by Roth
Thankfully, I’ve got fingers. And, if need be, the will to use them.
* * * *
“Shit,” Melanie said as she watched Peren leave. She turned to run after her, but found Lance holding her arm. “Peren…”
“I’ll go. Maybe I could throw up a white flag or something,” Lukian said, smiling widely at the girls. Not wanting to alarm them.
The girls exchanged glances, then nodded. Leave it to women to trust a cold-blooded killing machine with their friend’s life. He looked back at Roi and nodded in the direction of the door before leaving. Roi gave him a thumb’s up as he left to retrieve Peren.
Lukian hit the outside and took a deep breath. The scents of the night filled his lungs. He craved the night air and it him. Tonight he craved something else too and it was headed down the darkened street in a frenzy. He could almost taste her emotions as he tuned into her distress signal. This was too much, too fast for her. She’d suffered a loss recently and wasn’t ready to start trying to find Mr. Right yet. She was riddled with the guilt of lusting after Lukian when she should be at home mourning the loss of her dead lover.
Lukian took off in a slow run in the direction of her scent. Even in the darkness of the night he could see her clearly. His night vision was excellent. It had to be. The blood of the wolf that ran through him would not have it any other way.
* * * *
I’m done with friends. I’m done with dating, I’m done with everyone. Peren thought to herself as she walked down the side of the highway.
What in the hell had possessed her to come out? She’d been doing just fine holed up in her tiny apartment. Now, she was even angrier that she’d let Melanie drive. Peren had a perfectly good Saab waiting for her at home. She wasn’t one to flaunt her money. She tried, in fact, to hide it whenever possible, but a ride home would have been worth the hassle of everyone knowing she was loaded.
“Hey…wait up.”
She froze and looked down the darkened road. She was miles from town and alone. She wasn’t sure how much distance she’d put between her and the bar. She cursed softly and prepared her body to react, if need be, with violence. She’d grown up being trained in martial arts. Being the only child of a wealthy man who had wanted a son equaled having a hell of a good roundhouse kick.
She turned slowly, preparing to strike. The ebony-haired man from the bar chased after her. She looked at him and raised her eyebrow. He was a persistent bastard, she’d give him that much. His black shirt rose slightly in the wind as he ran to her, exposing his toned abdomen. Damn, the guy must do at least a hundred sit-ups a day. That could only mean one thing…he’s an ass.
* * * *
Lukian slowed his pace and read her, mildly amused with her opinion of him in the process. She was definitely attracted to him, but found him to be, like most men in her life, an ass.
Reading her thoughts was easy for him. Most humans weren’t too difficult for him to eavesdrop on, but Peren was like an open book to him. That caught him a little off guard.
He stopped and put his hands up in the air slowly. “I come in peace.”
Her full lips curved into a smile so white that she lit-up the night, causing his insides to lurch forward. His cock wanted to be in her so badly that he wondered if he could control himself. He was far too old to be behaving like he was still twenty. He was experienced now and wise enough to be able to control his erections at will, or at least he had thought so prior to meeting Peren.
The wind caught her long black skirt and blew it up. Shiny black leather boots that ran up to her knee showed through. He waited for a better glimpse at what kind of panties she wore under that skirt, but the wind refused to help out any longer.
Just as well. I’d probably jump on her right here and now.
This target of his, Peren, stirred things in him that hadn’t existed in over a century. He watched her take a wider stance and realized that she thought his intent was to do her harm. She was ready to try to protect herself. It hit him then, that if all had gone according to plan, she’d be dead already, so her instincts were good; but so were his.
* * * *
“What do you want?” she asked the tall stranger.
He gave her a large smile and shrugged. “I’m not sure, maybe to know that I wasn’t what chased you off. That could leave lasting effects on a man’s ego.”
I’ll just bet you’ve got ego problems.
No, he looked like the type that was incredibly comfortable in his own skin. She thought about how comfortable she’d be in his skin too and shook her head.
Cut it out. You don’t sleep around. You leave that up to Melanie. She’s good at it.
“I’m Lukian and you must be Peren,” the man said, extending his large hand out to her. She took a small step forward and grabbed it quickly. A spark of energy flew between them. Something similar had happened to her once when she was a child and the circumstances surrounding that encounter were anything but pleasant. Having little desire to relive that ordeal and the overwhelming urge to flee, Peren gave into her instincts and screamed.
What the hell? Was all that ran through her mind as she turned fast from the man. The boots she’d worn were thankfully low heeled or she’d have killed herself trying to run on the uneven terrain. She didn’t look back to see where Lukian was, yet she knew he was close behind her. Sensing things came naturally to her. It had been a curse she’d hidden all her life. The curse, so to speak, had just allowed her a very bold glimpse into the intentions of the man on her heels and they weren’t honorable. He wanted to fuck her hard em’ and now.
She hit the edge of the woods and never skipped a beat. She knew she didn’t have that good of a lead on him and that he’d catch up if she dared to stop. A limb scraped her cheek and she screamed out, pushing onward wildly.
