by Amanda LeMay
I screamed the second Bobby started pounding DJ’s face with his fists.
“Stop! Please stop hitting him!” I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand that DJ was trying to give me more time—giving up his life to hopefully save mine.
“You know what happens when you run. Never gonna learn, are you? Look what you made me do—hit you in the fucking face!” Bobby rubbed his knuckles. “Hold him tight.” Bobby said to GW before he made quick work of peeling off DJ’s layers of clothing while GW held him up from behind. Blood poured from DJ’s nose. His lips were split and his face swelled rapidly. Once DJ was naked, they fastened his wrists and ankles between two wooden beams. DJ’s head lolled forward as if he were barely conscious. From where I lay, I could see the yellow and green of fading bruises all over DJ’s naked body. He was so thin I could count every rib.
Bobby striped off his own shirt, wiped the blood off his hands, and tossed the shirt on the ground. I sucked in a breath when he grabbed a long, leather strap from on top of the box then he strode over to me and grabbed my cheeks. The cruelty he hid behind his good looks was plain on his face now.
“I’m gonna show you what I mean about pain and how some people get off on it. Once I’m done with him, it’ll be your turn, bitch, and believe me, before I’m done with you, you’re gonna beg me to hurt you a lot more.”
“Dain is going to kill you.” The second the words left my mouth a calm settled over my entire body. No matter what Bobby did to me, even if he murdered me before Dain could find me, he was a dead man.
“Not if I kill him first.”
Bobby’s threat didn’t scare me in the slightest.
He wouldn’t have a chance in hell of ever getting away. It didn’t matter a damn bit to me that we hadn’t performed the mating ceremony. Dain was my mate, my sakana, not some random wolf I’d had sex with once. He’d marked me. He would hunt Bobby down, no matter how long it took, and Bobby would never see him coming.
Bobby touched the leather strap to the top of my foot, then ran it the length of the inside of my leg, shifted it to the outside of my hip, up over my belly and through the valley between my breasts. My entire body trembled uncontrollably.
“Yeah, sugar, you think you’re shaking ’cause you’re scared, but that’s only part of it. You don’t know it yet, but you can’t wait for me to really hurt you.” He smiled, turned slightly, and began running the leather over my skin again. “Those little bites on the back, those little spankin’s, that ain’t nothing compared to what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna make you bleed.”
Change. Change. Change.
My inner wolf was extremely persistent, and I had never fought so hard to keep my self-control in check. Besides, changing would leave me on my back, tied down and more helpless than I was in my human form.
“You know what else I’m gonna do to you? I’m gonna make sure I’m the last man who ever touches you. And after that...even though it’ll break my fucking heart to do it, I’m gonna make sure I’m the last man Dain ever touches.”
Even though Bobby had already said he would kill Dain, he seemed to shudder all over as he voiced that last part. His shoulders bunched up, just like his blond eyebrows, as a strange sort of resignation seemed to settle on his face. He turned away from me with a small shake of his head and let out a long exhale, like he really hadn’t ever planned on killing Dain.
It didn’t matter. Bobby didn’t have a chance in hell against Dain, no matter how much he liked to think so.
He took a few steps away from me and then, I saw it...a scar on his shoulder.
Is that what I think it is?
Any wolf would have recognized it for what it was. The scar was ragged and torn and ugly from a bite. A big bite. Wolf-sized.
“So, you aren’t perfect all over, huh?” I taunted him.
Bobby stopped, turned, and shot me a glare.
“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes. “How dare I think you’re not a freaking perfect sex god?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Your scar.” I nodded.
His eyes flicked over to that side of his body and he chuckled. “That was the last time I let some chick talk me into screwing her out in the middle of nowhere under the full moon.” He fluttered his fingers up on either side of his head and spoke in a high-pitched voice. “It’ll be so romantic.” He dropped his hands to his hips. “Fuck that. Never again. You know what? Guys don’t give a shit where they fuck. They don’t pull all that damned romantic crap. Guys just wanna fuck, anytime, anyplace. They don’t want to deal with the fucking wolves out there, running around waiting to bite you in the ass. The one that got me was kinda small, but his teeth left a hell of a scar. I was damn lucky the thing didn’t have rabies.” He waved his arms in the air and laughed. “I couldn’t very well go to the doctor and tell him I’d been snuck up on while screwing with some sixteen-year-old chick.”
