2. Fighting For My Life

I was tangled between two places–physically and emotionally.

One, where I was immersed in lust. My body screamed for Darius’s touch, all hot, bothered, and breathless. My stomach was in a flurry of flutters, and my heart was racing.

Another part of me–which was not close to dominant as it should be–had my mind brimming with panic as Darius’s strong hands wrapped firmly around my throat. And realized that my breathlessness might be more of the lack of oxygen than what my body felt.

I’ve never felt so conflicted in my entire life.

Darius’s black eyes bore into my soul as he spoke in a sharp tone, “I reject you,” cutting my muddled emotions to shreds and sobering my mind up right then and there.

I struggled against his grip, a hiss releasing from my lips. “Let…me go.”

Instead, his grasp tightened as he drew me closer, followed by a derisive snort. His eyes flicked down, working their way up my body. It was not with the look you’d ever hoped your supposed mate would offer you. That stare was ridden with unadulterated hate. “The Goddess must have been on crack when she thought we were a match. A puny, pathetic little girl.”

A stab of pain edged through my heart. Despite feeling precisely like what he had accused me of at that moment, I snapped back, “I’m no puny little girl.” I jerked back again, managing to free myself from his grasp. I was no fool, aware that he had let me go intentionally. If he really wanted to keep me there, I wouldn’t be free right now. I shot him a venomous look, trying not to seem bothered as I planted my hands on my hips, but the effort was shaky. “And yeah, the Goddess had to be as high as a kite to try and match me with a brute like you.”

Darius’s face turned from furious crimson to an unflattering shade of purple. “Who the fuck are you?”

I huffed, taking a step back to create some distance between us. “Some puny girl, according to–” I gasped as he snatched my upper arm and dragged me toward him. There was a threat behind his eyes, and even before he had to say anything, the panicked words slid from between my lips before I could stop them. “It doesn’t matter!”

“The hell it doesn’t matter. You are the reason I lost!”

“It’s not my fault you got distracted by a wee little pink pompom.”

“This isn’t a damn game.” His nostrils flared as he shook me. “You made me lose!”

I tried to remain calm as a shot of his anger invaded the air around me. “How? I was simply doing what everyone was doing in the heat of the moment. Cheering on the race.” Cheering for you, you jackass. But this jackass had just lost a fan. “I didn’t make you lose the race. You were the one admiring the view when you were supposed to focus on shifting.” I knew I was stepping on some toes here–some big ones at that–but at the same time, as my body traitorously felt drawn to him, my mind racing with fear–I also had the insatiable need to tick him off. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had so openly rejected me for no reason. Before he even bothered to get to know me. And yes, I was painfully aware of the hushed crowds of people around us staring.

I tried to peek past Darius to see if Fat Tony was still around, hoping he’d come and save me. But the Savage was the size of a mountain and then some. Fat Tony stood no chance.

“Who. Are. You?”

My eyes flicked back to meet his cold stare. I made up the first name I could think of. “Gelda Maines.” No way in hell I was about to give him my real name. Someone else might grab the chance if he didn’t kill me on the spot. I could feel Loren stiffen beside me, and I knew what she was thinking. She should have ditched me the moment I insisted we’d come here. Because what she had feared was slowly unfolding in front of us.

Being caught out and everyone finding out that we are from a rival pack–and openly prancing on enemy territory. Goodness only knows if they find out who my father was. I’d likely be taken up for ransom, and my cold, mutilated body would be discovered in a ditch somewhere after they robbed my father blind.

I should have listened to Loren. But it was too late for that now.

Darius reacted in a way I least expected. His head fell back, and he rumbled with laughter. A few people standing close enough to hear the exchange joined in. For a moment, the thickness in the air dissipated and a slight relief formed in my chest. He was only messing with me. Right?

“Gelda? Maines?” He snorted, suddenly stopping mid-laugh. His face turned serious as his grip tightened around my arm. The mild relief I felt for a nanosecond clouded over. “You take me as a damned fool now, do you?”

I gulped, feigning innocence. “I have no idea what you’re on about.”

Darius tugged me hard against his chest and leaned down until I could feel his hot breath dance across my cheek. His lips brushed my ear as he whispered low enough for only me to hear. “I can smell the stench of a dog from the Black Syndicate from a mile away, girl.”

