Atticus by R.E. Butler

Chapter Fifteen

Lori’s head whipped to the side with the force of the blow. Keir hauled her up by her hair and she let out a shriek of pain as he pinned her to the tree.

She kicked at him and yelled out several curses.

He only smiled at her. Coldly. Like a predator, and she was well and truly caught.

And then something tackled Keir and she flopped to the ground with a grunt.

Not something...someone. Atticus!

She pushed herself up and fell back on her butt. She ached from head to toe, but she’d never been happier to see someone in her life. Men she recognized from the park—Joss who worked in accounting, Caesar and Jupiter who were in security, Cael, and Zane, Atticus’s son, rushed into the clearing. They engaged with the guys who were with Keir, except for Zane, who knelt by her.

“Are you okay?”

“I am now,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

A wolf trotted into view, and she jerked back with a gasp.

“It’s okay, he’s a friend,” Zane said.

She stared at him. “Did I just have a stroke or something?”

“No,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s hard to explain, but I promise I will. Or my dad will. For now, let’s get you to safety.”

“I don’t want to leave without him.”

“Just come back a little ways with me.”

Atticus and Keir squared off, with the other two guys tangling with Keir’s goons.

“There’s one missing,” she said.

“One missing what?” Zane asked.

“Keir had three guys with him. One of his brothers isn’t here anymore.”

“We’ll find him.”

“She’s mine,” Atticus said, his voice deep and angry.

“She has to die,” Keir said. “Her and the abomination. I’ve paid for my mistake for long enough. It ends tonight!”

Keir ripped at his shirt with a furious roar that went from sounding like a man yelling to a beast. And then...he changed! Into a fucking polar bear!

Lori froze, not even daring to breathe. Had she just seen that?

What the hell?

“Atticus!” she screamed, worried for him.

Her boyfriend bellowed out a roar that sounded like something you’d hear in the jungle. And then he changed. His clothes shredding like they were made of paper, his body bulking and growing, dark fur sprouting everywhere.

A gorilla!

Atticus was a fucking gorilla!

He looked over his shoulder at her and then faced off against Keir the freaking polar bear. Atticus beat his chest with his fists and slapped the ground, while Keir roared.

“This can’t be happening,” she whispered.

“It is. I’m sorry you have to see it like this,” Zane said.

“Is this why Keir wouldn’t leave me alone? Because he’s an animal?”

“We’re called shifters, and yes. He probably feared you’d spill the truth of shifters.”

“I didn’t know,” she said. “I...thought he was different, but not like this.”

“It’s okay, I believe you.”

“Wait, you said we? Are you?”

“Yes, I’m a gorilla too. Caesar and Jupiter are lions, Joss is a wolf. And Cael is an elephant.”

Holy crap, her whole world was upside down right now. She swallowed hard. She’d been chased for two decades by a man who could turn into a bear. And she’d had sex with a guy who was a gorilla. Could things be any stranger?

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked.

“They’re going to fight for you. Only one of them is going to come out of it alive, and I know for a fact it’ll be my dad.”

She watched the two big animals circling each other. She couldn’t imagine anything crazier than what she was witnessing.

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re his soulmate and he’d lay waste to a city to keep you safe. Fortunately, he only has to take out one dumb bear.”

Focusing on the gorilla and the bear, she didn’t even pay attention to Zane as he cut her wrists free from the rope. She could only watch and hope that Atticus survived the fight.

He had to. She’d just found him and she didn’t want to let him go.

Blocking out everything else, she focused on her boyfriend—her soulmate?—and held onto the hope that he could kick Keir’s ass.

There was no other option.

* * *

Atticus glanced at his son and gave him a brief nod, trusting him to keep Lori safe while he took care of Keir once and for all. His shift ripped from his body with enough force to make his brain come out of his ears. He’d never shifted so fast before, but he was slapping the ground and bellowing his anger at the polar bear in seconds.

Atticus had never been around a polar bear and the male was enormous. He rose onto his back legs and towered over Atticus by several feet. His paws were like dinner plates. He swiped one of those huge paws at Atticus, who dodged and came up alongside the male, pounding his fists into his side. Keir roared and swiped, narrowly missing Atticus. He bet in the wild, a polar bear could destroy a gorilla, but this wasn’t nature—they were shifters, and Atticus wasnotgoing to lose his soulmate to this male.

They dodged and moved around the clearing, Keir swinging his paws and trying to smash his weight down on Atticus, and Atticus keeping his feet moving and getting in hits when he could. There was no way on earth he was going to lose. Lori’s life depended on it.

Atticus barreled past Keir and swiped his legs out from under him. He grabbed one paw and jerked hard with all his weight. He felt the bone separate, Keir’s shoulder coming out of the socket with a loud pop. Claws dug into his back, and Atticus bellowed in pain as he rolled off the bear. His back burned, but he pushed the pain away. Keir rose to his back legs, one arm dangling uselessly.

He was aware that no one was fighting anymore, and a quick glance told him that his friends had taken care of the males with Keir. Now it was up to him. He had to finish this so Lori would be safe. He had to kill for her, so he could keep her by his side forever.

Keir roared and charged. Atticus jumped for a nearby tree. He caught a low branch and swung himself up and over the bear. Keir toddled off-kilter as he tried to swing back around. Atticus landed on the bear’s back. He sank his fangs into Keir’s neck, piercing through the thick layer of fat and muscle.

Someone jumped on his back and fingers dug into his eyes. He didn’t give up his hold on Keir, who was swaying and howling in pain.

He heard a feminine war cry, and someone shouted for Lori to stop.

Then the weight was gone from him, and Atticus bit harder and deeper into Keir’s neck and pulled back with all his might, tearing the male’s throat. As Keir went down, Atticus broke his neck with a powerful twist of his hands, and then he climbed over the body to get to Lori. Where was she?

* * *

Lori watched Atticus, who was smaller than Keir in his animal form, dodging paws and getting in hits. He was surprisingly agile.

Something caught her eye and she saw what looked like someone lurking in the shadows.

She realized it was the missing goon.

Atticus sank his fangs into Keir’s neck, the big bear bellowing in pain but unable to shake Atticus’s hold no matter how hard he tried.

The goon raced from the woods and leaped onto Atticus, trying to pull him away.

Well that was not happening!

Lori shouted as she ran and grabbed hold of the goon’s shirt, jerking him away from Atticus and Keir. She stumbled and hit the ground as the men who’d been with Atticus shouted for her to stop.

The goon was on his feet before she was and hauled her over his shoulder and took off in the opposite direction.

Hell no! She wasn’t going to get abducted again!

She beat her fists on his back. “Let me go!”

He snarled but said nothing, whipping through the woods like he had wings on his feet. She jerked his shirt from his jeans and sank her nails into his skin and twisted sharply. He yelled out in pain and stumbled, and she rolled off his shoulder and landed hard on her back, knocking the wind out of her.

Her head swam and she inhaled, pain bracketing through her.

The goon was on top of her a second later, hands on her throat, squeezing. Squeezing.

She beat him with her fists and tried to get free, but her blows weren’t doing anything. Her lungs burned and her vision dotted. She slapped her palms on the ground and hoped to find something to hit him with, but all she found were thin sticks and grass.

Her vision went dark, and she slipped away.