Page 34 of Take Me
“Where you going little wolf? Run to visit grandma’s house?” A man’s voice sneered into my ear. He smelled like Tabasco and wolfsbane. I put my hands on my knees and panted hard.
“Actually I am, Granny has been missing me lately.” A smile stretched across my face as the man circled me. He was a decent enough looking guy. He had a heavy build with a thick mop of brown hair on his head. His eyes flashed yellow. I didn’t recognize this man from inside the kitchen but that didn’t mean they weren’t working together. My wolf wanted to come to the surface so badly to do the fighting for me but my body was too weak. Fur rippled along my arms but that was all she could do. The forced shift, I imagined, had drained me more than a regular shift would have but being a wolf with law enforcement in the house wouldn’t have been a good thing.
“Where’s your mate at? Did he run off to go play somewhere else?” I couldn’t tell if the man was taunting me or not. His voice was cold and I knew he was going to attack at any moment. I couldn’t let him catch me off guard.
I rolled my eyes as we circled each other. “What do you want?”
“There are many things that Iwant, but unfortunately you can’t give me those things but maybe you can give me something else.”
Nausea rolled through my stomach and the soreness in my body made it hard to stand but I had to get to the Pack. There was a group of werewolves in my kitchen and I had left my dad alone. I backed into a tree and almost threw up. I had left them alone with werewolves. What had I been thinking? My breath was coming out in short pants and I knew I had to get back home. That was more important than this stupid mission I had gone out on. But before I could think about slipping away to get back to my parents, a blur flashed before my eyes and the man in front of me was thrown through the air.
His body sailed a few feet before he was impaled on a tree branch above me. The blur stopped and there was another stranger before me. His auburn hair shone in the light that broke through the thick canopy of trees above us. He whipped his head my way and grinned. His eyes were yellow and his shirt was gone. On his right pectoral muscle, there was the stamp of the Crimson Pack crest. The face of a wolf on a shield with two spears crossed behind it. He held out his hand then chuckled before he pulled it back. In the center of his palm was a thick, red heart. My eyes immediately went up to the man impaled on the tree and I shuddered. The branches that he was hanging on were protruding from his shoulders. Then there was a gaping hole in the center of his chest.
The man that had saved the day made my blood go cold as he took a bite out of the heart in his hand. Blood poured down the sides of his lips as he spit the organ out of his mouth then threw it on the forest floor. I stumbled around the base of the tree as I took off in another run. I didn’t know where I was going or what direction I was headed. All I knew was that I had to run. I couldn’t get away fast enough and then I was being held in someone’s arms that smelled like sunshine and flowers and a sob escaped my throat.
A hand ran down my hair as sobs wracked through my body. “Hey, it’s okay, what happened?”
All I could do was shake my head as Tracey held me. Another scent overtook me and my body went taut.Rafe.I swiped my fingers under my eyes and tried to slow my breathing but the panic was still inside of me. Everything came tumbling from my lips and Ihadto get back to my parents.
I stumbled away from my friend and went to run back into the woods when she grabbed me on either side of my face to stop me. “Jade, it’s okay, you’re safe. Rafe has a few of our guards going to your parent’s house. Their flight will be leaving soon, you’ll need to say goodbye to them.”
I nodded my head and took a deep breath. Yes, I couldn’t let them know that I was breaking down. I needed ice. I pressed my palms into my eyes and after a few seconds Rafe had some ice cubes and a bottle of water. I wanted to ask him about the night before and how late he had stayed but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Coward, my wolf whispered in my mind. I ignored her.
I took a sip out of the bottle of water and then the man from the woods sauntered out. There was still dried blood on his mouth and his hands were caked in it too. I swallowed hard and took a few steps back. I connected with Rafe’s chest. His hands found my shoulders and steadied me. When had he become a comforting beacon?
When you realized there were worse monsters than him out there.My wolf was on a roll.
Chapter 41
Jade Rivers
“So who was going to tell me that there was a newly changed wolf in the woods?” The bloodied man tilted his head as he looked at me. As he watched me with yellow eyes, another man I didn’t recognize handed him a shirt and my lips pulled down.
Rafe chuckled. “I was going to tell you but you sensed the threat faster than I could.”
The monster’s nostrils flared and for a moment I felt a pull to him. “Who is she?” He tilted his chin up and I was able to get a better look at him. He had thick eyebrows over deep-set golden eyes, his jaw was sharp but covered in a red stubble. His auburn hair was combed away from his face and fell in waves against his thick neck.
I jutted my chin at him. “She is righthere.”
He smiled and my blood went cold as he inched toward me. I licked my bottom lip and felt Rafe at my back again. This time I didn’t back down. I wasn’t afraid of thisman.I cracked my neck and took a step toward him. He balked at me before he looked over my shoulder at his Alpha. “She’s sigma.”
My eyebrows wrinkled. “She is Jade andshedoesn’t like to be spoken about like she’s not here.” My tone dripped condescension.
Rafe let out a snort. Tracey raised her eyebrows as she looked around at everything but us. He took a step forward and grinned at me. I was surprised to find that his teeth were clean despite all the blood covering the rest of him. “I think you owemea thank you.”
It was my turn to snort. I shoved around him and headed back to the woods. My parents would be expecting me back at any moment and I had to be sure they were safe. Sitting here going head to head with another egotistical male was not what I needed to do. Tracey was quick on my heels. Thankfully she was in workout clothes and I wouldn’t have to deal with questioning from my parents. They would probably be relieved to see Tracey. There was strength in numbers.
“Who is that guy?” I asked when we were far enough away from the pack lands.
Tracey scrubbed her hands down her face. “His name is Knox and he’s a complete sweetheart.”
I sputtered. “Could have fooled me.”
I could smell the blood in the woods and made sure to avoid it the best I could. Tracey wrinkled her nose. “He’s been training with the Pack Law the last year. Him and the rest of the Pack Guardians.”
More terminology I didn’t understand. “Pack Guardians?”
