Tricks & Treats: A Romance Anthology (10 page)

She could hear voices outside the door now and fists pounding feverishly at the solid mahogany. Katherine knew her mother would be frantic, running up the stairs to retrieve her key for the library. It was in her room on her dresser, only a minute away, but Katherine knew that’s all it would take. She might be preternaturally fast and well trained, but the hunter wasn’t fighting fair. He had weapons make from or coated in silver that would immobilize her long enough for him to strike her dead. Her only consolation was that she and Maxwell had made enough of a commotion to draw attention and there was no way now that he could mount a surprise attack on the party guests. Her family would be safe.

They circled one another. Katherine steered the hunter away from Maxwell’s unconscious body, terrified he would threaten her lover’s life. She’d sacrifice herself for him, she knew, and it would break her parents’ hearts.

But it didn’t need to come to that. If she could just hold the hunter off for another minute, her father would come bursting through that door like the Devil himself and tear the man apart.

The hunter wasn’t stupid; he knew he had limited time. It was only a matter of seconds before someone realized they could gain entry through the French doors but that meant running around the house. He dashed towards the still open doors, giving Katherine the perfect opportunity to let him go and run to Maxwell’s side.

Something inside her wouldn’t let that happen though. It just didn’t seem right to let this disgusting human off without punishment. Her body moved, almost of its own volition, towards the sprinting hunter, knocking him into a wing back chair and sending them both crashing to the floor.

Katherine realized what she’d done in the same moment the hunter saw his gun and lunged for it. She kicked out one of her feet, still in heels, and connected with his arm. A sharp crack of bone reverberated through the air and he grunted in pain, cradling his now useless arm into his chest.

She could see the desperation in his eyes now. Gone was the boldness that had carried him this far. Blood from a scalp laceration dripped into his left eye but he didn’t move to wipe it away because he was busy reaching for more weapons to use against her.

Silver flashed again in the low light but Katherine was too far gone to care. Her fingers closed around a brass lamp her father had so proudly brought home several years before, when electricity had first come to their region of Quebec.

With a roar that came from deep inside her, filled with the overwhelming need to protect, Katherine wrenched the lamp from its socket and threw it at the hunter’s head. He moved and it connected with his shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain as it jarred his broken arm.

Katherine pushed off the floor and leaped for the injured man, hitting him hard with her shoulders like she practiced with her brothers.

“You fucking bitch!” He screamed, trying to get another blade from his boot while she dug her fingers into his shoulder blade, inflicting as much damage as she could. His words only spurred her on, unleashing her beast even more.

Katherine swung her right hand up to her left ear then crashed her elbow down on the hunter’s face. Blood exploded from his nose as it shattered into pieces, blending into the scarlet color of her ruined dress. She pushed him to the floor and pinned his arms under her knees, ignoring his groans of agony as he choked on his own blood.

“You’re pathetic and sick. You know that?” Katherine stared down into his terrified eyes and felt a wave of sickness wash over her. She scrambled back, needing desperately to vomit but refusing to let herself give in.

Gentle hands gripped her shoulders, pulling her up as the hunter was flipped over and restrained, his weapons collected. Katherine watched in horror as two knives, garrote wire, another gun and more silver bullets than she could understand right now were hauled out of the man’s pockets. He’d had enough to kill her a hundred times over.

Sylvie’s arms enfolded Katherine and the familiar smell of her mother’s skin soothed her enough to draw her gaze away from the fallen man. She stared up at her mother, whose perfectly made up eyes were filled with tears. The sight of her mother crumpled whatever bravado had seen her through the entire event. Katherine threw her arms around Sylvie’s neck and began to cry.

“Kat?” Maxwell’s anxious voiced interrupted her tears. Katherine pulled out of her mother’s arms and rushed to him, where he slumped, cradling his arm, on the floor. His face was covered in blood from a large gash across his forehead that was already healing nicely. His arm, however, was swollen and still oozing blood that looked almost black. His eyes were dim with a pain so intense that she couldn’t imagine it.

Katherine turned to her father and grabbed onto his arm. “Help him!”

Pierre pulled her in for a quick hug then put her aside and pried Maxwell’s arm away from his body. His weakened groan brought back her urge to vomit.

An older female wolf was rushed into the room by Anthony and Teagan. She took one look at Maxwell’s arm and the hunter’s pile of weapons and snapped, “Put him on the desk and turn on some lights for Old One’s sake!”

Her instructions were followed immediately and without question. When she demanded clean linens and water, they too were delivered as quickly as possible.

Ronan joined his brothers and, together, they moved to Katherine’s side. She held onto their hands as if her life depended on it, but it wasn’t her life at risk. There was clearly silver in the wound or his body wouldn’t be acting this way. Like the gash on his forehead, his cells would be regenerating and knitting his muscles back together.

The healer instructed four men to hold Maxwell down while she poured cup after cup of water into the wound, washing away most of the silver dust they’d found proof of on the hunter’s remaining blades.

