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  The light of true belief glinted in his eyes and even though he knew it would be pointless, Jack retorted, “We are not demons! What about the girl? She isn’t one of us. Why are you punishing an innocent?”

  “Your victims’ souls must be freed from eternal damnation. They shall not suffer!” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I make sure they don’t suffer. She didn’t suffer.”

  Jack inched further around, slowly herding him into the center of the room “Who didn’t suffer?” He watched the old man warily as he began reciting “The Lord’s Prayer”, his voice rising with every repetition. Drowning out anything Jack might say, his finger tightening on the trigger of the gun. A trickle of sweat ran down Jack’s spine and he prepared himself to take action.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Megan gather herself and knew she intended to pounce as soon as the kidnapper was in range. Stay down. Don’t move. He heard her tiny gasp at the strength of his order but she didn’t move. Instead she stated in a precise voice, “Your daughter was an innocent, too. When you killed her, you marked your own soul for damnation!”

  “Lead us not into temptation!” The old man’s face flushed and body trembling with rage, he took a step backwards and arced the gun around to aim at her.

  “…Deliver us from evil!”

  The words echoed off the bare rafters of the room, Jack saw the intention to fire flash across his face and leapt towards Megan.

  “Move!”

  His fingers grasped the front of her jacket and his knees connected hard with the floor. The blast of a gunshot filled the room and there was silence.

  Jack raised himself up off of Megan’s trembling body and onto his elbows. She glanced to the side at the still form of her kidnapper and her blue eyes met his.

  “Amen,” she whispered in a shaking voice.

  Jack sat up, pulling her with him and freed her from her bindings with a small pocketknife. He hissed at the damage done to her wrists, bringing them to his lips and gently kissing the raw flesh. He brushed the tangled hair from her face and devoured her lips hungrily, relief rushing through him. Footsteps pounded and they broke apart when Cameron rushed through the door. Jack smiled, rising to his feet, and grasped his friend’s arm. “What took you so long?!”

  Cam grimaced and shook his head, “You did. It was your job to get him in range of the window. I was getting worried for a while there.” Jack picked up the sleeping bag from the floor and unwrapped it, laying it over the body. Megan hadn’t seemed too worried about it yet, but once the shock had worn off it might be a different story. As if in confirmation, she said in a small voice, “Uh, guys? I don’t feel so good.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack looked at her. She was sitting against the wall, her eyes were closed and face chalk white. “We had to kill him, Megan. The man was beyond reason, there was no way he was letting us out of here alive. I’ve covered him up, you can open your eyes.”

  Her words were slurred. “You…you don’t understand. He g-gave me something.” Her eyes opened slowly and she scanned the floor, nodding at an empty syringe.

  Jack knelt at her side, engulfing her in his embrace, adrenaline flooding his system. “Did he say what it was, baby?” She slumped against him and he tilted her pale face to his, alarmed by the sheen of sweat on her face and the dilation of her pupils.

  She shook her head and pushed herself upright, scrubbing a hand over her face, “I’m so tired.”

  “Do not go to sleep yet, Meg. You hear me?” Jack glanced up as his friend let loose a string of curses.

  The contents of the old man’s bag were scattered on the floor and Cam held a glass vial in his hand with powder residue on the bottom. “It’s a veterinary tranquilizer, Jack, the same one used to drug Paul Spencer and his wife two years ago. There is enough concentrated in this vial to kill a normal human.” He threw the container against the wall, shattering it. “So unless you change her, he’s killed you both anyway.”

  Jack jerked back as if his friend’s words had physically hit him. He gathered his mate up in his arms and carried her out into the night air. The wooden porch was still quite sheltered and he sat with his back to the wall and held her on his lap. Cameron could still hear him out here, after all, his ears were every bit as sensitive as Jack’s, but Jack knew he would do his best not to eavesdrop. At least they would have the illusion of privacy. Their time had been cut brutally short and he knew he would have to take the decision from her hands after all.

