Chapter 15
Skye’s POV
Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me against a solid chest. The scent hit me immediately–cheap whiskey and stale sweat. Not the ocean scent I’d feared, but something far more mundane and equally dangerous.
I twisted my head to see a large, heavyset man with a face reddened by years of drinking. His bulbous nose glowed almost purple in the dim parking lot light. Recognition flickered through my panic–he was one of the new ranch hands who’d started coming to The Watering Hole about a week ago.
I couldn’t remember his name, but I remembered serving him shot after shot of bottom–shelf whiskey earlier, tonight.
“Let go of me!” I shouted, pushing against his beefy arms with all my strength. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Rather than releasing me, his grip tightened painfully. His hot, alcohol–soaked breath hit my cheek as leaned in closer.
Always seen you alone, he slurred, his voice oily with intention. “Pretty girl like you needs a man. How ‘bout being my girlfriend, huh?”
Revulsion crawled across my skin like insects. Being raised in a werewolf pack had taught me to defend myself, even without my wolf. Ethan had made sure of that, spending countless hours teaching me defensive moves ‘just in case.” This was definitely a case.
I drove my elbow back with all my strength, connecting with his jaw. The shock of the impact loosened his grip just enough.
“Disgusting! Not a chance!” I spat, twisting out of his grasp.
I bolted toward my car, keys clutched so tightly they bit into my palm. Behind me, I heard him stumbling to his feet, cursing loudly.
“Fucking bitch!” he roared, his heavy footsteps thundering after me.
My fingers had just touched the cool metal of my car door handle when a vicious yank on my hair sent shock waves of pain through my scalp. My head snapped backward as he dragged me away from the safety of my vehicle. I lost my balance, crashing painfully to the gravel parking lot.
Before I could regain my footing, his weight crushed down on me, pinning me to the ground. The stench of him–sweat, alcohol, and tobacco–made me gag as he loomed over me, his intentions clear in his bloodshot eyes.
I wasn’t giving up. Not like this. I bucked wildly underneath him, managing to bring my knee up sharply between his legs. He howled in pain, momentarily loosening his hold. I scrambled forward, trying to escape.
Then came the sound that would haunt my nightmares–the distinctive click of a revolver’s hammer being cocked, followed by the deafening crack of a gunshot.
Fire bloomed in my chest. A white–hot, searing pain that knocked the breath from my lungs. Stunned, I pressed my hand to the source and felt warm wetness spreading across my shirt. When I pulled my hand away, it was coated in crimson.
He shot me. He actually shot me.
The world tilted sideways as shock set in. I stumbled forward, still desperate to reach my car, my sanctuary. Each step was heavier than the last, my vision darkening at the edges. After just a few feet, my knees buckled.
I collapsed onto the gravel, the sharp stones digging into my skin barely registering against the agony in my chest. The taste of copper filled my mouth as I struggled to breathe.
Sinking to my knees, I raised my eyes to the night sky. The full moon hung there, distant and indifferent to my suffering. For the first time in my life, bitter resentment toward the Moon Goddess welled up inside me.
I had never been disrespectful, not even when Leon rejected me in front of the entire pack. I had accepted my fate without cursing her name.
But now, dying alone in a desert parking lot, about to be violated by a drunken human, thousands of miles from anyone who loved me–now I felt hatred toward the deity who had denied me my wolf, denied me the strength to protect myself.
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Chapter 15
Why I silently demanded of the uncaring celestial body. Why am I without a wolf? What did I do to deserve this?
télosed my eyes, preparing for the worst–his hands on me again, my life draining away in this godforsaken place, with no one to mourn me, no one to even know what had happened to me.
Instead, the night air shattered with the sound of a wolf’s howl–deep, powerful, and terrifyingly close.
My eyes flew open in time to see a blur of gray fur launch through the air. The massive wolf collided with my attacker, their bodies hitting the ground with enough force to send gravel spraying in all directions. There was a short, strangled scream, cut off with sickening abruptness, followed by the wet, tearing sounds I recognized from pack hunts back home.
Through the growing haze of my consciousness, I watched as the wolf–its muzzle now dark with blood–padded toward me. The transformation happened so quickly I almost missed it: bones shifting, fur receding, the lupine form straightening into that of a naked man.
Adrian crouched beside me, his amber eyes wide with concern, his strong hands gently lifting me from the ground. His ocean scent washed over me, somehow calming despite the terror of the situation.
Skye? Skye, can you hear me?” His voice seemed to come from very far away, though his face was just inches from mine. “Stay with me. I’m going to get you help.
The warmth of his bare skin against my cold body felt oddly comforting as he cradled me against his chest. The last thing I registered before darkness claimed me was his scent–pine forest after rainfall with undertones of ocean, wrapping around me like a protective blanket.
“Adrian,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure if the word actually left my lips.
Then there was nothing but silence and the endless dark.
Chapter Comments
Tanya Gordon
is Adrian her 2nd chance Mate?
Jamie DeWitt
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