Motley Crewed Shifters - Chapter 141: Chapter 141
You are reading Motley Crewed Shifters, Chapter 141: Chapter 141. Read more chapters of Motley Crewed Shifters.
CASEY
The car jerks to a stop, tires grinding against gravel as we pull into a cracked and overgrown parking lot at the edge of what looks like a long-abandoned industrial park.
Weeds shoot through the asphalt.
A broken streetlamp leans precariously overhead.
There's no one here.
No one to see. No one to help.
Michael kills the engine and turns to look at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes cold, soulless.
I can’t believe I ever thought this man harmless. Or attractive.
It seems so wrong now that I’ve met Zeke. Now that I know what a real man is—even if he can turn into a Dragon.
Zeke is so much more than that. He’s my whole heart. He is the first and only man to really show me what love is.
God, I really don’t want this to be the end.
If I have any regrets at all, it’s on the time I wasted before seizing the day and telling him how much I love him.
I’m sorry we didn’t have more time, Zeke.
I want to rage at the whole world for the unfairness of it all. But I won’t do that in front of this asshole.
He doesn’t get to see me scared. He doesn’t get to make me cry.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
“Well,” Michael says smoothly, like this is just another business transaction. “Looks like we’re finally gonna have that heart-to-heart, Case.”
My heart pounds against my ribs like a trapped bird. My wrists burn from the duct tape.
My head aches from all the knocks I took, and I taste blood.
But I keep my chin up.
Michael slides out of the car and comes around to the back, opening the rear door with a creak.
The rain is still falling. Fat drops smack the roof in uneven intervals.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder grumbles.
“I have to say, sweetheart,” he says as he yanks me out of the car and props me against the hood like a broken doll, “I’m a little disappointed. I gave you everything. Wined and dined you. Hell, I was even willing to marry you before I fucked you. But you went and messed it all up.”
He crouches beside me, tugging the duct tape from my ankles with sharp jerks.
“You repay me by running to the feds like a disloyal little bitch.”
I don’t answer. I can’t—not with the duct tape still over my mouth—but even if I could, I wouldn’t.
He smiles, cruel and oily.
“Got nothing to say? Oh, right. Let’s fix that.”
With a flourish, he rips the tape from my mouth. I gasp, the sting immediate and sharp.
“They tried tailing me, you know. But I got away from them. Snuck out behind their backs,” he says conversationally, stepping back.
“They think they’re smart, the Feds. Had me tailed in Philly. Switched cars in a parking garage, drove out the side exit. Been trailing you for days, Case. Would’ve grabbed you sooner, but your cowboy’s got a damn fortress out there.”
His jaw ticks.
“Should’ve killed you back at the warehouse after you patched up old Tony. But nah, this is better. I want you to feel it. I want you to know exactly who you fucked with.”
His fingers twitch toward his coat pocket, and I know what’s coming.
A knife. Or maybe a gun. Something final.
Something moves behind him and I—I laugh. It’s a sharp, surprised bark of laughter.
But I don’t even try to stop it or the next one.
It bubbles out of me, wild and unexpected.
Michael’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck’s funny?”
I glance past his shoulder. And there—there—is the reason I’m fucking overjoyed.
The sky above us cracks open with lightning, revealing the monstrous silhouette of a winged beast descending through the storm.
He’s beautiful. Terrifying.
Zeke.
His massive Dragon form lands with a thunderous boom, wings spread wide like an avenging god.
Raindrops hiss and sizzle against his glowing lavender-gold scales.
Power rolls off him in waves—ancient, wild, and otherworldly.
His eyes burn with that deep violet hue I know so well, locked on me.
And on Michael.
My heart floods with a single, overwhelming truth.
I’m not alone.
Michael turns slowly, confusion furrowing his brow.
“What? I don’t see nothing!”
I meet his gaze, defiant and unflinching.
“I’m laughing,” I say, my voice hoarse but steady, “because you’re about to die, and you don’t even know it.”
ZEKE
I have to admit, the second I landed, a small part of me worried.