It’s just a scratch, definitely not worth dying over.
She could see the forest in her mind, even though she could not see her hand before her face in the darkness. She’d learned to trust her mind. The last time she’d ignored it, Kyle had vanished. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Chapter 2
What the hell is she? Lukian’s mind raced as his feet moved quickly under him. He was faster than any human could hope to be, yet this tiny woman was outrunning him. She couldn’t weigh more than a buck o’ five, yet she made him work to catch her. Perhaps he’d been wrong to abort the mission. He was obviously dealing with more than just a pretty face.
He stopped and sniffed the air. He could smell her fear of him, which was unfortunate, but expected. He tried to hone in on her and read her location, but somehow she blocked that from him. Had she been trained as well? Had she been recruited to join an elite team too? Perhaps she was from a unit similar to his own? Maybe she didn’t work for the same side he did?
He caught her scent, sweet vanilla and twisted madly. She was headed back to the road. Smart girl. He heard her rustling off to his left. Not smart enough, though. He leapt up and over a rock, waiting for her to pass him.
* * * *
Not again—her mind raced as she ran. She thought back to the night of her tenth birthday. Her father had rented out a circus for her. It was hers and hers alone. She should have been excited to go, but dreams of blood and death had plagued her the week before. Her father was scheduled to give another speech at the university and was unable to make it. Her mother and her nanny had taken her instead. All had seemed well until she’d entered the gypsy tent and sat, waiting for the woman to tell her the future. The woman shrieked and drew away from her, screaming that she was not normal, that she was an abomination.
Peren had run frightened from the woman’s tent and straight out into the night she’d loved so much. The images of her dreams had begun to transpire. She found herself surrounded by trees, near a stream. She heard the low growls of the beast that, unbeknownst to her, had been stalking her from the circus. It came at her, its mouth full of blood, smelling of death. It’d caught her by the ankle and had
sunk its teeth into her. She screamed and felt a surge of cold, hard energy lash out of her. It hit the creature with such force that it propelled off her.
Later, after she’d staggered out onto the highway, she’d been taken to the hospital. Her mother and nanny’s bodies were found near the fortuneteller’s tent. They’d been mauled. The police said it was a pack of wild dogs. She knew better. That was no dog.
* * * *
Lukian felt her heart pounding as if it were his own. Attuned to her, Lukian’s breathing sped to match hers. He could sense her pain, her loss and her fear. She feared another attack. She had survived one as a child…a young girl. She had been bitten by…he closed his eyes and tried to force himself further into the depths of her mind. He saw what he was looking for and pulled back quickly.
Oh, God, she was attacked by one of us, a fellow lycan.
He felt his heart sink with sadness. Here he was chasing this woman, making her relive the same feelings of horror she’d experienced as a child. He wasn’t so old that he couldn’t remember what it was like to be a child, but he’d been born this way. His father had been a true lycanthrope. In fact, prior to the introduction of Lukian, the family bloodline had been pure and untainted by human blood.
A shudder ran through his veins. He couldn’t imagine running into a werewolf at such a young age and then having it attack you. His heart broke for her, filling him with an overwhelming need to find and protect her. Someone wanted her dead and he was supposed to be the man to do it. He knew now that would never happen.
He sniffed the air and sensed his own kind near. Tapping his transmitter, he asked for a location on his men. “Bravo is still at station one, in stand-down mode…the rest of Alpha is still together and in the club.”
Shit. That was what he was afraid of. Something else was out here in the night with them. Someone wanted her dead pretty badly to bother sending additional hitters. His team wasn’t cheap and sending in back-ups meant that someone with a lot of power and money was backing this. Lukian tried to imagine what the petite Peren could have done that would make someone so adamant about seeing her life come to end, but he came up empty handed. There was no way that he’d let any harm come to her.
He scanned the woods for any sign of her and then waited. Within seconds she came running towards him.
It’s now or never.
* * * *
The trees over her head shuffled and the weight of a man fell onto her. He knocked her to the ground, sending pain shooting up and through her head. She tried to scream out, but his hand clasped over her mouth.
“They will hear you,” Lukian said softly in her ear. She tried to scream out again. She wanted him off her and hoped that everyone in the world would hear. She bit down on his hand and he tightened his grip on her. “Shit, I’m trying to help you. Something…someone is coming for you…” A loud howl interrupted him. Peren’s body tightened under his as terror filled her veins. She knew that sound. It wasn’t one she’d be likely to ever forget.
Lukian held tight to her and pulled her to her feet, twisting her around to look at him. She met his eyes with tears glistening in her own. She wasn’t one to cry in front of others, but the terror that gripped her body was too great for her to deal with alone. The look on Lukian’s face told her that he wasn’t about to abandon her, regardless of the howls around them.
Another high pitched wolf howl sounded from their left. Her body went rigid with fear. She resisted the urge to scream and stared at this tall mysterious man who claimed to be on her side. Could she trust him? Did she have a choice?
A growl came from their right this time. Lukian turned first and put his body in front of hers. He whispered something to himself that she couldn’t make out, but sounded vaguely like Alpha something or other.
