The loud sound grated on his ears and Ryan moved quickly to silence her, pulling her across his legs and placing a firm hand against her mouth. He felt the sharp sting of her teeth as she bit him hard, trying to get him to remove his hand but he didn’t move. “Chloe don’t fight me.”
Like hell would I not fight you. Her mind muttered rebelliously.
“If I take my hand away will you promise not to scream?” His voice was calm as though her teeth didn’t have a death grip on the skin of his palm. She nodded meekly, all the while planning to go against his order as soon as she was free. “Chloe,” his voice rumbled through his chest angrily. “Don’t lie. I can smell it all over you. I don’t like it. Mates don’t willingly lie to each other. Now I ask you again, will you scream?”
How did he know? Her mind demanded, her gaze riveted to his face. Maybe I can persuade him to leave. He hasn’t done anything to hurt me yet. Maybe I can talk him into just leaving. She shook her head and his hand left her mouth.
She tried to pull away from his grip but he was too strong and wouldn’t let her leave the seat he had made for her on his lap. She sighed, resigning herself to being there. He examined his hand for a moment and she smiled in satisfaction when she saw the deep indents her teeth had made in his skin. The smug feeling was short lived as she watched in shocked horror as the skin filled out within seconds and was soon as perfect as it had been before she had bitten him.
Her intention of convincing him to leave never even got off the ground as Ryan began questioning her. “Chloe love, why, when I told you what I am, did you think that I’d been hired by a member of your family? Remember to answer me honestly, I can tell if you lie and like I said I don’t like it.”
She gulped, her mind vacillating between lying and telling the truth. After taking another glance at his powerful body she decided that she should tell the truth. There was no way she could be sure that he couldn’t tell if she were lying, many people made their professions out of being able to do just that. She decided that under the circumstances her family would want her to put her own safety before the need to give them their privacy. “My family are obsessed with werewolves,” she admitted quietly. “They used to try and convince me that they were real, play tricks on me and the like. I thought they had grown out of it because they stopped asking me to believe them. They go on their hunting trips, just the four of them, looking for werewolves, when it’s obvious to anyone with a brain that they don’t exist. They know I think it’s ridiculous but they go anyway, for days at a time sometimes and that’s fine. When you said you were a werewolf I just thought one of my brothers was playing a joke on me.” I’m still hoping that it’s some sort of weird prank.
“Hunters?”
The word was a venomous hiss that shocked Chloe to her core. How one word could be filled with such anger and hatred she didn’t know but she was scared. His hands began to move against her, pulling the sheet from her tight grip. She instinctively fought him but he growled, “Stop moving.” His voice was so intense that for fear of her life, she did as he asked, her struggles ceasing. He pulled her neck to the side exposing the vulnerable column to his gaze. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but as he tenderly righted it, his fingers lingering against her skin, she assumed he hadn’t found it. “Your family, do they bear a mark on their necks? A bullet with the words ‘for the wolf’ etched onto it?” He asked the question so angrily that the response caught in her throat. “Answer me Chloe.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His eyes transformed from a soft brown to a wild amber she had only ever seen in animals. Her heart jumped in her chest as fear returned. He moved her off him and began pacing the area in front of the door. His movements reminding her increasingly of a crazed animal, she was afraid to move in case he turned on her and so sat silently waiting for him to calm, wishing more than ever that she kept heavy blunt objects in her bedroom.
Hunters? Ryan’s mind spat. My mate is related to hunters? How is this possible? This can’t be happening.
She’s still our mate Ryan. Ours. It doesn’t matter who her family is, she’s ours.
She doesn’t believe that werewolves exist. His mind reminded him of her blissfully bare neck. She doesn’t have the hunters’ mark. She’s innocent and she’s mine.
Yes Ryan, never forget that. She belongs with us.
I’ll take her from them. She doesn’t need to be polluted by the venom they have likely told her. I’ll immerse her in the clans and we’ll be happy. She doesn’t need family members like those monsters. Yes, this is what’s for the best. “Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“I know that you don’t think that werewolves exist but we do. I’m a werewolf and your family hunt my people. I can’t have you stay here with them. I won’t allow it.”
“What are you going to do to me? Are you going to kill me?” she sobbed.
He rushed to her side, gathering her in his arms. “I’ll never hurt you. Never. You’re my mate. It’s you and I together for eternity. I’m not going to hurt you but like I said you can’t stay here. We’re going back to my home where it’s safe.”
“And if I say I won’t go with you?”
His lips formed into a thin line at the very idea that she would refuse his request, preferring to stay with the murderers that likely made up her family. “You don’t get a say in the matter.”
“You realise what you’re planning is illegal, it’s called kidnapping.”
“I’m well aware of that. It’s how my cousin and his mate ended up together but I won’t make the same mistake that he did. I want you to pack, so that you have what’s important to you.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” she informed him stubbornly.
“Chloe, love, don’t be difficult.”