Not for myself.
For her.
And not because of him. But rather, because of what I was about to do to him.
Casey. My sweet, brave, human mate.
What would she think of me like this?
In my true form, ancient and terrifying, more beast than man.
Would she be afraid?
Would she run?
But then I see her.
Bruised. Bloodied. Bound.
And the doubt burns away like dry kindling.
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about what needs to happen next.
My magic pulses outward in a blast of gold and violet energy, ripping the last of the cloaking glamour from my Dragon’s body.
I flicker into view with a snarl that rumbles from the depths of my chest and shakes the ground beneath me.
The piece of shit holding my mate stumbles backward like he’s seen the devil himself.
Spoiler alert: He has.
His knife clatters to the asphalt, his eyes going wide, jaw slack with terror.
“Wh—what the fuck?”
I huff a breath, long and deliberate, and thick gray smoke coils from my nostrils like a promise.
The smell of his fear hits me instantly.
Sharp, sour, and unfiltered.
Good.
I want him afraid.
Because I’m not here to talk. I’m not here to negotiate.
I’m here to end him.
My claws scrape the pavement as I take a step forward, each talon sparking against the concrete.
Gold-tipped wings flare wide, casting my shadow like a blanket over the entire lot.
My teeth—serrated and made to shred—flash as I open my jaws, and a low growl builds into something guttural. Primordial.
He tries to scramble back toward the car, slipping on the wet pavement, shoes skidding uselessly as the first fat drops of a fresh storm hit the ground.
Too late.
My Dragon is in control now.
Lethal. Righteous. Pissed.
You don’t hurt a Dragon’s mate and walk away.
You definitely don’t touch what’s mine and live to tell the story.
This isn’t vengeance.
This is law.
My chest glows, gold cracks of heat building beneath my scales, and I let out a warning roar that makes the very air ripple.
It shakes the trees. Rattles the buildings. Shudders the earth.
Run, I think to him. Make it fun.
But he doesn’t. He freezes.
And that’s the last mistake he ever makes.
The car jerks to a stop, tires grinding against gravel as we pull into a cracked and overgrown parking lot at the edge of what looks like a long-abandoned industrial park.
Weeds shoot through the asphalt.
A broken streetlamp leans precariously overhead.
There's no one here.
No one to see. No one to help.
Michael kills the engine and turns to look at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes cold, soulless.
I can’t believe I ever thought this man harmless. Or attractive.
It seems so wrong now that I’ve met Zeke. Now that I know what a real man is—even if he can turn into a Dragon.
Zeke is so much more than that. He’s my whole heart. He is the first and only man to really show me what love is.
God, I really don’t want this to be the end.
If I have any regrets at all, it’s on the time I wasted before seizing the day and telling him how much I love him.
I’m sorry we didn’t have more time, Zeke.
I want to rage at the whole world for the unfairness of it all. But I won’t do that in front of this asshole.
He doesn’t get to see me scared. He doesn’t get to make me cry.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
“Well,” Michael says smoothly, like this is just another business transaction. “Looks like we’re finally gonna have that heart-to-heart, Case.”
My heart pounds against my ribs like a trapped bird. My wrists burn from the duct tape.
My head aches from all the knocks I took, and I taste blood.
But I keep my chin up.
Michael slides out of the car and comes around to the back, opening the rear door with a creak.
The rain is still falling. Fat drops smack the roof in uneven intervals.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder grumbles.
“I have to say, sweetheart,” he says as he yanks me out of the car and props me against the hood like a broken doll, “I’m a little disappointed. I gave you everything. Wined and dined you. Hell, I was even willing to marry you before I fucked you. But you went and messed it all up.”
He crouches beside me, tugging the duct tape from my ankles with sharp jerks.
“You repay me by running to the feds like a disloyal little bitch.”
I don’t answer. I can’t—not with the duct tape still over my mouth—but even if I could, I wouldn’t.
He smiles, cruel and oily.
“Got nothing to say? Oh, right. Let’s fix that.”
