“Fucking bunch of idiots.”
With everyone’s attention on the fight, no one was watching the perimeter.
He eased away from the tree line and stepped into the camp, attempting to blend into the group. His stomach clenched as their overwhelming scent grew stronger.
He hated having people touch him. What he hated and what he needed to do were two different things. He knew their repulsive odor would mask his own. Passing the wolves, he rubbed his shoulder against members of the motley group.
Blood lust vibrated in his veins. Visions of his past rose up behind his eyes, almost blinding him with rage. It was all he could do not to rip their throats out for being so close.
He stepped away from the group and made his way to a pull-behind camper. Kneeling, he pretended to tighten the laces on his riding boots while he slipped an explosive to the underside of the camper.
Damon stood and grabbed a beer from the nearest cooler. He leaned against a rusted white truck and took a long drink from the icy bottle. Watching the fighting, he tucked his fingers under the hood and secured the second explosive.
He tossed the beer and looked around. He needed to find Ava and get out.
Making his way further into the camp, he spotted a large warehouse. Two werewolves stood on either side of the rusted door, shooting glares at anyone who ventured too close.
He raised his Oakleys, made eye contact with one of the large guards, nodded and then turned his back.
“Hey, you,” the large guard yelled.
Damon smirked. He tensed and waited for the guard to make a move. One thing a wolf didn’t tolerate was the disrespect of another wolf turning his backs to him.
“Hey, asshole, I know you heard me!”
Anger boiled low in his stomach. He wanted nothing better than to jump the guard right there. Get Ava out first. He swallowed his rage and held his ground.
“Hey, you fucker!”
Okay, the fucker part got him.
Damon turned.
The guard deserted his post and now stood several feet in front of him. His greasy brown mullet hung over his thick shoulders, reminding Damon of the movie, Joe Dirt. Dressed in jeans and a dirty white wife beater, the guard snarled.
Damon slipped his sunglasses up on his head, looked the guy in the eye, and gave him the finger.
The second guard roared with laughter. “I don’t think he likes you too much, Bubba.”
Anger flashed through Bubba’s eyes. He bowed up and threw a punch. Damon dodged the blow and grabbed Bubba’s arm and twisted. The guard cried out in pain. He planted his boot on Bubba’s back and pushed. Bubba landed with a thick plop in a mud puddle.
“What the hell’s going on?” A white male in his late forties came trotting out of the warehouse hoisting a shotgun over his shoulder. His gray hair was styled in a high-and-tight military cut and his weathered face had more mileage on it than an eighteen-wheeler. He stopped short when he spotted his guard lying on the ground. “Bubba, what the fuck you doing in the mud?”
“He’s in the mud because that’s where I put him.” Damon cocked his head and met the old man’s stare.
The second guard broke into another howl of belly-splitting laugher.
The older man drew his disgusted gaze from Bubba up to Damon. He leveled his shotgun at Damon’s forehead. “Who the hell are you?”
“Demon.” Damon knew better to give his actual name. He was also smart enough to keep it close to his real name in case someone called out to him.
“What the hell kind of name is Demon?”
“What the hell kind of name is Bubba?” Damon held the older wolf’s gaze, refusing to look away.
The guy’s eyes widened for a second before he barked out a laugh.
“What the hell you laughing at, Carl?” Bubba scrambled to his feet. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, smearing the mud and making an even bigger mess. “He don’t belong here.” He pointed a thick finger at Damon.
“Shut up, Bubba. You’re not running things here. I am.” Carl continued to glare at Damon. “What Pack are you in?”
“I don’t belong to a Pack.”
Carl lifted a bushy gray eyebrow. “No Pack? That means you’re lying or you’ve gone rogue.”
“The last wolf that called me a liar is wearing his dick for a tie,” Damon growled. “Like I said, I don’t have a Pack.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here?”
“I was passing through and caught the scent of blood. I didn’t realize you were having a private party.” He nodded toward the fight in the middle of the camp, but didn’t break his gaze.
Carl’s thin lips twitched like a rodent’s. He lowered his gun. “It’s not every day a wolf admits to looking for a fight. These days Packs are trying to be more tolerant, more politically correct.” Carl spit a thick stream of tobacco juice on the ground. A slimy drop trailed down his chin. “Bunch of pussies, if you ask me.”
“Fuck that. Wolves are animals,” Damon snarled.
Carl’s weathered face relaxed, as his lips broke into a smile. “Seems like we’re of the same thinking, boy.”
“Don’t call me ‘boy.’”
Carl laughed. “All right, all right. I can respect that. It seems like you got more balls than some of these dickheads I’m rolling with.” He cut his eyes at Bubba who lowered his gaze.
“Are you looking to join up to a Pack?” Carl lifted his chin. “We could use someone like you.”
“I don’t play well with others.”
“I like that. But I bet I could change your mind.” Carl smirked and rested the shotgun against his shoulder.
“I doubt that.” Damon crossed his arms over his chest. No need to appear too eager.
“Once you see what we got in this here warehouse, you’ll be begging to join our Pack.” Carl snorted.
“Carl, you said I could have her.” Bubba pressed his muddy lips together like an impudent child.
