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They kissed. They did far more than that…
Once again, he’d made a mistake.
No.The voice was so loud it was as if someone was growling into her ear rather than inside her head.Not a mistake.He owes us more. So much more.
Her skull ached as the thoughts swarmed into a chanting drone. They were painful. Almost as if something were fighting to claw its way out of her very soul. The dichotomy between Loren Connors and the creature strengthening inside her had never been stronger. They were two entities grappling to exist in the same body.
Or, as McGoven put it while referring to his lycan form, two halves of the same coin. For the first time in her life, she could feel the difference in mindset. A change. Something animalistic lurked within her.
And it was angry.
As awkward as the strange emotions felt, she didn’t want to be alone with them. Alone with herself. She almost cried with relief when she heard the sound of footsteps bounding up the front porch.
At random, she snatched more clothing from Micha’s pile and headed for the foyer, averting her eyes to the ground.
“Here—” Even before she realized that the muddy boots of the figure on the porch were too big to belong to Micha or Naomi, she knew something was wrong. She could…smell it. A scent like sulfur wormed into her lungs, proclaiming alarm.Stranger!
Though not exactly. One look and her eyes widened. She knew this man, with a haunting brown gaze that glimmered in the glow of the porch lamp.
The man from the day Naomi had been attacked.
“I’m not here as an enemy,” he said as she drew back. His voice was harsh, and yet… Something in her could parse out the grudging truth in it. He wasn’t here as an enemy.
Not that it mattered one damn bit.
“Go away!” She stood firm, possessed with a strength she never knew she had. Or perhaps she just hadn’t felt often enough to recognize it. Whatever it was, resembled the confidence that took over that day in the clearing. When she bellowed a word that seemed ripped from her very core.
Admittedly, this time, the feeling was different. When it came to this man, that inner voice was more cautious.He’s too strong,it warned. She would have to fight.
Her gaze darted to the kitchen, where a drawer near the stove held knives. Not that she could make it that far.
Already, the man had taken a step forward, blocking the doorway with his sheer bulk. That smell intensified, and she coughed. It was cloying. Suffocating.
“We intended to meet your rogue until I saw that he left you alone. I apologize for the crude measures—” He gestured to his body. The plain jeans and dark shirt he wore appeared more formal than what he sported in the clearing, but she wasn’t put at ease. If anything, his approach seemed…bold.
Dangerous.
“All I want to know is the name of your sire,” he said, advancing another step. “You’re heritage. Family line. Legacy?” Her confusion seemed to confound him even more. He raised an eyebrow and swept his gaze throughout the empty hallway behind her.
Run!
She pivoted into the kitchen, and lunged through the back door. She wasn’t anywhere near fast enough.
She didn’t have to be.
A monstrous sound rattled the house to the very foundation. A growl. Several. Loren barely made it onto the porch before a large, black shape bounded from the darkness in her direction. She knew, before she registered the graceful outline of a familiar wolf, that she wasn’t in danger from him at least.
“I meant no harm,” the intruder said. He warily advanced through the back door, his hands held in front of him.
An answering growl revealed what McGoven thought of that assertion. He remained crouched, feet from the porch, and though she didn’t know exactly how, Loren was sure she could sense his intentions. Hear them inside her head.
Come to me. Now!
She descended the steps and crossed the distance. Instantly, Bill moved to stand in front of her while two fellow wolves that she assumed were Naomi and Micha closed in on either side of her.
But there was another wolf, lurking just off in the shadows. Only a pair of glowing, yellow eyes revealed their position—but an overwhelming hostility came from that direction. They didn’t belong here either.
“We aren’t here on official business,” the intruder in human form said, taking responsibility for the presence of the other wolf. “We merely wanted to talk. A parley of sorts. Between the rogue and me. No one else. This changes nothing regarding the justice you have yet to face, however. We merely want to discuss the topic at hand. Nothing more.”
