by Liz Davis
Thrashing wildly, the gray wolf fought to release himself. The animal’s claws reached out, searching for something, anything, to remove the death grip from around his throat.
The wolf’s claws found Dex’s face, latching in as they ripped through his flesh. The man beneath him howled, jolted by searing pain. He released his grip from around the beast’s neck, jagged claw marks trailing from his eye down to his chin. Blood seeped from the wounds, marring his vision.
Dex’s fingers scrambled around on the floor, searching for the knife that had fallen. Finding it, he grasped it in his hands and stabbed downward, aiming for what he thought was the wolf’s back. Disadvantaged by his blindness, Dex’s aim was thrown off, and the blade sunk into the wolf’s shoulder instead. The blade went in deep, but the pain did nothing to lessen Takoda’s attack.
The wolf sunk his canines into Dex’s shoulder, withdrawing a scream of pain as they ripped through muscles and tendon. Giving a howl of agony, Dex knocked the wolf off of him. The animal’s body flew back from the blow, but it was only a momentary deterrence. Once Dex was back on his feet, he shifted into a fighting stance, willing the wolf to make the first move.
The claw marks on Dex’s face were seeping blood and some of it was in his eyes, nearly blinding him. The torn flesh in his shoulder burned fiercely, making it feel as if it were on fire. Dex uttered a growl of sheer frustration. He was fighting a losing battle, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to go on for very much longer, since the little strength he had left was steadily draining out of him.
Letting out a vicious growl, Takoda charged. Dex dodged out of the way to avoid being attacked again but ended up losing his balance and stumbled down the porch stairs. The wolf landed on top of him, and as his teeth connected with Dex’s neck, they pierced through the flesh like butter. Seeking to shield his jugular from the animal’s teeth, Dex fought wildly to release himself from the beast’s attack.
The wolf’s attack was relentless, and this made it difficult for Dex to free himself, but eventually he managed. A sudden flare of anger allowed him the strength to give a powerful push against the wolf’s chest, kicking him off, but Dex’s freedom didn’t last long. It seemed that only a fraction of a second had passed before the wolf was charging once again, releasing a violent snarl as he threw himself against Dex’s back.
Fighting uselessly against the wolf, Dex released a scream of pain as he felt a pair of razor-sharp teeth sink into the back of his neck. Reaching his arm out toward a large stone in the yard, Dex grasped it tightly in his palm. Swinging his arm backward, Dex slammed the rock against the beast’s head, causing the animal to dislodge his teeth from Dex’s neck.
Not wasting another moment, Dex followed it up with another blow, this time aiming for the wolf’s muzzle. As the hard object collided with the animal’s mouth, it released a sound of furious pain. Stunned by the blunt impact of the large rock, the wolf took a moment to regain its senses and Dex used this to his advantage. Pulling his legs out from beneath the wolf’s body, Dex’s eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, searching for anything which could be used as a weapon. Spotting a pair of gardening shears, Dex unsteadily scrambled towards them, desperate to grab hold of the weapon before the wolf could attack once again. As his hand closed around the handle of the shears, Dex turned onto his side and quickly swung then back, aiming for the wolf’s neck.
As they slashed through the air, the animal sprung out of harm’s way, baring its teeth as it crouched into an attack position and awaited Dex’s next move.
Hurriedly climbing onto his feet, Dex firmly held the shears in his hand, the metal of the blades glinting maliciously in the dim light of the early evening.
Baring its teeth threateningly at Dex, the wolf’s eyes were full of
the utmost malice.
Dex moved clumsily on his feet, limping with every step that he took. The meat of his ankle was slashed, and it caused a great deal of pain to remain on his feet, but he knew if he didn’t that the wolf would surely finish him off.
With his lips peeled back into a sneer, Dex coaxed the wolf forward, daring him to lunge toward the blades in his hand. Remaining in place, the wolf’s eyes flared with anger, carefully watching each step that Dex took. As the wolf’s adversary began to back away from him, the wolf stalked forward, matching each of Dex’s steps with one of his own.
And then suddenly the wolf was running toward Dex, quickly closing the space between them, and just before he reached his adversary, the wolf changed direction, springing out of the way as Dex swung the blades toward him.
Unfortunately, the wolf miscalculated his adversary’s force, and as the sharp blade sunk into the animal’s coat, it yelped in pain, retreating with a vicious snarl.
The blade in Dex’s hand was covered in blood, and as he retreated from the beast, his eyes flashed with rage.
A deep growl tore through the wolf’s throat, his ears flattening as he watched Dex back away away from him.
Dex was nearly a yard away when he maliciously sneered, “This isn’t over.”
Giving a nasty hiss of defeat, he retreated from the wolf and disappeared into the thick brush beyond the yard.
Resisting the urge to follow him, the wolf began to transform, shifting from creature back into the form of a human being.
Rushing up behind him, Lynn embraced him in a tight hug, laying her head against his shoulder as he took her hand in his. The feel of his heartbeat thumping against her skin was more than a welcome relief. She’d seen what a strong and vicious fighter he was, but she’d been terribly worried that one of the knife wounds he’d received would turn out to be fatal.
