by Gwen Knight
It was the slightest brush, his finger stroking over her pulsing clit, and it pulled her closer to the flame. She jerked against him, wanting nothing more than for him to slide within her and pump until she screamed her release.
The ache of such a want left her a trembling mess when Hunter suddenly stumbled back from her, the sound of his feet dragging over her linoleum rousing open her eyes. She found him wilting against the opposite wall, his brow resting on the drywall. She had no words to explain what had just happened; no wolf she’d ever met could have done that.
With a shuddering breath, he rounded until his back was flat against the wall. The look on his face was so pained, she wanted nothing more than to cross the room and free him. Instead, she took the opportunity to yank her shirt back on and snap up her pants, trembling with the remembered feel of his fingers grazing over her silken folds.
Doubt wormed through her gut and she smoothed her hair down as she fought with her own emotions. She was more than confused. The way he’d followed her, it was more than frightening. But she found that she liked it—him watching her as though he desperately needed her. Yet when she’d been about to give herself to him, to break all the rules in her book, he’d withdrawn.
“Forgive me,” he growled, his voice thick. “I didn’t intend for it to go that far.”
Her body felt much the same, a hard knot of hunger, but she couldn’t give in—not after so many years of fighting to keep free. Swallowing, she swept her fingers over her swollen mouth as a shiver shot down her spine. What was happening here was madness. Surely it was too good to be true, that this alpha had just fallen back into her life, now of all times. She pushed off the wall, her wobbly knees hardly able to lead her across the room to the table. Golden eyes stalked her every step, proof of how close he was to shifting, but he made no move toward her.
Angel dipped her head, about to suggest he leave, when his growling voice embraced her. “We should leave.”
She paused, silenced by the sound of his frustration. The odd part was that she wanted to stay here, more than anything, and explore this new rush of emotion and feeling. There was something in his eyes, something she just knew she could trust. It was herself she couldn’t trust—not after allowing him to touch her so freely. Even now her body betrayed her, longing to cross the distance and beg him to take her.
Her head dipped in a slow bob. “It won’t take long to pack.”
What was she doing? Tell him no! Run! Her mind screamed at her, scolding her for allowing this to happen, but her heart—and something far more carnal than that—wanted to follow him to the ends of the earth.
* * *
She hadn’t been kidding when she’d estimated an hour to gather her things. Not forty minutes had passed since she’d started tearing through her dingy apartment and sweeping up what little was strewn around. The challenge had been ignoring Hunter, slanted against the wall, his ever-watchful eyes doing just that. Her luggage had been sitting by her lump of a bed in the exact same place she’d left it the moment she’d first passed through those doors not four months ago. She tore through her apartment like a whirlwind, gathering what few possessions she owned and tossing them carelessly into the suitcase. Such paltry things, hardly worth saving, and when she was finished, she and Hunter abandoned her apartment with little more than the key left on the counter. This was the reason she rented by the month.
His place, he’d said, and her stomach clenched just thinking about it. What was it about this wolf that had her so confused?
A faint scent carried on the wind and Angel tensed, her narrowed eyes studying the shadows for the source. It didn’t matter how many times she whipped around, there appeared to be no one following them. Worse, Hunter appeared completely at ease.
The sound of her luggage wheels rolling over the pavement was loud in the dead of night, but Angel ignored it, her ears primed for the more natural sounds of crickets chirping in the tall grasses and the wind whipping through the reeds of the nearby swamp. She could even make out a couple of small mice burrowing through the loose soil and an owl silently stalking them. It was when the wildlife suddenly went quiet that she knew she had reason to fear.
“There’s a bus stop just around the corner.” Hunter’s quiet voice sundered the silence.
Angel jumped and her fingers tensed around her luggage. Yes, there was a bus stop. In fact, it was the same stop where she’d purchased her ticket. For a moment her chest tightened; was he letting her go? Her thoughts wavered, torn between her head and heart. She should run—that was the smart thing to do. Sadly, it seemed her brain had little in the way of control.
Hunter turned and slowly slid his arms around her waist, drawing her into his chest. Her heart rate spiked, her lips tingling with the memory of that kiss, and she found herself straining toward him, craving another taste.
His head ducked and the warm press of his mouth found her ear. “Pretend we’re saying goodbye,” he whispered, his breath pooling against her neck.
Pretend? She tipped her head back and fell into the depths of his eyes as her hand crept up his chest. Who were they pretending for? Her fingers flexed the moment he dipped down, her excitement barely containable. This wasn’t healthy, this odd infatuation she had with him. He is an alpha—the words chanted through her mind, yet when his lips sealed around hers, she melted into him, her arm sliding around his neck.
The kiss was little more than a brush of lips and she shivered when his mouth dragged across her jaw, settling at her ear once more.
“We’re being followed,” he whispered.
Her stomach lurched; she should have trusted her instincts. “Seth?”
“Shh,” he murmured softly as he threaded his fingers through her hair and smoothed it back behind her ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you. But I need you to enter the bus station like you’re leaving.”
Her breath caught and her fingers latched onto his shirt. Bait. He wanted her to play bait. It must be Seth, then, and her entire body froze with fear.
