She could barely tell where she was running as she trailed her hand over the surface of the catacomb walls to give her balance and a sense of direction. Everything around her was pitch black as she felt the darkness pushing in on her from all around. Her breathing quickened and she could hear it echo back to her through the catacomb tunnels.
Maxine knew she was running for her life, she believed that the vampires were just as dangerous as Nate had made them out to be. She also knew that Nate was no less dangerous. The fact that she allowed herself to have sex with him and get that close to her as fast as she did, scared her almost as much as the danger she was running from in the tunnels.
Her feet hurt from the sharp shards of rock cutting at her bare flesh, and her side ached from her heavy breathing caused from the running. Everything was silent around her; there was no evidence of Nate in pursuit of her. But she did know there were vampires or someone else in the catacombs, she had heard them before she ran.
Once she found her way out of this place, she would make her way straight home and call the police. As for Nate, whether he was telling the truth or not of being a blood drinker, she would consider herself lucky to just stay away from him.
But she couldn’t leave this place until she found her way out.
Ignoring the terror that threatened to engulf her again, she raced forward blindly in the dark. Without any sign of warning, the tunnels opened up into a large cavernous room that stretched all the way to the sky above. She stopped at the sight not knowing where to go from there. Without a second warning, an arm reached out from nowhere and grabbed her from behind.
Chapter Eight
“Where do you think you were running off too?” Nate shoved Maxine against the catacomb wall and back into the deeper shadows. “Don’t move.” Is all he said before he was out of her sight.
She felt her way along the catacomb wall only feeling the hard stone. Her hand touched something that felt like a handle, and then she realized it was a torch connected to a sconce. Finding a rock, she bashed it on the wall and struck it until she was able to light a fire with a piece of cloth she tore from her shirt. When she was sure she had it going fairly well, she retrieved the torch and lit it.
She held the torch up and allowed it to spread its light into the tunnels. All that lay before her were passageways that led in every direction. None of them gave her a hint as to which one led the way out.
She stared down a tunnel directly in front of her and decided that was the one she would take.
Armed with only a torch, she started down the catacombs again.
Because of the darkness when Nate had found her, there was no way of telling what direction or what tunnel he had ventured down. But she knew she had to find a way out of this place once and for all.
With no way of telling which way was which, she made a turn at one of the tunnels. She only realized too soon the mistake she had made. Sounds of hissing and shuffling feet could be heard from further down the tunnel, and she was heading straight for them.
“I know you’re there, I can smell the fear on you child. Don’t be afraid, no harm will come to you.”
The vampires, they knew where she was. They had found her, and she had run straight to them.
Turning in the opposite direction, she made her way as fast as she could down the tunnel holding her torch in front of her to light the way.
The tunnels traveled in every direction, and where old tunnels ended, new ones began. How many vampires were nesting down here, Nate had no idea. He thought he was close to catching the vampire he was after, he could feel it near, and he could smell the putrid stench of its flesh. But like before, it had managed to slip from his senses once again.
Nate knew he was not getting anywhere this way. The dampness of the tunnel reeked of mold and mildew. He tried to register other smells, only to find more of the same.
Beside him, another tunnel opened up, and he could hear the sound of movement. Slowly, he made his way into the tunnel concentrating on the noises coming from it. Being cautious, he moved slowly as the noise came closer.
He was picking up the faint sound of a heartbeat, only vampires didn’t have beating hearts.
“Maxine?” Had she moved from where he told her to stay? There was no answer.
Then he heard a scream, Maxine had moved, and now she was in danger again.
Chapter Nine
Someone had said her name in the tunnel. She had felt there was someone in there with her. She didn’t know if it was Nate or not, but there was no way she was sticking around to find out.
Running in bare feet was not easy, but running in the heels she had discarded earlier would have been harder in the catacomb tunnels. Seeing a dim light up ahead, Maxine rushed down the tunnel towards it. Hopefully she had finally found a way out; she had had enough of the underground network of tunnels under the city.
Relief rushed over her as she made her way into the light. She picked up her speed and rushed out of the tunnel and tried to regain some of her composure.
A door that stood in front of her came into view. Reaching her hand up to the knob, two cold arms came down around her pulling her back away from the door.
Immediately stilled with fear, Maxine looked down at the arms that held her and knew at once they didn’t belong to Nate. There was no warmth to this flesh.
Slowly she looked up into the face of her captor; red eyes looked back at her along with a smile that clearly showed two protruding fangs. Maxine’s heart stopped.
She was in the clutches of the vampires, and Nate was nowhere around.
A sob broke from her lips as she looked up at her captor knowing the danger she was in.
“Hello there my child.” He acknowledged, but there was no compassion in the vampire’s eyes. All that was present was the hunger and thirst for human blood.
The vampire hissed and pushed her head to the side exposing her neck. Lunging forward, it went for the pulsing vein.
