Page 26 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

Twenty Six

Thomas

A n hour after leaving Maria and Sara, the pack prowled through the trees surrounding the area on the map. Tom warned them to rely on their hearing rather than smell. Spreading out, they searched for a hunting lodge or campsite.

“ Hey, ” Michael thought. “ I hear talking. ”

“ Hold position. ” Tom rushed to his location. Being Alpha, his hearing was better than anyone else’s in his pack.

With Michael in his sights, he stopped to listen. There were at least five of them outside, but he needed to be positive they were the bears and not a random group of humans. He and Michael crept closer.

“Hey, Kev, you got any more beer?”

“No, you drank it all.”

“Bullshit!”

“Well, fuck-face over here drank all the whisky.”

“How much longer are we gonna sit in these damn trees doing nothing?”

“Until I say so! In a few hours, Kev will go to the wolf Alpha’s house and lure him out here with a scent trail.”

“Well damn, Elija, I need a good fuck and none of you are pretty enough to be my type.”

“Then go into town or go visit the bitch inside.”

“Alister’s been hogging her.”

“ It’s them! ” Michael internally called the others to them. The two packs formed a semi-circle in the trees, moving to surround them.

Not knowing if Clarissa was in there, not knowing if she was hurt or alive, Thomas couldn’t wait. His hackles were raised, a growl rumbling low in his chest. He blocked out all other sound and movement, focusing on the degenerates in the trees. Stalking around the massive trunks, they came into view.

An old cabin, rotten with neglect, sat in a clearing, a green SUV parked next to it. Lawn chairs, coolers, and trash littered the ground. Seven men loitered outside. They were arguing.

“Shut up.” The biggest of them held up his hand to the others.

“I got a right to be pissed.”

“Shut up!” he barked. “I hear something.”

They all stood up, eyes scanning the woods.

Crouching low, Tom moved closer.

“You think it’s the wolves?” one of them growled, his body trembling with the phase.

“It can’t be, we haven’t laid the path for them yet.”

Perking up his ears, Tom searched for any sign of Clarissa. The scent of peony was in the air, but it was faint. Faint enough, it was possible she’d been moved.

An eighth voice echoed through the night, but it was muffled. It was a voice he recognized. And it made his blood boil.

“Looks like we’ve been found out. Are you ready to scream for your Alpha, little whore?” Sounds of shuffling and a belt buckle clanked within the cabin.

A snarl tore from his throat. Coiling his muscles, he sprang. Two of the bears phased. Leaping before more of them could turn, he soared over their heads. He bridged the clearing before they saw him.

Rotating, he curled his body in on itself. His shoulder collided with the door. The rotten wood gave way as the wall splintered and the door flew inward. Crash-landing inside, he had a fraction of a second to take in the surroundings. The cabin had one room. In the left-hand corner, there was a cast-iron stove. Clarissa was tied to it.

Her face was dirty and battered. Her clothes were torn, exposing bruised and cut skin. One of her eyes was purple and swollen shut, her lip cut. Stark-white bone protruded from her right arm. The blonde bear crouched in front of her; his jeans were open, and he gripped her legs.

In one swift charge, Tom clamped his teeth into the thick cords of muscle covering the man’s shoulder. His clavicle snapped under the force. Tom lifted him up, shaking the body back and forth before throwing him across the cabin.

A ripping sounded through the dark building, followed by a terrible roar. A great blonde bear stood where the man had been moments ago. Rearing up on his hind legs, he had to duck its massive head.

Standing on all fours, Tom planted himself squarely in front of Clarissa. Baring his teeth, he waited for the strike.

The bear raised his right paw. Letting out a terrible growl, he lunged forward.

Staying low, Tom ducked under his arm. His jaw locked on the bear’s flank. His great canines sank through the thick layers of fur and undercoat, piercing the flesh beneath. Blood flooded Tom’s mouth. The kill ruled his senses.

Sinking his claws into the bear’s chest, he raised up on his back feet. Ignoring the claws tearing the skin from his back, he lifted the bear into the air. Flexing his claws, he pulled his jaw back at the same time, shoving the bear into the wall.

Chucks of meat tore from the bear in a brilliant spray of crimson. With a terrible crash, the wall of the cabin gave way in an explosion of splinters. Skidding across the ground, the blonde bear landed in the clearing.

Vaguely aware of his and Atticus’s packs in the throes of action, he was too focused to take in their status. His instincts homed in on the blonde one. The one who’d hurt his mate. Bloodlust boiled in his chest; his wolf had taken over.

Not waiting for the bear to recover, he pounced. Standing on the bear’s hips, Tom dug his claws into its shoulders, holding it down as it snapped at his face. Tom’s teeth ripped at every inch of flesh he could reach. The bear roared and growled beneath him as he was disemboweled.

Turning his head to the side, Tom closed his jaw around the bear’s throat. He collapsed it before yanking it out. He tossed it aside as a roaring howl tore from his chest. The blonde bear beneath Tom phased back to human with its final breath.

Eyes scanned his surroundings for the next threat. One bear was left. Surrounded by wolves and bobcats, it snapped and slapped at them. This bear was twice as large as the others, his limbs thicker and stronger. The Alpha.

