Chapter 5
1001 Words
CLARA'S POV
I stepped over chunks of broken drywall and splintered wood. The hallway leading into the west wing was pitch black, but I moved my hand along the cold wall to guide myself forward.
My bare feet made not a single sound on the floor. I reached the end of the corridor and stopped at the entrance of Julian's private bedroom. The heavy oak door was shattered into pieces.
Lightning struck across the sky, which caused the bright white light to flood the room for a few seconds.
A huge black wolf stood in the center of the bedroom. It bit into a heavy wooden dresser, tossing it across the room like a toy. The furniture crashed against the farther wall and broke into pieces.
This was not a normal shifter. The beast was too large, standing even taller than a grown man. There were thick jagged scars that cut through its dark fur. It's chest was heaving rapidly with heavy breaths.
The light faded out and returned the room to deep shadows. The wolf stopped moving and turned it's massive head and looked right at me.
A deep, rumbling snarl filled the room.
The noise made my stomach drop. Every survival instinct I had told me to run back to the kitchen and hide in the basement.
The human guards warned me.
Julian warned me.
He told me he would not stop himself if I crossed this line.
But I did not run.
I looked at the broken furniture and the wild animal in the dark. He was not acting out of cruelty. He was acting out of pure agony. Caleb hurt people because he liked it. Julian hurt things because he was losing his mind.
The wolf dropped its head and lunged at me, it crossed the large bedroom in two huge bounds. It aimed straight for my chest, leading forward with sharp teeth and massive claws.
I braced my legs and refused to step back. I raised both of my bare hands in front of my face just as the animal reached me.
The beast hit me hard and the force knocked me backward, but my palms slapped right against the thick fur of its chest.
The second my bare skin touched him, the world went quiet.
A strange, calming energy rushed out of my hands. I felt it flow from my fingertips straight into the animal. It washed over the angry beast like a heavy blanket.
The wild snarling stopped in less than a second. The terrifying, hostile tension in the room just vanished.
The wolf shifted back into a human in mid-air.
Julian's heavy, bare chest crashed into my shoulders. The impact threw us both to the floor and my back hit the thick rug with force. While Julian landed right on top of me.
He did not strike me, he just…collapsed.
Julian buried his face in the crook of my neck.
He gasped desperately for air, trying to take in deep breaths. His large hands gripped my waist and pulled my hips against his.
The feral madness was gone from his body. He felt like a drowning man grabbing onto a lifeboat.
I laid there under his very weighty body, trying to breathe properly.
I rested my hands on his bare back. His skin was warm and covered in sweat. I felt the thick ridges of the scars covering his shoulders, but I did not push him away. I kept my hands on his skin, letting that strange, calming energy flow out of me and into him.
He breathed deeply against my collarbone. His tense muscles relaxed and he finally stopped shaking.
Julian raised his head slowly. He looked down at my face. The dim light from the window cast light on his features. The wild, blank stare of a monster was totally gone. His eyes were clear now and totally focused on me.
He looked at my face, and then he looked down at my hands resting on his back.
"You stopped it," Julian whispered, his voice sounded sore and damaged from the screaming.
"I just touched you," I answered, keeping my voice soft.
Julian shifted his body a little bit, just enough to take the pressure off my chest but also enough to keep me trapped between his arms.
He reached up and brushed his thumb down the side of my cheek. His touch was incredibly gentle. It was the complete opposite of the beast that just tried to attack me.
"You are not just a debt payment," Julian said, his eyes scanning my face. He leaned down, bringing his lips close to mine. "You are my mate."
My heart skipped a beat and a strong rush of heat spread through my chest. I opened my mouth to speak and just then the red emergency lights began flashing on the bedroom ceiling.
A loud, blaring siren erupted through the entire estate.
The noise pierced my ears.
The security system kicked into full lockdown mode. Heavy metal shutters slammed down over the bedroom windows, sealing us inside the dark room.
Julian snapped his head up, looking at the door. His body went rigid again, but this time it was not the madness. It was pure, focused anger.
The intercom speaker above the door turned on and a voice spoke over the loud siren, filling the room.
"Julian Hayes," Caleb's arrogant voice announced through the speakers.
My blood went cold and I instinctively grabbed Julian's shoulders tightly.
"Turn off the perimeter fence and open the front doors," Caleb commanded over the intercom. "You took a girl that belongs to my pack. I realize she has value now, so I came to take her back."
Julian looked down at me. He saw the genuine terror in my eyes. He stood up in one fluid motion, pulling me off the floor and placing me behind him.
"Nobody touches my mate," Julian said and this time his voice sounded lethal. "I am going to kill him.”
- Writer