The second scream came even louder and shriller than the first one. The sound tore through the catacombs and met Nate’s ears. He never had a second thought, he only ran in the direction of Maxine.
Making his way through the catacombs, Nate came face to face with the vampire. The creature was illuminated by a light, the torch lying on the ground next to Maxine’s bare feet. The vampire held her in its grip, its arms holding her squirming body.
Nate changed into his werewolf form and leapt towards the vampire. Trying not to hurt Maxine, he pushed her against the wall.
Immediately they were surrounded by several other vampires lying in wait. Maxine was trapped on the other side of the room.
Nate took out the first vampire with ease, and then the second. The vampire lunged at him. Its fangs made contact with Nate’s flesh. Nate’s claws extended and his razor sharp teeth were bared. Blood lust took over and all thought of reason escaped his mind.
The vampire gripped down on Nate’s arm, its fangs soon followed. Picking up the vampire, Nate flung the creature across the room smashing it into a nearby wall. The vampire only got back up and rushed towards Nate again.
He laughed at the stupidity of the vampire’s actions, but the creature only charged and bit down into Nate’s flesh once more. The vampires bite had no effect on the werewolf and succeeded in only intensifying his rage.
Nate had enough of the game. Taking his clawed hand he shoved it through the vampire’s heart ending its attack. As one vampire went down in a flaming pile of ash, he went on to the next one, taking them out one by one.
A scream echoed through the room, it had come from Maxine.
Several other vampires now flooded into the room from every direction from the tunnels.
Chapter Ten
Nate struck the first vampire dropping it to the ground while grabbing another that he swung at a group of the oncoming creatures. The vampire’s body only succeeded in knocking down maybe half of the undead.
Nate fought with everything that he had, his
only weapons were strength, teeth and claws. He was the fastest and best fighter of the brotherhood, which was one of the reasons he had been chosen to lead the pack.
A frightened squeal came from Maxine; one of the vampires had managed to get to her. With terror in her eyes, she looked straight Nate pleading.
She had seen him change and knew what he was, but she still looked to him to help her.
Nate was a werewolf. It was the one sure thing that Maxine knew before she was hauled towards another side of the room against her will by the blood thirsty vampire. Screaming, she scratched and clawed the vampire with her nails trying to break free.
Nate was a werewolf, and she was surrounded by vampires, and was now in the clutches of another. How had she been thrown in the middle of this nightmarish mess?
She was suddenly thrown against the wall. Pain shot through her entire body. Shutting her eyes, she tried to bare back the pain. Nate would not be able to get to her; he was surrounded by more than a dozen vampires fighting for his own life.
From across the room, their eyes locked, each knowing the urgency and danger of the other. With just a look he let her know that she was not alone, not to give up.
But she saw the number that said what they were up against. They were outnumbered and had nowhere to go. Maxine knew she would have to fight for her life; she was not prepared to die, not like this.
Bracing herself against the wall, she fought to bring herself up to full height. Her bare feet were bleeding and were covered in cuts, but she blocked the pain from her mind. It would not be long until the scent of her blood attracted the vampires in her direction.
Maxine almost didn’t see the oncoming attack until it was too late. Ducking at the last minute, the vampire’s fist hit the stone wall behind Maxine allowing her to gain a few steps out of its reach only to back into the clutches of another vampire. The whole situation was as if she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Nate had not seen as he was too busy fighting his own battle. He never even saw when the vampire started dragging Maxine out of the room.
Chapter Eleven
Maxine screamed and brought Nate’s attention to her. “Maxine!” Nate yelled her name as he was being charged by two vampires on each side.
Literally trying to rip the flesh from the vampire that was now dragging her from the room, she dug and gouged her nails deep into its skin. Nothing mattered that she did, the vampire would not release her.
Desperate, Maxine fought with every ounce of energy she had left in her. She was suddenly knocked from the clutches of the vampire only to be knocked hard against the floor. She rolled over to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs only to be thrown further across the room.
All around her, the room spun as she tried to adjust her sight. Then without warning, her body was slammed hard against the floor again. She was not able to raise her body off the ground this time. Nate was with her now shielding her body with his own.
Chaos still engulfed the room as danger was still very much present and their lives were still both at stake.
The vampires began filing out of the room emptying it in mere seconds. Maxine could find no explanation for the sudden action, but it did bring her some well needed relief.
Nate remained in place shielding Maxine. He was also thrown off from the sudden retreat of the vampires. He did not dare move and leave the woman unprotected.
As if forgetting the danger they had just faced a few short moments ago, Nate stared down at the woman he was laying on top of. Taking his hand, he caressed her face and brushed the loose strands of hair from her eyes.
It was just the two of them, and that’s all that mattered right now.
His pack would never take kindly to their leader acting in the way he was now. To them, taking up with a woman was a big taboo and just looking for trouble in their book. They would never forgive him for such actions and would never see him as the leader they expected him to be. He would be looked at as an outcast, not fit enough to lead the pack.
