Wild (53 page)

Afterward she would nod and on some mornings force herself to smile. But Caroline would leave that bathroom with those words in her mind and the effort in her heart.

And then the world would show her its true colors. Again and again.

Well, today, she'd had enough of reality. She was going to go into her house and fix herself a big bowl of her favorite cereal and a cup of tea. Then she was going to sit on her couch and watch old movies all day because that's as optimistic as she could manage to feel after the night she'd had.

About ten minutes into her car ride Caroline had called Olivia, telling her that she wasn't feeling well and that she wouldn't be in the clinic today. There were a few routine checkup appointments on her schedule that she'd also viewed on her phone, but they could all be rescheduled. She wasn't in the mood for people today.

Parking her car in the backyard of the renovated storefront turned apartment, Caroline locked the vehicle, then walked to the back door to let herself in. Her apartment was on the top floor, so she took the stairs, feeling as if she'd run a marathon, and finally let herself in.

The chill hit her the moment she shut that door, before she even turned around to see him standing there. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her heart picking up pace immediately. Caroline clutched her keys in her hand, wishing she still had that switchblade that she used to carry when she'd lived in Portland attached. She'd decided against carrying that anymore after Brent's wife had first threatened her and Caroline had really thought she could do bodily harm to the woman. She figured it was better safe than sorry. Cursing a woman out was a hell of a lot different from stabbing a crazy, vindictive bitch to death.

Still, she was prepared to gouge the intruder's eyes out with one of the keys she held if it came to that. However, as she turned around slowly, Caroline had absolutely no idea what was standing just a few feet from her, none at all.

“I've been waiting for you, Dr. Douglas,” his raspy voice said.

“You're breaking and entering,” was her nervous but steady reply.

The apartment was dark. He must have closed all the blinds in addition to not turning on any lights. All she could make out as she stared across to her living room set and the small table and three chairs she called her dining room was the tall silhouette of a man and glowing blue eyes.

She'd blinked once or twice trying to figure out if that was just a play of light since she'd come from outside where the sun had been shining brightly into the room, where darkness flanked everything. But the eyes were still there, bright like the twinkle lights on a Christmas tree and eerie because they seemed to be floating in midair.

Caroline swallowed deeply, taking a tentative step forward while reaching into her pocket for her cell phone.

“I wasn't sure you would have let me in if I knocked,” he continued. “Besides that, you weren't at home to greet me.”

“I'm not sure I would have greeted you even if I had been,” she said, chastising herself for goading him—or it.

It? She thought with a slight gasp. She'd been out at that lodge all night with five people she'd been thinking might be those infamous Shadow Shifters and hadn't dared ask them to confirm. Yet now here she stood staring at something that was obviously not human, and she wondered once more.

“What do you want?” Caroline asked, her fingers on the phone that she'd stuffed in the side pocket of the sweatpants Kira had let her borrow. “Why are you here in my apartment?”

“Because it's time someone taught you a lesson,” he replied simply, “you and the company you've decided to keep.”

Caroline's mind was working at record speed, going from questions about shape-shifting big cats to now, pausing as she thought about his words.

“You're the one that's been killing those animals,” she said, rage guiding her forward. “You're a murderer!”

“And you're a slut!” he snapped back, flicking on a light at that moment, tossing a picture onto her couch.

Her gaze fell to the picture, and Caroline gasped. It was of her and Malec and Channing last night. She was on her hands and knees on Malec's big bed while Malec knelt behind her, his long, thick cock sinking inside of her while Channing's rigid erection was in her mouth. It was a horrid picture, and then it wasn't. Her gaze stayed locked on the contrasts in her darker complexion versus Malec's lighter one and Channing's slightly paler one. They looked exotic and erotic, and she would have been aroused if he hadn't been here and if he hadn't been the one with the pictures.

“What are you, some type of perverted sociopath?” she asked.

He growled then, low and menacing like a vicious dog. “I'm your worst nightmare,” he told her.

