by Gina Kincade
Caleb's eyes flashed and he growled deep in his chest.
"What's going on?" Griffin walked up, laden with sodas and fries.
Caleb tore off into the crowd. "Don't leave her!"
"Caleb!" Logan yelled after his brother and then looked back at Dakota.
She nodded and Logan sprung into action. "Griffin, you take Dakota and go home."
"What the hell is going on?" He looked between them.
Another ripple tore through Dakota and Griffin's eyes widened. He dropped the food and pulled her to him.
"Get her home," said Logan. "Now!"
Griffin held her at arms length. "Dakota, what happened? What's going on? Are you okay? What do you need?"
Tears slicked her cheeks and memories bombarded her as people swarmed around them. She gulps in air like a drowning fish, trying to keep her bearings. Her wolf threatened to take over.
"Five things… I can… see…"
"Dakota, what can I do? Do you want to go home?" Terror tinged Griffin's voice. "Who was that guy?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on her breathing. She bent at the waist, bracing her hands on her legs. Her nails cut into her pants and blood tricked down her thighs as she continued her chant.
"You're so soft." His hand ran down her throat.
"Griffin, what's going on?" Mary asked. "Where's Caleb? Where's Logan?"
"I'm here." Logan's voice came out winded. "Caleb went that way."
Griffin crouched in front of Dakota. "Baby, I'm right here. I'm right here. Listen to me. Hear my voice. You're safe. We're all here with you."
"Dad, you need to find Caleb," said Logan.
"Stay here, Mary," said Jeremiah.
The remaining family pressed in around her, shielding her, protecting her, suffocating her. The air around her grew too hot as Griffin pushed her hair from her face.
"Baby, look at me please," he pleaded.
She sucked in a breath. "Four– four– four– things I can hear."
"I've waited so long to have you." His breath in her face tasted like stale beer and the vinyl seats clung to her bare butt.
"Griffin. Pick Dakota the hell up and get her home now," Logan ordered.
"Man you're the best–"
No. No. No! Something broke inside her. She pulled away from Griffin and tore off through the crowd. Running blindly, she just kept going.
Across the green and through the vendors. Past the play on the stage and kids dancing. Around the art museum and rose garden. She ran out of the park and to the street and even then kept running. Fire coursed through her muscles, up her legs and down her arms to her fingertips. She ran as her ears pounded painfully and her head throbbed.
She sprinted until the street dead-ended at a large white building. Slowing she scanned the area to figure out where she was. Sweat dripped from her body and rolled down the backs of her legs. She spun in a circle, trying to get her bearings.
The smell of his cologne lingered in her nostrils. The fruity scent of his shampoo. The feel of his hands on her skin.
"Dakota?"
She whipped around. Griffin ran toward her.
Her heart sank as reality settled in. She was on the capital steps.
"Dakota. Are you okay? Was it a panic attack?"
Her shoulders sagged. She didn't want to do this. Not here.
"I… I need to get home," she said.
"Yes, but it's another ten miles. We left the Jeep back at the park. Caleb ran off with Dad, chasing that guy and Logan was yelling at me to find you. Who knows where Mom is." He set his hands on his hips and took a deep breath before walking closer. "Dakota, I love you. Tell me what's going on."
She stared at him, unable to speak, unable to form words. Cars passed by and in the distance horns honked and sirens blared. Where was Logan? Where was Caleb? She'd counted on them to help her. But she'd lost it, like a stupid pubescent wolf pup and now she stood in the middle of the city, with no car, and no way out.
"Dakota." Griffin's voice was gentle, but his eyes were anxious. "Was that him? The guy you slept with?"
She swallowed hard. Slept with. That was a joke.
"It was wasn't it?" His expression hardened. He took a step closer. "Tell me."
She pulled on her hair. She couldn't do this. Not here. She turned and headed toward the house.
"Dakota don't walk away. Tell me. Was that him?"
"Tell you?" Words tumbled from her mouth and she rounded on him. "You really want to know the truth? Here? In public?"
