Feral Ch. 06

Aaron's gaze switched between Ethan and Nicholas who'd met him in the foyer as soon as he'd entered Greystone. Trent hovered anxiously behind them. "Where is she?" he demanded.

Ethan and Nick exchanged glances.

"Upstairs, sleeping," Ethan answered.

"Sleeping?" Aaron's voice was harshly incredulous.

Nick winced. "She might have worn herself out throwing me against the wall while holding off Ethan and Trent and then basically scorching my nerve endings."

Aaron's gaze switched to Ethan critically. "And you let her live?"

Ethan shifted. "Tianna stopped me."

"And who is she to Tianna?"

"Her best friend," Nick said.

"They've been together since they were kids," Ethan put in.

Aaron squeezed the bridge of his nose against the impending headache. His words were issued through clenched teeth. "And what did you say her name is?"

"Eva," Nick said. "Eva Clinton."

Aaron's head jerked up and he stared at them mouth agape. "Clinton?" he growled. "As in Sanaa Clinton?"

Ethan and Nick looked at each other. "Should that mean something to us?"

Aaron's voice rose several octaves. "Only that if Eva Clinton is THAT Eva Clinton, then she is descendant from one of the most powerful dark witches that ever existed and is no friend to our kind."

Ethan and Nick exchanged troubled looks. Trent let out a low groan behind them. "Oh shit."

Aaron was tearing up the stairs, and Ethan and Nick took off after their Alpha.

Tianna was wrenched into wakefulness by the sound of the bedroom door being flung open and crashing against the wall.

She lunged into a protective crouch over Eva who had remained sleeping, not stirring in the least at the sound of a commotion.

Aaron Thorne stood in the doorway of her bedroom. His hands were clenched into fists, his expression vengeful. "Leave the witch," he growled. Gone was the sedate, cultured, quietly authoritative leader of the pack.

Tianna flinched involuntarily. Biologically, something in her yearned to obey the Alpha but she pushed the impulse down. She wasn't the wolf. She allowed the wolf free reign on occasion but she was not the wolf and she would not let the wolf control her.

She met Aaron Thorne's vivid gaze steadily and shook her head. "No."

Ethan appeared behind Aaron in the doorway. She glanced at him. There was a tightness behind the eyes but his face was otherwise impassive.

Aaron took a step into the room, stopping short when Tianna tensed.

Tianna bared her teeth at him. "You even think about touching her, Thorne, and I swear to God I'll kill you."

Aaron gritted his teeth and titled his head, perusing the girl laying asleep on the bed, seemingly unaware that there was a werewolf in the room who had every intention of snapping her pretty little neck. He returned his hooded gaze to Dominic Moore's daughter, the little fool. "Do you even know what she is? What she is capable of?"

Tianna drew a deep breath. "I know exactly who she is and what she's capable of. But she's not her mother, Aaron. I mean—seriously—look at her!" She gestured to Eva. "She's out cold just from holding them off."

Aaron grimaced and sighed, unfurling his fists. "Clinton women are always a threat." He eyed Sanaa Clinton's sleeping daughter and relented a bit. "Can we talk?" He looked at Tianna. "Alone?"

Tianna shook her head vehemently. "No. So you can sick your henchmen on her the moment I leave? Forget it."

Aaron glanced at over his shoulder at Ethan. "They will do no such thing. You have my word."

Fighting down the tide of panic, Tianna reluctantly slid off the bed. She gazed up at Aaron. "If you hurt her—"

"I will not." Aaron assured her.

Tianna passed Nick in the hall, shooting him a pleading look. He merely nodded in reassurance.

She followed Aaron to the opposite wing of the manor and into a small study. He closed the door softly behind her and motioned for her to take a seat on the overstuffed leather couch. She did so warily and he seated himself next to her.

He leaned forward, seeming incredibly interested in the tips of his boots. "How did she know you were here?" His voice was low. "You told her?"

Tianna shook her head. "No."

He looked at her, raising one dark brow expectantly.

Tianna sighed and slumped against the cushions. She anxiously twisted the silver ring around her index finger. "When I told Ethan that she was like a sister to me, I didn't mean that lightly or metaphorically. We're blood bonded."

Aaron's generally impenetrable façade fractured and is eyes widened.

"It was in college," Tianna rushed on. "When Eva was still experimenting with her power. I encouraged her to really work at it. That's when we did the spell."

