves were at the door.

 Chapter 6

    Lucian¡¯s eyes changed to a bright red, his body bulging slightly but his skin was still the same color, his claws still fingernails. He let a growl rumble through his chest and into the back of his throat. ¡°Aslam maku!¡± was all he said before pushing away from her and bolting for the front door, Taurus Judge drawn. The ringing from the defensive wards were enough to let them know someone was there.

    ¡°What the fuck did he just say?¡± she looked at Carl as he grabbed a shotgun from the rack and pumped it with eight rounds.

    ¡°He just said ¡®death to all¡¯ and it¡¯s not good. His demon has more control than he does right now.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Without any training? Hell no, he could do almost anything and he probably won¡¯t feel bad even if he destroyed the whole block.¡± He ran to Lucian, hoping to keep his friend from losing control.

    Lucian was at the door, his gun drawn, his other hand on the doorknob ready to throw it open and unleash hell. Bullets tore through the windows, glass flying everywhere, as the wolves called for them to surrender. ¡°Fuck that.¡± He said, throwing open the door he brought his pistol up to the closest one and fired, the round slicing through it¡¯s throat and dropping him as his hand went to his neck to stem the blood.

    There were a dozen of them on the grass and as the first went down they began firing at Lucian. He ducked to the side and the bullets hit empty air as they moved closer, advancing on the house. Looking at them Lucian wondered just what the hell the wards were supposed to be doing, none of them looked like they were in pain from the shreiking, and he couldn¡¯t hear anything other than the ringing. Could wards go bad and need to be recast? He wondered. But there was no time for that, he had to get his demon under control, and this would be the best way to do it. Lucian looked to his friend, Carl was a few feet from the door against the front wall holding his shotgun muzzle pointed down.

    Outside was a large black van, no windows, and some of the wolves used the vehicle as cover as they covered their pack mates walking to the door.

    One of the wolves walked through the door, his rifle up, an AR-15. Carl brought the muzzle up and fired into his shoulders and neck and the wolf was sent sideways landing next to Lucian, with how his neck was torn open there was no doubt he was dead.

    The second wolf through the door turned his rifle at Carl and took a round from the Judge to the back of his head, Lucian wasn¡¯t taking any chances now. As the next wolf tried to come into the house Bonnie came up with her tactical shotgun, but rather than fire at him she wailed, a focused burst at the intruder that sent him sprawling backwards into another and they toppled backwards into the next two, landing in a heap of limbs at the bottom of the first four steps leading to the front door.

    She rushed to the opening and began firing into the mass of bodies, her first shot taking the head of the wolf on top, her next taking the right arm of the one under him. The next two were just aimed in their directions before she was pulled back into the house by Lucian. Turning around she was about to rip him a new one when she saw his eyes and recoiled.

    She hadn¡¯t seen his demon like this, it sent chills down her spine as she saw the darkness there and he pushed her to the side, to safety but also putting himself in the line of fire. Putting himself in harm¡¯s way and she couldn¡¯t believe she was letting him do it. But she was afraid to tell him no.

    He pointed to the armory and began walking backwards, pistol trained on the door and she took his unspoken command in stride. His pistol was good, but it would run out of ammo soon, and if they were coming into the house he needed something better for home protection than a pistol. Lucian needed one of the other fun toys Bonnie kept in her armory.

    Carl backed up towards the kitchen countertop and ducked behind it, keeping him from view and giving him a spot to ambush them.

    Lucian and Bonnie were almost fully to the armory before the next pair of wolves came into the house. ¡°You should know you won¡¯t win. There¡¯s more of us on their way here. Just surrender and we won¡¯t kill your friends¡¯ abomination.¡± The first one called out as another pair followed behind them, their weapons moving as they checked their corners looking for targets.

    Carl popped up and fired a shell into one¡¯s back and dropped him before sending another into his partners chest, dropping for cover and hoping Lucian was able to get what he was looking for. He found for the first time that he wished he hadn¡¯t hid his friend¡¯s true nature, having a fully trained demon, even a half demon, on his side in a spot like this would have been even better than him having the shotgun. Especially if he could fully harness his abilities, that would be the most terrifying shit he¡¯d ever get to see.

    The two wolves began firing on the countertop, sending bits of it flying into the air and down over Carl¡¯s body. They stepped towards him firing the whole way in short bursts, thinking they¡¯d be able to flank him and end him quickly. One began moving around to the opening while the other walked closer to the counter itself, one to fire around the other to fire over. There¡¯d be not doubt one of them would kill the panther.

