Let us have another declaration, I hear Snow’s stepmother say from outside. If you’d like to declare your mate today, would you please step forward?
The ceremony is almost over, and then everyone will be flooding inside. I don’t have much time.
With the downstairs covered, I hightail it upstairs, seeking Snow’s scent.
Where are you? I call out to her without projecting my thoughts as I search relentlessly, nudging open doors and sniffing her out. Come on, baby, lead me to you.
But she’s everywhere, in every step, every room, every turn of the hall. Her sugary-sweet scent invades my senses, overwhelming me, consuming me, until I’m dizzy from the pressure of it in my lungs.
As I come upon the door to her room, howls erupt from downstairs. Doors open and slam closed. Footsteps thunder over hardwood.
The ceremony is over.
They’re coming.
Snow? I push through my mind, ramming against her door. Are you in here?
And then, from out of nowhere, I hear my name.
For a split second, I’m not sure I caught it at all. It was softer than a whisper. Almost a breath that formed my name by accident.
Hunter…
But when I hear it again, a caress that brushes through my head, I turn toward the sound and dart down the hall. When I think I’ve gone too far, I slow, listening.
Hunter…
I can’t tell if the voice is coming from Snow or someone else, but I don’t care. I’m running, charging down the hall, answering the call that’s now pounding through my head. I make a left then another right, up a short flight of stairs that leads to a set of double doors bolted from the outside. Chains loop through the handles of both doors and come together with a crude wrought-iron lock.
Snow, I cry out, leaning against the door, listening. Her scent is everywhere, lingering on the air and tickling my nose. Snow, it’s me.
Whimpers reverberate on the air, jolting me into action. I can’t think, can’t feel, as I back away and ram into the door full force. The chain rattles, shaking, as howls ricochet off the walls on the first floor.
They know I’m here, so close to getting to her.
They’re coming.
What have they done?
Snow, I’m coming. I slam the entire weight of my body into the door, but it holds strong. I could shift back into human form and try to undo the bolt with my hands, but my instinct tells me that’s not going to work. I need all the brute strength I can get. Hold on, baby.
With a growl wrenched from the deepest part of me, I take a few strides back and then charge full force, striking the door with the side of my body. The lock breaks free, dropping to the ground with a thud as the chains loosen. Frantic, I nudge them off with my nose and rush inside, stopping when I set my eyes on Snow.
She’s asleep, lying on her back in the middle of a mahogany bed, her arms crossed over her chest as if she’s dead.
But I can hear every quiet inhale as she sucks air into her lungs. And then, when she exhales, the air passes her lips in a soft whoosh that’s so weak I can barely hear it. As I stalk closer, I can’t tear my eyes away from the ashen paleness of her cheek, the fall of raven-black hair cascading around her pillow, or the blood-red color of her plush lips. Someone could have painted her there, angelic and perfect.
She couldn’t have uttered my name, not in this state, but she’d called to me nonetheless. Or some part of her did.
Snow, wake up…
Nothing.
Not a twitch of movement.
As I approach the bed—the only piece of furniture in the cold room—I shift back to human form. Skin flattens over fur. Muscles shorten. My steps slow, and as I tower over her, I swear her eyelids flutter. Her lips part slowly, and a flush of color returns to her cheeks.
Hunter…
My heart clenches in answer as her primal call resonates through me. Taking her hands in mine, I lean down, hovering a breath over her lips. Down the hall, the sound of footfalls increases until shadows slant over the tiny room.
Closing my eyes, I draw a clipped breath as I brush my lips against hers. My entire body lights up, my heart calling out to hers with a force I’ve never known. She’s stiff, her lips unmoving as I urge them apart with my own. Voices flood the room, shouting words I don’t want to hear and commands I won’t obey.
As arms wrap around mine and attempt to tug me away, I pinch my eyes closed and call to Snow the way she did for me. I push images through my mind—mental pictures of us—and sear them into the scorching kiss. In the kitchen closet, her leg coiled around my waist. In the forest, pressed up against a tree. In my arms, all night long. Her lips on mine, her heart beating my name.
And then, as the grip on my arms strengthens, her body arches up into mine. Her lips move, slant, softening to their pillow-like form. Fireworks of sensation blast through my body, and as I’m ripped away from Snow’s bedside, her eyes flutter open.
Chapter Six
Snow
Needles lance into my temples as I lurch upright and clutch at my pounding head. Colors blur before my eyes as a horde of people crowd into the cramped room, barking commands at one another. The racket hurts my ears and muddles my thoughts.
What’s happened to me?
As I search the room, my gaze skipping from Hunter to Malcolm, to my stepmother and a few of her guards, the realization strikes me like a thunderclap. I go cold—frozen and stunned.
“You drugged me,” I fight out, the words hurting my heart as they tear past my lips. “How could you?”
The commotion stops for a fragment of a second as all eyes turn my way. With my voice still echoing through the chamber, Hunter lurches toward my bedside. The guards grab him, wrenching his arms behind his back as they wrestle him to the ground. He squirms, fighting hard, elbowing a burly one in the nose as he jerks his head back and slams it into another. As the pungent scent of blood, testosterone, and adrenaline flares through the room, Hunter shifts into wolf form in an explosion of thickly-corded muscle, golden fur, and protruding fangs.
