Chapter 3: Chapter 3

The SUV swerves in front, cutting me off.

The doors open and four people get out. Three males. One female.

“Told you it was her!”

The man’s voice is deep and slurred. Clearly drunk.

A few years ago, a situation like this wouldn’t have been more than an annoyance. But I’m not as strong or fast or capable of defending myself.

And four against one are not good odds.

I call to Ava, hoping maybe this time, I feel something.

But there’s nothing…

Unable to shift, I keep walking, stretching the distance between us.

The second male, a twenty-something guy in a gray suit, blocks me. “It’s her alright. Sean’s ex.”

“Where you going, sweetheart?” it’s the first male again. He’s on my right, but moving behind me.

They’re boxing me in.

“Surprised they let you out of prison.” The guy in the suit smiles. “Bet you were lonely in there.”

He smells like whiskey and malice. I don’t need my wolf to see the dark desire in his eyes.

The female is laughing. Her eyes sparkle with something malicious too. The male on my right side, I remember now.

Chris Peterson, a businessman that Sean’s pack had dealings with. I met him at some business dinners. He’s sleazy and I never liked him.

The four of them are wolves. Low-level, but still dangerous…

Chris steps closer to me. He brushes my cheek, and I jerk away from his touch. “There’s gotta be better ways for you to make money, Grace. Come with me,” he says. “I’ll pay you for the night. Beats sweeping the streets.”

The woman laughs again. “You were a lawyer, and now you’re…what? Janitor?!”

I can take the humiliation.

But what Chris is proposing…

“Leave me alone.” I duck under the gray suit’s arm, but the third guy grabs me.

“Maybe you didn’t hear my friend,” he says. He’s stocky, his fingers crushing my arms. I feel the bite of his grip through my coat.

Chris grabs my hair and I’m dragged backwards.

“Stop!” I scream.

But there’s no one to hear me.

The men snicker and turn back to the she-wolf. Two of them crowd her and then shove her into the back seat of the Range Rover. She’s laughing again, and I’m horrified at what’s happening.

“Chris, you can’t—“

He slams my head into the building. My back’s against the wall. I can’t escape.

He knocks my head back again and my vision dims. “S-stop!”

His hand tightens around my throat and I claw at his wrist “L-Let me go…”

Chris jerks at his belt and his eyes flash. I start kicking. He blocks me and then curses when I land my knee in his groin.

“You b*tch!”

He backhands me so hard my ears ring.

I have no doubt this wolf can and will overpower me. But I can’t give up.

“You wanna run, Grace?” His eyes light up again, his wolf close to the surface.

There’s no contest. In his true form he’d run me down, and I wouldn’t survive.

“N-No,” I whimper.

“I’ll even give you a head start…” He draws back and I’m frozen with indecision.

If I stay, he’ll hurt me. If I run, he’ll chase me down and hurt me more.

“One…two…three…” he’s counting.

I can’t just stand here.

I shove off the wall and run as fast as I can.

I cut down a deserted side street but he follows. Chris isn’t rushing at all. He’s toying with me.

“Six…seven…”

I run for all I’m worth, and at the count of ‘ten’ I hear the low growl.

Not of a human.

A wolf.

I race for the nearest main street, thinking if I can get somewhere more populated, I’ll be able to escape. Chris can’t fully shift within city limits.

But I never get the chance.

His snarling form gains on me and in the next heartbeat, I’m slammed to the concrete. I roll and scrape across the ground.

I try to get up but can’t.

Chris pins me down. His eyes glow with his wolf. Running only excited his beast more.

“You thought I forgot the way you insulted me, b*tch? You told Sean to stop working with me. It cost my family millions!”

His teeth elongate. “But he isn’t here to protect you now.”

Is he going to kill me? As a rogue, I won’t be missed.

“Fight all you like, but I’m going to f*ck you like the b*tch you are, right here on the street.”

I fight hard, shoving and scratching at his arms and face. But he’s so much stronger than I am.

Ava! Please!

Desperately, I call to my wolf. But there’s only silence.

She’s retreated to some deep part of my soul or the long exposure to the silver has permanently severed my bond to her.

Chris catches my wrists and slams my arms above my head. Then he fumbles with my clothes.

“That’s right,” he mutters. “Fight me. Scream if you want. Nobody’s coming.”

He tears my coat, my pants.

“Please! Stop!” I scream, tears leaking from my eyes.

His claws cut into the skin on my arm where he holds me.

“Stop it! Get off me! Stop!!!”

“I think you should listen to the lady.” A cold voice sounds behind me.