Chapter 3
A dull pain in my ribs broke through the blackness I’d succumbed to. Whatever was nudging my side was becoming more insistent. With a groan, I tried to bat it away with my hand, but when I felt the coarse fur and wet nose, the events of the night came rushing back.
With a gasp, I jerked back, and tried to wriggle away from the beast that had attacked me. The movement sent fiery agony shooting through my leg, but I refrained from crying out. I realized the pain in my side was the wolf’s nose when it nudged me again, harder this time. The shove rolled me onto my back, and I got a look at my attacker.
Through the blood still streaming from my head and into my eyes, I saw the wolf had brilliant blue eyes instead of black.
Was this the same wolf?
It couldn’t be. How could he have changed his eye color?
Maybe there was a whole pack of them.
The thought of trying to fight off a whole swarm of murderous wolves knotted my stomach and sent my heart racing.
I couldn’t do this anymore.
I had no more fight left in me.
My body went limp on the damp forest floor.
“I give up,” I told the wolf. My throat ached, and my voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m so tired and cold. I just want this to be over.”
Silently, I said goodbye to all the dreams and goals I’d had. I said goodbye to Charlie–hopefully he’d get adopted by a good family. Angry tears gathered in my eyes as I thought about all the things I’d miss out on. Things I’d always told myself I’d have time for.
This wasn’t fair!
The anger built like a pressure cooker until it boiled over. I glared at the gray wolf again, and found him sitting there, watching me with his head cocked to the side.
“What are you waiting for?! If you’re going to eat me, just get it over with!” I rasped. My throat felt like I’d swallowed a box of razor blades, and I’d had enough.
The blue-eyed wolf continued to stare for another few moments, before he stood, and trotted off into the darkness.
“What? Are you going to retrieve your big human friend again?! Can’t finish me off yourself?”
I wasn’t sure why I was taunting the murderous carnivore, but I was beyond caring. If I was going to die, I’d do it kicking and screaming. With a cautious look at my mangled leg, I amended that to just screaming.
A loud crack sounded from where the wolf had disappeared to. Next there were a short series of softer snaps before the woods were quiet again. Strangely quiet.
Moments later, a large, naked man emerged from between the trees, his face shrouded in darkness. He walked slowly, and purposefully toward me. With a squeak, I struggled to crawl away from him, my brutalized leg screaming in agony. I don’t know why he hadn’t killed me the first time, but I wasn’t sticking around to give him a second chance.
Like you have a choice, Elizabeth. You can’t even stand.
Helplessness threatened to overtake me once again, but I fought it.
“What do you want?!” I screamed at the man, injuring my throat worse.
He was closer now, and I struggled to keep my eyes above his waist. I would not check out my attacker’s junk. Not that there wasn’t a ton to look at from there up because there was. Even in the dark, I could see his tanned, chiseled chest, and thick arms.
Was this Stockholm Syndrome? This wasn’t the time or place to be fantasizing about my attacker.
When his deep voice broke the silence, I forced my eyes from his physique to his face.
“I won't hurt you,” he said softly.
As he came closer, I could make out his facial features. He had a strong, clean shaven jaw, and thick, dark eyebrows above what looked like light colored eyes.
Damn, my murderer is beautiful.
“You already did,” I reminded him.
His head shook slowly. “I didn’t, I promise. I just want to help.”
The adrenaline was rapidly leaving my system. My throat felt raw, I had a pounding headache, and my leg was on fire. And I was wet? Had it rained? I smelled horrible.
The man was closer now, and I watched as he cautiously knelt next to me. With my last reserve of energy, I shuffled and squirmed as far away as I could. The movement sent sharp shooting pains up my leg, and I gasped in surprise. How was the pain still getting worse?!
“Shh shh shh,” he soothed. “Take it easy, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“I didn’t hurt myself, you did,” I hissed, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I promise, I won't hurt you.”
His words sounded good, but how could I trust him? A naked man shows up in the middle of the woods right after I'd been attacked, and I was just supposed to take his word for it?
Not likely.
But what choice did I have?
"Where are your clothes?" I whispered harshly.
He smiled, but declined to answer.
Weirdo.
"May I pick you up?"
The decision was coming dangerously close to not being mine to make anymore as my vision narrowed. The man leaned over me, a lock of his dark hair falling onto his forehead. Now that he was closer, I could clearly see the brilliant color of his eyes. His denim blue gaze met mine, and I felt their pull instantly. I watched as his expression changed from concern to surprise. He reached out a hand and gently swept some sticky hair off my face.
His eyes were tender when he asked, “What’s your name?”
I searched his face frantically for the assurance I was looking for. Soon I’d be unconscious again, and at the mercy of this stranger. Could I trust him not to harm me? I didn’t have much of a choice right now. Besides, there was a kindness in his eyes I couldn’t ignore. After working as a criminal lawyer for so many years, I was adept at knowing the good ones from the bad ones.
“Elizabeth,” I croaked. “Please, help me.”
With that, I closed my eyes, and let my body go limp. It was too much work to stay awake when all I wanted to do was sleep. For a decade.
Gentle hands slid underneath my battered body and cradled me against his warm chest.
“I’ve got you, Elizabeth. I won’t let anything hurt you ever again,” he promised.
How he could make such a promise, I didn't know. But at that point, nothing mattered but the cool darkness of oblivion that beckoned.
Wakefulness returned slowly. I stretched my arms above my head with a groan. It felt like I’d slept for years.
I cracked one eye open and looked around the unfamiliar room. This was not my little two-bedroom back in Raleigh. In fact, my whole apartment could fit in this room. The walls were a deep green, and the furniture dark mahogany.
