Chapter Ten

I relaxed on the porch and enjoyed the cabin’s natural surroundings for an easy hour after watching Kenzie adjust her backpack as she hiked off into the woods to begin tagging duty.  She was right about the weather.  I’d shed my sweater almost immediately upon returning from using the outhouse.  Sitting on the porch while reveling in the sensation of the faint warm breeze that caressed my flesh and feeling the heat of the morning sun on my face as it climbed higher over the treetops was so fantastic that I’d actually forgotten about Oscar and Noah’s outrageous werewolf claims.

I’d also forgotten about Snow.

It wasn’t until I was floating on my back in the clear lake water and spotted him sitting on shore near my clothes that I remembered the wolf.  He looked so majestic as he sat watching my every move that it was almost breathtaking.  Seeing how proud and tall he held himself also made me feel more at ease and protected enough to relax and enjoy my morning bath.

I reveled in my time in the water so much that I decided to hang out for as long as my body would allow.  I’d been experiencing writer’s block for some time, so I used the tranquility of floating aimlessly as a means to relax my mind enough to allow me to think on my story and possibly come up with the next writing installment.

With my eyes closed and the water lapping in and out of my ears, sounds from shore were faint and distant.  Add to that the fact that my mind was working overtime going over the story that I was writing and it was easy to understand why I wouldn’t have been aware of any warning from Snow that someone had arrived.

The feel of a strong, calloused hand on my bare shoulder brought me back to reality.  Water rushed into my mouth as I gasped with surprise from the experience.  Coughing to clear my air passages, I put my body upright as I whirled around to see who was in the lake with me.

With my arms working hard to keep me afloat, I first looked at the face that sneered at me from just a few feet away before I frantically searched for Snow.  He was supposed to be my protector.  Yet, here I was, naked in the lake, with an ugly and very creepy looking stranger a mere few feet away.  So much for Noah’s guarantee!

“Snow!” I choked out between coughs as I robotically moved my arms to keep my body upright and away from this frightening character.

“Is that his name?” the man asked with a deep, raspy voice that had a hint of growl in it.  “He’s fine.  He’s just been tranquilized.”

“Tranquilized!” I exclaimed with dismay.  I’d finally coughed away enough water to be able to breathe and talk.  “Why?”

“So he wouldn’t bite me, of course,” the man said with humor.

Working my arms so that I was moving toward the shore while still looking at him, I asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m your future mate, little wolf,” he replied.

My heart nearly stopped in my chest at his words before climbing into my ears and beating against my eardrums.  Not relying solely on my arms to get me to shore, I kicked my feet to aid in propelling me as far away from him as I could get as quickly as possible.  I’d been on the swim team in high school.  If ever there was a time to call upon that training, it was then.  I was out of practice, but still good enough to get a bit of distance between him and me in a short period of time.

He called out, but I couldn’t decipher the words above the pounding in my ears combined with the gushing of the water as my body worked hard to get me as far from him as possible.

I climbed onto the shore just seconds before he did.  Begging my legs to hold up under the unfamiliar stress that I’d put on them, I was almost to where Snow lay limp and peaceful when I felt his oversized, calloused hand grab my upper arm and yank me to a halt.

I was filled with so much fear and outrage that I actually forgot about the fact that I was completely naked.

“Let me go,” I hissed as I tried to twist away.

Brown eyes that were set beneath thick, curly dark auburn eyebrows lit up with greed and lust as they studied every inch of my flesh.

“You look like you’ll produce some mighty fine offspring,” he said with satisfaction.  “I was beginning to think I’d never find a mate.  Times being like they are, and all. Sure, I could have gone with a human woman and produced a half-breed, but you’re much better.  You’re sexy too.”

It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn’t the only one who was naked.  My captor also hadn’t a stitch on.  My eyes stared at his powerful looking upper arms before roaming over his barrel chest that was covered with thick hair that matched his brows and then stopping at his sizable erection.

My gut told me that he intended on having his way with me whether he had my consent or not.  My mind whirled over what to do.  I was no virgin, but I also wasn’t in the habit of having sex with perfect strangers, especially ugly ones.  Not only was I repulsed by the thought, but it was clear that he intended to impregnate me.