He walked to her slowly and stared down at her his eyes soft and kind. "Yes. I want you to tell me. No more waiting. No more hiding. Was that him?"
Her ribcage grew so tight she thought she might squash her own heart. "Yes," she whispered.
He nodded. "That's why Caleb went after him. Caleb figured it out."
"Yes and no."
"I don't understand."
"Yes. He's the guy but… I didn't sleep with him."
His eyebrows furrowed. "But… you were pregnant."
She nodded.
Please don't make me say it. Please don't make me say the words.
He stared at her for a moment then his eyes widened and shock washed over his features, quickly replaced by anger. He stepped closer, until their bodies almost touched.
"He raped you."
Tears dripped down her cheeks. Griffin threw his hands in his hair and tugged hard. He spun in a circle then walked the other direction.
"Griff?" She barely choked out his name.
He looked to the sky and then he squatted and hung his head. She wanted to go to him. To comfort him. To tell him to let it go. It wasn't his fault. It was her fault. She'd deserved it.
The phone rang in her pocket and she pulled it out.
"Hello?"
"Dakota? Where are you?" asked Logan.
"I'm at the capital building. Griffin's with me."
"Okay. I'm headed your way. I'll be there in five minutes."
"What about Caleb?"
"I don't know. Stay there."
"We will." She hung up and watched Griffin, who didn't move. He simply stared at the ground.
She wanted to tell him everything. To explain how it happened, but the anger that rolled over his skin told her he had enough new information to process.
Cars passed by and several slowed but she plastered on a smile and waved so they kept going.
Finally, Jeremiah's blue SUV pulled up to the curb. Logan hopped out of the driver's seat and Mary exited the passenger side. She walked to Dakota and folded her into her arms.
"I'm so sorry my daughter."
Dakota nodded against her mother in law's neck but refused to break. She watched Logan approach Griffin and speak to him, but couldn't hear his words. Griffin shook his head and got to his feet. Together they walked to the SUV and Griffin opened the door for Dakota. She slid into the vehicle just as Griffin's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and her stomach dropped; Jeremiah's name flashed across the screen.
Griffin stepped away from the vehicle. "Yeah… yeah… got it." He hung up the phone and walked back to the SUV. His eyes sparked with rage.
"Take her home," he commanded.
"Griffin–"
He closed the door and ran down the street.
Dakota jumped from the SUV. "Griffin!" she screamed.
"Dakota don't." Logan rounded the car in a flash and pulled her tight. "Let him go."
"It was Jeremiah on the phone. They're going to kill the guy from the park."
Logan nodded. "It's possible. Or maybe they won't. Either way, it's up to them now."
She wanted to go after Griffin, follow him and make sure he didn't do something that couldn't be undone. But even if she stopped Griffin today, she wouldn't be able to stop him the next time the rage took over.
There was nothing she could do now except pray.
***
Griffin ran around the backside of the capital building and headed north, toward the h
ills. His wolf begged to be let out so he could run even faster, but he wouldn't let him. He sprinted up 8th street then crossed down and back into Camel's Back Park. In the parking lot he found his Jeep, sitting alone. The lights flashed once and he ran to it and hopped in.
"Where is he?" he asked his dad.
"Caleb's with him. We took him up to the woods."
Griffin nodded. "Let's go."
His father looked at him for a moment. "Griff–"
"I don't want to kill him. Okay, that's a lie. I want to rip his flippin' head off, but I'll try not to."
"I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say I'm behind you, no matter what you decide. I didn't let Caleb get his vengeance for Franny. I was wrong and now I see what it's done to him inside. And after what my father did to my mother, I wasn't man enough to stand up to him either and it killed her. I won't let that happen again. I won't get in your way on this. What he did to Dakota–"
"Dad?" He looked at his father. "Drive."
Jeremiah nodded and backed out of the parking lot. Griffin clenched and unclenched his fists.
His phone buzzed and he pulled it out. Dakota.
He turned the phone off and shoved it in the glove box.
He was going to try not to kill the guy. That was all he could promise.
