by Jo Larue
“I’m okay. Went home. Biker broke in.
Big fight. I won. Can’t drive anymore.
Crashed at hotel off 400 in Alpharetta.
Don’t worry. Be home later. Chance.”
Chance stepped into her room, dropped her bags and headed for the shower to wash away all the blood. Most of it was his thankfully. At one point he pulled a knife and struck her twice with it. The cuts would have been to the bone if not for her leathers. One was on her inner thigh and the other across her abdomen, with the latter being more a scratch than anything else. It was the one on her thigh that worried her. It had not stopped bleeding yet. The rest of her cuts and scrapes were from punches and flying glass. She got out of the shower and tied a towel around her leg. She didn’t have a belt, so this would have to do for now.
Chance avoided looking in a mirror. She didn’t want to see what she could feel. Cut and bruised cheekbone and her right eye swelling shut.
It seemed she was asleep only a few minutes when a loud banging started at her door. Chance frowned in her sleep. “Damn it, Chance, open this door right now before I break it down!” Sylas suddenly registered in her head, but she was too dizzy to get up.
“Sylas…can’t get up. Get manager, please,” she managed to croak out. Chance didn’t remember passing out again, but must have since she woke up much later under a different blanket. She cracked open her good eye and saw Sylas sitting next to her and Jack pacing the floor.
“What… what are you doing here, Sylas? How did you get back so fast?”
They both suddenly turned to her and she flinched- hard. Jack had both a look of worry and relief written all over his face and Sylas’ was pure anger. Sylas must have seen the flinch because his gaze softened but only a little.
“Baby, you scared the fuck out of me. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I wanted to go home and get my things, Sylas. I needed to do this on my own. And you didn’t answer my question.” Chance winced as she sat up.
“Jack saw you leave and tried to follow you, but he didn’t know exactly where you were going. He sent me a text and I told him where your house was. By the time he got there, you were gone and so was the biker. I think you owe Jack some of his years back, because when he saw your house, he lost a couple. We were lucky to get to you on time, Chance. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood.
“I’m so sorry, Jack. I really thought I would be okay. Forgive me?”
Jack walked over and sat down on the other side of the bed. He took her hand and pressed it gently to his lips, avoiding her wounds. “Chance, I’ve come to think of you as a sister. When you took off without saying anything, it hurt to my core. All you needed to do was ask and I would’ve gone with you. Not as a protector, but as a friend who cares, understand?”
Chance felt hot tears run down her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to hurt him or Sylas. She whispered between the hitches in her breath. “Please, I never meant to hurt either of you. This is all so new to me. I’ve never had anyone other than my Sensei and my friend from work, Gus, give two shits about me. I grew up without a family and no real home. I was moved constantly from place to place and the families I lived with treated me like shit. I was beaten all the time by different people who tried to take advantage of me.”
Chance was sobbing now and it was hard to speak. Sylas started to say something, but she stopped him with a look. “I have to get this out or I’ll never be able to. I have been on my own since I was sixteen. I emancipated myself from the system and never looked back. I finished high school, worked and paid my own way from then on. I don’t know what it is to have friends. I’ve never had anyone love me or who cared other than Gus and Sensei.”
Chance looked back and forth between them. Finally finished she croaked out, “Please don’t hate me, but I will understand if you do.” She closed her eyes and started to curl in on herself; afraid they would leave her.
Sylas pulled her gently up into his arms. “No one hates you, Chance and neither of us are leaving you. You will never be alone again. You have our word on it.”
Chance heard an affirmation from Jack. Sylas talked low into her ear “I love you, Chance Cadens. I knew there was pain in your eyes, but I had no idea it was this bad for you. I wish you felt enough trust to talk to me about it. I can understand needing your independence. Please indulge my compulsion to keep you safe until these bikers have been taken care of. Will you let me do that?” She answered him with a nod. It hurt too much to hug him right now.
Jack spoke up finally. “From the looks of things at your house, the biker got the worst end of the deal. When you’ve had time to rest and recover, can you describe him to us?” She nodded and started to speak, but he cut her off.
“Not now, Chance. We have plenty of time. We need to get you home so I can stitch up that leg wound. It’s been a while since I got to play doctor, and this time Sylas will have to put up with it.” Jack smiled at her and winked.
Sylas picked her up and carried her out to the Jeep. He gently put her down in the front seat and then let the seat back a little. He drove her back to Jack’s place holding her hand the entire way, with Jack following on his Harley. It never occurred to her to ask Sylas where his bike was… she was just happy to have him back.
Chapter 21
Trey was hanging on by a thread and he knew it. For the second time in his life, he was afraid of dying. There were more than enough reasons to know this woman was the Chance he was looking for. The second it registered that he was under attack, all sanity left him. She fought like a demon possessed and he understood it. When he broke in, he was hoping to catch the person unaware, but it backfired when no one was upstairs. He hadn’t expected to be attacked before getting the basement door all the way open and that was his first mistake.
