Chapter 17
Holt
Sherman left. He told me his work was done. I watched him as he walked toward the wooded lot until he vanished. He literally disappeared. I’d never seen anything like that.
I hadn’t given much thought to how exactly this all would play out, but I was leaning toward the element of surprise. I planned to wait patiently until this clown came home, then I’d sneak into the house behind him.
Or maybe I would snap his neck and leave his lifeless body -- no, I couldn’t do that. Well, technically I could, but Daci would be very upset.
I continued tossing ideas around when I saw the headlights of a truck bouncing erratically toward me. He’d never see me, but I had my eyes trained on him.
I had circled around the dilapidated house, all the while my mate’s scent assaulted my nose. I was going in that house one way or another. If I had to barrel through the walls, I was going in to get her.
I walked past the truck after this guy got out and slammed the door shut. My beast was ready to go into attack mode. As he stepped closer to the front door, my Wolf crept up behind him. I could hear the key turning in the lock.
“Sweetheart,” he said as he pressed the door open. “I’m home.”
My muscles tensed and the blood pulsed through my veins. My claws were twitchy and ready to disassemble this fucker. I wanted to rip him to shreds and watch his blood drain from his pathetic body.
“What the fuck happened in here, Daci?” he screamed out. “You fucking bitch, get in here now!”
I was hoping whatever Daci did, she didn’t come near him. I slid a stick in the doorway near the bottom of the frame so he wasn’t able to shut the door behind him.
“Daci, you worthless fucking cunt! Get the fuck in here now!”
He turned halfway, then gave the door a tug again. “What the hell,” he said. It was then that I rushed through the door and pounced on him, pinning him to the floor with one paw in the center of his chest; my long, sharp claws were like razor-sharp daggers pressed hard against him. One quick move and he’d be impaled.
A loud guttural howl bellowed from me as I hovered over him. His cowardly face stared up at me. Every bit of color seemed to have drained from him, and he was blinking furiously to keep the tears that were welling in his wide eyes away. His mouth was open and his lips quivered. Then, without warning, he found his shrill, horrific voice and released a scream in my face. Motherfucker!
I lowered my head so my snout was sniffing at him. He stunk. I kept my paw on him while circling him, taking in his scent. My Wolf was begging me to let him up so he could hunt this low-life down.
Before I could make another move, I saw Daci walk toward the foyer. Beautiful Daci. My mate. Our eyes met and we held our contact with each other. My stomach fluttered and my heart hammered against my ribs. My Wolf linked to her and uttered the only thing that came to mind --“You’re mine.”
Her reply was quick. “Yours forever.”
“I…I’m sorry, Daci. S... Save yourself, my love. Run!”
He was staring in Daci’s direction. I lowered my face to within inches of his, and growled my disdain for this creep before lifting my paw from his chest. I circled him, then noticed the large wet spot on the floor where his sorry ass was still lying. His pants had darkened in the crotch. This fucking guy pissed himself. My Wolf scrunched his nose at him, then snorted out a breath in his face. He visibly shook, but never attempted to stand.
“Run, my love, please,” he whimpered.
Daci stared down at him with her arms crossed. She glanced up to meet my eyes, then looked back down at the weak bastard soaked in his own urine. “I’m not the one who’s in any danger. Only you are,” Daci said, “bitch.”
Daci
I knew Barry, my true love, was outside. I could feel him. My Coy-wolf became increasingly restless as his scent grew stronger. The desire to go to him was overwhelming. She was jumping around and begging me to set her free, but I knew now wasn’t the time. Not yet.
When I heard my captor jiggling his key in the lock, then come in the house, I was sitting on the hard, wooden chair. He called out his usual pleasantries to me, but I was waiting for him to unleash his wrath after he saw what I’d done all afternoon. I knew he was going to be beyond pissed off. If he wasn’t visibly angry because I’d shattered every dish and glass in his house, he’d definitely be enraged when he saw his prized leather sofa. The stuffing was strewn about the living room and some had floated out into the foyer, and the leather was sliced and diced into tiny shards. The only thing left intact was the frame.
