Her hands became paws, and fur snaked up her arms as her clothes disappeared. Red and white dots floated around her vision, making it harder to see anything, and the noise in her ears was deafening. She didn’t know what was causing the noise, but it was hurting her ears and head.
But that was the least of her worries. The pain intensified to the point where she couldn’t take it anymore, and she passed out. The last thing she saw before darkness enveloped her, was him smirking at her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
It took longer than he would have liked, but Connor eventually managed to make it passed the demons.
Once through the door, he didn’t come across any resistance as he checked each room leading off the long corridor. Room after room was empty. He found the one Anya had been kept in, but she was no longer here. It was a dank room with nothing in it except a metal bed with a manky looking mattress on top.
Connor was ready to kill the person responsible for hold Anya captive as he saw the chains still hanging off the bed. Picturing her restrained by her hands and feet sent rage flaring inside him.
The little light that entered the room was from one of the few windows he wasn’t able to see through from the outside, because it was higher up than the rest. Thick metal bars blocked any escape from the inside, which he wasn’t able to see from looking at the building. Not that anyone would fit through even if they could reach it.
Moving on to the next room, he came up empty again, but the one after that was used as an office. He took a mental note to send one of the others to this room later on. Hopefully they would come across something that’ll help them track down the culprit if they managed to get away.
Not that he was planning on letting them get away, but since there was still no sign of them, he didn’t hold out much hope of them being dealt with immediately. Connor didn’t want to wait for retribution, but he wasn’t going to chase after them if Anya needed him to stay with her. And until he found her, he didn’t know what state she was going to be in.
His heart sank as he entered the next room. His mind telling him his worst fear has come to pass. The metallic smell of blood hit him as soon as he opened the door. He knew instantly he was in the right room, her scent was mingled with the smell of blood.
Connor swung the door open wide, giving him full view of the room. Right in the center of the room was an operating table with a large wolf laying on top. Fur the same colour as Anya’s hair covered the animal. Such a beautiful strawberry colour marred by the deep red of blood.
There was no doubt in Connor’s mind that this wolf was Anya. She truly had been turned into a wolf shifter. But the question was, did she survive the transformation?
Connor walked over to her. He noticed the straps holding her down, they dug into her slim body and her fur was ruffled where she’s moved around after they were put on.
At first Connor thought he was too late and that she was dead, until he saw the slightest rise and fall of her chest. Rushing over to her, he pulled off his shirt and ripped it into strips.
Searching for where she was bleeding from, he wrapped his torn shirt around the wounds he could easily get to, trying to stem the bleeding. Then he started removing the straps.
By the time Connor had finished undoing all the straps holding Anya down, Rush was just entering the room.
“Is she okay?” he asked as he joined Connor.
“I don’t know.” He said as he wrapped the last of her wounds.
“Did you see who took her?”
“No, they were long gone by the time I got in here.” Which was a shame, Connor was looking forward to getting his hands on them, but that’ll have to wait for another day.
“I take it the demons are no more.”
“I wouldn’t be in here with you if they were still alive.”
Connor thought as much. It wasn’t like Rush to leave his people to fight alone, even if they could take care of themselves. But that was the responsibility the Alpha took on himself.
Anya was going to need him now, to support her and guide her as she learned all about being a shifter.
He still couldn’t get over the fact she was a wolf. Even looking at her in her wolf form it still amazed him that it was even possible.
“She’ll be okay.” Rush assured him.
“Do you think so?”
“She’s got you to look out for her now. I’d like to see anyone try and get to her again.”
“That’s if she’ll forgive me.” He said solemnly.
“Why? What did you do?”
“I didn’t treat her very well before she left. I think that’s why she went in the first place.”
“You don’t know that. It could be something else. You said Balzar turned up at yours in dragon form, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“So, it could be that. I’m sure seeing a dragon for the first time in real life will send any sane person running. Especially if they spent their entire lives believing they were just a fairytale.”
“True.” He agreed.
“So, don’t be so hard on yourself. You may be worrying over nothing.”
Connor knew that Rush was right, but that didn’t stop the worry from building inside him. The last thing he wanted was to lose her now that he’s finally got her back, but he would accept her wishes if she chose never to see him again.
Sliding his arms under her body, Connor lifted her up and held her tight against his chest as he carried her out of the room.
When he entered the large store room, he looked around at all the dead bodies carpeting the floor. He was grateful someone had cleared a space for him to walk through without having to stand on all the bodies.
“Is she okay?” Myra asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Where’s Sasha?” Rush asked.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen her since the fighting stopped.” Myra said.
“Anyone else seen her?” he asked the others., but none of them have seen her since then either.
“She’s probably gone home now it’s over.” Aidan said.
“Yeah, maybe.” Rush didn’t sound convinced and neither was Connor.
There was no way Sasha would have gone anywhere without making sure Anya was safe first.
As much as he wanted to make sure Sasha was okay, his only priority at the moment was Anya. He would find Sasha later, that’s if she didn’t just turn up again on her own. But he would do it with Anya by his side so he could keep her safe and with him.
***
Kassadi left long before the fight was over, but she didn’t go far. Stood out of sight, and down wind, she watched as Connor carried Anya out of the warehouse. He held her like she was precious cargo that could break any second.
Kassadi couldn’t tear her eyes away from them. The way he looked at her with concern for her wellbeing and apprehension for the future, but mostly because of the love she saw shining in his eyes.