I kicked at his shin so hard that my toes hurt and throbbed like I just might have broken them.  It was enough of a surprise to get him to loosen his hold on my arm.  Taking advantage of the moment, I twisted free and tried to scramble away. He simply threw his head back and emitted a deep graveling laugh as he lunged at me and forced me onto the ground with his own body weight.  Searing pain shot through my chest as a loud crack assaulted my ears.  I didn’t need an x-ray to know that he’d cracked a rib when his bulk came crashing down on me.

The knowledge that I could puncture a lung if I moved in just the right way immediately subdued my efforts to be free. Lying only feet away from my unconscious protector, I allowed the tears to flow as my rapists hands roughly inspected my breast and then my womanhood.

“You’re no virgin,” he said in a low, rough tone as he slid his abrasive fingers deep into me. “That’s fine.  I wouldn’t expect it.  What matters is that you’re still young enough to breed.”

“Let me go,” I frantically begged. “Let me go and I won’t say a word about this.”

“Go?”  he said in a way that a predator might speak to its prey. “Go where, little wolf?”

“Don’t call me that.  I’m not a wolf,” I hissed as he forced my legs open and settled himself between them.

“True.  You ain’t a wolf yet, but soon the moon will be full and I will turn you,” he said as he rammed his manhood deep into me. “I’m just laying my claim onto you now before the others come looking for you.”

Having his enormous erection shoved deep into my unprepared and unwanting womanhood was shockingly painful. I screamed loud and long as he pumped his manhood in and out of me; not just from the pain, but from the outrage of what was happening as well.

“You’re hurting me!” I bellowed.

“Relax, little wolf,” he urged with a deep throated voice as he continued to move in and out.  “Relax and enjoy.”  Propping his torso onto his arms so that his weight wasn’t on me, he said, “You’re tight and dry.  Here.  Let me do this.  It will help to loosen you up.”

With that, his mouth attacked my breast.  I squealed with disgust and pulled at his thick mass of unruly auburn hair in an effort to get him to stop suckling at my nipple.  It was as if he was oblivious to the fact that he was only making matters worse.  He moved his mouth from one breast to the other while never ceasing to assault me with his manhood.

When he finally gave my swollen, raw nipples a break, he held his torso off mine as he positioned himself to be able to drive his rod even deeper into me.  It gave me a clear view of his ugly face.  His skin was marked with the remnants of teenage acne and his nose was flat and crooked like he’d broken it one too many times.  His hair was long, wild, and thick, giving it the appearance of a lion’s mane around his broad face. His square jaw looked out of place beneath his thin lips.  All in all, he had to be the ugliest man I’d ever laid eyes on.

And he was raping me.

I could feel his manhood growing.  Since it looked overly engorged prior to him entering me, I was surprised by that fact.  His breathing and grunting were indicating that he was just about to release his seed.  The mere thought of this disgusting creature leaving a bit of himself in me made me shudder with revulsion and panic to the extent that I thought I’d go mad. Not knowing what else to do, I bit his wrist until I drew blood. He bellowed with anger and stopped pumping for a brief second, but quickly picked up where he left off.

I was at a loss over what to do.  I’d managed to delay the inevitable by biting him, but not stop it. My mind had just begun running through the clinics that I could go to for the morning after pill when my assailant bellowed with despair as he was torn free of me.

My first thought was to see if he’d managed to release his seed.  I didn’t think he had, but I needed to be certain.  I quickly felt between my legs for his semen. To my relief, there was none.

Feeling shaken but relieved that he hadn’t had the chance to impregnate me, I focused on what was happening.  Snow had awoken from his tranquilized state and come to my rescue.  He’d torn into the man’s shoulder when he pulled him off me and now had his fangs deep in my rapist’s throat.  As terrible as it was, I could feel no empathy for my assailant.  As far as I was concerned, he deserved what the wolf was dishing out.

I sat in silent shock while I watched Snow  hold tight to that ugly man’s thick, muscled throat until he took his last breath.  Instead of backing off, the beautiful beast continued to gnaw on my assailant’s neck until he’d managed to sever his head from his body.

Still, I felt no emotion.

Nor did I budge.  Not even an inch.