    Lucian roared as he came leaping off of the walkway on the second floor, a pair of machetes in his hands, curved kukri machetes. The first wolf looked up and he drove the blades into his skull and drove him to the floor. As the second tried to bring his rile around Carl shot his right calf and dropped him to one knee, his rifle clattered to the floor and Lucian put a foot to the dead wolf¡¯s head as he ripped his blades from him. He brought them back in a deadly arc and took the wounded wolf¡¯s head off with a powerful blow.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°More of them are on the way, because that¡¯s supposed to scare us right?¡± Lucian asked Carl as his eyes began returning to normal and his body began to settle. Just as another wolf came through the doorway and sprayed a burst of automatic fire in an arc that took Carl in the shoulder and Lucian was hit with five rounds in his back across his shoulder blades.

    He dropped to his hands and knees, dropping the machetes as he did so. Bonnie sent a shriek at him and he dropped his weapon to grab his ears. She grabbed his hands and pulled one away, leaning close she wailed into his ear, turning his brain to mush as she did and his eyes went wide as her voice killed him as sure as a beheading would have. She pushed his body back and he fell to the floor in a heap, she dropped to her knees next to Lucian as he fought to keep awake, Carl staggered to his feet as his shoulder wound began healing on it¡¯s own, the bullet pushing away from the bone as his body began to reknit itself.

    ¡°Focus on me, take a little of my energy, you can survive if you do that.¡±

    ¡°He needs a good bit of energy though, he needs more than you can safely give him right now.¡± Carl tried to tell her as he brought his shotgun up to cover the door.

    Lucian¡¯s eyes began changing as his body followed and he heard the next two wolves coming into the house and he spun. Launching himself at them he drove them into the floor with his bulk and ripped one¡¯s throat out while he focused on the other¡¯s body and let his demon take over. He focused on the wolf¡¯s energies and punched him hard enough in the chest to break his sternum and as the wolf exhaled in a rush, his powers kicked in and he began sucking his soul from his body.

    As the soul fought to keep from being eaten he let more of his demon out, it wasn¡¯t even conscious to him, it just happened. He could feel his body continue to change as his his demon began taking full control of his body. It was a strange feeling, this thing taking the drivers seat and knocking him back to the back seat. He could see what was happening, but he couldn''t stop it, not that he wanted to at this point.

    Lucian picked up the first machete he could find and tore out of the house, searching for the rest of the pack, he wouldn''t be satisfied until they were all gone. As he launched himself onto the front walkway he saw over a dozen of them standing there, two had what looked like RPG''s and even his demon understood what was happening.

    There were four trucks, large brand new Dodge Ram''s with more wolves climbing out of them every second. These were the reinforcements he was trying to avoid. And now they were in front of the house. He hoped the other shifters would be there soon because they were sorely outnumbered.

    Dropping the machete he turned and was in the house in a second, grabbing Bonnie around the waist as he drove her backwards into the cabinets under her countertop. "Down!" he yelled.

    Carl looked at him and brought his shotgun around and went for the door, praying he could stop whatever was out there. The first thing he saw was all the wolves, the second was the launchers. Before he could fire at them he felt the bullets hit him, he tried to fire the shotgun, but he couldn''t be sure it even hit anything it was supposed to. As he dropped forward onto the cement the first RPG went off and the grenade went through the window into the kitchen. The second went into the second floor window that was above and to the left of the kitchen. The double concussive blast sent shrapnel and debris flying everywhere.

    Lucian held Bonnie close, tight as he could, as the ceiling began coming down and he pressed her back against the cupboard doing his best to keep her safe. She tried to scream, her face a mask of fear, her lips forming the words, but nothing came out. He tried to tell her it would be okay, but he knew there was a slim chance they''d survive this. Leaning forward he whispered into her ear, "I love you." as the rest of the ceiling came down on top of him and everything went black for them both.

    ¡ª

    Carl vaguely felt the heat of the fire coming from the house, the drapes and furniture had to have gone up in flames, but he couldn''t move right, couldn''t get rolled over to see what was happening. One of the wolves walked up to him and he tried to smile, he could feel his arm and he raised it as best he could, flipping him the bird as he did so.