He’d been bitten. Probably by some horny, young wolf who didn’t go to the caverns like he should have and most likely never told anyone what he had done, in fear of being severely punished. And if Bobby never went to the doctor, the wolf bite wouldn’t have been reported to the authorities, and Gunner wouldn’t have heard about it. As far as I knew, no one kept tabs on bite victims after a year, when the effects should have worn off. Maybe the effects lasted much longer. Nevertheless, it only increased a human’s desire for sex, not create a desire to kill. That would be something already living inside a person.
“That’s why I picked this old barn. Since the river washed the road out, nobody’s been out here for years. I can have fun for days and not worry about watching my back.” He fluffed his blond hair back and leaned over me. “And you can scream all you want. Like I said, ain’t nobody gonna hear ya.” He stood up, stepped back a pace, and flashed his perfect teeth at me a moment before the leather strap came down hard in a full swing, striking a punishing lash just below my breasts.
My back bowed off the bales as I screamed.
“That’s just a little taste of what I’m gonna do to you, cupcake. You know what? Go ahead, scream, scream his name. I want to hear it.”
The strap came down again hard and fast, and I was happy to oblige.
“Dain!”
The scream evolved into a howl and with that little push, I had never been more afraid I would lose my battle to keep my wolf at bay. My canines slid out long and deadly. Every bone, every muscle, every cell in my body ached as I fought the change. My face hurt beyond belief as I clamped my teeth together in order to keep my bones in place.
The second Bobby took a look at me, I knew I was failing. His pale blue eyes went wide before his brows scrunched together as he tried to figure out what he was looking at.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His survival instincts must have totally gone missing because he actually took a step closer to me and leaned in to get a better look.
I could smell the sweat on his body, smell DJ’s blood from across the barn—but suddenly—suddenly, even though Bobby was within inches of me, those vile odors were wiped from my senses.
The odor of sweaty men, the barn, sweet coppery blood, vanished into the background as the one scent I had been praying for overpowered them all—the scent of my mate coming through the rickety wooden slats on the cold, night air. My bones and muscles ached to shift as his scent called out to me. He was so, so close I tasted his sweet fragrance on my tongue.
The thrill of bloody violence raced through my body like never before. My inner wolf couldn’t wait to roll around in Bobby Sanders’ blood and I wanted to burst out laughing at the primitive thought.
Everything outside went completely silent, the crickets, the scampering rodents—everything. I heard Dain’s rumbling growl before any of the guys did, though I was sure they felt the vibrations on the air.
“GW?” Bobby whispered.
“Yeah,” GW whispered back.
“What the hell was that?”
A dark, danger
ous growl came from one side of the barn and traveled to the other as Dain paced off the outside perimeter. I followed his almost silent footsteps until they stopped outside the still-open barn door.
“What the fuck?” Bobby’s voice rose an octave. “Where’s the gun?”
“In the truck.” GW answered low and slow.
Too late, boys.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HOLDING MY BREATH, I peered out into the darkness through the partially open barn door. Dain’s massive head appeared in the opening, black as the darkest night. His huge, wolf frame filled the doorway, leaving no escape. The bluish-white lantern light glinted in his cherry-wood eyes. His long, white fangs flashed with lethal intent from beneath his curled lips and a deep, feral growl rumbled in his chest with each breath he drew. With his head down, he stalked into the barn, his glossy black fur standing on end as he prowled back and forth studying his prey, Bobby and GW.
In all my life, I had never seen a more vicious-looking wolf, a wolf so intent on mutilating and killing his prey not for food, but for the pure, primal need to protect what was his.
He was dangerous and deadly, dark and destructive like a beautiful storm.
I was never happier to see him.
