ROMANCE: MENAGE ROMANCE: Tapped and Taken by Two (Pregnancy Sports MMA UFC Fighter Romance) (Alpha Male Romance) (58 page)

              “Werewolves I guess you would call them.”  His voice was steady as his eyes focused on the road and he maneuvered the sharp curves with ease.  The canine creatures were still chasing them.  Zoey tried to clear her mind. 
Werewolves?
This had to be some sort of a messed up dream. 

              “Did you just say… werewolves?”  She asked, thinking maybe she heard him wrong. 

              “Yes.”

              “How… that’s impossible! Werewolves don’t exist!” She exclaimed, trying to hold on to her notions of reality and myth. Chris just continued to drive.

All of a sudden, one of the wolves emerged from the woods, legs churning fast like a cheetah before lunging at the bike, chomping at Chris in an attempt to make him lose balance. He quickly swatted the wolf with his massive hand which knocked it to the ground but not before its teeth scratched his arm, making Chris swerve the bike to the side. He managed to regain control of the bike just in time to avoid crashing. He looked back for a split second, thinking of his next move. 

              “Don’t let go,” Chris growled as he suddenly slammed on the breaks, his front tire screeching as they nearly flipped over. Using the inertia, he raised from the seat slightly and leaned to the right, causing the bike to spin 180 degrees on its front tire. As soon as the rear one touched the cold asphalt, he shot off in the other direction. The wolf that had come from the side and lunged at Chris was slowly getting up but also caught off guard and the bike shot into it before it got a chance to jump out of the way making the bike lurch with a sickening thud.

“That’ll buy us some time. They’ll be taking that one back to the den for healing before restarting this chase.”

Zoey had no comments to make and she just clung tighter to Chris as they started speeding down a dirt country road that she didn’t recognize. Not falling off that bike was the only thing she could do at this point. 

              After ten minutes of driving it looked like Chris was right and that they had lost them. Chris said that it would only be for a while though, but still Zoey sighed in relief, giving herself a moment to breathe. She was shaking from her torn shirt and the cold wind of the ride that she hadn’t had the time or the space in her mind to notice.

There was no way werewolves could exist. It was a biological impossibility. She tried to grasp a logical explanation for what was happening, but she came up blank. This seemed like some sort of freak dream she was having. 

              “Chris.” He stayed quiet. “Chris!” She yelled out. He revved the engine instead of answering, making her frustrated. “Tell me what is going on,” she demanded in as harsh a voice that she could muster over the sound of the engine. 

              Chris frustratingly hit the brakes and skidded to a stop. “I already told you. They’re werewolves.”  He said, remaining steady and calm like the steady rumble of the motorcycle engine. Zoey felt like screaming in exasperation a moment ago, but his voice and the vibration of the machine somehow calmed her down. She wished he would give her more than a few words at a time, but she realized that he was the only source of information, and protection for that matter, she currently had. If he wasn’t going to offer up any explanation, Zoey was going to have to coax it out of him. 

              “How is that possible? Werewolves don’t… cannot exist.”

              “If you say so, but these ones exist.” 

              “Listen. I want a straight answer from you and I want it now.” Zoey was surprised by her own voice. She heard Chris let out a sigh as he looked back at her, making eye contact for a moment. 

              “Those men that attacked you at the store. They are werewolves. Werewolves are usually territorial, but this pack has been running around loose for a while now. They don’t seem to be following any instincts I’ve seen before.”  Zoey furrowed her brow in confusion. Wolves were territorial indeed. But if such a creature as a crossbreed between a human and wolf could exist, why would the animalistic instincts always remain?  

              “So they felt they had the right to harass me cause I was in their territory?”

“Nope, like I said, these wolves have been stepping foot outside of what they know to be their territory for some time now. You’re not the first one who's been harassed by them, but I don’t know if I’ve seen them take it so far before.”

“Were they going to rape me?”

“I don’t know. Your scent is pretty strong right now. Something like it can make things like them pretty crazy.   

“Me stepping in probably isn’t going to make them any calmer as well.”  He explained. 

              “But… I don’t understand.” More questions rolled into her head, and this time she gave voice to them. “How do you know so much about them? Why did you step in? And what do you know about my… my scent.” 

              “I have some things in common with them you could say.”

“YOU’RE a werewolf!?”

“Not exactly, people don’t turn into just wolves.”

Zoey was speechless at this point and just waited for Chris to continue explaining.

“I guess since humans have created the name werewolf to describe what that pack of lycan are, you might understand if I call myself a werebear. Although that is not the name I would use, and I do not have a name for what I am. I only have a name for who I am.”

“Well what is that...Chris?”

“Arthmael.”

“Arthmael?”

“It is my name, and now that I have told it to you, you should try to use it.”

“It sounds like an old name.”

“It is an old name, and there is much more that you don’t understand, but there is no time for this now. You need to hold on and we need to find somewhere to hide for the night.” 

              “NO!” Zoey stepped off the bike. “I...it’s not true. You are lying to me. None of this can be happening. Did you drug me?”

Chris’ shoulders slumped down and he sighed. “I could show you.”  His eyes began to burn with a dark intensity as he said the words. He had never exposed himself to anyone from the human world before, but now he would take his true form in front of this girl. He had no idea how she would react to his bear form, but he also knew that she would never let it go until she saw it for herself. She would never go along with him until she saw more proof of how deep she was over her head right now, and she would never be safe without him tonight. Even after all the lines he had crossed so far that night to save her though, this one was probably the biggest.

              “Fine. Show me.” Her mind flooded with a million different possibilities as he sighed yet again, and turned off the bike letting the sounds of the forest all around them appear.