    The wolf grinned and kicked him in the face, knocking him out before picking him up. "He''s still alive, and he''s a panther. We can make some money off this feline trash." The wolf stood around average height, but he was not so average. Unlike his brothers he was not a muscle bound brute, he was very lanky with wiry muscles where as they were all the same bulky size with muscles on muscles on muscles.

    A few other wolves nodded their agreement and one dropped the tailgate of the truck they''d arrived in and he was thrown, unceremoniously, into the back. They weren''t worried about the coverage this would get, or about the heat it should bring to them, there were too many officials and officers in their pockets. In the pockets of the entire supernatural world for them to be worried about the existence of werewolves getting out.

    As they took their spots in the vehicles they looked one last time at the house as it burned and the two inside died from either injuries or smoke inhalation. But at least they had one prize from the endeavor. The lead wolf looked next to him at the passenger seat and smiled, ¡°You were right. This was easy with your spells.¡±

    In the passenger seat sat a man who looked to be in his mid fifties, with salt and pepper hair on both the top of his head and in his beard that hung to mid chest. The man that sat there just stared at him, as if he could see straight through to his soul with his piercing green eyes and said. ¡°Of course I was right. I told you the banshee would have defenses, I told you to take her alive as well because she would fetch a great sum. But you had to go for total destruction and level the house didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°There was no other choice! If we didn¡¯t do something extreme he was going to end us all!¡±

    ¡°I needed him alive! Do you want to spend the rest of your life as a toad? Because it might be cliche but I will do it if you continue to anger me. You could have asked for me to give your men a boost. I told you, ask and you shall receive, but if you are silent I won¡¯t do any spells for you. That was the deal Marcus.¡±

    He looked back at the road and took a deep breath so he didn¡¯t rip the spellcaster¡¯s head off. The wizened man was a necessary evil right now, but he could be a pain in the ass all the same. He still wondered what the hell the spellcaster needed with a half demon, granted it wasn¡¯t a sanctioned birth, but that couldn¡¯t be that big of a deal. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Atticus. I will think more the next time you follow us into battle.¡±

    ¡°Very well, you are forgiven.¡± He waived his hand and said something incomprehensible, Marcus looked sideways at him. ¡°Everyone will believe this was a gas leak that caused the explosion, and they¡¯ll all remember the same thing about the firefight. It was a very realistic episode of their favorite TV show.¡±

    ¡°But, you just said you weren¡¯t doing magic unless I asked you.¡±

    ¡°I said I won¡¯t do any spells for you. But there is a chance someone saw my face, and I can¡¯t have them remembering it in case they recognize me.¡± He settled back and stared out the windshield. ¡°I¡¯m not ready to rejoin the land of the living just yet.¡±

    They sat in silence the rest of the ride back to their headquarters.

 Chapter 7

    It was almost an hour after the explosion that the shifters arrived at Bonnie¡¯s house, or rather the wreckage of her house. Simon, one of Carl¡¯s litter mates, was the first to see the smoke and fire, there weren¡¯t any firefighters on scene, no police or medical personnel. He parked as close as he dared to the front lawn, which was also on fire in places, he rushed to the door, the fire was scary enough but he was terrified his brother was laying dead in the house.

    The door was blocked by debris and as he tried to move it he could hear his friends coming to help him, their combat boots slapping off the concrete. One was beside him in seconds and helped him lift a large piece of the front room¡¯s ceiling that was blocking them from even entering. Inside they saw there were support beams laying diagonally in the room beyond, a ton of ceiling tiles, a few small pieces of what was once furniture, and a beam lay in the kitchen by the counters.

    Simon began moving towards the back of the house when one of his close friends put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I smell blood coming from the kitchen, let''s look there first.¡±

    He was grateful for the hounds help in the search, his sense of smell was no where near as heightened as the hounds, a shifter that only turned into a bloodhound he was one of the best hunters in the whole group. He was also one of three non-feline shifters they allowed to come with them anywhere. As the old adage goes, dogs and cats don¡¯t get along well. But there were some exceptions to the rule.

    They turned to the kitchen and Simon heard a voice calling for help and they all rushed to the pile. Working frantically they pulled debris away as quickly as was safe, the beam still didn¡¯t look stable enough to move but they weren¡¯t sure if they could get whoever was under everything out without moving it.

    He got more moved and could see a delicate white hand reaching out, he grasped it and knew it belonged to a female, definitely not his brother.

