Raymond Charucki strode through. He was stocky, gray haired, and his face was heavily lined. He wore a blue silk suit with a navy tie, and a blue silk handkerchief square adorned his pocket.
Behind him were two hulking bodyguards, in dark nondescript suits. One of them had a scar that slashed through his right eyebrow.
Charucki strode over to the bed without a word, yanking the blanket off her. His gaze swept over her naked bodily greedily, and his pink tongue poked out of his mouth, wetting his thick liver-colored lips.
Belle shuddered in fear, yanking instinctively at the ropes that bit into her wrists and ankles, as Charucki leaned over the bed, staring down at her naked, restrained body.
“Very nice,” Charucki leered, then turned back to her aunt and uncle. “But you told me that she was meek and compliant.”
“She is meek and compliant!” her aunt said hastily. “She’s just...been acting up a little lately. Maybe it’s that time of month for her. She’ll come around right away for you, you’ll see!”
“She’d better.” He pulled a knife from his pocket, and Belle stiffened with fear. He waved it in front of her face, then ran the flat of the blade down her cheek.
“This is a copper-coated knife. If I cut you, the scars will never heal.. Understand?”
“Yes,” she choked out, rigid with fear and anger.
He slashed at the ropes which bound her to the bed, freeing her. She sat up quickly and grabbed at her blanket to cover herself; he snatched it away and dropped it on the floor, and his men laughed loudly, with coarse snarling sounds.
Raymond fixed his cold marble-gray eyes on her as she covered herself with her hands and shrank away from him on the bed. “You will behave yourself, and walk out of this house calmly and quietly, or you will walk out of here naked. Understand?”
“Yes,” she said coldly.
She grabbed clothing from out of one of the pillow cases that she’d stuffed full and pulled on a faded old sundress, and then quickly put on sandals.
Her aunt and uncle stood smirking as she followed Raymond out of the room, the tiny, stuffy room with the low ceiling where she’d lived for the last ten years of her life. She wouldn’t miss that room, that was for sure
.
The bodyguards followed close on her heels. She had no chance to escape. Silently, she let them lead her out of the house.
She glanced around desperately as they led her over to a waiting limousine with darkened windows. It was a beautiful country morning. The sun was rising over the treetops on the distant horizon, and she could hear the lowing of cows and the crowing of roosters, and nobody was coming to save her.
Raymond slid in first, and she slid in after him, and then the bodyguards slammed the door and climbed in the front seat.
The car took off, gliding down the road.
Despairing, she turned to Charucki. “I don’t agree to marry you. You can’t force me to marry you. It’s illegal,” she said angrily.
A cold, angry smile quirked his thick lips. “Oh, believe me, I can make you beg to marry me. I can make you beg for a lot of things.”
She shrank away from him, pressing up against the door.
“For instance, while you’re begging for the pain to stop, you’ll also be begging for your little friend Agnes’s life. Or maybe not. Maybe when I’m done with Agnes, you’ll beg me to be merciful. Beg me to put Agnes out of her agony.”
Her aunt and uncle had told him about Agnes. Of course they had. There was no low to which they would not stoop. She’d never hated them more than she did at this moment.
Hot tears ran down her face. “Why?” she pleaded. “Why do you want me? I’m a nobody.”
“On the contrary. You’re a healthy, fertile young panther who can give me excellent cubs. Your parents were brilliant scientists, and their gene pool is a superior one. I am coming to the age where I want children; you will give them to me. And of course, the dowry doesn’t hurt.”
He frowned at her. “Of course, your aunt and uncle promised me that you were meek and submissive, and would follow all orders instantly. I’m disappointed to see that they lied to me, but I assure you that you’ll be begging to please me, soon enough.”
“What dowry?” her mind was whirling, retreating from the horror that her life had suddenly become. They were racing down the road, towards whatever prison Raymond planned to hold her in. There was no escape.
“What dowry? Of course, there’s the generous monthly allowance from your parents estate...” at her look of astonishment, he threw his head back and laughed.
“Your aunt and uncle never told you. Of course they didn’t. I imagine they’ve been pocketing every cent that the trustees sent to them. Now it will be mine. And when we marry, you receive all of your inheritance free and clear. It will go into our joint bank account, of course.”
He turned to her, a loathsome smile stretching across his face. “And now, you’re going to show me just what a good little girl you can be - what the hell?”
The car abruptly slammed to a halt.
Startled, she looked out the window and saw a pickup truck blocking their path…with a dozen werewolves piling out of the bed of the truck and a half dozen more piling out of the cab. It looked like most of the pack from Big Timber Falls were there.
Including Axel.
Agnes must have called them. Agnes was smart; she’d know that the local police chief wouldn’t help Belle, and Axel was Belle’s only hope.
And shockingly, amazingly, even after Belle had rejected him yesterday, he’d come for her.
The werewolves surrounded the limousine in an instant, and Axel delivered a mighty kick to the passenger door, which flew open.
