by Noelle Marie
“Who did this to you?”
“What do you mean, who did this to me? You know!”
I had thought she’d meant him – the man who had held her hostage in that basement for weeks on end. Felix. I’d thought of the way she shrank away from me when I got too close, of the fucking finger-shaped bruises on her hip, and I’d just assumed that…
But she’d never actually said his name.
My heart fucking dropped to the pit of my stomach as I realized my mistake. Images of how I had ignored Wisp as she begged me not to leave, desperately clutching my shirt, flashed through my mind. She had been trying to tell me that she was pregnant… with my baby.
And I’d left.
What must she think?
Remorse slammed into me as I realized the gravity of my error.
It must have shown obviously enough on my face because Abram crossed his arms over his chest, a smug sort of glint in his eyes. “Now do you realize what you’ve done?” he demanded.
Yes.
“I have to go,” I muttered.
Without further ado, I turned on my heel and ran, sprinting back in the direction of Abram’s cottage. It wasn’t Abram I owed an explanation to, after all, but Wisp.
I had no idea what I could say to her when I reached the house to make up for what I’d done, but I knew I would have to at least try. I would start by admitting that I’d made a horrible mistake, my internalized fears causing me to jump to a terrible assumption.
I didn’t even have the presence of mind to feel relieved that Wisp hadn’t been raped. I was too hyper-aware of the fact that she undoubtedly thought I was rejecting her and the baby.
My baby.
My gut twisted as unfamiliar emotion slammed into me.
But I couldn’t dwell on that now. First, I had to make things right with Wisp – somehow.
I raced through the forest, reaching Abram’s cottage in record time and bursting through the front door without a thought of my nudity.
“Wisp!” I called, glancing urgently around the living room, but she was nowhere in sight.
I had the presence of mind to hastily pull on a pair of pants that were hanging over the back of the couch, not wanting the blood I was drenched in to startle Wisp. Then I rushed to the bedroom, taking the time to quickly check the kitchen and bathroom on my way. “Wisp?”
But she wasn’t there either.
Forcing myself to slow down and take a calming breath, I closed my eyes and concentrated, focusing my mind on trying to pick out the familiar lub-dub of Wisp’s heartbeat.
But there was none.
Stomping down the panic threatening to rise in my chest, I tried to think of where she could have possibly gone.
I recalled how she had run away into the forest after one of our arguments at my cabin – Yeah, when you told her to leave, a voice snarked. – and I hurried to the front door.
Maybe in my urgency to reach the cottage, I had somehow missed her in the yard.
“Wisp!” I hollered, jerking open the front door and stepping out onto the porch.
After a moment, someone emerged from the forest, but disappointment punched me in the gut when I recognized it was only Abram.
“What’s going on?” the man asked, frowning as he clambered up the porch steps.
I shoved past him in my rush to search the yard. “I can’t find her,” I admitted, scanning the dark for her familiar form. Even with my superior eyesight, however, it was next to impossible to see. Abram’s porch lights had long ago went out, and it was pitch black outside, and breezy – the wind causing the trees to shake and shadowy forms to dance across the landscape.
“Damn it,” Abram swore under his breath, joining me in my search. “I told her not to leave the house.”
I whirled around. “You never should have left her to begin with,” I spat, the worry and guilt churning in my gut causing me to lash out at the only other person present.
The truth was I never should have left.
Abram scowled. “I only left to get your sorry ass,” he pointed out, the derision strong in his voice.
I opened my mouth to hurl something back at him when a particularly strong gust of wind caused me to freeze, whatever I had been about to say dying on my tongue. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I recognized a familiar smell in the air. It was sweet and coppery, so strong that I could almost taste the metallic tang.
Blood.
But the scent was too sharp – too fresh – for it to belong to me or Abram.
I could tell that the other man had sensed it, too, based on his suddenly somber expression. “Do you smell that?” he demanded.
Instead of answering, I took off, following the scent trail before it could die on the wind.
It didn’t take long to find the source of it. On the west side of Abram’s overgrown yard, right near the tree line, there was a lump on the ground.
Relief hung over me as I realized it didn’t look human. Perhaps a wounded doe had wandered onto Abram’s property to die.
But that relief never got the chance to land. Because the closer I got to the eerily still form, the more recognizable it became.
It was Thane, and his fur was matted with blood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I clung desperately to Thane’s fur, holding back tears as I buried my nose into his light brown coat. I took comfort in the warmth of having another body so close to mine, never mind that it was his owner’s arms that I really longed for.
“You’ll never leave me, will you, boy?” I muttered, petting the short, coarse hairs between his ears and allowing him to dig his snout into the crook of my neck. It wasn’t long, however, before he was pulling away in order to lick at my face, his long, pink tongue bathing me in fondness. (And dog slobber.)
His easy affection didn’t banish the pain of Derek’s rejection, exactly, but it did dull it a little.
I sighed.
Maybe Derek hadn’t meant to leave so… brusquely. (It was in his nature to be tight-lipped, after all.) I mean, he’d obviously been shocked by the news that he was going to be a father and had needed some time alone to think. I could hardly blame him for that.