“Get this brute under control,” my stepmother blurts, not a trace of fear in her voice as she eyes him with disdain. “And then get him out of here.”
Obeying my stepmother’s command, the guards rear up, shifting into three gigantic, snarling, pissed-off wolves. Fangs bared, they edge Hunter backward until he’s cornered against the wall.
“No. Let him go,” I say, but my words are too soft, too weak for them to hear or care. I clear my throat and will the strength to return to my sapped muscles. “Hunter…”
He’s outnumbered. Cornered. He won’t get out now.
“Don’t hurt him.” I drag my legs over the side of the bed and shout my command with all the air I have left in my lungs. “I command you to release him.”
The guards still, meeting my gaze as if they’re uncertain whether to obey my stepmother or me.
“Snow, thank God you’re all right,” my stepmother croons, her regal mask firmly in place as she sweeps to my side. It’s as if she hasn’t heard a word I’ve said about releasing Hunter. As if she’s going to brush everything that’s happened under the rug.
“We were so worried about you. Your mate is here, of course.” She drapes her arm around my shoulder, and when I try to jerk free, she digs her fingers into my shoulders. “Malcolm, get over here. Quickly. Snow’s trembling in fear. She needs you.”
Hunter growls, vibrating the floor as he charges forward, snapping at the largest guard. The two flanking him ram into his sides, bringing him to the ground, drawing a whimper from my chest. The brawl doesn’t stop Malcolm from charging over and kneeling in front of me. He takes my hands in his. I can’t tear my eyes away from Hunter.
“Snow, everything is going to be all right now,” Malcolm soothes, brushing his thumb over the back of my knuckles. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
But the pieces are already coming together in my head, forming a clear picture of the reason he’
s here in the first place, of what transpired over the last few hours.
“Malcolm,” I say, gaining strength, “I’ve had a crush on you for a long time. I was thrilled you decided to show up for this month’s full moon. I thought if given the chance, we could’ve had something amazing.”
“And you’re right,” he interjects quickly, squeezing my hand and shaking his head. “We do. What we have is…special.”
He’s attempting to silence me, but I’m not done. Not even close.
Does he not think I heard their conversation while I was knocked unconscious earlier? When he was more concerned with finding the diamond mines on our land than his future mate lying unconscious in the bed next to him? I’m pinned between a liar and a snake. Maybe Malcolm should’ve declared my stepmother as his mate; they would’ve been perfect for one another.
“Oh, it’s special all right,” I go on. “But all you wanted was—”
“Sweetheart,” my stepmother interrupts, her gaze flickering to the guards eavesdropping from the corner. “Perhaps now is not the time. You can attend to these matters privately, don’t you think?”
“No,” I say flatly, nailing her with my glare. “How could you?”
Her mouth presses into a tight, white line. “Snow, the doctor said you could be affected by that bug for a long while. Whatever it was, it sure had a grip on you. You were nearly dead.” The insinuation is loud and clear. If I don’t play by her rules, things will get worse. “Why don’t you lie down and let your new mate take care of you so that you can recover fully?”
She doesn’t think I’ll do it—out her in front of everyone. She doesn’t think I’m bold enough to take her on.
Yet, there it is.
My choice. My dreams can come true, or they can shatter. With one word, I can bond with a man who will give me everything I’ve always wanted. My father’s estate will remain intact, securing a sanctuary where our packmates can shift during the full moon. I can grow old here, on the land I love so much.
Before this weekend, my choice would’ve been easy. I would’ve married Malcolm and lived happily ever after managing the estate at his side.
But now, after blasting through the friend zone with Hunter, how could I ever go back? There’s no way. Not happening. And I don’t want Malcolm’s money. I’m not asking him to invest now. Going through the land, searching under our noses without saying anything was totally underhanded. I can’t trust him.
Tears burn the back of my throat as I imagine a future where I lose the estate to the bank and they sell it to the highest bidder. My father loved me more than he loved the estate. Deep down, I know the truth. He’d want me to be happy.
It still doesn’t ease the sting of failure.
“I don’t want to lie down.” I glower at my stepmother, making my choice known. “I’ve done enough of that already. You made sure of that, remember?”
“Then why don’t you take a second and pause,” she whispers, her attention flicking to Malcolm and the guards in the room, “before you say something you’ll regret.”
“The only thing I regret is not standing up to you sooner,” I say, my heart pounding out of my chest. “No matter what you say, or what you threaten me with, I’m not going to save this land at the expense of losing my heart.”
Hunter stops struggling and peers over the raised backs of the guards. Even the air seems to still around us.
“Snow,” Malcolm begins, but I cut him off.
“There are no diamonds in this land.” As I speak the words, my head becomes completely clear. My senses return to their heightened state, and everything makes sense. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re not here. They never were. My stepmother has been scouring every inch of our property for years and has come up empty-handed. She didn’t invite you here for me, or to partner up and grow your business with the diamonds you’d find. She asked you here to get us out of debt. Period. And you were ready to do it. Pay off everything and bond with me in the hopes of finding the diamonds someday.”