Raymond, his two bodyguards, and his driver leaped out of the limousine. Raymond turned back to snarl at Belle “Stay inside, I mean it!”
But Axel pushed past him, grabbed Belle, and pulled her out. When he saw the collar on her neck, and the tears streaking her face, he howled with rage.
“You collared her? You dare?” he roared.
Quickly he grabbed the collar with both hands and with superhuman strength, ripped it open and flung it on the ground.
Belle fell into his arms, gasping with relief and frantically rubbing at the stinging skin on her neck.
“Well, isn’t this touching,” Raymond sneered. “You’re going to pay for this in ways you can’t even imagine. Now give me back my fiancee, and I’ll be on my way. You’re going to die for this, of course, but if you back off now like a good doggie I’ll at least spare your family.”
“You’re outnumbered, you mangy fleabag.” Axel’s eyes glowed amber and his fangs descended. His facial features melted and lengthened, forming a snout, and his voice was deep with rage as hair sprouted on his body.
Raymond’s fangs descended, his ears grew pointed, and his voice came out in a sibilant hiss. “I’m outnumbered here, but you can’t take out all of us without losing half your packmates. And believe me, when I get back home, there’s no power on earth that will save you. I own half the politicians and law enforcement in this state.”
“He’s right,” Lucas said. “He can destroy all of us. I told you –“
His words cut off when Axel swung on him with a snarl, and he shrank back submissively, crouching low to show his surrender.
“You bought her for $50,000? I can pay you back the money,” Axel said, voice shaking with barely restrained rage.
“But I don’t need $50,000.” Raymond’s smile was repellent. “I need a wife. And I’ve chosen her. I paid for her, fair and square, and I’ll have her – or your entire pack will die. Slowly.”
“There must be something that you need,” Axel said, desperately.
A thoughtful look crossed Raymond’s face. “Hmmm…there is one thing I need, which I’ve never been able to get on my own.”
Raymond looked at Belle speculatively. “I’d let you keep her, in exchange for The Stone of Truth.”
“Done,” Axel said p
romptly. “Where do I find it?”
“Oh, don’t speak so fast. The stone is possessed by Griselle.”
Raymond watched Axel’s face twitch, with a satisfied smile. Griselle was a legendary and reclusive enchantress. She hoarded rare and magical artifacts imbued with power, and she refused to sell them for any price except to a few select buyers. Many people had tried to break into her house and steal from her. None had returned.
“I will come to your house to retrieve the stone 48 hours from now. If you don’t have it for me by then, you will hand her over to me…or I’ll erase your family down to the last cub.”
He turned and climbed back into the limousine, slamming the door.
Chapter Five
“I’m so sorry that I got you involved in all of this,” Belle moaned. She and Axel were sitting on the couch in the living room of his grandparents house, a white colonial house set on a dairy farm near town. The other members of his pack were in the kitchen, talking in low tones.
“It’s not your fault. Eat more,” Axel urged. His grandparents had made them a tray of sandwiches, and she’d already devoured three.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you and the pack. I think the best thing for me to do is go with him.” She quailed as she said it, but it was true.
Approaching Griselle was incredibly risky. Griselle was known to sell her magical charms only through a select few dealers, and she’d never accepted an offer from anyone else who approached her, no matter how outrageous the sum. And stealing from her? A suicide mission.
“Go with him? Never. Over my dead body.” Axel’s eyes flared with anger at the thought. “I’ve called my parents. They’re filing a complaint with the Shifter council.”
“But they’re wolves. The panther shifters might not give it much weight. Especially when the complaint is against someone like Raymond Charucki.”
“It’s true, but the shifter councils have been looking for a way to improve relations between the packs and the prides, so maybe that will help. And my parents are not without influence. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Belle stared down at the floor mournfully. “I’m worried about Agnes. One way or another, my family are going to take this out on her.”
“I’ll make my grandparents keep an eye out for her,” Axel promised.
“Aren’t they upset with me? I overheard them talking. I know they tried to talk you out of going out there and confronting Raymond.”
He nodded somberly. “They did, but I told them I was going out there with or without them.”
“Axel! That would have been suicide, to confront him alone! Promise me you’ll never do that again.”
“I can’t promise that.” He turned to her and took her hand in his. “I can’t let anything happen to you. Don’t you feel it?”
When his hand wrapped around hers, she felt hot shivers travelling through her body, straight to her very core. Her heart beat faster, and her throat went dry. She stared into his beautiful eyes, which were brown like melting chocolate.
“What do you feel?” she asked him in a low voice.
“That sense of rightness. That sense that we’re meant to be together.”
“That we’re meant to be…mated? Can that even happen, with a panther and a wolf?”
“It’s happening.” He took her hand and placed it on his broad chest, pressing it up against him. She could feel his heart pounding through his t-shirt, and her fingers tightened. Then he placed his hand on her chest, and she left out an involuntary gasp as a wave of heat swept over her.
