by Aubrey Rose
“I think I’m done playing with you now,” he snarled.
He grabbed her by her throat. Fight or flight kicked in. She struggled against the forceful hold. Her mind whirled. She kicked, every move ratcheting the pain in her thigh. Tears gathered in her eyes, turning her vision hazy. Her lungs burned. The bar fell from her hands. She dug her nails into the hands squeezing at her throat.
“Jordan!” Ellie’s voice was panicked.
She gasped for air. The squeezing of her throat tightened. Jordan continued to slap and scratch the giant cutting off her air supply. Sounds started to drift away. Darkness took hold of the edges of her vision, closing in on her. Her chest felt ready to explode. Then everything went dark.
Aric and his brothers decided to join the women for dinner. He’d already gotten the green light from Jordan’s friends to pop in at the restaurant uninvited. They reached a deserted parking lot, all of them excited at the prospect of a fun time. As they rounded a corner, Aric’s gaze met a horrible sight. Ellie was being attacked by a group of men. Two of the men took off at the sound of the approaching vehicle. The third one was slower to stop punching at Ellie’s body on the ground. Another ran from the front of the car and caught up after the others.
Fury bubbled up inside him. They jumped out of the truck. Aric’s wolf pushed at the skin. The anger riding him was hard to contain the closer he got to his sister. His wolf snarled, urging the shift to happen. Aric had to tamp down the urge to let the animal free. They ran for Ellie. She struggled to stand. Jake and Nathan took off after the men.
“Jordan...” She whimpered, pointing toward the car.
Aric’s heart froze. He jerked in a circle until he saw Jordan’s body lying by the car’s front bumper. Blood covered her arms. He ran to her in a blur, stomach tightening with each breath he took.
“Jordan?” He could hardly say her name around the thick knot in his throat. She lay on the ground, face down. Her back bled from multiple cuts. His hands shook as he carefully turned her over. Fear almost held him immobile. He was terrified of how badly she’d been injured. Her bloody face and bruised torso angered the wolf. A painful bone-deep howl left Aric’s throat. His mate.
God, she looked to be at death’s door. She had to be okay. Their relationship had just begun. It wouldn’t, couldn’t end this way. He wouldn’t allow it. He repeated the thought in his mind, but it did nothing to freeze the fear spreading through his chest. Nor did it diminish the anger and pain stabbing at his gut.
He listened to her lungs struggle to take wheezy breaths. With quick moves, he picked her up in his arms. Once he had her securely in his grasp, he turned back to Mason, who held a passed out, shifted Ellie in his own arms.
“She’s hurt badly.” Aric growled. Keeping the animal at bay took all his control.
“So is Ellie.” Mason’s face was set into worried lines.
* * *
They’d taken them to their pack clinic. Shifters didn’t suffer injuries like humans, so it was deemed best by his father to have a place to take care of their kind. He’d held Jordan in his arms the entire ride back. Even when they’d ordered him to put her in the gurney, he’d held her hand. He didn’t want to be away from her for a single moment. But the staff had been very clear about needing to see about her health before he could be with her again.
Nerves strung tight, he paced the waiting area along with his father, mother, and brothers. His wolf pushed at his skin in agitation. Aric knew how he felt. His own fear and distress were taking over his mind. His thoughts all circled over how badly Jordan had looked as he’d picked her bloody body up off the parking lot. He’d had a hard time breathing through the need to see her whole with the smile lighting her eyes. Her pain became his pain. He knew she’d suffered profusely, and inside, he felt as if he were being stabbed repeatedly every second he remembered her injuries.
“Did you catch any of them?” His father asked, his voice a low growl. The beast was riding him and the anger he displayed in his features only urged the animal to want out.
“No,” Jake replied, gripping the back of a waiting room chair.
Nathan jumped in. “We chased them, but we didn’t want to be gone long in case issues arose and they needed us.”
Aric’s father nodded. “I understand. There could have been others.”
“We didn’t want to take the chance with Jordan and Ellie’s other friends set to arrive at any moment, and both of them badly injured.”
“Did you get a hold of the other girls?” His mother asked, leaning into her husband. Her eyes sparkled a bright gold. She was angry and sad. As if seeing it in her face wasn’t enough, Aric could smell the fear and pain radiating from her.
“I did,” Mason answered. “They were stuck in traffic, but wanted to come here.”
“Son––”
“I understand, Dad. I told them we’d call them as soon as we got word, but it was best if they went home.”
“It’s not that we don’t want them here,” his mother added. “But we know they’ll feel better being here once we know the extent of their injuries and what we are looking at for an outcome.”
All Aric kept visualizing was Jordan’s bloody face, the shallow breaths she took, and the cuts and bruises she had all over. Fury had taken hold. He was having a hard time thinking clearly. He wanted to kill.
He glanced up. His father was watching him intently. “You’ll get your chance at finding who did this, son.”
Aric turned at the sound of footsteps. A short, older man with greying hair, whom he’d known all his life as Uncle William entered the waiting area. His father’s right hand man went straight to the Alpha.
“Ellie is stable. She’s going to need hours to recover, maybe tomorrow, or possibly longer, but she’ll be fine.”
