Escaping Monsters: A Reverse Harem Wolf Shifter Romance (Grayhaven Book 1)

by Rita Stradling

  Getting an idea to sneak up on the creature in the fridge, and finally catch it, I raised my finger to my lips.

  “Stay here,” I whispered down to Chad, and then I snuck forward on the pads of my feet, stalking toward the refrigerator. Careful not to make any noise, I wrapped my fingers around the handle and yanked it open.

  A little man, the size of a rat, looked up at me with wide eyes. His face dripped with Ace’s sheep milk. He looked like a hairy, sharp-fanged, elf from the North Pole.

  “Hello,” I said, and the creature squeaked and knocked over the bottle of milk, sending it spilling all over the clean shelf.

  “It’s okay. I’m not going to…” I trailed off as the creature leaped out of the fridge, landed on the wood floor, and scampered for the stairway out of the firehouse.

  Guilt pulsed in my heart for frightening the little man, even though he was the one caught stealing from the firehouse.

  There was a loud click, and then I heard the firehouse door swing open so hard it hit something with a resounding boom.

  Chad scrabbled forward, charging for the doorway as a low growl rattled from his throat.

  “It’s okay. There was a little fae creature in here, and he ran down there and opened the door,” I said as I headed toward the stairwell. As Jasper was asleep and Chad had no hands, clearly, I’d have to be the one to lock the front door.

  Chad’s growling echoed louder, and my heart leaped up into my throat. A scratching sound came from the stairs below, and that was my only warning before Chad lunged into the stairwell. There was a loud cracking sound through the air, and Chad collapsed, falling into the stairwell. It all happened in the space of a second, I reached for the wolf, as he flew forward, and then blood sprayed through the air. Warm liquid splashed up my front and neck.

  “No!” I screamed and reached for Chad, but his body slid down the stairs, stopping before a pair of steel-toed boots. Oliver stepped over Chad, emerging from the shadows with a gun clutched in his hand

  Oliver’s terrifying blue eyes found mine, and he called up, “Hello, Omega.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Oliver Hunt stood in the packhouse stairwell, glaring at me with cruel victory in his light blue eyes as he pointed a gun down at Chad.

  My eyes fixed on Chad’s still body, and even though I knew that I should be running, I froze in place. Chad was dead. The massive wolf’s chest was still, and blood spilled out of a wound in his forehead.

  “Stay exactly where you are, Omega,” Oliver said as he held a revolver out toward me. “Take this gun and point it directly at your head, aiming at your temple.” His will pressed down on me, and I fought it, pushing back until air squeezed from my lungs and my hand started to move against my conscious thought. I grabbed my wrist, but it was no good. Against every ounce of my will, I reached for Oliver’s gun.

  I wrapped my fingers around the thick handle and lifted the barrel to point at my temple.

  “Look at me,” Oliver said, and when I resisted, he screamed, “Look at me!”

  My gaze lifted to meet his furious glare.

  A smile spread over Oliver’s lips, and he said, “Now, go ahead and pull the trigg…” His gaze snapped past me. “Come out, werewolf, or I’ll make her do it!”

  I didn’t know who Oliver was talking to until Jasper stepped beside me. He was so close, I could feel his presence tingling up my side, but gripped in Oliver’s will, I couldn’t so much as turn my head.

  Oliver’s gaze fixed past me. “You’re going to stay here, and she’s coming with me. If any of your wolves come after us, I’ll have her pull that trigger.”

  “You’re not going to tell her to shoot me?” Jasper asked from my side.

  “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Oliver said the words to me, and a sneer was plain over his full lips.

  “No,” I breathed before gritting my teeth. Blood pounded in my skull, and a cold sweat prickled across my skin. “Don’t you fucking dare, Oliver.”

  “You know, Alpha, this bitch pretends like she’s so innocent, but I wonder if you’d be so ready to protect her if you knew what Omega has been doing for the last decade. You know Kane fucking loved this stupid bitch. You want to know what he used to give her for gifts?”

  “No,” I gasped. “Stop.”

