VIOLET

Before I opened my eyes, a splitting headache pounded my head. I honestly didn’t expect to see the light of day again or anything at all for that matter, but when I saw a warm fire blazing in the fireplace, I lifted myself up and stared around me. I was on a couch and in a home I didn’t recognize.

I heard someone walking across the hard floorboards on the other side of the house. By the way the footsteps sounded, I doubted that they belonged to my friend, Janet. But of course, they didn’t. I had never made it to Janet’s house. I knew that much.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and waited for the person to emerge. A door crept open and then the aroma of soap wafted under my nose. It was a clear reminder that I was dirty as heck and needed a shower badly.

When the mossy green-eyed savior from the woods turned the corner and came into the living room, my breath caught in my throat. He was still breath-taking. Instead of sweat beading on his skin, droplets of water clung to him. Instead of the tousled black hair, he sported in the forest, his hair was now wet and slicked back. He wore nothing but a pair of long jogging shorts that looked one size too big for his waist and hung low on his hips. A trail of black hair descended into the waistband of his shorts which accentuated his perfectly formed Adonis belt.

He stood about three feet away from the couch where I sat, but his nostrils were flared and his chin was tilted in my direction. Was he sniffing me?

Suddenly reality set in again. This man wasn’t really a man at all. I had seen him shift from wolf to man.

“You’re one of them,” I croaked out.

The man frowned and shook his head. “No. I’m from a different group. I’m not one of them.”

“What are you?”

“What did you see?”

“A wolf,” I whispered. “You are like them. You changed. I saw it. I’m not crazy.”

The man came closer and I dragged the blanket up to my chin, shielding myself.

“I’m nothing like those wolves. I saved you. Remember?”

I nodded. “Why did you help me?”

“Because you needed help. Why wouldn’t I help you?”

I sighed and looked around. “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m so confused. I just want to go home.”

“Where is home?” I asked.

She glanced up at me wearily and said, “Green Bay.”

“Hey. Don’t worry. We’ll get you home. In the meantime, try not to work yourself up. It looks like you were roughened up a bit out there.”

I frowned and squeezing my eyes closed. I was trying to forget the morbid fear the bad wolves caused. Pressing my hand to my forehead, I took a few deep breaths in and out.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about that.” He came and knelt down next to the couch. “I have some painkillers if that’s what you need to feel better. I also have whiskey if you want it. Or something warm to drink. Would you like some water?”

I nodded. “Water is fine. Those painkillers might help too.”

“Be right back.” The man rose and disappeared down the hallway again.

While he was gone, I peeled back the cloth bandage and inspected the nearly invisible wound on my shoulder. Odd. I remembered the wolf’s canines going so deep that it had almost paralyzed me. Why was I so calm? I shouldn’t be here. This man was just as much a stranger as my attackers were. As soon as I found out where the hell I was, I was getting out of here. Whatever this place was, it was plain to see that the majority of these people had no regard for human life.

But they weren’t people…

It was a lousy choice on my part to have chosen the one town where the men shifted into wolves.

The wound didn’t look infected or anything, but I couldn’t be sure if the half-men were carrying rabies or not.

“Our bites heal faster than that of a normal wolf.” The man was suddenly standing over me again with a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers.

“Our…? I thought you said you weren’t one of them.”

“No, it’s not what you think. I’m a wolf shifter, but I’m not a rogue. I’m part of the Timber Rock pack. The rogue wolves you encountered back there are not.”

I glanced at my shoulder. “It doesn’t appear infected or anything. I should get checked for rabies. Do you have a hospital out here?”

“We have a small hospital north of town, yes. There are plenty of doctors too. If you’re concerned with rabies, shifters don’t carry diseases. Not like that.”

“Oh. I’ve met quite a few shifters back home, but none were like those men. I’ve never seen any of them shift either.” I took the water and guzzled nearly half the glass down. “Thank you.”

He dropped the bottle of painkillers in my hand. “I had these in a first aid kit.”

“Where am I?” I asked, taking the meds.

“This is my home. My name is Jayce Pembroke.”

“Thanks for helping me, Jayce.”

“What do I call you?”

“Violet.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “Violet,” he repeated. “Your eyes…”

“Yes.” I smiled. “My eyes are violet.”

“They’re beautiful. I mean…you’re beautiful,” he stuttered. “I apologize if I’m making you uncomfortable. I just can’t believe I found you like this.”

“I can’t believe I’m in this predicament myself,” I said, laughing nervously.

“I know a lot of people get lost out here thinking they can use a map, but most of them are outdated. Why were you in the woods?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I was kidnapped. I’m still shocked, really. I think I need to call the police. Do you have a phone?”

All expression left his face.

“You can call the police if you like, Violet, but I won’t be able to talk to them about anything that happened at this point.”

“I see. Is it because of what you are?”

He nodded and then asked, “Did you know any of your kidnappers? Have you seen those men before?”

“They were watching me at the truck stop. I was pumping gas when they grabbed me and threw me into a van. I tried to get out, but I couldn’t. They drove for some time and then I was in the woods. They told me to run. They told me they’d catch me and…and…”

“It’s okay. Take your time. You said there were six of them.”

“I think so. There were two who kidnapped me from the gas station and then all of them started chasing me through the woods. One was called Alpha. He seemed like their leader.” I rubbed my forehead, wincing when pain seized my right shoulder.

“Did they say why they took you?”

“They said they were going to breed me.”

A look of disgust crossed Jayce’s features.

“If I call the cops, you won’t get in trouble. You helped me in self-defense. You killed those rogue things in self-defense,” I told him.

“The cops won’t help me, Violet. There are things you don’t know…”

“I should call Janet,” I said, looking at my wristwatch. “She was expecting me this evening.”

