Page 25 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

Twenty Five

Clarissa

E verything was dark. Deep within her fog, she was aware of the pain. Her head pounded mercilessly.

All she wanted was to sleep. Whenever it came within her grasp, it was torn away.

White-hot pain.

Fire erupted across her clammy skin. Her flesh tingled; it was growing numb. At the same time, she felt hot, thick fires spread across her body at random.

Only one eye could open.

Faces swam before her vision, their sounds muffled yet strangely too loud. Everything was too loud. Her head was pounding.

A man with long blonde hair lingered in front of her. His breath stank of liquor and blood.

“Little wolf whore, you were so easy to capture. Your Alpha doesn’t seem to be too careful with his toys.”

Her vision swam. Was she looking at a ceiling or a floor? She didn’t care. The movement was chased by a terrible pressure and more pounding in her head.

“You smell like sex. It’s taking all my restraint not to fuck you right now. That would ruin everything. I want him to hear your pathetic little cries the first time I fuck your cunt. We’ll have to wait until just the right time.”

She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. Who had to hear her crying? Who had toys?

Through a hole in the darkness, she saw light, blinking her eye against the sudden assault. Then it was gone. In its place stood a bear. Piercing yellow eyes fixated on her. Then darkness came again.

More faces, more men, moved in and out of focus, chased by intelligible words. She thought she knew them. Where had she seen them before? Where had she seen those glowing yellow eyes?

She couldn’t understand why, but fear seized her. Her aching chest squeezed, and her heart hammered against her bruised ribs.

A mess of words jumbled in her mind. Words past and present. Somehow, it started to make sense.

Bears.

Fire.

Pain.

Wolves …

A single wolf with maroon fur. Her wolf. Was it looking for her? Would she ever see it again?

Her arms were sore beyond reckoning. She couldn’t move her fingers; they were heavy and sluggish. She tried to wiggle, to relieve the discomfort. Everything hurt.

She had to get out, she couldn’t be there any longer. She had to leave! Now!

The urgency of this need crashed into her, and she started to panic, pulling and yanking. Her swollen face started to cry. Her restraints wouldn’t budge.

“Alister!” An angry voice thundered next to her. “The whore is trying to escape. You’re supposed to be keeping her in check.”

She struggled harder. She had to leave, she had to—

Screams tore from her burning throat.

The heavy numbness in her arm was replaced by a terrible force. Under her screams, a snap sounded. Her arm ran with something thick and warm, but it was nothing compared to the white-hot fire erupting over her limb. Screams gave way to cries. Eventually, it hurt too much to move her face. She fell slack.

If she were lucky, the fire would kill her soon. She would welcome death if it meant the pain would stop. The fires consuming her skin would be snuffed out, and she could no longer feel the shattered pieces of her heart shredding her from the inside.

Rachel, her only family, being within arm’s reach and yet so unobtainable. Seeing Rachel every day and yet never being in her presence.

Being utterly alone in her suffering, knowing she’d walked away from the one man who’d ever made her feel whole. The only man she’d ever truly loved. What had she done?

She wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. She was never going to be able to find him and make it right. He would live the rest of his life thinking she’d run from him because of what he was. That wasn’t it at all.

She’d been frightened, not by him, but by his eyes. Seeing them on the lawn, all she could think about was that terrible night in the parking lot. The monster who’d attacked her had the same eyes.

When the creatures glowing yellow eyes settled on her at the mansion, they were knowing, intelligent, and soft. Why hadn’t she noticed it? Her panic clouded the truth. They were not the eyes of a killer, but a protector.

She would never get the chance to say ‘thank you.’

She would never get the chance to say ‘I love you.’

Despair grew heavy in her chest. She just wanted the pain to end.