Page 3 of A Wolf’s Wound

Ryder

My wolf growls, and I let the threatening sound rip free of my chest to fill the air as my skin prickles with emerging fur. The need to attack nearly overwhelms me, and I immediately spot why.

A woman is lying on the floor, a man bent over her battered form as his fist swings back and aims to collide with her face.

“Stop squirming!” His other hand is pressed over her mouth, attempting to block out the sounds as she whimpers with fear and pain.

She twists away and kicks at him, deftly trying to claw at him in an attempt to escape, and my growl has given her an advantage.

The man turns toward me, and I recognize him in an instant.

Danger. Save. Her.

My wolf is insistent, and I don’t waste any more time. In two long strides, I’m on the attacker—a councilman and one of my brother’s wolves. I lift him by the collar, yanking him away from the coughing, sputtering woman on the floor.

“Do not touch her.” My voice no longer sounds human, more wolf than man.

He struggles against my grip, spitting and swearing as I pull him away, and it only fuels my violence even more.

Enough! The wolf gives one sharp bark. And I agree with it.

I punch the councilman, halting his assaults, but it’s not enough violence for me. I punch him again and again until his body crumples into unconsciousness. Threat eliminated, I drag him to the front door and throw his body onto the concrete walkway.

The apartment is silent now and my wolf has receded. There’s no more screaming or crying to fill the air. The only sound is my harsh breathing as I struggle to find calm.

What the hell is going on? The councilman is an honorable man. What did this woman do to provoke him?

I leave the councilman and move to help the woman, holding out my hand, when she turns her attention to me. Her gaze connects with mine, and I see her for the first time.

Her face is framed with long, thick light brown hair. Hair the color of honey. Her eyes are a sharp, liquid green. Slightly arrogant intelligence and disdain burns in them. Her face is heart shaped and soft, and her nose is upturned at the end. Her mouth is small, but full.

And I could look at her forever.

She avoids my touch, and I step away from her as she gets up and brushes splinters of wood off her clothing. My mind is stunned as I watch the way she moves.

A thought echoes in my mind. Fate brings you together. Be patient.

I had been feeling her, I realize. In the restaurant, the urgency and uneasiness had been her. She had pulled me here. She demanded that I save her life.

The woman wears only shorts and a shirt that billows around her as she stands, and it’s driving me crazy.

I clear my throat as I look away from the lines of her legs and the outline of her breasts through the shirt.

“Are you okay?” The concern in my voice is glaring. I wince at it, away from it.

She looks at me with narrowed eyes. “I’m fine now,” she says stiffly. When she turns her face, I see a bruise is developing on the right side. “And who are you?”

She speaks bluntly, her voice low and as sharp as her eyes.

“I’m Ryder.” I stick my hand out awkwardly. She avoided my touch earlier. Will she still? “Ryder Stone.”

“Ryder Stone, figures,” she mutters under her breath, gripping my hand for as little time as possible. “Hannah Kelly.”

She steps away from me, and I don’t miss the expression of pain on her face as she moves stiffly. The councilman really did a number on her. Instinctively, I look over at him, and the wolf inside me growls angrily.

“Tell me, Ryder, do you make a habit of breaking into random homes?”

“No.” I slip closer as I spy a tremble in her limbs. “Just yours, it seems.” Her body appears to be giving in to exhaustion, and she doesn’t flinch away as I lightly grip her arm and lead her to the couch in the main living area.

The sun has set completely, and the apartment sits in darkness. I give the councilman a good kick on our way past.

“I was on a… I was in a pub nearby. With a friend. I felt you calling for help.”

Thinking about the date I left behind sends heat flaring in my face. Somehow, and maybe it is kismet, she recognizes me.

“You were on a date with my friend April. Weren’t you?” She murmurs the words.

April! That’s her name!

Thinking about April makes me feel as though I have been cheating, somehow. Even though I only met Hannah minutes ago.

I settle her onto the couch, and though I feel nervous walking away from her, I know she needs more than my hovering presence. “I’m going to get you some water. Do you have a first aid kit?”