They held each other for a few minutes straight, just looking into each other’s eyes, and then they shared a deep, tender kiss. Once their lips parted, they both stood up and got onto their feet.
His shirt, pants and underwear lay in a rumpled pile near the side of the porch, so he went over to retrieve them. Once he had them in hand, he tucked them under his arm and took her by the arm, allowing her to lead him into the house.
He put his underwear and pants on, leaving his shirt off so that she could attend to his wound. As she went off to get the first aid kit, he settled onto the couch and released a heavy breath of exhaustion. With the kit in hand, Lynn returned to the living room and placed it upon the coffee table. Then she got to work and began seeing to his injuries.
“Hmmm, this first aid kit is bringing back some fond memories.” He gave her a little smile, then released a hiss as she poured peroxide onto his wound.
Offering a little half smile, her eyes filled with concern as she looked at his torso. The stab mark was dangerously close to his stomach, and she found herself grateful that Dex’s aim hadn’t been better. Once the wound was cleaned and all the blood had been removed, she placed a large gauze square against it, keeping it in place with some medical tape.
She noticed there was a red mark on his neck from where Dex had tried to choke him, and she gingerly stroked the area which was surrounding it.
“It’s fine.” He offered a smile to try and reassure her.
“You sure?”
He nodded, then said, “I can’t tell you how worried I was when I showed up at that bar and found out you’d already left. I was terrified that something bad happened.”
“I knew you would be, but I had to get out of there.” Glancing out of the living room window, she stared out into the thick foliage which bordered upon her backyard. “I saw him at the bar, so he must have followed me here.”
Takoda sighed, releasing some of the tension in his body. “He was at the bar?”
“Yes, that’s the reason why I ended up leaving. He wouldn’t stop bothering me, and I started to get freaked out. Then David showed up and I ended up leaving with him. I’m sorry I scared you, I just didn’t see any other way out of that situation.”
Giving an understanding nod, Takoda replied, “It’s okay, I understand.” Wrapping his hand around her waist, he pulled he
r in closer. “I’m just glad you’re safe again. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I feel awful about that.”
“It’s not your fault, just something that happened.”
“It wasn’t by chance, that creep was stalking you.”
Lying her head upon his chest, she said, “He gives me the creeps. What the hell is he?”
“Well, he’s not one thing, really, but a combination. He has some of the traits of a vampire—strength, speed, and he heals up very quickly, but he’s only at his strongest when he’s feeding off of another’s emotions. He feeds off of fear, mostly.”
“What about pain or anger? Does he feed off of those as well?”
“Most negative emotions give him some sort of power, but he seems to have a special preference for fear. So anger can probably charge him up, too, but only to a certain degree. I didn’t fear him, so he had nothing to feed off of. He was fighting entirely off of the energy he’d received from you. It’s your life force he’s after. He loves the taste of suffering, and if he gets close enough to drink your blood, he’ll drain you to the point where you can’t feel any emotion at all. You’d just be void, and he’d use your body as a vessel for whatever he wanted.”
“So if he has vampire traits such as drinking blood, doesn’t that mean he’d only be able to gain strength from my emotions if he drank from me?”
“Well, no. He can feed off of them to a certain degree, even if he doesn’t drink from you. He just has to be close enough to do it. When he does feed from someone, or even gets just a taste, the power and pleasure he receives is tripled.”
Lynn felt a chill run through her heart. The memory of the night she’d crashed came flooding back to her, and she remembered how he said he’d tasted her. She didn’t know just how much of her blood he’d gotten, but knowing that his lips had been pressed against her skin, drawing nourishment from her body was more than enough to send a shiver of fear throughout her.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Takoda gave her a concerned look, feeling the chill which had run through her body.
“He tried to drink from me once.”
“When was this?” His eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“When I was in that car crash in Seattle, he stopped by the car and saw me bleeding. So I guess he took advantage of the moment and came by to drink from me.”
“So that mark on your chest, is that where he tried to feed from you?”
“Yes.”
A distressed sigh escaped his mouth as he glanced out of the living room window and studied the darkness beyond. “He has to be taken care of, and quickly.”
He had a deep frown on his face, and there was a faraway look in his eyes. Grabbing hold of the edge of his chin, she tilted his head downward so that she could look into his eyes.
“You’ll protect me. I know you will.”
“Of course I will, but I’ll worry whenever you’re away from me, like when you’re at work or go off to run errands. Whenever I’m beside you, he won’t dare come near you, but when there’s distance between us, that’s what I worry about.”
This was true. There was no doubt about it. She knew he would fight to the death for her, but what would happen when they became separated? How would they work around it? She decided to try and not think too heavily about it, as it only made her feel worse.
As if reading her thoughts, Takoda sought to reassure her. “Not to worry, angel. He won’t ever be able to hurt you. I’ll make sure of it.”
Kissing his chest, she softly stroked at a small bruise on his skin.
“You’re coming with me to my house tonight,” he firmly stated.