He reached into the back of his tan pants and pull out a silver gun. She scanned the contours of it and recognized it for what it was, a Desert Eagle. Her father had spent the greater part of his scientific career working for the military. He’d been out of the business since she’d been born, but had never stopped his interest in it. He loved to quiz her on interesting bits of trivia and to test her hand-to-hand combat training. She’d always felt like she’d let him down when she’d chosen art school over the armed services.
Lukian pushed her body behind his even more, acting as a barrier between her and the beasts that were surrounding them. He was awfully brave and knowledgeable for a normal everyday guy.
Normal my ass!
Normal, everyday citizens didn’t run around carrying military issued handguns with them. Nope, Lukian was definitely hiding something.
He reached back and grabbed her arm. She tensed up, but let him move her backwards slowly. His hand brushed over her right breast and she felt her nipples harden instantaneously. Without thought, she reached up and touched his muscular arm. He flexed under the weight of her fingers.
Typical.
He moved his hand further around her, pressing her to his back while his hand rested firmly on her backside. The tighter the grip on her ass got, the damper her inner thighs became.
Clear your mind girl! Now’s not the time to be thinking of banging an incredibly sexy marine, even if he is making you cream your panties!
She did her best to shake the naughty thoughts from her head. They left, just in time to be replaced by thoughts of dying as more howls followed. A flash of fur flew out at them. Peren screamed as Lukian fired a shot dead into the animal’s forehead. The dead wolf fell to the ground with a thud. She was normally a huge animal rights advocate, but these weren’t normal wolves—they were massive and trying to eat her. The combination of the two wasn’t good at all.
Two more leapt out of the darkness at them. Lukian fired at one. Its body hit his arm, sending his gun flying. The second wolf went for the back of his neck.
“Run!” he cried out.
“I’m not leaving you!”
Peren kicked out at the wolf in an attempt to get it off Lukian. Her foot struck it hard in the side. She felt its ribs crack and hoped for dear life that it was a killing blow. It shrank back for a moment before it flew at her again. Lukian’s hand shot out and grabbed the wolf by its throat. She jumped as he snapped the animal’s neck with one hand and very little effort.
She could hear the rustle in the trees around them. Lukian grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the road. Something large crashed into him, sending him hurtling to the ground. She grabbed at it, trying to pull it off Lukian, but something seized hold of her hair and lifted her off her feet.
* * * *
Lukian rolled onto his stomach and brought the half changed werewolf around with him. He punched out and caught its jaw. His fingers burned for the change. His body wanted to be allowed to go to wolf form for the battle. He knew he could take them, all of them, as a wolf. He also knew that he would send Peren screaming to her death if she saw him become what she feared most.
He brought his knee up hard and caught the half-wolf in the gut. It lurched back off of him. He put his hands over his head, touched the hard earth with his palms and thrust himself upwards in one fluid motion.
“The cavalry is here, Captain, take cover.” He heard the voice of Jon, his sniper, in his earpiece. He kicked out, sent the half-wolf flying high into the air and spun around looking for Peren. His heart went to his throat and his hand to the tiny transponder near the base of his neck.
“Hold your fire, hold your fire.”
The team responded and he dropped down, looking at the dirt beneath him. Tracking came naturally to him. It was in his blood. He’d been born to be a hunter and let his instincts take over. He sniffed the air, running his fingers over the imprints from Peren’s boots. A set of barefoot prints were next to hers, matching the dragging pattern she’d left step for step. He growled and the beast within him threatened to surface.
If anyone harms her, they will die. The clarity of this thought surprised him. Why was he being so protective of her? What made this on
e stand out where so many others had failed?
Peren screamed and he ran towards her. I’m coming baby, hold on. Again, he found himself stunned at his responsiveness to her. But, from the moment that he’d laid eyes on her photo, he’d felt that deep want to provide for her, to make her his, to protect her with his life. He’d been in denial, but seeing her in the flesh helped him overcome that.
I’m coming.
He ran fast and hard. His boots gave him the traction he needed to scale up the side of a rock wall to shave time off of his quest. He hit the side of the road and saw headlights coming at him.
“Captain, is that you?”
He put his hand up and flashed the signal, waiting as the van squealed to a stop in front of him. The side door slid open and two men dressed in black from head to toe stared back at him. He looked at the one with the amber eyes and struggled to get his breathing under control. “Jon, they took her…I lost the trail.”
The other man moved forward, pushing Jon out of the way. “But Captain, aren’t we supposed to eliminate her? We should be sending whoever did it a thank-you note for making our life a hell of a lot easier if you ask me.”
Lukian grabbed hold of the man’s collar and ripped him out of the vehicle. He felt his left hand changing into long claws. He held them under the man’s chin. “I didn’t ask you and if they hurt her, I will kill you. Am I clear, Wilson?”
“Sir, I believe that we understand your position on this matter now. If you would please be so kind as to put Wilson down, we can begin combing the area for signs of her,” Green said, from the driver’s seat.