Chapter Five

Eve sat in the middle of her bed, still wrapped in her pajamas and sheets. She had been there for the past three days. The only time she got up was to occasionally eat, get high, and use the bathroom. She couldn’t push herself to do anything else. She had no job to go to.

Her thoughts went to the man who saved her. They always did. He had the same tattoo that suddenly appeared on her. Did he somehow put it on her? How could he have done it without it hurting like a son of a bitch? There had to be some freaky voodoo going on, just like Roscoe had said.

Micah said they were mated. She frowned. People didn’t mate. Animals mated, didn’t they? Neither of them were animals. They might have fucked like animals, but they were one hundred percent human. Plus mating meant forever. Did she want to be with this guy for the rest of her life?

She pictured his face in her mind. She ached to kiss his lips, to touch his body. He touched her like no other person had, both sexually and spiritually. The pull that cursed her the night she met Micah drove her to find him. She wasn’t sure why, but she needed him so much it physically hurt.

Eve glared at the door. Tabitha had been a bitch the whole time she’d holed herself up in her room. She screamed at her to go get more drugs. Then she would climb into bed with her and try to coerce her into sex. Every time Tabitha touched her, she felt violently ill. And Tabitha was one of those people who gagged when someone around them did. It was the only blessing of this thing that possessed her. It finally drove Tabitha to go stay at Clyde’s.

Eve let her memories go back to the strip club when Micah became her hero. Who did he say he was? His full name was Micah Hallow. He was one of the Hallow brothers. She remembered the night Deacon told him about. The strip club was packed from wall to wall with a line waiting to get inside. She’d given lap dances to over a dozen guys, and they all talked about this kid who decimated the Welterweight champion at the time. There was some big drama that the champ’s girlfriend left him weeks before the fight to fuck the other. The kid was a Hallow. Micah’s brother.

Her brow furrowed. Didn’t Tabitha say the Hallows hung out at the bar down from the diner she worked? Would someone be able to tell her where he lived? She paused for a moment. Did she even want to see him again?

Her heart and the mysterious power inside her answered at the same time. Yes. She hopped out of bed and scuttled off to the shower. If she was going to see him, she needed to look so good it brought him to his knees. He’s already brought me to mine.

She lathered up her loofa and began to scrub. She glanced around at the mildew-encrusted tiles. Even though she had been with a handful of guys before, she had never had shower sex. What would it be like to be held up in Micah’s arms and pinned against the cold wall as he thrust himself inside her? She whimpered as the coarse sponge slipped from her hand. She cupped a couple of fingers between her legs and teased herself as she let her imagination run wild, not stopping until a bone shattering orgasm ripped through her.

She needed to find Micah Hallow. Now.

Eve rinsed off and hurried back to her room to dress. She climbed into her favorite pair of jeans and then tugged on a gray, low cut, long sleeved T-shirt. She grabbed her purse and the keys to her motorcycle and then rushed out of her apartment, slamming the door behind her. She didn’t say one word to Tabitha as she passed her on the stairs.

The lights were on at the club, and one door was slightly propped open when Eve parked her bike outside. It was easy to tell they weren’t open. That wasn’t going to stop her. She slipped the keys in her pocket, took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and strolled inside.

Two men sat at the bar perched on barstools. Piles of paper lay all over the polished wood top. They took sips from bottles of beer as they leaned into each other and debated quietly.

Eve swallowed hard and approached them. “Hello. I was looking for Micah Hallow.”

One of the men chuckled. “He’s not here, doll.”

The men resumed with their talk like she wasn’t there. She huffed. Assholes. “Do you know where I can find him?”

Both men glared at her, clearly annoyed. One slowly stood. “My name is Leroy. I’m the promoter he’s fighting for. Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Eve plastered a beaming smile on her face. “My name is Eve. I work for Deacon Ravens.”

Leroy shook his head. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m not giving my fighter’s information to a stripper. Micah is too valuable to me.”

