A Wolf's Pride (4 page)

The loud
sound grated on his ears and Ryan moved quickly to silence her,
pulling her across his legs and placing a firm hand against her
mouth. He felt the sharp sting of her teeth as she bit him hard,
trying to get him to remove his hand but he didn’t move. “Chloe
don’t fight me.”

Like hell
would I not fight you.
Her mind muttered
rebelliously.

“
If I take my
hand away will you promise not to scream?” His voice was calm as
though her teeth didn’t have a death grip on the skin of his palm.
She nodded meekly, all the while planning to go against his order
as soon as she was free. “Chloe,” his voice rumbled through his
chest angrily. “Don’t lie. I can smell it all over you. I don’t
like it. Mates don’t willingly lie to each other. Now I ask you
again, will you scream?”

How did he
know?
Her mind demanded, her gaze riveted
to his face.
Maybe I can persuade him to
leave. He hasn’t done anything to hurt me yet. Maybe I can talk him
into just leaving.
She shook her head and
his hand left her mouth.

She tried to
pull away from his grip but he was too strong and wouldn’t let her
leave the seat he had made for her on his lap. She sighed,
resigning herself to being there. He examined his hand for a moment
and she smiled in satisfaction when she saw the deep indents her
teeth had made in his skin. The smug feeling was short lived as she
watched in shocked horror as the skin filled out within seconds and
was soon as perfect as it had been before she had bitten
him.

Her intention
of convincing him to leave never even got off the ground as Ryan
began questioning her. “Chloe love, why, when I told you what I am,
did you think that I’d been hired by a member of your family?
Remember to answer me honestly, I can tell if you lie and like I
said I don’t like it.”

She gulped, her
mind vacillating between lying and telling the truth. After taking
another glance at his powerful body she decided that she should
tell the truth. There was no way she could be sure that he couldn’t
tell if she were lying, many people made their professions out of
being able to do just that. She decided that under the
circumstances her family would want her to put her own safety
before the need to give them their privacy. “My family are obsessed
with werewolves,” she admitted quietly. “They used to try and
convince me that they were real, play tricks on me and the like. I
thought they had grown out of it because they stopped asking me to
believe them. They go on their hunting trips, just the four of
them, looking for werewolves, when it’s obvious to anyone with a
brain that they don’t exist. They know I think it’s ridiculous but
they go anyway, for days at a time sometimes and that’s fine. When
you said you were a werewolf I just thought one of my brothers was
playing a joke on me.”
I’m still hoping
that it’s some sort of weird prank.

“
Hunters?”

The word was
a venomous hiss that shocked Chloe to her core. How one word could
be filled with such anger and hatred she didn’t know but she was
scared. His hands began to move against her, pulling the sheet from
her tight grip. She instinctively fought him but he growled, “Stop
moving.” His voice was so intense that for fear of her life, she
did as he asked, her struggles ceasing. He pulled her neck to the
side exposing the vulnerable column to his gaze. She wasn’t sure
what he was looking for, but as he tenderly righted it, his fingers
lingering against her skin, she assumed he hadn’t found it. “Your
family, do they bear a mark on their necks? A bullet with the words
‘for the wolf’ etched onto it?” He asked the question so angrily
that the response caught in her throat. “Answer me
Chloe.”

“
Yes,” she
whispered.

His eyes
transformed from a soft brown to a wild amber she had only ever
seen in animals. Her heart jumped in her chest as fear returned. He
moved her off him and began pacing the area in front of the door.
His movements reminding her increasingly of a crazed animal, she
was afraid to move in case he turned on her and so sat silently
waiting for him to calm, wishing more than ever that she kept heavy
blunt objects in her bedroom.

Hunters?
Ryan’s mind spat.
My mate is related to hunters? How is this
possible? This can’t be happening.

She’s still
our mate Ryan. Ours. It doesn’t matter who her family is, she’s
ours.

She doesn’t
believe that werewolves exist.
His mind
reminded him of her blissfully bare neck.
She doesn’t have the hunters’ mark. She’s innocent and she’s
mine.

Yes Ryan,
never forget that. She belongs with us.

I’ll take her
from them. She doesn’t need to be polluted by the venom they have
likely told her. I’ll immerse her in the clans and we’ll be happy.
She doesn’t need family members like those monsters. Yes, this is
what’s for the best.
“Chloe?”

“
Yes.”

“
I know that
you don’t think that werewolves exist but we do. I’m a werewolf and
your family hunt my people. I can’t have you stay here with them. I
won’t allow it.”

“
What are you
going to do to me? Are you going to kill me?” she
sobbed.

He rushed to
her side, gathering her in his arms. “I’ll
never
hurt you. Never. You’re my
mate. It’s you and I together for eternity. I’m not going to hurt
you but like I said you can’t stay here. We’re going back to my
home where it’s safe.”

“
And if I say I
won’t go with you?”

His lips
formed into a thin line at the very idea that she would refuse his
request, preferring to stay with the murderers that likely made up
her family. “You don’t get a say in the matter.”

“
You realise
what you’re planning is illegal, it’s called
kidnapping.”

“
I’m well aware
of that. It’s how my cousin and his mate ended up together but I
won’t make the same mistake that he did. I want you to pack, so
that you have what’s important to you.”

“
I don’t want
to go anywhere with you,” she informed him stubbornly.

“
Chloe, love,
don’t be difficult.”

“
I’m not your
love,” she snapped.

That’s what
you think.
“Chloe, you either pack for
yourself or I do it for you but I won’t know what’s
important.”

She folded
her hands across her chest and looked him directly in the eye,
stubbornness embossed upon her features. “I’m not going to play an
active part in my kidnapping.”