Memories of recent events swam to the front of my brain. I remembered winning my case and leaving work early. I’d driven out to the mountains for the weekend. But this wasn’t the cabin I’d rented. That whole cabin could have probably fit in this room too.
So where the hell am I?
I tried to swallow, but my parched throat ached. With another groan I pulled my sore body into a sitting position. My head spun, and throbbed, and I squeezed my eyes shut until the feeling lessened.
When I opened them again, I saw I was in a large canopy bed that had what looked like thick tree trunks as posts that branched outward to connect with each other. My eyes roved over the strange room until they caught sight of another person.
Familiar blue eyes met mine and widened in surprise. The woman they belonged to looked to be about my age, with elfin features, and lightly tanned skin. She sat up straight and held up one hand in a friendly wave.
“Hello,” she said with a big smile.
Why did she look so familiar? I'm sure I’ve never met her before.
“Hello?” I said, but it came out more like a question.
“How you feelin’?” she asked, true concern lacing her soft voice.
“Um…” I responded unintelligently. My eyes continued to scan the room I was in, frantically searching for answers.
I turned my attention to my body, and found it clad in a soft, white nightgown unlike anything I’ve ever owned. Where were my clothes? What was I doing here? Where was here?
My internal freak-out was interrupted by a door opening on the opposite side of the room. A cloud of steam billowed out of the room that must have been a bathroom. A tall, shirtless man appeared out of the fog, and stopped short in the doorway when his blue eyes met mine
Those eyes!
The events of the attack came rushing back all at once.
The wolf bite.
The strange man strangling me.
The second wolf finding me.
And this man, right in front of me, promising to keep me safe.
I whipped the covers off my legs. There was a thick bandage taped around much of my calf. I ran my fingers along the soft, white gauze. Who did this? Whoever it was, they clearly knew what they were doing when it came to first aid.
I looked back at the man, and then the woman. My eyes bounced between the two until I made the connection. That’s why she looked so familiar. She looked just like the man who’d saved me in the woods.
Wait, was I saved?
Or was I captured?
“Who are you?” I finally voiced one of the thousands of questions running through my head.
The man stayed silent, his gaze fixed on my bare legs. My stomach knotted, and I quickly covered myself again. He seemed to snap out of the daze he’d been in and instead turned his intense eyes to the woman.
“Evey? What are you doing in here?”
The woman fidgeted in her seat and averted her eyes.
“I wanted to check on her,” she said with a shrug.
The man sighed and ran a big hand down his face. “I told you to stay away for now.” The irritation was evident in his voice, but surprisingly, a note of tenderness was there too. Who was this man?
“I know what you said Abey, but I was worried about her after the condition you brought her home in.”
“I know you’re concerned Evey, but I told you–”
“Hello? Could you stop talking about me like I’m not here? Who are you, and where am I?”
Both of their blue eyes locked on me, and I felt like a specimen underneath a microscope. My skin itched with their intense stares, and I worried the sheet between my fingers. No matter what I tried to concentrate on, my eyes were drawn to the man’s. Abey, she’d called him. His eyes seared through mine and seemed to burrow into my soul. I felt bared before him despite how I’d covered myself.
Why was he getting to me like this?
“My name is Evelyn, but everybody calls me Evey,” the woman said, interrupting my staring match with the man. “And that’s my brother, Abraham,” she added with a nod in the man’s direction.
Abraham.
Finally, there was a name I could attach to the handsome man. My eyes left Evey’s, once again drawn to Abraham. Upon closer inspection, I saw his thick, dark hair was wet, some strands sticking to the sides of his face. My gaze traveled lower, down his throat, and to his sculpted chest. As I watched, a single drop of water ran from between his pectoral muscles, following a trail down his torso, between his abs and disappeared at the waistband of the gray sweatpants he wore.
Abraham took a faltering step forward before he seemed to restrain himself. His hands tightened along with his jaw, and he swallowed, and closed his eyes. A second later, his denim blue eyes snapped open, and he stalked out the door to his right. It shut behind him and left the room in silence.
“Well, that was strange,” Evey commented. “He’s not very talkative, but he’s usually much more polite than that.”
I looked back and found her staring at the door Abraham had escaped through with a confused look. My eyes watched the door too, waiting (hoping) for Abraham to come back.
Get a grip, Montgomery.
“Abey said your name’s Elizabeth?” Evey asked.
She looked remarkably like Abraham. Although there were many similarities, the main difference was all her softness compared to his hardness. Her features were small and delicate, but her hair and eyes were clearly a family trait.
“Yes. My name’s Elizabeth.” With another glance around the large room, I added, “How did I get here? Where is here anyway?”
Evey smiled. “Abraham brought you here. You’re in our lodge near Asheville.”
I let out a small sigh of relief. He hadn’t taken me far at least.
“You and Abraham’s lodge?”
A soft, tinkling laugh left her rosebud mouth. “Well, I guess technically it’s Abraham’s, but he shares it with all of us.”
“All of you? How many are there?”
Evey’s head tipped back as she tapped a dainty finger against her chin. “Let’s see, there’s us five, and then maybe another five or ten guards that live here full time? The rest of the pack live in their own houses on the property.”
One word stuck out above the rest.
“Pack?” I asked incredulously.
Evey nodded her head slowly, her eyes serious and sad.
“Yes, pack.”
I almost didn’t want to ask, but knew I needed the answer.
“Pack of what, exactly?”
Evey’s eyes searched my face, and she was silent for a minute.
With a sigh, she responded. “Pack of werewolves.”