With a flourish, he rips the tape from my mouth. I gasp, the sting immediate and sharp.
“They tried tailing me, you know. But I got away from them. Snuck out behind their backs,” he says conversationally, stepping back.
“They think they’re smart, the Feds. Had me tailed in Philly. Switched cars in a parking garage, drove out the side exit. Been trailing you for days, Case. Would’ve grabbed you sooner, but your cowboy’s got a damn fortress out there.”
His jaw ticks.
“Should’ve killed you back at the warehouse after you patched up old Tony. But nah, this is better. I want you to feel it. I want you to know exactly who you fucked with.”
His fingers twitch toward his coat pocket, and I know what’s coming.
A knife. Or maybe a gun. Something final.
Something moves behind him and I—I laugh. It’s a sharp, surprised bark of laughter.
But I don’t even try to stop it or the next one.
It bubbles out of me, wild and unexpected.
Michael’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck’s funny?”
I glance past his shoulder. And there—there—is the reason I’m fucking overjoyed.
The sky above us cracks open with lightning, revealing the monstrous silhouette of a winged beast descending through the storm.
He’s beautiful. Terrifying.
Zeke.
His massive Dragon form lands with a thunderous boom, wings spread wide like an avenging god.
Raindrops hiss and sizzle against his glowing lavender-gold scales.
Power rolls off him in waves—ancient, wild, and otherworldly.
His eyes burn with that deep violet hue I know so well, locked on me.
And on Michael.
My heart floods with a single, overwhelming truth.
I’m not alone.
Michael turns slowly, confusion furrowing his brow.
“What? I don’t see nothing!”
I meet his gaze, defiant and unflinching.
“I’m laughing,” I say, my voice hoarse but steady, “because you’re about to die, and you don’t even know it.”
ZEKE
I have to admit, the second I landed, a small part of me worried.
Not for myself.
For her.
And not because of him. But rather, because of what I was about to do to him.
Casey. My sweet, brave, human mate.
What would she think of me like this?
In my true form, ancient and terrifying, more beast than man.
Would she be afraid?
Would she run?
But then I see her.
Bruised. Bloodied. Bound.
And the doubt burns away like dry kindling.
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about what needs to happen next.
My magic pulses outward in a blast of gold and violet energy, ripping the last of the cloaking glamour from my Dragon’s body.
I flicker into view with a snarl that rumbles from the depths of my chest and shakes the ground beneath me.
The piece of shit holding my mate stumbles backward like he’s seen the devil himself.
Spoiler alert: He has.
His knife clatters to the asphalt, his eyes going wide, jaw slack with terror.
“Wh—what the fuck?”
I huff a breath, long and deliberate, and thick gray smoke coils from my nostrils like a promise.
The smell of his fear hits me instantly.
Sharp, sour, and unfiltered.
Good.
I want him afraid.
Because I’m not here to talk. I’m not here to negotiate.
I’m here to end him.
My claws scrape the pavement as I take a step forward, each talon sparking against the concrete.
Gold-tipped wings flare wide, casting my shadow like a blanket over the entire lot.
My teeth—serrated and made to shred—flash as I open my jaws, and a low growl builds into something guttural. Primordial.
He tries to scramble back toward the car, slipping on the wet pavement, shoes skidding uselessly as the first fat drops of a fresh storm hit the ground.
Too late.
My Dragon is in control now.
Lethal. Righteous. Pissed.
You don’t hurt a Dragon’s mate and walk away.
You definitely don’t touch what’s mine and live to tell the story.
This isn’t vengeance.
This is law.
My chest glows, gold cracks of heat building beneath my scales, and I let out a warning roar that makes the very air ripple.
It shakes the trees. Rattles the buildings. Shudders the earth.
Run, I think to him. Make it fun.
But he doesn’t. He freezes.
And that’s the last mistake he ever makes.
End of Motley Crewed Shifters Chapter 141. Continue reading Chapter 142 or return to Motley Crewed Shifters book page.