Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (43 page)

***

Nadia had
never known fear this deep, this true.

The bear
was ambling around in her general vicinity, never coming too close. It seemed
to be testing her, seeing how easy it would be to make her break.

She’d been
tempted to scream for Drake, knowing that he would be able to hear her, but she
was frightened that the bear might take that as something aggressive and attack
her. So the scream she wanted to send out was cemented in her throat, lodged
there with her tears from their argument, and her hope that she would get out
of this alive.

A snort
broke into her musing, distracting her so that she stumbled and nearly fell.
The bear clearly took that as a threat, and let loose a roar, so eerie, and
terrifying, that Nadia instantly burst into silent tears. It began to come
closer. And as it did so, Nadia stayed planted in the same position, trying not
to antagonize it further.

The animal
seemed sluggish, almost sick, and the closer it came, Nadia noted the somewhat
frothy foam at its mouth.
Rabies.
The bear was
infected with Rabies.

Shaking
took over her body, along with the sudden, overwhelming urge to run. But Nadia
ignored that, remembering a show once that said running would only incite
further aggressiveness from the bear. So she huddled along the side of the
road, while a raving, infected bear stalked her ever closer.

Suddenly
the bear halted, turning its nose up, scenting the air.

Nadia
immediately took note of this. What did it sense? Was another animal coming?
Was it a car? But she nixed that last thought. This was Drake’s private road.
No one would be showing up at this time of night.

The bear
roared once more, causing Nadia to jump again. Then it began to run towards
her. Without even thinking, she turned and ran, the silly heels forgotten as
the need to save her own life cut in on everything else. Within seconds, she
was knocked to the ground. Twigs, rocks and mud shifted under her hands, and as
she looked up she could clearly see the ravaged, diseased eyes of the bear not
five feet from where she lay.

The scream
that had lodged in her throat before, came ripping out easily now.

Just as the
bear roared again, and raised its large front paws towards her, Nadia caught a
blur coming in from the right. The blur was Drake, and seconds later bear and
man tussled right before her very eyes.

He would
die! There was no way possible for him to defeat that beast. After having to
bear the humiliation of
him
not wanting her to stick
around for a lifetime, Nadia refused to witness his death. 

“Stop!
Please stop!” But the
words came out distorted and wobbly thanks to her tears. She rose hastily,
scrounging in the dark, feeling rocks and twigs, searching for something to use
as a weapon, while the fighting continued behind her, human and beast, the
snarling and growling rippling together to form a deathly orchestra of terror.

Another
roar, clearly Drake, made Nadia look back to see him standing, the bear on hind
legs, doing everything it could to gut him where he stood. The animal was
fierce, terrifying, and enormous, the full moon shining down on its rippling
furry body and snarling white teeth. One glance also revealed Drake, clearly in
full change, fangs flashing, muscles large and impressive, while his eyes
glowed hotly animalistic.

It was a
meeting of the two most deadly things she’d ever seen.

Then the
bear swiped at him, his claws cutting a swath of red across Drake’s chest.
Nadia screamed, feeling utterly useless with no weapon, and instantly
everything became crystal clear.

The man she
loved was fighting for her, battling against something terrifying and deadly,
so that she could escape.

But she
wasn’t going to let him battle alone.

Since she
couldn’t find a stick, she could distract the beast, and give Drake the upper
hand.

Standing
up, she let loose a long, loud whistle, gathering the attention of the bear and
of Drake, who was clearly not happy about her intervention.

“Nadia, no!”

“You’re not
going to die for me, you stubborn son of a bitch!”

The bear
did exactly what she wanted; it turned and started for her

***

There was
only one thing to do. He’d tried coaxing the bear with his abilities, when he’d
first heard it roar, but since the Rabies was fully spread throughout its body
and mind, the animal was relying on its basic survival instincts. Drake
couldn’t get through to it, couldn’t persuade it to stop, and he sure as hell
wasn’t going to let it hurt Nadia.

He’d
allowed himself to go fully through his change.

Now
everything was sharper, focused, clear cut, black and white, no gray areas, no
haggling,
no
dissecting. He was the same as the bear-a
beast, intent on saving his woman. Nothing would stop him, except, apparently,
for Nadia’s misguided attempt to save
him
.

The burn on
his chest from the swipe the bear gave him, he barely felt, but the terror in
Nadia’s eyes burned as clear as the love that had given her the strength to
stand up to something she was obviously afraid of.

His brave,
beautiful woman, he’d have to make an honest woman of her, and soon, but not
before the unpleasant task before him.

Within
seconds, he was on the bear’s back, his hands around the heavily muscled
throat, and for a few terrifying moments, Drake wasn’t sure he could end the
animal’s life, despite the rabies. But one glance into Nadia’s fearful face
told him this had to be done.

Calling on
every particle of his power, he roared, and grabbed the bottom and top jaws of
the bear, pulling in opposite directions. The heavy beast fought bravely, but
when Drake popped his jaw, it fell to the ground, dead, within a matter of
seconds.

Feeling
horrible for having to take the life of something so majestic, Drake knelt over
the beast, praying for its soul, promising to see it resting somewhere
permanently safe in its second life.

Tearful
hiccups intruded in on his thoughts. Drake glanced up, and saw Nadia sitting on
the ground, looking lost and somewhat dazed. He got up and made his way to her,
going slowly because he knew the scratches on his chest, the blood and the
change he was wearing might also scare her.

“Angel? You
okay, honey?”