Digging his claws into the dirt, Tom sprang at him. Landing on the bear Alpha’s back, he dug his claws into his thick cords of muscles. The bear reared and growled, trying to throw him off.

Refusing to be thrown, Tom bit into the back of his neck. Raking his claws down his flank he felt hot and sticky blood flow over his front hands. Pulling them out, he plunged his claws into the bear Alpha’s left ribcage. Soft flesh encased his claws, scraping along the hard resistance of bone. Warm stick flowed out and over his arm, matting in his fur. His claws closed around the spasming muscle, pumping furiously—he tore it from his chest.

The bear Alpha phased to human beneath him. They were all dead, but Tom couldn’t make himself stop. Ripping and tearing at the men laying on the ground. Flinging their flesh, he painted the woods crimson in his fit of fury.

He couldn’t stop.

He didn’t want to stop.

He wanted to hurt them, he wanted to decimate them. Erase every trace of their existence from this life. Bloodlust had taken over. His wolf fully ruled his senses, after so long of forcing it down, trying too hard to keep his head knowing they’d taken what was most precious to him; taken her and tortured her to manipulate him.

After a year of Alpha responsibilities crushing him with no support. He’d taken it all on alone, trying to be stronger than he was. Snapping in that moment, his human half had gone dormant. Tearing and ripping the bears to shreds, his wolf relished in the release of it all; not having to think, not having to be responsible, not having to be in control every second.

His wolf had taken over, and he liked it. He wanted to cause them as much torment as they’d caused Clarissa.

Clarissa …

Standing upright, his chest heaved. The packs were staring at him. Their disgust was palpable, the stench of their fear thick in the air. Turning away from their scrutiny, he went to the cabin. He heard her heartbeat. It was slow and strained. Her one eye was open. Kneeling in front of her, he phased to his human form.

With his fur gone, he could see the gore. He was coated with it. Red splotches stuck to his pale skin, thick chunks of flesh under his nails, and falling from his forearms. He was atrocious: a gory, bloody mess.

He wanted to reach out to her, to comfort her, to comfort himself. But how could he touch something so precious when his hands were soiled so?

“Clarissa.” His voice was gruff and raspy. “Clarissa.”

Hands trembling, he reached to untie her. Breath coming in sharp gasps, his chest felt tight as he took in the extent of her injuries. White bone protruded from her right arm; it twisted and bent unnaturally. Bile rose in the back of his throat. This was all his fault.

She tried to open her mouth to speak. He heard only gurgles; a thick string of bloodied saliva fell from her lips.

“I’ll get you out of here,” he said.

“Boss!” Sam yelled. “Boss, you need to leave her.”

In a flash, he whipped around, snapping his teeth at Sam, a growl vibrating in his chest. Crouched in a defensive position, Tom was ready to phase. Sam stayed still, his hands up in surrender.

“Boss, the cops are coming,” he said. “You hear that? They’ll be here soon. Sara called Nathon; Sheriff Greg got a warrant to track Clarissa’s phone. The whole damn county police squad is on their way here now. If she’s not here, and you show up at the hospital with her, it’ll be too suspicious.

“I’m sorry, boss, but you gotta leave her. Right now, it looks like a wild animal attacked them. We need it to stay that way. Thomas, please, this is what needs to be done.”

“Go,” Tom said. “Go! All of you, now! Get out of sight, meet back at the mansion.”

He turned back to Clarissa. Placing a hand on the least swollen side of her face, he held her head up. Her good eye locked on him; bright red blood splotched and webbed across her white orbs.

“I’m sorry, Clarissa,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I have to leave. Sheriff Greg is on his way. My love, stay with me, look at me. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

The sirens were close now. He saw blue and red flashing through the trees onto the wreckage of the cabin.

“I’m sorry. I promise I will be there when you wake up. Clarissa, I’ll be there for you. I’ll always be there for you, my love,” he said.

Her eye rolled and closed.

Gritting his teeth, he ran into the shadows. It took every ounce of self-control he had to leave her. To turn away from the pain and suffering in one so delicate: his fragile human mate. It was what needed to be done, but it felt like he’d ripped his heart from his chest and left it behind in the rickety cabin.

When he left her at the diner, after she’d rejected him, he thought that was going to kill him. Then when he learned the bears had taken her, to torture, to manipulate, he thought that was the worst pain imaginable. He’d been wrong both times.

Walking away from her in that moment was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, the worst type of pain he’d ever endured. Nothing he’d experienced could compare. Not when he thought his father had died in the accident, not when the weight of the pack was thrust upon him, not the pain of the first phase or the injuries from fighting in pack challenges. This was a clawed and bloody hand ripping a piece of his soul from him, shredding his beating heart while she screamed in agony. But it’s what he needed to do to protect her and his pack.

Phasing into his wolf, he hid from the police. He dug his claws into the earth, forcing himself to stay rooted to the spot. He watched as Sheriff Greg, Sara, and the other officers left their cars. The terror flooded their faces as they took in the carnage.

“Sheriff!” Sara screamed. “She’s here. She’s alive. Call an ambulance.”

Through the ensuing chaos, Sara’s eyes found his in the trees. She nodded at him. He knew Clarissa was in good hands. He started the run back to the mansion.