“See?” he said to her. “I’ve felt it for years. I always wanted to get closer to you. And I’m so sorry I didn’t know how your aunt and uncle were treating you; I’d have stepped in long ago.”
“Nobody knew. I always kept quiet about it. What was the point in speaking up, especially before I turned 18 and could move out on my own? It’s not like anybody would listen, anyway. They practically own this town.”
They sat there for a minute, quietly, feeling the rhythm of their beating hearts. Belle could swear that her hearts and Axel’s were beating in sync, pulsing together in perfect rhythm.
“I won’t let you go,” Axel said, looking into her eyes. “Ever. Whatever it takes.”
He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand and bent down to claim her lips with a kiss. His mouth was soft and warm, his tongue moving inside her mouth, probing deeply.
She felt as if she were melting into him, and her lips parted, opening wider to accept his kiss. He tasted sweet and warm, and his hand cradled her face, strong and gentle at the same time. Heat ran through her veins, and the rest of the world vanished; it was just the two of them together with no fears and no worries, nothing but the rhythmic beatings of their hearts and his hot, delicious kiss.
Footsteps in the hallway made Belle start, and she pulled away from Axel with a low moan of desire. Axel looked her straight in the eye, his gaze burning with intensity. “I swear to you I will die before I let anything happen to you,” he said in a low, husky tone.
Belle’s hands clenched in her lap. That’s exactly what I’m afraid will happen, she thought. I couldn’t live with myself if I caused harm to come to him.
Axel’s family was polite to her, but wary. One of his cousins insisted on giving her some of her old clothes that she’d outgrown, but that fit Belle’s petite frame perfectly. Belle donned a pretty white halter dress and sandals.
They ate dinner outside that night, and talked about the weather and how good Axel’s grandfather’s barbecue sauce tasted and Axel’s nephew who’d fallen out of the hay loft and broken his arm, and everything except the forbidden topic.
Raymond Charucki.
After dinner, Axel went to help his grandfather clean up the barbecue grill, and Belle began clearing plates from the picnic tables.
Suddenly she sensed someone standing by her side. A tall, slim woman with long straight black hair, clearly related to Axel. Belle vaguely remembered that she’d been introduced to her earlier as Harriet.
“You’re putting us all at risk,” Harriet said, in a low, angry voice.
Belle winced, stacking up the plates and quickly dumping them into a nearby garbage can.
“I know. And I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know Axel was coming to rescue me. I didn’t mean for anyone to be in danger because of me.”
“Well, we are. You didn’t have to come here. You could have said no to Axel and just gone with that shifter. He’s a panther, you’re a panther…you belong with him, not here.”
“It’s not that simple,” Belle protested, her heart sinking.
She should have known that a werewolf pack would never accept her.
“You’re being very selfish. If Axel tries to claim you as his mate, he’ll have to give up any hope of being Alpha of his pack,” Harriet continued her face angry.
“I – I don’t- I didn’t think-“ Belle’s eyes stung with tears and her breath caught in her throat as she backed away from her as Harriet advanced on her.
“Oh, you thought, all right. You were only thinking about yourself,” Harriet snarled.
A loud growl of anger sounded right behind her ear, and she spun around to see Axel standing behind her and Harriet.
“That’s enough! Shut your mouth, woman!” Axel roared, and the other werewolves all stopped in their tracks, turning to stare at them.
“You do not speak for me, or for this pack. Who I mate with is none of your business. Just know this: it will never be you,” Axel snarled.
Harriet’s face twisted into a mask of anger, and she turned and stalked away.
Axel spoke in a loud voice. “Belle is under my protection, and that will not change! Anyone who has a problem with her, has a problem with me. You have something to say about it? I’m right here.” He glowered at the group, who all quickly turned away and went back to what they were doing.
“Isn’t she related to you?” Belle
asked, puzzled.
“Distant cousin,” Axel scowled. “She’s always made it clear she wanted to get closer to me. I never had any interest. I’m sorry that you had to hear that.”
“I’m causing problems between you and your family,” Belle said miserably, staring at the ground.
He took her hand in his, and with his free hand slid his fingers under her chin and tipped her head up to look at him.
“You are not causing problems with me and my family. That was one person. Everybody else is sympathetic to your plight. The idea of a forced marriage to a monster is horrifying to everybody here. Yes, they’re worried, but we’re taking steps to fix this situation. Understand? You are here as my guest, under my protection, and this is where you’re meant to be.”
Belle nodded, but she could feel worry choking her. Was it really possible that she’d cost Axel his position as Alpha in the future? He’d been nothing but kind to her, and she felt as if she’d brought nothing but trouble to him and his entire pack.
Around midnight, Belle was in the spare bedroom they’d let her stay in, when she heard the phone in the kitchen ring. She slipped from her room and padded down the hallway to listen to what was being said.
Cats And Dogs: A Shifter Novella Page 3