And I could not wait to feel his teeth sink into my flesh when we were finally, truly mated, in every sense of the word.
First, Bobby Sanders needed to die. And I needed to be free. Not necessarily in that order.
“Let me go,” I whispered, filling my voice with panic to get Bobby’s attention.
Bobby jumped, snapped out of his trance by my voice, and stared down at me with blue eyes nearly white with terror.
“Bobby, let me go. Unbuckle my hands.” I pleaded, not that I needed to—I wasn’t in any danger from the wolf at the door, but I didn’t want to lay there naked and tied up, and if I could play on Bobby’s sympathies—if he had any—all the better for me.
Bobby’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. He stared back at Dain, as if this huge, pitch-black wolf were a demon from his darkest nightmares.
“Dammit, Bobby!” I cried. “Let me go! Please! Please don’t leave me here!”
The leather strap dropped from his hand. He leaned over me, breathing hard, his eyes still locked on Dain’s every move.
“I may be a sadistic bastard, but I’d never leave you to an animal.” His fingers worked at the buckles frantically at first, as he kept his eyes on Dain. He focused and finally managed to get the buckles free, first my hands and next my ankles. “Stay still and when I tell you to run, you run. Don’t stop for nothin’, just run your pretty ass out that door.”
Kind of ironic he was protecting me now, so he could hunt me down and kill me later.
There wouldn’t be any later for him.
“GW, I’m gonna lure him over here.” Bobby moved cautiously to the right, making sure Dain kept his eyes on him all the time. “Get out to the truck and get the gun. I’m feeling like this wolf will make a nice rug.” He smiled as if he had everything under control, like shooting wolves was an everyday thing for him.
Too bad Bobby didn’t realize this massive wolf understood each word he said.
Besides, if GW made it to the truck and managed to get hold of a weapon, he’d never make it back in the door—I’d shift in a second and take him down myself.
When Bobby moved far enough away, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bales. Dain’s head swiveled back in my direction, his eyes locked on mine.
“You stupid bitch, I told you not to move,” Bobby said through gritted teeth. “Now don’t you even breathe.”
Dain’s head tilted just so. I knew what he wanted. I felt the unspoken question in my blood. This wasn’t the time for a discussion about life and death and all the reasons we hide in plain sight and don’t kill sheep. This was about protecting the pack, protecting a mate.
And Bobby Sanders wasn’t sheep. He was a rabid dog.
With one nod, I signed Bobby’s death warrant.
I couldn’t have cared less.
With two strides of his big paws, Dain was off the ground and slamming into Bobby’s body, throwing him against a wooden beam. He followed him down, all the way to the dirt, snarling and snapping in his rage as he tore away chunks of Bobby’s flesh. Bobby screamed, a piercing sound that seemed wrenched from his ugly, evil soul. His arms flailed. He slugged and kicked, but failed to find his way out from beneath Dain’s big, heavy body.
GW sprinted for the entrance. I slid off the hay bales as GW made it to the barn door, where he skidded to a halt as his boots lost purchase in the dirt. He fell on his ass, not because of Bobby’s cries for help, but because another wolf, a golden wolf—my dad—had been outside, guarding the door.
“Oh, shit.” GW scrambled backward, never taking his eyes off the golden wolf stalking toward him. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit.”
The sound of bones splintering and snapping echoed off the barn walls. Bobby let out another terrified scream. The stench of his blood filled the barn. Swiveling my head toward the sound, I couldn’t stop from looking. If Dain had to live with what he did to save me, no matter how brutal and vicious, I would live with witnessing the deed.
Dain had Bobby’s arm locked in his enormous jaw, his head shaking back and forth viciously as he pulled and tugged and finally ripped the appendage away in a cracking splinter of bones and snapping of tendons and ligaments. Bobby shrieked as his arm flew away in a lump of mangled flesh. Blood sprayed like a fountain, painting the old, battered wooden slats in bright crimson as he struck with his other arm in a futile attempt to keep Dain’s teeth away from any other part of his body.