Griffin stomped through the brush. The scent of blood and urine permeated the air.
"This way." His father turned off the path and into a denser clump of trees.
"Please. Help me." The wild and swollen eyes of the man from the park stared at him. Tied to a tree he couldn't move.
Caleb stood over him, hands bloodied.
"Please," said the man again. "He's insane. He's… some kind of monster. You have to help me. I'll give you anything. I have money."
Griffin crossed to Caleb and hugged him.
"He won't shut up." Caleb's face was a mask and his eyes were blank. Griffin's heart ached for Caleb when he got like this. His giant, kind brother's wolf seethed with anger against those who hurt his family.
"I got this." Griffin nodded to Caleb and then turned to look upon the human who had defiled his bonded mate. "What's your name?" Griffin asked.
"Lenny."
Griffin strode forward and crouched by Lenny. The stench of him made Griffin's wolf roar to be unleashed, but he held it back.
"Lenny. Do you know who I am?"
Lenny shook his head.
"But you know my wife, Dakota."
He looked between the three of them. "Cody."
"Her name is Dakota." Caleb took a step forward.
"Dakota. Yeah. Dakota."
Griffin clenched his fists. "You raped her."
Lenny's eyes widened as much as they were able. "What? No man. I wouldn't do that. We slept together."
Another ripple tore through him. "Tell me then. Tell me how it happened."
Lenny licked his cracked and blooded lips. "Well… we used to party."
"When I was overseas."
Lenny's eyes darted around the group. "I– I didn't know that."
"She never told you she was married?"
"Nah, man. I mean… well… maybe she mentioned it."
Griffin punched Lenny in the side. The force of it coursed up his arm.
Lenny groaned and gasped for breath.
"So you used to party?" Griffin fought to keep his voice even.
"Yeah." A frantic look came into Lenny's beaten eyes.
Griffin could see the wheels turning in his head. He hauled back and punched Lenny in the gut.
"I don't want you to lie. I don't want you to think of what to say next. I just want you to tell me what happened."
Snot dripped from Lenny's nose and a tear trickled down his cheek.
"One… One night we were with a group of friends hanging out and Cody– Dakota. Dakota," he corrected. His gaze darted to Caleb. "Dakota took some pills but said they weren't doing enough so I gave her something new. Something special. But then she was all loopy and told me she couldn't drive. So I said I'd take her home. And I did." He moaned as he breathed in.
Griffin raised his fist. "Don't lie."
"Okay! Okay. I was driving and she kept falling into my lap and so I thought, ya know, I thought she wanted me. So I pulled over to the side of the road and… well… we did it."
Griffin's wolf raged so hard he could barely hear the end of the story and his brain pounded so he could hardly make out the outline of the man in front of him. "Did she say she wanted to have sex with you?"
Lenny licked his lips again. "She didn't say no."
Griffin's fist smashed Lenny's nose with such force he heard the crunch of bone beneath his knuckles.
Caleb lunged forward and kicked Lenny hard in the chest. "Was she even conscious you piece of shit?"
Jeremiah grabbed his arm and tried to hold him back.
Lenny cried as he coughed and blood spewed from his mouth and nose. "I'm sorry," he croaked. "I didn't know she was married."
"Married?" asked Griffin. "You think the only reason I'm mad is because she's married?" Another two punches. Lenny yowled like a baby as his ribs cracked.
"You took a beautiful, precious girl and you ruined her life. Forever!" Griffin kicked Lenny in the stomach. "She's my world. Mine. And you almost took her from me."
The guy had no clue. No remorse, aside from the fact that he’d been caught and was being beaten. The likelihood that he had or would do it again was too high; Griffin couldn't allow him to get away with it.
"I promise, if you let me go, I'll never tell anyone and I'll never touch another drunk woman again," Lenny pleaded. "Please."
"Now," Griffin growled. "I just wish I could believe that." He couldn't let the scum go. Not for the other women he would ruin and not for Dakota. She deserved to know, that for the rest of her life, there would be no threat. No more looking over her shoulder. No more wondering if Lenny was coming back.
