Alpha's Howling Desire (BBW Paranormal Romance) by Meg Ripley Page A

Natalie and Charlie exchange a look, but he didn’t dare move his head to see what it was. “Frank. Why are you doing this?”
    “Because my niece got stuck by one of you beasts, and when I demanded she cut ties with him, she cut me off instead!” Thomas noticed that even the whites of Frank’s eyes were yellow. “My own flesh and blood shunned me. I know you don’t care about humans, but my niece was the last good thing I had in this god forsaken town.”
    Frank’s thumbs pulled down on the hammers of both guns, and adrenaline shot through Thomas’ body. “I didn’t get to burn you to death, but I’ll burn you after. Wanna know something?” he smirked. “Your girl Leslie wasn’t completely wrong about the burial ground. There’s shifter bodies under that barn. Men like me have been putting them there for years. That’s why you’re all drawn to this land. That’s why you’re all transfixed on it.”
    That’s how you snuck up on us, Thomas realized. Some weird shifter magic. Thanks a lot, metaphysics.
    “Now, I think I’ll get this over with,” he said finally, and his voice was choked with tears. “None of you try anything funny, now. I’ll get you one at a time. Would have been better in the barn, but then you had to go and figure out my plan.” He chuckled and shook his head. “You know, it’s—”
    A loud boom sounded, and the next moment, Frank was dropping toward the ground, both guns falling from his lifeless hands. Thomas blinked rapidly, trying to make sense out of the scene before him; everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The grass fluttered beneath his body as his weight settled on it, and a dark red stain was spreading out around him, turning the soil brown and wet. His eyes finally told his brain that Frank’s head was missing—it had been torn clean off his shoulders by the lioness standing over him, wearing an expression as bewildered as the rest of the pride’s.
    Susanna stared around at them with her eyes wide, panting from the effort of ripping the man’s head off. She’d gotten over to him before he realized she’d moved; but how? Before he could ask, she started speaking.
    “Everything slowed down,” Susanna said numbly. “It came to me in a flash…and then it just slowed down. And I got to him before he could…” she trailed off, and her vivid green eyes filled with tears. The boom must have come from her faster-than light movement.
    Natalie was crying, and Charlie wrapped his arms around his wife as she sobbed into his chest. Leslie was staring at the body, unable to pull her eyes away from the darkening red pool around his frame. Her face was bone-white, and Thomas had a feeling she wouldn’t be volunteering for any more adventures for a while.
    Susanna let out a strangled sob, and Thomas felt his heart wrench in his chest even as relief started to wash into his bloodstream. “It’s okay,” Thomas said, hurrying forward and stepping over Frank’s corpse. “It’s okay. We’re safe now. You saved us.”
    “We’re safe?” Susanna asked. She turned her eyes toward him quizzically and drew in a deep, shuddering breath, apparently gathering her air to speak again.
    Then, for the first time ever, she fainted before he got the chance to faint first.

****
     
    They sat together in their wicker rocking chairs every day afterward, holding hands and sipping mixed drinks while they stared at the sunset. Susanna would sometimes go out before the sunset started and sit on the grass, ripping individual blades from the soil absentmindedly until Thomas joined her. After everything that had happened, it felt nice to be able to stare blankly ahead without anticipation of anything ruining their marvelous sunset. Evan would drop by on occasion, or Natalie, but for the most part, everyone’s lives returned to their normal swing. Only Susanna and Thomas seemed frozen for a while—trapped in place like ghostly images of their former selves.
    “Anything today?”