Moon Bound

Alpha To The Rescue

A full on howl followed by a more human scream of rage echoed behind me as I broke into a sprint.

Running would only trigger Garret's wolf. They lived for the hunt. But I couldn't just let myself be a sitting duck so the psycho could carry on with whatever demented plans he had for me.

Labored breaths whooshed out of me as I pushed myself to run faster, harder. The burning in my lungs was excruciating but if I stopped I would die. Whether Garret intended to or not, I was positive he was going to kill me tonight.

My arms itched. My wolf genes were rising from the depths. I prayed to whatever was out there that I would somehow spontaneously combust into a wolf but no matter how much I hoped for it, it just wouldn't happen.

Deciding to try to make my trail a little more sporadic, I made a sharp left to circle back to the diner. I didn't have wolfie senses so I had no idea where Garret was. But like all predators, he wouldn't be far behind his prey.

I hit the diner's gravel lot and tripped while turning the far corner of the building.

My exposed skin made contact with the rock as I went rolling across the ground and I could already feel the scrapes burning. The blood would make his wolf go into a frenzy.

I was dead meat.

Another howl sounded through the dark making me scramble. Gravel kicked up behind me as I frantically tried to make it to the front door while simultaneously digging through my purse for my keys.

Wait. Where were my keys?

I peered around the wall and saw them on the ground glinting under the light. I must have dropped them when big, bad, and crazy ambushed me.

Fear overrode common sense. I wasn't sure why I thought I would be safer inside the diner, all I knew was I was absolutely not safe outside of it. I bolted for the keys and just as I had them in my grasp, I was pinned to the ground.

My face was pushed down, forcing a startled scream to tear out of me. I spit out the rocks I inhaled before I could choke.

"You're as stupid as you are pretty. Why would you run from a wolf Lyra?" Garret pulled my head back by my hair roughly. I hissed at the pain that shot down my neck.

He tsked and jerked my head to the side to expose my throat. I gagged as he lowered himself against me and ran his tongue up my neck lazily, letting out a sickening groan as he did so.

My bleeding arm was yanked in front of me. From the uncomfortable position he held me in I watched him lean forward and lap at the crimson trail running from my elbow.

Come on wolfie. Help me out here.

Who was I kidding? I wasn't going to convince myself to magically shift just by wishing for it.

Garret’s teeth dug into my wrist, eliciting a shrill scream from me. They only buried deeper the more I screamed. My pain was exactly what Garret was hoping for and he clamped his jaws down on my flesh to make sure I had no way of escaping.

The agony was surreal. My wrist felt like it was splintering into a million pieces. He gurgled around the blood pooling in his mouth. With a violent shake of his head he tore a chunk of skin out.

I blinked in horror.

I sat dumbfounded while I witnessed Garret gobble down part of my arm and wipe his mouth with the back of the hand that wasn’t holding me down. He moaned in satisfaction before flashing a blood filled smile at me.

Then I heard the most beautiful thing in the world and I nearly broke into sobs.

A deep possessive growl. And it was coming from right behind us. The ground shook beneath me from the force of it.

Garret's hold on me vanished and I collapsed, shaking from the combination of terror and relief. I squeezed my palm over the gaping wound in an attempt to slow the blood flow. My heart was racing from the shock of the injury.

The pounding of my heart only quickened when I looked up.

A tall man with golden hair and arms so thick they looked like they were going to burst the seams of his dark t-shirt, had Garret pinned up against the wall by his neck.

"Stay away from her. She's mine." He roared and slammed Garret into the wall, cracking the brick. I winced at the power of the man's voice. “I will let you live only because I don't want to deal with cleaning up the mess. You so much as even think about her again and I will tear you limb from limb.” He threw Garret against the wall again to punctuate the threat.

I gaped up at them in disbelief. I must have misheard the stranger. I could have sworn he called me his.

It sent a surprising warmth down my chest that stretched through my stomach and settled in between my legs.

Here I was, about to die at the greasy hands of Garret Thompson, and I was getting hot and bothered by what I thought I heard in my traumatized state.

This whole night was absurd.

My attention was drawn back to the two men when Garret was tossed to the ground like a rag doll. The stranger didn't bother to check to make sure Garret scampered off. He just strode up to me and began running his hands all over my body. He ripped the bottom edge of his shirt off and knocked away the hand I was using as a makeshift tourniquet so he could wrap it around my wrist. I was vaguely aware he was asking if I was okay but I couldn't focus on his words.

I had never been the kind of girl to swoon over a man, but I was still only a girl after all, and I couldn't be blamed for swooning over this one.

Dark jeans hugged his legs and his black t-shirt was practically plastered to his chest- a very broad chest. Large hands that were calloused yet gentle as he inspected me caused my brain to short circuit. My heart stuttered each time his honey eyes framed by thick lashes flickered up to meet mine. My gaze dropped down to his lush looking lips that were moving quickly, lower to his defined chin, back up to his sculpted cheekbones, and then his worried eyes again.

Golden.

Strong.

Alpha.

The man who had rescued me was an Alpha.