“I’m not here for that.” She thought fast, hoping this guy couldn’t see her stall. “Deacon is offering to sponsor him. I guess they struck a deal, but the guy left the USB stick with the logo to Deacon’s club on it. Deacon told me to find this man. I’m looking for anything. If you even have an email, I’ll take it.”

“Micah Hallow agreed to put a strip club on his fight shirt?”

Eve shrugged. “I guess the money was so good he couldn’t say no.”

The other man looked up at Leroy. “You mean Micah Hallow is going to put someone other than Sharky’s Garage on his shirt? That would be a first.”

Eve’s eyes widened. “Whose garage?”

“Sharky’s,” the man repeated.

“And that Japanese software company. Still, don’t know where that came from,” Leroy added.

Eve slowly backed toward the door. “Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your help.”

They frowned at her. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Leroy asked.

“Have a good rest of your day.” Eve spun on her toe and fled the bar. She slipped her cell from the back pocket of her jeans. She pulled up the browser on her phone and searched for Sharky’s Garage. She blew out a slow breath as it posted a result. It was two hours away.

“Shit. It’s going to be a cold ride,” she muttered under her breath. She took a second look at the directions and then tucked the cell back in her pocket, mounted her bike, and sped down the road heading north out of Duluth.

»»•««

Eve’s ass was almost numb as she came to a long expanse of thick evergreen trees. The late autumn wind bit through her. The highway she was on seemed to trail off into a single lane disappearing into the woods. It was a dead end. She let out a frustrated sigh as she scanned the scene for a place to pull over so she could look at the map on her cell again. As far north as she was, she had to be close to the border separating Minnesota from Canada.

She nearly missed the little gas station on the side of the road. There were more cars and trucks outside of the tiny building than she would have expected. She directed her bike toward the dirt lot and pulled to a stop. She read the sign hanging from the building. Sharky’s Garage.

Eve climbed off the motorcycle and nudged the kickstand down. A group of men had gathered in the middle of the scattered vehicles. She couldn’t get a great look at most of them. They were big. A slightly smaller one was much older with long black hair streaked with gray and a darker complexion. He looked like he might be from the nearby reservation. Maybe he owns this place.

She jogged to the crowd, waving a hand to get someone’s attention. “Hello? Is Sharky here?”

Another man, probably older than the one with thin slicked back hair, stepped out to greet her. “Ello, Miss. I be Sharky. Ye needin’ gas?”

“No. I’m actually looking for Micah…”

“Eve?”

Eve’s heart slammed in her chest at the voice. That tug, the pull that possessed her and stole every rational thought from her head, burned alive into an inferno hotter than she had ever felt before. She turned and looked deep into the dark eyes of the man who claimed to be her mate.

“Eve, what are you doing here?” Micah asked.

“I’m here to talk to you about this mating thing. And because no matter how hard I try I can’t stop thinking about you and the naughty things I want to do to you.”

“Micah?” A feminine voice questioned. There was a squeak to the word.

“Momma, I can explain,” Micah told her.

“Micah, you don’t have much time,” the tall older man with the long black hair chided.

“I know, Littlefoot.” Micah turned to Eve. “You need to go with my mother and my sister-in-law, Meg. They’re headed to my aunts’ house. I promise we’ll talk in a week.”

“A week? No. Fuck that,” Eve answered. “We talk now.”

“I have to go. I can’t. Trust me. You won’t want to be around me shortly.”

Another man, obviously one of Micah’s brothers, crossed the lot to him. Unlike most of the others, his hair was dark and curly. “Micah, how does she know about mating?”

Micah didn’t turn to face his brother. He stared at Eve. The autumn air was chilly, but it didn’t stop him. He unzipped his hooded sweatshirt and then peeled off his T-shirt.

There was a collective gasp. Micah’s eyes fluttered shut as he hung his head.

“When the fuck did that happen?” the brother demanded.

“When you picked me up at that sleazy hotel, Josiah.”

“That cheap motel? So are you saying she’s a…”

Micah turned at him as he pulled his T-shirt and sweatshirt back on. “She’s my mate. That’s it. Nothing more. So you can drop the fucking accusations unless you want a piece of me.”