Maxwell’s screams filled the house and echoed off every wall. Katherine wanted to cover her ears but she needed to share in his pain, diminish it for him somehow, and this was the only way she could. She knew it didn’t make sense but she needed to do something.

“This is going to hurt.” The healer motioned for the men to hold him even tighter. Using two towels, she squeezed the sides of the gaping wound together and pushed out as much of the blackened blood as she could. Maxwell howled in agony, bucking against the wolves holding them, then fell unconscious.

“Good.” The healer nodded and reached for another towel. With each cup of water, followed by another towel, the wound looked better.

Katherine and the others watched as the corners of Maxwell’s torn flesh began to knit back together, but a section in the middle refused to heal.

The healer turned and looked over the wolves present in the room. “Sylvie,” she pointed at Katherine’s mother, “I need tweezers.”

Sylvie darted from the room as fast as any young wolf and was back within a minute with a pair of tiny, metal tweezers. Carefully, the healer picked out any remaining flecks of silver then washed the wound one more time. She stepped back and nodded. “It’s done. The wound is clean.”

Katherine rushed to Maxwell and laid her head on his chest, feeling his heart beat strong in his chest. She sobbed in relief and kissed his blood covered face.

Pierre came forward and picked Maxwell up in his huge arms, carrying him to a long leather couch. Katherine waited for him to wake up, distracting herself by gently washing his face clean of blood.

After around ten minutes, Maxwell’s icy blue eyes opened and searched, immediately, for her. Katherine whispered, not realizing the room had emptied, “Hey sleepy head” and kissed him softly on the lips.

He struggled to sit up, obviously drained from blood loss. “Are you alright?”

Katherine felt her stomach turn over. How could she ever think of leaving him? He wasn’t a fighter by any means and yet he’d thrown himself bodily onto the hunter to save her. Even after almost dying from silver poisoning his first thought on waking was her safety. He deserved so much more than she could offer him.

Katherine smiled weakly at him and stroked his face. She loved him so much, he was a part of her heart and would always be her first love, but he wasn’t her soul mate. She’d walk away from him because she knew it was a lie to stay.

“I’m fine. How do you feel?” She brushed her fingers lightly over the pale pink skin that was forming over what had just been a deadly wound.

Maxwell flexed his arm and grimaced. “It’s still a bit tender but it’s nothing compared to what it was.” His pale blue eyes darkened as he remembered the agony.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead, then covered his eyelids, nose, and mouth with her soft lips. “Remember us,” she whispered. “Don’t think about the bad.” She grasped his hand and squeezed tight.

A fleeting smile graced his beautiful mouth and lifted her heart. He would be alright. He was stronger than she’d ever thought. Everyone would be in awe of him now, of how he’d fought a hunter and survived a silver poisoning.

Maybe he’d survive her leaving after all.

Katherine leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He was her first love, the man she should have connected with on a soul deep level. It wasn’t enough though, their love. It wasn’t enough to keep her here, frozen in time, unable to move on and evolve like the rest of the world.

She needed to leave home and travel the world. If Alpha law dictated that she wasn’t eligible to rule, then she would find her place and purpose out there, without her parents to pick up the pieces if she made a mistake.

Not yet though
, she thought. She’d leave, but not right now. Right now she wanted nothing more than to curl up on Maxwell’s lap, breath in his familiar scent, and surround herself with family and friends.

Whatever and whoever was out there would just have to wait.

♀♀♀

Like Katherine? This is just the beginning of her story and a tiny glimpse into what made her the woman and wolf she is. Her story continues in Book I of The Guardians trilogy,
Blood of Eden
, available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Smashwords. Here’s a little taste…

When Katherine LaFlamme is summoned home by her father, the Alpha of the North American wolf pack, she drops everything and answers the call. Despite her desire to experience the human world before she settles down, Katherine is fiercely loyal and, as her parent’s first born and the pack’s best tracker, she’s an essential part of the family. 

There’s trouble at home; a hunter has invaded their territory and murdered several of their kind and a rogue wolf has been stalking the female members of the LaFlamme family. To make matters worse, a secondary claim to the Alphaship of North America has risen, setting the entire pack on edge.

Then Katherine meets a mysterious wolf named Quinn and things begin to get interesting… and very deadly. Katherine and Quinn are swept up in a puzzle of ancient rites, prophecies, and mythic lore which reveals that there’s more to both Quinn and Katherine than first meets the eye.

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for more information on
Blood of Eden
and Book II of The Guardians trilogy,
My Brother’s Keeper
, due out November 20
th
, 2016. Make sure to sign up for my mailing list for upcoming releases and promotions and don’t forget to leave a review if you like what you read!

Story Five

Up All Night by J. Margot Critch

Dear Reader,
Up All Night
is part of J. Margot Critch’s Brewed Moon series and takes place between the events of
Bump & Grind
and the upcoming
Double Shot to the Heart.
While
Up All Night
works as a steamy standalone short story, it may contain some spoilers from
Bump & Grind
, and it will be a lead-up to
Double Shot to the Heart,
the next novel in the series.