Chapter Sixteen
His wolf wanted to touch her one last time. He reached out and grabbed her to pull her across the threshold. When her face contorted in pain he quickly released her.
“Ouch!” she howled and went down to one knee.
“Ash?” Hunter dropped to his knees, too. “What’s wrong?”
She held out her arm to him. Her wrist had an angry red and open wound around it.
“They handcuffed you to the shower rod again?” he growled.
She tried to smile and wiped tears from her eyes. “It was part one of the punishment for withholding information from Clarissa.” She struggled to stand. “And I don’t plan on sticking around for part two.”
He peered up at her. “What’s part two?” he asked in a low voice.
“Well, if I stay, I’m pretty sure Clarissa will end up killing me.”
He stood and tugged on her sleeve, making sure not to touch her bare skin. “Come inside.” When she was in his apartment he shut the door behind her. “I’m not going to let them kill you.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Stay with me. I’ll protect you.”
She shook her head. “If I can get on a plane before sunset, then I’ll have a chance at escaping them. They’ll find me if I stay here.”
“It doesn’t feel right to let you leave and not know where you’re heading off to.”
She shrugged. “As long as I’m away from Clarissa I’ll be fine and safe. If I thought you were immune to Vampiric enthrallment, I would tell you, but you’re not. Erzsebet proved that.”
He thrust his fingers through his hair. “You’re right about that.”
“All I need is some money and a ride to the airport.”
“I can give you the money, but I can’t leave my house—Alpha’s order.”
“Can I borrow your car?” She pressed her hands together. “Please tell me you have a car.”
“Just the bike.” He went to the window and peered outside. “Hey, how did you get here, anyway?”
“I walked.”
He whipped around to face her. “You walked? Jesus, Ash. You’re human.” He immediately went to her feet. They swelled over her shoes. “What possessed you to walk miles in these?”
She shooed him when we he tried to pick up a foot. “Vampire. Death. Remember? Besides, I can rest when I’m on a plane putting as much distance between me and Clarissa as possible.”
“We need to take care of you.”
“I need a ride.”
He cursed under his breath. “I can call a cab, but it’s getting late and I don’t know if they’d make it here in time.”
“We don’t have any other choice.”
He retrieved his cell phone from his back pocket and searched for the number to the cab company. While he dialed the number and placed an order for the first available cab, Ash paced impatiently around his living room. He didn’t know how she could still walk.
He disconnected the call. “They said they can have a cab here in thirty minutes.”
She stared out of his window. “I think that may be too late. The sun is already beginning to set.”
“They don’t know you’ve come here.”
“I think this is the first place they would look.”
He crossed the short distance to her and placed his hands on her arms. “Ash, listen to me. I’m not going to let them hurt you again. They’re not taking you from here.”
“You don’t know them like I do. They’ll kill you.”
“They won’t risk the war with my Pack.”
She gave him a sad look. “Do you still have a Pack, Hunter?”
His wolf paced within. “Not when Andras gets here, I won’t.”
She put her hands on his chest. “Then there’s nothing stopping them from killing you to get to me.” A tear slid down her face. “I’m not worth the fight, Hunter.”
Something in him didn’t want the tear to reach her perfect lips. He used the pad of his thumb to stop and wipe it away. “You’re well worth the fight.” He leaned down and kissed her. He’d missed her so much. He delved his tongue into her mouth and, with assured softness, danced around hers.
He cradled the back of her head and wrapped his free hand around her waist, bringing her body closer to his. She sighed and melted against him, giving in to his embrace. She ran her fingers through his hair, trailing them along his scalp.
He pulled away to take a breath. She whimpered when their lips parted. He looked deep into her eyes, past the passion that he found there and deeper still, down to her very soul. His wolf pushed to the front and locked onto her core.
His heart sang. His soul soared. Another bond formed, this one stronger than the Pack bonds. What he shared with Ash wasn’t merely a string, like the ones that attached him to the rest of the Pack, but was more like a cocoon enveloping both him and Ash together as one.
