Tortured Soul

by Julia Laque

  Inhaling a sharp breath, she said, “You’re Adam Perez, leader of the Blacktail pack.” Her voice was soft and forlorn.

  He turned, his eyes wide.

  Evangeline lifted her hand slowly and pointed to the back of her neck. “I know the alpha of the Blacktails carries the moon tattoo on the back of the neck.” The other Blacktail fighters had the same tattoo, but on the inside of their forearm.

  He had the decency to look ashamed.

  Evangeline felt a surge of regret run through her and bent her head to glower at the bed cover. She’d read books on the history of the Blacktail pack. They’d settled in Illinois in the seventeenth century. Adam Perez was the descendent of Xavier Perez who’d come from Mexico after the Civil War and married the Blacktail leader’s daughter. She shook her head slowly, baffled. “What are you doing?” she pleaded. Her voice was strained. “You have a solid reputation in this town. Why would you do this?”

  Settling his hands on his hips, he looked away and said, “You don’t understand—”

  “You could have gone to the police, the magister, Maxwell Jones.” she began, looking around the room as if their surroundings could supply an answer for him.

  “Don’t be naïve. You have no idea what’s going on here,” he snapped.

  She let out a breath and looked away, feeling utterly stupid for envying these creatures all her life. “My whole life I’ve wanted to meet a supernatural… today I meet two and I am completely disgusted.”

  “What?” he snapped. “Today?” His forehead creased as he stared at her. “What do you mean? You’re engaged to a vampire.” Adam stepped closer to the bed, but this time she didn’t budge. She didn’t think the alpha of the notorious Blacktail pack would do her physical harm, but to be sure, she’d taken stock of the room and the lamp just two feet away from her on the nightstand looked heavy enough to do some damage should he try anything.

  “Perhaps you should have done better research, Blacktail.” She didn’t care her voice sounded mocking. “The king and I just met tonight. If you want your sister back, I suggest you kidnap someone else, because I doubt the king will give you one penny for me. So, either let me go or kill me and be done with it.”

  ****

  His phone rang loud and she jumped at the sound.

  They were both staring at each other intensely, each one lost in their own thoughts. Without breaking his gaze, Adam reached into his jean pocket for his cell and pressed the send button on his smartphone.

  “Yeah?”

  Evangeline watched him closely. He tried to focus on what Jason was saying, but it was difficult when he was standing so close to her.

  “A what? In these woods? What the…”

  Jason’s voice rambled on about a jackal. He must have been mistaken.

  “Ignore it. I have no idea how it got here, but if it gives you trouble, kill it.” He hung up.

  He put his phone back in his pocket as he tried to absorb what Evangeline just revealed to him. He was feeling a mixture of confusion, shame and lust at the moment and it was wreaking havoc on his brain. She was disappointed in him. Why the hell did he care?

  “You just met Cyrus Stewart tonight?”

  She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Yesterday, yes.” She was oddly composed now.

  His face disgusted, he asked, “Why the hell are you marrying a vampire you just met?” He didn’t know why this made him angry, but someone as beautiful as she was, who came from, apparently, a good upbringing should not be marrying a murdering stiff like Cyrus Stewart.

  “That’s none of your business.” She looked away from him, her eyes growing moist.

  “Did he threaten you? Is he forcing this on you?” He was closer to her now, his instincts telling him this woman needed protection.

  Evangeline gave him a disparaging look. “What the hell do you care? You took me from my home in the middle of the night and locked me in a room in the woods.”

  He had no response and just stared at the broccoli bag on the bed.

  “It doesn’t matter why I’m marrying him. The fact is, your plan is not going to work, so you’re going to have to think of some other way to get your sister back.”

  She was wrong. There was no way the king would let him get away with kidnapping her. Cyrus chose Evangeline to stand by his side as his wife. He was obviously affected by her. How could he not be?

  Evangeline stroked her left wrist absently. The sight of two small puncture marks caught his eye. His reaction was instant.