Who cares if he did it brusquely or with a smile painted on his face? The fact of the matter is that he left. And, what, you’re just going to conveniently forget that he essentially accused you of sleeping with another man when he found out about the baby? Or is that not a blameworthy offense, either?
I cringed.
Unfortunately, the cynical voice in the back of my head had a point.
I was pulled from my stress-filled thoughts, however, when Thane suddenly tensed in my lap. His head jerked around to face the front door and a low growl rumbled from deep within his ribcage.
I frowned. “What is it, boy?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, of course. Instead, refusing to tear his gaze from the door, he jumped to the floor, the fur on his back standing on end as he snarled.
Alarmed, I stood from the couch and glanced out the window. As dark as it was, however, it was impossible to see much more than a few feet past the front porch.
Regardless, I was determined to get to the bottom of whatever had Thane so worked up – hopefully it was just a nosy squirrel – and cautiously approached the front door. Thane’s growling only grew louder the closer I got, and he actually lunged at me, catching the bottom of my shirt with his teeth when I made to grab the door knob.
“Stop that,” I scolded lightly, pulling my shirt out of his mouth. “I’m not going out there. I’m just going to take a peek and see if I can spot whatever it is you’re growling at.”
Thane didn’t look like he was satisfied with that explanation, but he didn’t try to stop me this time when I reached for the brass knob.
I cracked open the door before cautiously sticking my head outside and peering into the darkness. Unfortunately, it wasn’t any easier to see now than it had been when I’d been looking out the window. Regardless, I strained my eyes, attem
pting to scan the yard.
It was a breezy night, and a sudden gust of wind caused my hair to dance. While I was batting the stubborn strands out of my face, I saw what looked like a dark form move somewhere near the tree line.
I froze at the sight of it, and panic was seconds away from wrapping its icy grip around my heart when I realized exactly what “it” was.
The shadow of a swaying evergreen.
Relief bombarded me.
“You’re losing it, Wisp,” I muttered to myself, and satisfied that nothing (no one) nefarious was lurking outside, I closed the door with a quiet click.
“See, boy?” I said, turning to kneel next to Thane, who, while no longer outright growling, was still incredibly tensed as he stared down the door. “There’s nothing out there but trees.” I smoothed back his fur in an attempt to comfort him, but he refused to relax.
I sighed. “I’m not going to convince you, am I?” I pressed my lips together as I thought. “But maybe I can distract you.” My eyes drifted in the direction of the kitchen and I remembered the roast beef we had left over from yesterday. “You hungry, boy?” I asked, hoping to entice him with the promise of food.
But Thane didn’t so much as twitch at the question, and a disappointed frown tugged on my mouth.
“Come on,” I insisted, standing and heading towards the kitchen, convinced he would change his mind when he saw the roast.
Thane reluctantly followed me, but remained hyper-alert as I searched the cooler for the leftovers in question. (The refrigerator didn’t work.)
“Ah ha!” I said, pulling out a half-full Tupperware container. I pried off the lid before putting it in the microwave. A few minutes and a loud beep later, the tantalizing smell of roast beef filled the air. I forked two generous strips of meat onto a paper plate before setting it down in front of Thane. “Dinner is served,” I pronounced.
Thane didn’t even sniff at the meat.
I bit my lip, real concern gnawing at my insides. Maybe he was sick?
Squeak.
Before I could decide if it was worth the effort to offer Thane some cold-cut turkey instead, the sound of the front door creaking open stop me mid-thought. I couldn’t stop a spark of optimism from igniting inside me at the sound.
Maybe Derek had realized he’d made a mistake and come back.
“Derek?” I called, trying to suppress the hope I could feel blossoming in my chest at the possibility. After all, it was just as likely that Abram had returned from wherever he had run off to. “Is that you?”
Ignoring Thane’s warning growl, I turned the corner of the kitchen and peered into the living room. But while the front door was, in fact, open, the room was empty.
I frowned… and nearly jumped out of my skin when Thane, who’d dutifully followed me, suddenly released a vicious snarl.
His reaction gave me pause, and I stared at the dog whose lips were pulled back into a ferocious sneer, twisting his usually friendly features into something more menacing.
The terrifying thought that perhaps someone other than Derek or Abram had opened the door crossed my mind.
But that was silly… wasn’t it?
Squashing my sudden nervousness, I offered Thane a forced smile. “It was probably just the wind,” I offered lamely before hesitantly approaching the door.
But the hope that Derek had come back to the cottage still lingered, and I couldn’t resist the urge to call out to him one last time. “Derek?” I tried, stepping out onto the porch.
“Not quite.”
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
Because the voice that answered didn’t belong to either Derek or Abram, but another man I knew. Another shifter. Felix.
Fear grabbed hold of my heart and squeezed.
I whirled around in the direction the voice had come from, but I didn’t have time to take more than one or two stumbling steps backwards before he pounced, springing out of the darkness, where he’d been hiding in the towering shadows of the porch railings.
A half-yelp, half-scream escaped me as he grabbed me.
