Page 47 of The Crimson Wolf
My newfound rage ignites my strength, and I jump my chair closer to the workbench. A shiny pair of pliers catch my attention. Jack’s an idiot to leave them out, but obviously, he doesn’t think I’m capable of much. Sweat drips down my forehead as I get closer and closer, and my heart pounds in my chest, anticipating Jack barging through the door at any moment. One last jump until I reach the pliers. I use all my strength but overcompensate, crashing to the floor on my side. “Fuck,” I mutter as a new wave of pain spreads down the side of my body. I wait for Jack to rush in—already anticipating his smug remarks about how I failed miserably to escape.
A crash comes from above. I dart my attention to the window, closing my eyes as glass breaks and falls to the workbench above me.
“Red,” a worried voice whispers into the room.
“Cameron!” I yell, nearly sobbing.
He pulls himself through the window, ignoring the broken glass around him. He jumps quietly to the floor beside me and pulls my chair upright. “That fucking prick,” he mutters before leaning over and snapping the zip-ties around my wrists with his teeth.
I gasp in relief as I yank my hands in front of me, rubbing at the red sores. “How did you know to find me here?”
He kneels in front of me, desperation painted on his face as he grasps my hands in his. He brings my wrists up to his lips, kissing them hungrily. “The Hunters—I smelled them coming before they arrived. I had a key in my pocket and freed myself before they got to me. You were gone,” he says in a pained voice in between his kisses. “I looked for you. I felt it in my bones that something was wrong. I knew you wouldn’t have escaped after last night.”
Tears of relief well in my eyes. I look down at him—his dark hair tousled, his face back to clean-shaven—the sight of him stirs something in me. I don’t wrestle with the thoughts about how I just went from one man’s prisoner to the next. He’s right. I wasn’t a prisoner after last night. Something changed inside of me, even if I can’t explain it.
He sits on his knees, noticing my eyes taking him in, reaching out and pulling me to his lips. He kisses me desperately, yanking the air from my lungs. “I thought I’d lost you,” he says between a hurried breath, his voice needy and his hands running up my legs.
God, his touch melts me in place. I’d love to let him take me here and have Jack walk in to witness it. The idea sparks a bit of rationale in my mind.Jack.We’re in his house, and he could be back any second. In fact, we’re extremely luckyhe hasn’t already barged in here. He must have left to speak to the other Hunters to tell them about me.
I push him away. “Cameron, we have to go.”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, of course.” He stands and extends his hand.
I rise, the floor unsteady under my feet, and I cling to him. He wraps his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I nod, clenching my eyes and willing the pain in my head to leave. I want to tell him the details of my capture, and that I should probably head to the ER to get an MRI, but from the look on his face—if I showed even an ounce more discomfort, he’d insist we stay and burn the place to the ground.
“Is there somewhere we can go? Somewhere he wouldn’t know about? I need to rest and regroup before we deal with all this.”
He pulls me into his chest. “I know a place.”
I soak in his smell for a moment. Days before, it infuriated me how strong it was. Now, it’s like a warm blanket, instantly easing the pain in my head. Maybe I need to spend a few days curled up with him. I don’t want to think about what all of this means or what my next steps are to avenge my parents' murders; I just want to smell this man.
Fuck, I’m officially a full-blown animal.
32
Mount Me
“I’m not getting on your back,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest.
“You can barely walk. How do you expect to get five miles from here before the Hunters find us?”
It was a sorry sight to see me climbing out of the window and running far enough away from Jack’s cabin for us to re-group. I’m barefoot, and the loungewear Cameron loaned me the day before doesn’t do much to protect my bits from the elements. Not to mention my pounding headache. Still, riding on the back of my new werewolf lover—or whatever the hell Cameron is to me—is the last thing I want to do. “Can’t we just get your truck?”Although walking back to his cabin makes my feet want to cry, it beats the alternative.
“There are Hunters all over the place. It’s too risky.”
I twist my lips, wracking my brain for another solution.
Cameron runs his fingers through his hair, sighing. “We don’t have time. Stop whining, and let's go,” he says in an irritated tone.
Ah, there’s the impatient dick I loved so much. I had wondered if his grating personality totally disappeared when he came so obviously fond of me. I can’t say the roughness of his tone doesn’t send a rush down my spine. I’d love for him to order me around like this in the bedroom.Fuck, Red. Get yourself together. I shake my head. “Fine.”
It happens so fast that I don’t even register when his skin becomes fur, and his teeth become fangs. His clothes fall to the floor beside his new form. Where a man stood now is a wolf, but much larger with black course hair, glowing amber eyes, and pure white fangs. It’s the beast from my dream nights ago. I’m sure of it.
I can’t unfreeze myself. I dropped to my knees before him when he was halfway transformed, but seeing him entirely in his werewolf form makes it hard to breathe. I’m not terrified, but something chilling runs through my veins.
He approaches me, nudging my hand with his snout before turning and looking back at me.
