“Dad!”No!Please move.Please.He can’t be dead.He can’t be.
The Wolven wraps his hand completely around my neck and twists, forcing me to look into its gaping maw.It leans down, black eyes narrowed as it watches me.Its foul breath flows over my face like toxic waste.The smell makes me gag.It’s sitting on me and I realize it is very much male.Gross.
It doesn’t move.I’m trapped.
I should be dead.I know this.So why am I staring up into the face of a werewolf from hell?Why is its hand wrapped around my neck but not strangling me?Why are my guts not spilled all over the sidewalk?
“MADISON!”Rygar’s bellow answers the question.
They want to use me against him.I’m bait in their trap.
Head ringing, nine-foot wolf-man monster on top of me, there’s not much I can do about it.Sorrow fills me, bone crushing, hopeless despair.Not because I’m going to die, but because my death is going to hurt the man I love.I’m going to leave this world and I’m never going to get the chance to apologize, to tell him I was a coward.I’ll never be able to tell him how much I love him.
No.If this monster is going to kill me anyway, I’m not going to wait so he can use me to trap Rygar.
Asshole.It’s time to piss it off.
The Wolven’s snout is nearly as long as my forearm.Its teeth look like they belong to a demon, not a dog.There is nothing natural about this monster.Especially not in the intelligence I see behind its black eyes.
It’s thinking.Watching me.I can practically feel the satisfaction pounding inside that ugly skull.It’s enjoying my pain.It likes to watch me suffer.
“Fuck you.”I twist in its arms and lower my chin just enough to bite down.Hard.The fur tastes disgusting, like moldy cheese, wet dog and dirt.I don’t care.I clamp down harder, hoping I can take a chunk out of him.This thing might kill me but I’m not going to just lie down and die.
The Wolven screams and raises its free hand to strike the killing blow.I wince and close my eyes in anticipation.Those claws will slice my skull open like a melon.
At least it will be quick.
The Wolven’s weight shifts, then it’s gone.
An animal’s scream of pain lures me into opening my eyes.
Rygar has the creature pinned to the side of the building, the long blades attached to his suit embedded in the Wolven’s heart…and the center of its head.
Rygar pulls the lower blade free and uses it to take the Wolven’s head.Perhaps I should look away, but I don’t.If I ever have nightmares about what happened today, I want the image of my mate’s victory to be crystal clear in my mind so I can use it to chase away the rest of the mental demons.
The moment the Wolven is dead, Rygar’s suit retracts his blades, and he reaches for me.
I turn to look down the street.“Where’s the Draco?”
“Gone.”He pulls me into his arms.
I go willingly, words tumbling over one another like a waterfall out of my mouth.“I’m sorry.I’m so sorry.I love you so much.I don’t care where we live.We can live under a rock.I love you, Rygar.I love you.I want to be with you.I’m sorry.I didn’t know what I wanted.I was so stupid.I didn’t know what to do.The agents freaked me out and then you wanted to go to another planet, and I panicked.”I’m repeating myself, the words a jumbled mess, exactly like they are in my head.I’m shaking, desperate to tell him how I really feel.“I love you.”
“I love you, as well.Now hush, mate.You’re safe.I’ve got you.”
He loves me.This sexy beast of a man loves me.
As if something clicks in my mind, I feel the bond between us open, emotions flowing freely once more.I missed having him in my head.I missedhim.
I feel how much he loves me.“Can you feel it, too?”
“Yes, mate.I feel you.Your love is safe inside me.Do not worry.I’ve got you.”
He holds me and I cling to him, greedy for every moment.When I discovered his ship was gone, I didn’t know if I would ever be in his arms again.
I don’t know how much time passes.The moment my brain turns on, I’m scrambling, clumsy in my attempt to see behind him.“My dad.”
B.I.L.L.:Your father is alive.I used Rygar’s proximity sensors to access his condition.He has three broken ribs and bruising of his internal organs, but he will make a full recovery.Bring him to me as soon as possible.
