by L. E. Wilson
As its eyes bulged and it struggled to breath, she dared to hope…but she’d forgotten its two sidekicks.
Before she could cause any real harm, her hand was ripped away by one of the others. It pulled both of her arms up over her head and held them there.
The beast on top of her gave her a look of pure evil as it rasped and coughed. It pulled its lips back again, exposing those razor-sharp fangs.
Emma froze in terror as it reared its head back to strike.
A terrified scream tore from her throat, and a deafening roar joining it. Before she’d even processed the sound, the weight of the monster was ripped from her body. A second later, her wrists were released.
Emma lay there, unmoving, not yet fully comprehending she was free. She listened to the sickening noises around her in a daze. Unearthly screams blended with the sounds of crunching bone and the wet sucking noises of flesh being ripped from flesh, until she thought she was going to vomit after all.
Then all was silent.
Cautiously, Emma turned her head to the right. She blinked, not quite believing what she was seeing.
Nikulas stood with his back to her, sides heaving, fists clenched at his sides. Scattered around him were piles of rotting, grey flesh, ripped into pieces so small they were unrecognizable as any particular body part.
The wind picked up at that moment, and her stomach convulsed from the smell as the pieces started to flake away.
Chapter 41
Pulling his hood back up over his singed hair, Nik swallowed hard. Slowly, fearfully, he turned around. But he kept his eyes closed, afraid of what he would see. Afraid he hadn’t made it on time. She hadn’t moved or made a sound since he’d torn the creature off of her.
Taking a deep breath, he opened them to see Emma’s wide hazel eyes trained on him, shock reflected deep within the depths. Her body was deathly still. Her face was white. Blood trickled from slashes on her arms.
He stared at her lovely face, those invisible hands squeezing his heart harder and harder, and then…
She blinked.
Please, please tell me I’m not fucking hallucinating. Tell me I arrived in time.
He’d fled the cave before the sun had completely set, Aiden close on his heels. They’d stayed to the shadows, following the lure of Emma’s blood to the creek.
He didn’t hesitate as he was pulled to the scene of those things hunched over something on the ground. He knew it was Emma. A red haze had clouded his vision when he’d ripped the first one off of her, quickly annihilating the other two as well. He’d barely realized what he was doing.
However, he sure as hell was feeling it now.
Emma inhaled sharply. “What happened to your face?” Her voice was so hoarse from screaming, he barely understood her.
Falling hard onto his knees, Nik groped for Emma’s hand and brought it to his burned mouth, kissing her palm and holding it there. His eyes burned with tears he couldn’t shed, and a dry, heart-wrenching sob tore its way out of his scalded lungs.
“Nik? What the hell happened to your face?” Emma rasped. She lifted her other hand, but hesitated before touching the blackened skin.
But he couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t speak. He could only kneel there, her small hand engulfed within his larger ones, his eyes hidden behind their burned lids.
Aiden dropped down into her view, squatting on his haunches next to Nik. “Hey there, poppet. Brilliant idea you had here, luring them out this way. But you really should’ve waited for us to help you.”
She redirected her question at him. “What the hell happened to his face?”
Nik opened his eyes to find Aiden grinning at him as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. “He looks a bit better now. You should’ve seen him when I found him.”
Emma used her free hand to push herself up into a sitting position, as Nik had a death grip on the other one, and he wasn’t going to be letting it go anytime soon. “That doesn’t answer my question, Aiden.”
“The arse tried to follow you into the sun. I finally had to tackle him before he managed to roast himself.” Smiling reassuringly at Emma, he glanced over at Nik. Then went back for a second look.
“In spite of your recent one man destruction show, you’re not looking so good, mate.”
“I’m okay,” Nik mumbled behind Emma’s hand.
Aside to Emma, Aiden whispered, “Do you think you feel up to giving him a drink, love?”
Nik’s big body swayed in the wind, but he managed to stutter, “I’m okay. I don’t need any…she’s been through enough…just need to rest.” Pure stubbornness was the only thing keeping him upright. Now that he’d saved his beloved female, his body was giving in to all of the trauma it’d been dealt recently.