“
Fine, if
that’s going to be your attitude then we’ll just have to do things
the hard way.” There was nothing overtly threatening in his
statement but her body shivered nonetheless.

What exactly
is he planning?

Chapter
Four

Ryan’s eyes
scanned the room until he found a suitcase on top of her wardrobe.
It was of an average size, not so small that he could only pack
enough for a few days and not so large that it seemed they would
never be coming back. Pulling the suitcase down from its high
perch, he placed it on the bed beside Chloe before proceeding to
open her drawers and wardrobe.

“
Chloe, I know
that this may be difficult for you, things like this don’t happen
in the human world. Normally you would date a person for a long
time before deciding that they were the right one, but that isn’t
how things work in my world.” He began moving about the room,
randomly grabbing items from the drawers and throwing them into the
case. “You’re my mate, it’s like your word for wife but so much
more. There’s only ever one mate for each male, one in an immortal
lifetime. When I first smelt you I knew that you were the one and
in time you will grow to love me. I know it.”

“
Like that
would ever happen,” she scoffed.

He stopped
packing for a moment to cup her cheek and force her to look at him.
“It will happen Chloe. We’re meant to be together. There’s no way
to divorce your mate because they are perfect for you. If both
people try then there’s no limit to the happiness that waits for
them. I’m willing to try and that means we’re half way there. I
won’t hurt you Chloe; I’ll make you happy. Trust me.”

“
I don’t know
you to trust you. All I know is that you broke into my house and
are planning to kidnap me probably so that you can rape me and dump
my body in a river or something.”

“
I’ve already
said I won’t hurt you.”
Why would she say
something like that? Rape her? Kill her? Never, I would never do
that to her.

“
Well excuse me
if I don’t believe you.”

“
What will it
take to get you to trust me?” he demanded.

“
Get out of my
house, let me go to my family and tell them what happened. Maybe
then I’ll believe that you aren’t some crazy psycho out to kill
me.”

“
I won’t let
you go back to them. You don’t know what they are.”

“
They don’t
claim to be self professed monsters. They’re my family.”

“
I’m not a
monster Chloe,” he argued. She turned her face away from him and he
growled before returning to his packing. “Silly woman,” he muttered
under his breath. “Why must she make things so
difficult?”

Watching Ryan
move around her room, rummaging through her private things Chloe
kept her eye trained on him as she crept towards the edge of the
bed. Her movements were slow, her aim to be as stealthy as possible
as she moved towards the door, hoping to take advantage of the
distraction provided by his desire to pack her things. Her feet
touched the wooden floor without him noticing and she breathed a
sigh of relief when he continued to pack. But as soon as she stood,
he was standing directly in front of her his expression sad. She
was unprepared for the ache that arose in her chest at the almost
distraught demeanour he was projecting, so different from the
arrogant manner he had projected moments before.

“
Do you really
think I’m a monster Chloe?”

“
I don’t
believe in werewolves so I don’t think of you as a monster in that
sense, but there are plenty of different types of monster in the
world and you could definitely be one of those.”

“
I’m not,” he
stated simply. “It’s my responsibility to protect you from those
kinds of monsters. No one will ever hurt you so long as I live. I
swear it Chloe.”

His voice was
so sincere that under different circumstances she might have
believed him but their circumstances weren’t different. He was
still a stranger intent on abducting her from her home with unknown
intentions. “I don’t need you or anyone else for that matter to
take care of me. I can protect myself.”

“
Really? So
that’s why I managed to break in here with such ease? This place
isn’t secure, even if your family weren’t who they are I would
still insist that you come back with me.”

“
Who the hell
do you think you are?” she shouted, angry at his presumption that
she couldn’t care for her safety. She had thought that she had
grown out of her impulsive and often violent streak but she reacted
as she had done when she was younger and her brothers had said
similar things. She lifted her leg and kneed him hard in the groin.
Ryan grunted as he fell forward, cupping himself. Chloe remained
rooted to the spot for a moment as shock filled her before she
sprung into action.

Running past
him, she sprinted to the living room and pulled open the front
door. Just as she thought she would be able to make her escape, the
door slammed shut. A large hand rested against the thick wood and
she didn’t have to turn around to know exactly who was behind her,
she could feel his heat radiating from him. Nevertheless, she
turned to face him, staring defiantly into his amber eyes. His jaw
was clenched tight in anger. When he lifted his hand from the door,
she flinched expecting him to hit her. He growled, displeased by
her reaction. Hadn’t he told her he wouldn’t harm her? His hand
shackled her wrist and they walked back to her bedroom, she noted
with a sense of twisted satisfaction that he was
limping.

“
Chloe, never
do that again.”

“
I’m sorry,”
she began, her tone sarcastic. “It was an instinctive response to
someone who’s trying to kidnap me. Are you going to hurt
me?”

“
Whatever you
do won’t change my willingness to protect you. I would lay down my
life for yours, a little thing like that isn’t going to change my
mind about taking you from here. And no, I’m not going to hurt you.
I’ve said that several times already. But this move is
happening.”

“
You can’t
possibly think that you’re going to get away with this. I have
neighbours that will know I’m missing; a job that will wonder where
I am; family and friends who will come looking for me. This is
insane.”

She’s
right,
he mused.
People will notice if I just take her away.

You aren’t
thinking about changing your mind are you Ryan?

No, it just
means that there are other things I need to do.
“Sit down Chloe. I agree that you’re right, if I don’t tell
people that you’re missing they might come looking for you. They
wouldn’t find you obviously, but it might make you less willing to
settle into our new life if you keep hoping to escape
me.”