    ¡°He¡¯s trapped under here too, please save him!¡± she pleaded with them, tears streaming down her face as one of the shifters, a leopard, tried to pull her to safety, but as she moved she could feel her leg was broken and she cried out in pain. ¡°Please, just get him out. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±

    Simon nodded to the man and he held onto her arm, reached an arm around her back and the rest of them began lifting the beam and moving the tiles underneath. It wasn¡¯t his brother, but there was another male underneath everything. He and the hound, Crowley, began pulling the man while the leopard, Jamar, began pulling the female from the pile.

    ¡°Lucian! Lucian wake up!¡± she called out as she was lifted and held like a baby.

    The man didn¡¯t stir, but Simon couldn¡¯t be sure he didn¡¯t see his chest move at least a little bit. ¡°Do you know where Carl is?¡± he asked the woman as Crowley lifted the man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

    ¡°Carl? You must be his pack, he was outside, just outside the door. Those wolves must have buried him the same as us.¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°There¡¯s not much debris on the lawn honey, and what¡¯s there isn¡¯t enough to hide a body.¡±

    ¡°They took him then, what do they want with your brother?¡± Jamar asked him as they moved outside, hoping to escape the house before it completely burnt down.

    Simon made sure they brought Bonnie and Lucian to the trucks, and he pulled a first aid kit from the toolbox on the back of the truck cab. ¡°What are you?¡± he asked her without any preamble as Jamar set her down and he looked at her leg. It didn¡¯t look bad for a break, it wasn¡¯t a compound fracture which was the good part, but as he touched the leg he could feel it was broken in three places, they¡¯d need to cast it and hope she could heal quickly.

    She looked at him, but didn¡¯t answer. ¡°How is Lucian? Is he going to survive?¡±

    ¡°Honey, I¡¯m sure your husband appreciates how much you care for him, but I need to know how you heal which means I need to know what you are.¡± When she still looked at him he sighed, ¡°Okay it¡¯s like this, I¡¯m trained as a doctor and you have three breaks to your left leg. If it doesn¡¯t heal right it¡¯ll need rebroken and reset or it¡¯ll need left that way for the rest of your life. I need to know how quickly you heal so I know how long we have to cast it so it can heal properly.¡±

    Her tone was soft, barely a whisper as she said, ¡°Banshee.¡± And kept her eyes low.

    The look on his face said it all, his eyes wide, his jaw slack he stared at her and managed to bring down his emotionless mask he used at the hospital. ¡°Then you¡¯ll be fine until we can get you to the clinic.¡±

    ¡°Please I can¡¯t go to a hospital, there¡¯ll be questions about¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking you to the hospital, I¡¯m going to take you to the clinic I work at. It¡¯s going to be alright.¡± He looked to see if Lucian was in the back of the truck and nodded. ¡°Jamar lets get to the clinic.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡± He said and sped down the road heading for New Haven and the preternatural clinic. Lucian lay in the back on the truck bed, two panthers lay with him trying to keep him as steady as possible as they broke the speed limit to get him somewhere safe.

    All Simon could think about was that Lucian might have some more information that would lead him to his brother.

    ¡ª

    Lucian stirred awake inside the clinic, in one of the many hospital beds. He grasped the white linen bedsheet and blinked a few times to clear his vision and looked around trying to figure out where he was. A Latina woman wearing nurses scrubs came in and her eyes widened as she saw him looking around and began calling behind her for Dr. Veers.

    As she moved to his side another man came in, someone who looked a lot like Carl, but wasn¡¯t Carl. He wore a white coat, and was pulling a stethoscope from around his neck as he walked up to Lucian¡¯s side. ¡°Lucian White, I¡¯m not quite sure about your age, but I am sure that you¡¯re the closest lead I have to finding my brother.¡± He said as he took Lucian¡¯s wrist and looked at his wristwatch. ¡°Take a couple deep breaths for me please.¡± He said pressing the cold steel to his chest and moving it as he took a few deep breaths.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± he asked as the haze from his concussion began lifting. ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Bonnie?¡± his voice changed as he asked that question, his heart rate spiked and the monitors he was hooked up to began sounding off with alarms.