Gently pulling her hand from his, Emma pushed her sleeve back and offered him her wrist. “Here. Drink. And don’t argue with me.”
Aiden grinned at her with approval. “You know, love, I’m beginning to develop quite a crush on you.”
Nik bared his teeth at his friend, but at her reproving look, he gently took her arm in his hands and sank his fangs into her sweet-smelling wrist. Closing his gritty eyes, he took a deep pull on her vein, groaning as her blood hit his tongue. A few swallows later, and he felt his burns start to heal.
Emma watched, fascinated, as the damaged areas began to fuse themselves together, new skin cells multiplying and creating fresh tissue at an amazing speed right before her eyes. Within a few heartbeats, he was nearly completely healed.
Holy shit. Her blood did that? If that’s how it affected his outsides, she couldn’t imagine how he felt on the inside.
No sooner had the thought drifted through her mind than Nik’s bright eyes flashed open and locked onto hers, the hunger in them so intense, she was momentarily taken aback.
Emma had never experienced anything as erotic as those smoldering blue eyes burning right through to her core.
She watched him as he fed, each pull a direct tug on her desire for him. Every needy moan made her breath hitch and her heart beat faster. Her breasts swelled, her nipples tightening into hard, little buds that begged for his touch, his tongue, even his bite. Her lips parted, her tongue sneaking out to wet her bottom lip.
She moaned softly as a rush of wetness drenched her panties, her belly clenching with need for him as her body responded to him of its own accord.
Chapter 42
Nik’s focus narrowed in on Emma, and a low, deep growl rumbled through his chest. The scent of her desire heated his blood, made his body harden. His cock swelled painfully as he watched her little pink tongue wet her lip, her body leaning closer to him of its own accord. He wanted to bite that lip as he came inside of her.
The sound of Aiden noisily clearing his throat barely kept him from ripping the clothes from her body and pushing himself into her hot, little body. With a displeased snarl, he reluctantly removed his fangs from her inner wrist. Holding her wide eyes with his, he licked the soft skin, healing his bite and the slashes from the attack. Taking her other arm, he did the same.
Aiden stuck his face in front of Nik’s, breaking the contact. “Hate to interrupt the moment, mate, but we have company.”
Nik’s head immediately whipped around, lips pulled back, fangs bared in warning, his body blocking Emma from this new danger.
Cedric, Lucian, and Duncan came jogging up to them, the shock on their faces explaining why they paid no mind of Nik’s show of aggression.
“Whit th' fuck was that?” Cedric’s deep voice thundered through the ravine. Blood covered the front of his shirt, as it did Duncan’s and Lucian’s.
Dropping down onto his haunches by Emma, Cedric looked at her beseechingly. “I'm so sorry, lass! I had no idea. I would've ne'er sent ye off on yer own had I known.”
He looked from Emma to the vampires. “Whit th' fuckin’ hell were those things?!”
Nik’s nostrils flared and his mouth flattened into a thin line. “What do you mean, ‘you wouldn’t have sent her
off on her own’?”
Rising to his full height, he took up a protective stance in front of Emma. Aiden stepped up to stand at his right. His blood, already heated by the contact with Emma, boiled now with rage. Nik stared down the wolves as one by one, they each dropped their gaze and hung their heads.
Lucian and Duncan kept their heads down and took a step back, letting Cedric answer that one.
As he should.
As their leader.
And, the whole thing being his idea and all.
Cedric also stood, slowly and cautiously, not making any sudden moves. Although he towered over Nik by a good five inches, he nevertheless visibly braced himself against the wrath emanating from the vampire as he lifted his hands, palms out. “Now Nikulas, before ye go suckin' me dry, gimme a chance ta explain.”
Nik gave his head a quick shake. He couldn’t possibly be hearing this correctly. “Please, tell me that I misunderstood. Tell me my friend would never be stupid enough to purposefully put my female in danger.” By the time he finished speaking, his entire body was shaking with rage.
