Page 72 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“Fuck,” I whisper.
I’m going to die… this thing doesn’t want to just change me into one of its own, it wants to kill me… and it’s going to do whatever it takes to do that.
I’m shaking from pain and exhaustion as I hold my gun and decide that the next time it sticks its head under the door, I’m going to have to kill it.
But it’s like it knows. It’s realized that slamming against the door is getting it closer to me than trying to climb under an area it clearly doesn’t fit.
I sit on the toilet and press my legs against the door, but every slam throws me back and causes pain to tear through my wounded leg.
I don’t know how much longer I can hold this thing back. I don’t know how much longer before Ezio will show up… or what he’ll find when he does.
Why was I such a fool? Why did I decide that I didn’t deserve happiness? Why was I trying so hard to push away someone who could make me happier?
It doesn’t fucking matter now, does it?
The werewolf slams against the door so hard, I see that the latch has bent.
Maybe Ezio will find someone to love somewhere down the line. Someone who is much more like Arturo. Someone sweet and funny… someone who isn’t selfish and caught up in the past… someone who didn’t fuck up their whole life like me.
Someone who never got to tell him that I love him too.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EZIO
Cyrus hasn’t answered a single call…
When I arrive, I rush right to his vehicle, but of course it sits empty.
“You looking for that man of yours?”
I jump and turn, surprised to see a familiar face. “Atticus?” I ask. I haven’t seen him in a while. Generally, Yorick speaks with him when we need to talk, all the while claiming that he hates speaking to him.
“When I came into the club, he was walking into the back,” he tells me.
“He’s been attacked. Someone attacked him,” I say, not even sure how to form words.
“What do you mean? I didn’t notice an attack in the club, but with all of the smells and the awful noise, I suppose I could have missed it.” Atticus looks back at the club.
“Check the club. Please. Make sure he’s not in there. I need to find him. He’s not answering his calls,” I say as I start moving around the area until I find his scent. But what’s even moreconcerning is that I smell someone else with him… is… that a werewolf?
Fuck.
I dash into the darkness while my heart pounds out of my chest. What the fuck would Cyrus even do against a werewolf? He has his gun, but is it enough? Werewolves can be quite ruthless on a full moon, their instincts driving them to hunt and kill, and often they feel no pain, causing them to refuse to back off. They feel nothing, so a gunshot might not even stop them—and that’s only if Cyrus brought his gun with him.
I hear someone and draw back as they rush toward the club, not having seen me. I slide around behind them and press my hand against their throat, silently warning them that I’ll kill them if they’re the one after my precious Cyrus.
“W-Wait! Wait!” he cries. “Ezio, right? You’re—Cyrus… you’re Cyrus’s friend, right?”
“I am,” I say.
“I’m his brother. I’m Cyrus’s brother. I have to warn him. I have to get him away.”
I pull back as I realize what he’s saying.
“The man who killed our family is out here. He’s hunting us down. You have to help.”
“Where is Cyrus?” I ask, but before I can even turn him to face me, I feel a presence unlike any other. I shove him back, but I’m not quick enough and I watch as Louis throws him to the ground.