“She ain’t ready yet, dumbass. Keep up your whining and I’ll castrate you. Then you won’t be getting any at all!”
Bubba went wide-eyed and then bent his head in a submissive gesture.
Damon snorted. What do you know? Bubba might actually have some brains after all.
His gaze drifted casually to the warehouse. Ava’s scent was overwhelming. She was there. His stomach tightened to the point of pain.
“You got a female, so what? It’s only October. Females don’t go into heat until spring.”
Carl leaned in close. A smirk lurked at the corner of his thin lips. “Well, we got us a special formula that will force her into heat.”
He uncrossed his arms. “That’s impossible.”
Females were only in heat for a few weeks in February and March. This was only October.
Carl grinned. “Our formula will shorten the pregnancy and allow her to stay in heat so she can have multiple pregnancies within a year.”
Damon swallowed back the nausea rising in the back of his throat. Females were only fertile every two years. Even having twins was rare. What Carl was suggesting was beyond evil.
“I guess her mate is going to keep her busy. Is this lucky couple going to start their own pack with all those offspring?” He clenched every muscle in his body to keep from beating Carl’s ass right there.
Carl narrowed his gaze. “She’s not mated and she’s not going to be. She’s what you’d call community property.”
Ava would be enslaved and raped. Judging from the wolves Damon had seen, not one of them would think twice about violating her. She wouldn’t last two days before they killed her in their lust.
“I don’t like sloppy seconds.”
“I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you see her. She’s one hot little piece of tail.” Carl whistled through his tobacco-stained teeth.
Damon nodded, not trusting his voice. Rage edged through every corner of his body.
“Round everyone up,” Carl barked at Bubba. “It’s time for the un
veiling.”
The only thing that separated him from Ava was a wall of rusted tin. With one hit he could tear through the tin walls of the warehouse and reach her.
He sucked in a deep breath. It wasn’t that easy. He was outnumbered and couldn’t risk her safety.
Damon followed Carl into the warehouse and scanned the darkened room. The rest of the Pack hurried in behind them, cursing and shoving their way inside as their stench filled the room. He focused his gaze on a covered object in the middle of the room.
Ava.
Someone flipped a switch, bathing the room in blinding floodlights. Everyone let out a string of profanities and covered their eyes.
“Bubba, you dumb fuck, turn that shit off,” Carl bellowed.
Damon slipped his glasses on and blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust. Bubba staggered to the wall and attempted to flip the switch with one hand while shielding his eyes with the other.
“Sorry, boss. I thought you wanted her lit up real pretty, you know like one of them game shows where they show off the prizes.” Bubba patted his hand along the wall, feeling for the switch like a blind man.
“That’s what wrong with you, Bubba. You think too damn much.” Carl made his way over to the wall, slapped Bubba across the head, and cut the lights.
Under the blanket of darkness, Damon’s hand brushed the cool metal of his gun. His fingertips itched to clasp it and put a bullet in every wolf’s head. The urge to tear these wolves apart by hand coursed through his heated veins, but he knew he was racing against the clock. He had to grab Ava and get the fuck out of there, even if that meant using his Sig Sauer.
“All right boys, I know you’ve all been dying to meet our new female.” Carl stopped beside the covered object as someone passed him a lantern.
“Boys, meet our newest bitch.” Carl grabbed a handful of canvas and pulled.
Damon stepped forward as his stomach lurched.
Ava, clothed in only her black bra and panties, was gagged and tied down to a doctor’s exam table. Her black hair clung to her dirt-streaked face, and her green-eyed gaze flashed around the room in fear. But that’s not what made him sick.
Her feet were up in stirrups, her legs restrained with ropes, spread open for every male’s viewing pleasure.
The group of werewolves edged closer and the hum of panting drifted through the room. Their nostrils flared as they caught her feminine scent. Growls erupted around the room and one by one they shifted into wolf, their urge to mate too great to control.
“That’s it, boys; get a good look. In a few more days this one will be all hot and ready for you.” Carl’s lips curved into a sadistic grin as he held up a syringe. “Once she gets this, she’ll be begging for it.”
The scent of testosterone surged to a lethal level within the tin walls. There was no way in hell these assholes were going to wait a week to have Ava. They wanted her now.
He fingered the remote device inside his jacket. It was time for a distraction.
The wolves edged closer, crowding Damon. He stuck his foot out and the guy closest to him tripped, tumbling into the next wolf, setting off a domino effect. Two wolves growled and snapped their elongated teeth. They bowed up and circled each other as they shifted back into their naked human form. The rest of the wolves shifted into human form, eager to watch the fight. A punch was thrown, and an unruly brawl ensued.
This was his chance.
Damon pressed the button.
A deafening explosion rattled the walls of the warehouse and shattered the window. Shards of glass rained down as the rabble members fell to their knees.
Damon strode to Ava’s side as the Pack scrambled like ants out of the warehouse.
He reached for his knife. Ava’s eyes widened as she tried to scoot away from him.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Ava.” He shoved his sunglasses up on his head and made eye contact. Her gaze landed on the scar on his left cheek. His disfigurement certainly didn’t make him look less intimidating. He knew that for a fact.
