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“This isn’t how I wanted this to happen,” he said, shaking his head sadly. He looked less manic and crazy now, but there was still a strange gleam in his that made him look unhinged.
My phone was in my right hand. Somehow, in my shock and confusion, I managed to turn on the audio recording app I had in my shortcuts.
Rick was still shaking his head, staring at the floor with remorse, and didn’t see me do it.
I held the phone behind my back, out of sight, and backed away until my butt came into contact with the desk behind me.
“How did you know I’d be here?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me as my shock ebbed.
Rick lifted his eyes to meet mine, a wry smile on his lips.
“Oh, I’ve been watching you. JC and his little group of assholes have done a good job at your apartment, but I could still watch at a distance. When you left this morning, one of my men alerted me. He followed you and told me where you were going.”
Shaking my head, I pressed even further back against the desk.
With the door to the archive room closed, I might as well have been on another planet.
The room was soundproofed to give anyone working here peace and quiet.
Plus, most of the staff wasn’t in yet. Fear, hot and bracing, surged in my chest.
“One of JC’s guys is outside,” I said. “He’ll be wondering where I am. I’m supposed to go straight out once I grabbed what I came for.”
Maybe if Rick thought another shifter was about to come rushing in to save me, he’d think twice about trying anything. That hope was dashed when Rick grinned.
“Do you mean Sam?” He cocked his head to the side. “We won’t need to worry about poor Sam anymore. He chose the wrong side, and he’s been taken care of. We got him before your Uber made it here.”
“Oh my God .” I slid to the side from the desk, toward the door, but Rick lunged to the side, blocking my way.
“ Stop, Cameron,” he hissed, some of that madness returning to his voice. “Don’t you see how pointless this is? You and I are meant to be. That has to be obvious.”
Shaking my head, I said, “The only thing that’s obvious is that you’re fucking crazy!”
“I’m. Not. Crazy.” He smashed his fist into his palm to accentuate each word.
“I’ve found a way to make myself better and become the man my father always wanted me to be.
I’m a stronger wolf now. Stronger, faster, more powerful.
I’m better in every way than that lone wolf piece of shit you’ve been hanging out with.
He may be an alpha, but he’s not the alpha.
That’s going to be me. Once JC is out of the way, I’ll be in charge.
” Rick put his hands out in a pleading gesture.
“Can’t you see that? I’m the best.” He slammed his fist into his chest. “You should want to be with the best ,” he said, snarling the words, spittle flying from his lips.
“I don’t know what you think it is we had, but it’s over,” I hissed. “Can you get that through your head? Even if you were the prime minister of Canada, or the fucking president of the United States, I wouldn’t want to be with you.”
His face twisted in rage, but the side of his mouth twitched, like a tic he couldn’t control. His pupils were dilated to the point I could barely make out a hint of his irises.
There was no reason his eyes would be like that, unless…
“Rick, are you on something?”
“What?” he snapped, jerking his head back as if I’d slapped him.
“You heard me,” I said. “Are you on drugs?”
His surprise gave way to that strange smile again. “I’ve found something that can make me better. You can call it a drug, if you like, but I call it evolution. It’s unleashed my purest, most powerful form. I can protect you from anything now. I know it.”
I shook my head sadly. “If you honestly believe that, you’re even further gone than I realized.”
I pushed him aside, but he swatted my hand aside and pushed me back against the wall. I had to tighten my grip on my phone to keep it from falling to the floor.
He put his face close to mine, his breath washing across my face. My wolf snarled in rage at being pinned in like this, and my subconscious screamed out in terror.
“Dammit, Cameron,” Rick growled. “Why are you being selfish? I’ve done everything for you.
I deserve your love. I would be so good for you.
This has to happen. My father needs this.
Without a mate and the third generation, we don’t have a claim to the alpha throne.
Once we do that, then we can leave it all behind.
He can have whatever he wants, and you and I can be free to live our lives.
Can’t you see that? I don’t care about the pack, or money, or power. All I care about is you.”
He planted his hands on the wall behind me, one on either side of my head.
There was no way I could get by him. Even though I knew how to fight and now had the strength of a shifter, I had no chance against a man twice my size and hopped up on whatever chemical he’d pumped into himself.
I’d have to use my head instead of my body.
“Okay,” I said, smiling up at him.
Rick’s scowl vanished, replaced by a dumbstruck look of confusion. “Huh? What?”