He saw her arrive from an upstairs window when she pulled into the driveway. He left the house and observed her from outside as she moved through her house. Her beauty floored him and found himself lost to it.
The Alpha inside him insisted that he claim her for his own. If he weren’t so distracted by the pain of wanting to take her, he would have been more on guard. He still wanted her; the hellcat in her be damned, he would have her and she almost killed him. He was positive when he collapsed she would kill him. He saw her beautiful face through his glazed eyes and she didn’t look at him with fear or anger, no; it was curiosity and maybe a bit of guilt.
He hadn’t intended to harm her, but she would have killed him if he didn’t fight back. The instinct to protect his body took over and she gave him the fight of a lifetime. That solitary fact made him want her even more. She was Alpha material all rolled into one sexy female. How she was human was beyond him. He noticed she was able to fight him in the dark and only immortals could do that. He was betting even the bastard Sylas was unaware of it. Craven could go to hell if he thought he was going to touch this woman, much less get near her.
The thought of Craven pulled him out of his reverie. He sent a short text; one that would keep him at a distance while Trey figured this out. “Have a lead. Following up. Will contact soon with details. Trey.” Having done that, Trey shifted. It was the only way he could heal enough to get to the female, before he lost his opportunity.
* * * *
Craven snorted when the text from Trey came in. He was already aware of what happened. He couldn’t stay Alpha by trusting anyone. He put a tracking device on Treys phone and when it showed him stationary for several days, he sent another of the pack to watch him. So the bitch bested him. Craven laughed. She definitely showed promise. He looked forward to breaking the bitch and now he would make sure Trey watched while he did it. Trey was not aware he’d given himself away. In his delirium, he professed his love for her; it was loud enough to be overheard. In fact, this other pack member heard more… a lot more.
So his Beta had his own agenda. Craven was not surprised. He would have been shocked if he hadn’t wanted to take over the pack. They were a pack of rogues, it
was a given. Constant infighting was another. He was always looking over his shoulder for the next attack from one of his own. Lately there hadn’t been any and now he knew why. His pack was expecting Trey to do it and they were waiting on him to make the next move. There was a surprise in store for all of them. When Trey came home, with or without the bitch, he would take him down. He had no intentions of killing him yet, though. He planned on making sure he lived to watch the female die first… then it would be Trey’s turn. He would kill them both in front of the entire pack.
Craven was no longer worried about finding the female now. The tracker contacted him. He finished with his job in Canada and was, at this very minute, on a flight here. He would get her first and then call his Beta home. Two birds, one stone. Craven rubbed his hands together at the thought he would soon have the bitch and his betrayer back here where he would take care of them both. Yes, this day just got a whole lot better.
* * * *
Sylas paced the floor while Jack stitched up Chance’s leg wound. Damn her! He’d asked her for one thing and she went behind his back to do it anyway. Fuck, he and Jack both asked her to stay here at the house. She needed her independence and he accepted it. She wasn’t his prisoner by any means. It was the sneaky way she went around him that bothered him. He would forgive her though; hell, he already had. He loved her too much to let this come between them. Besides, he was sure she learned a lesson and was sure she wouldn’t do it again.
Sylas thought back to her revelation. Now it was all out in the open and his heart ached for her. No wonder she flinched on occasion. She only knew pain from the previous men around her. Love was a foreign concept to her mind. She wasn’t even aware of doing it half the time. A raised voice or hand and she would unconsciously cringe. Sylas groaned with the pain he knew was in her heart. He needed to prove to her that love was all she needed in her heart and mind.
“Sylas, if you keep pacing like that I’ll never get this finished. She can’t stay still because you can’t,” Jack growled at him while trying to place another stitch.
Sylas looked over at her and saw the blush creep up her beautiful, but wounded face. He stopped his pacing and moved to the bed. He took her hand and held it and felt her squeeze it every time Jack broke the skin with his needle. She still amazed him. She’d not made a single sound through this whole repair job on her leg. How many people could stay silent without complaint? Not very many, he was sure of it. He kept her focused with his unerring gaze.
“Done, and I expect you to stay put and not rip these out, Chance. Let me wrap this and then I will go fix dinner. I’m sure you’re starving, hell, I know I am.” Jack ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of pent up frustration.
“No more sneaking around, Chance. If you do, I won’t stop Sy from taking you over a much deserved knee!” After he got her reassurance that she would behave and her leg was properly dressed, Jack left them alone.
Sylas was too emotionally drained to talk. He just held her gaze and she let him, not up to talking either. Gently he sat her up and smoothed out her pillows and then helped her to lie down again. He joined her and she curled into him, still staring up into his eyes. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair and it suddenly felt like mountains had fallen off his shoulders. Sylas watched as she yawned and felt the familiarity of her hand over his heart. She fell asleep and he was once again grateful that Chance was still in his life.
