Page 8 of Undesired Mate
8
CLARA
“Are you sure you need to go out?”
The look Levi gives me could freeze lava. I can’t understand it. He went out of his way to find my mother and order her to lift the curse, but he still looks at me like I’m lower than nothing. Like it’s my fault any of this is happening. I don’t know what brought us together, just like I don’t know why my life has to be so difficult at every turn. Why I’ve never been accepted by anyone, why I have never been normal. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. I thought he understood.
“I know what I’m doing,” he tells me, but that’s all the explanation he’s willing to give. “I have work to do if I’m ever going to find your father.”
My father. More like my sperm donor. “How would you even know where to start looking?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He’s tense and angry, making me wish I never asked. “You’ll be fine here. The pack knows you’re here.”
Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m glad he feels he can trust his pack, but trust isn’t something that comes easily to me. Whatever unseen, unspoken force is binding us together, I doubt it extends itself to the rest of Levi’s pack. I doubt they feel as generous toward me as he does—though that isn’t saying much, since right now, there’s a chaotic energy swirling around him that gets more intense every time he looks at me. I’m torn between feeling sort of glad he’s going to be gone for a little while since I can’t breathe easily when he’s around and needing him to stay. “Do you know when you’ll be back?”
“What is this? Keeping tabs on me?” I almost wish he wouldn’t fold his massive arms, since all it does is remind me how much bigger and stronger he is. He could snap me in half without any effort, and he must know it.
Although that isn’t the only thing on my mind when I look at his insane body. I have to deliberately pry my gaze away from his biceps before I can remember how to speak. “Of course not. What’s wrong with wanting to know when you’ll be back? Wouldn’t you want to know if you were surrounded by strangers?”
His jaw ticks and the muscles in his cheek jump. “Stay here, all right? It’ll be perfectly safe, but you have to stay here. No going out. Understood?” Part of me wonders what would happen if I disobeyed, but I would be insane to test the limits like that. I’m not in any hurry to get myself hurt or killed around here. “Understood,” I murmur, shutting down in the face of his… what is it? Hatred? I feel it in him. I feel how torn he is. Conflicted. I get the sense he isn’t the kind of person who likes to talk about his feelings—besides, I’m not sure I would want to hear what’s going through his mind.
Some of the tension drains from me when I’m alone. I can hear myself think now without the buzzing that goes on in my head whenever he comes too close. I’ve never felt like this before, not about anybody for any reason. I don’t have the first idea what to think of it. The sense of having no control over my impulses when it comes to him.
I wish I could get myself to calm down and drop the anxiety that’s wrapped itself around my throat and wants to squeeze the life out of me. I can’t shake it. The feeling that something is off. Why did he have to leave me alone here?
An almost head-splitting yawn reminds me of the broken sleep I’ve been getting lately. That’s what I should try to do. Sleep. I can’t worry if I’m asleep.
Ignoring the night sounds all around outside the building, I go through the motions—washing my face, changing into one of Levi’s shirts. It’s huge on me, more like a dress, but it’s his scent clinging to the fabric that makes me close my eyes and take a deep breath. Something stirs in me, something warm and satisfied that settles in my core and heats my pussy. I wish I could understand any of this. It’s like I don’t know myself anymore.
Before I can get into bed and force my thoughts to quiet down, a soft noise outside freezes me solid. Like an animal stepping on dead leaves or pinecones, the kind of thing I grew up hearing outside my mother’s cabin. For some reason, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my breath come in short, sharp gasps.
Something is wrong. I can barely pull in a sip of air through the pinhole my throat has closed to while my eyes dart around the room, frantically searching for… what? A weapon?
It’s too late, anyway. I’m still frozen by fear when the door bursts inward. Filling the doorway is a familiar, hulking shape that heaves with every ragged breath. “Shane,” I whisper, shaking my head while backing away. “You shouldn’t be here. They’ll kill you.”
“I’m not who you should be worried about,” he grunts, his eyes glittering. There is evil in them, hatred. His chest rises and falls with every breath he takes through gritted teeth. “You freak. You fucking abomination. There’s no place for you in this world. You don’t belong here.”
A whimper leaks out of me, and the sound makes him smile. There’s a nasty sort of joy in it. “Don’t worry. I’m going to put you out of your misery the way I should have before.”
“You can’t do this.” I back away on trembling legs, barely shaking off my panic for the sake of moving. Where am I going to go? How can I get away? As fast as I know shifters can move, I doubt any of them would get here in time if I screamed. He would see to that.
“Come on, now,” he growls, breaching the threshold and advancing on me. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. You’re dying either way. Why drag it out?”
