Free Claimed by the Beast - Part One by Dawn Michelle

she almost didn’t slow down
in time to meet him. Hank smiled when Crystal’s eyes widened and
she stumbled with the effort to slow herself down.
    Hank reached out and caught her shoulders
before she could fall. He chuckled. “Well, hi there.”
    “I’m such a klutz!” Crystal groaned.
    He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
    Ember smacked him in the arm as she walked
up next. “What’s the word?”
    “He hasn’t been back to the bridge,” Hank
said with his rumbling voice.
    Crystal picked up a touch of an accent.
Tennessee, maybe?
    “We couldn’t track him or find him. He
healed before he came out of the river. No blood to follow.”
    “I should have been there,” Ember mumbled.
“I could have found his scent again.”
    “Found his scent?” Beth asked as she joined
them. “What are you talking about?”
    “Ember was the one who knew the Beast was
there when we rode past Crystal,” Hank explained.
    “Hank, shut it!” Ember hissed. “She doesn’t
know.”
    “I know about Crystal getting hurt,” Beth
protested. Once all eyes were on her, she held out her arms and
said, “What? She told me!”
    “What did you tell her?” Hank asked.
    Crystal felt herself withering under his
bright-eyed gaze. “I told her about the thing that bit me and how
it was making me sick. And that it was hunting me.”
    Hank nodded. He glanced at Ember.
“Soon.”
    Ember laughed. “Better be.”
    Crystal scowled. “What’s that supposed to
mean?”
    Ember glanced down between the two of them
and nodded. “Two of you are getting awfully close and it looks like
somebody’s getting happy to see you.”
    “Ember!” Hank growled.
    Crystal glanced down in spite of the sudden
heat in her cheeks and saw the bulge in his pants. She gasped and
felt her knees tremble. “Uh—”
    “Crys! Wait up!” Stephanie’s voice broke
over her like a tidal wave of freezing water.
    Crystal jerked herself around, twisting and
ending up brushing her arm against Hank’s chest. He caught her and
held her still so she didn’t trip. Crystal felt the quiet strength
in his grip and hoped the moan she heard was only in her head.
Ember was right: if she wasn’t careful, she was going to jump his
bones the first chance she got!
    “You said you’d introduce me to your
boyfriend,” Stephanie said as she closed the distance on her long
legs.
    “Boyfriend?” Hank whispered in her ear.
    Crystal shivered. “It kind of slipped,” she
mumbled.
    “So?” Stephanie said as she slowed. She
looked up at him and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Stephanie.”
    Crystal jerked and turned to look at Hank.
He had his head tilted a little as he looked down at her.
“Stephanie, this is Hank.”
    Hank took his hand off Crystal’s shoulder
and extended his arm to her. Crystal’s stomach tightened and her
teeth felt like they would crack under pressure any second as Hank
shook her hand.
    “Oh my, you really are big,” Stephanie said
with a smile.
    “We were just leaving,” Crystal said. “We
can catch up later.”
    “Oh? That’s too bad,” Stephanie said. She
smiled at Hank and nodded. “Later then. I’m holding you to
that!”
    Crystal grabbed Hank and turned him around.
“Let’s go,” she muttered.
    “What was that all about?” he asked.
    “Long story. She’s the reason I cry myself
to sleep at night.”
    “You what?”
    Crystal sighed. “Never mind. I’m kidding.
About the crying, at least. Do you want to come to my place?”
    “Everybody’s already there,” Hank said.
    “What? My mom—oh, she’s working a double.
Wait! How’d they get in my house?”
    “They’re not in your house,” Ember said.
“Camped outside. Probably on the back deck.”
    “Oh, okay. So the neighbors will see them.
Great.”
    “If you’d prefer, we could leave you to face
this on your own?” Ember asked.
    Crystal clamped her lips shut and glanced at
the ground. “You’re right,” she mumbled before looking back up.
“Sorry, I wasn’t