Caroline shook her head. “You're a criminal!”

“But the people of this town don't abhor criminals. They do, however, frown upon promiscuous women who parade themselves around as upstanding citizens, a veterinarian at that,” he was speaking in a level tone, but it was scary.

It was too calm and too … he was one of them. She knew it. He was a shape-shifter, and he was going to kill her.

“I'm calling the police,” she said, finally managing to pull the phone from the side pocket in her pants.

He closed the space between them in the blink of an eye, grabbing her at both wrists until her phone and keys clattered to the floor, her gaze fixed on the long clawlike nails on his thick hands.

“Oh my. What the hell … you're a…” She couldn't get it out as she looked up at him.

Those eyes were still bright blue, like pieces of glass in the pit of his face. His brow was thick and veined, a glossy mane of black-and-white-streaked hair shooting from his head and down the sides of his face. With a look of animalistic amusement, he opened his mouth wide and growled in her face. Caroline couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to; the sight was so horrific and so petrifying it was all she could do not to wet herself.

“That's what I am,” he said, his voice now filled with rage. “And you're going to bring him to me, just like I brought those animals to you.”

She shook her head, her body trembling. “Who? M … Malec,” she murmured.

“You're going to call him on the phone and get him here, or I'm going to send that picture to every person in this town.”

“What? Are you blackmailing me?”

“No!” He growled again, this time releasing her and wrapping one of his hands around her neck.

The next thing Caroline knew she was being slammed into the wall, her feet dangling off the floor, the breath squeezed out of her lungs.

“I could kill you right now! I could just snap your neck and be done with it! But it's not you I want, it's him. The beta.”

The what?

Caroline blinked, her eyes filling with tears as she smacked at the colossal hand squeezing her neck. Had he just said
beta
? As in alphas and betas? She was kicking out at him even as she looked at him closely. He wasn't a big cat at all, she thought with a start. He had the distinct look of a … she stared at his muzzled nose and heightened cheekbones … he was … a wolf.

“No,” she tried to say, but the sound barely came out. She wasn't going to call Malec or anyone else for this animal. If he knew he could kill her, then he would just have to do that. “No,” she attempted to say again, this time smacking out at his face.

He growled again, tossing her all the way across the room until she crashed into the table and chairs and rolled over the floor. Caroline gasped for breath and wished her phone were closer or that she had a gun or something nearby. She wasn't sure what would work on that thing or what wouldn't; all she knew for a fact was that she wasn't going down without a fight. If he came here to kill her, then he was going to have to work hard to get the job done. Reaching out she grasped a lamp that had fallen and rolled onto her back, throwing it across the room to where he still stood.

His reply was to catch that lamp, breaking it into pieces as he continued snarling at her, his long and sharp teeth dripping some sickly looking fluid onto her floor.

She was going to die. Caroline knew in that instant. This werewolf creature was going to kill her, and all she could think about was how glad she was that Malec or Channing had not insisted on following her home.

*   *   *

He'd watched him. That bastard had been able to get close enough to the house without any of them knowing and watched him, probably with Caroline, Malec thought, slamming his palm against the steering wheel.

He took the curve leading to the main road back into Blackbriar on what felt like two wheels, his foot firmly planted on the gas pedal as he rushed to get to her apartment. The address as well as the phone number had been programmed into Malec's phone since that first day that he'd walked into her clinic and seen her. All the details, that's what he'd wanted to know about her, hence the look into her background he'd performed. Every detail that he could find that would go along with the picture of her beautiful face, which he could not get out of his mind.

This was personal now. The Solo had taunted him enough. Stepping foot on his personal property was like calling him out on national television, and Malec was damned sure going to show up for this fight. They should have gone with her. His nostrils flared at the thought.

Channing should have never let her go. He should have known better. And Kira, she should have seen what might happen. Blaez and Phelan knew better as well. They knew how conniving and deadly a Solo could be. Caroline should have been safe and sound behind the locked doors of the lodge.