His mother buried her face into his father’s neck. She sobbed silently while he held her.
“And Jordan?” His father asked.
“She’d going to be more difficult. She’d not only had a bad concussion, but the number of wounds and cuts, we had to do some blood transfusion.”
Aric swallowed down the acrid taste of fear, willing the man with his mind to say Jordan would be fine. “Will she be okay?” He choked out.
Uncle William smiled. “I think so. Due to her brain trauma, we had to put her in an induced coma.”
“Oh my God.” His mother sobbed louder.
William gripped Aric’s shoulder. It took him a moment to realize he was growling. “I’m sorry. As soon as the swelling in her brain decreases, we’ll take her out of the coma and see how she reacts.”
Intense throbbing took hold of his chest. He couldn’t breathe. Jordan, his sexy, sassy, Jordan, was in a coma, in pain, and he didn’t know what to do to help. He didn’t now who did it. And that person was still out there.
“When you were chasing the attackers, did any of the scent smell familiar?” His father’s voice pulled him out of the dark hole he was mentally digging.
“No. I know that we’ve had an influx of rogues and wolves in the area, which could make this an attack against humans, or something else.”
Aric’s wolf snarled inside. The beast wanted loose, to bite, to hunt, and to kill those who had hurt his mate.
The pain in his chest expanded with every thought of Jordan. Thinking of her beautiful smile and sexy come-hither eyes made sharp pain shoot to his heart. Memories of her soft husky voice jerked the wolf inside into an almost feral distress.
He dropped onto a black leather chair and covered his face with his hands. There was no way he could go on if she didn’t return from that coma. He loved her. The revelation felt more like tearing a hole into his heart. One woman. She was it. And now she was in a bed, tubes inside her nose and mouth, fighting to survive.
“I need to do something,” he growled.
A soft hand caressed the back of his head. “Baby, she’ll be fine.”
The conviction in his mother’s voice made some of the pressure inside his he
art lessen. He raised his face from his hands and turned to her.
“She will be fine.”
“I––”
“Listen to me very carefully, Aric. You’ve been given a gift. A mate. One you love deeply from the look in your eyes. And you can’t let doubt enter your mind now. You must believe it with every fiber of your being that things will be okay. She will be fine. Jordan is a fighter. You know it. We know.”
He nodded. It was one of the things he loved about her. She didn’t cry or wait on someone to help her, she tried to save herself. He knew she’d make a fantastic leader when his time came.
“Jordan needs time. I suggest we talk about how we can help her while she’s laying prone in this place,” his mom said.
“What do you suggest?” He had lost all track of everything other than Jordan.
“I will go to her house and ensure it’s clean, tidy, and any plants are taken care of.”
He swallowed hard. “That’s not necessary, I can do it.”
“No, you can’t. You’ll be here. You know that your wolf won’t go more than a few hundred yards away from the mate he needs to protect.”
She was right. Even as they spoke, he had the urge to rush the private room Jordan was in and watch everything being done to her.
His father took a seat across from him. “We’ll send a group of enforcers to search them out.”
His brothers nodded.
“I hope when Ellie wakes she can give us some kind of lead on the attackers and if they said anything about why they targeted them.”
Aric pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to think of the finger prints he’d seen on Jordan’s neck. Two large handprints had covered her throat from the attempt at strangling her.
“We’ll need to give Caleb a call.” His mother rubbed her cheek on his side. “He’ll want to know about Ellie.”
“I already did. He’s on his way.” Nathan popped a can of soda from a table in the waiting area. He filled a glass with ice and brought the soda-filled glass to his mother.
She smiled and took the glass. His mother didn’t drink soda. But she’d always been careful to not hurt their feelings, so she placed the glass on a table by her chair.
“This is the third time something happened to Jordan. But we took care of the white wolves.”
“Yes, but what if this wasn’t the whites? There are rogues in the area. Most of them packless and uncaring of hurting humans.”
Jake drank from his own soda can. “But Ellie isn’t a human.”
“No, but some of them see it as some kind of traitorous act for shifters and humans to mingle. Apparently, they’re supposed to be lower in the food chain than we are.”
“There are shifters that actually think that way?” Nathan asked with disgust, taking a seat next to Mason.
“More than you know,” his mother answered.
“And in our pack?” Mason asked the question. “Aric has already declared his intent to mate with a human. Will it cause any kind of problem amongst our people?”
“Not while I’m Alpha.” Their father stated in a rough commanding voice. He fisted his hands. “This is my pack. Anyone with a problem can take it up with me.”
Although older, his father still had the strength, stamina, and viciousness required to lead the pack. There was no doubt he was the top wolf. And while Aric, Mason, Nathan and Jake had all gotten the Alpha from him, they were in no rush to take over.
“They won’t. Anyone with an issue will have to go through our family.” His mother’s voice was soft but deadly. He knew the tone. Her wolf was ready to rush out and defend her cubs.
But all Aric could think of was how Jordan needed to get better so they could finally mate. After these scares against her, he wasn’t taking any chances. He knew once they mated, she’d become stronger. Though her body may not accept the change to their kind, she would be more than just a weak human.
