by Kimber White
I don’t know what power allowed me to keep my wolf quiet. He stirred. He raged. But I didn’t shift.
Willow had two tiny marks at the base of her neck. Soren had scraped her with his teeth. He meant to mark her.
I would kill him.
“Willow,” I said, my voice dropping so low it barely sounding like my own.
I reached for her, gently taking her by the wrist. I turned her away from me so I could see her neck more fully.
There could be no doubt. These marks were fresh. She had no idea how close she had come to danger I couldn’t protect her from.
“I have to get you away from here,” I said. “Now.”
Little by little, the rest of the world began to rush back in. I heard laughter. Clinking glass. Music. Soren’s party continued. I sensed him in the center of a crowd of people. His pack dispersed, taking up positions where they could be ready for whatever their Alpha commanded.
“He’s distracted,” I said. “But, he won’t stay that way for long. Jason Soren wants to hurt you. He wants to do things to you that…”
“I know,” she said, slipping out of my grasp and facing me. She brought her hand up and covered the back of her neck with it.
“He was...Val, he was different. There’s something wrong with him. He’s changed from who he thought I was. Or...he was pretending with me the whole time. I’m afraid of him.”
“You should be,” I said.
“What do we do?”
“We leave. We run. Right now.”
She looked back toward the house. I couldn’t read her mind. She wasn’t mine yet. Not fully. Maybe not ever. I would never claim this woman if she didn’t want it, no matter how badly the urge burned through me. But I could feel Willow’s mood shifting. She seemed to understand what I was telling her on a primal level.
“He’s not going to give me up without a fight,” she said.
“Probably not,” I answered. “But I can’t protect you here. Not on his territory. There are too many of them.”
She didn’t ask me what I meant. She simply nodded.
“Willow,” I said. “It has to be now. Soren’s going to figure out you left the party. He’s going to send his men back here to deal with me. We have to be long gone by then.”
Her eyes widened. “My father,” she said. “I have to warn him. I can’t leave him alone with Jason.”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want it to come to it, but if I had to, I would throw Willow over my shoulder and get her out of here that way.
“Your father can take care of himself for now. Soren wouldn’t be stupid enough to harm him in front of his guests.”
“You don’t understand,” she said, frantic. “There is something wrong with him. He’s not...Val...he’s...I don’t know if it’s drugs. It’s something. He’s like a sociopath. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.”
I put my hands on her shoulders, holding her as gently as an egg. She was stronger than that though. I could feel it in the way she tensed her muscles and stiffened her spine. I could feel it in the way her soul called to mine. Touching her made me stronger too.
“Willow, your father is safer if you’re far away from Jason Soren. If he knew how Soren wanted to hurt you, if he were standing here right now, he’d tell you to run. He’d tell you to get the hell away from this place and never look back. And, if he didn’t...then your father doesn’t have your best interests at heart. I do.”
She blinked.
“Willow, your father has been pushing you to marry that man since you were fourteen years old. I have no idea if he truly understands what kind of man he is. For his sake, I hope he doesn’t. But, you have to look out for yourself first. And you have to let me help you. I might be the only one who can.”
“He knows,” she said. “I think he knows. Right before I left him in the study, my father told me I didn’t have to marry Jason if I didn’t want to.”
“Good enough,” I said. “Then there is no doubt in my mind he would want this for you. But, we’re running out of time.”
“He’ll kill him,” Willow said. Her first tear fell and it gutted me. “I know it in my heart. If Jason doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll go after my dad.”
“Listen to me,” I said. “Jason Soren isn’t the only one with powerful allies. My brother is Andre Kalenkov. That name may not mean anything to you, but it does to Jason. And the men I work for, the men he hired to bring you here...God...I swear to you, I didn’t know when I took this assignment. I never would have led you here if I did. I swear that on my life. But, when I tell Payne Fallon what’s really going on, Soren will have Wolfguard to contend with too. We’ll come back for your father. We can protect him.”
My heart thundered as a plaintive howl cut through the air. Soren’s attention was diverted with the party, but wouldn’t be for long. If we had the whisper of a chance of getting off this property without the entire Soren pack down our throats, it had to be now.
“Trust me,” I said, holding my hand out to Willow. My heart beat a strong, steady pace. I felt hers beneath it, slowing to meet mine.
She licked her lips. I watched a tremor go through her. Her body was telling her the answer. I just prayed she would let her mind open to the truth.
She took one glance back at the house. “Swear it,” she whispered.
“I swear it on my life. I will keep you safe from Soren and anyone else who tries to get to you. And I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t come after your father.”
She nodded. She took my hand. New strength flowed through me.
I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and run as fast as I could. It would scare her. She would never understand my speed. So, I did the next best thing.
I opened the next stall and led a magnificent, black stallion out. I cupped my hands and helped Willow climb on his back. There was no time for a saddle. Then, I leaped up in front of her. One swift kick to the horse’s flanks and we were racing out of the barn toward the woods.
Chapter Sixteen
Val
Twin instincts propelled us, mine and the horse’s. We headed north, through the woods, beyond the stream.