  Adam lurched forward and grabbed her arm with a growl. She shrieked, pulling back away from him as she stared, wild eyed. “HE BIT YOU?” Adam snarled, chest heaving with anger. He pictured the slimy fuck sinking his teeth into her porcelain skin and an uncontrollable rage engulfed him.

  He barely noticed the look of fright in her eyes. She didn’t move, too alarmed at his imposing height hovering over her and his vise-like grip on her arm.

  “It’s tradition,” she whispered.

  He looked down again at the marks on her wrist, just half an inch over her vein and his vision shifted. Adam felt his eyes turn yellow and his irises change shape.

  Evangeline’s quick intake of breath snapped him out of it. He felt her emotions seep through him. She was shaking, panicking for sure now. “If you’re going to phase, please let me go.”

  Adam dropped her hand with a jerk and backed up.

  He was so stupid. How could he not think the king would drink from his fiancé? “If he fed from you, he would have felt you were in trouble. He would have been here by now. You can’t tell me he doesn’t care. I know he does.” Adam was standing with both fists clenched at his sides, his eyes still burning with rage.

  Evangeline covered the marks with her hand. “He didn’t drink from me. Not yet. He only broke the skin. I wasn’t…ready…”

  She was scared again, but not of him. Her fear stemmed from the bastard who was obviously forcing her into a marriage she did not want.

  Anger spiked through his entire body and the need to kill was overwhelming.

  He had to get out of the room before he broke something. “Go to bed. I’ll wake you early to call your father.” And without another glance, he stepped out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

  Chapter Seven

  She had to get out of here.

  Clearly the Blacktail alpha was unstable. For an instant she’d believed he wouldn’t hurt her and she’d actually been honest with him, but when he grabbed her… Why did he react that way? He must have been nervous Cyrus would come after her because of the blood bond. For a second she wanted to kick herself for not letting Cyrus drink from her, but she dropped the thought the instant it came. If the king had come after her, he would only hold her captive in his coven sooner rather than later.

  Her life was no longer her own. She was trapped, no matter what happened.

  Not knowing what was in store for her was driving her crazy. Sure, she wasn’t in a rush to become his wife, but she still had…God…she had no idea when they were supposed to be married. All she knew was she needed to escape and return to some semblance of her life before she became Mrs. Stewart. Ugh!

  Evangeline walked over to the window and examined the bars. She leaned down and opened the window slowly and as quietly as she could. There were six vertical bars screwed into two panels on the outside of the window. She guessed they were put in recently as there was no sign of rusting or dust of any kind.

  Evangeline reached her slim arm through two of them and felt around the bottom of the outside window. She was right. There were three screws on the bottom panel and another three at the top.

  She jumped up, searching the room for anything thin and sharp. There was a corner dresser on the far side of the room and she ran toward it rummaging through the drawers. There was nothing but sheets, sweaters, a few t-shirts and… a small travel toiletry bag. She grabbed the bag and unzipped it.

  “Yes!” she hissed, finding nail clippers along w
ith creams and an array of other travel items.

  She ran back to the window and reached her arm through. Her fingers found the tiny cross at the head of the screw and began working the file device on the clippers. It took some time, but she managed to unscrew the first one. When she was on the third screw, she jumped at a sound in the cabin and nearly dropped the clippers outside. It dangled between her index and middle finger and she had to slip her other arm through before it fell.

  Frozen for a moment, she held her breath to listen to what the Blacktail might be doing. It was completely quiet. She hoped to God he was asleep and finished her work on the third screw at the bottom of the window.

  Pulling the last one out, she dropped the screw on the ground with her free hand and brought her arms back in to test her work. Pushing slowly on the bars, now connected only on the base at the top of the windowsill, she moved it outward with ease.

  She’d done it. She was free.

  Evangeline slipped the clippers in the band of her yoga pants, thinking the sharp little blade may come in handy should she run into trouble, and as quietly as she could, angled both legs over the windowsill while still hanging on to the bars with one hand. The hard part was jumping off the sill while holding on to the bars so they didn’t slam against the window. Leaping onto the ground, she managed, but not without banging her elbow. She bit down hard, trying desperately not to scream at the pain.