The lodge that the Solo had been able to walk right up on. And while he was documenting facts, Malec probably should include that he should not have left her this morning. His teeth elongated, cutting his lower lip as he released a low growl.

All night long, every second until just before dawn, Malec had held Caroline in his arms. It was a new experience for him, the closeness and the warmth. He hadn't disliked it. She'd been so soft, her thighs and arms as he'd stroked softly up and down her body. He watched as she slept, saw the fluffy curve of her eyelashes as they lay against her cheeks, the rise and fall of her chest with every measured breath she took. And he'd wondered what the hell he was doing.

Was he falling for this human female?

The car came to a screeching halt in front of the building that now held two apartments. Malec jumped out, barely remembering to take the keys and close the door. He was inside the building and taking the stairs two at a time, his nostrils continuing to flare as he'd picked up the foreign lycan scent the moment he entered the building. He had that sonofabitch now! And if he'd done so much as broken a fingernail on Caroline's hand, Malec was going to rip his throat straight out with his hands.

He kicked the door in, watching as it splintered and fell from the hinges before stepping inside. It only took one glimpse of the Solo, claws bared, teeth long, sharp, and dripping saliva down onto Caroline's chest as he prepared to bite her, to send Malec completely over the edge.

Releasing his own beast with a quick tilt of his head and a howl that shook the walls of the apartment, he lunged for the Solo, grabbing him by the sweatshirt he'd worn and tossing him across the room, into the kitchen. Glass shattered, furniture broke, and the lycan stood to his feet seconds later, glaring at Malec.

“And there you are,” he said with a sickening chuckle. “It's about fucking time. I thought I'd have to walk up to your door and knock just to get you to come out and play.”

“That's what you should have done, you piece of shit. Killing animals, attacking a human, that's some pretty cowardly crap for a lycan to pull. No wonder you don't belong to a pack,” Malec spat.

The Solo chuckled again, rolling his neck on his shoulders until the cracking of bones echoed throughout the room, flexing his fingers so that his long claws clicked together.

“Say what you want. It doesn't change a damned thing. You're still the weakest link in that charade of a pack Trekas has going on. That's why I came for you first. Once I kill you it's just a matter of climbing the ladder until the true-blood is alone and vulnerable.”

Malec laced his fingers, bending them until they cracked before faking a yawn. “A predictable plan that only proves how big a coward you are. If you want Blaez, then you should have been bold enough to come straight for him.”

“No need. This way's much more fun,” he said, this time planting his feet a distance apart and flexing his arms as he growled long and loud.

Malec was not impressed, and he wasn't fucking around with this creep any longer. He leapt for him then, throwing a punch that would have landed on the lycan's chin if he hadn't blocked it. That was just fine; Malec had predicted the defensive move. Solos would know how to fight, hunt, and survive. They had no other choice since they were totally on their own in the world.

Malec wasn't alone. He was a trained killer. So with a sweep of his legs he watched the Solo fall back onto the floor. Standing over him then, Malec reached down to swing his arms so that his claws did all the work, slicing at the Solo's chest and torso, his legs and arms. The Solo reached upward, grabbing Malec by the throat, but Malec grabbed one of his wrists, squeezing it so tight the bones beneath cracked, and the lycan howled in pain. When his grip on Malec's neck loosened, Malec grabbed hold of the lycan's good arm and yanked it right out of its socket, eliciting yet another howl of pain.

“Next time you think you're attacking the weakest link,” Malec said, lifting his hand for one last slash across the Solo's throat, “think again.”

All howling stopped as did the Solo's heartbeat.

In the distance, it sounded as if it were so far away, and yet Malec felt it as distinctly as if someone were taking tiny stabs into his heart. He heard her crying. He stood slowly looking down at his bloodied hands and claws, feeling the sharp edges of his teeth against his lip, his beast breathing heavily. His head turned slowly, knowing and regretting with every fiber of his being what he knew he would see when he turned around.