He was aware of all of this information, knew the consequences, and knew that if he allowed what happened earlier to repeat itself, there would be no turning back.
But damn he just didn’t care, he wanted this woman.
Nate brought his lips to hers and kissed her passionately.
Nate teased her lips with his. Maxine didn’t care if he was a werewolf at this moment, although she knew she should be screaming her head off. Nate wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. He was not as rough as he had been earlier, now he was taking his time to explore her. Fires of passion ignited in Maxine.
Maxine wondered if she was losing her mind, after everything they had just endured, how could they give in to making love right here on a hard cold floor?
But the hell with it, Maxine parted her mouth allowing Nate to slip his talented tongue into her mouth. As they allowed their hands to roam over each other’s bodies, they both became more sexually aroused.
The world around them disappeared, as Maxine’s only thought was now on Nate. There was only the here and now.
Chapter Twelve
Maxine inhaled the masculine scent of Nate. All fear was gone and replaced by the urgency of a lust her body was once more ready to give into.
Nate caressed and held her in his strong arms tenderly. The catacombs vanished, all she knew, wanted and needed was right here with Nate.
Maxine felt protected and safe, and more than that, she felt wanted. She needed to feel as if someone wanted her, cared for her. She was tired of always having to be the one that everyone leaned on, having to give up everything about her while getting nothing in return. She was just tired of being used, and then discarded like a distant memory.
Nate kissed her passionately; she met his lips with her own passionate kiss. An urge of primal need ripped through her, into every part of her. His hand trailed over her flesh, magically setting off every nerve ending.
Nate nibbled at her bottom lip in a teasing fashion, urging her to open her mouth to him. Shivers ran down her spine as she arched her body to meet his. But all too sudden he stopped his foreplay.
Anxiety rose in her, and her heart began to beat rapidly. He was stopping, but she couldn’t figure out why. The atmosphere around them changed and her heart raced as confusion rolled over her.
She dug her fingers into his hair and forced him to look at her. A sense of pain overwhelmed her as she became afraid he was going to reject her. She needed him to wash away her pain and the memory of the nightmare she was stuck in and couldn’t wake up from.
The danger of that thought was replaced with the fact that she could easily lose herself in this man, maybe even lose all sense of reality.
Maxine’s lip trembled as Nate’s mouth left hers. She had become intoxicated by him and needed his touch like an addiction to a drug.
Beneath him, she waited patiently and let out a small moan. He caressed the side of her face just as a tear rolled down her cheek escaping one of her eyes.
He wanted to give her what she wanted, to make her always feel protected and never allow her to feel fearful again.
He wanted her; he wanted to believe that it was possible that he could. But he knew the brother hood would never accept it. They both came from different worlds. The brother hood, the mission, all thoughts of reality rushed back to him. He had lost himself in this woman, making him forget the true reason and purpose of why he was here.
Still hovering just above Maxine’s mouth he stilled himself.
He had strayed from his mission, his duty. He had broken every law of the pack.
Maxine tried once more to bring his mouth down to hers without success. Her own reality began to return and warning bells began to ring danger in her brain. She had again been lost in the werewolf’s spell that he so easily cast on her every time she was near him.
Nate knew the woman had seen too much, was a liability to everything his kind stood for, worse, their
own existence. She would bring this knowledge back with her to her own world. That very knowledge could endanger everything he had vowed to protect as leader of the brother hood of wolves.
He could not allow her to share her knowledge of them, the pack would never allow it or for her to live with the knowledge she now possessed.
Maxine began to shiver, not exactly from fear, but the idea of allowing herself to get close to the werewolf again. He fascinated her and excited her senses.
She began to move rhythmically under him, arching her body to meet his, she still wanted him.
Maxine wanted to rip off every piece of clothing that kept them apart. She needed him inside of her again, filling every part of her. She reached down to undo the button on his jeans. But he only pulled away from her as he pushed her hand away.
Chapter Thirteen
Maxine felt rejected and unwanted. She laid there under him trying to look away and turn her attention elsewhere. There was no way to ignore him or what just happened. But that still didn’t mean that it almost had.
“You know what I am, don’t you? “He asked.
She could feel his eyes on her, looking at her, pressing her to answer him.
She kept her face turned away, trying to look and concentrate on anything but him. The torch on the ground was still burning. Enough light still poured from it to brighten the room enough for her to see, but even that forced reality to shoot back to her and remind her where she was.
How sleazy was she to just continue giving herself over to a man she barely knew. He wasn’t even a man, but something much more. He was a werewolf, something out of a horror story, and she had allowed him to have his way with her. Was this something she found to be a turn-on?
She still couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She was only glad that no one else was around to see how low she had become, how willing she was to just hand over herself for a little pleasure. Had she really become that desperate and needy?
Blood Moon, Original Version (Shifters #1) Page 2
