Page 40 of Saving Stella

Chapter 7

Cliff’s lungs burned as he pushed himself down the bridle path loop circling the reservoir of Central Park for probably the twentieth time that morning. The sun rose high up from behind the buildings on the Upper East Side, but it had been dark when he left his apartment in Midtown. Restful sleep had evaded him for the last couple of days, and since the only way he could get some shut-eye was when he was dead tired, he’d pushed himself physically in an attempt to exhaust himself and his wolf.

It was the only way he could stop himself from giving in to his desires, to prevent himself from saying, fuck it, and hopping on the next plane to Las Vegas. The only way he could get peace.

Not that what little sleep he had was peaceful. No, it seemed when he wasn’t awake thinking of Stella, he was also dreaming of her. Of all the things he wanted to do to her sweet little body if he ever had the chance. In one of his dreams, she said yes to every dark, dirty fantasy he could think of. When he woke up, his cock had been rock-hard, and he had to jerk off twice so he could get some relief.

And his wolf would not let up on him either. If it wasn’t furious at him, it sulked in the corner, refusing him when he called. He wasn’t even aware Lycans wolves could just do that.

After finishing his twenty-first loop, Cliff decided he was done and headed toward home. He strolled through the park, which at this time was still quiet, save for a few joggers and dog walkers, and made his way out.

He allowed his thoughts to drift away—to the upcoming cases he’d been assigned, the presents he was planning to get his mom for Christmas, Thanksgiving plans, last night’s football game he had watched with his dad—anything and everything else that would not remind him of her.

“Fuck.”

Cliff slapped a hand to his forehead—he was standing on Seventh Avenue, right across from Carnegie Hall.

Huffing, he hunched his shoulders and hurried along, making his way toward the Lone Wolf Investigations offices instead of his apartment. Maybe he’d actually be able to find some peace and quiet there and go through that pile of paperwork he’d been meaning to do. In his defense, he did start it on Monday, but he got frustrated and irritated, and he hadn’t showed up at his desk all week.

He told himself it wasn’t because he shared an office with Jacob.

Nor was it because it took every ounce of his strength not to smash his cousin’s fucking pretty boy face in.

Just the memory of Jacob touching Stella made Cliff’s blood pressure rise.

Sure, it was been an innocent touch to help her through the crowds of his oftentimes loud and gregarious family, but something about it just rankled Cliff.

His wolf bared its teeth. It didn’t want any other male near her and definitely not touching her. It goaded Cliff, telling him to tear Jacob apart and?—

Ignoring his animal, Cliff jogged all the way to Midtown and then made his way to the offices of Lone Wolf Investigations and Security. Since it was a Saturday morning, it was quiet, but he did notice that the light in his father’s office was on and the door was ajar. There were also at least two other voices there.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Cliff poked his head through the door. “Dad? Charley?”

“What are you doing here, son?” Connor asked. “It’s Saturday.”

“I know.” He strode over to them. The look on his sister’s face and the way she wrung her hands together told him something was not right. “Why aren’t you on tour with Devon?”

“I was about to join him but …”

Alarm bells set off in his head. “What’s wrong. Is it Devon? The press?”

She bit her lip as worry marred her face. “It’s Stella.”

Calm down, he urged his wolf before it could react. I’m sure she’s okay. “Did the paparazzi find out about her?”

“N-no, I mean, at least, I don’t think so …” She bit her lip as her entire body shook. “Oh God, Dad.” She let out a heart-wrenching sob and threw herself at their father. “Dad, it’s my fault …”

“Shh, baby, it’s okay …”

“What the fuck is going on?” Cliff could barely keep himself from shouting. “What happened to Stella?”

“She’s fine … now,” Connor added. “But someone tried to kidnap her. Somehow she escaped, and the state police found her wandering down the highway. Took her to a nearby hospital.”

“Motherfucker!”

Rage tore through him as his vision went red. He wanted to break something apart and tear it to pieces. His wolf, too, wanted to rip out of his body and make whoever hurt Stella pay.

“Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found out? I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t come here …” He clenched his fingers as he began to pace. “Who’s with her? Is she alone?” Visions of Stella lying in a hospital bed, hurt and in pain, only fueled his anger.

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