“Micah,” Littlefoot reminded.

Micah gently kissed Eve. “I’m sorry. I’ll explain next week. Please, just go with my mother and Meg.”

Eve glanced at the two women standing among the men. One was as old as Littlefoot and Sharky. She was rather rotund with black hair. There was no doubt in Eve’s mind that she was Micah’s mother. The other was young, blonde, and pregnant. She clung to a guy younger than Micah. He had shaggy dark hair and was covered in more ink than her lover.

She shook her head. “I’ll go home. Catch you in a week.”

Before she could walk away, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He kissed her again, his lips parting hers to drive deeper. “Don’t come looking for me. Promise me you won’t.”

“Whatever.”

She pulled from his hold and stalked to her bike, climbing on and firing it up. She didn’t look back as she flew down the highway back to Duluth. The sun was setting, and twilight blanketed the sky. Her body burned with need, urging her to turn around. She fought it. He was going to blow her off for a week, refusing to even talk to her. He shoved this nonsense about their mating aside. He wouldn’t even address it. And his family was as delusional as he was.

She didn’t even get halfway back to Duluth before the mysterious force drove the thoughts from her mind. She spun her bike around and headed back to Sharky’s Garage.

Night had fallen when she finally made it back. The station was dark, and there wasn’t a soul in sight. The beaten down dirt that was once covered in cars and trucks was now vacant. She stopped next to an antique pump and then searched around her. She stared at the single lane that led into the woods. The power that controlled her beckoned her to follow it. Her tire skidded in the dirt as she sped into the forest. The night sky disappeared as it swallowed her whole.

»»•««

Eve gritted her teeth as her bike dipped and bounced around on the dirt road up through the dense forest. Despite the presence of so many pine trees, the ground was nearly covered with fallen leaves. Even though the carpet of reds, golds, and oranges was beautiful in the twilight glow, she nearly wiped out on her motorcycle three times. Shit. This is going to be a bitch when the snow falls. And I’m not about to go buy a car. Not that I’m moving here. But if I did, no car.

The urge for Micah that typically filled her resonated harder than it ever had. Her whole body was on fire, and he was the only cure. She could already feel his lips on her skin, his teeth nipping at her breast. She needed him now. His ridiculous talk about her being his mate didn’t matter. Maybe his lack of sex has made him delusional. I can fix that.

She glanced around at the thick forest that surrounded her. This trail had jostled her for nearly an hour. She couldn’t be going in the right direction. Where the hell had Micah gone? She was going to get lost in these woods and die, and he’d never find her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the trees opened up to reveal a large clearing. She pulled to a stop and parked her bike next to a row of old antique cars and trucks. She did a double take. Even in the light of the full moon, they were easy to recognize. They were the same vehicles that were down at Sharky’s Garage. She dismounted from her bike as she scanned the scene before her. There were nine buildings made out of interlocking logs. Seven were nearly identical. One was a bit bigger. The final one was over a hundred feet long. There was no doubt in her mind the place must have been a summer camp at one point. On the other side of the clearing were several wooden box gardens filled only with dirt and a few sprigs left over from the harvest. Near the tree line were two tall wooden and metal towers with equipment mounted on the top. The place was sort of bizarre. Micah lives here so far away from the rest of civilization? No wonder he was a virgin before he met me.

She took a couple of steps toward the middle of the camp and then froze. Did she hear something? It sounded like a dog. There was a shuffle against the ground before she heard the deep, heavy pant behind her. It was accompanied by a snarl. Her heart clenched in her chest, almost driving the desire out of her. She slowly turned to face whatever large, angry animal cornered her.

She gasped in terror as she laid eyes on the beast. On all fours, it was taller than her. It was covered in coarse, brown fur. Razor sharp fangs shot up past its upper lip. Thick claws pawed the ground angrily. It snorted and stomped just before it charged.

Eve screamed as a second beast, bigger and stronger than the first, collided into it, knocking it to the ground. She backpedaled away from the monsters to slam into a third, even larger than the first two. It growled deeply before it padded to the second one. The two of them made a horrifying wall of feral, nightmarish animal blocking her from her bike.

