10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Taylor
T he massive wolf towering over me is unlike anything I've ever seen, a creature ripped straight from nightmares. Its head alone is level with my shoulders, jaws gaping wide to reveal gleaming white fangs that could tear through flesh like tissue paper. Paws the size of dinner plates support a body corded with thick ropes of muscle, power rippling just beneath a thick gray pelt.
This...this is no normal wolf. It is glaring at me through eyes blazing with such intensity that I press back against the unforgiving stone in a futile effort to escape.
I'm shaking so hard my teeth are chattering. My breaths are choppy, random sucks of air too little to fill my lungs. I blink away the black dots creeping in at the edges of my vision.
My boots scuff the ground and my battered brain makes me look at the ground. Rust stains on the bricks mix with the drops of saliva, but I don’t think they’re merely rust.
Rust doesn’t pool in irregular, blood-shaped puddles.
What fresh hell have I landed in?
A chuckle from the far side of the bars has my head whipping up. Rowan stands there, unperturbed by the snarling wolf, and regards me with an air of detached bemusement.
“I'll leave you two lovebirds to get acquainted. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. A host never leaves his guests for too long. I just need to set up a few preparations for my little welcome party,” he chuckles.
An icy splinter of dread lances through me.
He’s certifiable .
I stare at him, uncomprehending. I’d walk past this man in the street and not remember him. He’s forgettable in every way. Except his eyes. Those eyes I’d remember because they’re completely dead. There’s nothing in them. No light. No compassion. I’m nothing more than a bug to him. Less than dirt beneath his feet.
How can he be so terrifying?
I want to beg for mercy. Fall to my knees and sob and plead and lick his boots for him to let us free but then Rowan is turning away, his light steps fading into the darkness of the corridor.
And then I'm alone.
Alone with the man wearing a monster's form. A tremble quakes to life inside me and spreads to my fingers and toes. I brace myself for an attack, for those terrible jaws to lunge and—
The snarling stops. Just like that, the rumble of rage cuts off. The wolf drops onto its belly. It whines softly, a plaintive sound that seems almost...imploring as its tail gives a tentative wag. Then it fixes me with an unmistakable puppy-dog look, and I nearly choke on the hysterical giggle that tries to claw its way free from my throat.
This cannot be happening.
The giggle dies a swift, brutal death as the wolf's form distorts. I stumble back with a startled cry, hand flying to my mouth to stifle the scream building in my throat.
In a matter of heartbeats, the wolf is gone, replaced by the very human—and very naked—Liam. He stretches out a hand, and I can't help the violent flinch that racks my body at the gesture. His hand drops, fingers curling into his palm.
“I'm so sorry you had to find out like this,” he murmurs.
A wave of foreign emotions crash through me too fast to catalog. I clutch my chest as though that will ease the ache inside me, but it does nothing to stop the pain.
“You're...you're a wolf,” I blurt, the obviousness of the statement doing nothing to lessen its sheer ludicrousness.
Liam drags a hand through his tousled hair. “A wolf shifter ,” he corrects softly. “I have two forms, man and wolf. I was going to tell you, I swear. But I…I didn't want to scare you.”
I can't help the hysterical bark of laughter that escapes me. “I think I’m way past that now. A little heads up might have been better!”
The words come out sharper than I intend, the foundations of my reality cracking. Liam's expression twists with regret and sorrow so profound, it echoes inside me. The ache blossoms and my clenched fist over my chest does nothing to help ease my unease. A vice tightens around my heart, a whirlwind of recrimination and soul-deep anguish swirl through me.
“I'm so sorry,” Liam whispers again, taking an abortive step forward. I can't help the way I stiffen, pressing back against the unforgiving stone at my back.
He freezes, agony written across his features as he holds up his hands in a placating gesture. “You have to believe that I wanted...I wanted to explain everything to you gently. To help you understand.”