  Oliver didn’t stop. “Every year, right around this time, Kane would ask his bitch who she hated most in the world, and she would tell him—”

  “He forced me to tell him,” I said.

  “Shut the fuck up, Omega,” Oliver snarled.

  My teeth snapped closed, and I couldn’t force out so much as a sound. Fuck.

  “So, Kane’s wife here would tell the alpha who she hated most in the world.” As Oliver kept going, the world bled into a deep crimson. I tried to blink the color away, but all I could see, all I could remember was blood. “We picked up Michael Card, the mother fucker that sold this bitch to Kane, first in the lineup—and then Omega named nine other assholes, and Kane sent us off to collect them. If I remember right, one was the coach who molested her sister. Then there was the drug dealer chick who sold her sister the lethal dose. Mind you, these fuckers were worthless pieces of shit, but they had families and people who cared about them, and us enforcers had to kill anyone who got in our way. I honestly felt bad about what I was doing.”

  A sob ripped from my chest but lodged in my throat, and I had to swallow it down or choke on it. Kane’s terrible words echoed in my mind. Our anniversary is coming up, my love, who do you hate most in this world? Tell me.

  You, Kane.

  It was always my response, but he would command me until my mind forced out a name.

  Oliver grinned. “Omega killed them all. Then Kane ate them. Maybe they both ate them. I don’t fucking know. I wasn’t there.”

  I shook my head so furiously, my temple banged into the barrel of the gun. Kane was a monster, but he never forced me to eat those people.

  “Shut up,” Oliver growled at me, even though I didn’t say anything. I stilled, afraid that he’d give me another order, and Oliver continued, “See, all of the other members of the pack said that Omega here loved her little murder presents, but I thought she was a fucking innocent little bitch, being forced to do unspeakable shit against her will. I should have known. I heard the screaming. She’d kill them slowly. Then, this sweet little innocent bitch would come slinking out covered in blood, smelling like sex and murder while Kane feasted on their corpses. They probably fucked over the dead body or some shit. You should be thanking me for taking this sick bitch away from you and your pack.”

  I shook my head with all I had. Oliver was a fucking liar. The last thing I had been feeling in that room was lust, but Kane had been dominating me the whole time, forcing me to kill those people, and as Kane did, his satisfaction had flowed through me. Nothing gave Kane pleasure like vengeance, and he had been aroused at just the idea of me taking revenge on those who wronged me.

  A warm hand pressed to the small of my back. Jasper was telling me he was here at my side, even if I couldn’t look at him. “Teagan is my mate. If you take her at gunpoint, I’ll never stop coming after you. You’re going to have to command her to shoot me.”

  I managed a just audible sound at the back of my throat. No. Fuck no. If Oliver commanded me to kill Jasper, I’d use all my defiance and shoot myself first. I refused to be forced to kill another person. I ran away from that life, and I would rather die than ever be forced back.

  “No,” Oliver spat. He bared his teeth at the alpha. “You’re about twice as dominant as I am. The moment she pulls that gun away from her head, you’d have me. Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing? If you keep trying to compel me, I’ll have her pull the trigger. You might be able to make me submit to you, Alpha, but not before Omega shoots her head off. The gun stays exactly where it is, and you’ll stay exactly where the fuck you are, or you’ll have her brains splattering across this fucking firehouse.”

  Jasper was about a hu
ndred times more dominant, but what Oliver said was true. Oliver had us, and the cruel gleam in his eyes told me that he knew it.

  “If Teagan dies, you will be dead within seconds.” There was no threat or growl in the words. Jasper said it as a statement of fact.

  “Oh, I have no plans to kill her.” Oliver shook his head. The hatred and rage pumping from him and into me stood in stark contrast to his words. He hated me enough to tear me limb from limb, but what he said was, “Omega is going to escort me out of this shithole town and give me my life back.”

  The words made ice run through my veins. Kane would find us within hours. Maybe Oliver was stupid enough to think he could play that to his advantage.

  “At least let her put shoes and a jacket on,” Jasper said.