I struggled against his hold, managing to elbow him in the ribs and dig my nails into his forearm in the process. Considering Felix’s superior strength, however, it was hardly a fair fight, and in less than a minute, he had one arm wrapped around my middle, effectively pinning my arms to my sides, and the other arm curled around my chest, a hand slapped over my mouth to prevent me from screaming.
That didn’t stop me from kicking at his legs, but even when I connected with one of his shins, Felix didn’t react beyond a quiet grunt. “You’re even feistier than I remember,” he hissed in my ear.
Fortunately, it wasn’t just me the man had to contend with.
I heard the ferocious growl moments before Felix released a startled yelp.
Thane had joined the fray, pouncing at the man and biting him. His teeth clamped around the meaty flesh of his thigh where he latched on and refused to let go.
I took advantage of the man’s distraction by throwing my head backwards as hard as I could. A satisfying crunch reached my ears and I knew I’d managed to connect with his nose.
“Bitch!” Felix spat, throwing me down the porch steps.
I wasn’t expecting the sudden shove, and tumbling down the stairs, I landed awkwardly on my wrist. A sharp jolt shot up my arm, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the pain and hastily returned to my feet.
It was just in time to see Felix take Thane by the scruff of his neck, and in an impressive show of strength, yank the dog off his leg, holding the one hundred and twenty-pound animal in the air.
Thane, obviously objecting to the rough treatment and desperate to sink his fangs back into the man, thrashed about, jerking his head back and forth as he wildly snapped his jaws.
“Damn mutt,” Felix muttered before, to my horror, Thane squealed.
The elongated whimper that limped out of his throat had my heart stuttering to a stop in my chest. I saw what could only be blood dripping down Felix’s hand, and knew the man must have partially shifted, his fingernails elongating into claws and piercing the dog’s fur and flesh alike.
“Thane!” I cried, hurrying up the steps. “Stop it! Leave him alone!”
I leapt at the man, grabbing him by the arm that held Thane, but no matter how hard I pulled, it didn’t so much as budge, and Thane continued to hang there in the air, growing limper by the second, his whimpers tapering off.
“Let him go!” I begged. “Please!”
I froze when Felix turned to face me, his irises a gleaming yellow and his pupils elongated to resemble something feline. My heart jumped into my throat at the sight of them, but I forced myself to swallow the jackrabbiting organ down. “Please,” I repeated pathetically.
Felix tilted his head to the side. “Are you going to stop this nonsense?” he asked. “Be a good girl and do what I tell you?”
I hesitated to answer for only a second, but that was all the time it took for him to give Thane a vicious shake, more blood dripping down his fingers.
My stomach lurched.
“Yes!” I blurted. “Yes, of course!” I agreed. “Please, just let him go.”
But still, Felix didn’t make a move to release him. “First, say you’re sorry,” he demanded – a test to see if I was being truthful about listening to him.
I licked my lips. “I-I’m sorry.”
Felix raised his eyebrows, his yellow eyes narrowing. “You know, I’m not sure if I believe you. I think you’ll have to be a little more… convincing.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that until I saw the way he was suddenly focused on my lips. My stomach lurched at the implication.
Regardless, Thane’s life was at stake, so banishing the foulness of what I was about to do from my mind, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Felix’s injured nose. The coagulating blood was wet beneath my lips, and I jerked away. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Felix grinned. “That’s my girl.”
&nb
sp; He threw Thane from the porch, and the chocolate lab landed with a sickening thud in the grass.
Desperate to check on him, I made a move for the stairs, but Felix caught me around the middle before I could take more than a single step in their direction. “Remember what we talked about?” he hissed, lips so close to me that they brushed my ear. “You obeying me? Well, you had better have meant it because if you don’t move quickly and quietly across the yard, I’m going to finish what I started and gut the dog open right in front of you.” He paused. “Got it?”
It was all I could do to nod.
“Perfect.”
Felix released me, but it was only so he could wrap his hand around my bicep and begin to drag me across the lawn.
We reached the tree line in no time, the guilt I felt at being forced to leave behind an injured Thane causing my belly to churn.
I wanted to drag my feet, but I was terrified that Felix would keep his word and go back for Thane if I did, so I kept step with the man. That didn’t mean I didn’t purposefully trip over an upturned root here and there, occasionally reaching out and pretending to grasp onto a branch for balance.
I was attempting to leave some sort of trail for when Derek returned and realized I was missing.
(That’s assuming he comes for you, a cynical voice pointed out, but I swatted it away. Regardless of his reaction to my pregnancy, I was sure Derek would never willingly allow me to be kidnapped.)
It wasn’t until close to ten minutes later – when we had put enough distance between us and Thane that I was relatively certain the dog was safe from Felix’s wrath – that I finally dared to open my mouth.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, injecting as much bravado into my voice as I possibly could under the circumstances. (It still shook at the end.)
“What? Don’t you recognize the landscape?” Felix asked, not stopping to answer the question, but rather, replying on the move. He continued steadily towing me along behind him. “We’re on our way to your little boyfriend’s house.”
I stiffened at the realization.
What if he was drawing Derek into some sort of trap?
I dug my heels into the ground, suddenly regretting attempting to leave a trail. “What? Why?” I demanded.