There's a desperate edge to his words, an urgency that resonates straight into my soul. His urgency. His desperation. I shake my head slowly, trying to make sense of the thoughts whirling through my mind in a cyclone of confusion and disbelief.
And then I have to ask. Have to know, even if it means making this real. “What...what did Rowan mean? About a bond? About me feeling what you feel?”
A weary sigh escapes Liam's lips and when he meets my gaze again, there's a resolute set to his jaw, a determination that has my breath catching.
“I know it doesn’t sound like the truth. That I’m backpedaling, but it’s what I was going to tell you today before...before all this happened.” He gestures vaguely to our surroundings, a pained grimace twisting his lips. “I promise you, Taylor, it was killing me not to share the truth with you. I wanted the perfect time and place. I didn't want to lose you before I even had the chance—”
A churning sensation blossoms in my chest, a physical discomfort that ripples outward until every nerve sparks. “We’re mates. We share a bond that only happens between those who are fated. It means that forces larger than us have brought us together, so our souls can be united on Earth.”
My knees threaten to give. Fated mates ? It's the stuff of fantasy, of fairy tales and make-believe.
“What does that mean?” I wheeze.
“It's a blessing from the Goddess herself. A gift. We're bound together on a level deeper than anything humans can comprehend. A connection of mind, body, and spirit that transcends the physical realm.”
He takes a tentative step closer, and this time I don't flinch away. “That's what you're feeling. My emotions, my essence, bleeding into yours through our bond. It will only grow stronger from here, until we become inseparable.”
A tremor races through me at the implications of his words. “Is that...is that what happened?” I breathe, scarcely daring to give voice to the notion blossoming in my mind. “When you gave me your blood? Did that...did that start this?”
He shakes his head. “My blood hasn’t changed anything. All it did was awaken your shifter DNA so you could fight off the disease. We’re still fated mates despite me giving you my blood. That, I had to do. You were dying. Your human doctors didn't understand what was happening because you have wolf shifter blood in your heritage. They were treating you wrong. Their treatment would have killed you, and I...I had to act. Had to save you, even if it meant you’d feel the bond before you were ready.”
My head is spinning, thoughts and half-formed realizations whirling through my mind. “I have...shifter blood?” I echo numbly. “You're saying I'm...like you?”
The intensity in Liam's gaze burns. “It's the only way you could have found Willowbrook. This town, this sanctuary, it's shielded by powerful magic, guarded so that only those with shifter heritage can pass through.”
He takes another step closer, hand outstretched in wordless entreaty. “My blood...it cured you, Taylor. It awakened the dormant genes inside you that would not have surfaced had I not done that. That's why you feel better. You’re healing. It’s just working faster than you’re accustomed to.”
The words reverberate through me and it takes my brain a few seconds to catch up to what he’s telling me. “Are you telling me, I'm...cured?”
Liam nods, his expression a complicated tangle of joy and desperation as deep furrows gouge his brow. “All you need now is time to recover.”
I can't deny the truth of his claims, not when I feel more alive than I have in longer than I can remember. The lethargy, the weakness that's dogged me for so long is gone. When I woke this morning, there was only a little fatigue. I had energy. I wanted to hike, when normally it would have been beyond me to go outside and lose myself in the forest. I was enthusiastic. Nothing had held me back.
“Can you...” The question sticks in my throat as a fresh surge of foreign emotion washes over me. “Can you feel what I'm feeling too? Through this...bond?”
His eyes glow bright and I’m not looking just at human eyes. “Everything. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, the bond snapped into place for me. If you weren’t human, you would have felt the same as instantly as I did.”
This is enormous. Overwhelming. Crippling. I open my mouth, a dozen more questions burning on my tongue, but the words shrivel. My lungs feel too tight. I need to move but when I do, my boots scuff on the blood-strained rocks underfoot, jarring me back into reality.
We're trapped. Imprisoned in this place by a madman with unclear motivations and unfathomable powers.
