Untamed Beast

by Jaden Sinclair

  “I’ve been worried about you and Thorn has been a beast to be around,” Dannie said. “His mother told us that every time she goes to check on him he’s worse and worse. Last night in fact he almost got into a nasty little physical fight with Kane, and that never happens.”

  “Which means he needs you,” Logan added. “We only become true animals when we lose our mates.”

  “He doesn’t need me and I’m not his damn mate. So will you please get the hell out of here? It’s not safe having Dannie out likes this.”

  “But it is for you?” Dannie snapped. “I’m not a child anymore. We’re in this together.”

  Katrina shook her head. “Not this time. This time you need to stay low.”

  “Why?” Dannie asked. “Because of him?” Katrina couldn’t hold her shock back and was even more surprised when Dannie only shrugged her shoulders. “I know all about it. It doesn’t matter to me who my father is. What matters to me is you and the new family that we both have.”

  Katrina took a deep breath, slid both hands over her face and down to her shoulders. She rubbed her own shoulders and wished like hell she was back in the room laying down again. Damn, she was so tired and it wasn’t going away, it only felt like it was getting worse. Not to mention she was always hungry as well. But she had to watch her money so she skimped on everything. Maybe she was getting sick.

  “You shouldn’t have told her,” Katrina said to Logan.

  “She has a right to know, just like you needed to know who your father was and what happened to him.”

  The food came and her stomach rolled. “Logan, get up,” she said.

  “I’m not going to let you run again.” Logan said.

  “I’m not going to run. I’m going to be sick.”

  Logan quickly slid from the booth and she got out, running towards the bathroom. She barely made it before getting sick, the soup coming right back up.

  “How long has this been going on?” Dannie asked. Katrina didn’t even hear her come into the bathroom.

  “Not long,” Katrina groaned, closing her eyes and slumping down on the floor. “Few weeks I think.”

  She heard water running and then Dannie was next to her, pressing a wet towel against her forehead. It felt good and helped to take away some of the dizziness. Dannie even brushed her hair away and started touching her.

  “What are you doing?” Katrina asked.

  “Checking you over.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you look like hell.” She grinned. “You’re so worn out and dragging that I think you’re getting sick.”

  “I’m not getting sick.” Katrina pushed the cloth from her forehead and got up. She went to the sink turned the water on and rinsed her mouth out, then took a couple deep breaths before looking at her sister in the mirror. “I’m pregnant. Please don’t say anything to Logan.”

  Dannie’s eyes widened. “Then you definitely need to go back.”

  Katrina washed her hands, pulled more towels and wiped her mouth. She turned and leaned back against the counter, hugging herself, staring at her sister. “You’re right. You’re not a child anymore. Funny how shit lands on one’s head and changes everything.” She took a deep breath and one single tear fell. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep you safe better,” she whispered, then shook her head and tried to smile. “Damn. I’ve been this blubbering mess for weeks. Everything makes me want to cry and I never cry.”

  Dannie came up and pulled her into her arms, hugging her tight. Katrina closed her eyes and relaxed against her. “You did keep me safe, and I know you’re still doing it. You don’t have to protect me anymore, or do this alone. We’ve got help now.”

  Katrina hugged Dannie back, then she pulled away, wiping her face. “That monster that’s your father, Dannie, wants you back. I’ve been sort of making his men think I’m you, and they’ve been following me all over the place. It’s the only thing I can do to keep you safe.”

  “And look what it’s doing to you,” she said as she touched Katrina’s face. “It’s not your job anymore to keep me safe. I think Logan would say it’s his.” Dannie smiled. “And I know about him being my father. Jada told me before Logan did. You know, she’s really good at finding information. I’m impressed.” Dannie reached up and brushed another tear away. “And those guys who were following you, I wouldn’t worry about them anymore. Logan sort of took care of them before we sat down.”

  Katrina couldn’t help it and broke out laughing. She laughed until she couldn’t laugh anymore. When she was done, Dannie took her hand and they left the bathroom, and returned to the booth. She sat down and dug into the food, eating everything and even more happy when it stayed down. Logan paid the bill and they left. In the back seat of the car, she fell asleep and didn’t wake until Logan woke her up. They were at a better hotel then the one she had paid for.

  Inside, Katrina took a very long shower, followed by a soak in the tub. She stayed in the water until it turned cold and she was forced out. In the room, Logan was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, watching TV and eating again. The smell of food had Katrina instantly hungry again and she joined him, eating piece after piece of chicken from a bucket, watching a show. It felt strange and normal at the same time. When they finished it off, she went to bed. The second her head touched the pillow she was out.

  In the morning, they were back on the road, heading away from cities and going through small towns. Late at night, they would stop to rest, but during the day, they only stopped for food or gas. Katrina stared out the window, saying nothing. Her mind kept going over what Thorn was going to say when she got back. She knew he wouldn’t be happy with her. She wasn’t happy with herself either. When he was at his worst she up and ran away. Not too many could forgive someone for that.

  When they reached the small town, her nerves started to kick in and once more, she thought she might get sick. Somehow, she kept her food down but the panic was a whole other matter.

