The Complete Bad Boy Series (5 in 1): Best Billionaire Romance Collection (Bad Boy Billionaire Stepbrother Romance Paranormal Series) (15 page)

“So what are you?” They were sitting in the cabin, intertwined on a silky fur blanket.

“I’m human, so far as I know. My kind change later on in adolescence. We’re a type of shapeshifter called werewolves. Other than your legends and the extremely detailed legends of the Native Americans, we don’t have much more reference than that.”

“So you don’t know why you change?”

“We call it magic.”

She scoffed and looked at him. He was dead serious. “Magic? That’s ridiculous.”

“In ancient times, people believed in it just like you believe in science. It’s not that ridiculous. Maybe it’s just a word for something you can’t explain.”

“I guess it’s just not the word I would give it.” He looked down like he was a world away. He was watching the fire, but his head was somewhere else, and that bothered her. She didn’t like when he got like that, and it wasn’t the first time. Something was wrong. “Why are people after me?”

“You’re not human. You’re a breeder. They want to use you to build their pack. We travel in packs.” He added the last part as though that were the part he should be explaining.

“So I’m something to be fucked, is that it?” She was out of his arms and pacing around the room looking for her clothes.

“No.” He had a reassuring tone to his voice. “That’s not it all, Katie. You couldn’t mean that...”

“That what? That you might just like me cause you can keep me in the kitchen with babies?”

“Now, let’s be clear. I could never, ever have a baby with you, and I would still love you.” The anger was rising in his voice. They were getting louder.

She was still angry. It was a surge of hormones that wouldn’t leave her body even though his argument was satisfactory. She didn’t like it so she lay on the bunk quietly so she could sit and think about things. He stood there for a while, directing his anger at her silently then he stormed out.

“Wait!” She ran after him, but he just got in the car and left.

She went back in the cabin. She didn’t have his number. She didn’t have a car. All she could do was wait for him to cool down and come back. There was no way for her to understand what was going through his mind, but all she wanted to do was talk to him and make him understand. When she got angry, it stuck for a while, and it took some time for her to cool down. If he had known that even though it was illogical, it would stick then maybe he wouldn’t have ran out.

She fell asleep on the bunk after a while. It was the only thing she could do. When she woke up, he was there in the dark staring down at her. He grabbed her and kissed her.

“I love you, Katie. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, Luke.”

“No. It’s not.” He put a black bag over her head then carried her out the door. She was wailing and screaming. She had no idea what was going on. How could he do this? She thought that he loved her.

“Please, Luke. What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me?” Her tears were soaking through the cloth. She was kicking and punching furiously. She reached up and tried to claw at his face, and all she got was air and silence. He didn’t say a word. He just tied her legs and hands together when they got to the car and shoved her in. She screamed through the entire thing, begging and crying. He never said a word. He was perfectly silent the entire time. She thought she had loved this man, and he loved her, but he was about to do something terrible. She knew he was, and that mean that those few moments they had had been nothing. She thought she knew what love was, but she had absolutely no idea.

She went on until she couldn’t take it any longer, and when the energy had finally drained out of her, she stopped and listened. She had to figure this out. If he was going to hurt her or do something terrible to her, she would have to figure out how she could get out of it. She knew he put the hood over her head so that she couldn’t see where she was going. That meant that she would have to use her senses. She would have to feel whether or not they were on the road. She would have to listen.

She did feel gravel below her when they stopped, but other than that it didn’t work. The ride was too smooth. The door opened, and she stayed silent. This man didn’t care about her, and she was too strong for her to overpower him. She simply waited and listened. Something could get her out of this. She just knew it.

She heard a massive door opening then she was set down on what felt like a wooden stool, then he left into another room, and she was left alone. She couldn’t move. He’d tied her to the chair, and there was nothing she could do but get out of it.

The silence was encroaching on her. It was pushing into her determined state and threatening to break her. There was nothing but the malicious darkness. She couldn’t see. She could only feel that chair. Her existence had been reduced to those things, and there was nothing else.

She wanted to scream, but she felt it best because she didn’t know what would happen. It was maddening, staring straight at her in the face like piercing eyes, but all she could do was wait, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to do something about this. Then she heard the door open and several pairs of feet walking in. They were stiff movements--boots or dress shoes--she couldn’t tell which.

Then suddenly the world lit up, and a light was shining in her face, blinding her. She couldn’t see, but she knew that three men were standing in front of her.

“They’ll be nice kids.” The voice was demented and squeaky.

“Yeah, yeah they will.” The voice was older with a deep southern accent to it. “Let’s get her to the room and get started then.”