She looks at me, dazed. Her green eyes are murky.

“You felt me? Are you insane?” Her eyes have sharpened as she looks me up and down warily.

How the fuck do I explain something I don’t even fully understand? Fuck it. I do it bluntly like everything else.

I shrug. “I could feel you.”

Her eyes widen slightly. But not with surprise—something more like suspicion. Again, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s some sense of recognition there. She knows me. Somehow.

Fate brings you together. Just be patient.

But when she speaks, her voice is cold and devoid of emotion.

“Feel me?” She scoffs. “You’re insane.”

I step closer to her. Moonlight comes dancing through the nearby kitchen window.

She lifts her head to look at me, arching her back to meet my stare.

“I can feel you.” My voice is more insistent than I intended. “And right now, I can feel that you aren’t as surprised as you’re trying to pretend you are.”

Hannah has a great poker face.

Hannah. My wolf perks its ears up.

There is a low rumbling in my chest again.

Then she rolls her eyes. “I know all about you. You have a reputation. I just wish I had known that you were the one she was going out with. I would have warned her.”

I want to try and convince her otherwise, but we have bigger problems to deal with. My wolf whines in my chest and I clear my throat.

I hear a rustling noise outside the kitchen window and outside the broken-down apartment door.

I close my hand around her wrist and pull her off the couch, into the curve of my body. She doesn’t protest.

Maybe she heard the noise too. Maybe she knows it isn’t safe yet.

“What did you do to the councilman?” My eyes track along her face while my ears listen for any other approaching sounds. I need to determine why she is a threat in order to protect her. “Why did he attack you?”

“Why do you assume I did something to provoke him?” Her voice is still cold. And maybe I deserve it. “I barely know him.”

Footsteps. On the fire escape on the second floor. “I was home, on my own, and he showed up.”

“And he just attacked you?” I ask, tugging her hand as I move toward the footsteps creeping closer.

I need to keep her close to me, but not let the threat gain too much ground. As they grow closer, I turn to Hannah. I lean down to her, until our lips are less than an inch apart. Instead of pulling away, she looks up at me, her eyes tracing the lines of my face.

“Get in the closet,” I whisper.

She nods.

“Stay there.”

The wolf is impatient; he thinks a fight could be coming.

Maybe he is right.

Could the councilman have sent reinforcements? Did he foresee that he might not be successful?

I keep Hannah close to me a second longer. Her scent was the one the wolf had picked out—the one that stood out on my way to her apartment.

Sweet and bright, cut through with citrus. Lavender and vanilla. And lemons. Or oranges. Her skin is soft against mine, and for a moment she leans into me. Then she pulls away.

The wolf growls in protest. She tiptoes away from me. I only move when I hear the closet door close.

Good girl.

I exhale heavily and then my eyes sweep the apartment as I survey my fighting grounds.

I hear more footsteps now. I stay still, in the center of the apartment, and close my eyes.

My hearing amplifies and I pick out three sets.

Three people. Three heavy men from the sound of it.

They were probably waiting for the councilman.

The tiny man probably thought he could come in and deal with Hannah on his own, but he didn’t count on me appearing. And now they’ve come to see why they’ve been waiting.

The wolf paws at me, growling in earnest now. My skin prickles, and Hannah’s scent, which has enveloped me, blooms on my tongue.

My hands morph into claws as the need to protect her grows. My spine arches, curves. The wolf isn’t waiting for me. He knows the fight is coming.

How long will it take April to come home? You had better handle this before she does. And with cleanup time to spare.

The shift is so close I can taste it.

I know I can take three men. As the beta of my pack, I am about as strong as my alpha. I have to be, in order to defend him and our pack from any attacks.

My teeth have sharpened and lengthened, and my nostrils are flared. My nose flattens, along with my mouth. My ears become pointed, flattening too. I ready myself for my muscles to grow.

Power and adrenaline course through me. I am already ten times more powerful than my human form.

And the shift is only beginning.