“You know what’s a nightmare?” he growls, crowding close to grab my chin with a hand that still sports claws. “Having the woman you love disappear and not being able to find her. Searching for almost a year without a trace. Then showing up at the meeting of the packs and smelling her all over another wolf.”
His eyes flash completely black, and my panic spikes.
Where’s my bat?
He’s going to hurt me.
Why is this happening?
What the hell is the meeting of the packs?
The sting on my cheek from his claw biting into my flesh refocuses me.
“Once I knew you were in Pine Falls, finding you was so easy. Check the library website. Focus on the only staff member without a photo. Search the name Juliet Adair. You know what I found?” His hot breath washes over my face. “Nothing. Other than this single purchase of a house, it’s like Juliet Adair doesn’t exist.” His smile has a crazed tinge. “So easy. Almost as if you wanted me to find you.”
Cory tilts his head down toward mine, like he plans to kiss me. My survival instinct kicks in.
With a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I knee his exposed dangly bits. His fingers loosen enough for me to rip away, and his groaned curse follows me as I race down the hall. My eyes lock on the little keypad that’s brought me a feeling of safety all these months. Now, I hope it’ll be the thing to save me.
I smack my whole hand against the glass screen, fumbling for the emergency button and sobbing in relief when my alarm blares to life. But then, the next second, Cory has his bruising grip around my throat, cutting off my airway.
“Turn it off. Now.”
His hold loosens a fraction, and I gasp in a breath.
No, gods, just let the alarm go.
But my survival instincts know how quickly this wolf can crush my windpipe. When I lived with Cory in Bear Valley, I never truly thought he would kill me. Hurt me? Yes. But kill me? Then I’d be gone, and he couldn’t have me anymore.
But I left him, so who knows what he’s willing to do now?
With shaking fingers, I press the number keys. Only the combination is slightly different than the one I normally use.
Please come fast,I silently beg.
“Good girl. See how easy that was?” His thumb strokes the hammering pulse in my neck. “This whole thing could’ve been avoided if you’d just realized how good you had it with me.”
His naked body presses against my back, and I swallow down a gag of revulsion.
At one point, I loved this man. Or maybe that was only a version of him. A false face.
Still, I hate Abby Green for that love she once felt. For how long she convinced herself this man was good at his core.
“Why can’t you let me go?” Fuck the sob that my question rides out on.
“Because you’remine,” Cory snarls.
The word is slick against my ear, and I want to scrub myself clean.
“Never,” I hiss back.
He growls low in his chest, fingers digging hard into my arm and neck before I’m suddenly released. In my surprise, I stumble forward, hands slapping flat on the wall.
Why did he let me go?
Can I make it to my front door?
“Time to go home, Abby.”
