Page 14 of Gift Wrapped

She nods and scurries away as I turn the handle on the door. It’s locked but I don’t knock, I just ram it with my shoulder, and it flies open.

The sight that greets me has every predatory, possessive, and protective instinct I have in me rising to the forefront like a damn tsunami. A mountain of a man with long dark hair has Lake pressed against the wall. Shattered picture frames and glass litter the floor by their feet. Lake’s eyes are barely open, and her lips have a blue tinge to them due to the lack of oxygen.

“When I’m done with you, no other man will ever want you.” I hear the man say to her.

“I would put her down,” I say trying my damndest to keep my tiger at bay.

I don’t want to scare the old woman to death when she sees a four-hundred-odd-pound Bengal tiger in the hall.

“Who the fuck are you?” the man asks angrily.

“That doesn’t concern you. What does concern you is the fact that I have this all recorded, and the police are on the way.”

I can hear the sirens in the distance and assume that one of the neighbors must have called them. The cell phone in my hand hasn’t recorded a damn thing but there is no need for him to be aware of that. I watch as Lake’s entire body goes limp. The man is screaming at me, but it all sounds like I am underwater. Stepping into the apartment I charge at the man. He wasn’t expecting me to do anything and isn’t prepared for when I throw him clear across the room. My tiger has pushed forward enough that I am more beast than man at the moment.

Both me and my tiger want to attack this man and tear him limb from limb but we also both know that we need to protect Lake at all costs. A strange calmness sweeps over me as my tiger and I are in sync for the first time in a long time. He has never agreed with my choices when it came to women, but he is all in right now.

Dropping to a crouch in front of Lake, I glare at the man as he gets to his feet. The sirens are getting closer and indecision wars on his features. Stay, and try to finish the job, or run and live to fight another day.

He turns and bolts from the apartment and I turn to Lake to assess what damage has been done. Some of her color has returned and she is breathing although it sounds labored. I feel relief like I never have before as I gingerly lift her into my arms and carry her over to the couch.

As I lay her down, I see a cell phone. I reach out to move it, but the screen catches my attention and my blood runs cold. Playing on a repeat loop is the video I sent to my ligress less than an hour ago. I watch in horror as my hand strokes my cock until I come all over my stomach and the video starts again.

Lake is my Ligress.

Fuck.

Chapter Five

Lake Roman

Openingmyeyes,Itry to turn away from the bright light trying to blind me. “Hold still,” Mrs. Anderson says. “Let the paramedic check you over.”

I sigh knowing that as long as I am still alive the shifter magic in my veins will help me heal at an accelerated rate. By tomorrow evening this will be nothing more than a bad memory. That is, if I can get away from all the people worrying over me right now so I can find a spot in the tropical foliage on the outskirts of town to shift.

I take in the scene around me. There’s a man dressed as a paramedic, Mrs. Anderson, and Wilder Smith.

Fuck! What is my boss doing here?

I try to push up again but the glare he throws my way has me remaining in my spot. “She seems to be fine,” the paramedic addresses Wilder. “But I still suggest taking her to the emergency room for a full workup.”

He starts to pack the little bag with all the items he used to assess me. “I will take her as soon as possible,” Wilder says in a tone that leaves no room for argument.

“We need to get her statement,” a police officer I didn’t see says. Wilder levels him with a glare that could peel paint off a building. “Unless she isn’t pressing charges.”

“No charges,” I croak.

My voice sounds strange and my throat hurts like a mother fucker. It feels like I tried to give a cactus a blowjob. I don’t want to press charges. I don’t want to deal with anyone. I just want to be left alone to lick my wounds, literally and figuratively. My gaze clashes with Wilder’s, begging him to do something.

I still don’t understand why he is here but when he starts ushering people out, I couldn’t be more grateful. After the last person leaves, I get off the couch and head toward my bedroom. I need to change out of these clothes and into something less constricting. My ligress is prowling the corners of my mind begging for the chance to shift and start to heal. She is also highly bloodthirsty at the moment.

“Where are you going?” Wilder asks me.

“I need to change.”

“Lake.”

He reaches out to touch my shoulder before dropping his hand by his side. He thinks I’m damaged by what Chad did, that any man’s touch right now will send me over the edge.

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