Page 49 of The Wolf Slayer

She nodded, fighting back tears and stepped into her room.

They silently packed up all her belongings, Blake asking from time to time what she wanted to take and what she wanted to leave. Niev never had a lot of things, so it didn’t take them very long before her room was empty. Blake grabbed three boxes at the same time and carried them to the truck insisting she should sit, rest, and hydrate herself.

“This whole day has already been far too stressful for the both of you. You still have the drive home before you can finally put your feet up.”

He was right and she obeyed him, following him out of the room, but not without slipping her father’s knife into her pocket. Walking down the hallway she hoped Jason had returned. She wanted to say her goodbyes and not leave on bad terms, but Jason was nowhere to be found. He’d been a good friend to her and most of the time, her only friend. She hated leaving him like this. She didn’t want them to leave each other on such horrible terms.

She looked back at her empty room. Without all her things, it looked exactly like it had on her first day here. She’d come here with one big suitcase and one backpack and over the years, this had become her home.

Jason had become someone she’d always been able to rely on. No matter how slutty he was, if she wasn’t feeling well or his partner for the night was unpleasant toward her, he kicked them out without a second thought. Tears started running down her cheeks as the memories that she’d made here returned to her. Even though she never agreed with his endless drinking, orgies, and parties, she would miss him. This was the first place she’d been able to call home after running away from her parents.

She felt two strong, warm arms wrap around her and Blake’s warm lips kissing her neck. “Have you changed your mind?” Blake didn’t seem upset, only concerned. “I can bring everything back inside. Maybe you’re pushing yourself too hard. Maybe it’s all happening too fast.” His voice was soft and without accusation.

“No, I think it’s better this way. I want a clean cut.” He squeezed her tighter and held her till her tears ceased. She turned around and kissed him, his warm lips and taste lessening her heart ache.

While he grabbed the last of her belongings she wrote Jason a little goodbye note, apologizing for her rapid exit. She also thanked him for everything he’d done over the past five years and let him know that she’d sent two months rent his way to make sure he had enough time to find someone new. She locked the door one last time before pushing the key underneath it. She could no longer call this home.

Tears started running down her cheeks again. She fought to stop them before wiping her face dry and making her way to Blake. He was standing next to his truck and Berta with all her boxes in the back of the truck.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “Do you know the way back home? If so, I’ll follow you just in case Berta lets us both down.”

The way he said home gave her butterflies. Thinking about driving to that little paradise that she would call home from now on made most of the sadness disappear. A warm feeling spread through her body and a newfound energy lifted her mood.

“Good idea.”

She got on her tiptoes and kissed him, his arms pulling her even closer. His lips felt hot and all of a sudden, she felt a wave of heat that pushed away the last little bit of sadness. She couldn’t hold back and intensified her kiss, grabbing his hair to pull him closer. Needing to taste him, she pushed her tongue against his lips. To her disappointment he didn’t let her in, but rather pulled back, breaking the kiss.

“Not here.” His breathing was heavy as he pushed her back and must have seen her disappointment. “You’ll get more at home.”

A Warrior Rises

The drive back seemed to go by far too slowly. All she could think about was Blake’s hot, sweaty body on hers. She wanted to touch him and kiss him all over. This time, she wanted to take him in her mouth, to gift him the same pleasure he’d given her. She usually wasn’t the kind of person to have such thoughts about anyone, but Blake made her feel things that no one else had ever made her feel before. It was hard to concentrate on the road. She wanted him so badly that her body was shaking.

After two hours, she finally reached the little dirt road that led her to his cabin. The closer she got, the more her heart started racing. Her entire body started to tingle. As soon as she reached the cabin, she parked the car and jumped out.

Excited, she turned toward Blake who jumped out of the truck just a few yards behind her. Without turning off the engine, he ran toward her, fear was written all over his face.

“Get in the house.”

She watched his clothes rip apart as he turned into his gorgeous black wolf.

She quickly turned around to head to the cabin, but a growling red wolf stopped her in her tracks. His muzzle was pulled back, baring his large, sharp teeth. Niev took a step back, tumbled, and fell to the floor. In that instant, she felt Blake leap over her and watched as he sank his teeth in the shoulder of the red wolf. He clawed and bit at Blake in an attempt to free himself, but Blake only tightened his jaw, causing the red wolf to let out a pained howl. Frozen in place, she watched as out of nowhere another wolf with golden brown fur ran toward Blake and the red wolf. He jumped and grabbed Blake, biting into his shoulder. Blake lost his balance and fell to the ground. Determined not to let go of the red wolf, Blake pulled him to the ground as he fell.

‘Run.’

Blake’s voice echoed through her mind. Without hesitation, she turned around to run away, adrenaline flowing through her body, but she didn’t get far.

Just a few feet away from her stood a third wolf. He was solid white, larger than the other two, but still smaller than Blake. He growled and licked his lips, preparing himself to attack Blake from behind. He was so focused on Blake that Niev was sure he hadn’t even noticed her.

As she looked at the white wolf, his ferocious eyes fixed on Blake, she knew Blake wouldn’t survive a third wolf attacking him. She then realized that she, herself, wouldn’t survive without Blake. Her heart pounded as she tried to figure out what to do. She needed to stop the wolf from attacking. She needed Blake to survive. She’d just found him and now that she finally had him, she no longer wanted to be without him. Blake was the missing piece to her aching heart. He was her one and only, and she was willing to die for him.

She pulled her father’s pocketknife out. Whatever that wolf would do to her, she knew she would survive and that thought gave her strength like she’d never felt before. The instant the wolf leaped toward Blake, she let out a scream and jumped toward him. She stabbed the knife right in his face. It carved a line down the side of his face until it stuck in his right eye socket. Her own fearlessness surprised her.

The white wolf stopped in his tracks and howled in pain. As a triumphant feeling spread through her body, she felt pain ripping through her back. She suddenly realized that the wolf had clawed her. The pain of his sharp claws digging into her back was excruciating and another scream pushed past her lips. She let go of the knife and fell to the ground. The pain was so intense that she was close to passing out, but she couldn’t allow herself to do so. Blake needed her.

Intense pain blurred her vision. All she could see was a black shadow laying on the ground a few feet away. She started crawling toward it until she felt fur. Blake’s usually smooth fluffiness felt sticky. He must have lost a lot of blood. She laid her body on his. She knew her small frame would never be big enough to protect his large wolf, but she wanted to at least try.

She heard tree branches break around her and saw more shadows appear and walk toward her. She let out another ear-piercing scream and held onto Blake even tighter. Through blurry eyes, she watched as one of the shadows changed shape and size.

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