The Broken Wolf

Like These Insects That Feast

The blood making its way to my head was the least of my worries. My captor seemed unbothered to carry me over his shoulder and no amount of kicking or screaming had loosened his grip so the fight had effectively drained from my body.

Dominic De Leon, the well-known second of the notorious Hallow Night Land pack. A group of rouges that had banded together and laid claim to the forest over a year ago. Their growth had been astounding led by an alpha known for his ruthlessness and protected by a second known to be cold and merciless The very wolf currently carrying me off no doubt to my death.

I start to struggle again. His grip around my thighs tightens.

“Stop squirming.” His voice is low and deep sending a traitorous shock up my spin.

“Put me down!”

“No.”

“Dominic—”

“You’ll fall if you don’t stop.”

“Then let me!”

A low sound rumbled from his chest.

For a moment I froze instinctive fear gripping me before I could shake it.

“You kidn*pped me.” I accuse stupidly. His response is a simple grunt. “And what, I’m supposed to cooperate with you?”

“No.” He replied bluntly.

If I could glare at his stupid head I would have but I’d been in this position for almost an hour my arms were numb.

“Can you at least flip me over? My visions turning black.” I feigned a breathless voice and his stride faltered. For just a second. But he kept moving even as he slid me down so that he still held a tight grip around my legs but if I wanted to, I could wrap my arms around his neck.

So he was capable of kindness. I wondered just how much of that I could exploit.

“What exactly did I do to deserve this?” I asked letting my voice break as I buried my face into his shoulder. The perfect picture of despair. The muscle of his arm flexed but he didn’t fumble. His grip, however, starts to border on painful.

“It’s not you Princess.” The other man with us. The one not named Dominic who’d been following behind for as long as we’d been moving made himself known. I nearly forgot about him the sound of his voice making me flinch and tighten my hold on my captor. “As long as your father agrees to cooperate nothing bad will happen to you. We’re not in the business of hurting defenseless women.”

I scoffed, “You’ve kidn*pped me and your friend here is definitely leaving bruises. What would you call that?”

As the words came out of my mouth, I felt Dominic loosen his grip. Not enough for me to get any real leeway but enough so I wouldn’t be worried about any torn skin.

“I’d call it a means to an end.” The other guy chuckled. “Besides we could have gagged and hog-tied you, and we didn’t. Be grateful.”

If I had something to throw, I would have launched it at his head.

“Haze shut it.” Dominic growled the deep timber of is voice working its way through me. I turned my head and nearly short circuited.

He was painfully pretty, like a forest after a hard rain when the fog fills the under bush and the sun hasn’t quite broken through the clouds. His hair was longer at the top the dark strands draping over his even darker eyes. He was focused staring straight ahead.

It was pitch black except for the mostly non-existent glow of the moon. And yet neither of my kidnappers seemed the least bit perturbed. Their heightened senses probably gave them a clearer view of the forest floor than my own could give me. It was probably why I hadn’t seen either of them until I was being manhandled.

“I’m just saying. We’re treating this one a lot nicer than the last.”

So, I wasn’t their first victim. Not that it was really surprising. They were too quick about it. Snatching me and crossing pack lines like it was nothing. Goddess above they were going to stuff my body in some quarry.

“If you start to struggle, I’ll make you walk.” Dominic warns.

Huffing I glare at his head.

Beyond not wanting to face plant I decide to keep still. “You’re the worst.”

“I can hear you.”

“Good.”

His shoulders shift and for one terrible second I think he’s going to drop me just to prove a point. Instead his hand slides higher securing me against him.

My breath catches, a betrayal I wished he hadn’t noticed.

“You’re tense.”

“You kidn*pped me, tends to make people tense.”

Theres a snort from behind us but Dominic says nothing.

With a huff I settled my chin against his shoulder and watched the trees blur past. Every branch is unrecognizable. And every minute we venture further and further away from everything I’ve ever known. Fear settled like a stone in my stomach.

“How much longer?”

Crickets.

“Am I going to die?” The question comes out before I can even process I’m asking it. His stride falters.

“No.”

I almost believed him.

Almost.

“You sound sure.”

Lifting my head I studied his profile. His expression hadn’t changed.

Cold, unreadable, focused. Not a hint of deception. Then again, it doesn’t seem like Dominic De Leon was the type to reveal anything.

I let my head fall back against his shoulder.

Fine.

They’re determined to drag me into their territory. And there isn’t much I can do about that. Might as well conserve my strength.

That’s what I choose to tell myself anyways. The steady rhythm of Dominic’s heartbeat is hypnotic lull. His even breaths settling my own, the heat of his body warming me from the cool night air. Every so often a branch snaps beneath his boots or Haze muttered something but otherwise the quiet settled around us.

My eyelids drooped. Forcing them open I tried shifting in his arms. I can’t sleep, not in the arms of my kidnapper. That just doesn’t sound like the smartest thing to do.

A low rumble breaks through the quiet. The even sound soothes away the last of my fight evening out my resolve.

“I better not wake up dead.” I muttered into his neck.

Then, I fell asleep.

#

Sunlight warms my skin as I twist in bed my hands pulling the comforter closer.

Sunlight?

Shooting up in bed the first thing I realize is I am nowhere near my room. The dark walls plush carpet and soft blankets, the open window with a direct view towards the forest. Its nothing like the cramped no-window-having space I’d called home all my life.

My heart beat erratically as memories slowly filter back into my mind

The lake. The Forest. Dominic.

Kicking the covers off I scrambled off the bed tripping over my own feet landing in a heap on the floor.

The door is pushed opened and my gaze snaps up as Dominic steps inside.

His eyes find mine and I feel my breathing stop.