Even after destroying his property, my rage continued to fester. I wanted him to pay for what he’d done to me. He’d kidnapped me, put a spell on me, violated me, and infiltrated my thoughts and nightmares. My hands and body trembled.
“What the fuck happened in here, Daci?” I heard my asshole captor scream. “You fucking bitch, get in here now!”
I didn’t move. I had to keep my Coy-wolf under control. She wanted at him and I knew she’d kill him. I fought to stay in control and in my seat.
“Daci, you worthless fucking cunt! Get the fuck in here now!”
The commotion near the entry was vicious-sounding. My Coy-wolf began doing flips and swishing her tail in the air immediately. We both knew Barry was here. We were safe.
The corners of my mouth turned up into a grin, and I licked across my bottom lip, then bit down gently. My legs felt too shaky to stand, much less walk. I leaned forward slightly. I had to go to him. He was my soul mate.
It felt like an eternity since I’d seen Barry’s Wolf. Up close, he was so much larger than I remembered, and he had a beautiful shiny coat that was mostly light gray, with some white and what looked like black bands perfectly blended in. His snout was mostly white, except the gray streak that ran down the length to the tip of his nose. His Wolf looked almost identical to mine.
Barry had his foot planted firmly on my captor’s chest, and his teeth were gritted as he snarled his anger. My captor couldn’t move. There was a faint ammonia smell wafting in the air.
Barry looked up and our eyes locked on each other. My stomach fluttered as his Wolf linked to me and said, “You’re Mine.”
Without any hesitation I replied, “Yours forever.”
Then the scumbag on the floor spoke. “I…I’m sorry, Daci. S... Save yourself, my love. Run!”
Watching his terror was my pleasure. He kept staring at me, but I didn’t reply. I didn’t even crack a smile. Barry growled, then sniffed him before he snorted in his face.
“Run, my love, please,” my captor whimpered.
I stared at the coward on the floor. The same tough guy who thought he was a Warlock. The same tough guy who thought it was funny to lock me in a cage and keep me holed up inside his house. The same raging lunatic who tried to convince me we were soul mates. My gaze shifted to meet my true love’s eyes, then back down to him. “I’m not the one who’s in any danger. Only you are, bitch.”
Barry’s Wolf howled then raked his long, sharp claws against my captor’s side. He let out a blood curdling scream, reaching for his wound. Blood began to soak the torn edges of his shirt.
Within seconds Barry shifted back to his human form and stood in front of me, in all his naked beautiful glory. If I wasn’t a Shifter myself, I’d have been much more shocked. My eyes roamed over his body, but I tried not to look there. He had transformed from the pudgy, cute little boy to this magnificent, broad-shouldered, chiseled man. My eyes drank him in from head to toe, every gorgeous inch. He was mine.
Chapter 18
Holt
“Please,” the low-life at my feet begged. “Please just let me go. I didn’t do anything to you, man.” He reached out and wrapped his arms around my ankle.
“Get your hands off him!” Daci’s voice was so harsh, and as the words left her mouth her foot forcibly connected with his ribs. He grunted in pain and wrapped his arms around his body.
Mine.
>
I bent at my waist and grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking him up and forcing him to look at me. “Why did you kidnap Daci? And don’t lie to me.”
“I…she,” he stammered. “She didn’t have any money or anywhere to go, so I brought her here. She’s my soul mate?”
“Wrong fucking answer!” I slammed his head down, and watched it bounce off the floor.
I walked in toward the living room and took in the full damage Daci had done. “I hope I never piss you off.” I laughed. I walked over to the bookshelf and saw the witchcraft book Daci told me about. “Daci,” I said. No answer.
When I turned around, looking back toward the foyer, my heart felt like it plummeted into my stomach and my jaws clenched while my hands balled into fists. I saw her bruised captor with an arm around her waist and a pocket-knife against her throat.