“Promise me you will just come with me and not ask any more questions after this. We must hurry. We do not have much time and we need to find a way to make the pack lose your scent.”

“Fine. Just show me first.”

“He took off his jacket and shirt. Kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks. He started fumbling with his belt as he stared through the darkness at Zoey.

“W...What are you doing?”

“You said I need to show you. So that is what I’m doing.”

Zoey was going to say something else, but then his belt and button at his waist became free and he pulled his jeans down confidently standing naked in the moonlight looking straight into Zoey’s eyes. Apparently, werebears don’t wear underwear. She took in the sight of his hard and toned chest and abs. His body spoke of power and strength and Zoey’s mind drifted back to the imagined image of him underneath her and Zoey feeling that part of him that was now in plain view filling her up inside.

“That scent of your’s is not getting any lighter.”

“What do you mean by that.”

“I just mean that it’s stronger now than it was before. It’s even stronger than when I walked into the store that night that you asked me for my name.”

Zoey could feel the heat wash over her face now as he knelt down on the side of the dirt road. A gust of wind blew past Zoey from nowhere as he clenched his jaw and Zoey watched him curl his back before his body started to expand and contract in odd ways. Patches of hair sprouted and turned to fur as his body expanded even further until right in front of Zoey was a huge Grizzly bear. Zoey took a step back and tripped over her own feet. The bear then reared back and stood up on it’s back legs showing Zoey how tall it actually was. It was probably close to eight feet tall but it didn’t let out a roar. It just stood there looking at her with human-like eyes.

“Arthmael,” was all that escaped from Zoey’s mouth.

Chapter 5

              Arthmael spotted an abandoned looking farmhouse with a slumping barn next to it, off the side of the road.  Slowing down, he drove onto the gravel path, making their bodies bounce and rub together as they made their way toward the old farmhouse. Zoey held on, blushing as her chest rubbed against him. There was no ignoring the draw she still felt toward him. It wasn’t logical, and if Zoey could make her body stop feeling they way it did she would, but it was no use. With every bump her body was betraying her. 

              Soon enough he killed the engine, putting down the bike stand as he got off with ease.  He held out his hand, before helping Zoey off. She stood on wobbly legs as the vibrations from the bike had made her limbs numb. At least, that’s what she told him. She looked up at the old farm buildings skeptically.  It looked like they would both fall apart at any moment. 

              “What are we doing here?” She asked, shivering as her ripped shirt did little to protect her from the elements. Arthmael looked at her, before taking off his leather jacket and handing it to her. She looked at it for a moment, before taking it and throwing it on, zipping it up. It was huge, but she smiled as she felt the warmth wrap around her, making her feel cozy and safe.

              “You wanted proof. I gave you proof. Now I just need you to follow me, and not ask so many questions.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the barn. There was a hole in the roof, which allowed the moonlight to shine through. Arthmael looked around before spotting a ladder that led up to a hayloft.  He shook it forcefully to check how stable it was. Feeling satisfied that it wouldn’t collapse under his weight he started to climb it. Soon he reached the loft and hoisted himself up, testing its strength as well. 

              Zoey watched him in confusion, wondering what he was doing. She got slightly spooked when he jumped down, effortlessly landing beside her. “Up.” 

              “Huh.” 

              “Go on the loft.” Zoey looked at him in curiosity but ended up obeying as she climbed the ladder after him, grabbing his hand as she reached the top. He pulled her up with ease and she stood there. She wondered what was going on. 

              “Wait here,” he commanded. She nodded, watching him jump down once more. He quickly took off his clothes again. His tense features relaxed as he closed his eyes. Suddenly the transformation began again. Slowly at first, but then everything became a blur. Zoey blinked and before she knew it there was a full-sized grizzly bear pacing around the bottom of the ladder. It was pawing at the ground and lifting its nose into the air to take long inward breaths. 

              The bear looked up at her whimpering. Zoey felt an impossibly strong attraction toward the bear, slowly pulling her closer to the edge of the loft.  She wanted to reach out and touch him.  She continued to edge forward until the board she was standing on gave way and she was falling toward the ground. 

              The bear was surprisingly swift, reacting quickly, catching her on its back so that she was laying on top of him. Zoey kept her eyes closed, but eventually opened them, feeling the soft fur against her cheek. She smiled and rubbed the bear’s side. The furry animal shook its leg in pleasure and Zoey chuckled. 

              She felt at ease with the large creature, even though the situation was insane. Slowly she rolled off the bear and stood up, looking into its eyes that were unmistakably those of Chris, or Arthmael, or whoever this person was. It stared back at her, whimpering softly before it pounced on her. 

              She gasped out, falling on top of a soft hay pile. Instead of the bear ripping out her throat like she imagined a bear would, it started to lick her face, almost like an affectionate puppy. Zoey stayed still in shock for a moment but then laughed, rubbing the bear’s neck. 

              “Are you sure, that you are big bad Chris, Mr. Bear?” Zoey teased. Suddenly the bear transformed again, and he reappeared, on all fours, hovering over her body.

“It’s no use Zoey. Your scent is too strong. I could practically see it when I was in my other form. Without warning, he leaned down and kissed her. Zoey was taken aback by his abruptness, but as the kiss grew more passionate she felt herself melt into his lips. Her body started to betray her even more. She knew she shouldn’t be kissing back, but in that moment it was the only thing in the world she wanted to do. In a breathless voice, he spoke again.

“They will find us here if we don’t take care of this now. It’s becoming much more than I can handle myself.”

“What do you mean. What scent is this that you keep talking about.”