“You’re right,” I said. “I can see it now. We can be together.”
Summoning my courage, I lifted a hand and squeezed his bicep. “You have gotten stronger,” I whispered, and his face broke into a self-satisfied smile. “Let’s do this.”
“Are you serious?” he whispered, and I could see the happiness and hope in his dilated eyes. “Really?”
Nodding, I surreptitiously slid my cell phone into my pocket, making sure it wouldn’t fall out when I made a break for it.
“You and me. Let’s leave. Get out of Toronto.”
His smile faltered. “What?”
“We could become lone wolves together.”
Rick flinched back in horror. “You can’t be serious.”
“You said it yourself,” I said, never letting my fake smile fade. “You don’t care about a pack, or wealth, or any of that stuff. Let’s leave it all behind. Me and you together, on the road. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”
Rick pulled back even farther, shaking his head. “Well, no. That’s not what… um, I thought that… well…”
His stuttering nonresponse told me what I already knew.
Every word out of his mouth was a lie. All he wanted was to own me.
Use me. He wanted to stick his filthy cock in me, make me have his baby, and then he’d probably take care of me the same way his dear daddy got rid of his mother.
The Masters men were a pathetic lot, and I was glad I’d seen it early enough to save myself.
Using Rick’s confusion as my chance, I shoved him out of the way and bolted to the door. I managed to grasp the doorknob before he yanked me backward, slamming me into a filing cabinet.
“I’m done with the nice guy routine,” he snarled. “If you won’t give yourself to me willingly, I’ll take what’s mine.”
“The fuck you will,” I growled.
I rolled to the side, righting myself before he could reach me.
A folded “wet floor” sign leaned against a wall.
I grabbed the bright yellow hunk of plastic and brought it down hard on Rick’s head.
The plastic shattered, slicing open Rick’s forehead.
He didn’t even blink or pause as he crashed into me, driving me to the ground.
The air burst out of my lungs in a moan of pain.
As I writhed beneath him, trying to catch my breath, the months of training I’d done in my MMA classes came back.
Muscle memory kicked in. Rick made to grab my throat, but I caught his wrist and twisted it hard to the right.
When he tilted to the side, hissing in surprised pain, I freed my legs and wrapped them around his arm, pulling back hard to get his limb locked into an armbar.
Unfortunately, my strength wasn’t a match against his drug-fueled rage.
Rick yanked his arm free before I could get the hold locked in and break his elbow.
He lashed out with his foot, missing my stomach but connecting painfully with my thigh.
White-hot bolts of pain shot up my leg, but I pushed the agony aside and struggled to my feet.
Rick tried to grab my ankle as I made a run for the door. I kicked out, catching him in the jaw. Anyone else would have been out cold. Instead, blood flowed from his busted lip, and he growled as he scrambled to get up.
My wolf urged me to shift and let her fight off this bastard.
I almost relented, but I hesitated, unsure if I could even do it under this kind of stress.
What I really wanted—what I needed—was Nate.
Even after everything we’d been through, the one thing I knew for sure was that he would protect me and keep me safe.
I’d have given anything for him to be here. Rick wouldn’t have tried this with Nate around.
I’d managed to get back to the door, but couldn’t even grab the knob this time before Rick wrapped his arm around my neck and hauled me back.
It was like a steel band wrapping around my throat.
Pressure built in my head as he cut off my airway.
He was going to choke me out. Once I was unconscious, he could do whatever he wanted.
Drag me from the building to wherever he was hiding. Rape me. Kill me.
I had to do something.
As my vision turned gray, I jammed my right foot on the ground between Rick’s feet and pivoted my hips.
At the same time I twisted, I bent low. Rick tilted forward, his equilibrium thrown off my hips, and he tumbled forward over my head to the floor, releasing my throat. He cursed as he hit the ground.
Stumbling backward, I rubbed at my neck, gasping for air. I readied myself to leap over him and make a third try for the door, but before I could, a scent caught my attention. A familiar one that was out of place, and I froze where I stood.
No way. It couldn’t be. There was no way.
An instant later, the door burst inward.
Nate stood silhouetted in the doorway, fists bunched at his side, nostrils flared and eyes burning with anger.
He took a step into the room and growled, the deep rumble echoing through the room.
He gazed down at Rick with disgust and fury and leveled a finger at him.
“Bad choice, motherfucker.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 101 (Reading here)
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