Her Werewolf Bodyguard

Chapter 6

Her bruises and cuts were already half-healed. Thanks to the werewolf gene Ariana’s parents had passed on to her, although she couldn’t shift yet, her senses and healing factor were incredibly heightened. That was why she could smell and hear Nick entering her apartment before she actually saw him. Her lower belly squirmed and flipped with instant desire. 

“Ariana, I’m back,” she heard him call and then the door shut swiftly. 

Clearing her throat, she replied, “Okay, I’ll be out in a second.” The last few days the two of them had fallen into a routine, almost like roommates. He’d made sure to keep his distance after that first night, being very careful not to touch her physically unless absolutely necessary. 

She’d cursed Liam more than once since that night for putting them in this awkward situation. It was humiliating because she was almost positive Nick knew she had feelings for him. It was harder to worship him from afar when he was sleeping on her sofa and she had to see him in his boxer shorts every morning.

“Hey, I’m making lunch. Are you hungry?”

Ariana jumped in place. Nick’s face suddenly popped around the corner of her room, startling her. She gave a small laugh. “A little warning next time?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t think.”

“It’s okay. Lunch sounds great but I really should make it for you. You’re the guest and you’ve already done too much.”

Nick shook his head. “No arguments. I’m cooking.” Then he disappeared as quickly as he’d popped up and she couldn’t help the big smile that spread over her face. He certainly had a lot of energy today.

In the kitchen, she took a seat at the counter to watch him work. Since he’d been staying with her, his usual day-to-day wear of suits and dressy shoes had been traded in for jeans and T-shirts. Every curve of muscle, every hard flat plane on his body was spread out for her to ogle. Which was fine as long as he didn’t catch her staring, she supposed.

Little did she know that he could smell her. Every time she became aroused, every time her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, and every time her breath caught in her throat he heard it. Smelled it.

And it was slowly becoming torturous for him.

“Do you have a boyfriend, Ari?” he asked lightly, tossing a pinch of salt into a pot of water.

She flushed at the question. “No. Why?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Just wondering.”

Was it because he was interested in her? she wondered, her heart suddenly skipping as usual. God, she was going to have a heart attack or something if she didn’t get her hormones under control. His next words dashed her hopes.

“A pretty girl like you should go out more often. There’s gotta be a million guys out there banging down your door.”

“No, not really,” she confessed. “I don’t really meet a lot of people. I’m usually at the house or here.”

“What about your charity work? I know you help out at the shelters sometimes.”

“Wolves aren’t supposed to be with humans. But I guess I’ve thought about it. Only sometimes,” she added quickly. Stupidly, she still wanted him to think of her as available. “I can’t shift. I might as well be human.”

“I know it bothers you. Maybe I can help. We can practice,” he suggested, turning to face her. “I don’t like that you can’t defend yourself.”

“Is there any news on who attacked me? Was it Jason? Have you found him?”

He held up a hand at her onslaught of questions. “The pack is tracking them. Their scent is gone from the city, however. Mac and a couple of others ran down to the Blue Mountain pack base of operations and we’ll know more soon.”

Disappointed, she slumped in her chair. “I’m sick of being cooped up here. Didn’t Liam say I was supposed to go about my life like normal? How is this normal? Can’t we at least go out to dinner tonight? Or something? Jason’s not going to attack me in a restaurant.”

Nick made a face. “We’re not going out tonight, Ari. Your life is in danger. At least here I can somewhat protect you. Out in the open, who knows what could happen? Too many variables. Too unpredictable.”

“This is stupid. If I’m out in the open, then I can be bait. If we can’t find Jason then at least we can make him come to us.”

“No,” Nick said tightly, turning to give her the sternest look possible. “We’re not going out. It’s final. Now eat up. You’ll need your strength to fully heal.”

Sullenly, she took a few bites and then pushed it away. “Thanks,” she mumbled, sliding out of the bar chair. “I’m going to my room.”

“Ari.”

“What?”

“It’s for your own good. I know you’re getting restless, but I can’t let anything happen to you. I made a promise and I failed once. I won’t fail again.”

Ariana glanced up at him, her features softening at his forlorn expression. She put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you feel responsible but that’s absurd. None of what happened was your fault. You can’t watch me 24/7.” 

“Thanks but it’s no use.”

“You’re too hard on yourself. If anything this is my fault,” she said bitterly, glancing down at the floor.

A moment of silence passed by. Then he said, “Maybe there’s a way we can compromise.”

She looked up at him. “How?”

He grinned and her heart melted all over again. “Go get dressed in something comfortable and I’ll show you.”