My chest constricted with panic. I couldn’t come up with a single comeback or anything that could potentially save my life.

“I should throw you to the damned wolves for this little stunt.”

“Please, don’t. I just–”

Thunder rang out around us. In reaction to the noise, I freaking leaped in underneath Darius’s arm as a form of defense. Stupid move on my behalf, thinking someone who had just threatened me would protect me.

Dead silence followed. Darius’s other arm shot out defensively and, surprisingly, blocking me from whatever had created the noise, his body tense.

The silence seemed to stretch for a minute before all hell broke loose. Screams and shouts erupted around us, and people scattered in droves for an escape.

I spun to my right, just in time to see Loren running out at the back. I lost sight of her within seconds as she blended in with the fleeing crowds shoving each other to get away.

Darius released me and shouted, “Get the fuck out of here before you end up dead because of your own stupidity!”

My eyes were wild and wide. I watched him turn full beast mode and ram into two giant brown wolves heading straight toward us.

More thunder sounded–and I realized with a start that it wasn’t thunder but gunfire. There were men dressed in navy from head to toe, shooting aimlessly into the crowds while everyone tried to flee.

Half of them were in their wolf forms, with navy markings on their ears, attacking anyone nearby. It was a rival pack. I recognized the markings, but for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with who they were at that moment.

I didn’t waste another second. I made a mad dash in the opposite direction, peering back for a second to see the Savage’s wolf colliding with a group of attackers. Anxiety coiled viciously inside my chest, and I was tempted to turn back and help him.

Stupid mate bond. I had to remind myself he rejected me. He was nothing to me and sure as hell not worth risking my life for.

I headed in the direction I saw Loren run. We did come together in my car, and I knew she had no way of getting home on her own. That, and we were in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t see her amongst the crowds of people running and took a leap of faith that she’d most likely made it to my car.

A cry of disbelief escaped me when I got into the parking lot. “She did not just leave me here.”

My car was gone. At that moment, I distinctly remembered I had given my keys to her so she could keep them in her purse for me, as I didn’t carry one on me.

My best friend just ditched me. With my car. In the middle of nowhere. On enemy territory. 

My gaze skimmed across the parking lot, toward the exit, hoping maybe I was overreacting and that she was waiting for me somewhere she wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

But no. Loren was gone.

Despite it being past midnight, there was no way you could miss my neon orange Buggy. She had left me here. 

My hands flew up, and I clutched either side of my head. “Shit. Shit. Shit!”

I was still caught in my moment of distress when I was grabbed from behind with fingers wrapped firmly around my throat. Air swooshed from my lips as I was dragged back behind a building–a run-down warehouse–my heart about to claw its way out from inside my chest.

I kicked and fought to pry the fingers laced around my neck but without succession.

“Finally,” the low, throaty voice chuckled. “Do you have any idea how bloody hard it is to get you alone?”

I immediately recognized the voice, sudden relief washing over me. Regardless of the questionable manner in which I was dragged from the scene, I was convinced I was safe. “Dwane. Thank the Goddess!” Dwane, aka Snake Eyes–better known as my father’s other right-hand man and beta–had come to my rescue. We were now behind the warehouse, out of sight from any threats, and I was still having trouble breathing. “You can let me go now. I’m sure…” I choked. “I can stand on my own.”

Snake eyes didn’t let me go. Instead, his grip around my throat constricted as he coughed a laugh. “You think I’m here to save you?”

I didn’t like the sound of menace in his tone. “Dwane, this is… isn’t…funny. I. Can’t…Breathe.”

“Good,” he mused in my ear. “Then it means I’m doing my job correctly.”

“D…Dwane?” I choked out as tears clouded my vision. I wasn’t crying, but the lack of oxygen seemed to force it out.

“Remember that lullaby I used to sing you when you were just a pup?”

“Dw..wane. S…stop.” Why was he doing this? I wanted to ask him, but my mouth was too busy fighting to get in bites of air.

“Night-night little puppy,” Snake Eyes began to hum as he choked the life out of me. “Don’t sneak around at night…Or the big, black wolf would come for you and grab your flank…Drag you off into the woods underneath the Willow root…”