    ¡°Calm down a bit son, she¡¯s fine, you¡¯re in a clinic for preternatural creatures like yourself. And Bonnie will be fine, her leg is healing nicely right now, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be happy to come see you, after all she¡¯s been trying to ignore doctor¡¯s orders and get herself to your side.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Lucian stared at him, ¡°You¡¯re Carl¡¯s brother aren¡¯t you?¡± he waited for the doctor to nod, ¡°Did you find him at the house?¡±

    ¡°No, Bonnie said that the last she saw he was near the front door, so she assumed he was on the front lawn, but we didn¡¯t find him there.¡±

    ¡°Michael, we have to find him and we¡¯ll find your brother.¡± Lucian was starting to sit up as his heart rate spiked. ¡°He¡¯s going to pay for this, he¡¯s dead.¡± His voice turned to a growl, his eyes and skin changing color as he gripped the bedrail and crushed it easily.

    Simon stared as he took a step back. ¡°Shit you really are a half-breed.¡± When Lucian stared at him, correction, stared daggers, he explained. ¡°Carl told me some of what was going on and I¡¯ll be honest I thought he was being fooled by you, a half-breed incubus? One that wasn¡¯t approved of to boot? In our society that is just crazy talk. But seeing you start your emergence tells me that he wasn¡¯t joking around. And that you and he are in some serious trouble.¡±

    ¡°I need to find him.¡±

    ¡°I have the rest of my brothers working on it, we¡¯ll find his location don¡¯t worry.¡± He tried to push Lucian back onto the bed saying ¡°You need to take it easy till you¡¯re fully recovered. You had a nasty concussion and we weren¡¯t sure you¡¯d wake up, but there were also three broken ribs, and your left hand had some nasty breaks from the rubble that nearly crushed you.¡±

    He glared at the doctor and suddenly they heard screeching and both of them looked to the door to see Bonnie come flying in in a wheelchair and headed right for his bed. As soon as she got to his side he threw his arms around her and lifted her without any effort, relief flooding him at seeing she was safe. Pressing his lips to hers he kissed her roughly, passionately as if he hadn¡¯t seen her for years and not hours.

    ¡°Are you okay? I know we were under that rubble a while and you weren¡¯t waking up. I tried getting him to let me stay in here while we waited for you to wake up and he refused.¡± She sent a glare at Simon.

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you why I wouldn¡¯t let you in here. You just don¡¯t want to listen because you¡¯re hard headed. I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve been healing well though.¡±

    ¡°What happened to you in the house? What needs to heal?¡± Lucian asked her and looked her body up and down and saw the splint on her leg. His hand touched her gently, softly as she melted against him.

    ¡°I¡¯m almost done healing, it was a break but nothing bad.¡± She tried to keep him from worrying but she was sure he still would.

    ¡°Her leg was broken in three places, and she didn¡¯t want to admit what she was so I would know how fast her healing is. I haven¡¯t put either of your species on the papers, as far as anyone here will know is that I was helping some friends. They¡¯ll assume you¡¯re both panthers like myself and never think twice about it.¡±

    He nodded to the man, he wasn¡¯t sure how safe it would be if her identity was found out, but from the wolves attacking him he knew it was a death sentence to anyone that harbored them. ¡°Thank you for risking that, but we need to find your brother now. I can heal on the way there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not going to work, you need at least a day of healing to get yourself back to your normal self.¡±

    ¡°He can be ready before then,¡± she said as she kissed him again and reached down to cup him through the hospital gown.

    Lucian growled and his eyes flashed as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed his way down her neck. ¡°Leave.¡± Was all he said before he reached down and ripped the gown aside to reveal his engorged member.

    Simon didn¡¯t need told twice and was gone even as the musk hit his nostrils and caused his member to harden. He shut the door as he made sure the blinds were drawn and no one would see them. He stood by just to make sure they weren¡¯t interrupted, a horny incubi was dangerous, an angry, horny incubi? He didn¡¯t want to find out what would happen then.

    ¡°Are you sure your leg is fine?¡± Lucian asked as he pulled her gown apart and sighed as he saw her naked flesh. Gods above how he wanted her, every which way he could have her. But he had to be sure she¡¯d be safe.

    ¡°Fuck me and you¡¯ll find out.¡± She said teasingly as she reached down and lightly drug her nails against the underside of his cock.

    He pulled her up and slid his entire length into her willing flesh. She was ready to go thanks to his musk, her pussy slick with her own juices, her breasts bouncing as she was slammed onto him, and engorged from her arousal. She swore as he pushed his entire length in and lifted her to thrust. She was tight against him, and loosening with each movement, he couldn¡¯t believe how much he cared for her already.