“I’m going to cut you lose and get you out of here, okay?” He held his hands up and waited for her permission.
She nodded once.
He untied the gag from her mouth and made quick work of the thick ropes. Freed, she scrambled off the table.
“Who the hell are you?” She snatched a shard of broken glass from the ground and held the weapon out in front of her.
“I’m Damon. I’m here to get you out.”
“How do I know you’re not one of them?” She jerked her head toward the empty doorway, but her gaze remained on him.
“Trust me, I’m nothing like them.” He slipped the knife back in his boot and stood. “Ava, we can’t stay here. I need to get you out before they come back.” He held out his hand, hoping she’d take it.
If not, he wouldn’t give her a choice.
He’d just throw her over his shoulder and haul ass.
Chapter Two
Ava’s heart beat against her chest like hummingbird wings. She couldn’t take her eyes off the large man dressed in black. His dark hair trailed out from a black and red skull bandana and brushed his broad shoulders. His eyes, the color of a tumultuous ocean, were hard and unflinching. An angry scar ran from his cheek to his jaw line, the only blemish on his good looks, making him look even more sinister.
Damon looked more like the devil than her rescuer.
Unlike the others, he hadn’t made a move to touch her.
And unlike the others, he hadn’t done the whole freaky, change-into-a-wolf thing. That was a definite plus.
A shaky laugh erupted from the back of her tight throat. Surely that really hadn’t happened. People did not change into animals. Not in the real world. She must be hallucinating from whatever drug they’d given her.
One thing was certain. If she stayed here, they’d rape her and then kill her when they were done.
“It seems I’m low on options.” Ava placed her small hand in the heat of his palm.
His gaze drifted down to her panties. Her body heated with humiliation. She snatched her hand away and attempted to cover herself with her hands.
“Put this on.” He scowled and shrugged out of his leather jacket as he averted his gaze. He shoved the jacket into her hands.
“Who are you?” She stuck her arms into the warm jacket and wrapped it around her body. It smelled like sandalwood and leather. He didn’t stink like the other men.
She cringed. Between being sick to her stomach, and sweating in fear as she was tied up like an animal, she probably didn’t smell any better than her kidnappers. Damon might not want his jacket back if she ruined it with her not-so-fresh scent.
“I’m Damon Trahan. I’ve been sent to bring you back home.”
“Thank, God.” The police in Arkansas were really on the ball. She was definitely sending in a donation to their charity this year instead of hanging up on them when they called.
He lowered his gaze to her bare feet. “Where are your shoes?”
“That asshole took them when he strapped me down.” Ava glared and pulled the jacket tighter around her.
A muscle twitched in Damon’s cheek, yet he said nothing. He headed for the door and peered out. “Fuck.”
“What?” She winced as she hurried to his side, trying to ignore the tiny shard of glass that found its way into the bottom of her foot. She grabbed his arm for balance and dug out the sliver.
He stepped away and snarled. “We’ve got to go. They’re making their way back.”
“Then, let’s go.”
“They’re blocking the road. Our only way out is through the woods. And you don’t have any shoes.”
“I don’t care. I’d rather have bloody feet than stay here and let them touch me.” She lifted her chin. She would not stay here. No way. No how.
“Just keep up,” he growled and grabbed her hand. They ran out of the building, past the frantic men who scrambled to put out the raging blaze with coolers of ice. Damon ran, pulli
ng her along as he hurried toward the forest. She stumbled as she fought to keep up with his long stride. Chaos ruled the camp, but luckily no one paid attention to them. When they reached the protective cover of the tree line, Damon stopped and cast a glance at the camp.
Ava jerked her hand free from his hard grasp. She sure as hell wasn’t going to wait around and give those freaks another chance to capture her.
She pushed past him and ran deeper into the forest. Briars and underbrush tore at her feet and legs like a thousand needles. She clenched her teeth and pushed down the pain. Escape was all that mattered. Bloody feet would heal. She would not, if she didn’t escape.
Swamped in darkness, she held her hands out to keep from slamming, face-first, into a tree. Damon’s curses echoed behind her, and then suddenly he was running beside her.
“How much farther?” She slammed hard into the bark of a tree, stumbling backward. He caught her before she landed on her ass.
“Watch where you’re going.” He steadied her and then shoved her forward.
She made it three steps and smacked into another tree. This time, her ass hit the ground hard.
“Can’t you pay attention?” Grabbing her under her arms, he pulled her up to her feet. Despite the dark, she could imagine the impatient scowl stretching across his face.
“I can’t see in the dark, you asshole.” Flushed with anger, she curled her hands into fists.
“What do you mean you can’t see in the dark? Of course you can see.” He gave her another shove forward.
She spun around. “Shove me again and I’m going to punch you in the balls. I told you, I can’t see in the dark. What the hell do you think I am? A bat?”
“No, a wolf.”
***
The words died on Damon’s lips as he stared at Ava through the thick darkness. How could she not know she was a wolf?
How could that be? Hell, he could smell her five miles away. Ava’s heady scent was all wolf.
Frenzied howls of the wolf Pack erupted, raising the alarm that Ava had escaped. They needed to go before they ran out of time.
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