“I’m not your love,” she snapped.
That’s what you think. “Chloe, you either pack for yourself or I do it for you but I won’t know what’s important.”
She folded her hands across her chest and looked him directly in the eye, stubbornness embossed upon her features. “I’m not going to play an active part in my kidnapping.”
“Fine, if that’s going to be your attitude then we’ll just have to do things the hard way.” There was nothing overtly threatening in his statement but her body shivered nonetheless.
What exactly is he planning?
Chapter Four
Ryan’s eyes scanned the room until he found a suitcase on top of her wardrobe. It was of an average size, not so small that he could only pack enough for a few days and not so large that it seemed they would never be coming back. Pulling the suitcase down from its high perch, he placed it on the bed beside Chloe before proceeding to open her drawers and wardrobe.
“Chloe, I know that this may be difficult for you, things like this don’t happen in the human world. Normally you would date a person for a long time before deciding that they were the right one, but that isn’t how things work in my world.” He began moving about the room, randomly grabbing items from the drawers and throwing them into the case. “You’re my mate, it’s like your word for wife but so much more. There’s only ever one mate for each male, one in an immortal lifetime. When I first smelt you I knew that you were the one and in time you will grow to love me. I know it.”
“Like that would ever happen,” she scoffed.
He stopped packing for a moment to cup her cheek and force her to look at him. “It will happen Chloe. We’re meant to be together. There’s no way to divorce your mate because they are perfect for you. If both people try then there’s no limit to the happiness that waits for them. I’m willing to try and that means we’re half way there. I won’t hurt you Chloe; I’ll make you happy. Trust me.”
“I don’t know you to trust you. All I know is that you broke into my house and are planning to kidnap me probably so that you can rape me and dump my body in a river or something.”
“I’ve already said I won’t hurt you.” Why wou
ld she say something like that? Rape her? Kill her? Never, I would never do that to her.
“Well excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“What will it take to get you to trust me?” he demanded.
“Get out of my house, let me go to my family and tell them what happened. Maybe then I’ll believe that you aren’t some crazy psycho out to kill me.”
“I won’t let you go back to them. You don’t know what they are.”
“They don’t claim to be self professed monsters. They’re my family.”
“I’m not a monster Chloe,” he argued. She turned her face away from him and he growled before returning to his packing. “Silly woman,” he muttered under his breath. “Why must she make things so difficult?”
Watching Ryan move around her room, rummaging through her private things Chloe kept her eye trained on him as she crept towards the edge of the bed. Her movements were slow, her aim to be as stealthy as possible as she moved towards the door, hoping to take advantage of the distraction provided by his desire to pack her things. Her feet touched the wooden floor without him noticing and she breathed a sigh of relief when he continued to pack. But as soon as she stood, he was standing directly in front of her his expression sad. She was unprepared for the ache that arose in her chest at the almost distraught demeanour he was projecting, so different from the arrogant manner he had projected moments before.
“Do you really think I’m a monster Chloe?”
“I don’t believe in werewolves so I don’t think of you as a monster in that sense, but there are plenty of different types of monster in the world and you could definitely be one of those.”
“I’m not,” he stated simply. “It’s my responsibility to protect you from those kinds of monsters. No one will ever hurt you so long as I live. I swear it Chloe.”
His voice was so sincere that under different circumstances she might have believed him but their circumstances weren’t different. He was still a stranger intent on abducting her from her home with unknown intentions. “I don’t need you or anyone else for that matter to take care of me. I can protect myself.”
“Really? So that’s why I managed to break in here with such ease? This place isn’t secure, even if your family weren’t who they are I would still insist that you come back with me.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” she shouted, angry at his presumption that she couldn’t care for her safety. She had thought that she had grown out of her impulsive and often violent streak but she reacted as she had done when she was younger and her brothers had said similar things. She lifted her leg and kneed him hard in the groin. Ryan grunted as he fell forward, cupping himself. Chloe remained rooted to the spot for a moment as shock filled her before she sprung into action.
Running past him, she sprinted to the living room and pulled open the front door. Just as she thought she would be able to make her escape, the door slammed shut. A large hand rested against the thick wood and she didn’t have to turn around to know exactly who was behind her, she could feel his heat radiating from him. Nevertheless, she turned to face him, staring defiantly into his amber eyes. His jaw was clenched tight in anger. When he lifted his hand from the door, she flinched expecting him to hit her. He growled, displeased by her reaction. Hadn’t he told her he wouldn’t harm her? His hand shackled her wrist and they walked back to her bedroom, she noted with a sense of twisted satisfaction that he was limping.
“Chloe, never do that again.”
“I’m sorry,” she began, her tone sarcastic. “It was an instinctive response to someone who’s trying to kidnap me. Are you going to hurt me?”
“Whatever you do won’t change my willingness to protect you. I would lay down my life for yours, a little thing like that isn’t going to change my mind about taking you from here. And no, I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve said that several times already. But this move is happening.”
