“Well,” Alpha trash spats out. “You were wrong. She is certainly stronger than you.” He takes a silver knife out of his pocket. “Let’s see if this will tame you,” he huffs. There is a certain vile darkness in his eyes. It seems like he and his wolf are both in control and equally evil. He moves the tip of the knife over my neck, growling when he notices that the silver doesn’t burn me. “Fuck it,” he yells in sudden fury before stabbing the knife into my lower abdomen.
I gasp in pain. Silver might not do anything to me, but he just stabbed me with a freaking knife.Leah,I mutter,I’m not going to let him rape me. And I won’t let him kill me just like that. I would rather die on my own terms!
Yes,she growls.I might be out of strength, but let’s not go down without a fight!
I get myself ready to shift and take them on in my wolf form, but I realize I don't need to anymore. Suddenly, there's noise coming from above. I hear voices and growls from far in the distance at first, but the noise steadily comes closer and closer. Yells, cries, screams… and growls.
Some voices reach me, they seem to be right next to the basement. “I’d rather have them kill me than return to him,” one of them cries.
“We can’t get out of this alive,” another man says. “I’ll rather end it on my terms.”
“The cliff…” the first one says.
My head spins. What are they planning? They sound terrified.
Deep feral growls echo through the building. I can hear more men screaming things at each other. But above everything else, I feel his presence: Fenris’ angry aura engulfs the whole place, and his guttural growls fill the area. It might be scary for most others, but to me, it means my savior has arrived.
Thank goddess, he found me. He came in time! My heart swells with love, relief, and pride. My strong, yet sweet Lycan has arrived. I take advantage of this moment of surprise to push Alpha trash off me, letting my claws out again and scratching them over his shoulder.
Alpha trash’s eyes turn pitch black.
“Forget it, Hunter, leave her alone,” the other wolf yells. “This was not part of the plan! How did they find us? Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Lauren’s face pales. She rushes towards the door with the dude right behind her. They don’t make it far though, because the door gets ripped open, hitting them both in their stupid faces. Lauren cries in pain, clutching her nose. There is blood seeping out of it, and it fills me with vicious satisfaction to see her in pain.
I should feel guilty for having these thoughts… but… Hah! Hopefully, it heals crooked!
Liam comes rushing in with Dante and Beta Vincent right behind him, and I swear he looks like the werewolf impersonation of a Nazgul. He apparently has just shifted, so he isn’t wearing any clothes. He was probably worried about scaring me further if his huge wolf approached me, but I’m not scared of Fenris. He is my wolf, my mate.
I like him in his naked glory,Leah chimes in, her mate’s presence obviously giving her a new boost in strength.Mate is hot! Fenris is hot, too,she adds.Just saying!
Bad timing Leah,I say, a bit amused.
Fine,she puffs up a bit in annoyance like a cute fluffball before looking at me hopefully.But later?
Sure, later we can have fun,I promise, although I have the vague feeling that Liam will only touch me with velvet gloves as long as there is even the tiniest scratch on me.
Fenris’ aura is strong, and Liam’s normally so composed exterior is gone. He looks worried and furious when he rushes to my side and carefully checks on me. His eyes are almost pitch-black, but unlike Alpha trash, the darkness in his eyes holds so much humanity and vulnerability. When he cups my chin, his hands are trembling slightly, carefully raising my face to look at it. "Who dared to lay a hand on my mate?" he hisses.
I nod towards Alpha trash. Liam gets up on his feet to approach him. Alpha trash snarls at Liam and lunges at him. He is not even close to a match for Liam, though. Liam easily overpowers him and snaps his neck, and Alpha trash drops to the ground. Then he turns to the guy he hit with the door. “And him?” he demands.
“Wanted to, but didn’t have the time yet,” I say grimly. “But don’t kill him. He knows something. We might need him.”
I swear, for a moment, Dante looks at me impressed. He probably thought I would try to protect them, but I can’t. I’m not that naïve. Leah wants blood, and honestly, I want the same.
When Liam punches the guy, I'm sure I hear bones break.
Dante hands Liam some clothes before he and Vincent gather all the remaining guys and Lauren and drag them upstairs. Lauren looks truly terrified. Did she really believe she would get away with this? Liam dresses in record time before approaching me again and helping me up. Gladly the wound on my stomach is covered by the waistband of my pants. Otherwise, I'm sure Liam would have killed the other guys too. My shirt is torn into pieces, though, and I can see his eyes darkening again, anger flashing over his face. But he doesn't leave my side to act on his anger. Instead, he carefully helps me into a hoodie. It smells like him, his scent making me feel at peace instantly. Then he gently pulls me in his arms, nuzzling his nose in my neck. “Annalise,” he whispers. “Thank goddess I found you.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and snuggle against his chest. “Thank you for coming so fast,” I mutter.
He carefully scoops me in his arms. “Let’s get out of here.”
I nod eagerly. I just want to leave this place, go home with Liam, spend the next few days cuddling with him, and just be in his arms. He carries me upstairs carefully. When we reach the first floor, I can see the wolves Liam and the others captured. To my surprise, though, there aren’t many left. I’m sure there were more around when they brought me here. Did really no one surrender?
Liam seems to sense my surprise. “Some of them jumped off the cliff when they saw us and killed themselves.”
“Really?” I ask in disbelief.