Page 35 of Beast

“Go inside and get cleaned up and changed.” I nodded, giving her a wide berth and opening the door for her. It would take time, but she’d soon see the truth as I did.

Natalia was mine. And I would find out who wanted her dead and rip their goddamn throats out.

14

NATALIA

My skin tingled from Tomas’s touch and I wanted more. I shivered, pleasure and pain rolled together. There was no way I could deny I felt more than attraction for him. Yet, he was a freaking wolf. How was that possible? And I couldn’t desire a werewolf.

No, he was an animal, but then so were serial killers, yet my father was one. I was so confused.

“You need rest and to get warm,” he said as we stood by the entrance to the house. I was debating about leaving.

I bit back, “Don’t tell me what I fucking need.”

I was scared. A fear that I never knew I possessed until now. It was weird because my focus had always been on the serial killers and not the victims. Yet, right now, I could sense their fear, their pain, as I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

How could I not stop thinking about sex?

The excitement of having him so close and knowing he was more dangerous than I thought had my libido rising.

The desire to have him was overpowering my body and mind. I knew deep down I was different. This was part of the reason why I hadn't had sex until him. He was the alpha to my omega.

“No, no, no…” I whispered to myself, knowing that everything he was saying made perfect sense but not wanting to believe it.

A hand enveloped my shoulder.

“Stay the fuck away from me!” I ran to my room and slammed the door. I couldn’t have anything to do with him. He was not only a monster but an animal too. But if he was both of those things, then what the fuck was I?

Day turned to night, and I woke up and found myself still in the same position as when I’d fallen asleep—curled up on the floor with my back against the door and my arms wrapped around my knees.

Who was I kidding?

If he wanted to harm me, my body being against the door wouldn’t stop him. He could just rip it apart like the rest of my body. Also, the guys who wanted to kill me could have come and done it by now.

They say that curiosity killed the cat, and it was probably what was going to happen to me. My stomach knotted, but I stood up and stretched. Every part of my aching body was crying for food. I was starving. It was silly to think of food at a time like this, but it was all I could do as I reached for the handle and opened the door.

Silence.

He wasn’t here. I would have seen some sign of his presence if he were. The heat that rose through my body whenever he was around wasn’t present, and I felt sad and disappointed about it.

My memory traced to the man I’d slept with and had a connection with, not the animal that rescued me. I couldn’t getit out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. He said that I was a non-shifting werewolf, and I kept going into heat. I knew my medicine, made me feel different, but I thought it was just a condition. I didn’t think that I was a shifter, then again I didn’t even know they existed until now.

The smell of chicken drew me to the kitchen. I lifted the lid and then gently pressed it with a fingertip, noting that it was lukewarm and had probably been left in the kitchen on the stove for a while. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

“The boat!” I cried as I ran to the front door and threw it open. The only thing that greeted me was sand and waves. There was no sign of him or the boat I’d seen yesterday.

He’d cooked and then taken the boat.

No more did I feel hungry. Had he gone to bring back his men so they could all kill me?

I chuckled at the idea of it. Tomas could do it alone, with his teeth. He didn’t need backup to do it.

Unless he had left me to my fate because even if he didn’t want to kill me, he wouldn’t stand in the way of whoever did. I squeezed my eyes shut briefly and inhaled deeply like I would do during yoga, trying to control my body.

“Stop it,” I whispered. There was no sense getting worked up about things I didn’t know for sure yet. But best I should be prepared for Tomas or whoever showed up to murder me. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

I rummaged in the kitchen, finding a butcher knife and a long bread knife. I laid both on the counter with a clatter. Then I searched the rest of the house, yanking out drawers and digging in the back of Tomas’s closet. All I found was a hammer and binoculars. Better than nothing, but why couldn’t he have left a gun?

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