  Megan struggled to throw off the insidious weariness that seeped through her body. She really was going to die. Adrenaline flooded through her system helping to stem the tide, she was not giving up without a fight. “What was he talking about, Jack?”

  He looked at her, silver eyes filled with resignation and regret. “I can save your life, Megan, if we complete the blood exchange and I make you one of us.”

  He closed his eyes, pressed his forehead against her, and said fiercely, “I wanted to give you a choice, Meg, but I can’t let you die.”

  Joy sparked within her and she lifted a leaden hand to cup his face. “I have chosen. I made my decision by the loch before I was kidnapped.” He opened his eyes and lifted his head and a wary hope crept into his eyes.

  “It’s true. If you had been listening like you said you could, you would already know.” She smiled lopsidedly at him and said, “Do it, Jack.”

  His pupils flared, eyes heating at her words and leaned forward and kissed her, the heated strokes of his tongue causing her sluggish heart rate to pick up. It amazed her that this man could turn her on so much with a simple kiss. She could feel him shaking as he drew back from her slightly, proving that she wasn’t the only one affected. He fished in the pocket of his jacket and withdrew the little knife, quickly piercing the tip of her index finger. She hissed at the sharp pain and then moaned as Jack sucked her finger into the warmth of his mouth, caressing the small wound with his tongue.

  “My turn.” Megan took the knife from him, fumbling slightly. Unsure whether she was breathless as a result of what he was doing to her, or because her body was struggling against the tranquilizer. She repeated his actions, surprised that the taste of his blood in her mouth didn’t disgust her as she thought it would. Instead she reveled in the intimacy of the act, knowing that it would bind her to Jack in ways she had never imagined.

  The bleeding stopped quickly and with a final swipe of her tongue, she released him and lay back in his embrace, soothed by the thump of his heart beneath her ear. She was exhausted, frighteningly so, and this time she knew her shallow breaths had nothing to do with arousal. “Jack? What happens now?”

  He tightened his embrace and she felt him lift his shoulders. “Nothing. We wait, I suppose.”

  Megan considered the times she had seen Jack transform and tried to brace herself for the pain that was sure to rack her own body. With weakness already spreading through her, she wasn’t sure how she would cope with it. Pins and needles tingled in her hands and feet and she shifted, trying to ease them, and unzipped her jacket to let the breeze cool her heated flesh.

  Instead of easing, the tingling spread, up her limbs and through her body until even her scalp prickled. Megan realized abruptly that the transformation had started. Behind her, Jack gave a startled oath and the hand that had been behind her back appeared in front of her. Her mouth went dry as she saw that he too was beginning to change.

  He lifted her from his knee. “Take your clothes off.” She gaped at him and he began to strip her briskly. “If you don’t get out of them now, they’ll be ruined.” Heat and strength radiated through her and the tingling sensation multiplied as she obeyed him and knelt on the rough wood planks. It didn’t hurt. A fact Jack seemed to realize at the same moment she did. He lifted his startled gaze to her face. “There’s no pain…” His voice was deep and rough in his throat. Feeling strangely lightheaded, she looked at her hands and saw that they had almost completely changed. Panic whispered through her so she closed her
eyes and let her body take over.

  Sounds suddenly assaulted her from every direction. Birds, rain, the wind shushing through the trees, Cameron moving around inside the cottage. She smelled the damp wood beneath her feet, the damp earth and grass and the tang of pine. A multitude of other scents and sounds surrounded her that she couldn’t yet identify. Fascinated, she opened her eyes. Jack sat in front of her, five or six inches taller than her even in his feline form. In fact it startled her how much bigger everything seemed.

  Megan looked down at herself and saw that like Jack she had midnight black fur and a sleek, muscular body. Though hers was more compact than his powerful build. She stood on wobbly legs and heard Jack’s deep chuckle in her mind. Are you all right? She glared at him and bared her teeth giving an experimental growl and he laughed at her again. Wondering if the telepathy now went both ways, she threw a few curses his way. Is that any way to speak to your mate, Megan? Happiness radiated from him as he licked her muzzle and rubbed his cheek against hers.