An hour later, they were outside the city somewhere in an open glade near the woods. Ariana tilted her head and smelled the air. For a moment she almost thought she could smell the sunlight filtering through the tree branches. “It’s beautiful here.”

“I thought you’d like it. I’ve never brought anyone here before but if I had to it’d be you.” His carefree grin pierced through her heart til she thought it would burst.

“Really? No one? I’m honored,” she teased, shaking herself back to reality. 

“I figured we could just walk and get out of the apartment. And here I can protect you more easily.”

She scowled. “I’m sick of being protected. It’s only been a few days and I want to punch Liam.”

“He loves you like a daughter. You matter to all of us,” Nick pointed out.

Before she could shut her damn mouth, her eyes sought out his and she asked, “I matter to you?” Immediately she mentally kicked herself. Stupid!

His hesitation was long enough to make her hate herself even more. “You know you do.” He put a hand on the space between her shoulder blades. “I never had a sister or anything and--”

Her anger was immediate. For some reason, since her accident, she wasn’t behaving normally. She looked up to pour her heart out to him but the look on his face stopped her. “What is it?”

Nick put a finger to his lips to silence her and then very carefully looked around. He could see and smell some things that she could not. “Ari, I’m going to leave now. Don’t be scared. I need to shift and I need to do it in a private place in case it’s a human. Do you understand? I’ll still be watching you.”

Everything inside her quaked in fear but she nodded and watched him run off. Scanning the woodline and horizon, she couldn’t see anything anywhere. Her heart beat so fast she started seeing black spots in front of her eyes. Suddenly a distant howl made her turn. Everything was quiet for a moment and then she saw it. A silver wolf about a hundred yards in front of her. It slowly bared its teeth and then lowered its head.

“Nick.” Her plea came out as a whisper.

The wolf charged. Paralyzed with fear and having no weapons, she could only stand there frozen in shock. Where was Nick? It was close now. 

Suddenly a big black wolf soared through the air and knocked the silver wolf onto its back. Nick chomped down on the other wolf’s neck and shook it til it yelped in pain.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Ariana whirled around and her heart almost stopped completely. An unfamiliar man with blonde hair and a medium build stood behind her with five other wolves flanking him. Nick was good but there was no way, even if Ariana could shift, that they would make it out alive. This was it. 

Nick slowly released the silver wolf’s neck and backed away. The blonde man smiled triumphantly and then looked at Ariana. His gaze was cold. “Hello again. You’ve grown up even more beautifully than I thought you would. It’s been a long time.”

She found her voice. “Who are you? I’ve never met you.”

He feigned surprise. “No? You don’t remember that one night? The c*****e, the death, the sweet smell of your parents' blood filling the air?”

“You were there,” she whispered.

He took a step forward and Nick growled. The blonde man put up his hands in mock surrender with a smile and then continued speaking to Ariana. “I was the one holding you down on the floor.”

“Derek.”

He bowed. “At your service.”

“What do you want? Why are you doing this? Why did you hurt me?”

His gaze darkened then. “I want what was promised me. You. And to answer your second and third questions, I hurt you because I wanted to let that f**k Liam know I could get to you. And while he’s sending his boys out and about, the city is virtually left undefended.” His smile brightened his face once more. “All that was left was to wait and watch. And follow.”

He looked over at Nick and snapped his fingers. “Unless you want to die right now I’d shift back if I were you.” Nick hesitated only a moment before doing just that. He was even more breathtaking naked and Ariana’s chest caught before she looked away out of respect. 

“Now what shall I do with you? I could kill you--”

Nick snarled. “If you touch one hair on her head I swear to God--”

“You should swear to me,” Derek snapped. “I have all the power here and you have none.”

Ariana spoke up after a few long moments. Her choice seemed clear. “Wait. Please. Let Nick go. Don’t hurt him.”

Derek swung his head to stare at her, a large smile on his face. Ariana had a feeling he knew exactly what she was going to say. “And why not, Ariana?”

“Because it’s me you want. I’ll go with you, do whatever you want, just please don’t hurt him.”

“Ari, no!” Nick yelled. Two wolves shifted back to human and grabbed his arms, one punching him in the stomach when he tried to get to her.

“Please, stop,” she cried, turning to Derek. “I said I’ll go with you. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Yes,” he said with a twisted smile on his face. One hand reached out to trace the outline of her fading bruise just under her eye. “I know you will because if you don’t the Silver Moon Pack will go the way of the Black clan. Every single one of them.” He took her by the arm and pulled her close, his familiar scent making her stomach turn. Distantly, she could hear Nick yelling and threatening.

Looking over at him, she blinked back tears. “I love you. There’s no other way.”

Something sharp pricked her neck and then everything swam into blurry darkness.