After picking up the man’s head by his hair and tossing it a few feet from his body, Snow moved next to me and placed his bloody muzzle in my lap like a dog might a master.  Half dazed and trembling from the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins and the trauma that I’d just endured, I robotically scratched his ears like I’d seen Noah and Oscar do while I remained ever silent.

I was still sitting on the ground with Snow’s head in my lap when he perked up and gave a low growl.  It quickly shifted to a growly bark as he stood up and took on a protective stance in front of me.  With the wolf blocking my view, I wasn’t able to see who or what was approaching.  Terrified, I shrunk my body as small as I could get it behind my protector.

“Down boy,” said a familiar male voice.

Snow immediately laid down on the ground in front of me as Noah steadily walked my way.

I stared at him with what I assume was a blank look as he assessed the situation.  Seeing the naked, dead man with his head lying just feet away from him, he scowled.

“So, they’ve started to come,” he grumbled.  Reaching for my clothes, he picked them up and moved to hand them to me.

Panicked by his approach, I finally found my voice and shouted, “Keep away!”

He wore a shocked look as he stopped in his tracks.  Then, taking a longer moment to study both my headless assailant and me, he closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I don’t understand why Snow let him do that to you before taking him down,” he said with an apologetic tone.

My voice trembled as I said, “He tranquilized Snow.  I was swimming and he tranquilized Snow.”

A gut wrenching groan came from his throat as he, once again, moved toward me.

“Stay away!” I screeched.

Tossing my clothes into my lap, he said, “Okay, but put these on.”

It took longer than normal to dress as I struggled to stop the shaking.   I hurt all over, especially in my chest.  I could see visible bruises on my arms and legs as I carefully pulled on my top and shorts.

“I think he broke my rib,” I said.

I wiped at blood from the corner of my mouth that I hadn’t realized was there.   With the adrenaline slowly leaving my system, I felt the full impact of the injuries I’d incurred during our struggle.

Getting onto my knees, I attempted to stand up.  The searing pain in my chest brought tears to my eyes and my legs buckled beneath me.  I cried out from the pain and frustration as I fell to the ground.

Ignoring my demands for him to stay away from me, he carefully cradled me in his arms and carried me back toward the cabin.

I felt a sudden sense of safety almost as soon as he pulled me close to him. So, rather than continuing to scream and rant for him to put me down, I wrapped my arms around his strong neck before burying my face into it and unabashedly crying my eyes out.

“I was raped by a man who said that he wanted to make me his mate,” I finally choked into his flesh as my body shuddered. “He was big and ugly and Snow killed him.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he gently caressed my head and, then, lightly kissed it.

“If it wasn’t for Snow…,” I whimpered.

“He knew about Snow and was prepared for him,” he grumbled with disappointment.  “Damn.”

“I need to be checked for diseases,” I said with a touch of panic.  “I need to be checked…”

“He wouldn’t have a disease,” he assured me.  “Werewolves don’t catch the STDs that humans pass around.”

“He looked pretty human to me,” I murmured as my lips moved against the flesh of his strong neck that was wet and salty from my tears.

“He was, but he wasn’t.  It’s that werewolf gene that makes the difference.  We separate ourselves by referring to those who don’t carry the gene as humans and us as werewolves,” he explained. “Technically, I’m a human with a mutation.  If you found my dead body and did an autopsy, you’d think I was simply human.”

Finally lifting my face from his neck, I said, “It’s scary, weird, and difficult to take in.”

“Did he empty into you?” he asked with concern.

“I don’t think so,” I said.  “I felt for something and it was dry.  I’m so sore.”

“Do you want to go back to the lake and soak?” he asked with concern.

I vigorously shook my head.  I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to go back there.

“I think that a good soak would help you,” he gently said. “Do you want to come to my home?  I have a nice deep tub.”

I thought for a moment before finally nodding. I didn’t know how wise it was to go with him. He was someone else who I really didn’t know.  Yet, I felt safe at that moment.  Whether a good soak would help me or not wasn’t the reason I agreed to go.  I wanted an opportunity to scrub that man away and I had no intention of going back to that lake.

Still in his strong arms with my slender ones wrapped around his neck in a vice-like grip, I said with a shaky voice, “I want to leave a note for Kenzie in case she comes back before we return.”