She knew then what they were going to do. She couldn’t allow it. With a burst of energy, she was kicking her legs forward. She was thrusting as hard as she could, and she was able to break the rope tying them down. She was on her feet and trying to run, but her legs were tied together. She just flopped down on the ground and couldn’t go anywhere. She was helpless. All she was to him was a breeder. She was right. He’d planned to do this to her the entire time, and she didn’t know what else to do but lay there and allow them do whatever it was that they planned to do.

A surge of fury pulsed through her suddenly. She saw writhing organs laid out on the ground and fiery pits filled with the souls of the damned. She was totally blinded by her anger and her infinite craving for revenge and bloodlust. She was going to make sure that they died slowly, or she would end her life. She would never let these men turn her into a piece of cattle.

She saw him holding the door open to a tiny room with a bunk. “So this is what you’re like, huh?” She spit on his face as she passed him, and he simply walked to the end of the room to give them room to bring her in.

They set her down easily and silently. They didn’t seem to mind what they were doing so much; it was just a somber affair.

Something strange entered the room. It was like the smell of smoke and they all looked around. As soon as it started, it fooled the room, and she saw flames creeping up along the walls.

Suddenly the entire building was ablaze, and he picked her up and pulled her off the gurney as his family made their way out the door too. When they were in the larger room of what was clearly a warehouse, a pack of wild wolves burst through the door. The other men changed instantly. There must’ve been at least 8 of them and only 4 on the other end.

Four of them rushed to her and covered the door, but they lost their throats instantly with a rush of blood and fangs, then the others were heading around to get to her. Luke was still holding her tightly. He ran for the front of the room, and the other men kept them guarded, then the wolves ripped out their throats, and they were running out the door to the SUV. They got in just in time and peeled out of there. He untied her hands and then her legs and starting bursting out crying. His face was red, and his eyes were glazed over.

“My pack was the one that was after us, Katie. I brought you to them because they found me.”

“You just stood there.”

“They would’ve killed me. There was nothing I could do. They sent me there, months ago, to find you and take you back to them. I hid and fought them as best as I could. You don’t understand.”

“I don’t want to. “ He was driving crazy, faster than he should, weaving in and out of traffic, but he wasn’t able to maintain the kind of control he should’ve.

“So who were those other wolves?”

“Our people are endangered. Breeders are like currency. We need them to keep the wolves going.”

She understood then. That was why they were hunting her down. She’d have to get away from these creatures or something like this would happen again. She had to get away from Luke. He’d betrayed her. He didn’t care about her. He was going to trade her. She didn’t know whether or not he was telling the truth.

“Did you really try to fight them away, or did you just barely come into contact with me. Tell me the truth.”

“I swear. I came into the restaurant months ago. I saw you, and I knew that I couldn’t just take you like that. I never liked the idea of doing that anyway. You have to understand, Katie. We’re not vicious creatures. We’re doing what we need to do to survive, and if we don’t, we might go extinct. I want no part of it.”

“Then why did you go?”

“It’s my father. He has this iron grip on us. He’s worried, Katie, and for good reason. We’re all worried. We’re a unique breed, and something like this should continue.” He was right, but they had no right. She just couldn’t believe a word he said, not after what he’d done.

“You betrayed me.”

“Katie I--

“I want you to set me down there in the next city. I will find my own way home, but I never want to see you again.”

“They’re after us, Katie. They’ll find you. Do you want me to choose between putting you in danger and keeping you against your will?”

She slapped him in the face, and he pulled over on the side of the road. “Please listen, Katie. I do love you. I know that you love me. You have to believe me.”

She grabbed the handle on the door and said, “I can’t do that.” She out the door in an instant and he tried to run after her, but she was past the tree line and in the forest running. She had to get away. She had tears streaming down her face. She’d loved him. She thought that he loved her, but he couldn’t. A twig snapped behind her, and she turned around to see a large gray wolf with yellow eyes growling and ready to tackle her.

It leaped and fell over instantly when a bullet ripped through it. When his form changed, she saw the old man with the southern accent. It was his father, and Luke had shot him. The bullet hit him in the back of the neck and he died instantly.

He killed his own father to be with her. She couldn’t deny it any longer. He loved her, and she loved him. She rushed up, and he looked at her like he was going to collapse. She grabbed him around the waist and felt his warm arms around her. “I love you, Luke.” She was balling. She couldn’t imagine the sacrifice that he had made to be with her.

“I love you too, Katie. I-I just had to make you understand.”

“I do now. I get it. I just couldn’t believe it after you did that. I was so upset. I’ve never been more afraid of anything in my entire life. I was acting out of instinct. I do understand why wolves are doing this. I can understand better than you think, and it definitely takes a lot of strength for you to go against your own family like that. I mean,” she looked down at his father. “I can’t believe you did that to be with me.”

He went and kissed his father on the forehead, and they both walked away hand in hand. He’d have to fight for her, but she knew that he would, and that meant that their bond would last.