  “Fuck no. Omega, step over this wolf, and follow me out,” Oliver snapped. “I want you to walk directly behind me.”

  I had no choice. Like so many times before, my body trapped me into submitting to the dominant wolf’s demands.

  My heart ached as I stepped over Chad’s prone form, and the heel of my foot landed in warm liquid. Blood. I was stepping in Chad’s blood. Hatred boiled up in my chest, crashing against Oliver’s emotions and washing them away. My rage was so much more powerful than Oliver’s. I was going to kill this werewolf before me. I didn’t know how or when, but I was going to kill him for his cruelty and cowardice. If I could kill Oliver ten times, I would. My commitment to never kill again now had one big exception.

  Jasper’s warm hand fell away, and then I was just before the murderer, standing on the stairs. Oliver turned in the shadows.

  “Follow me,” he called back heading through the open door and out of the firehouse.

  I didn’t see a single person on the road as we walked out into the morning. The moment I stepped onto the cold cement stoop, dew sprinkled over my skin, and gooseflesh rippled across my bare arms. As I followed Oliver onto the street, I fought his control with my every breath, trying to pull the gun away from my head, trying to speak, trying to look away, but all of his orders would hold for at least an hour. I’d probably be long dead before then, or Oliver would reinforce his orders. Like all of Kane’s enforcers, Oliver knew the exact extent of my forced submissiveness.

  A pace ahead of me, Oliver halted on the street. “Stop,” he ordered over his shoulder, and then his gaze darted around the empty street. Oliver kicked forward and pulled his foot back. There was a tinkling and scraping, and he lifted his boot to reveal reflecting shards from a smashed bottle on the ground. “If you don’t reveal yourself, I’ll order Omega to walk over broken glass in her bare feet.”

  I wanted to yell that whoever was hiding there should run because Oliver would make me walk over the glass anyway, but my lips might as well have been glued together.

  Ace stepped into the road before Oliver, and though I couldn’t focus on him, I could see his curly dark hair and glasses from the corner of my eye. He held up his hands. “I’m not going to get in your way. You clearly will never stop coming for Teagan. I can see your memories of her in your eyes, and it’s hard to make memories like that go away.”

  I couldn’t look over at Ace, but I could feel his heavy stare landing on me.

  “What is that, some sort of fucking code?” Oliver growled. Kane liked his enforcers to be of average intelligence, but Oliver had always been an exception to that. Nothing got past his sharp mind and terrifying gaze. “You’ll forget everything he said, Omega.”

  Ah, the one order they could never make me obey. My mind was forever my own, and I committed every word Ace said to memory.

  “Stand to the side,” Oliver spat. “If you say another word to her, she pulls the trigger.”

  Ace raised his hands and stepped aside. I wanted to say something to him or glance his way, but even so much as attempting to look over Oliver’s shoulder at the road ahead made the air squeeze from my lungs. Oliver’s orders still gripped me so hard that it was obey or suffocate.

  “We’re going,” Oliver said, and then he turned to the side and looked back at me. “Omega, walk straight over that glass.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pain and exhaustion threatened to pull me under as I trailed after Oliver. Even though we were walking on the soft clover of the forest floor, agony exploded through my feet.

  With every passing minute, shards of glass sliced deeper into my soles. The sharp scent of my blood mingled with the rich earthy aroma of the pine forest around us. It had been almost an hour since he had reinforced his orders to look only at him, follow him, keep the gun pointed at my temple, and keep quiet once more, and when I concentrated all of my will on it, I could close my eyes for a few precious seconds as we walked.

  The sun had passed us by hours ago, and shadows consumed our path.

  Oliver halted before me. “Fuck!” he growled. “What the fuck!”

  He crouched down, and as he did, I saw through the trees to a street beyond. In the distance, a broken clock tower shone out against the darkening sky. Just within the tree line, a familiar massive cat sat, watching us. Its eyes reflected the streetlamp above.

  “Unbelievable,” Oliver swore, and even though my whole body was gripped in agony, satisfaction surged through me. The massive werewolf had led me walking for hours today, deep into the forest, only for us to come out on a different point of Grayhaven. We’d circled back to the town fifteen times now. Maybe more.