Aware of her impending panic, he backed away and cupped her face between his palms, his lips crooking into a small smile. A final kiss and he turned and vanished into the shadows.
Surely those following wouldn’t believe that he’d just left? The ticket she’d bought had been purchased for the eleven twenty-five bus, only fifteen minutes from now, and it was practically burning a hole through her pocket. She should leave right now, hop on the bus and never look back. Could she do that?
Following his instruction, she wrapped her fingers loosely around the metal handle of the terminal door and swung it open. She quickly slipped inside, only to find a deserted room, the ticket counter closed and locked. Angel fell to a dead stop, her eyes flicking to the departures board. She’d checked the schedule upon arriving in this city and knew it like the back of her hand. Sometime between then and now, however, someone had opted for a new one and, with panic chasing down her spine, she realized she had no escape. The next bus wasn’t until five-thirty in the morning.
Sighing, she slumped down into the nearest hard plastic chair, jumping at every little sound. What was she supposed to do now? Sit here and wait for Seth to show up? Hope that Hunter did first? Her life was a mess; she just wanted to board that damn bus and get the hell out of Dodge. Of course, her mind took that moment to flash an image of Hunter, remind her of the sinful taste of his lips. Perfect, just perfect. She couldn’t run—they’d follow her scent—and without the bus she was trapped; her only option was to follow Hunter’s plan. She tipped her head back, her thoughts drifting away without pursuit, praying for them not to center on Seth.
In the backdrop her sensitive ears picked up on insects scurrying over the walls, pipes creaking and moaning, and somewhere in a back room, a stray animal tearing into the garbage. She tried to focus on those things, lose herself to the sounds around her, but her mind rebelled. The memory of Hunter’s touch rose unbidden instead. Her eyes tightened and her face pinched with concern. Sh
e should not have let that happen. What in the world had she been thinking, getting physical with a werewolf? And not just any werewolf—an alpha. She’d sworn to herself the moment she’d first opened her eyes after her change, after realizing there was a whole other world hidden away in the deep folds of what had been her reality, that she would never become one of them. Oh, they’d tried many things to force her beast out of her—things she did not want to think about in the dark of night with the shadows pressing in. But it’d never worked, or at least, not in the manner they’d wanted.
Angel ached with exhaustion—she’d managed to complete her tenth hour of work before all hell had broken loose, and her dogs were barking. Her finger ran along the line of her lower lip as she remembered the feel of his mouth on hers, the sweet scent of his breath filling her. She’d wanted more; even now her body burned for it. Ten years and the desire now was just as maddening! Her startled laugh rose in the cavernous bus terminal, dancing off the walls with a haunting echo. The worst—the absolute worst—had been the desire to comfort him when his face had shifted into that torturous look.
Fool.
She’d been taught never to trust a werewolf, especially alphas. The lesson had been carved into her flesh and bone. And here she’d gone and fallen—
She sucked in a sharp breath, snapping straight in her seat. Don’t say it, pup. Don’t even think it. It isn’t possible.
He was a werewolf, a monster. It was as simple as that. She might be one, too, but her human half was stronger, always keeping the beast locked down. She was nothing like them and never would be. If she was being honest with herself, she would at least admit that he was nothing like them as well.
Slamming the door shut on those thoughts, Angel slumped low in the chair again and returned to her former position, arms crossed over her chest to hold in the warmth. Who knew how long this little plot would take to play out, and she loathed the thought of simply sitting and waiting. She started by counting her breaths—anything to pass the insufferable time.
Chapter Four
A familiar scent filled her dreams, and even in her sleep, her stomach knotted. It’d been years since she’d last inhaled that particular aroma, yet she remembered it as clear as day. She scrunched down into the hard-backed chair and buried her nose deep into her jacket in an attempt to block it out. The odor clung to a shimmering phantom, one that drifted around her and threaded its wraithlike fingers through her hair. Grimacing, she struggled to drive the specter from her mind and sink back into a dreamless state.
It was a task easier said than done.
The ghost grew incensed the longer she ignored it and its body began to shimmer in a furious red glow, its milky eyes staring down at her. Ethereal lips curled back over fanged teeth and from its mouth came a deep thrumming growl, one that roused the hairs on the back of her neck.
Angel stirred and dug her fingers into the sides of her jacket, drawing them around her with the hope of warding off this nasty chill. In her dream, her eyes lifted to the spirit and widened when a familiar face took form. Features she’d long committed to memory took shape from the wisps of mist: sharp chin, narrow face, long nose and hard, piercing eyes.
She gasped and jerked as she came fully awake, her eyes flying open. The scent lingered and she dragged her hand down her rumpled face, wiping under her nose. It seemed stronger now, and she groaned as she struggled to rid herself of the pungent smell.
Asleep. What had she been thinking? How much time had passed since Hunter left? Rubbing her eyes, she lifted her gaze to the clock nailed above the counter gate. The ticker dragged, thundering from one second to the next. Not an hour had passed, and she slumped back, sighing, forcing herself to remain awake. Such a fool. Stupid, but boredom had taken hold as she listened to the seconds tick by on that dreaded clock, waiting for Seth to make his appearance.
