Chapter 18
Nika
There was no jarring buzzer sound, only a knock on the door.
I glanced up from my laptop.
It had been two days since the presentation. The CEO didn’t contact me about my presentation or my subtle hints of favouritism.
Okay, they weren’t subtle hints. But it proved to me that all these rich people were all talk and no action. Their think tanks thought up pretty values to publish on their website and literature. The reality was that profit and dividends always came first.
The world was one big disappointment.
I transferred my laptop to the coffee table and went to check the door.
Careful.
I had barely opened the door when someone pushed it so hard that I went flying back, losing my balance and landed on the floor.
Finley.
“Nika,” he hissed, slamming the door shut behind him. “Do you think you can ignore me?”
You mated with this bastard?
The question barely registered when Finley pulled his leg back and kicked me. I instinctively covered my face when the blow hit me square in the ribs. I gasped as the pain radiated outward.
The air went out of me. I couldn’t get it back.
“You fucking bitch. Do you think you could toss my shit out? Who the fuck do you think you are?”
His hands grabbed my hair and he began to drag me down the hall, leaving me scrambling on my hands and knees behind him.
The pale wooden floor I’d polished last Sunday slid past my palms.
He’s dead. I’m going to bite his fucking dick off.
We were in the living room where he released my hair and kicked me again. I dove to one side trying to avoid the blow.
“You’re nothing. Do you think you get to dump someone like me?”
“Finley,” I gasped as something twisted inside of me.
It burned. Like acid inside my veins.
“I’m going to make sure you remember me for the rest of your shitting miserable life,” he said as I glanced over my shoulder.
His face was pink. Angry. Drunk.
He pulled out a pocket knife.
My back cracked from my neck to the base. It stretched until my eyes watered. I tried to breathe but the pain was unbearable. I placed my hands on the floor and began to pant.
Something inside my ribs was rearranging.
Leave it to me. I’ve got you.
What?
My nails clawed at the wood.
Curled black. Not mine.
“What the fuck?” Finley gasped.
Something fell to the floor. Bounced. Stopped.
The pocket knife.
Cackling echoed in my mind.
My head snapped up.
Claws scrambled on the floor until I faced Finley’s denim. My jaw opened wide and I clamped down. My jaw locked into place.
In the same way that the wolf in Croatia did to my leg.
Finley screamed and fell to the floor but I didn’t let go of him. I sank my long teeth in deeper. Something compressed and burst. His terrified whimper turned to sobs of pain.
That’s one ball gone.
Finley grabbed my head, trying to pull me off.
His fingers slid in my fur.
But I was in shock. It was my body but I wasn’t in control.
No, it wasn’t my body.
Hello, Nika, the voice purred. I’m your bad side. Your wolf.
No!
I tried to release Finley, but she refused and shook her head, snarling and growling. Then Finley punched us. The blow landed on our jaw.
She didn’t let go. She doubled down.
Stop it, I screamed to her. Not here. Not in my flat.
She paused.
Our jaw released him. We watched him flip onto his hands and knees, crying as he scrambled to his feet. He tripped but the hand on the doorframe steadied him.
“Someone call the police,” he screamed as he ran down the hall. “I need medical attention.”
Paws padded on the wooden floor.
Our head poked out of the doorway to see the door fly open.
“She bit m-my dick,” he screamed, flinging the front door open.
“Help. Help. Someone help me.”
His screams died down as he ran away from my apartment.
I stared at the open door.
The corridor outside was empty. A door clicked open further down—Mrs Patel from 4B, probably—then clicked shut again.
TALK, I barked.
I collapsed on the floor, writhing as my limbs burned, stretching. I was still gasping when the cold, grimy floor touched my bare skin.
This was not normal. One did not transform into animals.
Not in real life.
No. I’ve always been inside of you. That little niggling voice. The one you shut down, she cackled as I stood to close the door before anyone saw me naked.
I’m the Bad Girl.
??
??
??
I stood in front of the mirror scrubbing my tongue with the toothbrush. I paused, about to rinse it again, but changed my mind and tossed it into the bathroom bin.
The mouthwash was next.
I gargled and rinsed several times.
Blood. I had tasted his dick blood.
I choked on the Corsodyl, spat it out, then took another swig straight from the bottle.
You’re overreacting. No one will believe him.
I glared at her in the mirror.
If you went to A&E and said my ex-girlfriend turned into a wolf and bit my ball off—they’d think you were on drugs. Or section you.
So, this is us for life? I asked.
Pretty much. You’re lucky that I like you.
She had to be my alter ego in wolf form.
I continued to gargle.
You did save my life, I said as I spat the mouthwash out.
And wasn’t it fun?
Watching him run was fun.
I swallowed when I thought of the blue enamel pocket knife. That fear on the day of my flight had left me reading up on how to leave your partner. It was the most dangerous time for a woman.
Thanks, I said quietly.
It wasn’t just internal words to her. I pushed my appreciation and love towards her. Just for a small beat, she paused before she accepted.
And in that moment, I realised this was our first real connection.
Don’t get all teary on me. I don’t do that shit.
I sighed.