“You may call whoever you like. I’ll even let you use my cell phone to do it.”

My stomach growled low and Jayce stared down at my belly. I was hoping he hadn’t heard it. “Would you like something to eat? Your stomach has been growling since I brought you here.”

“Probably because I’ve been running off peanut butter crackers all day. For breakfast and lunch. I’m low on caffeine too, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“Peanut butter crackers?” he gawked. “What kind of meal is that?”

I giggled. “Trust me. I was going to chow down as soon as I made it to Mill Valley.”

“Mill Valley? Is that where your friend lives?” he asked.

I nodded.

“That’s just under two hours from here.”

I straightened up some more in the chair. “It is?”

“Yes.”

“Where am I anyway? I saw the mountains, but I don’t remember any other landmarks.”

“Arrow Lake. You’re about two hours away from the mountains.”

“Yes. I remember now. That’s what the exit sign said when I got off the interstate to get gas.”

“You’re safe in my home, Violet. I promise. It’s getting pretty late. I’m sure the sheriff would come out to get you if you called him, but…”

“But you don’t want me to call the police, do you?”

He reached down into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and dropped it in my hand. “I won’t prevent you from calling the cops, just know that when it comes to shifters, there’s nothing the humans can or will do for us. We enforce our own pack laws. In fact, that’s my job. I’m an enforcer.”

“So you’re like a pack police?”

He grinned. “Kind of.”

“You’re a little young to be a kind-of cop, aren’t you?”

“I’m a couple months over thirty. I don’t think that’s too young. Plus, I kind of had it coming. My grandpa was an enforcer and his father was too.”

“And your father?”

“He was human. I haven’t seen him in Arrow Lake for a long time.”

“Oh…well…okay.”

He seemed a bit sad talking about his father, so I said no more.

“He left when I was a kid. No hard feelings towards him or anything like that. He wasn’t made for this life, so he left me with my pack. My mom was young. My grandpa raised me.”

“Your grandpa raised a good man,” I said.

Jayce blushed. “I hope so.”

“I think I understand. Like I said, the area that I grew up in has a small shifter population as far as I know, but they live way out in the woods. On an unincorporated settlement. Some of them barely even come to the city. Whenever someone in their community did something bad, the cops would hand the culprit over to someone they called an Alpha. And that would be the last we heard of the crime. I guess they had their own way of holding their members accountable.”

“Probably. But what you went through wasn’t a simple misdemeanor, Violet. Those rogue wolves weren’t a part of my pack. What they did to you and intended to do to you is a criminal offense. I promise you we’ll figure this out and catch the rest of them,” he said.

“I hope so,” I said softly. “I’m stronger than I look, you know. I did karate for three years, and I took self-defense. I think I just froze up when I saw that the men were…animals.”

“Well, they’re not exactly your size. They were men and they should have known better than to mess with a woman at all.”

I shrugged. “Some men are jerks. I learned that long ago.”

“I won’t argue with that one.” He grinned. “It’ll be morning soon. I can’t tell you what to do, but I agree that you should call your friend, so she doesn’t worry about you. You said they grabbed you from a gas station?”

“Yes. A truck stop. Right off the interstate. My purse and everything are sitting in my car still.”

“I think I know the one,” he said.

“You do?” I leaned forward and grabbed his forearm without thinking. “My car’s still there. It’s the only car I have. I’d hate for it to be towed away or anything like that.”

“I’ll have someone tow your car to you here. What about that?”

I sighed. “That would be great. Then I can leave. That’s it. I’ll just tell Janet that I broke down on the highway. If I told her that I was nearly eaten by a group of wolf shifting males, she wouldn’t believe me. The last thing I want her to do is to tip my parents or fiancé off about where I am. They’d freak out and go to extremes if they knew something like this happened. These past few weeks have been…” I released a ragged breath. “…rough.”

“Fiancé?”

“Oh…no…I meant ex-fiancé. I broke my wedding off a month ago. My parents were devastated. Most of my family is upset with me. My friends think I’m insane for not marrying him. And my ex-fiancé won’t leave me the hell alone. No one gives a shit about what I want. I had to get away. They don’t know that I’ll be staying with Janet these next couple of weeks and I’d like to keep it that way. Jeez, I could have been dead. I left the city and didn’t tell anyone. What would they have thought if I had shown up in a morgue?” I frowned. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m just babbling.”

Jayce smiled. “No, you’re not babbling. Doesn’t it feel good to get it all out?”

I smiled. “Yes. Thanks for not judging me.”

My stomach grumbled, loudly this time. “Did you say you had food?”

Jayce chuckled softly. “Yes I do, and I’m just as hungry as you are, so let’s get to it, shall we?”

“I…uh…I need to clean up a bit. I know it looks and smells like I haven’t taken a bath in years,” I said.

“You’re gorgeous actually and you smell very nice.” He stood. “I’ll grab you some fresh towels. I bought a new toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste from the farmer’s market just today, so you’re in luck. I don’t have any woman’s clothes, though, but I’ll see what I can find for you.”

“I appreciate this, Jayce.”

“Us shifters get a bad rap sometimes. We’re not all bad. We’re not all rogues either.”

I swallowed. “No, you’re not bad at all. You saved my life.”

He handed me his cell phone. “Well, here you go. I’m sure your friend is worried. The towels are in the dryer down in the basement. I’ll be right back.”

Reluctantly, I used Jayce’s cell phone to call Janet. I felt terrible about the little white lie I was about to tell her, but the last thing I needed was my parents or ex-fiancé coming after me trying to convince me of why this marriage was beneficial. I had no plans to marry Donovan. I didn’t care how rich he was. I didn’t care about his reputation in the press. This wasn’t about his past wrongdoings. I had forgiven him for all of that. This was about me and what I wanted.