“Still not using your nose properly.” A dark, familiar voice rose at her back.
Angel shot up from the chair as if she’d been struck, whipping around at the last moment to find the phantom in solid form, perched in the seat behind her. Those eyes...oh, hell, those eyes. It’d taken her years to convince herself that not every man had that same stare, and even longer to overcome the distressing fear that he was always there, always watching.
Seth—her maker and former alpha.
“What?” he mused as he pushed to his feet and stalked around the bench. “No warm welcome for your old lover?”
Her face twisted and she sucked in her lower lip. She’d never been his lover—at least not willingly. But to Seth that meant nothing. When he found something he liked, he claimed it without thought of whether it was even his to take. She countered his steps, her eyes darting to the large glass doors, searching for Hunter. Two shadows darkened the entry, and though they were familiar faces, neither of them was Hunter. Had she put her trust in the wrong person?
“Come now, Angel.” His words pulled her attention back to him and she shuddered at the sound of her name, breathy and thick with desire. “Do you know how long I’ve searched for you? Some small bit of gratitude would be appropriate.”
She felt the draw, the pull, whatever it was that alphas could do to those beneath them. Her stomach warmed with the thought of going to him, even though she knew she’d be disgusted later. That was always the way of it. She would have liked to think her strength had grown in their time apart. But he was an alpha and she was not.
“Come,” he ordered, his rumbling voice full of authority.
She broke at the waist, his words binding her to his will, forcing her into submission. The ground rose up, her hands and knees slamming down before she began to crawl across the squalid floor. Inside, her wolf was howling, struggling in a mad assault to free the alpha’s hold, but she wasn’t strong enough. Where was Hunter? He’d sworn he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Well, something sure was happening.
When she reached his feet, two long fingers curled under her chin and drew her head up until he could spear her with his stare. “This is where you belong, my Angel.”
Her head shook without thought, her hair settling around her shoulders. No, she didn’t belong anywhere. She was her own person, had been her entire life until this man had savaged her in the back of his car.
“No?” he asked, his voice darkening with ire. “You are mine. I allowed you your freedom, but the time has come for you to return home. I need my mate.”
Cringing, her head dropped forward once more, a curtain of hair sliding over her face. His mate—it was what he’d always claimed her to be, the reason why he’d attacked her, the reason why he’d stolen her life. They’d gone on a single date together; it had been going well, up until he’d phased and ripped her to shreds. The first moment she’d awoken with her new eyes, she’d known she would never belong to him.
“No.” She finally spoke, her breathy voice a pale imitation of what she usually mustered.
Seth sucked in a sharp breath and not a second later he gathered her into his hands and wrenched her to her feet. Fury darkened his already opaque eyes. His wolf was nowhere near the surface; it was purely the cruel man within that she now saw.
“No?” he repeated, a perverse storm thundering across his face. “No?” he roared. She was flung from his grasp, her back driven into the far wall.
A sharp crack echoed through the station, her cheek stinging from the sudden imprint of his open-palmed hand. Gasping, Angel cupped her face, her widened eyes swinging back up to him.
It wouldn’t be the first time Seth had resorted to violence, though he’d never dared assault her in public. She bit down on her lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out.
“You do not say no to me,” he spat in her face, his hand held high as though he meant to strike her once more. Instead, his iron fingers gripped her chin and squeezed, jerking her around to face him.
“Now, you will come with me, and you will be my mate—”
“No,” she stated in a
firm voice, refusing to let him bully her further. It wasn’t the fear of what he could do to her, but rather the idea of returning with him that terrified her. Just the thought of being his, having to obey his every whim and fulfill his every fantasy, made her stomach flip. There was much she would do to keep that from happening.
Seth stared down at her, poised on the edge of strong emotion. The storm burst free, a furious rage sweeping over his face. “You might think you’re something else,” he growled, his eyes flashing gold at her, “running around with Hunter. You think I didn’t see you out there? Think I didn’t know? I am your alpha! And you will obey me, even if I have to beat obedience into you.”
His grip on her chin tightened and he pressed her aching head into the wall as his fingers kneaded her jaw. Angel’s heart leaped into her throat as she stared into Seth’s hardened face. His voided eyes held the promise of torment and pain, but there were worse things in life. He’d taught her that.
What a fool she was, trusting another werewolf, thinking that this time it might be different—that he might be different. She’d learned years ago that she could only depend on herself. With a sharp breath, she drove her elbow down into his arm and twisted in his grasp. A startled cry rose between them as Angel shoved him back. Without any thought, her arm shot out, a clenched fist colliding with the side of his head. For a moment she was too startled to move, having never thrown a successful punch before. Her knuckles blazed with pain, fingers trembling as they flexed and retracted like a nervous cat. It wasn’t until he rose, his hand cradling his mouth, that she thought to bolt. If she could just shift—
A firm grip ensnared her waist and whipped her around, throwing her back and knocking her head against the wall. Stars burst before her eyes and she crumpled, her legs incapable of holding her up.