  A new smell reached her and she turned towards the scuff of booted feet. Cameron stood in the doorway and for a fleeting moment she thought she saw jealousy in his eyes. There and gone so quickly it was impossible to be sure. His grudging smile transformed his broodingly handsome face into a male model perfection that was wasted on someone who shut himself away. “Congratulations, Jack. Why don’t you two head back to the house? I’ll clean up here and bring your clothes.” He seemed to sense Jack’s reluctance and continued. “Go on, unless you’d like to eat the evidence?” Jack growled and Megan felt her ears flatten and her hair bristle at the idea. He laughed and walked back inside. “Didn’t think so.”

  Megan turned and jumped off of the porch, landing lightly on her paws. A small animal scurried away through the undergrowth and she had the powerful urge to chase. Just to see if she could catch it, definitely not eat the poor little thing she assured herself. She turned back to the porch and saw her mate still staring after his friend. Jack. He turned and looked at her.

  Come show me the woods.

  He leapt down beside her. Is that anything like come show me your etchings?

  Megan swiped a paw at him and bounded into the trees. Maybe later.

  * * * * *

  Megan wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror and examined the face reflected there. She didn’t look any different. There was no bruise on her cheek, no swelling and her wrists were no longer marked by her struggles with her bindings. Apart from the dirt she had just scrubbed off in the shower, there was nothing to suggest the ordeal her body had just been through. Only the warm glow of Jack’s presence in her mind suggested her life had been changed forever. The mind-link had surprised her, rather than feeling threatened by it, she found it comforting. At the moment she only heard things that her mate directed at her but she knew in time she would be able to sense his emotions and pick up his surface thoughts. Jack, on the other hand, was more adept but she had quickly found that by imagining a door between his mind and hers she could shut him out.

  So this was it, the mystery had been solved, the bad guy was defeated and the hero and heroine had gone off into the sunset together.

  Happy Ever After.

  Except she knew her mate was still hiding things from her. Some of his behavior in the last few days just didn’t add up.

  Four feet, she had discovered, were definitely faster than two and it had not taken them long to reach Murray House. She would happily have spent a little longer in the woods…there were quite a few things she’d like to try in her new form. Megan flashed a grin at her reflection. Who’da thunk it? Jack, however, seemed to be in a hurry to get back.

  When she had first asked him about shifting, he had told her he couldn’t control it. Imagine her surprise when, upon reaching the wide lawn of the house, Jack had stepped back from her and after a few moments of concentration…shifted. Not that this was a bad thing. She was happy to know she might not change at random, as he had led her to believe. It just added one more thing to the list of secrets. Following his urging she too had reluctantly changed back. For the first time in her life, she had felt like a giant, clumsy and awkward, but after a few moments the feeling had faded.

  Her mate had been jubilant, laughing loudly and throwing his arms around her. Caught up in his enthusiasm she had hugged him back and allowed him to carry her upstairs to their room. His hands had trailed all over her naked body, allegedly looking for injuries, but the heat in his eyes told a different story. They had both been aroused by the time they got there but instead of making love to her, he had placed her on the bed, kissed her gently and asked her to meet him downstairs. Then he had left her there. Aroused, frustrated and suspicious. Oh yes, he was definitely hiding something.

  She dressed quickly in a clingy scoop-necked cotton top and an ankle-length skirt, not bothering with underwear since she had no intention of being dressed for long. She paused for a moment in front of the mirrored closet door and unbuttoned the row of buttons on the front of her skirt to just above her knee. Satisfied, she gave her reflection a nod. Take that Jack Douglass…and went in search of her mate.

  Cameron threw his jacket over the back of an armchair and walked wearily to the cut crystal decanter on the side table. Jack watched as his friend poured a healthy shot of brandy and tossed it back with a grimace. The smell of pine and smoke overlaid the slight taint of less pleasant odors hinting at the lengths he had gone to for him. “Thank you.”

