Chapter l276

Chapter 0276

Nicholas’s wolf eyes looked at me for only a moment, before turning to Terry. A growl erupted from the back of his throat. Then, all at once, he tore forward, pounced, and knocked Terry away from me and down onto the ground.

Julian, in human form, burst into the room behind Nicholas. He rushed to my side. When he saw the handcuffs, his eyes narrowed. He reached into his pocket at retrieved his lock picking tools. Only then did I notice his hands were shaking.

“Julian?” My voice was weak, fear making it small.

“Give me a minute,” Julian said. “We’ll get these things off of you.”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He blinked, then glanced down at my face. “Am I…? How can you be asking that right now?” He returned to his work.

“You’re trembling…”

“I’m about to shift, Piper. I’m barely holding myself together. I want to rip that motherfucker’s throat out.” The last words came out in a snarl. He closed his eyes a moment, breathed deeply, then opened them again.

The first handcuff clicked open. I lowered my strained arm back down to my chest.

Julian moved to my ankles next. He moved quicker now, like he was focused. Both my ankles were free in no time.

Across the room, Terry shifted into his own wolf, to attempt to hold his own against Nicholas. His wolf, light brown in color, was small than Nicholas’s. He lacked both the speed and strength of Nicholas’s alpha, but he snapped back enough for Nicholas to not immediately bite his head off,

They circled each other, snapping and snarling.

The final handcuff clicked open. I brought it toward my chest to rub some of the pain away. Julian helped me to sit upright, Then he removed his jacket and draped it around my shoulders.

I gripped it with both hands and tightened it over my chest, attempting somewhat futilely to preserve my modesty.

Nicholas lunged toward Terry. The attack was obvious, but Terry, even prepared, wasn’t strong enough to hold back the sheer size and strength of Nicholas’s wolf. Nicholas pinned Terry down to the hard ground. He brought his sharp teeth down to Terry’s n*eck.

Nicholas was going to kill him.

+25 BONUS

I wanted to stop him, but I felt frozen in place. I couldn’t move or even speak.

Fortunately, Julian doesn’t have the same limitation.

“Nicholas!” Julian shouted. Nicholas stilled. “Don’t kill him.”

Nicholas growls, low and dangerous.

“I know he deserves it, but how the hell would we explain it? We have to focus on getting Piper out of here and to safety now.”

Those words seemed to convince Nicholas. He snarled once more in Julian’s ear, then, slowly, eased back from him. Terry stayed on the floor as Julian guided me from the room with a strong arm around my waist. Nicholas, in wolf form, stayed in our shadow.

We escaped through a servant’s entrance so others, including the cameras, wouldn’t see my state of undress. In the dark, we walked around the side of the mansion until we reached the driveway where all the cars were parked.

Nicholas’s car, since we had arrived last, was closest to the exit. Julian led me there, then helped me sit down in the passenger seat. He left the door open.

Near the hood of the car, Nicholas, shifted now back into human form, was pacing back and forth and back and forth. He was clearly agitated. I wanted to go to him, to assure him that I was okay, but I was still struggling to move.

My thoughts felt clear, yet somehow disconnected with the movements of my b*dy. Every limb was sluggish. It wouldn’t listen to my brain’s commands.

I was in shock, most likely. I hated it. I wanted to move, to go to Nicholas so we could both feel the reassurance of knowing the other is okay.

“You should have let me kill him,” Nicholas said. “That asshole deserves to die.”

“He does, but what would that mean for you, huh? Or Piper? You think they’ll just let her walk out of a room where Terry’s dead? You think she’ll just be allowed back into the competition like nothing happened?” There was an unusual strain in Julian’s voice. It was tight with concern and rage.

Nicholas shook his head so hard, it looked painful. “We could have sorted it out.”

“You have to sort yourself out now,” Julian said. “Calm yourself down so you can drive Piper home. She’s out here in her underwear, you big oaf.”

Nicholas stopped pacing. His gaze shifted to me. I watched him through the windshield.

Something changed within him then. Some of the tension sl*pped away from his nearly- rampaging b*dy. His eyes, wild only a moment before, settled into some of their usual

steadiness.

214

+25 BONUS

“Drive her home,” Julian said. “I’ll handle the rest here tonight. Got it?”

Nicholas nodded.

Julian came around the car to my side again. He leaned his elbows over my door. “Go home and relax. There’s nothing to worry about. Nicholas and I will keep you safe. Just get some rest, okay?”

I looked at him with wide eyes. I couldn’t nod like Nicholas had, and I didn’t have my back yet. Instead I pressed my l*ps together and hoped that he could accept that as the semblance of agreement I intended it to be.

“Good,” he said, and I felt relief.

He made sure my limbs were clear of the car, then he closed the door.

voice

At the same time, Nicholas entered from the other side. He was still breathing heavy as he slid into the driver’s seat. He gripped the wheel tightly, like he was trying to suffocate it.

I looked at him. When his eyes met mine, he eased somewhat. “Piper, I… I don’t even begin to

express how sorry I am…

I continued to look at him, confused. He thought this was… his fault? How?

“If we had left that damn interview earlier… They kept asking us questions, keeping us there. It was so asinine. Maybe Terry arranged the whole thing to get you alone, I don’t know.”

He beat his palms against the steering wheel and I flinched.

He instantly stilled. He watched me a moment in silence, before saying, softer, “I’m sorry.”

Reaching down to the side of the steering column, he started the car. He didn’t say one more word as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the street.

“We’ll be home soon,” Nicholas said.

I knew exactly how close the mansion was to the palace. I knew he was telling the truth. Still, I couldn’t keep my b*dy from trembling.

How closely I had been to losing my virginity to Terry, that vile, vicious monster disguised as a man. He’d wanted to chain me up and break me, with his b*dy and his whips, until I was broken enough that he himself could reshape me.

It hadn’t mattered how hard I fought. The physical and mental defense training classes couldn’t protect me from the sheer lack of strength I possessed without my wolf.

“Nicholas…” I managed to say. He had always meant safety to me. His name came easier than most other words. “Nicholas…”

“You’ll be okay, Piper,” Nicholas said. It sounded like a promise. I found comfort in that. ”