It was so close, too close. If they hadn’t arrived when they did, she might have bled out. An artery in her thigh had been almost severed. It was a small prick, but enough to cause a near bleed out. Jack quickly set up a triage and pulled a Macgyver out of his ass and gave her some of Sylas’ blood. Being immortal, their blood could mix with any human type. He still was not sure what the side effects would be. This was a first for both of them, but at least Jack knew what to do. They might both be experienced medics, but Sylas was too distraught to be of any assistance. Sylas would be forever in Jack’s debt. He had saved Chance’s life with his quick thinking and it was done while she was passed out, none the wiser.
Sylas didn’t want any more secrets with her. He wanted desperately to tell Chance everything, but vows and his purpose kept him silent. Only when absolutely sure, could he explain things. He never wanted to know this feeling again. To see the woman he loved on the edge of death, well, it gave him a blow he was not prepared for.
Jack finally came back in with some chicken broth in a cup. Sylas gently woke Chance up and she managed to swallow most of it before passing out again. Jack waited to see if she would take more before leaving again. Before he got away, Sylas thanked him again. “I owe you one, Bro. She’s everything to me.”
“No, Sy, I still owe you. You’ve saved my ass more than once. Besides, this one’s on me. I let her get away before I knew what she was doing. I promised you and I failed you both. Besides, I’d have done it any way. She’s brought you a peace I thought I would never see in you. She really is like the sister I lost all those years ago; she means all that and more. Be good to her Sylas, or I might have to kick your ass. She deserves much better than she’s gotten.”
Jack left the room to finish cooking their dinner. He came back later with plate of food, knowing that until Sylas knew for sure Chance was going to be okay, he was not leaving her side again.
Chapter 22
Chance was hot… more like on fire and she didn’t know why. She kept fading in and out; lost between dream and reality. The dream kept coming back, starting out the same but she could never finish it. No matter what she did, she never saw his face. He would disappear into a mist, right after he changed from the big cat. She wanted him, no, she wanted to love him and she didn’t know who he was. All she ever saw in the mists were his haunting green eyes, and they burned her soul with desire.
Being a leopard in the dream doesn’t concern her. Dreams are never as one would expect anyway. She just wants her man… her leopard man. The dreams at first faded out before they made love, but now since her fight at the house, they are making love before it is gone. They are running and he stops and drops to the ground. She approaches him and runs her head down his body, licking and washing as she goes, marking him with her scent and he does the same. They shift and the new dream sequence begins.
Now he is standing behind her. She can feel his thick shaft poised at the ready, waiting at her wet entrance and she pushes into him, the need throwing away all thought processes. At the exact moment he finally thrusts into her, he bites her shoulder, right over that sensitive muscle with his hands wrapped over her breasts, kneading and pinching her nipples. He stays latched to her, bringing her closer and closer to release with each suckle and thrust. She wakes up moaning and wet because their time runs out before they can finish. She tries to return, only to see him fading away again.
Chance was feverish. She had to be sick to be tormented over a dream that keeps repeating. She kept waking up with her clothes soaking wet, semi-conscious. She barely registered Sylas was there, but knew she wasn’t alone. He bathed her from head to toe frequently with a cool cloth. She also knew he changed her clothes several times and didn’t care. Chance had lost all sense of time, but the only thing that mattered to her was finishing the dream. Chance was so completely lost in it that the torment of no release was going to kill her, she was sure of it. Being in a constant erotic state was worse than being in hell as far as she was concerned.
Chance didn’t know how many days she was out of it. It could have been one or several. The only thing she knew for certain was the pain and it felt like the fire in her blood was boiling her alive. Sylas managed to wake her up to take water or soup a few times, but she didn’t want that kind of nourishment. It kept getting worse and she couldn’t lie still any longer. Moaning from her discomfort once again, she felt Sylas pick her up and cradle her in his arms. It hurt to open her eyes. Light, if any kind shot arrows right into her brain. “Sylas, please help me. I’m so hot and the pain is too much.
Please!” She felt him stand up and carry her into the bathroom.
“Chance baby, can you stand for just a minute, or do I need to call Jack to help?”
Chance nodded, unable to speak or open her eyes. He carefully set her feet on the ground and the cool tiles felt like heaven. He kept one arm on her, while he started the water running in the shower. He carefully removed her clothes, trying not to bring her more anguish. Picking her up again, he stepped into the shower with her in his arms, holding her to his chest. The water was cool and she felt like she was back under the waterfall. Chance sighed as the water helped to cool her blood down. If she was hallucinating, she sure as hell didn’t want to wake up now. She wasn’t sure when Sylas put her back to bed, but knew the dream was starting again.
* * * *
Sylas knew something had gone terribly wrong. Chance was in a constant aroused state and he could smell it. His inner beast was in an uproar for his chosen mate and he was fighting with it and the panic over her condition. She was running a major fever but there was no sign of infection anywhere on her. This was different and it was scaring him. It had to be the blood he gave her. There was no other explanation for it. She was talking in her sleep about a dream and it sounded suspiciously like his. Was this the sign he was looking for? Even if it was, he couldn’t take her like this. He needed to be absolutely sure and he wasn’t. Besides, he promised he would never do anything without permission.