He was her mate; it was his job to take care of her. To love her. To protect her.
Griffin's nails lengthened and his incisors dropped into his mouth. With the flick of his wrist he sliced through the ropes binding Lenny. "You have exactly sixty seconds to run into those hills, as fast as you can. And then my brother and I are going to hunt you down."
Lenny looked between them and Caleb howled at the sky.
"You better run," said Griffin's father. "Because if my boys don't tear you apart, I sure as hell will."
Lenny got to his feet shakily. Griffin stood and roared into the night as his spine shifted and his arms broke.
Terrified, Lenny stared as they shifted. Griffin's nose lengthened and he breathed in deep.
"Run!" he yelled.
Lenny took off into the woods.
Caleb dropped to the ground and shifted in less than a minute.
"Not yet," ordered Jeremiah. "It's Griffin's hunt."
Griffin let go and his wolf ripped through his flesh, barely giving him time to register the change before it was done. He held back his instincts until the very last second.
He looked back at Caleb's huge brown form and his father's deep black one and nodded.
The three sped off into the woods.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dakota sat on her bed and stared at the bedroom door for over two hours, clinging to Bowgie. Finally, she heard the Jeep pull up in the driveway. She rushed out of the house to find Caleb, Jeremiah, and Griffin exiting the vehicle. She ran to Griffin and threw her arms around him. He fell back against the car and clung to her, burying his head in her neck.
"All right," Jeremiah said. "Let's get you in the house before the neighbors look out and think something's wrong."
She backed up and pulled Griffin inside. Caleb was already being looked over by Mary. His clothes were dirty and his lip sported a gash. He met her eye and gave a small nod.
Anxiety washed over her. She wanted to ask if they'd killed him, but couldn't bring herself to. She pulled Griffin down the hall to their bedroom and closed
the door before looking at him. His t-shirt was stained with blood. His hands were swollen; his knuckles split in several spots and caked with blood. She tried to keep calm as she went into action. She walked to the shower and turned on the water. Then she grabbed a rag and some peroxide and headed back to Griffin.
His eyes held no anger, only a blank stare. She sat him on the bed and lifted his right hand. He didn't even wince when she touched the washcloth to it. For several minutes he watched her work in silence.
Finally he said, "Are you going to ask me?"
"Ask you what?" She dabbed his hand.
"If we killed him."
She stopped dabbing and looked up, hoping to find the answer written on his features, so she wouldn't have to ask. But there was nothing there.
"No," she said. "I'm not."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to give him one more second of thought. He took too much from me that night. Not that it was all his fault. I was high and he offered me a ride–"
Griffin gripped her hands tight. "You stop right there. I don't care if you couldn't see straight. He had no right to violate you. No man does. No matter what you're wearing or whether you can't say no, it doesn't matter. This was not your fault."
She wanted to believe his words. To believe that it wasn't her fault.
He searched her face. "That's why you didn't tell me. You think you deserved it."
"It was my fault I got addicted. It was my fault I went out partying with those people. I did that. I made those choices–"
"But you didn't choose to be raped. You made bad choices. You know it and I know it, but that does not, for one minute, excuse what happened to you. I should have known. Should have seen it. I was so hell-bent on cutting you out of my life. So scared of the pain. Afraid that if I really let it in, it would kill me, just like it did my nana. I should have known you wouldn't cheat on me." He knelt down on the floor next to her. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry I didn't take the time to listen to you. To hear you. To understand what you weren't saying. I promise you. I will never, ever, let anything bad happen to you again. You are my everything. I'll never let anyone take you away from me again."
He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her– his lips lingering over hers. His tongue swirled in her mouth. She needed him. To feel him. To be close to him. She ran her hands under his shirt and lifted it off. His gaze intensified and suddenly they couldn't get their clothes off fast enough. They kissed and stripped and kissed some more. She clawed at his back as he smothered her mouth with his and thrust hard inside her. She grabbed onto his shoulders and held on as his hips worked harder and faster against her. His head fell to her shoulder and he bit her skin.