She longed for someone to look at her like that, but it wasn’t in her cards to have a happily ever after. She knew that, had accepted it years ago, but it didn’t stop her heart from yearning for it.
Pushing away those negative thoughts, she returned to the task at hand. She was waiting for the building to empty so she could search for the item he promised to give her. Just in case it was in there somewhere, she didn’t want to leave without checking first, because she didn’t plan on returning.
No matter what he promised her, she wasn’t going to do another thing for him. She didn’t want to see him ever again. She should have listened to her instincts from the very beginning. She knew he was lying, but she was desperate so she ignored her reservations about him on the off chance he had what she needed.
Wanting to get as far from here as quickly as possible, as soon as the building was clear she rushed in. Going through the rooms one by one as fast as she could just in case anyone returned.
By the time she finished searching every inch of the building, she wa
s fuming. He had been lying to her the whole time. The thing she was looking for wasn’t here. Yes, he could have taken it with him, but the more likely explanation was that he didn’t have it to begin with.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Anya knew where she was without having to open her eyes. Connor’s scent surrounded her, making her feel safe again. Considering she barely knew him, it wasn’t what she would have expected, especially after the way he treated her before she ran away. But it did, and she welcomed the feeling with open arms.
“How long have I been out this time?” She asked sleepily.
“Two days.” Came Connor’s reply in that deep sexy voice of his.
Anya groaned. How much time has she lost in total now? One week? Two? Anya didn’t think she wanted to know the answer, but she was positive with all the time that’s passed without her work place hearing from her, even just to phone in sick, she was bound to have lost her job. And no doubt her apartment as well, because without a job, she couldn’t afford to stay there even with the cheaper rent that she pays.
“Are you okay? Are you in any pain? Do you need anything?” he asked, concern lacing his words.
It was sweet of him to ask, but unless he could help her to save her job and home, there wasn’t really much he could do.
“Apart from being jobless, and more than likely homeless as well, I feel great.” Which surprisingly she did feel great.
After all the pain from the other night, she thought she would wake up in agony still. But there was nothing, not even the normal aches and pains from sleeping too long.
“You’re not homeless.” He said out of the blue.
“How would you know? Have you spoken to my landlord?” she asked.
“No, but I was kind of hoping you would stay here, with me.” He said nervously.
That made her open her eyes and sit up faster than she probably should have. It took a moment for her head to stop spinning with the sudden movement before she asked, “What?” Unsure if she heard him right the first time.
Instead of repeating himself, he said, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. If you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you.”
“Connor…”
“You don’t have to answer now. Take some time, think about it first…”
“I don’t have to think about it.” She told him honestly. And she truly didn’t need to think about it. If anything, the last few days, or weeks had shown her that life is too short, and she didn’t want to waste another moment hiding from life. Especially not because of a worthless piece of shit like her ex.
Taking her words as a bad sign, Connor lowered his head and stood to leave. “I understand.” He said. “You can stay as long as you…”
“I don’t think you do understand.” She interrupted him again, shaking her head. “Connor, look at me.” When he did, she said, “Yes.”
Now it was Connor’s turn to say, “What?”
Smiling from ear to ear, Anya said, “Yes, Connor, yes a thousand times.”
“You’ll stay?” he asked.
Anya leapt out of bed and threw herself in his arms. “Yes.”
Holding her tight against his body, he said, “I promise you won’t regret it.” Then, leaning down, he took possession of her mouth in a fiery kiss that made her toes curl into the carpet.
Breaking the kiss, Anya looked into Connor’s eyes and said, “Did I really see a dragon in your garden?”
Laughing, Connor nodded, “Yes, you did.”
“I didn’t think I was dreaming that.”
“No, it wasn’t a dream. He disobeyed orders by coming here.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because you weren’t supposed to know about us.”
“What? Can you turn into a dragon as well?”
“No.” He laughed again. “I’m a wolf, just like you.”
So, she hadn’t imagined that either. Life was certainly more interesting since she met Connor. Anya knew she had a lot to learn, but she was looking forward to learning about her new life with Connor right by her side.
She didn’t care about the past anymore, all she cared about was the future, and a future with the man of her dreams? Now, that was something to look forward to.
Epilogue
He was fuming with the witch. If he ever laid eyes on her again, he was going to rip her to pieces. He knew she had something to do with the shifters finding them, he just couldn’t prove it. Not yet anyway.
If it wasn’t for his backup plan, they probably would have caught him. Luckily for him, he didn’t keep all his eggs in one basket. So, he was able to get away without anyone, except Anya, from seeing his true identity.
They may have thwarted his plans this time, but he wasn’t going to let them get in his way again. No, nobody was going to intervene with his plans from here on out. Especially not the wolf shifters.
***
Sasha paced the small cage she woke up in. She didn’t know how the hell she got here. The last thing she remembered, was fighting alongside the wolf shifters as they battled a horde of demons while trying to reach Anya.
She still didn’t know if Anya was okay, or if she was safely back in the shifter realm where she now belonged. Sasha couldn’t wait to see her in her wolf form. She bet with all that beautiful strawberry blonde hair she was a magnificent looking animal.
That was going to have to wait until she was able to escape this god-awful cell, with its sticky floor and rotten corpse aroma.
She didn’t know who put her in here, but Goddess help whoever it was that thought to trap her, because when she did escape, she was going to track them down and make them suffer for all eternity.
First things first though, she needed her magic back.
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