Dying. It’s not like I didn’t know why he came, but hearing him say it out loud is a whole different thing. I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me.
Our eyes meet, neither of us blinking for what feels like an eternity. His massive fists clench at his sides as he bares his teeth in a snarl that promises pain.
And then he moves in a blur, lunging at me before I know what’s happening. I suck in necessary air, ready to scream, but he grabs me and claps a hand over my mouth, silencing me before shoving me against the wall hard enough to make pain scream out in the back of my skull.
I can’t breathe! He’s covering my mouth and my nose with his huge hand, laughing while my eyes bulge, and I fight as hard as I can to get him off me. “That’s right,” he growls, those glowing eyes of his burning holes through me. “Fight. Waste your energy. Tell yourself there’s any way out of this when we both know there isn’t. Pathetic fucking freak. I’m doing you a favor.”
His grip tightens, and I’m sure I feel my bones grinding before he decides to use his hand around my throat instead, squeezing and shaking before throwing me across the room.
My throat is on fire, every breath agony. Dizziness slows me down, makes me stagger as I try to get to my feet before he reaches me. I’m too slow, of course. He moves like lightning, backhanding me hard enough to snap my head around before picking me up by my throat again and dangling me off the floor. “I’m doing the world a favor,” he grunts before throwing me across the room again, and the coffee table breaks when I land on it.
At first, I’m too dazed to move, and when I try to, white hot fire erupts in my ribs. All I can do is roll on my side and curl up in a ball with my fingers laced behind the back of my head. Just let it be over fast. Whatever he does, let it be over fast.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar makes me whimper and brace myself for the end. It’s strange that my last thought should be of Levi, but I see his face in my mind in the final moments before the inevitable.
When something breaks on the other side of the room, the sound stirs me into awareness. There’s two of them, two shifters, both snarling and growling as they struggle. I’m afraid to look, but at the same time, I can’t help it. I need to know what’s happening.
A huge, hulking shifter is fighting Shane, practically tearing the room apart as they struggle. I don’t recognize the second man, but he can only be part of Levi’s pack, or else why would he be here? My head is spinning, and my vision blurs a little, but I force myself to keep my eyes open long enough to watch the bigger, stronger man take Shane’s head in his powerful hands and twist sharply, breaking his neck and ending his life.
Just like he was ready to end mine. His body hasn’t hit the floor before my eyes close and sweet, merciful darkness closes around me.
“There she is.” That deep, rumbling voice is the first thing I hear once I’ve clawed myself back to consciousness. It’s like trying to fight my way through dense fog, but I can’t give up. No matter how tempting it is to let the darkness pull me under again.
Someone is looking down at me, and I realize right away who he is by the black T-shirt he’s wearing. “Is he dead? Did you kill him?” I ask. My voice is so weak and raspy after being choked.
“He is. And you’re going to be fine in no time—you might only be half-shifter, but your body should still heal quickly. I’m glad I got there when I did.”
Taking a quick look around, I realize we’re not at Levi’s anymore. “I brought you to be treated for your injuries,” he explains before I can ask. “They’re minor, though I bet they don’t feel that way now.”
He wasn’t kidding. I ache in a dozen places after being thrown around like a doll. But I am safe. I feel it, and I have this man to thank. “Who are you?” I whisper.
“My name is Thorn. This is my pack.” He isn’t exactly warm, but he is protective, and he cares, in his way. I sense it.
“Thank you, Thorn,” I tell him, and I mean it with all my heart. “You saved my life.”
“Like I said. I’m glad I got there when I did.”
Before I can ask what made him find me, heavy, rapid footsteps ring out somewhere nearby. I lift my head in time to see Levi burst in, wide-eyed, almost panicked by the looks of it. “What happened?” He comes straight to me, searching my face, looking me over before turning to his alpha.
“She’ll be fine, but she had a close call.” Thorn pulls Levi aside and the two of them have a quiet, tense conversation. I can’t hear. I don’t need to. I have a pretty good idea what they’re talking about.
“Come on. I’m taking you back with me,” Levi says as he approaches me. I hear Thorn behind him, and it sounds like he is protesting a little, but Levi is having none of it. I can’t stop him from sliding an arm under my shoulders and my knees, lifting me like I weigh nothing.
“I can walk,” I rasp, but he only shakes his head. I should probably save my breath. He’s going to do what he wants.
And right now, I can’t say I mind. How long have I wished I could hand my problems over to somebody and simply close my eyes to rest? Finally, I have the chance to do that, letting my head drop to his shoulder while he carries me.