Ash shook her head. “No. I know what going inside can lead to. I-If you don’t mind I’d just like some money for an airline ticket so that I can get away from Clarissa.”
“You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
She shrugged. “It’s better if you don’t know. Clarissa may search your mind to find me. But I’m going somewhere far away, somewhere where she can’t get to me.”
“Stay here with me and we’ll leave together.”
She hesitated. “Then what? Stay with you until you find your life-mate?”
“Ash, I can take care of you.”
“For a little while.” She puffed out her chest. “But it’s far time that I start taking care of myself.”
His wolf sent him pictures of him and Ash together.
“She’s right. We’re not mated,” he said to his wolf.
His wolf sent him more pictures. This time, of them entwined in bed, lips on lips.
Chapter Sixteen
His wolf wanted to touch her one last time. He reached out and grabbed her to pull her across the threshold. When her face contorted in pain he quickly released her.
“Ouch!” she howled and went down to one knee.
“Ash?” Hunter dropped to his knees, too. “What’s wrong?”
She held out her arm to him. Her wrist had an angry red and open wound around it.
“They handcuffed you to the shower rod again?” he growled.
She tried to smile and wiped tears from her eyes. “It was part one of the punishment for withholding information from Clarissa.” She struggled to stand. “And I don’t plan on sticking around for part two.”
He peered up at her. “What’s part two?” he asked in a low voice.
“Well, if I stay, I’m pretty sure Clarissa will end up killing me.”
He stood and tugged on her sleeve, making sure not to touch her bare skin. “Come inside.” When she was in his apartment he shut the door behind her. “I’m not going to let them kill you.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Stay with me. I’ll protect you.”
She shook her head. “If I can get on a plane before sunset, then I’ll have a chance at escaping them. They’ll find me if I stay here.”
“It doesn’t feel right to let you leave and not know where you’re heading off to.”
She shrugged. “As long as I’m away from Clarissa I’ll be fine and safe. If I thought you were immune to Vampiric enthrallment, I would tell you, but you’re not. Erzsebet proved that.”
He thrust his fingers through his hair. “You’re right about that.”
“All I need is some money and a ride to the airport.”
“I can give you the money, but I can’t leave my house—Alpha’s order.”
“Can I borrow your car?” She pressed her hands together. “Please tell me you have a car.”
“Just the bike.” He went to the window and peered outside. “Hey, how did you get here, anyway?”
“I walked.”
He whipped around to face her. “You walked? Jesus, Ash. You’re human.” He immediately went to her feet. They swelled over her shoes. “What possessed you to walk miles in these?”
She shooed him when we he tried to pick up a foot. “Vampire. Death. Remember? Besides, I can rest when I’m on a plane putting as much distance between me and Clarissa as possible.”
“We need to take care of you.”
“I need a ride.”
He cursed under his breath. “I can call a cab, but it’s getting late and I don’t know if they’d make it here in time.”
“We don’t have any other choice.”
He retrieved his cell phone from his back pocket and searched for the number to the cab company. While he dialed the number and placed an order for the first available cab, Ash paced impatiently around his living room. He didn’t know how she could still walk.
He disconnected the call. “They said they can have a cab here in thirty minutes.”
She stared out of his window. “I think that may be too late. The sun is already beginning to set.”
“They don’t know you’ve come here.”
“I think this is the first place they would look.”
He crossed the short distance to her and placed his hands on her arms. “Ash, listen to me. I’m not going to let them hurt you again. They’re not taking you from here.”
“You don’t know them like I do. They’ll kill you.”
“They won’t risk the war with my Pack.”
She gave him a sad look. “Do you still have a Pack, Hunter?”
His wolf paced within. “Not when Andras gets here, I won’t.”
She put her hands on his chest. “Then there’s nothing stopping them from killing you to get to me.” A tear slid down her face. “I’m not worth the fight, Hunter.”
Something in him didn’t want the tear to reach her perfect lips. He used the pad of his thumb to stop and wipe it away. “You’re well worth the fight.” He leaned down and kissed her. He’d missed her so much. He delved his tongue into her mouth and, with assured softness, danced around hers.
He cradled the back of her head and wrapped his free hand around her waist, bringing her body closer to his. She sighed and melted against him, giving in to his embrace. She ran her fingers through his hair, trailing them along his scalp.
He pulled away to take a breath. She whimpered when their lips parted. He looked deep into her eyes, past the passion that he found there and deeper still, down to her very soul. His wolf pushed to the front and locked onto her core.
His heart sang. His soul soared. Another bond formed, this one stronger than the Pack bonds. What he shared with Ash wasn’t merely a string, like the ones that attached him to the rest of the Pack, but was more like a cocoon enveloping both him and Ash together as one.
Ash was his and he was hers.
“Wh-what’s going on?” she asked breathlessly.
A thousand rays of light seemed to flicker in his head and burst against the darkness. His mind reeled from the sensation. His breath caught in the back of his throat.
“Hunter! What’s going on?” Ash’s voice sounded so distant. So very far away.
