Chapter 44

Caturix noticed the crowd thinning after a few songs. His Mika was no longer the center of attention, surrounded by every man in the club. She had vanished.

~Damn it~. He had been trying to give her the space she so obviously desired. She wanted to be the most sought-after bachelorette, and he had let her play the part. She had done it well, fluttering around the club, drinking, dancing, and ignoring him.

Every man in the club wanted her. She was flawless. Maybe everything he had ever wanted. But now, she was gone. Caturix rose slowly, trying not to panic immediately. What if she had persuaded him to bring her to the city just to lose him? She could live out her human fantasies. She had lured him to a crowded building so she could slip out the back and escape. It would be easy for her; she was breathtakingly beautiful. Any man would fall at her feet for a chance with her.

Caturix took a deep breath, trying to pick up her scent among the crowd. It was challenging, but he found it as he delved deeper into the dance floor. It was there, but faint, as if she had been gone for some time. He followed the scent but was stopped when his arm was pulled back.

“Hello, handsome,” a human woman purred, trying to slide her hands up his chest. “I saw you sitting over there all alone,” she said with a sad tone, her lip pouting. “Do you want some company?”

“No,” he replied, turning to leave.

She made a whining sound and clung tighter to his arm. “What?! Why?”

He rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. “I have a wife.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “And you’re so faithful, you went to a club all by yourself?”

“She’s here as well,” he retorted and tried to leave again. If she had been a she-wolf, he could have pulled away and left, but she was just a fragile human.

“Oh really?” she challenged. “Where’s your so-called wife? Am I really so ugly, you have to lie?” she slurred.

Ah, a drunken human woman.

“She was just here. The woman with the long blonde hair and purple dress.”

Her face fell. “Of course it’d be her,” she grumbled. “Yeah, well, it’s not like ~she’s~ faithful.”

He paused at that, turning slowly to the woman. “What do you mean by that?”

She rolled her eyes. “She left a couple minutes ago with some guy. Does that mean you’re on the market?” she asked, wiggling her brows suggestively.

“No,” he replied flatly, before turning on his heel and storming away.

He followed Shemika’s warm apple crisp scent all the way out of the club, around the side, and into the parking garage across the street. It was stronger here. She wasn’t gone.

He chased after her scent, coming to a rocking black van. His chest tightened. Her scent was strong. She was inside the van. Doing what, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know. He would’ve sworn she’d be monogamous, but who knew. The human woman said she’d left with some man and she had been flirting with pretty much every human man since they’d gotten to the city. Maybe, sleeping with a human man was on her bucket list. He could get over it, he was sure. Maybe he should leave her be and let her finish what she was doing. She'd be mad if he interrupted.

But, he could interrupt and pretend he thought she was in danger. Caturix put his hand on the handle and ripped the door open, afraid to catch his Mika on her back with a human.

Well, there certainly were humans. Maybe three or four humans. Or…what remained of them. The van was filled with the bloody mutilated bodies of various men. There was so much blood that it began spilling out of the van and onto the concrete. Caturix just blinked emptily before leaning into the van.

At the far end of the van was a medium brown she-wolf, devouring another human man. Her snout was buried deep into his chest cavity, consuming his intestines with more ferocity than he’d ever seen from a lycan.

“Mika,” he said carefully.

The she-wolf tensed, jerking her snout from the feast before her. In all the time that she’d spent in the Rurik pack, she had not once shifted into her wolf form. While the others went on runs together, she’d always declined the invitation. While Caturix never went running with the others, he at least went on his own. But not her. She looked at him with wild animalistic eyes.

“Mika,” he tried again, speaking softly, with his palms raised. “It’s late. Why don’t you shift and we can go back to the hotel?” he asked.

She let out a low growl of warning. He had a feeling that his Mika was nowhere inside this she-wolf. Her eyes darted over his shoulder, peering out at freedom. If she escaped, he was certain she’d run and never stop.

“Mika, if you can hear me, I need you to take control now,” he urged. It surely wouldn’t work.

He let out a sigh and hunkered down with his arms out. If she tried to escape, he’d just have to catch her. He’d have to—

She made a mad dash and launched over his head, out into the parking garage.

~Ah, shit~. He shifted in seconds and took off after her. She was certainly fast, nimble, and agile. For a she-wolf who’d been repressed for who knew how long. She ran and ran, Caturix on her heel. Fast enough that he never lost sight of her, but slow enough that she felt like she was actually free to run.

She ran up to the mountains, going somewhere. He wasn’t sure, but she seemed to have an actual destination. He’d just have to say “fuck it” and never get any of their things from the hotel. She slowed up in the mountains. Either she knew where she was, or her wolf was tiring. He held off even more, letting her widen the distance between them, so her fears would shrink. It worked, and she lay down to rest.

He circled the area to survey for dangers and then returned to watch over the she-wolf who had fallen asleep after running for a while.

He could smell that she’d led him into enemy territory, but that was unimportant at that moment. Something happened to unleash her wolf. Something bad enough that her wolf ripped out to protect her. What was it? He was afraid to find out.