He spent the next two days rotating between time spent in Ellie’s room and the rest in Jordan’s. If she wasn’t taking care of Jordan’s home, his mother was there with him.
“She’s holding steady, son.” She patted his shoulder.
Returning from Jordan’s room, she joined him next to Ellie’s bed. She’d shifted into her human shape the day before, which made her injuries take longer to heal. But they hadn’t been able to talk her into shifting. In her unconscious human state, they couldn’t reach her. Caleb had shown up. Aric had seen the pain in his friend’s eyes. Then he’d seen the fury. He’d stayed for long hours before he’d been called away due to issues in his pack.
Aric was about to say something, but stopped. Ellie’s eyes fluttered open. They moved closer to the bed.
She cleared her throat. “Jordan?”
“She’s in a coma.”
Her lip trembled. Pain and fear seeped from her pores. “I’m sorry.” Tears dripped down the corners of her eyes. “I couldn’t protect her.”
“Stop it, little pup. You had your hands full.” He pushed her blonde hair back away from her face. Gone were the bruises and cuts. All she had left were internal injuries, which took longer to heal.
His mother grasped her hand on the other side of the bed. “How do you feel?”
“Some pain inside, but otherwise okay.”
Aric sighed in relief. He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Did you recognize any of the men who attacked you?”
She shook her head and winced. “No. I’ve never seen them before.”
William showed up at that moment, followed by a young nurse. “I see you’re finally awake.”
“How long did it take me to heal?” Ellie glanced around the bed. She pressed a button on the remote by her hand and lifted to a sitting position.
“Three days. You would have healed sooner if not for the fact you shifted and that slows down the progress.”
Ellie rubbed a shaky hand over her side and winced.
“Do you feel a lot of pain still?” William asked. “Might be best for you to shift for a few hours now that you can hold it.”
She nodded.
Aric headed for the door. “While you rest, I’m going to check on Jordan.”
“I’ll come with you.” William followed behind him. “We checked her new scan and the swelling is gone. We can pull her out of the coma and see if we can wake her up.”
Aric entered Jordan’s room. The bruising on her face and body had been changing colors and was currently a brownish yellow.
“What about her other injuries?”
William checked her chart. “There’s no easy cure for a human.” He glanced at Aric with a frown. “She just needs time.”
It was two more days before Jordan’s eyes finally opened. By then Ellie was back to normal. Her wounds had healed. Aric sat at a corner of the room while Ellie and Emma spoke.
“I thought Nic and Karla would have joined us,” Emma said while holding Jordan’s hand in hers.
“No, they were here yesterday and had an after school program to attend.”
Emma slapped her forehead. “That’s right. Thankfully I backed out, or else I’d have to have been there too.”
Jordan groaned. Everyone stopped and glanced at the bed. Her face was creased in pain.
Aric rushed to her side, gripping her right hand in his. “Jordan?”
She blinked several times before he saw her focus on him. Pain dulled her eyes.
“Ellie?”
“I’m right here, love.” Ellie’s voice was thick with tears.
Jordan licked her lips and cleared her throat. “I’ve seen the guy that hit you before.”
This was unbelievable. It was exactly what Aric and his brothers had been trying to find out.
He sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her jaw. “Who was it, sweetheart?”
She leaned into his touch. His heart was heavy with the knowledge she was in pain and there was little he could do.
Jordan let go of his hand and lifted her hand to rub her
fingers over his overgrown beard. Her touch sent peace through the beast that had been pacing since he’d found her unconscious.
“It was one of the men that came to your house the day I was chased by the white wolves. One of the guys I saw out the window that arrived with Caleb. The one with the blond hair.”
Aric lost it.
Chapter Ten
He could tell Jordan was in pain, and it only added to the fuel sparking the anger inside him. There was no stopping the storm of rage pumping through his veins. A frenzy of every possible violent thought rushed his head. Revenge filled his mind. For Ellie. For Jordan. For daring to touch someone in his family and think there’d be no repercussions. At first, he’d been surprised that one of Caleb’s men had dared cross the line and hurt one of the Wolfe pack, but with the chaos in the neighboring pack he shouldn’t be surprised.
Fur pushed at his skin. The wolf wanted out.
Ellie rushed by his side. “Aric, you need to calm the wolf.”
“One of Caleb’s men was in on this,” he ground out, his voice so rough it sounded like churned gravel. “I’m going to find them.”
Jordan winced. He scented her concern before she spoke. “You can’t go alone. There were four of them.”
At that moment, his brothers rushed into the room. Mason, Nathan, and Jake marched up to the bed, their gazes locked on him. “He won’t be alone. We’re going with him.”
Aric turned to Jordan. He wanted to touch her face and hold her, but his fingers had turned into claws, and he wouldn’t hurt her. She grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pulled him toward her.
Their faces mere inches from each other; she locked her gaze with his. “You better be careful, or these guys you’re going to see will be the least of your worries.”
He not only saw the fear in her eyes, but he scented it hovering at her pores. It made him want to reassure her. “I look forward to anything and everything you want to do to me after I get rid of this threat.”
