In Heat

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As an exquisite agony roared through his veins, Trip gasped as the pain became pleasure and then that ecstasy was replaced with pain once more.

He let out a roar of fury, then immediately rolled over from his prone position on his back and clambered to his feet.

Trip stared around the disaster area that was his home, but he had to shake his head several times before the images started to piece together and make any sense.

He shook his head, and immediately regretted it. His mane, already coated with soot and grime and only the Goddess knew what else, was limp against his head, and when he saw Marc was standing there, Ryan was in his Lion form, and El was back in her Panther skin... all while blown out cars were dosed with water to cut out the rest of the flames, well, he was confused.

To say the least.

Realizing that he’d been injured—never let it be said he wasn’t smart—he shifted back, and let out a deep, hoarse cry as his body assimilated into his two-legged form.

The depths of his injuries made themselves known then because if he felt this s**t now after a shift?

Well, hell.

He’d been on the brink of death.

“Ryan, shift back too.”

A screech of pain escaped the Lion that was his Triad brother, then it morphed into a: “God-f*****g-dammit, that hurts!”

Trip shot him a commiserative glance, and before he could ask Marc what was going on—aside from the obvious, i.e. the shell of their secured vehicles, the fires and the injured Shifters on the ground. Marc reversed his form.

When he was on four paws, he rubbed his side against the Panther that sat there as regal as anything.

Trip had to smile at the sight of her.

He’d seen her last night like this. More than anything, she looked bored. Had looked even more bored when they’d had to repeatedly shift back and forth to get her to revert to form, too.

Marc nuzzled his head along hers, making her snarl at him when he nudged her from her seated position and onto her feet. He rubbed his length along hers, coating her with his scent, then he nudged her head and, with the speed of a powerful male, shifted back.

A soughing noise escaped El, and slower, much, much slower and with a pain that had even Trip wincing—and he was in f*****g agony—El made a reappearance.

She was on all fours and she was naked.

Yesterday, she’d reverted with shredded clothes all around her, the magick having shredded them up and tossed them out when she was back in her human skin.

Now that she was naked said she’d shifted when she’d been nude.

He frowned, wondering what had preceded this moment, well aware that his neurons weren’t firing on all cylinders and that certain memories were a blank. Before his attention could be stirred too much, El let out a sob and bowed her head.

“I can’t do it again, Marc, I can’t.” He crouched on his feet and hugged her close.

“You’re doing so well, so damn well,” he crooned, rubbing his hands all along the length of her spine. She was a handful, was their mate, and with Marc’s tanned skin pressed against her pale form, well, the sight shouldn’t have had his c**k stirring when he was in this state, but it did.

She was beautiful. Even when she was exhausted and in pain.

Because he was in no doubt that she was in pain. “What’s going on?” he asked, his voice low, hoarse. “Why is El hurting?”

He’d have dropped to his knees too but there was no way he was going anywhere. He was lucky he was standing upright, wavering from side to side though he may be.

“El is triggering our shifts,” Ryan explained, his voice equally as hoarse. “I’m so sorry, baby, but we need to shift again.”

Her eyes were soaked with tears that nearly broke Trip’s heart. “I can’t do it again,” she whispered, but the statement was more of a plea. “I can’t. It hurts. Oh God, it hurts.”

Marc swallowed and his grip on her tightened. He swayed with her, rocked her from side to side. “I know. I know, darling. But you just... we need you again. Trip’s shifted twice but it’s not enough. Look at him. Look at Ryan. They’re still injured. One more go and they should be able to do it themselves.”

Trip’s eyes widened in astonishment. “I’ve been flashing through forms while unconscious?”

Ryan cut him a glance. “It’s to do with Pantera mating magick.”

Trip frowned. “What the hell’s that?”

Adam cleared his throat. “Don’t worry. You’re just reaping the benefit of it.”

Trip wanted to shake his head to shake off the confusion he was feeling, but instead, he just sighed. “I’m so sorry, El. I don’t want to hurt you, but I-I really am feeling rough.”

She gulped, shot him a look that was loaded with misery. “I-I can’t.”

“You can. You’ve got this.” Marc’s words were encouraging but Trip saw on his face he was worried. His brow was puckered and his mouth was pulled taut, but El couldn’t see that, not with his chin resting on her shoulder.