“Rowan...” I breathe, fingers curling against the stones at my back. Who the hell is he? How did he lead us here? Why didn’t I have any control over my actions? I force my gaze back to Liam and whisper, “Why does he want to turn you...feral?”
The anguish that clouds Liam's features is enough to chill me to the core.
“I don't know who he is. I know every inch of this forest, and I’ve never seen this here before. He has to be a warlock. He wouldn't have been able to lure us here if he wasn’t using some sort of dark magic to take away our will like that. Whatever he wants us for…it can’t be good.”
He didn't exactly invite us in for tea and scones. In the history of humankind, nothing good came for anyone locked in a dirty cell. My chest compresses and suddenly it’s difficult to draw in a breath. I clutch the bars, gripping them so tight my knuckles turn white. They don’t budge, don't so much as rattle despite how hard I try to shake them free.
“We have to get out of here,” I force the words out between ragged pants. “This...this can't be happening!”
Tears sting my eyes as I sink back against the unforgiving stone, chest heaving with exertion as panic tears through me. I want to wake up and find this is all a nightmare. I want to wash it all away with a strong coffee. I want to ring Mom, so she can calm me down and tell me everything will be okay.
“I’ll keep you safe, Taylor. I’m your mate. I’ll do everything I can to protect you,” Liam says.
Surely he sees nothing safe about where we are. We’re locked in a cell somewhere deep within a remote forest. Liam is a terrifying, gigantic wolf and he was helpless against Rowan.
A scream tries to claw its way free as Rowan melts from the shadows of the corridor. He gives me a generic smile that doesn’t meet his cold, dead eyes. “Good. I see the news is setting in.”
His gaze slides from me to Liam, cold dread coiling in my gut. “Now I have everything prepared, there’s no time like the present. I think that’s what they say now-a-days.”
With a casual flick of his wrist, the heavy iron door to our cell slides open. Every muscle in my body tenses in preparation for fight or flight, but Liam is already moving, inserting himself between me and the open doorway.
“Leave her alone,” he snarls, every syllable laced with an undercurrent that raises the fine hairs along my arms.
“It's funny that you think you can protect her,” he muses. “Lucky for you, it's not her turn quite yet.”
The weight of his stare bores into me, and I can't help shrinking back against the unforgiving stone. A growl rumbles from deep within Liam’s chest. Liam charges at Rowan, but Rowan raises his hand and an invisible force grips Liam.
Liam freezes on his feet, shaking with the effort to try to free himself. Veins pop on his forearms and cord his neck as he struggles. Panic surges through me and I lunge forward. I grip Liam’s arm, trying to shake him free.
“Let him go!” I demand, glaring at Rowan with every ounce of defiance I can muster. The warlock doesn't even spare me a glance, simply flicks his wrist in a minute motion.
The breath is driven from my lungs as I’m propelled against the far wall. The back of my head snaps against the rock and I crumple to the ground in a dazed heap, ears ringing and vision wavering.
A snarl rips through the chamber, and I blink away the haze just in time to see coarse gray fur erupting along Liam's spine. His features warp. His teeth elongate into fangs as his hands—no, his claws—flex. I begin to sob, tears streaming down my cheeks. Words tumble over each other, begging, sobbing, pleading.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic.” Rowan rolls his dead eyes. Another wave of his hand, and the pressure around my chest constricts, an invisible clamp tightening until each shallow pant is a battle for oxygen.
I watch in mute horror as Liam is inexorably drawn forward, step by jerking step. He fights every inch of the way, but he’s helpless against Rowan’s power. I vaguely realize I'm making choking sounds as I drown in terror and slowly suffocate.
Rowan pauses in the open doorway, a smirk twisting his forgettable features as he meets my gaze one final time.
“Don't worry, little mate. I'll be back for you soon enough. We're going to have such fun together.”
Then the door slams shut with a resounding boom, and I’m left shaking and slumped on a blood-soaked floor alone in the darkness.