Her Werewolf Bodyguard

Chapter 7

Ariana was shoved roughly into a dark red chair. “Stay there or you’ll be punished severely,” was the threat they left her with. Then she was alone. She looked around the room and noted the two large windows on the wall to her right. Something told her they were still in New York but away from the city.

Away from her pack. Away from Nick.

God, how was she going to get back to him? Should she even try? Everyone she loved would be in danger if she escaped. The Blue Mountain wolves would track her back to the house and kill everyone, if Derek’s threat was to be believed, which having lived through it before she wholeheartedly did. So she sat--quietly. Meekly, for now.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Derek strode through. Under different circumstances, she might have found him attractive. Not like Nick, of course. There was no one like Nicholas in the entire world. But Derek had his own qualities. Qualities that were forever overshadowed by the violence and brutality he and his father had wreaked on her life.

He smirked cruelly at her as he passed. Pouring himself a drink, he raised the glass in her direction, offering her one too. She scowled at him and he chuckled.

“You’re a little more feisty now that I’ve separated you from loverboy,” he observed, tilting his head back and taking a large swallow of some kind of whiskey. Then he set the glass down on the desk he leaned against and turned back to look at her.

Ariana shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “What?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just that I’ve waited so long for this moment. To possess you. Now that I have you,” he laughed, “I don’t really know what to do with you.”

Well, that was a relief. She’d imagined having to fend off all sorts of advances. “You could always let me go.”

His smile broadened. “You’re funny, Ariana. Great quality in a wife.”

She scowled again. “I don’t get it. Why do you or your father still even want me? My pack is gone. There is no alliance to be made from a marriage to me.”

He slowly pushed off the desk and walked toward her until his legs were close enough to touch her knees. Then he knelt down in front of her. “Maybe that was once the objective but not anymore.”

Her mouth went dry and unconsciously the tip of her tongue darted out to wet her lips. His eyes followed for just a second. “Then what is it now?”

“Revenge,” he answered simply. Her eyes widened. “Since that night twelve years ago, my father has been biding his time, waiting and growing the pack so that one day he’d be able to pay back to Liam all that was done to him. He’s trained me to act in his stead since Liam left him blind.” His tone was bitter and he looked off to the side for a moment.

Blind? Vaguely, she remembered the wolf’s paw that swiped across Jason’s face, the blood-red stripes raking down over one eye. She raised a hand to her own eye. “And you thought you’d avenge him by beating up a girl? You almost killed me,” she accused, crossing her arms over her chest.

For the first time, she noticed he looked uncomfortable. “That was my dad, actually. I was there but…”

Understanding dawned on her. “Your dad is the one who did this to me?” Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned back in the chair and lifted her shirt up high, not caring if he could see a bit of her bra. Derek couldn’t help the face he made at the garish disgusting blue, yellow, and dark green bruise that swept her entire right side. “I had to have surgery. One of my ribs punctured a lung.”

He rose to a standing position, avoiding looking at her anymore. “He knows what he’s doing. You’re just collateral damage.”

“Emphasis on the damage,” she muttered, lowering her shirt once more. There was something in his eyes though, something that told her maybe he wasn’t the cold, unfeeling, psychopath she thought he was. He’d been visibly disturbed at her bruise and he’d said that he hadn’t taken part in the beating she’d gotten. “You know I don’t have a spleen anymore? Yeah, the doctor said that someone kicked me so hard they ruptured my spleen. And my bladder, but the bladder was able to be repaired. I still have that, thank God.”

“If you’re looking for sympathy from me, don't waste your time. I have none.”

“Not even for your future wife?” she asked mockingly.

When he looked at her again, he was back to normal, his eyes devoid of any human emotion. “I’d start rethinking my attitude if I were you. My father isn’t the big softy that I am, as you’ve become aware. If you want to survive in this pack, keep your head down, don’t speak unless spoken to, and do everything anyone tells you.”

At the mention of his father, her skin prickled and a rush of cold washed over her. “Where is Jason? I would’ve thought he’d want to gloat over his prize.”

“He’s not here,” Derek scoffed, finishing off his drink. “He’s back at headquarters with the rest of the pack.” He moved closer to her, once more a smile on his face, and clamped his hands down on either side of her, effectively caging her in the chair. “He’s just dying to see you though.” 

Then he was gone and Ariana was left to ponder the horrific implications of what he’d said.

                                                                                             *

A glass exploded against the far wall, evidence of Nick’s rage.

“Calm down, that’s not going to help her,” Liam ordered in a quiet voice.

Nick raked a hand through his black hair and expelled a breath. “I’m going to find her if I have to die trying. This is all my fault…”

“Don’t think that way. Those bastards were stalking her. They would’ve found a way eventually. If anyone’s to blame it’s me. I shouldn't have sent the pack away and left us unguarded. Well, they’re on the way back now.”

“Why?” Nick asked, eyeing the older man across the room. “We know where they’re taking her ultimately. The ones who are close and in place should just stay there. Maybe--”

“I want the pack all together before I decide our next move. Not scattered about the Appalachians while we’re stuck here blind. Now tell me again, how many wolves did Derek have with him?”

“At the most, six or seven. The one I was fighting and five more flanking him. Maybe one more that I didn’t sniff out, but that’s it.”

Liam frowned and shook his head. “And he could’ve had a couple more left behind, guarding wherever it is he’s been hiding. So at most, we’re looking at ten altogether. No Alpha in their right minds would send a whole pack on a mission like this. Best case scenario, Derek brought half the pack with him.”

“And worst case?”

Liam looked at Nick darkly. “Worst case, Derek only brought a third of the pack. Or a quarter. Meaning they could potentially outnumber us four to one. We don’t actually know what the Blue Mountain pack has been up to all these years. They could’ve been quietly recruiting.”

Nick wilted under that knowledge. They would have to call on every single member of the pack, not just the active ones, but the ones who’d potentially never fought another wolf in their entire lives. “I’ll start the chain tonight.” The chain would alert every member of the Silver Moon pack to be ready to mobilize by morning.

“Fill them in as much as possible. The meeting place is here.” Liam strode out of the office and off to do god knows whatever it was that Alphas did in secret and Nick sat down at the desk to start making phone calls. 

It was all he could do to keep his mind on the task at hand and not explode with worry over Ariana. How could he have been so stupid? He’d felt bad for her being locked up in the apartment and had just wanted to get her to relax. He’d never been able to deny her anything ever since she was a child. 

I love you.

He’d managed to avoid thinking about the last thing she’d said to him before a punch to the face made him lose consciousness. Somewhere deep down he’d always known how she felt. That it wasn’t just a crush. He’d just never wanted to acknowledge it before. She was Ariana, like a kid sister to him.

Except somewhere along the way he’d quit thinking about her as a sister and started thinking about her as something more. Something beautiful that made his stomach tighten whenever she’d look at him a certain way, or when she’d slide her hair behind one ear and smile shyly.

To think that someone was out there who wanted to permanently wipe that smile off her face… His fist clenched on the desk until his knuckles turned white. He couldn’t let that happen. A promise was made twelve years ago and he’d failed spectacularly so far. 

He’d be damned if he failed anymore. Ariana was his and he was going to get her back, even if he had to rip apart a hundred wolves. Even if he died trying.