My stepmother scoffs, pacing a tight circle around us. I can sense her anger and hatred fuming into the room like smoke, pungent and tingling my nose.
“I deserve so much more than that.” I stare point-blank into Malcolm’s eyes and feel nothing. Absolutely stone-cold nothing. “For that reason and so many more…”
“Don’t Snow, I beg of you,” my stepmother pleads as she passes behind me. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m withdrawing from our bond before it can be completed,” I continue, “releasing you from any previous declaration made in front of the pack.”
“You selfish little brat!” My stepmother roars from behind me. “You’ve ruined us!”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I snap, turning to face her. “I ruined you.”
The next moments happen so fast, they’re a blur—a lightning strike of growls and howls and wolf cries unlike anything I’ve ever heard. If it weren’t for my heightened eyesight, I wouldn’t have been able to track the explosion of chaos. With an ear-piercing scream, my stepmother blasts through her human form and drops to all fours as a wolf. Malcolm backs toward the door, hands raised in surrender, as if he doesn’t want anything to do with the fight, the coward. Snarling, baring her teeth, my stepmother paws at the ground and projects a thought in such a rage, I can’t make it out. From the corner, Hunter attacks the guards, ramming into their sides, biting at their necks, tearing through flesh and fur.
Letting the shifting energy of the moon pulse through my veins, I gather every tendril of white-hot energy into a ball in my gut and then push outward, releasing the wolf from inside me. Skin gives way to fur as I crouch to all fours. My muscles lengthen as raw strength pulses through them, my body changing and morphing as I back away from my stepmother.
She charges before my shift is complete, clawing at my face. I dodge, lower my muzzle and swing around, rearing up at her side. Striking fast, I swipe my claws against her side, drawing blood. She roars in pain, and as she lunges toward me, mouth open, ready to sink her fangs into my neck, I meet her. Teeth clash, and our paws meet at the neck as we rise up in unison. Snarls of fury erupt from the back of her throat as my nails sink into her flesh near her ear.
As we’re locked, swiping paws right over left, biting into one another’s faces, one of the guards rushes in, ramming into my side. Falling to the ground, I sink my claws in deep to hold on. But I’m toppling too fast, and when I realize I’ve got my nails gouged into my stepmother’s throat, it’s too late. I can’t right myself. She’s coming down with me or I’m slicing a massive gash near her artery.
Yelping into a shriek, she collapses onto the ground covered in blood.
It all happens so fast. A complete blur.
Get up, I project. Get her off me.
Rather than continue his assault, the guard who charged me bites my stepmother on the back of her neck—tight enough to hold her in place, soft enough not to do any real damage—and lifts her off the floor.
From the corner of my eye, I spot Hunter pushing through the two guards facing him and rush to my side. Surprisingly, they don’t follow to join in the fight or attack him as he escapes. They watch, silent and stone-faced. Malcolm does the same, his back flattened against the door, eyes wide, hands crossed in front of him—the clean-cut jeweler has probably never been in a fight in his life.
Are you all right? Hunter nudges me, his face rubbing against my neck in a loving way that sends tingles shooting through me. God, Snow, if anything happened to you…
I’m fine.
He would’ve fought for me. Died for me. No matter what happens in this life, Hunter will be there. Thinking those things—and knowing them in my heart—has my body going flush with adoration.
But I’m not finished with my stepmother yet.
Standing back, I judge her carefully. She’s dangling from the mouth of one of her guards, her paws barely brushing the ground. Covered in blood—whether it’s hers or mine, I can’t tell—her head l
olls to the side as if it’s barely hanging on to the rest of her body.
Anger still surging through me, I pad closer, never tearing my eyes away from hers. When my father married you, all I ever wanted was to be considered your daughter. I wanted you to love me as your own. Even when I knew you would never see me as anything but a spoiled child who wasn’t of your bloodline, I did everything you asked. Everything. But you blamed me for our debt. Worked me harder. Put me under more pressure. Increased demands. And then, when your livelihood was on the line, you threatened me, drugged me, and swore to keep me in some kind of coma if I didn’t do what you asked. How could you be so…so evil?
A low growl reverberates through Hunter’s chest as he stands beside me. I shoot him a glance and return my attention to my stepmother. Blood trickles out of her mouth, showing the extent of her internal damage, but her eyes are lit with fire and life, and I instinctively know the injuries she’s suffered won’t be lethal. Even though I hate her for the things she’s done to me, I’m relieved that she’ll live after tonight. I wouldn’t want her death on my conscience.
You had such potential, she spits through her mind, her tone turning vile. I hoped you would rule the pack unselfishly, the way your father did, putting their needs over your own. But you chose your happiness every time. Even now.
Hate and regret and disbelief steamroll through me. I worked my ass off for the pack.
But when it came down to it—a decision that would’ve saved everyone from being uprooted, what did you choose?
I grit my back teeth together.
You chose him. She looks up, glaring, and then rolls her eyes. I did what I had to do to force your hand. What’s wrong with that? You can’t hate me for doing what’s right for the pack.
Snow's Surrender (A Snow White Werewolf Tale) Page 5