Aaron's brows knitted together as he considered this. "And what does this blood bond entail?"

Tianna shrugged. "Whenever I'm feeling particularly emotional, she can feel it. I didn't have to tell her I was here." She toyed with her ring. "She would have felt my panic, my fear. She's not an idiot. It obviously didn't take her long to connect the dots."

"Look, Aaron," she said gazing at him, hating the pleading not in her voice. "Just leave her alone. Let her stay. I promise she'll give you no problems."

Aaron rose fluidly to his feet. He studied her intently. "I'm holding you to that."

Tianna nodded soberly. He left her then and she leaned forward and let her head fall into her hands, letting her hair fall across her face in a dark curtain that obscured her view and closed her off from the rest of the world.

It looked like she would be staying at Greystone until things were sorted out. Eva's presence was soothing but it didn't completely ease her anxieties. And at the moment, Ethan was at the core of those anxieties.

She groaned, remembering the way he'd looked when he'd stepped from the forest and she remembered the way her wolf had responded to him.

If anything, Tianna had known all her life that werewolf men were not to be trusted. She even doubted her father. She'd always wondered if he would have shown any interest in her at all were it not for her....wolfishness. Women were disposable goods to them, to be used and tossed aside. And in the instance that they fathered a son, they took the child without so much as a 'fuck you' very much to the mother.

Tianna wasn't just some woman to them, she knew, though she doubted that her heredity made much difference to them. She was still female, and in pack culture she would have to obey and submit. Getting involved with a werewolf was unthinkable, even if that werewolf was as damned sexy as Ethan. Better to keep him at a distance. ***

Ethan paced the floor of his room letting out a growl of frustration.

Never, not once in all his life had he ever hesitated to back Aaron up. Not once. But just minutes ago he had stood completely frozen with dread. If Aaron had gone for the witch and Tianna had gotten in his way, Ethan was unsure what he would have done.

It went against every fiber of his being not to defend his Alpha and his friend and yet there was Tianna. He couldn't imagine bringing himself to truly hurt her despite his threats. She had a tough exterior. He saw and understood that. But beneath all that bravado, swearing, and thinly veiled contempt he knew she was afraid and just barely holding it together. Her friend arriving at Greystone was a blessed lifeline to her sanity and she was obviously willing to do just about anything to protect the witch even if that meant taking on pack wolves on her own.

He rubbed a rough hand over his face. He had to end this—whatever it was he felt for Dominic Moore's stubborn daughter. Having Tianna Moore at Greystone was anything but simple and he was a man that hated complications. He was putting his Alpha and his pack at risk with a distraction he could ill afford. Not now. He would watch over her and protect her if necessary but it would go no further than that. He wouldn't allow it. *** Eva struggled into consciousness, her head thudding dully at the base of her skull. Damn. She'd really overdone it this time. She wondered how long she'd been out.

She was relieved to find herself in one piece. Coming here hadn't been her most brilliant or most thought out idea but she hadn't come up with an alternative. She sighed, mumbling her mantra to herself. "There is no such thing as a bad idea, just poorly executed awesome ones."

Eva grimaced, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and pushed aside the dusky rose colored duvet.

The room tilted when she stood and she stumbled, grasping the back of a chair until the room righted itself. She cautiously tottered to the bathroom grumbling about damn werewolves.

Flicking on the light, she pressed her hands against the cool porcelain countertop and leaned toward the mirror, blinking away the slightly blurred vision to stare at her reflection.

"Well, hello," she murmured to herself, absently scrutinizing her pallid face in the mirror. She looked like shit. Dark circles stood out vividly beneath her flat hazel gaze. Her normally impeccable hair stood on end, mussed into a wild nest around her head.

Groaning, she scraped her hair back into a haphazard bun.

The last thing she remembered was Tianna looking at her with great concern while shouting for the wolves to back off. And then the dark haired wolf, his face close to her own and his eyes soft and gently with concern.

Her insides lurched at the thought of her friend. Where was she? If they hurt her, there was nothing and no one that could save them. The darkness surged inside her at the thought of vengeance, powerful and intoxicating. She'd kill them all.

"No!" She slammed her palm against the countertop and gulped deep calming breaths. "No," she murmured softly. The power left her, leaving a feeling much like a gaping void in the center of her chest.