Eve spun on her toe to sprint away. She needed to run fast and far from this nightmare. Instead, she found herself face to face with a fourth. Her fear went to war with her need for sex. She watched the fourth beast strain to focus on her. With what sounded like a sigh to her, the creature leaned in and nudged her. The touch sent delicious shivers through her. She shook her head. What the hell was happening to her?

She backed away from the unholy pack toward the rows of cabins. The fourth followed beside her, guiding her toward one in particular. When she tried to run, to deviate from the path, it herded her back on course. She studied the structure. It was the second one in from the larger ones.

The beast followed as she climbed the steps and scurried through the little building. The sound of shredding wood followed her. She looked frantically for a way out but found none. She was trapped. She would be an easy kill for this thing now. Glancing at the door of the bathroom, she took off for it. The room was far too small for the animal to get into. It was her only hope.

She made it to the shower before she turned to find the beast in the doorway of the bathroom. Eve’s knees gave out. She crumpled to the tile floor, shaking. It huffed as it raised a dangerous claw to her. It didn’t slash at her. Instead, it caught the door knob. In one quick, sharp motion, it slammed the door closed.

»»•««

Eve didn’t move from her spot on the bathroom floor but kept her gaze locked on the closed door. She could hear the nightmare stomp and grunt outside in the hallway. She had no idea what time it was. It was late, and sleep fought to get the better of her. She thought of the beast that trapped her in here. Exhaustion fled, leaving her wide awake.

A soft glow appeared from the crack under the door. It must have been morning. Eve strained to listen for any noise coming from outside the bathroom. She couldn’t hear anything at all. She slowly stood, but her knees still buckled underneath her. She fell back to her knees, still shaking. She had never seen anything so horrifying in her life. If she had to, she would crawl out of these woods. Her heart leaped into her throat. Had that thing found Micah? Was her lover all right or did that thing kill him? She scuttled across the cold tile floor. She had to find him.

She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, ripping the door open. She slumped to her ass, dumbfounded. Micah sat with his back against the wall in his beautiful naked glory. His cock was erect and swollen against his belly. It looked longer and thicker than before. Eve ran her tongue across her lips. She wanted to wrap her mouth around him and suck until he came. He had a hand buried in his thick hair. Between her fear and the desire flooding her, Eve couldn’t even swallow.

Micah’s voice was a low growl. “Surprise.”

Eve pointed a trembling finger at him. Then she directed it toward the living room and then the bedroom. Where the hell did that thing go? “What the holy fuck was that thing? That beast?”

“That beast was me. I told you not to come up here. You promised me you wouldn’t.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? How could that thing possibly be you?”

“Simple. I’m a werewolf.”

“And those other…things?”

“Those things were three of my brothers. The one who tried to attack you was Abraham. He hasn’t learned to control the blood lust yet apparently.”

“The two who stopped me from leaving?”

“Josiah and Caleb. Caleb fell for a girl. When she saw him, she took off running and fell to her death. Before Meg. They were stopping you from doing the same thing.”

“I’ve got to go.” Eve gripped the side of the sink to pull herself to her feet. Micah scooped her into his arms before she could collapse again. His touch sent molten fire through her veins.

“Next time you need to listen to me,” he warned.

She didn’t speak. She tugged his mouth to hers, smothering his with a deep, wet kiss. She gripped his hair in her hand to hold him in place. It didn’t seem to bother him. He grabbed hold of her hips and ground her against him. She was still quaking in terror but had no desire to escape. Instead, she pushed harder against the thick, hard ridge pressing against her belly.

She pulled away when their kiss ended and then fell to her knees. She mindlessly wrapped her lips around his cock and started to suck. He moaned as he threw his head back in pleasure. She gazed up at him. He looked so strong, so sexy with his etched muscles, the ink embedded in his naked skin, the sheer ecstasy in his face as she pleased him.