“Not so tough now, are you, Wolf boy? What are you going to do? If you make a move toward me, I’ll cut her fucking throat!”
I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat didn’t budge.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I want her. She’s mine, and you’re going to go back to where ever you came from and never come looking for us again.” He pulled her tighter to his body with the arm around her waist. “Ain’t that right, my love? You’re all mine. I’m going to claim you, then this big bad wolf boy won’t want anything to do with you. I’m half tempted to do it while he watches.” He kissed her on the cheek.
I could feel the hairs bristling on my back and neck. My Wolf and I wanted to kill this sonofabitch. Every muscle in my body had become tight with fear and anger. “She’s not your mate,” I hissed out. “And I don’t envision you walking out of here with her.” If I knew I could get to him before he did anything to hurt Daci, I’d have lunged at him. But this guy scared me. He was as crazy as Sherman warned me he was. Maybe even crazier.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I have her now, and I’m going to have her when I leave. I found her. We’re in love. Aren’t we, baby?” His tongue lapped up the side of her face.
Daci looked at me with tears in her eyes. She tried hard to stifle her sobs, but wasn’t having much luck. Seeing her pained face caused my chest to tighten. My breathing had become harsh.
“Answer me!” She jumped, and her eyes closed tight in response to his demanding tone and the command he screamed in her ear.
“Y…yes,” she squeaked. My chest felt hollow hearing her answer.
“Now, back up Wolfie. Don’t you dare take one step until you hear my truck leave.” He pulled the knife against her neck. She shrieked, and then I saw a few drops of blood trickle down her beautiful bronze column. Motherfucker! This piece of shit was going to die!
He backed up toward the door, tugging on Daci to walk backward with him. My Wolf was howling at the imminent loss of our mate. I’d never felt so alone or helpless. The stabbing pain in my heart was making me feel dizzy.
My Wolf was pacing furiously, begging me to charge after them, but I knew he’d cut her throat. He didn’t love her. He just wanted to have her. I listened, and heard the door click as he pulled it shut. I moved instantly and flung the door open, but didn’t see them, and his truck was still sitting just a few feet from the door.
“I knew you wouldn’t follow my directions,” he said. I spun around and saw him standing at the corner of the house; Daci laying on the ground in a heap at his feet, a small amount of blood in the dirt near her head. My Wolf howled.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” I screamed as I closed the distance between us. He never had a chance to answer me. I transformed by the time I was halfway to him and jumped in the air. I had been so enraged, I never saw him lift his arm with the knife in it, but when I landed I fell right on top of him, and the knife stabbed into my flesh.
I stood and saw the blood oozing into my fur. The knife was still lodged in my side. I yowled in pain, but quickly released my fury on him. If I was going down, so was he. There was no fucking way he was going to kill me and my mate.
We were only within feet of where Daci lay on the ground. I reared up on my hind legs, and my front paws swiped back and forth across his stomach and chest. Blood began to spurt out of the gashes my claws left in his hide and he dropped to the ground like a ragdoll.
Just as I was getting ready to bite this fool’s neck and end his life, I heard a soft barely-audible noise come from my beautiful mate. I spun and saw her struggling to sit up. She had a nice sized lump on her forehead and the blood was trailing down her temple.
“Daci,” I managed to get out through our link. She slowly moved her head from side to side. I stood from my position over her unconscious captor and made my way to her side. My Wolf nuzzled close to her neck where he made a one-inch-long surface cut. My Wolf licked at the blood and cut to help her heal. That wasn’t the injury that worried me. It was the lump on her head.
My Wolf licked at it, then I grimaced in pain. The knife was still stuck in me.
“Holt.” She wrapped her arms around my Wolf’s neck, and I could feel the heat from her body against mine. She stroked down my neck and back, then her fingers made their way down my side, to the protruding knife.