“Nik, I didna ken those things existed. I swear it!” Cedric’s steady gaze proclaimed he was telling the truth. “I thought a few normal vamps would be guarding th’ walls. There would've been no danger tae Emma wi' us there. And I didna ken she was yers 'til we had already taken her!” he insisted. “I thought she was just a normal human, 'n' thought we'd have a bit o’ fun.”
“Well, that was just a horrible idea,” Aiden piped in.
“That’s exactly what I said,” Emma agreed.
Cedric rolled his eyes at Aiden. “Yer one tae talk. Ye would've done th' same thing. If na’ worse.”
Aiden recoiled dramatically at the insult. “Are you daft, man? I wouldn’t do something like that! That’s just crazy!” He screwed his forehead up, deep in thought. “Or maybe it’s completely brilliant. You did manage to flush out the guards and get us straight here at the same time. Hmm. Maybe I would do it.” He shook his head. “No, no, I would never risk…well?” He slapped his hands onto each side of his head. “Ahhhh! I just can’t decide.”
Cedric turned back to Nik, who’d never taken his eyes from him throughout the entire exchange. “Once I figured it out, it was even better!” He gave Nik a knowing wink. “I knew ye'd come after her. Bonnie lass that she is.”
Nik bared his fangs, a deep growl radiating out from deep inside him. He was this fucking close from taking out the alpha.
Cedric’s wolf nature reacted instinctively to the threat. Bowing up, he ground out, “We were aff to surprise ye! That we were 'ere tae help.” He slashed his hand through the air between them. “That’s all! Nothin’ happened tae her. She's braw. I would ne'er hurt a wee lassie! Ye ken that.” His lips pulled back, exposing his own lengthening canines. “Now git out o' mah face afore I lose my temper.”
Nik felt Emma’s hand on his back, rubbing small circles over the tense muscles. “Nik, they didn’t hurt me. And they treated me with the utmost respect. Well, other than throwing me into a bag and toting me around like a sack of grain.”
As Nick leaned forward aggressively, she grabbed his fist before he could take a swing, and hurried to continue, “but they didn’t hurt me! I promise!”
She stepped in front of him and finally managed to break up the pissing contest between him and Cedric as his focus redirected onto her. Locking eyes with him, she held his gaze until he calmed down. “Come on. They’re here to help, even if they did go about letting you know in a rather strange way.”
“Tha’ bitch has one o’ ours,” Cedric said over her head.
That got Nik’s attention. He noticed for the first time one of them was missing. They always traveled together in a pack. “Marc? She has Marc?”
Cedric nodded, his stance once again easy and relaxed. “Aye. She took him three weeks ago. She thinks we owe her a debt, 'n' took him as her pay.”
Duncan smiled roguishly. “We've come tae take him back.”
“What debt is that?” Aiden asked.
Giving Lucian a look Nik couldn’t decipher, Cedric shrugged off the question with a derisive smirk. “Nothin’ I'm wantin' tae get into right now.”
No other information seemed to be forthcoming, and they didn’t have time to try to pry it out of them, so Nik let it go. “All right. Well, as the rest of our guys seem to be MIA, we’d sure appreciate the extra manpower. Or wolf power, such as it is.”
“Who does she have o’ yours?” Duncan asked Nik.
“Luukas.”
“Luukas??” Cedric breathed. His mouth hung open in shock, and Duncan and Lucian echoed his astonishment. “That’s no’ possible! How can that happen? He’s a master vampire.”
“Luukas took it upon himself to go and confront her. Alone. He refused to let me or anyone else come with him. He never came back.”
“When did this happen??” Duncan asked.
“Seven years ago,” Nik admitted.
“Seven years?” Cedric breathed. “How did we no’ ken aboot this? I ken we’ve been busy, but seven years…”
“We may have had a bit to do with that,” Aiden said.
Lucian glared at him. “Yer fookin’ with my head, bloodsucker?”
Cedric restrained him with an arm across his chest as he looked between Aiden and Nik. “Is this true, then?”
Aiden pushed at the dirt with the toe of his boot. “It was Nik’s idea.”
“We didn’t want to cause a panic,” Nik told them. “We never thought he’d be gone this long. But one year led into another, and another, and another, and…you get the idea.”