Her jaw wobbled and she sucked in a sharp breath. “The l-last time?”

Marc nodded. “Just one more go. Look at Ryan and Trip, baby, you can see they need it.”

El’s eyes flashed over to his, then over to Ryan. She trembled. “I-I need you both to be okay after this.”

Trip tried to smile, failed. “I’ll do it just so you don’t have to suffer again.”

“I-I’m sorry for not being strong enough for you,” she said on a low whisper, her gaze ducking with her shame.

“El!” Ryan’s tone was more of a bark and it had even Trip jerking in surprise. “Don’t you dare say that. You just brought Trip back from the dead.”

When he jolted in astonishment at that, Ryan just gritted his teeth.

“We both know he was dying. You saved him. How does that make you weak? We’re asking you to do something that takes months of practice as a child. You’re doing so f*****g well, sweetheart. I feel better as it is.” He touched his face. “The burns have gone, haven’t they?”

She nodded, her bottom lip trembling.

“You see? That’s how much the shift heals us.”

El clenched her eyes shut, then with a groan, whispered, “Do it, Marc.”

Marc triggered his own shift, and with a cry of pain, El transformed too.

The minute she did, Trip’s eyes widened in surprise. He felt the magick flow through him even though he was too weak to force it himself. Something about her, something strange prompted his Lion into rearing its head, urged the beast out to play.

The cat was hiding himself, tucked small in a ball in a corner of Trip’s soul, licking his wounds, mewling his pain. But El’s mating magick, whatever the f**k that was, had him standing up on shaky legs and demanding to be released.

Before he knew it, he was back as a Lion. This time, the pain wasn’t too bad. It was manageable.

He tried to let his own magick heal some of his wounds, but it took a moment to just breathe in deep and get some air.

“You can stay in this form now, baby,” Marc murmured, stroking her head. He was nude, and Trip assumed that was because his own clothes had been wrecked from multiple shifts. “You just rest and relax. There’s no need to worry. They’ll be fine now.”

Trip was still a little shaky on his paws, but Ryan wasn’t. The two of them converged on her, doing as Marc had done. Rubbing themselves against her, nudging her with their heads, pawing at her gently and generally cosseting her with as much love as their beasts were capable of.

She was letting out a damn near rumble of pleasure when they finished. And that was exactly how he wanted her...

“El, concentrate on staying in that form, okay? The guys will be shifting back and forth again, so focus on holding the Panther. This is good practice, okay?”

She nuzzled her head into his hand which Marc took as acceptance.

“Go ahead, guys.”

Trip flashed back without any help, Ryan too. They smirked at each other’s naked asses, then after a series of rapid shifts, found themselves as good as new.

Well, relatively speaking.

They’d still ache like a b***h and they had a massive adrenaline drop coming, but hell, they were alive.

Something Trip might not have been were it not for his new mate.

Astonished by that, he was about to ask what the f**k was going on when the sirens that had been a nagging irritant in the distance were suddenly very close.

“Here.” Clothes were shoved at him, and he blinked as Adam did the same to Marc and Ryan. “Get dressed. You can’t greet the cops in your skin.” The PA stared down at El. “We need to get her out of here. The last thing we need is her being taken away or us being fined for having unlicensed animals around here.”

“Unlicensed, hell,” Adam bit off. “She’s a damn Panther. It’s not like she’s a p***y cat.”

Ryan pulled a face, then they heard a bellow that had them all turning to seek out the source of the noise. Even El turned her head.

“Get your goddamn asses out of the way so they can get in, you morons.”

Marc’s lips twitched. “Think Shawn can handle this situation?”

“For the moment,” Ryan confirmed. “Just until we get ourselves steady.”

To El, Marc looked down and, stroking her head, murmured, “Sweetheart, let’s get you inside, okay?”

Her docility had Trip frowning when she just padded toward the steps that led to Pride House, their State’s governmental seat, without a peep.

He shot Ryan a look but his Triad brother just shook his head. “Let’s be grateful she went so easily. We can deal with her situation later.”

Trip nodded, then as peered back at Shawn, El’s fourth and unexpected mate, took control of a situation none of them had been prepared for.