  When her feet were planted on the grass outside, she gently let go of the bars and ran like hell.

  Trees and brush of every kind filled the woods. Trying hard to muffle the sound of her footfalls, Evangeline focused ahead of her, straining to hear anyone or anything in the vicinity. She had no idea where she was going, but there was bound to be a road or path somewhere.

  There was a shout behind her. “HEY!”

  Evangeline made her legs move faster. Her feet were getting cut on the ground, but she ran on. There was no way she could out run a werewolf, but by God, she would try. Turning her head to determine how close he was, her foot caught in a tangle of weeds. She screamed in pain as she fell face first onto the ground.

  Feeling utterly stupid, Evangeline placed both her aching hands on the ground to push herself up.

  The growl in front of her froze her in place. Every single hair on her body stood on end as she slowly raised her head. Her eyes fixed on the long, gray snout first, then the slanted eyes up to the pointed ears that appeared to go on forever. Her body never convulsed so hard in her life.

  This was no wolf, and no werewolf. Werewolves were man-shaped wolves. This gray creature was a freaking jackal, three feet away from her face and baring his teeth as it prepared to pounce.

  Evangeline’s last thought was of her parents and prayed it would be quick.

  A heavy, burly hand pushed her chest back and the wind was knocked out of her as she flew, banging her head against a tree.

  When her vision cleared, she saw a dark figure over seven feet easy, circling the jackal. The jackal attacked first, but the massive werewolf caught him with both hands and slammed him into the tree to his left and away from her. The jackal landed hard on its side and scrambled to its feet, ready to attack again.

  Evangeline rose to her feet and reached for the nail clippers in her pants. Her movements distracted the werewolf. His eyes landed on her and she knew without a doubt this was the alpha of the Blacktail pack in all his glory.

  “WATCH OUT!” she shouted.

  Adam turned and caught the jackal, but not before it could sink his teeth into his shoulder. Adam howled in pain and wrenched the beast off him. It soared through the air, crashing on the ground mere feet from where she stood. The jackal found its footing, turned toward Evangeline, and let out a ferocious growl.

  Her back hit the tree behind her and she held the nail clippers with the puny file out in front of her. When Adam reached out and grabbed the jackal by its neck, she let out a burst of air. Adam’s massive, furry arm swung back and clawed the jackal, leaving three shiny red marks along its side.

  The sound of heavy footfalls jerked Evangeline’s head around and she watched as two other massive werewolves, one black streaked with gray, the other a deep brown, leapt into the fray.

  The jackal whined when the brown one scratched it across the snout. Turning, it broke into a run, the two werewolves following right on its tail, kicking up dirt in their wake, and then they were gone.

  Evangeline’s heart was going a mile a minute.

  Adam turned toward her and she shivered. He was quite a sight in his human form, but the animal she was gazing up at was like no other.

  He stood, tall on his feet. Werewolves only crouched on all fours when they were about to pounce or run. They were half man and half wolf. He was shaped like his human form, times ten. Almost every inch of him was covered in black, coarse fur. The only parts of him not covered in hair were the palms of his hands, the bottom of his feet and his long torso encased in black, muscled, leathery skin. His shoulders stretched wide, about five feet. An image of big foot sprung to mind, but Adam’s werewolf form was so much more…what? Scarier? Menacing? Beautiful? His face had morphed into a wolf’s snout, but the shape of his eyes were all Adam. Only now they burned a bright golden bronze.

  The sky was brightening all around them. As she stared, fixated, the sun began to cast him in a mystical glow. This glorious sight was more than she could ever hope for, ever imagine. For a moment they were the only two people on earth, Evangeline and the beast.

  Adam took one step toward her and then fell to his knees. The rest of him hit the ground with a loud thud. He was on his side now, motionless.