“Ye’r sure he's alive?” Cedric asked. “How has she managed tae hold him all this time?”
Nik glanced at Emma, but he didn’t see any way to avoid disclosing her sister’s involvement. “We think she has a witch helping her.”
The werewolves stepped back as one, superstitiously making the sign of the cross. Witches creeped them out, and as a rule, they stayed far, far away from them.
Nik waited for them to wrap their minds around that before laying the rest of it on them. “We think the witch is Emma’s sister, who went missing around the same time as Luukas.”
Three heads whipped around to look at Emma with new eyes. They knew how witches worked. If one female in the family was a witch, they all were.
Cedric cocked his head to the side and stared at her like he’d never seen her before.
Duncan was brave enough to actually speak to her. “Ye’re a witch, lass?”
Lucian snarled at her, and spoke low out of the side of his mouth to Cedric. “I told ye we coudna’ trust them. They've taken up wi' a witch.”
Nik speared Lucian with an exasperated look. “You can trust us. And that includes Emma. She hasn’t hurt you yet, has she?” He squeezed Emma’s arm lightly, hoping she’d take the hint and play along.
She gave them a sweet smile.
The Scots eyeballed her warily, restlessly shifting their weight from side to side, obviously not sure which way to go with this information.
Aiden looked between Emma and the wolves, thoroughly amused. “Really? The big, bad wolves are afraid of you, poppet?” He laughed out loud. “She couldn’t even reach you to box your ears!”
Rolling his eyes, Nik supposed Aiden staying quiet for any amount of time was too much to ask.
Cedric puffed out his massive chest. “I’m no’ scared o’ a wee lassie.” The other two followed his lead, if a little less enthusiastically.
With a deep breath and a last wary glance at Emma, the werewolf leader got his head back in the game. Nodding at the disintegrating bodies on the ground, he declared, “Well, th’…uh…guards are taken care o'. What do ye say we just waltz on in there 'n' find our kin?”
Nik shared a grin with Aiden. They’d been looking forward to this fight for a long time.
Emma turned to look up at Nik. “You’re not serious. We’re not just going to walk right in there, are we?”
“Th
ere is no ‘we’ when it comes to you,” Nik informed her. “You, will be staying far, far out of the way.”
Emma raised her eyebrows, but he gave her a warning look. Now was not the time to challenge him.
Lucian motioned Cedric and Duncan to the side and turned his back to the vampires.
It did no good, as Nik could hear him well enough anyway.
Lucian gritted out between clenched teeth, “How da we ken we can trust these two? They’re fookin’ vamps. 'N' they've taken up wi' a witch! They don’t care aboot our brother. How da ye ken they won’t use us tae get in, 'n' then leave us tae fight that bitch, while they escape?”
“Nikulas 'n' Aiden are my friends, Lucian. I trust them wi' my life.”
“Yer choosing them over yer own kind.”
“Haud yer wheesht!” Cedric told him. “No’ another word aboot it.”
Lucian clenched his jaw, his lips pressed into a thin line. In a deliberate move, he turned his back on his pack leader.
Cedric didn’t pause before he grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him back around to face him. “If ye dinna like it, Lucian, ye’r welcome tae find a fresh pack. Unless ye think ye kin lead this one better than I kin?”
Shockwaves rippled through the males—vampire and wolf alike—as the gauntlet was thrown down and tension crackled in the air between them.
Nik surreptitiously took Emma by the hand and carefully pulled her behind him, as everyone backed away from the pair.
For a few insanely anxious seconds, it seemed there was going to be a fight for dominance. Lucian’s face turned as red as his hair, his anger at being called out in mixed company plain for all to see.
But he must’ve decided it wasn’t worth his life, for he took a deep breath and dropped his gaze in submission. After a moment, he lowered himself onto one knee before his pack leader.
Cedric visibly relaxed, laid a hand on Lucian’s shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “A'right then?”
Lucian gave a terse nod. “Aye.”
And just like that, the tension dispersed as quickly as it had appeared. Nik exchanged a look with Aiden as he took a deep breath. “Okay, then. Let’s do this.”