Shaking off the feeling of unease, Eva splashed cool water on her face before padding back into the bedroom and shoving her feet back into her riding boots. She inhaled deeply, fixing her thoughts on Tianna.

Tianna friend was close by, not frightened but her heart rate was elevated high above normal. There was a frenzied quality to her thoughts.

Slipping into the hallway, Eva went in search of her friend.

***

Tianna's mind was wandering, making it difficult to dodge Ethan's punches. Her thoughts were too jumbled and unfocused, full of questions and scenarios.

Ethan's hand shot out, knocking her off balance. She tripped over his thigh as he stepped into her. She hit the mat, flat on her back and Ethan was on her instantly.

The air whooshed out of her lungs even as heat flooded her belly and her breasts ached where his hard chest was pressed against hers. She mentally kicked herself but damn if he didn't feel good, all hard muscle and strength. A strength, she reminded herself, to be wary of. Bad. Definitely bad.

"You've got a lot to learn, girl." His voice jolted her back to reality out of her musings.

He rolled off her and to his feet fluidly.

Tianna pushed herself up on her elbowed and stared at him, perplexed. "Excuse me?"

Ethan spared her a mere glance. "Your head's not in it. You're not here. Whatever you're thinking about, it isn't this and that will get you killed or worse."

Tianna glared at him. She didn't want to be doing this anyway. Aaron Thorne was the reason she was sequestered in the basement with this maniac in the first place.

The basement of Greystone had been outfitted as a gym with mats, benches, free weights and punching bags. He'd wanted Ethan to teach her to "defend herself." She'd scoffed. She could change faster than any of them. She didn't need her fists. She'd just loose her wolf on them.

Her father had taught her a few things when she'd been in her teens when he'd realized that his daughter might be a target. And yet here she was, dumped on her ass.

She pushed herself to her feet. "Again," she demanded.

Ethan merely snorted. This was what she hated about him; the condescending authoritarian that didn't argue but dictated.

He glanced at her from the edge of the mat, twisting a towel in his hands. The glint in his cerulean gaze and the tightening of his lips told her that he was going to come at her and he wasn't going to hold back.

Her heart leapt into her throat when he moved. He was like lightening slicing through the air. She blocked and feinted, realizing quickly just how much he'd been holding back. He'd thought she couldn't handle it and that pissed her off.

She focused, bringing forth the wolf; not enough to cause a physical change but enough to sharpen her senses.

Ethan drove her across the mat, noticing a flicker of gold in her dark eyes and the sudden almost palpable energy coming off her.

He kept her on the defensive but when he threw his next punch she made her move. She blocked and turned his punch aside with her left hand, slamming her right palm into his jaw.

He reeled back and she kept on him; spinning, kicking and punching as he narrowly blocked her and attempted to regain his balance.

When he blocked her next punch she expected it and changed levels quickly, driving her fist into his stomach. When he made a grab for her she sidestepped him, grabbed the arm whizzing past her and flipped him neatly over her shoulder. She plunked down on top of him, her forearm against his throat.

For a long moment, they simply stared at one another, their faces mere inches apart and the only sound was of their labored breathing—hers anyway. Ethan, she realized was breathing easily, not even a bead of perspiration on his brow. Tianna grimaced, wonderful.

His face was impassive. "That was better." He made no move to remove her arm from his throat or to push her off of him.

Tianna sighed. He'd been holding back after all. She scowled at him. "You've been holding back all this time." Her words were sharp with anger and irritation.

"Of course," he growled, and as easily as he would have swatted a fly, he yanked her arm from his throat, flipped her unceremoniously to the mat and stood smoothly to his feet.

Tianna flushed with embarrassment and sat up. For all her self-assurances, she was clearly no match for him. Was she a match for any of them? She was suddenly uneasy. "Treating me with the kid gloves, huh?" she mumbled, yanking the useless elastic band from her hair, wincing when she yanked a few stray hairs from her skull.

She pushed herself to her feet, feeling anger and humiliation simmering in her guts. "Again."

***

3 hrs later...

"C'mon, Tianna focus," Ethan snarled as she stumbled off balance from his blow. He repeated the combo over and over and yet she'd been unable to block him. He was far too fast. She knew exactly how she should be reacting to what she knew was coming but she just always seemed to be a fraction of a second too slow. Him yelling at her did little more than fray her nerves.