Micah grabbed her to pull her to her feet. His breath was ragged as he tugged her jeans and panties to the floor and then lifted her onto the edge of the sink. His lips roamed the curve of her neck, nipping at her jugular. She felt his tip bury into her folds as he shoved her shirt and bra up to expose her breasts.

“So perfect,” he muttered as he stared at her.

She gazed up at him. He thought she was perfect? His eyes were their normal deep, rust brown but were now flecked with gold. It was beautiful. She lifted herself up to kiss him, careful not to break the connection between them. “Micah, please.”

“As you wish.”

“Don’t let me stop you.”

The deep voice tore them away from each other. Eve blinked herself back to her senses somewhat. There was a guy in the hallway leaning against the wall outside the bathroom door with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. His dark hair was shaggy. He had twice as many tattoos as Micah. She thought back to the night before. He had been the one with his arms wrapped around the pregnant blonde what seemed like days ago. Was he some kind of freak who wanted to watch them have sex?

“Get the fuck out of here, Caleb,” Micah warned.

“Not fucking likely, big bro.”

Eve wasn’t coherent enough to straighten her clothes. The mysterious pull had her so tight in its grip she didn’t care if Micah screwed her right there in front of his brother, just as long as he did it soon. Micah’s voice was a low growl. “I will fucking kill you.”

“You’ll fucking thank me.”

“How so, asshole?”

“How long have you known each other? A week? Maybe a little more? You don’t know each other well enough to prepare you for what happens when we have sex during the week of a full moon.”

Micah wrapped his fingers around Eve’s hips and rocked himself a little inside her. She whimpered. She wanted more. “Fuck off, Cay.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your friend ends up like Meg is now. We’re only fertile during the full moon, dumbass. Are you ready to be a daddy?”

Micah froze as his eyes grew wide. The raging heat that tore through Eve was suddenly doused. She could tell the primal power inside her didn’t approve. She fought back the sting of tears. “Don’t worry about it.”

Micah looked at her. “Why not?”

She forced a small smile on her face. “I can’t have children. I’m sorry, Micah. I’ll explain more another day. Just not right now.”

She felt void and cold when he pulled free of her. Then she was wrapped tightly in a pair of strong, warm arms. Micah’s voice rumbled in her ear. “It’s all right. Whenever you want to talk to me more about it, I’m here to listen.”

She heard a noise at the door. “I’m sorry, guys.” Eve caught sight of Caleb shuffling away just before he disappeared.

She snuggled tightly against Micah’s chest again as the tears flowed down her cheeks. “You’re a good man, aren’t you?”

“I’m the least threatening of seven beasts of Satan if that compares at all.”

She looked up, barely able to discern him through the sheen. “I’m not a good woman. I’m not. Micah, you shouldn’t be with me. You should be with a good girl.”

He kissed her forehead. “You’re shaking like a leaf. I can feel your heart pounding against me. This is too much to take in. Let me take you down to Sharky’s, and he can bring you to my aunts’ house. You can wait out the week with my mother and Meg.”

She pulled out of his arms and dressed without looking at him. “It’s okay. I can get to Sharky’s myself. I’m sure you have stuff to do.”

“Sleep. Train. It seems I have a fight coming up.”

She fought back a cringe. “Yeah. You do.”

Micah cupped his fingers under her chin and nudged her face toward his to look in her eyes. “Why do I have a feeling you’re not coming back?”

“I’m not sure I have a choice.”

She pulled from his grasp and slipped out of the bathroom. She wove through the sparsely decorated living area to the door. She stepped out into the early morning sunshine that bathed the camp. She instinctively counted the men standing outside watching her as she crossed the large yard toward her bike. One, two, three, four, five, six. The naked one she left behind was number seven. Seven very human, very deadly Hallow Brothers. And all of them were large, strong, intimidating, dominating. And they all held a deep, dark secret. Her body, mind, and soul were twisted chaos as she mounted her bike and fired it on. Micah’s face, as he stood in only a pair of jeans outside his cabin, was the last thing she saw before she plunged down the trail into the woods.