“You can’t possibly think that you’re going to get away with this. I have neighbours that will know I’m missing; a job that will wonder where I am; family and friends who will come looking for me. This is insane.”
She’s right, he mused. People will notice if I just take her away.
You aren’t thinking about changing your mind are you Ryan?
No, it just means that there are other things I need to do. “Sit down Chloe. I agree that you’re right, if I don’t tell people that you’re missing they might come looking for you. They wouldn’t find you obviously, but it might make you less willing to settle into our new life if you keep hoping to escape me.”
She moved to sit back on the bed, her eyes trained on him once more. “Ryan…”
He cut her off. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and instantly called his brother. Sebastian answered the phone quickly and Ryan immediately got down to the crux of the matter. “Sebastian, do you remember a while ago when I helped you with Erica, I said you’d owe me a favour? I’m calling to collect.”
“What is it?”
“This a no questions asked favour remember and I have two of them.”
“Right, no questions.”
“There’s a woman in San Francisco called Chloe…Chloe…” He looked at her expectantly but she remained silent. In the face of her defiance he moved into the living room and brought her bag back to the bedroom. Searching inside its depths, he found her purse and a driver’s license with all the necessary details to complete his plan. “Her name is Chloe Evans. Have you got that?”
“Yes.”
“Find her address and her place of work. I want you to pay up the rent on her apartment and tell the landlord that she has moved on to bigger and better pastures. I want you to move all the things in the apartment back to the clan and finally I want you to hand in a letter of resignation for her work. Don’t worry about her family, I’ll tell you all about them later ok?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“I want it done as soon as possible Sebastian.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“You can’t do that,” Chloe spluttered. “No one will believe that. They don’t even know you, how can you expect anyone to just believe what you’re planning to do? They won’t, I know they won’t. They’ll come looking for me.”
Ryan smiled at her, confident in his plan. “I’ll do whatever I have to to keep you with me Chloe, it’s best you understand that right now. And I have the power to get people to do whatever I want them to. Sebastian, I’m leaving her driver’s license on the table in her living room, have someone forge her signature as and when necessary.”
“Right.”
“It’ll take me a little longer to get home than it normally would I have to drive back,” he remarked casually.
“I understand.”
Chloe stood from the bed, rushed to his side and pulled the phone from his grip. “This is aiding and abetting a crime. You can’t do this,” she screamed at Ryan’s unknown assistant.
The man’s voice was calm, tranquil as he spoke. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help my brother, just as there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for me as he has proved time and time again. Judging from the instructions I’ve been given I’m going to assume that you’re Chloe, his mate.”
“I’m not his anything!”
“Don’t worry my little sister in law, we’ll take good care of you when you get here. Would you mind giving the phone back to Ryan please?”
Ryan’s brother’s tone had been calm, polite even as he had told her that he was willingly participating in a crime and it only served to anger her further. “Aargh!” she screamed thrusting the phone back in his direction. “You’re all crazy. I’m not going to just go along with this.”
“You don’t have to do anything love, all you need to do is let me take care of you. Thanks for doing this for me Sebastian.”
“After all you did helping me claim Erica, it’s the least I can do.”
Ryan ended the ca
ll and turned his attention back to his angry mate. “I’m doing this for both of us Chloe, we’ll be happy together.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“The instinct is never wrong,” he answered simply. “Get dressed Chloe, it’s cold outside, I don’t want you getting sick. You’re a gift that has been given to me and I intend to make sure you’re well looked after.”
“No,” her tone was stubborn and Ryan scowled in disapproval.
“Chloe, I told you to get dressed.”
“I have no reason to listen to you!” she screamed. Someone has got to hear me, please anybody help me.
“I’m your mate, there is no better reason.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about! I’m not your mate whatever that is, please just leave.”
“Never,” the intensity of that single word frightened her and her heart began to race as she looked into his once again amber eyes. He moved towards her and she instinctively took a step back, self preservation instincts coming to life. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was trying to preserve herself against, he hadn’t once been violent towards her even though she had given him reason several times but he was definitely a threat to her in some way. “Will you get dressed Chloe?”
“No,” she whispered.
A smile crept onto his face. “Fine.” He reached for a simple thin strapped dress that was lying on top of the haphazard pile of clothes in her suitcase. He moved so fast that she couldn’t keep track of him. One second she was wearing her chemise and the next she was naked. She gasped, struggling to hide her nudity with her hands. His amber eyes seemed to glow but he didn’t move again.
Beautiful, his mind whispered, struggling to suppress the surge of animalistic lust that threatened to overwhelm him and have him pin her to the bed and claim her as his own.
She’s ours, what does it matter if we claim her now or later?
We can’t do that, she wouldn’t be willing to accept us. We can’t force her and besides, you know it’s impossible for us to do that. She’s human, the instinct wouldn’t allow it. There are certain things that need to be done properly and this is one of them.
A Wolf's Pride Page 3