Breathe in for four seconds.
Hold for four seconds.
Out for four seconds.
Hold for four seconds.
I’m on my fifty-second repetition when the door creaks open and then closes again. My heart ratchets up as I realize only one man is coming down. The blond comes into view, and my stomach sinks.
“You nearly had Brett,” he says, his voice dripping with condescension. “Did you know it used to be your daddy who broke in the new whores? He had a talent for it, really. I’m not sure I’ll have quite the same finesse, but I’m going to have so much fun trying.”
This time, I can’t stop the bile that rises in my throat. My stomach clenches, twisting into knots, and a cold sweat breaks out across my forehead. I try to swallow, to force it down, but it’s no use. I wretch, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the floor of my cage.
He recoils before walking away, leaving me confused and terrified in equal measure. When he returns, he has a bucket of sloshing liquid in hand. I brace myself and squeeze my eyes shut as the icywater sloshes over me, stealing my breath and leaving me saturated and shivering.
Then he wrenches the gate of the cage open, reaches in, and grabs my leg. Agony shoots through my shoulder, and a piercing scream erupts from my throat. I try to kick out at him at first, but when he extends a claw on one finger, I freeze.
My racing heartbeat and rapid breathing slow to a shallow near halt. My body feels heavy and not my own. A distant part of me knows my parasympathetic nervous system is shutting down. Trying to protect me when no protection is here.
He slices into my skirt, the tearing of fabric harsh and loud in the bare basement. Tears well in my eyes and defeat settles into me. I look to the side, refusing to watch what he’s about to do. I focus on my breathing and try to imagine I’m somewhere else. My mind is slow and sluggish, struggling to focus on being anywhere other than here. I flinch when I hear the clink of a belt buckle opening and close my eyes as my body shakes with sobs.
I’m in Lunar Eclipse, my tiger running free in the woods. I smell the pine and fir, the freshness of the air I had never experienced while living in the city.
The belt slides through the loops of his pants, a shushing sound at odds with the image I try to paint for myself.
I’m not stuck in this dingy basement; I’m out in the wild. My paws hit the undergrowth and pound the forest floor as I race toward the lake. The cool water envelops me as—
I scream when pain lances across my chest, pulling me from the numbness and the visualization.
“Fucking look at me, bitch,” he snarls, raising the belt again before bringing it down hard across my chest. My feet scramble for purchase; adrenaline floods me once more. And then he’s gone. A brown blur crashes into the blond, throwing him off me and across the room.
Ryan.
A sob, thick and ragged, lodges itself in my throat. He came. I’m not on my own. He’s here. A tidal wave of pent-up feelings rushes through me. Joy, gratitude, disbelief, and a profound, bone-deep sense of security.He came.
Sofia lands beside me, and her hands, warm and firm, help me to a seated position on the cold concrete floor. She’s talking to me, her voice a soft murmur, asking me questions I can’t answer. Because I can’t understand her words. I can’t process anything else; every part of me is focused on Ryan.
Across the dim, mildew-scented space, the guttural snarls and tearing sounds of Ryan’s wolf fill the room, a violent symphony in the formerly quiet space. The sharp, metallic tang of fresh blood cuts through the stale air, mingling with the decay. The blond man lies still, a broken puppet with unseeing eyes, yet Ryan’s wolf continues its savage work, the sickening rip of muscle and the crack of bone echoing in the confined, dank chamber.
Someone hands something to Sofia and she continues to try to talk to me. Her words can’t permeate my shell as I watch my mate, though. My eyes are fixed on him as he exacts his revenge.
“Maya,” Sofia shouts as she positions herself between Ryan and me, breaking through my trance. I snarl at her to get away, to stopblocking me. “I need to reset your shoulder,” she argues, “or it’ll start healing like this.”
I nod, and she moves beside me again. Fast, so fast, she unlocks the cuff and rotates my arm. I hold my breath as the strain builds until a sharp tearing pain rips through me as she pushes it back into place. I let out a harsh gasp of agony, and then the relief hits me almost instantly.
And with it, my tiger returns. Her presence warms me instantly, shouldering some of the pain and trauma of the night. Wrapping me in strength, safety, and longing.
The sound of my gasp pulls Ryan’s attention away from the desecrated corpse. His eyes gleam golden as he lifts his head to me. Blood drips from his mouth and coats his fur. His breathing comes out in harsh pants, turning to steam in the cold space and swirling around him. He is a picture of destruction and uncontrollable rage.
But his eyes tell me a different story. Because underneath all the raw, feral energy and vengeance, it’s fear I see. It’s in the widening of his eyes and how they shoot around the room looking for an escape. He looks lost. And with my tiger back, I can smell the regret and fear emanating from him over the other scents in the dingy basement. And somehow, I know he’s afraid that I won’t want him anymore. I can practically feel his emotions thrumming inside me.
“Ryan,” I whisper, “I need you.”
He folds over, his head bowing before shifting into his human form. Blood covers his skin, and deep gashes cut into his flesh. He crawls toward me as the others retreat back, giving us thismuch-needed moment of connection. His gaze remains downcast as if he can’t bear to look at me. As if after all of this, I could ever reject him.
“You came for me,” I murmur, cupping his face with my uninjured hand. He lets out a slow exhale and leans into my touch, his skin sticky from the blood of my fallen enemies.
“I will always come for you,” he says, and I can feel his sincerity. How he means every word.