  “You know he doesn’t want to see me,” she finally blurted out.

  “You don’t know that,” Dannie said.

  “Sure I do. I know enough about him to know if he wanted me back, he’d have come himself.”

  Logan snorted. “You don’t know shit about us. You busted his pride. It takes a lot for us to come and get anyone when we’ve been kicked down like that. He’s brooding and mean right now. The only one to fix that is you.”

  “I can’t fix shit.”

  “Sure you can.” The car turned and into the woods they went. “You’re the only one to ever get Thorn to act like a normal male. That all by itself is saying a lot girl.”

  Another turn and they were on a dirt road going even deeper into the woods. When the main house came into view the urge to bolt was very strong. She didn’t want to be back here, didn’t want to face him or what she did to him. Never had she ever been afraid of Thorn, even when she was forced to have sex with him that first time, or when she was taken and given to him. Nothing had really scared her when it came to him. This—right now driving up to the house, scared the living hell out of her.

  Logan stopped the car but didn’t get out. Kane came out from the house and just stood on the porch, arms crossed over his chest staring at the car. From her position in the back seat, she shivered. He looked so mean right now.

  “You do know that you have to get out, right?” Logan said.

  “I don’t want to,” Katrina said, staring right back at Kane.

  “Katrina.” Logan sighed with a low growl. “Only you can fix this. And keep in mind if you do try to run again, I think Kane will be the one to bring you back.”

  “This isn’t going to go well and you both know it,” Katrina rushed out. “It’s a big mistake bringing me back. It’ll only make things ten times worse with Thorn. He hates me.”

  “Get out of the damn car, or I’ll drag you out and then drive away,” Logan warned.

  Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the handle to the door. “Fine, but you’re
a real prick you know that?”

  “So you say.” Logan smiled.

  She got out and slammed the door as hard as she could. Then bracing herself, straightening her spine, she turned and faced Kane. They had a small stare down before he nodded behind him.

  “In the back,” Kane said, then turned and went right back into the house.

  “Oh, this is not going to be fun,” she mumbled to herself and started walking around the house to the back. Each step she took her heart pounded in her chest.

  She saw him off to the side of his small cabin chopping wood with no shirt on. His chest glistened with sweat and muscles strained with each swing of the ax. His face twisted up as his arms came down, splitting the thick log of wood in two. Clearly, this man was having issues and those issues all wrapped around her.

  “What the hell are you doing back here?” Thorn snapped in anger, swinging the ax again, not looking up at her.

  She wondered how he’d sensed her. “Dannie and Logan found me. Said I needed to come back. Said something about you being this big ass dick, so I just had to come back and see for myself,” she smarted off.

  “I’m fine,” he grunted, splitting another log. “You can go back to do whatever it was you were doing.”

  “Yeah, you look so fucking fine to me.” She jumped, startled when he hit so hard with the ax that it stuck into the stump that the logs were standing on. “You look like a man pissed at the world and taking it out on anything he can find.”

  “Well, if I take it out on the one I want to the most, then I’ll be put down,” he smarted back giving her a short grin, then grabbing another log. “So why don’t you just turn around and get the fuck out of here.”

  “You know you have some real issues,” she snapped, anger rising. “You think that the whole world is out to get you, don’t you? Or is it just that you refuse to trust anyone because of that bitch in your past?”

  Another log split, then he tossed the ax to the ground and turned a furious glare on her. “And what the hell would you know of my past?”

  “Oh, I know enough to know that you’re even more fucked up than me. If you want to hold on to that rejection, fine, keep it as close as you want. Just means that the world will go by without you and you’ll stay in these damn woods alone the rest of your pathetic life.”

  * * * *

  Thorn tried to keep his temper and anger in check. It was hard to do. Hard to pretend that he was fine and that she meant nothing to him, when she was standing there smelling so damn good. He wanted to get closer, to hold her, to bury his face into her hair and merge not only his body with her own, but his soul. Instead, he held his ground, bent over and picked the ax up, then chopped more wood, keeping his mouth shut.

  “God, you’re still a stubborn ass,” she said. “Can’t even talk to me or look at me. I told them this was a bad idea.”

  “What the fuck would you like for me to do or say here, Katrina?” He couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer and tossed the ax to the ground once more. “Is thanks for leaving when I’m down what you want to hear?”

  “No!”

  “Okay, then how about, thank you very fucking much for shooting that prick and your mother. You did a great job, saved my life. We’re even again.”

  “You—”

  “You left Katrina!” he yelled at her, his anger coming out now and cutting her off. “When I needed you, you left.”

  “I needed—”

  “Yes, I know what you needed. Dannie. You always need her. But did you ever think that someone else might need you besides her? She has Logan. Who the fuck do you have?”

  “All I’ve even known has been her!” she yelled back. “All I’ve ever needed in my life has been my sister. I’m a loner, Thorn, just like you!”

  “And it looks like we both will stay that way, doesn’t it?” Bending over he picked the ax back up then growled low.

  “Jesus, I just can’t win with you. What the hell do you want? What am I supposed to do here? You hate me, remember?”

  “I never said I hated you, not once.” Another slice in the air, another log cut into two. “You put that shit in your head, not me.”