There were wolves at my back. I felt them. I heard them. They tried to catch my scent, but we were moving too fast and the horse helped.
Willow had a death grip around my waist. She shifted her weight as the horse drove on. She was no novice rider. I was grateful for that.
I gave the horse his head. We leaped over a small hill. Willow’s hair came loose. The branches clawed at her, leaving strands of her long hair as beacons for Soren’s pack as they tried to track her.
There was no help for it. There was only speed and distance. With each pounding crunch of the horse’s hooves, I felt my own power returning. I’d been in a fog of dragon magic for far too long. My wolf raged inside of me, but he was a part of me again. The horse felt it. He whinnied, but he recognized what I was and submitted to my command.
“There!” Willow shouted.
I saw it too.
We’d nearly arrived at the riverbed. It stretched long and wide. We had come to the place where the horse could no longer go.
He came to a halt, kicking up dirt. His legs reared up. Willow slid backward. I caught her with my arm and guided her gently down. I put a hand on the horse’s neck, touching my forehead to his.
“Go,” I whispered. “Stay along the river, my friend. Give them all a run for their money.”
The horse stomped the ground. He focused one, great, black eye on Willow. She nuzzled his ear.
“Thank you,” she said. “I wish I had a treat for him.”
The horse snorted, then took off, running east right along the riverbank.
“That’ll throw them for a while at least,” I said.
“Throw who?” she asked. “Dogs? You think Jason will send dogs after us? I thought I heard…”
She either couldn’t or wouldn’t finish the thought.
“The bridge
is that way.” She pointed west.
“I know. But we can’t afford to take it. We need to swim for it. The river is shallowest here. Keep a hand on my shoulder.”
“We’re swimming?” she asked. “Val…”
“I asked you to trust me,” I said. “Yes. Jason will send dogs. They’re already coming. The horse will buy us time. The river will throw them completely. But we need to go right now.”
She looked down. I’d forgotten what she was wearing. The river would ruin her dress.
“Willow…”
She put a hand up. “It’s only Valentino.” Smiling, she pushed past me and dove into the river head first.
Smiling, a rush of adrenaline went through me as I dove in after.
Willow swam with the skill of an Olympian, her arms slicing through the water. She was strong. I was stronger. I caught up to her.
Midway across, Willow took my direction and put a hand on my shoulder. I whipped through the water. It was cold and exhilarating as I swam against the current.
We reached the other side.
Gasping, I pulled Willow out onto the sandy shore. Her hair slicked back. Water dripped from her nose.
She lost her shoes somewhere along the way and the dress clung to her like a second skin now. I tried to keep my gaze from traveling to the seductive shape of her hips and breasts.
“We made it,” she said.
And we had.
This was somewhere near Bush Creek. We were at least a few miles outside the boundaries of Jason Soren’s property. Now, I just needed to find a phone and call for backup from Wolfguard.
Something changed in Willow. She seemed freer. Happier. It was as if her body recognized the hold Jason Soren had tried to exert and now she was at least temporarily out of his reach.
I wanted to scoop her up and kiss her. I wanted to make her mine. But, as we picked our way through the brush and found a trail leading up to the nearby highway, another truth thundered through me with each heartbeat.
It had all been way too easy. I didn’t yet know his game. But there was no doubt in my mind that Jason Soren had just let us go and the worst was yet to come.
Chapter Seventeen
Willow
It’s a strange thing how much we rely on plastic and technology. Val and I caught a ride with a trucker as soon as we climbed up to the highway.
It was a miracle the guy let us in his cab. I couldn’t imagine what we must have looked like. Me in sopping wet Valentino. Val shirtless, scratched up, in ripped jeans and his...well...Val-ness. He looked positively feral. I supposed that’s why the guy knew not to cross him.
He gave us a ride all the way past Richmond to some tiny little town I hadn’t heard of. We could offer him nothing but an old-fashioned thank you. I didn’t think to bring my backpack when I stole out to that barn. Val had been stripped of everything but the tattered pants he wore by Jason’s men.
Val gave the trucker a two-fingered wave as he pulled out of the gas station. There was a motel beside it flashing a vacancy sign. To me it looked like heaven. It was just past dawn. I was starving, exhausted, and the adrenaline rush of the night’s events was starting to wear off.
“Come on,” Val said. He bent down and gestured for me to hop on his back. I was barefoot. So was he, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Smiling, I climbed on.
Val walked us across the parking lot to the hotel.
There was a young kid behind the counter in the lobby.
“One room,” Val said. The kid looked us up and down and set his jaw to the side. God knew what he thought. Probably that I was some kinky sex worker with the state of my dress.
“Wait here,” Val whispered. He went to talk to the kid while I plopped into a deep, leather chair. I was so drowsy, I could barely keep my head up.
Val spoke in hushed whispers. He gave the kid a number. He dialed the phone and held it to his ear. Whoever he called, whatever they said, the kid’s face grew serious and he just kept nodding and saying, “Yes, sir.”
Two minutes later, Val walked away from the desk with a key card.