“No,” she cried. She pulled the knife from my body, then transformed within minutes. Her Coy-wolf was beautiful and looked so similar to my own Wolf, minus the blood. She licked at my wound, cleaning me, helping me to heal.
Daci transformed back to her human form and stood before me, naked. She was beautiful. She was perfect. She was mine.
“I’m going to call the police. They can come and get this worthless excuse for a human,” she said.
“Let me finish him. He doesn’t deserve to live,” I said through my link to my stunning mate.
“No, my dear Holt. He’s human. If he were Wolf, you could finish him. Humans need to be dealt with by other humans.”
I dropped my head onto my paws and closed my eyes. I wanted to kill him.
“Don’t pout, my dearest. You’ve done a lot of damage to him. But they can decide his fate in court.”
I watched Daci’s hips sashay from side to side as she walked into the house. Her hourglass figure and perfectly round ass were going to be my undoing. My primal instinct was driving me more insane than the Hunger. I wanted her so badly, but not here. Not now.
Chapter 19
Daci
The Policemen had a hard time processing everything I was telling them. I explained what happened, how this guy kidnapped me. But when they kept asking me over and over to tell them how Holt found me, well, they struggled with that story. Hell, I struggled telling it. I made up something other than telling them he was a Shifter and it was really his Wolf who found me. I told them I’d managed to make a phone call to Veronica before I left the store and let her know where I was and that Maximus was taking me to the bus station. They seemed a little skeptical, but shrugged their shoulders and let the topic go.
One of the plain clothes detectives came out of the house with a handful of papers, and walked over toward where we were standing.
“We’ve been looking for this guy for quite some time. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I know he was crazy.”
“It’s a lot worse than that. He told you his name was Maximus, but his real name is Delbert Payne. He’s gone by a few aliases over the past couple of years.” I stood and blinked my eyes. That meant nothing to me. “You’ve never heard the stories? He’s wanted for the murder of three young women across the Midwest. People who knew the women said he befriended them, then offered them a ride. Their bodies were found just days after they left with him.”
My hand covered my mouth. Bile rose in my throat and a shudder rippled through me at the realization that I most likely would have been his fourth victim. Holt stepped closer and draped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I was safe with him. I was safe because of him.
“Why don’t you kids go on home n
ow? If we need you for anything, we have your contact information,” the uniformed officer said.
“Thank you, Officers,” we said at the same time. We looked at each other, but neither of us laughed. We just stared at each other, slowly smiling. Tears ran down my cheeks and Holt wiped them away before pulling me tight against him.
My nightmare was almost over. We needed to get out of the clothes Holt and I found in my captor’s dresser drawers. I reluctantly pulled myself away from his warmth and inhaled deeply. We needed to get back home with our Pack.
Holt reached out and placed his strong hands on my shoulders, then pulled me in tight to his chest again, wrapping his muscular arms around me. His scent was intoxicating and he felt so good against me. It felt so perfect being in his embrace.
“Let’s get out of here,” Holt whispered, then kissed my forehead.
My Coy-wolf kept jumping around with Holt’s Wolf, lifting her ass in the air toward him while her shoulders were low to the ground. She was ready for mating. Both of our wolves were. She was offering herself to him.
I shivered at the thought of having sex with my mate. I wanted to, and would do anything for the man I loved, but I’d never had sex before and too many unanswered questions swirled in my mind. I had no idea how long it would take us to get home, but I had time to think about how this might work. And plenty of time to convince myself that I’d be a good sexual mate for a man like Holt. I wanted nothing more than to be claimed as his forever.
Holt
I slid my hand down her perfectly slender arm, then let our fingers intertwine. Touching her, feeling her fingers laced with mine, holding her in my arms, felt so perfect.
My Wolf was ready to claim her. In my mind I was wrestling with the overwhelming need to make her mine and the fear that I’d be a failure as a lover. While most everyone else was quite experienced with relationships and mating, I’d never been so fortunate.
Holt: A Wolf's Hunger Alpha Shifter Romance Page 8