  Cam filled his glass again and faced him, expression serious. “I would have done worse.” His gaze turned inward and Jack felt his sorrow. “I have done worse.” He took another sip of his drink. “I found his identification and a few other personal papers in his bag…” His voice trailed off and both of them looked up as the door opened and Megan walked in.

  His Dearbh Ceangal.

  At first glance her white top and sky blue skirt looked modest enough but as she approached him he saw the way the top clung to her. Her bra-less state was obvious as her breasts swayed with her movements and her peaked nipples were outlined against the soft fabric.

  No panties either… her voice whispered into his mind.

  Jack’s mouth went dry and every bit of blood drained out of his head and into his cock. She sat beside him on the leather sofa and crossed her legs, her bare foot grazed his calf and the long skirt parted to pool around her thighs. With a monumental effort, he dragged his eyes back to her face. Her cheeks were pink as she turned to his friend, ignoring him, and asked, “You were saying, Cameron?”

  Jack didn’t need to be able to read minds to see the desire in the other man’s amber eyes as he stared at Megan with open admiration. A low growl escaped him and Cam glanced at him with amusement and cleared his throat. “His name was James York, he was a vet. Ann Spencer was his daughter.” Megan looked at him questioningly and he relayed to her what he’d found out about the murders.

  “We may never know how he found out what Paul Spencer was, but what worries me more is that he found out about others. He knew a lot about us, Jack. He had notes about the mating cycle. It’s going to take some time but I’m going to try to find out where he got his information.”

  Megan’s eyes narrowed dangerously and she looked at Jack and then back at his friend. “Mating cycle?”

  With a less than sympathetic look on his face, Cam swallowed the rest of his brandy. “Don’t look at me, I told him to tell you.” He headed for the door, grabbing his jacket on the way. “Play nice, you two.”

  Jack barely heard his friend leave the room. He was too busy watching his very determined looking mate as she sat beside him, one eyebrow raised in silent scrutiny. “Meg, it was for your own good…” Her brows drew into a scowl. Okay, not a good start. “I told you most of this. I just left out a few details.”

  She continued to stare at him, this time a sheen of tears in her eyes. Jack developed sudden empathy with the men he had previously mocked for giving in to the power of their wives’ silence. A little
desperately, he filled in the facts he had neglected to tell her about how the mating cycle began and how it would have eventually ended if she had turned him away. By the time he had finished, she stood with her back to him, she had shut him out of her thoughts and he was beginning to get a little worried. “I’m sorry I had to deceive you, Megan, but if I had to do it over I would do the same thing. I knew you wouldn’t hesitate to bond with me if you knew what would happen. You are my Dearbh Ceangal, I love you… I couldn’t accept less from you.”

  She turned back to him and his heart melted when he saw that the anger he expected was absent from her expression. Lord help him, this woman never reacted the way he expected. Life with Megan was going to be interesting. He started to go to her but she motioned him to stay where he was and knelt between his spread legs. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she said softly, “I love you, Jack.” Her pale skin was blotchy and her nose red but Jack swore he had never seen a more beautiful face in all his thirty-two years. He wiped the moisture from her face with the pads of his fingers and leaned forward to kiss her. Megan, his mate, his heart, his life.

  She returned his passion. Humming in renewed pleasure, her fingers grasped the edge of his sweater and pulled it over his head. She brushed her fingers lightly through the hair on his chest and down to unfasten his jeans. He lifted his hips so that she could pull them down. Groaning when she let his erection glide against her cheek.

  She stood, and lifted her long skirt higher to slowly unbutton it and he caught glimpses of the neatly trimmed hair between her legs. He slid forward as she reached the final few fastenings and stilled her hands with his own. “Let me.”

  She nodded and while he undid the last to let her skirt pool around her ankles, she took off her top. Her firm breasts bounced slightly as she shook her unruly curls from her face. Jack sucked in a breath and just stared at her for a moment. “You’re so beautiful. I love to look at you.” He gripped her hips and pulled her closer rubbing his face against her soft abdomen and her hands went to his head holding him closer. He savored the smell of her arousal and blew gently on the curls concealing her mound.