Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” she whispers, then she winces.
There are sirens in the air.
What triggered them?
The car alarm? The roar? The gunshots?
Maybe the sirens aren’t coming here, but I can’t risk it. Police officers might shoot at me. Their guns will hit heavier if they’ve dispatched the armed response unit.
“Thank you,” she repeats as if unsure of what else to say.
I stalk even closer.
She freezes for a second. Then, after a moment, she raises her hand.
She raises it slowly like she thinks I’m going to bite it off.
I concentrate hard as she moves it toward me. With a deep groan, I tilt my head, rubbing my silver-haired jaws against her palm.
She shudders like she can’t believe it, like any second I’m going to snap.
Focus.
There’s too much noise in my ears, too much want in my body. Her scent is the most overwhelming of all.
But her touch, her small hand against my jaw, provokes me with nearly as much primal fire.
I can tell my human's terrified, not just in her scent but in her touch. She shakes as she touches me, but she doesn’t stop.
Our gazes lock. She stares into the eyes of the wolf, my eyes, the man. The beast who needs her, who owns her…
And who might kill her.
The sirens are getting louder.
Metal laces the air, bullets, and rubber smoking on concrete as they screech around the corner.
I spin away from Ruby, fighting every instinct, fighting the very heart of the wolf as I leap at the wall and dig in with my powerful claws.
My body tenses as I drag myself up, tearing massive passageways in the brickwork, vaulting before it has a chance to give out on me.
With a snarl, I duck my head and run, leaping over the roof and onto the next one, quickly turning right and away from the busier neighborhoods.
But it doesn’t matter. They already know I’m here.
A hunter.
Liam.
He’s the only one who can help. I want to turn back there, run as fast as I can, leap down and claim my Ruby for myself. I want to take her tenderly in my jaws, hold her so gently, then softly carry her away someplace.
Someplace we can be together, where she buries her hands in my fur and rests her cheek against the top of my head.
And then I’ll change back, controlled, and take her like only I can.
Mine, mine, mine.
My gait pulses with the power of the moon. I keep running. I have to be fast.
The hunters might come back.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ruby
I sit on the bathroom floor, my legs splayed out, my head spinning as I try to figure out what happened.
I’ve got one elbow on the toilet seat.
I flush again, but the freaking thing doesn’t work properly. Nothing does.
What the heck happened?
I’ve spoken to the police, told them somebody tried to mug me, and they ran when they heard the sirens, gave the description of the man, his tattoo and everything.
But I didn’t mention the wolf.
The man saw it. The wolf touched the man.
I repeat these phrases in my mind, over and over, knowing they’re real.
I touched him, felt his jaws against my hand, the power of him. Him, not it anymore, whatever that was, no way it was...
“A monster,” I whispered, shuddering.
There was something so confusingly captivating about the silver wolf, with his faintly red eyes and splashes of pale blue. He looked at me like it was his mission to save and keep me safe.
My thoughts run ahead, my breath catching up.
I think I might be having a panic attack.
Mom’s asleep. She was when I got in, passed out on the couch. I didn’t bother to wake her up.
I wouldn’t be able to explain except to give her the fake story, the one I gave to the police.
My heart pounds, my body aches, and my hands hug my knees as I pull them to my chest. I can’t stop thinking about how right it felt, my hand on his jaws, his breath panting over me.
And there was something else, something so strange.
The silver-haired wolf was rock-solid, his massive cock pointing up the second he turned to me.
I shiver, shaking my head. This is all spinning so crazily out of control.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door.
“Ruby?”
I rub my eyes, calming myself down. I can’t let myself go into panic mode when Mom’s got that tremor in her voice.
“Two seconds,” I say.
Standing, I flush the toilet more forcefully this time. I splash cold water on my face and wash my hands, staring at myself in the mirror for a second.
I’m wrung-out, my eyes hollowed out, my cheeks seeming faded somehow. I don’t look like somebody who’s seen a ghost.
I look like a ghost, like meeting that wolf has sent me to another realm.
That’s silly. That’s Master Pete and all his lies talking.
When I open the door, Mom steps back as though flinching.