His hands slipped from her body. He willed them to stay on her. He didn’t want to ever let her go again. But despite his inner struggle he dropped to his knees.
“Should I call for help? Tell me what to do,” Ash’s voice was frantic now.
“We’re mated. My wolf. He mated with…you.”
“That can’t be right. If something happens to me, then you’ll die, too.”
He shook his head, trying to dislodge the last effects of grogginess from the bonding. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I’ll protect you with my life.” He finally opened his eyes to find a horrified look on her face.
“I can’t let you die for me.”
“It’s my duty now.” He reached out for her. He wanted to feel her again. She stepped out of his reach and he met air. “Ash, come here.”
She backed away. “I can’t let you be responsible for me, Hunter.”
He tried to force himself to his feet, but his legs shook under him. He fell to the floor again. “Ash, come to me. You’re just afraid of what this means. We’ll get through it together.”
“But, Clarissa—”
“Won’t be able to harm you ever again.”
The door opened with a whoosh. “Really?”
Hunter stiffened. Ash opened her eyes wide. Panic flashed behind them.
“What are you doing in my house, Vamp?” Hunter growled.
Clarissa’s blood-red eyes settled on Ash. Ash cringed away from her. “I’m here to retrieve my property.”
“She’s no longer yours to claim. She’s my life-mate now.”
Clarissa smiled. If it hadn’t been for the pointy canines, it would’ve appeared angelic on her dainty features. “How very sweet. You’ve mated with my protégé.”
“Protégé?” Hunter laughed h
arshly. His body still shook and his muscles wouldn’t listen to him. “Is that what you’re calling her?”
“Yes, Asha knows that I’m grooming her to be a Vampire.”
“She doesn’t want that anymore.”
“She doesn’t?” Clarissa glanced at Ash. “Funny, but she’s been telling me the complete opposite for the past eleven years. Asha?”
“I d-don’t want to be a Vampire anymore,” Ash whispered. “I want to leave your service.”
“Let me think about it.” Clarissa surveyed her red fingernails. “No.”
Hunter growled deep in his throat. His wolf strained to push forward, but without a full recovery, Hunter was useless. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”
“Exactly that. The decision to leave isn’t up to Asha…or you. She comes with me.” Clarissa turned her back and snapped her fingers.
At the sound, Ash stepped toward her, ready to obey a command that had been ingrained in her.
Hunter lumbered to his feet, willing his muscles to hold him upright. “Over my dead body,” he growled.
“Gladly.”
In the blink of an eye, Clarissa was between him and Ash. And the next second, he was lying across the room flat on his back with the bones in his chest broken.
Stunned, Hunter tried to catch his breath. His ribs pierced his lungs.
“She’s mine,” Clarissa seethed.
“No! Hunter!” Ash lunged at him and Clarissa yanked her back by her shirt. “Take another step and I’ll snap your neck.”
Ash kept her gaze on him. “You can’t do that. It would kill him.”
“I’m fully aware of how this works, Asha. Come with me and your little wolf will live a very long life.”
He reeled from pain but he couldn’t let Ash leave with Clarissa. He tried to move. The ribs stabbing his lungs twisted as he did. He was going to pass out. “No, don’t go with her, Ash,” he struggled to say. He coughed. Blood dripped from his mouth.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “And if I don’t?”
Clarissa’s hand slipped around Ash’s neck. “Then you both should make peace with your makers.”
“Just promise me that you won’t hurt him,” Ash whispered.
Clarissa smiled. “I promise.”
“Ash, please don’t do this,” Hunter begged. He could feel his ribs repairing as he spoke.
“I have to.” Ash let Clarissa lead her away.
Chapter Seventeen
Hunter’s wolf howled, pushing to the front. Hunter wanted nothing more than to allow the wolf past the barrier and let him spring to life. But the repairing of his ribs wasn’t complete. Shifting now could disfigure him permanently and if his wolf couldn’t run, he couldn’t hunt Clarissa’s car down.
He had no choice. As agonizing as it was, he couldn’t do anything but wait.
The minutes ticked by like hours. His nerves wouldn’t let him keep still. With pain ripping through him, he stripped out of his clothes, leaving them on the floor where he stood. By the time he was naked, the last of the repairs were completed. His muscles and bones were still sore, but not sore enough to keep him from shifting. With a roar, he let the change happen and his wolf awakened fully, taking complete control.
The wolf took off for the open door. As he neared the threshold his paws became heavier and heavier until he could no longer pick them up. He stopped at the threshold.
“Stay in your house. Wait for me there.”
His Alpha’s words ripped through his mind.
His wolf whined. He was so close to the door, but he couldn’t get any nearer. He tried to lift his paws, but they wouldn’t budge. He found that he could back up and the more he did, the better he felt. So he backed all the way up to the other side of the room. He kept his focus on the exit. Pictures of his mate flashed across his mind. He had to save her. She needed him.
He couldn’t defy his Alpha, but he had to protect his mate.