Ethan threw up his hands in frustration. "You think you're capable of taking care of yourself? You can't even block a shot you know is coming!"

Tianna snapped. "Isn't that why I'm down here?! You're supposed to be teaching me because I'm NOT as strong or as fast as you yet! And you yelling at me doesn't help!"

Ethan moved quickly, suddenly towering over her. "It's an uncomplicated move," he growled. "I've shown you, we've been at this for an hour, and you still don't get it."

She gave him a two-handed shove though he didn't budge. "You showed me once!" she screeched. "ONCE! And you expect me to pick it up right away! You come at me faster than I've ever seen anyone move and then you question MY ability?!" She punctuated her next words with finger jabs to the center of his chest. "Worst. Teacher. Ever."

Ethan lost control. He brought his hands up and gripped her shoulders hard and yanked her against him. "Spoiled bitch."

She refused to flinch despite the near painful grasp he hand on her shoulders. "Asshole," she sneered.

And then with a low growl, he kissed her, the taste of her near driving him mad with its hints of forbidden spice and sweetness. There would be consequences for this, a price to be paid, but the thought only made the feel of her lips beneath his that much more intoxicating.

Tianna made a small whimper of surprise when Ethan's lips crashed down over hers but the shock was short-lived. She fisted her hands in the material of his t-shirt, dragging him closer.

There was no gentleness in the kiss. No tenderness. Their mouths warred. Their tongues stroked and sparred, each of them well aware that this was a terrible idea.

Ethan bore her down to the mat.

'Stupid girl,' she thought to herself but found herself unable to tear her lips from his. She wriggled beneath him, allowing him to settle between her splayed thighs.

His large calloused hands traveled up the smooth flesh of her sides, skimming over her ribcage and her breasts before he brought them back down and slipped one hand beneath her tank top.

Tianna moaned as his palm brushed over her flesh to her breast before he caught her hardened peak between his thumb and forefinger, gently rolling and tugging at the sensitive buds.

Groaning and pressing his erection against her mound, Ethan left her mouth to leave a burning trail of kisses down her neck, pausing to nip at her throat with blunt teeth.

"Ethan..." she gasped.

"Tia?" there were light footsteps on the stairs. Eva. Her friend's voice was like a bucket of ice water dumped on her.

Eva stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Woah."

Ethan was off her instantly, rolling off her and shielding her body from sight while she pulled her top down.

Eva blinked rapidly as though attempting to clear her vision. She peeked around Ethan's large frame and glanced at her friend who was blushing violently and running a rough hand through her dark locks. "Obviously, I had the wrong idea in coming here." She didn't sound angry, simply perplexed.

"No, you didn't," Tianna offered firmly. "That..." she stammered. "That was a mistake," she ground out and glared at Ethan. "One that will never happen again." Brushing by him she left, stomping up the stairs, leaving Ethan and the witch together.

Ethan studied the witch who was glaring at him, arms crossed beneath her pert breasts. He could see why Nick was interested by her. She was nice to look at and—he inhaled—the seductive scent of spice and magick hung in the air about her. She scowled at his blatant perusal. Nick would have trouble with this one, especially if she was anything like her best friend.

She stalked toward him, her heady scent washing over him. "Ethan, right?"

He nodded once. "Eva," he acknowledged.

Standing a mere foot from him, she extended her hand, palm up.

Ethan lifted a flaxen brow and glanced at her small upturned hand before peering into thickly lashed hazel eyes.

She wriggled her fingers. "C'mon. I won't bite. I just want to get to know you."

Ethan frowned, dubious, but enveloped her palm in his own.

A satisfied smile slid over her features as her eyes drifted closed.

Ethan felt a rush of adrenaline course through his veins and his palm tingled as though pricked by millions of minuscule pins.

"Hmm," her eyes slid open and she slipped her hand from Ethan's grasp.

"What was that?" Ethan asked, bemused.

The girl shrugged her small shoulders. "You were just making out with my best friend and knowing Tianna, your lips wouldn't have gotten anywhere near her unless she wasn't into you."

"And the witchy tingly feeling?"

"I'm a bit of an empath," she said simply. "I can sense a lot about people from touch."

"And?"

Eva studied him, scrutinizing his handsome finely sculpted features. "I dunno if I like you for her." She shrugged again. "But you suck less than some of the other idiots she's dated before."