He barely
had a second to brace himself before she came barreling at him and flying into
his arms. So, she must not be put off by the blood and his animalistic nature,
Drake assumed.

“You crazy, beautiful man.”
Her
words were hazy and indistinct against his throat, but Drake didn’t care. He
had her right where he wanted her.

“But if I’m
your crazy, beautiful man, I must also lay claim to a bit of stupidity to
nearly let you get away.”

She
stiffened slightly against him. So Drake went for it, letting her have what she
wanted so badly.

“You are
going to be
mine
forever, Nadia. There is no way I’m
giving you up. If I have to change you to have you, then I’ll willingly do it.”

His air was
cut off as she hugged him to her, but he didn’t mind the chokehold one bit.

***

           
Drake made her wait until Friday night to get things started.

           
Nadia had thought she would expire from anxiousness when he informed her that
he needed some assistance from a few other Druids. She thought they could have
done the deed the day after that horrible fight, with each other and then the
bear; Drake had informed her otherwise. She would need a couple of days to
regroup. She might miss work for an untold amount of days because her newly
rewired system might throw her off a bit. The actual biting process was not
what he was worried about. He was more worried about after, when the changing
would set in and her body, soul, and mind would go through the transformation.
He reminded her that for some the transformation was horrid, painful and
sometimes deadly. Others felt no ill reminders of their time during the change.
Some, he told her, passed with no ill effects and days later were right as
rain. There was no way to tell how Nadia’s change would go until it began,
which is why he wanted help to fall back on, incase they would need it.

           
Nadia wasn’t worried one bit. Love that was returned and felt by Drake flowed
in her veins. She knew that she looked crazy happy on the outside, but even if
that was the case, she didn’t want to dim that. She wanted everyone to know how
she felt about Drake, even if he was being a bit more honorable than she liked
at the moment. He hadn’t touched her sexually since Monday night. Instead he
had gone over and over again some of the things she might expect from her
transformation, during and after. Nadia was more than ready for that to happen,
and since she was being honest to herself, she was also more than ready to jump
his bones at any given moment.

           
It wouldn’t be now though, she mused as she watched him go to open the door to
his house. She had come over with a bag packed, and ready to go, as per his
instructions. Back up for Drake would be three other Druids. He had only told
Nadia their specialties and their names, but she knew deep inside she was
thankful for them being here and helping both her and Drake through this.

           
After shutting the huge door and murmuring a few words, Nadia watched from the
corner of the sofa when Drake finally ushered his guests into the living area
where she was waiting. When she caught her first glance of all three men, she
swore Druidism carried a gorgeous gene. Every single man was simply breathtaking.
How they were all unattached was a miracle to her.

           
Two tall, dark haired men broke away from another tall, silver haired giant and
made their way towards Nadia. She instinctively stood, and calmed her rapidly
beating heart. This was all starting to seem very real to her.

           
With an outstretched arm, the first dark haired man with stunning blue eyes
grabbed her hand and gave it a vigorous shake, “Nice to meet you Nadia, I’m
Brenan McKinnon.” God, he was devilishly handsome, with a dimple in one lean
cheek, and a seductive Scottish brogue. Nadia wondered if every woman in New
York was blind.

           
Looking way up, she remembered to smile in the face of such charm, as he picked
up her hand and kissed the back of it, not to mention his deep Scottish brogue
when he spoke her name had given her the goose bumps. “Nice to meet you too,”
she murmured as she pulled her hand back in.

           
The other dark haired man had flashing green eyes, and was a bit taller than
Brenan. “Ramsey McMurray, lass, it is so good to meet you.” His voice was a
deep brogue also. He didn’t kiss her hand as boldly as Brenan had done, but
when his fingers touched hers she felt immediately calmer. When he let her hand
go, he whispered, “My cousin has the charm, but I have the touch.” His green
eyes twinkled, and Nadia smiled as she remembered what Drake had told her about
his special ability being ‘touch.’

           
Drake charged in between the two Scottish devils, and gave them the hardest
looks that Nadia could ever remember him giving anyone. “Okay you two, back
off.” He smiled at Nadia and grasped her hand in his. “This is Kale. He is the
other one I was telling you about with the ability to stop blood flow.”

           
The tall man approached her, and Nadia saw what she had thought was silver hair
was actually a light blonde. He was tall, with autocratic features, and a
commanding air that implied he was just as stubborn and harsh as he appeared to
be.

           
“Hello, Nadia. I hope your transformation will be pain and problem free. We are
all here to ensure that.” His silver eyes flashed at her as he shook her hand.
His voice held no accent, which she thought was odd but interesting.

           
The next hour was spent getting everything ready. Nadia joked with Drake that
he was only making her upcoming trial even harder, but deep down she understood
his hesitation. He wanted everything to go smoothly. Now as everyone crowded
inside the huge master bedroom, she gulped deeply, knowing what was coming, but
not quite sure if she was ready.

           
After Drake positioned her on the bed, lying comfortably, Nadia licked dry lips
and watched as the men conferred at the foot of the bed. She could hear them
talking about pain, symptoms from previous changes, and other things she should
be listening to, but as of now all she could focus on was Drake. He was big,
bigger than the two dark haired men and at the same height with Kale, but what
caught her attention the most was the camaraderie he shared with the other men.
It was easy to see they were brothers in arms. At that moment Nadia closed her
eyes, said a prayer, and let her love for Drake pour through her. This was no
mistake. She loved this man, she would be with him forever, and nothing would happen
during her transformation to stop her future with him.