“Good, because that’s what I want.” She gave him a quick kiss, then said, “I’ll pack an overnight bag and we can get going.” Rising up from the couch, she headed for the bedroom.
Following behind her, he assisted her by bringing all of her toiletries from the bathroom while she threw a change of clothes and underwear into a large travel bag. Once she was all packed, she threw on a jacket and they exited the house.
He opened the door for her and saw that she got safely inside first. Then he walked around to the driver’s door and got in. After starting up the engine, Takoda put the car in gear and they drove off into the night.
* * * *
As the truck wound along the tree-lined roads, Lynn sleepily glanced out of the window. The drive to his house didn’t take very long, but she’d had a very trying night, so she was eager to get to his place.
The car made a turn down a small road called Yellowstone Way, and then they turned into a driveway, coming to a stop in front of his house. He gave her cheek a gentle stroke and then placed a tender kiss upon her lips.
“We’re home.”
Giving him a little smile, she released a yawn and grabbed her purse. As she opened the door and stepped out, she found that the atmosphere around them was peaceful and relaxing. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the call of an owl hooting, and the soft sigh of a breeze rustled through the trees. Filled with a sense of serenity, Lynn already felt at home with the place, and couldn’t wait to see what the inside of his house looked like.
It was a two-story home, with a woodsy look which was designed to be surrounded by and blend in with the natural surroundings. It had a nice rustic look to it, and there were plenty of large trees and lots of thick vegetation all around. As far as Lynn could see, Takoda didn’t really seem to have any neighbors close by, but she liked the fact that it was secluded. It made her feel like they had their own cozy little hideaway. It seemed just perfect, and after the tumultuous evening they’d experienced, she wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night surrounded by peace and quiet.
With her overnight bag in tow, Takoda led her up the walkway and toward the front of the door. Once he unlocked it, he let her walk in first, then hit the light switch on the wall. Lynn continued down the hallway until she reached the spacious living room, which had a beautifully crafted stone fireplace and large bay windows. They were nearly floor to ceiling in length, and completely bare of curtains. The spacious windows gave the room a wonderfully uninhibited feel, and they also provided an excellent view of the backyard, which was thick with birch and aspen trees. A black floor lamp was placed in one corner of the room, throwing off soft lighting. There was also a comfy-looking couch and a rustic-looking coffee table which was placed right in front of it. As Takoda came up behind her, she felt him encircle his arms around her hips.
“So what do you think? Can you see yourself spending a lot of time here?”
With a nod of her head she replied, “Yeah, it’s really nice. I really like it here. It’s very peaceful.”
“Yeah, it is. Can you believe this place used to be abandoned?”
“Really?” Her eyes roved around the interior as she tried to imagine how different it must have looked.
“Yep. I was working for a client about five years ago, and they lived not too far from this area. I happened to find this house by mistake, just driving through the area trying to find my way around, and I happened to stumble upon this house. It was an old, derelict structure, and it was still in pretty decent shape, but the interior was pretty much gutted. So I teamed up with a friend of mine, and he helped me to renovate it. It took a lot of work but we managed to spruce it up. He’s an electrician, so he helped me wire everything up and get the electricity working. Then we painted it and finally it was livable.”
“Wow, well I certainly can see you’ve put a lot of hard work into the place. It’s really nice.”
“Thanks, and the great thing about living out here is that it’s secluded. There aren’t many other houses around, so it gives us plenty of privacy.”
His lips pressed against the area right behind her ear, and she felt a delicious shiver run up her spine. She loved it when he kissed her there, as it was one of her most sensitive spots.
The interior of the house was a little rough around the edges, as the windows were dusty and there was
a lack of matching furniture, but overall it didn’t look bad at all. Like any bachelor’s home, she figured it could use a woman’s touch, but she wasn’t in a hurry to make any changes. She liked the way his house looked. It was so perfectly him.
Something on the mantle of the fireplace caught her eye, so she walked over to get a closer look. A framed photo of a woman and man was on display, and as she studied the photo she saw they were gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes.
“Is this your mom and dad?”
“Yep, that’s them.” He glanced fondly at the picture.
“She was beautiful.”
“Yes, she was. She was a wonderful person, and I really wish you could have met her.”
“So do I.” Looking at the face of Takoda’s father, she said, “You look a lot like your dad.” Takoda’s lips pulled back into a grin. “Yeah, that’s what I hear. Guess I lucked out then.” He gave her a little wink.
She set the picture down and was about to walk away from the mantle when her foot hit something. Lowering her gaze to the floor, she came upon the sight of a bucket of water with a sponge floating in it.
Giving her a sheepish grin, Takoda reached down to remove it. “Sorry about that, I thought I’d had everything cleared up.”
He placed the bucket in a closet by the front door, then came back into the living room.
“I was hoping you’d stop by after you got off work, so I decided to clean the house just in case. Not sure how good of a job I did, though.” Dragging the tip of his finger across the mantle, he saw that it was thick with dust.
“Actually it looks like you did a pretty darn good job.” Rising up onto the balls of her feet, she leaned in to give him a quick peck upon the lips.