When he couldn’t go any farther he tucked his tail between his legs and turned in a circle. His mind alternated between his Alpha and his mate. He looked at the open doorway again. He had no other choice. Ash was his.
He straightened his tail and squinted at the only way to get his life-mate back. Then he sprinted with all his might. This time when his paws became heavy, he lifted his legs higher, ran faster. He didn’t stop. He crossed the threshold. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own. He couldn’t stop them. He braced himself as he ran headfirst into one of the large dumpsters at the end of the parking lot. He righted himself and looked to the east and sniffed at the air. That was where his life-mate had gone.
He ran toward her, following a trail that would never disappear. It was the trail of their mating bond.
* * * *
“What’s my punishment this time?”
Ash would’ve never spoken to Clarissa like that before, but instead of fear and stupid admiration flowing through her veins there was something else. Courage.
It wasn’t hers. This she could feel. The courage came from Hunter. He was strong and wild and a part of him was in her now. She didn’t understand the whole life-mate thing, but she really didn’t need to. She felt it. There was a sense of belonging and a connection with him that she knew would never break.
Even as the miles spread between them, he was with her.
She had thought that she could hop into the car with Clarissa and leave him behind. That had been her first mistake. As soon as she’d gotten into the limousine, her stomach had felt as though it had dropped and her heart had twisted. As they’d pulled away from his apartment building, it had felt as though someone had taken a sledge hammer to the back of her skull.
She needed to be near him. Every nerve in her body missed him.
She’d tried to claw her way out of the window to get back to him. She’d screamed and fought, but Clarissa had been having no part of it. The bruises on her arms and legs and the black eye was a testament to that.
Ash peered at Clarissa. She sat, leg crossed, acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world, because she didn’t. She was the perfect predator.
Clarissa thought that she owned her. Never again. Ash felt the power of the Pack pulsing through her, making her mentally stronger than she’d ever been before.
Ash finally had the family that she’d always dreamed of. While she’d only met some of the other wolves in passing, that didn’t matter, she could feel them. They were her family. Their connection was just outside hers and Hunter’s.
She wasn’t alone anymore and she wasn’t afraid.
“What should we do with her, Angelica?” Clarissa kept her eyes on Ash as she talked.
Angelica peered out of the window, seemingly not paying attention to what Clarissa had asked her. “Do we still need her?” Angelica said in a droll voice.
“We’ve never needed her,” Clarissa responded with a laugh.
“I know you didn’t need me,” Ash said through clenched teeth.
Clarissa had used her. Had her slaving for them during the night and watching over them during the day, just like a good little pet. And Ash had been a very good pet indeed, better than any watchdog.
“Well, if we don’t need her, then why do we keep her around?” Angelica asked.
Ash cut her eyes at Angelica. They had never been friends, or friendly. Ash had a precarious relationship with all the Vampires. They tolerated her presence because of Clarissa. Ash had thought—no, hoped—that once she was one of them, they would all become friends. Or better yet—family.
That was all a foolish dream. Ash could see that so perfectly.
Family.
She humphed to herself. No, they would’ve never been a family. What she felt inside her now was how a real family should feel.
Love.
Compassion.
Support.
Understanding.
Empathy.
Strong.
Courageous.
All the things that the Vampires lacked.
&
nbsp; Ash rolled her eyes at Angelica and glared at Clarissa. “You should’ve left me where I was. I’ve never done anything against you.”
“Left you? Why?”
“Because I found someone who loves me. Something that you will never understand.”
“But I do love you. That’s why I changed my mind.”
She almost laughed out loud. Love? Clarissa didn’t know the meaning of the word. “You’re taking me back to Hunter?”
“No, silly. I was going to kill you. I mean, you did lie to me and after everything that I’ve done for you, you tried to run away. I was going to let the others have their way with you as a…present for a job well done on this trip.”
She dug her fingers into the seat cushion. “You changed your mind? You’re not going to kill me anymore?”
Clarissa smiled, like a child who had just gotten her way. “Oh, I’m still going to kill you. But because I love you, I’ve decided to finally grace you with a change.”
Ash cringed away from her. “But what about Hunter? What would happen to him if I changed into a Vampire?”
Clarissa shrugged. That smile was still on her lips. “I honestly don’t know. A Vampire has never lowered themselves to mate with a Wolf-Shifter before. He may continue to live and thrive or the mating”—she waved her hand through the air—“might sever when you officially die.”
No. Her mating bond grew stronger with each passing minute. It made her feel loved, complete. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. For once in her life she belonged. “You promised me that you wouldn’t harm him.”
Clarissa cut her uncaring eyes at Ash. “And you believed me because I always uphold my promises to you?”
Ash shook her head. “I don’t want to go through with it,” she said urgently. She scooted to the edge of her seat. “I want to stay human.”
Clarissa dismissed Ash. “Too late. The choice isn’t yours to make any longer.”
“You can’t do this.” Ash reached over Angelica’s lap to grab the door handle. Angelica pushed her back with a hard shove. “Stop! I want to get out. I don’t want any of this anymore!” Ash yelled, tears brimming her eyes.
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