Ash was his and he was hers.
“Wh-what’s going on?” she asked breathlessly.
A thousand rays of light seemed to flicker in his head and burst against the darkness. His mind reeled from the sensation. His breath caught in the back of his throat.
“Hunter! What’s going on?” Ash’s voice sounded so distant. So very far away.
His hands slipped from her body. He willed them to stay on her. He didn’t want to ever let her go again. But despite his inner struggle he dropped to his knees.
“Should I call for help? Tell me what to do,” Ash’s voice was frantic now.
“We’re mated. My wolf. He mated with…you.”
“That can’t be right. If something happens to me, then you’ll die, too.”
He shook his head, trying to dislodge the last effects of grogginess from the bonding. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I’ll protect you with my life.” He finally opened his eyes to find a horrified look on her face.
“I can’t let you die for me.”
“It’s my duty now.” He reached out for her. He wanted to feel her again. She stepped out of his reach and he met air. “Ash, come here.”
She backed away. “I can’t let you be responsible for me, Hunter.”
He tried to force himself to his feet, but his legs shook under him. He fell to the floor again. “Ash, come to me. You’re just afraid of what this means. We’ll get through it together.”
“But, Clarissa—”
“Won’t be able to harm you ever again.”
The door opened with a whoosh. “Really?”
Hunter stiffened. Ash opened her eyes wide. Panic flashed behind them.
“What are you doing in my house, Vamp?” Hunter growled.
Clarissa’s blood-red eyes settled on Ash. Ash cringed away from her. “I’m here to retrieve my property.”
“She’s no longer yours to claim. She’s my life-mate now.”
Clarissa smiled. If it hadn’t been for the pointy canines, it would’ve appeared angelic on her dainty features. “How very sweet. You’ve mated with my protégé.”
“Protégé?” Hunter laughed harshly. His body still shook and his muscles wouldn’t listen to him. “Is that what you’re calling her?”
“Yes, Asha knows that I’m grooming her to be a Vampire.”
“She doesn’t want that anymore.”
“She doesn’t?” Clarissa glanced at Ash. “Funny, but she’s been telling me the complete opposite for the past eleven years. Asha?”
“I d-don’t want to be a Vampire anymore,” Ash whispered. “I want to leave your service.”
“Let me think about it.” Clarissa surveyed her red fingernails. “No.”
Hunter growled deep in his throat. His wolf strained to push forward, but without a full recovery, Hunter was useless. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”
“Exactly that. The decision to leave isn’t up to Asha…or you. She comes with me.” Clarissa turned her back and snapped her fingers.
At the sound, Ash stepped toward her, ready to obey a command that had been ingrained in her.
Hunter lumbered to his feet, willing his muscles to hold him upright. “Over my dead body,” he growled.
“Gladly.”
In the blink of an eye, Clarissa was between him and Ash. And the next second, he was lying across the room flat on his back with the bones in his chest broken.
Stunned, Hunter tried to catch his breath. His ribs pierced his lungs.
“She’s mine,” Clarissa seethed.
“No! Hunter!” Ash lunged at him and Clarissa yanked her back by her shirt. “Take another step and I’ll snap your neck.”
Ash kept her gaze on him. “You can’t do that. It would kill him.”
“I’m fully aware of how this works, Asha. Come with me and your little wolf will live a very long life.”
He reeled from pain but he couldn’t let Ash leave with Clarissa. He tried to move. The ribs stabbing his lungs twisted as he did. He was going to pass out. “No, don’t go with her, Ash,” he struggled to say. He coughed. Blood dripped from his mouth.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “And if I don’t?”
Clarissa’s hand slipped around Ash’s neck. “Then you both should make peace with your makers.”
“Just promise me that you won’t hurt him,” Ash whispered.
Clarissa smiled. “I promise.”
“Ash, please don’t do this,” Hunter begged. He could feel his ribs repairing as he spoke.
“I have to.” Ash let Clarissa lead her away.