Dain stepped back, lowered his head, and lunged straight for Bobby’s throat, slamming him into the ground as his teeth clamped around his neck. Bobby screamed once and not again. His fist beat at Dain’s body while his boots kicked hard at the ground. Suddenly, he embraced the wolf that had seized him in a death grip, held him close, buried his fingers deep into the silky black fur as his back arched up and his boot heels dug into the dirt.
Dain shook his head just once and the sound of breaking bones echoed through the barn. Bobby’s legs fell to the side as his arm fell away from Dain’s body, lying limp and lifeless beside him. A sickening, gurgling sound escaped his mouth as he exhaled his last breath.
Dain turned around, blood dripping from his muzzle. His wild gaze locked on GW, still cowering on the ground a few feet from my dad.
“Oh God...oh God...oh God,” GW chanted.
“GW?” I asked.
Neither Dain nor my dad took their eyes from him.
“Oh God, Jessy.” He whispered as he tried to inch back a bit more from the two wolves.
I walked over to him and held out my hand. Dain snarled up at me. But...I needed to know something.
“GW, take my hand.”
He refused to turn his head and look at me so I leaned down, took his arm, and pulled him to his feet. Tears streaked his face. His entire body trembled.
“What were you and Bobby planning to do with me?”
GW’s brows bunched together as he shook his head back and forth.
“Were you going to kill me? Was that the plan? Kill me and bury me out here?”
His mouth moved, but even though he didn’t answer me with words, the terrible truth in his eyes gave him away.
A low groan came from behind me.
“Yesss...” DJ hissed through his puffy lips as he struggled to lift his head. His face was so swollen, it must have completely impaired his sight. “Yes...Jessy. Run. Run fast.” DJ’s head fell forward as he mumbled. “Tried to save you...sent Dain...a text. Run, Jessy.”
So that was how he’d found me. Dain gave a short nod of his head.
I dropped GW’s hand and stepped away, “I’m okay, DJ. I don’t need to run.”
I watched as the two huge wolves stalked toward GW, herding him into a stall before Dain attacked.
I didn’t need to watch this death.
; The picture of Bobby’s broken and mutilated body had been burned into my brain and would serve to remind me of this night for the rest of my life.
Looking around, I found my red dress lying like a bright, shimmering crimson puddle on the ground, a few feet from where I’d been tied down. I stepped into it and slipped it up my body. The scent of my own perfume did little to hide the stink of Bobby’s semen, still coating my back and hair.
Dain didn’t waste time with GW. His death came mercifully swift.
“Help me...please, Jessy,” DJ pleaded quietly. “Don’t leave me...like this...please!”
“Shhh, DJ, I’m here.”
I released DJ from the beams, and unable to hold himself up, he fell into my arms. I sat down next to him and cradled his head in my lap. My dad brought DJ’s jeans over, held between his teeth, and laid them across DJ’s groin to cover him before he moved back a step and sat down. DJ’s eyes had swollen shut and his lips seemed to have doubled in size, tripled in a couple of extremely tender spots. Bobby Sanders hadn’t pulled any punches, that was a sure bet.
Stupid sick fuck, son of a bitch, dead psycho cowboy.
Dain nuzzled my face with his, smearing Bobby and GW’s cold, mingled blood across my cheek. I knew it meant something from ancient times—for your mate to paint you with the blood of your enemy or rival, whichever the case may be—but my brain was so overloaded, I couldn’t remember the significance.
“So sorry ’bout the horses,” DJ mumbled, the words hardly recognizable. “Full moon... Bobby always went a bit crazy...possessed or somethin’.”
I bet he was.
I looked up at Dad. Did he know what Bobby had done to his horses? He nodded, turned his head and let off a low snarl. My dad rarely cussed, but in that one snarl, I heard each cuss word he couldn’t say.
DJ touched my arm and grimaced. “Almost killed me a couple of times.” His body shook violently with his next breath, like the memory of what Bobby had put him through was almost too much to handle. From the various rainbow-colored bruises I saw close up, I had no doubt DJ told the truth. “GW always stepped in...always stopped him.”