Page 31 of Bite Marks

He could see her apartment windows from the street. He knew instantly that she wasn’t there. All the windows were dark. The shades were drawn.

Maybe he could sit there until she came home. His breath hitched in his throat again. It seemed that Vanessa was making it difficult for him to breathe. Difficult for him to even think.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Where would she even be? She had left him so angrily. Maybe she was with … someone else? His heart thumped erratically as rage and jealousy twisted through his body. Nunzio lifted his hand and thumped it against the steering wheel. He hadn’t even noticed his actions.

All he could think of was Vanessa and the fact that he was falling for her. Fast and unsteadily. To be honest, his emotions plummeted for Vanessa.

He had been in a free fall since they slept together. And there was nothing for him to hold on to. All he could do was fall. And hope for the best.

The gallery! The thought burst through his mind almost violently. If Vanessa wasn’t home, she would be at the gallery. That place was the only thing that calmed her. Surrounded by her art, she would be at peace.

Nunzio started the car quickly. He luxuriated in the purr of the engine. Then he swung out of the lot.

He pulled up in front of the gallery before he knew it. His suspicions had been correct. All the lights in the gallery were on.

And something was wrong.

The thing about being a wolf shifter, any shifter really, was the sixth sense. The embedded sense was a warning signal. The hair on the back of his neck rose. Sudden tension sparked through his body.

He lifted his face to the sky and tried to find some trace of Vanessa’s scent. The evening air was thick and warm. Uncomfortably so.

He smelled Vanessa’s fragrance lingering in the air. But he could also smell something else. Something that made his hackles rise.

It was an ugly scent. A nauseating smell of sweat and cheap liquor and cigarettes.

Just then, the tinkling of glass breaking sounded through the air. It came from the gallery, and Nunzio leapt over his car. His movements were fast, short, and efficient.

They were tight and liquid. The way he had been taught to move by family. The movement that preceded a fight. Because someone was attacking Vanessa. Someone was attacking his girl. They wouldn’t survive that. Only if they were lucky.

A growl rumbled in his chest as he burst through the front door of the gallery. The broken door swung open easily. The gallery was two stories high, and a scream came from above him.

A shrill yell of terror. Vanessa was in danger. The shift happened so quickly that even Nunzio was surprised.

His muscles hardened, lengthened, thickened. His spine curved, and the lines of his face stretched. Thick fur burst from his skin, and his hands and feet became heavy paws.

He bounded up the stairs without waiting. There was no time to consider anything other than saving Vanessa. Was it a shifter? Someone from a rival family coming after her? Because of her association with him? The only thing that fueled him was rage and a controlled panic. The emotions, like live wires, burned through his body. They urged him forward.

The second floor of the gallery was designated for sculptures. Several of the ceramic and clay works lay in pieces on the floor.

And there, in the corner of the room, Vanessa cowered in the corner.

The assailant wasn’t visible to Nunzio, but he could smell him. Now that he was in the building, Nunzio couldn’t be sure that it was a shifter.

The assailant or burglar smelled stale, like sweat and cigarettes. He pawed the ground and prowled around the large room.

Vanessa had spotted him, and her eyes were wide with fear. Her breath was unsteady. He could hear it across the room. Her heart thudded erratically. He was surprised she hadn’t passed out yet.

But even though she was afraid, Vanessa was stronger than most women. It came with the territory. The territory of growing up in the mob.

The footsteps came from the other side of the room. The office, Nunzio guessed. The burglars, there were two of them, walked heavily.

They stunk up the place and laughed to themselves as they walked out. Nunzio crept behind a pillar that used to display a vase. The shadows concealed him well. The footsteps echoed around the space. One of the burglars was overweight, and his breathing stuttered slightly. He struggled to walk.

Good. That would make him easier to take down. Nunzio flexed his shoulders. He wanted to revel in his wolf strength all night.

But he had to strike soon. The men were headed for Vanessa.

He could hear that her breathing had slowed. She wasn’t looking at the burglars. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the shadows and the pillar. On him.

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