I shook my head and took his offered hand.
“Do I even want to know?” I asked.
“Probably not.”
He led me back outside and down the exterior corridor. We took the corner room, 117.
Val swiped the key card and we stepped inside. It was sparse with one king bed. Clean. Heaven.
“I need a shower,” I declared.
“Take your time,” he said. “I’ve got a few more calls to make. The kid said there’s a robe for you on the hook behind the door.”
I raised a brow. “A robe? In a motel?”
Val gave me a sheepish smile. “Uh...yeah...I guess this is the honeymoon suite.”
“Oh...uh...You’re right. I don’t think I even want to know.”
Val went to the landline phone at the night table. I closed the bathroom door and peeled off my dress.
In the mirror, I could see the faint beginnings of bruising on my arm where Jason had grabbed me. The back of my neck still burned where his teeth grazed me. Something had happened. I put a hand on my neck. It hurt when he did it. But, ever since then...ever since I took Val’s hand...I had a new sensation there. A different kind of burn.
A craving.
I closed my eyes and imagined what it would feel like if Val bit me there. My eyes snapped open. I was losing it. I was exhausted.
I slipped into the shower and turned the jet on full blast, not even caring that the water came out ice cold.
When I finished, I heard Val hang up. His tone was grave. He was angry. I put the robe on. White, plush terrycloth. Its duplicate hung on a second hook on the back of the door.
I felt a little vulnerable as I stepped out of the bathroom. I wore nothing but the robe and the air hit my sensitive parts.
“Any luck?” I asked.
Val ran a hand across his jaw. “More or less. We need to sit tight. I’ll scare up some breakfast for you.”
I sank to the edge of the bed, feeling exhausted again.
“You should get some sleep,” he said.
“What about you? Val, you’ve been through far worse than I have.”
The moment I said it, something clicked in place. A cognitive dissonance made my brain buzz.
Val had been tortured. I’d seen the wounds all over him. Deep gashes on his back. Claw marks on his face. His eyes had nearly been swollen shut two days ago.
Now, as he stood here before me, there wasn’t a mark on him. His perfect, chiseled muscles still glistened with a sheen of sweat, but every single scratch on him had already healed except for the one high up on his left shoulder near the base of his neck.
My heart raced. I slowly rose. Val gave me a quizzical look. Then, his face hardened. He knew. He knew I knew.
As if pulled by a tractor beam, I went to him. My fingers trembling, I reached up and touched his face. His perfect face. Nothing marred it. There was only a scruffy, three-day-old beard.
“Val,” I whispered.
Other things clicked into place. Questions I never asked.
He’d run with such tremendous speed as we climbed up the hill to the highway. He found me on the train as if he’d tracked my scent.
My pulse raced. Instinct drove me. I placed a flat hand on his chest. I felt Val’s heart beating slow, strong, steady. The pace of it matched my own. When my pulse tripped, so did his. Matched. Joined.
Another word whispered its way through my thoughts.
Mine.
His.
Fate.
I jerked my hand away.
“Val,” I said.
I saw the tension in his shoulders ease. It was as if he had just geared up to tell me some lie, then let go. There was nothing between us now but the truth.
I knew it.
I’d always known it.
I thought something was wrong with Jason. There wasn’t. There had been something wrong with me. I had kept myself blind to i
t until now.
I don’t know what made do it. Instinct. Exhaustion. Maybe I was crazy.
I went to Val, rising up on my tiptoes. I took his face between my palms. I pulled him down to me.
A groan escaped his lips. He put his hands on my elbows, but he didn’t pull away from me.
“The truth,” I whispered. “I need to know the truth.”
“There’s nothing I can say…”
He was right. There were no words.
“Show me!” I shouted.
“Willow.”
Instinct took over. Passion. I kissed him. His lips were soft at first, then grew demanding.
My blood sang. My body ached with pleasure. With the truth. I’d demanded it. I railed against it.
He was healed. He shouldn’t be healed.
My mind flashed to the first night at Jason’s as I looked out my bedroom window. Twin eyes flashed in the dark. Watching over me. Ready to kill or die for me.
A wolf. I had seen a wolf.
When we left Jason’s I heard them too.
Truth. Fate. It was all too impossible.
Before I knew what was happening, I bit down hard, catching Val’s bottom lip between my teeth.
I tasted his blood and my heart exploded.
Desire nearly knocked my feet out from under me. But, Val held me up. I couldn’t breathe.
I craved.
Finally, I tore myself away. Gasping, I stumbled to the other side of the room.
I heard Val pant. The air swirled with magic. Val held his head in his hands. He couldn’t control it any more than I could.
I blinked hard, trying to understand. Then, I knew there had never been any mystery at all. I had always known what he was.
And now, I struggled with what I was.
Before me, Val lifted his head. His muscles had reknit. His bones cracked and remade.
He stood before me as the most magnificent, silvery-gray wolf I’d ever seen. His eyes glowed like sapphires. He took one step toward me then dropped his head.
Val. My protector. My beautiful wolf.
Chapter Eighteen