  “She really did do a number on you.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Frances. She did one great number on you. Made it so you just can’t get close to anyone, or trust another woman. And that makes you a damn chicken shit. Stay hung up on her. I don’t give a shit. But I’ll be damned if I stand around here and be the left over for you or anyone else.” He growled again and she shook her head. “Stay in your world. Stay in the little hell you’ve wrapped yourself around. Just don’t expect me to stay and be in it with you.”

  “I never asked you to.”

  Katrina put both hands into her hair, turned to leave, but ended up swinging back around. “This is so crazy,” she mumbled to herself.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “I said this is so fucking crazy. You’re crazy! I can’t believe I’m standing here like some damn girl with a crush on a nut like you.” Hands on her hips she took a few deep breaths. “You don’t want anyone in your life. You want to keep hating the world.” She started walking towards the house. “Then you better fill your family in on that great plan. But just know this—I’m not going to be alone like you.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” he frowned. Clearly, she was starting to lose her damn mind now.

  “I’ll tell you what I’m talking about. I’m pregnant you dumb fucking mongrel, and it’s yours. But don’t worry, I don’t want a damn thing from you. Not one fucking thing, not even your damn time anymore.” Turning around again, she walked away with long quick strides.

  Thorn raised the ax up in the air, brought it down a couple more times, then up again and was about to bring it down hard but stopped with it still up in the air. “Pregnant?” he mumbled to himself with a frown.

  Dropping the ax, he left the stump and went after her. Around to the front of the house he saw her getting into the back of the car that Logan and Dannie brought her in. Picking up speed, he rushed to the car as it was pulling away, jumped up and slid across the hood to the other side where she was sitting. Logan stopped the car and Thorn jerked the door open, grabbing hold of her and yanking her out.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, jerking her arm free and giving him a shove away which caused him to take a step back.

  “What did you say?” he demanded taking a step forward again.

  “I said, what the hell—”

  “No!” he shouted, cutting her off, shaking his head. “Did you say you’re pregnant?”

  “Yes, she is!” Dannie yelled from the front of the car.

  Katrina turned her head and glared at her sister. “Shut up!”

  Thorn grabbed hold of both hands, shaking her a bit. “Are you pregnant?” he demanded.

  “Get your hands off of me!” Katrina said, twisting in his hold

  “Answer me.” She didn’t, so he shook her again. “Damn it, answer the question.”

  “Yes!” she yelled right in his face.

  Everything seemed to just stop for him for a second. He didn’t let go of her arms, but did loosen the grip on them. “Logan, you can go. Leave her stuff with my father.” Taking hold of one wrist, Thorn started to pull her away from the car, back to his cabin.

  “I’m not going with you,” Katrina protested.

  “The hell you’re not.” Thorn gave her a hard jerk, which had her almost tripping up to him. Instantly, he had his arms wrapped around her arms, pinning them down and picking her up.

  “Are you crazy?” she yelled.

  “I must be.” All the way back to the cabin he walked, right up to the porch and inside. Only when he came up to the sofa did he let her go to put her on it. “How long have you known?”

  Katrina glared up at him. “Officially, a few weeks.”

  Thorn growled again, ran a hand in his hair and one hand jammed o
n his hip. “Suspected for weeks but only now letting me know. Great.”

  “What the hell are you bitching about? You know. Be happy and get off my ass.”

  “This changes everything, Katrina.”

  “It changes nothing.” She stood up and shoved him back hard. “You don’t owe me a damn thing and I don’t want anything from you.”

  “Shut up,” he growled.

  “You made it very clear how you felt about things between us,” she went on, ignoring his warning. “So nothing’s changed. And if you think I’m going to stay and forgive you because I’m pregnant, then you’re even crazier than I thought.”

  He lost his control, grabbed hold of her face and pulled her close. Nose to nose. “I said, shut up.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Thorn narrowed his eyes then he couldn’t hold back and smiled. She opened her mouth, probably to swear at him again, but he shut her up this time by kissing her hard and deep. He sort of thought that by kissing her it might end all of the fighting, but it only seemed to fuel her temper further. She in turn bit his lip, which ended the kiss and got him to let her go.

  “You shit!” he cried out, sucking on his lip and tasting blood.

  “I’m not going to be silenced that easily.”

  “You do know I bite also, right?”

  This time she snorted at him. “Please. We both know your bark is worse than a bite. Oh wait, no you don’t bite you pout.”

  “Oh, now that is a challenge I’m so not going to walk away from this time.”

  Before she could move or think about moving, he had a hold of her arm and turned her around, bringing her back up against his chest. One arm he wrapped around her, holding her in place, and with the other, he pulled her shirt down off her shoulder. His eyes saw it and stilled.

  “Don’t you dare!” she cried out, understanding now what he was going to do and twisting to get out of his hold.

  “Well, look what we have here,” he purred against her throat. “That bruise you claim isn’t a bruise after all. It’s much, much more. And what did I say about daring and challenging me?” He moved his lips down to her shoulder and let his teeth scrape against the very light mark he did leave on her. “This isn’t a bruise, Katrina. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that it shows up real well this time.”