  A wheezing laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it, and Oliver spun, fixing me with his light blue gaze. His irises reflected the rising moon, glowing white. “What the fuck are you laughing at? What the fuck is happening here, bitch?”

  A pulse of adrenaline spiked through me as I took in the snarl on his lips and his taut muscles. He was poised to attack, moments away from violence.

  I tried to say something to diffuse his aggression, but while his fading orders let my laugh escape, when I opened my mouth, no words came out.

  “Fucking speak,” he snapped.

  “It was a whimper. There’s glass in my feet,” I said on a gasp.

  “You think I’m fucking stupid?” He threw out an arm. “You think I didn’t recognize that succubus that went after Kane? I was the one who disposed of her last body. Fucking stupid ass demons—always using the same appearance when they regenerate. Then she comes in and pretends to want to fuck me, and I reacted as any man would.” Oliver shook his head. “You and that damn succubus probably planned the whole thing, and now those fucking demons are making it so we can’t leave this motherfucking town.”

  “Did you kill her again—”

  “Shut the fuck up,” he growled.

  My jaw snapped closed.

  “Yeah, I fucking killed that stupid bitch. You think you can set me up and not get what’s coming to you?” Oliver’s eyes blazed. “I’m getting tired of your fucking games, Omega. You know what… I’ve got a new plan. Take your finger off the trigger and hand me the gun.” The moment I did, he pointed the barrel at me and said, “Now strip.”

  My hands went to my hem, but I clenched my jaw and resisted with every ounce of defiance. Every moment I defied his order, the air squeezed out of my lungs.

  “Do it,” he growled. “I’m not stupid enough to try to fuck you. The moment I relax my aim, that alpha will be on me.” Oliver turned his head. “Don’t think I don’t know you’re tracking me. It doesn’t matter if I can’t see, smell, or hear you, I’m ready for you.”

  Glaring into Oliver’s cruel gaze, I gave in to his order and pulled off Declan’s massive t-shirt, folding it and placing it on the ground. After, I shimmied off my underwear and jeans, taking the time to fold them too while glaring at Oliver.

  “Now change into a wolf,” he snapped.

  Fuck.

  If I changed into a wolf, glass shards would embed deep into my paws. I wasn’t sure if the damage would be something I could heal from. But even as my mind screamed with objections, my body contorted. The skin of my back itched, followed by e
very inch of my body. I fell onto hands and knees, and searing agony licked over my skin as the whole world faded into darkness.

  A feeling like ants burrowing into my flesh spread over me, and fur slid out of my skin. My bones cracked and reformed, chin stretching, hips tightening, legs pulling in and straightening. The transformation left me whimpering and gasping on the forest floor.

  “Stand,” Oliver demanded as he pressed the barrel of his gun to my forehead.

  My body moved without my permission, forcing me to stand on my paws. I screamed as a pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced before ripped through me. It was so much worse than I could have imagined. It felt like my legs had been caught in a meatgrinder and blades were slicing into me, inch by inch.

  The glass must have shredded my muscles and tendons while I transformed, because my hind legs failed me, and I collapsed back onto the forest floor.

  “Get the fuck up,” Oliver growled.

  Air pushed out of my lungs as my body tried to obey the impossible order. Even though I tried to push onto all fours, my hind legs were useless. I whimpered and gasped for air, but my legs were done. As breath squeezed out of me, I spent the last few dregs of my defiance, and I forced my eyes closed.

  Even though I knew that it could be the last mistake I ever made, I used the bitter edge of my pain to focus my mind, and I called out to the memory eater. I could have been wrong, but I was almost positive that Ace’s coded message was that the memory eater took memories through the eyes. Oliver’s order to look only at him had kept my eyes open for the entire day, but his control over my eyes had loosened, and I squeezed them closed.

  The words, “the memory eater,” seared through my thoughts, and then my muzzle tingled.

  A high-pitch laugh filled the woods, making all of my fur stand on end. The laughing grew louder, like the cackle from a hyena.