  Evangeline stared in disbelief. There was no way a jackal could seriously injure this mass of a man. Werewolves must be allergic to a jackal’s bite or something. She watched in amazement as he morphed back to his human form, shrinking to his normal size. In an instant he lay there, on his side, completely naked. His legs were the size of tree trunks, his arms as big as her thighs. She saw the terrible bite mark on his left shoulder. He was still breathing, but feebly. His eyes were closed and his forehead scrunched in pain.

  She had two options: continue running and return home, leaving the alpha of the Blacktail pack to die in the woods or, and she shook her head as she thought, heal him.

  Why was her initial reaction to help him? Adam Perez bound and gagged her, hurtled her out her second story window and locked her up in a cabin. She should despise him for what he'd done, but she couldn't. There were bigger things at work here. Things she couldn't explain, nor dare ponder. She couldn't help but be mesmerized by him and seeing him in pain tugged at her heart.

  She was losing it.

  There was no way she could ever leave him to die. Despite the fact he’d kidnapped her, the Blacktail alpha had just risked his life to save her. Sure, she wouldn’t have needed saving if it weren’t for him, but could she live with herself knowing she’d left the leader of the Blacktails to die?

  No.

  Her decision was made, regardless of the warning in the back of her mind reminding her of his treachery, something else, something stronger bound her to help him.

  Evangeline knelt down beside him and put her hands on his hot skin, covered in perspiration. His eyes flipped open, his lids heavy over blue, hypnotic orbs. His voice was a tense whisper. “What are you doing?”

  She pushed him onto his back and fixed her eyes on his wound, fighting hard not to look down. Evangeline felt miniscule next to him. His chest was covered in a sheen of sweat and she had to push a crazy, inappropriate thought out of her head.

  Evangeline took a moment to study his strained face. He had slightly sunken eyes, high cheekbones and a fierce jaw, but of all things, it was his nose that attracted her the most. It was long and straight, with a little bump at the top and every bit male. Suddenly she didn't see a kidnapper. She saw a beautiful leader who had gone through so much in his lifetime.

  Evangeline knew the rumors about him, how he'd murdered h
is father. Some say it was to attain the alpha status, some say he'd just gone mad. Evangeline didn’t believe any of those rumors. A man of his reputation could never kill in cold blood without a perfectly good reason. All she knew was Adam Perez had protected the Blacktail pack for years, and began the Blacktail Fighters to further defend their race from vampires, human extremists and other threatening packs.

  “I’m returning the favor. You saved my life, now I’m saving yours.”

  She placed both hands on top of his bloodied shoulder. He jerked slightly, his eyes wide on her hers, but he was powerless to do anything else but grip her wrist lightly with his hand. “Stop.” He must have thought she was nuts touching the deep gash on his shoulder.

  She met his confused stare. “I think the jackal’s bite was poisonous. You won’t survive if I don’t help you.”

  He gritted his teeth, fighting pain that surely ran through him.

  She had to act fast. Her extreme healing side could sense the poison in his wound was slowly killing him. Her heart raced with anxiety. This sort of healing was going to do a number on her. “Do me a favor?” she said evenly.

  His face was still in shock.

  “After you’re healed, bring me into the cabin. I’ll be too weak to move.” She focused her hands on his shoulder and felt the deep vibrations run from her chest, down her arms and into his flesh, before all went dark.

  ****

  The sunset filled the cabin's only bedroom, lighting the room and its simple furnishings in an ethereal sort of way. Adam spent the last several hours in an antique chair in the corner, watching over Evangeline.

  The chair moaned and his joints cracked as he sat up straight. His neck was stiff from angling it back for so long against the wall, but he ignored all the aches in his body as his eyes shot to the girl in his bed.

  She lay on her side with her back to him. Evangeline clearly did not like the heavy quilt he'd covered her in, having kicked it off some time while he’d slept and made do with the thin white sheet instead.

  His eyes were riveted on her sinuous form. The way the sheet hugged her hips and thighs made his blood boil and his morning chubby twitch.