    Lucian took one hand and placed it on her nipple, kneading the flesh around it and gently twisting the nipple even as his mouth found the other and suckled like a babe. She came, her juices flowing over his cock as he thrust faster into her.

    ¡°Fuck, Lucian, ugh.¡± She moaned as he bucked his hips and began thrusting piston like into her warm core. Bonnie called out as another orgasm shattered her and made her go limp against him. He pulled her down to kiss her mouth and felt his balls tighten, he was already close, and he needed the boost. Kissing her he drew a portion of her own energy out and began consuming it, the blue hue filling the space between their mouths as he grunted and broke contact, afraid of taking too much.

    He thrust once more and felt his climax, he convulsed inside her, his cock sending rope after rope of his seed deep inside her, the short thrusts he performed milking his cock for all it was worth. She slumped against him and he felt everything become even sharper and he knew it had worked. Knew she would need to heal as well and he kissed her, pushing a little of his own energy into her, just enough to heal her leg.

    She shuddered as her bones reknit themselves, even as she felt full of the beastly man under her. ¡°You know that¡¯s only going to make me even hornier right?¡±

    ¡°That was the plan, now why don¡¯t we see what positions we can do on this thing?¡± he said as he began rolling her beneath him, ripping the leads that connected him to the monitors and felt her quiver in excitement at the thought of what he was going to do. Placing a hand on her cheek he ran his fingers delicately down her face and she shuddered. ¡°You¡¯re mine, when this is over, you¡¯re mine.¡±

    ¡°I already am, my safe word¡¯s ¡®red¡¯ and I want you to take me however you want.¡± She made sure she had his eyes locked on hers before she continued. ¡°I trust you, completely.¡±

    His hand found her throat and he lightly squeezed, the sudden change to her breathing made her eyes pop, her body felt even more alive and she could feel his still hard cock rocking back and forth inside her. As her climax came she felt it was heightened and she screamed, but only a choked sound came from her.

    He let go of her and she whimpered, ¡°Please, I need more.¡±

    ¡°Roll over.¡± He commanded and she did, moving away from his cock she turned onto her stomach and pushed her ass into the air which he playfully smacked. Then again not so playfully. ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure you¡¯ll never forget tonight.¡±

    Rising on his knees he spread her cheeks and slid himself into her core, she was even tighter this way, he pushed gently not wanting to hurt her until she begged, her voice ragged and in gasps begging him for more.

    Pushing his entire length into her her head came up from the pillow and she gasped. Grabbing her hair he pulled and she called his name, her climax taking her to a new level of ecstasy she¡¯d never known before.

    He let go of her hair and took each of her wrists in hand and pulled her back on his cock. Her back bowed as he continued to fill her core with powerful thrusts. ¡°Come now!¡± he growled as he felt his beast come to the fore, but not to take over, it was a different feeling than anything he¡¯d ever experienced. She came, her body quivering as she gasped his name, his thrusts becoming more powerful as he felt his sac slap against her skin with each thrust.

    Throwing his head back he let out a growl as his beast began to emerge again, but in a different way. His climax overfilled her, he could feel their mingled juices flowing from her core over his sac and onto the bedsheet. Her skin seemed to glow as he lowered her, his skin glowed as well, but his glowed lavender and he could feel something like a headache forming at his temples.

    The door slid open and Simon came in calling out, ¡°We know where Michael¡ª Christ Almighty what the hell happened to your head?¡±

    Lucian was growling at him as he pulled himself from her core and let her lay flat on the bed as the waves of ecstasy rolled over her. He stood next to the bed and Simon looked horrified at the sight of him. ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°He¡­he¡¯s in downtown Pittsburgh, by the stadium.¡±

    ¡°Then lets get going.¡±

    ¡°Can you put some clothes on first please?¡± he asked as he looked everywhere but at Lucian, he wasn¡¯t sure why it was a problem until a nurse walked past the room and saw his still hard cock hanging and stopped dead in her tracks, licked her lips and began walking towards him. ¡°Colleen go do your rounds, your husband won¡¯t be happy with either of you if you come in here.¡± When she walked away, after shaking her head and burning the image of his body into her memory, Simon shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s not something you want happening down there, trust me. Plus you need a hat, your horns are showing now.¡±